US: Majority Leader Thune To Hold Procedural Votes On FY26 Bills This Week
Nov-17 16:01
The Senate will return on Tuesday for a short week, before departing again on Thursday for the Thanksgiving recess. Senate Majority Leader Thune (R-SD) is expected to tee up procedural votes on the next ‘minibus’ FY2026 appropriations package, including bills funding Defense, Labor-HHS, Commerce-Justice-Science, and Transportation-HUD.
- Punchbowl notes, “Moving forward will require 60 votes, but it’s unclear whether enough Democratic senators will be ready to formally kick off the floor process, especially as the Democratic Caucus is still reeling over last week’s shutdown-ending deal. Thune will also need unanimous consent to group the funding bills together. That’s going to be extremely difficult, with objections expected on both sides of the aisle.”
- The route to legislating all twelve of the annual spending bills before government funding expires on January 30 appears fraught. The three FY26 bills included in the minibus package to reopen the government had all been previously negotiated with the House.
- None of the remaining nine funding bills have been conferenced yet, so have major gaps in topline spending levels and policy priorities. If the remaining nine bills aren’t passed by both chambers by January 30, another short-term funding bill will be required to avert a second government (partial) shutdown.
- According to Kalshi, the implied probability of a shutdown on January 31 is 36%. We expect this to rise in the coming weeks if bipartisan progress isn't made on the spending bills.
Figure 1: Government Shutdown on January 31, 2026
Source: Kalshi
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LOOK AHEAD: US Week Ahead Headlined By Delayed CPI Report On Friday
Oct-17 20:51
- The September US CPI report will be released on Friday, delayed amidst the government shutdown but with the BLS making a special exception on social security payment considerations.
- Bloomberg consensus looks for headline CPI inflation at a rounded 0.4% M/M after 0.38% back in August and for Y/Y inflation to firm two tenths to 3.1% for what would be its highest since May 2024.
- Core inflation is seen at a rounded 0.3% M/M after 0.35% in August (exceeding the median unrounded estimate of 0.31%) and 0.32% in July. It’s expected to see core CPI inflation hold at 3.1% Y/Y having in August increased to its highest since February.
- Core details should see focus on both goods and services angles: underlying goods inflation has clearly firmed in recent months on tariff pressures although the median increase has currently seen a peak back in June, whilst services will be watched for any spillover after some strong recent non-housing readings.
- The report will come within the FOMC blackout period ahead of the Oct 28-29 decision, with a 25bp cut fully priced and likely needing a large surprise to alter this.
- As for broader inflation details, Fed Chair Powell this week confusingly suggested that we will have the September PPI report but the BLS had previously said “No other releases will be rescheduled or produced until the resumption of regular government services”.
US DATA: Latest Jobless Claims Estimates During The Shutdown
Oct-17 20:30
As noted earlier, MNI estimates initial jobless claims at a seasonally adjusted 218k in the week to Oct 11 and continuing claims at a seasonally adjusted 1929k in the week to Oct 4.
- To give a better idea of sensitivity around these estimates, which rely on estimates for some missing states, we note the below analyst estimates:
- Goldman Sachs have a central estimate of 217k for initial claims in a range of 211-225k, whilst they see continuing claims at 1917k in a range of 1885-1930k.
- JPMorgan meanwhile also see 217k for initial claims whilst they see continuing claims as having held constant at 1927k.
NATGAS: Venture Global in Talks with Ukraine for more LNG Deliveries, Reuters
Oct-17 20:28
Ukraine is seeking more cargoes from Venture’s Plaquemines facility as the embattled nation approaches the winter heating season, according to Reuters sources
- Venture is in talks with Ukraine’s DTEK to procure more LNG cargoes after a year of gas infrastructure attacks by the Russians.
- Venture Global CEO Michael Sabel met with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Thursday October 16.
- DTEK signed an agreement in 2024 for an undisclosed amount of LNG from the facility, as well as 2 mtpa from Calcasieu Pass Phase 2 currently under construction.
- Plaquemines currently has spare capacity to deliver more cargoes to Ukraine on the spot market, per Reuters.
- Plaquemines now sends out the second highest LNG volume in the US, with feedgas demand averaging 3.45 bcf/d according to MNI figures.
