October 22, 2025

Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: “The White House is demolishing the entirety of the East Wing to make way for ... [Donald] Trump’s $200 million ballroom, a construction project that is far more extensive than he initially let on, a senior administration official said on Wednesday. The tear-down should be finished by this weekend, according to the official, who was not authorized to speak publicly about the plans. When Mr. Trump first announced his plans for the ballroom, he pledged that the East Wing wouldn’t be touched by the construction. 'It’ll be views of the Washington Monument. It won’t interfere with the current building. It’ll be near it but not touching it,' the president said. 'And pays total respect to the existing building, which I’m the biggest fan of.'”

Mary Jalonick of the AP: “Led by Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley, Democrats seized the Senate floor on Wednesday to protest ... Donald Trump’s presidency amid the government shutdown and push for Republicans to negotiate with them on expiring health subsidies. Merkley spoke for more than 22 hours — from 6:21 p.m. Tuesday to 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday — pausing for lengthy questions from other Democratic senators. His speech was one of the longest in Senate history, just short of a similar speech in April by Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey. Booker, who was also protesting Trump, broke the record with a speech that lasted longer than 25 hours, surpassing a 1957 speech by Sen. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina filibustering the advance of the Civil Rights Act. Authoritarianism is not around the corner, Merkley said as he wrapped up his speech around 5 p.m., 'it is here right now.'” This is an update of a report linked earlier.

Konstantin Toropin of the AP: “The U.S. military launched its eighth strike against an alleged drug-carrying vessel, killing two people in the waters of the eastern Pacific Ocean, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Wednesday, marking an expansion of the Trump administration’s campaign against drug trafficking in South America. The attack Tuesday night was a departure from the seven previous U.S. strikes that had targeted vessels in the Caribbean. Hegseth said on social media that the latest strike killed two people, bringing the death toll to at least 34 from attacks that began last month.”

Illinois. John O'Connor of the AP: “The Illinois sheriff’s deputy who killed Sonya Massey in her Springfield home last year eschewed his training and the principles of policing when he shot the Black woman who had called 911 for help, a prosecutor said Wednesday in Sean Grayson’s murder trial. Grayson, who is white, faces three counts of first-degree murder for shooting the 36-year-old single mother on July 6, 2024, during a confrontation over her handling of a pot of hot water she removed from her stove.” ~~~

     ~~~ Eric Schmitt & Charlie Savage of the New York Times: “The Trump administration expanded its campaign of summarily killing people aboard boats suspected of smuggling drugs to a new geographic theater, attacking a vessel in the eastern Pacific Ocean for the first time, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Wednesday.” MB: Schmitt & Savage don't make much effort to hide their contempt for Trump & Hegseth, do they?

Michael Bender & Michael Schmidt of the New York Times: “The University of Virginia, facing immense pressure from the White House, struck a deal with the Trump administration on Wednesday that removed, at least temporarily, the threat of a federal investigation. The Justice Department announced the deal. It was the first time a public university had cut a far-reaching agreement with the Trump administration, which is carrying out an extraordinary campaign to shift the ideological tilt of the higher education system. The New York Times reported on Tuesday that an agreement to end the monthslong standoff was imminent. The deal was expected to be less costly than those signed by some private, Ivy League colleges, in large part because James E. Ryan had resigned as president of the university in June. The administration viewed Mr. Ryan as an obstacle in its bid to root out policies focused on diversity, equity and inclusion.”

Daniel Dale of CNN looks at a number of lies Donald Trump has told recently about the Insurrection Act. "The law – more precisely described as a collection of related laws from the 18th and 19th centuries – grants presidents sweeping authority to deploy both active-duty and National Guard troops to states, if certain vague conditions are met, and to have them perform the domestic law enforcement from which the military is normally prohibited." 

You have to listen to most of Bible Mike's whole spiel here, past the "I don't know anything about this," past the "We denounce all violence," past the "You all know most of the violence comes from the left," way down to the part where he blames the No Kings rallies for the assassination threat against Hakeem Jeffries. Bible Mike should end every presser with the Lord's Prayer, or at least with the part that says, "And forgive us our trespasses," because that nasty little piece of work trespasses against us every time he opens his mouth: ~~~

     ~~~ For more on the assassination threat by one of the insurrectionists Trump pardoned, see the story linked below.  

⭐Free & Fair Elections? Not if Trump Can Help It. Alexandra Berzon & Nick Corasaniti of the New York Times: In August, Donald Trump appointed Heather Honey, a 2020 election conspiracy theorist, “as deputy assistant secretary for election integrity.... The ascent of Ms. Honey reflects how Mr. Trump and his allies ... remain consumed with the belief that the 2020 election was stolen — and how the president is using the powers of the government to upend an electoral system that he insists helped Joseph R. Biden Jr. take the White House. In the past few months, Mr. Trump has elevated multiple proponents of his fraud claims into high-level administration jobs. Now, as government insiders, these activists could wield their newfound power to discredit future results or rekindle old claims to argue for a federal intrusion into locally administered voting systems. On a call with right-wing activists in March, before her appointment to the Homeland Security Department, Ms. Honey suggested that the new administration could declare a 'national emergency' and justify dictating new rules to state and local governments.... The Trump administration has taken other aggressive steps to assert more sway over elections.” The link is a gift link.

Maine Senate Race. Jenny Gross of the New York Times: “Graham Platner, a Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate in Maine, said on Wednesday that he had covered up a tattoo that he got years ago that resembled a Nazi symbol. Mr. Platner, who is running for the seat held by Senator Susan Collins since 1997, said in a video podcast interview that was broadcast on Tuesday that he got the tattoo, a skull-and-crossbones image that is widely recognized as a Nazi symbol, while drunk 18 years ago and was unaware of its extremist association. Mr. Platner, a Marine veteran and oyster farmer, has also come under scrutiny for a series of posts he made years ago on Reddit that played down sexual assault in the military and criticized the police and white Americans living in rural areas.... 'I am not a secret Nazi,' Mr. Platner said on [a] podcast [hosted by former Obama aides].” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Gross quotes a couple of "experts" who claim it's difficult to believe young Platner didn't know he was getting a Nazi tattoo. I suppose I've lived a sheltered life, but I've had 80 years to discover the Nazi skull-and-crossbones, and I still had no idea what it was supposed to look like (as opposed to, say, the skull-and-crossbones on a bottle of poison). So I checked the Googles, and it turns out there is more than one style of Nazi skull-and-crossbones, although it seems there is one in particular that some Nazis wore on their caps. I've watched dozens of films featuring Nazis in uniform, and if any of those actors was sporting a skull-and-crossbones on his cap, I didn't notice it. Sometimes maybe the experts know too much.

On Being Kash Patel. Robyn Pennacchia of Wonkette: “On Monday, Patel — who is Hindu — tweeted 'Happy Diwali - celebrating the Festival of Lights around the world, as good triumphs over evil,' along with an illustrated 'Happy Diwali' card depicting the Ganges river filled with lit candles. An innocuous post for those of us who are not insecure raging bigots. I don’t know what good triumphing over evil looks like to Kash Patel, but I would argue that it looks nothing like his mentions did after he posted that. Patel received nearly 3,000 responses, the vast majority of which informed him that it was illegal to be Hindu in the United States, that he should go back to India, and/or that he was a devil worshiper. Nice people!... [Here Pennacchia gives us numerous sample responses.] Given that Kash Patel is so deeply opposed to 'DEI' that he had a guy fired over a tiny Pride flag, he can surely understand their deep frustration with the fact that someone who is not like them is allowed to celebrate things that they don’t celebrate.... As for Patel and [Vivek] Ramaswamy, odds are that they will just ignore all of this and continue to try to belong to a club that clearly does not want them as members.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I always wonder what is wrong with people who don't understand that they don't belong, that they can never belong, and that the club they cannot join deserves every bit of the dripping contempt & mockery Pennacchia dishes out. And sadly, so does everybody who is a member and everybody who wishes he were. When I was quite young, I heard Carl Sandburg say on the teevee that "exclusive" was the ugliest word in the English language. I took that to heart. 

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Every Day an Outrage. Chris Hayes has a nice summary of the truly stunning news we learned yesterday about King Donald: ~~~

Marie: I have been watching a British TV series titled "The Gold." It's a fictionalized version of what at the time was the greatest heist in history: the 1983 robbery of a Brinks-Mat warehouse near Heathrow in which the robbers -- to their surprise -- made off with £26 million (which would be worth nearly $150MM today) in gold bars, diamonds & cash. Donald Trump is planning a bigger heist: robbing the U.S. Treasury of $230 million and transferring it directly into his own coffers. IMO, it is the most stunning act of corruption in U.S. history: ~~~

⭐The Big Shakedown. Devlin Barrett & Tyler Pager of the New York Times: Donald “Trump is demanding that the Justice Department pay him about $230 million in compensation for the federal investigations into him, according to people familiar with the matter, who added that any settlement might ultimately be approved by senior department officials who defended him or those in his orbit. The situation has no parallel in American history, as Mr. Trump, a presidential candidate, was pursued by federal law enforcement and eventually won the election, taking over the very government that must now review his claims. It is also the starkest example yet of potential ethical conflicts created by installing the president’s former lawyers atop the Justice Department. Mr. Trump submitted complaints through an administrative claim process that often is the precursor to lawsuits. The first claim, lodged in late 2023, seeks damages for a number of purported violations of his rights, including the F.B.I. and special counsel investigation into Russian election tampering and possible connections to the 2016 Trump campaign, according to people familiar with the matter.... The second complaint, filed in the summer of 2024, accuses the F.B.I. of violating Mr. Trump’s privacy by searching Mar-a-Lago....” Thanks to RAS for the link. This is currently (at 4:00 pm ET Tuesday and still at 3:00 am ET Wednesday) the Times' top story. (Tried to link this yesterday and failed.) The link is a gift link. ~~~

     ~~~ Perry Stein of the Washington Post: “As a private citizen, [Donald Trump] claimed he was entitled to money to compensate him for what he calls politicized investigations he underwent. As president, he could now, in effect, order that government to pay him. If the payment came in the form of a settlement, the White House might be under no immediate legal obligation to disclose it to the public. On Tuesday, when the subject was spotlighted in a news report, the president responded to questions with equivocation. 'All I know is they would owe me a lot of money, but I’m not looking for money,' Trump told reporters, adding that if he did get a payment, 'any money that I would get, I would give to charity.' 'It’s interesting because I’m the one that makes a decision. And, you know, that decision would have to go across my desk,' he said.  'It’s awfully strange to make a decision where I’m paying myself.'... Trump did not comment Tuesday on whether formal settlement negotiations are underway.... Trump acknowledged the thorniness of any potential settlement when he obliquely raised the subject at a White House event last week....” ~~~

     ~~~ AP: “...  Donald Trump said Tuesday that the federal government owes him 'a lot of money' for prior Justice Department investigations into his actions and insisted he would have the ultimate say on any payout because any decision will 'have to go across my desk.'... He said he could donate any taxpayer money or use it to help pay for a ballroom he’s building at the White House.” MB: So you mean Trump was lying when he has repeatedly said that taxpayers would not have to pay for his ballroom? We're so surprised!

I think it’s frankly ridiculous that anyone in this room would even suggest that President Trump is doing anything for his own benefit. He left a life of luxury and a life of running a very successful real estate empire for public service, not just once but twice. -- White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, press briefing, May 9 ~~~

~~~ Dan Friedman of Mother Jones: “Earlier this year, Mother Jones published an article headlined '10 Ways to Enrich the Trumps and the MAGA Movement.'... We failed, though, to consider that the president might simply force the US government, i.e. us taxpayers, to straight-up pay him hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation for the offense of investigating him for crimes.... Whether Trump will get his payout is officially up to DOJ’s Deputy Attorney General, or the Associate Attorney General who oversees the agency’s civil division. Those jobs are held respectively by Todd Blanche, a former Trump lawyer who represented Trump on the Mar-a-Lago case, and Stanley Woodward, who represented a Trump co-defendant in that case, along with various current Trump aides.... It’s worth noting that Trump is reportedly demanding a massive personal payment from the government he oversees after enacting legislation that slashed funding for Medicaid benefits and food stamps that benefit the poorest Americans.” 

⭐Dan Diamond, et al., of the Washington Post: “A demolition job that began Monday with the disappearance of the White House’s eastern entrance advanced Tuesday with the destruction of much of the East Wing, according to a photograph obtained by The Washington Post and two people who spoke on the condition of anonymity.... Photos of construction teams knocking down parts of the East Wing, first revealed by The Washington Post on Monday, shocked preservationists, raised questions about White House overreach and lack of transparency, and sparked complaints from Democrats that ... Donald Trump was damaging 'the People’s House.'... 

“The National Trust for Historic Preservation, a nonprofit created by Congress to help preserve historic buildings, sent a letter Tuesday to administration officials, warning that the planned 90,000-square-foot ballroom 'will overwhelm the White House itself.'... 'We respectfully urge the Administration and the National Park Service to pause demolition until plans for the proposed ballroom go through the legally required public review processes,' Carol Quillen, National Trust’s CEO, said in a statement, citing two federal commissions that have traditionally reviewed White House additions. White House officials dismissed the criticism as 'manufactured outrage.'... The Treasury Department on Monday evening instructed employees not to take or share photos of the construction project without permission.... The Treasury headquarters is next to the White House, with some of its offices providing a close view of the East Wing. But areas where the demolition is viewable are closed to the public....” ~~~

    ~~~ Chris Geidner: “Photos obtained exclusively by Law Dork on Tuesday show that ... Donald Trump is completely demolishing the East Wing of the White House as part of his stated plan to build a ballroom befitting his standards on the White House grounds. Although Trump earlier had said the ballroom 'won’t interfere with the current building,' this week it became abundantly clear that was a lie. And, this dramatic change to the governmental building, Trump says, is happening care of private money and outside of any governmental — and transparent — funding process.... Trump wrote on Truth social on Monday, 'The White House Ballroom is being privately funded by many generous Patriots, Great American Companies, and, yours truly.'” MB: Apparently by “yours truly,” Trump meant, “money I stole from taxpaying suckers.” ~~~

~~~ Brian Gottlieb of the Engineering News Record: “Regulatory filings show that as of Sept. 4 no submission had been made to the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC), which reviews major federal projects in the capital region.... Executive Order 11593, issued in 1971, directs federal agencies to consult with the Interior Dept. before altering historic structures. Past administrations have voluntarily submitted major projects for review by the National Capital Planning Commission and the Commission of Fine Arts. These measures, while not legally binding, form the preservation framework that has guided White House alterations for decades and remains relevant even for privately funded work.... Unlike the Truman reconstruction, which relied on congressional appropriation and formal oversight by the Commission of Fine Arts and NCPC, this expansion is proceeding under the notion of executive authority over the residence.” Via Chris Geidner. ~~~

     ~~~ Oh, and this from Gottlieb: The American Institute of Architects said in a letter to the Committee for the Preservation of the White House, “new additions … [should] not destroy historic materials” and [should] “be compatible with the historic features, size, scale and proportion.” MB: I guess that didn't work out. But, hey, Trump knows more than a bunch of hoity-toity architects.

     ~~~ Zachary Small & Ashley Wu of the New York Times: “Ever since ... [Donald] Trump announced plans to build a ballroom in the White House, prominent architecture groups have raised concerns. Just last week, the Society of Architectural Historians urged that 'such a significant change to a historic building of this import should follow a rigorous and deliberate design and review process.' A few days later, demolition crews tore off the facade of the East Wing.... Joan M. Brierton, a preservation specialist who spent nearly three decades with the General Services Administration..., said that changes to the White House typically required review by a number of commissions.” ~~~

     ~~~ Sarah Rumpf of Mediaite: “As outrage grows over the construction of ... Donald Trump’s ballroom, the White House now says it will submit plans 'soon' — but a substantial portion of the East Wing has already been demolished.... Opponents of the project object to the lack of review and question why the plans were not submitted before work began. 'The White House still intends to submit those plans to the National Capital Planning Commission, which oversees federal construction in Washington and neighboring states, a White House official told Reuters,' as the outlet reported Tuesday evening. The White House has argued that the NCPC does not have the power to review demolition work, only construction, but a former NCPC commissioner disagreed. 'Demolition really cannot be separated from the new construction that follows,' Bryan Green, who was on the NCPC during President Joe Biden’s term, told Reuters. 'These are linked.'” MB: Obviously.

     ~~~ Marie: Trump's East Wing Demolition Derby was his other [See Michelle Goldberg's column, linked below] response to No Kings Day. The reason the White House is a modest building in the neoclassical style is that it is meant to serve as more than the home of the president; it is intended to be a symbolic "peoples' house." Trump is a philistine. The fake Newport-beaux arts monstrosity he is appending is totally out of character with the intended (modest, symmetrical) simplicity of the White House. The grand ballroom is, however, in Trump's estimation, fit for a king. It isn't just that Trump is the worst president* in U.S. history; he does not understand the presidency -- or the country. ~~~

~~~ Ashley Wu & Marco Hernandez of the New York Times: “In less than a year..., [Donald] Trump has already significantly remade the White House. The Oval Office is decorated from top to bottom in gold. The Rose Garden’s lawn is paved over. And on Monday, part of the East Wing was demolished as Mr. Trump’s 90,000-square-foot ballroom project forged ahead. Here is what we know about five key White House renovations[.]” ~~~

~~~ Marie: Darlene Superville of the AP answers frequently-asked-questions about the Monster Ballroom, but her FAQ report isn't quite up-to-date, because she doesn't acknowledge Trump's latest musing about using money he steals from taxpayers in his malicious-prosecution scheme (stories linked above) may substantially fund the ballroom.  

Michelle Goldberg of the New York Times: “This weekend, I was surprised to learn that Donald Trump seems to see himself in the same way I do: as a would-be monarch spraying the citizenry with excrement.... It is not at this point surprising that Trump holds half the country in contempt, or that he treats urban America as a group of restive colonies to be brutally subdued.... What’s curious, then, is ... his uncontrollable urge to defile himself and his office.... Rulers ... tend to jealously guard their dignity. But not Trump.... A ... giddy nihilism has long surrounded the president and his devotees, who often treat his unlikely ascension as a world-historical feat of trolling....  On the surface, Trump longs for grandeur. But on some subconscious level he and those around him have a deep instinct for degradation.... Part of him wants to aggrandize the country to reflect his own inflated self-conception. And part of him seems to want to trash it out of rage at the limits of his dominance.”

Summit Cancelled. Robyn Dixon & John Hudson of the Washington Post: “The Trump administration said on Tuesday that there are 'no plans' for ... Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin to meet in the immediate future, marking an abrupt postponement of a meeting Trump said a few days ago would happen in Hungary. The statement came hours after Russia’s top diplomat signaled a wide chasm between Moscow and Washington on ending the war in Ukraine. The Trump administration, in confirming the meeting’s postponement, made no mention of a diplomatic row between the longtime adversaries.... Russia on Tuesday rejected Trump’s call to freeze the fighting in Ukraine on the front line, signaling that the Kremlin has not significantly changed its demands for peace, after Trump said last week that he believed Putin wanted a deal.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Lizzie Johnson & Serhil Korolchuk of the Washington Post: “Hours after a meeting planned for next week between ... Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Hungary was scrapped ... Russia hammered Ukraine in an overnight attack that left parts of the country without power and killed six people, including two children. Drones and missiles slammed into cities across Ukraine, from Kyiv to Zaporizhzhia to Odesa, with attacks on the electrical grid leading to emergency outages in most of Ukraine’s regions, leaving civilians without power as temperatures drop.... 'Russia continues to do everything to weasel out of diplomacy,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a statement Tuesday night. 'As soon as the issue of long-range capabilities for us — for Ukraine — became less immediate, Russia’s interest in diplomacy faded almost automatically.' On Tuesday, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that his meeting with Putin would be postponed so as not to 'waste' his time following indications that Russia and Ukraine were still too far apart to strike a peace deal.”

Trump Fires Another I.G. Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: Last week Donald Trump fired Parisa Salehi, the inspector general for “the Export-Import Bank of the United States, where her office reported saving tens of millions of dollars.... Ms. Salehi was the latest casualty of Mr. Trump’s mass purge of government watchdogs, the investigators assigned to agencies across the administration who act as the eyes and ears of Congress and ensure taxpayer dollars are not misused. Mr. Trump has fired or reassigned about two dozen such top investigators, and he has moved to defund an umbrella group, the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency.... The defunding meant, among other things, the shutdown of websites for dozens of inspectors general that publish reports for public review and hotline numbers where whistle-blowers can submit complaints.” Recently the Senate confirmed Dr. Oz's son-in-law to head the Export-Import Bank. MB: But nothing to see here, folks.

Robert Jimison & Katie Rogers of the New York Times: “The nomination of Paul Ingrassia, a far-right lawyer and firebrand podcaster who had been tapped by ... [Donald] Trump to lead the Office of Special Counsel, collapsed on Tuesday amid Republican opposition in the Senate, a day after Politico reported that he had sent a series of racist text messages. Mr. Ingrassia said in a social media post late Tuesday that he would not appear at his nomination hearing set for later in the week. He cited senators who soured on his choice to run the independent corruption-fighting agency after the report of an apparent series of texts that, among other assertions, used a racist slur to describe holidays that honor Black Americans and declared that ethnically Chinese and Indian people could not be trusted.... A White House official confirmed the withdrawal of the nomination late Tuesday. White House officials did not respond to other questions ... [about] whether he would remain in his current job as a White House liaison with the Department of Homeland Security.”  The AP's report is here. Politico's story is here. MB: Too bad JayDee was off in Israel, so he wasn't around to stick up for Ingrassia's youthful indiscretions. ~~~

     ~~~ “Hitler Did Some Good Things, Too.” Katie Rogers of the New York Times: “Well before [Politico reported those racist] messages..., Mr. Ingrassia was a vocal supporter of extremists like Nick Fuentes, a former dinner companion of Mr. Trump's who has questioned the death toll of the Holocaust. Mr. Ingrassia has represented the self-described misogynist Andrew Tate, an influencer facing rape and human trafficking charges overseas. His Substack account — where Mr. Ingrassia proclaims that he is 'President Trump’s favorite writer' — reads like a white nationalist manifesto; in one post, he likened immigrants to 'Barbarian hordes of criminal invaders' and warned that changing racial demographics could 'break the cultural and social fabric' of the United States. 

“In other words, it really does take a lot for Republicans to back away from confirming a nominee the president wants for a top role in his administration.... The fact that the nomination got this far illustrates how much antisemitic and hateful rhetoric has been normalized, explained away or rewarded by Republicans in power. Sometimes, the backlash against it comes from everywhere but the White House.... Extreme beliefs are now embraced throughout the sprawl of the federal government, of course, because many of those beliefs have been espoused by the president. During his first term, Mr. Trump repeatedly mentioned to John F. Kelly, his former chief of staff, 'You know, Hitler did some good things, too.'”

Alan Feuer of the New York Times: “An upstate New York man pardoned by ... [Donald] Trump after taking part in the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, was charged last week with a new crime: threatening to assassinate Representative Hakeem Jeffries, the House Democratic leader, at an event in New York City. The man, Christopher P. Moynihan, 34, sent text messages to an unknown associate on Friday threatening Mr. Jeffries’s life, according to a criminal complaint issued by local prosecutors in Dutchess County, N.Y. 'Hakeem Jeffries makes a speech in a few days in NYC I cannot allow this terrorist to live,' the complaint quoted Mr. Moynihan as saying. 'Even if I am hated he must be eliminated. I will kill him for the future.' Mr. Jeffries appeared on Monday for an address at the Economic Club of New York in Manhattan. In a statement issued on Tuesday, he thanked state and federal law enforcement for apprehending Mr. Moynihan.” An ABC News story is here.

Sahil Kapur, et al., of NBC: News: “As the government shutdown crosses the three-week mark, Democrats are increasingly calling on ... Donald Trump to get more involved in finding a solution. And some Republicans acknowledge that Trump has been disengaged and say it wouldn’t hurt if he got more involved.... Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said Trump’s involvement is 'essential' to ending the shutdown because GOP leaders on Capitol Hill won’t cut a deal without his blessing.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I don't see why Trump would want the shutdown to end. He's enjoying it. He just goes on making his proclamations and executive orders and stuff. He chitchats with visiting dignitaries. He takes vacations. He furloughs some bureaucrats. He doesn't have to deal with those he hasn't laid off or fired, and he doesn't have to find a place to put all of Melanie's East Wing hangers-on whose offices he has torn down. ~~~

~~~ Hannah Natanson, et al., of the Washington Post: “The Trump administration is creating a two-tier system within the shuttered federal government, paying some staffers required to be on the job even as it leaves many of their colleagues working without salaries. Those still drawing pay include active-duty military personnel, deportation officers and air marshals, as well as 70,000 law enforcement agents spread across the Justice Department and Department of Homeland Security. Where and how the administration is finding money for those salaries — and whether the maneuver is legal — remains unclear, experts said. Employees in roles seen as flashier or gunslinging, like FBI special agents or Immigration and Customs Enforcement deportation officers, are seeing no hit to their bank accounts.... But within the same agencies, their colleagues are coming to the office each day without pay until the standoff ends. That includes the behind-the-scenes staff who arrange agents’ travel, maintain their vehicles and process their paychecks.... With no indication that the shutdown is likely to end anytime soon, resentment is rising.” MB: I should think so.

Francesca Regalado of the New York Times: “A person drove a vehicle into a security gate outside the White House on Tuesday night, the Secret Service said. A man was arrested and there was no threat to ... [Donald] Trump, who was in the complex, according to the agency.... It was not immediately known whether the crash was intentional, or why the driver approached the White House.” MB: Probably a fan of neoclassical architecture who objected to the grand ballroom addition.

The Secret Life of Drunk Pete Just Got More Secret. Josephine Walker of Axios: "Pentagon staffers will now need to get prior approval before sharing any information with Congress, according to a new memo from Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and his deputy.... The new rules could further restrict oversight of the Defense Department amid a year filled with unprecedented leaks and staff turnover." ~~~

     ~~~ Loose Lips Sink Pete. Ben Finley & Konstantin Toropin of the AP: “In an Oct. 15 memo, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and his deputy, Steve Feinberg, ordered Pentagon officials — including the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff — to obtain permission from the department’s main legislative affairs office before they have any communication with Capitol Hill. The memo was issued the same day the vast majority of Pentagon reporters exited the building rather than agree to the Defense Department’s new restrictions on their work....” MB: This is pathetic. The idea of telling seasoned military personnel they can't speak without the approval of some kids who work for Drunk Pete is so demeaning. It's one thing (an unconstitutional one thing, but still one thing) to try to control the press, but to muzzle the 26,000 people who work in the Pentagon -- yikes! ~~~

~~~ Ben Wolfgang of the (right-wing) Washington Times: “Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has lost the trust and respect of some top military commanders, with his public “grandstanding” widely seen as unprofessional and the personnel moves made by the former cable TV host leading to an unprecedented and dangerous exodus of talent from the Pentagon, said current senior military officers and current and former Defense Department officials. Numerous high-ranking officers painted Mr. Hegseth’s Sept. 30 speech to hundreds of generals and admirals gathered at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia as a turning point in how his leadership style, attitude and overall competency are viewed in the upper echelons of the U.S. armed forces. 'It was a massive waste of time. … If he ever had us, he lost us,' one current Army general told The Washington Times.”

They Don't Know What They're Doing, Ctd. Alec Dent, et al., of the Washington Post: “At least one federal immigration officer fired gunshots during a traffic stop in Los Angeles on Tuesday, striking a motorist who authorities said threatened them with a vehicle while trying to flee an arrest. A U.S. marshal also was hit by the gunfire, and both of the injured people were taken to a hospital, authorities said. The marshal sustained non-life-threatening injuries and was in stable condition.... Authorities did not disclose the identity or condition of the motorist. Los Angeles City Council member Curren D. Price Jr., in a social media post, identified the motorist as a man known as 'Richard L.A.,' a TikTok and YouTube content creator who films law enforcement activity and immigration operations. Price’s deputy chief of staff, Jose Ugarte, told The Washington Post that the man’s full name is Carlos Richard Parias and confirmed that he was shot.... Tuesday’s incident ... sparked outrage from advocacy groups and community members, dozens of whom gathered near the site of the arrest yelling, 'Free Richard!' and 'Justice for Richard!'” A UPI story is here.

Gwynne Hogan & Haidee Chu of the City: “Chaos erupted in Lower Manhattan Tuesday afternoon, as dozens of masked federal agents targeting street vendors on Canal Street were met with droves of New Yorkers who joined in a spontaneous protest of the arrests. It’s unclear how many street vendors the federal agents ultimately detained, though video and eyewitness accounts suggested as many as four — and likely several more. Agents responded, sending an armored vehicle to patrol streets and agents with tactical weapons to confront New Yorkers as the protests grew.... Cornered and outnumbered, the masked agents pushed and shoved demonstrators out of the way so vehicles could clear the area, while one whipped out a Taser and pointed it at protesters.... Several New Yorkers who had joined the protest were slammed to the ground by federal agents and dragged past police barricades into 26 Federal Plaza.... The raid on Canal Street Tuesday took place two days after right-wing influencer Savanah Hernandez had posted a video of herself on Canal Street saying, '20-30 illegals in the area conducting business' and tagging ICE to 'go check this corner out.'”

If You're White & Far-Right, Welcome to the U.S.A. Adam Taylor & Teo Armus of the Washington Post: “The Trump administration’s plan to overhaul the U.S. refugee resettlement process, including a drastic reduction in overall annual admissions, coincides with a concerted effort to prepare thousands of White South Africans to relocate to the United States through the system, according to documents reviewed by The Washington Post and people familiar with the matter. If the administration succeeds, almost all people admitted to the U.S. as refugees — as many as 7,000 from a maximum potential pool of 7,500 — could be Afrikaners, a group not traditionally eligible for the program but one that ... Donald Trump says has been tyrannized by South Africa’s Black majority. The remainder may be chosen because of their ability to speak English or their views on  'free speech'..., upending a system that for decades had taken in people fleeing conflict and persecution from all over the world regardless of race or language.... 

“In its final year, the Biden administration set the refugee admissions cap at 125,000, with the Democratic Republic of Congo and Afghanistan among the top countries of origin.... A recent report drafted by the State Department singled out 'free speech advocates in Europe' as another group that could be considered in the future, said a former U.S. official..., adding that it was clearly discussing far-right entities there. 'There was no ambiguity of intent,' the former official said.”

By blocking Adelita Grijalva from taking her rightful oath of office, he is subjecting Arizona’s seventh Congressional district to taxation without representation. -- Arizona AG Kris Mayes, after filing suit against the House of Representatives ~~~ 

~~~ Patrick Marley & Paul Kane of the Washington Post: “Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes (D) sued the House on Tuesday because Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) has declined to swear in the state’s newest member of Congress. Democrat Adelita Grijalva won a Sept. 23 special election to replace her father, Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Arizona), who died in March. In the month since she won, Johnson has refused to swear her in and give her the powers of her office. Grijalva has promised to provide the final signature needed for a discharge petition that would force a vote on releasing federal investigative files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Johnson has said the dispute over Grijalva’s seat has 'nothing to do' with the Epstein files and would swear her in if Senate Democrats would vote to end the government shutdown.” The NBC News story is here.

Jordan Requests Another Trump Political Prosecution. Hailey Fuchs & Kyle Cheney of Politico: “House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan is asking the Justice Department to prosecute former CIA director John Brennan for allegedly lying to Congress more than two years ago. It’s the latest move in the GOP’s campaign to leverage the justice system against ... Donald Trump’s political adversaries. In a letter Tuesday to Attorney General Pam Bondi, the Ohio Republican claimed Brennan, who led the CIA during a probe of Russia’s interference in the 2016 election, 'knowingly made false statements during his transcribed interview' with the panel back in May 2023. Jordan’s allegations center around Brennan’s comments at that time regarding the so-called Steele dossier — a series of largely discredited memos created by a former British intelligence officer, Christopher Steele, that accused Trump and his allies of orchestrating a sweeping election conspiracy with the Kremlin.”

Tracey Tully of the New York Times: “A federal judge overseeing a case involving a New Jersey congresswoman accused of assaulting immigration agents ordered the Justice Department on Tuesday to turn over additional videos as he reviews a defense request to dismiss the charges altogether. The judge, Jamel K. Semper, also told federal prosecutors to encourage the Department of Homeland Security to take down social media posts about the case that he described as prejudicial and 'fact free.' 'Make sure they are removed,' Judge Semper said, noting that lawyers for the congresswoman, LaMonica McIver, should 'not be in a position to play Whac-a-Mole when there are government officials who are saying things that are not factual.'... [Judge Semper also ordered the Justice Department to search for text messages sent that day by ICE and Homeland Security agents, which Ms. McIver’s legal team is seeking.]” ~~~

~~~ Ry Rivard of Politico: “A federal judge appeared skeptical Tuesday of New Jersey Democratic Rep. LaMonica McIver’s attempts to get charges against her dismissed because they are 'selective' and 'vindictive.' U.S. District Judge Jamel Semper repeatedly asked how he could reach the conclusion that the Trump administration was targeting McIver following a May scuffle outside a federal immigration facility when two other Democratic members of Congress — Reps. Bonnie Watson Coleman and Rob Menendez — were also there but not prosecuted.”

Karen Weise of the New York Times: “...  interviews and a cache of internal strategy documents viewed by The New York Times reveal that Amazon executives believe the company is on the cusp of its next big workplace shift: replacing more than half a million jobs with robots. Amazon’s U.S. work force has more than tripled since 2018 to almost 1.2 million. But Amazon’s automation team expects the company can avoid hiring more than 160,000 people in the United States it would otherwise need by 2027. That would save about 30 cents on each item that Amazon picks, packs and delivers to customers. Executives told Amazon’s board last year that they hoped robotic automation would allow the company to continue to avoid adding to its U.S. work force in the coming years, even though they expect to sell twice as many products by 2033. That would translate to more than 600,000 people whom Amazon didn’t need to hire.”

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North Carolina. Ari Berman of Mother Jones: “The GOP-controlled North Carolina legislature, which has already gone to extreme lengths to undermine the will of the voters, is set to pass a new Trump-inspired gerrymandered congressional map this week that is expected to give Republicans one additional seat heading into the midterms. It will make one of the most gerrymandered states in the country even more gerrymandered, likely giving Republicans nearly 80 percent of US House seats in an otherwise closely divided swing state where Trump won 51 percent of the vote in 2024. The state senate passed the bill on Tuesday in near record time, with the state house to follow shortly thereafter. The map targets the district of Democratic US House Rep. Don Davis, which has been represented by a Black member of Congress for more than three decades, shifting it from a district that Trump won by 3 points in 2024 to 12 points under the new lines.... Republican leaders in North Carolina have openly admitted that they drew the new map to placate Trump....” The state's constitution prevents the governor (currently Democrat Josh Stein) from vetoing redistricting measures. Read on. The New York Times story is here.

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France. Ségolène Le Stradic of the New York Times: “Jewelry stolen from the Louvre museum in a brazen weekend heist is worth an estimated 88 million euros, or a little over $100 million, the Paris prosecutor said on Tuesday afternoon. 'This sum is indeed extremely spectacular,' the prosecutor, Laure Beccuau, said in an interview with RTL radio, 'but it is in no way comparable to the historical damage caused by this theft.'” MB: Ah yes, but not as spectacular as the $230MM heist Trump plans nor perhaps as dramatic as the historical damage caused to the U.S. presidency* by Trump's planned theft.