| | | |  | | By Eli Okun and Rachel Umansky-Castro | | Presented by |  | | | |  | THE CATCH-UP | | | 
At a press conference with Speaker Mike Johnson today, USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins said "we're looking at all the options" if a federal judge orders the release of emergency money for SNAP. | Francis Chung/POLITICO | SHUTDOWN SHOWDOWN: The moment of truth for SNAP is drawing near, as federal rulings could come at any moment on whether the Agriculture Department legally has to tap emergency money to fund the program ahead of tomorrow’s shutdown-induced cliff. Food aid for tens of millions of low-income Americans hangs in the balance, though many states have plans to step in with funding temporarily. SNAP chat: At a press conference with Speaker Mike Johnson today, USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins notably declined to say whether her department will release the funding if a federal judge orders them to do so. Whether the administration complies will ultimately be a White House call, depending on the details of any ruling, POLITICO’s Marcia Brown reports. “We’re looking at all the options,” Rollins said. The “silver lining” of the SNAP lapse debate, she added, is that it has placed a national spotlight on a program that has “become so bloated, so broken, so dysfunctional, so corrupt.” Pressure points: Both Republican and Democratic USDA alums tell Marcia that the Trump administration should — and could, if they wanted — find the money to shuffle around and fund SNAP during the shutdown. More than two dozen labor unions today urged Rollins to release the money, NBC’s Rob McLean scooped. But even if the administration does, there may still be a delay of days or weeks before the funding would begin to reach recipients. (WaPo’s Alyssa Fowers and Leslie Shapiro have a helpful breakdown of the roughly one-eighth of the country that could be affected.) Leverage or relief? Each party’s reluctance to agree to the other’s ideas for a SNAP stopgap hinges on concern that giving in might reduce their leverage to end the government shutdown. But Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) became the first Democrat to sign on to Sen. Josh Hawley’s (R-Mo.) bill for food aid funding, Semafor’s Burgess Everett scooped, even though Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Johnson have opposed such stand-alone moves. “If you have some Republicans that are taking the lead, why not join them?” Welch said. Balloon popped: President Donald Trump’s overnight call for Senate Republicans to spring for the nuclear option and end the filibuster landed with a thud among key Hill players today. Thune’s office said in a statement that he hasn’t changed his mind on preserving the filibuster. Same with Sens. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) and John Curtis (R-Utah), who said he’s a “firm no” on getting rid of it. “If the shoe was on the other foot, I don’t think our team would like it,” Johnson added. Some Senate Republicans remain hopeful that bipartisan talks may yield a breakthrough next week. More from POLITICO’s Jordain Carney The view from Linda McMahon: “Government shutdown offers schools a glimpse of life without an Education Department,” by AP’s Collin Binkley and Makiya Seminera: “Much of the department’s work has gone completely cold. No new grants are being awarded, and civil rights investigations have been halted. Money is still flowing for key programs, but in many respects, schools and states are on their own. That’s the vision President Donald Trump has promoted since his presidential campaign.” First in Playbook — Curtis speaks out again: On C-SPAN’s “Ceasefire” with Playbook’s Dasha Burns tonight, the Utah senator will call on Johnson to bring the House back. “I love Mike Johnson, he is to me rock solid, but we need to get Congress back,” Curtis says. “If it were up to me, we would be here, we would be pounding it out, we would find that consensus, we would open up the government … Speaker Johnson, I love you, I love what you’ve done, but it’s time to come back to work.” Curtis is joined by Rep. Scott Peters (D-Calif.). Watch the advance clip Happy Friday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Drop us a line at eokun@politico.com and rumansky-castro@politico.com.
| | | | A message from Optum: Optum is transforming the pharmacy system, helping consumers save over $1 billion last year alone.
Serving 62 million Americans, Optum Rx delivers more than prescriptions — offering personalized guidance, support, and care tailored to each individual.
Optum is making pharmacy care simpler, smarter, and more affordable for everyone.
Learn how Optum is redefining pharmacy care at optum.com/redefineRX. | | | | | | 9 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW | | 1. THE BOAT STRIKES: The Pentagon’s series of lethal strikes on alleged drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean and the Pacific earned a staunch rebuke from the U.N.’s human rights head today, per the AP. Volker Türk said via a spokesperson that the “unacceptable” extrajudicial killings break international law, have to stop and should be investigated. In Trinidad and Tobago, the strikes have made fishermen afraid to go out into the waters, WaPo’s Amanda Coletta reports. The Trump administration argues that they’re stopping deadly narcotics from reaching Americans. 2. FOUR DAYS LEFT: DNC Chair Ken Martin is projecting confidence about next week’s elections in New Jersey, Virginia, Pennsylvania and California, telling Semafor’s Dave Weigel in Pittsburgh that he sees a sturdier path forward for the Democrats. Martin dismissed the prospect of Republicans making Zohran Mamdani a national boogeyman or criticizing Democrats for calling Trump fascist: “This not only has the hallmarks of a fascist regime, it is a fascist regime.” On the trail: In both New Jersey and Virginia, groaning utility bills have increasingly become a salient concern for voters, AP’s Olivia Diaz and Mike Catalini report. Both parties’ gubernatorial candidates agree it’s a problem — with very different proposed solutions. … In NYC, Mamdani’s speech last week about his Muslim identity and Islamophobia has hit hard with Muslims across the country, NYT’s John Leland reports. VP JD Vance and other Republicans mocked Mamdani, but among the 25 million views the speech has gotten on X, “some have compared to Barack Obama’s landmark 2008 speech about race, inequality and unity in American politics.” 3. 2026 WATCH: Ohio’s political leaders today signed off on a gerrymander that makes Democratic congressional seats vulnerable to flip but avoids a more extreme map (and a voter referendum to block it), per The Columbus Dispatch. The redistricting comes despite the state voting in years past to try to end gerrymandering — and despite some national GOP voices saying this map doesn’t go far enough. Sabato’s Crystal Ball is changing its ratings for three Democratic-held seats: Rep. Marcy Kaptur’s goes from toss-up to leaning Republican, Rep. Emilia Sykes’ from toss-up to leaning Democratic and Rep. Greg Landsman’s from leaning Democratic to toss-up. Kaptur said she’ll run for reelection nonetheless. Wake-up call on redistricting: The GOP’s state campaign arm is warning donors that if they don’t double down on state legislative races, Democrats could lock in map advantages “year after year,” POLITICO’s Andrew Howard scooped. It’s a sign that the Republican State Leadership Committee isn’t backing down on what could become a permanent partisan gerrymandering arms race. Read the memo In the Peach State: A new Atlanta Journal-Constitution poll shows that Rep. Mike Collins (R-Ga.) leads the Georgia Senate GOP primary early, with 30 percent support to 20 percent for Rep. Buddy Carter (R-Ga.) and 10 percent for Derek Dooley, per Greg Bluestein. But there are also some solid numbers for Democratic incumbent Jon Ossoff, who has approval from roughly one-fifth of the state’s Republicans. The Maine problem: Gov. Janet Mills won’t commit to sharing her medical records “as her Democratic primary opponents call for a new generation of leadership in Congress,” Axios’ Alex Thompson and Holly Otterbein report. She’d be the oldest first-term senator in history. … And primary opponent Graham Platner’s campaign faced more turnover today as his financial director, Ronald Holmes, resigned, becoming the third top staff member to depart amid a string of controversies, POLITICO’s Jessica Piper reports. 4. SCOTUS WATCH: In a rare window behind the scenes at the Supreme Court, NYT’s Jodi Kantor dives deep into a tactical schism between the liberal justices. In “an existential dilemma over their lack of influence,” Justice Elena Kagan has chosen to be less confrontational and try to win over potential conservative swing votes, while Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson increasingly has opted for open criticism warning that the court (and Trump) is undermining democracy. As Kantor puts it: avoid rocking the boat or warn the public that it’s sinking? Liberal legal observers are split over the right approach. But among the justices, “friction has been building” both among the liberals and between Jackson and the conservatives.
| | | | As the shutdown fight deepens, stay on top of every twist with POLITICO’s essential newsletters.
Inside Congress delivers the reporting and analysis you need on negotiations, votes, and power dynamics driving Washington’s next move.
➡️ Subscribe to Inside Congress
West Wing Playbook covers how Trump’s Washington is navigating the shutdown — and what it means for the people running government day to day.
➡️ Subscribe to West Wing Playbook | | | | | 5. BILL PULTE’S IMPACT: “After Fannie Mae fired more than 100 for fraud, dozens say they are innocent,” by WaPo’s Rachel Siegel: “Bill Pulte went on television this spring to say he had fired more than 100 Fannie Mae employees for unethical conduct and an alleged charity matching scheme … But almost seven months later, those staffers say they still have no information about why they lost their jobs. Beyond a brief, one-way video call in April, the employees say they don’t know if any investigations were conducted. … And now they’re suing, claiming they’re the victims of discrimination.” 6. LOOK WHO’S BACK: Dismayed and anxious about Trump’s effect on democracy, Obama is rethinking his light-touch approach to national politics, CNN’s Isaac Dovere reports. “The harm is so profound that this calls for both a different approach generally, and a different involvement specifically by President Obama,” Eric Holder said. People close to Obama say he’s watching the potential for the Supreme Court to end the Voting Rights Act or for worse clashes over immigration enforcement and the National Guard. “He senses the politics of his party may be leaving him behind but also wonders if the Democratic Party’s problems are so deep that it needs his help to steer it back to relevance,” Dovere reports. 7. AILING AMERICA: “Red State Workers Could Lose Out on Disability Benefits as Trump Administration Rewrites Eligibility,” by ProPublica’s Eli Hager: “The Trump administration is rewriting the disability eligibility rules, ostensibly to modernize [Social Security] … These changes would fall disproportionately on some of Trump’s most loyal supporters in red states. Most affected would be 50- to 60-year-olds without a high school or college education who have, for decades, toiled in physically grueling jobs, including coal mining, logging, and factory and construction work.” 8. CRUZ VS. CARLSON: Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) clapped back at Tucker Carlson last night after a controversial podcast interview with Nick Fuentes, POLITICO’s Samuel Benson writes in from Las Vegas. Carlson’s interview — in which the pundit said pro-Israel Republicans like Cruz suffer from a “brain virus” — sparked something of a civil war within the GOP, drawing scorn from National Review and a surprising defense from the Heritage Foundation president. “If you sit there with someone who says Adolf Hitler was very, very cool, and that their mission is to combat and defeat global Jewry, and you say nothing, then you are [a] coward and you are complicit in that evil,” Cruz said at the Republican Jewish Coalition leadership summit’s opening night. And he wanted Carlson to hear: The VIP dinner on RJC’s opening night, usually closed to media, was opened to press at the last minute — at Cruz’s team’s request, an RJC spokesperson said. 9. FOR YOUR RADAR: “Trump’s war on ‘woke’ forces community lenders to cut services or close,” by Reuters’ David Hood and Disha Raychaudhuri: “[T]he Trump administration withheld $324 million in funding appropriated by Congress for the nearly 1,400 [community development financial institutions] across the country, targeting them as part of a ‘woke’ program … Now, with federal funding paused and the program’s future in doubt, the nation’s CDFIs are scrambling, weighing mergers and service cuts to survive.”
| | | | A message from Optum:  
Optum is redefining pharmacy care, providing real-time pricing, personalized support, and over $1 billion in savings last year alone. Learn more at optum.com/redefineRX. | | | | | | TALK OF THE TOWN | | Donald Trump announced that he’s remade the Lincoln Bathroom: Art deco green tile is out, black and white marble is in. PLAYBOOK ARTS SECTION — After Trump took over the Kennedy Center, saying among other accusations that it had been struggling financially, ticket sales this year have plummeted to their worst levels since Covid, WaPo’s Travis Andrews and colleagues scooped. On average, 43 percent of seats were unfilled by the day of a show this fall, compared to 7 percent a year ago. FUN ONE — “Halloween costumes only D.C. would get: ‘Hooyah’ Melania and a riff on RIF,” by WaPo’s Jesús Rodríguez and colleagues OUT AND ABOUT — Washingtonian hosted its Most Powerful Women in Washington reception last night at the National Museum of Women in the Arts. SPOTTED: Sheila Johnson, Kellyanne Conway, Shannon Bream, Margaret Brennan, Ali Vitali, Swati Sharma, Anna Blackburne-Rigsby, Canadian Ambassador Kirsten Hillman, Paige Willey, Tammy Haddad, Theresa Fariello, Vivienne Pham, Jeanelle Johnson, Pamela Smith, Kathryn Karol, Jackie Bradford, Susan Tynan, Candi Wolff, Katherine Lugar, Nicole Sharasky, Brooke Pinto, Ashley Davis, Amy Best Weiss, Stephanie Linnartz, Michelle Freeman, Jodie McLean, Jane Adams, Abby Greensfelder, Juleanna Glover, Matea Gold and Alexandra Reeves Givens. — SPOTTED at CPAC’s daylong Summit on Ending Christian Persecution at the Kennedy Center yesterday: Matt and Mercedes Schlapp, Jenny Korn, Sebastian Gorka, Reps. Riley Moore (R-W.Va.) and Chris Smith (R-N.J.), Mark Walker, Erik Prince, Christian Craighead, Jack Posobiec, Jordan Sekulow, Brent Dusing, David Benham, Jason Benham, Lara Logan and Liz Collin. MEDIA MOVE — Indira Lakshmanan has been named the newest co-host of NPR and WBUR’s “Here & Now.” She most recently worked at U.S. News & World Report. TRANSITIONS — Lars Dalseide is joining West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey’s office as comms director. He previously worked at the American Legislative Exchange Council. … Ammar Moussa is now senior press secretary and director of media strategy for Maryland Gov. Wes Moore. He previously worked on the Harris campaign. 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 deputy editor Garrett Ross and Playbook Podcast producer Callan Tansill-Suddath.
| | | | POLITICO’s Global Security briefing connects the policies, deals, and industrial shifts shaping the global defense landscape. From Washington to Brussels, we follow who’s funding what, what’s being built, and how power moves across continents. Subscribe now for the free preview. | | | | | | | | | 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 | Ottawa Playbook | Brussels Playbook | London Playbook View all our politics and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | |
