The ongoing government shutdown is causing a delay in the announcement of the annual Social Security cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for millions of beneficiaries. Initially set to be revealed on Wednesday, the 2024 Social Security COLA announcement has been rescheduled for October 24. This announcement is typically aligned with the release of the September Consumer Price Index, which has also been postponed.

The Social Security Administration updates its benefits annually to reflect inflation rates. This postponement highlights yet another way in which the government shutdown, now dragging into its third week with little sign of resolution, complicates financial planning for many Americans.

According to projections from the Senior Citizens League and the AARP, beneficiaries can expect a COLA increase of approximately 2.7%. The Social Security program supports about 70.6 million individuals, including retirees, people with disabilities, and children.

In other news:

Trump’s public schedule, according to the White House

— At 3 p.m. ET, former President Trump is scheduled to hold a press conference in the Oval Office alongside FBI Director Kash Patel.

— 7:30 p.m.: Trump will host a dinner related to his plans to build White House ballroom

Bessent says U.S. President still expects to meet Chinese leader

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said President Donald Trump still expects to speak with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in South Korea during APEC week.

Resurgent trade tensions have threatened ongoing negotiations over tariffs between the U.S. and China.

Bessent made the comments at a press conference, Wednesday.

China last week expanded export controls on key rare earth minerals, and Trump then announced a 100% tariff on Chinese goods set to take effect on November 1.

Bessent says the shutdown is costing the economy $15B per day

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent made the comment at the CNBC Invest in America Forum on Wednesday morning.

“The only thing slowing us down here is the shutdown,” he said.

Early crowd indicates big interest

The crowd outside the Supreme Court before the Voting Rights Hearing was already larger than other crowds long before the doors opened.

Faye Gaskin, 64, with the Mt. Moriah AME Church in Annapolis said she was “here fighting for my grandchildren and the generations to come. If we do nothing, it’ll be a loss. I won’t be able to look myself in the mirror. Much blood has been shed and many lives lost for this.”

Her fellow church goer Linda Nevils, 72, said she was there to try to protect the vote “for our people. Everything comes from that. Where we eat, where we live, where we work.”

The impact reaches beyond congressional districts

The impact of the section of the Voting Right Acts being argued before the Supreme Court isn’t just in how to draw the boundaries for election districts.

It’s often whether to draw them for local offices.

J. Morgan Kousser, a retired history professor at the California Institute of Technology who works on the issue, has tallied 1,363 cases since 1965 where plaintiffs using Section 2 have prevailed in court or reached settlements.

Of those, 937 have been to change at-large elections for local offices to make them district-based. That’s a way to increase minority representation for seats on town councils, school boards, sanitation districts and other government bodies.

The court is hearing the case for a second time

A second round arguments is rare at the Supreme Court and can presage a big change in the law.

The court’s 2010 decision in the Citizens United case that opened the floodgates to independent spending in political campaigns came after two rounds of arguments.

Arguments will go well beyond the allotted hour

Since returning to the courtroom following the Covid-19 pandemic, the justices have routinely gone beyond the time set aside for arguments.

With questions for four lawyers, the session could even stretch into early afternoon. Arguments will begin shortly after 10 a.m., Eastern time.

Ruling for Louisiana could affect wider re-districting fight

The outcome of the case could have ramifications for an ongoing battle on congressional redistricting that’s already playing out across the nation, starting after Trump urged Texas and other GOP-controlled states to redraw the districts so the party could keep control of the House.

If the court sides with Louisiana, more than a dozen districts could be re-drawn in a way that could benefit Republicans, the Democratically aligned voting-rights groups Fair Fight Action and Black Voters Matter have estimated.

The court is expected to make its decision by June, which could lead some states to speedily redraw districts before the midterm elections.