What to know today
- NATIONAL GUARD: A federal appeals court ruled that the Trump administration can send National Guard troops into Oregon, despite the state’s opposition. The 2-1 ruling said President Donald Trump most likely “exercises his statutory authority” in ordering the deployment of troops.
- WHITE HOUSE DEMOLITION: Construction crews started demolishing part of the East Wing of the White House as part of Trump’s project to build a new ballroom. Trump said in July that the project “won’t interfere with the current building,” but photos today showed the removal of the facade.
- TRUMP-ALBANESE MEETING: Trump met with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at the White House, where they signed an agreement on Australia’s rare-earth minerals and are discussing trade and the AUKUS nuclear submarine deal.
- SHUTDOWN DAY 20: As the government shutdown enters another week with no end to the stalemate in sight, air travel delays are worsening around the country, and the federal agency that oversees the U.S. nuclear stockpile is set to furlough most of its staff. Meanwhile, the Senate rejected the House-passed short-term spending bill for the 11th time.
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Biden completes course of radiation treatment for prostate cancer
Former President Joe Biden, who was diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer in May, completed a course of radiation treatment today, his office said.
Biden underwent several weeks of treatment, according to his office.
It was not immediately clear whether Biden, 82, will require additional treatment or measures for his care.
Biden’s daughter Ashley Biden posted a video on her Instagram story of the former president at a University of Pennsylvania medical facility ringing the bell — a tradition for cancer patients marking the completion of, or reaching a major milestone of, cancer treatment.
John Thune says Trump’s embattled pick for Office of Special Counsel won’t get confirmed
Trump’s nominee to lead a key federal whistleblower agency appears unlikely to secure confirmation after several Senate Republicans indicated today that his pick doesn’t have their support.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., asked whether the White House should pull the nomination of far-right former podcaster Paul Ingrassia, said, “I think so.”
“He’s not going to pass,” he added.
Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., separately told NBC News that he will oppose Ingrassia’s nomination.
Demolition of the White House’s East Wing facade starts for Trump’s ballroom project
Construction crews today started demolishing part of the East Wing of the White House as part of Trump’s project to build a new ballroom, according to an administration official.
Trump said in July that the project “won’t interfere with the current building.”
“It’ll be near it, but not touching it, and pays total respect to the existing building, which I’m the biggest fan of,” Trump said at the time.
The White House did not immediately respond to questions about how much of the structure it plans to demolish and why it’s happening after Trump’s earlier insistence that the White House itself wouldn’t be touched.
Trump’s Argentina beef import plan will ‘harm’ U.S. ranchers, industry warns
The American cattle ranching industry is blasting Trump’s proposal to purchase beef from Argentina in an effort to lower supermarket beef prices.
“This plan only creates chaos at a critical time of the year for American cattle producers, while doing nothing to lower grocery store prices,” Colin Woodall, CEO of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, said in a statement today.
Trump floated purchasing beef from the South American nation yesterday aboard Air Force One to push down U.S. beef prices by increasing the overall supply.
“We would buy some beef from Argentina,” Trump told reporters, “If we do that, that will bring our beef prices down.”
Senate rejects House-passed Republican stopgap bill for 11th time
The Senate tonight rejected the House-passed funding bill for the 11th time.
The vote was 50-43. The legislation would reopen the government and keep it open until Nov. 21, giving congressional appropriators more time to try to finish full-year funding bills.
Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., and Angus King, I-Maine, who caucuses with the Democrats, voted in favor of passing it. Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania was not present for the vote; he has consistently voted for the bill.
Democrats have an advertising advantage in this year’s biggest elections
Democrats have something important in common across the three highest-profile elections coming in November: an ad-spending edge.
Money doesn’t buy everything in campaigns — or else the history books would look very different. But the data, according to ad-tracking firm AdImpact, tells a story about the state of each race.
Take California, where the Democrats supporting the ballot measure for a gerrymander that would help paint some Republican-held seats blue have long held a massive spending edge. It’s even more pronounced in the last week, as the opposition has virtually pulled its money off of the airwaves ahead of the vote.
In Virginia’s gubernatorial election, Democrat Abigail Spanberger has benefited from a consistent 2-to-1 spending edge, which she has used to stay tightly focused on an economic message — as her Republican opponent, Winsome Earle-Sears, has been hammering Spanberger on social issues and on the violent texts sent several years ago by the Democratic attorney general nominee.
Illinois urges Supreme Court to deny Trump's request to allow deployment of National Guard
The state of Illinois and city of Chicago filed their response to the Trump administration’s emergency Supreme Court application for a pause on a federal judge's ruling that blocked the administration from deploying members of the National Guard on the streets of Chicago.
“The Framers carefully apportioned responsibility over the 'militia' — today, the National Guard — between the federal government and the States, granting the federal government the authority to call up the militia only for specific purposes and at specific times,” attorneys for Chicago and Illinois wrote.
They argued that the conditions on the ground do not require the National Guard’s deployment. “No protest activity in Illinois has rendered the President unable to execute federal law,” they wrote. “As the lower courts recognized, the Broadview protests, which have been ongoing for months, have drawn only small groups and never hindered the continued operation of the ICE facility there.”
“The isolated, unconnected incidents occurring elsewhere in the Chicago area likewise do not support federalizing the Guard ... as the lower courts correctly concluded,” the attorneys added.
The Supreme Court is likely to wait for a reply from the Trump administration before it rules on the case.
National Guard troops could remain in D.C. into 2026, court filing says
National Guard members deployed in Washington are “likely to remain here indefinitely — potentially through at least the summer of 2026,” the D.C. Attorney General's office said in a court filing today.
The filing cited evidence the Trump administration has turned over as part of the AG's lawsuit challenging the continued deployment of the guard in the city.
"First, discovery has made clear that Defendants have no intention of ending this deployment soon. General [Leland] Blanchard has told his officers 'to plan and prepare for a long-term persistent presence,' which he believes may run at least through the celebration of 'America 250' in the summer of 2026," the filing said, referring to the nation's 250th birthday celebration in July.
The Trump administration has already extended "the deputation of all National Guard troops until at least November 30," the filing said.
The AG's office contended it needs a judge to stop the deployments because the administration is "engaged in a long-term law enforcement operation in the District — a grave 'incursion on [the District’s] sovereignty' that 'constitutes proof of an irreparable harm.'”
Trump brings Herschel Walker onstage during collegiate baseball event at White House
Trump, who is hosting Louisiana State University’s winning baseball teams in the White House of the East Room, pulled up his recently confirmed ambassador to the Bahamas, Herschel Walker, onstage for brief remarks this afternoon.
Trump introduced Walker, a former University of Georgia college football star who went on to play in the NFL, by saying: "I'm not sure that LSU loves this guy, but they do respect him. There's nobody like him." Walker said he “absolutely loved” Trump and congratulated the LSU players.
Walker ran a tumultuous and unsuccessful campaign as a Republican candidate for a Senate seat in Georgia three years ago. He'll be the first U.S. ambassador to the Bahamas in nearly 15 years.
Potential 2028 presidential contenders hit the trail in this year’s big campaigns
As Detroit rapper Gmac Cash’s “Big Gretch” blared through the speakers at a union hall, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer walked out onto the rally stage. But the Democrat wasn’t campaigning in her home state.
Whitmer found herself in New Jersey on Saturday morning, just more than two weeks before voters there select their next governor, in one of two gubernatorial contests in the country this year.
“Some of you might know me as ‘Big Gretch,’” Whitmer said. “Some people refer to me as ‘that woman from Michigan.’ However you know me, I am damn glad to be here in the Garden State this morning.”
The two-term governor then made her pitch for Rep. Mikie Sherrill to join the ranks of Democratic governors — a speech that also doubled as a potential preview of a Whitmer pitch to lead the Democratic Party.
