Good morning! Taylor Swift’s "The Life of a Showgirl" movie theater release parties raked in a cool $33 million over the weekend. Assuming she gets the same 57% of ticket revenue she got for her “Eras tour” movie, the three-day film event will boost her bank account by a cool $18.8 million … which is more than the $17.3 million Travis Kelce makes for an entire year of football.

On a more serious note, Trump’s 20-point peace plan for the Gaza Strip is coming along. Israel and Hamas have loosely agreed to the terms, and talks are underway today in Cairo to work out the details.

POLITICS

🔒️ The government shutdown continues

It’s actually only been six days. But that probably feels like a lifetime if you’re a federal employee sitting at home, not getting paid.

Non-critical federal workers are off the job until Congress passes a bill to fund the federal government’s operations. The Senate voted again on Friday, but failed to reach the necessary 60-vote threshold to break the logjam.

• All but three (of 47) Senate Democrats are holding to their demand that any new budget include a permanent extension of expiring Covid-era healthcare tax credits.

• And all but one (of 53) Senate Republicans are holding to their demand that Congress immediately pass a new short-term budget without that provision.

Another vote is scheduled for Monday, though. And a bipartisan group of more moderate senators is reportedly working on a healthcare compromise.

Blame game: Congressional leaders from both parties went on the news Sunday morning to blame the other party. But no one seems to be winning the battle of public opinion. Between 49% and 52% of voters disapprove of how each party is handling the shutdown.

• That said, 39% of voters blame Republicans right now, compared to 30% who think Democrats are at fault.

Layoffs: The White House continues to warn of massive, permanent layoffs for federal employees if no deal is reached soon. How soon? As long as the shutdown is still going and Trump decides negotiations in Congress are "going nowhere."

In the meantime, the benefits of being the party in charge are obvious: Federal websites are all awash with messages slamming the “Democrat-led” or "Radical Left Democrat shutdown.”

Elsewhere in American politics:

• Virginia’s upcoming state elections were rocked by a classic October Surprise on Friday. Turns out a candidate for state attorney general (AG) once wished death upon a political opponent. And his two young children. Yikes.

GOVERNMENT

🫡 President Trump is ramping up his federalization of the usually state-run Army National Guard “to protect federal officers and assets” in some U.S. cities with high crime rates, often against the wishes of state officials. His use of the Guard in federally controlled Washington, D.C., had more legal breathing room. But a federal judge on Saturday blocked his deployment of 200 Oregon National Guard troops to Portland. So Trump deployed California National Guard troops instead, sparking a lawsuit from California’s Democratic governor. And news broke on Saturday that Trump plans to deploy 300 Illinois National Guard troops to Chicago for at least two months. Expect another lawsuit there. Trump's plan for the Guard in Memphis, Tennessee, though? Strongly supported by that state's Republican governor.

🧊 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Homeland Security agency that enforces immigration laws inside the U.S., had a busy weekend. ICE agents in Chicago shot a woman (she survived) after their vehicle was allegedly rammed and pinned in by 10 cars. The woman was armed, and ICE said agents shot her in self-defense. Elsewhere, Apple removed the ICEBlock app from the App Store. It allowed users to track ICE activity, but the Trump administration said it endangered federal agents. On the legal front, a federal judge on Saturday blocked ICE from transferring detained minors into full federal custody once they turn 18.

🚤 The Department of Defense (DOD) blew up another boat in international waters near Venezuela on Friday. The DOD claims the vessel contained "four male narco-terrorists." This is the fourth known attack under the Trump administration's new policy of taking the fight to drug cartels, which it recently classified as terrorist groups. Twenty-one people have been killed so far. Critics say the attacks are illegal without a trial or a congressional war authorization. Trump disagrees and claimed that the latest boat had "enough drugs to kill 25 TO 50 THOUSAND PEOPLE.”

🐶 When he’s pranking parkgoers with bear carcasses, Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is busy making animals a part of his Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) mission. He wants his agencies to phase out animal testing and thinks newer methods will achieve better results. As part of that mission, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced last week that it planned to spend $87 million building a new center to research alternatives.

COURT

⚖️ Supreme Court kicks off new term

It’s October, and we all know what that means. No, not the return of Pumpkin Spice Goldfish (though that’s also worth celebrating). We’re talking about the return of everyone’s third-favorite branch of government. That’s right. The Supreme Court is back in session.

• Justices couldn’t attend the annual “We’re back, baby!” church service due to security threats, but D.C.’s Red Mass went off without a hitch on Sunday.

The Supreme Court of the United States — that’s SCOTUS, to the cool kids — has a busy term coming up. From today until early next summer, justices will hear a range of important cases that could reshape how modern American government operates.

Here's a sneak peek at this season's coming attractions:

Federal firings: Can a president fire federal officials at so-called “independent agencies” that fall outside the bounds of the typical Cabinet department system? Since 1935, the answer has been “No.” Now? It’s not looking good for said officials. Arguments in December could hammer the final nail into their coffin.

Conversion therapy: A counselor in Colorado is challenging the state's 2019 law banning conversion therapy for minors. She says constraining the topics she can discuss with clients violates her First Amendment right to freedom of speech. This one's on the docket for tomorrow.

Transgender athletes: Can states ban transgender athletes from participating in women's and girls' sports? About half of states have enacted laws doing just that. The court will hear a challenge to those laws this term, but no date has been set.

Congressional districts: Current law requires states to consider race when drawing some districts. This often leads to funky boundaries as states try to vacuum up enough non-white residents from disparate areas to cobble together enough people for a full district. Louisiana is challenging the practice, and arguments are set for next week.

More: If that didn’t quiiite put you to sleep, there are plenty of other cases to choose from on everything from guns to home foreclosures to cruise lines.

• One more thing to look out for? The potential retirement of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito.

• By next summer, the Bush appointee will have turned 76 and spent a nice, round 20 years on the court.

Related: Federal sentencing guidelines recommend 30 years to life. But the would-be assassin of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh received a mild eight-year prison term on Friday. The Department of Justice (DOJ) intends to appeal the sentence.

TRIVIA

The Treasury Department is considering adding President Trump's face to commemorative one-dollar coins celebrating America's 250th birthday next year. Federal law heavily restricts putting living people on currency. So if these things get produced at all, they might only be collector's editions (the Treasury makes plenty of those).

Obviously, President Trump would be far from the first president to appear on money. But he would be the most recent. As of 2025, who is the most recent former president to appear on U.S. currency?

Hint: The man in question was born in Massachusetts.

BRIEFS

● Japan is on course for its first female prime minister. Sanae Tikaichi won her party's leadership election on Saturday and is expected to take over as PM later this month. She leads Japan's right-wing party — the ironically named Liberal Democratic Party.

● Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg, officially abdicated on Friday after 25 years on the throne. He handed power to his son, Guillaume V, who now leads the little European kingdom grand duchy that could (and its population of 681,000).

● California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a landmark deal on Friday allowing Uber and Lyft drivers to unionize. California is the second state, after Massachusetts, to allow this. Drivers will be allowed to form unions and apply for recognition beginning in May.

● Days after a terrorist ran over and stabbed two Jewish worshippers outside a synagogue on Yom Kippur, some other nut decided to fight fire with literal fire by setting an English mosque ablaze while two people were still inside.

● Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth fired the Navy secretary's chief of staff. He was a Trump appointee but came under fire for helping his boss limit the influence of the new Under Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao, who was confirmed by the Senate on Friday.

QUOTE

ANSWER

If that Massachusetts hint made you say John F. Kennedy, you would be … incorrect*. The man we’re looking for is the most recent president to appear as part of the U.S. Mint’s Presidential $1 Coin Program. Though he was born in Massachusetts and raised in New England, George H.W. Bush spent most of his adult life in Texas. He passed away in 2018 and appeared on a run of dollar coins minted in 2020. Next in line? Jimmy Carter.

_{*JFK does still appear on half-dollar coins. They’re rare but are technically minted for general circulation.}