Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Thursday the government shutdown could deliver a “hit to working America” by lowering economic growth.
Gross domestic product rose at a 3.8% annualized pace in the second quarter and is on track to continue at that pace, though the lapse in federal funding could upend those projections.
“This isn’t the way to have a discussion, shutting down the government and lowering the GDP,” Mr. Bessent said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” “We could see a hit to the GDP, a hit to growth and a hit to working America.”
The U.S. entered the second day of the shutdown on Thursday after senators late Tuesday could not overcome a Democratic filibuster of a critical funding bill. Democrats say GOP leaders who control Congress must meet their demands for enhanced health care subsidies.
President Trump is signaling he will use the shutdown to shut down Democrat-favored projects and agencies, or lay off thousands of federal workers.
Mr. Bessent called the idea of mass firings a “talking point” and accused Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of being “weak” and “discombobulated.”
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“They don’t represent the American people, and you know they’re making up excuses,” he said.
Mr. Trump and Mr. Bessent are presiding over an economy that’s seen robust GDP growth but is suffering from weak hiring. A new ADP report says the U.S. shed 32,000 jobs on private payrolls in September.
The official federal jobs report was due this week, but it is on hold due to the shutdown.
Mr. Trump’s tariffs on imports are another wild card.
The president says they are driving investment in the U.S., though some economists warn of price hikes and trade turbulence.
Mr. Bessent accused Democrats of trying to worsen price inflation by injecting new spending into the economy.
“They want to put this inflationary impulse into President Trump’s already strong economy,” he said. “The economy is growing at 3.8%. We don’t need 1.5 trillion pumped in. The Democrats seem to love inflation.”
Soybean farmers, in particular, are struggling because the Chinese have stopped buying their crops, turning instead to suppliers in South America.
“It’s unfortunate that Chinese leadership has decided to use the American farmers, soybean farmers in particular, as a hostage or pawn in the trade negotiations,” Mr. Bessent said.
The secretary said there would be an announcement on Tuesday about new support for farmers, a major bloc of political support for Mr. Trump.
“They’ve had President Trump’s back and we’ve got their back,” Mr. Bessent said.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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