Millions of government workers would not be paid if the federal government shuts down this weekend, and activity at many agencies that need federal funding will either slow down or cease completely. However, Social Security payments would continue to be made. The shorter-term continuing-resolution measures that have kept the government running in recent years amid political stalemate in Washington do not pay Social Security, which is regarded as a necessary program. Social Security benefits are paid to over 72.8 million people each month. Retirees receive the majority of such payments, but disabled individuals and the dependents of dead pensioners also receive them. Benefit checks will continue to be sent, but if SSA staff start to be furloughed, those who need to get in touch with the age...

After a plan to find a buyer fell through, troubled discount furniture and home decor company Big Lots will start going-out-of-business sales at its remaining sites. Big Lots stated in a release on Thursday that it no longer expects to be able to finalize a previously disclosed deal with a private equity firm to save the business. Nonetheless, it stated that it is still working to finalize a different deal with that group, Nexus Capital Management, a company based in Los Angeles, or another partner. After experiencing ongoing losses, Big Lots filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy restructuring in September. This year, hundreds of shop closures have been announced by the Columbus, Ohio-based company. According to data from Coresight Research, a consumer insights group, the retail industry suffere...

An NBC News analysis of historical polling data reveals that lawmakers have not suffered a significant political cost in previous government shutdowns, despite Republican leaders on Capitol Hill rushing to salvage a government funding deal after President-elect Donald Trump helped sabotage an early accord. As Trump and his supporters, notably billionaire Elon Musk, urged Republicans to back out of a bipartisan financing agreement that was announced this week, some shutdown advocates have been bringing up this argument. Republicans and President Trump shouldn't fear a government shutdown. According to a post on X by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, the next election is in two years. We won the first reelected House GOP majority since 1928 and had two shutdowns in 1995. In reference to S...

In a recent letter to government organizations examined by CNBC, lawmakers claim that millions of consumer credit reporting mistakes resulted from a flawed transfer of student loan accounts from Nelnet to Mohelain in 2023. According to the letter, hundreds of thousands of borrowers' credit scores were reported inaccurately for up to a year and a half, and over 2 million duplicate student loan records appeared on customers' credit reports as a result of the loan servicer modification. The letter was written Wednesday evening to U.S. Department of Education Secretary Miguel Cardona and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rohit Chopra by Senator Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, and other senators. The lawmakers contacted Nelnet, Mohela, and three credit reporting agen...

WASHINGTON—According to people familiar with the talks, White House officials are closely coordinating their strategy with Democratic leaders in Congress, including Rep. Hakeem Jeffries and Sen. Chuck Schumer, as Democrats seek to draw attention to the negative economic effects of a holiday shutdown and the obstruction of disaster relief. Biden has refrained from discussing the impending shutdown in public. White House officials now think that House Republicans and President-elect Donald Trump should handle this issue because Trump urged his party to sabotage a bipartisan agreement that had already been negotiated. The White House has mostly kept quiet, even though it will eventually have to sign any bill that passes. Republicans cited Biden when asked if Trump was responsible for the deal...

The trendiest stores used to be found in malls. The trendiest eateries are now located there. Shopping malls in the United States have suffered, especially in the past ten years, from the gradual demise of department stores and the growth of internet shopping. According to Coresight Research, the number of the once-essential retail complexes has decreased from a peak of 2,500 in the 1980s to about 700 now. However, a lot of people in the retail sector now believe that the predictions of the mall's doom were overblown. Many Gen Z customers adore the mall experience and prefer to purchase in person. Developers' innovative ideas have transformed vacant department shops into homes, bringing customers even closer to the establishments. Additionally, since restaurants and bars have grown in popu...

The incoming Republican-controlled White House, Senate, and House of Representatives will determine the fate of President Joe Biden's historic climate legislation, the Inflation Reduction Act. In the White House, President-elect Donald Trump has already proposed three candidates for positions in his cabinet that, if approved by the Senate, will probably play a significant role in the future of the IRA: executive in a hedge fundTreasury Secretary Scott Bessentas of an oilfield services firmChris Wright, the CEO of Liberty Energy, will head the Department of Energy, while Doug Burgum, the governor of North Dakota, will head the Interior Department. Both chambers of Congress would need to approve any total repeal of the IRA, and Republican politicians have so far been hesitant to fully discou...

Washington Just hours after President-elect Donald Trump destroyed the first bipartisan accord, House Republicans on Thursday seemed to have hammered out a second spending deal to stave an impending government shutdown. Republicans had reached a new agreement on government spending, House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole, R-Okla., told reporters Thursday afternoon. However, he did not elaborate on the specifics of the agreement, which had included everything from government funding to changes to prescription drug plans to facilitating the relocation of an NFL football stadium. As he walked out of the speaker's office on Capitol Hill, Cole stated, "We have an agreement, and we expect to have a vote on Thursday." A few minutes later, the 116-page bill was issued by Republicans. Trump hailed t...

Vuori, an athleisure business that debuted in 2015, was based in a garage, marketed solely men's shorts, and failed to attract investors. After obtaining $825 million in November in a funding round that valued the firm at $5.5 billion, the Carlsbad, California-based store is now growing internationally with the support of a number of high-profile investors, including General Atlantic, SoftBank, and Norwest Venture Partners. When it eventually files to go public, as individuals close to the firm believe it expects to do, it will be one of the largest initial public offerings (IPOs) in the retail sector. It has become the envy of established companies like Lululemon, Gap sAthleta, and Levi's Beyond Yoga. Regarding the recent funding round, Matthew Tingler, a managing director in Baird's glob...

WASHINGTON — As Democrats seek to emphasize how a holiday shutdown would harm the economy and impede disaster aid, White House officials are in frequent communication with both Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, and they are working together to coordinate their strategies, according to people familiar with the conversations. Biden has refrained from discussing the impending shutdown in public. White House officials now think that House Republicans and President-elect Donald Trump should handle this issue because Trump urged his party to sabotage a bipartisan agreement that had already been negotiated. The White House has mostly kept quiet, even though it will eventually have to sign any bill that passes. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre blasted the GOP in a written ...