👀 Mitch's missing guests

Welcome back and buckle up. 915 words, a 3.5-minute read.

1. 👀 Mitch's missing guests
2. 🥊 Schumer's counterpunch
3. 🔍 What Hakeem's watching
4. 🌇 Dems' NYC headache

Three important names were missing from today's Senate huddle with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

• GOP leader hopefuls Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.) and Rick Scott (R-Fla.) weren't there. Neither was Sen. John Barrasso, the presumptive next Senate GOP No. 2.

Why it matters: This was likely the last time Mitch McConnell will be Senate GOP leader for a Zelensky huddle on Capitol Hill.

• He and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer are both strong supporters of Ukraine. So is Thune, McConnell's current deputy, whose office said he had a scheduling conflict.
• Barrasso and Scott — who was flying to Florida ahead of the incoming hurricane — both voted against the latest Ukraine aid package.
• NEWS: Former President Trump and Zelensky will meet tomorrow morning in New York City. Earlier today, Trump posted a message on Truth Social from the deputy Ukrainian ambassador.

Inside the room: Today's meeting focused on Ukraine's "victory plan" over Russia, sources tell us. Senators from both sides raised hard questions about that plan's viability.

• Zelensky told the group Ukraine might not need extra funding from Congress if the U.S. lifts restrictions on its ability to use long-range weapons to strike inside Russia.
• Both parties have been wary of allowing Zelensky to strike deep into Russia, worried it would shift the U.S. from a cold war to a hot war.
• Still, Democrats and Republicans emerged from the meeting urging President Biden to grant Zelensky's request to strike targets within Russia.

👀 One part of the victory plan in which the U.S. can really help move the needle is sanctions enforcement, Zelensky told lawmakers.

The intrigue: Zelensky's recent visit to a plant in Pennsylvania that manufactures ammunition for Ukraine wasn't discussed in the Senate huddle.

• Republicans have called it a political stunt, and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) demanded Zelensky fire one of his top diplomats.
• Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a close Trump ally, said he privately raised his concerns that the visit was a "mistake" but added, "hopefully that's behind us."

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— Stef Kight and Stephen Neukam

We told you this week that Schumer's DSCC is targeting Texas and Florida. Now the cash is on its way.

• The exact size of the ad buy isn't out there. We just know it's "multimillion," as DSCC Chair Gary Peters said at the National Press Club this morning.

Why it matters: Democrats are hoping to offset races in Montana — where hope is fading — and Ohio, where Republicans are bullish.

• The spending isn't coming at Sen. Jon Tester's (D-Mont.) expense. "Tester will have everything that he needs to win," Peters said, per Punchbowl News.

📲 If you think the TV ads are bad: "When you talk to folks in Montana, they're saying, 'We have a pollster call us every day,'" Peters said.

— Stephen Neukam

Democratic House leaders have selected a trio of candidates to flood with fresh cash in an effort to give Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) more pathways to the majority.

Why it matters: The contests aren't quite sleeper races, but their inclusion in the DCCC's Red to Blue program is an indication they might be getting tighter.

• The program is a way for the Democratic high command to signal they are going to spend more aggressively in certain districts — and they want donors to make similar investments.

Driving the news: This morning, the DCCC announced the inclusion of Whitney Fox in Florida, April McClain Delaney in Maryland and John Avlon in New York, bringing the number of participants to 33.

• Fox and Avlon are challengers, facing off against Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) and Nick LaLota (R-N.Y.), respectively. Both of those races are rated "likely Republican" by Cook Political Report.
• Delaney is running in an open seat to replace Rep. David Trone (D-Md.), in a district Cook rates as "likely Democratic."

What they are saying: "It's our way of making sure we're providing support for these campaigns, helping them get up and running," Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.) the chair of the DCCC, told Axios.

• "It's really important that we understand what's happening on the ground, what voters are thinking, and understand the impact that our messaging is having on voters," she said, "so we can do the right investments to help make sure people win in November."

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— Hans Nichols

Some Medicare patients will pay more for medicines. Others may not be able to get their medicines.

• 89% of insurers and PBMs say they plan to reduce access to medicines in Medicare Part D because of the Inflation Reduction Act.

Higher costs and less access. That's not what seniors were promised.

Learn more.

House Republicans will try to tie the indictment of New York City Mayor Eric Adams around New York Democrats like an anchor — though none of the state's battleground districts touch New York City.

• "New York Democrats will pay the price for this corruption and incompetence in November," Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) said in a statement.

Why it matters: There are five competitive House races in New York, per Cook Political Report.

• Four are held by vulnerable Republicans. One is held by a vulnerable Democrat.

"Like every other New Yorker and American, Eric Adams is entitled to the presumption of innocence," Jeffries said in a statement.

• "No one is above the law, including the mayor of New York City," Schumer said in a statement.

One upstate New York Republican is urging Gov. Kathy Hochul to exercise her power to remove Adams from office.

• Rep. Marc Molinaro (R-N.Y.) told Axios in a statement that the prosecution "reeks of politicization" but he "would have thrown him out months ago."

— Andrew Solender

Some Medicare patients will pay more for medicines. Others may not be able to get their medicines.

• 89% of insurers and PBMs say they plan to reduce access to medicines in Medicare Part D because of the Inflation Reduction Act.

Higher costs and less access. That's not what seniors were promised.

Learn more.