And now, a message from Google. The spirit of innovation is deeply ingrained in America,

and Google is helping Americans innovate in ways both big and small. Central Texas Regional Mobility

Authority is using Google AI to create smarter tolling systems and improve traffic flow for Texans.

This is a new era of American Innovation. Find out more at G.co slash American Innovation. Good morning. I'm Anna Palmer and welcome to The Daily Punch, brought to you by Punchable News. It's Friday, October 4th, 2024. Let's get into the mix. Here are your Washington headlines of the day. Number one, we've got a leader look at Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer

and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. Number two, Senator Josh Hawley's evolution from Firebrand

to dealmaker. And number three, House lawmakers look to increase security on the campaign trail.

Happy Friday, everybody. Hope you've had a good week. We are just 32 days until the election.

As promised, we're focusing this morning on the two Senate leaders as part of our semi-frequent

leader look series. In case you missed it, of course, yesterday we looked at what was happening

in the House. So first up, let's talk about

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, the Democrat from New York, coming off yet another

government funding fight where his position won out, a clean bipartisan bill free of poison

pills. Schumer didn't take debate on Speaker Mike Johnson's six-months CR with the Save Act Gambit.

It helped that Senate GOP leaders and the White House had no interest in Johnson's plans either,

but Schumer has been able to keep his caucus unified through consecutive bicameral negotiations.

Yet, lame duck session might not be as kind to Schumer.

Congress will have only five weeks to hammer out a huge fiscal year 2025 spending package.

Lawmakers also need to pass the annual defense authorization bill.

Once the Senate and House versions are reconciled, each of those could take at least a week of floor time.

Schumer has already shown he wants to prioritize confirming President Joe Biden's judicial nominees.

He also held a handful of messaging votes over the summer, but this came at the expense of passing

individual appropriations bills or the Senate's version of the NDDAA, drawing a strong rebuke from Republicans.

...