It was never infrastructure week, after all

close

Video

Trump to rally in battleground states amid surge in coronavirus cases, Amy Coney Barrett Supreme Court confirmation

Kristin Fisher reports from the White House.

**Want FOX News Halftime Report in your inbox every day? Sign up here.**

On the roster: It was never infrastructure week, after all - Dems fume after Barrett confirmation - Biden has Georgia on his mind - Progressives push for Warren, Sanders in Biden cabinet - You know you live in L.A. when…

IT WAS NEVER INFRASTRUCTURE WEEK, AFTER ALL
As the Senate prepares to take wing back home to states swing and solid, it is worth pausing to note the improbable success of Mitch McConnell and the Senate GOP.

Now, you may tell us that they will reap the whirlwind for their success in both jamming through a Supreme Court nomination while simultaneously defeating a stimulus proposal backed by the House and a president of their own party.

And given the Senate map of 2022, there’s certainly reason to believe that some Senate incumbents may have just written the attack ads against them.

But as a matter of legislative flex, you still have to hand it to them.

When Republicans announced that they would try to fill the seat left vacant by the death of Ruth Bader Ginsberg before the election we were among those who scoffed. It just couldn’t be done. The time was too short, the stakes too high and pressure too great on Republicans in competitive races.

Months ago, we felt the same away about McConnell & Co. trying to fend off House Democrats and White House Republicans over trillions more in coronavirus relief spending.

Markets demanded the money, voters wanted the checks, President Trump’s re-election hung in the balance: They would just have to knuckle under.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi deserves much of the credit she gets for being a cagy tactician, as well as her gifts for enforcing party unity. Whether it’s Ghirardelli’s or Louisville Sluggers, her gift for rewarding friends and punishing foes has made her into a formidable speaker.

But holy croakano, Mitch McConnell.

Think about this. When the Trump Era dawned in Washington, things looked pretty rough for the laconic Kentuckian. The ascendant Trump nationalists had identified him as the face of the Republican establishment and the principle obstacle to their goals.

McConnell faced tremendous pressure from Trump to invoke the nuclear option and eliminate the legislative filibuster allowing the president to shove through his agenda with 51 votes instead of 60.

Ahead of the 2018 midterms Trump insiders like Steve Bannon and others made support for McConnell a litmus test in Republican primaries. Removing McConnell as majority leader was said to be just as important as defeating Democrats. It all sounds remarkably goofy two years later.

Two of Trump’s most cherished accomplishments, the 2017 tax cut and the record-setting number of judicial appointments including three – count ‘em – Supreme Court appointments are substantially the handiwork of McConnell and his conservative establishmentarians.

Certainly Paul Ryan’s crew in the House was a big part of the tax cut, but McConnell’s ability to keep the confidence of a factious and often frightened Republican majority really stands out.

As for judges, McConnell and his team were the ones who carried the day. Yes, the hail Mary pass on Justice Amy Coney Barrett gets all the headlines, but the very fact that McConnell was able to set the parameters for what kind of judges would be acceptable speaks to the Senate Majority’s effective exercise of power.

At this point four years ago, voters could reasonably wonder how Donald Trump would govern. Would he be a trans-partisan dealmaker who remained in touch with his New York Democratic roots?

As has been the case all along, and is the case in what might be the final round between Trump and McConnell, conservative Republicans substantially won their bought with Trump. The conservative justice will rise and the multi-trillion-dollar stimulus will fall.

Except for on trade where the president’s power is nearly absolute, McConnell and mainstream conservatives set the priorities for the Trump term.

It was never infrastructure week, after all.

THE RULEBOOK: MIND YOUR BUSINESS
“It is not probable that the richest State in the Confederacy will ever influence the choice of a single representative in any other State.” – Alexander Hamilton or James Madison, writing about the House of Representatives and the apportionment of members to individual states, Federalist No. 54

TIME OUT: AND SUBWAY CREATURES WERE BORN
History: “At 2:35 on the afternoon of October 27, 1904, New York City Mayor George McClellan takes the controls on the inaugural run of the city’s innovative new rapid transit system: the subway. While London boasts the world’s oldest underground train network (opened in 1863) and Boston built the first subway in the United States in 1897, the New York City subway soon became the largest American system. The first line, operated by the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT), traveled 9.1 miles through 28 stations. Running from City Hall in lower Manhattan to Grand Central Terminal in midtown, and then heading west along 42nd Street to Times Square, the line finished by zipping north, all the way to 145th Street and Broadway in Harlem. On opening day, Mayor McClellan so enjoyed his stint as engineer that he stayed at the controls all the way from City Hall to 103rd Street.”

Flag on the play? - Email us at HALFTIMEREPORT@FOXNEWS.COM with your tips, comments or questions.

SCOREBOARD
NATIONAL HEAD-TO-HEAD AVERAGE 
Trump: 39.8 percent 
Biden: 51 percent 
Size of lead: Biden by 11.2 points 
Change from one week ago: Biden ↓ 0.4 points, Trump ↓ 0.2 points
[Average includes: Quinnipiac University: Trump 41% - Biden 51%; NYT/Siena: Trump 41% - Biden 50%; AP/NORC: Trump 36% - Biden 51%; KFF: Trump 38% - Biden 49%; NPR/PBS News/Marist: Trump 43% - Biden 54%.]

BATTLEGROUND POWER RANKINGS 
(270 electoral votes needed to win) 
Toss-up: (109 electoral votes): Wisconsin (10), Ohio (18), Florida (29), Arizona (11), Pennsylvania (20), North Carolina (15), Iowa (6) 
Lean R/Likely R: (180 electoral votes) 
Lean D/Likely D: (249 electoral votes) 
[Full rankings here.] 

TRUMP JOB PERFORMANCE 
Average approval: 42 percent
Average disapproval: 55.2 percent
Net Score: -13.2 points
Change from one week ago: ↓ 1 point
[Average includes: Quinnipiac University: 41% approve - 55% disapprove; Gallup: 43% approve - 55% disapprove; NYT/Siena: 43% approve - 51% disapprove; AP/NORC: 39% approve - 61% disapprove; KFF: 44% approve - 54% disapprove.]

GOT A WILD PITCH? READY TO THROW A FASTBALL?
We’ve brought “From the Bleachers” to video on demand thanks to Fox Nation. Each Wednesday and Friday, Producer Brianna McClelland will put Politics Editor Chris Stirewalt to the test with your questions on everything about politics, government and American history – plus whatever else is on your mind. Sign up for the Fox Nation streaming service here and send your best questions to HALFTIMEREPORT@FOXNEWS.COM.

DEMS FUME AFTER BARRETT CONFIRMATION
Fox News: “Sen. Chris Coons said Monday that there needs to be a ‘wide-open conversation’ on the ideological balance of the federal courts after the Senate for four years has doggedly focused on confirming Trump nominees to the Supreme Court and to the benches of the country's lower courts. Under the guidance of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who has embraced the mantra of ‘no vacancy left behind,’ Republicans have confirmed 220 Trump-appointed judges to those courts. That includes Judge Amy Coney Barrett, who will take the judicial oath administered by Chief Justice Roberts and officially assume her Supreme Court duties sometime Tuesday. Coons, D-Del., who is a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, made the comments in a conversation with MSNBC host Rachel Maddow after Barrett was confirmed 52-48 on Monday night with no Democrats voting for her confirmation. ‘We've got to have a wide-open conversation about how do we rebalance our courts,’ Coons said.”

Dems contemplate court packing - NY Post: “New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called for more seats to be added to the Supreme Court — shortly after Amy Coney Barrett was confirmed as the newest justice on the bench Monday evening. ‘Expand the court,’ the Bronx-born congresswoman wrote on Twitter. Her message was re-tweeted by fellow ‘squad’ member Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.). ‘Remember that Republicans have lost 6 of the last 7 popular votes, but have appointed 6 of the last 9 justices,’ Omar added. ‘By expanding the court we fix this broken system and have the court better represent the values of the American people.’ Their calls echoed those of other lefties who have recently suggested upping the number of justices on the currently nine-member high court — amid the rush to confirm Barrett for the seat of late liberal icon Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.”

Trump already chose Barrett successor on appeals court - Fox News: “With Justice Amy Coney Barrett now on the Supreme Court, a new vacancy has opened on the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals where she previously sat… Add to that the death of 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Juan Torruella, reported Monday by Reuters, and Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., could confirm another two lifetime-appointed judges just one level below the Supreme Court even if both Senate Republicans and the president lose in the Nov. 3 election. For Barrett's old seat, Trump announced last Wednesday he plans to nominate Thomas L. Kirsch II, who is currently the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Indiana. Kirsch is a former clerk for Judge John Daniel Tinder in the Southern District of Indiana, was previously a partner at a private law firm and held other positions with the Department of Justice (DOJ).”

SupCo rules to keep Wisconsin Election Day deadline for mailed ballots - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: “The U.S. Supreme Court upheld Wisconsin's voting laws Monday, rejecting an effort to require the counting of absentee ballots that are sent back to election officials on or just before Election Day. The court's 5-3 ruling means that absentee ballots will be counted only if they are in the hands of municipal clerks by the time polls close on Nov. 3.  The justices determined the courts shouldn't be the ones to decide the election rules amid the coronavirus pandemic that is surging in Wisconsin and across the world.  ‘The Constitution provides that state legislatures — not federal judges, not state judges, not state governors, not other state officials — bear primary responsibility for setting election rules,’ Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote in a concurring opinion.”

BIDEN HAS GEORGIA ON HIS MIND
AP: “One week until Election Day, Joe Biden is going on offense, heading Tuesday to Georgia — which hasn’t backed a Democrat for president since 1992 — and pushing into other territory where President Donald Trump was once expected to easily repeat his wins from four years ago. The Democratic presidential nominee planned to travel to Iowa, which Trump took by 10 points in 2016, later in the week. His running mate, California Sen. Kamala Harris, is heading to Arizona and Texas, where Republicans haven’t lost any statewide office since 1994 — the nation’s longest political winning streak. The aggressive schedule is a sign of confidence by the Biden team, which is trying to stretch the electoral map and open up more paths to 270 electoral college votes. But after Democrats flirted with GOP territory in 2016, only to lose those states as well as their traditional Midwestern strongholds, Biden’s campaign is mindful of overreaching. The former vice president will also visit in the coming days Wisconsin, Michigan and Florida.”

Obama hits Trump hard in Orlando - Orlando Sentinel: “Campaigning in Orlando, former President Barack Obama lashed out at President Trump on Tuesday and urged state voters to turn out ‘like never before’ to put Joe Biden in the White House. Obama focused on the president’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, including his efforts to downplay it at recent campaign rallies even as cases surge nationwide. ‘He’s jealous of COVID’s media coverage,’ Obama said, adding that instead of focusing on controlling its spread, ‘He’s turned the White House into a hot zone.’ Obama added, ‘Florida, we cannot afford four more years of this. We cannot afford this kind of incompetence and indifference.’ Obama urged all Floridians to vote for Biden and if they’ve already voted, to help friends and family get to the polls.”

Bloomberg launches Texas, Ohio ad blitz - NYT: “Michael R. Bloomberg is funding a last-minute spending blitz to bolster former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. in Texas and Ohio, directing millions toward television advertising in two red states that have shifted away from President Trump in the general election. A political adviser to Mr. Bloomberg said the billionaire former mayor of New York City would use his super PAC, Independence USA, to air intensive ad campaigns in all television markets in both states. The cost of the two-state campaign is expected to total around $15 million. The decision by Mr. Bloomberg reflects just how much the electoral landscape appears to have shifted in the final few months of the presidential race, as Mr. Trump’s mismanagement of the coronavirus pandemic has intensified his unpopularity and further alienated crucial voting groups like women and suburbanites.”

One week away Wall Street bets on a Biden win - Politico: “President Donald Trump loves to say that if Joe Biden wins the White House, stocks will crash, retirement accounts will vanish and an economic depression ‘the likes of which you’ve never seen’ will engulf the nation. But much of Wall Street is already betting on a Biden win — with a much different take on what the results will mean. Traders in recent weeks have been piling into bets that a ‘blue wave’ election, in which Democrats also seize the Senate, will produce an economy-juicing blast of fresh fiscal stimulus of $3 trillion or more that carries the U.S. past the coronavirus crisis and into a more normal environment for markets. Far from panicking at the prospect of a Biden win, Wall Street CEOs, traders and investment managers now mostly say they would be fine with a change in the White House that reduces the Trump noise, lowers the threat of further trade wars and ensures a continuation of the government spending they’ve seen in recent years.”

PROGRESSIVES PUSH FOR WARREN, SANDERS IN BIDEN CABINET
Fox News: “If Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden wins the race for the White House, will either Sens. Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren be trading the title of senator for secretary? One or both of the two progressive champions – who battled the former vice president in the Democratic primaries but became supporters and surrogates for Biden in the general election – could end up in Biden’s cabinet if he defeats President Trump in next week’s election. Two sources close to Sanders’ orbit confirm to Fox News that the populist senator from Vermont does have interest in serving as Department of Labor secretary in a potential Biden cabinet. At the same time, there’s a push in recent days by progressive groups for Warren – who’s long taken aim at Wall Street and the big banks – to be named as Treasury Department secretary in a Biden administration.”

Report: Rhode Island governor being considered for Treasury Secretary - The American Prospect: “Joe Biden’s transition team has informed Democratic officials that Gina Raimondo, the centrist governor of Rhode Island, is under consideration as the next Secretary of the Treasury should Biden win the election, multiple sources have confirmed to the Prospect. Raimondo, in her second term as governor, dazzled Biden’s campaign in interviews to become his vice president back in June. A former venture capitalist who took the governor’s mansion on the strength of millions of dollars in Wall Street donations, Raimondo’s name will stir the long memories of union leaders. They have held a grudge with her for years over her tenure as state treasurer, when she cut pension benefits for public employees, while steering over $1 billion in state money to hedge fund investments.”

TRUMP CONTINUES LAISSEZ-FAIRE VIRUS MESSAGE
Politico: “With one week left in the election, President Donald Trump is perfecting his closing argument about the pandemic gripping much of the nation: Don’t worry about it. In rally after rally, tweet after tweet, Trump is encouraging his supporters and everyone else to stop talking about the coronavirus. His key message: It’s not that big of a deal, vaccines are on the way and if people get sick, most of them will survive it just as Trump and his family did. It’s a look-the-other-way approach not all that different from how Trump spent the summer, focusing on the need to reopen the economy and schools and stop disrupting lives — despite a death toll that has now climbed above 215,000 people in the U.S. Trump’s closing argument on Covid-19 comes as Joe Biden and his surrogates pound the president over his early handling of the pandemic… It’s also coming just as the U.S. hits new daily records of coronavirus cases ahead of the Nov. 3 election.”

But campaign says ‘strong precautions’ in place for Omaha rally - Omaha [Neb.] World-Herald: “President Donald Trump’s campaign stop in Omaha on Tuesday comes amid a monthlong surge of coronavirus cases in the city and the state. But event organizers say they’re taking appropriate precautions for the outdoor event at Omaha’s Eppley Airfield. The rally comes one week before Election Day, the culmination of a race between the Republican president and his Democratic opponent, former Vice President Joe Biden. The event will be held on a ramp at the airport. People may start arriving at 4:30 p.m. for the 7:30 p.m. event, and attendees must register. Omaha’s mask mandate and recent statewide coronavirus restrictions put in place by Gov. Pete Ricketts will not apply to the rally because it’s being held outdoors, said Phil Rooney, spokesman for the Douglas County Health Department.”

This comes after numerous Minnesota cases traced to Trump events - Axios: “The Minnesota Department of Health has traced nearly two dozen coronavirus cases to three campaign events held last month, an official told Axios on Monday. The Trump campaign has come under repeated fire for being lax about mask requirements and not adhering to social distancing and other local guidelines at its events. Minnesota has also seen a surge in COVID-19 cases in recent weeks, with nearly 1,600 new COVID-19 cases reported on Monday, per MPR News. At least 23 cases were traced to outbreaks occurring at Trump campaign events in Bemidji, Minneapolis and Duluth, per Doug Schultz, a spokesperson for the Minnesota Department of Health.”

BATTLEGROUND EARLY VOTERS DRIVE RECORD TURNOUT
NYT: “A week before Election Day, more than 64 million Americans have already voted — and about half of them are in the dozen or so competitive states that will ultimately decide who wins the Electoral College. Possibly even more significant, early votes in these battlegrounds account for more than half of those states’ total votes in 2016. Nationally, voters have already cast about 46 percent of the total vote counted in 2016, according to the United States Elections Project. … Early votes in populous Texas, which leans Republican but is considered competitive this year because of its growing populations of people of color, have already surpassed 80 percent of the state’s 2016 total turnout. And votes in Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Nevada and North Carolina account for more than 60 percent of the total ballots that were cast in those states four years ago.”

Swing-district Dems could help party keep the House - NYT: “Across the country, Democrats like Ms. [Abigail] Spanberger, a former C.I.A. officer who has cultivated a brand as a moderate unafraid to criticize her own party, are playing a pivotal role that has positioned Democrats to maintain control of the House and build their majority. She and dozens of freshmen Democrats like her whose victories in Trump-friendly districts in 2018 handed the party control of the House — and who were seen as the most vulnerable to defeat this year — are leading their Republican challengers in polling and fund-raising headed into the election’s final week. Speaker Nancy Pelosi likes to call this group of about 40 lawmakers — most of them young, many women, and predominantly moderates — her ‘majority makers,’ while the House Democratic campaign arm calls them ‘frontliners.’ And they have largely managed to buck intense Republican attempts to brand them as Ms. Pelosi’s minions, socialists or out-of-touch coastal elites.”

PLAY-BY-PLAY
Judge denies DOJ bid to represent Trump in defamation case - CNBC

Biden holds lead in latest Nevada poll - NYT

Trump 2020 campaign has placed less emphasis on immigration - WSJ

Meet the senators who will lead if Dems take over the Senate - Politico

Pergram: Coronavirus stimulus talks were more optimistic in front of cameras than behind closed doors - Fox News

AUDIBLE: SHOTS FIRED
“He’s jealous of COVID’s media coverage.” – Former President Barack Obama taking a shot at President Trump while rallying for Joe Biden in Orlando on Tuesday.

Share your color commentary: Email us at HALFTIMEREPORT@FOXNEWS.COM and please make sure to include your name and hometown.

YOU KNOW YOU LIVE IN L.A. WHEN…  
LAT: “A dispute between bond king Bill Gross and his next-door neighbor over a $1-million outdoor sculpture has devolved into police calls to their Laguna Beach mansions, multiple legal actions — and allegations that the billionaire investor blared the ‘Gilligan’s Island’ theme song on a loop at all hours to annoy his neighbor. The Pimco co-founder and his partner, former professional tennis player Amy Schwartz, are being accused by tech entrepreneur Mark Towfiq and his wife of harassment and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The cause? A 22-foot-long blue glass installation — and an even bigger pole and netting structure erected to protect it — that Towfiq said blocked his view, prompting a complaint to the city. It’s another in a long line of bitter quarrels between well-to-do neighbors in Southern California’s most expensive neighborhoods, who sometimes find that with a coveted address comes deep-pocketed adversaries and little peace of mind.”

AND NOW, A WORD FROM CHARLES…
“To understand Trump, you have to grasp the General Theory: He judges every action, every pronouncement, every person by a single criterion — whether or not it/he is ‘nice’ to Trump.” – Charles Krauthammer (1950-2018) writing about then-candidate Donald Trump’s fitness for office in the Washington Post on Aug. 4, 2016.

Chris Stirewalt is the politics editor for Fox News. Brianna McClelland contributed to this report. Want FOX News Halftime Report in your inbox every day? Sign up here.