US: Centrist Democrats Break w/Leadership To Reopen Govt, Secure Small Wins
Eight centrist Democrats yesterday took the first step toward reopening the government, voting with Republicans on a new Continuing Resolution to fund the US government through January 30. The package provides backpay to furloughed federal workers and includes a three-bill Fiscal 2026 appropriations package covering Agriculture, Rural Development, and FDA, Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and Legislative Branch.
- The deal includes a commitment for a Senate vote in December on renewing the expiring ACA tax credits, but as it does not include a commitment from President Donald Trump or House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), it is unlikely to pass, especially considering Trump’s recent activity on social media decrying the ACA as a ‘scam’.
- Senate Republican leadership are eying final passage today, but Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is unlikely to provide the votes to fast-track the process. The government is likely to be reopened on Wednesday, at the earliest. Punchbowl points out that none of the Democrats who voted 'yes' are up for re-election in 2026, insulating them from blowback from progressives.
- The deal fails to achieve Democrats’ core demand of an extension to Affordable Care Act subsidies, but does secure small wins with a promise to backpay federal workers, resume withheld federal payments to states, and a provision to reverse federal layoffs made during the shutdown.
- Democrats will also claim a win by fully funding Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), although as the programme is funded via mandatory spending in the Department of Agriculture’s annual spending bill, it wasn’t at risk of being cut.
Want to read more?
Find more articles and bullets on these widgets:
Historical bullets
US: Trump Oval Office Announcement Underway Shortly
US President Donald Trump is shortly due to deliver an announcement in the White House Oval Office. LIVESTREAM The announcement is expected to relate to drug pricing and could follow a similar template to a recent pledge from Pfizer.
- The announcement will be Trump's first press remarks since a market-moving Truth Social statement earlier today in which Trump suggested calling off a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping and raising tariffs on China in response to new export controls from Beijing on rare earths. See earlier bullets here and here.
RATINGS: Moody's Completes Periodic Review Of Belgium, No Rating Action
No ratings actions for Belgium from Moody's, which is quoted in a press release on Bloomberg: "Moody's Ratings (Moody's) has completed a periodic review of the ratings of Belgium and other ratings that are associated with this issuer. The review was conducted through a rating committee held on 2 October 2025 in which we reassessed the appropriateness of the ratings in the context of the relevant principal methodology(ies), and recent developments. This publication does not announce a credit rating action and is not an indication of whether or not a credit rating action is likely in the near future."
- There had been some speculation there could be a ratings action - MNI wrote Thursday: "* Moody's on Belgium (Current rating Aa3, Outlook Negative): We expect Moody's to maintain their current stance in the absence of 2026 budget details."
MACRO ANALYSIS: US Macro Week Ahead: No CPI, But Plenty Of Pre-Blackout FedSpeak
Below is the week’s data schedule, with MNI’s annotation of whether or not data will be postponed.
- As we went to press, the Fed announced that next week's Industrial Production data will be postponed (was due to be published next Friday Oct 17) as the data “incorporate a range of data from other government agencies, the publication of which has been delayed as a result of the federal government shutdown.”
- We won’t be getting September CPI as scheduled on Oct 15, but at least the BLS announced it will publish the data on Oct 24.
- As such next week we’ll be looking at some under-covered data points, including the Redbook weekly and Chicago Fed’s CARTS retail sales data (in lieu of the Census Bureau retail sales report), with a little more focus than usual on regional Fed manufacturing indices (NY, Philadelphia).
- Once again, the dearth of tier-one data leaves Fed commentary in focus ahead of the pre-FOMC blackout period: highlights for us are Philadelphia Fed President Paulson making her first comments on monetary policy on Monday since being appointed in the summer, while as always Chair Powell bears watching on Tuesday (we also hear from Bowman, Waller, Collins, Miran, Schmid, and Musalem).
- Additionally we get the latest Beige Book which was already key given the FOMC was already increasingly focused on anecdotal information as it attempts to navigate murky economic waters.
