Monday, Oct. 1

· President Donald Trump announced a new trade deal with Canada in a Rose Garden press conference. The deal must still be ratified by congress. https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/2018/10/01/cae5b7fa-c588-11e8-b1ed-1d2d65b86d0c_story.html?utm_term=.ea7ecee081a8&wpisrc=nl_most&wpmm=1

· Sen. Mitch McConnell dismissed allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh as “character assassination” and said the Senate would vote on the nomination this week, despite the ongoing FBI investigation. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-adds-to-confusion-over-scope-of-fbi-investigation-of-kavanaugh-accusations/2018/10/01/1aa5e922-c561-11e8-b1ed-1d2d65b86d0c_story.html?utm_term=.5747524cad2e&wpisrc=al_news__alert-politics--alert-national&wpmk=1

Tuesday, Oct. 2

· Federal authorities charged four men — Benjamin D. Daley, 25, and Thomas W. Gillen, 34, both of Redondo Beach; Michael P. Miselis, 29, of Lawndale, and Cole E. White, 34, of Clayton — with violating a federal rioting law in connection with last year’s white-supremacist rally in Charlottesville. A criminal complaint alleges they carried out multiple assaults against counterprotesters. https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/federal-officials-to-announce-additional-charges-in-2017-unite-the-right-rally-in-charlottesville/2018/10/02/60881262-c651-11e8-9b1c-a90f1daae309_story.html?sdljh&utm_term=.5b0cbe1fe740

· A former Yale University basketball player, Charles Ludington, met with the FBI to discuss Kavanaugh’s alleged role in instigating a bar fight more than three decades ago. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/yale-graduate-says-brett-kavanaugh-once-started-a-bar-fight-that-led-to-his-questioning-by-police/2018/10/02/ddefb4f2-c60c-11e8-b1ed-1d2d65b86d0c_story.html?utm_term=.ebc36d639ab4&wpisrc=nl_most&wpmm=1

· Trump attacked the story of Christine Blasey Ford, who has accused Kavanaugh of sexual assault when the two were in high school, at length at a rally in Southaven, Mississippi, drawing laughs from the crowd. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-mocks-kavanaugh-accuser-christine-blasey-ford/2018/10/02/25f6f8aa-c662-11e8-9b1c-a90f1daae309_story.html?utm_term=.a61598150468&wpisrc=nl_most&wpmm=1

Wednesday, Oct. 3

· Sen. Jeff Merkley filed a motion asking U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson to issue a temporary restraining order requiring Trump to produce a log of more than 100,000 pages of documents about Kavanaugh’s time as White House attorney kept from the Senate on grounds of executive privilege. https://www.politico.com/story/2018/10/03/merkley-kavanaugh-documents-release-863781?nname=playbook-pm&nid=0000015a-dd3e-d536-a37b-dd7fd8af0000&nrid=00000158-890d-dfd4-ad7b-c96fadf30001&nlid=964328

· The World Court ordered the U.S. to ensure that sanctions against Iran, due to be tightened next month, do not affect humanitarian aid or civil aviation safety. But U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo rejected the decision, saying the court had no jurisdiction over the sanctions. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-nuclear-usa-sanctions/world-court-orders-u-s-to-ensure-iran-sanctions-dont-hit-humanitarian-aid-idUSKCN1MD0OJ?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=twitter

· In response to the World Court order, the Trump administration said it was terminating a decades-old treaty affirming friendly relations between the two countries. https://apnews.com/78112ee6826946f78d516ca1a73cc3ec?utm_medium=AP&utm_source=Twitter&utm_campaign=SocialFlow

· The New York Department of Taxation and Finance said it is considering an investigation into allegations detailed in a New York Times story that Trump participated in “dubious tax schemes.”

· In a rare case of bipartisan cooperation, the Senate approved the final version of a package to address the opioid epidemic. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2018/10/03/senate-is-poised-send-sweeping-opioids-legislation-president-trump/?utm_term=.9748688d79b8&wpisrc=al_politics__alert-politics&wpmk=1

Thursday, Oct. 4

· The Senate Judiciary Committee announced that it had received the FBI’s completed report on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/flake-says-trumps-mocking-of-ford-at-political-rally-was-kind-of-appalling/2018/10/03/286c3dba-c6f4-11e8-b1ed-1d2d65b86d0c_story.html?utm_term=.776990fe322d&wpisrc=al_news__alert-politics--alert-national&wpmk=1

· Bloomberg reported that John Burton, a former “opposition researcher,” has formed a resistance movement of 16,000 amateur sleuths who have spent months seeking damaging material on vulnerable Republicans in Congress and state legislatures. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2018-10-04/a-former-obama-operative-built-a-new-anti-republican-attack-machine

· Congressional Republicans have tentatively agreed to a 1.9 percent pay raise for 2 million civilian federal workers, overruling a proposed pay freeze by the Trump administration. https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/congressional-republicans-tentatively-agree-to-raise-federal-worker-pay-rebuffing-trump/2018/10/04/2befe952-bcf2-11e8-8792-78719177250f_story.html?utm_term=.7040f189158d&wpisrc=al_news__alert-politics--alert-national&wpmk=1

Friday, Oct. 5

· The Senate voted to advance Kavanaugh for a final confirmation vote on Saturday, with Republicans apparently securing enough votes to confirm. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/kavanaugh-vote-hours-before-a-key-test-grassley-says-he-doesnt-know-how-it-will-go/2018/10/05/a71d92ba-c886-11e8-b1ed-1d2d65b86d0c_story.html?utm_term=.a023d5a86c51&wpisrc=al_news__alert-politics--alert-national&wpmk=1

· Trump replaced his federal personnel director, Jeff Tien Han Pon, after just seven months, leaving the agency that oversees 2.1 million civilian government personnel with no permanent leadership at a time when the White House has proposed drastically shrinking its mission. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-abruptly-replaces-federal-personnel-director-after-just-7-months/2018/10/05/29497f6e-c8dd-11e8-b1ed-1d2d65b86d0c_story.html?utm_term=.9b8cf64353bf

Saturday, Oct. 6

· The Senate voted 50-48 to confirm Brett Kavanaugh as a justice on the Supreme Court. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/kavanaugh-vote-divided-senate-poised-to-confirm-trumps-nominee/2018/10/06/64bf69fa-c969-11e8-b2b5-79270f9cce17_story.html?utm_term=.93e4b1486165&wpisrc=al_news__alert-politics--alert-national&wpmk=1

· Rep. Jerrold Nadler, the New York Democrat in line to be the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said House Democrats will open an investigation into accusations of sexual misconduct and perjury against Kavanaugh if they win control of the House in November. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/05/us/politics/kavanaugh-house-investigation.html

· Kavanaugh was sworn in as a Justice of the Supreme Court by both Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and the retired Justice Anthony M. Kennedy — the court’s longtime swing vote, whom he will replace — in a private ceremony. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/06/us/politics/brett-kavanaugh-supreme-court.html?action=click&module=Spotlight&pgtype=Homepage

· Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told POLITICO that the Judiciary Committee “ought to take a look at” how the media became aware of Ford’s letter to Sen. Dianne Feinstein laying out her allegation of assault. https://www.politico.com/story/2018/10/07/christine-blasey-ford-leak-investigation-880177?nname=playbook&nid=0000014f-1646-d88f-a1cf-5f46b7bd0000&nrid=00000158-890d-dfd4-ad7b-c96fadf30001&nlid=630318

Sunday, Oct. 7

· No news to report.