The U.S. President Donald Trump’s economic adviser Kevin Hassett has hinted that the United States government shutdown may come to an end this week.
During an interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Monday, Hassett said, “The Schumer shutdown is likely to end sometime this week,” He mentioned Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, whom Republicans blame for the budget problem. The shutdown, now in its third week, has left many government agencies partially closed, with both parties struggling to reach an agreement on federal spending.
Hassett, who works closely with President Trump, said that some moderate Democrats could soon agree to a deal that would reopen the government. “Now there’s a shot that this week, things will come together, and very quickly,” he said. Hassett added that once the government is open again, “negotiations can resume in regular order.” But he also warned that if Democrats continue to delay, the Trump administration might take “stronger measures” to get them to cooperate.
Political Standoff Over Health Care Funding
The funding dispute has seen multiple failed votes in the Senate. Republicans want to pass a short-term bill that keeps government funding at current levels. Democrats, however, want more spending on health care, especially an extension of Affordable Care Act tax credits that will soon expire. On Monday, the Senate voted on the Republican-backed bill for the 11th time, but it failed again with a 50-43 vote that mostly followed party lines.
According to Hassett, some Democrats believe it would look bad to vote to reopen the government before the “No Kings” protests planned against Trump this weekend. He believes things might move faster after that event. Schumer has said that Democrats are standing firm because health care is a key issue for them. “Every day gets better for us because we’ve thought about this long in advance,” Schumer told Punchbowl News earlier.
Crypto ETF Approvals Stuck in Shutdown Limbo
Meanwhile, this shutdown has also slowed down the approval of several cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds (ETFs). The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has reduced its operations during the funding freeze. This means reviews of new financial products, including XRP ETFs, are on hold until the government reopens.
The SEC had been reviewing six different XRP ETF filings from Grayscale, 21Shares, Bitwise, Canary Capital, CoinShares, and WisdomTree before the shutdown began. Once the government reopens, the SEC is expected to resume these reviews, which could lead to multiple approvals.
Also Read: XRP Futures ETFs Debut While Market Eyes Spot Approval
