It’s FRIDAY. Heading into our first October weekend. Football season, pumpkin spice season, jeans and flannel season, scary movie season and (hopefully) a little cooler weather. We’ve made it to fall! I think… Here’s what’s coming up: 

• Former President Trump is throwing his weight behind one of his top House allies — Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) — just days after the historic ousting of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.). 
• GOP leadership issues are emerging in the Senate. 
• The September jobs report exceeded expectations — bigly. 

I’m Liz Crisp, filling in for Cate today with a quick recap of the morning and what’s coming up. Did someone forward this newsletter to you? Sign up here.  

Former President Trump knows who he wants to be the next Speaker after the historic ouster this week of the person he often affectionally called “My Kevin” (as in, California Republican Rep. Kevin McCarthy).

Taking to his TruthSocial platform just after midnight, Trump announced he’s backing House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), a staunch ally who has repeatedly said he thinks the former president will be reelected in 2024. 

“He will be a GREAT Speaker of the House, & has my Complete & Total Endorsement!” Trump wrote. 

Trump did not mention House Minority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.), who has also been a loyal ally and is hoping to move up the leadership ladder after serving as McCarthy’s No. 2.  

What a week: The seminal endorsement comes after Trump, at the urging of some far-right House members including Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, entertained the idea of himself becoming the next Speaker and floated the possibility of a Capitol Hill visit next week.  

The Speaker doesn’t have to be a member of the House, but Trump getting voted in would have been a stretch.

• Not only would he have to get the 218 votes needed, but the move would have required a dicey rule change, since the former president is currently under federal indictment.
  
  
• That also would have slowed the process even further and taken Trump off the 2024 campaign trail. 

Is Jordan the guy, then?: Never try to predict what the House will do. Jordan, a founding member of the far-right Freedom Caucus, has led GOP House investigations into President Biden (as well as former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton).  

Further complicating the math, there are 18 House Republicans who represent districts that voted for President Biden, so the Trump endorsement isn’t exactly a plus there. Add in reelection considerations and it’s even more confusing (and don’t expect any Dems to toss in their support for Jordan) 

There are also questions about the bombastic Jordan’s abilities to work with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Biden as the federal government spending deadline looms. 

Here’s The Hill’s breakdown of what happens next. 

Fox News’s Bret Baier will host a televised forum on Monday for the three declared candidates in the latest unusual move in the increasingly unusual situation. Scalise, Jordan and Republican Study Committee Chairman Kevin Hern (R-Okla.) are expected to take part in the event, slated for 6 p.m. before House lawmakers head back to the Capitol on Tuesday. 

She said it: Clinton, when CNN’s Christiane Amanpour asked about Jordan, quipped: “I don’t know him well. I watched him and stared at him for 11 hours while he made stuff up about me.” More from that Clinton interview here. 

We asked several strategists and election experts for their take on the chaotic week in the House and what it means for 2024 congressional races. 

The Hill: “What does the Speaker ouster mean for the GOP’s chances of holding onto control of the House next year?” 

Cook Political Report’s David Wasserman: “It marginalizes the biggest fundraiser and fundraising apparatus in the history of House GOP leadership, so there are a lot of recent recruits who just had a rug pulled out from under them.”  

GOP strategist Ron Bonjean: “Every day that goes by is another day they can’t work on their agenda. Every day more Americans will hear that the House of Representatives is not functioning. This will eventually hurt their chances of retaining control of the chamber. When Members of Congress head home this week, their constituents will be asking them why they aren’t in Washington solving this problem.” 

University of Michigan political scientist Christian Fong: “House Republicans will have a better chance of holding the majority if their leader unites them behind a common vision and a common strategy.  McCarthy couldn’t do it, so now Republicans will get to see if they can find someone else who can.” 

Republican strategist Brian Walsh: “There will be 500 more news cycles between now and election day, so a change in leadership itself is not going to impact specific races a year from now.  The greater threat to the House Republican majority is the underlying circumstances that led to this event and whether Republicans can come together, present a united front and demonstrate to the American people that they have the vision, competence and commitment to governing.” 

Mark Mitchell, spokesman for right-leaning pollster Rasmussen Reports, which recently surveyed public opinion of McCarthy’s potential ouster: “Kevin McCarthy isn’t disliked by voters, but the Speakership is inside baseball to most voters. For Republicans, 2024 is going to be about Trump.”

A more subtle leadership battle is brewing across the Capitol among Republican senators who are angling to replace Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), 81. 

The Hill’s Alexander Bolton reports: “Republican senators say the quiet jockeying among the ‘three Johns’ in the mix to succeed McConnell whenever he leaves office is heating up behind the scenes.” 

John, John and John — that is Sens. Thune (S.D.), Cornyn (Texas) and Barrasso (Wyo.) — have all been positioning themselves as the heir apparent to become next GOP leader. 

“None of the three are overtly campaigning for the top job, but they are making moves to showcase their talents to colleagues, say GOP senators and strategists,” Bolton reports.  

The safest bet for Republican senators: If you’re asked who you are backing, just say “John.” (The Hill) 

The most recent jobs report shows the U.S. added 336,000 jobs in September, and the unemployment rate stayed even at 3.8 percent — exceeding all expectations.  

After a recent slowing, the U.S instead added nearly twice the jobs expected without making a dent in the unemployment rate, defying economists’ predictions. 

The coronavirus pandemic recovery has created a unique scenario. The shocking September numbers came after a streak of jobs not coming in without much growth and rising unemployment. The Fed has based its interest rates on those figures, trying to settle the economy from inflation. 

The Hill’s Business team: The news “poses a new challenge for the Federal Reserve as it plots the next steps in its battle against inflation.” 

President Biden, who promised on the campaign trail that he would not support former President Trump‘s new wall along the southern U.S. border to stem the tide of undocumented immigrants, has done an about-face. 

And some of his key progressive allies are not happy as Biden heads into his 2024 reelection campaign. Republicans also are lashing out over the president’s past criticism of Trump’s wall agenda. 

The Hill’s Rafael Bernal reports: “President Biden’s decision this week to move forward with border wall construction that Democrats have long denounced shocked allies and immigration advocates.” 

What the White House says: The Biden administration has argued that the money for border security would soon expire, and its hands were tied on how it could be spent. Biden told reporters he doesn’t support the wall but doesn’t have a choice because of action Congress took to tie the money to the wall. 

“Money was appropriated for the border wall. I tried to get them to reappropriate, to redirect that money. They didn’t. They wouldn’t,” Biden told reporters in the Oval Office this week. 

Meanwhile, supporters of Trump are calling Biden a hypocrite. The Hill’s Niall Stanage has more here.  

😊 It’s World Smile Day. Despite her “Law & Order: SVU” character’s many tragedies, actress Mariska Hargitay has some words of wisdom on the power of smiling, even if you don’t feel like it: “Just smiling at someone walking down the street can make the person’s day. It’s all about paying it forward.” 

☮️ This year’s Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to imprisoned Iranian activist Narges Mohammadi, who has led the charge for women’s rights and against the death penalty. (AP) 

🔪 Well that was weird: Season three of the USA Network’s “Chucky” — a show loosely based on the “Child’s Play” horror movies — is set at the White House, with the young son of the fictional president in possession of the murderous doll (!). SPOILER ALERT: This week’s premiere included scenes styled like the Oval Office and the press briefing room, a teen smoking weed in the Executive Residence and the murder of a secret service agent. I said it was weird…  (TV Line recap here) 

🎆  Did you catch the massive fireworks show over D.C. Thursday night? The display, easily rivaling the annual July Fourth celebration, lit up social media as everyone wondered (including the DC Council!) what was going on. The display reportedly was set off from a barge near Arlington to mark a company’s new office opening. 

🐒  Monkey business: Momo the Monkey’s brief bender around Indianapolis has come to an end. The sneaky primate was spotted chugging beer from a trash can before his capture. (People) 

🎤 Laura Trump, daughter-in-law of the former president, went viral online this week after performing a live a cappella version of Tom Petty’s “Won’t Back Down” during an interview with Sky News. 

The House and Senate are gone for the weekend. President Biden is in Washington, D.C, and Vice President Harris is heading to St. Louis for the DNC Fall Meeting and a campaign reception. (all times Eastern)

• Today: After its first week of the term, the Supreme Court has a conference day, and justices will meet privately to discuss cases under review.  
• 10 a.m.: Biden received the Presidential Daily Briefing. 
• 12:20 pm.: Biden delivered remarks on the September Jobs Report. 📺 Replay 
• 4:05 p.m.: Biden greets German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier as he drops by the White House to commemorate German-American Day. 📺 Livestream 

Check out this monkey taking a nap. This is all of us at the end of a long week.