1. Dem fundraising haul
2. Overton’s influence
3. No livestreamed execution
4. Data center opportunity
5. OpenAI’s bad week

Spending at gas stations increased 6.4% in September over the previous month.

‘Holy crap’ fundraising from Senate Dems

Senate Democratic candidates are posting eye-popping third-quarter fundraising numbers, cutting into Republicans’ midterm spending advantage across the map. James Talarico raised $64 million in Texas, Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff brought in $33 million, former Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown brought in $28.2 million between his fundraising committees, former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper raised $19.5 million, former Alaska Rep. Mary Peltola took in $17 million, Kansas Democrat Adam Hamilton raised $10.6 million, and Rep. Chris Pappas raised $8.1 million in New Hampshire. The GOP Senate Leadership Fund super PAC brought in $273 million while Democratic Senate Majority PAC raised $151 million. But the individual campaign numbers are important because candidates get better ad rates than outside groups. Talarico’s haul earned a “holy crap” from Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, today, but he insisted the spending is getting to a “point of diminishing returns.”

— Burgess Everett

Trump’s FDA pick shaped vaccine overhaul

Heidi Overton, President Donald Trump’s nominee to run the FDA, played a larger role in driving the process to reduce the number of vaccines the government recommends to children than emerged during her Senate confirmation last month, when Republican senators asked her whether she’d stand up to anti-vaccine voices in the administration. An aide on the president’s Domestic Policy Council, Overton helped edit and craft a scientific justification that was used to underpin cutting the CDC recommendations from 17 to 11 vaccines in January, Semafor’s David Lim reports. “It was Heidi driving this whole thing,” said a former senior administration official, noting that Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. supported the policy push. The Senate health committee did not vote on whether to advance Overton to the Senate floor before departing earlier this month; these revelations could make it harder for her to get confirmed.

Trump reverses plan to livestream Fort Hood execution

Trump announced today that the Pentagon will not livestream the execution of the Fort Hood shooter, reversing a proposal that drew bipartisan backlash, including from Vice President JD Vance. On Truth Social, Trump said streaming the execution “might have been a strong deterrent for the World to witness how America deals with Terrorists,” but acknowledged that “very good and well meaning people” would rather not watch it. The Pentagon said Trump spoke with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who initially announced the plans, before the decision not to livestream and said they are “completely aligned.” Nidal Hasan was convicted of killing 13 people at the Texas base in 2009, and is scheduled to be executed there on Dec. 3. ABC News reported that officials raised concerns that broadcasting the execution could intensify anti-American propaganda or reflect poorly on the US.

— Lauren Morganbesser

Americans open to data centers with guardrails, poll finds

AI companies can soften support for statewide data center moratoriums like New York’s by committing to pay for related electricity costs and lessen local environmental impacts, according to a new poll from major firms in both parties. The research was conducted by Fabrizio Ward and Impact Research — run by Trump pollster Tony Fabrizio and Biden pollster John Anzalone, respectively — on behalf of the American Infrastructure Alliance, a coalition of AI companies, private equity firms, and labor unions advocating for “responsible” data center development. Fifty-eight percent of those polled nationwide said they oppose building data centers in their state, according to results shared first with Semafor. But 54% said they would actually support data center construction if companies pledged to cover electricity costs, protect consumers from higher utility bills, and safeguard surrounding environmental resources; 31% still opposed data center construction outright.

— Morgan Chalfant

OpenAI’s troubles mount

OpenAI is having a bad week on litigation and security, and the threats are coming from inside and outside the house. A Saudi national employee, Abdulrahman Alfozan, was arrested for illegally recording after he allegedly bugged OpenAI’s San Francisco office, and the company says it has evidence Alfozan intended to deploy more recording devices. OpenAI said it worked with the FBI on the investigation and has no evidence that product safety or customer information was impacted. What remains unclear is what motivated Alfozan, who reportedly advised the Saudi government. On the domestic front, attorneys general from Arkansas, Arizona, Idaho, Montana, Iowa, Kansas, West Virginia, and Nebraska sued the company yesterday, accusing it of misleading consumers over ChatGPT’s safety.

— Ashley Gold

Behind closed doors, a new era of healthcare policy is taking shape. With US healthcare spending projected to hit $9 trillion annually by 2034, Medicaid cuts hanging in the balance ahead of the midterms, and increasing calls for regulation of clinical AI, the forces remaking healthcare policy are accelerating.

Introducing Healthcare from Semafor Washington, DC, your weekly briefing on the politics, policy, and business driving the industry. Delivered every Thursday from David Lim, each edition will provide essential reporting and analysis on the forces reshaping healthcare, and what comes next. Read the first edition here.

White House

• The Washington Post reported on secret documents showing the donors to President Trump’s $330 million ballroom.
• Trump appointees Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau and special envoy Paolo Zampolli have engaged in a bitter email feud for months, spanning disagreements over authority and alleged leaks. — Politico

Congress

• Democratic Sens. Jeff Merkley of Oregon and Ed Markey of Massachusetts will force a vote later this year on a resolution to disapprove of the US nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia.
• Republican Sens. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota and Roger Wicker of Mississippi met with Ukrainian President ​​Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Ukraine.

Courts

• Nine former FBI employees sued the Trump administration, alleging they were unlawfully fired in political retaliation over their roles investigating President Trump’s retention of classified documents.
• Two women sued former Trump attorney general nominee and ex-Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, accusing him of participating in a sex trafficking scheme.

— President Trump on his White House renovations.

Morgan Chalfant, Washington briefing editor

With help from Elana Schor, senior Washington editor, and Laura McGann, 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