Access may be the most valuable currency in Washington right now, but it cannot be measured on an FEC report.

As midterm campaigns enter their final stretch, Democratic candidates are largely out raising their GOP opponents to gain access to voters; GOP aligned issue groups are spending even more for access to your screens, and the White House is limiting access for press outlets it does not like.

How do we value access? The election results will show if buying access to voters and ads can determine elections, but access to the White House will be determined by accessing a courtroom.

In Washington, everyone wants access. Most of us would settle for fewer commercials.

— Teddy Brosevelt
Doorman.

What's Loud: Former Vice President Kamala Harris is campaigning with Democratic candidates in Michigan, Nevada and Georgia, including Michigan Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed. The same Associated Press report quotes Democrats who welcome her fundraising and others who want new party leadership after her 2024 loss. President Trump addressed the Republican midterm convention in Dallas on September 9th and rallied in Gastonia, North Carolina, on September 16th, while Republican candidates in competitive races, including Representative María Elvira Salazar have separated themselves from parts of his record.

What's Missing: National committee totals do not show who is raising candidate money or where outside groups are intervening. In Ohio, Democrat Sherrod Brown raised $38.6 million to Republican Senator Jon Husted's $14.3 million, while Republican groups added $14 million in advertising during the week ending September 17th; Brown led recent polls by 3 to 5 points. Since August, advertisers spent $35 million for Senator Jon Ossoff to $26 million for Representative Mike Collins in Georgia, $33 million for Michael Whatley to $25 million for Roy Cooper in North Carolina and $39 million for Mike Rogers to $35 million for Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan.

What Matters: Across 10 competitive Senate races, Republican-supported advertising reached $204 million during the first 18 days of September, $83 million more than Democratic-supported spending and up from a $9 million advantage during all of August. In House contests, Republican-aligned spending led in 15 of 21 tossups; Trump-aligned groups directed money to defend Mike Lawler in New York's 17th District, while the NRCC committed nearly $9 million across more than 20 races, including support for Jeff Hurd in Colorado's 3rd District.

On September 18th, President Trump said CNN, MS NOW and Politico were banned because, he said, they report “FAKE NEWS.” On September 19th, reporters for the three outlets were denied entry and their badges were deactivated. On September 21st, the organizations filed suit.

The First Amendment claim is that the government retaliated against protected reporting and discriminated by viewpoint when it withdrew access because of coverage it disliked. The Fifth Amendment claim is procedural: before taking an established credential, the government allegedly supplied no advance notice of the factual reason, no opportunity to answer and no written decision under a stated standard. The First Amendment bars government abridgment of speech or press; the Fifth Amendment bars the federal government from depriving a person of liberty without due process.

The outlets have reported critically on President Trump, as have many organizations that were not named in the ban. The president identified these three outlets and described their coverage collectively as false; the public statements reported on September 18th did not tie the ban to one published story. Fairness is subjective. Accuracy is not the constitutional test attached to an established press credential.

Deep Reason traces the First and Fifth Amendment precedents that define what process is due before an established press credential is pulled.

A Greenland agreement without a transfer of Greenland. The United States, Denmark and Greenland plan an Arctic agreement that would expand the American military role and restrict non-NATO adversaries' access to military facilities and sensitive investments. President Trump described permanent American control over security, while Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said sovereignty and self-determination remain intact. The text and required approvals were still pending on September 18th, so the announced agreement had not yet replaced or amended the 1951 defense framework that already gives the United States broad military access.

Another turn in the Canada trade fight. A presidential memorandum directs federal officials to identify Canadian products that can be removed from civilian procurement and replaced with American goods, citing Canada's limits on U.S. access to its procurement market and Canadian firms' access to more than $280 billion in covered U.S. purchasing. The Federal Register notice begins a review rather than banning named products, adding federal purchasing to the tariff and retaliation disputes that have marked the U.S.-Canada relationship since 2025.

Third-country deportations require a chance to object. The First Circuit largely upheld an order requiring meaningful notice and an opportunity for migrants to raise fears of persecution or torture before removal to a country not named in their immigration case. Courts have changed the policy's status several times: a district court blocked it, the Supreme Court paused that injunction in 2025, the First Circuit temporarily allowed the policy in March 2026 and then ruled against swift removals on September 18th.

The SEC proposed repealing Rule 14a-8, which lets eligible shareholders place qualifying proposals in a public company's proxy materials without paying to distribute a separate ballot. Rights would instead depend on state law and each company's governing documents. Direct shareholders could face different proposal rules from company to company; people investing through a 401(k) or mutual fund generally rely on fund managers to cast proxy votes. The SEC says repeal could reduce costs and repetitive submissions, while opponents say smaller investors would lose a practical route to place questions before all owners; comments are due November 20th.

The federal judiciary currently reports 26 vacant seats nationwide, but nominees are pending for just 11 of them, leaving most openings without anyone up for Senate confirmation. U.S. Courts

We hold government to the record. Hold us to it too — hit reply with feedback or things we missed.