Paul Kane

And Zolan does a great job nailing how little Trump seems to care about a government shutdown that is on verge of setting a record for length.

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/31/u...

And on our WaPo homepage my colleagues Hannah Knowles & Emily Davies outline how Trump has done nothing to help in VA and NJ Gov races an other statewide races.

www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Broader media is picking up on a theme that JMart at Politico & me have been harping on for months: Trump doesn’t really do much aside from holding court (usually while sitting down) with WH press.
JMart nails it here with Trump doing nothing on CA referendum:

www.politico.com/news/magazin...

Column | Republicans bet frenzied redistricting push can outrun historic trends Republicans could gain up to 10 seats through state legislatures drawing new House lines, but it might not be enough to save their majority.

…. ... In last 3 elections, Rs won 655 of House races, Ds 650. 3 straight elections with single-digit margins.

If 2026 is that close, Rs redistricting is huge.

But in 16 of last 23 midterms, president's party lost 10+ seats, 10 of them being 30+ seats.
www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

There’s been so much noise in House redistricting wars.
My weekend column pulls back & looks at broad outlines via @cookpolitical.com & @rubashkin.bsky.social:
Rs likely gain is 6-9 seats.

If this is '20-'22-'24, that can help. But if '26 reverts to normal midterm, that’s lipstick on a pig ...

The strangest twist of No Kings rally, in build up inside the Capitol, is that Republicans can’t stop talking about it.
For two straight weeks they’ve hyped it. Calling it the “Hate America rally”.
Dems hardly mention it.
Not sure what it will look like but Rs set high expectation of mass chaos.

Column | The ‘least intensity’ shutdown ever and why it could go on longer Veterans of shutdowns of the past 30 years say there’s little passion, among lawmakers and constituents, over this shutdown.

Longtime R & D senators say this shutdown is unlike any other:

“There’s less argument about things to fight about" and oddly "the least intensity about getting it resolved."

Senate out till Tues night, House gone since Sept. 19.
Nothing like fury of 2013/19.
www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

psychedelicarchives on Instagram: "In this 1977 SNL sketch, Dan Aykroyd’s Jimmy Carter takes a live call from a teenager tripping on LSD—and calmly walks him through …" In this 1977 SNL sketch, Dan Aykroyd’s Jimmy Carter takes a live call from a teenager tripping on LSD—and calmly walks him through it like a seasoned psychonaut.The sketch aired during Season 2 and captured the hilarious intersection of politics, parody, and psychedelic panic. Long before “harm reduction” was part of the cultural lexicon, Carter’s character offers grounded, compassionate advice to the distressed caller.And to top it off, the President displayed an impeccable taste in southern psychedelic rock.Source: Saturday Night Live.

Any time someone as high and mighty as a House speaker joins @cspanwj.bsky.social and takes calls, all I think of is “President Jimmy Carter” talking that kid down off a bad trip, telling him to listen to the Allmans.

www.instagram.com/reel/DKxEcj8...

We asked 1,000 Americans who is to blame for the shutdown. Here’s what they said. More Americans blame Trump and Republicans than Democrats for shutdown, poll finds.

Don’t expect the shutdown to end soon with Dems caving. Not with polls like our WaPo version showing the public blames Trump and Rs for this by 17 points.
17!
(Caveat: let’s see over next couple days what other polls show.)

www.washingtonpost.com/politics/int...

Here’s that Sunday column she copy edited, about an incredibly shrinking Congress at a time of global and domestic crisis.

t.co/K4gGqUPbZJ

Copy editing is so essential to what we do. For many, many weekend PKCap columns, I’ve been blessed to have Kathryn Wenner catching my mistakes.
She retired yesterday, my column one of her last edits. It was my privilege. And yes, she fixed a few things.
What a career.

t.co/D8wxHj4Wb6

Discharge Petition No. 9, Bill Number: H.Res. 581, 119th Congress SPONSOR: Thomas Massie DESCRIPTION: Pursuant to clause 2 of rule XV, I, Thomas Massie, move to discharge the Committee on Rules from the consideration of the resolution entitled, a resolution providi...

Here’s link to discharge petition :

clerk.house.gov/DischargePet...

Epstein discharge petition still sits at 217, one shy of Magic Number, which begins to force vote.
Johnson adjourned House until at least Oct 1 - motive might not be just CR/shutdown showdown.
On Tuesday Grijalva will win her father’s seat in AZ special.
He wants to delay signature No 218.

… Trump does lotsa press events & world leader meetings inside White House.
He’s otherwise pretty sedentary.
Since signing big bill, he’s been to Trump DC course 12 times, to Bedminster 6-plus times, to Kennedy Center twice. 7 days no public schedule.
Rs want more travel.

t.co/6ILZDMAhnN

Weekend @PKCapitol column: The missing man from GOP’s sales pitch for their proclaimed Big Beautiful Bill:
Donald Trump.

Since signing bill July 4, Trump hasn’t traveled outside DC for event promoting the bill one time.
Other presidents (including Trump 1.0 & Biden) did lots more.
t.co/6ILZDMAhnN

... Not some RINO who is now a Dem, DHE can't believe Rs won't stand up for conservative policy.

“The fire wall is the American people. He was elected with the simple job of delivering better economic performance, growth in the standard of living with low inflation. And he’s on track to fail.”

For Rs, the call is coming from inside the house:
One of most renowned GOP economists serves up sharp critiques of Trump econ policy every morning.
And Friday's jobs report only confirmed his writing about the economy for months:

"Dead in the water,” Doug Holtz-Eakin told me.

t.co/yegylJbgSV

Colom was on glide path to be federal judge after Biden nominated him (GOP Sen. Wicker happily supported him) until Sen. Hyde Smith blocked him single handed.
Now, Colom is gonna run against her for Senate. It’s a long shot, with reverse echoes of Sessions winning “Judge” Hefflin seat in ‘96.

YouTube video by Scott Colom Mississippi Matters

Any path Democrats have toward a durable Senate majority requires them to make Mississippi a swing state. Yes, Mississippi.

Trump won there by almost 21%, but its population is 38% Black (with lower voter turnout).

Maybe not 2026, but this is their starting point.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8r_5...

Best lede you’ll read today, maybe all year. Via NYT obits:

www.nytimes.com/2025/08/30/b...

My Sunday column: The diploma divide among voters has a new wrinkle.
Almost all members of Congress attended college, but over last 50 years Rs have shunned Ivy/elite universities as Dems have slightly increased their tenure there.

A fascinating project from 3 brilliant academics.
t.co/tDMpCAKwRy

The Mystery Social Media Account Schooling Congress on How to Do Its Job Ringwiss, an influential X account, is changing how the public understands Congress, and how members understand their own power.

www.politico.com/news/magazin...

If a president can fire a Fed board member “for cause,” as determined by him, why couldn’t a president fire Supreme Court justices?

Analysis | Why it’s been such a slow congressional retirement season Rather than rushing for the retirement door, House incumbents in swing districts are waiting for the environment to clear up and potential redistricting to settle.

We haven’t seen a flood of real retirements in the House & all this redistricting might delay some of that, too, as members wait to see if they’ve still got a district they can win in.

My weekend column.

www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Missed a key line in that screen shot of Jeff’s work.
Despite 48% of Midwestern seats in the House, Dems don’t have a single Midwesterner in a real leadership post.

A really smart Sunday Nightcap column from @dcdufour.bsky.social about how Congressional Democrats have abandoned the Midwest & only pick leaders/chairs from the coasts.

… Dems aren’t sold on any real, long-term Trump shift on Ukraine.

“It’s a bad bet,” Peter Welch told me.

Welch attended McConnell speech to McCain Institute crowd. As freshman in ‘23-‘24, Welch presided over many MM speeches.
PW calls MM “a leader” on Ukraine.

Link:

t.co/8TwevRmNqG

Weekend column:
McConnell & other R national security hawks feel momentum, after brutal winter/early spring left them reeling.
They’re hoping to isolate nativists in Trump orbit.
“Let’s hope the president continues to move in the direction he has,” McConnell told @mccaininstitute.bsky.social …

One story:

“This is the story of how skepticism & stubbornness of a Government physician prevented what could have been an appalling American tragedy, birth of hundreds or indeed thousands of armless & legless children … What she did was refuse to be hurried. … She regarded its safety as unproved.”

Just a wonderful obit about one of the OG investigative reporters at WashPost, Morton Mintz, who exposed corp greed in PhRMA and Big Auto.
He retired 37 years ago! Lived to 103, both challenging entrenched powers & raising up smart bureaucrats who saved lives ….

t.co/O5aRjdEhIl