Shutdown postpones monthly jobs report. And, Trump dangles a carrot to colleges

"Now three days into the government shutdown, neither side, Democratic nor Republican, shows signs of giving up ground. The Trump administration has stated that it will take this opportunity to fire federal workers. The GOP-led Senate is expected to vote for the fourth time on partisan stopgap bills. At least seven Democrats are needed to reach the required 60-vote threshold today. So far, only three Senate Democrats have defected to side with Republicans in the votes."

"Subsidies don't expire until the end of the year, but open enrollment is next month, which is the driving force behind Democrats' argument that it needs to be handled now. The GOP insists that they should pass a short-term continuing resolution and subsidies will go into a separate bill. Democrats worry there's a chance this option is a bait and switch, Grisales says."

"The Labor Department's monthly report on jobs and unemployment has been postponed by the government shutdown. Typically, the report is released on the first Friday of the month and includes information about how many jobs were added or subtracted from each industry. Job growth has slowed down in recent months, and forecasters had expected today's report to indicate that employers added around 50,000 last month, says NPR's Scott Horsley."

Three days into the government shutdown, neither Democrats nor Republicans are yielding and the Trump administration intends to use the shutdown to fire federal workers. The GOP-led Senate is pursuing repeated votes on partisan stopgap bills and needs at least seven Democrats to reach a 60-vote threshold; only three Democrats have defected so far. Democratic lawmakers link cooperation to addressing expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies because open enrollment begins next month, while Republicans advocate a short-term continuing resolution and separate subsidy legislation. The Labor Department postponed the monthly jobs report, complicating assessments of recent slowing job growth and unemployment trends.

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