Shutdown cracks, Jay Jones’s texts, Trump’s Gaza deal

The Senate remains far apart on resolving the ongoing government shutdown. But the battle for public opinion on who’s to blame has shifted. Republicans appear split on whether to negotiate on health-care costs, as Democrats are demanding. And polling shows voters blame the GOP just as much as Democrats, if not more, for failing to fund the government.Plus, what Attorney General Pam Bondi’s combative hearing before the Senate Oversight Committee this week signals about her place in the Trump administration, the text messages blowing up a statewide race in Virginia and the peace deal for Gaza that President Donald Trump helped broker. Host Colby Itkowitz speaks with national politics reporter Liz Goodwin and Dan Merica, the co-anchor of The Post’s flagship politics newsletter, The Early Brief.Today’s show was produced by Laura Benshoff and Josh Carroll. It was edited by Reena Flores and mixed by Sean Carter. Subscribe to The Washington Post here. You can find this episode on YouTube here.