Real-world pain from the government shutdown is about to increase.

• About 658,000 employees at the Pentagon, HHS and the VA missed their first full paycheck of the government shutdown today, Axios' April Rubin reports.
• Another 700,000-plus workers will miss a full paycheck next week.

✂️ By the numbers: If the shutdown lasts through the end of October, nearly 1.8 million paychecks will be withheld from civilian employees of federal agencies, per the Bipartisan Policy Center.

• Agency contingency plans show about 670,000 workers are currently furloughed. An additional 730,000 are working without pay.

🍲 What we're watching: If the shutdown continues, about 42 million low-income people won't get food stamps beginning next month.

• The USDA says it can't use contingency funds to pay for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) during the shutdown — and that states won't be reimbursed if they cover the expenses on their own, Axios' Marc Caputo scoops.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said on "The Axios Show" that the rise of billionaire sports owners has made games unaffordable for many families.

• Sanders made the comment when Axios' Alex Thompson asked about his thoughts on the LA Dodgers being in the World Series.
• Sanders grew up as a fan of the Brooklyn Dodgers. The club's current ownership group is led by billionaire Mark Walter, and its ticket prices are among the highest in Major League Baseball.

What Sanders said: "My office is going to get involved in this. ... It does really bother me that with billionaire ownership of almost every major team in America ... that they charge these outrageous prices and it becomes a corporate type of activity. They have all these great boxes for their rich and famous friends."

• Go deeper ... Watch the interview.

1. 🪖 The U.S. is sending an aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, to the waters off South America — a major escalation of the increasing military presence in the region. Go deeper.
2. 🗽 House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) endorsed Zohran Mamdani for New York City mayor after months of declining to weigh in on the race. Go deeper.
3. ⚖️ New York Attorney General Letitia James pleaded not guilty on Friday morning to federal bank fraud charges. President Trump publicly demanded James' prosecution. Go deeper.

The "first freeze" — the first day of fall or winter where the temperature dips below 32 degrees — is happening later and later, Axios' Alex Fitzpatrick reports.

• It's another indication of the effects of climate change, and it affects farmers, gardeners and allergy sufferers.
• Reno, Nevada (41 days later), Bend, Oregon (38 days) and Santa Maria, California (35 days) have seen the biggest first-freeze delays.