From Los Angeles …

BEYOND MIDNIGHT: House speaker Kevin McCarthy kept the government running into November by collecting votes from Democrats, inspiring his prime enemy Matt Gaetz of Florida to promise a move to kick McCarthy out of the speakership.

 “The only way Kevin McCarthy is speaker of the house at the of the week is if he makes a deal with Democrats,” Gaetz told CNN’s Jake Tapper. “I’m done owning Kevin McCarthy,” Gaetz said. “He’ll be their speaker, not mine.”

  The stopgap spending bill passed 335 to 91, with far more Democrats than Republicans in favor. It keeps the government open only for 45 days.

  McCarthy can be ousted by a simple majority vote, but it’s unlikely that Gaetz can make that easily happen. “If someone wants to make a motion against me, bring it,” McCarthy said at a news conference. “There has to be an adult in the room.”

  In the end, McCarthy had to turn to Democrats to avoid a government shutdown that would have been politically damaging to the Republicans who would have forced it to get their budget cuts. President Biden said, “A needless crisis has been averted.” He said, “I’m sick and tired of brinksmanship.”   

ORANGE ALERT: Law and order presidential candidate Donald Trump said in a speech over the weekend about organized looters that, “If you rob a store you can fully expect to be shot as you leave that store.”

  He’s not saying that about cheating banks and insurance companies. Trump, his two adult sons, and their company go on trial today in New York on civil charges that they inflated the value of assets to get loans and insurance. They have already been found liable in a summary judgement by the judge … this is to determine penalties and other issues.  

  “For years, Donald Trump falsely inflated his net worth to enrich himself and cheat the system,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement this morning, adding, “No matter how rich or powerful you are, there are not two sets of laws for people in this country.”

  Trump, as he has in all four of his criminal indictments, claims he’s the victim of a political witch hunt. “It’s a scam, it’s a sham,” Trump said before entering court in Manhattan. “Just so you know, my financial statements are phenomenal.” 

THE OBIT PAGE: Tim Wakefield, the right-handed knuckleballer who stepped into the last game of the 2004 World Series to break the Boston curse and win its first Series championship in 86 years, died yesterday at 57. The Red Sox said the cause was brain cancer.

  “He not only captivated us on the field but was the rare athlete whose legacy extended beyond the record books to the countless lives he touched with his warmth and genuine spirit,” John Henry, principal owner of the Red Sox, said in a statement.

THE SPIN RACK:  California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that he will appoint Laphonza Butler, the president of Emily’s List and a former labor leader, to fill the vacancy left in the Senate by the death of Dianne Feinstein. As Newsom had promised, she’s a Black woman. The seat is up for election next fall. — Two researchers who were instrumental in development of the Covid vaccine have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. The work of Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman enabled potent Covid vaccines to be made in less than a year, averting tens of millions of deaths. — Jimmy Carter turned 99, becoming the former president who has lived the longest. He’s been in hospice care for months. — Canadian officials say they believe that a grizzly bear killed two people in a national park in southwest Canada, about 80 miles northwest of Calgary, Alberta. A team responding to the scene killed the bear.  

BELOW THE FOLD: The big news in the NFL is not that Kansas City beat the New York Jets 23-20 yesterday, but that for the second week in a row music star Taylor Swift was in the stadium to watch her new boyfriend, Kansas tight end Travis Kelce. The commentary was as much about the romance as the game.

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