As President Donald Trump threatens to fire thousands of federal workers during the government shutdown, lawsuits are being filed over what legal experts inside and outside the administration warn is an illegal plan by budget chief and Project 2025 co-author Russell Vought to weaponize the standoff.

Democrats are pushing for an extension of Affordable Care Act subsidies that expire in a few months, leaving millions of Americans without healthcare in time for the new year. Republicans say they want to fund the government first before engaging in any negotiations. Trump meanwhile is attempting to punish Democratic-leaning states.

As for who is winning the battle for hearts and minds, a Washington Post poll found more voters blame Trump and the GOP for the shutdown than they do Democrats—by a 17-point margin. And party polarization aside, independents overwhelmingly side with Democrats, the poll said. —David E. Rovella

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Bridgewater Associates’ flagship macro fund climbed 26.4% in the first nine months of this year as tariff-fueled market uncertainty boosted the firm and its peers. The hedge fund is said to be on track for its biggest gain since 2010. Hedge funds overall have posted strong gains this year, aided by surging US shares and volatility in bond and currency markets spurred by Trump’s trade wars. The S&P 500 climbed 14% through the third quarter.

The 50-year-old firm has been in reboot mode since Nir Bar Dea became sole chief executive in 2023 and made sweeping personnel changes while cutting assets in a bid to boost performance. Westport, Connecticut-based Bridgewater’s billionaire founder, Ray Dalio, has completely exited the firm, selling his remaining stake and stepping off the board earlier this year.

Nir Bar Dea, chief executive of Bridgewater Associates Photographer: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg

Canada Prime Minister Mark Carney created a new defense investment agency to build domestic manufacturing and accelerate the rearming of the Canadian military, aiming to boost sectors such as steel that have been damaged by US tariffs.

Carney announced the new body on Thursday, a step toward fulfilling an election campaign promise to shake up Canada’s military procurement process. Doug Guzman, a longtime executive at Royal Bank of Canada, will be its chief executive.

It’s arguably the latest historic move in a widening break between the US and Canada. Carney, like America’s estranged allies in Europe, has made reviving Canada’s military a central part of his economic strategy in the face of Trump’s stated disdain for NATO and his tariff war against traditional American allies.

Funds under the UBS umbrella face more than half a billion dollars of exposure to bankrupt auto-parts supplier First Brands Group, with one ranking as the biggest unsecured creditor, court documents show. The Cleveland-based company filed for Chapter 11 protection in Texas late Sunday following a failed attempt to refinance $6 billion of loans and creditor concern over the company’s use of opaque off-balance-sheet financing. The board committee appointed as part of the bankruptcy is investigating.

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