| | | |  | | By Garrett Ross | | Presented by |  | | | With help from Eli Okun, Bethany Irvine and Ali Bianco Good Sunday afternoon. This is Garrett Ross in the driver’s seat. Get in touch.
|  | DRIVING THE DAY | | | 
“I pray that more Democrats in the Senate will come to their senses and do the right thing," Speaker Mike Johnson said on "Face the Nation." | J. Scott Applewhite/AP | SHUTDOWN SHOWDOWN: Another week is kicking off with the government still in shutdown — and the chief negotiators on each side of the aisle are pushing much of the same messaging that’s been on display for the past few weeks. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, Speaker Mike Johnson, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries hit the Sunday show circuit this morning, foisting the blame for the shuttered government onto each other. Jeffries defended his party’s position in the fight on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” accusing Republicans of “lying, because they’re losing in the court of public opinion as it relates to what’s going on right now.” Reality check: No one is receiving high marks from the public in the shutdown fight, according to new CBS-YouGov polling.
- 52 percent of respondents said they disapprove of how Trump and congressional Republicans are handling the shutdown, while 49 percent disapprove of congressional Democrats.
- Only 28 percent said Democrats’ positions are worth it to shut down the government, and 23 percent said Republicans’ positions were worth it.
- As for the blame game, 39 percent said it was Trump and congressional Republicans’ fault, compared to 30 percent who primarily blame congressional Democrats. And 31 percent blame both sides equally.
Jeffries said the last conversation he had with Republican leadership about the shutdown was this past Monday’s White House meeting. “Unfortunately, since that point in time, Republicans, including Donald Trump, have gone radio silent.” He insisted that there is “bipartisan common ground” that can be found to reopen the government — but only if they can “decisively address this Republican health care crisis that is devastating hard-working American taxpayers.” Asked about the barbs that President Donald Trump has lobbed his direction, Jeffries urged the need for “serious leadership.” Jeffries said he and Schumer would “sit down any time, any place, with anyone to address this issue with the seriousness that it deserves.” But that’s not on the table, as Republican leaders reiterated this morning. Johnson said this morning on CBS’ “Face the Nation” that while he has not staked out a position on the Obamacare subsidies yet, he was committed to negotiations on the issue once the government is open. But Schumer isn’t convinced: “He says we will have a conversation. Later means never,” he told CBS’ Margaret Brennan. As for the path forward, Schumer said he has encouraged his members to “sit and talk with Republicans.” But he splashed cold water on the prospect of those rank-and-file discussions producing results. “The only way this will ultimately be solved is if five people sit in a room together and solve it,” Schumer said, referring to congressional leaders and Trump. That’s not how Thune sees it, though. The Senate GOP leader pointed to subsequent votes that the chamber is planning this week, beginning tomorrow, when he hopes more Democrats will join Republicans to vote for the stopgap measure to turn the lights back on. (Five more Democratic senators need to join the effort for passage.) “There are conversations ongoing, where Democrats who I think realize this is a losing strategy for them and really ends in a dead end want to find an offramp here and are talking to Republicans,” Thune said on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures,” saying that the “new business model for the Democrats in the Senate” is taking “everything hostage because of their hatred for the president.” Thune’s hope is that there is movement out of tomorrow’s scheduled vote. “I think there will be at some point a triggering action here,” he told Maria Bartiromo. “It’s going to get uncomfortable, and nobody likes where we are, but the truth is they just have left no alternative.” Johnson echoed the sentiment. “I pray that more Democrats in the Senate will come to their senses and do the right thing, and when they have the next opportunity on Monday to vote to open the government, I surely hope they will,” the speaker said on “Face the Nation.” Time will tell. Senate votes tomorrow are scheduled to kick off at 5:30 p.m.
| | A message from PhRMA: The biopharmaceutical industry is answering President Trump's call to put America first. PhRMA member companies are investing $500B in new U.S.-based manufacturing and infrastructure, providing financial assistance to 10 million patients annually, and announcing AmericasMedicines.com to connect patients with manufacturer direct purchase programs. See all the ways biopharma is putting America first. | | | | THE ROAD AHEAD … The House is out until Tuesday, Oct. 14. On a call with House Republicans yesterday, Johnson said he would give the chamber a 48-hour heads up if there’s a need to return for a vote this week to stamp a Senate-approved stopgap, POLITICO’s Mia McCarthy and colleagues report. A date to watch: Wednesday, Oct. 15 could provide a particular point of pain that could spur Democrats to action because it’s the first day when active-duty military will miss their first paycheck, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise said on the call, according to our colleagues. Expect to hear plenty of messaging from House Republicans heaping pressure on Democrats on that one. Democrats, meanwhile, are planning to hold a virtual caucus meeting tomorrow at 6 p.m., per Punchbowl’s Jake Sherman. Jeffries’ stand: For all of the bluster, Jeffries is holding out hope that there is a deal to be made over the expiring Obamacare subsidies. “He also says that the threats of further firings and cuts to projects in blue states will backfire and won’t dent Democrats’ unity, and that the White House’s rhetoric about healthcare for unauthorized migrants isn’t a serious barrier for talks, beyond its political juice,” WSJ’s Katy Stech Ferek writes. “In remarks to reporters in his Capitol suite, he drew a distinction between what he cast as the serious discussions he had with President Trump and congressional leaders at the White House on Monday, and the mariachi-themed meme-slinging the president has beamed his way since. The meeting pointed the way to a ‘meaningful bipartisan path toward funding the government,’ he said.” The rhetorical rift: “Throughout the week, the president’s deputies maintained that they were not politicizing the shutdown and that they sought only to save money and prevent waste,” NYT’s Tony Romm writes. “Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, told reporters on Friday that the administration had to conduct ‘a massive review of the bureaucracy to be good stewards of the American taxpayer dollar’ during the shutdown. “But Mr. Trump has undercut his aides at every turn. He has suggested that he may try to enact permanent cuts on ‘Democrat agencies,’ potentially through mass layoffs, and on social media on Friday he shared a parody video that referred to Mr. Vought as the Democrats’ ‘reaper.’” THE RIPPLE EFFECT … Legal limbo: The shutdown is putting some of the government’s high-profile antitrust cases on ice. Though cases against Google and Meta are proceeding, cases that threaten to break up Amazon and Apple were put on pause last week, POLITICO’s Nate Robson and Aaron Mak write. “Just how much the shutdown affects the cases will likely come down to how long the government remains shuttered. A few days or weeks of stopped work is unlikely to cause much disruption, while a longer delay could push back trial dates already scheduled for 2027.” Bringing down the house: The D.C. area housing market is facing yet another challenge after a wave of federal layoffs earlier this year, WSJ’s Nicole Friedman reports. “About two-thirds of the 154,000 federal workers who took buyouts earlier this year stopped getting paid on Tuesday, according to the Office of Personnel Management. The rest will leave the payroll by the end of the year. While not all of those workers are based around Washington, the removal of this financial safety net is likely to compel more homeowners to look for jobs outside the D.C. area.” And more looming layoffs are just adding to the uncertainty.
| | | | A message from PhRMA:  
Biopharmaceutical companies are doing our part to protect American patients and workers with innovative cures, infrastructure investments and providing patient resources. Learn more. | | | | SUNDAY BEST … — Secretary of State Marco Rubio on negotiations and the timeline for peace in the Middle East, on “Fox News Sunday”: “Hamas has accepted the entire construct of President Trump’s proposal for releasing the hostages. … And now what’s happening, even as I speak to you right now, is there’s talks ongoing, which we hope will be finalized very quickly, on the logistics of that. … The second part of this, and it’s going to be the much tougher part of this, what happens after that? Who’s going to run Gaza moving forward? It can’t be Hamas. … But this is the closest we have been. This is the most progress we have seen with regards to ending this conflict and getting these hostages released in a very long time.” — Jeffries on whether he supports Trump’s peace plan to end the war in Gaza, on “Meet the Press”: “I support a path for a just and lasting peace. And that needs to involve making sure that every single hostage and the remains of those hostages still in Gaza are released immediately. Of course, we need to surge humanitarian assistance into Gaza so we can alleviate the immense suffering of Palestinian civilians who have been in harm's way through no fault of their own in a theatre of war. And of course, we need to make sure that Hamas lays down its arms and that we have a government structure that is put into place that allows for normalized relations between the Palestinian people and Israel.” TOP-EDS: A roundup of the week’s must-read opinion pieces.
- “How Democrats Lost Big Business,” by Caitlin Legacki for WSJ
- “Beneath the GDP, a Recession Warning,” by Mark Skousen for WSJ
- “Santos in Solitary: Slow Motion Torture,” by George Santos for The South Shore Press
- “Democrats Are in Crisis. Eat-the-Rich Populism Is the Only Answer,” by Timothy Shenk for NYT
- “Fully MAGA-fied Christianity,” by Peter Wehner for The Atlantic
- “Let the market decide how often companies report,” by SEC Chair Paul Atkins for the FT
- “Bail Out Argentina,” by The Atlantic’s David Frum
- “This Is How the AI Bubble Will Pop,” by Derek Thompson
- “The vice president has too much time on his hands,” by Joy-Ann Reid
- “Donald Trump, Pete Hegseth, and the ‘War from Within,’” by The New Yorker’s Benjamin Wallace-Wells
| | | | Introducing Global Security: POLITICO’s weekly briefing on the policies, regulatory battles and industrial shifts shaping defense and security across continents. We connect what happens in Washington, Brussels and beyond to what gets funded, what gets built and who benefits. Subscribe now to access the free preview edition. | | | | | 9 THINGS FOR YOUR RADAR
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President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump walk from Marine One to board Air Force One, on Oct. 5, 2025, at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland. | Alex Brandon/AP | 1. HAPPENING TODAY: Trump and first lady Melania Trump are headed to Norfolk, Virginia, today along with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to observe a naval sea power demonstration. Trump will then deliver remarks at the Navy’s 250 Celebration at 3:30 p.m. The show must go on despite the government shutdown, as Trump wrote on Truth Social on Friday. But the celebration may not escape politics with Trump’s speech — he already accused Democrats of trying “to destroy this wonderful celebration of the U.S. Navy’s Birthday” through the shutdown, per AP’s Josh Boak. 2. THE NATIONAL GUARD TAKEOVER: Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker announced yesterday that Trump will soon federalize 300 National Guard troops in the state, despite his opposition, POLITICO’s Greg Svirnovskiy reports. “[The] Department of War gave me an ultimatum: call up your troops, or we will,” Pritzker said in a statement. “It is absolutely outrageous and un-American to demand a Governor send military troops within our own borders and against our will.“ Trump has pointed to Chicago as one of his key targets for weeks, and DHS already told the DOD to greenlight troops to protect ICE facilities earlier last week. The split screen: The looming advancement of troops into Chicago comes after a federal judge blocked the administration’s summoning of 200 troops to Portland, Oregon. POLITICO’s Kyle Cheney writes that the judge said the Trump administration’s claims of unrest in the Democratic-led city were “untethered to facts” and risked bringing the U.S. into martial law. The administration has appealed the decision to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which restored the federalization of troops to Los Angeles earlier this year. Trump told reporters this morning that the judge — whom he appointed — “ought to be ashamed of himself,” per NBC’s Julie Tsirkin. Step back: The mobilization of federal troops comes as violent altercations over immigration enforcement in Chicago are growing, with some becoming deadly after a federal agent shot and killed a motorist who rammed a police vehicle yesterday, per NYT’s Julie Bosman and colleagues. Immigration files: A federal judge yesterday blocked ICE from immediately transferring minors into immigration detention once they turn 18, POLITICO’s Eric Bazail-Eimil reports. 3. MIDDLE EAST LATEST: Israel and Hamas will begin mediated negotiations tomorrow, with Egypt hosting delegations from both sides to set up an exchange of hostages and prisoners. NYT’s Aaron Boxerman previews how the negotiations could face roadblocks to a rapid ceasefire. Special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are traveling to Cairo to take part in negotiations, per Bloomberg’s Sara Gharaibeh and colleagues. Hamas’ delegation will be led by Khalil al-Hayya, whom Israeli strikes in Doha targeted, per WSJ’s Anat Peled and Summer Said. What Trump is saying: Trump made the rounds with reporters this weekend, telling CNN’s Jake Tapper this morning that Hamas will face “complete obliteration” if they refuse to cede power over Gaza. Trump told Axios’ Barak Ravid yesterday that the deal is close: “I said, ‘Bibi, this is your chance for victory.’ He was fine with it,” Trump said. “He's got to be fine with it. He has no choice. With me, you got to be fine.” But but but: When Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu saw Hamas’ response to the peace plan, he said it didn’t mean anything and that it was more a rejection of the plan, Axios’ Ravid and Marc Caputo report this morning. Trump responded: “I don't know why you're always so f***ing negative. This is a win. Take it.” 4. TOP TALKER: “Trump plan will limit disability benefits for older Americans,” by WaPo’s Meryl Kornfield and Lisa Rein: “The Trump administration is preparing a plan that will make it harder for older Americans to qualify for Social Security disability payments, part of an overhaul of the federal safety net for poor, older and disabled people that could result in hundreds of thousands of people losing benefits … officials are considering eliminating age as a factor entirely or raising the threshold to age 60 … They also plan to modernize labor market data used to judge whether claimants can work.” 5. JUDICIARY SQUARE: The Supreme Court kicks off a new term tomorrow, setting up what will no doubt be a pivotal eight months for the second Trump administration. As WaPo’s Justin Jouvenal writes this morning, “the justices will open their new term on Monday faced with the need to render full, final verdicts on policies at the core of Trump’s presidency.” A refresher on what’s to come: On the docket is the challenge to Trump’s claims of a sweeping executive authority to unilaterally impose tariffs, and his push to shape independent agencies, with arguments on the fate of Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook already scheduled. The justices could also rule on the legality of birthright citizenship. It’s a term that will take up separation of powers more than once and may be definitive, whereas the brunt of decisions on Trump’s policies last term came down through temporary, emergency appeals — the so-called “shadow docket.”
| | | 6. THE ECONOMY, STUPID: Trump’s team is pushing him to redefine his core economic messaging to voters. The new mantra: “Just wait until next year,” WSJ’s Brian Schwartz and Josh Dawsey write this morning. Trump’s advisers are pushing that the economic outlook will be more promising in the first quarter of 2026, with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent telling Trump that jobs numbers will rise once their tax-and-spending law takes effect next year. In the shorter term, Bessent has said a significant package aiding soybean farmers to help them through the China boycott could come this week, per AP. 7. MY FRIEND, DONALD TRUMP JR.: The Trump family’s business ties continue to muddy the waters on the line between business and geopolitics, WSJ’s Rebecca Ballhaus and colleagues report. “Zigzagging between them is [Gentry] Beach, who just weeks into the new administration launched a new company that echoes Trump’s trademark slogan: America First Global.” Palace intrigue: “Beach had let it be known he was friends with Donald Trump Jr., showing what senior Congolese officials described as text messages with the U.S. president’s eldest son, and their photos together. Did he speak for the Trump administration? … Instead, he says he represents a new model of diplomacy to help foreign governments strengthen ties with Washington. ‘Everyone views Trump as a transactional president,’ Beach said … ‘They say to themselves, ‘Hey, if we get American businessmen doing business here, then America has something to lose.’” 8. 2025 WATCH: The mayoral election in NYC, the closely watched bellwether Virginia and New Jersey governor’s races and the redistricting referendum in California are now less than a month away. Live from New York: Top Democratic officials are getting more frustrated with the party for not throwing their full weight behind Zohran Mamdani, Axios’ Alex Thompson and Holly Otterbein report. The Dem officials are pressuring DNC Chair Ken Martin to do more, despite concerns over how Mamdani’s views of Israel could shape the party’s brand. But it’s also reflective of Martin’s leadership — “Ken's team doesn't take risks,” one official told Axios. Meanwhile, Mamdani’s been meeting with NYC’s Jewish communities to assuage concerns about his platform and the protection of Jews across the city, though not many are publicizing their meetings with the mayoral frontrunner, CNN’s Gloria Pazmino writes. Across the Potomac: Democratic candidate Abigail Spanberger continues to lead the race for governor by double digits, per WaPo. But the fallout of the scandal surrounding Jay Jones continues to ripple out, with Trump calling for Jones to resign and blasting Spanberger as “weak and ineffective.” The scandal is the subject of Republican candidate Lt. Gov Winsome Earle-Sears’ latest ad against Spanberger. Earle-Sears is trying to ride the wave of “parents’ rights” and anti-transgender platforms, WaPo’s Karina Elwood and Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff report. But it’s uncertain how much payoff the “culture wars” approach will have this time around — and though education is a top three issue for Virginia voters, the trans athletes debate specifically is not. In the Garden State: Thompson and Otterbein write that top Democrats are sounding the alarm over Democratic candidate Rep. Mikie Sherrill’s campaign, with some privately arguing Sherrill is “a better candidate on paper than in reality. They argue she’s been too scripted, hasn't focused enough on high prices, and has relied too much on staff from D.C. rather than New Jersey-based operatives.” 9. NEW DEM ON DEM ACTION: When he took the helm of Demand Justice last month, Josh Orton said he intended to go after fellow Democrats for not pushing back harder against Trump administration efforts to reshape the judiciary — and he's not wasting any time, POLITICO’s Eli Stokols writes in. On Sunday, Orton announced during an appearance on MSNBC’s “The Weekend” that his organization has launched a six-figure ad buy targeting two Democratic senators who voted last week to advance Trump judicial appointees. The banner ads, which were previewed to POLITICO, will blanket digital and traditional billboards in the home states of Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin and Delaware Sen. Chris Coons, blasting both lawmakers for having “voted for a Trump judge who peddles Trump’s lies about the 2020 election and Jan. 6th.” Durbin and Coons were among six Democrats last week who voted to support the nominations of Harold Mooty and Billy Wayne Lewis Jr. to the bench in two Alabama districts.
| | | | Don’t just keep up with policy shifts — set the pace. POLITICO Pro’s Policy Intelligence Assistant combines unmatched reporting with advanced AI to deliver sharper insights, faster answers, and two powerful report builders that turn intelligence into impact. Try it free for 30 days. | | | | | | | TALK OF THE TOWN | | SPOTTED: Jeanine Pirro and Sergio Gor at MGM National Harbor Hotel & Casino last night. Pic … Another pic SPOTTED: Barack Obama playing a round of golf at Army Navy Country Club yesterday. Pic ON THE AIRWAVES: “SNL mocks Hegseth, Trump as it returns with 51st season premiere,” by WaPo’s Ethan Beck: “[Colin] Jost lampooned [Pete] Hegseth’s speech to top military personnel earlier this week. … Just as quickly as ‘Hegseth’ arrived, he was interrupted by ‘President Donald Trump’ (played by James Austin Johnson), who was stopping in at the show to make ‘sure they don’t do anything too mean about me,’ a nod to the suspension of Jimmy Kimmel amid threats from the administration.” OUT AND ABOUT — NAHJ DC hosted its annual Noche de Periodistas on Friday night at the residence of Peruvian Ambassador Alfredo Ferrero. The sold-out event raised money to fund scholarships for aspiring Latino journalists. NPR’s Felix Contreras was honored with the Most Valuable Periodista (MVP) Award. SPOTTED: Claudia Uceda, Ed O’Keefe, Priscilla Alvarez, Maria Curi, Silvia Foster Frau, Fin Gómez, Jason Zaragoza, Mark Lima, Lori Montenegro, Angelica Franganillo, Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas), Clarissa Rojas and Karan Bhatia. TRANSITIONS — Kate Durkin is now VP of federal affairs at McAllister & Quinn. She previously worked for Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.). … Fabiola Pagan Melendez is now director of government affairs for the Puerto Rico Hotel and Tourism Association. She previously worked for Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II (D-Mo.). … Josh Rultenberg is now comms director for Rep. Emilia Sykes (D-Ohio.) He previously worked in Gray Media’s Washington News Bureau. ENGAGED — Christian Martinez, regional press secretary at the NRCC, and Madi Biedermann, deputy assistant secretary for comms strategy at the Department of Education, got engaged at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello this weekend. They are both Glenn Youngkin alums. Pic, via Lori Massengill … Another pic HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Mark Paoletta … former Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) … Alexandra Pelosi … Panasonic’s Megan Pollock … Mandy Grunwald … American Clean Power Association’s Karina (Petersen) Borger … John Jasik … former Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-Mont.) … Jonathan Wilcox of Rep. Darrell Issa’s (R-Calif.) office … AEI’s Joseph Kosten … Michael Petruzzello … Matt Well of the Herald Group … Nicole Brener-Schmitz of NBS Strategies … D.J. Koessler … Tyler Goldberg of Assembly Global … Rikki Miller of Rep. Hillary Scholten’s (D-Mich.) office … Teresa Heinz Kerry … William “Rocky” Fox of HB Strategies … Timothy Barrett Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here. Send Playbookers tips to playbook@politico.com or text us on Signal here. Playbook couldn’t happen without our editor Zack Stanton, deputy Garrett Ross and Playbook Podcast producer Callan Tansill-Suddath.
| | A message from PhRMA: Biopharmaceutical companies are doing our part to protect American patients and workers by investing in U.S.-based manufacturing and infrastructure, providing patient assistance and launching AmericasMedicines.com to connect patients and businesses to direct purchase programs.
We will also continue to work with the administration and Congress to address the real reasons U.S. medicine prices are higher by requiring PBMs to share savings with patients, fixing the 340B hospital markup program and forcing foreign governments to pay their fair share for medicines. | | | | | | | | Follow us on X | | | | Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook | Playbook PM | California Playbook | Florida Playbook | Illinois Playbook | Massachusetts Playbook | New Jersey Playbook | New York Playbook | Canada Playbook | Brussels Playbook | London Playbook View all our political and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | |
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