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President Donald Trump has abruptly canceled this week’s planned meeting with congressional Democratic leaders, refusing to negotiate over their demands to shore up health care funds as part of a deal to prevent a potential looming federal government shutdown. In a lengthy Tuesday social media post, Trump rejected the sit-down the White House had agreed to the day before. It would have been the first time the Republican president met with the Democratic Party’s leaders, Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, since his return to the White House. I have decided that no meeting with their Congressional Leaders could possibly be productive, Trump wrote in the post. The president complained the Democrats are threatening to shut down the Government of the United States” unless the Republicans agree to more funding on health care for various groups of people he has criticized. Trump did not close the door on a future sit-down with the Democratic leaders, but he warned of a long and brutal slog ahead unless Democrats dropped their demands to salvage health care funds. Earlier Tuesday, Schumer and Jeffries had issued a joint statement saying that after weeks of Republican stonewalling, the president had agreed to meet in the Oval Office. But after the Republican president canceled the meeting, the Democratic leaders accused him of throwing a tantrum and running away. Jeffries posted on X that Trump Always Chickens Out. Donald Trump just cancelled a high stakes meeting in the Oval Office with myself and Leader Schumer, Jeffries wrote on X. The extremists want to shut down the government because they are unwilling to address the Republican healthcare crisis that is devastating America. In a post on X directed at Trump, Schumer said Democrats will sit down and discuss health care when youre finished ranting. Schumer said Trump is running away from the negotiating table before he even gets there and would rather throw a tantrum than do his job. With Congress at a stalemate, the government is headed toward a federal shutdown next week, Oct. 1, if the House and the Senate are unable to approve the legislation needed to fund offices and services into the new fiscal year. Lawmakers left town amid the logjam, and they are not due back until Sept. 29. Trump has been unafraid of shutting down the government and, during his first term, was president over the nation’s longest federal closure, during the 2018-19 holiday season, when he was pushing Congress to provide funds for his long-promised U.S.-Mexico border wall. The president insisted over the weekend that essential services, including for veterans, would remain open. Republicans, who have the majority in both the House and the Senate, have been trying to avoid a shutdown. House Speaker Mike Johnson led the passage late last week of a temporary funding measure, which would have kept government offices running into November while talks get underway. That’s the typical way to buy time during funding fights, but the measure failed in the Senate. Democrats refused to support the stopgap bill because it did not include their priorities of health care funds. A Democratic proposal, with the health care money restored, was defeated by Senate Republicans. Schumer and Jeffries have demanded a meeting with Trump to work out a compromise, but the Republican president has been reluctant to enter talks and instructed GOP leaders on Capitol Hill not to negotiate with the Democrats. Thursday’s scheduled meeting would have potentially set up a showdown at the White House, reminiscent of the 2018 funding fight when Trump led an explosive public session with Schumer and Rep. Nancy Pelosi. Democrats are working to protect health care programs. The Democratic proposal would extend enhanced health insurance subsidies set to expire at the end of the year, plus reverse Medicaid cuts that were included in Republicans big tax breaks and spending cuts bill enacted earlier this year. Republicans have said the Democrats demands to reverse the Medicaid changes are a nonstarter, but they have also said there is time to address the health insurance subsidy issue in the months ahead. Lisa Mascaro, AP congressional correspondent
Category:
E-Commerce
Shares of Tylenol maker Kenvue bounced back sharply at the opening bell Tuesday, a day after President Donald Trump promoted unproven and in some cases discredited ties between Tylenol, vaccines, and autism. Dont take Tylenol, Trump instructed pregnant women around a dozen times during the White House news conference Monday, also urging mothers not to give their infants the drug, known by the generic name acetaminophen in the U.S. or paracetamol in most other countries. Shares of the New Jersey consumer brands company tumbled 7.5% Monday. At the opening of trading, shares bounced back by more than 6%. The announcement, which appeared to rely on existing studies rather than significant new research, arrives as Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a vaccine skeptic, advances the Make America Healthy Again movement that has focused on what it sees as potential causes of autism. Kenvue disputed any link between the drug and autism this week and warned that if pregnant mothers dont use Tylenol when in need, they could face a dangerous choice between suffering fevers or using riskier alternatives. Kenvue was spun off from Johnson & Johnson’s pharmaceutical and medical device divisions in 2023 because it was thought that the companies could function more efficiently if they were independent from each other. Aside from Tylenol, the consumer health company makes Band-Aids, Listerine and other household brand names. Citi Investment Research analyst Filippo Falorni wrote that he sees a limited risk of new lawsuits after Trump’s announcement, but thinks there could be risk to Tylenol consumption given the negative headlines. Falorni anticipates a positive reaction for Kenvues stock at the opening bell on Tuesday, given the lack of new scientific evidence. The company has fought hundreds of lawsuits related to the product and its alleged ties to autism, but most have been dismissed. Tylenol made headlines in the 1980s when seven people in the Chicago area were killed after taking the over-the-counter painkiller laced with cyanide. The incident triggered a nationwide panic and led to an overhaul in the safety of over-the-counter medication packaging. No one was ever charged in the deaths. Michelle Chapman, AP business writer
Category:
E-Commerce
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Tuesday signaled a cautious approach to future interest rate cuts, in sharp contrast with other Fed officials who have called for a more urgent approach. In remarks in Providence, Rhode Island, Powell noted that there are risks to both of the Fed’s goals of seeking maximum employment and stable prices. But with the unemployment rate rising, he noted, the Fed agreed to cut its key rate last week. Yet he did not signal any further cuts on the horizon. If the Fed were to cut rates too aggressively, Powell said, we could leave the inflation job unfinished and need to reverse course later” and raise rates. But if the Fed keeps its rate too high for too long, “the labor market could soften unnecessarily,” he added. Powell’s remarks echoed the caution he expressed during a news conference last week, after the Fed announced its first rate cut this year. At that time he said, it’s challenging to know what to do. His approach is in sharp contrast to some members of the Fed’s rate-setting committee who are pushing for faster cuts. On Monday, Stephen Miran, whom President Donald Trump appointed to the Fed’s governing board, said that the Fed should quickly reduce its rate to as low as 2% to 2.5%, from its current level of about 4.1%. Miran is also a top adviser in the Trump administration and expects to return to the White House after his term expires in January, though Trump could appoint him to a longer term. And earlier Tuesday, Fed governor Michelle Bowman also said the central bank should cut more quickly. Bowman, who was appointed by Trump in his first term, said inflation appears to be cooling while the job market is stumbling, a combination that would support lower rates. When the Fed cuts its key rate, it often over time reduces other borrowing costs for things like mortgages, car loans, and business loans. It is time for the (Fed) to act decisively and proactively to address decreasing labor market dynamism and emerging signs of fragility, Bowman said in a speech in Asheville, North Carolina. We are at serious risk of already being behind the curve in addressing deteriorating labor market conditions. Should these conditions continue, I am concerned that we will need to adjust policy at a faster pace and to a larger degree going forward. Yet Powell’s comments showed little sign of such urgency. Other Fed officials have also expressed caution about cutting rates too fast, reflecting deepening divisions on the rate-setting committee. On Tuesday, Austan Goolsbee, president of the Federal Reserve’s Chicago branch, said in an interview on CNBC that the Fed should move slowly given that inflation is above its 2% target. With inflation having been over the target for 4 1/2 years in a row, and rising, I think we need to be a little careful with getting overly up-front aggressive,” he said. Last week the Fed cut its key rate for the first time this year to about 4.1%, down from about 4.3%, and policymakers signaled they would likely reduce rates twice more. Fed officials said in a statement that their concerns about slower hiring had risen, though they noted that inflation is still above their 2% target. Christopher Rugaber, AP economics writer
Category:
E-Commerce
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