Also in today’s edition of ‘Regular Order’ for October 3, 2025:
Trump: I’m ready to make deep federal cuts.
Dems rebuke Trump over speech to military commanders.
Searching for a shutdown end game.
CONGRESS LATEST.
I’m going to start the same way again today. My experience over the years on Capitol Hill tells me one thing: Shutdowns are stupid. Shutdowns are dumb. And this one is no different. Democrats forced this shutdown to bring about more attention to health care issues that they want action upon. What’s the end game? No one knows.
SHUTDOWN.
Welcome to day three of the 2025 shutdown. All signs point to it continuing through the weekend and into next week. Senators will vote again this afternoon on a House-passed temporary funding bill. 60 votes are needed to end a filibuster led by Democrats which started two weeks ago on September 19.
THUNE.
“We’re going to give my Democrat colleagues another opportunity to reopen the government,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune said on Thursday. “I realize that my Democrat colleagues are facing pressure from members of their far left base, but they’re playing a losing game here.”
DEBATE.
Republicans used a short Senate session on Thursday to repeatedly blast the Democrat-led filibuster. “This Democrat shutdown is nothing but a cynical political shutdown with Senator Schumer kowtowing to his radical left wing extremists,” said Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS).
QUOTES.
Republicans gleefully continued to pull out old quotes from Democrats - where they denounced shutdowns. “Senate Democrats are holding the government hostage,” declared Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA).
YOU DID IT.
Democrats pointed the finger right back. “Donald Trump and Republicans own this government shutdown,” said Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), as they demanded that the White House and GOP leaders negotiate a deal.
BUCKEYE STATE.
Here’s my take on the situation
for the Dayton Daily News
. Ohio lawmakers - like most in Congress - are staying in their partisan corners.
NO WEEKEND OF WORK.
If Senate Democrats (plus GOP Sen. Rand Paul) filibuster and block the House-passed CR for a fourth time today - then Senators will probably head home for the weekend, and come back on Monday. Remember, the longer this goes - the harder it is to solve.
VIBE CHECK.
At the Capitol on Thursday, there was absolutely no evidence in the hallways that any bipartisan deal is on the horizon. Republicans have insisted that before they start any negotiations on health care, the government must be reopened. Senate Democrats don’t seem ready to give up their blockade - we’ll see what happens today on the Senate floor.
SUBSIDIES.
Before you talk about negotiations - remember that most Republicans want no part of the main demand of Democrats - extending the expiring subsidies in the Obama health law exchanges. “Congress must allow these temporary subsidies to expire,” said Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-GA).
RIDDLE ME THIS BATMAN.
Just think of how much Republicans hate the Obama health law. Do you think they are going to agree to a funding deal which extends ACA subsidies with a price tag of over $300 billion?
NPR-PBS.
GOP lawmakers also rejected the plan from Democrats which would restore funding for public radio and television. “A half-billion-dollar bailout for liberal news outlets?” said Rep. Troy Balderson (R-OH). “This is just a desperate move to earn cheap political points with their far-left base.”
ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS.
And the GOP attack continues as well on immigration. “They are demanding free health care for illegal aliens,” said Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) - as the White House hammered Democrats.
BILL DETAILS.
Let me say this about the illegal immigrant / health care charge from the GOP. I don’t agree with the Republican assertion that the Democratic CR plan would give health care to illegal immigrants.
ILLEGALS.
Those in the United States illegally were already not eligible for federal programs like Medicaid, Medicare, or the Obama health law - before the Big, Beautiful Bill was passed.
BBB.
What the Big, Beautiful Bill did was tighten the screws further on those who had some kind of legal status, temporary or not.
DETAILS.
This web rundown
by the National Immigration Law Center is one of the best that I’ve read so far on this subject. They obviously oppose the GOP changes, but the fine print spells it out.
END GAME.
I said this earlier in the week. It is one thing to start a shutdown. It is entirely another thing to figure out how it ends. (Narrator: It usually ends with the party that forced the shutdown giving in - and getting nothing.) Let me know your vision of a shutdown solution.
Leave a comment
NUCLEAR OPTION.
One of the weirdest talking points on social media that I noticed on Thursday was that Democrats were basically daring Republicans to use the nuclear option - and end the Senate filibuster - in order to pass a stopgap funding plan with just a majority of votes.
INSERT IN LIEU THEREOF.
“Republicans control the Senate and the voting rules,” tweeted Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA). “GOP Senate can switch to a majority vote just like they did literally last month,” referring to a change Republicans made on nominations.
FILIBUSTER.
I heard the same thing on social media from people siding with Democrats. What’s so weird about that? No one in the Senate is talking about getting rid of the filibuster. The Republicans don’t want to do that. (Narrator: And the Democrats wouldn’t like it either.)
OLD MAN.
I had several people tell me that I was too old to understand the desire for change in the Senate. Yeah - things may be changing underneath my feet. But if you eliminate the filibuster, it will create a wild scene.
ANGER.
The other obvious thing yesterday was the anger directed at me for having the gall to report that Democrats were to blame for this shutdown. Oh, that made a lot of people very mad. I’ll say it again. If you filibuster a clean bill to fund the government, you forced the shutdown.
GOLDEN.
Not everyone is locked into the party line on this shutdown dispute. Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME) broke with his fellow Democrats and voted for the 7-week GOP funding plan. Why? Here’s his full explanation - where he jabs at progressives in his own party:
This government shutdown is the result of hardball politics driven by the demands far-left groups are making for Democratic Party leaders to put on a show of their opposition to President Trump. The shutdown is hurting Americans and our economy, and the irony is it has only handed more power to the president. This fight is ostensibly about health care, so let me be clear: I opposed the GOP’s Medicaid cuts and I want to extend the ACA tax credits. But some of my colleagues in the majority party have reasonable concerns about tax credits going to high-income households. There’s room and time to negotiate. But normal policy disagreements are no reason to subject our constituents to the continued harm of this shutdown.
FUN PHOTO OF THE DAY.
I always like taking reflection photos of the Capitol, but too often I tried to use the windows of security vehicles - and the police don’t like that on the Capitol Plaza. This week, I enlisted the help of Jeff Kent, who heads the Senate Press Photographer’s Gallery. We thank him for the closeup.
CUTS.
I have talked for months about how a shutdown scenario might give President Trump the chance to make even deeper cuts in the federal government. I was sort of surprised that two days into the shutdown, nothing has really happened yet. Maybe today?
TRUTH
. Trump on Thursday issued another warning to Democrats, but reading it made me wonder - is this just all bluster? Or does he really have something coming down the pike?
SOCIAL.
“I can’t believe the Radical Democrats gave me this unprecedented opportunity,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social website. (Narrator: I can’t believe it either.)
TRUMP SPEECH.
I wish the shutdown fight hadn’t been going on this week, because it obscured President Trump’s speech to military commanders on Tuesday. The speech should set off alarm bells. In his remarks, Trump suggested using American cities as ‘training grounds’ for the U.S. military to deal with what he called, ‘a war from within.’
SILENCE.
What I noticed most about this episode was the silence from military commanders in the audience. They did not applaud when Trump walked in. They gave him polite applause when the 72 minute speech was over. I wrote about it
in my column
for the Atlanta Journal Constitution.
TRUMP.
“San Francisco, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles — they’re very unsafe places, and we’re going to straighten them out one by one,” the President said. “This is going to be a major part for some of the people in this room. That’s a war, too. It’s a war from within.”
LETTER.
A group of Democrats in Congress who are veterans
sent Trump a letter
outlining their concerns with his speech, saying he was ‘threatening something so deeply un-American it may break the fabric of our democracy.’
CRICKETS.
You know what the reaction was to the speech among Republicans. Almost total silence.
AIR TRAVEL.
Earlier this week, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on air travel which had some interesting testimony from two smaller airline executives. The heads of Frontier and Allegiant both appealed to Congress to help them grow - saying it could only help consumers fly for less.
FRONTIER.
“We don’t need special treatment,” said Frontier CEO Barry Biffle, who told Senators that older legacy airlines are preventing low-cost airlines from getting airport gates. “Give us a gate, and we will bring fares down. Give us a slot, and we will create new routes.”
ALLEGIANT.
CEO Greg Anderson of Allegiant made much the same argument in his testimony, arguing that if airports get federal money to rebuild a terminal - then one-third of those gates must be for use of all airlines. “Value airlines face limited opportunities to obtain gates or sl
...
Also in today’s edition of ‘Regular Order’ for October 3, 2025:
Trump: I’m ready to make deep federal cuts.
Dems rebuke Trump over speech to military commanders.
Searching for a shutdown end game.
CONGRESS LATEST.
I’m going to start the same way again today. My experience over the years on Capitol Hill tells me one thing: Shutdowns are stupid. Shutdowns are dumb. And this one is no different. Democrats forced this shutdown to bring about more attention to health care issues that they want action upon. What’s the end game? No one knows.
SHUTDOWN.
Welcome to day three of the 2025 shutdown. All signs point to it continuing through the weekend and into next week. Senators will vote again this afternoon on a House-passed temporary funding bill. 60 votes are needed to end a filibuster led by Democrats which started two weeks ago on September 19.
THUNE.
“We’re going to give my Democrat colleagues another opportunity to reopen the government,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune said on Thursday. “I realize that my Democrat colleagues are facing pressure from members of their far left base, but they’re playing a losing game here.”
DEBATE.
Republicans used a short Senate session on Thursday to repeatedly blast the Democrat-led filibuster. “This Democrat shutdown is nothing but a cynical political shutdown with Senator Schumer kowtowing to his radical left wing extremists,” said Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS).
QUOTES.
Republicans gleefully continued to pull out old quotes from Democrats - where they denounced shutdowns. “Senate Democrats are holding the government hostage,” declared Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA).
YOU DID IT.
Democrats pointed the finger right back. “Donald Trump and Republicans own this government shutdown,” said Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), as they demanded that the White House and GOP leaders negotiate a deal.
BUCKEYE STATE.
Here’s my take on the situation
for the Dayton Daily News
. Ohio lawmakers - like most in Congress - are staying in their partisan corners.
NO WEEKEND OF WORK.
If Senate Democrats (plus GOP Sen. Rand Paul) filibuster and block the House-passed CR for a fourth time today - then Senators will probably head home for the weekend, and come back on Monday. Remember, the longer this goes - the harder it is to solve.
VIBE CHECK.
At the Capitol on Thursday, there was absolutely no evidence in the hallways that any bipartisan deal is on the horizon. Republicans have insisted that before they start any negotiations on health care, the government must be reopened. Senate Democrats don’t seem ready to give up their blockade - we’ll see what happens today on the Senate floor.
SUBSIDIES.
Before you talk about negotiations - remember that most Republicans want no part of the main demand of Democrats - extending the expiring subsidies in the Obama health law exchanges. “Congress must allow these temporary subsidies to expire,” said Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-GA).
RIDDLE ME THIS BATMAN.
Just think of how much Republicans hate the Obama health law. Do you think they are going to agree to a funding deal which extends ACA subsidies with a price tag of over $300 billion?
NPR-PBS.
GOP lawmakers also rejected the plan from Democrats which would restore funding for public radio and television. “A half-billion-dollar bailout for liberal news outlets?” said Rep. Troy Balderson (R-OH). “This is just a desperate move to earn cheap political points with their far-left base.”
ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS.
And the GOP attack continues as well on immigration. “They are demanding free health care for illegal aliens,” said Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) - as the White House hammered Democrats.
BILL DETAILS.
Let me say this about the illegal immigrant / health care charge from the GOP. I don’t agree with the Republican assertion that the Democratic CR plan would give health care to illegal immigrants.
ILLEGALS.
Those in the United States illegally were already not eligible for federal programs like Medicaid, Medicare, or the Obama health law - before the Big, Beautiful Bill was passed.
BBB.
What the Big, Beautiful Bill did was tighten the screws further on those who had some kind of legal status, temporary or not.
DETAILS.
This web rundown
by the National Immigration Law Center is one of the best that I’ve read so far on this subject. They obviously oppose the GOP changes, but the fine print spells it out.
END GAME.
I said this earlier in the week. It is one thing to start a shutdown. It is entirely another thing to figure out how it ends. (Narrator: It usually ends with the party that forced the shutdown giving in - and getting nothing.) Let me know your vision of a shutdown solution.
Leave a comment
NUCLEAR OPTION.
One of the weirdest talking points on social media that I noticed on Thursday was that Democrats were basically daring Republicans to use the nuclear option - and end the Senate filibuster - in order to pass a stopgap funding plan with just a majority of votes.
INSERT IN LIEU THEREOF.
“Republicans control the Senate and the voting rules,” tweeted Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA). “GOP Senate can switch to a majority vote just like they did literally last month,” referring to a change Republicans made on nominations.
FILIBUSTER.
I heard the same thing on social media from people siding with Democrats. What’s so weird about that? No one in the Senate is talking about getting rid of the filibuster. The Republicans don’t want to do that. (Narrator: And the Democrats wouldn’t like it either.)
OLD MAN.
I had several people tell me that I was too old to understand the desire for change in the Senate. Yeah - things may be changing underneath my feet. But if you eliminate the filibuster, it will create a wild scene.
ANGER.
The other obvious thing yesterday was the anger directed at me for having the gall to report that Democrats were to blame for this shutdown. Oh, that made a lot of people very mad. I’ll say it again. If you filibuster a clean bill to fund the government, you forced the shutdown.
GOLDEN.
Not everyone is locked into the party line on this shutdown dispute. Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME) broke with his fellow Democrats and voted for the 7-week GOP funding plan. Why? Here’s his full explanation - where he jabs at progressives in his own party:
This government shutdown is the result of hardball politics driven by the demands far-left groups are making for Democratic Party leaders to put on a show of their opposition to President Trump. The shutdown is hurting Americans and our economy, and the irony is it has only handed more power to the president. This fight is ostensibly about health care, so let me be clear: I opposed the GOP’s Medicaid cuts and I want to extend the ACA tax credits. But some of my colleagues in the majority party have reasonable concerns about tax credits going to high-income households. There’s room and time to negotiate. But normal policy disagreements are no reason to subject our constituents to the continued harm of this shutdown.
FUN PHOTO OF THE DAY.
I always like taking reflection photos of the Capitol, but too often I tried to use the windows of security vehicles - and the police don’t like that on the Capitol Plaza. This week, I enlisted the help of Jeff Kent, who heads the Senate Press Photographer’s Gallery. We thank him for the closeup.
CUTS.
I have talked for months about how a shutdown scenario might give President Trump the chance to make even deeper cuts in the federal government. I was sort of surprised that two days into the shutdown, nothing has really happened yet. Maybe today?
TRUTH
. Trump on Thursday issued another warning to Democrats, but reading it made me wonder - is this just all bluster? Or does he really have something coming down the pike?
SOCIAL.
“I can’t believe the Radical Democrats gave me this unprecedented opportunity,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social website. (Narrator: I can’t believe it either.)
TRUMP SPEECH.
I wish the shutdown fight hadn’t been going on this week, because it obscured President Trump’s speech to military commanders on Tuesday. The speech should set off alarm bells. In his remarks, Trump suggested using American cities as ‘training grounds’ for the U.S. military to deal with what he called, ‘a war from within.’
SILENCE.
What I noticed most about this episode was the silence from military commanders in the audience. They did not applaud when Trump walked in. They gave him polite applause when the 72 minute speech was over. I wrote about it
in my column
for the Atlanta Journal Constitution.
TRUMP.
“San Francisco, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles — they’re very unsafe places, and we’re going to straighten them out one by one,” the President said. “This is going to be a major part for some of the people in this room. That’s a war, too. It’s a war from within.”
LETTER.
A group of Democrats in Congress who are veterans
sent Trump a letter
outlining their concerns with his speech, saying he was ‘threatening something so deeply un-American it may break the fabric of our democracy.’
CRICKETS.
You know what the reaction was to the speech among Republicans. Almost total silence.
AIR TRAVEL.
Earlier this week, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on air travel which had some interesting testimony from two smaller airline executives. The heads of Frontier and Allegiant both appealed to Congress to help them grow - saying it could only help consumers fly for less.
FRONTIER.
“We don’t need special treatment,” said Frontier CEO Barry Biffle, who told Senators that older legacy airlines are preventing low-cost airlines from getting airport gates. “Give us a gate, and we will bring fares down. Give us a slot, and we will create new routes.”
ALLEGIANT.
CEO Greg Anderson of Allegiant made much the same argument in his testimony, arguing that if airports get federal money to rebuild a terminal - then one-third of those gates must be for use of all airlines. “Value airlines face limited opportunities to obtain gates or slots at larger airports.”
LOW COST.
But Biffle also took flak over extra fees for passengers on Frontier, like making people pay for a carry-on bag. “This has got to be the only business in the world I have heard of that pays your people to harass your own customers,” said Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO).
CAPITOL HILL.
Tourists coming to the U.S. Capitol on Thursday were not as lucky as those visiting the Smithsonian, where museums were still open - despite the shutdown. The Capitol Visitor’s Center is closed until further notice, keeping tourists out of the Capitol, unless they have a member of Congress willing to give the tour.
MESSAGE.
“The U.S. Capitol Visitor Center is closed due to a lapse in appropriations,” the sign says. You might be able to spot the reflection of your intrepid reporter in the photo above.
MUSE OF HISTORY.
October 3, 1921. The Senate was deep in debate on a major revenue bill when
the subject of tax evasion
came up. “I think the Government has been deprived of a great many millions of dollars,” said Sen. William King of Utah, saying too many Americans failed to pay their taxes. “Where one is caught a hundred are lost,” replied fellow Utah Senator Reed Smoot.
LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM:
The House is expected to have votes next week.
The Senate meets at 11:30 am.
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