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Re-opening the US Government: House Poised to End Historic Shutdown Over Democrats’ Objections (Bloomberg)
US House lawmakers return to Washington today for a vote to end the 43-day government shutdown, which has snarled air travel, delayed food aid to millions of Americans and forced federal workers to go without pay.
Speaker
Mike Johnson said
he believes the legislation, a hard-fought compromise forged in the Senate and blessed by President Trump, will pass quickly. But he’ll need to keep his fractious party in line in the face of stiff resistance from House Democrats whose leaders are urging them to vote against the legislation.
It could still take days for air travel to return to normal and probably longer for most of the 42 million low-income Americans enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to receive delayed benefits. Lengthy backlogs and delays are likely across the federal government as it reopens.
Tonight
at the White House:
Trump Hosts Dinner With Jamie Dimon, Wall Street Executives (Bloomberg)
President Trump will host financial industry executives for dinner tonight at the White House, the latest effort by the administration to bring the country’s business elite behind his policies.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. CEO Jamie Dimon is among the attendees, according to a White House official. Nasdaq Inc.’s Adena Friedman was also among the chief executive officers invited, along with Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s David Solomon, BlackRock Inc.’s Larry Fink and Morgan Stanley’s Ted Pick, according to people briefed on the event.
Bid for Congress: Jack Schlossberg, Kennedy Heir, to Seek Nadler’s New York Congressional Seat (New York Times)
Jack Schlossberg, the grandson of John F. Kennedy, said he would run for the congressional seat being vacated by Representative Jerrold Nadler, joining the crowded Democratic primary in an influential New York City district and continuing his family’s legacy in electoral politics, according to the Times.
Schlossberg, 32, is perhaps best known as a social-media political commentator and provocateur who has frequently weighed in on national issues. He shared the news of his campaign in an email to supporters on Tuesday night, as Politico reported.
He has been especially critical — at times viciously so
— of his cousin Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who, despite his skepticism of vaccines and of science-backed public health policies, serves as health secretary under the Trump administration.
New Climate Report: Governments Are Flying Blind on Climate Costs, Study Says (Bloomberg)
Most governments have little idea how much they spend on fighting climate change — or how to cope with its worsening effects.
That’s the conclusion of a new global study using the Climate Scanner, a platform unveiled Tuesday in Belém, Brazil during the UN’s COP30 climate summit. The tool evaluates and tracks how governments manage climate action, from planning to budgeting.
The study found that nine in ten countries don’t know their climate spending, while seven in ten lack adequate medium- and long-term strategies to deal with climate impacts. Four in ten have no proper adaptation plans, and three-quarters of developing nations struggle even to estimate the resources needed to confront the crisis.
The platform evaluates countries across 15 indicators, including climate legislation, institutional capacity to plan, implement and monitor policies, emission-reduction strategies, and budget allocations for climate action.
Black Friday Blues: Tariffs Are Forcing Brands to Cut Back on Holiday Deals as Black Friday Approaches (Bloomberg)
Data Blackout: October Data Loss Means ‘Cloudy’ Economic Outlook (Bloomberg)
The record-long government shutdown
means that some of the economic data that was supposed to be collected in October may never be recorded, making it difficult to get a comprehensive look at the health of the US economy, White House National Economic Director Kevin Hassett said.
The concern is how agencies — which were already reeling from staffing constraints before the shutdown — will prioritize other reports, considering November is well underway. Economists and investors are bracing for data dumps when operations get back up and running, as agencies will have to manage the calendar of both delayed and upcoming reports. Hassett said that the shutdown will result in a hit to the economy, but predicted growth would resume in early 2026.
Job Market Bright Spot:
AI
Skills Power New Employment Opportunities (Axios)
India Elections: Exit Polls Show Modi Poised for Bihar Win After Tough Year (Bloomberg)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s alliance is leading in exit polls from elections in one of India’s poorest yet politically-pivotal states, suggesting a possible boost for the Indian leader after a year marked by economic headwinds and foreign policy challenges.
Peace
Unravels: Thailand Breaks Off Donald Trump-Brokered Peace Deal With Cambodia (Financial Times)
Thailand has suspended a peace deal with Cambodia, which was brokered by US President Trump, less than three weeks after it was signed, reigniting tensions between the Southeast Asian neighbors, according to the Financial Times.
Last month, the countries signed a peace accord
in Trump’s presence at a summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Malaysia, which had mediated the peace talks. As part of that deal, Thailand and Cambodia had agreed to cooperate on removing landmines, and Thailand committed to releasing detained Cambodians.
Bangkok said it would halt implementation of the agreement after four Thai soldiers were injured in a landmine explosion in Sisaket province, along the border with Cambodia on Monday.
Divisive Development:
Trump
Tower Plans in Belgrade Draw Thousands in Serbian Protest (Bloomberg)
Several thousand students in the Serbian capital Belgrade demonstrated over plans to build a Trump Tower hotel complex on the site of the former Yugoslavia army headquarters, which has stood in ruins since 1999.
The divisive $500 million Trump Tower project is backed by US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner. With support from Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, who has long sought closer ties with the Trump administration, lawmakers in the country last week voted to fast-track preparations for the project.
Election
Integrity Concerns Rise: Trump’s Sweeping 2020 Election Pardon Raises Alarms Ahead of the Midterms (Politico)
President Donald Trump’s adversaries say his sweeping pardon for dozens of alleged co-conspirators in the plot to subvert the 2020 election sent an unmistakable signal: If you do it again, I’ll protect you.
The mass pardon
— the first in history to cover people accused of criminally conspiring with the president who issued it — comes as Trump continues to stoke false claims about rampant cheating by Democrats and sow doubts about the integrity of future elections. And his opponents see the pardon as a permission slip for similar efforts in 2026 and 2028.
Opinion: How the US Can Win the Global AI Race (US News - Tom Secunda)
In my home state of New York, we launched Empire AI in April 2024, a first-of-its-kind consortium that brings together some of the greatest research universities from across New York state to build and offer AI computation to scientists and researchers, Tom Secunda writes in an opinion piece for US News.
As one of the founders of Bloomberg, a media company and financial information hub, I see every day how AI is transforming the economy. As a philanthropist, I have supported researchers in applying AI to humanity’s greatest challenges,
from inventing new materials to developing medical diagnostics to exploring the universe. The potential is limitless – but only if we give our scientists the tools to compete. Our future depends on it. Read Tom's full piece here.
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