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--> A midday take on what's happening in politics and how to have a sense of humor about it.*

*Ha. Haha. Hahah. Sniff. Haha. Sniff. Ha--breaks down crying hysterically.

The Hill's 12:30 Report: Latest on whistleblower drama | GOP pulls back on Trump defense | Pelosi says Barr has 'gone rogue' | Pelosi says no impeachment timetable | Why Dems see complaint as smoking gun | Trump demands Schiff resign over account of Ukraine call | Congress punts shutdown fight to November | Key GOP senator to huddle with Trump on spending | National Chocolate Milk Day

THIS A.M.

Nancy Pelosi Nancy PelosiDemocratic senator to party: 'A little message discipline wouldn't kill us' Overnight Health Care: New wave of COVID-19 cases builds in US | Florida to lift all coronavirus restrictions on restaurants, bars | Trump stirs questions with 0 drug coupon plan Overnight Defense: Appeals court revives House lawsuit against military funding for border wall | Dems push for limits on transferring military gear to police | Lawmakers ask for IG probe into Pentagon's use of COVID-19 funds MORE has a few THOUGHTS:

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) appeared on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" this morning for her first sit-down interview since announcing an impeachment inquiry into President Trump Donald John TrumpFederal prosecutor speaks out, says Barr 'has brought shame' on Justice Dept. Former Pence aide: White House staffers discussed Trump refusing to leave office Progressive group buys domain name of Trump's No. 1 Supreme Court pick MORE.

On the impeachment inquiry: "This is no cause for any joy. This is a very sad time for our country," Pelosi said. "An impeachment of a president is as serious as our congressional responsibilities can be apart from declaring war or something. And so, we have to be very prayerful and we always have to put country before party."

On Attorney General William Barr Bill BarrFederal prosecutor speaks out, says Barr 'has brought shame' on Justice Dept. Why a backdoor to encrypted data is detrimental to cybersecurity and data integrity FBI official who worked with Mueller raised doubts about Russia investigation MORE: "He's gone rogue," Pelosi said. "I think where they're going is a cover-up of a cover-up." http://bit.ly/2ng0Q0M

AND PELOSI TOLD REPORTERS SHE HAS NO TIMETABLE:

Pelosi would not commit to a timetable for impeachment proceedings. "No, I mean it's up to the committee. They will do the work that they've set out to do, following the facts," Pelosi said. "Now I think we're getting involved in the cover-up of the cover-up, and that may be something that will take some time to investigate." http://bit.ly/2nd4oB0

Watch Pelosi's reasoning: http://bit.ly/2ni8HLf

Happy Friday! I'm Cate Martel with a quick recap of the morning and what's coming up. Send comments, story ideas and events for our radar to cmartel@thehill.com -- and follow along on Twitter @CateMartel and Facebook.

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IN THE HOUSE

Democrats found the fresh meat they've been looking for:

Via The Hill's Mike Lillis and Scott Wong, "For months, President Trump's critics have been scouring his record in search of the smoking gun that might compel voters to back impeachment. With this week's release of a damning whistleblower report revealing Trump's questionable dealings with Ukraine's president, some lawmakers think they've found it." http://bit.ly/2nIqviX

For context on how quickly this transpired: "Just a week ago, the liberal effort to convince Democratic leaders to impeach Trump appeared to be a long shot. The White House was stonewalling the Democrats' investigations; the calendar was quickly shrinking and the 2020 elections were inching closer; and only 130 lawmakers had endorsed an inquiry -- well below the 218 needed to pass articles of impeachment on the House floor."

HELPFUL CHART:

Via The New York Times, here's a timeline of President Trump's efforts to push Ukraine toward a Joe Biden Joe BidenFormer Pence aide: White House staffers discussed Trump refusing to leave office Progressive group buys domain name of Trump's No. 1 Supreme Court pick Bloomberg rolls out M ad buy to boost Biden in Florida MORE inquiry. The timeline: https://nyti.ms/2m7HZ8d

THE FIVE MOST SERIOUS CHARGES IN THE WHISTLEBLOWER'S COMPLAINT:

Context and details for each: http://bit.ly/2m7N0O5

IN THE WHITE HOUSE

I said, 'leave!':

In tweets this morning, President Trump called for House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff Adam Bennett SchiffSchiff to subpoena top DHS official, alleges whistleblower deposition is being stonewalled Schiff claims DHS is blocking whistleblower's access to records before testimony GOP lawmakers distance themselves from Trump comments on transfer of power MORE (D-Calif.) to resign "immediately" for reading a version of Trump's call with Ukraine that Trump described as "fraudulent." http://bit.ly/2lBvT6Q

Trump tweeted: "Rep. Adam Schiff fraudulently read to Congress, with millions of people watching, a version of my conversation with the President of Ukraine that doesn't exist. He was supposedly reading the exact transcribed version of the call, but he completely changed the words to make it ... sound horrible, and me sound guilty. HE WAS DESPERATE AND HE GOT CAUGHT. Adam Schiff therefore lied to Congress and attempted to defraud the American Public. He has been doing this for two years. I am calling for him to immediately resign from Congress based on this fraud!" See Trump's full tweets: http://bit.ly/2naMzmg

IN THE SENATE

Feinstein calls for the word-for-word transcript:

Sen. Dianne Feinstein Dianne Emiel FeinsteinTrump plans to pick Amy Coney Barrett to replace Ginsburg on court Trump faces tricky choice on Supreme Court pick The Hill's Morning Report - Sponsored by Facebook - Trump previews SCOTUS nominee as 'totally brilliant' MORE (Calif.), the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, said she wants to see the "word-for-word" transcript of Trump's call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. http://bit.ly/2nNen08

Feinstein's reasoning: Feinstein said the whistleblower complaint "suggests that an 'official word-for-word transcript of the call' was produced." "If so, it should be provided to Congress for review. Congress has a constitutional oversight duty. It's important that we understand who took actions to hide details of the call with Zelensky and how high those actions reached," Feinstein said.

Hold your horses:

Via The Hill's Alexander Bolton and Juliegrace Brufke, Senate Republicans generally defended Trump on Wednesday, but are now pulling back a bit on their defense since the whistleblower complaint against Trump was released.

How this could play out: http://bit.ly/2neHute

IN OTHER NEWS

Remember the government funding fight? Yeah, that's still going on:

(What a week it's been…)

Congress passed a continuing resolution yesterday to punt the government spending battle until November. http://bit.ly/2mjbHHa

Happening today: Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard Shelby Richard Craig ShelbyThe Hill's Morning Report - Sponsored by Facebook - Republicans lawmakers rebuke Trump on election Senate to push funding bill vote up against shutdown deadline Senate GOP eyes early exit MORE (R-Ala.) is huddling with Trump at the White House today to work on a spending deal.

Where negotiations stand: http://bit.ly/2mjbHHa

This morning -- another karate chop:

The House passed a joint resolution this morning to block Trump's emergency declaration for funding the border wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. http://bit.ly/2mmbuD7

The vote: "The 236-174 vote drew support from 11 Republicans, but not enough to overturn an expected veto from the president."

Keep in mind -- it already passed in the Senate: "The new measure was approved by the Senate earlier this week in a 54-41 vote, with 11 Republicans joining Democrats in voting to block Trump."

NOTABLE TWEETS

Well played:

I take your ‘first name’, and raise you my full name. https://t.co/b3K3invfiQ — Harry Potter (@HPneuro) September 26, 2019

By the way, this Harry Potter is a neuroscience Ph.D. at the University of Manchester.

Oh mannn:

Only in D.C.:

DC-based adult rec sports league using current news to their advertising advantage pic.twitter.com/Ftnvh8tfJV — Natalie Fertig (@natsfert) September 27, 2019

ON TAP

The House met this morning. The Senate is out. President Trump is in Washington, D.C. Vice President Pence is in Indiana and is returning to D.C. this evening.

10–11 a.m. EDT: The House voted. The House's full schedule today: http://bit.ly/2mjpVYK

Noon: Trump participates in a High Holy Days call with Jewish faith leaders.

3 p.m. EDT: Pence tours NeuroDiagnostic Institute and Advanced Treatment Center in Indiana and holds a roundtable discussion.

3:30 p.m. EDT: Trump receives an intelligence briefing.

6:30 p.m. EDT: Trump speaks at the Hispanic Heritage Month reception in the East Room of the White House.

6:35 p.m. EDT: Pence and Karen Pence Karen Sue PenceTrump met with chants of protest as he pays respects to Ruth Bader Ginsburg How fast population growth made Arizona a swing state The Hill's 12:30 Report - Presented by Facebook - Biden, Pence elbow bump at NYC Sept. 11 ceremony MORE get back to Washington, D.C.

WHAT TO WATCH

9:30 a.m. EDT: Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) held a news conference on the "Democrats' For the People Act." Livestream: https://cs.pn/2nQcqAf

NOW FOR THE FUN STUFF...

Today is National Chocolate Milk Day.

A happy story for a Friday -- Omg, these photos!:

Via CNN's Leah Asmelash, "Nine babies were just born to firefighters in this California department. The photos are insanely cute." Photos: https://cnn.it/2nEgfIH

I could not disagree more:

Via The New York Times's Emily S. Rueb and Niraj Chokshi, the creator of the labradoodle dog said creating the mixed breed is one of his biggest regrets in life. https://nyti.ms/2nfCoNm

And because it's a Friday afternoon, here's a bored dog looking for easy entertainment: http://bit.ly/2lDQNSP