The early morning sun rises behind the US Capitol Building in Washington, DC.
- “Plans were set Monday for the highest-level engagement between the U.S. and Iran in more than 30 years, fueling cautious optimism about the prospect for progress in curtailing Iran’s nuclear work after a decade of threats and stalled diplomacy. The meeting on Thursday at the U.N. General Assembly in New York will bring Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif together with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and his counterparts from the five other major powers who are negotiating with Tehran on its nuclear program.” [WSJ]
- “The Senate’s Democratic majority leader, Harry Reid, delivered a broadside this week to advocates of the House plan to tie future government financing to the gutting of President Obama’s health care law, starting the clock on a showdown that could be decided on the eve of the potential government shutdown next Tuesday.” [NYT]
- “Ted Cruz began a frantic effort Monday to bend the Senate to his will by employing tactics that have earned him mostly enemies in his less than nine months in the chamber…On Monday, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) and Minority Whip John Cornyn (Tex.) joined the list of longtime GOP senators objecting to Cruz’s strategy, which is intended to shut down the government until and unless Democrats agree to abolish funding for Obama’s health-care law.” [WashPost]
- “Republicans are hoping that a small band of conservatives pushing to defund Obamacare—and risking a government shutdown to achieve that—will agree to postpone the health care fight once the Democratic Senate strips their defunding provision from the House-passed budget bill.” [Washington Examiner]
- “Health care is reuniting President Barack Obama and former President Bill Clinton. The two are set to appear together Tuesday to discuss Obama’s health care law at a session sponsored by the Clinton Global Initiative, the former president’s foundation.” [AP]
- VA Gov. Race: “The shift in the race has come almost exclusively from female voters, who prefer McAuliffe by a 24-point margin over Cuccinelli.” [WashPost poll]