Doing It All

Today’s notice: The president makes his moves. Another Democratic talkathon in the Senate. GOP campaigns spend big at Trump properties. The electability debate is back — but why? Plus: Mamdani’s best debate zinger.

THE LATEST

Going for it. On Wednesday, much of Washington was shocked by the president’s unilateral decision to demolish the entire East Wing of the White House as part of his ballroom construction project. Previously, he promised not to “interfere with the current building.” Historic preservationists say he is violating a slew of laws.

Donald Trump has long espoused an expanded version of executive power and promised to use it to do things quickly that would upset the establishment. Check.

He has suggested he might pay for additional renovations at the White House with some of the more than $200 million in taxpayer money he is demanding the DOJ give him as punitive damages for cases brought against him after his first term. Vengeance was a key campaign theme, and $200 million is a lot of vengeance. Check.

More military action. The president promised to use the military to combat drug trafficking, and those efforts expanded yesterday as Pete Hegseth announced a strike for the first time on what he alleged was a drug smuggling boat in the Pacific Ocean. International groups have condemned the strikes as extrajudicial killings, and they have caused consternation in the military too, with the commander in charge of carrying out previous attacks in the Caribbean resigning after expressing reservations.

A key theme to all this: There are checks and balances theoretically in place to allow other elected voices to have a say in big moves like these. But Republicans who control Congress have not pushed back in any real way. Trump promised a presidency unlike any that Americans have seen in their lifetimes, and few have proven able to stand in the way of that.

Open tabs: Trump Administration Sanctions Russia to Pressure Putin (NOTUS); Mamdani Plans to Keep Police Commissioner if Elected (NYT); Amazon’s Ring to partner with network of AI cameras used by ICE, feds, police (TechCrunch); UVA reaches deal to pause Trump administration probes (AP)

From the Hill

A lot of talk. “We’re in the most perilous moment, the biggest threat to our republic since the Civil War. President Trump is shredding our Constitution,” Sen. Jeff Merkley said during his talkathon on the Senate floor yesterday, which began around 6 p.m. Tuesday and ended at about 5 p.m. Wednesday. (That’s just shy of Sen. Cory Booker’s record floor speech, for those counting.)

Merkley’s marathon highlighted what the opposition party can do in the face of Trump’s actions: grind things to a halt in the legislative branch. Votes that were scheduled in the Senate were canceled as Merkley held the floor, a kind of mini-shutdown during a government shutdown.

From the campaign trail

A must-hit campaign stop these days? If you’re a Republican, seemingly it’s Trump Tower. Or Mar-a-Lago. Or any Trump property, really.

More than $1 million in political spending has gone to Trump properties since he took office in January, NOTUS’ Taylor Giorno and Dave Levinthal report from the latest FEC filings.

On what? The RNC spent about $10,200 in September at Trump Tower for “food and beverages” and “travel expenses” associated with a fundraiser. In August, it dropped more than $59,000 at the Mar-a-Lago Club for “venue rental and catering.”

Rep. Dan Meuser’s campaign disclosed spending nearly $4,500 on “fundraising” at Mar-a-Lago. That came days before Trump said he would endorse Meuser for Pennsylvania governor.

From New York

Last night, Zohran Mamdani faced off against Andrew Cuomo and Curtis Sliwa for a debate that was the last major test in New York’s mayoral race. It’s not clear the former governor did enough to erase the gap between himself and the self-proclaimed democratic socialist; he even skipped the spin room to catch the second half of the Knicks game with Eric Adams.

Mamdani’s most successful line came as Cuomo attempted to attack his youth and lack of experience, our partner newsroom The City reports. “You will hear from Andrew Cuomo about his experience, as if the issue is that we don’t know about it. The issue is that we have all experienced your experience,” Mamdani said.

THE BIG ONE

Does the word ‘electability’ mean anything anymore? Next up for Mamdani: What is expected to be an overwhelming victory in November. The guy is a model of Democratic electability. Why? Because he is a Democratic candidate who is probably going to be elected. There’s some debate punditry for you.

“Electability” is back in The Discourse, big time. The truly spectacular font of oppo (much of it self-inflicted) spraying all over Maine’s Graham Platner has led to days of the Washington Twitterati (Xers?) ribbing Platner supporters for “falling in love” with a mythical outsider.

Everyone claims to know who can win. MAGA Republicans say MAGA wins. Progressives say progressives win. Old people can’t win, except the right old people, who voters will definitely love. Personal baggage is a deal-breaker, for sure. Except for the right personal baggage, which equals authenticity you just can’t buy.

The electability line is becoming more impossible to draw, which is why you are seeing Democrats dealing with unexpectedly large and robust primaries.

We asked consultants yesterday, and they all had a slightly different take on what a candidate needs to be this year and next. But does anyone really know what electability means? “That’s the right question,” one Democratic consultant who works on statewide races texted back.

NEW ON NOTUS

Uh, you think? “We need to have a big conversation on AI,” Sen. Josh Hawley told NOTUS in a week where artificial-intelligence-generated video has popped up across politics, Samuel Larreal and Ursula Perano report. Trump posted his poop-plane video, and the NRSC turned a print quote from Chuck Schumer into a faked video version that went viral. Obviously everyone sees where this is going and urging restraint, right? Right??

“If they fuck around, we got to fuck around too,” Sen. Ruben Gallego, a Democrat, said.

Ten Commandments in schools: Three GOP-controlled states are requiring it, through bills with strikingly similar language, NOTUS’ Adora Brown reports. Louisiana state Rep. Kathy Edmonston, who introduced one of those measures, summed up Republicans’ newfound confidence in mandating Christian teachings in public schools: “We felt the climate was a little more open for it than it had been in the past.”

Pink slips take their toll at HUD: “HUD is actively undermining its own ability to enforce fair housing laws,” Kim Johnson, the senior director of policy at the National Low Income Housing Coalition, told NOTUS’ Raymond Fernández after yet another round of layoffs at the office that enforces fair housing laws. “It’s not a coincidence that the administration is doing this. It is a continuation of a lot of things that we know the administration has prioritized.”

More: Wisconsin Lawmakers Point Fingers as SNAP Benefits Run Out, by Jade Lozada

House Republicans Push Back on Trump’s $100K Fee for H-1B Visas, by Jackie Llanos

Ohio Is Poised to Gain More Republican-Friendly House Seats, by Tyler Spence

NOT US

• The shutdown is proving to be ‘gang’-proof, by Jordain Carney for Politico
  
• Trump Empowers Election Deniers, Still Fixated on 2020 Grievances, by Alexandra Berzon and Nick Corasaniti for The New York Times
  
• Before Trump, and Before the Young Republicans, There Was the Dartmouth Review, by Rich Barlow for Politico

BE SOCIAL

If the diva who lost their Louboutin in the Senate basement could come forward, our tip line is open.

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