“Democrats in Congress say President Trump’s methods for paying military service members and funding food stamps for vulnerable communities are clearly illegal. But they’re not keen to fight him on it,” Axios reports.
“It’s a rare instance where Trump is going mostly unchallenged as he ignores Congress’ constitutional role in controlling federal spending.”
National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett said there is a “clever and generous” bailout coming for farmers as soon as the government shutdown ends, Axios reports.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said that China’s plans for harsh export controls risk violating a trade pact struck earlier this year, as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned “they can’t be trusted,” Axios reports.
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The Economist: “Almost immediately, the ceasefire has brought the first alarming sign of how the broader peace deal might implode. Hamas fighters have emerged, armed and in uniform, to reassert themselves on the streets of Gaza city and Khan Younis.”
“The benign explanation is that, in order to implement the first stage of the ceasefire, Hamas must be in control of parts of the cities so it can carry out the hostage release. But far from signalling magnanimous goodwill, Hamas has started settling scores, with killings and kidnappings of members of local clans which have tried to carve out their own fiefs.”
Dan Pfeiffer: “Typically, a government shutdown is the story in American politics. It dominates the conversation, with wall-to-wall coverage of the impacts and political stakes. Past shutdowns have been treated as cataclysmic clashes between the two parties over issues of massive consequence.”
“But with Trump sending troops from red states to occupy blue ones, masked ICE agents shooting civilians in the streets, the political prosecution of opponents, and a major ceasefire deal in the Middle East, this shutdown hasn’t grabbed the nation’s attention in the same way…”
“It’s a statement about life in the Trump era that a government shutdown is the most normal thing happening in politics.”
Status: “In less than 24 hours, the Pentagon is set to carry out an unprecedented expulsion of the press, stripping virtually all news organizations from their badges that grant them access to the building. The move comes after virtually all news organizations declined to agree to a set of new draconian rules that Pete Hegseth forced upon them as conditions for maintaining a press pass.”
Earlier for members: The Pentagon Locks Out the News Media
Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) told the New York Times that New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani is “a once-in-a-generation communicator” who has mastered what he called the “three threes.”
What that means: “A candidate in today’s day and age needs to be able to explain ideas in a 30-second vertical social media video, a three-minute television hit and a three-hour long-form podcast.”
Related for members: The Power of Hope
Brian Stelter: “NYC Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani is constantly discussed on Fox News, usually in critical ways.”
“Today, he’ll actually be the one doing the talking. Mamdani is booked on ‘The Story with Martha MacCallum’ at 3 p.m. ET.”
Jonathan Chait: “When Republicans find themselves unable to defend something Donald Trump has done, they tend to look for a way to turn the blame onto his opponents. So it is with the president’s prosecutorial rampage against his enemies.”
“The anti-anti-Trump right has declared that, although a series of vindictive charges against the likes of former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James may be regrettable, Democrats brought it on themselves…”
“This attempt to rationalize Trump’s push to lock up his enemies as payback suffers from two enormous flaws. The first involves the space-time continuum. Trump spent his first term desperately looking for ways to prosecute or otherwise harm his adversaries…”
“The second problem with the karma theory is that it accepts at face value Trump’s claim that he was a victim of lawfare. Trump was no victim of the legal system. If anything, he received preferential treatment.”
New York Times: “For months, Pedro Sánchez, the progressive prime minister of Spain, has walked a tightrope when it comes to dealing with President Trump. He stood up to Mr. Trump on issues important to the American president, solidifying the support of left-leaning members of his fragile governing coalition, but without going so far as to trigger any real retribution.”
“That may be changing.”
Said Trump: “I’m very unhappy with Spain. I was thinking of giving them trade punishment through tariffs because of what they did, and I think I may do that.”
New York Times: “The review at the Food and Drug Administration began after President Trump listed aluminum in vaccines as harmful during a press briefing about the unproven link between Tylenol and autism.”
“Aluminum salts have been in vaccines since the 1920s and are added to enhance the immune-stimulating effect against the virus or bacteria covered by the inoculation…”
“Vaccine experts said the tiny amount of aluminum salts in vaccines — often measured in the one-millionth of a gram — has a long track record of safety and is essential to generating lasting immunity from disease. Developing vaccines without aluminum, they said, would require an entirely new formulation from scratch.”
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) “raised $768,000 from July through September — the best fundraising quarter of his career under threat of being ousted by a super PAC linked to President Donald Trump,” Politico reports.
Nate Cohn: “Republicans have been redrawing congressional districts this year at President Trump’s behest, but so far it hasn’t seemed to be enough to deny Democrats a reasonable path to control of the House.”
“That might change if the Supreme Court strikes down Section 2 of the 1965 Voting Rights Act… Without Section 2, which has been interpreted to require the creation of majority-minority districts, Republicans could eliminate upward of a dozen Democratic-held districts across the South.”
“Republicans may not eliminate every Democratic-leaning district that they technically could… but the party’s aggressive mid-cycle redistricting suggests they would eliminate enough to obtain a significant structural advantage. It’s not clear whether this would occur by next year’s midterm elections, with a court ruling likely next summer, but the new seats would eventually be enough to make Republicans favored to win the House even if they lost the popular vote by a wide margin.”
Los Angeles Times: Supreme Court might upend Voting Rights Act and help GOP keep control of the House.
“Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who has sought to paint Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani as an extremist, has homed in on questions about Mr. Mamdani’s stance on prostitution,” the New York Times reports.
“Prostitution is illegal in New York City, but district attorneys usually choose not to prosecute, focusing instead on cases that relate to sex trafficking. In recent months, Mr. Cuomo, who is running for mayor on an independent line, has claimed that Mr. Mamdani, the Democratic nominee, wants to go further to legalize prostitution, pointing to his previous support for state bills that would decriminalize it.”
“The most expensive political ad campaign of the year is being run by the Department of Homeland Security,” Axios reports.
“DHS disputes that its ads are political. But it has spent at least $51 million this year on ads thanking President Trump for securing the border, according to AdImpact.”
“The next closest ad campaign is the $41 million effort to support California’s redistricting measure.”
“Members of Congress are growing concerned over a lack of information from the Trump administration about the intelligence and strategy underlying its strikes on alleged drug smuggling boats in the Caribbean,” NBC News reports.
“Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill have left briefings about the strikes frustrated with the lack of information, said these people: five congressional sources and an additional source with knowledge of the matter. Some have asked for unedited video of the strikes, reflecting the kind of basic information they seek, but the administration has so far refused to provide it.”
Texas state Rep. Gina Hinojosa (D) “is launching a run for Texas governor Wednesday, entering a crowded Democratic primary to challenge Republican Gov. Greg Abbott in 2026,” CNN reports.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) said that he’s ready for a public debate with Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) on C-SPAN’s new “Ceasefire” program — a challenge Johnson made after rebuffing earlier proposals by Jeffries, The Hill reports.
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.
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