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Former Trump adviser Cohn: Shutdown 'makes absolutely no sense whatsoever'

Aarthi Swaminathan
·Reporter

Gary Cohn, a former top economic adviser to President Donald Trump, does not think that the ongoing government shutdown is a good idea.

Cohn, the former director of the National Economic Council who left the administration in April 2018, told the Boston Globe that the partial shutdown — which affects the lives of nearly 800,000 federal employees with furloughs or work without pay — is “completely wrong” and “makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.”

He added, “I don’t understand what the outcome is here, and I don’t understand where we’re going with it. I’m confused as to what the White House’s strategy is on this a little bit.”

Gary Cohn, outgoing director of the U.S. National Economic Council, listens as U.S. President Donald Trump, right, speaks during a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Thursday, March 8, 2018.
Gary Cohn, outgoing director of the U.S. National Economic Council, listens as U.S. President Donald Trump, right, speaks during a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Thursday, March 8, 2018.

The ongoing government shutdown is the longest in history. Frustrated and unpaid workers are resorting to taking sick leave or even suing the government, hoping to pressure the government to conclude the shutdown.

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Effects from the closure are seeping into the daily lives of Americans as politicians remain in a deadlock over Trump’s proposed funding for a $5.7 billion wall on the southern border.

Cohn says shutdown makes no sense as the shutdown nears four weeks. (Graphic: David Foster/Yahoo Finance)
Cohn says shutdown makes no sense as the shutdown nears four weeks. (Graphic: David Foster/Yahoo Finance)

Cohn says shutdown makes no sense as costs grow

While Trump has promised to “never back down” from the fight, cost estimates of the prolonged and protracted shutdown have risen, according to White House officials.

And how much longer this shutdown will last will “depend on how much pain the Trump administration is willing to tolerate,” according to analysts at Bank of America Merill Lynch (BAML).

Aarthi is a writer for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter @aarthiswami.

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