Shutdown hits day 20 with parties at an impasse
Today is government shutdown Day 20 and there’s no end in sight.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., could bring up a bill this week that would pay federal employees who must work during the shutdown, but he’ll need Democrats to vote for it.
Meanwhile, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is keeping the House out of session.
“I refuse to allow us to come back and engage in anything until the government’s reopened, when the Democrats do the right thing for the people,” Johnson told ABC News on Sunday. “They’re playing politics, and we have to use every ounce of leverage we have to make sure they do the right thing.”
For more on this week’s D.C. agenda, read our Washington Week Ahead.
Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La. (AP photo)A federal judge said she was pleased the federal government intends to comply with her order prohibiting RIFs of union employees, at a status conference Friday in a lawsuit brought by those unions.
But Senior U.S. District Judge Susan Illston isn’t buying Justice Department lawyer Elizabeth Hedges’ arguments that the government shutdown is making it difficult for DOJ to explain its plans for future RIFs.
Hedges repeatedly said that as far as she was “aware,” no agencies are planning to conduct reductions in force at the present time.
“I can only represent what I know right now,” Hedges said in court Friday after the plaintiffs had sought a status conference in light of the Interior Department’s stated intention to conduct RIFs.
But Illston wasn’t satisfied.
“Find out, okay? If you don't know, find out,” Illston told Hedges. She also said, “My recommendation to defense counsel is to tell the defendants they should err on the side of caution.”
Illston expanded the scope of her temporary restraining order Friday. Read more here.
Trump sets tariffs on trucks for next month
President Donald Trump has signed a proclamation imposing 25% tariffs on medium and large trucks and their parts beginning Nov. 1.
A White House fact sheet on the new duties issued Friday said they will cover large pickup trucks, including moving trucks, cargo trucks, and tractors for 18-wheelers. The latest duties mirror similar tariffs applied to cars, leaving almost all vehicles not made in the U.S. subject to tariffs.
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The Commerce Department says around two-thirds of U.S. medium and heavy truck imports come from Mexico. But the tariffs may not apply to the full value of Mexican vehicles. Trucks covered by a North American free trade pact will only face tariffs on their non-U.S. content, the fact sheet says.
Canada extends tariff exemptions for manufacturing, food and drink packaging
Canada says temporary tariff relief for domestic food and drink manufacturers will last another two months.
Companies that can show their imported U.S. product is not easily available from another country had been granted tariff relief for six months while they explore alternate sources. On Friday, the Finance Department extended the scheme by another two months.
Manufacturers and processors are eligible for the tariff remission, as are food and drink manufacturers buying U.S. packaging items.
Take note: Canada removed many of its counter-tariffs on U.S. products at the beginning of September, except for sector-specific products, like steel, aluminum and cars.
Minnesota is latest stop in free trade motorcade
Minnesota farmers and officials spoke out Saturday about their grim outlook due to China not buying U.S. soybeans.
Minnesota Rep. Angie Craig, ranking member on the House Agriculture Committee, said the Trump administration is “killing family farms” and needs to “get their butts back to the negotiating table with China or this situation is only going to get worse and worse and worse.”
USDA’s focus on smaller markets isn’t helping, she added. "All these little countries that the Ag secretary is going around and seeing right now, it’s a drop in the bucket compared to the business that family farmers have lost to China,” Craig said.
“If you’re in the business of growing food, fuel or fiber, you can’t just sell it to a domestic population,” Farmers for Free Trade Executive Director Brian Kuehl said at the “Motorcade for Trade” event in Minnesota, which was livestreamed. “That’s a recipe for not being able to survive as a farm economy.”
Colorado seeks Supreme Court dismissal of South Platte lawsuit
Colorado is urging the Supreme Court to dismiss a complaint that accuses it of breaching a South Platte River water-sharing agreement, calling the claims “unripe and premature.”
Colorado Attorney General Philip Weiser submitted his state's response to Nebraska’s claims that it breached a 102-year-old compact by allowing irrigation season diversions for storage. Nebraska says that “effectively removed water from the river otherwise available to Nebraska.”
The Colorado AG argued that Nebraska “seeks advisory opinions from the court before it has developed underlying facts, identified an actual problem, or engaged in earnest discussions with Colorado about how to address any such concerns."
Take note: Nebraska also claimed in its “bill of complaint” that Colorado is blocking Perkins County Canal construction, which would bring South Platte River water into the state during the non-irrigation season. In response, Weiser said his state acknowledges Nebraska’s right to build the canal but added that Nebraska still has a lot of planning and permitting work to do before seeking input from the court.
Final word
“So Argentina basically subsidized their farmers with foreign dollars and we're not able to do that, I don’t like the sound of that at all.” – Minnesota soybean farmer Mike Peterson at a Motorcade for Trade event in Lakeville, Minnesota. discussing the Trump administration’s economic assistance to Argentina.
Philip Brasher, Kim Chipman, Oliver Ward and Noah Wicks contributed to today’s Daybreak.
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