Haley Byrd, congressional reporter at The Weekly Standard, and Katherine Mangu-Ward, Editor-in-Chief at Reason Magazine, discuss the 2nd government shutdown of 2018. The government closed for just over five hours before the House passed a two-year spending bill that was later signed by the president.
Both reporters dig into the details of the budget deal that will add hundreds of billions of dollars to the deficit. They also note the contradiction of Republicans voting to increase spending since the GOP is historically fiscally conservative.
Almost four dozen Venezuelan workers who had temporary protected status have been put on leave by Disney after the U.S. Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to strip them of legal protections.
American businesses that rely on Chinese goods are reacting with muted relief after the U.S. and China agreed to pause their exorbitant tariffs on each other’s products for 90 days. Many companies delayed or canceled orders after President Donald Trump last month put a 145% tariff on items made in China. Importers still face relatively high tariffs, however, as well as uncertainty over what will happen in the coming weeks and months. The temporary truce was announced as retailers and their suppliers are looking to finalize their plans and orders for the holiday shopping season. They’re concerned a mad scramble to get goods onto ships will lead to bottlenecks and increased shipping costs.
The Trump administration announced a trade deal with the United Kingdom Thursday in grandiose terms, but with only limited details about what it achieves.