Washington, DC

1. Dems in disarray
2. Senate passes funding bill
3. FDIC staff cuts
4. Syria’s Trump wins
5. Rubio in Canada
6. China emissions flat

PDB: SCOTUS declines to revisit same-sex marriage decision

US bond market closed for Veterans Day … Trump visits Arlington National Cemetery … Utah judge rejects Republican-passed congressional map

Infighting divides Dems as battles loom

Democrats will need to move away from their shutdown divisions very quickly, Semafor’s Burgess Everett and David Weigel report. They’ve got a vote on the expiring health care subsidies coming up in December, another shutdown fight in January, House and Senate primaries, and then the midterms. “We can’t push it any faster than it needs to go. People need to sort through what they think about all of this,” said Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, who is lined up to be the Democratic whip next year. The infighting is at a fever pitch as the shutdown deal goes from the Senate to the House, but Democrats want to turn the tables on the GOP when the Senate votes on health care. “We’re going to be completely unified, and then the Republicans are going to have their own sense of division,” said Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va.

House prepares to take up spending deal

Following the Senate’s 60-40 vote on a deal to reopen the government, House members are returning to Washington after more than 50 days in their districts to send the bill to President Donald Trump’s desk. With key corners of the GOP conference signaling their support, it’s expected to pass as early as Wednesday. House Speaker Mike Johnson said he would not match his Senate counterpart’s promise of a December vote on extending enhanced health care credits, telling reporters: “I do not guarantee the outcome of legislation or dates or deadlines or anything. I have to build consensus among my members.” Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva is also traveling to the Capitol “to hopefully get sworn in,” she said. The Arizona Democrat is set to provide the last signature needed on a petition to force a vote on releasing the Jeffrey Epstein files.

— Eleanor Mueller

FDIC nominee on staffing cuts

As Trump’s nominee to chair the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation faces bipartisan skepticism that he would address misconduct at the agency, he has informed senators that the two main offices tasked with improving its culture are each staffed at 40% under his leadership. In written responses to lawmaker questions, acting Chair Travis Hill said that the Office of Professional Conduct lost 30% of its roles to DOGE while a further 30% remain vacant, according to a copy of the responses shared by a Senate Banking Committee member. And he said the Office of Equal Employment Opportunity lost 10% of its employees to DOGE while a further 50% of positions remain vacant. An FDIC official told Semafor that Hill approved staffing reductions of 15-20% agency-wide and the offices’ staffing reductions have not affected their ability to carry out core functions, adding that other agencies do not have similar offices.

— Eleanor Mueller

Trump hands new Syrian leader wins

Trump’s meeting with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, who until just days ago was labeled an international terrorist by the US, is part of the administration’s broader push for peace — and allies — in the Middle East. While the Monday visit was an unusually quiet affair, Syria came away with several wins: The US announced it would suspend enforcement of sanctions on the Syrian government for 180 days, and administration officials confirmed Syria will join the US-led Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, marking a significant shift in US policy towards Damascus. “We’ll do everything we can to make Syria successful,” Trump said, praising al-Sharaa as “a really strong leader” and saying that “we’ve all had rough pasts.” The American president also scoffed at Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., who like other members of his party urged him to focus instead on domestic issues.

— Shelby Talcott

US-Canada tensions shade G7 meeting

The US-Canada trade rupture could complicate Group of 7 talks in Canada today. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is in Ontario for discussions with his G7 counterparts that will focus on global supply chains, critical minerals, and the wars in Gaza and Ukraine. Rubio is the most prominent Trump official to visit Canada since Trump abruptly cut off trade negotiations between Washington and Ottawa last month over a TV ad sponsored by Ontario that criticized his tariffs. The meeting will also be colored by the administration’s stance on trade with the other G7 member countries — and the uncertainty around Trump’s tariffs following last week’s Supreme Court arguments. And the countries will try to get on the same page with respect to Ukraine after failing to do so in June (Trump has since shifted his posture toward President Volodymyr Zelenskyy).

China emissions flat for 18 months

China’s greenhouse gas emissions have been flat or falling for 18 months, welcome news as the COP30 climate summit gets underway in Brazil. The emissions trend is partly driven by China’s economic slowdown, Carbon Brief data showed, as construction and manufacturing have fallen, but also by rapid growth in renewable energy and electrification of the economy. China, the world’s biggest polluter, has built 300 gigawatts of solar and wind capacity so far this year, almost five times the UK’s entire renewable capacity. China is not alone: Most rich countries’ emissions have declined as their economies have grown. The International Energy Agency noted last year that the EU’s economy is 66% larger than in 1990, but its emissions are 30% lower.

Blindspot: ICE and clemency

Stories that are being largely ignored by either left-leaning or right-leaning outlets, curated with help from our partners at Ground News.

What the Left isn’t reading: Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said that more than 200,000 people have applied for jobs with ICE.

What the Right isn’t reading: A drug dealer to whom President Trump granted clemency during his first term was sent back to jail for violating the terms of his release.

International Intrigue gives you the inside word, no security clearance required. Written by former diplomats, it delivers crisp, unbiased analysis of the world’s biggest geopolitical stories as they break.

Beltway Newsletters

Punchbowl News: “You cannot defend this democracy effectively if you are not united as an opposition party, and we are repeatedly showing that we are not united,” said Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn.

Playbook: A judge’s rejection of a new congressional map put forward by Utah’s Republican-led administration is “a win for Democrats, who now look on course to pick up another House seat in 2026.”

WaPo: Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow is among the Democrats calling for Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer to step down over his shutdown leadership. “It is not about where you are at in the party. It’s are you a fighter or are you a folder.”

White House

• President Trump asked the Supreme Court to throw out the verdict against him in E. Jean Carroll’s civil sexual abuse and defamation case.

Congress

• The Senate Agriculture Committee is circulating a bipartisan draft of its portion of legislation that would overhaul how federal agencies oversee cryptocurrency, Semafor’s Eleanor Mueller reports. Key issues, like how to tackle decentralized finance and illicit finance, remain unresolved.
• Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, D-N.J., is retiring from Congress.

Outside the Beltway

• Stefany Shaheen, a House candidate in New Hampshire and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen’s daughter, publicly criticized her mom’s support of a deal to end the shutdown.

Inside the Beltway

• OMB staff pressured EPA to broadly roll back automobile pollution rules. — E&E
• Senate Democrats led by Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., are pressing the GAO to look into whether the partisan shutdown messages posted on federal agencies’ websites violated