'Whoa! Look at this!' What CEOs are saying about the government shutdown

Photo: US President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025. Pfizer will sell some drugs at a 50% average discount on a direct-to-consumer website called TrumpRx, an initiative intended to allow Americans to pay for prescriptions at discounted rates negotiated by the government. Photographer: Francis Chung/Politico/Bloomberg via Getty Images (Credit: Francis Chung—Politico/Bloomberg/Getty Images)

• In today’s CEO Daily: Diane Brady on what CEOs are saying about the government shutdown.
• The big story: Trump using shutdown to cut spending, fire workers. 
• The markets: Up, up, up!
• Plus: All the news and watercooler chat from Fortune.

Good morning. I was talking to a CEO over the phone yesterday about the potential business impact of a government shutdown when the news broke that the White House is withholding $18 billion in federal infrastructure funds for New York City. “Whoa! Look at this,” he said, reading out allegations that the city has “discriminatory, unconstitutional” contracting processes.  “If you work with the government, that could be more significant.”