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The Senate took the first step to end the government shutdown on Sunday after a group of moderate Democrats agreed to proceed without a guaranteed extension of health care subsidies, angering many in their caucus who say Americans want them to continue the fight.In a test vote that is the first in a series of required procedural maneuvers, the Senate voted 60-40 to move toward passing compromise legislation to fund the government and hold a later vote on extending Affordable Care Act tax credits that expire Jan. 1. Final passage could be several days away if Democrats object and delay the process.The agreement does not guarantee the health care subsidies will be extended, as Democrats have demanded for almost six weeks. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York voted against moving ahead with the package, along with all but eight of his Democratic colleagues.A group of three former governors New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, New Hampshire Sen. Maggie Hassan and Independent Sen. Angus King of Maine broke the six-week stalemate on Sunday when they agreed to vote to advance three bipartisan annual spending bills and extend the rest of government funding until late January in exchange for a mid-December vote on extending the health care tax credits.The agreement also includes a reversal of the mass firings of federal workers by the Trump administration since the shutdown began on Oct. 1 and would ensure that federal workers receive back pay.Senate Majority Leader John Thune quickly endorsed the deal and called an immediate vote to begin the process of approving it as the shutdown continued to disrupt flights nationwide, threaten food assistance for millions of Americans and leave federal workers without pay.“The time to act is now,” Thune said.Returning to the White House on Sunday evening after attending a football game, President Donald Trump did not say whether he endorsed the deal. But he said, “It looks like we’re getting close to the shutdown ending.” Five Democrats switch votes In addition to Shaheen, King and Hassan, Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, home to tens of thousands of federal workers, also voted in favor of moving forward on the agreement. Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, the No. 2 Democrat, Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman and Nevada Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen also voted yes.The moderates had expected a larger number of Democrats to vote with them as 10-12 Democratic senators had been part of the negotiations. But in the end, only five Democrats switched their votes the exact number that Republicans needed. King, Cortez Masto and Fetterman had already been voting to open the government since Oct. 1.The vote was temporarily delayed on Sunday evening as three conservatives who often criticize spending bills, Republican Sens. Mike Lee of Utah, Rick Scott of Florida and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, withheld their votes and huddled with Thune at the back of the chamber. They eventually voted yes after speaking to Trump, Lee said.Another Republican, Sen John Cornyn of Texas, had to fly back from Texas to deliver the crucial 60th vote. Schumer votes no After Democrats met for over two hours to discuss the proposal, Schumer said he could not “in good faith” support it.Schumer, who received blowback from his party in March when he voted to keep the government open, said that Democrats have now “sounded the alarm” on health care.“We will not give up the fight,” he said.Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who caucuses with the Democrats, said giving up the fight was a “horrific mistake.”Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., agreed, saying that in last week’s elections people voted overwhelmingly Democratic “to urge Democrats to hold firm.” A bipartisan agreement Democrats had voted 14 times not to reopen the government as they demanded the extension of tax credits that make coverage more affordable under the Affordable Care Act. Republicans said they would not negotiate on health care, but GOP leaders have been quietly working with the group of moderates as the contours of an agreement began to emerge.The agreement includes bipartisan bills worked out by the Senate Appropriations Committee to fund parts of government food aid, veterans programs and the legislative branch, among other things. All other funding would be extended until the end of January, giving lawmakers more than two months to finish additional spending bills.The deal would reinstate federal workers who had received reduction in force, or layoff, notices and reimburse states that spent their own funds to keep federal programs running during the shutdown. It would also protect against future reductions in force through January and guarantee federal workers would be paid once the shutdown is over. House Democrats push back House Democrats swiftly criticized the Senate.Texas Rep. Greg Casar, the chairman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said a deal that doesn’t reduce health care costs is a “betrayal” of millions of Americans who are counting on Democrats to fight.“Accepting nothing but a pinky promise from Republicans isn’t a compromise it’s capitulation,” Casar said in a post on X. “Millions of families would pay the price.”Rep. Angie Craig of Minnesota posted that “if people believe this is a ‘deal,’ I have a bridge to sell you.”House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries blamed Republicans and said Democrats will continue to fight.“Donald Trump and the Republican Party own the toxic mess they have created in our country and the American people know it,” Jeffries said. Health care debate ahead It’s unclear whether the two parties would be able to find any common ground on the health care subsidies before a promised December vote in the Senate. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has said he will not commit to bring it up in his chamber.Some Republicans have said they are open to extending the COVID-19-era tax credits as premiums could skyrocket for millions of people, but they also want new limits on who can receive the subsidies and argue that the tax dollars for the plans should be routed through individuals.Other Republicans, including Trump, have used the debate to renew their yearslong criticism of the law and called for it to be scrapped or overhauled. Shutdown effects worsen Meanwhile, the consequences of the shutdown have been compounding. U.S. airlines canceled more than 2,000 flights on Sunday for the first time since the shutdown began, and there were more than 7,000 flight delays, according to FlightAware, a website that tracks air travel disruptions.Treasury Secretary Sean Duffy said on CNN’s “State of the Union” that air travel ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday will be “reduced to a trickle” if the government doesn’t repen.At the same time, food aid was delayed for tens of millions of people as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits were caught up in legal battles related to the shutdown.And in Washington, home to tens of thousands of federal workers who have gone unpaid, the Capital Area Food Bank said it is providing 8 million more meals ahead of the holidays than it had prepared for this budget year a nearly 20% increase. Associated Press writers Stephen Groves and Kevin Freking contributed to this report. Mary Clare Jalonick and Lisa Mascaro, Associated Press
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E-Commerce
This weekend, U.S. travelers began to feel the initial impact of flight reductions mandated by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), a plan designed to help compensate for the understaffing of air traffic controllers due to the ongoing government shutdown. On Sunday, more than 13,000 U.S. flights were canceled or delayed, and things are only going to get worse this week as the total percentage of flights reduced each day is mandated to reach 10% of all U.S. air traffic by Friday. But the pain might not end there. Now, the U.S. transportation secretary has warned that air traffic could slow to a trickle ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday. Heres what you need to know. Whats happened? Last week, the FAA issued an order mandating that airlines begin reducing the number of flights they operate each day. The reason for this order is to lessen the burden on airports and their air traffic controllers, all of whom have not been paid in over a month due to the ongoing government shutdown. This lack of payment has led to air traffic controller staffing shortages, as many controllers have taken on other jobs to help pay the bills while their checks are on pause. Fewer air traffic controllers increase the safety risk in the skies. One way to help mitigate that risk is to reduce flights. And that is exactly what the FAA announced last week. On Friday, the first phase of those reductions went into effect, with airlines ordered to reduce flights by 4% over the weekend. That percentage will grow in steps throughout the week to 10% by this Friday. But even the 4% reduction has already led to significant disruptions this weekend. According to data from flight-tracking service FlightAware, on Sunday, there were a total of 10,477 flight delays into, out of, or within the United States. Additionally, another 2,952 US flights were canceled, with the FAAs mandated reductions likely contributing significantly to that number. window.addEventListener("message",function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var t in a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data["datawrapper-height"][t]+"px";r.style.height=d}}}); Tomorrow, FAA-mandated flight reductions will increase to 6%, rising to 8% on Thursday, and 10% on Friday. However, it might not end there if the government shutdown drags on. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy recently told Fox News that reductions could reach 20%, without giving a timeline for that number. Thanksgiving travel warning But the bad news surrounding U.S. air traffic doesnt end there. As noted by CNBC, on Sunday, Duffy told CNNs State of the Union that air travel in America is only going to get worse ahead of the Thanksgiving holidays. Thanksgiving is on Thursday, November 27, this yeara little more than two weeks away. Many people begin traveling for their Thanksgiving holidays earlier in the week. It is one of the busiest travel weeks in America. The two weeks before Thanksgiving, youre going to see air travel be reduced to a trickle, Duffy said, adding that many Americans are not going to be able to get on an airplane, because there are not going to be that many flights that fly if this thing doesnt open back up. The thing Duffy is referring to is the federal government. The government has been shuttered since October 1 in what is now the longest U.S. government shutdown in history, in a fight primarily over the funding of healthcare subsidies for millions of Americans. The Trump administration and Republicans dont want those needed subsidies renewed, while Democrats support renewing them so cash-strapped Americans can continue to pay for their healthcare. Hope on the horizon? Duffy has previously claimed that the FAA-mandated flight reductions isnt about politics but safety. Yet reducing the number of flights in America could serve to add pressure on Congress to reach a deal to reopen the government, as public anger and frustration over air traffic disruptions mount. Still, there is no doubt that the fastest resolution to Americas air traffic rut is by reopening the federal government and getting paychecks back to air traffic controllers. And thats why there may be hope on the horizon. Last night, the Senate advanced a bipartisan deal that would see the U.S. government reopened. But the deal, which does not protect Americans access to healthcare subsidies, still needs to be passed by the House and then signed by President Trump. Theres no guarantee either one of those things will happen, however. Even if an agreement on the new bill could be reached relatively quickly and signed into law, a return to normal air traffic over U.S. skies could still take weeks, causing headaches during the Thanksgiving travel period ahead.
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E-Commerce
Brands matter now more than ever. You dont have to say it, I know what youre thinking: the CEO of a brand agency arguing for brands? How surprising. But this isnt for me. This is for every CMO looking to secure their seat at the table and fighting to keep brand investment alive. This is for every CEO and CFO balancing the pull of GenAI and the flood of new tools that promise optimization, automation, personalization, and agentic transformation. And yes, dare I say it, this is for my competitors, who I know are on their own crusade to prove that brand still matters. Because brands are quietly under attack, through budget cuts, short-termism, and the belief that anything truly valuable can be automated. Were confusing lead generation with brand creation and, even more dangerously, forgetting how important a brand is to business growth. WHY BRANDS MATTER In the process, were forgetting what brands actually do and why they still matter. Because when everything is automated, brand is what remains human. When products and services are copied, a brand is what creates desire, and an unfair advantage. And when disruption is constant and competition global, only strong brands will endure. I may lead a creative company but Im also a CEO with a growth mandate, investing in our own brand. And I believe, now more than ever, that brand is a strategic asset and one too many businesses underinvest in at their peril. So, lets confront four counterarguments, the real ones I hear every day in rooms where growth is on the line. 1. Performance marketing delivers sales. Brand is just a cost center. Performance marketing works. It gets clicks, drives conversions, and shows up beautifully on a dashboard. But, if performance is the engine, brand is the fuel that drives it, as the prior CEO of Nike found out a little too late, after a focus on performance and efficiency over brand led to stalled growth and declining sales. Performance doesnt create preference or build loyalty. Without brand, performance marketing becomes a tax you pay repeatedly to stay in the game. Brand, by contrast, is a multiplier. It builds memory, emotional affinity, and cultural relevancethe very elements that make performance more efficient over time. Strong brands can command higher prices, attract better talent, and weather competitive pressure. Its why Mastercard keeps innovating on its Priceless brand platform. How Xbox has become more than a console, its become a community. And its why LOréal Pariss Because Im Worth It still drives double-digit growth. Brands like these are powerful business engines delivering three times the brand value and nearly four times the year-on-year growth of their competitors, according to a McCann analysis of 15 brands across 12 countries and 6,000 consumers. They create the conditions for performance marketing to perform better. 2. Brand cant be measured. This is the argument I hear most often, and it is the one that stings the most, because there is some truth in it. We have failed to connect the emotional power of brand with the hard metrics that matter to long- and short-term business success. We have defaulted to soft metrics like awareness and recall, when what clients and boards are asking for is clear and fair: Show me how my investment in brand creates growth. Show me how it moves people and moves markets. That is a leadership challenge for everyone responsible for a brand. And I include McCann in that. But the belief that brand cannot be measured is simply wrong. Strong brands command higher prices, drive loyalty, and outperform competitors, with up to two times market cap and four times employee engagement, based on McCanns analyses of more than 130 brands across multiple markets and categories. Brand is structural and, when measured with the right intent, it becomes the most powerful signal of long-term business health. Again, this is about completing the picture, not replacing performance metrics. Because brand powers performance. 3. Everything can be copied, so whats the point of brand? Dupes may seem like a threat to a brand, but theyre not. Its actually a sign of how culturally powerful brands have become. People buy the dupe because they know the original. Theyre not rejecting the brand or buying a brandless product, theyre acknowledging the brand by seeking out something that looks awfully close to it. Strong brands know how to stay in the story. When knockoff Lafufu versions of Pop Marts Labubu toy went viral, the brand didnt retreat. It trademarked the parody name and turned it into a moment. In a world where everything can be copied, the only asset that can’t is the emotional signal people choose to align with. Thats your brand. 4. Discovery is data-driven now. Brand doesnt matter if youre not in the feed. There is no question that discovery looks different now. People are not searching the way they used to and content is now served by an algorithm. What shows up is no longer just about keywords or intent but about LLMs and algorithms predicting relevance, proximity, and engagement. For consumers, especially Gen Z, the feed is culture and connection, not just content. And if youre not appearing there, you risk being invisible. But that is exactly why brand matters more than ever. While data may determine what gets delivered, it is brand that determines what gets noticed. Algorithms reward attention signals like clicks, shares, comments, and saves. Brands that understand human truths (yes, humans) can generate those signals for a business. It is what makes people stop scrolling, pay attention, and feel something. Without it, content becomes wallpaper, optimized but forgettable wallpaper. According to McCanns own Truth Central research, 64% of people worry they will discover fewer new things if companies only show them what the algorithm thinks they want. That is an open invitation for brands with a point of view and the courage to break the pattern. So yes, Im the CEO of a brand company making the case for brand. Because in a world of endless change, a brand is what gets you emotional advantage and moves the people and markets that matter most to your business. Daryl Lee is global CEO of McCann Worldgroup.
Category:
E-Commerce
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