Good morning, and best of luck to any theater fans with an upcoming vacation to New York City. If union contract negotiations don’t fall into place, Broadway could go on strike as soon as today. Don’t call an audible and head to Washington, D.C., either. The Smithsonian, the Washington Monument, and pretty much all the government-run tourist attractions are closed thanks to the government shutdown.

If you’re in Paris, though, you should be golden. The Louvre has reopened after Sunday’s horrible, unexciting, very uncool $102 million jewel heist.

BUDGET

🥈 Government shutdown jumps to #2 all-time

We’re now in Day #23 of the government shutdown, making it the second-longest ever. If Congress can’t get its act together in the next two weeks, this bad boy will surpass the record-long 35-day shutdown that took place in late 2018 and early 2019.

That’s a big, um, “achievement,” but not as big as it sounds. The current budgeting process, in which a government shutdown is a thing that somehow exists, has only been around since 1980.

• In 1976, Congress changed the way its budgeting process works. For the next few years, funding gaps didn’t mean the government had to shut down.

• In 1980, the U.S. attorney general under President Carter issued a legal opinion saying federal law requires the government to stop working when Congress hasn’t provided money to fund that work.

Not including the current situation, the federal government has shut down 10 times since then. Three shutdowns lasted one day or less. Four landed in the 3-6 day range. And three were heavy hitters at 16, 21, and 35 days.

About 730,000 federal employees are working without pay, while another 670,000 are temporarily furloughed. They should all get back pay when this is over. Others, like the military and the FBI, are still being paid thanks to previously budgeted funds. But those piles of cash might not last past the end of the month.

• Federal employees are already feeling that financial pinch, and it’s only going to get worse the longer this goes on.

• Don’t worry, though. Your junk mail is still flowing free just as God Satan intended. The Post Office is mostly self-funded, so it’s not really affected by shutdowns. Thanks, stamps!

Is the end in sight? No. But Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley (D) gave a marathon 23-hour speech on the Senate floor on Wednesday, railing against Trump. So that's something. Following his speech, the Senate voted 54-46 against (it needs 60 votes to pass) the Republicans’ temporary budget plan for the 12th time.

• Reminder: This is a race to see if Democrats can convince 13 Republicans to join their side before Republicans convince 7 Democrats to join theirs.

Related: Republican campaign operative Jordan Wiggins, who has worked for JD Vance and Ron DeSantis, is Trump's new nominee to lead the U.S. Semiquincentennial Commission, aka America250. He'll lead the government's party planning committee ahead of the big birthday next year. The budget? A cool $150 million.

GOVERNMENT

🌍️ President Trump canceled a planned meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin because it "didn't feel right." They'd planned to meet in Hungary and discuss ending the war in Ukraine. Russia's newest drone attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine, which hit a kindergarten (no kids got hurt), prooobably factored into that decision. Trump instead announced new "massive sanctions" on Russia's two biggest oil companies (Sanctions mean their U.S.-based assets are frozen, and they can’t do business with Americans). One meeting still on the president’s calendar? A November visit from Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Elsewhere on the foreign policy front, Vice President JD Vance was in Israel this week to nurture the delicate Israel-Hamas peace deal.

🚪 Paul Ingrassia is no longer President Trump's nominee to be the next special counsel of the United States. Ingrassia graciously pulled his own nomination all by himself after it became clear that he didn't have enough support from Senate Republicans to win confirmation. He was a controversial pick from the start, thanks to some alleged antisemitic remarks. That boiled over this week with the leak of some nasty text messages. Included in the leak were some absolute bangers, like "Never trust a Chinaman or Indian" and "I do have a Nazi streak in me from time to time, I will admit it." If confirmed, he'd have led the small U.S. Office of the Special Counsel (OSC), which protects whistleblowers and investigates other agencies for wrongdoing.

🚧 Demolition is underway at the White House. President Trump is removing the East Wing and replacing it with a humongous new ballroom. Private donors are providing the funds for the project, and costs have swelled to $300 million. Some historic preservationists are up in arms about the demolition. But the White House has defended the move by arguing that the current East Wing isn’t actually all that historical because it's not part of the main White House residence. Instead, it was built by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1942 to hide the construction of an underground bunker. The East Wing currently houses the Office of the First Lady, the official calligrapher, and the social secretary (event planner).

POLITICS

⚖️ The state of Arizona is suing Congress

The only thing more common in Congress than people who should’ve retired 20 years ago is lawsuits. And the target of the latest one? The House of Representatives itself.

The gist: On September 23, voters elected Adelita Grijalva to represent them for the last 15 months of a two-year term in the House. But House Speaker Mike Johnson hasn’t sworn her in yet. So Arizona’s attorney general (AG) filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against the House (effectively, Mike Johnson) to try to force the issue.

• Special (irregularly scheduled) elections don’t typically mean a delay like this. In April, two congressmen won special elections in Florida and got sworn in the very next day.

The arguments: Arizona’s AG is accusing Johnson of "actively stripping" Arizonans of their representation in Congress. She also claims one person can't decide who is and isn't a member of Congress.

• Johnson slammed the lawsuit as a bid for “national publicity" and said that he’ll happily swear in Grijalva ... as soon as the Senate votes to reopen the government.

• Plus, the House isn’t in session right now, he says, so what’s the point?

Per the Constitution, the House gets the final word on who its members are. But Supreme Court precedent says the House can only deny legally qualified, elected members their seats if they, well … aren’t legally qualified or elected.

• In practice, that means a member-elect can only be denied their seat when the election results aren't super clear (like, say, if a Senate seat is won by two votes)

So what is this? Is it a normal delay due to the House's calendar? Or, as Arizona's AG sees it, is Johnson illegally trying to prevent Grijalva from taking her seat and helping force a House vote on releasing the Epstein files?

Elsewhere in American politics…

1. Republicans are likely to gain an extra U.S. House seat in North Carolina next year. Over the objections of the Democratic governor, the Republican-dominated legislature just redrew the state’s congressional map to toss more Republican voters into what is currently a Democratic district.

2. Over in California, a ballot measure to redraw the map and boost Democratic chances in five seats is set for a statewide vote next month. The pro-D “Yes” side is looking good here, and the pro-R “No” campaign has all but given up.

3. The 2024 presidential race was less than a year ago, but the planning for 2028 is already well underway. Democratic Party officials are meeting this month to begin deciding which states will vote first in the 2028 primary process.

TRIVIA

Republicans notched a big electoral boost on Wednesday. Former New Hampshire Sen. John E. Sununu (R) announced he would run for his old seat again next year. Longtime Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen is retiring, and Sununu is widely viewed as having the best chance to win the swing-state Senate seat back for Team R. Sununu comes from a famous political family, and both his brother and his dad have served as New Hampshire’s governor. Political families like the Sununus are common in U.S. history, but only three have reached the ultimate level of success: the White House. Which three U.S. presidents were direct descendants of previous U.S. presidents?

Hint: Two other pairs share last names but aren’t on this list.

BRIEFS

● Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy began his five-year prison sentence on Tuesday for a campaign finance conspiracy. He served one term as president from 2007-2012, but is perhaps more importantly known as Mary-Kate Olsen’s former brother-in-law.

● The U.S. military on Tuesday struck two more alleged drug trafficking boats, killing five people. The attacks took place in the Pacific Ocean, marking an expansion of the administration’s anti-trafficking campaign. All seven previous strikes hit the Caribbean.

● A three-judge panel at a federal appeals court on Monday green-lighted President Trump's decision to deploy 200 Oregon National Guard troops to Portland, Oregon. But this fight isn’t over, and a similar case is currently pending at the Supreme Court.

● A driver crashed their vehicle into a gate outside the White House at about 10:30 on Tuesday night. The Secret Service said the driver was arrested, but gave no further details. President Trump was home at the time of the crash.

● The Trump administration is planning to expand its illegal immigration crackdown to the San Francisco area. U.S. Border Patrol, rather than Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), will take the lead and will operate out of a nearby Coast Guard base.

QUOTE

ANSWER

1. George W. Bush (#43, 2001-2009) was the son of George H.W. Bush (#41, 1989-1993).

2. John Quincy Adams (#6, 1825-1829) was the son of John Adams (#2, 1797-1801).

3. Benjamin Harrison (#23, 1889-1893) was the grandson of William Henry Harrison (#9, 1841), who was only president for about a month (where your coats, kids!).

Despite the family’s long-lasting political fame, there’s only been one President Kennedy. Two Johnsons have held the office (Lyndon and Andrew), but they weren’t related. The Presidents Roosevelt (that’s Theo and Frankie) were related, but not by much. They were fifth cousins. They did, however, manage to overcome that obstacle and keep the family in the family: Franklin’s wife, Eleanor, was Theodore’s niece.