November 7, 2025

David Lieb, et al., of the AP: “A federal appeals court leaves an order in place that requires ... Donald Trump’s administration to provide full SNAP food benefits for November amid a U.S. government shutdown.”

Josh Funk & Rio Yamat of the AP: “Anxious travelers across the U.S. felt a bit of relief Friday as airlines mostly stayed on schedule while still cutting more than 1,000 flights largely because of the government shutdown. Plenty of nervousness remained, though, as more canceled flights are coming over the next week to comply with the Federal Aviation Administration’s order to reduce service at the nation’s busiest airports. The order is in response to air traffic controllers — who haven’t been paid in nearly a month as the shutdown drags on — calling out of work in higher numbers as they deal with financial pressure.”

Catie Edmondson of the New York Times: “Senate Democrats on Friday substantially scaled back their demand for ending the government shutdown, saying they would be willing to do so in exchange for a one-year extension of expiring health care subsidies. But Republicans quickly rejected the offer, leaving lawmakers no closer to ending a stalemate that has shuttered the government for 38 days. The proposal, announced by Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the minority leader, never had much hope of moving through the Republican-led Congress. Speaker Mike Johnson has refused to commit to even allowing a vote on extending the Obamacare subsidies, with many Republicans opposed to renewing the tax credits, at least without major changes.”

Neil Vigdor of the New York Times: “Darryl Strawberry, the baseball slugger who won the World Series while with the New York Mets and Yankees, but whose career was tainted by drug use and other legal problems, received a pardon from ... [Donald] Trump on Thursday for his three-decade-old tax evasion conviction. In a social media post on Friday, Mr. Strawberry, 63, an eight-time All-Star, said that he received a call on Thursday from Mr. Trump telling him about the pardon in his 1995 tax case.... A White House official on Friday confirmed that Mr. Trump had granted Mr. Strawberry the pardon, saying that the onetime baseball star had served his time and paid back taxes after pleading guilty to one count of tax evasion.” MB: Is it possible that Trump pardoned someone who actually merits a pardon? 

Kenneth Vogel of the New York Times: Donald “Trump has approved a pardon for a retired New York police officer who was sentenced in April to 18 months in prison for his participation in a Chinese government plot to locate, surveil and intimidate a family in the New Jersey suburbs. The former officer, Michael McMahon, of Mahwah, N.J., was convicted by a jury in 2023 of acting as an unregistered agent of the Chinese government and interstate stalking, as well as conspiracy.... [Mr. McMahon and his wife] had support from people in Mr. Trump’s orbit, including Representative Mike Lawler, Republican of New York, and Roger J. Stone Jr., a longtime Trump associate and friend who had urged the president to issue the pardon.”

Ann Marimow of the New York Times: “Justice Clarence Thomas used a concurring opinion in the [the case eliminating the right to abortion] to urge reconsideration of Obergefell v. Hodges, the ruling that legalized gay marriage nationwide.... . Now, the justices are considering whether to hear a case that would ask them to overturn the 2015 [legalization of gay marriage] decision, weighing the petition at their private conference on Friday. It would take the votes of four justices to accept the case. If they decline to hear it, as many legal experts expect, they could announce the denial as soon as Monday. Were the justices to agree to hear the case, a major step, they would likely only do so after considering it in at least two consecutive conferences.... The petition before the court was filed by Kim Davis, a former Kentucky county clerk who gained national prominence in 2015 when she defied a court order and refused to issue same-sex licenses because of her religious beliefs.” MB: Maybe everybody should get her day in court, but Kim Davis has had hers and then some. Just considering considering overturning Obergefell is so cruel.

Heather Cox Richardson touches on a boatload of topics, including Trump's urging Republican senators to pass laws that would keep Democrats out of power forever. Even the ruthless Mitch McConnell, Cox writes, “stopped Bloomberg News Senate reporter Steven Dennis in the hallway to say: 'We’re not going to do that.'”

Ben Casselman of the New York Times: “With the federal government still shut down, the Bureau of Labor Statistics will not release its scheduled monthly jobs report on Friday, the second missed report in a row. Economists and policymakers haven’t had an official read on the state of the labor market since August — the longest such data blackout on record.... [But s]tate governments have continued to publish weekly data on applications for unemployment benefits, and a variety of private companies release figures on job openings, hiring, wages and other topics based on surveys and data from their customers.... Taken together, the available data suggest that the labor market has not changed drastically since the summer. Employers are not adding many jobs but have avoided resorting to widespread layoffs — a 'low-hire, low-fire' limbo that has kept the unemployment rate low but made it difficult for people without jobs to find them.... There are hints that a more troubling deterioration could be underway. Amazon, UPS, IBM and other big employers have disclosed plans to lay off thousands of workers in recent weeks.”

Greg Jaffe, et al., of the New York Times: “Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has fired or sidelined at least two dozen generals and admirals over the past nine months in a series of ousters that could reshape the U.S. military for years to come. His actions, which are without precedent in recent decades, have come with little explanation. In many cases, they have run counter to the advice of top military leaders who fought alongside the officers in combat, senior military officials said. The utter unpredictability of Mr. Hegseth’s moves, as described in interviews with 20 current and former military officials, has created an atmosphere of anxiety and mistrust that has forced senior officers to take sides and, at times, pitted them against one another.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: What's so galling is that someone who is entirely inexperienced & incompetent at his job is firing men and women who have decades of experience where they demonstrated remarkably high competence.  

Janay Kingsberry of the Washington Post: “Descendants of Norman Rockwell this week accused the Department of Homeland Security of misrepresenting the painter’s beliefs through unauthorized social media posts of his work.... Since the summer, DHS has shared posts across its Facebook, Instagram and X accounts of paintings from well-known artists that include Thomas Kinkade, John Gast and Rockwell, as well as the living painter Morgan Weistling — each accompanied by captions or slogans that promote nationalist and patriotic themes. But after members of Rockwell’s family published an opinion piece Sunday in USA Today condemning the use of his art, DHS doubled down with another post of his work — this time paired with a quote attributed to the American painter.... Daisy Rockwell, the painter’s granddaughter and spokesperson for the family, said the quote is being used out of context to suggest that the painter would have been aligned with ... Donald Trump’s 'Make America Great Again' messaging. 'They posted [that] in the spirit of trolling that they seem to be adept at,'  she said in a phone interview with The Washington Post. 'I’m not really that surprised,' she added. 'This is an administration that just randomly tore down a third of the White House, so they’re not feeling very sensitive toward our nation’s cultural heritage.'... Daisy Rockwell said the department has not contacted the family or addressed their accusations of copyright infringement....”

Kenneth Vogel of the New York Times: “A task force dedicated to fighting antisemitism is leaving the Heritage Foundation as the conservative think tank grapples with the fallout from its president’s defense of a Tucker Carlson podcast interview with a prominent white nationalist. In an email obtained by The New York Times, four leaders of the National Task Force to Combat Antisemitism wrote on Thursday that it was 'important for us to continue the work of the N.T.F.C.A. outside the Heritage Foundation for a season.'”

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⭐Heather Knight of the New York Times: “Representative Nancy Pelosi announced on Thursday that she will retire when her term concludes in early 2027, ending a remarkable career in which she rose to become one of the most powerful women in American history. Ms. Pelosi, 85, was the nation’s first and only female House speaker, and she will have represented San Francisco in Congress for 39 years when she leaves office. She has served during an era of seismic change for American society and her own city, from the throes of the AIDS crisis to the legalization of gay marriage, and through the meteoric rise of the tech sector and the nation’s extreme polarization. She entered political office later in life and became a hero to Democrats for the way she wielded immense power to push Obamacare, climate change legislation and infrastructure programs through Congress.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Michelle Goldberg of the New York Times: “More than almost anyone else in Washington, Nancy Pelosi earned the right to consider herself indispensable. As speaker of the House — the first woman to hold that title — she was masterful at holding a fractious and heterogenous Democratic coalition together. Without her, we probably wouldn’t have the Affordable Care Act. She regularly showed excellent judgment, including on the Iraq war, which she was one of few leading Democrats to vote against. During Donald Trump’s first term, she proved skilled at getting under his skin, regularly goading him to lash out like a petulant child.... Yet Pelosi was correct to step aside from her leadership role in 2022 to make way for a new generation, even if Hakeem Jeffries ... hasn’t been nearly as impressive as she was. 

“And she’s right to retire now, setting an example for a party with a serious gerontocracy problem.... There are more than 50 House Democrats who are 70 or older (including Pelosi, who is 85), compared to just over 30 Republicans. Since the beginning of the year, three Democratic members have died in office, padding Republicans’ minuscule majority. When Trump put Washington under a virtual military occupation, Eleanor Holmes Norton, the city’s sole delegate to the House, was nowhere to be seen.... Senate Democrats are led by the 74-year-old Chuck Schumer, a staid institutionalist who is either unwilling or unable to speak frankly about America’s spiraling political crises.”

Alex Griffing of Mediaite: “A Thursday Oval Office event, where ... Donald Trump announced price reductions for weight-loss drugs, was interrupted by a health emergency. One of the attendees, Novo Nordisk executive Gordon Findlay, appeared to faint live on air during the event. Fox News quickly cut away from the event as White House staff ushered the press out of the room.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ As you can see from the video here, Dr. Oz, who was in the Oval for the announcement, runs over to help Findlay. (Meanwhile, as Jeanne points out in today's Comments, Crackpot Kennedy -- the Health & Human Services Secretary -- evidently isn't too into health and human services, because he backs out of the room.) Trump himself looks on for a moment. But then. But then. Trump finds the whole thing boring. Then -- as this photo by Andrew Harnik of Getty suggests -- annoying: ~~~

     ~~~ Lawrence O'Donnell weighs in. ~~~

     ~~~ Rebecca Robbins, et al., of the New York Times: Donald “Trump on Thursday announced a deal that could significantly expand access for millions of Americans to hugely popular obesity drugs by reducing the price to as little as $149 a month. The Trump administration’s agreements with the drugmakers Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly would save consumers and the government considerable money on Wegovy, Zepbound and two obesity pills that are expected to win regulatory approval in the coming months. The lowest price ... will be available only for the lowest doses of the pill form of the drugs. When those drugs reach the market, Medicare and Medicaid will pay that price, as will Americans using their own money to buy the pills directly from manufacturers. Mr. Trump, top U.S. health officials and drug company executives at the White House outlined broader coverage of the injectable drugs for people on Medicare and Medicaid.... The deal also lowers the prices the government programs will pay. Those measures are likely to expand access but still will stop far short of covering all of the millions of people with obesity under the federal programs.” ~~~

     ~~~ AND, as Akhilleus points out at the top of today's Comments, Dr. Oz was extremely excited about the brilliant deal Trump made with the Big Pharma companies. Why, according to his calculations, every American on one of the weight-loss drugs now would lose an average of 900 pounds.   

Jenna Amatulli of the Guardian: “Donald Trump appeared to be sharing everything on his mind all at once on Wednesday as he posted more than 30 Truth Social posts in less than three hours. The president’s posts, of which there were 33 between 4.17pm and 6.40pm ET, came a day after Democrats won in a series of elections across the United States in New York, California, Virginia and New Jersey. Trump’s posts ranged in subject matter. In a handful of missives, Trump made recommendations to his followers to buy books written by former FBI special agent Nicole Parker, Fox News political analyst Gianno Caldwell, Georgia congressman Barry Loudermilk, senior counselor for trade and manufacturing Peter Navarro, and his own former lawyer, Christina Bobb.... Trump penned the foreword for Bobb’s book. Other posts included videos of Trump appearing to read nearly verbatim from his own previously posted Truth Social text posts. They appeared to be artificially generated, but the Guardian could not independently confirm. Users on social media platform X asked Grok about their authenticity and Grok noted they were indeed AI.” MB: I'd guess a staffer created these short, AI-generated videos to make Trump sound coherent, which the “real Donald Trump” does not. (Also linked yesterday.)

See Donald, If a Person Buys Fewer Groceries, Her Bill Might Be Lower. Allan Smith of NBC News: “'Walmart just announced that Prices for a Thanksgiving Dinner is now down 25% since under Sleepy/Crooked Joe Biden, in 2024,' Trump wrote.  'AFFORDABILITY is a Republican Stronghold. Hopefully, Republicans will use this irrefutable fact!'... As tangible proof [of his superior stewardship of the U.S. economy], he has pointed to the cost of Walmart’s Thanksgiving meal bundle, which is roughly 25% less expensive this year than it was last year.... But the 2025 Thanksgiving bundle is also smaller than the 2024 package. This year’s package, at less than $40, contains 23 items; last year, there were 29.... Food costs — particularly on household staples like coffee and beef — have risen even as food cost-growth has slowed from the decades-high inflation of 2022.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: According to Mediaite and some other news outlets, the number of items in Walmart's Thanksgiving basket is 15 this year, not 23. If that number is correct, then this year's Walmart basket is about half-full. Not only that, last year's basket contained name brands products, while this year's dinner includes more Walmart generic (i.e., cheaper) brands. 

Ed Mazza of the Huffington Post: “... Donald Trump on Wednesday tried to explain the Republican Party’s steep election losses this week in part on a failure of language ― specifically, a failure to use a 'new word.'... 'They have this new word called “affordability,’” Trump explained during a Fox News interview. 'And they [Republicans?] don’t talk about it enough.' The word 'affordability' isn’t new; the Oxford English Dictionary traces it to 1910, making it more than a century old, with its use increasing sharply starting in the 1950s-60s.” (Also linked yesterday.) 

Karoun Demirjian, et al., of the New York Times: “As travelers waited in suspense on Thursday to learn whether their flights would be among those canceled starting Friday morning, the government agencies behind the mandatory cuts to air traffic spent most of the day in silence. Only on Thursday evening ... did the Transportation Department and Federal Aviation Administration make official which 40 airports would be affected. But by that time, airlines, trade groups and, in some cases, news outlets had already taken matters into their own hands, notifying airports and passengers of expected changes. The lack of instruction from the Trump administration ...  amplified political recriminations, with administration critics saying the cuts appeared to be more about pressuring Democrats to end the government shutdown than aiding flight safety and relieving air traffic controllers, who have worked without pay for more than a month.... With just hours before the Friday morning rush, airlines appeared relatively untroubled by the looming cuts, which experts said would likely amount to only minor disruptions for most major carriers. But to administration critics, that only reinforced the idea that the 'radical' changes administration officials had announced on Wednesday were mostly for show.” ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times is liveblogging developments. From the pinned item at 7:00 am ET: “A wave of flight cancellations hit the United States on Friday morning, bringing home the effects of the government shutdown to many more Americans.... Over 815 flights scheduled to, from or within the United States for Friday had been canceled as of 6 a.m. Eastern, up from 201 for all of Thursday, according to FlightAware....” ~~~

     ~~~ Here's Axios latest list on where the FAA is cancelling flights. 

Riley Mellen of the New York Times: “At least three U.S. military aircraft, including a heavily armed attack plane, have begun flying missions out of El Salvador’s main international airport in an expansion of the extraordinary U.S. troop buildup in the Caribbean, according to an analysis of satellite images, air traffic control communications and flight tracking data. The attack plane, an AC-130J Ghostrider, is designed to destroy targets on the ground or at sea using missiles or barrages from its cannons and machine guns. It is operated by the Air Force Special Operations Command, a unit that carries out sensitive missions for the military. The New York Times also identified a Navy reconnaissance plane and a rarely seen, unmarked Air Force jet at the airport. The influx of forces into the region started in late August, just before the Trump administration began launching what it said were counternarcotics missions while also planning for possible military action in Venezuela.... The deployment to El Salvador is likely to be the first time a foreign country has hosted U.S. planes that may be involved in military strikes in the region. And it further reflects the warm ties between the Trump administration and El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele....” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Who needs video games when you can play real war games? With real ships & attack planes? I can't get over the sense that this is Donald Trump & Drunk Pete playing war at the cost of dozens of lives and millions of taxpayer dollars: "I'll be Churchill," Trump tells Pete with childish glee. "You be Monty": ~~~

~~~ MEANWHILE. Megan Mineiro, et al., of the New York Times: “Republicans on Thursday blocked a resolution that would prevent ... [Donald] Trump from attacking Venezuela without explicit congressional authorization.... The 51-to-49 vote against bringing up the resolution came as the president was weighing possible military action against President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela, with some senior aides advising Mr. Trump to oust Mr. Maduro from power. Democrats and a small number of Republicans have grown increasingly alarmed about Mr. Trump’s expanding war, carried out without consultation with or authorization by Congress.... But on Thursday, even Republicans who voiced serious concern about the strikes and the administration’s lack of consultation or transparency on them voted against the effort to insist on a definitive role for Congress.... Only two Republicans, Senators Rand Paul of Kentucky and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, joined Democrats on Thursday in voting for the measure.” The AP report is here.

Being A Republican Means Never Having to Go to Jail. Natalie Allison of the Washington Post: “... Donald Trump has pardoned the former Tennessee House speaker and his former top aide in the state legislature just weeks after they were sentenced to prison on public corruption charges. Glen Casada, who was ousted from his position as the Republican speaker of the Tennessee House just months into the job in 2019, received a phone call from Trump on Thursday informing him of the decision, said his attorney, Ed Yarbrough. Casada, 66, was sentenced in September to three years in federal prison on charges related to a kickback and bribery arrangement involving the legislature’s state-funded constituent mailer program. Cade Cothren, 38, previously Casada’s chief of staff, was also convicted of fraud and related federal charges and sentenced to two and a half years in prison. They were due to report to prison later this month.”  The AP report is here.

And the Grift Goes on. Zach Everson of Forbes: "The Trump Organization’s second-term push to monetize Donald Trump’s presidency has reached the aisles of military exchanges, as Coast Guard-run stores, which provide service members and their families with access to tax-free consumer goods, have stocked Trump-branded wine and cider.... While there’s been no shortage of Trump’s businesses capitalizing on the presidency..., these wines are among the few times Trump products have been sold at a government facility." The article is firewalled; MB: I got a notice that this was my last freebie.

Carl Gibson of Alternet, republished by the Raw Story: "Several House Republicans have reportedly heard from the Department of Justice (DOJ) that the unreleased Jeffrey Epstein documents are especially compromising for ... Donald Trump." This all based on rumors from questionable sources, but supposedly the files contain Polaroid snaps of Trump "with several topless young women on his lap." 

Judge Lambastes the Great Fatsby. Tony Romm of the New York Times: “A federal judge ordered the Trump administration on Thursday to fund food stamps in full for roughly 42 million low-income Americans, after admonishing the government for delaying aid under the nation’s largest anti-hunger program during the shutdown. The order, issued by Judge John J. McConnell Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island, marked his second legal rebuke of the administration for actions that threatened to leave millions of Americans at risk of financial hardship. Reading his directive from the bench after a short but tense hearing, Judge McConnell sharply criticized the administration for ignoring his original order last week to quickly restart payments for SNAP, or food stamps. He attributed the delay, in part, to an attempt by ... [Donald] Trump and his aides to disrupt the program 'for political reasons.' 

“At one point, Judge McConnell pointed to comments by Mr. Trump, who had threatened this week to halt all food stamp payments until the end of the shutdown. While the White House later tried to walk back those remarks, the judge still saw the president’s ultimatum as evidence he had failed to comply with court instructions.... By its own admission, the Agriculture Department had ample funds to continue the program. But it took the intervention of two federal courts, including an order by Judge McConnell, before Mr. Trump’s deputies moved to restart food stamp payments.” Politico's report is here. (Also linked yesterday.) The NPR report is here.  ~~~

     ~~~  Brett Samuels of the Hill: “'It’s an absurd ruling because you have a federal judge effectively telling us what we have to do in the middle of a Democrat government shutdown,' Vice President JD Vance said during a roundtable with Central Asian leaders at the White House.... In the midst of a shutdown we can’t have a federal court telling the president how he has to triage the situation.” MB: A question about the ruling was asked of Donald Trump, but he passed it to JayDee.

Judge Lambastes the Great Fatsby's Goons. Julie Bosman of the New York Times: “A federal judge castigated the Department of Homeland Security on Thursday for its aggressive use of force during an illegal immigration crackdown in Chicago in recent weeks, banning the use of tear gas and other crowd-control weapons 'unless necessary to stop the immediate threat of physical harm.'Judge Sara L. Ellis, of Federal District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, said that government officials, including the senior Border Patrol official Gregory Bovino, had repeatedly lied about their own tactics and the actions of protesters. The injunction granted by Judge Ellis on Thursday extends temporary restrictions that she issued last month. Judge Ellis ordered federal agents to wear body cameras, give at least two audible warnings before using riot control weapons, and to use those weapons only to 'preserve life or prevent catastrophic outcomes.' She said the restrictions were necessary because immigration agents in Chicago had pointed guns at civilians who were not presenting a physical threat, used pepper spray, deployed tear gas and shot pepper balls.” DHS said it would appeal the “extreme act by an activist judge that risks the lives and livelihoods of law enforcement officers.”

Lisa Friedman, et al., of the New York Times: “More than 100 nations were poised last month to approve a historic deal to slash pollution from cargo ships. That’s when the United States launched a pressure campaign that officials around the world have called extraordinary, even by the standards of the Trump administration’s combativeness.... An ambassador from Asia was told that, if he voted in favor of the plan, his country’s sailors would no longer be allowed to disembark at American ports. Caribbean diplomats were told that they could be blacklisted from entering the United States. And Marco Rubio, the secretary of state, personally called officials in several countries to threaten financial penalties and other punishments if they continued to support the agreement to cut ship pollution. These and other threats, including tariffs, sanctions and the revocation of diplomats’ U.S. visas, effectively killed the deal.” 

Abbie VanSickle of the New York Times: “The Supreme Court cleared the way on Thursday for the Trump administration to stop issuing passports that include gender identity markings selected by applicants. The emergency order, which will remain in place as the case makes its way through the lower courts, marked the latest victory for ... [Donald] Trump before the Supreme Court. The case, Trump v. Orr, stems from a Trump administration policy to change gender requirements for passport holders. The policy has been blocked since June, when a federal court temporarily stopped the administration from enforcing it while the court case continued. No vote count was given, as is typical in such cases, but the majority offered four paragraphs of reasoning for granting the administration’s request.... Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote a dissent, and she was joined by the court’s two other liberals, Justices Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor.” The AP report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Here's the real “reasoning”: cruelty for the sake of cruelty was the intent of the “emergency” order. As for explaining why this is an emergency requiring speedy presidential* and Supreme action, I'm at a loss.

Alan Feuer, et al., of the New York Times: “Federal prosecutors have opened a corruption investigation into Mayor Muriel E. Bowser of Washington, examining a foreign trip she took with members of her staff that was paid for by Qatar, according to people familiar with the inquiry. The investigation, which is being handled by the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington, has been underway for months, but could face significant hurdles because of the known facts of the case and recent turmoil inside the Justice Department. This week, the F.B.I. agent who was leading the investigation was fired by the Trump administration for having taken part in a criminal inquiry into ... [Donald] Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election. The public corruption unit inside the prosecutors’ office that would typically be responsible for pushing the case forward has also been badly damaged by a series of dismissals and resignations stemming from Mr. Trump’s efforts to seek revenge against Justice Department officials and his perceived enemies.” ~~~

      ~~~ Marie: Qatar? Really? Qatar? First, the opening of this inquiry shows that it doesn't do any good to cooperate with Trump, as Bowser has largely done as he abused his power over the District. No matter how much you kowtow to him, Trump will abuse you, too, especially if you're a strong, Black, Democratic woman. Second, Qatar gave Donald Trump a luxury jet airplane valued at several hundred million dollars -- right after the Trump Organization signed a multimillion-dollar deal to develop a golf course, club & villas in Doha. Where's the inquiry there?  

Ken Dilanian of MSNBC: "The Department of Justice is preparing to issue a series of grand jury subpoenas as part of a South Florida-based investigation into former CIA Director John Brennan and the probes by the CIA and FBI into Russian interference in the 2016 election.... The Florida-based inquiry comes two years after a special counsel appointed by then-Attorney General Bill Barr concluded a lengthy and exhaustive investigation that found no criminal wrongdoing by Brennan or any other major figure connected with the Russian election interference matter." (Also linked yesterday.)

Ryan Reilly of NBC News: “Jurors showed no appetite for the Justice Department's case against 'sandwich guy,' the D.C. resident who chucked a Subway sandwich at the chest of a federal officer, finding him not guilty Thursday after several hours of deliberations. The jury — which feasted on sandwiches for lunch Thursday ... — deliberated the charges for several hours Wednesday and Thursday before delivering the verdict. The resident, Sean Dunn, a former Justice Department paralegal, faced a single misdemeanor count after a federal grand jury rejected more serious charges over the encounter, which took place in the nightlife area of U Street in August. Border Patrol Officer Greg Lairmore ... had testified that the sandwich 'exploded all over' his chest and claimed he could smell mustard and onions. But a photo showed that the sandwich was still in its wrapper on the ground after it hit Lairmore in his bulletproof vest.” Thanks very much to RAS for the link. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~ 

     ~~~ Marie: RAS seems to think that Reilly's reporting is a bit flip. As for me, I'm sure I have suffered more personal injury from sandwiches I ate than Greggers there did from the flying footlong. ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times story, by Zach Montague, is here. Montague provides a good summary of the backstory; there's a lot to it, most of it ridiculous. 

Meredith Hill & Jordain Carney of Politico: “Senate Majority Leader John Thune told fellow Republicans in a private lunch that he plans to hold a vote Friday that could pave the way to end the government shutdown, according to two people in the room who were granted anonymity to describe his comments. The plan, the people said, is to bring up the House-passed continuing resolution that Democrats have repeatedly rejected and then seek to amend it with a new expiration date very likely in January as well as a negotiated package of three full-year spending bills. While Thune believed the plan would win the support of enough Democrats to advance, Democratic senators emerged from their own private lunch determined to seek out a better deal, and they are expected to block the House CR again.... Asked if the chamber will be in through the weekend, Majority Whip John Barrasso said 'yes.'” ~~~

~~~ MEANWHILE. Meredith Hill, et al., of Politico: “Two Senate Democrats and two House Republicans are planning to huddle Friday over a possible bipartisan plan to extend soon-to-expire Obamacare subsidies....  Freshman Democratic Sens. Andy Kim of New Jersey and Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware invited GOP Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey to talk about the forming bipartisan proposal.... The goal is to develop the contours of a plan to address the Affordable Care Act tax credits that are ... [due] to expire at the year’s end. Van Drew has been talking with ... Donald Trump to try to get him to support a one-year extension at the very least.”

Jacob Bogage & Riley Beggin of the Washington Post: “The Congressional Budget Office, lawmakers’ nonpartisan bookkeeper, was hacked by a suspected foreign actor, according to an agency spokeswoman, potentially exposing the key financial research data Congress uses to craft legislation. Officials discovered the incursion in recent days and now worry that communications between lawmakers’ offices and nonpartisan researchers could have been accessed by an adversary or one of its digital proxies, as well as internal email and office chat logs, according to four people familiar with the hack. The people spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.”

Rebecca Elliott, et al., of the New York Times: “Tesla shareholders on Thursday approved a plan that could make Elon Musk the world’s first trillionaire, two days after New Yorkers elected a tax-the-rich candidate as their next mayor. These discrete moments offered strikingly different lessons about America and who deserves how much of its wealth. At Tesla, based in the Austin, Texas, area, shareholders have largely bought into a winner-takes-all version of capitalism, agreeing by a wide margin to give Mr. Musk shares worth almost a trillion dollars if the company under his management achieves ambitious financial and operational goals over the next decade. But halfway across the country, in the home to Wall Street, Zohran Mamdani’s victory served as a reminder of the frustrations many Americans have with an economic system that has left them struggling to afford basics like food, housing and child care.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Good for the New York Times for openly suggesting an alternative (or mitigation) to Musk's obscene compensation package.

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New York Gubernatorial Race. Dana Rubenstein, et al., of the New York Times: “Representative Elise Stefanik [R] ... is preparing to announce as early as Friday that she will run for governor next year.... The move, which is expected to be announced in a video, sets up a ferocious political battle between one of ... [Donald] Trump’s fiercest allies and Gov. Kathy Hochul, a moderate Democrat. The contest is likely to be one of the key races in next year’s crucial midterm elections. Ms. Stefanik, 41, began her career as a Harvard-educated moderate, working in the White House of former President George W. Bush and for Paul Ryan, the 2012 Republican vice-presidential nominee.But since Mr. Trump’s first election, she has moved ever closer to the center of his orbit. She was a visible defender during his impeachments and amplified his lies about the 2020 election. Later, her viral showdowns with Ivy League university presidents about antisemitism on campuses helped push several to resign.” ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Alec Dent & Kadia Goba of the Washington Post: “Rep. Elise Stefanik, a staunch ally of ... Donald Trump and a member of House Republican leadership, announced Friday that she is running for New York governor, pledging in a video to make the state 'affordable and safe.'” MB: As King Donald decreed only yesterday, this handmaiden has dutifully thrown in part of his “new word”: “affordability.”