Who’s winning the shutdown blame game?

Morning Report is The Hill’s a.m. newsletter. Subscribe here.

In today’s issue:

▪ Trump declares ‘armed conflict’ with cartels

▪ Bad Bunny, ICE on Super Bowl collision course

▪ Pope Leo enters the U.S. politics chat

▪ Elon Musk fans ‘Cancel Netflix’ flames

At the outset of the government shutdown, Americans are placing more of the blame on the party in power.

A Washington Post poll taken Wednesday found that 47 percent of respondents said President Trump and Republicans in Congress are “mainly responsible for the federal government partially shutting down,” while 30 percent pinned the blame on Democrats in Congress.

A New York Times poll conducted in the days leading up to the shutdown also showed more fingers pointing at the GOP. Most voters surveyed said both parties would be at fault, while 26 percent said they would blame Republican lawmakers and Trump for a shutdown, compared with 19 percent for Democrats.

All signs point to the shutdown dragging into next week and maybe longer, with neither side indicating a desire for compromise. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) told reporters Wednesday that weekend votes were “unlikely.”

“They’ll have a fourth chance tomorrow to open up the government,” he said. “If that fails, we’ll give them the weekend to think about it. We’ll come back, vote again Monday.”

LEVERAGE PLAY: The White House is seeking to ramp up pressure on Democrats with threats to lay off thousands of government employees, strip funding and cut benefits. Trump met with his budget director, Russell Vought, Thursday afternoon to discuss shutdown plans.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) predicted Wednesday these cuts will cause Democrats to “scream and weep” — and ultimately cave.

“I cannot wait for the next Democrat lunch when they start screaming at each other, when they start seeing pink slips go out at the EPA, at the Department of Labor, at the IRS, and suddenly, the bureaucrats that they are entrusting to advance their job-killing agenda are themselves without a job,” Cruz told Larry Kudlow on Fox Business. “That’s what’s going to end this shutdown, as the Democrats are realizing that President Trump is making major advances for economic liberty as a result of the Democrats’ temper tantrum.”

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent sounded the alarm Thursday morning over the economic impact of the stoppage.

“This isn’t the way to have a discussion, shutting down the government and lowering the GDP [gross domestic product],” Bessent said during a CNBC “Squawk Box” interview. “We could see a hit to the GDP, a hit to growth and a hit to working America.”

Most Democrats are holding firm so far. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) told reporters Thursday afternoon that “public sentiment” will ultimately force Trump to change course and enter talks over the health care provisions Democrats are demanding.

“The American people are paying close attention, and they know that it was Donald Trump and Republicans who have shut the government down,” he said.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) teamed up for a slick social media video released Wednesday explaining the progressive position.

“Remember, right now, our health care system is broken,” Sanders says. “Right now, we’re the only major country on Earth not to guarantee health care to all people. And these guys want to make it even worse. We’re not going to let that happen.”

▪ The Hill: Democrats seek shutdown leverage with economy over Trump, GOP

▪ The Hill: Trump barrels toward uncharted legal territory with plans for layoffs during shutdown

▪ The Hill: White House’s shutdown layoff threats, funding freezes unnerve some Republicans

▪ The Washington Post: Senior government officials privately warn against firings during shutdown

HATCH ACT FIGHT: Democrats are also hammering Trump administration officials for what they allege are clear violations of the Hatch Act, which bars the use of public offices for political purposes.

Federal employees at multiple agencies received emails Tuesday blaming congressional Democrats for a potential government shutdown “forced” by the party, while the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) plastered a similar message on its website.

“I think they’re being a lot more illegal in their messaging. The first thing that I wanted to know was, how can this not be a violation of the Hatch Act in some way? Right?” Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) said during an appearance on CNN’s “The Source.” “Because we are not allowed to politic on official sites, period. Right? And that’s what they’re doing.”

HUD Secretary Scott Turner brushed off those concerns during an interview with Chris Cuomo on NewsNation (The Hill’s sister station) Wednesday night.

“And this is not about propaganda, Chris, this is just about letting the American people know what’s going on. But we really need to be talking about how this government shutdown impacts the American people,” he said.

Rep. Robert Garcia (Calif.), the top Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, sent a letter to special counsel Jamieson Greer on Thursday requesting an investigation into the White House messaging.

▪ The Hill: Vice President Vance gets face time at White House during shutdown drama

▪ Politico: ‘A lot of fight’: Hakeem Jeffries is determined to make a mark on the shutdown standoff

3 Things to Know Today

1. Comedian Theo Von said a “high government official” offered him security amid backlash he received for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) featuring him in a video it used to promote deportation efforts.

2. The White House has asked nine U.S. universities to pledge to uphold the administration’s higher education priorities — or potentially lose federal funding.

3. Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland man deported to El Salvador in March due to an administrative error, was denied his asylum claim by an immigration judge.

WAR ON CARTELS: The United States is officially in a “non-international armed conflict” with South American drug trafficking cartels, according to Trump.

The Hill’s Ellen Mitchell reports that Trump sent a notice this week to congressional national security subcommittees saying the U.S. “has now reached a critical point where we must use force in self-defense and defense of others against the ongoing attacks by these designated terrorist organizations.”

The confidential notice, which was first obtained by The New York Times, also says the president directed the Defense Department (DOD) “to conduct operations” against these cartels “pursuant to the law of armed conflict.”

The move seemingly provides post hoc rationale for the Trump administration’s strikes last month on three boats that were accused of transporting narcotics in the Caribbean Sea. The strikes reportedly killed 17 people in total, and Trump has said the ships were associated with the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, which was officially designated a terrorist organization by the State Department earlier this year along with several other drug cartels.

Some former GOP officials questioned the legality of the attacks in comments to Politico in September.

▪ NPR: With ‘drug boat’ strikes, Trump leans into war on terror tactic against cartels.

Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, wrote in a social platform X post after the notice was revealed that Americans “should be alarmed” about the president deciding “he can wage secret wars against anyone he labels an enemy.”

“Drug cartels must be stopped, but declaring war & ordering lethal military force without Congress or public knowledge – nor legal justification – is unacceptable,” Reed added.

▪ New York Times: Trump ‘Determined’ the U.S. Is Now in a War With Drug Cartels, Congress Is Told.

FOOTBALL, BAD BUNNY … AND ICE: It didn’t take long for last weekend’s announcement that Puerto Rican singer Bad Bunny will headline the 2026 Super Bowl Halftime Show to become controversial.

Days after Apple Music revealed the three-time Grammy winner as its choice, a Trump administration official said Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers will attend the big game.

“There is nowhere that you can provide safe haven to people in this country illegally. Not the Super Bowl and nowhere else,” Corey Lewandowski, an adviser at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and former Trump campaign aide in 2016, said Wednesday on the podcast “The Benny Show.”

“It’s so shameful that they’ve decided to pick somebody who just seems to hate America so much to represent them at the halftime game,” he added

▪ The Atlantic: Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl.

▪ New York Magazine: Kristi Noem is the face of Trump’s police state. Corey Lewandowski is the muscle. Who really runs DHS?

Lewandowski appears to be responding to Bad Bunny’s i-D Magazine comments from September, where the singer said he was not performing in the U.S. during his forthcoming world tour due at least in part to concerns that “f‑‑‑ing ICE” could be outside his concerts.

Bad Bunny publicly backed then-Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential bid after a comedian at Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally before the presidential election called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage.”

California, which will host the February Super Bowl in Santa Clara, has been the site of numerous ICE raids in recent months, which prompted protests and a National Guard deployment in Los Angeles.

POPE LEO WEIGHS IN: The first American pontiff, Pope Leo XIV, waded into the waters of some polarizing political topics earlier this week when he defended Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) against backlash over the lawmaker’s stance on abortion.

“Someone who says, ‘I’m against abortion but says I am in favor of the death penalty,’ is not really pro-life,” Leo told reporters, according to the Catholic News Agency (CNA). “Someone who says that ‘I’m against abortion, but I’m in agreement with the inhuman treatment of immigrants in the United States,’ I don’t know if that’s pro-life.”

Leo was responding to a question about Cardinal Blase Cupich of the Archdiocese of Chicago, where the pope was born, seeking to honor Durbin for his “defense of immigrants.” The move has been panned by at least 10 American bishops due to Durbin’s support for abortion rights.

“They are very complex issues and I don’t know if anyone has all the truth on them,” Leo added, “but I would ask first and foremost that they would have respect for one another and that we search together both as human beings and in that case as American citizens and citizens of the state of Illinois, as well as Catholics, to say that we need to be close to all of these ethical issues.”

▪ Slate: The Right Wanted a MAGA Pope. Let’s Check In on How That’s Going.

Durbin has declined the Archdiocese of Chicago’s award due to the controversy but told NBC News on Wednesday he was “overwhelmed” by the pontiff’s support regardless.

Leo also signaled support for Trump’s Gaza peace plan amid the Israel-Hamas war, telling reporters on Tuesday that it seemed “to be a realistic proposal.”

MUSK PUSHES ‘CANCEL NETFLIX’ : Tech billionaire Elon Musk claims he has canceled his Netflix subscription and is urging others to follow suit, joining a chorus of right-wing influencers criticizing the streaming platform over an animated show that features a transgender character.

The Hill’s Dominick Mastrangelo reports Musk this week has been promoting a series of posts from Chaya Raichik’s “LibsofTikTok” account, Benny Johnson and other conservative personalities, who were reacting to Netflix including the show “Dead End: Paranormal Park” on a list of programs published on Trans Day of Visibility in March. The show, which was canceled in 2023, featured a trans character voiced by a trans actor.

“Transgender propaganda isn’t just quietly lurking in the background on Netflix,” reads an X post promoted by Musk on Thursday. “They are actively pushing it on users.”

▪ Barron’s: Netflix Stock Drops Again. Elon Musk Is Still Slamming the Streamer.

Netflix has not commented on the backlash, but “Dead End: Paranormal Park” creator Hamish Steele clarified on the social platform Bluesky that the streamer is not promoting the show currently, according to Variety.

While Musk is a frequent poster on his social media platform and is outspoken in his political views, the billionaire has been less in the spotlight since departing Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency earlier this year and later feuding with the president.

When and Where

The president participates in a swearing-in ceremony for the U.S. ambassador to Sweden at 11:30 a.m. EDT.

The White House press secretary briefs reporters at 1 p.m. EDT.

The House holds a pro forma session at 3:30 p.m. EDT.

The Senate holds votes starting around 1 p.m. EDT.

Thune and Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) will hold a press conference at 11 a.m. EDT.

Zoom In

Pfizer is a bogeyman of the anti-vaccine movement that Kennedy once led, due largely to its leading role in the development and distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine.

So, Trump’s effusive praise of Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla in the Oval Office on Tuesday did not sit well with Kennedy’s former allies.

“What a f‑‑‑ing slap in the face to all of the people injured and killed by Pfizer. Really heartless and disrespectful @POTUS,” said Dr. Mary Talley Bowden, a fierce critic of COVID-19 vaccines with more than 600,000 followers on X.

While Kennedy framed the action as keeping the pharmaceutical industry in check, supporters of his MAHA agenda balked at the apparent coziness. Groups in support of MAHA, such as the anti-vaccine organization Children’s Health Defense that Kennedy founded and formerly chaired, held a demonstration outside of Pfizer’s headquarters last month.

James Thorp, an OB-GYN who co-wrote a book detailing his beliefs that the COVID shot caused harm to pregnant mothers and fetuses, reshared a post by Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Marty Makary in which he called the deal with Pfizer “the beginning of the end of the Great American Rip-Off.”

“NO Marty, this is the beginning of the end of MAHA as you, Oz, Bobby, and President Trump gave Bourla The Butcher/Pfizer $70 BILLION,” Thorp wrote, referring to Kennedy and Mehmet Oz, director of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. 

The Hill’s Joseph Choi breaks down why some supporters are not on board with the Pfizer plan.

▪ The Wall Street Journal: Why Pfizer’s Trump Deal Is Good News for All of Big Pharma

▪ The New York Times: How Trump’s Online Drugstore May Affect Your Drug Costs

ABORTION PILL BLOWBACK: The anti-abortion movement lashed out at the FDA on Thursday after its approval this week of a new generic form of the abortion pill mifepristone.

“This is shocking,” Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) wrote on X. “FDA has just approved ANOTHER chemical abortion drug, when the evidence shows chemical abortion drugs are dangerous and even deadly for the mother. And of course 100% lethal to the child.”

“The Trump Administration’s approval of a generic chemical abortion drug is a complete betrayal of the pro-life movement that elected President Trump,” former Vice President Mike Pence wrote on X.

“President Trump must immediately reverse this decision. RFK must resign and give President Trump the opportunity to appoint a new Secretary of HHS who will protect the sanctity of life,” he added.

The FDA sent a letter Tuesday to Evita Solutions, informing it that its abbreviated new drug application met the necessary requirements and was approved.

▪ The Hill: Federal judge keeps alive red state lawsuit against mifepristone

▪ CNN: Federal agencies are studying safety of abortion drug mifepristone, driving new concerns about limits on access

The FDA first approved mifepristone in 2000. Mifepristone is taken in combination with the drug misoprostol to perform medication abortions, which account for about two-thirds of abortions in the U.S.

Last week, Kennedy and Makary announced the agency would consider modifying the Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy requirements, citing “recent studies raising concerns about the safety of mifepristone as currently administered.”

Elsewhere

SOY BAILOUT: Bessent signaled Thursday morning that a bailout is coming next Tuesday for soybean farmers who have been crushed by Trump’s trade war with China.

“Well, there’s plenty the president can do,” the Treasury secretary said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” when asked what was being done to help soybean farmers. “And it’s unfortunate that Chinese leadership has decided to use the American farmers, soybean farmers in particular, as a hostage or pawn in the trade negotiations.”

Bessent said he had huddled with Trump and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins in the White House on Wednesday to discuss the issue. “Three of us were in the Oval yesterday, and you should expect some news on Tuesday on substantial report or substantial support for our farmers, especially the soybean farmers,” he said.

▪ CNN: Candid photo of Scott Bessent’s phone reveals administration’s concern about two key Trump policies

Trump said Wednesday he planned to use money brought in from tariffs on imports to provide aid to farmers in need.

“The Soybean Farmers of our Country are being hurt because China is, for ‘negotiating’ reasons only, not buying,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “We’ve made so much money on Tariffs, that we are going to take a small portion of that money, and help our Farmers.”

▪ Bloomberg: Trump Vows to Confront China Over Its Refusal to Buy US Soybeans

Farmers of crops like soybeans and corn have had difficulty selling their harvest to some key markets due to Trump’s tariff war and have grappled with rising prices for supplies like fertilizer.

The U.S. has in the past been the No. 1 supplier of soybeans to China, but China recently purchased a massive soybean crop from Argentina, almost immediately after Bessent promised a financial lifeline for Argentinian President Javier Milei.

The double whammy to U.S. farmers — unable to sell their own crops while losing market share to Argentina — has rankled lawmakers.

Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) — ranking members of the Senate Agriculture Committee and Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, respectively — led a letter to Trump on Sept. 30 urging him to “immediately halt” the Argentina bailout.

“Last week, Argentina announced its plan to suspend export taxes on soybeans, effectively sidelining American soybean farmers in the international market,” they wrote. “Despite Argentina’s decision, you are still reportedly moving forward with the bailout for the country. American soybean farmers – who are already reeling from your sweeping tariffs – deserve better.”

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has also raised alarm over the Argentina bailout and struggles of America’s soy farmers.

Opinion

Teachers unions have declared war on good teachers — it’s time we fight back, writes former Oklahoma State Superintendent for Public Instruction Ryan Walters in The Hill.

Brendan Carr-leone’s war on the First Amendment, writes TechFreedom president Berin Szóka in The Hill.

The Closer

And finally …

The Speaker of the House is getting a kick out of the meme wars being waged over the shutdown.

Trump has posted videos that edit a sombrero and mustache onto Jeffries, which the minority leader has called racist, challenging Trump to “say it to my face.”

Johnson said it’s all fun and games. “These are sideshows,” he said. “And to my friend Hakeem, who I was asked about: Man, just ignore it.”

“I mean, Gavin Newsom was trolling me last night. He painted me like a minion. He painted me yellow with big glasses and overalls. And I thought it was hilarious,” Johnson said.

In a post Wednesday afternoon, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has fired a barrage of memes and AI-generated images at Republicans this week, wrote, “Trump’s Minion Mike lies to the American people” alongside a clip of Johnson speaking to ABC News.

Newsom’s press office changed its profile image Thursday to an AI-generated image of Trump as Marie Antoinette.

Morning Report’s news quiz will return next week!