Stan Collender: “I’m going to give Trump the benefit of the doubt and assume that he meant that only the specifics of his new tax proposal would be announced rather than that the plan would be enacted prior to November. With Congress out of session and the GOP leadership almost certainly against calling its members back to Washington during the final days of the election, it’s hard to imagine that he meant anything but that there would be an announcement.”

“But even assuming that what Trump meant was just an announcement, it’s hard to see how what he might propose (For the record, I’m not at all convinced he will actually propose anything) can get done in the lame duck.”

President Trump “said he will ask all cabinet departments to cut their budgets by 5 percent next year, after the federal budget deficit swelled to its highest level since 2012 during the first full fiscal year of his presidency,” Bloomberg reports.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) blamed rising federal deficits and debt on a bipartisan unwillingness to contain spending on Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, and said he sees little chance of a major deficit reduction deal while Republicans control Congress and the White House, Bloomberg reports.

Said McConnell: “It’s disappointing but it’s not a Republican problem. It’s a bipartisan problem: Unwillingness to address the real drivers of the debt by doing anything to adjust those programs to the demographics of America in the future.”

“The federal budget deficit swelled to $779 billion in fiscal year 2018, the Treasury Department said on Monday, driven in large part by a sharp decline in corporate tax revenues after the Trump tax cuts took effect,” the New York Times reports.

“The deficit rose nearly 17 percent year over year, from $666 billion in 2017. It is now on pace to top $1 trillion a year before the next presidential election.”

A new Gallup poll finds that more Americans continue to disapprove than approve of last year’s sweeping tax overhaul bill signed into law by President Trump, 46% to 39%.

“Congressional Republicans have tentatively agreed to a 1.9 percent pay raise for the nation’s 2 million civilian federal workers, overruling President Trump who sought to freeze their pay,” the Washington Post reports.

“The preliminary deal between House and Senate Republicans is also likely to lift a salary freeze affecting hundreds of executive-level employees and appointees including Vice President Pence and members of the Trump Cabinet, according to lawmakers and aides.”

Stan Collender: “I have been involved with the federal budget in some capacity for over 40 years and, based on that experience, it’s actually quite easy for me to conclude that 2018 has been the worst year in U.S. history for anything and everything related to the federal budget.”

Playbook: “The White House and Hill Republicans say they think President Trump will sign the spending package that the House will pass today to avert a partial government shutdown. But there is a palpable fear lingering in the Capitol that Trump will want to distract from the Brett Kavanaugh hearing, and will do so by vetoing the bill, plunging the nation into crisis 41 days before Election Day. A few White House sources say the fear is unfounded, but a lot of people are on edge at the moment and that fear won’t lift until Trump’s signature is on the bill.”

“Watch for the Trump press conference this afternoon at 5 p.m., where we’re sure to get some additional clarification.”

“Congressional Republicans have found a solution to all their internal problems that plague their party: Delay them until after the midterms,” Politico reports.

“As the GOP fights to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell are seeking to make as few political errors as possible before November. But they are setting up a lame duck that will be characterized by a race to replace Ryan, a government shutdown fight and brutal divisions on several long-shot pieces of legislation that will quickly morph into a nightmare for the party no matter the results of the elections.”