7pm: Shutdown brinkmanship is reaching a fever pitch as fears of mass layoffs ripple through the federal workforce. Rep. Brendan Boyle, the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee, joins The Weeknight to explain what's at stake. Plus, Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield responds to Trump's deployment of federal agents to Portland. 

8pm: The Comey case is being hailed as the "first domino," raising the question of how far Trump will go to enforce the political retribution that has fueled his movement for years. Rep. Maxwell Frost, a member of the House Oversight Committee, joins The Weeknight to respond to this escalating moment and the looming government shutdown.

On day one of the government shutdown, Democrats are standing firm - aiming to protect health care benefits Republicans want to cut. Reps. Greg Casar and Jasmine Crockett join The Weeknight with the latest on negotiations as hundreds of thousands of federal workers are furloughed nationwide. Plus two civil rights lawyers at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Palmer Heenan and Paul Osadebe, were fired from their posts for speaking out against political interference at the agency. They join the conversation to respond.