12:30 REPORT

Thursday, October 2 | By Cate Martel

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Happy Thursday. It's Yom Kippur and the Senate doesn't have any votes scheduled today.

The president is meeting with his budget chief on Day 2 of the government shutdown. (More on that below.)

In today's issue:

Meme wars take up shutdown oxygen
Johnson tells Jeffries: 'Just ignore it'
Feds brace for mass layoffs
GOP locks in on moderate Democrats
Kimmel, Colbert show united front
Taylor Swift's new album debuts at midnight

🐱 THE MEME WARS

Is this what it takes to win the messaging battle in 2025?:

Washington leaders have a new and unexpected weapon in their political arsenal for the 2025 government shutdown: trolling with memes.

President Trump's signature casual social media style has been a staple of his political era, but only recently have other political figures taken a page from his playbook.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) was among the first to do so, igniting a splashy meme war with the president earlier this summer, filled with AI-generated videos like a 📹 toddler-sized version of Trump wearing a diaper. They're often cringy and campy — intentional versions of a "Photoshop fail" — but that's the point.

This meme war has only intensified with the government shutdown. The White House posted an AI-altered video this week 📹 featuring Democratic leaders in sombreros, which infuriated Democrats. The White House has been leaning into inflammatory social media posts for months, but even the harshest critics appear to be taken aback by this one.

Democratic leaders responded by decrying the AI videos from Trump in social media posts, television appearances and even remarks on the steps of the Capitol.

Vice President Vance was asked to respond to the sombrero video on Wednesday and he used that opportunity to needle Democrats even further.

"Oh, I think it's funny. The president's joking, and we're having a good time," Vance said, adding that if House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.) helped to reopen the government, "the sombrero memes will stop."

"Not happening Bro," Jeffries shot back on social media with a post featuring 📹 video of Vance overlaid with a meme portraying him with an exaggerated baby face.

And Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) even brought up the meme wars during his press conference today.

"Man, just ignore it," Johnson said he told Jeffries. "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 … Don't respond to it."

A quick look at some of the meme attacks:

The White House posted an edited photo of 📸 Schumer in a hot dog costume (1.2 million views).
Newsom posted an 📹 AI version of Vance with exaggerated baby fat dancing to Lady Gaga (1 million views).
Ted Cruz (R-Texas) posted a Photoshopped montage of 📸 Democratic senators with mustaches and sombreros (1.9 million views).
The Democratic Party posted a video 📹 bashing "Republican kitties" (6 million views) and the GOP responded by 📸 adding a sombrero and a mustache to a kitty (1.7 million views).
Newsom posted an edited interview with Vance 📹 wearing a Minion-like costume (2.8 views) and 📹 gave similar treatment to Johnson (650,000+ views).

It's all designed to get under the other side's skin and part of a larger strategy by each party: win the messaging war to avoid getting blamed for the government shutdown.

⛔ GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN

Who's going to blink first?:

GIPHY/CBC

It's Day 2 of the government shutdown, and lawmakers have paused funding votes for Yom Kippur today. Negotiations are expected to resume on Friday.

House Republicans held another press conference today: "The ball is in Chuck Schumer's hands right now," Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) said about the Senate Democratic leader.

Speaker Johnson had a similar message. "Don't ask the Republicans what we should be doing and what we should be negotiating," he said. "I don't have anything to negotiate." 💻 Watch today's GOP presser

What's happening behind the scenes: The Hill's Al Weaver reports that Republican lawmakers are engaging with moderate Senate Democrats whom they view as flappable. Remember: Republicans need to convince five more Democrats to change their position in order to reopen the government.

Expected shutdown timing: Senators say they expect the government shutdown to last until *at least* next week, but some worry it could drag on even further.

No more weekend votes?: The Senate is expected to vote again Friday on both the House GOP-passed funding bill and the Democratic bill. Lawmakers expect more votes after that and for the shutdown to drag on at least a week.

💬 Follow today's live blog

➤ WHITE HOUSE PREPARES FOR MASS LAYOFFS:

Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russell Vought told House Republicans on Wednesday that mass layoffs in the federal workforce will happen in the next day or two.

Happening today: Trump said he's planning to meet with Vought today to discuss which agencies to make cuts.

➤ TIDBIT:

A House Democrat confronted Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) in front of a crowd of cameras, telling Johnson the president is "unhinged" and "unwell."

What happened?: Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-Pa.) came up to Johnson and urged him to address Trump's comments to military generals in Quantico, Va.

Dean: "The president is unhinged. He is unwell."

Johnson: "A lot of folks on your side are, too. I don't control him."

Dean: "Oh my god, please. That performance in front of the generals."

Johnson: "I didn't see it."

Dean: "That is so dangerous … Our allies are looking elsewhere. Our enemies are laughing." 📹 Watch the clip

➤ RELATED READS:

The Washington Post's editorial board: Democrats marched into a shutdown trap

The New York Times: At Stake in the Shutdown Fight: Obamacare Prices That Could Rise by Thousands of Dollars

Politico: Trump targets states that voted for Harris in shutdown fight

COMING UP

The House is out. The Senate technically meets today but there are no votes. President Trump is in Washington. (All times EST)

Midnight: Taylor Swift's highly-anticipated new album, "The Life of a Showgirl," is released.

8 a.m. Friday: Chris Stirewalt, author of the Whole Hog Politics newsletter, and The Hill's SVP of editorial content Bill Sammon hold a live virtual meeting. They will give behind-the-scenes tidbits, discuss how stories take shape and take questions from viewers. Register here

🐝 INTERNET BUZZ

🍬 Celebrate: Today is National Smarties Day.

🎙️ What a collab: Late night hosts Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel appeared as guests on each other's shows this week. My favorite part is when they compare notes about who they heard from when it was announced their shows would be taken off the air, either permanently or temporarily. 📹 Watch Kimmel explain what happened

🏈 Who's attending the Super Bowl?: Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will attend the 2026 Super Bowl, where Puerto Rican singer Bad Bunny is set to perform the halftime show. That's according to Corey Lewandowski, an adviser at the Department of Homeland Security.

🤖 Have you heard about the AI actor?: An AI-generated actor named "Tilly Norwood" is getting a lot of attention over its journey to create "digital content" for TV and movies. CNN reports that Hollywood is furious about this.

👋 AND FINALLY…

Because this made me smile, just look how happy this dog is to have a stuffy.

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