Paul Krugman: “If America still had a fully functioning democracy, Donald Trump’s speech Tuesday to the assembled generals would have ended his presidency.”

“Trump treated the event like a political rally and was clearly taken aback by the refusal of the audience to applaud or laugh at his jokes. Delivering a nakedly partisan speech to a mandated assembly of military officers was a gross violation of the Hatch Act. The content —telling the officers to be ready to use force against U.S. citizens — was clearly an impeachable offense. In an earlier era, Trump’s incoherent ranting would have paved the way for his immediate removal from office under the 25th Amendment.”

Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-PA) cornered Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) in a hot mic moment:

DEAN: The president is unhinged. He is unwell.

JOHNSON: A lot of folks on your side are too.

DEAN: Oh my god, please. That performance in front of the generals?

JOHNSON: I didn’t see it.

DEAN: It’s so dangerous! Our allies are looking elsewhere. Our enemies are laughing. You have a president who is unwell.

“Republicans must use this opportunity of Democrat forced closure to clear out dead wood, waste, and fraud.”

— President Trump, on Truth Social, promising “billions of dollars” in savings.

“The Trump administration took steps on Wednesday to maximize the pain of the government shutdown, halting billions of dollars in funds for Democratic-led states while readying a plan to lay off potentially droves of civil servants imminently,” the New York Times reports.

“The moves by the White House appeared both unprecedented and punitive, underscoring the risks of a fiscal stalemate that had no end in sight. It also evinced how President Trump might try to leverage the governmentwide closure to achieve his agenda, slash the budget and exact revenge on his political enemies.”

Axios: “Vought told House Republicans that he’ll spend the next week figuring out ‘constitutionally’ what the administration can do in terms of shrinking the federal work force, according to a source on the call.”

“He also said the layoffs will be ‘consequential.’”

“Karoline Leavitt is back in the press secretary’s traditional office in the White House,” CBS News reports.

“Leavitt is reclaiming the roomy space with a fireplace that Taylor Budowich, President Trump’s deputy chief of staff for communications and cabinet affairs, occupied until he left the Trump administration this week.”

Philip Elliot: “Amid all these threats, the number of workers who haven’t yet found themselves furloughed is raising eyebrows, according to conversations with federal workers left in a lurch and Hill staffers watching their bosses talk past each other. Some are wondering if more is at play than the essentialness of their work.”

“If someone is furloughed, the thinking goes, they could more easily be seen as extraneous, giving the Administration an easier path to arguing they aren’t needed at all. It’s why some around Washington suspect managers are designating fewer employees for furlough than previous standoffs.”

“After the government shutdown began Wednesday morning, furloughed employees at an agency within the Department of Health and Human Services were told to set an out-of-office message in their email accounts blaming Democrats for the situation,” the HuffPost reports.