Good morning! Election Day isn’t for another 60 days. But the voting is about to begin. North Carolina will start sending out absentee ballots today.

In other seasonal news, Chipotle announced a costume collab with Spirit Halloween. To everyone whose lifelong dream is to dress up as a napkin, it’s finally your time to shine. The body suits retail for $39.99, so you’ll have to skip two or three servings of guac.

LEGAL

⚓️ Navy secretary broke law, OSC says

It’s officially official. Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro dun goofed. Federal investigators said he broke the law during an official speech in London in January in which he endorsed the boss’s boss — that’s President Biden — and blasted Donald Trump.

• The U.S. secretary of the Navy is the presidentially appointed civilian head of the Department of the Navy.

• Basically, this guy’s the CEO of both the Navy and the Marine Corps. The two branches fall under one larger department.

The Office of the Special Counsel (OSC) found that Del Toro’s speech violated the Hatch Act. That’s a 1939 law that bans federal employees from many political activities while on the job. Everyone from mailmen to Cabinet secretaries is affected to ensure the government is focused on, well, governing.

• The OSC is the tiny, independent agency that looks into Hatch Act violations. It also protects whistleblowers from revenge.

Punishment for violations can include getting fired, getting demoted, and getting slapped with a $1,000 fine. In many cases, like with Biden’s press secretary, the OSC just sends a warning. In others, like with Trump’s Agriculture secretary, violators get hit with a fine.

The OSC also investigated Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona for writing a letter to student loan borrowers ragging on “Republican elected officials.” But, the OSC said, that was about policy rather than a specific election. So Cardona’s gucci.

In related news, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg seems to be angling for a promotion to a less lame job in a potential Harris administration.

• He attended five separate fundraisers in California on Wednesday alone, which brought in $4 million for Team Harris.

• Mayor Secretary Pete shouldn't have any Hatch Act problems, though. He was off the clock and appeared in his personal capacity.

UNITED STATES

🚫 The Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS) said in a letter that the proposed $15 billion buyout of U.S. Steel by Japan’s Nippon Steel would create a national security problem. Led by the Treasury secretary, CFIUS is an inter-agency group of high-level officials that reviews foreign buyouts of American companies. President Biden plans to block the sale upon the coming formal CFIUS recommendation. Harris and Trump are also on record opposing the buyout.

🗣️ The House Foreign Affairs Committee subpoenaed Secretary of State Antony Blinken, legally demanding he come testify about the U.S.'s chaotic 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan. Down the hall, the House Education and Workforce Committee issued a subpoena to Tim Walz over his state's response to pandemic-era relief fund fraud. Like the House itself, both committees are Republican-led. Forcing your political opponents to come spill the beans is a tried-and-true play in political hardball.

✈️ House Speaker Mike Johnson made his first overseas trip as speaker. He traveled to Italy this week to take part in G7 meetings for legislative leaders. President Biden attended a similar summit for the big boys back in June. As a reminder, the G7 is a group of seven friendly countries (plus the E.U.) with thicc economies.

POLITICS

🔑 Campaigns view Pennsylvania as key to victory

Donald Trump and Kamala Harris don’t agree on much. But they do both oppose the proposed buyout of U.S. Steel by Japanese firm Nippon Steel. It’s probably not a coincidence that U.S. Steel is based in Pittsburgh and employs thousands of workers in 2024’s marquee battleground state. Both camps view Pennsylvania as the key to victory this year. And tied polling backs up that claim.

• Kamala Harris, Joe Biden, and Tim Walz all campaigned in Pennsylvania this week.

• Donald Trump did, too, and took the chance to hit Harris for her past support for banning fracking.

• In a state where that’s big business, Harris is emphasizing her change of heart as she tries to avoid her old position.

• The gender gap is also a struggle for her in Pennsylvania. She loses men by 15% but only wins women by 11%.

Pennsylvania’s time in the spotlight will continue on Tuesday when ABC hosts the first Trump-Harris debate in Philadelphia.

The two presidential candidates are talking economy this week. Donald Trump pushed his economic message in a speech to the New York Economic Club yesterday. He wants to cut corporate taxes to 15% for companies making products in America and plans to create a government efficiency panel headed by Elon Musk.

• For her part, Harris broke with Biden on his proposed increase of the capital gains tax to 39.6%. She prefers a lower boost to 28%.

👨‍👩‍👦 All in the (political) family

After being convicted on gun charges in June, presidential son Hunter Biden pleaded guilty to tax evasion yesterday. He’ll be sentenced in November and December, respectively, and could see hefty prison time. The White House reiterated that President Dad will not issue a pardon or commute his son’s sentence. We’ll see about that, though — pumping out pardons hours before leaving office is a time-honored presidential tradition.

Tim Walz’s family in Nebraska, his birth state, took a group photo wearing “Walzs for Trump” shirts. The VP nominee’s sister quickly pointed out that they’re just second cousins who she doesn’t even know. A little closer to home, Walz’s older brother is also a Republican. Donald Trump can relate. His niece and nephew are not fans of his.

Former (and possibly future) First Lady Melania Trump dropped a video hyping her upcoming memoir. The book, cleverly titled “Melania,” releases on October 8.

TRIVIA

Pour one out for the poor Virginians who have to put up with elections literally every year. Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears (R) announced she's running for governor next year in the state where elections never stop. If she wins, she’ll be the first Black woman in U.S. history to serve as a governor. How many Black men have served as governors?

Hint: Single digits.

POLLS

📊 Harris leads in most battlegrounds, slips in Arizona

Republicans are laughing after a poll shows Kamala Harris losing ground in reliably Democratic Minnesota. She led by 10% in July. After giving Tim Walz, the state’s governor, the VP nod, her margin dropped to 5%.

The VP got better news from a fresh round of CNN polls, though. A survey of likely voters in swing states found that:

• 🔴 Trump leads Harris in Arizona by 5%

• 🔵 Harris leads Trump in Georgia by 1%

• 🔵 Harris leads Trump in Michigan by 5%

• 🔵 Harris leads Trump in Nevada by 1%

• ⚪ The two candidates tie in Pennsylvania at 47%.

• 🔵 Harris leads Trump in Wisconsin by 6%.

Trump’s challenge: These voters like what Harris is selling. But hoo boy, they are not fans of President Biden. They disapprove of his performance by an average of 19%. Donald Trump’s challenge over the next 60 days will be to emphasize the Harris half of “Biden-Harris Administration.”

Senate: CNN found similarly rosy numbers for Democratic Senate candidates in battleground states with one exception. In Pennsylvania, Sen. Bob Casey (D) and challenger Dave McCormick (R) tie at 46% — McCormick’s best result yet.

BRIEFS

• U.S. accuses Russia of election interference, seizes 32 domain names and levies sanctions in response

• Department of Justice claims six right-wing influencers unwittingly used as Russian propaganda

• “In gratitude” to voters robbed of legitimate election, Venezuelan dictator declares early October 1 start to Christmas

• Georgia school shooting suspect interviewed by FBI after prior threats in 2023

• Trump's election subversion case will not go to trial before election, hearing confirms

• Israeli prime minister counters White House line on ceasefire, says “there's no deal in the making"

• FBI agents raid homes of two top aides to New York City Mayor Eric Adams, seize phones

• Jared Kushner’s billion-dollar development deal in Albania attacked as political favor

• Nicaragua to release 135 political prisoners, including many religious leaders, after U.S. negotiations

QUOTE

ANSWER

Since the first in 1868, six Black men have governed U.S. states.

1. Oscar Dunn (R) in Louisiana from 1868 to 1871.

2. P.B.S. Pinchback (R) in Louisiana from 1872 to 1873.

3. Douglas Wilder (D) in Virginia from 1990 to 1994.

4. Deval Patrick (D) in Massachusetts from 2007 to 2015.

5. David Paterson (D) in New York from 2008 to 2010.

6. Wes Moore (D) in Maryland since 2023.