“Democrats are bracing for the possible retirement of Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, one of the party’s most powerful, popular and effective leaders, who served as chief antagonist to President Donald Trump during his first term and has quietly counseled Democrats as they take on Trump in his second term,” NBC News reports.

“She is expected to make an announcement about her future after Tuesday’s elections, when voters will consider a ballot measure, known as ‘Proposition 50,’ that would redraw the state’s congressional lines.”

“President Trump went after Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) for her Somali heritage, urging her to leave the country in a social media post, reprising an attack he used several times throughout his time in office,” Politico reports.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) went after “pathetic Republican men” after Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) implored people to ignore her, arguing that such directives were misogynistic, The Wrap reports.

Sid Greene: “Sorry I’m not sorry I don’t obey Republican men’s demands that I, as a woman, don’t remain seen but not heard.”

At an airport in South Carolina on Thursday, Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) called police officers “fucking incompetent” and berated them repeatedly, Wired reports.

“With all the talk in the Senate about beginning to find a way out of the shutdown, House Democratic leadership showed polling today to their rank-and-file members in a bid to keep the government closed until they get a deal on Obamacare,” Punchbowl News reports.

“This comes as some states have declared emergencies in an effort to deal with a lapse in SNAP funding, the federal program that helps feed more than 40 million Americans.”

“Molly Murphy, a top Democratic pollster at Impact Research, presented data Thursday that showed voters, by a nearly 2-to-1 margin, endorsed Democrats’ strategy to keep the government closed while they fight for a deal to keep premiums from spiking.”

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) shut down the idea of bringing his chamber back before the Senate acts on a government funding bill, telling reporters it would be a “futile exercise,” Axios reports.

“Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) is on the warpath against her own party’s handling of the government shutdown. And her fellow Republicans are increasingly calling her out,” Politico reports.

“The firebrand three-term lawmaker, long an ally of President Donald Trump, has distanced herself from Republican leadership in recent months. And as the shutdown drags on, Greene’s loud — and usually lonely — dissent risks fracturing Republicans’ efforts to present a united front and pressure Democrats into caving on funding the government.”

“U.S. House staffers were warned by congressional administrators Wednesday that their October paychecks will not be sent out if the government remains shut down into November,” Axios reports.

“It is yet another painful consequence of the shutdown — and one that hits particularly close to home for the lawmakers in both parties who have dug in to their positions.”

“Hundreds of thousands of federal workers are going without pay; millions of Americans who depend on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for food are set to miss payments starting this weekend; and air-traffic staffing shortages are causing groundstops across the country,” NOTUS reports.

“Congressional Democrats are under real pressure to cave — and they aren’t. And that’s genuinely surprising the progressives that pushed Democrats to leverage the government funding fight over expiring health care subsidies in the first place.”

Speaker Mike Johnson said he doesn’t “see a way to amend the Constitution” to allow for President Donald Trump to seek a third term in office, ABC News reports.

CNN: “The Republican leader’s acknowledgment that he and Trump have discussed issues surrounding a third-term adds credence to warnings from the president’s opponents that he is seriously flirting with upending the Constitution. But Johnson’s quickly throwing cold water on the suggestion underscores how little support Trump would have if he actually tried to move forward with it.”

For members: How Trump Uses Talk of a Third Term to Keep Power

“Thousands of House staffers are preparing to miss their first paycheck this Friday if the shutdown drags on another week,” Bloomberg reports.

New York Times: “Speaker Mike Johnson’s decision to put the House on an indefinite hiatus that is now stretching into its second month while the government is shut down is the latest in a series of moves he has made that have diminished the role of Congress and shrunken the speakership at a critical moment.”

“It’s an approach born of political expedience that could have far-reaching consequences for an institution that has already ceded much of its power to President Trump. And Mr. Johnson, who without the president’s backing wields little influence over his own members, has chosen to make himself subservient to Mr. Trump, a break with many speakers of the past who sought in their own ways to act more as a governing partner with the president than as his underling.”

Axios: House lawmakers flirt with COVID-era work levels.

Washington, D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D) was scammed in her home by people who said they were part of a cleaning crew, NBC Washington reports.

The suspects charged almost $4,400 to her credit card for work they did not perform.

A police report described Norton as having the “early stages of dementia.”

“I have no respect for Speaker Johnson not calling us back to Washington because we should be passing bills.”

— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), on the Tucker Carlson Show.