• Schumer Shutdown update: As the Democrat-created federal government shutdown drags on into its fourth week, Senate Democrats once again prevented a vote on a continuing resolution to fund and reopen the government. Furthermore, Senate Democrats prevented a vote on a bill sponsored by Republican Ron Johnson to pay essential federal government workers, including active-duty U.S. military personnel. Three Democrats broke from their party to vote in favor of the measure, including John Fetterman, who explained his decision was about him choosing “country over party.” Meanwhile, Republican Bill Cassidy blasted Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on X: “This is wrong! If you can’t bring yourself to cross party lines to ensure our troops get a paycheck, you should reconsider why you ran for Congress.”

• Jack Smith wants to try Trump in the court of public opinion: Former Special Counsel Jack Smith doesn’t like the fact that the Trump administration is investigating the Biden administration’s weaponization of the federal government in its lawfare campaign against Donald Trump. Thus, Smith, through his lawyers, has requested the opportunity to publicly testify before Congress to counter the “mischaracterizations” of his investigation into Trump’s alleged mishandling of classified documents. This request comes after Rep. Jim Jordan requested Smith testify in a closed-door interview, which is directly related to recent revelations that Smith’s investigation had subpoenaed the phone records of nine Republican lawmakers, an action they have called a witch hunt. It appears that Smith’s desire for open hearings is his latest effort to paint Trump as a criminal.

• Wray and Garland signed off on Arctic Frost: A document released Thursday by the Justice Department contained the handwritten signatures of Attorney General Merrick Garland, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, and FBI Director Christopher Wray approving the opening of the Arctic Frost investigation. Operation Arctic Frost served as the basis for former Special Counsel Jack Smith’s false elector case and other Biden administration investigations into President Donald Trump and nearly 100 conservative groups. Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley posted on X, “Just received this doc [from the] DOJ. Proof that Biden Atty General Merrick Garland, Deputy Atty General Lisa Monaco, [and] FBI Dir Chris Wray all PERSONALLY APPROVED opening Arctic Frost. This investigation unleashed unchecked govt power at the highest levels. My oversight will continue.”

• Illegal alien truck driver strikes again: In yet another incident of illegal immigrant truck driver carnage, tragedy struck in Ontario, California, where three were killed and four others injured. Jashanpreet Singh, a 21-year-old Indian national who was released into the United States by the Biden administration after illegally crossing the border in March 2022, was arrested over the fatal crash. According to the California Highway Patrol, the semi-truck he was driving plowed into slow traffic on the freeway in Ontario, causing an eight-vehicle pileup. Investigators say Singh had drugs in his system at the time of the crash. He is currently in the custody of the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department and is not eligible for bail. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy railed in response to the news, “This is exactly why [the Department of Transportation] has withheld $40 MILLION from California for failure to comply with our rules to protect drivers.”

• San Fran gets one more chance: Donald Trump has put on hold his decision to send 100 additional ICE and federal agents into San Francisco to help tackle the city’s high crime problem. “I spoke to Mayor Lurie last night and he asked, very nicely, that I give him a chance to see if he can turn it around, ” Trump explained on social media. “I told him I think he is making a mistake, because we can do it much faster, and remove the criminals that the Law does not permit him to remove. … The people of San Francisco have come together on fighting Crime, especially since we began to take charge of that very nasty subject.” Data shows that roughly 57,440 illegal aliens currently residing in San Francisco, have existing deportation orders, and some 10,130 are convicted criminals.

• $38T in debt: On Wednesday, the federal debt surpassed a record $38 trillion. It was the fastest accumulation of $1 trillion in debt outside the COVID-era. The national debt topped $37 trillion in August. White House spokesman Kush Desai observed that despite the new record, “During his first eight months in office, President Trump has reduced the deficit by $350 billion compared to the same period in 2024 by cutting spending and boosting revenue.” Michael Peterson, CEO of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, noted that “reaching $38 trillion in debt during a government shutdown is the latest troubling sign that lawmakers are not meeting their basic fiscal duties.” He added, “We spent $4 trillion on interest over the last decade, but will spend $14 trillion in the next ten years.”

• Trump terminates Canada trade talks following anti-tariff Reagan ad: President Trump is terminating trade talks with Canada due to a Canadian ad featuring Ronald Reagan. According to The Washington Times, “Doug Ford, the premier of Ontario, took out the ad on Oct. 16 because he wanted to make the case against U.S. tariffs by using the words of Reagan, a hero to U.S. conservatives.” But Trump called the ad inaccurate and said levies on goods brought into U.S. markets remain vital for national security and the American economy. The Reagan clips used for the ad were back when there was no “job-outsourcing trend” as a result of the trade imbalance with U.S. trade partners, and the majority of goods were made in the U.S. Fast-forward 40 years, and our factories lay in ruins due to “free trade” that was often free only one way — importing into the U.S.

• Minnesota high court runs roughshod over sports integrity: The Minnesota Supreme Court, seven judges appointed by Democrats, ruled 7-0 that a man pretending to be a woman was discriminated against when U.S. powerlifting kept him from competing against women in 2018. He then sued USA Powerlifting in 2021, alleging the organization violated the Minnesota Human Rights Act. “We agree with Cooper that USA Powerlifting’s policy is discriminatory on its face; there is therefore no genuine dispute that USA Powerlifting discriminated against Cooper because of her [sic] transgender status,” Chief Justice Natalie Hudson wrote in Wednesday’s opinion. Part of the case has been sent back to the lower courts to determine if USA Powerlifting had a “legitimate business purpose” for excluding the trans-identifying male athlete. The USA Powerlifting attorney called this a “partial victory for both sides,” but it’s clearly not a victory for women.

Headlines

• Inflation rate hit 3.0% in September, lower than expected (CNBC)

• Eric Adams endorses Cuomo for New York City mayor (WSJ)

• Winsome Sears blasts Virginia Dems’ surprise redistricting session as a “stunt” to pull her off the trail (Fox News)

• Trump pardons convicted Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (Fox Business)

• Owners of China-tied battery plant in Michigan default on state deal, ending project (Just the News)

• Harvard postpones transgender health course after legal pushback over waiving fee for trans doctors (NY Post)

• Humor: 10 coolest features of Trump’s new White House ballroom (Babylon Bee)

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