“Last year brought good fortune to Gov. JB Pritzker in his investment portfolio — and at the casino, too, according to 2024 income tax returns released by his campaign Wednesday,” the Chicago Sun Times reports.
“In his joint filing with first lady MK Pritzker, the billionaire Democratic governor reported an adjusted gross income of almost $10.7 million, more than tripling the roughly $2.8 million they reported in 2023.”
“The latest windfall was boosted by $1,425,000 in gambling winnings.”
Zohran Mamdani is out with a “Survivor”-themed ad, in which former castaways vote Andrew Cuomo off the island.
“The government has been shut down for more than two weeks with no end in sight. The Trump administration is trying to lay off thousands of federal workers. It’s also the sixth birthday of Sen. Jim Justice’s bulldog, Babydog,” NOTUS reports.
“Despite the dour mood around the Capitol, Justice’s office was in full celebration mode Wednesday, complete with birthday cakes and a line that wrapped around the fifth floor hallway of the Hart Senate Office Building for pictures with the senator and Babydog.”
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“The simple reality of the two-week US government shutdown is that neither side is likely to move until Donald Trump gets more involved,” Semafor reports.
“Trump’s unmatched sway over his party in Congress has Democrats and even some Republicans hoping — or perhaps wishing — for the president to intervene more directly in the 15-day impasse over funding the government. Absent that, lawmakers and aides forecast the standoff going into November, potentially breaking the record for longest shutdown in history.”
“But Democrats might be disappointed: White House officials say Trump won’t work with them. The administration is maintaining that Republicans provided the only stopgap funding bill that will get a vote, viewing the reopening of the government as non-negotiable.”
“Republicans are catching on. They’re playing a losing hand. They are going to come to the table finally.”
— Sen. Bernie Sanders, on CNN, discussing the government shutdown.
“President Donald Trump’s decision to fire thousands of federal workers this month was meant to pressure Democrats into quickly ending the government shutdown. Instead, it could have the opposite effect,” Politico reports.
“As the shutdown enters its 15th day, many Democrats say they want a commitment that employees subjected to reductions-in-force, or RIFs, will be rehired before they agree to reopen the government — even as courts independently act to curb the firings.”
Interestingly, Bloomberg reports Sen. Mike Crapo (R-ID) plans to ask Trump to undo Treasury layoffs.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) told MSNBC that he has privately told Democratic leaders that, if they need a vote on extending Obamacare subsidies in exchange for opening the government, he’s willing to make that deal.
Said Thune: “We can guarantee you get a vote by a date certain. At some point, Democrats have to take ‘yes’ for an answer.”
Politico: “The president has done something like five-and-a-half hours of public speaking this week alone, including seven Q&A sessions with members of the press … And it’s only Thursday morning. (And yes, he’ll be inviting press back into the Oval Office for another announcement at 3 p.m. this afternoon.)”
“The Trump administration is preparing sweeping changes at the Internal Revenue Service that would allow the agency to pursue criminal inquiries of left-leaning groups more easily,“ the Wall Street Journal reports.
“A senior IRS official involved in the effort has drawn up a list of potential targets that includes major Democratic donors.”
“The undertaking aims to install allies of President Trump at the IRS criminal-investigative division, or IRS-CI, to exert firmer control over the unit and weaken the involvement of IRS lawyers in criminal investigations… The proposed changes could open the door to politically motivated probes and are being driven by Gary Shapley, an adviser to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.”
Meanwhile, Trump critics shared this video of JD Vance warning last year this type of IRS activity would mean “we don’t live in a free country any more.”
Playbook: “We’re about to hit the nine-month mark of Donald Trump’s second term as president. And while the start was an absolute whirlwind — readers may recall ‘days of thunder,’ ‘flooding the zone’ and all of that — you need to brace yourselves. Because Trump is only accelerating as we head toward the end of his first year.”
“Across every major policy area he cares about, the president and his team are amping up the pace and pushing the boundaries beyond what many thought possible. Trump’s astonishing first 100 days can now be seen not as the policy blitz of a president keen to get his radical work done early — but as laying the ground for something far bigger to come.”
USA Today: “At a dinner to thank donors for contributing to his longtime passion project – a $250 million, 90,000 square-foot ballroom at the White House — President Donald Trump unveiled a new scheme.”
“Standing behind a podium in the East Room on Oct. 15, while guests sat at round tables, he picked up a 3-D model of a giant arch, reminiscent of Paris’s imposing Arc de Triomphe. He pointed to a table with a map showing its proposed location across from the Lincoln Memorial. The arch would serve as a gateway to Washington D.C. while entering through the Arlington Memorial Bridge from the Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.”
“Federal lawmakers and political committees have diverted millions of dollars of campaign contributions this year to cover the cost of security, with campaigns of political lightning rods such as Sen. Ted Cruz and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez reporting five- and six-figure security bills last quarter alone,” NOTUS reports.
“An attorney for the woman granted a restraining order against Rep. Cory Mills (R-FL) said she hopes he is removed from public office, and hinted that he might face future criminal charges,” NewsNation reports.
CNN will host a live town hall with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Bernie Sanders tonight at 9 p.m. ET.
The studio audience will include people “who have been directly affected by the shutdown.”
Leave your reactions in the comments.
“More than three dozen organizations and individuals, including companies with business before the federal government, are expected to attend a dinner with President Trump on Wednesday evening after opening their checkbooks to support the new $250 million ballroom under construction at the White House,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Brown University on Wednesday rejected a White House proposal to steer public money toward schools that aligned with President Trump’s priorities, defying the federal government it had negotiated with over the summer,” the New York Times reports.
“Brown was the second university to rebuff the government’s proposal of so-called compact, after M.I.T. did so last week. But Brown’s decision was likely to carry extraordinary weight in higher education because it had previously reached a settlement with the Trump administration to restore hundreds of millions of dollars in federal research funding.”
“I just want to speak directly to the president. I will not be a mayor like Mayor Adams who will call you to stay out of jail. I won’t be a disgraced governor like Andrew Cuomo who will call you to ask how to win this election. I can do those things on my own. I will, however, be a mayor who is ready to speak at any time to lower the cost of living. That’s the way I’m going to lead this city. That’s the partnership I want to build.”
— Zohran Mamdani, on Fox News.
A new study of cognitive decline finds “individuals best suited for high-stakes decision-making roles are unlikely to be younger than 40 or older than 65.”
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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