Morning Report is The Hill’s a.m. newsletter. Subscribe here.

In today’s issue:

▪ President reverses ahead of Epstein vote

▪ Trump-MTG spat intensifies

▪ FAA ends all flight reductions

▪ Measles spread threatens US status

President Trump made a late reversal declaring his support for releasing the Jeffrey Epstein files as the House appears set to approve their release this week.

Trump announced his shift in a post on Truth Social on Sunday night after months of opposition, saying “House Republicans should vote to release the Epstein files, because we have nothing to hide.”

The stark reversal comes days after the White House pushed to block a move by a handful of Republicans to force the vote and as the writing appeared on the wall that the measure would pass the House.

All House Democrats and four Republicans signed the discharge petition to force action on calling for the Justice Department to release files pertaining to Epstein. But Trump faced the prospect that dozens more Republicans could vote for the bill, despite his opposition.

The president and his allies made last-minute appeals to Reps. Nancy Mace (S.C.) and Lauren Boebert (Colo.), two of the GOP signers of the discharge petition, to urge them to remove their names before it reached enough signatures to force a vote. Those efforts ultimately failed.

Trump ran on releasing the files throughout the 2024 presidential race but backed off the pledge since taking office, accusing Democrats of pushing a “hoax.” In his post on Sunday night, the president argued for the files’ release, saying “it’s time to move on.”

Attention surrounding the files related to Epstein reemerged last week following the end of the government shutdown. New emails released by House Democrats have drawn renewed scrutiny to Trump’s own past ties to the disgraced financier.

The president has sought to reframe the narrative around Epstein to focus on ties between the sex offender and prominent Democrats.

Trump on Friday directed Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate Epstein’s connections with top Democrats, including former President Clinton, and Bondi said attorneys in the Southern District of New York would take up the case.

The push to release the files also seems to have contributed to the major split between Trump and his longtime ally Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.), another GOP signer of the petition.

Trump officially pulled his endorsement of Greene in a Truth Social post late Friday, accusing her of having “gone Far Left” and inviting a primary challenge against her. He called her a “ranting Lunatic” and said all she does is “COMPLAIN, COMPLAIN, COMPLAIN!” 

“I understand that wonderful, Conservative people are thinking about primarying Marjorie in her District of Georgia, that they too are fed up with her and her antics and, if the right person runs, they will have my Complete and Unyielding Support,” Trump said in the post.

▪ The Hill: Greene says Trump’s remarks “put my life in danger.”

▪ The Hill: 5 issues at the center of the Trump-Greene spat.

Rep. Thomas Massie (Ky.), the GOP sponsor of the discharge petition, had expressed hope that potentially 100 House Republicans who hadn’t signed the petition would vote to release the files. The measure now is expected to overwhelmingly pass.

The bill would still need to pass the Senate before it would go to Trump’s desk for a signature. It would need 60 votes to advance in the upper chamber, meaning at least 13 Senate Republicans would need to vote for it, assuming all Democrats do.

Massie had argued that a larger vote backing the bill in the House would only raise the pressure for the Senate to act.

Trump in his post Sunday night said Republicans need to shift to focus on affordability and other economic issues rather than Epstein, which for months has split his base.

“Some ‘members’ of the Republican Party are being ‘used,’ and we can’t let that happen,” Trump wrote. “Let’s start talking about the Republican Party’s Record Setting Achievements, and not fall into the Epstein ‘TRAP,’ which is actually a curse on the Democrats, not us.”

Smart Take with Blake Burman

Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky made news over the weekend as he mentioned a potential prisoner of war exchange with Russia. I spoke with Matthew Whitaker, the U.S. ambassador to NATO, on Friday and asked him about the possibility of Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin getting in a room together to negotiate an end to the war.

“I think it’s possible. I would say in the next month or two, most likely not, but in the spring [or] summer timeframe it could be an entirely different scenario,” Whitaker said.

Last Friday also marked three months since the Trump-Putin summit, which didn’t yield any backdown from Putin. I found that statement from Whitaker notable, given we are on the cusp of winter. Maybe one day Zelensky and Putin will meet face-to-face, but that seems several months away, at the earliest.

Burman hosts “The Hill” weeknights, 6p/5c on NewsNation.

3 Things to Know Today

1. The Federal Aviation Administration is ending all flight reductions effective Monday as operations start to return to normal following the government shutdown.

2. U.S. Border Patrol agents have been deployed to Charlotte, N.C., in the latest expansion of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. It comes months after the killing of a woman on a light rail train by an immigrant without permanent status sparked outrage.

3. The Department of Homeland Security has deported the Mexican national whom an indicted judge in Milwaukee allegedly helped evade arrest.

Leading the Day Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., left, is joined by House Republicans as he speaks with reporters at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

HOUSE BACKLOG: The House has a flurry of business to conduct after having been out of session for nearly two months amid the government shutdown.

The next few weeks will be critical as lawmakers race to make up for lost time on issues beyond the Epstein vote, The Hill’s Sudiksha Kochi reports.

Another potential showdown over funding is around the corner, with Congress facing a Jan. 30 deadline to fund most of the government. Lawmakers will need to move quickly to pass remaining appropriations bills or another stopgap bill to prevent a partial government shutdown.

House Republicans are also moving to repeal a provision added at the last minute to the bill reopening the government last week that allows senators to sue the federal government for up to $500,000 if their data was sought or obtained without their knowledge. It would allow eight senators whose cell phone data was seized as part of former special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack to sue over it.

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said he will move to pass the measure’s repeal under a suspension of House rules to fast-track it, which requires a two-thirds vote. But it’s expected to get bipartisan support as both Democrats and hardline conservatives have denounced the litigation measure as “self-serving” and “blatantly corrupt.”

Members of both parties are also trying to reach a deal on the annual defense policy bill that must be passed. The House and Senate have approved different versions of the bill with different spending levels for fiscal 2026, requiring a compromise.

Democrats are pushing for a vote on extending the Affordable Care Act subsidies that are set to expire at the end of the year. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) promised Democrats a vote in the Senate in exchange for voting to reopen the government, but Johnson hasn’t made that commitment in the House.

That has led Democrats to introduce a discharge petition to force a vote on it. But that would require some moderate Republicans to cross party lines to sign it, and some have said they want the subsidies to be reformed in any extension.

And discussions on a ban on stock trading for members of Congress will likely pick up in the coming week, as a House committee will hold a hearing on a 2012 law that prohibits congressional members and federal employees from using nonpublic information for private profit.

All will amount to a particularly busy end to the year for the House, while navigating scheduled breaks for Thanksgiving and end-of-the-year holidays.

▪ The Hill: Republicans clash over phone records provision.

▪ NPR: House members say they were gone ‘far too long’ during shutdown.

DEMS’ PRIMARY FURY: Democrats appear set to concentrate their frustrations with the deal to end the 43-day government shutdown on key Senate primaries taking place next year.

The eight Senate Democratic caucus members who voted for the deal aren’t up for reelection in 2026, but the anger seems likely to add to proxy battles between establishment-leaning and progressive candidates, The Hill’s Al Weaver reports.

Two of the major Senate races where this may take place are in Maine and Michigan, with Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D) and Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.) viewed as supportive of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), who has also been criticized for not keeping his caucus in line to oppose the funding bill. Schumer has endorsed Mills in her primary against other candidates including progressive Graham Platner, who is backed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).

Schumer hasn’t endorsed in Michigan, but Stevens has spoken well of him, while her opponent, Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow (D), has called for him to be replaced.

The battle over the shutdown and its conclusion have exposed the growing divide within the Democratic Party, with moderates and progressives battling over the party’s direction, The Hill’s Alexander Bolton reports. That’s taking place in the Senate, in primary races in both chambers in 2026 and likely in the next presidential field in 2028.

▪ The Hill: Sanders elevating progressive Senate candidates amid Dem divide.

MBS VISIT: Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is set to visit the White House on Tuesday, marking a full rehabilitation of relations with the U.S. since the 2018 killing of a Saudi journalist allegedly at the crown prince’s direction.

Also known as MBS, the crown prince made his last visit to the White House in March 2018, months before the killing of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi in a Saudi consulate in Istanbul. The U.S. intelligence community has concluded that the crown prince ordered an operation to capture or kill Khashoggi, who had been critical of the Saudi government.

But The Hill’s Laura Kelly reports that Crown Prince Mohammed’s visit will mark a turning point in shifting the U.S. focus to deepening military, economic and diplomatic cooperation with a key regional power. Former President Biden once declared that crown prince had “pariah” status but still kept the door open for improving U.S.-Saudi relations.

The crown prince is seeking to increase commitments between the two countries on military, technology and business partnerships. He will be joined by a delegation of about 1,000 government, military and business officials.

▪ CNN: Trump pulling out all the stops to welcome MBS.

▪ Axios: Israel wants Trump to condition F-35 sale on Saudi normalization deal.

When & Where

The House will convene at noon.

The president will meet with the White House Task Force on the FIFA World Cup 2026 at 2 p.m. and deliver remarks at the McDonald’s Impact Summit at 6 p.m.

The Senate will meet at 3 p.m. for a pro forma session.

Zoom In President Donald Trump walks down the stairs of Air Force One upon his arrival at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025, after returning from Asia. (AP Photo/Luis M. Alvarez)

TRUMP AGENDA DILEMMA: White House officials are wrestling with how to sell the president’s agenda to the American people ahead of next year’s midterms as Trump faces declining approval ratings.

The Hill’s Brett Samuels reports that sources close the administration believe Trump has key accomplishments to point to, such as his major tax and spending bill and several fulfilled campaign promises, but the task is how to persuade voters that they’re better off thanks to his administration.

Trump’s approval rating has been dropping in recent weeks despite its relative stability. He reached a new low for his second term of 41.5 percent approval in the Decision Desk HQ average last week, with a record high of 55 percent disapproval.

This came as Democrats saw sweeping victories in elections across the board earlier this month, particularly in New Jersey and Virginia.

“The only thing you can do to change people’s perception is to make an argument about what you’re doing to help them. That argument just hasn’t been made,” said one Republican strategist.

Trump has also faced some doubts from members of his base who are concerned he’s muddling his own populist message. The Hill’s Julia Manchester reports that the moves Trump has taken to tout inviting students to the U.S. on H1-B visas and expensive White House renovations are worrying some supporters that it could depress turnout of his base.

▪ The New York Times: Some Trump supporters worry he’s abandoning ‘America First.’

▪ NBC News: Trump voters explain why they’re unhappy with him on the economy.

PROGRESSIVES’ MIXED PERFORMANCE: Progressives are coming off some successes and some failures from the elections earlier this month, painting a conflicted picture of where the country stands.

Despite New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s (D) victory on Election Day, progressives hoping for a similar result in Minneapolis, Minn., were disappointed as state Sen. Omar Fateh (D), a democratic socialist, fell short in his effort to oust sitting Mayor Jacob Frey, a more moderate Democrat.

That race had received comparisons to New York City’s as it was another example of a battle between two wings of the Democratic Party. Frey won the election for a third term in office in the second round of the city’s ranked-choice tabulation, winning by about 6 points.

But progressives scored a win in the Seattle mayor’s race as community organizer Katie Wilson (D), another democratic socialist, narrowly defeated incumbent Mayor Bruce Harrell (D). Counting is ongoing, but Wilson currently leads Harrell by less than 1 point.

The results underscore the split over the ideal direction for the party. Frey and Wilson both barely received a majority of the vote, as did Mamdani, despite being the Democratic nominee in one of the country’s most Democratic-leaning cities.

Elsewhere FILE – A vial of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine is pictured at International Community Health Services, Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson, file)

MEASLES SPREAD: Canada has lost its measles elimination status after nearly three decades, and the U.S. could be close behind amid its worst outbreak of the virus in years.

Countries lose measles elimination status after 12 consecutive months of transmission. Canada gained its status in 1998, while the U.S. achieved elimination status in 2000.

The Hill’s Joseph Choi reports that the main cause of this development is reduced vaccination rates. Health authorities say a 95 percent vaccination rate is necessary to prevent the spread of measles.

The World Health Organization reports that 79 percent of Canadians had received a full schedule of the measles vaccine in 2024. The vaccination rate among U.S. kindergarteners fell to 92.5 percent for the 2024-25 school year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Experts say the recent trend can be reversed with increased immunization rates. But if the current measles outbreaks in various states continue, the U.S. will lose its measles elimination status in January.

▪ The New York Times: “Tracking U.S. measles outbreaks.”

MARINE TRAINING EXERCISES: The U.S. Marine Corps is conducting joint training exercises with forces from Trinidad and Tobago from Sunday through Friday amid increased tensions with nearby Venezuela.

Officials said the exercises will focus on regional stability, transnational threats and disaster response capabilities.

The exercises come after Trump said he has “sort of made up” his mind on the next course of action concerning Venezuela. The U.S. has continued to carry out strikes on boats in the Caribbean Sea that it accuses of trying to smuggle drugs in the country.

The Trump administration has accused Venezuela and its president, Nicolás Maduro, of facilitating the smuggling effort.

Senior military officials briefed Trump last week on various military options the U.S. could take.

▪ The Hill: What to know about ‘Southern Spear’ operation against ‘narco-terrorists.’

Opinion

The shutdown that cost billions and bought nothing is finally over, Rep. August Pfluger (R-Texas) writes in The Hill.

James Watson saw the true form of DNA. Then it blinded him, author Nathaniel Comfort writes in The New York Times.

The Closer In this photo illustration, the MS NOW – My Source News Opinion World (MSNBC) logo is seen displayed on a smartphone screen. (Photo Illustration by Thomas Fuller/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

MSNBC has officially rebranded to MS NOW, completing its split from NBCUniversal after being spun off as part of a new media company called Versant.

The new name, which stands for My Source for News, Opinion and the World, was announced in August and took effect Saturday. Parent company Comcast spun off most of its cable networks into Versant, including CNBC, though the cable network is keeping its name.

The switch also comes after MS NOW ended its reliance on NBC News for resources, journalists and newsgathering abilities. It has built up its own reporting staff and moved to a new headquarters in Manhattan.

“While our name has changed, who we are has not,” the network said in a post on X. “You’ll find the same commitment to justice, progress, and the truth.”