Um, do you think that the president is open to --
[Inaudible] Oh yeah.
Oh, yeah, go to this one. Thank you.
If the president is open to giving Hungary an exemption on some of the sanctions on Russia?
I -- I haven't discussed the Hungary situation with the president.
OK.
So we've been working 100 percent on the economy and getting prices down for the American people.
OK, and what about the economy right now during the shutdown? I was listening to some of your remarks just then on just how it's worse than anyone imagined.
Yeah. Yeah, it is. That it's actually because it's so long then the things that you can sort of fix for a little while are starting to run into blocks. And so we're seeing that in air traffic control and permitting. Basically throughout the economy there are disruptions because of the shutdown that are going to start to really bite the economy.
I think that Wall Street firms are guessing that we're going to look at a 1 to 1.5 percent reduction in GDP growth this quarter, which means we're going to probably about cut it in half. And I think that that estimate from CEA -- it's about what CEA is looking at now to given how long it's been, is that right, Kim?
Yeah, so any other questions before I go back to your perspective what?
From your perspective, what have you heard about a possible deal on the shutdown? I know it's a Congressional thing, but have you heard any chatter about a possible deal being any closer right now?
Yeah, I can't say what's going on inside the room because I haven't been in there so.
What is the feeling like inside the White House? How would you describe it as far as --
[Crosstalk]
Oh, the feeling inside the White House is that the Democrats think they're going to slow down our agenda and they won't. That we're working every day really hard. When Congress opens, we'll be ready for them with more proposals than they dreamed imaginable. Thank you.
On the -- sorry, just one quick question. Um, with the economy and you're saying some people predicting the -- the downturn and GDP 1 percent, is there a way that you think the Trump administration can help realize those gains again once the government reopens or is it going to be a long term?
No, there should be no -- there should be a big bounce back right away. Uh, part part of it is, uh, that the real GDP is measured in part by what we pay government workers. And, of course, that has a multiplier effect. And so right now, sadly, including everybody in this building there, nobody's being paid.
And so that won't be counted in GDP, uh, in the quarter that they're not being paid. But if the pay is made up, uh, say in January, then all of that money would go into the first quarter of next year. And then that would give you a big rebound for GDP. Because remember, the people who aren't getting their paychecks right now are probably not going to restaurants and everything else.
It's really disruptive for their lives. And we wish the Democrats would open up as soon as possible. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Hassett. I appreciate it. Thank you.