"Americans' trust in various U.S. federal government institutions remains mired near five-decade lows. Forty-five percent of U.S. adults have a great deal or fair amount of trust in the federal government to handle international problems, and 38% trust the government to handle domestic problems. Trust in the three branches of the federal government ranges from 32% for the legislative branch to 49% for the judicial branch.

"Two decades ago, all five measures showed trust above the majority level, and as recently as 2012, majorities trusted all but the legislative branch.

"These trust figures, measured in Gallup's Sept. 2-16 Governance poll, are statistically similar to what they were a year ago. However, that overall stability masks large partisan shifts. Republican confidence on all five trust items has increased sharply, most dramatically for the executive branch (up 83 percentage points) and the government's ability to handle international problems (up 64 points) and domestic problems (up 57 points). Meanwhile, Democrats' trust has tumbled on these same three measures by 56 to 78 points and is also down significantly for the legislative branch."

Read the entire article here.

"The Senate took a first big step Sunday night toward ending the longest-ever U.S. government shutdown amid mounting pressure for Congress to act as Americans cope with halted food stamps and canceled flights weeks before the holidays.

"On Day 40 of the shutdown, the Senate voted 60-40 to advance a deal to reopen the government after a group of eight Senate Democrats relented from policy demands and broke from their party ranks to strike an agreement with congressional Republicans.

"The action puts the shutdown on track to potentially end this week, but a final vote is still required by the Senate and then the House before the continuing resolution heads to President Donald Trump's desk."

Read the entire article here.

"Senate Democrats feel confident after Tuesday's election that they have the advantage over Republicans in the government shutdown battle and are pointing to President Trump's statement that Republicans are getting 'killed' politically as a big reason to stand their ground.

"A bipartisan deal hashed out by centrist Democrats and Republicans on the Senate Appropriations Committee to reopen the government as soon as this week now appears stalled after Democrats won sweeping victories in New Jersey, Virginia and California.

"Democratic sources say they do not expect a bipartisan deal to reopen the government to be unveiled this week."

Read the entire article here.

"Last night was ugly. The major races in Virginia and New Jersey were killing fields for the GOP. But keep in mind one thing: these are blue states, and they acted like it. Republicans got swept in these key races. Republicans in Virginia lost the governor, lieutenant governor, and attorney general races. New Jersey, where one hoped Republican Jack Ciattarelli could pull off an upset, was dashed by the general political mood and the fact that 250,000 New Jersey residents had fled the state the last time he ran, where he almost uprooted incumbent Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy.

"In the Old Dominion, the shutdown had an impact, for sure. Federal workers are Democrats, and they were furloughed and angry. Add that Republican Winsome Earle-Sears was not the best candidate, even with Governor-elect Abigail Spanberger being an all-around trainwreck on the stump. Yet, while these races got national attention, especially when Attorney General-elect Jay 'I want your kids to die' Jones' insane texts were released in the aftermath of the Charlie Kirk assassination, it was a blue tsunami."

Read the entire article here.

"President Donald Trump made a late bid to swing the New York City mayoral race, urging voters to back Andrew Cuomo in an effort to block Zohran Mamdani, a frequent target of the president's ire.

"Cuomo is a long-time Democrat and former governor of New York who is now running as an independent after losing the Democratic primary to Mamdani, a democratic socialist who leads in the polls.

"'I would much rather see a Democrat, who has had a Record of Success, WIN' than Mamdani, Trump wrote on social media, adding: 'Whether you personally like Andrew Cuomo or not, you really have no choice. You must vote for him, and hope he does a fantastic job. He is capable of it, Mamdani is not!'"

Read the entire article here.

"At least eight moderate Senate Democrats are meeting in hopes of finding a deal to end the monthlong government shutdown, but sources familiar with the closely held conversations say they will need strong assurances from the GOP before voting to reopen the government.

"The eight Democrats, who include Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (N.H.) and Jon Ossoff (Ga.), the latter a top Republican target in 2026, will need to feel comfortable with whatever is offered by Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.), and they may need to hear from President Trump himself, sources told The Hill."

Read the entire article here.

"Freshly home from a successful Asian trip, President Donald Trump late Thursday interjected himself back in domestic politics by urging Senate Republicans to enact a nuclear option that would end a Democrat filibuster and reopen the federal government.

"'It is now time for the Republicans to play their "TRUMP CARD," and go for what is called the Nuclear Option - Get rid of the Filibuster, and get rid of it, NOW!' Trump wrote in his Truth Social platform.

"The president said that during his Asia trip, he was asked by foreign leaders why Democrats had shut down the government and why Republicans were unable to overcome their opposition.

"Trump said Democrats during the Biden era were willing to get rid of the filibuster, eliminating the 60-vote threshold for floor votes in the Senate."

Read the entire article here.

"Sixty-three years later, a new Cuban Missile Crisis is in the making. Team Trump is building up a vast array of military forces in the Caribbean.

Significantly, more than 10 percent of the U.S. naval fleet is either already on station or, as with the U.S.S. Gerald Ford strike group and U.S.S. Gravely guided-missile destroyer, headed toward the region. In terms of scale, that is akin to Washington's stationing of U.S. forces to defend Israel against Iranian ballistic missile and drone attacks earlier this year.

It is also SOUTHCOM's largest buildup in the region since President John F. Kennedy ordered a blockade of Cuba in response to the Soviet Union building nuclear missile silos there.

Team Trump, for now, is largely positioning this as a domestic response to drug cartels -- particularly the Venezuela-based Tren de Aragua transnational crime syndicate -- trafficking illegal drugs into the U.S. But in reality, this is much bigger."

Read the entire article here.

"Dozens of Joe Biden's executive actions 'cannot all be deemed his own' after his closest advisers 'went to great lengths to prop up' the 46th president as he suffered physical and cognitive decline in office, according to a bombshell report released Tuesday.

"The House Oversight Committee staff document -- based on more than a dozen interviews with Biden aides -- lays out how the Democrat's 'inner circle' took steps to 'meticulously stage-manage' his public appearances, lighten his private workload, and even block lawmakers from talking to him.

"'These steps ranged from addressing President Biden's makeup, clothing, schedule, the number of steps President Biden could walk or climb, the amount of time President Biden needed to read and to spend with his family,' the 91-page report states, 'keeping cabinet meetings to a minimum, eliciting "direction" from Hollywood on the State of the Union and other events, and using teleprompters even at small, intimate events.'"

Read the entire article here.

"Virginia's statewide off-year elections this November were predicted by most 'experts' to be an easy win for the Democrats. Usually, the party that wins the White House struggles in the Old Dominion during the following year. Yet the most reputable polls show a much tighter race than expected. Even more surprising, after five weeks of early voting the heavily Republican areas of the Commonwealth have consistently had stronger turnout than have the state's Democrat strongholds -- perhaps setting the stage for a historic upset.

"The top of the ticket this year features a showdown between incumbent Republican Lt. Governor Winsome Earle-Sears and former Democrat Rep. Abigail Spanberger. Spanberger, who previously represented Virginia's 7th Congressional District, was viewed going into the race as a safe bet to reclaim the governor's mansion following Republican Glenn Youngkin's victory four years ago.

"But Spanberger's campaign strategy relies heavily on her having a substantial early vote lead in order to offset the Republican turnout advantage that is expected on Election Day. So far, that has not happened. If current trends hold and the Republican early vote tally remains higher or even equal to that of the Democrats until November 4, Earle-Sears will likely become the first Black woman in history to be elected governor of a state."

Read the entire article here.