Lawmakers Mull Longer Stopgap Bill

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Balance of Power - Lawmakers Mull Longer Stopgap Bill

Bloomberg | October 22, 2025

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Overview

This episode of "Balance of Power," hosted by Joe Mathieu and Kailey Leinz, takes a deep dive into the ongoing federal government shutdown, now entering its 22nd day. The discussion centers on congressional deadlock, the possibility of extended stopgap funding bills (continuing resolutions, or CRs), and the mounting political, economic, and policy consequences. Key voices include former Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX), current House Ways and Means Chair Rep. Jason Smith (R-MO), and Bloomberg political analysts Jeannie Shanzano and Rick Davis, who provide context on legislative strategies, partisan aims, and ripple effects from Capitol Hill to the international stage.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

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1. The Anatomy and Dynamics of the Ongoing Shutdown

[01:07–04:48]

• Government at a Standstill:
  The hosts set the stage by noting this is the 22nd day of a government shutdown with little to no progress in sight. The House is out of session but many lawmakers are staying in Washington, underscoring the impasse.

  • “We’re going to go through the whole process again today by voting knowing that the bill is going to fail… this would be the 12th swing at the ball.” — Bloomberg Host [01:07]

• Leadership’s Stance:
  Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Republican leadership remain opposed to closed-door deals, aligning themselves with transparency.

  • “Republicans cannot and will not solve it in a backroom deal.” — paraphrased from Speaker Mike Johnson [01:45]

• Guest Analysis – Kevin Brady:

  • Shutdowns feel less “urgent” to the public due to measures to soften their day-to-day impact, yet traditional partisan incentives remain.
  • Republicans recently floated a 7-week CR to “buy time” for negotiations, but Democrats did not go along.
  • Healthcare policy, specifically Affordable Care Act (ACA) premium subsidies, is a central sticking point.
  • “The sooner Democrats can find a way to temporarily extend the government, the sooner the serious negotiations occur.” — Kevin Brady [08:27]

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2. Political Calculations and Potential Pain Points

[04:48–07:47]

• Benefits and Fallout:

  • The government has managed to shield some communities from the pain of the shutdown.
  • Key deadlines loom: SNAP benefits and ACA open enrollment, which could force action by creating new “pain points.”
  • “The government has tried to offset a lot of things that bother people in daily lives, so it doesn’t impact them so much. That’s very odd to me.” — Kevin Brady [03:00]

• Internal GOP Frustrations:

  • Many Republicans are in town, unofficially looking for solutions, but not eager to return to a closed session where media pressure is relentless.
  • Leadership is moving behind the scenes, coordinating among appropriators and party factions, acknowledging the complexity of a slim House majority.

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3. The CR Debate: Short, Long, or Year-Long?

[08:40–10:21]

• Rumors and Warnings:

  • The possibility of a year-long CR is discussed as desperation grows.
  • Concerns are high among both defense hawks (who worry about a static Pentagon budget) and fiscal conservatives (who fear enshrining “Biden’s budget”).
  • “I hope not. … If this just keeps dragging on... you’ve got to go to that. But that is the worst-case scenario.” — Kevin Brady [09:12]

• Stakes of Prolonged Shutdown:

  • Some lawmakers reportedly want to set a new record for shutdown length as a show of political resolve, which could be damaging for all involved.
  • “Almost no one does [win] in these… I think every party is zero for everything on this.” — Kevin Brady [10:00]

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4. Broader Policy Complications: Taxes and Trade

[10:25–11:25]

• Impact on Trade Agreements:
  • USMCA (United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement) modernization and US trade competitiveness are at stake.
  • A prolonged shutdown could hurt sectors reliant on stability and federal partnership.
  • “It’s crucial we preserve and extend this agreement.” — Kevin Brady [11:25]

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5. House Leadership Perspective – Interview with Jason Smith

[13:05–19:55]

• Longer Stopgap Bills Floated:

  • House Ways and Means Chair Rep. Jason Smith indicates openness (and broader chatter) about a CR running until December 2026.
  • Smith blames Democrats for obstructing “clean” funding bills and frames the longer CR as a path to stability for the economy and American families.
  • “I strongly support a longer-term continued resolution ... I think that that would allow more stability for our economy.” — Jason Smith [15:28]

• ACA Premium Subsidies as Flashpoint:

  • Smith demands “reforms” to the program, citing potential fraud/waste; opposes simply extending current subsidies without changes.
  • Points to large numbers of Americans who are allegedly in the program but not using it; argues the current system is misallocating resources.
  • “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.” — Jason Smith [18:03]

• Healthcare Broader Scope:

  • Smith wants discussions to include not just ACA but the broader employer-based market, focusing on lowering costs for all Americans.
  • “We need to look at all different ways to help lower the cost of health care.” — Jason Smith [19:19]

• Agricultural Aid and China:

  • Smith expresses concern about the lack of Chinese purchases of American soybeans, labeling Chinese actions “punitive” and calling for hard lines in future trade negotiations.
  • “They have not purchased $1 this year ... That better be on the table. That has to be something that's being discussed because that is drastically affecting the commodity prices here.” — Jason Smith [20:33]

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6. Rapid Response and Panel Reaction

[23:39–29:23]

• Breaking News:

  • Smith’s on-air support for a CR through December 2026 surprises the hosts and panel, raising questions about Republican unity and the prospects for any long-term deal.
  • “To hear the chair of the Ways and Means Committee extend this through December of 2026 was unexpected.” — Joe Mathieu [24:17]

• Panel Analysis:

  • Jeannie Shanzano finds it “stunning” that the GOP is considering simply extending “Joe Biden’s budget,” questioning what the midterm and leadership shakeups were for if this is the result.
  • Rick Davis argues that a long CR is less about genuine support and more about legislative desperation—Senate appropriators, especially, will resist.
  • “I think this is going to be a hard sell in the United States Senate ... They don’t want to do it again.” — Rick Davis [26:31]
  • Both agree: neither Democratic nor Republican bases are likely to be energized by an outcome that looks like a punt or outright surrender.

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7. Broader Context: Foreign Policy and Congressional Action

[29:23–34:49]

• NATO and Ukraine:

  • NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte visits Washington for meetings with President Trump and others amid fresh violence in Ukraine.
  • Trump refuses to meet with Putin unless real progress is possible. Panelists see these meetings as significant but not game-changers for the ongoing war.

• Congressional Activity:

  • Senate Foreign Relations Committee readying new bills to increase pressure on Russia.
  • Domestic-government instability is intertwined with perceptions of US global consistency and reliability.

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Notable Quotes

• Kevin Brady:

  • “People seem to be more calm about it. I think the government has tried to offset a lot of things that bother people in daily lives, so it doesn’t impact them so much.” [03:00]
  • “Almost no one does [win] in these [shutdowns]… I think every party is zero for everything on this.” [10:00]

• Jason Smith:

  • “I strongly support a longer-term continued resolution… allow more stability for our economy.” [15:28]
  • “There’s 24 million that are on the Obamacare exchanges, half of them last year… didn’t even file a claim. Why did those 12 million not file a claim? … Those insurance companies… received the subsidized premiums … even though they didn’t even provide the health care for it.” [18:03]
  • “Let me tell you, what the Chinese have done to US Soybean farmers alone has been atrocious. … They have not purchased $1 this year.” [20:33]

• Jeannie Shanzano:

  • “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?” [28:27]

• Rick Davis:

  • “Even the Chairman indicated it’s like a desperate effort to fund the government at this stage… This is the real question as to like, why did we take such a big step backwards?” [26:31]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Shutdown Context and Tensions — [01:07–04:48]
• Guest: Kevin Brady — Anatomy of Shutdown & Negotiations — [02:42–11:25]
• Guest: Rep. Jason Smith — The CR Debate, ACA, and Agriculture — [13:05–22:00]
• Panel Reaction & Political Analysis — [23:39–29:23]
• Foreign Policy — NATO, Ukraine, Russia — [29:23–34:49]

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Closing Thoughts

The episode captures a moment of entrenched dysfunction in Washington, with parties looking for offramps but wary of the implications—either of a long shutdown or a hasty, unsatisfying resolution. Notably, long stopgap bills gain new traction, yet not because they are preferred, but because they may be all that is politically possible. Meanwhile, issues like ACA reform, agricultural aid, and US international standing remain entangled in the paralysis. Analysts agree: whatever way this shutdown ends, neither party will emerge looking triumphant—and the consequences will ripple far beyond the Beltway.

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Transcript

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Bloomberg Audio Studios Podcasts Radio news. You're listening to the Bloomberg Balance of Power podcast. Catch us live weekdays at noon and 5pm Eastern on Apple CarPlay and Android Auto with the Bloo Business app. Listen on demand wherever you get your podcasts or watch us live on YouTube.

Good to see you on the Wednesday edition of Balance of Power here on Bloomberg Radio. On your satellite radio, we're always on channel 121 and of course you can watch us on YouTube right now. Search Bloomberg Business News Live as well. Bloomberg Originals carrying the program, which is why you can't hide from us here. We're talking about something that will sound very familiar to you. The government is shut down and now we're counting up to 22 days. We have no resolution site. We're going to go through the whole process again today by voting knowing that the bill is going to fail. If you're playing along on your home game, this would be the 12th swing at the ball at some point today and again the result is going to be the same. House is not in session. A lot of lawmakers are in town though, as we're going to prove to you over the course of this broadcast. Well, here's Speaker Mike Johnson from earlier this morning. Republicans cannot and will not solve it in a backroom deal. Chuck Schumer has been suggesting that four.

[Kevin Brady]

Leaders should go into a smoke filled back room like they used to do in the old days and create this solution. It's not a possible thing to do.

[Bloomberg Host]

It was never appropriate.

[Kevin Brady]

It's not possible to put on a.

[Rick Davis]

Continuing resolution because it's such a complex issue.

[Bloomberg Host]

If it means getting the government back open, we might just take the smoke filled room. Kevin Brady knows a little bit about this stuff. He's survived more shutdowns than most of us even know about. Former Republican Congressman from Texas Course. Who chaired the important House Ways and Means Committee. He's now spokesperson for the alliance for Competitive Taxation and with us here in our Washington Bureau. Mr. Chairman, it's great to see you.

[Kevin Brady]

Good to see you. Thanks for having me.

[Bloomberg Host]

You must be just shaking your head watching this. This is the reason, I'm guessing in part why you're not here. I want to go through the anatomy of a shutdown with you because you have obviously know this is going to resolve at some point, but everyone's banging their head together saying it's different this time.

[Kevin Brady]

You, you know, I don't know, feels different back home.

[Bloomberg Host]

Yeah.

[Kevin Brady]

I'll tell you, it doesn't feel as urgent. You know what I mean? People seem to be more calm about it. I think the government has tried to offset a lot of things that bother people in daily lives, so it doesn't impact them so much. And so that's very odd to me. I think the dynamics of the shutdown are very traditional. The party of the power, party out of power, has to show their fighting for their political base is shut down while not smart is. Is right there and an opportunity. And so all those dynamics are working. This big surprise, obviously our Republicans, you know, who just offered a seven week, you know, let's, let's give ourselves some time for appropriators and for the health care folks to work through these Affordable Care act premiums and be calling you there. Yeah, I just wondered what the heck. Sorry about that. No, not at all. But I think ironically the speaker kind of referenced it takes serious negotiations because the goals are to fund the government fully for the next year. Job one in the original CR was by seven weeks for everyone to get to the table. Second, obviously high priority, the Democrats are ACA premiums. I think there's acknowledgement, although Republicans have never voted for it, never voted for the COVID era premiums, that something has to be done. So I think there's serious negotiators in the wings.

[Bloomberg Host]

Yes.

[Kevin Brady]

You know, ready to sit down. So. So I really think, ironically, had the Democrats accepted the original seven weeks, they'd be in those serious negotiations. Politics interfered with that. I think the, the sooner they can find that excuse to, to buy both parties some more times. It sounds like November 21st, you know, they'll need a little more time beyond that, that's for sure to get this done.

[Bloomberg Host]

So how about November 1st? Is that what shakes this loose? The SNAP benefits, expiring the open enrollment?

[Kevin Brady]

Yes, perhaps, you know, if there's no light at the end, the tunnel yeah, you can. You can go back retroactively on a lot of these things. The president's finding money in different pockets.

[Bloomberg Host]

That's why it feels less urgent. Troops. Right now, you've got federal law enforcement, obviously, you've got a lot of furloughed workers. But it's taken a couple of pain points off the table.

[Kevin Brady]

Yeah, it really has. And normally those show up very quickly, and you can't predict what that pain. Pain point will be. Sometimes it's the parks. You know, today it feels a little like air travel.

[Bloomberg Host]

Yeah, sure.

[Kevin Brady]

You know, is a little more.

[Bloomberg Host]

You get into town all right, or you delayed.

[Kevin Brady]

You know, I've been traveling a lot. Thankfully, I actually snuck on a train today. Good. New York.

[Bloomberg Host]

It's got to be good for Amtrak, I'm guessing, in a strange way.

[Kevin Brady]

No doubt. But, yeah, there's. There will be pain points that start to emerge.

[Bloomberg Host]

So what do you think of the calculation to keep the House out? And it's interesting because you're probably seeing lots of Republican members there. A lot of them are in town, just not in session. And the speaker says, we did our work. And that is a point that a lot of people understand. But 22 days later, do we need a different approach?

[Kevin Brady]

Yeah. So I don't know, to be honest. They did their job, they went back home. They've. I know Republicans in Texas, but others, they're working their districts, they're out there doing it, but I think they're. They're just antsy, you know, to get a solution. So coming back to Washington to see if there's any way they can be of help. What I do know usually is if you bring everyone back and the government shut down, it's just press from 8 in the morning till 10 at night. You know what I mean? And that's kind of the whole purpose of it. I don't know that that solves many things, to be honest.

[Bloomberg Host]

You think about the stages of grief. There's sort of like the stages of politics in a shutdown. First we got through the denial, the sadness, the anger, whatever. How does this unravel? Because you've been behind the scenes for some. Well, the longest shutdown in American history, actually. In the first Trump administration, you talked about people on the wings. Does it start with that small chatter and then you have to convince the leaders to get people in a room? How will this.

[Kevin Brady]

No, it's really. It's really kind of the opposite. The leaders find the folks like the appropriators, the key appropriators, get Them in a room have those conversations. But going, communicating with your conference, you know what I mean? You've got to be lockstep with where they're at. I think that's key. You pull the health care folks and each party has its wings that will be in this near zero majority have to be part of that conversation. You know, I mean, whether you're Freedom Caucus or the most progressive, you're going to be part of this conversation. So obviously leadership is key, people wanting to get to a solution. I think two things will drive the appropriations process. One, we are in a, we are in a dangerous world, rebuilding our defense, our weapons systems. You just talked about it a minute ago.

[Bloomberg Host]

Yes, indeed.

[Kevin Brady]

About all the backlog of ships and weapons that we need gonna be key too. We live in a deficit world. You know, our government is 40% bigger than it was just a few years ago and it was big then. And so we Republicans have already shown they want to take steps that direction. It'll be a hard battle, but I think that that element is part of the conversation with these ACA premiums, you know, if, if those are going to be reformed, if there's going to be some Republican health care priorities in there, but it costs, I think that's going to have to be subtracted, you know, from the existing budget. I mean, it kind of makes sense. You've got to sort of be more responsible there. So I think the sooner Democrats can find a way to temporarily extend the government, I think the sooner the serious negotiations occur.

[Bloomberg Host]

How did we know Kevin Brady would walk in and solve this whole thing? Well, so here's the question that's now making everyone's head explode in Washington. And when we ask lawmakers, they say right now the idea is blowing people's minds and that's a year long. CR John Thune went there. At least I tacitly will say the other day, White House was suggesting it a couple of months ago. You talk about Pentagon hawks, they won't want any part of that. But is that a potential solution?

[Kevin Brady]

I hope not. I think Leader Thune has a great sense here. His point is if this just keeps dragging on and appropriators, if they never get an agreement that is every two months. Yeah, yeah. So you've got to go to that. But that is the worst case scenarios.

[Bloomberg Host]

You may see it as a cut. Right. Is that why?

[Kevin Brady]

Well, some seed is cut. Some seed is extending the Biden size government.

[Bloomberg Host]

That's right.

[Kevin Brady]

And if you recall, there was a period where I think we did cars for Four years literally working off a budget that outdated. And I don't think anyone wants to go there. Certainly right now when the world is changing by the hour. Yeah, it feels like so. I hope not.

[Rick Davis]

But.

[Kevin Brady]

But it's a reality.

[Bloomberg Host]

What's the chance this goes to a new record or we're talking about this over turkey on Thanksgiving or even the end of the year? Mr. Chairman.

[Kevin Brady]

Yeah. You know, part of the theater of a shutdown is being able to claim you've won whether you do or not. Almost no one does in these. I think every party zero for everything on this. But some, some want to set a new record for a shutdown. Some want saying this is how we're fighting.

[Bloomberg Host]

Okay.

[Kevin Brady]

That, that just hurts a lot of people. I'm hopeful that's not the case.

[Bloomberg Host]

Feels dangerous. You're obviously talking about taxes. We spent a lot of time over the summer talking about the 2017 tax cuts having been extended. You're looking at redrawing or rewriting the USMCA right now as part of your portfolio. How does a shutdown like this in our remaining moment complicate all of this work?

[Kevin Brady]

Yeah, none of it helps. The U.S. mexico can agree. The president, you know, modernized in 2020 is the most consequential trade agreement on the planet for the three countries. It's a reason we've survived global recessions better. We're more competitive against China, more affordable. And for the US this agreement is crucial because Mexico and Canada together are our best customers. They buy five times more.

[Bloomberg Host]

Right.

[Kevin Brady]

Than any other country of Made in America. Good. Secondly, they're our biggest investors now in US Manufacturing, US Technology and best suppliers. So it's crucial we preserve and extend this agreement.

[Bloomberg Host]

Well, I appreciate that. It's great to have you back with us. Let's continue the conversation because that's going to be one that gets a lot of talk coming up in the months ahead. Kevin Brady, former Republican congressman, former chairman, House Ways and Means from the great state of Texas for this year. Stay with us on balance of power. We'll have much more coming up after this.

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[Bloomberg Host]

The Bloomberg Balance of Power podcast. Catch us live weekdays at noon and 5pm Eastern on Apple CarPlay and Android Auto with the Bloomberg Business app. You can also listen live on Amazon Alexa from our flagship New York station. Just say Alexa play Bloomberg 11:30.

We're joined now by Congressman Jason Smith. He's a Republican representing Missouri's 8th congressional district and Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. Congressman, thanks so much for joining and it's good to see you. I want to 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?

[Jason Smith]

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 in 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.

[Bloomberg Host]

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 it's causing some heads to explode here in Washington. The idea of a full year CR being the only way out of this, is that a non starter for you? And what does it tell us about where we stand on Capitol Hill?

[Jason Smith]

So I've been hearing this conversation from senators from House members that a CR 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 seeing played right now by the House and Senate Democrats.

[Bloomberg Host]

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?

[Jason Smith]

I strongly support a longer, longer term continued 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 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.

[Bloomberg Host]

Are we talking December 1st weeks from now or December 1st, 2026?

[Jason Smith]

Mr. Chairman, December 21st, 2026 is what I've been hearing up here as a suggestion, as an opportunity of, of a continuing res. 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.

[Bloomberg Host]

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 over Obamacare subsidies? Is that something that you're interested in for your constituents as open enrollment is set to begin?

[Jason Smith]

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 no, I had rule over in the United States Senate. And so that was our issue in regards to 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.

[Bloomberg Host]

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.

[Jason Smith]

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 that are on the Obamacare exchanges, half of them last year. That's 12 million didn't even file a claim. Why did 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.

[Bloomberg Host]

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?

[Jason Smith]

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 to create a 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.

[Bloomberg Host]

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 US Farmers, particularly related to soybeans?

[Jason Smith]

Let me tell you, what the Chinese have done to US Soybean farmers alone has been atrocious. Typically in, in the average year, China purchases somewhere between 12 to 15 billion dollars 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. 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.

[Bloomberg Host]

It does seem punitive at this point. Congressman, we only have 30 seconds left. Is that how you see it?

[Jason Smith]

Well, what the Chinese have done is clearly punitive. It was for a punitive measure, much like how they've been restricting critical minerals and 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.

[Bloomberg Host]

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. Stay with us. On balance of power. We'll have much more coming up after this.

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[Bloomberg Host]

The Bloomberg Balance of Power podcast. Catch us live weekdays at noon and 5pm Eastern on Apple CarPlay and Android Auto with the Bloomberg Business app. You can also listen live on Amazon Alexa from our flagship New York station. Just say Alexa play Bloomberg 11:30.

I'm Tyler Kendall here in Washington alongside Joe Matthew and we just had some news from our interview that just happened happened moments ago with Jason Smith, of course, the chair of the House Ways and Means Committee. The chairman telling Joe 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.

Yeah, 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 year long CR 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 cr. So that is raising questions about the viability, but certainly news here here on.

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 Jeannie Shann 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 Capitol. Jeannie, 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 a return 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 D.C. 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 Rick, 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?

[Rick Davis]

Yeah, I mean, I'm not sure, you know, 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, who'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 CR 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 a long time, which is pass a budget, a budget that Donald Trump approves of this. 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, 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 maybe okay with Donald Trump, but as a staunch fiscal conservative, the idea that we just keep funding Democratic budgets after winning a presidential campaign is just reverse thinking.

[Bloomberg Host]

Well, it's interesting because you're, you're both saying some of the same things here. Jeannie, what's Chuck Schumer going to say about all this?

You know, to Rick's point, since this doesn't address what the Democrats raised 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, 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 Secretary General Mark Ruta at the White House meeting with President Trump later this afternoon behind closed doors. His meeting here to the US Coming after we had the Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelinsky 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.

[Rick Davis]

No, no, I want, I don't want.

[Bloomberg Host]

To have a wasted meeting. I don't want to have a waste of time.

[Rick Davis]

So I'll see what happens.

[Bloomberg Host]

But we did all of these great.

[Kevin Brady]

Deals, great peace deals.

[Bloomberg Host]

They're all peace deals, agreements, solid agreements.

[Rick Davis]

Every one of them, but this one.

[Bloomberg Host]

And I said go to the line.

[Rick Davis]

Go to the line of battle on.

[Bloomberg Host]

The battlefield lines, and you pull back and you go home and everybody take some time off because you got two countries that are killing each other.

President Trump there 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 Secretary General Mark Rudda considered to be a close ally, a relatively friendly relationship between himself and President Trump?

[Rick Davis]

Yeah, I think Rudd does have a close relationship with Trump. He's come to the fire brigade before for Zelensky after that horrific meeting in August in the White House. He intervened and, and I think has been a really positive contributor to trying to get some continuity to the US Position on the Ukrainian defense of their country. And so anytime 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 UK 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 Hungary with Putin, primarily I think based on reporting because of the comments that Lavrov, his top foreign policy person is 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 Rudd is going to be probably bringing up in his conversation, negotiations 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.

[Bloomberg Host]

Multiple Russian missile and drone strikes against Ukraine as the President waits for the Secretary General. Jeannie, 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 the Lenski, 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 true social 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 is an immovable feast at this point. And, 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 population that Russia has, it's 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 Shanzano, thank you both so much, as always. And Joe, much to Jeannie's point, she brings up Congress, the NATO Secretary general also paying a visit to leaders on Captain 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 boat. This would be the eighth strike killed two individuals on the vessel. CBS News reporting on the Pacific Coast. This is Bloomberg. Thanks for listening to the Balance of Power podcast. Make sure to subscribe if you haven't already at Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. And you can find us live every weekday from Washington, D.C. at noontime [e-mail].

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