President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he would give Hamas “three or four days” to respond to his proposal to end the nearly two-year-long war in Gaza, Politico reports.
Said Trump: “Hamas is either going to be doing it or it’s not, and if it’s not, it’s going to be a sad end.”
The Atlantic: “During the first eight months of his second presidency, Donald Trump has tried to hollow out the federal workforce by any means possible, including paying more than 200,000 people not to work, disassembling entire agencies via the Department of Government Efficiency, and fighting in court any effort by employees to hang on to their job. This week, Trump could try his most audacious move yet: using a government shutdown to conduct mass firings.”
“The congressional impasse over spending may now supercharge Trump’s efforts to slash the civil service—just as the bulk of those being paid not to work lose their job when the fiscal year ends. Should the government shut down tomorrow, it could lead to the dramatic winnowing of its size that conservatives have sought for decades.”
“Rep. David Schweikert will seek the Republican nomination for Arizona governor next year, leaving open a seat in Congress that could determine partisan control of the chamber,” the Arizona Republic reports.
Said Schweikert: “You can work as hard as you want. You can bring as much talent to your team as you possibly can. We have a body that can’t even pass its appropriation bills.”
He added in an Axios interview: “I’ve grown to believe Washington is unsavable. I do believe Arizona is savable.“
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“Former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney revealed Monday night that he called the White House during the Biden administration when Special Counsel Jack Smith was investigating Donald Trump to urge President Joe Biden to preemptively pardon him,” CNN reports.
Said Romney: “Why? Number one, I don’t want the anger and the hate and the vitriol. But number two: We just can’t begin to be prosecuting political opponents.”
“Hundreds of U.S. generals and admirals summoned from around the world have gathered at the Marine Corps Base Quantico in Northern Virginia on Tuesday morning for a highly unusual meeting with President Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth,” the New York Times reports.
“The officers were told to expect a speech from Mr. Hegseth heralding a war-fighter culture he has championed since taking office, but they were given little other information.”
“Military officials and historians say the event is without precedent in size and scope.”
ABC News: “Twelve years later, Schumer and Democrats, now in the minority, are staring down another government shutdown — but one that might be of their own making.”
“In the Senate, Democrats are withholding support for a measure to keep the government funded at current levels unless Republicans extend subsidies that help some Americans pay for health care through the Affordable Care Act, which are set to expire at year’s end, among other demands.”
“It’s a page out of the playbook pioneered by the GOP and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and used repeatedly since 2013.”
“But for the first time, Democrats are poised to oppose funding the government.”
For members: A Few More Thoughts on Government Shutdowns
“Democratic lawmakers are warning the Pentagon not to use money from the GOP reconciliation package enacted earlier this year to cover unapproved defense costs during a shutdown,” Punchbowl News reports.
“The calls come after the Defense Department signaled over the weekend it could dip into that $150 billion spending pot to continue funding a host of priorities if government spending lapses after Tuesday.”
“U.S. airlines warned on Monday that a partial federal government shutdown could strain American aviation and slow flights, as air traffic controllers and security officers would be forced to work without pay and other functions would be halted,” Reuters reports.
“With roughly a month left in the New York City mayoral race, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo is banking on a campaign reset to power him to victory after incumbent Eric Adams dropped out,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Cuomo now hopes to pick up Adams’s backers—and build a winning coalition that would include Republicans and independents—after having spent months trailing in the polls behind Democratic front-runner Zohran Mamdani.”
New York Times: “The shutdown that is almost certain to start on Wednesday will be the 21st disruption of federal funding in the last 50 years, and the third to occur during a Trump presidency.”
“The monthly jobs report on Friday is expected to provide crucial evidence to economists, policymakers and investors who are trying to determine whether a slowdown in hiring over the summer continued into the fall, and whether deeper cracks are forming in the foundation of the U.S. labor market,” the New York Times reports.
“If, that is, there is a jobs report on Friday at all.”
“The Bureau of Labor Statistics, which produces the monthly jobs data, will “suspend all operations” if Congress and the president fail to reach a deal to extend funding for the federal government before a Tuesday midnight deadline.”
Wall Street Journal: “Shutdowns can squeeze the economy in different ways, from missed paychecks for hundreds of thousands of federal employees to the delayed release of crucial economic indicators. But duration matters. The longer the closure lasts, the greater the hit to economic growth and the work of businesses that rely on the federal government’s daily functioning.”
“Shutting down the government would come at a delicate time for the U.S. labor market, which spent the summer stuck in a stall pattern because of slow hiring.”
CNBC: Government shutdowns usually have little economic impact. This time could be different.
New York Times: “The deportation is one of the most stark efforts yet by the Trump administration to deport migrants no matter the human rights conditions they might be sent into.”
“Vice President Vance and Donald Trump Jr. are planning to bolster Turning Point USA — the conservative group co-founded by the late Charlie Kirk — by appearing at its events in the coming months,” Axios reports.
“The move further solidifies Vance’s alliance with an organization that focuses on young voters ahead of what’s widely expected to be the vice president’s run for the White House in 2028.”
“Nevada’s top federal prosecutor has asked the FBI to investigate debunked Republican claims about voter fraud in the 2020 election, a probe she hopes will influence congressional races and ensnare Democrats,” Reuters reports.
Playbook: “It’s hard to see the angry Democratic forces that are pushing Schumer into this shutdown suddenly letting him off the hook within a day or two. If the aim is to take a public stand and show supporters the party has some backbone, then folding inside 48 hours hardly squares.”
“The Trump administration, meanwhile, seems almost pleased at the prospect of a shutdown — which again makes a quick deal hard to envisage.”
“Federal agencies are preparing for a possible government shutdown with detailed plans that call for temporary furloughs but not permanent mass firings — even after the White House pressed departments to consider reductions in force as part of their contingency planning,” Bloomberg reports.
“At least eight cabinet departments comprising more than two-thirds of the federal workforce had detailed their shutdown plans as of Monday afternoon. Together they call for more than 400,000 employees to be sent home as nonessential.”
Former Vice President Kamala Harris urged Democrats not to back down in the government shutdown fight, Politico reports.
Said Harris: “Republicans run the Senate. They run the House, and they run the White House…stand firm as the Republicans shut down the government… Because it won’t be the Democrats, it will be the Republicans.”
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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