For now, the shortage that matters is interceptors, not drones. Ukraine can still swat most of a 300-drone night. A missile it has nothing left to stop is a different problem, and Russia's military chief has told Putin that forces are set aside for more. The 'energy ceasefire' made Washington the referee of Ukraine's grid, and that same week it waived its newest sanctions leverage.

The route tells you what the White House fears. Four of the seven stops ahead are Republican-held Senate seats Cook rates competitive: Kansas, North Carolina, South Carolina and Iowa. Telling voters that federal money depends on how they vote is a familiar closing pitch, but this one could be checked within a day: $20 million smaller, conditional, and a loan Antheia must repay, not the investment he described.

This split costs Trump little before Nov. 3, and it gets harder for him after. The loudest critics are leaving and have nothing to lose. In the lame duck, a handful of them can sink party-line bills, and Bacon has named his targets: the supplemental, reconciliation and the ballroom. The waiver was free to sign. The bill comes due after Nov. 3.