The shutdown lost the U.S. economy $3 billion it will never recover, CBO says

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office released a report Monday that said the longest shutdown in U.S. government history cost the U.S. economy $11 billion — $3 billion of which it will never recover.

Most of the damage will be reversed when federal workers return to their jobs, though President Donald Trump has already warned that another government shutdown may be looming as Congress attempts to come to a deal to fund border-security measures. Trump and top Republicans refused to pass spending bills to reopen the government unless they got border-wall funding, though they eventually caved Friday. Under the new temporary resolution, Congress has until Feb. 15 to come up with a new deal.

"Among those who experienced the largest and most direct negative effects are federal workers who faced delayed compensation and private-sector entities that lost business," the CBO report said. "Some of those private-sector entities will never recoup that lost income."

Trump has long packaged himself as a financially savvy dealmaker, though recent polls indicate that his already dismal approval ratings took a big hit as a result of the 35-day shutdown.

"When the Congress completes its bipartisan, bicameral work to fund government, the President should swiftly sign that legislation to avert another shutdown and restore certainty to our economy and the lives of the American people," she said.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, now Trump’s principal adversary in his ongoing attempts to secure border-wall funding, released a statement that expressed alarm at the money lost during the shutdown.

“Families across the nation are still trying to recover from a month of missing paychecks and overdue bills, but the President is already threatening a second shutdown if he doesn’t get his way,” Pelosi said in a statement. “When the Congress completes its bipartisan, bicameral work to fund government, the President should swiftly sign that legislation to avert another shutdown and restore certainty to our economy and the lives of the American people.”

Cover: Server Dawn Killoran pulls up the shades as tables sit empty during dinnertime at Rocket City Tavern near numerous federal agencies in Huntsville, Ala., Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2019. Business at the restaurant is off at least 35 percent since the partial federal shutdown began. (AP Photo/David Goldman)