Overview
- In an interview on ABC's This Week, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the shutdown's economic impact is getting worse and worse.
- Bessent cited estimates that quarterly growth could be cut by as much as half if the impasse persists.
- Pressed on President Trump's calls to end the Senate filibuster, Bessent declined to endorse the move and called for five Democratic senators to cross the aisle.
- He blamed Democrats for the stalemate during the exchange with host George Stephanopoulos.
- The conversation grew tense as Bessent invoked Stephanopoulos's 1990s-era comments while arguing over responsibility for government shutdowns.