The nation's top CEOs push for government to reopen
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
The National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., earlier this month. Photo: Daniel Heuer/AFP via Getty Images
CEOs represented by the Business Roundtable, one of the nation's most influential business lobby groups, along with more than a dozen trade groups, urged Congress to reopen the government in a statement Thursday.
Why it matters: Some 200 or so CEOs of major U.S. companies, from Apple to Walmart, belong to the Business Roundtable, which warns that the prolonged government shutdown is causing economic damage, some of which is irreversible.
- "The longer the shutdown persists, the larger and more durable the economic damage becomes — and some of it could never be recovered," the group says in its statement.
- 16 trade associations also joined the statement, representing a range of industries, including the American Bankers Association, American Hotel & Lodging Association, National Association of Home Builders and National Association of Manufacturers.
The big picture: The shutdown is now in its 30th day, and pressure is building on lawmakers to broker a deal.
- Around 42 million Americans are at risk of losing their food benefits, or SNAP, beginning Saturday.
- More than 65,000 small businesses that contract with the federal government have $3 billion at risk each week the shutdown persists, the Chamber of Commerce said in an analysis released Thursday.
- "The Chamber is again calling on Congress to immediately pass the continuing resolution to reopen and fund the government," Neil Bradley, chief policy officer for the lobby group, said in a statement.
Zoom in: The airline industry in particular is eager to get back to business.
- Air traffic controllers and other airport workers are going without pay, straining air travel in the U.S.
- On Thursday, CEOs from American Airlines and United attended a roundtable to press for an end to the stalemate, Reuters reports.
- "Delta Air Lines implores Congress to immediately pass a clean continuing resolution to reopen the government so that our air traffic controllers, TSA and CPB officers charged with the safety and efficiency of our national airspace can collect the paychecks they deserve," the company said in a statement.
Editor's note: This story has been updated with additional details.
