It’s Monday. A lot has happened since we last spoke. The government may reopen soon. But several things need to happen first. Let’s get into it.
In today’s issue:
• Late-night Senate deal to reopen the government
• Johnson tells House to return to DC
• Trump threatens to ‘dock’ some air traffic controllers
• Supreme Court rejects gay marriage challenge
• Trump preemptively pardons Rudy Giuliani
🚨 GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN
There’s a light at the end of the tunnel:
Things are happening! The federal government is inching closer toward reopening this week after seven weeks of impasse. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) instructed House lawmakers to make their way back to Washington — for the first time since Sept. 19 (!) — for votes to reopen the government.
House lawmakers will be given 36-hour notice for votes, down from the 48-hour notice they had been told for the entirety of the shutdown. I hope they’re able to make it back with all of the ongoing flight cancellations. 😬
Senators are back in session today with several votes left to reopen the government after eight moderate Democratic senators agreed to a deal with Republicans late Sunday. Tomorrow is Veterans Day, so they are hoping to wrap up work by then.
What exactly is the Senate deal?: The Senate voted 60-40 to advance a bill to fund the government through Jan. 3, plus three funding bills through September 2026 that include the Department of Agriculture. It would also reverse the firings of federal workers during the shutdown. As far as the expiring ObamaCare subsidies that Democrats have pushed to extend, Republicans agreed to hold a separate vote on those by mid-December.
📹 Watch senators huddle on the floor during the vote
Who are the Democrats who voted to end the shutdown?: Sens. John Fetterman (Pa.), Catherine Cortez Masto (Nev.), Jacky Rosen (Nev.), Dick Durbin (Ill.), Jeanne Shaheen (N.H.), Maggie Hassan (N.H.) and Tim Kaine (Va.), plus Sen. Angus King (Maine), an independent who caucuses with the Democrats. The 8 lawmakers’ reasonings
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.) both oppose the deal. House Democrats are largely expected to reject the bill, while Republicans are still relying on a narrow majority.
➤ OTHER DEMOCRATS ARE FURIOUS:
A group of Senate Democrats has been negotiating with Republicans for weeks on a deal to reopen the government, but the lack of an extension on Affordable Care Act subsidies in the deal is striking a nerve.
Democrats had several days of momentum after winning soundly in last week’s elections, with this emboldening their resistance to a House-passed stopgap bill. But then eight Senate Democrats folded.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) called Sunday’s procedural push for the funding bill “a very bad night” with a “very, very bad vote.”
Schumer, in particular, is already getting blowback. Progressive Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) called on Senate Democrats to replace Schumer. And progressive Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) also slammed the Democratic leader.
Read more on the anger within the Democratic Party, via The Wall Street Journal: ‘Democrats Fume Over Deal to End Government Shutdown’
Air travel is a bit of a mess:
So far today, nearly 2,000 flights have been canceled and roughly 2,400 have been delayed, according to FlightAware’s tracker.
Airport travel over the weekend was … not great. More than 4,500 flights were canceled and more than 18,000 were delayed after the Federal Aviation Administration pulled back on air traffic due to staffing shortages. On Sunday, flight cancellations topped 2,000 for the first time since the shutdown started.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy noted that in Atlanta, 18 of 22 air traffic controllers who were scheduled to work “didn’t show up.”
This morning, President Trump threatened to “dock” air traffic controllers who don’t show up for work. He also recommended a bonus for any controllers who didn’t take any time off while working without pay.
Even when the government reopens, Duffy has warned it may take days or even a week for air traffic to return to normal.
🏛️ OTHER NEWS
The Supreme Court will *not* overturn the same-sex marriage ruling this year:
The Supreme Court on Monday rejected a request to revisit the issue of same-sex marriage.
Backstory on the case: “Former Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis directly asked the justices to overrule the 2015 landmark decision after a jury awarded damages to a couple whom Davis refused to issue a marriage license.”
It was considered a long-shot bid for the court to take up this case.
➤ BUT IT WILL TAKE UP A MAIL-IN BALLOT CASE:
The Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether mail-in ballots must arrive by Election Day in order to be counted.
Trump’s next media target — the BBC:
President Trump threatened to sue the BBC for $1 billion over its Jan. 6, 2021 documentary, according to a letter obtained by The New York Times’s Michael D. Shear.
Why?: Trump’s lawyer argues its editing was “malicious” and “disparaging.”
The controversy stems from an edit that spliced together two segments of Trump’s speech at the Ellipse before the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, without any indication that the clips were from two different parts of the speech.
Trump’s demands: “The letter demanded a full retraction of the documentary, an apology and what his lawyers said would be payments that ‘appropriately compensate President Trump for the harm caused.’” If not, Trump’s team will reportedly sue for $1 billion.
What’s the documentary?: “The documentary, called ‘Trump: A Second Chance?’ and broadcast before the presidential election last year, had already been removed from the BBC’s online player.” (The New York Times)
Keep in mind: Two top bosses at the BBC stepped down on Sunday over criticism about the way Trump’s Jan. 6 speech was edited.
➤ QUICK HITS:
— Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says the U.S. military killed six “narco-terrorists” during strikes against two alleged drug trafficking boats in the Eastern Pacific.
— Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) had two retirement announcement videos ready, according to Politico, but only one of them was published.
➤ MORE READS:
The Wall Street Journal: Feeling Great About the Economy? You Must Own Stocks
The Washington Post: Justice Department struggles as thousands exit — and few are replaced
The Atlantic: Why They Mask: Veteran ICE officers know face coverings are a bad look. But they’re not coming off anytime soon.
✅ IN THE WHITE HOUSE
Rudy Giuliani gets a pardon:
President Trump has pardoned his former personal attorney Rudy Giuliani and other key figures charged in connection with their efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
Ed Martin, the government’s pardon attorney, 📸posted a list of the pardons. There are some other familiar names on this list, including former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, former Trump attorney Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro, among others.
From the proclamation: “This proclamation ends a grave national injustice perpetrated upon the American people following the 2020 Presidential Election and continues the process of national reconciliation.”
The Hill’s Ella Lee notes that the move is largely symbolic, as presidential pardons apply only to federal crimes and Trump’s allies were never charged in federal court.
More context, via The New York Times: ‘In Largely Symbolic Move, Trump Pre-Emptively Pardons Rudy Giuliani And Others’
➤ HAPPENING THIS MORNING AT THE WHITE HOUSE:
Trump hosted Ahmad al-Sharaa, the first Syrian president to ever visit the White House.
For context from The Hill’s Laura Kelly: “The visit is meant to further demonstrate al-Sharaa’s transformation from a jihadist fighting Americans in Iraq to a global statesman.”
COMING UP
The House is out. The Senate is in. President Trump is in Washington. (All times EST)
3 p.m. Trump participates in a swearing-in ceremony for the ambassador to India.
INTERNET BUZZ
🧁 Celebrate: Today is National Vanilla Cupcake Day.
🐻 The hot item of the season: Starbucks’s new “Bearista” coffee cup has sparked a frenzy. Fans waited in long lines and quickly sold them out last week. Now, they’re being resold online for up to $500. 😅
AND FINALLY…
Because you made it this far, watch the moment this dog learns that horses exist.
