BURSTTreasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Wednesday that the ongoing government shutdown may start costing the economy as much as $15 billion per day.
“We call on the moderate Democrats in the Senate to be heroes. Be heroes, break away from the hive of radicalism and do something for the American people, because we are starting to cut into muscle here,” Bessent said during a press conference.
“We believe that the shutdown may start costing the U.S. economy up to $15 billion a day,” he added.
Republicans and the Trump administration are gearing up for a lengthy government shutdown, making moves to alleviate political pain that might boomerang on them while attempting to make things challenging for Democrats.
On Monday, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said the government shutdown was headed toward becoming one of the longest in history unless Democrats accepted the House-passed, GOP-written continuing resolution to fund the government.
“We’re barreling toward one of the longest shutdowns in American history, unless Democrats dropped their partisan demands and passed a clean, no-strings-attached budget to reopen the government and pay our federal workers,” Johnson said in a press conference as the shutdown approached two weeks. Wednesday marks Day 15.
Congressional leaders have been stuck in a standoff on government funding as Democrats pressure Republicans to make concessions on health care, notably Affordable Care Act tax credits that are expiring in late 2025.
The Senate is set to vote Tuesday afternoon for the ninth time on the Republican stopgap. The eighth attempt failed Monday, 49-45. Two Democrats supported it and one Republican opposed it, similar to other votes.