1 Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell Says There Will Be Fewer Cuts Next Year, Sending Stock Market Plummeting
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell revealed the latest move by the Fed yesterday, announcing there would be another 25 basis point reduction in the interest rate. What he said after that shook up Wall Street, as he said the Fed had scaled back its expectations for more cuts in 2025. The Dow Jones fell around 1,100-points, the largest drop since August. It was also the 10th consecutive day of losses on the Dow, the longest streak since 1974. The S&P fell almost 3-percent, and the Nasdaq dropped around 3.5-percent. The projected interest rates for the next two years represented a total interest rate cut in 2025 of 50 basis points, with another 50 basis point cut over 2026. Powell said “It’s pretty clear we’ve avoided a recession, growth this year has been solid,” and said he expects 2025 to be “another good year.” Yesterday’s announcement by the Federal Reserve is the last action it’ll take before President-elect Donald Trump’s.
2 Massive Bill To Fund Government Falls Apart After Pushback Just Two Days Before Deadline
The massive stopgap spending bill given to House members on Tuesday night for a possible vote last night appears to be dead. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise said yesterday that Speaker Mike Johnson’s 1.547-page bill is done and won’t be brought to a vote. There was talk among legislators yesterday that Johnson may bring a “clean” continuing resolution to a vote to keep the government funded past the Friday night deadline. The federal government is currently operating on a CR passed in September; Rep. Nancy Mace printed out both the September and latest CRs, showing that the one in September was only 21 pages long. Around 9 pm last night, it was reported that Vice president-elect JD Vance was seen walking into Johnson’s office in the Capitol. When he left, Vance told reporters “I think we will be able to solve some problems here.” President-elect Donald Trump issued a joint statement with Vance yesterday afternoon that called on Congress to “pass a streamlined spending bill that doesn’t give Chuck Schumer and the Democrats everything they want.” Trump then later posted online “Any Republican that would be so stupid as to do this should, and will, be Primaried.”
3 Supreme Court Agrees To Hear Challenge To TikTok Ban
TikTok’s fight against a ban on the platform continues. The Supreme Court announced yesterday that it will hear arguments on the company’s challenge to the law that put a January 19th deadline in place for parent company ByteDance to sell TikTok or see it banned in the US. Arguments will be heard by the court on January 10th, an expedited timeline to let the court consider the issue before the deadline. In its order, The Supreme Court said that the Justice Department and TikTok’s lawyers should be prepared to argue on the issue of the ban potentially violating the First Amendment. President-elect Donald Trump met with TikTok CEO Shou Chew at Mar-a-Lago earlier this week.