Today in Politics, Bulletin 247. 11/10/25

… The govt shutdown is coming to a close as soon as Mike Johnson can track down his members who are on their extended three-month vacations in various places. This was made possible by 8 Senators who voted with Republicans. Not coincidentally (more on that later) none of them are up for reelection in 2026:

Cortez Masto — Not up until 2028
Hassan — Not up until 2028
Fetterman — Not up until 2028
Kaine — Not up until 2030
King — Not up until 2030
Rosen — Not up until 2030
Durbin — Retiring
Shaheen — Retiring

… The “deal” is that John Thune has agreed to schedule a vote on extending the ACA subsidies for the second week of December. Mike Johnson has agreed to nothing, which means it likely will not get a vote in the House even if by some miracle it passed the senate. And that will be the end of it. 22-24 million people will see their health insurance premiums dramatically increase on Jan 1.

… Democrats are correct that they called attention to the issue to far more Americans than otherwise had the shutdown not happened. They are also correct that people will squarely put the blame for that on Republicans. I’m not sure a lengthy govt shutdown just for that was worth it (because that’s pretty much all they got), but they think it was. I guess we will see.

… Several of the senators who voted for it were sent out for a brief press conference last night so they could take the incoming flak and the heat off leadership. Sen. Maggie Hassan (NH): “With the govt reopening shortly, Republicans now finally have to come to the table. Or make no mistake, Americans will remember who stood in the way.”

… Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (NV): “This fight tonight is just the beginning. This is the beginning to show up and fight for Americans across the country. I expect Republicans to be at the table in the next few weeks. I expect the WH to be at the table. And if they do choose not to come to the table, they can own the disastrous premium increases that will continue to rise.”

… They won’t be at the table.

… Sen. Tim Kaine (VA): “We’re the minority party, but everybody will get to see who is standing for them when it comes to lowering their healthcare costs.”

… Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (NH): “We have a guaranteed vote by a guaranteed date. We’ve heard from a number of our colleagues on the other side of the aisle that they’re willing to come to the table, they’re willing to work with us once the govt is open to get this done. We’ve heard the same thing from the WH. So now we’ll see if they’re really gonna work with us.”

… They won’t be at the table.

… Sen. Angus King (ME): “I believe that we are closer tonight to a vote on the ACA tax credits than we were this morning. This agreement tonight is a win for the American people. The initial strategy didn’t work. And now we have one. We’re gonna have a guaranteed vote on the ACA, and it may not succeed. I grant that. But a reasonable chance - 10, 20, 30% - is a lot better than 0% which is where we were.”

… There is a 0% chance.

… While Shaheen may be retiring from the senate, her daughter Stefany is running for congress is NH. She immediately tried to distance herself from her mom, who was the point person for the Dems negotiating with Thune: “Improving health care has been the cause of my life. It’s why I am running for congress. So I cannot support this deal when Speaker Johnson refuses to even allow a vote to extend health care tax credits.”

… Her primary opponent Heath Howard was quick to pounce: “Then why did your mom vote for it? This is the hypocrisy of the establishment, playing both sides of this situation. If the Shaheens actually cared about healthcare, they would advocate for a universal healthcare system, not throw ACA recipients under the bus.”

… Another person on social media responded: “Mommy has taken a sledgehammer to your dreams on being in Congress.”

… AOC: “The average monthly SNAP benefit is $177 a person. The average ACA benefit is up to $550 a person/mo. People want us to hold the line for a reason. This is not a matter of appealing to a base. It’s about people’s lives. Working people want leaders whose word means something.”

… IL Gov JB Pritzker: “This is not a deal - it’s an empty promise. Trump and his Republican Congress are making healthcare more expensive for the middle class and ending it for working families. Time for Democrats to stand tall for affordable healthcare.”

… Rep. Ro Khanna (CA): “Senator Schumer is no longer effective and should be replaced. If you can’t lead the fight to stop healthcare premiums from skyrocketing for Americans, what will you fight for?”

… Sen. Bernie Sanders (VT): “A vote in the senate is a totally meaningless gesture. You can get 100 votes here and it won’t mean anything because the House is not going to take it up.”

… Sen. Elizabeth Warren (MA): “I think this is a terrible mistake. The American people want us to stand and fight for health care, and that’s what I believe we should do.”

… Sen. Chris Murphy (CT): “Standing up to a tyrant - who is willing to impose pain as leverage to compel loyalty or acquiescence - is hard. You can convince yourself that yielding stops the pain and brings you back to ‘normal’. But there is no ‘normal’. Submission emboldens the tyrant. The threat grows.”

… Sen. Chuck Schumer (NY): “However this vote turns out, this fight will and must continue. Democrats must fight.”

… Sen. Dick Durbin (IL) to CNN: “People need to understand how the Senate works. We have brought this issue as a major national issue from zero to a major factor.”

… Sen. Elissa Slotkin (MI): “I am voting no. For me, this was never about politics or Beltway gamesmanship. Trump’s ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ has plunged America into a health care crisis. That emergency has real life victims, and in Michigan, the average price of health care is increasing across the board, with some expected to see their premiums more than double. What’s clear is that the old way of doing business continues to fail America. Leadership is about changing and adapting when there is real need, and unless we hear that, we will fail to meet the moment.”

… Sen. Tammy Duckworth (IL): “I simply cannot and I will not vote to do nothing to help protect people from Trump’s vindictive and malicious efforts in exchange for a vague promise from the least trustworthy Republican party in our nation’s history.”

… DNC Chair Ken Martin: “I stand with Democratic leadership as they refuse to rubber stamp the full-scale Republican assault on Americans’ health care and I am proud of the majority of Senate Democrats who opposed this vote.”

… Rep. Seth Mouton (MA): “This is another example of why we need new leadership. If Chuck Schumer were an effective leader, he would have united his caucus to vote ‘No’ tonight and hold the line on healthcare. Maybe now Ed Markey will finally join me in pledging not to vote for Schumer?”

… Mouton is running against Markey in the MA senate primary. Obviously, support for Schumer is going to be an issue in every one in 2026. Certainly in Maine, Michigan and elsewhere.

… Rep. Mark Pocan (WI): “If a political ‘leader’ doesn’t get outrage from the public and House Dems over what happened, they aren’t leadership. What Senate Dems who voted for this horseshit deal did was fuck over all the hard work people put in to Tuesday’s elections. Healthcare matters. Not platitudes.”

… Pocan on Schumer: “You don’t endorse or say who you voted for in NYC despite there being a Dem candidate. You get Dem Senators to negotiate a terrible “deal” that does nothing real about healthcare. Screw over a national political party. Profile of scourge? Next.”

… Rep. Angie Craig (MN): “If people believe this is a ‘deal,’ I have a bridge to sell you. I’m not going to put 24 million Americans at risk of losing their health care. I’m a no.”

… Gavin Newsom: “Tonight’s Senate vote on the federal government shutdown should have been a time for strength. Instead we saw capitulation and a betrayal of working Americans. The American people need more from their leaders.”

… Shannon Watts with Moms Demand Action: “The most frustrating thing about today is that Democratic leaders have had weeks to plan an exit strategy and to share that with voters and make us part of the process. I understand wanting to end suffering. I do not understand backroom deals being forced down our throats with no explanation.”

… Jeffries was asked by Aaron Parnas if Schumer should remain Senate leader: “Yes, I think Chuck Schumer has held the line during this 7 week fight and held senate Democrats together. He will vote no and continues to strongly oppose this and he will stay in this fight as we move forward together.”

… My assessment is this: Schumer made the decision to end this shutdown at least two weeks ago. He only went along with it to begin with because he was afraid not to. Then he decided to wait until after the elections last Tues because he knew caving before that could kill enthusiasm and turnout. Then he orchestrated it where Dems who are retiring or aren’t up for reelection in 2026 would vote for it, while the rest voted no and got to show outrage for the base.

… Don’t get me wrong, many of them are legitimately outraged at the senators who caved. But Schumer isn’t and neither are several others. The tell is that you don’t hear any of the senators who are saying how upset they are calling for Schumer to step down from leadership. Another tell is that none of defectors are up for reelection in 2026. That’s not a coincidence.

… So we just move on with more of the same, despite the fact that 80% of Democratic voters want a change in senate leadership. Do I think there is much more that Dems can accomplish right now while in the minority as far as passing legislation? No. But there is more than can do in other ways. While so many others of his generation are retiring to give others a chance, Chuck seems determined to hang on until the bitter end.

… When Schumer rose to prominence, it was a very different time. You had a handful of channels, no internet, no social media, no podcasts, and a senator could do a Sunday show a week and CNN on a weeknight and that was enough. But now much more is required. A big part of the job is being able to communicate and connect with people around the country on a variety of platforms - advocating for your candidates and policies. Schumer is simply not capable of doing that.

… Dr. Oz was asked on Fox how he sees this playing out after ACA subsidies expire at the end of the year for 22-24 million Americans: “We have lots of great ideas, but I don’t want to show our cards.”

… Fox asked Mike Johnson how the Republican healthcare plan was coming along: “We’ve got notebooks full of ideas.”

… Punchbowl: “Speaker Mike Johnson plans to swear in Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva before the govt funding vote. This will not change the vote count on the funding bill. But it will put the Epstein discharge petition over the 218-signature threshold.”

… Which means that would have to be voted on no later than 9 legislative days after the petition is filed with the signatures. That is 9 legislative days, not calendar days. At the rate Johnson has them in session, who knows how long that will be. But I guess this is one silver lining to ending the shutdown.

… NYT: “At a secret gathering in May south of London, the head of Britain’s domestic security service asked FBI Director Kash Patel for help. British security officials rely on the bureau for high-tech surveillance tools - the kind they might need to monitor a new embassy that China wants to build near the Tower of London. The head of MI5, Ken McCallum, asked Patel to protect the job of an FBI agent based in London who dealt with that technology.”

… “Patel agreed to find funding to keep the posting. But the job had already been slated to disappear as the WH moved to slash the FBI budget. The agent moved to a different job back in the US, saving the FBI money but leaving MI5 officials incredulous.”

… “The conference in the UK had a detailed agenda. Patel complained about the number of meetings, a well-known gripe of his. The gathering was relatively informal, but even so, Patel surprised other attendees when he arrived wearing a trucker hat and a green hooded sweatshirt.”

… “Before leaving Britain, Patel and his girlfriend joined the other security and intelligence officials for a dinner at Windsor Palace with King Charles III. At the end of the night, the group gathered for a photograph. Patel stood next to the king.”

… Trump was booed loudly and relentlessly for over 2 minutes as he was introduced to the crowd in a luxury box at the Washington Commanders game. He appeared rattled and upset since he is used to only worship and praise at his carefully scripted and choreographed events. He left the game early and did not look happy. Mike Johnson and Pete Hegseth were also with him in the box.

… Maybe this will get Commanders’ billionaire owner Josh Harris to back off his rumored plans to name their new stadium after Trump (which Trump has been lobbying for), since it is clear his team’s entire fan base despises him.

… Washington also lost the game 44-22.

… NYT: “In the final hours of Trump’s first term, a violent felon used his family’s ties to Trump’s son-in-law to receive the deal of a lifetime. Trump commuted the man’s 10-year prison sentence. All he had to do to ensure he remained free was stay out of trouble. But according to prosecutors, the man, Jonathan Braun, later sexually assaulted a nanny, swung an IV pole at a nurse, threatened a congregant at his synagogue and made usurious loans to struggling small businesses.”

… “On Monday, a federal judge in Brooklyn must decide whether to sentence him to a new 5-year prison sentence that prosecutors are seeking. The saga of Braun, who in 2011 pleaded guilty to drug trafficking and money laundering, demonstrates how Trump’s handling of pardons and commutations has allowed some convicts to return to criminality.”

… “Braun’s family had hired Alan Dershowitz, Trump’s ally at the time, to lobby on his behalf. After Braun was released, his bad behavior resumed, with a flurry of disturbing transgressions this year. Braun’s former live-in nanny testified about an incident on Feb. 15 in which Mr. Braun entered her room and put her into a headlock. Then, she said, Mr. Braun moved her hand over his bare genitals and groped her breasts.”

… “In Sept, Judge Matsumoto ruled that Braun had violated his terms of release with that episode, the IV pole attack and by dodging tolls on Long Island while driving his Lamborghini and Ferrari. Braun had also failed to pay a $100,000 fine.”

… Politico: “Ghislaine Maxwell is preparing a commutation application to be reviewed by the Trump admin, according to a new document obtained by the House Judiciary Committee Dems. If approved by Trump, Maxwell could see her sentence - 20 years for her role in Epstein’s sex trafficking scheme - significantly reduced. She wrote to her lawyer Leah Saffian, provided to Judiciary Dems by an unidentified whistleblower, that she would send application materials through the warden.”

… Ranking Member Jamie Raskin in a letter to Trump complaining about the special treatment she has been receiving at her new Club Fed facility: “You should not grant any form of clemency to this convicted and unrepentant sex offender. Your Admin should not be providing her with room service, with puppies to play with, with federal law enforcement officials waiting on her every need, or with any special treatment or institutional privilege at all.”

… Miami Herald: “Raskin called upon Trump to provide answers about Maxwell’s preferential treatment, saying that the deference and servility to Maxwell at the Texas facility is so egregious that one of the top officials at Camp Bryan said that he is ‘sick of having to be Maxwell’s bitch.’ Raskin: “Federal law enforcement staff working at the camp have been waiting on Ms. Maxwell hand and foot.”

… NYT reported on a new pardon from Trump today: “Trump has pardoned Troy Lake. Lake, who owned a diesel servicing company, had pleaded guilty to disabling emissions controls on hundreds of heavy-duty commercial trucks, causing increases in carbon monoxide & pollutants known to cause lung cancer.”

… He also pardoned a list of people who attempted to help him overturn the results of the 2020 election:

-Rudy Giuliani
-John Eastman
-Mark Meadows
-Sidney Powell
-Ken Chesebro
-Christina Bobb
-Kelli Ward
-Jenna Ellis

… Lawfare’s Anna Bower: “Notably, this pardon comes just days ahead of a Nov. 14 deadline for the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia to appoint a replacement prosecutor for Fani Willis, who was disqualified from pursuing the case.”

If you missed yesterday’s Bulletin, you can find it here. Today is also the 250th birthday of the Marine Corps. This is me at 17 years old. Parris Island Class of 1986.

… Trump: “All Air Traffic Controllers must get back to work, NOW!!! Anyone who doesn’t will be substantially “docked.” For those Air Traffic Controllers who were GREAT PATRIOTS, and didn’t take ANY TIME OFF for the “Democrat Shutdown Hoax,” I will be recommending a BONUS of $10,000 per person for distinguished service to our Country. For those that did nothing but complain, and took time off, even though everyone knew they would be paid, IN FULL, shortly into the future, I am NOT HAPPY