Lawmakers Mulling Longer Stopgap Bill | Balance of Power 10/22/2025
Summary
Government Shutdown: The U.S. government is in its 22nd day of shutdown, with no immediate resolution in sight. Lawmakers are considering a longer stopgap measure to fund the government through December 2026.
Market Impact: The ongoing shutdown and potential export restrictions to China are impacting markets, with significant declines in major indices such as the Dow, S&P 500, and NASDAQ.
Company Highlights: Tesla is facing scrutiny with an upcoming earnings report and a recall of nearly 13,000 vehicles, while Netflix experiences a stock drop due to a $600 million tax hit from Brazil despite strong earnings.
International Relations: President Trump is preparing for an overseas trip to Asia, with discussions around trade and geopolitical tensions, particularly with China and Russia, being key focal points.
Healthcare Negotiations: The expiration of Affordable Care Act premium subsidies is a critical issue, with Democrats pushing for negotiations to prevent a spike in healthcare costs.
Defense and Security: The U.S. military has engaged in actions against drug trafficking vessels, raising discussions about the War Powers Act and the broader implications for U.S. foreign policy.
Infrastructure and Modernization: The White House is undergoing significant construction, including a new ballroom, funded privately, which has sparked debate over the necessity and transparency of such projects.
Transcript
Live from Washington, D.C. This is balance of power with Joe Matthew and Kaylee Lyons. Looks like another swing and a miss. Welcome to the Wednesday edition. As the Senate prepares to vote again on a stopgap to reopen the government knowing that it will fail once again. I'm Joe Matthew alongside Tyler Kendall in Washington on this day 22 of the government shutdown. Thank you for joining us, Tyler. You know how you can finish the line for me at this point. Day 22 of the shutdown. And watch. No sign of this ending and no sign of this ending. Now, the second to last longest government shutdown in U.S. history. And, Joe, the reality is the House has been out of session since September 19th, been a month. The Senate is expected to adjourn tomorrow for the weekend. And President Trump is heading out of town. He has this overseas visit in Asia that he's going to leave for later this week. I believe you're going on that trip, as a matter of fact. And so that's why a lot of people are suggesting that this could be a record shutdown. Of course, the record set in the first Trump administration at 35 days. But we could be talking about this at Thanksgiving at the rate we're going here. And we're going to get an update coming up from Jack Fitzpatrick at Bloomberg Government, An interesting chairman of Ways and Means is going to come on and talk to us as well. Right? Because one of the big questions here is, is this stopgap measure that they keep voting on, it funds the government until November 21st if it passes. But, Joe, is that really viable at this point as we wait for some sort of update? Because when they passed that back in September, look like they had a lot of time to work out some differences, but now we're just inching closer to that date. Right. What was once seven weeks is now just a couple of minutes, it seems like. And there are great questions about whether there'd be enough time to pass spending bills to then have a budget for the next fiscal year. So we're going to talk about all of this. We'll get an update, as we mentioned, from Capitol Hill. And we'll dig into this with Congressman Jason Smith, the Republican in charge of the Ways and Means Committee Tyler. All that ahead this hour. Right, Exactly. Something that the markets are watching, of course, also putting on your radar. We just heard from President Trump on True Social, saying that he spoke to Mary Barra of General Motors, talking about their stock and what's happening there. So for an update and the latest, we go to Alexis. Christopher is from world headquarters in New York for a look at Wednesday's trade. Hey, Alexis. Thanks a lot, guys. Stocks are extending their losses here. Reuters reporting the U.S. is considering restrictions of exports to China linked to software. We have the Dow industrials down about 205 points. The S&P 500 down 39. The NASDAQ composite sliding nearly 260. Speaking of sliding gold and silver, extending declines after yesterday's big sell off, with gold falling another 1.7% today, closing in on $4,000 an ounce. Tesla in the spotlight. Earnings due after the closing bell. Analysts expect a decrease in adjusted earnings from the previous year despite record EV sales for the quarter. Tesla is also recalling nearly 13,000 vehicles over an issue that can cause a sudden loss of battery power, increasing the risk of a crash. The recall affects Model Y and Model three vehicles produced from March through August of this year. Last month, you'll remember a Bloomberg investigation into Tesla's electric powered doors sparked an investigation by federal officials. Elsewhere, we have got shares of Netflix plunging 10% after a $600 million tax hit from Brazil slammed Q3 earnings. Otherwise, it was a strong earnings report thanks to higher ad sales and hits like K-Pop Demon Hunters. The streaming service is most popular film ever, with 325 million views. Meantime, Mattel and Hasbro are going all in on this K-Pop craze, producing toys, collectibles and games based on that popular animated film. They're not going to be here in time for the holidays, though. The products will be available next year for On Demand News 24 hours a day. Subscribe to Bloomberg News now wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Alexis Christofferson. That's your Bloomberg business. Flash back over to Tyler and Joe and Balance of Power. All right, Alexis, thanks so much. As Alexis mentioned, I'm Tyler Kendall here in Washington alongside a Joe Matthew. And as Joe just outlined, we are now in day 22 of a government shutdown, officially the second longest in U.S. history. And Democratic leaders are trying to get on President Trump's schedule before he heads out of town and goes on this trip to Asia. And President Trump yesterday signaled an openness to talk to them, but said that none of these negotiations around health care provisions are going to happen until the government reopens. We heard from House Speaker Mike Johnson earlier today addressing that possibility. Republicans cannot and will not solve it in a backroom deal. Chuck Schumer has been suggesting that four leaders should go into a smoke filled backroom like they do in the old days and and create this solution. It's not a possible thing to do. It was never appropriate. It's not possible to put on a continuing resolution because it's such a complex issue. Hold that cigar because we want to spend some time with Jack Fitzpatrick, who's not in a back the smoky back room, but in fact, in the Senate Russell Rotunda right now. Jack, I. Nowhere to go any more with this. We've been talking about it for 22 days. The talking points haven't changed. Republicans say it's the Schumer shutdown and Democrats need to come back and reopen the government. At what point does the conversation change or do we just keep cruising to a record? We could cruise to a record? And it's worth keeping in mind this is already the longest total government shutdown of all time. They have not passed any appropriations bills. When you compare to that 2018 into 2019 shut down, all of the Defense Department was already funded. Most of the money in question was already appropriated, and it was a rather small partial shutdown. So you've seen them grin and bear it and get through a long total shutdown. I do think you can circle November 1st on your calendars. Obviously, Democrats have talked for weeks now about the start of open enrollment under the Affordable Care Act as a political pressure point to try to force negotiations. I would point out that October 31st, the day before that, is the next scheduled military pay date. And while the president found a way to move money around for the October 15th pay date, there's not a clear plan on what's going to happen for the next paychecks for members of the military. The warnings that SNAP nutrition aid could dry up on November 1st coincides with that. And then, of course, eventually this whole debate about a stopgap going through November 21st becomes a moot point because it's stale and that's not a useful date. So I think as we get towards the beginning of November and maybe into early November, that's when you can see some signs of political pressure where they have to have negotiations. But that's not in the imminent future. So there's still digging in and ready to keep this shutdown going for at least a little while longer. Well, let's talk about that stopgap measure. And Jack, I want to pull in your expertise here, because we're hearing murmurs that maybe on the table could be a one year continuing resolution. Is that actually a viable option that's being discussed? How problematic of a solution would that be? It's definitely seen as a problematic and unfortunate solution. It does sound like it's on the table. We heard from John Thune, the Senate majority leader, saying that is an option. And surprisingly, you've heard for a while now a drumbeat from the most conservative members of the House saying let's take a full year C.R., a stopgap that just runs the government on autopilot for the rest of the year. Usually they hate seizures, but freezing funding is effectively a cut adjusted for inflation. So that's a position that's somewhat widely held among Republicans. The appropriators who are in charge of trying to actually put together funding bills have put their foot down and said, absolutely not. We want to do our jobs. We want a real deal. But that's not all the members of Congress. So there is a threat of a second consecutive full year continuing resolution, which raises a lot of questions about the governance of the federal budget. But there are at least some members who are very upset at that implication and are trying to fight against it. What's Senator Merkley up to? Jack has been talking for over 18 hours. I guess he had to loosen his his shoelaces because he's been standing for so long here. But what's the point of the filibuster if he's not actually holding up a bill or helping to reopen the government? You know, I think we're at the point after Cory Booker broke the record for the longest floor speech where there is some value seen in attracting the cameras and going the distance and seeing how long you can put a spotlight on the issues you care about. Jeff Merkley has been one of the most vocal members of Congress about his frustrations with Russell Vote, the budget director, about calling for not just a handshake deal, but a concrete deal in writing to try to stop unilateral cuts from the White House. And he's on the floor warning about ISIS, a sign warning of authoritarianism. That is a significant part of this shutdown fight is the frustration with Trump and vote and the unilateral actions aside from the health care fight. So we'll see if he can go the distance. He's got to go at least a little past 7 p.m., maybe 730 to break Cory Booker's record. I don't know if he's got it in him. But clearly, the the opportunity is there for Democrats to put a spotlight on the issues that they're angry about. Well, all right. We have our timer set. Bloomberg government's Jack Fitzpatrick, thanks so much, as always, for your reporting and expertise. And to expand the conversation, we're joined now by Congressman Jason Smith. He's a Republican representing Missouri's eighth Congressional District and chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. Congressman, thanks so much for joining in. It's good to see you. I want to ask about these recent comments from Senate Majority Leader John Thune, who says it might be time to start thinking about having the House come back into session because this stopgap bill that they are voting on would only fund the government until November 21st. Is a November 21st stopgap still viable at this point? Well, it's hard to predict the actions of the Democrats because right now they've been stalling a very basic, clean continuation of funding. What we need to see in the House of Representatives for the Senate to send us some kind of funding bill, they need to figure out what they can pass and that side of the building. Unfortunately, because of the filibuster, you have Democrats that's preventing a vote. If they would just allow a vote on the continuing resolution that they have voted for numerous times in the past, we would be able to open government. We'd be able to fund government. Chuck Schumer voted for a continuing resolution just like this 13 times when Biden was president, in fact, as recent as this past March. Well, I know that you've been very consistent in your views on this, Mr. Chairman, and it's good to have you back on Bloomberg. You probably heard the conversation we were just having, and it's causing some heads to explode here in Washington. The idea of a full year C.R. being the only way out of this, is that a nonstarter for you? And what does it tell us about where we stand on Capitol Hill? So I've been hearing this conversation from senators, from House members that a C.R., not just for a year, but to December 1st of next year. This has been conversations that I've been hearing in Washington, D.C., and we just need to make sure that government is open and serving the American people. And we need to make sure that government is not at risk of political games, which we're seen played right now by the House and Senate Democrats. So just for clarity, Congressman, is that something that's really on the table? Would you be where do you fall on this this idea of a longer term government funding bill? I strongly support a longer, longer term continuing resolution. I would support that until December 1st. I think that that would allow more stability for our economy, stability for the American people. The fact that we had the whip of the House Democrats just recently say on TV that, yes, people are hurting in the shutdown, but this is our leverage. It is unfortunate that people believe making the American folks hurt as leverage. That's unacceptable. That is why I would support a longer term continuing resolution. Are we talking December 1st weeks from now or December 1st, 2026? Mr. Chairman, December 21st, 2026 is what I've been hearing up here as a suggestion, as an opportunity of of a continuing resolution. As as we know, we're operating under a yearlong resolution from last year. We're looking at what was appropriated when Biden was president. Yeah, that's which is one of the ironies of this whole debate, that now Republicans are urging Democrats to vote for for Joe Biden's budget plan. Would that still allow for a debate? Eight over Obamacare subsidies. Is that something that you're interested in for your constituents? As open enrollment is set to begin? Well, first, let me let me just respond to the fact that Republicans, if they completely had their way, they would actually want to reduce the amount of funding from Biden levels. But that's not how it's able to work up here with people all over in the United States Senate. And so that was our issue in regards to the the subsidies for insurance companies. This is something that we've been willing to discuss throughout this whole time, and it's something that needs a lot of discussion because access to health care is essential for Americans. We need to make sure that we're talking about access for all Americans, not just 24 million Americans, but 347 million Americans. Well, Senate Majority Leader John Thune has floated that there could be an up and down vote once the government reopens on a one year extension of these expiring Affordable Care Act premium subsidies. But Democrats say that they don't want to get on board with that because there's no guarantee that such a vote would happen in the House. Do you think that this is something that House Speaker Mike Johnson should bring to the floor? So there is at least this debate on perhaps structural changes or some sort of extension down the road? I would not be support of a one year extension period without reforms. There has to be reforms. The the corruption that's within the program, there's 24 million people that are on the Obamacare exchanges. Half of them last year, that's 12 million didn't even file a claim. Why didn't those 12 million not file a claim? I'm sure it's because they didn't even know that they were on the exchanges. But guess what? Those insurance companies, they received the subsidized premiums for it, even though they didn't even provide the health care for it. These are the simple kind of reforms that need to be addressed and need to be explained. We also shouldn't be subsidizing premiums for people who make more than 400% of the federal poverty level, people who make $600,000 a year. I don't think Americans are good with that. Well, I'll tell you what, I appreciate this conversation, because it's more detailed than just about any that we've heard. It's time to start getting down to this debate. Congressman, I'm wondering what should be the timeline? Do you want to go down the road of permanently extending subsidies with those collars on them, as Democrats have suggested, make it permanent? Or should these be sunset after a year or more? You know, everything has to be looked at and has to be on the table. I don't want to set any limits, pros and cons and and negotiate an agreement in the press. But what we need to do is have Republicans and Democrats come together and figure out what is best creating more access to health care for all Americans, not just people on exchanges, but all Americans. There's 174 million Americans that are in employee health insurance, but that employee health insurance is quite expensive. So we need to look at all different ways to help lower the cost of health care. Congressman, I also want to ask you about something else that the government shutdown has impacted, which is economic aid for farmers. Now, the Trump administration says that it is planning to unveil $3 billion worth of such economic assistance tomorrow. Actually, I've learned that Missouri, your state, is one of the top three soybean producing states in the country. I'm wondering how you are looking ahead to this meeting between potential meeting between President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping. What's going to happen if China does not agree to purchase agreements for our U.S. farmers, particularly related to soybeans? Let me tell you what the Chinese have done to us. Soybean farmers alone has been atrocious. Typically, in the average year, China purchases somewhere between 12 to $15 billion worth of soybeans a year from the United States. They have not purchased $1 this year. And so that better be on the table. That has to be something that's being discussed because that is drastically affecting the commodity prices here in the United States. I represent southeast Missouri. We have more soybean farmers in southeast Missouri than the entire state of Missouri. And these folks are facing some dire, dire situations. I am glad that the president has said that he's going to take care of the farmers. It's extremely important that he does that. But we need to make sure that China opens up their markets if they want us to purchase their products. It does seem punitive at this point. Congressman, we only have 30 seconds left. Is that how you see it? Well, what the Chinese have done. It's clearly punitive. It was for a punitive, punitive measure, much like how they've been restricting critical minerals in rare earth to try to be punitive to the world that is unstable. That's why there's so many concerns about trading with with the Chinese. Hopefully, they'll be able to get to a common common ground in their meeting. Yeah, really fascinating conversation. Congressman Jason Smith, Republican Missouri chairs the House Ways and Means Committee and has been knee deep in this shutdown. Congressman, thank you. It's great to have your insights here on Bloomberg. Well, assemble our panel next. And by the way, we will speak with Democratic Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz coming up later this hour as we seek insights from both sides of the aisle on Bloomberg. We just had some news from our interview that just happened moments ago with Jason Smith, of course, the chair of the House Ways and Means Committee. The chairman telling Jello and and me here that lawmakers are now weighing a stopgap bill that would fund the government through December of 2026. This would be controversial, to say the least. We know that it is something that Senate Majority Leader John Thune has previously indicated that could be difficult for Republicans in the Senate. So, Joe, it's really raising some questions here about where these negotiations are heading. Yes, we floated this idea to the panel yesterday, and we're going to have Rick and Jeannie with us momentarily here, because you're right. John Thune suggested that this may be the only way out. And it's something that the White House before the shutdown had floated. You know what? Just rip off the Band-Aid. We'll do a yearlong C.R. and we don't have to talk about shutdowns for a while. To hear the chair of the Ways and Means Committee extend this through December of 2026 was unexpected. And I'm not sure if he's speaking for the Republican conference. He's clearly not going to be controversial at the White House. But Speaker Johnson may not love this idea. Right. And a lot of Senate Republicans don't love it either. We heard from Susan Collins, of course, a top appropriator in the Senate just yesterday saying that she is adamantly opposed to a long term C.R. So that is raising questions about the viability. But certainly news here on down to power. Of course, the Freedom Caucus will throw up as soon as this gets their way as well. So let's find out what the panel thinks, because indeed, we may be heading for a very different scenario than we were talking about just a couple of days ago. Bloomberg Politics contributors Judy Shannon Zaino and Rick Davis are with us right now. Jeannie is our Democratic analyst and democracy visiting fellow at Harvard Kennedy School's Ash Center. Rick, our Republican strategist, partner at Stone Court Capital. Jenny, did Jason Smith just tell us how this movie ends? He very well may have. I mean, that was just fascinating. And of course, what are we talking about? We're talking about Joe Biden still living in Washington, D.C. We're just going to continue with the Biden budget. I mean, it's utterly stunning and hard to explain, given a Republican leadership that came in under Mike Johnson and Thune, promising it returned to regular order. Well, that's gone right away. And here we go. We're going to re-up Joe Biden's budget. I think that is just stunning. And I can't imagine appropriators around DC are excited to hear this may be how it ends, but, boy, it is big news to hear him say that to you guys. So what's your reaction here? How would these Republicans that are in favor of this long term potential solution pitch it to the rest of the party? Yeah, I mean, I'm not sure I would use the term in favor of Tyler. I mean, I think even the chairman indicated it's like a desperate effort to fund the government at this stage. And I think it's going to be a hard sell in the United States Senate. I mean, as you pointed out, Susan Collins, you've been working very diligently as the chairman of the Appropriations Committee to craft a bipartisan budget, which was well on its way to getting done. I mean, the reason that the C.R. is only originally 60 days is because everyone thought in that period of time we could actually finish up these appropriations bills actually doing something that Congress hasn't done in a long time, which is pass a budget, a budget that Donald Trump approves of. That's this is the real question as to like, why did we take such a big step backwards in order to, you know, just sort of kick the can on government funding? I don't know. A single Republican in the Senate who wants to vote for Joe Biden's budget. Again, they've done it three times now. They don't want to do it again. And and and they've got the ability to pass these appropriations bills certainly before year end. And there's going to be a real push against this. I mean, this is not the funding that these guys want. And by the way, it still doesn't fix the insurance subsidies for the ACA. I mean, that's going to be laying around stinking up Congress until it's fixed. And so, you know, all of a sudden there's this like real traffic jam. In Congress to get these things done in a way that isn't just kicking the can may be okay with Donald Trump. But I as as a as a staunch fiscal conservative, the idea that we just keep funding Democratic budgets after winning a presidential campaign is is just reverse thinking. Well, it's interesting because you're you're both saying some of the same things here. What's Chuck Schumer going to say about all of this? You know, two breaks points since this doesn't address what the Democrats agree is to bring this shutdown to begin with in terms of the subsidies. I don't see how it moves through the Democrats that they need to get it through the Senate. So that would be a problem. But I do think, as you just imagine trying to explain to anybody on the street. Wait a minute. We've been through all of this and you're simply going to try to re up what you did under Joe Biden. Why did we even elect you? I mean, I can't imagine this is a sell for the Republican base or the Democratic base. You know, I have empathy for these leaders in Congress and these chairs of these committees. They desperately want to reopen this government and get this thing done. I just can't see this as a winning message to either members or to their constituents. Well, from domestic to foreign policy issues. We also want to ask you both about some other news of day happening here in Washington. The NATO's secretary general, Mark Rutte, at the White House meeting with President Trump later this afternoon behind closed doors, his meeting here to the U.S., coming after we had the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, at the White House on Friday. And we heard from President Trump yesterday speaking about the potential future of a meeting between him and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Now downplaying that that's going to happen. No, I want to I don't want to have a wasted meeting. I don't want to have a wasted time. So I'll see what happens. But we did all of these great deals, great pieces of peace agreements, solid agreements, every one of them. But this one. And I said, go to the line. Go to the line of battle on the battlefield lines. And you pull back and you go home and everybody take some time off because you have two countries that are killing each other. President Trump, they were saying he doesn't want a wasted meeting in his terms. Rick, where do we stand on this? How is the dynamic being informed today with the latest on the war in Russia as we have this, NATO's secretary general Mark Rutte, considered to be a close ally, a relatively a friendly relationship between himself and President Trump. Yeah, I think Brad does have a close relationship with Trump. He's come to the fire brigade before for Zelensky after that horrific meeting in August. But in the White House, he intervened and and and I think has been a really positive contributor to trying to get some continuity to the U.S. position on the Ukrainian defense of their country. And so any time he's there, things seem to come out pretty well. And at least this time you don't also see the prime minister of the U.K. and the president of France joining because that that was the other fire brigade last time that this went down. So I think that I think that this is an opportunity, as you point out. Trump has flip flopped on this position of having a meeting in in Hungary with Putin primarily, I think, based on reporting because of the comments that Lavrov, his top foreign policy person in in Moscow, said, which is they're still stuck on this root causes have to be addressed, which means they've made no progress whatsoever. And I think the White House did the right thing by saying, okay, if that's the case, forget about it. You're not in the position of wanting to make peace. Hopefully they can get back on track. Some of the weapons deals that they had talked about, including a conversation around Tomahawks, which I know Russia is going to be probably bringing up in his conversations with Donald Trump. So I think this pendulum swings back and forth on a daily basis. The lack of continuity is everybody's head spinning. And in the meantime, you know, today was a very violent day in the war between Russia and Ukraine on both sides. Multiple Russian missile and drone strikes against Ukraine as the president waits for the secretary general. Jenny, if it is true that the president tends to follow the opinions of who he last spoke with or is impressed by the most recent conversation that he had on this. Are we going to get a post on Truth Social this evening saying that Ukraine once again can retake all of the land that has been occupied by Russia? Well, we do know that the secretary general speaks Trumpian. So there is that. And apparently Putin does as well. The one who seems to have more difficulty is Zelensky, because all reports out of that meeting they had the other day, it was a pretty stark meeting. And that is why we are seeing the secretary general make this trip today. I think it is possible we may see a truth sociale post that those Tomahawks may be sold, but I think in the end there is very little sense that that is going to make a huge difference on the ground. And I think what we are seeing is that Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin are continuing to have these conversations. They're important conversations, but that Vladimir Putin is not moving, he is not changing from where he started when this war started. And so I think Donald Trump canceling that meeting was a recognition that this isn't a moveable feast at this point. And he is sort of throwing up his hands once again and saying, not much we can do here and I'm not going to waste my time, which doesn't bode well for what is going on in Kiev and in Ukraine. And given the outsized. That population that Russia has, it is losing a lot of fighters, but much bigger than Ukraine. It desperately needs the support of the United States and NATO if they are going to make any headway. And I'm not convinced they will. And in the meantime, Lindsey Graham and the other senators who want these sanctions, they are still waiting to hear from the president. He hasn't even approved those. And that is, what, 80 bipartisan senators supporting those. All right. A fascinating conversation today with our political panel, both Bloomberg Politics contributors Rick Davis and Jeannie Manzano. Thank you both so much, as always. And, Joe, much to Jeannie's point, she brings up Congress, the NATO's secretary general also paying a visit to leaders on Capitol Hill today. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee poised to pass three bills that would ramp up the pressure on Russia, including some additional economic penalties. But, of course, that doesn't mean that it would be enacted quite right. We've also got breaking news from the Pentagon. The secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, confirming earlier reports that the United States has hit another alleged drug vote. This would be the eighth strike killed two individuals on the vessel. CBS news reporting. So the Pacific coast. This is Bloomberg. I'm Tyler Kendall here in washington alongside joe matthew and this is the Wednesday edition of balance of Power where we had some news earlier this hour. We spoke with the chair of the House Ways and Means Committee. That's Jason Smith. He's a Republican from Missouri. And he told us that he, quote, strongly supports a long term stopgap funding bill as the government shutdown is now in its 22nd day. Here's part of our conversation from earlier. December 21st, 2026, is what I've been hearing up here as a suggestion, as an opportunity of of a continuing resolution. As as we know, we're operating under a year long resolution from last year. We're looking at what was appropriated when Biden was president. So imagine a world in which Republican lawmakers are putting forth a Joe Biden era budget that will take us through the rest of the fiscal year. We actually had to check Tyler out and make sure we were talking about December 26, 2026. That is not December. A little more than a month from now. And this is where we start our conversation with another member of Congress and a view from the other side of the aisle. Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, the Democrat from Florida, is with us. And I will mention is also an appropriator that is supposed to be a job that Congress takes care of, appropriating funds that keep the government running. Congresswoman, it's great to see you. Maybe just close the Appropriations Committee. Is this is this the way this whole thing ends with a yearlong C.R.? Well, I think what Donald Trump would like to do is just shut the whole Congress down, which essentially Mike Johnson has has given in and done by not having us in session for for a month now. I mean, the fact that they have just shuttered the doors here when we have, you know, Scott Trump's America, that is raising costs for everyone. We have a looming health care explosive looming health care crisis in terms of affordability. And the Republicans refuse to show up to work. It is completely unnecessary and outrageous that a member of Congress would suggest that we cede all the appropriations authority to the administration and that we do a one year continuing resolution and just extend this whole thing for another year, regardless of whether it's Joe Biden's budget budget numbers. That is irresponsible and and it reneges and and steps back from our constitutional role for the power of the purse and to make sure that we have a good quality of life, that that is funded so that people can make sure that they can make ends meet. But Republicans don't care about that, clearly. What if there was something to entice Democrats to come to the table on this idea related to those expiring Affordable Care Act premium subsidies? Is there any world where there could be something that is offered in order to get this longer term stopgap measure essentially over the finish line? We don't need a longer term stopgap measure. We need to make sure that we vote to reopen the government, that we sit down during that discussion to prepare to reopen the government, ensure that people's health care costs don't explode. Democrats have been focused on lowering costs, canceling the cuts and saving Americans health care. I have a father of five in my district, Tyler, who is going to have his health care premiums go up 1200 dollars monthly for his family of five. I have a receptionist in Cooper City who is going to see her health care costs triple, triple. But so this has to be a conversation that is part of the end of the fiscal year spending decisions that we're making. We do not need we have made a short term continuing resolution resolution agreements into the beginning of the following year, following calendar year. That's what we should do. And we're not going to cave in to Republican threats and we're not going to let Donald Trump continue to rummage around the federal budget and do whatever he wants with it. Well, it's interesting, Congresswoman, because whether it was Jason Smith with us today or many other Republican lawmakers who have talked to us over the past 22 days have said that if Democrats voted with us on the C.R., we would already be engaged in negotiations about extending Obamacare premiums. And it sounds to me like this just boils down to a simple lack of trust. Is that is that where we are? Well, you know, if people who show you who they are, you should believe them. The first time, as Maya Angelou said, they weren't willing to negotiate on the enhanced premium tax credits expiring before we got to this point. And there's no reason to believe that they would do that now. They need to commit to sitting down now, come to the negotiating table, call the House back into session and negotiate an extension of those tax that those tax credits so that people's health care costs don't explode like Donald Trump has caused all other household costs explode during his presidency. Just to put a finer point on it, Congresswoman, what if there was a promised vote in the House, much like we're seeing in the Senate? For once the government does reopen, then there could be a vote on a one year extension. If Democrats got a promise that this could happen in both chambers, not a guarantee the policy would change, but that at least there would be a debate and a floor vote. Is that something that could be a viable option to get us out of this shutdown? Tyler We're not looking for a floor vote that, you know, Republicans are just going to come in and vote no and go home. We're looking to cancel the cuts to lower health care costs and to save Americans health care. So the only thing that will meet our demands, which are on behalf of the American people who are going to be priced out of their ability to afford health care and caused them to use the emergency room as a much more expensive and much more dangerous access point for health care is to sit down now, come back into session and negotiate a agreement on extending those health care tax credits to make health care more affordable and keep it affordable and reopen the government. Those have to be done at the same time because, trust me, doesn't work anymore with these people. Spending time with Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Democrat from Florida. Looks like we blew up another alleged drug boat. Congresswoman, this is number eight now and it's a little bit different this time. It wasn't coming off the coast of Venezuela. Apparently, this took place in the eastern Pacific, according to the secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth and CBS News is reporting that it was the Pacific side of South America. So I don't know if we're talking about a boat that originated in Colombia. I guess there were a couple of people killed here. And there's been conversations on Capitol Hill about war powers. In fact, a War Powers Act resolution failed in the Senate. I know they're working up another one, but at what point will Congress have an answer to this kind of activity? Well, I mean, the War Powers Act is certainly appropriate. But no, this strategy is is is ludicrous. I mean, if you just kill people, then they are not able to give you the evidence and and turn around and help us make sure that it leads to the arrests and the stopping of the drug trafficking and arrest the drug dealers that are running these these narco terrorist routes. Just blowing them up is not going to result in an end to the drug trade. And he's not even going after the boats that are actually stopping the flow of drugs into the United States. That route is through Mexico, not through Venezuela, although Maduro is certainly a narco terrorist that needs to be stopped. Well, there are suggestions that the administration might be up to more here. I mean, we have a massive military presence that that we have gathered off the coast of Venezuela, certainly a naval flotilla. We've been flying B-52s over the country. They at one point flew in F-16 or a couple of them over our boats. Is this going to be something that results in regime change? And could we see the same thing happen in Colombia? So I can't underscore this enough. All of that that Donald Trump is doing now is a distraction. He is keeping Maduro in power because he is funding his narco terrorist regime by allowing oil to oil proceeds to flow into Maduro's coffers. Donald Trump lifted sanctions on Venezuela, allowed oil sales and allows the profits from those sales to flow into Maduro's coffers and keep him in power. Donald Trump's policies are financially keeping my daughter in power. He is in illegal. He is illegally in office. He didn't win the election. And we need to go through a process that will transition him out and establish Edmundo Gonzalez, the rightful president of Venezuela. But Donald Trump is just enabling his continuation as a illegitimate president while, you know, a whole bunch of showy distractions on off the coast are have nothing to do with actually getting rid of him. And so, Congresswoman, just to build on this conversation, what are some of those tangible policy proposals that you think actually could get done in the near term to address these issues that you're outlining? Well, we need to engage the Latin American leadership. We we have had both the Colombian government, you know, who I think is erratic, but the Colombian government, the Chilean government, we've had the support of leaders in the region that we've Trump is now alienating. With these actions that he's taking against boats and the CIA announcement about their involvement in Venezuela, because the track record of the United States is not very good. Tyler. And going through that kind of regime change, it conjures up really terrible memories. So instead of rallying Latin American leaders around making sure that democracy can truly be established in Venezuela, Donald Trump is funneling money right into Maduro's hands. He's making a show of blowing up drug dealers that aren't even part of the drug trade that is coming into the United States, which is through Mexican Mexican routes and and, you know, moving military apparatus off of the coast while keeping him in power through the money that he's allowing to flow in through oil sales. He's a hippie. Congresswoman, I know you don't get to the White House a lot these days. Correct me if I'm wrong, but it's pretty wild what's going on over there with the construction of this ballroom. They broke ground a couple of days ago. And The Washington Post has been reporting that the the destruction of much of the East wing has been expanded beyond the initial plans that were put forward, that the White House, in fact, did not get permission to do this. We're obviously dealing with the people's house here. And I wonder if Congress will have an answer to this as well. We're showing images right now. It almost looks like a bomb hit the building. They're hosing it down as a backhoe, just tears the wall off the side of the East wing. And, you know, they're not done. Of course, I'm wondering your thoughts on this, if it is, in fact, a modernization effort that needs to happen and the fact that it's privately funded, should the president get credit for that? And Donald Trump's America, everything is more expensive gas, utilities, rent, groceries, health care. And he is not only focused on raising hundreds of millions of dollars from billionaires that he's wining and dining at the White House to, you know, build himself a ballroom. But he's also trying to get the Department of Justice to reimburse him, to line his pockets with $230 million, to reimburse him for legitimate investigations where he stole intelligence information from the federal government after he left office. This Donald Trump is focused on lining his own pockets and wining and dining the wealthiest, most fortunate Americans. And instead of focusing on reopening the government and now on top of that, to add insult to injury, he's going to leave the country. That's unprecedented. To have a president leave the country and and decide that foreign policy right now is more important than making sure he helps our parties sit down around the table, work together and get this government reopened and stop the health care crisis cost crisis that they are causing. All right. Democratic Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz. She represents Florida's 25th District. Thanks so much for joining us here on Bloomberg Television and Radio. Joe, really a fascinating conversation today with the congresswoman hitting a lot of points, but of course, top of mind. The government shutdown as we are now in day 22. Yeah, pretty remarkable. And we're going to have 23, by the way. They'll vote again on the C.R. in the Senate and it will fail. We should note, by the way, with thanks to the congresswoman that gas prices have, in fact, been trending lower. More recently, the White House kicked out quite a number of communiques when it fell below $3 a gallon on the national average, hitting a year to date low on October 18th. Great to spend another hour with you. Tyler, we'll do this again tomorrow and I'll meet you on the Late edition of balance of Power on Bloomberg TV and Radio. That starts at 5 p.m. eastern time with the latest on the shutdown. And nato's secretary general visiting president trump right around that time. It'll be here on bloomberg.
Lawmakers Mulling Longer Stopgap Bill | Balance of Power 10/22/2025
Summary
Transcript
Live from Washington, D.C. This is balance of power with Joe Matthew and Kaylee Lyons. Looks like another swing and a miss. Welcome to the Wednesday edition. As the Senate prepares to vote again on a stopgap to reopen the government knowing that it will fail once again. I'm Joe Matthew alongside Tyler Kendall in Washington on this day 22 of the government shutdown. Thank you for joining us, Tyler. You know how you can finish the line for me at this point. Day 22 of the shutdown. And watch. No sign of this ending and no sign of this ending. Now, the second to last longest government shutdown in U.S. history. And, Joe, the reality is the House has been out of session since September 19th, been a month. The Senate is expected to adjourn tomorrow for the weekend. And President Trump is heading out of town. He has this overseas visit in Asia that he's going to leave for later this week. I believe you're going on that trip, as a matter of fact. And so that's why a lot of people are suggesting that this could be a record shutdown. Of course, the record set in the first Trump administration at 35 days. But we could be talking about this at Thanksgiving at the rate we're going here. And we're going to get an update coming up from Jack Fitzpatrick at Bloomberg Government, An interesting chairman of Ways and Means is going to come on and talk to us as well. Right? Because one of the big questions here is, is this stopgap measure that they keep voting on, it funds the government until November 21st if it passes. But, Joe, is that really viable at this point as we wait for some sort of update? Because when they passed that back in September, look like they had a lot of time to work out some differences, but now we're just inching closer to that date. Right. What was once seven weeks is now just a couple of minutes, it seems like. And there are great questions about whether there'd be enough time to pass spending bills to then have a budget for the next fiscal year. So we're going to talk about all of this. We'll get an update, as we mentioned, from Capitol Hill. And we'll dig into this with Congressman Jason Smith, the Republican in charge of the Ways and Means Committee Tyler. All that ahead this hour. Right, Exactly. Something that the markets are watching, of course, also putting on your radar. We just heard from President Trump on True Social, saying that he spoke to Mary Barra of General Motors, talking about their stock and what's happening there. So for an update and the latest, we go to Alexis. Christopher is from world headquarters in New York for a look at Wednesday's trade. Hey, Alexis. Thanks a lot, guys. Stocks are extending their losses here. Reuters reporting the U.S. is considering restrictions of exports to China linked to software. We have the Dow industrials down about 205 points. The S&P 500 down 39. The NASDAQ composite sliding nearly 260. Speaking of sliding gold and silver, extending declines after yesterday's big sell off, with gold falling another 1.7% today, closing in on $4,000 an ounce. Tesla in the spotlight. Earnings due after the closing bell. Analysts expect a decrease in adjusted earnings from the previous year despite record EV sales for the quarter. Tesla is also recalling nearly 13,000 vehicles over an issue that can cause a sudden loss of battery power, increasing the risk of a crash. The recall affects Model Y and Model three vehicles produced from March through August of this year. Last month, you'll remember a Bloomberg investigation into Tesla's electric powered doors sparked an investigation by federal officials. Elsewhere, we have got shares of Netflix plunging 10% after a $600 million tax hit from Brazil slammed Q3 earnings. Otherwise, it was a strong earnings report thanks to higher ad sales and hits like K-Pop Demon Hunters. The streaming service is most popular film ever, with 325 million views. Meantime, Mattel and Hasbro are going all in on this K-Pop craze, producing toys, collectibles and games based on that popular animated film. They're not going to be here in time for the holidays, though. The products will be available next year for On Demand News 24 hours a day. Subscribe to Bloomberg News now wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Alexis Christofferson. That's your Bloomberg business. Flash back over to Tyler and Joe and Balance of Power. All right, Alexis, thanks so much. As Alexis mentioned, I'm Tyler Kendall here in Washington alongside a Joe Matthew. And as Joe just outlined, we are now in day 22 of a government shutdown, officially the second longest in U.S. history. And Democratic leaders are trying to get on President Trump's schedule before he heads out of town and goes on this trip to Asia. And President Trump yesterday signaled an openness to talk to them, but said that none of these negotiations around health care provisions are going to happen until the government reopens. We heard from House Speaker Mike Johnson earlier today addressing that possibility. Republicans cannot and will not solve it in a backroom deal. Chuck Schumer has been suggesting that four leaders should go into a smoke filled backroom like they do in the old days and and create this solution. It's not a possible thing to do. It was never appropriate. It's not possible to put on a continuing resolution because it's such a complex issue. Hold that cigar because we want to spend some time with Jack Fitzpatrick, who's not in a back the smoky back room, but in fact, in the Senate Russell Rotunda right now. Jack, I. Nowhere to go any more with this. We've been talking about it for 22 days. The talking points haven't changed. Republicans say it's the Schumer shutdown and Democrats need to come back and reopen the government. At what point does the conversation change or do we just keep cruising to a record? We could cruise to a record? And it's worth keeping in mind this is already the longest total government shutdown of all time. They have not passed any appropriations bills. When you compare to that 2018 into 2019 shut down, all of the Defense Department was already funded. Most of the money in question was already appropriated, and it was a rather small partial shutdown. So you've seen them grin and bear it and get through a long total shutdown. I do think you can circle November 1st on your calendars. Obviously, Democrats have talked for weeks now about the start of open enrollment under the Affordable Care Act as a political pressure point to try to force negotiations. I would point out that October 31st, the day before that, is the next scheduled military pay date. And while the president found a way to move money around for the October 15th pay date, there's not a clear plan on what's going to happen for the next paychecks for members of the military. The warnings that SNAP nutrition aid could dry up on November 1st coincides with that. And then, of course, eventually this whole debate about a stopgap going through November 21st becomes a moot point because it's stale and that's not a useful date. So I think as we get towards the beginning of November and maybe into early November, that's when you can see some signs of political pressure where they have to have negotiations. But that's not in the imminent future. So there's still digging in and ready to keep this shutdown going for at least a little while longer. Well, let's talk about that stopgap measure. And Jack, I want to pull in your expertise here, because we're hearing murmurs that maybe on the table could be a one year continuing resolution. Is that actually a viable option that's being discussed? How problematic of a solution would that be? It's definitely seen as a problematic and unfortunate solution. It does sound like it's on the table. We heard from John Thune, the Senate majority leader, saying that is an option. And surprisingly, you've heard for a while now a drumbeat from the most conservative members of the House saying let's take a full year C.R., a stopgap that just runs the government on autopilot for the rest of the year. Usually they hate seizures, but freezing funding is effectively a cut adjusted for inflation. So that's a position that's somewhat widely held among Republicans. The appropriators who are in charge of trying to actually put together funding bills have put their foot down and said, absolutely not. We want to do our jobs. We want a real deal. But that's not all the members of Congress. So there is a threat of a second consecutive full year continuing resolution, which raises a lot of questions about the governance of the federal budget. But there are at least some members who are very upset at that implication and are trying to fight against it. What's Senator Merkley up to? Jack has been talking for over 18 hours. I guess he had to loosen his his shoelaces because he's been standing for so long here. But what's the point of the filibuster if he's not actually holding up a bill or helping to reopen the government? You know, I think we're at the point after Cory Booker broke the record for the longest floor speech where there is some value seen in attracting the cameras and going the distance and seeing how long you can put a spotlight on the issues you care about. Jeff Merkley has been one of the most vocal members of Congress about his frustrations with Russell Vote, the budget director, about calling for not just a handshake deal, but a concrete deal in writing to try to stop unilateral cuts from the White House. And he's on the floor warning about ISIS, a sign warning of authoritarianism. That is a significant part of this shutdown fight is the frustration with Trump and vote and the unilateral actions aside from the health care fight. So we'll see if he can go the distance. He's got to go at least a little past 7 p.m., maybe 730 to break Cory Booker's record. I don't know if he's got it in him. But clearly, the the opportunity is there for Democrats to put a spotlight on the issues that they're angry about. Well, all right. We have our timer set. Bloomberg government's Jack Fitzpatrick, thanks so much, as always, for your reporting and expertise. And to expand the conversation, we're joined now by Congressman Jason Smith. He's a Republican representing Missouri's eighth Congressional District and chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. Congressman, thanks so much for joining in. It's good to see you. I want to ask about these recent comments from Senate Majority Leader John Thune, who says it might be time to start thinking about having the House come back into session because this stopgap bill that they are voting on would only fund the government until November 21st. Is a November 21st stopgap still viable at this point? Well, it's hard to predict the actions of the Democrats because right now they've been stalling a very basic, clean continuation of funding. What we need to see in the House of Representatives for the Senate to send us some kind of funding bill, they need to figure out what they can pass and that side of the building. Unfortunately, because of the filibuster, you have Democrats that's preventing a vote. If they would just allow a vote on the continuing resolution that they have voted for numerous times in the past, we would be able to open government. We'd be able to fund government. Chuck Schumer voted for a continuing resolution just like this 13 times when Biden was president, in fact, as recent as this past March. Well, I know that you've been very consistent in your views on this, Mr. Chairman, and it's good to have you back on Bloomberg. You probably heard the conversation we were just having, and it's causing some heads to explode here in Washington. The idea of a full year C.R. being the only way out of this, is that a nonstarter for you? And what does it tell us about where we stand on Capitol Hill? So I've been hearing this conversation from senators, from House members that a C.R., not just for a year, but to December 1st of next year. This has been conversations that I've been hearing in Washington, D.C., and we just need to make sure that government is open and serving the American people. And we need to make sure that government is not at risk of political games, which we're seen played right now by the House and Senate Democrats. So just for clarity, Congressman, is that something that's really on the table? Would you be where do you fall on this this idea of a longer term government funding bill? I strongly support a longer, longer term continuing resolution. I would support that until December 1st. I think that that would allow more stability for our economy, stability for the American people. The fact that we had the whip of the House Democrats just recently say on TV that, yes, people are hurting in the shutdown, but this is our leverage. It is unfortunate that people believe making the American folks hurt as leverage. That's unacceptable. That is why I would support a longer term continuing resolution. Are we talking December 1st weeks from now or December 1st, 2026? Mr. Chairman, December 21st, 2026 is what I've been hearing up here as a suggestion, as an opportunity of of a continuing resolution. As as we know, we're operating under a yearlong resolution from last year. We're looking at what was appropriated when Biden was president. Yeah, that's which is one of the ironies of this whole debate, that now Republicans are urging Democrats to vote for for Joe Biden's budget plan. Would that still allow for a debate? Eight over Obamacare subsidies. Is that something that you're interested in for your constituents? As open enrollment is set to begin? Well, first, let me let me just respond to the fact that Republicans, if they completely had their way, they would actually want to reduce the amount of funding from Biden levels. But that's not how it's able to work up here with people all over in the United States Senate. And so that was our issue in regards to the the subsidies for insurance companies. This is something that we've been willing to discuss throughout this whole time, and it's something that needs a lot of discussion because access to health care is essential for Americans. We need to make sure that we're talking about access for all Americans, not just 24 million Americans, but 347 million Americans. Well, Senate Majority Leader John Thune has floated that there could be an up and down vote once the government reopens on a one year extension of these expiring Affordable Care Act premium subsidies. But Democrats say that they don't want to get on board with that because there's no guarantee that such a vote would happen in the House. Do you think that this is something that House Speaker Mike Johnson should bring to the floor? So there is at least this debate on perhaps structural changes or some sort of extension down the road? I would not be support of a one year extension period without reforms. There has to be reforms. The the corruption that's within the program, there's 24 million people that are on the Obamacare exchanges. Half of them last year, that's 12 million didn't even file a claim. Why didn't those 12 million not file a claim? I'm sure it's because they didn't even know that they were on the exchanges. But guess what? Those insurance companies, they received the subsidized premiums for it, even though they didn't even provide the health care for it. These are the simple kind of reforms that need to be addressed and need to be explained. We also shouldn't be subsidizing premiums for people who make more than 400% of the federal poverty level, people who make $600,000 a year. I don't think Americans are good with that. Well, I'll tell you what, I appreciate this conversation, because it's more detailed than just about any that we've heard. It's time to start getting down to this debate. Congressman, I'm wondering what should be the timeline? Do you want to go down the road of permanently extending subsidies with those collars on them, as Democrats have suggested, make it permanent? Or should these be sunset after a year or more? You know, everything has to be looked at and has to be on the table. I don't want to set any limits, pros and cons and and negotiate an agreement in the press. But what we need to do is have Republicans and Democrats come together and figure out what is best creating more access to health care for all Americans, not just people on exchanges, but all Americans. There's 174 million Americans that are in employee health insurance, but that employee health insurance is quite expensive. So we need to look at all different ways to help lower the cost of health care. Congressman, I also want to ask you about something else that the government shutdown has impacted, which is economic aid for farmers. Now, the Trump administration says that it is planning to unveil $3 billion worth of such economic assistance tomorrow. Actually, I've learned that Missouri, your state, is one of the top three soybean producing states in the country. I'm wondering how you are looking ahead to this meeting between potential meeting between President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping. What's going to happen if China does not agree to purchase agreements for our U.S. farmers, particularly related to soybeans? Let me tell you what the Chinese have done to us. Soybean farmers alone has been atrocious. Typically, in the average year, China purchases somewhere between 12 to $15 billion worth of soybeans a year from the United States. They have not purchased $1 this year. And so that better be on the table. That has to be something that's being discussed because that is drastically affecting the commodity prices here in the United States. I represent southeast Missouri. We have more soybean farmers in southeast Missouri than the entire state of Missouri. And these folks are facing some dire, dire situations. I am glad that the president has said that he's going to take care of the farmers. It's extremely important that he does that. But we need to make sure that China opens up their markets if they want us to purchase their products. It does seem punitive at this point. Congressman, we only have 30 seconds left. Is that how you see it? Well, what the Chinese have done. It's clearly punitive. It was for a punitive, punitive measure, much like how they've been restricting critical minerals in rare earth to try to be punitive to the world that is unstable. That's why there's so many concerns about trading with with the Chinese. Hopefully, they'll be able to get to a common common ground in their meeting. Yeah, really fascinating conversation. Congressman Jason Smith, Republican Missouri chairs the House Ways and Means Committee and has been knee deep in this shutdown. Congressman, thank you. It's great to have your insights here on Bloomberg. Well, assemble our panel next. And by the way, we will speak with Democratic Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz coming up later this hour as we seek insights from both sides of the aisle on Bloomberg. We just had some news from our interview that just happened moments ago with Jason Smith, of course, the chair of the House Ways and Means Committee. The chairman telling Jello and and me here that lawmakers are now weighing a stopgap bill that would fund the government through December of 2026. This would be controversial, to say the least. We know that it is something that Senate Majority Leader John Thune has previously indicated that could be difficult for Republicans in the Senate. So, Joe, it's really raising some questions here about where these negotiations are heading. Yes, we floated this idea to the panel yesterday, and we're going to have Rick and Jeannie with us momentarily here, because you're right. John Thune suggested that this may be the only way out. And it's something that the White House before the shutdown had floated. You know what? Just rip off the Band-Aid. We'll do a yearlong C.R. and we don't have to talk about shutdowns for a while. To hear the chair of the Ways and Means Committee extend this through December of 2026 was unexpected. And I'm not sure if he's speaking for the Republican conference. He's clearly not going to be controversial at the White House. But Speaker Johnson may not love this idea. Right. And a lot of Senate Republicans don't love it either. We heard from Susan Collins, of course, a top appropriator in the Senate just yesterday saying that she is adamantly opposed to a long term C.R. So that is raising questions about the viability. But certainly news here on down to power. Of course, the Freedom Caucus will throw up as soon as this gets their way as well. So let's find out what the panel thinks, because indeed, we may be heading for a very different scenario than we were talking about just a couple of days ago. Bloomberg Politics contributors Judy Shannon Zaino and Rick Davis are with us right now. Jeannie is our Democratic analyst and democracy visiting fellow at Harvard Kennedy School's Ash Center. Rick, our Republican strategist, partner at Stone Court Capital. Jenny, did Jason Smith just tell us how this movie ends? He very well may have. I mean, that was just fascinating. And of course, what are we talking about? We're talking about Joe Biden still living in Washington, D.C. We're just going to continue with the Biden budget. I mean, it's utterly stunning and hard to explain, given a Republican leadership that came in under Mike Johnson and Thune, promising it returned to regular order. Well, that's gone right away. And here we go. We're going to re-up Joe Biden's budget. I think that is just stunning. And I can't imagine appropriators around DC are excited to hear this may be how it ends, but, boy, it is big news to hear him say that to you guys. So what's your reaction here? How would these Republicans that are in favor of this long term potential solution pitch it to the rest of the party? Yeah, I mean, I'm not sure I would use the term in favor of Tyler. I mean, I think even the chairman indicated it's like a desperate effort to fund the government at this stage. And I think it's going to be a hard sell in the United States Senate. I mean, as you pointed out, Susan Collins, you've been working very diligently as the chairman of the Appropriations Committee to craft a bipartisan budget, which was well on its way to getting done. I mean, the reason that the C.R. is only originally 60 days is because everyone thought in that period of time we could actually finish up these appropriations bills actually doing something that Congress hasn't done in a long time, which is pass a budget, a budget that Donald Trump approves of. That's this is the real question as to like, why did we take such a big step backwards in order to, you know, just sort of kick the can on government funding? I don't know. A single Republican in the Senate who wants to vote for Joe Biden's budget. Again, they've done it three times now. They don't want to do it again. And and and they've got the ability to pass these appropriations bills certainly before year end. And there's going to be a real push against this. I mean, this is not the funding that these guys want. And by the way, it still doesn't fix the insurance subsidies for the ACA. I mean, that's going to be laying around stinking up Congress until it's fixed. And so, you know, all of a sudden there's this like real traffic jam. In Congress to get these things done in a way that isn't just kicking the can may be okay with Donald Trump. But I as as a as a staunch fiscal conservative, the idea that we just keep funding Democratic budgets after winning a presidential campaign is is just reverse thinking. Well, it's interesting because you're you're both saying some of the same things here. What's Chuck Schumer going to say about all of this? You know, two breaks points since this doesn't address what the Democrats agree is to bring this shutdown to begin with in terms of the subsidies. I don't see how it moves through the Democrats that they need to get it through the Senate. So that would be a problem. But I do think, as you just imagine trying to explain to anybody on the street. Wait a minute. We've been through all of this and you're simply going to try to re up what you did under Joe Biden. Why did we even elect you? I mean, I can't imagine this is a sell for the Republican base or the Democratic base. You know, I have empathy for these leaders in Congress and these chairs of these committees. They desperately want to reopen this government and get this thing done. I just can't see this as a winning message to either members or to their constituents. Well, from domestic to foreign policy issues. We also want to ask you both about some other news of day happening here in Washington. The NATO's secretary general, Mark Rutte, at the White House meeting with President Trump later this afternoon behind closed doors, his meeting here to the U.S., coming after we had the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, at the White House on Friday. And we heard from President Trump yesterday speaking about the potential future of a meeting between him and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Now downplaying that that's going to happen. No, I want to I don't want to have a wasted meeting. I don't want to have a wasted time. So I'll see what happens. But we did all of these great deals, great pieces of peace agreements, solid agreements, every one of them. But this one. And I said, go to the line. Go to the line of battle on the battlefield lines. And you pull back and you go home and everybody take some time off because you have two countries that are killing each other. President Trump, they were saying he doesn't want a wasted meeting in his terms. Rick, where do we stand on this? How is the dynamic being informed today with the latest on the war in Russia as we have this, NATO's secretary general Mark Rutte, considered to be a close ally, a relatively a friendly relationship between himself and President Trump. Yeah, I think Brad does have a close relationship with Trump. He's come to the fire brigade before for Zelensky after that horrific meeting in August. But in the White House, he intervened and and and I think has been a really positive contributor to trying to get some continuity to the U.S. position on the Ukrainian defense of their country. And so any time he's there, things seem to come out pretty well. And at least this time you don't also see the prime minister of the U.K. and the president of France joining because that that was the other fire brigade last time that this went down. So I think that I think that this is an opportunity, as you point out. Trump has flip flopped on this position of having a meeting in in Hungary with Putin primarily, I think, based on reporting because of the comments that Lavrov, his top foreign policy person in in Moscow, said, which is they're still stuck on this root causes have to be addressed, which means they've made no progress whatsoever. And I think the White House did the right thing by saying, okay, if that's the case, forget about it. You're not in the position of wanting to make peace. Hopefully they can get back on track. Some of the weapons deals that they had talked about, including a conversation around Tomahawks, which I know Russia is going to be probably bringing up in his conversations with Donald Trump. So I think this pendulum swings back and forth on a daily basis. The lack of continuity is everybody's head spinning. And in the meantime, you know, today was a very violent day in the war between Russia and Ukraine on both sides. Multiple Russian missile and drone strikes against Ukraine as the president waits for the secretary general. Jenny, if it is true that the president tends to follow the opinions of who he last spoke with or is impressed by the most recent conversation that he had on this. Are we going to get a post on Truth Social this evening saying that Ukraine once again can retake all of the land that has been occupied by Russia? Well, we do know that the secretary general speaks Trumpian. So there is that. And apparently Putin does as well. The one who seems to have more difficulty is Zelensky, because all reports out of that meeting they had the other day, it was a pretty stark meeting. And that is why we are seeing the secretary general make this trip today. I think it is possible we may see a truth sociale post that those Tomahawks may be sold, but I think in the end there is very little sense that that is going to make a huge difference on the ground. And I think what we are seeing is that Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin are continuing to have these conversations. They're important conversations, but that Vladimir Putin is not moving, he is not changing from where he started when this war started. And so I think Donald Trump canceling that meeting was a recognition that this isn't a moveable feast at this point. And he is sort of throwing up his hands once again and saying, not much we can do here and I'm not going to waste my time, which doesn't bode well for what is going on in Kiev and in Ukraine. And given the outsized. That population that Russia has, it is losing a lot of fighters, but much bigger than Ukraine. It desperately needs the support of the United States and NATO if they are going to make any headway. And I'm not convinced they will. And in the meantime, Lindsey Graham and the other senators who want these sanctions, they are still waiting to hear from the president. He hasn't even approved those. And that is, what, 80 bipartisan senators supporting those. All right. A fascinating conversation today with our political panel, both Bloomberg Politics contributors Rick Davis and Jeannie Manzano. Thank you both so much, as always. And, Joe, much to Jeannie's point, she brings up Congress, the NATO's secretary general also paying a visit to leaders on Capitol Hill today. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee poised to pass three bills that would ramp up the pressure on Russia, including some additional economic penalties. But, of course, that doesn't mean that it would be enacted quite right. We've also got breaking news from the Pentagon. The secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, confirming earlier reports that the United States has hit another alleged drug vote. This would be the eighth strike killed two individuals on the vessel. CBS news reporting. So the Pacific coast. This is Bloomberg. I'm Tyler Kendall here in washington alongside joe matthew and this is the Wednesday edition of balance of Power where we had some news earlier this hour. We spoke with the chair of the House Ways and Means Committee. That's Jason Smith. He's a Republican from Missouri. And he told us that he, quote, strongly supports a long term stopgap funding bill as the government shutdown is now in its 22nd day. Here's part of our conversation from earlier. December 21st, 2026, is what I've been hearing up here as a suggestion, as an opportunity of of a continuing resolution. As as we know, we're operating under a year long resolution from last year. We're looking at what was appropriated when Biden was president. So imagine a world in which Republican lawmakers are putting forth a Joe Biden era budget that will take us through the rest of the fiscal year. We actually had to check Tyler out and make sure we were talking about December 26, 2026. That is not December. A little more than a month from now. And this is where we start our conversation with another member of Congress and a view from the other side of the aisle. Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, the Democrat from Florida, is with us. And I will mention is also an appropriator that is supposed to be a job that Congress takes care of, appropriating funds that keep the government running. Congresswoman, it's great to see you. Maybe just close the Appropriations Committee. Is this is this the way this whole thing ends with a yearlong C.R.? Well, I think what Donald Trump would like to do is just shut the whole Congress down, which essentially Mike Johnson has has given in and done by not having us in session for for a month now. I mean, the fact that they have just shuttered the doors here when we have, you know, Scott Trump's America, that is raising costs for everyone. We have a looming health care explosive looming health care crisis in terms of affordability. And the Republicans refuse to show up to work. It is completely unnecessary and outrageous that a member of Congress would suggest that we cede all the appropriations authority to the administration and that we do a one year continuing resolution and just extend this whole thing for another year, regardless of whether it's Joe Biden's budget budget numbers. That is irresponsible and and it reneges and and steps back from our constitutional role for the power of the purse and to make sure that we have a good quality of life, that that is funded so that people can make sure that they can make ends meet. But Republicans don't care about that, clearly. What if there was something to entice Democrats to come to the table on this idea related to those expiring Affordable Care Act premium subsidies? Is there any world where there could be something that is offered in order to get this longer term stopgap measure essentially over the finish line? We don't need a longer term stopgap measure. We need to make sure that we vote to reopen the government, that we sit down during that discussion to prepare to reopen the government, ensure that people's health care costs don't explode. Democrats have been focused on lowering costs, canceling the cuts and saving Americans health care. I have a father of five in my district, Tyler, who is going to have his health care premiums go up 1200 dollars monthly for his family of five. I have a receptionist in Cooper City who is going to see her health care costs triple, triple. But so this has to be a conversation that is part of the end of the fiscal year spending decisions that we're making. We do not need we have made a short term continuing resolution resolution agreements into the beginning of the following year, following calendar year. That's what we should do. And we're not going to cave in to Republican threats and we're not going to let Donald Trump continue to rummage around the federal budget and do whatever he wants with it. Well, it's interesting, Congresswoman, because whether it was Jason Smith with us today or many other Republican lawmakers who have talked to us over the past 22 days have said that if Democrats voted with us on the C.R., we would already be engaged in negotiations about extending Obamacare premiums. And it sounds to me like this just boils down to a simple lack of trust. Is that is that where we are? Well, you know, if people who show you who they are, you should believe them. The first time, as Maya Angelou said, they weren't willing to negotiate on the enhanced premium tax credits expiring before we got to this point. And there's no reason to believe that they would do that now. They need to commit to sitting down now, come to the negotiating table, call the House back into session and negotiate an extension of those tax that those tax credits so that people's health care costs don't explode like Donald Trump has caused all other household costs explode during his presidency. Just to put a finer point on it, Congresswoman, what if there was a promised vote in the House, much like we're seeing in the Senate? For once the government does reopen, then there could be a vote on a one year extension. If Democrats got a promise that this could happen in both chambers, not a guarantee the policy would change, but that at least there would be a debate and a floor vote. Is that something that could be a viable option to get us out of this shutdown? Tyler We're not looking for a floor vote that, you know, Republicans are just going to come in and vote no and go home. We're looking to cancel the cuts to lower health care costs and to save Americans health care. So the only thing that will meet our demands, which are on behalf of the American people who are going to be priced out of their ability to afford health care and caused them to use the emergency room as a much more expensive and much more dangerous access point for health care is to sit down now, come back into session and negotiate a agreement on extending those health care tax credits to make health care more affordable and keep it affordable and reopen the government. Those have to be done at the same time because, trust me, doesn't work anymore with these people. Spending time with Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Democrat from Florida. Looks like we blew up another alleged drug boat. Congresswoman, this is number eight now and it's a little bit different this time. It wasn't coming off the coast of Venezuela. Apparently, this took place in the eastern Pacific, according to the secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth and CBS News is reporting that it was the Pacific side of South America. So I don't know if we're talking about a boat that originated in Colombia. I guess there were a couple of people killed here. And there's been conversations on Capitol Hill about war powers. In fact, a War Powers Act resolution failed in the Senate. I know they're working up another one, but at what point will Congress have an answer to this kind of activity? Well, I mean, the War Powers Act is certainly appropriate. But no, this strategy is is is ludicrous. I mean, if you just kill people, then they are not able to give you the evidence and and turn around and help us make sure that it leads to the arrests and the stopping of the drug trafficking and arrest the drug dealers that are running these these narco terrorist routes. Just blowing them up is not going to result in an end to the drug trade. And he's not even going after the boats that are actually stopping the flow of drugs into the United States. That route is through Mexico, not through Venezuela, although Maduro is certainly a narco terrorist that needs to be stopped. Well, there are suggestions that the administration might be up to more here. I mean, we have a massive military presence that that we have gathered off the coast of Venezuela, certainly a naval flotilla. We've been flying B-52s over the country. They at one point flew in F-16 or a couple of them over our boats. Is this going to be something that results in regime change? And could we see the same thing happen in Colombia? So I can't underscore this enough. All of that that Donald Trump is doing now is a distraction. He is keeping Maduro in power because he is funding his narco terrorist regime by allowing oil to oil proceeds to flow into Maduro's coffers. Donald Trump lifted sanctions on Venezuela, allowed oil sales and allows the profits from those sales to flow into Maduro's coffers and keep him in power. Donald Trump's policies are financially keeping my daughter in power. He is in illegal. He is illegally in office. He didn't win the election. And we need to go through a process that will transition him out and establish Edmundo Gonzalez, the rightful president of Venezuela. But Donald Trump is just enabling his continuation as a illegitimate president while, you know, a whole bunch of showy distractions on off the coast are have nothing to do with actually getting rid of him. And so, Congresswoman, just to build on this conversation, what are some of those tangible policy proposals that you think actually could get done in the near term to address these issues that you're outlining? Well, we need to engage the Latin American leadership. We we have had both the Colombian government, you know, who I think is erratic, but the Colombian government, the Chilean government, we've had the support of leaders in the region that we've Trump is now alienating. With these actions that he's taking against boats and the CIA announcement about their involvement in Venezuela, because the track record of the United States is not very good. Tyler. And going through that kind of regime change, it conjures up really terrible memories. So instead of rallying Latin American leaders around making sure that democracy can truly be established in Venezuela, Donald Trump is funneling money right into Maduro's hands. He's making a show of blowing up drug dealers that aren't even part of the drug trade that is coming into the United States, which is through Mexican Mexican routes and and, you know, moving military apparatus off of the coast while keeping him in power through the money that he's allowing to flow in through oil sales. He's a hippie. Congresswoman, I know you don't get to the White House a lot these days. Correct me if I'm wrong, but it's pretty wild what's going on over there with the construction of this ballroom. They broke ground a couple of days ago. And The Washington Post has been reporting that the the destruction of much of the East wing has been expanded beyond the initial plans that were put forward, that the White House, in fact, did not get permission to do this. We're obviously dealing with the people's house here. And I wonder if Congress will have an answer to this as well. We're showing images right now. It almost looks like a bomb hit the building. They're hosing it down as a backhoe, just tears the wall off the side of the East wing. And, you know, they're not done. Of course, I'm wondering your thoughts on this, if it is, in fact, a modernization effort that needs to happen and the fact that it's privately funded, should the president get credit for that? And Donald Trump's America, everything is more expensive gas, utilities, rent, groceries, health care. And he is not only focused on raising hundreds of millions of dollars from billionaires that he's wining and dining at the White House to, you know, build himself a ballroom. But he's also trying to get the Department of Justice to reimburse him, to line his pockets with $230 million, to reimburse him for legitimate investigations where he stole intelligence information from the federal government after he left office. This Donald Trump is focused on lining his own pockets and wining and dining the wealthiest, most fortunate Americans. And instead of focusing on reopening the government and now on top of that, to add insult to injury, he's going to leave the country. That's unprecedented. To have a president leave the country and and decide that foreign policy right now is more important than making sure he helps our parties sit down around the table, work together and get this government reopened and stop the health care crisis cost crisis that they are causing. All right. Democratic Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz. She represents Florida's 25th District. Thanks so much for joining us here on Bloomberg Television and Radio. Joe, really a fascinating conversation today with the congresswoman hitting a lot of points, but of course, top of mind. The government shutdown as we are now in day 22. Yeah, pretty remarkable. And we're going to have 23, by the way. They'll vote again on the C.R. in the Senate and it will fail. We should note, by the way, with thanks to the congresswoman that gas prices have, in fact, been trending lower. More recently, the White House kicked out quite a number of communiques when it fell below $3 a gallon on the national average, hitting a year to date low on October 18th. Great to spend another hour with you. Tyler, we'll do this again tomorrow and I'll meet you on the Late edition of balance of Power on Bloomberg TV and Radio. That starts at 5 p.m. eastern time with the latest on the shutdown. And nato's secretary general visiting president trump right around that time. It'll be here on bloomberg.