“U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy confirmed on Wednesday that he would order a 10% reduction in scheduled air traffic at 40 major airports starting Friday unless a deal to end the federal government shutdown is reached,” Reuters reports.
Democrats Gird for Longer Shutdown Fight
“Senate Democrats ended their workday Tuesday agonizing over what to do about the record-setting government shutdown. Many of those same lawmakers woke up Wednesday morning ready to fight on,” Politico reports.
“The sweeping Democratic gains in this week’s elections bolstered the faction in the party insisting that senators dig in and force Republicans to accede to their demand for an extension of key health insurance subsidies used by more than 20 million Americans.”
The Anti-MAGA Majority Reemerges
David Graham: “Off-year elections are never quite the crystal ball for midterms that political junkies want, but one thing that last night’s results seem to convey clearly is that many voters are unhappy with President Donald Trump.”
“Elections for New York City mayor, governors of New Jersey and Virginia, and gerrymandering in California had their own local dynamics, but voters in these heavily nationalized contests were united in their rejection of Trump and his priorities. The results give some reason to doubt Trump’s claim that his 2024 victory was ‘a historic realignment’ of American politics.”
Police Commissioner Would Agree to Work with Mamdani
“New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch is willing to remain in her post under Zohran Mamdani as long as the progressive mayor-elect allows her to keep pursuing her agenda,” Bloomberg reports.
Jared Golden Won’t Run Again
Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME) writes in the Bangor Daily News that he won’t seek re-election next year.
Writes Golden: “I’m confident that were I to run again, I would win. But recent events have made me reconsider whether the good I can do in Congress still outweighs the cost to my family.“
It’s Worth Rethinking 2024
Charlie Cook: “Tuesday’s results back up my oft-stated argument that the November 2024 election was a highly focused repudiation of President Biden, the Biden-Harris Administration, and, by extension, Vice President Kamala Harris, not the top-to-bottom repudiation of the Democratic Party that many have made it out to be.”
The Trump Era’s Most Overlooked Political Shift
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Another Close Race for the House
Factoring in all of the recent early redistricting moves, Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball now projects 209 safe/likely/leans Democratic seats, 209 safe/likely/leans Republican seats and 17 toss-ups.
Of course, the redistricting battle hasn’t fully played out yet and there’s still a year to go.
Republican Lose Supermajority in Mississippi
“Johnny DuPree, a Democrat who served as the mayor of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, for 16 years, has won a Republican-held Mississippi Senate seat, helping break the Republican Party’s supermajority for the first time in 13 years,” the Mississippi Free Press reports.
What’s Bothering Republicans Today
“Inside the White House, there are two main takeaways from last night’s miserable performance for the Republican Party,” Politico reports.
“The first one – that fielding quality candidates matters – is the one GOP officials are eagerly messaging.”
“But the second, perhaps more existential issue, is that President Donald Trump isn’t focused enough on the issues that matter most to the voters the party needs.”
Trump Will Focus on Affordability Next Year
“Fresh off Democrats’ clean sweep of the 2025 off-year elections, President Donald Trump plans to refocus his political messaging on affordability,” Politico reports.
Said Trump political director James Blair: “The president is very keyed into what’s going on, and he recognizes, like anybody, that it takes time to do an economic turnaround, but all the fundamentals are there, and I think you’ll see him be very, very focused on prices and cost of living.”
Do Candidates Matter?
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Ditch the Filibuster
Jonathan Chait: “The one Republican elected official who has a serious and workable plan to end the government shutdown is, surprisingly enough, Donald Trump. The president’s idea is for the Senate to change its rules to allow the chamber to keep the government open with a majority vote, rather than to permit 41 senators to shut it down…”
“The filibuster is a deformed anachronism. Its demise would benefit the whole country, and Democrats especially, given the bills and Senate procedures that this tactic tends to block. If Trump’s impulsive, short-horizon leadership style is what finally does the filibuster in, then Democrats should help make it so.”
Minneapolis Mayor Fends Off Democratic Socialist
“Minneapolis Democratic Mayor Jacob Frey defeated democratic socialist Omar Fateh and 13 other challengers Wednesday during the final round of counting in the city’s ranked-choice voting election,” the AP reports.
“Frey, who secured a third term, led Fateh by about 10 percentage points after Tuesday night’s first round of counting but didn’t cross the 50%-plus-one-vote threshold he needed to win outright.”
Supreme Court Skeptical of Legality of Trump’s Tariffs
“The Supreme Court appeared skeptical of arguments Wednesday that President Donald Trump has legal authority to impose tariffs on a vast range of goods from nearly all countries, signaling the justices could strike down or limit at least part of the administration’s signature economic policy,” the Washington Post reports.
“The justices sharply questioned government attorneys and attorneys for states and small businesses that challenged the tariffs during more than two and a half hours of arguments in the most significant case over Trump’s policies to reach the high court to date and the first in which the justices could be called on to render a final decision.”
Wall Street Journal: “President Trump’s global tariffs appeared to be on shaky ground after Supreme Court justices expressed skepticism during a hearing on Wednesday about his authority to impose sweeping measures on countries around the world.”
California Republicans to Sue Over New Map
“California state Republicans are planning to take legal action after voters on Tuesday approved Democratic-drawn maps for the next three elections, alleging racism in the way the now-approved districts were redone,” KCRA reports.
Nobody Likes a Loser
President Trump’s approval ratings are now at the lowest point of his second term and his disapproval ratings shot up over the last week in the polling average.
Elections Show Trump’s Edge on the Economy Slipping
“A year ago, President Trump won the White House promising to fix the economy. On Tuesday, Republican losses delivered a reminder of the high political price that the party in power pays when voters are still feeling squeezed,” the New York Times reports.
“Mr. Trump himself was not on the ballot, and he never held rallies in either of the states where new governors were elected on Tuesday. But the president was still a central character in the campaigns, a mainstay of the Democrats’ advertising and their arguments on the stump.”
“Democratic victories in New Jersey and Virginia were built on promises to address the sky-high cost of living in those states while blaming Mr. Trump and his allies for all that ails those places. In New York City, the sudden rise of Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, the democratic socialist with an ambitious agenda to lower the cost of living, put a punctuation mark on affordability as a political force in 2025.”
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