“Republicans might be united on the public stage as they face off with Democrats ahead of a government shutdown. But a much more divisive internal fight waits in the wings,” Politico reports.

“The year-end expiration of health insurance subsidies first created under the Affordable Care Act is already splitting the GOP, seeming to vindicate Democrats’ decision to predicate their shutdown messaging on extending the tax credits.”

“Republican leaders have been trying to punt the issue as they work to force Democratic senators to swallow a seven-week stopgap measure ahead of the midnight deadline, insisting they will not broach the subject while agencies are closed.”

“But top Democrats said they heard a different message Monday in their Oval Office meeting with President Donald Trump, leaving the sitdown convinced he’s willing to negotiate on the expiring tax credits in the weeks ahead.”

“The Trump administration will keep most national parks open to the public if the government shuts down Wednesday,“ Politico reports.

“With congressional leaders still gridlocked on a deal to fund the government ahead of a midnight deadline, most of the National Park Service’s roughly 16,000 full-time employees are expected to be placed on furlough starting Wednesday. But the Trump administration would tap recreation fees to pay for skeleton crews of staff at many sites, said the two people who were granted anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the plan.”

Trump-appointed U.S. attorney Sigal Chattanooga has been disqualified after a federal judge ruled her appointment invalid.

Tom Nichols: “American officers have never had to contend with a president like Trump. Plenty of presidents behaved badly and suffered mental and emotional setbacks: John F. Kennedy cavorted with secretaries in the White House pool, Lyndon Johnson unleashed foul-mouthed tirades on the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Richard Nixon fell into depression and paranoia, Ronald Reagan and Joe Biden wrestled with the indignities of age.”

“But the officer corps knew that presidents were basically normal men surrounded by other normal men and women, and that the American constitutional system would insulate the military from any mad orders that might emerge from the Oval Office.”

“Likewise, in Trump’s first term, the president was surrounded by people who ensured that some of his nuttiest—and most dangerous—ideas were derailed before they could reach the military. Today, senior U.S. officers have to wonder who will shield them from the impulses of the person they just saw onstage.”