Good morning, and congratulations to everyone's new best friend in Georgia. Someone in the Peach State bought a winning $980 million lottery ticket on Friday. The winner hasn't come forward yet, so if you know anyone there, you still have time to get on their good side without looking too suspicious.

HOMELAND SECURITY

👮 Border Patrol hits Charlotte as TSA agents get bonuses

Charlotte, North Carolina, come on down! You're the next (unwilling) contestant on Border Patrol Crackdown.

Federal agents launched a new enforcement operation on Saturday in one of America's fastest-growing cities. Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino said they arrested at least 81 people. Church landscaping crews and workers outside Home Depot were among those arrested.

• One immigration advocate called this a “day of shame.”

• On the other side, it’s simply the removal of “violent criminal illegals."

Whatever your feelings on the issue, the present immigration situation isn’t an American exclusive. Our friends across the pond are also cracking down. The Brits are taking a note from Denmark’s playbook and upping the time refugees must wait to apply for permanent status from 5 to 20 years.

One group that’s not a fan of ICE right now? The Catholic Church. For the first time in 12 years, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a “Special Message” to slam the crackdown’s “dehumanizing rhetoric and violence.” The bishops believe "human dignity and national security" can coexist "if people of goodwill work together."

• The move came just one day after Paul Coakley, archbishop of Oklahoma City, was elected president of the group.

• Their message echoes a warning from Pope Bob of Chicago Pope Leo XIV earlier this month, for "deep reflection" on how migrants are treated.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) oversees ICE and other immigration agencies. Thanks to huge budget increases, DHS is working on hiring more staff to carry out Trump's illegal immigration crackdown. In the meantime, thousands of agents have been reassigned to deportation duty from their normal jobs, fighting trafficking and terrorism

• DHS may not be popular in some quarters, but they do take care of their own. Secretary Kristi Noem handed out $10,000 bonus checks to hundreds of TSA agents for going “above and beyond" during the shutdown.

If you want a taste of that, you may be in luck. The administration is still working on Trump’s plan to send out $2,000 checks to Americans using tariff revenue. But don't get your hopes up for a quick payday. If Congress approves the plan, checks wouldn't go out until next year — just in time for the midterm elections.

• On a related note, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent thinks we’ll all start feeling the effects of Trump’s efforts to tackle the rising cost of living early next year.

Future: Federal immigration authorities are rumored to have their eyes set on New Orleans next.

GOVERNMENT

🏛️ Our distinguished representatives over in the United States Congress are swimming in drama right now. On the Democratic side, moderate firebrand Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) fell, bonked his face, and got 20 stitches. Meanwhile, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is fighting for his political life. Some of his peers want his head on a platter over what they see as a failed shutdown strategy. On the Republican side, Trump unloaded on his former ally, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA). He called her "wacky," a "ranting lunatic," and a "traitor" on Saturday — words she says put her life "in danger." In response, Greene agreed to chillax a little after years of taking part in "toxic politics." All this is happening with a backdrop of bizarre stories about Epstein, an upcoming vote on releasing the government’s files on Epstein, and a scandal involving a sort-of-congresswoman and Epstein.

🏈 The football team at the United States Merchant Marine Academy defeated its arch-rival over at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy to retake the Secretaries’ Cup trophy. The big game was held on Saturday at Boston's Fenway Park. The Merchant Marine Academy, just outside New York City, is a service academy à la Army, Navy, and Air Force, where a congressional recommendation is required for admission. The big difference? The Department of Transportation, rather than Defense, runs the Merchant Marine school. While the other academies prep students for military service, the Merchant Marine Academy gets 'em ready to work in the private shipping industry. You know, on boats. During wars, they can be called upon to lend the Navy a hand. Hence, a service academy.

🤑 President Trump bought at least $82 million in bonds between late August and early October. That's according to financial disclosure forms released by the U.S. Office of Government Ethics (OGE). The OGE is an independent agency — it's not part of a larger Cabinet department — in charge of financial transparency and conflict of interest rules for federal employees in the executive branch. The exact cost of Trump's bond purchases is unknown, as the forms here only list broad ranges. His purchases include corporate bonds for Intel, Qualcomm, Meta, Home Depot, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley.

WORLD

🌏️ Trump to meet with Saudi Arabian leader

If there’s one country the United States has a love-hate relationship with, it’s Saudi Arabia.

Sure, the Saudi royals are crazy people who murder dissidents. And, yes, Saudi women only earned the right to drive (yes, drive) in 2018. But Saudi Arabia is also one of the most powerful, stable countries in the volatile Middle East, and its leaders largely share the U.S.’s goals for the region.

With that in mind, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is swinging by the White House on Tuesday. He's not technically in charge. But King Salman is as old as dirt and not really running the show these days. Anyway, the biggest topic at hand tomorrow is the Abraham Accords.

The what? As basically the only non-Arab country in the region, Israel's never had much of a relationship with its neighbors. No talking, no trade, no travel allowed. The Abraham Accords are a series of U.S.-negotiated agreements that resulted in the normalization of those relations.

• The United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, and Morocco signed on in 2020.

• This year, Trump is playing hard mode and trying to expand that list to include Syria, Lebanon, and Saudi Arabia.

As a condition for signing on, Saudi Arabia wants Palestine to have a clear, legal pathway to statehood (country-hood). Israel's a pretty firm "No" on that. Its parliament freaked out over the possibility as recently as, um, yesterday. But Trump is convinced he can square this circle.

• To help grease the wheels, Saudi Arabia has its eyes on buying some American F-35 fighter jets.

• That’s a tough sell, though, since Israel wants to hang onto its regional military superiority.

Complicating issues further is that the Saudis want this to evolve into a full-on, fancy, official, Senate-ratified treaty — not a generic agreement that could be yanked by a future U.S. president.

The U.S. government’s crack team of wheelers and dealers will have its hands full with this one. We’ll let you know if anything comes of it.

Elsewhere in the world, the U.S. Navy's best aircraft carrier arrived off the coast of Venezuela. The power move is America’s latest in the chess match over drug smuggling, which has seen 21 attacks on small, alleged smuggling boats thus far.

TRIVIA

Dr. Oz — yes, the surgeon-turned-TV-doctor-turned-politician — said the Trump administration is looking at "all options" in response to the coming expiration of COVID-era subsidies for many health insurance plans.

As the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Oz is one of the government's leading voices on healthcare issues. The programs he’s in charge of are extremely important today, but they haven’t been around forever. In what year were the Medicare and Medicaid programs launched?

Hint: Former President Harry Truman and his wife, Bess, received the first two Medicare cards. He’d been out of office for 12 years.

BRIEFS

● As part of a larger deal, the U.S. on Friday slashed tariffs on Switzerland from 39% to 15%. U.S. Trade Representative Jameison Greer said this will open new markets to American goods. But critics are instead pointing to a gold-laden Swiss charm offensive.

● The Department of Justice (DOJ) blamed a "technical error" after it uploaded copies of two presidential pardons that featured digitally identical versions of Trump's signature. New versions with corrected signatures were updated shortly thereafter.

● Redrawing the boundaries of Indiana’s congressional districts could net Republicans two House seats next year. But the state’s Republican-led legislature isn’t playing ball. As punishment, Trump is calling for primary challenges to those who refuse.

● It wasn't on the battlefield, but Ukraine did net a win on Sunday when it signed a deal with Greece to import U.S. LNG (liquefied natural gas) via pipelines in northern Greece. The deal will help insulate Ukraine's energy infrastructure against Russian attacks.

QUOTE

ANSWER

Medicare gives government-funded health insurance to people over 65, while Medicaid gives it to low-income Americans. Both programs were launched in 1965 as part of President Lyndon B. Johnson's "Great Society" program.

The programs failed to make it through Congress in 1963. But Johnson rode a huge wave of goodwill to a landslide victory in 1964 and carried a big Democratic majority into Congress with him.

We’re not saying the, ahem, unfortunate cause of that goodwill is the reason Medicare exists. But, y’know, we’re not not saying that either.