A Republican source familiar with the U.S. Senate race in Kansas said private polling also showed Adam Hamilton (D) with a slight lead over Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS), The Hill reports.
Senior GOP Appropriator Won’t Fund Trump’s Arch
“Idaho Rep. Mike Simpson, a senior Appropriations Committee Republican, questioned whether federal funds should be spent on construction of President Donald Trump’s triumphal arch, which the president claimed over the weekend could be used for military purposes,” Politico reports.
Said Simpson: “There’s a lot of things that we need the military funding for — in fact, we’re short on military funding right now. If it was my choice, I wouldn’t put any of that money into the arch.”
The Guardian: Trump accused of “manufacturing a national security justification” to push arch plan.
Susan Collins Slams Trump Plan to ‘Politicize’ Grants
“Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins (R-ME) warned Monday that President Donald Trump would be defying Congress if he moves forward with empowering top political appointees to decide who gets grant funding for health research,” Politico reports.
Said Collins: “Any attempt to politicize grantmaking… is contrary to congressional intent.”
Trump Approval Falls to Career Low of 32%
A new Reuters/Ipsos poll finds President Donald Trump’s approval at 32%, while 66% disapprove.
Trump Approval
Approve 32%
Disapprove 66%
The same poll finds Democrats leading Republicans on the generic congressional ballot, 43% to 35%.
Generic Congressional Ballot
Democrats 43%
Republicans 35%
Bonus Quote of the Day
“Doesn’t sound like a Democrat to me. And his voting record doesn’t show he’s a Democrat either.”
— A House Democrat, quoted by the Washington Sun, on Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME) crossing party lines to endorse Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY).
Top Republicans Tell Trump to Ban U.S. Diesel Exports
“Republican lawmakers are ratcheting up pressure on Donald Trump to ban diesel exports as surging prices squeeze American farmers and truckers just weeks ahead of pivotal midterm elections,” the Financial Times reports.
“There was a rising clamour for an intervention on Monday from politicians representing agricultural districts as the price of diesel, the lifeblood of American industry and its farming heartlands, jumped to a fresh record of $6.51 a gallon.”
Trump Unveils Latest Construction Project with No TV
“President Trump unveiled his new granite helipad on Monday, but none of the major TV networks carried the event as tensions between the media and the White House escalated,” the New York Post reports.
“The White House aired the event on its social media channels but Marine One, sitting on the helipad behind the president with its engine on, was so loud that Trump’s remarks could not be heard.”
Trump Uses ‘National Security’ to Justify Breaking Norms
“What do a White House ban on journalists, a 250-foot arch near the nation’s capital and Greenland have in common?” Axios reports.
“President Trump needs all of them for national security purposes, he and his administration have argued.”
“As he’s unilaterally shattered presidential norms, Trump has justified his sweeping policy priorities with a familiar two-word rationale: national security.”
Democratic Majority Will Come Down to Moderates
John Avlon: “The biggest political story of 2026 isn’t the socialist surge. It’s the motley crew of military veterans, pastors, former Republicans, and independents putting red America in play for Democrats.”
Vance Says Republicans Just Need ‘More Time’
“Vice President JD Vance urged North Carolina voters to give Republicans more time to accomplish their agenda as the GOP is on the defensive in key states ahead of November’s midterm election,” Bloomberg reports.
Said Vance: “There is more work to do, of course, and it will take more time and the support, of course, of our great American people to finish the job.”
Veteran Lawmaker Slams Hegseth Over Death Toll Tally
“Rep. Pat Ryan (D-NY) a U.S. Army combat veteran and member of the House Armed Services Committee, tore into Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth after a new report found that more American service members have died in the Middle East amid President Donald Trump’s ongoing war with Iran than the Pentagon has publicly disclosed,” MS NOW reports.
Said Ryan: “We already knew they were, to be generous, playing around, but this is a blatant, unprecedented cover-up.”
How Potential 2028 Candidates Are Talking About AI
“The debate over artificial intelligence is increasingly shaping the early jockeying for the 2028 presidential race,” the New York Times reports.
“Recently, prospective Democratic candidates have engaged in a flurry of activity to promote more A.I. safeguards as concerns quickly rise about the risks associated with the pace of the technology.”
“Many Republicans have been more aligned with President Trump, who has urged against a slowdown and has vehemently rejected calls for new regulations, arguing that they could give China the upper hand, though at least one potential candidate has called for some guardrails.”
Republican PAC Slashes Ad Spending in North Carolina
“A key Republican super PAC has removed $6.5 million in ad reservations from North Carolina’s Senate race for the month of October, according to media tracker AdImpact,” Semafor reports.
Trump Has Finally Lost the Plot
Jonathan Rauch and Peter Wehner: “The frantic pace of the Trump presidency makes days seem like weeks and weeks like months — if not years. Finding rhyme or reason amid President Trump’s erratic conduct is impossible. Even so, while 2026 has not brought calm, it has brought more clarity.”
“Twenty months into his second term, Mr. Trump has remade the presidency and changed what Americans will tolerate from their government and from one another. Yet that transformation, sweeping as it is, may prove less important than what Mr. Trump and his allies could not do. They failed at the most ambitious project that they brought to his second term: using the state to remake American society. That failure is a central fact of the past 20 months, and it is why the country is in a less dangerous place than it was a year ago.”
The Lost Descendants of Thomas Jefferson
New Yorker: “America’s longest-running paternity dispute has seemingly come to an end: Thomas Jefferson fathered children with Sally Hemings, his enslaved chambermaid, and the Smithsonian has the DNA to prove it.”
“Richard Kurin, a fifty-year veteran of the institution, launched a top-secret study of the question in 2011. Starting with a few hair samples, he and a team of scientists sequenced Jefferson’s genome and compared it with those of Hemings’s descendants, after a sprawling effort that involved everything from compiling genealogies to scouring rural Virginia for a lost grave.”
Republicans Running Out of Time On Gas Prices
“Republican lawmakers are running out of time to assuage voters angry about soaring fuel costs, setting off a last-minute round of finger pointing on Capitol Hill about an issue many see as the GOP’s biggest political liability in the midterm elections,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Record-high prices for diesel fuel used by trucks and farm machinery are hitting especially hard in rural and red states, where Republicans are now locked in tougher-than-expected battles to hold on to their seats in places such as Iowa and Nebraska. If voters take out their anger on GOP candidates, the results could be catastrophic for the party, some strategists and lawmakers fear.”
GOP Group Outspent Democrats Nearly 46-to-1
“The National Republican Senatorial Committee outspent its Democratic counterpart on advertising by nearly 46-to-1 in August, Federal Election Commission records show, a blitz that reflects the financial advantage the GOP holds in this year’s midterm contests,” Bloomberg reports.
“In what’s projected to be the most expensive U.S. election ever, the NRSC unloaded $45.9 million in coordination with its candidates in nine races last month. That spending took advantage of a Supreme Court ruling from June that eliminated limits on how much parties could jointly spend on their behalf.”
Quote of the Day
“Voters aren’t happy, and we’re in charge.”
— Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA), quoted by the Wall Street Journal.
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