Madam Secretary

Before we return to the mat for our next down dog,

lets take a nice juicy breath here in warrior two.

Mm... ah...

In the hustle and bustle of life,

it is so easy to forget what really matters,

what's essential.

And nothing is more essential than breathing.

Shut up.

Senator Morejon, if your colleagues

and President Dalton can't come to some agreement

on the budget, there will be

a partial shutdown of the federal government

in a matter of days.

Tens of thousands of employees will be furloughed,

and many important government services will be reduced

or halted altogether.

Tell us why that would be necessary, in your opinion.

Look, no one wants a shutdown,

least of all me, but the hard fact is,

President Dalton is a spending addict.

And, like any addict, he needs an intervention.

Shut up.

Looks relaxing.

I'm multitasking. Women are famous for it.

How's the meeting prep going?

I'm numbing my feelings with unhealthy substances.

Men are famous for it.

Oh, that sounds like a lot more fun.

- You want to talk about it? - There's no good way to spin it.

What am I gonna say? "Hey, Director Haymond,

"you know that Russian kid I stuck my neck out for?

Turns out he's got a drug problem. Whoops."

On the other hand, Dmitri fooled a series

of trained interrogators.

You can't say he's not a good spy.

Haymond doesn't strike me as

a "glass half full" kind of guy.

Well, he knows how messy intelligence work can be.

He'll appreciate you taking it to him,

handling it like a grown-up.

That, or he'll bounce Dmitri out of the Agency,

- and me along with him. - More time to spend with the kids.

You're really looking at the bright side this morning, huh?

Well, it beats brooding

over the fact that this creep wants to gut my department.

Even if POTUS doesn't let him,

I'll still probably have to furlough

thousands of employees.

Critical work all over the globe will go undone,

raising the likelihood of an otherwise preventable disaster

by, like, a thousand percent.

Plus, I hate his dumb, stupid face.

Well, at least you're handling it like a grown-up.

Hang in there.

Yeah, you, too. I got to get dressed.

- Call me after, will you? - Yeah.

Hey, that's...

We all have feelings we have to eat.

I'm still gathering recommendations

from all departments, desks, embassies and consulates

on non-essential personnel to be furloughed

in the event of a shutdown.

- That's fun. - Oh, you have no idea.

You know, all I can do is follow the guidelines

of the Office of Management and Budget,

but people here are acting like I'm

the great and powerful Oz.

And I... Sorry.

I will have a final report to you shortly.

- Okay. - Um...

oh, also, I had to move Daisy's baby shower up to tomorrow.

That's good... with the shutdown looming,

I think it's better sooner than later.

That's what I thought. There'll be cake,

uh, champagne and sparkling cider.

Oh, sparkling cider,

the carob chips of beverages.

Gifts?

Uh, individual gifts are welcome,

but we are pitching in to get her a crib.

I invite you

- to only $62. - Noted.

Hey, there's not gonna be any baby games, are there?

No. You think Daisy likes games?

Deep down, it's my conviction that nobody

normal likes baby shower games.

I mean, don't get me wrong, I like a good baby shower

just like anybody else, but I just can't stand

- all the... frippery. - Excellent word choice, ma'am.

- I thought so. - Good morning, ma'am.

- Good morning. - Jay is in your office,

- ready to brief you on the overnight developments. - Oh, good.

Oh, and regarding Daisy's shower,

I have some pretty lively recommendations for games

- that I think would be... - She hates games.

- Oh, uh... - We all do.

- But... - I want to start

with the riots at the refugee camp in Lebanon.

Regarding the 70-some-thousand

Syrian refugees packed into this camp

in the northern Bekaa Valley

that's designed for about half that number,

tensions have been brewing, and last night they boiled over.

We have people on the ground there, right?

Yes, ma'am. There's a team charged with bringing electricity

to the camp, and they're fine.

From what I've read, it sounds like

lack of electricity is what's underlying most of the issues

that led to the riot.

The whole place runs on generators,

and fuel is expensive, so it's dark at night.

Then the criminals come out.

Yeah, then the women are terrified to leave the tent

and go to the bathroom, which contributes

to unsafe sanitation practices,

which leads to cholera.

Have they had an outbreak yet?

Not yet, but it's a matter of time.

Thousands of people crammed into a camp

where not one feels secure.

It's... It's a powder keg.

So is Lebanon.

If this camp melts down,

whether it's due to disease outbreak

or jihadis exploiting the people's discontent,

it wouldn't take much for the whole country to blow up.

The last thing we need is another civil war

in the Middle East.

I want to talk to the project manager on the ground.

Let's get those lights turned on.

And don't tell me that they'll be furloughed

if there's a shutdown.

They are contractors,

and, under the guidelines, their activities

are considered non-essential.

Unbelievable.

Deadline for budget negotiations

is end of day tomorrow.

After that, we're most likely in shutdown mode.

Well, then, we'd better work fast.

So, what, exactly, do we do in there?

Well, I take notes from Russell.

You just sit quietly

until he or I need anything.

I can do that.

Also, pretend to take notes,

but really be watching Morejon and his staffers.

See how they're reacting, write down your impressions.

Russell might quiz you later.

Wait, what? Oh, man.

Look, I get it.

You're in the room everybody in the country

is talking about.

You want to do a good job.

It's nerve-racking.

But your biggest asset in there is that

nobody thinks you matter.

Got it?

That's oddly reassuring. Thanks.

Good morning, everyone.

Please be seated.

Let me start by saying that

as much as we may disagree,

we owe it to the American people

to negotiate in good faith.

I'm hoping we can do that this morning.

With that in mind, have you, uh,

had the opportunity to review our latest proposal?

We have indeed. Mm-hmm.

A new auditing mechanism for the Pentagon?

Everyone in this room knows that that is a political non-starter.

They also know that if you really want

to achieve significant long-term savings,

DoD's the place to start.

No-bid, cost-plus contracts for multibillion-dollar

weapons systems the generals aren't even asking for?

I mean, come on, members of your own caucus

have complained about this for years.

If we tackle this together, I'm confident

that we can get the deficit reductions you want

and the clean continuing resolution I want.

With all due respect, Mr. President,

I just don't see much here to move the needle.

Well, Senator,

for the sake of the American people,

I would encourage you to look harder.

I am not going to lie to you, Henry,

- this looks pretty bad. - And I take full responsibility.

You understand a breach of this kind is a firing offense.

I do.

But Dmitri was honest with me,

and that speaks well of him...

all things considered.

And, obviously,

he's an invaluable resource

to our intelligence community.

Arguably, he won a war for us.

And, as you know,

we're trying to thwart Russia's efforts

in Afghanistan... he'll be an important player in that.