Shutdown Showdown: GOP Eyes the Nuclear Button
Trump’s Republicans may scrap the filibuster to end the standoff — and change Congress forever.
Good Morning, it’s Monday, October 27th, 2025.
The government’s still closed, the Senate’s still stuck, and patience in Washington is running thinner than Kamala Harris’s approval numbers. Trump met with GOP senators last week, and the message was clear: if Democrats keep stonewalling, Republicans might just detonate the filibuster to break the shutdown.
This week’s briefing dives into the coming “nuclear” move, a shocker from The Washington Post defending Trump’s ballroom, and polling that shows — wait for it — Democrats quietly liking Trump’s policies.
If you think the media’s missing the real story (again), share this issue with a friend who’s ready for facts, not fluff. And hit reply — your take might make tomorrow’s Briefing.
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Republicans May Go Nuclear to End the Shutdown
What You Need to Know:
Why It Matters:
It would permanently rewrite Senate rules, letting any future majority rule unchecked.
Trump sees the shutdown as leverage, not crisis — a chance to cut costs and flex power.
Democrats, boxed in by their own base, can’t afford to look weak.
The Real Story:
No leverage left: Trump’s team sees no political pain in keeping the lights off. He’s using the shutdown to trim bureaucrats and prove Washington can function with less government.
Democrats cornered: Schumer’s refusal to back a clean funding bill has turned a policy fight into a political suicide pact. Progressives are demanding defiance, even if it hands Republicans the moral high ground.
Pressure’s mounting: SNAP benefits, ACA subsidies, and public clinics are days from collapse — meaning real voters will start feeling it, fast.
Forecast in today’s Briefing: If you want the full intel file on how this plays out, the next Ledger forecast drops Sunday, 9 A.M. → Upgrade to the Ledger
What They Don’t Want You To See:
Bottom Line:
The shutdown may end soon — but so could the Senate as we know it.
If Republicans go nuclear, they’ll break the gridlock and the system in one shot.
WaPo Accidentally Writes Trump’s Best Ad Yet
Even the liberal press can’t spin common sense forever.
The Washington Post just did the unthinkable — published a defense of President Trump’s new White House ballroom. Yes, the same paper that’s spent a decade treating Mar-a-Lago like Mordor just admitted the ballroom is a good idea.
Behind the meltdown: Democrats went feral over Trump’s 90,000-square-foot addition, calling it “gaudy” and “dictatorial.” But even former Biden and Obama staff privately admit it’s long overdue. Until now, presidents have been hosting world leaders in tents on the South Lawn — complete with porta-potties. Nothing says “superpower” like watching Macron line up behind the hand sanitizer.
The WaPo editorial board praised Trump’s project as functional, historic, and privately funded. It even roasted Washington’s bureaucracy — comparing six years of red tape for a fence upgrade to the six months Eisenhower needed to plan D-Day. Brutal.
And yes, Amazon (owned by Jeff Bezos, who also owns the Post) helped fund it. Coincidence or karmic correction — either way, WaPo finally printed facts: Trump’s ballroom fixes a problem, saves taxpayer cash, and modernizes the People’s House.
Democrats, naturally, are still fuming. But you can bet the next liberal president will be clinking champagne glasses under Trump’s chandelier without a hint of irony.
Bottom Line:
When even The Washington Post sounds like it’s quoting The Art of the Deal, you know the left’s narrative is collapsing.
They said it was for your safety.
Then why do they need foreign spies, private spyware firms, and legal loopholes to do it? Get the full map in this short, high-impact briefing.
The Left Won’t Say It Out Loud — But They Kinda Like Trump
Dem voters hate the vibe, love the results.
If you believe MSNBC, Trump is an “authoritarian Taylor Swift,” “king-adjacent,” and one executive order away from a throne. Cute line. Here’s the problem: the country — including a surprising chunk of Democrats — actually likes what he’s doing. Support for core Trump policies is sky-high, even on issues the media swears are “fascist.” A recent Harvard CAPS/Harris survey found huge majorities backing his agenda:
Lowering prescription drug costs for seniors? 86% support overall, including roughly 8 in 10 Democrats.
Deporting illegal immigrants who’ve committed crimes? ~78% support nationally, including most Democrats.
Cracking down on government waste and bloat? ~75% support overall, and strong support among Dems who are sick of paying for incompetence.
Why the quiet approval? Results.
Drug prices: Trump cut deals with Pfizer and AstraZeneca to force “most favored nation” pricing — meaning the U.S. pays what other advanced countries pay, not 5x list price. Those companies agreed to deep discounts for government programs and to build in America instead of offshoring, in exchange for tariff relief.
Border: A big majority of voters (including Democrats) want criminal illegal immigrants removed and the southern border actually closed. After four years of Biden-era chaos and record crossings, even left-leaning outlets started calling Biden’s border record “disastrous” by the end. That’s not MAGA talk — that’s their talk.
Economy: Inflation has cooled into the 2–3% range, unemployment is hovering in the mid-4s, and the S&P 500 is up double digits since Trump took office again. At the same time, the deficit actually shrank by $41 billion in fiscal 2025 — driven partly by Trump’s tariffs pumping revenue into the Treasury. Translation: he’s pulling in more cash and cutting some spending while D.C. screams that tariffs would “crash the economy.”
This is why the media narrative is breaking. Voters are looking at their own costs, not late-night monologues. When people can afford insulin and ground beef again, “dictator” doesn’t land the way it used to.
Here’s the catch: Democrats like the policies, not the man. Polling still shows Trump’s personal favorables brutally polarized — Democrats will back his border enforcement, drug pricing fights, and anti-waste crusade, but they refuse to give him credit. They’ll take the steak and spit on the chef.
Bottom Line:
Underneath all the “No Kings” protest signs, a quiet reality: Trump is starting to govern parts of the Democratic agenda better than Democrats did. That’s the nightmare they can’t say out loud.
1. The Left’s Outrage Machine Never Sleeps
America's Greatness tears into the left’s “perpetual grievance economy,” arguing progressives can’t govern without manufacturing daily outrage — because peace doesn’t raise campaign cash. 👉 Read More »
2. ICE & Border Patrol Nab Gun-Smuggling Duo
Agents busted two cartel-linked traffickers smuggling modified ARs and high-capacity mags across the Arizona border — proof the Biden-era border chaos still echoes in 2025. 👉 Read More »
3. Swalwell’s Latest Crusade: Bulldoze Trump’s Ballroom
Democrat Rep. Eric Swalwell wants 2028 candidates to pledge to “destroy” Trump’s new White House ballroom — because nothing screams leadership like promising demolition over décor.👉 Read More »
Together with The Ledger
The Day the Senate Cracks
Thirty days of shutdown.
One rule between gridlock and dominance.
The GOP’s ready to go nuclear — erase the 60-vote filibuster and end the standoff.
It’s not about reopening the government.
It’s about rewiring it.
Exactly what The Ledger has been revealing — how Trump’s movement uses crisis to rebuild the machine from scratch.
👉 Upgrade and see how the shutdown becomes a power blueprint.
Washington’s addicted to its own drama. But this week’s stories — from the shutdown brinkmanship to the ballroom hysteria — prove something bigger: Trump’s reshaping both parties. Republicans are bolder. Democrats are cracking. And the media’s forced to admit he’s not the villain they need him to be.
When the left’s outrage machine runs out of gas, the truth has a funny way of sneaking through — usually wearing a red tie.
~ Scott 🇺🇸
P.S. Here’s my take: If the GOP really goes nuclear on the filibuster, it’ll mark the end of an era — and maybe the start of a new kind of politics where efficiency beats etiquette. The Senate was built to deliberate, not hibernate.
What do you think — time to light the fuse, or keep the guardrails? Hit reply and tell me where you stand.
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Swalwell is insane. We need that ballroom and have for quite some time. And it comes at no cost to the taxpayer. Why do people keep electing these hacks? I'm torn on the filibuster. If the Dems don't do the right thing, they deserve this. I hope voters remember who hates them.
I hope they finally do nuke the filibuster. Mitch promised it, a time or two, then his knees got wobbly. What a surprise. Thune, must.
Funny, but I haven’t even noticed that the government is shut down. My ox isn’t being gored, thankfully. I do feel sorry for those who are having problems, given the shut down. The Democrats don’t give, a rats ass.