Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Wednesday that President Donald Trump has “lowered the temperature” in Minnesota, which is undergoing a major civil war over the federal government’s aggressive immigration policies.
Bessent told CNBC’s “Squawk on the Streets” that amid the controversy over federal funding for the Department of Homeland Security, President Trump is now “asking” Congress to take steps to avoid triggering a partial government shutdown.
The shutdown could begin Saturday at 12:01 a.m. ET unless lawmakers reach a resolution on DHS funding, which many Democratic lawmakers have rejected in response to the recent killing of nurse Alex Preti by federal agents in Minneapolis.
Bessent told CNBC that President Trump is “in constant communication” with members of Congress and “pleading with them not to shut down the government.”
The Cabinet Secretary declined to predict whether a second shutdown in less than four months would be avoided.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen. Democrats might not have as much freedom as they did last time, but they don’t care. They seem to think this is a way to stop President Trump, for example,” he said.
He also warned that further closures could cause further economic damage.
“Especially on the services side, when government shuts down, it never comes back. So there’s going to be a huge permanent loss,” Bessent said.
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