U.S. Government Reopens, But Slowly

SPEAKER_1 (0:00)

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Caitlin McCabe (0:27)

The US government is back in business, but don't expect things to run at full tilt just yet. Plus, Democrats released new emails from Jeffrey Epstein, in which the late financier discussed Donald Trump. And we explore how a Chinese AI company worked around US rules to access Nvidia's top chips.

Stu Woo (0:49)

Directly sending those chips to China, not allowed. But there is this gray area. What if they're sent to a third country, like Indonesia? Can a Chinese company access those chips there? And it turns out that in many cases, yes, they can do that totally legally.

Caitlin McCabe (1:04)

It's Thursday, November 13th. I'm Caitlin McCabe for The Wall Street Journal. And here is the AM Edition of What's News. The top headlines and business stories moving your world today. The US government is officially reopened after being closed for a record long 43 days. The Republican-led House passed a spending package late yesterday that extends funding for the federal government through January, after which President Trump signed it into law. The bill package passed yesterday includes full-year funding for the Agriculture Department, Military Construction and Legislative Branch. It also insured paychecks for federal employees and included language guaranteeing the reversal of federal layoffs that were initiated by the Trump administration to try and pressure Democrats during the shutdown, as well as a moratorium on future cuts. But as journal political reporter Ken Thomas explains, getting the government up and running won't necessarily happen overnight.

Ken Thomas (2:06)

The return to work process will vary agency by agency. But many employees were told to be prepared to return to work on Thursday.

Once employees are back, they will have a lot of work that's piled up. Aviation officials said it will take days, perhaps longer, before US air travel goes back to normal. Airlines will need time to adjust their schedules. For more than 40 million Americans who receive benefits through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, it still remains unclear how quickly states will receive SNAP funding. Tourists should see a resumption in services in places like the national parks. Many of the parks around the country stayed partially open during the shutdown, but were staffed with a limited number of employees.

Caitlin McCabe (3:02)

The government reopening also doesn't mean an immediate return of government data releases like today's CPI print. White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt says the two major government reports on inflation and the labor market for October are likely never to be released blaming the government shutdown. The Bureau of Labor Statistics hasn't yet said when it is likely to start catching up on the backlog of important economic reports or which ones might be compromised by the shutdown. A BLS spokesperson didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. And if you're wondering what alternative indicators to look at for a steer on the US economy, our latest What's News podcast series has been looking at just that. The second episode landed in your feed yesterday. In it, we look at copper prices, which for decades have corresponded to how the economy is doing. We dig into why that is and whether it's still true now. Check it out in the What's News podcast feed wherever you get your podcasts. Now, while the shutdown deal was moving through Washington yesterday, lawmakers' attention turned to the release of a cache of e-mails belonging to late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Late yesterday, Representative Adelita Grijalva became the crucial 218th lawmaker to sign on to a bipartisan petition aimed at forcing a House vote on releasing files related to Epstein. The Democrat from Arizona did so moments after being sworn in, seven weeks after she won a special election in Arizona to fill the House seat last held by her late father.

Adelita Grijalva (4:42)

Speaker Johnson purposefully obstructed my swearing in by canceling vote after vote. And the Epstein files discharge petition sat one signature short. With my signing, we move one step closer to the truth, the truth that they will try to deny, but that survivors deserve their day of justice and the American people demand it.

Caitlin McCabe (5:07)

Johnson told reporters that he expected to bring the matter to the floor next week, although the legislation to compel the Justice Department to release Epstein files is unlikely to become law. It still faces a Senate vote and could be vetoed by President Trump, but the House vote serves to put lawmakers on record. Earlier in the day, Democrats released a handful of emails from Epstein in which he discussed Trump, which prompted the Republican-led House Oversight Committee to release more than 20,000 pages of other Epstein documents. Trump and White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt accused Democrats of releasing the emails as a distraction.