Why Democrats Say the Shutdown Will Never End
Tara Palmeri: “Behind closed doors last week, Senate Democrats reached a grim conclusion about the government shutdown: it’s not ending anytime soon.”
“The most optimistic estimate circulating among Democratic senior staffers? Late November. If you ask Republicans, it’s worse — December.”
“Why? Because, as one Democratic senator put it at a briefing on Wednesday bluntly, Trump doesn’t even know what’s in his own funding bill.”
“And even worse, as another insider said, ‘Trump’s bored of it.'”
The Immigration Dilemma Facing Democrats
A new memo from centrist think tank Third Way finds an “electorate caught between two unsatisfying extremes: the cruelty of Trump’s policies and the perception that Democrats can’t maintain order at the border,” Politico reports.
“Support for Republicans’ handling of immigration slightly dropped from the last polling in March to September, down to 56% from 62%. But trust for Republicans’ handling of border security held steady at 66%.”
Democrats, meanwhile, “made modest but significant gains: their 30-point deficit on trust in immigration shrank to 20 points. Yet, the 40-point deficit on border security persisted. That’s a crucial distinction — because while voters are softening in their views toward Trump and his party on immigration overall, they still don’t trust Democrats to manage the border responsibly.”
Trump Asks Justices to Let Him Fire Top Copyright Official
“The Trump administration has asked the Supreme Court to allow the president to remove the government’s top copyright official after a lower court allowed her to remain in her post that is part of the Library of Congress,” the New York Times reports.
“President Trump ordered the removal in May of Shira Perlmutter, the register of copyrights, along with the librarian of Congress, Carla Hayden, who did not challenge her dismissal.”
Races Tighten in Virginia
A new Wason Center survey of Virginia likely voters shows tightening races across the statewide contests as Election Day is right around the corner.
In the race for governor, Abigail Spanberger (D) leads Winsome Earle-Sears (R) by 7 points, 50% to 43%.
In the race for lieutenant governor, Ghazala Hashmi (D) leads John Reid (R) by 2 points, 47% to 45%.
In the race for attorney general, Jason Miyares (R) now leads Jay Jones (D) by 1 point, 46% to 45%, following reports of a 2022 text messaging scandal involving Jones.
Kathy Hochul Mistook Boos at Mamdani Rally
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) claimed she thought the crowd was chanting about the Buffalo Bills when she was booed at New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani’s rally on Sunday, Mediaite reports.
Said Hochul: “I thought they were saying, ‘Let’s go Bills.’ I wasn’t sure. I mean, when you’re up there, I heard some noise. I heard a lot of cheers. But later on, it became clear to me that there is a — I know there’s a passion for that.”
How Trump Uses Talk of a Third Term to Keep Power
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Trump Rebukes Putin for Testing New Missiles
“President Trump rebuked Russia on Monday for testing a new nuclear-capable cruise missile instead of working to end the war in Ukraine — a testy exchange that is indicative of how relations between the countries have worsened in recent weeks,” the Washington Post reports.
Said Trump: “I don’t think it’s an appropriate thing for Putin to be saying either, by the way. You ought to get the war ended. A war that should have taken one week is now in its soon-to-be fourth year. That’s what you ought to do instead of testing missiles.”
Mike Johnson Rips Jeffries for Endorsing Mamdani
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) claimed that House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) endorsing Zohran Mamdani for New York City mayor marked the “end of the Democratic Party as we’ve known it,” Mediaite reports.
Said Johnson: “After a months-long pressure campaign from the far left, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries finally relented. He gave in and he gave his endorsement to the socialist running to be mayor of New York City.”
He added: “The House Democrats have chosen a side… There is no longer a place for centrists and moderates in their party.”
More Americans Approve of Bad Bunny at the Super Bowl
A new Quinnipiac poll shows 48% of Americans approve of the NFL’s decision to have Bad Bunny perform the Super Bowl halftime show in February, while 29% disapprove and 24% did not offer an opinion.
The Constitution Won’t Enforce Itself
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What Progressives Keep Getting Wrong
Jonathan Chait: “Graham Platner is the perfect embodiment of the left’s strategy for returning to power…”
“Platner’s approach may yet work. He does possess charisma and a sympathetic background. Assuming he survives the primary next June, he would be running in a state that Kamala Harris won by seven points and that has not voted Republican in a presidential election since 1988. Democrats will almost certainly need to compromise with the electorate if they want to win majorities in both congressional chambers, but they might get away with not doing so in Maine.”
“But the reason Democrats are underdogs in this race is that its incumbent, Susan Collins, has won election after election by cultivating a reputation as a moderate, which illustrates the value of ideological moderation. So far, Platner is making little effort to do this.”
Brad Lander to Challenge Dan Goldman
New York City Comptroller Brad Lander (D) has told allies that he is planning to challenge Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) in New York’s 10th congressional district, City & State reports.
Lawsuit Pushes New York Into Gerrymandering Fight
“A lawsuit filed on Monday on behalf of four New Yorkers charges that the state’s congressional map unconstitutionally dilutes Black and Latino votes in a district that covers Staten Island and part of southern Brooklyn,” the New York Times reports.
“The case marked New York’s official entrance into the national gerrymandering arms race. Rewriting the state’s existing congressional districts represents one of Democrats’ best hopes of improving their chances in the 2026 midterm elections.”
The Shutdown Is a Knife at a Gunfight
David Frum: “Previous shutdowns were fought over specific grievances: Republican pressure against new taxes in 1990, then for spending cuts in 1995–96 and again in 2013; Democratic resistance to Donald Trump’s border wall in 2018–19. At 35 days, that latter shutdown holds the record for the longest—for now.”
“These specific grievances were never the whole story, but they enabled each side to explain itself and offered an exit when the time came to resolve the dispute. For example, the 2018–19 shutdown ended when Trump dropped his demand for a $5 billion appropriation for his wall.”
“The present shutdown was also triggered by a single issue: the COVID-era tax credits that subsidize health-insurance premiums under the Affordable Care Act, which Democrats want to extend before they expire at the end of the year. Yet a compromise over the stated cause will barely address the real issue at the center of this fight.”
“That real issue is Trump’s challenge to Congress’s constitutional taxing and spending powers.”
Biden Decries ‘Dark Days’ Under Trump
Joe Biden decried “dark days” for the US. under Donald Trump’s hard line presidency as he urged Americans to stay optimistic and not to “check out” from the way White House politics under his successor is affecting the nation, The Guardian reports.
Said Biden: “Since its founding, America served as a beacon for the most powerful idea ever in government in the history of the world. The idea is stronger than any army. We’re more powerful than any dictator.”
House Staffers May Soon Feel Shutdown Pinch
“Thousands of House staffers are preparing to miss their first paycheck this Friday if the shutdown drags on another week,” Bloomberg reports.
Left-Wing Ideas Wrecked Democrats’ Brand
“Democrats have badly weakened their party with left-leaning ideas and rhetoric, growing only with self-described ‘white liberals’ while losing ground with other voters, according to a new center-left group’s report,” Semafor reports.
“The group, called Welcome, consulted hundreds of thousands of voters over six months for its broad findings, including that 70% of voters think the Democratic Party is ‘out of touch.’ Most voters, the group found, believe the party over-prioritizes issues like ‘protecting the rights of LGBTQ+ Americans,’ and ‘fighting climate change’ while not caring about ‘securing the border’ or ‘lowering the rate of crime.'”
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