It’s being reported that Chuck Schumer and Senate Democrats just lost the support of the largest federal workers union in DC over their government shutdown, with them union calling on the Senate . . .

The first caller on a telephone town hall with Maryland Rep. Andy Harris, leader of the House’s conservative Freedom Caucus, came ready with a question about the Affordable Care Act. Her cousin’s disabled son is at risk of losing the insurance he gained under that law, the caller said. “Now she’s looking at two or three times the premium that she’s been paying for the insurance,” said the woman, identified as Lisa from Harford County, Maryland. “I’d love for you to elucidate what the Republicans’ plan is for health insurance?” Harris, a seven-term Republican, didn’t have a clear answer. “We think the solution is to try to do something to make sure all the premiums go down,” he said, predicting Congress would “probably negotiate some off-ramp” later...

When Donald Trump declared Portland, Oregon, “a hellhole” overtaken by “the Radical Left’s reign of terror”, Portlanders took to the streets not as an angry mob, but as frogs. They showed up in inflatable costumes by the dozens. Clowns came out dancing. Naked cyclists rode among unicycles, chiming bike bells and honking rubber horns. A band of gray-haired banjo players incited not a riot but a folk-song singalong. It seemed that the more absurd the accusation, the sillier the response. As the attacks on democracy and mischaracterizations of millions of Americans become more extreme, the reasons for outrage grow. Reading the news is infuriating. But while anger can temporarily mobilize us, it is exhausting and disempowering in the long term. Constant rage doesn’t feel good to most of us. As we buckle into this new normal of uncertainty, I’m glad to see we’re showing up with creativity, humor, music, all tools that are central to who we are and how we cope. The administration’s perfor…

What we know Hurricane Melissa is edging toward Jamaica and is set to make landfall as a historic Category 5 storm, with winds of more than 170 mph. Jamaica is bracing for what the National Hurricane Center said would be catastrophic flash flooding and landslides caused by up to 40 inches of rain in some places. The storm is due to make landfall early tomorrow. Widespread damage to property and infrastructure is expected and some people were already in storm shelters last night.

Food banks are already seeing a surge as tens of millions of families prepare for their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits to freeze. The big picture: The federal government shutdown will stop food aid Nov. 1 for some 42 million Americans, the latest blow for low-income families already struggling with rising costs and shrinking federal benefits...

House Speaker Mike Johnson announced on Monday that around $5 billion in contingency funds are "not legally available" to cover Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits amid the ongoing government shutdown. Speaking to reporters alongside Republican colleagues, as he has done multiple days during the shutdown, Johnson said that he did not want to take money away from other programs...

The Jacqueline Kennedy Garden appears to be the latest victim of President Trump’s plans for a White House ballroom where the East Wing once was. Satellite images published by Ars Technica (as well as aerial images from a commercial flight out of DC) appeared to show the Kennedy Garden completely torn up as of last week. In photos taken Sunday, construction equipment and debris were seen where the garden’s trees, bushes and I.M. Pei-designed pergola were once located...

The Trump administration is ramping up its fight with cartels and putting more pressure on Venezuela in its war on drugs. The Pentagon recently launched a strike on an alleged Tren de Aragua boat that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said was involved in “illicit narcotics smuggling” and moving through a “known narco-trafficking route.” The strike killed six people on board, according to NewsNation affiliate The Hill. This now marks the 10th boat strike, and brings the death toll from these strikes to 40. Now, the USS Gerald R. Ford, the Navy’s largest aircraft carrier, is headed to the region with a strike group. President Donald Trump has said the efforts so far have saved lives, saying that every boat that has been hit has saved 25,000 Americans...