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Let the Flight Cuts Begin: Starting today, Seattle-Tacoman International Airport will start reducing flights. The Federal Aviation Administration announced the 10 percent reduction in flights across 40 high-traffic airports in order to provide relief to over-taxed and unpaid air traffic controllers doing their work during what is now the longest government shutdown in American history. At SeaTac, the cuts will slowly ramp up to 10 percent across several days. The cuts will initially target small domestic and regional flights, preserving international departures and those flights between bustling hub airports. Which flights get cut are very—forgive me—up in the air right now. Happy almost Thanksgiving?
Cuts Hit Nationwide: So far, around 800 U.S.-linked flights were cancelled as of Friday morning, according to The Guardian. Estimates figure the FAA’s 10 percent cuts could result in “as many as 1,800 flights and upwards of 268,000 seats combined.” This is all unprecedented stuff. Reopen the government, you cowards. But, only after reinstating health care subsidies.
Chris Murphy: “There will be pretty substantial damage to a Dem brand that has been rehabilitated if on the heels of an election in which the people told us to keep fighting, we immediately stop… if we surrender without having gotten anything, I worry it’ll be hard to get them back up off the mat”
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) November 7, 2025 at 6:54 AM
Growing Pains: Light Rail 1 Line (one of two lines) will close between the U District and Westlake Station on Saturday, November 8 to do repairs and work related to finally, hopefully, connecting the 1 Line with the 2 Line. The closure will only last until 2 p.m.
RIP: University of Washington star soccer goalkeeper Mia Hamant died after fighting a rare kidney cancer for seven months. She was 21.
Zahilay Declares Victory: After Thrusday’s ballot drop showed he’d passed the 51 percent threshold of the vote, Girmay Zahilay announced his team “will begin transition work immediately.” They fully expect the next ballot drops to keep padding his lead. Because the King County Executive race is a special election to fill Dow Constantine’s mid-term departure, Zahilay—if he does indeed keep this lead—will start his new job on Nov. 25. Quick turnaround.
ICYMI: Katie Wilson gained on Mayor Bruce Harrell in yesterday’s ballot drop. Though, the gains were modest. We should hopefully have a better idea about how this race will shape up after today’s 4 p.m. drop. Please, I can’t keep living like this. I wasn’t built for Schrödinger’s Mayor. More analysis here.
And Now, The Weather: Today? Not wet. Perhaps, dare I say it, some sun? In fact, the weekend should remain relatively dry and not even too chilly. Could be time to hit the beach. Cowabunga.
Nancy Withdrew: Okay, forgive me, the pun there isn’t totally accurate, but it’s close enough. Nancy Pelosi announced Thursday she would not seek reelection after this term. Finally! After almost 40 years in Congress, Pelosi says she’ll finally take the retirement we’ve been asking her to take for years. Time to focus on eating soups and playing pickleball. Now, the fight to replace her kicks off amongst the Democrats of San Francisco.
My Favorite Piece from Election Night: On election night in New York, a Mother Jones reporter attended Republican and cat lover Curtis Sliwa’s party. The cast of characters she met is nearly indescribable. You just gotta read it.
Sandwich Guy Goes Free: A jury of his peers did not find Sean Dunn, the Former Justice Department paralegal, guilty of a misdemeanor for chucking his Subway sandwich at federal agents this summer. Ever since he hurled that hero at one of Trump’s goons, the federal government has been doing all it can to make an example out of Dunn. But it keeps failing. First, they tried to get him for felony assault but the federal jury wasn’t convinced. Next, Dunn faced this most recent misdemeanor assault charge. Again, the jury did not reach a guilty verdict.
Not Actually That Funny: The ridiculous sandwich case is funny, until you think about it too much. The government went to a lot of effort to convict this guy for a silly crime. The precedent that sets for the rest of the Trump administration—a time when we can expect more National Guard presence and more protest—is not comforting.
I think this take on the sandwich guy trial is correct. our system is built assuming that prosecutors will show appropriate restraint. the sandwich guy case went on for way too long and that in and if itself should be raising alarm bells www.lawfaremedia.org/article/sand…
— sarah jeong (@sarahjeong.bsky.social) November 7, 2025 at 7:28 AM
The Jobs Report Remains Dead: Thanks to the government shutdown for the second month in a row the Bureau of Labor Statistics won’t release a monthly jobs report. This is the longest time without a report on the state of the labor market in history. So, do we know what’s going on? Kinda. Private data, while conflicting at times, shows that overall the job market hasn’t changed much since the summer, or the last time we had a jobs report. The data does hint that more troubling times could be around the corner.
Healthcare Exec Passes Out in Oval Office: A guest of pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly fainted at an Oval Office press event about lowering the cost of obesity drugs. Dr. Oz jumped into action to help the man. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. immediately made himself scarce (he has said he went to another room to get the man a chair). Trump sort of just stood there, lording over the whole thing. It all feels very… apt.
incredible photo that’s definitely worth at least 1,000 words from Andrew Harnik of Getty
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) November 6, 2025 at 10:10 AM
“Cybersecurity Incident” at Congressional Budget Office: Hm. Looks like the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), a poindexter heaven of processing and disseminating economic and budgetary information to Congress, was hacked. The CBO hack may have been committed by a “foreign actor.” What, was it Ralph Fiennes? Sorry, sorry, that was really bad. But not as bad as the CBO being hacked.
We Simply Cannot Comprehend the French Mind: During the Louvre heist where thieves made off with $102 million in jewels, the Louvre’s super strong surveillance system had an airtight password. According to an employee, the password was simply “Louvre.” Fuck yeah. As for those delightful bandits, four suspects have been charged in connection to the burglary. As for the jewels, they are still in the wind.
A song for your Friday: I know you are dramatic like this.
