“As President Donald Trump calls for military intervention in cities across the nation, gun violence and major crime are at a record low in America’s largest city, the New York Police Department announced Wednesday,” ABC News reports.
“There were fewer shootings in NYC during the first nine months of the year than in the same time period of any prior year.”
“The record-low number of shootings coincided with a broader drop in crime, including in the subways.”
“President Donald Trump’s surprising performance among Black Americans and younger voters helped him win the popular vote in the 2024 election. Those constituencies are still waiting for a return on their investment,” Politico reports.
“The unemployment rate for Americans between the ages of 16 and 24 has jumped to 10.5 percent from 9 percent since Trump returned to the White House, a period that coincided with a marked decline in their participation in the labor force. Black joblessness has also climbed, with federal workforce cuts and a broad slowdown in hiring contributing to the rise. And both groups saw their paychecks drop through the first half of the year, despite an acceleration in weekly earnings for workers overall.”
“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.
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Britain had 66 enormous new American flags specially made for President Trump’s state visit last month — after U.S. officials complained the U.K.’s existing collection featured the wrong shade of red, the Daily Telegraph reports.
Punchbowl News: “There are some informal bipartisan talks centering around Democrats’ chief demand: an extension of the Obamacare enhanced premium tax credits. We took you inside that big bipartisan Senate floor huddle in Wednesday’s Midday edition.”
“But they’re just that — talks. Party leaders aren’t directly involved. There’s no Senate ‘gang’ to break the deadlock. And the fundamentals of the showdown haven’t changed.”
“Democrats say they can’t trust Republicans and the White House to clinch a bipartisan deal on Obamacare subsidies without a forcing mechanism. Republicans maintain that negotiations can’t take place until the government is reopened. Even then, getting Hill Republicans on board with an Obamacare deal would be a major challenge, with conservatives opposing any extension. Which brings us back to square one — Democrats’ desire for a guarantee that Thune simply can’t give them.”
A new Emerson College survey of the Virginia Governor’s race finds Abigail Spanberger (D) leading Winsome Earle-Sears (R), 52% to 42%, with 5% of voters undecided.
Those who have already voted early in Virginia report voting for Spanberger, 60% to 38%, while likely voters who have yet to cast a ballot support Spanberger 50% to 43%.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune laid out a path to end the government shutdown, saying he is willing to discuss the shape of future health care negotiations if a “critical mass” of Democrats say they are willing to support a House-passed funding bill in return, Politico reports.
Said Thune: “I keep telling them: When they have eight or 10 — preferably 10, or more — when they have a critical mass, let me know if there’s a conversation they want to have.”
“He insisted he would not negotiate on the substance of an extension while the government is closed.”
“The Trump administration is laying out a set of operating principles that it wants universities to agree to in exchange for preferential access to federal funds,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The memo demands that schools ban the use of race or sex in hiring and admissions, freeze tuition for five years, cap international undergrad enrollment at 15%, require that applicants take the SAT or a similar test, and quell grade inflation.”
“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.’”
Punchbowl News: “Democrats are pushing for a 10-day stopgap funding bill that would preserve their ability to force a deal on Obamacare subsidies. Democrats say this is necessary because they can’t trust GOP leaders and the White House to address the issue without leverage.”
“But Republicans remain very comfortable with their position. Even the Republicans involved in the preliminary bipartisan talks are sticking by Senate Majority Leader John Thune’s view that the Nov. 21 clean CR is the only way to end the shutdown.”
“The U.S. will provide Ukraine with intelligence for long-range missile strikes on Russia’s energy infrastructure, American officials said, as the Trump administration weighs sending Kyiv powerful weapons that could put in range more targets within Russia,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“President Trump recently signed off on allowing intelligence agencies and the Pentagon to aid Kyiv with the strikes. U.S. officials are asking North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies to provide similar support, these people said. The expanded intelligence-sharing with Kyiv is the latest sign that Trump is deepening support for Ukraine as his efforts to advance peace talks have stalled.”
“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.
“The White House is targeting Democratic states with its first wave of cuts to federal projects following the government shutdown, impacting billions of dollars in funding for energy and infrastructure in New York, California and elsewhere,” Politico reports.
“Russ Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget, said Wednesday the Trump administration is cancelling nearly $8 billion in funding for energy programs he characterized as part of ‘the Left’s climate agenda.'”
“The cuts will impact 16 states — all of which voted for former Vice President Kamala Harris in last year’s presidential election.”
“This was a difficult vote. The paradox is, by shutting the government, we’re actually giving Donald Trump more power. And that was why I voted yes.”
— Sen. Angus King (I-ME), quoted by the New York Times, on siding with Republicans to keep the government open.
Social Security payments to more than 74 million Americans will stay on schedule during the government shutdown, ABC News reports.
“The post of United Nations ambassador isn’t a Cabinet position, as President Trump signals the decreased importance of the U.N. to his administration,” CBS News reports.
“When former Rep. Mike Waltz was confirmed by the U.S. Senate earlier this month, news outlets reported that the vote filled the final vacancy in Mr. Trump’s Cabinet, which buoyed Waltz’s status with protocol-oriented foreign officials. But the decision has been made to not elevate the role to that Cabinet rank.”
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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