This is Washington Edition, the newsletter about money, power and politics in the nation’s capital. Today, Supreme Court reporter Greg Stohr explains why it’s unlikely the high court will make an election-deciding ruling. Sign up here and follow us at @bpolitics. Email our editors here.

Could this year’s presidential election deliver a Bush v. Gore redux? Unlikely, say experts, for reasons of both law and math.

The neck-and-neck race between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris is fueling visions of a sequel to the 2000 ruling, which sealed Republican nominee George W. Bush’s victory over Vice President Al Gore. This go around, a Supreme Court showdown might favor Trump given its six-justice conservative majority, which includes three members appointed by the former president.

Justices of the Supreme Court

But the court of late has shrunk the universe of election-determining subjects that could land there. Last year, it rejected a Republican-backed argument that would have given the justices sweeping power to overturn state courts when they interpret their own election laws. The high court has also said that federal judges – a category that includes the Supreme Court itself – generally shouldn’t change a state’s voting rules just before an election.

Arithmetic also works against a theoretical Trump v. Harris blockbuster. Bush v. Gore mattered because the outcome hinged on fewer than 1,000 votes in a single state, Florida. By contrast, the court wouldn’t intervene in 2020, when Trump needed to flip his defeat in at least three states.

“You need one state being a tipping point and a very narrow margin of victory,” said Derek Muller, a University of Notre Dame election-law professor. “And then you need some kind of hook that gets the Supreme Court’s attention.”

Cases are starting to make their way to the court. On Monday alone, Virginia asked the high court to revive a state voter purge, and Pennsylvania Republicans made a bid to stop people from getting a second chance to vote if their mail-in ballots are rejected as incomplete.

Still, chances of another Bush v. Gore are “pretty small,” said Joshua Douglas, a University of Kentucky election-law professor. “The court is not going to want to get involved unless it absolutely has to.” — Greg Stohr

How will the US election impact your money? Bloomberg News experts will answer your questions in a live Q&A on Oct. 30 at 10:30am ET. Send questions to bloombergqa@bloomberg.net and tune in here.

The Nevada Supreme Court will allow state officials to count absentee ballots arriving without a postmark as many as three days after the Nov. 5 general election, rejecting a challenge brought by the Republican Party.

Elon Musk was sued by the Philadelphia district attorney over his political action committee’s $1 million a day sweepstakes targeting swing state voters in the final days of the presidential election. 

Speaking at a Trump rally over the weekend, meanwhile, Musk predicted he could cut at least $2 trillion from the federal budget, requiring a level of austerity unprecedented since the winding down of World War II.

Labor-hungry builders are anxious about proposals laid out by  Trump that would further crack down on immigration, a key source of workers for the construction industry.

Colorado Governor Jared Polis, meanwhile, cast doubt on Trump’s ability to carry out sweeping deportations if he returns to office, citing limited federal resources.

Harris is seeking to persuade Black Americans that she can narrow the centuries-old racial wealth gap, a task that’s become urgent as Trump makes inroads with a group that could tip the election.

Environmentalists have outlined their prescriptions for ways a victorious Harris could build on Biden-era climate initiatives to drive more US clean energy deployment.

A Trump victory would be more beneficial for investors holding stocks and Bitcoin relative to his opponent, while a Harris presidency would bring slightly more relief to housing costs, according to the latest Bloomberg survey.

The US Army is looking to speed up weapons development and procurement to keep up with evolving technology and make sure new equipment isn’t out of date before it gets into the hands of American soldiers. 

Today on Bloomberg Television’s Balance of Power early edition at 1 p.m., hosts Joe Mathieu and Kailey Leinz interviewed former New Jersey Senator Bill Bradley, a Harris backer, about the Democratic nominee's closing argument to voters and the role of dark money in US politics.

On the program at 5 p.m., they talk with Chapin Fay, a Republican strategist and founder of Lighthouse Public Affairs, about Trump's priorities in the final days of the presidential contest.

On the Big Take podcast, host Sarah Holder visits small business owners whose enterprises have become TikTok famous, and explores the economics of virality with consumer culture reporter Amanda Mull. Listen on iHeart, Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Consumer auto insurance shopping reached a record last month, according to a new report from J.D. Power, in collaboration with TransUnion. The report highlights how consumers continue to strive to lower their premiums. In September, the share of shoppers reached a record monthly high with a shopping rate of 13.8%. The volume of actual switchers has also been trending up in 2024, rising from roughly 3.3% at the start of the year to 4% last month. The September data, though, is down from a record 4.6% in August. The primary reason consumers give for shopping around is that their rate is too high. Broken down by region, 14.4% of consumers in the Southeast shopped for a new rate in the third quarter compared to 11% in the Northeast. — Alex Tanzi

Harris will headline a rally at the Ellipse on the National Mall tomorrow. She is scheduled to campaign in Wisconsin on Wednesday. 

Trump campaigns in Pennsylvania tomorrow, and Wisconsin on Wednesday. 

Biden will attend an event in Baltimore tomorrow to highlight infrastructure investments. 

Job openings and labor turnover in September will be reported tomorrow. 

The Conference Board’s gauge of consumer confidence also is released tomorrow. 

US third-quarter GDP data will be released on Wednesday. 

The Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge — the core PCE deflator — is due out Thursday. 

Hiring and unemployment for October will be reported on Nov. 1. 

• Chinese state-affiliated hackers have collected audio from the phone calls of US political officials in a months-long, wide-ranging espionage operation, the Washington Post reports. 
• Red districts have been the biggest winners of the Inflation Reduction Act, though not a single Republican lawmaker voted for the climate bill in 2022, according to the Washington Post. 

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