Principals

1. California’s new senator
2. McCarthy v. Gaetz
3. Ukraine aid threatened
4. Bowman under fire
5. The early general election
6. Trump civil trial begins

PDB: The Halal magnate at the center of the Sen. Bob Menendez case

NYT: Russia may be testing nuclear-powered missile ... Supreme Court term begins ... Student loan payments are back on

Newsom names Feinstein successor in California

Meet your newest Senator: Laphonza Butler. California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced late last night he will appoint the EMILY’s List president and former Kamala Harris adviser to fill the seat left vacant by Dianne Feinstein’s death after Politico scooped the news. “Laphonza has spent her entire career fighting for women and girls and has been a fierce advocate for working people,” Newsom tweeted. Butler is a former labor leader with the SEIU and has also worked in the private sector for Airbnb and as a consultant to Uber. She also is set to become the first openly LGBT senator from the state. The choice fulfills Newsom’s promise to appoint a Black woman, as well as his goal to avoid picking a current competitor in the race. The Congressional Black Caucus and progressive groups had publicly pushed Newsom to appoint Rep. Barbara Lee, who is running against Reps. Katie Porter and Adam Schiff in the primary. While Newsom initially said he wanted a caretaker in the seat, there are no restrictions on Butler running and it’s not clear yet if she’ll enter the race herself. She could face some hurdles, though, starting with the fact she’s currently listed as a Maryland resident.

McCarthy faces threat to speakership

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy kept the government open; now he just needs to keep his job, writes Kadia Goba. Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., said on Sunday he would try to oust the House speaker with a motion to vacate this week, which he had repeatedly promised to do if McCarthy worked with Democrats to pass a clean temporary spending bill. McCarthy’s response? “Bring it on.”

The GOP leader’s future may well lay in the hands of the Democrats, since it’s widely believed he lacks 218 supporters in his own conference. Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries hasn’t publicly signaled his position on whether to bail out his counterpart, and there’s talk Democrats could demand major concessions in return for support, such as a quick vote on Ukraine aid. But many Democrats may consider simply voting “present,” which would allow McCarthy to retain his job with a smaller number of Republican votes, in order to avoid further chaos.

Gaetz appears to be trying to assemble an unusual bipartisan coalition. He reportedly spoke to Progressive Caucus leader Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., about his efforts to fire the speaker. “I told him in our caucus, in the Progressive Caucus, we’re not planning to save McCarthy,” Jayapal told POLITICO. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. said on CNN Sunday that she would “absolutely” vote to bounce McCarthy unless he offered Democrats a sweet deal. “It’s going to come with a price. You don’t just vote for a Republican speaker for nothing.”

Can Congress pass more Ukraine assistance?

“I am in despair.” That’s what one Ukrainian member of parliament told Semafor’s Morgan Chalfant after Congress passed a short-term funding bill that didn’t include the additional funding for Ukraine’s counteroffensive against Russia requested by the White House. The path forward for additional U.S. aid to Ukraine is murky now and Republican leaders already are demanding it be linked with border security measures. “I support being able to provide the weapons to Ukraine, but America comes first,” Speaker Kevin McCarthy said in an interview on CBS News. The White House is projecting more optimism. “We’re going to get it done,” President Biden said in a speech from the White House Sunday afternoon. The issue has been the subject of public and private worries of lawmakers and officials who say that a lapse in funding for Ukraine will harm Kyiv substantially on the battlefield against Russia.

Judging Jamaal Bowman

Conspiracy or mental lapse? That’s the mystery Washington spent Sunday trying to crack after Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y. pulled a fire alarm the day before — accidentally, he said — as the shutdown drama reached its peak. The case against Bowman: As Speaker Kevin McCarthy noted on CBS News, Democrats were trying to delay votes at the time the alarm went off in order to give the Senate time to act on a different bill, which offers a clear motive. There’s also the matter of the giant red “FIRE” label on the alarm by the door, which Punchbowl’s John Bresnahan helpfully captured here. The case for Bowman: His explanation that he was confused by the “usually open” exit and thought the alarm button would unlock it has at least a little circumstantial evidence. Members very rarely vote on weekends and Hill vets like former GOP Rep. Peter Meijer noted that some of the routes they typically favor are closed then. A sign on the door also offered a somewhat oddly worded warning. One thing left and right observers agreed on: Security footage of the incident might help clarify whether Bowman’s actions looked befuddled or malicious.

It feels an awful lot like the general election

The general election may already be upon us, Shelby Talcott writes, as President Biden and Donald Trump increasingly treat each other like presumptive nominees. Just consider the last few weeks: On Thursday, Biden delivered a fiery speech at the McCain Institute in Arizona warning Trump is a threat to democracy, updating what was a major theme in both the 2020 election and 2022 midterms. The two faced off directly in Michigan in the two days prior to that speech: Biden visited striking UAW members and his campaign ran its first attack ads, while Trump delivered a speech at a non-union business arguing auto workers should elect him to stop the transition to EVs. And before that, Trump began messaging toward swing voters on abortion by denouncing 6-week bans — setting off an immediate Democratic campaign effort to tell voters about his prior anti-abortion record and rhetoric. The GOP primary isn’t over, but as Trump’s rivals look weaker than ever with each poll, both sides seem to be putting real time, money, and effort into defining each other ahead of a likely rematch.

Trump will show up for high-stakes New York trial

Former President Donald Trump is expected to show his face in court in New York today, according to ABC News, as he fights civil fraud charges that could cripple his business persona. After a judge ruled that Trump inflated his real estate and financial assets and ordered he be stripped of control of some properties in New York, New York Attorney General Letitia James will begin presenting her case in pursuit of $250 million in penalties. The testimony could prove damaging. “Aside from Trump’s wallet, witness testimony between now and the expected end of the trial in December could undercut his personal narrative, crafted over decades, that he is one of the nation’s most successful businessmen,” writes the Wall Street Journal. Trump’s former personal attorney Michael Cohen, a witness for the prosecution, said on MSNBC that Trump’s “biggest fear” is losing money and not being considered a “mega-billionaire.”

Beltway Newsletters

Punchbowl News: Anyone who says they know what will happen in the fight over Kevin McCarthy’s speakership this week is “delusional or isn’t being honest.”

Playbook: Democratic members spent the weekend texting and calling each other about what they should do about the McCarthy vote and what concessions they’d want to extract for rescuing him.

The Early 202: As the Supreme Court returns today, all eyes will be on Justice Clarence Thomas and the ethics issues surrounding his relationships with wealthy donors.

Axios: The upcoming Supreme Court term will have an “epic” lineup of cases, coming on the heels of a previous term with several major landmark decisions.

White House

• President Biden sat down for a rare in-depth interview with John Harwood for ProPublica about protecting democracy. The White House picked a sympathetic interviewer to ask about one of the president’s favorite topics, but the conversation nevertheless produced some striking moments. Biden railed against “MAGA Republicans,” while also suggesting Democrats needed to directly address fears among white, blue-collar voters that a more diverse America will leave them behind. “The fact is, we’re going to be very shortly a minority-white-European country,” Biden said. “Sometimes my colleagues don’t speak enough to make it clear that that is not going to change how we operate.”
• Biden wished former President Jimmy Carter a happy 99th birthday yesterday, and reminded everyone about his own age by noting that he was the first lawmaker outside of Georgia to endorse Carter’s 1976 presidential run.
• At a Cabinet meeting today, Biden and Vice President Harris are expected to get an update on implementation of major legislation and efforts to tackle artificial intelligence and gun violence.
• Student loan payments finally resumed after three years.

Congress

Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn., who is openly considering a primary challenge to President Biden, is stepping down from his position as co-chair of the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee. Rep. Jake Auchincloss, D-Mass., is considering running for the leadership position, according to a source familiar with his thinking.

Media

Newsom told Semafor’s Max Tani that Fox News is “quite literally bullshit and misinformation.” But he’s still watching and engaging, including sitting for multiple interviews with anchor Sean Hannity (the first of which Newsom and Hannity arranged themselves via text message). “The deeper question is: What do we do as Democrats to infect that ecosystem with some reality checks?” Newsom said. “And it can’t be episodic — you’ve got to go on 24/7.”

Economy

Bloomberg’s Anna Wong and Tom Orlik offer six reasons why a recession is still likely to hit the U.S. The top one: Forecasters tend to miss downturns by focusing too much on the most recent data in front of them while downplaying potential landmines on the way.

Courts

Attorney General Merrick Garland, in a rare interview with “60 Minutes,” denied suggestions from Republicans that the Justice Department treats people differently depending on their political affiliation. “We do not have one rule for Republicans and another rule for Democrats,” he said.

2024

Vivek Ramaswamy will push the Republican Party to limit the next GOP debate to just the top four candidates, according to a memo from his campaign. — Politico

Big Read

The New York Times takes a close look at Wael Hana, the intriguing character who has been charged as a co-defendant in the case against Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., and it’s a classic New Jersey, up-by-your bootstraps tale, really. One day, you’re a troubled businessman with a trail of bad debts and court judgments looming against you. The next, your friend starts dating a powerful U.S. Senator who you introduce to some friends in the Egyptian government, and suddenly you’ve been handed a monopoly approving Halal meat headed to Egypt.

Blindspot

Stories that are being largely ignored by either left-leaning or right-leaning outlets, according to data from our partners at Ground News.

What the Left isn’t reading: The Biden administration announced new efficiency rules for home furnaces.

What the Right isn’t reading: Federal prosecutors cited former President Trump’s post about outgoing Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley in seeking more restrictions on what he can say publicly in connection with his federal election interference case.

Jackie Speier is a former Democratic congresswoman representing California’s 14th congressional district.