President Trump personally instructed Russ Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget, to use $20 million of taxpayer money from the Department of Homeland Security, The New York Times reports, for his blatantly political TV ads.
•Do Not Miss Pundit-at-Large Stephen Macaulay's "Who's He Kidding?" in The Gray Area.
By Todd Lassa
Last week’s most important economic news was not Friday’s tepid Labor Department report that the US economy added just 29,000 jobs in September (for a still exceptional 4.2% unemployment rate). The number was good news, in a way, for President Trump in that the Federal Reserve’s next interest rate hike signaled by his choice for chairman, Kevin Warsh, may now be held to zero for the rest of 2026.
Last week’s most important economic news was, instead, Freddie Mac’s report that home mortgage rates breached the “psychologically important” 7% level last seen a year-and-a-half ago.
Home mortgage rates had fallen below 6% last February, for the first time since 2022, “sparking a flurry of buyer interest and fueling optimism” ahead of the traditional spring selling season. Now, The Wall Street Journal reports, the 7.03% Freddie Mac reported for the end of September and into October “may be the housing market’s ‘new normal.’”
Trump in his big interview with Time magazine last week promised an end to the war with Iran after the midterms, resulting in a quick drop in oil prices. To make sure you received that message, Trump repeated his offer to give every adult US citizen $5,000 if Republicans hold their majorities in the House and Senate.
But the prospect of an easy resolution to the war he along with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launched in February is far from guaranteed.
This Sunday The New York Times reported that the Pentagon has withdrawn all 12 B-1 Air Force bombers from RAF Fairfield after commanders received threats regarding an Iranian-backed plot against the field in southern England, according to two officials. Report of the withdrawal was confirmed by the Pentagon’s European command, though they gave no reason for it.
This comes one week after police arrested five men approaching RAF Fairfield in three white vans. It must be noted that British authorities have not yet indicated the motive or nature of the presence of the five men at the airfield.
Meanwhile … As both chambers of Congress take recess until after the November 3 midterms and Trump (above) hits the campaign trail in an effort to retain the GOP’s control of the Senate and House of Representatives, we are off from our regular schedule of daily updates, October 5 to October 9 only.
We will return with daily news/aggregate/analysis updates in this center column Mondays through Fridays on October 12. During this time, you are still encouraged to join our conversation on political news. Email your COMMENTS to editors@thehustings.news and please indicate your political leanings in the subject line, so we can publish them in the appropriate (left or right) column.