Washington, DC

1. Cruz’s sports bill dream
2. DCCC’s confidence grows
3. Imports banned at midnight
4. Impoundment back to court?
5. Trump announces steel plant

An estimated $11.6 billion has been spent on TV ads so far this cycle, putting this election on track to be the most expensive in history, according to Bloomberg.

Cruz wants Republicans to campaign on college sports bill

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, wants Republicans to turn the college sports bill expected to pass tonight in the Senate into a midterms victory. They just need to reconvene the House to pass it, then have President Donald Trump sign it on live TV. The House left for campaign season in mid-September, but the Republican chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee told Semafor’s Burgess Everett he’s “energetically” making the case to House Speaker Mike Johnson to pass the bill before the election. “President Trump has been quite vocal that he believes the House should come back,” Cruz said. To be sure, pushing the House to return to Washington in the middle of the critical period before the midterms represents a huge challenge from Cruz to the other chamber of Congress, which often complains that the Senate can’t process House-passed bills.

Democrats prepare to spend in red districts

House Democrats are looking confident. Their campaign arm is rolling out $11 million in ads across 35 districts, including some redrawn by Republicans in Florida, North Carolina, Ohio, and Texas, according to an announcement by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee shared first with Semafor. Some of the ads will air in districts Trump won handily in 2024, like Kentucky’s 6th, North Carolina’s 11th, and Virginia’s 1st. Some operatives saw the North Carolina district as less winnable after the scandal-plagued incumbent GOP Rep. Chuck Edwards opted not to run for re-election. Democrats see their nominee Jamie Ager as a strong candidate. “Democrats are poised to take back the House majority this November and the DCCC is helping to ensure voters hear from candidates directly on how they’ll deliver for the American people,” said DCCC National Political Director Brooke Butler.

— Nicholas Wu

Canadian import ban begins

Trump’s trade war with Canada escalates at midnight, when a White House ban on about $850 million worth of Canadian imports, including spirits, whey, molasses, and motorcycles, takes effect. The goods, including Canadian “whisky,” as the US’ northern neighbor spells it, are a small fraction of the $380 billion worth of goods the US buys from Canada annually. Some of the goods were already subject to a 50% tariff that took effect five weeks ago. Still, the ban is unusually harsh, reflecting the state of the US-Canadian relationship. “We’re comfortable with where we are,” said US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on CNBC Friday, adding that there’s no urgency on the US side to change course. Prime Minister Mark Carney, meanwhile, has promised to help Canadian businesses hurt by the disruption and he’s established 20 new trade and security agreements since taking office.

Legal groups may challenge Trump ‘pocket rescission’

Legal groups are weighing whether to challenge Trump’s latest attempt to claw back money approved by Congress. Trump issued a “pocket rescission” Friday to unilaterally cancel nearly $1 billion in federal funding approved by Congress for immigration services, health research, and other foreign and domestic programs. Trump invoked the Impoundment Control Act, as he did in 2025 when he blocked $4.9 billion in approved foreign aid. An ensuing legal battle reached the Supreme Court, which allowed the White House to withhold about $4 billion while litigation continued, and the funds ultimately expired. But the court didn’t rule on the substantive question of whether Trump’s actions were legal under the ICA. The text allows a president to ask Congress to cancel previously approved funds with 45 days’ notice. The money Trump targeted Friday expires Wednesday, at the end of the fiscal year.

— Lauren Morganbesser

Trump announces steel plant

Trump announced plans for a $15 billion steel plant in Iowa that the administration said would be the largest in US history, bringing a major industrial investment to a state emerging as a closely watched midterm battleground. The plant, which will be built by Minnesota-based Mesabi Metallics, is expected to begin production in 2030 and create 1,750 permanent jobs. Steel is central to Trump’s tariff agenda, with the administration arguing that protecting domestic production is critical to rebuilding US industry, though tariffs have pushed US steel prices to some of the highest globally. White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers said Trump is “restoring America’s industrial competitiveness and securing trillions of dollars in new investment.” The announcement comes as Iowa’s Senate and gubernatorial races have emerged as unexpectedly competitive contests.

White House

• President Trump pinned blame for rising gas prices on Ukrainian attacks on Russian energy infrastructure. — Fox
• Trump claimed newly weakened fuel economy standards will lower car prices, though analysts are doubtful. — WaPo

Economy

• Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent hired Wall Street economist and Jefferies chief market strategist David Zervos, who will serve in a broad advisory capacity. — CNBC
• A Federal Reserve employee transferred potentially sensitive files outside the central bank just before retiring, according to an inspector general’s report.

Congress

• A report by Senate Democrats found that Iran has relied on stablecoins to bypass US sanctions. — WSJ
• Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said that living public officials should not have buildings named after them and proposed a rule to prohibit such renaming.

Technology

• Nvidia said it authorized an additional $150 billion for its share buyback program, calling it the largest stock buyback in history.
• Florida’s attorney general asked a judge to bar OpenAI from developing new AI models without oversight as part of its child harm lawsuit.

World

• Counterterrorism police in the UK said the five men arrested in connection with a possible terror plot at a military base are being released on bail but remain under investigation.
• Saudi Arabia resumed exporting oil via its East-West pipeline after repairing damage from drone strikes.

Outside the Beltway

• A New York prosecutor said he would reopen an investigation into a 2024 sexual assault at Cornell University.

National Security

• FBI Co-Deputy Director Andrew Bailey is resigning after a little more than a year in the job.

Courts

• The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to let it enforce a policy restricting gender care for transgender inmates in federal prisons.
• A judge declared a mistrial in the bribery case against DC Councilmember Trayon White; US Attorney for DC Jeanine Pirro said she plans to retry the case.
• Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito recused himself from a major climate case, a reversal of his earlier decision.

Education

• The Education Department formally rescinded Biden-era Title IX protections on sexual orientation and gender identity.

— Senate Majority Leader John Thune on President Trump’s federally funded campaign ads.

Laura McGann, editor

With help from Elana Schor, senior Washington editor, and Morgan Chalfant, Washington briefing editor

Graph Massara and Lauren Morganbesser, copy editors

Contact our reporters:

Burgess Everett, Ashley Gold, Eleanor Mueller, Shelby Talcott, Nicholas Wu, David Weigel, David Lim