NEWS: W.H. looks to pay law enforcement as shutdown drags on

IN THIS EDITION

White House: We’re ready for a long shutdown

Jim Justice is still commuting almost daily to D.C. from W.Va.

The Vault: AIC hires key Thune aide

Mills to join Maine Senate race

Scalise raises nearly $8M

THE TOP

White House: We’re ready for a long shutdown

Happy Tuesday morning.

The government shutdown is now two weeks old. There’s no resolution in sight to the crisis.

Here’s some big news: The White House is girding for a long shutdown and has found several new funding streams for critical programs, according to top Trump administration officials.

— The Office of Management and Budget is “working on ways” to get paychecks to federal law-enforcement officers, according to an administration official. This is similar to what Trump ordered over the weekend for 1.3 million active duty military service members.

— The Trump administration will ensure the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children — known as WIC — can continue to operate for the foreseeable future, a White House official said. The administration says it will use hundreds of millions of dollars in Section 32 tariff revenue. This is a vital nutrition program that serves more than six million participants per month, including 40%-plus of U.S. infants.

The impact of these moves by President Donald Trump and senior White House aides show their determination to win this high-stakes faceoff with Democrats.

They’re employing a mix of hard-knuckled, hyper-partisan pressure tactics — canceling energy and infrastructure projects in blue states, firing thousands of federal workers — coupled with aggressive funding moves to hammer Democrats while ensuring that critical government operations don’t shutter. This all has the effect of prolonging the shutdown.

“OMB is making every preparation to batten down the hatches and ride out the Democrats’ intransigence,” an OMB official told us. “Pay the troops, pay law enforcement, continue the RIFs, and wait.”

Top Hill Democrats — including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries — have gambled that they can convince Trump to cut a deal on extending Obamacare premium credits at the end of October.

But the White House seems very comfortable with its position and is preparing for an extended shutdown. They’re citing comments from top Democrats, including Schumer, who told us last week that “every day gets better” for Democrats’ shutdown strategy, as a reason to keep going.

“These disgusting statements reveal that Democrats are dug in, and show no signs of changing course,” said a senior White House official. “Republicans want the government open, but we will not be held hostage to partisan demands.”

Let’s be crystal clear about what all this means. By removing some of the most critical pain points of the shutdown — ones that could force Hill Republicans or Democrats to fold — the White House is effectively guaranteeing that the shutdown will last much longer.

If the troops are being paid, WIC is funded and federal law enforcement officers receive paychecks, Senate Democrats who are thus far denying the requisite votes to reopen the government will feel much more comfortable dragging out the shutdown as they demand an extension of Obamacare enhanced premium tax credits.

All this leaves very few remaining forcing mechanisms that could increase pressure on Hill leaders to sit down together and clinch a deal to reopen the government.

Here are some that could help break the impasse.

The Trump factor. Trump has remained on the sidelines while GOP and Democratic leaders have only hardened their positions. Aside from an Oval office meeting with the Big Four congressional leaders, Trump has been largely disengaged.

And after a whirlwind trip to Israel and Egypt as part of a hostages-for-prisoners deal between Israel and Hamas, Trump is riding high. The scene in Sharm-el Sheikh — with world leaders standing in line to greet Trump — was among the high points of his second term.

Trump will meet today with Argentinian President Javier Milei, who recently received a controversial $20 billion economic lifeline from the White House.

On Friday, Trump will huddle with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as U.S. officials look to ratchet up pressure on Moscow.

Schumer has said he wants Trump to nudge Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune to cut a deal with Democrats on the Obamacare subsidies. Republicans doubt this will ever happen, but with Trump, anything is possible.

Democrats believe Trump recognizes that allowing the subsidies to expire would be detrimental to him and the GOP in the midterms. Yet that avenue seems cut off for now.

Open enrollment. Open enrollment begins Nov. 1, which Democrats say is the real deadline for the Obamacare subsidies. Some Americans are already getting letters informing them of increased premiums or coverage being dropped altogether.

This is why the Democratic counter-proposal CR funded the government through Oct. 31. The Democratic stopgap funding plan is filled with hundreds of billions of dollars worth of policy provisions, including a permanent extension of the Obamacare subsidies. Some Democrats have said they’d be OK with a clean CR that runs through the end of October alongside a commitment from GOP leaders to address the issue by then.

If the shutdown is still in effect on Nov. 1, Democrats would need to shift their messaging a bit if they want to continue denying Republicans the votes to re-open the government.

On the flip side, getting to Nov. 1 could give Democrats an out. They could argue that Republicans clearly don’t want to do anything about the subsidies, say that they (Democrats) fought as hard as they could and pin the fallout on Republicans. Health-care messaging is much more effective than shutdown messaging, after all.

Air travel. On any given day, according to TSA data, two to three million people travel by air. The shutdown has already had sporadic impacts on staffing at certain airports, leading to flight delays.

A prolonged shutdown has the potential to wreak havoc on airport operations. TSA agents and air traffic controllers are being forced to work without pay, which inevitably leads to call-outs. It’s also terrible for morale, especially among air traffic controllers who’ve been dealing with staffing shortages since long before the shutdown.

— Jake Sherman, Andrew Desiderio and John Bresnahan

TODAY in Pittsburgh: Punchbowl News Founder and CEO Anna Palmer will sit down with Sen. Dave McCormick (R-Pa.) at 9 a.m. ET to discuss news of the day, retirement and economic security. RSVP now!

THE LIFE OF A MEMBER

Jim Justice is still commuting almost daily to D.C. from W.Va.

In January, we reported that Sen. Jim Justice (R-W.Va.) had the best commute in Washington. He was flying every day on a private jet from Greenbrier Valley Airport in Lewisburg, W.Va., to Washington Reagan National Airport.

This was supposed to be a temporary arrangement.

“Well, I won’t do that as soon as I get a place to live,” Justice told us in January. “Because I came right out of the governorship on [Jan. 13], got sworn in that day, and so, really, truly, we just haven’t gotten a place yet,” Justice said. “God knows it’ll be a whole lot simpler.”

The real estate market must be very tight, because Justice is still flying private nearly every day to Washington.

Take last week as an example.

Last Monday, Justice took off from West Virginia at 4:41 p.m. and landed at DCA at 5:18 p.m. Just two hours and 26 minutes later — shortly after Senate votes — his plane was on its way back to Lewisburg.

On Tuesday, Justice took off at 4:28 p.m., landed in D.C. at 5:19 p.m. and was on his way back to West Virginia at 6:40 p.m.

On Wednesday, Justice came in a bit earlier. He left Lewisburg at 9:56 a.m., landed at DCA at 10:35 a.m. and headed back to the Mountaineer State at 9:10 p.m.

On Thursday, the plane took off at 10:38 a.m., landed in D.C. at 11:25 a.m. And Justice was back on board for a 9:50 p.m. flight, which landed at 10:26 p.m.

Justice said from “time to time” he stays in a hotel in D.C.

“To be perfectly honest, from my standpoint, it’s a pain to go back and forth,” Justice said about his daily trip on the seven-seat jet. The 74-year-old first-term senator said he hasn’t had the time to look for a place to live in Washington.

“To be honest, it’s a pain in the butt getting on and off the plane every day,” Justice said. “Talk about wear and tear.”

– John Bresnahan and Jake Sherman

The Vault: AIC hires key Thune aide

News: Chris Toppings, a top GOP financial services and tax aide, is leaving Capitol Hill to help lead the American Investment Council’s lobbying unit.

Toppings is joining the group as co-head of government affairs.

The long-time GOP aide is coming off a big year. Toppings was senior policy adviser to Senate Majority Leader John Thune, handling his tax, trade and financial services portfolio. That put Toppings in the middle of the push to pass the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and advance landmark stablecoin legislation, the GENIUS Act.

Toppings is also an alum of the Senate HELP Committee GOP staff and former Sen. Richard Burr’s (R-N.C.) office.

AIC advocates for the private equity industry. Its members include some of the most powerful financial services firms, like Blackstone, Apollo Global Management, Goldman Sachs, KKR and The Carlyle Group.

This year, the industry fought off the possibility of a new crackdown on carried interest, which President Donald Trump toyed with for the GOP tax bill.

More AIC moves. The group is also promoting senior vice president of government affairs Lee Slater to be co-head alongside Toppings.

Slater worked at the White House under former President Joe Biden as deputy assistant to the president and deputy director of legislative affairs. Slater is also an alum of House Ways and Means Committee Democrats.

AIC has recently welcomed Will Dunham as president and CEO. Dunham replaced Drew Maloney, who went to run the Edison Electric Institute. Dunham, who was executive vice president of government affairs at AIC, was the policy director for Kevin McCarthy.

— Laura Weiss and Jake Sherman

PINE TREE STATE

Mills to join Maine Senate race

Maine Gov. Janet Mills is set to launch a campaign today against Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) in what will be a blockbuster midterm race.

Mills’ bid gives Senate Democratic leadership yet another recruitment success. But it also cements a messy intra-party brawl. Mills’ entrance in the race isn’t scaring off any of the current Democratic primary contenders.

We’ll start by listing the obvious: On paper, Mills is by far the most formidable Democrat running to unseat Collins. Mills is a popular, sitting two-term governor and her pitch will certainly lean on electability.

The other three main candidates — Graham Platner, Jordan Wood and Dan Kleban — have never held any elected office. So far, all three are pledging to continue their campaigns, even with Mills jumping in.

The Age Argument. If the 77-year-old Mills wins, she would be sworn in as a senator at the age of 79. Her younger opponents are using this against her.

Wood, who has reported raising over $3 million, said it’s time for a new generation of Democratic leaders.

“Janet Mills was my district attorney the year that I was born in Androscoggin County,” Wood told us. “This is going to be a very real primary, even if Chuck Schumer does not want it to be.”

Leaders We Deserve, a group co-founded by David Hogg to elect young progressives, and other Democratic youth organizations all jointly endorsed Platner Tuesday.

Platner has the most resources to really challenge Mills. His campaign has hauled in over $4 million and his populist messaging won him Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-Vt.) endorsement. But Mills’ supporters can point to Sanders, 84, as a way to sidestep the age argument.

The big question now is whether Mills will pledge to only serve one term and whether such a promise would neutralize the age argument.

Yet Mills has proven she’s willing to fight and won praise from the left when she publicly challenged Trump over his attempt to ban transgender athletes from women’s sports.

Meanwhile, Republicans are enjoying the prospect of a contested Democratic primary.

“While Democrats fight among themselves, Senator Collins will keep doing what she’s always done — delivering for Maine families,” Alex Latcham, the leader of the Senate Leadership Fund, said in a statement.

We should note that Collins hasn’t officially launched her reelection campaign, but has said publicly she intends to seek reelection and is actively raising money.

— Max Cohen and Ally Mutnick

…AND THERE’S MORE

Scalise raises nearly $8M

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise raised $7.8 million in the third quarter. He has raised $28 million so far this cycle, which Team Scalise says is his best third-quarter total in a non-election year.

Scalise has sent $11.5 million to the NRCC and candidates this cycle and helped raise $1.8 million for Republicans in the third quarter.

More from Q3: Rep. Young Kim (R-Calif.) raised $1.5 million in Q3 and has $4.8 million on hand.

Jonathan Nez, the Democrat challenging Rep. Eli Crane (R-Ariz.), raised $765,000 in Q3.

Arizona news: Arizona Republican Party Chair Gina Swoboda is expected to announce in the next week that she’s running in the 1st District, according to a source with knowledge of the plans.

There’s an open race for the Scottsdale-area seat after Rep. David Schweikert (R-Ariz.) opted to run for governor instead. Schweikert’s exit creates a big opportunity for Democrats, who will try to flip the swing seat. President Donald Trump won the district by three points in 2024.

Swoboda has been party chair since 2024 and ran Arizona election day operations for Trump’s campaign in 2020.

New Jersey: Veteran New Jersey Democratic Rep. Frank Pallone (N.J.) spent Monday campaigning with Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-N.J.), who is locked in a tight gubernatorial race against Republican Jack Ciattarelli, a former N.J. state rep.

Sherrill and Pallone held a press conference in Clifton, N.J. bashing Ciattarelli over profiting off the opioid crisis and health care. Pallone then hosted Sherrill at a Long Branch, N.J., fundraiser that raked in more than $225,000.

Endorsements: VoteVets, the Democratic group backing veterans running for office, is endorsing a slate of candidates in open Democratic primaries. VoteVets is backing Zach Dembo in Kentucky’s 6th District, Evan Munsing in Colorado’s 8th district and Darren McAuley in Florida’s 15th District.

— Jake Sherman, Laura Weiss, Max Cohen and John Bresnahan

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