*By Christian Smith*
The Republican Party still has a lot of work to do when it comes to getting women involved in national politics, said Sarah Chamberlain, president and CEO of the Republican Main Street Partnership. It starts with money.
In an interview on Cheddar, Sarah Chamberlain said men are still bigger check-givers than women. And they tend to give to other men.
"The Republican party is primarily funded by men," she said.
Funding is essential to winning seats in Congress: More than $1.3 billion has already been spent on House races alone for the 2018 midterm elections according to the [Center For Responsive Politics](https://www.opensecrets.org/overview/).
Without proper funding, non-incumbent candidates typically don't have the resources to build the name recognition it takes to win an election ー which Chamberlain said is precisely what befell Ashley Nickloes in the race for the Republican nomination in Tennessee's 2nd District.
Nickloes raised [$150,000 in individual contributions](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/30/us/politics/women-campaign-fundraising.html) and received $100,000 from the Republican Main Street Partnership, which was just enough to air one TV ad in the district. She eventually placed third behind two men who out-raised her.
While the Republican Party may not have put forth as many female candidates for the House and Senate as the Democrats this year ー 59 to 197 ー Chamberlain hopes that will change by the next by election year.
"I really hope by 2020 and 2022, we are ready from the GOP side and we're ready to elect a lot more women to Congress, both the House and the Senate," Chamberlain said.
"Ladies, we are 51 percent of this country and our population," she said. "We have to get engaged, we have to turn out, we have to be willing to run, and we have to be willing to fund good female candidates when we find them."
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/why-republican-main-street-partnership-ceo-sarah-chamberlain-says-there-is-a-gender-gap-in-political-fundraising).
The Federal Reserve cut its key interest rate Wednesday for a second time this year as it seeks to shore up economic growth and hiring even as inflation stays elevated. The move comes amid a fraught time for the central bank, with hiring sluggish and yet inflation stuck above the Fed’s 2% target. Compounding its challenges, the central bank is navigating without much of the economic data it typically relies on from the government. The Fed has signaled it may reduce its key rate again in December but the data drought raises the uncertainty around its next moves. Fed Chair Jerome Powell told reporters that there were “strongly differing views” at the central bank's policy meeting about to proceed going forward.
U.S. and Chinese officials say a trade deal between the world’s two largest economies is drawing closer. The sides have reached an initial consensus for President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping to aim to finalize during their high-stakes meeting Thursday in South Korea. Any agreement would be a relief to international markets. Trump's treasury secretary says discussions with China yielded preliminary agreements to stop the precursor chemicals for fentanyl from coming into the United States. Scott Bessent also says Beijing would make “substantial” purchases of soybean and other agricultural products while putting off export controls on rare earth elements needed for advanced technologies.
A new poll finds most U.S. adults are worried about health care becoming more expensive.
The White House budget office says mass firings of federal workers have started in an attempt to exert more pressure on Democratic lawmakers as the government shutdown continues.
President Donald Trump says “there seems to be no reason” to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping as part of an upcoming trip to South Korea after China restricted exports of rare earths needed for American industry. The Republican president suggested Friday he was looking at a “massive increase” of import taxes on Chinese products in response to Xi’s moves. Trump says one of the policies the U.S. is calculating is "a massive increase of Tariffs on Chinese products coming into the United States." A monthslong calm on Wall Street was shattered, with U.S. stocks falling on the news. The Chinese Embassy in Washington hasn't responded to an Associated Press request for comment.
Most members of the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate setting committee supported further reductions to its key interest rate this year, minutes from last month’s meeting showed.
