Patty Murray's reaction to the new OMB memo: "The letter of the law is as plain as can be—federal workers, including furloughed workers, are entitled to their backpay following a shutdown. Another baseless attempt to try and scare & intimidate workers by an administration run by crooks and cowards."

If Thune just moved to proceed to the House bill and walked off the floor (and the chair enforced the rules properly), the shutdown would probably end tomorrow.

Georgia’s 2026 ACA marketplace window shopping began October 1, meaning people are already seeing next year’s premiums spike because of expiring tax credit enhancements. A typical 60-year-old couple making $85,000 in Georgia will face a $24,900 increase in annual premiums. (1/4)

NEW Economist/YouGov Oct 4-6
% who approve | disapprove of Donald Trump
U.S. adult citizens 39% | 56% (-17)
Last week 40% | 54%
Start of term 49% | 43%

Democrats 5% | 93%
Independents 27% | 65%
Republicans 86% | 11%
Men 46% | 51%
Women 33% | 61%
d3nkl3psvxxpe9.cloudfront.net/documents/ec...

ICE is pepper spraying CPD (Chicago police)

Over the weekend, Trump's deputy chief of staff for policy Stephen Miller repeatedly attacked judges, calling them part of an "organized terrorist attack" on the US government....

On Saturday, the home of a judge who ruled against Trump, went up in flames

time.com/7323442/sout...

JUST IN: Chicago journalistsa re suing DHS and ICE over force used against reporters:

storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

MORE: Immergut issued a stark warning that the efforts by Trump to make a bad-faith justification to call up the guard risked plunging the country into a form of unconstitutional military rule.

storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Federal officer blasts chemical spray into vocal but nonviolent Portland protester, video shows

The interaction illustrates how federal law enforcement officers do use aggressive tactics against protesters who yell and needle officers but don’t appear to present clear physical threats.

The White House says "A monthlong shutdown may mean 43,000+ more unemployed Americans."

The source isn't exactly clear, but appears to be the Council of Economic Advisers. But where are they getting unemployment estimates if the BLS couldn't release its monthly data today?

The House has declared a "district work period" until October. 13. Means they are not coming in next week.

Which means reporters will be hearing from Democrats who are sure to be around:
Republicans refuse to negotiate
Peoples' premium are about to skyrocket
Republicans aren't even coming to work

BREAKING: The 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 100-page opinion -- says it is unequivocally, lopsidedly easy to determine that the Trump administration's view of birthright citizenship is wrong.

www.documentcloud.org/documents/26...

NEW: By a 6–3 vote, the Supreme Court allows the Trump administration to cancel Temporary Protected Status for Venezuelan migrants.

KBJ, dissenting, says she "cannot abide our repeated, gratuitous, and harmful interference" while "lives hang in the balance."
www.documentcloud.org/documents/26...

Ah. And now the full poll is in the in-box. Interesting wrinkles are 6 in 20 folks who hear about costs get concerned about enhanced ACA subsidies. But support hits 85% when they learn small businesses and self-employed rely on ACA.
Lots of stuff here: www.kff.org/affordable-c...

Posted by the President of the United States.

Keep in mind: much of the difference between KFF's initial estimate of an average premium increase for ACA enrollees of 75% and the update to 114% is b/c Trump's CMS deliberately choose to cut subsidies even further by changing inflation calculation.

SCOOP — Pennsylvania prosecutors were alerted to possible voting irregularities by one of MAGA's leading voices against voter fraud. A long paper trail shows Jack Posobiec has been living in Maryland but voting using his parents' PA address for years.

From @jsweetli.bsky.social, @slate.com + me:

Here's the big thing Democrats have going for them in the shutdown standoff. Enhanced ACA subsidies are overwhelmingly popular, including with the MAGA crowd, where they enjoy 57% support, per the latest @kff.org survey.

The death of the premature baby born after their mother contracted measles highlights the danger of more and more people refusing vaccines.

An individual is contagious 4 days before the rash appears.

Imagine a child with measles at a daycare full of babies too young to be vaccinated.

I mean come the hell on…

The request for a gift for King Charles came from a State Department liaison who used the email address “giftgirl2025” and initially told the museum that they were looking for “like a sword or something,”

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/a...

NYT: Kennedy Fires N.I.H. Scientist Who Filed Whistle-Blower Complaint

by Benjamin Mueller

nyti.ms/4gYwsiy

GOP House chair Lisa McClain: Dems "want to take $50 billion away from rural healthcare. Gee, I wonder why."

Note. The HR 1 tax-cut bill costs rural healthcare a lot more than $50 billion. "Federal Medicaid spending will be cut in rural areas alone by $137 billion over ten years"

1/2 Sen. Wyden of the US Senate Finance Committee today published new findings indicating that Pantera Capital's Dan Morehead, a crypto billionaire based in #PuertoRico, may have improperly avoided more than $100M in federal taxes through a purported residency scam.

Johnson raises this point: "The California loophole allows taxpayer funded Medicaid for illegal aliens. We eliminated that in the big, beautiful bill."

California used Californians' tax dollars.