News from the note…

A round up of the day’s news that might be of interest to you.

This is an OPEN THREAD,  folks. Chat about any of the stories listed, share links to stories that caught your eye today, and generally have a good time discussing whatever you want.

Trump ramps up shutdown talk ahead of midterms

All summer, congressional GOP leaders have touted their success passing spending bills before the Sept. 30 funding deadline, a rare feat in this partisan age that they’ve even highlighted on the campaign trail.

But President Donald Trump just doesn’t care. He wants his wall, and he wants it yesterday.

Trump on Thursday morning once again publicized his eagerness for a shutdown fight, seeming to question GOP leaders’ strategy to delay the showdown until after the consequential midterms. Speaker Paul Ryan and Majority Leader Mitch McConnell have said the president agrees with their plan to postpone the fight with Democrats and pass as many bipartisan bills as possible before Election Day. But Trump called those very carefully crafted legislative packages “ridiculous.”

Politico

US changes course to allow Russian surveillance flyover

The United States has decided to certify a Russian aircraft to make a surveillance flight over the US under the Open Skies Treaty, a week after declining to do so.

Under the treaty, the member states are permitted to conduct unarmed surveillance flights over one another’s territories. It “is designed to enhance mutual understanding and confidence by giving all participants, regardless of size, a direct role in gathering information through aerial imaging on military forces and activities of concern to them,” according to the State Department.

In early September, experts from a number of the member states gathered in Russia for the certification event for Russia’s Tu-214 Open Skies aircraft, a State Department official told CNN. The US declined to certify the aircraft at the time, citing ongoing discussions in Washington, according to the official.

However, the US reversed course and on Tuesday, “the United States informed all States Parties via formal treaty mechanisms that we will approve the certification of the Russian aircraft,” the official said.

CNN

Indicted lawmaker angers GOP with decision to run for reelection

Rep. Chris Collins’s (R-N.Y.) decision to remain on the ballot this fall despite his indictment on insider trading charges is drawing fire from Republicans, who believe it could put a safe seat at risk in a cycle where the GOP House majority is in jeopardy.

Even if Collins does win his Buffalo-area district, Republicans worry that having him on the ballot will tar the party as a whole, inviting accusations that the GOP is governing over a culture of corruption.

The Hill

Trump Loosens Secretive Restraints on Ordering Cyberattacks

President Trump has authorized new, classified orders for the Pentagon’s cyberwarriors to conduct offensive attacks against adversaries more freely and frequently, the White House said on Thursday, wiping away Obama-era restrictions that his advisers viewed as too slow and cumbersome.

“Our hands are not as tied as they were in the Obama administration,” John R. Bolton, the national security adviser, told reporters in announcing a new cyberstrategy.

Mr. Bolton rewrote a draft of the strategy after joining the administration in April. Many of his remarks on Thursday focused on a secret order — which Mr. Trump signed in August but which has never been publicly described — that appears to give far more latitude for the newly elevated United States Cyber Command to act with minimal consultation from a number of other government agencies.

New York Times

Dems break open GOP hold on Midwest governorships

Democrats are surging back in the Midwestern states where President Donald Trump cut deepest into their old coalition in 2016, led by a class of candidates for governor that have Republicans on their heels.

The Republican Governors Association cut the size of its ad buys in Minnesota and then in Michigan, according to Advertising Analytics data reviewed by POLITICO. That’s given Democrats increasing confidence that Gretchen Whitmer, their nominee in a state Hillary Clinton lost in stunning fashion, will capture the governor’s mansion. In Wisconsin, Republican Gov. Scott Walker has not led a public survey in three months, and the most recent gold-standard poll from Marquette University showed him trailing Democrat Tony Evers by 5 points. And in Ohio, Democrat Richard Cordray has overcome early complaints about his campaign to pull even with Republican Mike DeWine in one of the most competitive races in the country.

Politico

Melania Trump’s spokeswoman gets Hatch Act warning for #MAGA tweet

The Office of Special Counsel (OSC) warned Melania Trump‘s spokeswoman over a tweet found to be in violation of the Hatch Act, according to a letter sent to a Democratic senator.

Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) on Thursday tweeted images of a letter he received from the OSC in which the agency responds to an allegation from his office that Stephanie Grisham, the first lady’s longtime spokeswoman, violated the Hatch Act with a tweet containing the acronym for President Trump‘s campaign slogan.

Grisham, as a White House staffer, is prohibited from using her government position, including the Twitter account she operates in her capacity as spokeswoman, to advocate for political candidates. The president, OSC said, falls under than umbrella.
The OSC said it issued a warning to Grisham, according to the letter sent to Carper, who called news of Grisham’s violation “astounding.”

The Hill