President Trump’s top economic adviser on Monday downplayed a new report estimating the record-long government shutdown cost the U.S. economy billions of dollars.
“No, I won’t acknowledge any of that right now,” White House National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow told reporters.
Kudlow was asked about a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report showing the economy lost $11 billion during the course of the shutdown that began on Dec. 22 but that roughly $8 billion will be recovered as agencies reopen and workers receive back pay.
In dismissing the report, Kudlow said that “it’s awfully hard to make even the best guesstimates of those kinds of small fractions of numbers.”
He added that the U.S. economy remains “very strong” and predicted the shutdown will not do lasting damage.
“The switch goes right back on,” he added. “There’s certainly no damage to the economy.”
But the economic adviser acknowledged that “the hardships for individuals was always the key problem here” for Trump and lawmakers.
Multiple polls show Trump has received most of the blame from the public for the shutdown, which lasted 35 days.
Niv Elis contributed.