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Jimmy Kimmel Goes Right Back to Roasting Trump

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“In case you thought Jimmy Kimmel would pull punches on Trump in the face of threats from federal officials and still-boycotting affiliates – he’s not,” The Wrap reports.

“The Jimmy Kimmel Live! host did a 15-minute monologue on Wednesday night, nearly all of it focused on roasting the president, calling him, among other things, a bully in the style of Biff from Back to the Future.”

CNN: Kimmel nods to big ratings, heckles Trump as an “80s-movie-style bully” in second post-suspension show.

Deadline: Kimmel predicts Trump “Will try to sue” ABC.

Republicans Show Divisions Ahead of Shutdown Fight

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Politico: “The diverging messages from GOP leaders comes after Trump reversed his decision to hold a White House meeting with top Democratic leaders — an about-face that came after Johnson and Thune privately warned him that it would undercut the party’s negotiating position.”

“Taken together, the visible cracks in the GOP front are raising internal concerns as party leaders face off against Democrats who are largely united behind a plan to focus on health care — particularly an extension of expiring insurance subsidies.”

Tensions High in Utah Redistricting Fight

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“Utah is getting closer to redrawing its congressional boundaries in an unusual mid-decade redistricting process, but it’s not yet clear what that map will look like,” NPR reports.

“Unlike other Republican-led states redistricting this year, Utah’s new map is expected to give Democrats more of a chance at winning at least one of the state’s four congressional districts, which could help Democrats in the race to control the U.S. House. State lawmakers were ordered to draw the new districts after an Utah judge ruled they had acted unconstitutionally in creating the map used in 2022.”


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Chuck Schumer Becomes Campaign Trail Punching Bag

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Washington Post: “Across the country, Democratic Senate candidates from Texas to Maine have distanced themselves from Schumer, 74, amid a growing appetite in a rebuilding party for newer, younger leaders eager to wage more aggressive fights against President Donald Trump and other Republicans. Some are openly critical of Schumer, who has been in elected office since 1975, while many others have sidestepped questions about him.”

GOP Senate Candidates Run From Mitch McConnell

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“On the precipice of retirement, Mitch McConnell has become a pariah among the Republicans trying to succeed him,” CNN reports.

“The top three Republicans running in Kentucky’s Senate primary started in state politics interning for McConnell. Two of them once referred to him as a mentor. Now, they are racing to distance themselves, insulting not just McConnell, but their rivals for alleged closeness to him.”

“It’s a reflection of how President Donald Trump has all but extinguished the influence of any challengers within the GOP.”

Disorder at DOGE Jeopardized Americans’ Data

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“At the height of its power, the Department of Government Efficiency was operating out of headquarters that had become a haphazard scene of armed guards, makeshift bedrooms, children’s toys and windows obscured with garbage bags, according to a new report from Senate Democrats that accuses President Trump’s federal cost-cutting operation of putting Americans’ data security at risk,” the New York Times reports.

“Staff members for Senator Gary Peters of Michigan, the top Democrat on the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, reported that young DOGE aides living and working on the sixth floor of the General Services Administration building sat at workstations eight or 10 laptops deep, where they were able to operate on Starlink networks that could have allowed them to work without being tracked.”

Pat Ryan Launches PAC to Boost ‘Patriotic’ Candidates

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“Rep. Pat Ryan wants (D-NY) to build a bench of patriot-leaders — and is planning to raise millions of dollars to do it,” Politico reports.

“The two-term House lawmaker is launching a political action committee today to elect candidates with public service backgrounds, including those with experience in the military, teaching or as first responders. The new group, called Patriot PAC, has the goal of raising more than $2 million for candidates this election cycle.”

Jimmy Kimmel Drew Huge Audience

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Nearly 6.3 million people tuned in to the Jimmy Kimmel broadcast last night, despite the blackouts in many cities, the AP reports.

And there was a larger audience online, with more than 15 million people watching Kimmel’s opening remarks on YouTube by Wednesday evening.

White House Prepares for Mass Firings in Event of Shutdown

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“The White House budget office is instructing federal agencies to prepare reduction-in-force plans for mass firings during a possible government shutdown, specifically targeting employees who work for programs that are not legally required to continue,” Politico reports.

“The Office of Management and Budget move to permanently reduce the government workforce if there is a shutdown… escalates the stakes of a potential shutdown next week.”

Punchbowl News has the memo.

Republicans Work to Block Vote on Epstein Files

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“Top congressional Republicans and White House allies are working behind the scenes to prevent a politically charged floor vote to release the government’s Jeffrey Epstein case files next month,“ CNN reports.

“While the exact strategy to avoid a vote is not yet clear, some of the GOP lawmakers who have signed on are privately being pressured to withdraw their name from the petition, which would prevent a vote from taking place.”

Democrats Must Drop ‘Planetary Emergency’ Talk

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Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI) said that his party needed to change the way it talked about climate change if Democrats hoped to win over new voters, the New York Times reports.

Said Schatz: “You could talk about the planetary emergency and mitigation and adaptation, and you could throw in some environmental justice rhetoric, and by the time you’re done talking, people think you don’t care about them.”

Instead, he said, policymakers who care about climate change need to be “recapturing momentum with regular people who are watching their utility bills spike like a hockey stick.”

Trump Demands Probe Into ‘Triple Sabotage’ at U.N.

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President Trump called on the United Nations to investigate what he deemed was “triple sabotage” after he dealt with an escalator mishap, a teleprompter glitch and audio issues during his trip to the U.N. General Assembly meeting, The Hill reports.

Said Trump, on Truth Social: “A REAL DISGRACE took place at the United Nations yesterday — Not one, not two, but three very sinister events!”

He added: “The people that did it should be arrested!”

Vance Tries to Walk Back Trump’s Remarks at Kirk Memorial

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Vice President JD Vance said that President Trump was “joking” when he spoke about hating his enemies during a memorial for conservative influencer Charlie Kirk, NewsNation reports.

Said Vance: “I think it’s interesting, if you go back and watch the full speech, what the president was trying to do, in this very humorous and very unique way, was highlight how hard it is for us to forgive our enemies.”

Ukraine’s Plan to Starve the Russian War Machine

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Anne Applebaum: “The campaign against the oil industry has been helped by the degradation of Russian air defenses, which had been moved closer to the border of Ukraine and at the moment aren’t numerous enough to cover every possible economic target across a very large country…”

“The result: Russian overall oil exports are now at their lowest point since the start of the war, and the Russians are running out of oil at home. The commander of Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces has said that more than a fifth of Russian refining capacity has been destroyed.”

“The regime has banned the export of refined oil products, because there isn’t enough for the domestic market. Gas stations are closed or badly supplied in areas across the country, including the suburbs of Moscow and St. Petersburg. Telegram accounts post videos of cars waiting in enormous lines.”

China Pledges to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions

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“China, the world’s largest carbon polluter, announced at the United Nations on Wednesday that it intended to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by at least 7 percent to 10 percent over the next 10 years, the first time Beijing has made such a strong commitment to halt global warming,” the New York Times reports.

Chinese president Xi Jinping made the announcement by video, saying: “Green and low carbon transition is the trend of our time.”

In an apparent reference to the United States, Xi added: “Some countries are against it.”

About Political Wire

goddard-bw-snapshotTaegan 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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