Playbook: Inside the grudge that paralyzed the House  —  Presented by With help from Eli Okun and Garrett Ross  —  DRIVING THE DAY  —  THE FRIDAY READ — “Nikki Haley Doesn't Want to Choose a Side,” by Michael Kruse: “The conventional wisdom is that this is a time for choosing, for all Republicans, and for her, too.

Far-right Republicans kill GOP bill to keep government running in ‘embarrassing failure’ for McCarthy: report  —  With a shutdown less than 36 hours away, far-right Republicans in the House of Representatives Friday afternoon voted against their party's own legislation to keep the federal government running.

How Trump Is Complicating McCarthy's Attempts to Avoid a Shutdown  —  The former president has been publicly pushing a shutdown, but his views are shaped by his own handling of the 2018 shutdown.  —  When a group of House Republicans thwarted Speaker Kevin McCarthy's attempt at averting …

Comer's Fiasco  —  “Republicans are the party that says that government doesn't work, and then they get elected and prove it.”  — P.J. O'Rourke  —  As we roll into the weekend:  — Dysfunction squared: Hardliners plot to replace McCarthy as government shutdown looms - The Washington Post

Feinstein's death throws Senate judicial confirmations into new limbo  —  Filling the open seat on the Judiciary Committee requires at least 60 votes in the Senate, meaning it would require GOP support.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a trailblazer in U.S. politics and the longest-serving woman in the Senate, dies at age 90  —  Feinstein, elected in 1992, was a vocal gun control advocate who often sought common ground with Republicans, sometimes frustrating her more liberal colleagues.