*By Justin Chermol*
California Rep. Ro Khanna has a novel idea about how to solve the government shutdown: call in some experts.
"Why don't we get an independent group of experts? The president appoints two people. The House appoints two people. The Senate appoints two people," the Silicon Valley-based Democrat suggested. "Put them in a room ー six folks ー and have them come up with proposals that are going to be 6-0."
"Arbitrators do this all the time. Mediators do this all the time," he told Cheddar's J.D. Durkin. " People sue each other, they have disputes and somehow it gets resolved. "It’s only in the United States government that we’re unable to move forward."
Well into its fourth week, the partial government shutdown shows no signs of ending. As the California congressman representing Silicon Valley, Khanna understands its impact not only on federal workers, but also his tech-based constituency. Private companies looking to file an IPO have been stalled by the government stalemate, which has hampered the work of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
"You ... don't have startups being able to go public, and there is a whole line of companies that can't get public, can't go public because of the shutdown," Khanna explained.
He said this should concern President Trump, who has taken credit for last year's stock market increases ー and may find himself shouldering the blame if the market continues to show weakness.
"If the President obsesses over the stock market ー he's hurting the stock market, he's hurting our innovation, he's hurting our entrepreneurship. This is actually having real damage," Khanna said.
President Donald Trump said he has decided to lower his combined tariff rates on imports of Chinese goods to 47% after talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on curbing fentanyl trafficking.
The Federal Reserve cut its key interest rate Wednesday for a second time this year as it seeks to shore up economic growth and hiring even as inflation stays elevated. The move comes amid a fraught time for the central bank, with hiring sluggish and yet inflation stuck above the Fed’s 2% target. Compounding its challenges, the central bank is navigating without much of the economic data it typically relies on from the government. The Fed has signaled it may reduce its key rate again in December but the data drought raises the uncertainty around its next moves. Fed Chair Jerome Powell told reporters that there were “strongly differing views” at the central bank's policy meeting about to proceed going forward.
U.S. and Chinese officials say a trade deal between the world’s two largest economies is drawing closer. The sides have reached an initial consensus for President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping to aim to finalize during their high-stakes meeting Thursday in South Korea. Any agreement would be a relief to international markets. Trump's treasury secretary says discussions with China yielded preliminary agreements to stop the precursor chemicals for fentanyl from coming into the United States. Scott Bessent also says Beijing would make “substantial” purchases of soybean and other agricultural products while putting off export controls on rare earth elements needed for advanced technologies.
A new poll finds most U.S. adults are worried about health care becoming more expensive.
The White House budget office says mass firings of federal workers have started in an attempt to exert more pressure on Democratic lawmakers as the government shutdown continues.
President Donald Trump says “there seems to be no reason” to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping as part of an upcoming trip to South Korea after China restricted exports of rare earths needed for American industry. The Republican president suggested Friday he was looking at a “massive increase” of import taxes on Chinese products in response to Xi’s moves. Trump says one of the policies the U.S. is calculating is "a massive increase of Tariffs on Chinese products coming into the United States." A monthslong calm on Wall Street was shattered, with U.S. stocks falling on the news. The Chinese Embassy in Washington hasn't responded to an Associated Press request for comment.
