The day after Donald Trump promised to stop paying for his TV ads with tax money, a fifth one aired, ending with “Paid for by the U.S. Government.”
Congress set that money aside for border security, but the White House moved $20 million of it into a fund for commemorative events. When both parties objected, he said his super PAC would cover the ads instead. The White House says the $12 million already spent won’t be paid back, and the Democratic Party is suing to stop the ads.
In Florida, he’s offering the government a deal of his own. His lawyer pitched his private golf club as a permanent presidential retreat in the mold of Camp David, which belongs to the government. The Trump family would still own the club.
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Trump meets Tina Peters, the former Colorado county clerk convicted in an election equipment breach, to discuss federal involvement in midterms, a former Justice Department lawyer says.
Today’s GovBrief News
Federal prosecutors charge 18-year-old Minnesotan who allegedly pledged allegiance to ISIS with plotting Oct. 24 attack on Hmong festival at the Mall of America.
Source: KMSP Minneapolis
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Vance says Iran must cut nuclear enrichment in a "meaningful" way to end the war, though Trump demanded "no enrichment" the day before it began.
Source: CBS News
October 7, 2026
FDA says its safety review of abortion pill mifepristone, which could end mail delivery, won't finish until March, months after the Nov. 3 midterms.
Source: NBC News
October 7, 2026
US measles cases reach 3,887, most since 1991, as Pennsylvania's outbreak tops 1,000 before a November review experts expect will end US elimination status.
Source: Ars Technica
October 7, 2026
Defense Secretary Hegseth awards the USS Lincoln a Presidential Unit Citation a day before its return from a record deployment marked by eight suicide attempts.
Source: The Independent
October 7, 2026
Judge orders Tennessee to preserve IV lines, syringes and drugs from Christa Pike's botched execution after her lawyers say they don't trust the attorney general.
Source: WSMV Nashville
October 7, 2026
Homeland Security proposes making colleges pay $70,000 for each international student in a work-training program, after a federal judge struck down its $100,000 H-1B fee.
Source: The Associated Press
October 7, 2026
Trump urges San Antonio rally to "pretend that I'm on the ballot" as his hand-picked Senate nominee Paxton trails Democrat Talarico in Texas polls.
Source: The San Antonio Report
October 7, 2026
Social Security ends flexible work schedules Nov. 16, which a union says breaks a contract running to 2029, with staffing at a 50-year low.
Source: Government Executive
October 7, 2026
Ottumwa, Iowa, council opens with a Satanic Temple member's "Hail Satan" invocation under its open prayer policy, and a pastor rises to "reverse this curse."
Source: The Ottumwa Courier
October 7, 2026
Trump says he'll give former pitcher Roger Clemens the Medal of Freedom, "a big step up" from the Hall of Fame that rejected him over steroid suspicions.
Source: NBC DFW
October 7, 2026
Ambassador to Greece Guilfoyle pushed a Trump donor to wire $100,000 to her Amex days before her confirmation hearing, messages the WSJ reviewed show.
Source: The Wall Street Journal [gift link]
October 7, 2026
Trump proposes making his West Palm Beach golf club the "permanent United States Presidential Golf Course," a Camp David-style retreat on county-owned land.
Source: WPTV West Palm Beach
October 7, 2026
California Gov. Newsom signs law letting households install plug-in "balcony solar" panels up to 1,200 watts without the utility approval all solar now requires.
Source: KPBS San Diego
October 7, 2026
DNC sues to block Trump's border-funded ads, still labeled "Paid for by the U.S. Government" two days after he pledged his political money would cover them.
Source: The Hill
October 7, 2026