The Democratic National Committee scheduled the 4th Democratic debate nights for Oct. 15-16 in Ohio at a yet-to-be revealed location, per a Politico report.
The big picture: The October debate round has the same qualifying standards as September's: Candidates must poll at 2% in 4 DNC-approved polls and receive donations from 130,000 unique donors. The 10 candidates who made the cut for the September debate, therefore those same contenders immediately qualify October's.
President Trump said he considered the ouster of his personal assistant, Madeleine Westerhout, to be virtually "automatic" after he found out about comments she made during an off-the-record dinner with reporters.
Why it matters: Westerhout, whose title was director of Oval Office operations, sat right outside the Oval Office, and had unique visibility into the president's calls, visitors and correspondence. She was one of very few West Wing officials who had been there from Day 1.
Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.), ranking member of the environment and climate change subcommittee, announced on Friday that he will retire and not seek re-election, the Washington Post reports.
The big picture: He is the 14th GOP lawmaker to announce a resignation, retirement or change of office this year, per the Post. His seat is likely to remain Republican.
When negative coverage is excluded, stories about Elizabeth Warren are going farther online than coverage of any of the other 2020 Democratic presidential candidates, according to data from NewsWhip exclusively provided to Axios.
Why it matters: Warren has been able to strike a balance of being discussed a lot without being the target of sustained criticism or media pile-on that other top candidates have endured. And many of the biggest stories about her have been downright glowing.
The Democratic National Committee is set to recommend that Iowa and Nevada not move forward with their plans to offer "virtual" telephone-based caucus participation in 2020 due to concerns about hacking, reports the Des Moines Register.
Why it matters: The virtual caucuses were envisioned as a way to expand voter access as part of a national mandate set by the DNC, but the organization remains wary after its email hacking incident during the 2016 election. The AP says that it still remains unclear if both states could overhaul their proposals or offer an alternative form of virtual caucus participation.
President Trump's longtime personal assistant Madeleine Westerhout suddenly resigned on Thursday, 2 people familiar with her departure told the New York Times.
Catch up quick: Westerhout's resignation came 2 weeks after she told reporters at an off-the-record dinner about "Trump’s eating habits, his youngest son, Barron Trump, and his thoughts about the weight and appearance of his daughter Tiffany Trump," the NYT reports, citing current and former administration officials who were told what happened.
