Welcome to The Drain Pipe, your weekly guide to what’s driving the news in The Swamp.
The midterm elections are putting the Republican Party’s big tent to the test as issues afflicting middle class Americans are exposing cracks in the coalition, but potentially, opportunities for unlikely alliances.
A Friday report by the Federal Reserve shows that the median net worth of Americans age 35 or younger plummeted 23% since 2022, and a recent CBS News poll shows that support for capitalism among Americans under age 30 fell 4% since 2018. Other recent polls suggest 52% of Americans are worried that artificial intelligence will take their jobs and 71% of Americans don’t want a data center built in their local community.
Sen. Bernie Sanders and conservative commentator Steve Bannon joined forces to give back-to-back speeches against such initiatives during last month’s Pro-Human Assembly. But President Donald Trump has embraced AI and data centers and rejected their critics as party to a pro-China conspiracy.
“President Trump did not build the greatest coalition in politics by running his supporters through endless, self-defeating purity tests,” Vance said last year at a divisive Republican conference that turned out to be a harbinger of the changing MAGA pantheon.
In the year since, Trump has excised members of his coalition. Now the Republican Party is feeling the walls closing in.
Vance’s speech reflected a timeless principle in coalition building. Dwight Chapin, who served as an aide to Richard Nixon’s successful 1968 presidential campaign, recounted that Nixon always told him that “politics is the art of inclusion,” a play on 19th-century German statesman Otto von Bismarck’s “politics is the art of the possible.”
THE EXECUTIVE
President Donald Trump will be campaigning for Republican Ohio Sen. Jon Husted at the Covelli Centre in Youngstown, Ohio, this evening. Husted is trailing Democratic nominee Sherrod Brown by around 4% as of yesterday, according to MS NOW’s polling average. Trump is headed to Alaska on Tuesday to rally with Sen. Dan Sullivan and Rep. Nick Begich III and on Wednesday to Arizona and Montana to stump for Aaron Flint.
The Widening War In the Middle East
The World Petroleum Congress continues this week in Riyadh despite the CEOs of ExxonMobil, Shell and BP withdrawing, and a financial conference dubbed “Davos in the Desert” remains on schedule later this month, despite a flurry of attacks on the Saudi Arabian capital’s international airport.
The bombings represent a new front in the war in Iran, which had otherwise been quietly limping through its seventh month. The Trump administration has focused on moving oil through the Strait of Hormuz and putting economic pressure on Iran, and Trump reiterated on Friday that the conflict won’t be a hot war again until after the midterm elections.
But the attacks by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels have escalated faster than Saudi Arabia and the U.S. can contain them.
Saturday brought the deadliest strike against a Gulf country since the war began in February, killing 12, including an American citizen, and injuring hundreds more. The Houthis struck King Khalid International Airport in the Saudi capital of Riyadh again on Sunday, bringing the total number of attacks this week to four. Eighty-eight percent of flights had been canceled as of Sunday afternoon. Sunday brought a fifth attack on King Fahd International Airport in Dammam.
Trump signaled the U.S. would weigh entering into the conflict on Saturday after declining a request by Prince Mohammed Bin Salman to help in September.
“One of the principal reasons that President Trump ended the war with the Houthis in May 2025 is that he felt the U.S. was expending too many precious munitions fighting against the Houthis in what was ultimately proving to be a lost cause,” said University of Chicago Prof. Robert Mearsheimer in a YouTube video. “Well today, after this long war with Iran that has been going on since February 28th of this year, we have even less munitions available.”
“Once again it becomes manifestly clear that the United States has gotten itself into a whale of a lot of trouble in the Middle East and it has no easy way out. In fact, I think it has no way out,” Mearsheimer said.
The Iran War exacerbated simmering tensions between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis, which reignited fighting in July for the first time since it was halted by a fragile truce in 2022.
Here’s a bare-bones timeline:
From March to May 2025, U.S. forces bombed the Houthis seeking to end the group’s maritime attacks. The United Arab Emirates withdrew from the region in December 2025. Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi declared his intention to reengage in June 2026, using the U.S. strikes against Iran to burnish the group’s legitimacy. The Saudi-backed government of Yemen bombed an airport runway in Sanaa, Yemen, in July in order to stop an Iranian commercial plane carrying a Houthi delegation returning from the funeral of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Houthis seized the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a choke point in the Red Sea used in lieu of the Hormuz Strait, by September 10, amid a series of attacks on Saudi pipelines and refineries. A full-scale war was on by October 4, when the Yemeni government said it would reclaim Houthi-controlled territories and the Saudis began a new round of bombings in Operation Yemen’s Dawn.
Trump Invites Russia Back Into The Global Marketplace
While AAA reports that the cost of one barrel of diesel averages at around $6.28 as of yesterday, Trump recently announced a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin that could change the landscape of the global gas market.
“I have just concluded a highly successful discussion with President Vladimir Putin, of Russia, wherein it was agreed that Russia will immediately supply over 300,000 Tons of Diesel Fuel to the American and Global Marketplace, another 500,000 Tons during the month of November, and 1,000,000 Tons immediately thereafter,” Trump announced in a Truth Social post last Friday. “Additionally, based on the condition of their Diesel Refineries, Russia will then deliver, within a short period of time, 3,000,000 Tons of Diesel Fuel.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy — who criticized the deal as “weak” — appears to have fallen outside of Trump’s good graces after the American president said Saturday that “it’s time for Ukraine to get a new president.”
“We said, ‘You can do whatever you want to Russia, [but] don’t hit the refineries because that’s a world problem that’s caused,’” Trump said. “And he wants to make problems for the world. He wants to make problems for our farmers, our ranchers, with diesel fuel because Russia supplies a large portion of the diesel fuel throughout the world … And what does he do? He goes and hits the diesel fuel.”
However, Republican North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis told NBC “Meet the Press” host Kristin Welker in an interview Sunday that he believes Trump may be breaking the 2022 ban on Russian oil imports former President Joe Biden signed into law.
“We were very clear that Russia is the aggressor,” Tillis continued. “Russia is the one who can end this war by backing out of territory that they occupied.”
THE LEGISLATIVE
The House and Senate are adjourned until after Election Day. Until then, incumbents are concentrating their efforts on getting reelected.
Tala-FREAKOUT
Democrat Texas Senate candidate James Talarico will participate in a CNN town hall this Wednesday amid swirling questions and online rumors about his prolonged disappearance from the campaign trail. Talarico did not do in-person campaigning from Sept. 26 to Oct. 9.
Republican candidate Ken Paxton has called out the apparent Talafreakout.
Watch his last Zoom interview before the disappearance, in which he blames the flu for backing out of a live event with the United States Hispanic Business Council, here:
The people most likely to experience severe flu symptoms are the very frail and elderly, not 37-year-olds. The liberal Texas Tribune has pointed to Talarico’s Type 1 diabetes as a comorbid condition.
Conservative influencer Rhein Amacher posted a recording of a phone call with someone he said was an employee of Linder Center of Hope, a mental health facility in Mason, Ohio, saying that someone named “James Talarico” had recently been discharged “this evening.” But a few hours later, the story fell apart.
Amacher said that he called the facility on Saturday night when Talarico was in public at a Kacey Musgraves concert. Online sleuths pointed to a private flight from nearby Hamilton, Ohio, to Austin, Texas, Friday morning, but that was before the call to the facility. Amacher said he pretended to be Talarico’s cousin sending a care package and made up a random confirmation number, an approach that most media outlets would consider unethical.
By Sunday evening, the center confirmed it had not treated Talarico.
Still, the viral post is sure to turn up the heat on Talarico to produce records that confirm a severe bout of flu or rev up his army of paid supporters on TikTok to post toute suite about how #mentalhealth days are so important. (By the way, in a sign of the Republican establishment’s continued devotion to ousted Sen. John Cornyn, the Republican Party’s TikTok account has not posted about Paxton since July.)
For now, Talarico’s spokesman is simply reiterating that the candidate was in Austin recovering from flu.
Hi, gestating!
Trump ad-libbed this instant classic at a New York rally on Friday night: “Kathy Hochul supports … a bill that would change the terms of mother and father to ‘gestating’ and ‘non-gestating’ parents. You can no longer say, ‘Mother,’ ‘hi mom!’ It’s ‘hi, gestating!’ ‘Hi gesting, I love you so much gating!’”
Despite a lot of online incredulity and guffaws from liberals, that bill is 100% real and could go into effect by Nov. 1.
Trump’s quip is hilarious, and it’s also smart politics: Over half of the voters in key battleground states view the national Democratic Party as too far left, according to the New York Times, no friend of conservatives.
Many Republican candidates have highlighted Democrats’ alienating, terminally online woke-ism as the midterms enter their final stretch. The Atlantic described trans issues as the GOP’s “culture war Hail Mary.”
The Trump administration has sought to use the power of the federal government to set academia, the germ of much of this pathology, back on track. It has secured the closure of six gender clinics after discovering that they miscoded trans surgeries in minors in apparent violation of the law. But Trump’s budget bulldog Russ Vought met a roadblock at the National Institutes of Health. The NIH continues to siphon biomedical research funding to far-left politics.
Mike Johnson Fantasizes About Leaving DC And Starting A Lawn Business (Relatable)
House Speaker Mike Johnson might not stick around after the midterm elections, he said in an interview last week.
“If God moves on our hearts and says we should, you know, go back to my hometown of Shreveport and start a lawn business, I’ll do that with equal fervor,” he said.
It’s a rare moment of candor from the Republican leader about the uncertain prospects faced by Republicans as they try to hold the House on Election Day 23 days from now. (CNN’s Harry Enten’s mysterious unvalidated algorithm places the odds at 11% likely. Enten also notes that polling usually underestimates the GOP and that Democrats are too far left for the median swing state voter.)
What issues are animating the House elections? Here’s a sampling of headlines from the 50 races that Ballotpedia identifies as toss-ups:
‘Really hypocritical’: Jay Feely hits Amish Shah on data centers but agrees on water policy (Arizona’s 1st District)
Lincoln running as pro-growth, pro-housing public servant (California’s 13th District)
Western district House candidates say affordability is their top concern (Montana’s 1st District)
Gabe Evans rips Democrats for blocking data center bill (Colorado’s 8th District)
Chuy Garcia blasted on House floor by fellow Democrat for leaving seat to chief of staff (Illinois’ 4th District)
Iowa Dem challengers dismiss Zach Nunn and Mariannette Miller-Meeks Iran votes as ‘too little too late’ (Iowa’s 3rd and 1st Districts)
Pia Dandiya Called a ‘Hypocrite’ Over Data Center Investment, Casey Askar hit for Being Wealthy and on Alleged ‘Shady Business Practices’ (Florida’s 22nd District)
Anthony DiLorenzo says ‘it’s time to bring our troops home’ (New Hampshire’s 1st District)
LePage rejects Medicaid expansion, pitches deportations as housing relief in debate with Dunlap (Maine’s 2nd District)
GOP bets Carrie Buck and Trump’s ‘no tax on tips’ will win battleground Nevada House seat
(Nevada’s 1st District)
Derek Merrin talks taxes, tariffs and energy ahead of 9th Congressional District race (Ohio’s 9th District)
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Pa. Republicans tout Trump accounts at state Capitol (Pennsylvania’s 10th District)
Luria and Kiggans would both ban stock trading. But their wealth is above average. (Virginia’s 2nd District)
‘South Texas is going to be blue again’: Democrat Henry Cuellar says his party will win back Hispanic voters (Texas’s 28th District)
THE JUDICIARY
The Supreme Court of the United States began its 2026-2027 term last Monday.
Suppressors Without Fingerprinting
Firearm suppressors are legal without all of the previously required fingerprinting and interstate travel paperwork because of a new Department of Justice decision.
The DOJ formally advised lawmakers on Capitol Hill last Thursday that it will forgo appealing a judicial decision striking down federal registration and paperwork mandates for firearm suppressors.
Trump-appointed U.S. District Judge James Wesley Hendrix for the Northern District of Texas invalidated key provisions under the National Firearms Act on Aug. 5, reasoning that dropping the transfer tax down to zero rendered the associated filing regulations unconstitutional. In a notice sent to congressional leaders Thursday, Solicitor General D. John Sauer confirmed federal prosecutors will allow the decision to stand.
SCOTUS Begins Weighing Climate Change Liability
SCOTUS heard oral arguments for Suncor Energy v. County Commissioners of Boulder County last Monday, which may set a precedent for holding energy companies liable for perceived damages from greenhouse gas emissions — even if they’re from another state.
The attorney representing Suncor Energy and the other petitioners told the Court that while “[c]limate change is certainly one of the most pressing issues of the day … we would submit that this is exactly the wrong way to go about resolving it.”
Meanwhile, the attorney representing the commissioners from Boulder County and the other respondents maintained that companies like Suncor can be held liable under the Clean Air Act.
Justice Samuel Alito told Bloomberg on Sept. 30 that he’ll recuse himself from the case in light of his family’s natural gas investments, which paves the way for what some legal scholars have previously told the Daily Caller News Foundation could become a 4:4 split decision.
Other cases the Court heard last week included Johnson v. United States Congress on Monday, Anderson v. Intel Corp. Investment Policy Committee on Tuesday, and Department of Air Force v. Prutehi Guahan on Wednesday.
MISCELLANEOUS
Columbus Day 2026
Italian explorer Christopher Columbus reached the Bahamas 534 years ago today.
“I resurrected Christopher Columbus,” Trump said at the White House event last Friday. “They were taking a statue down, everything all over the place, and I put up a beautiful statue of Christopher Columbus right in front of the main office building … right across the street.”
During the event, Trump credited Columbus with discovering the “New World” in 1492 and unveiled a statue of the explorer made out of imported Italian marble that’ll be displayed in the White House’s Rose Garden.
“Christopher Columbus changed the future of humanity forever, and in this administration, we know that Christopher Columbus is to us a hero,” Trump said.
The president also expressed his appreciation for famous Italian Americans such as singer Christopher Macchio, former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, and Alito.
Last year, Trump wrote in his 2025 proclamation that Columbus has been “outrageously … a prime target of a vicious and merciless campaign to erase our history, slander our heroes, and attack our heritage” in recent years.
“Before our very eyes, left-wing radicals toppled his statues, vandalized his monuments, tarnished his character, and sought to exile him from our public spaces,” Trump wrote. “Under my leadership, those days are finally over — and our Nation will now abide by a simple truth: Christopher Columbus was a true American hero, and every citizen is eternally indebted to his relentless determination.”
The statue that once stood in Columbus, Ohio, remains in storage, though Italian American patriots have sought to restore him to his former glory.
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