“The White House is monitoring reports of a suspected plague case and a related quarantines in Russia, a Trump administration official told Axios on Sunday,” Axios reports.
“Russian health authorities have taken precautionary measures in response to the death of a woman who worked at an anti-plague research factility, but have not confirmed that she contracted plague.”
Mother Jones: Reports of a lethal virus outbreak in Russia follow the death of a researcher.
“The U.S. removed all its B-1 bombers from the U.K.’s RAF Fairford air base, a decision made due to security concerns over suspected terror plots against the facility, American officials said Sunday,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The decision represents a shift for the U.S. which has used the military base northwest of London as a hub for launching bomber strikes in Iran. Until their recent departure, a dozen B-1s had been stationed at the base.”
New York Times: U.S. rushes to withdraw bombers from U.K. air base after new threats.
“You’re never going to get an impeachment. Then if you do that, you just basically prove all Washington is what the American people think. It’s Disneyland on the Potomac. Deliver the change. Deliver a comprehensive ethics package that uses the investigations to then deliver change.”
— Rahm Emanuel, quoted by Fox News, urging Democrats to not impeach President Trump again.
“With Election Day less than a month away, President Donald Trump is touting two federal cash-payment programs already underway while renewing a much larger $5,000 check promise contingent on Republicans retaining Congress,” CNBC reports.
Stat: Trump announces $90 payments for seniors’ Medicare premium costs ahead of midterm elections.
“Sen. John Kennedy said he would consider jumping in the 2028 presidential race if he does not like his party’s options for the Republican nominee,” the Washington Sun reports.
Said Kennedy: “On my side of the aisle, if a bunch of goobers run, and I think they’re goobers, and one of the goobers might win, and I think I could do a better job, I would consider running.”
“Gas prices are up. Electricity bills, too. And diesel prices recently hit record highs. With less than a month until the midterm elections, Americans are facing a multifront squeeze from rising energy prices,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“A large portion of higher costs have been driven by the U.S. war with Iran. Many voters say energy prices are top of mind as they head to the ballot box in November.”
“Diesel prices are a particular concern for Republicans. Both trucking and agriculture heavily rely on diesel fuel for their operations. When diesel prices rise, the cost of goods and foods delivered and cultivated by diesel-reliant vehicles increase as well, affecting American consumers. A global fuels crunch sent diesel prices surging to record levels in recent weeks. As of Saturday, diesel prices were $6.36 a gallon, up from $3.70 a year ago, according to AAA.”
“Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Sunday that President Trump was ‘well aware of the risks to energy flows’ before launching the war in Iran earlier this year, but argued ‘the world cannot sustain a nuclear-armed Iran,'” CBS News reports.
Said Wright: “He knew it was going to elevate energy prices in the short run, he said, ‘I’m going to take a hit there, but I got to do the right thing.'”
New York Times: “Kansas’s farming-heavy economy has been buffeted by challenges both of the president’s making and out of his control.”
“Mr. Trump’s war with Iran has driven up the costs of gasoline and diesel.”
“The president, as part of his trade wars, has allowed a flood of ground beef imports into the United States with lower tariffs, squeezing Kansas cattle farmers.”
“And the administration’s immigration crackdown has rattled ranchers who rely on immigrants to keep the cattle supply chain moving.”
The Downballot: “New data from AdImpact shows that, across nine of the most competitive Senate contests, Republicans had spent $563 million on advertising through the end of September versus $375 million for Democrats—a gap of 60% to 40% in favor of the GOP.”
“But in terms of the actual number of ads aired, the difference is much smaller. In total, Republican ads have run roughly 290,000 times, while the Democrats’ have appeared approximately 250,000 times. That’s a much smaller difference of 54% to 46%.”
“Why hasn’t the GOP spending spree translated into a comparable advertising edge? Because Republicans have heavily relied on third-party groups like super PACs, which have to pay prevailing market rates for ads. Candidates, by contrast, are entitled by law to the lowest rates that broadcasters offer.”
“We’re not talking about socialists, these are communists, Marxists and anarchists. You got to be kidding. They want us to call them democratic socialists, there’s nothing democratic about these people.”
— Rep. Tom Emmer (R-MN), quoted by Fox News.
“When the Supreme Court kicks off a new, nine-month term on Monday, one key player will be noticeably absent: President Donald Trump,” CNN reports.
“After months of near-constant confrontation with the White House, the nine justices will retake their seats behind the court’s mahogany bench without a docket full of Trump-driven, separation-of-powers blockbusters that defined the last term — from tariffs to birthright citizenship to the firing of once-independent government officials.”
“The respite is unlikely to last.”
NBC News: Supreme Court to decide multiple high-profile cases in new term.
Reuters: With a mixed scorecard, Trump poised to test his powers again at U.S. Supreme Court.
A new CBS News/YouGov poll finds Democrats leading Republicans on the generic congressional ballot, 54% to 44%.
“Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth indicated on Saturday that some U.S. service members could be redeployed from Europe to the Western Hemisphere as the Trump administration ramps up its deadly campaign against drug cartels in South America,” NewsNation reports.
“Democrats have a 24-point edge among Latino registered voters nationally heading into the midterm elections, according to the new NBC News/Telemundo poll. But under the surface, there are distinct segments of Latino voters — differences that mirror other divides in national politics and demonstrate how ‘the Latino vote’ is more than one big bloc.”
“Like the broader electorate, Latino women lean more Democratic than Latino men do.”
“He can go from zero to a-hole in about three seconds.”
— Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA), quoted by NBC News, on President Trump.
“Voters could make history next month by giving the two largest U.S. cities something in common: South Asian immigrant democratic socialist mayors,” Axios reports.
“Such a pairing would capture two forces reshaping urban America — its growing diversity and the Democratic Party’s shifting ideological boundaries.”
“New York, the nation’s largest city, is already led by democratic socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani.”
“The challenger in Los Angeles is Nithya Raman, an Indian-born urban planner and two-term City Council member who is trying to unseat Democratic Mayor Karen Bass on Nov. 3.”
“In the lead-up to the midterm elections, calls for generational change have echoed through districts across the country, as younger candidates have pushed to replace the old guard,” the New York Times reports.
“And yet, the gerontocracy remains alive and well in American politics. In primary after primary, voters rejected those calls for younger leadership, voting for incumbent politicians who were notably older than their challengers.”
Taegan Goddard
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire -- which for more than two decades has been one of the nation's most influential political news sites.
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