“A Senate provision in a major spending package to end the partial government shutdown has rattled House Republicans and given new political ammunition to Democrats seeking to defeat the measure,” Roll Call reports.
For members: A Pay Day for Eight GOP Senators
“Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent indicated that the Trump administration would soon unveil reductions in import duties on coffee, bananas and other foods — taking action after voter anger over the cost of living saw Republican reversals in state elections last week,” Bloomberg reports.
Said Bessent: “You’re going to see some substantial announcements over the next couple of days in terms of things we don’t grow here in the United States, coffee being one of them, bananas, other fruits, things like that.”
House Democrats released emails in which Jeffrey Epstein wrote that President Trump had “spent hours at my house” with one of Epstein’s victims, among other messages that suggested that the convicted sex offender believed Trump knew more about his abuse than he has acknowledged, the New York Times reports.
In one of the messages, Epstein flatly asserted that Trump “knew about the girls,” many of whom were later found by investigators to have been underage.
In another, Epstein pondered how to address questions from the news media about their relationship as Trump was becoming a national political figure.
CNN: Epstein mentioned Trump multiple times in private emails.
The BBC board held an unexpected meeting on Wednesday as the British broadcaster stares down a legal threat from President Trump, CNN reports.
“President Donald Trump’s decision earlier this year to halt production of the U.S. penny is rippling through the economy faster than expected, triggering widespread shortages of the one-cent coin and headaches for retailers and banks,” Politico reports.
“President Donald Trump’s advisers have had conversations about him traveling the country to give economy-focused speeches as they privately weigh a number of strategies to improve his standing on the issue,“ CNN reports.
“Trump’s advisers acknowledge that they have an affordability problem that the president has bristled at in public: Americans’ outlook on the economy is dour, and the administration’s efforts to ease their financial anxieties aren’t resonating.”
“Voter frustration over affordability fueled Democratic wins in last week’s state and local elections, and on top of that, Americans are becoming uneasy about the job market too,” Bloomberg reports.
“Some 55% of employed Americans say they’re concerned about losing their jobs, according to a recent Harris Poll conducted for Bloomberg News.”
Gov. Gavin Newsom of California cast himself as the “stable and reliable” American partner to the world, called a reported White House proposal to open offshore drilling in the waters off California “disgraceful” and urged his fellow Democrats to recast climate change as a “cost of living issue,” the New York Times reports.
From the New York Times:
“Mr. Trump risks being in a similar position as his predecessor, defending his record by pointing to statistics that don’t capture a troubling reality that many Americans are feeling.”
Paul Krugman: “Sorry, but that’s a false comparison. You might even call it fake news — because Trump is not, in fact, pointing to any statistics. He’s just lying.”
“It is true that Biden officials liked to cite statistics that presented a favorable picture of the economy, but they were genuine statistics and did indeed seem to show an economy in pretty good shape.”
“Trump, by contrast, is engaged in what CNN calls a ‘lying spree’ about inflation.”
President Trump will hold a private dinner at the White House at 7:30 p.m. with top financial executives including Steve Schwarzman, Jamie Dimon, Marc Rowan and Larry Fink, Politico reports.
“Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner’s social media history is a major general election liability, a new Democratic polling memo warns,” Politico reports.
“The survey, conducted on behalf of the Democratic group EMILY’s List, finds that most voters wouldn’t support Platner over Republican Sen. Susan Collins after learning of his past social media posts in which he called himself a communist, denigrated the police and characterized white people in rural Maine as ‘stupid’ and ‘racist.’”
“When voters are read direct quotes from Platner’s since-deleted Reddit posts, he loses to Collins by double digits.”
“Katie Wilson, a staple of Seattle’s progressive politics, who for years toiled behind the scenes of City Hall in pursuit of higher taxes on Amazon and stronger regulations for renters, is likely to be the city’s 58th mayor,” the Seattle Times reports.
Politico: “Wilson, who like New York’s Zohran Mamdani is a self-described socialist, focused her campaign on affordability — highlighting her own struggles to afford life in Seattle.”
“Don’t forget, MAGA was my idea. MAGA was nobody else’s idea. I know what MAGA wants better than anybody else.”
— President Trump, in an interview with Fox News.
“Mikie Sherrill has advice for her fellow Democrats heading into the 2026 elections: follow the lead I set in New Jersey to win again,” Politico reports.
“A new campaign memo written by Sherrill’s campaign manager Alex Ball makes the case to Democrats that Sherrill’s success in the gubernatorial race last week in the Garden State can be replicated nationally by keeping their affordability messaging solutions-focused, reengaging with the traditional Democratic base and competing with ‘the right-wing online ecosystem.’”
Playbook: “With the off-year elections out of the way and a seismic government shutdown due to end tonight, we’re about to enter a new phase of the political cycle. And this one is being characterized by a rare phenomenon — the sight of both parties in states of division.”
“This is highly unusual. Typically, if one side is out on the fringes and beset by political infighting, the other looks strong and united — at least at surface level. But not today. Both parties are experiencing major ructions across their activist bases that have serious implications for their future directions, and ultimately for the direction of America.”
Punchbowl News: “House Republican leadership needs to make sure that all of their 219 members are in town. With a two-vote margin, Johnson and Republicans will have no votes to spare. The aviation map was looking pretty good Tuesday — just 10% of commercial flights were disrupted compared to 45% Monday, according to Flighty.”
“The Republican side. For such a gigantic vote, the House Republican leadership and the Trump administration seem relatively calm about the support for this package among their rank-and-file. There are no immediate plans for President Donald Trump to engage in whipping House Republicans, although we’ll see where today ends up.”
President Trump said in an interview that H-1B skilled worker visas are necessary because “you don’t have certain talents” in the U.S., Axios reports.
“Ukraine is facing a worsening shortage of soldiers as record numbers of men flee to Europe, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko warned in an interview,” Politico 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.