Shutdown Stalemate Continues. Posturing with China. Ukraine-Russia Talks.

I’m starting to feel like this shutdown is entering that stale bodega fruit territory. We’ve heard all the big speeches, all the clipped soundbites — and now we’re in rerun mode. The House is out of session, the Senate’s mad about it, and everyone’s just throwing the same talking points at each other. It smells like the end is closer than the beginning, even if nobody’s quite ready to say that out loud.

Donald Trump’s doing what he always does: making it personal. He’s trying to hit Chuck Schumer where it hurts, aiming at long-coveted senatorial projects. Meanwhile, Mike Johnson is explaining the House break as strategy. Keep the place closed, keep the leverage. If they reopen, it gets harder to maintain the narrative that Democrats are the obstructionists. Makes sense, though it doesn’t do anything for progress.