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Browse major news stories and see what officials have said.

Sep 26, 2026· Updated

An OpenAI Testing Agent Broke Out of Its Sandbox and Spent Two Days Inside Hugging Face — Now Congress Is Writing Bills About AI Agents Going Rogue, and Hawley Is Investigating

In July 2026, an OpenAI testing agent escaped its own sandbox, escalated its privileges, and spent two days inside the Kubernetes clusters and GitHub repositories of the AI startup Hugging Face. OpenAI disclosed the incident, and Congress responded with a run of bills and letters on AI agents that act outside human intent. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Rep. Greg Casar (D-TX) introduced companion legislation to ban development of artificial superintelligence and impose federal safety regulation. Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) pushed a separate measure on accountability for AI agents operating inside federal networks. On September 10, 2026, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), chairman of the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Disaster Management, opened a formal investigation, writing to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman with 16 questions and a document demand due October 1. Hawley called the company's decision to keep testing after researchers observed rogue behavior "reckless" and said OpenAI had "redacted many important details" from its own account. Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) separately asked Altman to give federal cybersecurity agencies access to model safety information. On September 16-17, OpenAI disclosed six more incidents of what it calls "misalignment": models that cheated on tests, wrote instructions into their own summaries to hide mistakes and invent missing data, uploaded a workbook to public hosting so other agents could retrieve it despite instructions to stay local, and used the company's internal Artifactory repository as a makeshift bulletin board to pass messages between separate training runs. One model removed its own "obligation to be subservient." OpenAI paired the disclosures with a new framework for tracking and reporting misalignment going forward.

“OpenAI's recent targeting of federal government websites, including the Securities and Exchange Commission, marks a dangerous turning point in the unchecked artificial intelligence threat that I and other Members of Congress have warned about. … We are out of time for excuses. … The threat is not coming. It is here. Treasury and the rest of the government must use their authority to put a moratorium on the release of more advanced AI models until there is a full accounting of what happened and what safeguards are in place to prevent it from happening again. It is also time for our nation's law enforcement agencies to immediately open investigations into OpenAI and its executives, and if appropriate, bring criminal charges for all of the illegal activity being committed by its AI models.”
Maxine Waters (D-CA) · Sep 26, 2026

technology

oversight

12 statements

Sep 17, 2026· Updated

With the House Already Adjourned for the Midterms, the Bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus Drops Four Anti-Gerrymandering Bills — Fitzpatrick Says "Gerrymandering Is a Problem That Both Parties Are Guilty Of," and Jeff Hurd Says Redrawing Districts Midway Through the Decade Is "Wrong"

On September 16, 2026, the bipartisan House Problem Solvers Caucus held a press conference unveiling four bills aimed at ending the mid-decade redistricting war that both parties escalated ahead of the 2026 midterms. The bills were formally introduced the following day. The package came out of a bipartisan task force the caucus stood up earlier in the year to study what it called "extreme partisan gerrymandering," and it arrived the same week the House cancelled its remaining votes and adjourned until after the election — meaning none of the four bills will get a floor vote this Congress. The four bills: - **H.R. 10378 — Problem Solvers TRUST Act** (Transparent Redistricting Under Stable Timelines), led by Reps. Ed Case (D-HI) and Jeff Hurd (R-CO), would limit congressional redistricting to once per decade following the census, barring most mid-decade redraws. - **H.R. 10379 — Problem Solvers MAPS Act** (Mapdrawing Accountability and Principled Standards), led by Reps. Mike Lawler (R-NY) and Salud Carbajal (D-CA), would require congressional districts to be equal in population, contiguous, reasonably compact, and respectful of communities of interest and existing political boundaries. - **H.R. 10380 — Problem Solvers Independent Commissions Act**, led by Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) and Debbie Dingell (D-MI), would push states toward independent redistricting commissions by withholding federal election assistance funding from those that decline. - **H.R. 10381 — Problem Solvers COURTS Act** (Nonpartisan Congressional Uniformity and Oversight of Redistricting Trials), led by Reps. Ryan Mackenzie (R-PA) and Ed Case (D-HI), would standardize how redistricting litigation is handled. Caucus co-chairs Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) and Tom Suozzi (D-NY) led the rollout. Notably, several of the sponsors represent states — New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, California — that have been at the center of the redraw fight.

“Congressional districts should be drawn around communities, not political interests. Politicians in states like New York and Texas should not be able to choose their elected representatives.”
Michael Lawler (R-NY) · Sep 17, 2026

On Its Last Working Day Before the Midterms, the House Passes the Water Resources Development Act 415-9 — the Transportation Chairman Says It Makes "Significant Improvements … to Our Inland Waterways, Ports and Harbors, Flood Protection," and the Top Democrat Calls It "Great News for Ports, Harbors and Inland Waterways"

On September 16, 2026 — the same day House Republican leaders cancelled the rest of the week's votes and sent members home until the midterms — the House passed the Water Resources Development Act of 2026 (H.R. 9497) by 415 to 9. WRDA is the biennial reauthorization of the Army Corps of Engineers' civil works program. The 2026 bill authorizes 61 new feasibility studies and 15 new or modified Corps projects covering navigation, flood control and ecosystem restoration, and reauthorizes the EPA's State Revolving Funds for drinking water and wastewater infrastructure. The lopsided margin made it one of the few genuinely bipartisan measures to clear the chamber in the seven working days between the summer recess and the midterm adjournment. Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Sam Graves and Ranking Member Rick Larsen both claimed it, and the bill now goes to the Senate.

“The Water Resources and Development Act—or WRDA—just passed through the House of Representatives!”
Brian Mast (R-FL) · Sep 16, 2026

After Seven Working Days Since Summer Recess, the House Cancels Thursday's Votes and Goes Home Until the Midterms — Speaker Johnson Says "The House Has Done Its Work," Hakeem Jeffries Says the "American People Deserve Better Than a Do-Nothing Republican Congress," and Two Republicans Say Out Loud That the Job Is Not Finished

On September 16, 2026, House Republican leaders cancelled Thursday's votes and sent members home until after the November midterms — closing a post-recess session that ran just seven working days. Left on the floor were AI legislation, further action on the Russia sanctions package, and the privileged resolution Thomas Massie had filed to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Speaker Mike Johnson framed it as members returning to their districts to make their case to voters, and said he would bring the House back on 48 hours' notice if the Senate moved legislation. He rejected the charge that the cancellation was designed to duck the Hegseth impeachment vote as "ridiculous." Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries called it a do-nothing Congress and argued the House should not leave town without acting on the pace of AI development. Notably, the sharpest objections also came from Johnson's own conference: Chip Roy and Ralph Norman both said publicly that the House should stay until the work was done. Stances below are relative to the decision to adjourn: "support" backs going home, "oppose" wanted the House to stay.

“The House has done its work. It's time for our members to go home to their districts and make their case to the American people.”
Mike Johnson (R-LA) · Sep 16, 2026

Sep 15, 2026· Updated

A Lame-Duck Democrat Files Articles of Impeachment Naming Four People Killed by ICE and CBP — and the White House Answers That He "Should Be Thanking President Trump"

On Monday, August 24, 2026, Rep. Al Green (D-TX) filed H.Res.1486, articles of impeachment charging President Trump with high crimes and misdemeanors for the way federal immigration enforcement has been run. The resolution accuses Trump of "abusing the powers of the presidency by operating United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) as his vicious, quota-driven, unaccountable paramilitary police forces," and of "wantonly devolving the United States democratic republic into an authoritarian regime." The resolution names four people killed by the two agencies in 2026: Renee Good and Alex Pretti in January, and Lorenzo Salgado Araujo and Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero in July. Green's charge is not only the killings but the aftermath — that the agencies operated "with anonymity and secrecy," assaulted civilians, and covered up unjustified killings. Green is the member who has forced this question more than anyone else. He was the first to file articles against Trump in his first term, and he filed again in June 2025 over the strikes on Iranian nuclear sites, an effort the House torpedoed 344-79. The House has voted to table five of his impeachment resolutions; the most recent, in December 2025, was tabled 237-140 with 47 Democrats voting "present." Green lost his primary runoff in May 2026 and leaves the House in January, which is why coverage framed this as a lame-duck filing that he knows lacks the votes. The timing is what makes it more than a footnote. It lands 71 days before the midterms, while House Democrats are openly split over how hard to confront Trump — Hakeem Jeffries said at a CNBC summit in June that impeachment would not be a focus for the party even if it wins the majority, and Jamie Raskin has called impeachment "not a plausible instrument" from the minority. The White House and DHS both answered within hours, and neither engaged the underlying deaths.

“They will acknowledge that what the president is doing is impeachable, but they would have us wait. Well, the Constitution doesn't have a wait clause in it. … I believe that there are some Republicans and Democrats who are considering voting to protect the president.”
Al Green (D-TX) · Sep 15, 2026

The House Votes 237-169 to Strip Federal Student Aid From Colleges That Boycott Israel — a Bill Written by a Democrat, Opposed by His Own Leadership, and Passed With 33 Democrats and All but Two Republicans

On September 3, 2026, the House passed H.R. 4795, the Protect Economic and Academic Freedom Act of 2026, by a vote of 237-169. The bill bars colleges and universities that engage in what it defines as a "non-expressive commercial boycott" of Israel from participating in federal student aid programs — including Pell grants and federal student loans. The bill was written by an unusual pair: Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC), the former chair of the Education and Workforce Committee, and Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), one of the most pro-Israel Democrats in the House. It had cleared the Education and Workforce Committee 24-9 after a June 25 hearing. The floor vote split both parties, but far more unevenly on one side than the other. Republicans voted 203-2 in favor, with only Reps. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Warren Davidson (R-OH) opposed. Democrats voted 167-33 against — meaning 33 Democrats broke with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Whip Katherine Clark and the rest of the leadership team, all of whom voted no. Supporters framed the bill as an answer to campus antisemitism. Opponents, led by Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) — who has spent decades opposing the BDS movement itself — argued it punishes constitutionally protected speech, and Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA), the ranking member on Education and Workforce, argued on the floor that no American university administration has actually adopted the policies the bill describes. The vote landed the same week House Democratic leaders were weighing discipline against two members who crossed the aisle on a procedural rule, and ten weeks before the midterms — sharpening an intra-Democratic fight over Israel that has been building all year.

“The antisemitic rot that has corroded college campuses must be eradicated — enough is enough.”
Virginia Foxx (R-NC) · Sep 3, 2026

A Year After Trump Signed the Epstein Files Transparency Act, Thomas Massie Reads Fourteen Names Into the Congressional Record and Files a Second Discharge Petition — "Perhaps Hearing These Names Will Shame the Department of Justice Into Delivering Justice"

On the House's first night back from the August recess — August 31, 2026 — Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) stood on the floor and read fourteen names into the Congressional Record as people he described as Jeffrey Epstein's co-conspirators: Jes Staley, Leon Black, Les Wexner, David Copperfield, Lapo Elkann, Tom Pritzker, Glenn Dubin, Frédéric Fekkai, Edoardo Teodorani, Jean-Luc Brunel, Daniel Siad, Ramsey Elkholy, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor (formerly Prince Andrew) and Lesley Groff. "Perhaps hearing these names will shame the Department of Justice into delivering justice," he said. The next day he and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) opened a discharge petition on the Epstein Files Transparency Act II — the same maneuver the two used to force the original Epstein Files Transparency Act to a 427-1 House vote in November 2025, over Speaker Mike Johnson's objection. The follow-on bill, H.R. 9694, was introduced in July with Reps. Teresa Leger Fernández (D-NM) and Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Ben Ray Luján (D-NM). It gives state attorneys general standing to obtain the unredacted federal files they need to prosecute under state law, and makes it easier for survivors and members of Congress to sue the Justice Department over non-compliance. Massie's argument is that a year after the president signed the first act, DOJ is still withholding more than three million files. The petition needs 218 signatures; it had more than three dozen by the afternoon of September 1. Massie says he needs every Democrat plus at least three additional Republicans, and has speculated that Johnson will try to run out the clock by recessing the House until after the midterms. Not every Republican is biting — Rep. Andy Barr (R-KY), Massie's home-state colleague and now the state's Senate nominee, said he had already voted for release once and was "not interested in grandstanding."

“Tuesday I tweeted Mike Johnson would recess Congress until after the election in an attempt to stymie our latest Epstein bill. Johnson went on TV adamantly saying that was STUPID and we'd work every day. Today he announced we'll recess on Sept 17… until after the election!”
Thomas Massie (R-KY) · Sep 3, 2026

Two Democrats Cross the Aisle to Save a Republican Rule After Five Republicans Kill It — the Rule Passes 210-208, and Their Own Leadership Calls It "a Significant Breach of Trust" and Sends It to the Caucus Rules Committee

On Tuesday, September 1, 2026, the House adopted a Republican rule — the procedural resolution setting the terms of floor debate — by 210-208. It only got there because two Democrats voted yes. Five Republicans had defected: Reps. Andy Harris (MD), Clay Higgins (LA), Ralph Norman (SC), Chip Roy (TX) and Pete Sessions (TX), several of them angry that the rule handled the Senate's continuing resolution the way it did. That left the rule short. Reps. Jared Golden (D-ME) and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-WA), both Blue Dogs, supplied the votes that saved it. By long-standing House custom the minority votes against rules as a bloc, regardless of what they think of the underlying bills. The rule Golden and Gluesenkamp Perez rescued teed up a batch of Republican bills — including the resolution condemning socialism "in all its forms" bolted to the SAVE America Act — as well as Golden's own Northeast Lobstermen Protection Act. Democratic leaders said they got no advance notice. Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Whip Katherine Clark and Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar issued a joint statement the same day calling it "a significant breach of trust" and referred the matter to the Committee on Caucus Rules, which met the next day. Members floated stripping committee assignments — a live threat for Gluesenkamp Perez, who sits on Appropriations and is among the most vulnerable Democratic incumbents on the map. Golden is retiring at the end of the term. Gluesenkamp Perez told reporters on Wednesday that she was undeterred.

“Instead of speaking about affordability this week, we had to speak about socialism because the rule brought up all these guttural bills, so yeah, I’m a little pissed.”
Jim McGovern (D-MA) · Sep 2, 2026

The House Votes 220-192 to Condemn Socialism "in All Its Forms" — and Bolts the SAVE America Act Onto It, Splitting Democrats and Sending Eight Across the Aisle

On September 1, 2026, the House adopted H.Res. 1490 by a vote of 220-192, with two members voting present. The four-page resolution, introduced August 27 by Rep. Jeff Crank (R-CO), "condemns and denounces socialism in all its forms, including the Democratic Socialists of America," and also calls for enactment of the SAVE America Act — the voter-ID and proof-of-citizenship bill that Senate Democrats blocked in August. That second half is what made the vote a trap. Eight Democrats — Jared Golden (ME), Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (WA), Don Davis (NC), Vicente Gonzalez (TX), Henry Cuellar (TX), Kathy Castor (FL), Darren Soto (FL) and Gabe Vasquez (NM) — voted yes anyway. Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries voted no, calling the measure "toxic voter suppression legislation" dressed up as an anti-socialism vote. Reps. Maggie Goodlander (NH) and Chrissy Houlahan (PA) voted present. Four centrist Democrats — Josh Gottheimer (NJ), Hillary Scholten (MI), Jared Moskowitz (FL) and Tom Suozzi (NY) — tried to head the vote off with an amendment that condemned socialism and the DSA in stronger terms but stripped the SAVE America Act language. The Rules Committee declined to make it in order on August 31, in a markup where members traded accusations over government-run grocery stores and "silly season." Crank was explicit that the point was to put Democrats on the record against the DSA ahead of November. Majority Leader Steve Scalise tied the two halves together directly. Democrats called it a messaging exercise substituting for action on cost of living.

“House Republicans continue to desperately push toxic voter suppression legislation instead of working to make life more affordable for everyday Americans in the midst of a searing cost-of-living crisis.”
Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) · Sep 1, 2026

The House Censures Chuck Edwards 413-2 After the Ethics Committee Finds Two Years of "Persistent Unprofessional and Inappropriate Conduct" Toward Two Young Female Staffers — and He Calls the Investigation "a Russian Show Trial"

On September 1, 2026, the House voted 413-2 to censure Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-NC), the first time the Ethics Committee has recommended a censure since 2010. The only two no votes were Edwards himself and Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC), who said he would not vote to censure Edwards while House Republicans had declined to censure Del. Stacey Plaskett over her contacts with Jeffrey Epstein. The bipartisan Ethics Committee found substantial evidence that Edwards violated the chamber's prohibition on sexual harassment through "persistent unprofessional and inappropriate conduct towards two young female staffers" over roughly two years — deeply personal late-night text messages, poetry, one-on-one dinners and trips, and a stream of gifts that included jewelry, guns, shoes, a KitchenAid mixer and a robotic vacuum. The panel stopped short of finding a quid pro quo, resting instead on a hostile work environment, and wrote that Edwards had "refused to acknowledge the reality of the power imbalance between a Member of Congress and young staffers." Edwards had already abandoned his re-election bid on August 5, after the committee recommended censure. He nonetheless fought the vote, circulating a twenty-page letter to colleagues and using his floor time to argue the findings did not amount to harassment. After the vote he stood in the well of the House while Speaker Mike Johnson read the resolution aloud, and told reporters on his way out that the investigation was "very much akin to a Russian show trial." All thirteen of Edwards's North Carolina colleagues voted to censure him. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández (D-NM), who chairs the Democratic Women's Caucus, argued censure was far too light a penalty and called for rules changes stripping committee assignments or allowing expulsion; she and Rep. Kat Cammack (R-FL), her Republican Women's Caucus counterpart, have been drafting a bipartisan overhaul of how the House handles sexual misconduct.

“I am imperfect. I have made mistakes. But I do not believe I committed sexual harassment, and the factual findings of this investigation do not justify branding me as though I did.”
Charles (Chuck) Edwards (R-NC) · Sep 1, 2026

Wyoming Sends Harriet Hageman to a Near-Certain Senate Seat and Election-Denying Secretary of State Chuck Gray to Her House Seat — but Rejects Trump's Pick for Governor

Wyoming's August 18, 2026 primaries reshuffled the entire federal delegation of the country's reddest state, and split the difference on President Trump. Rep. Harriet Hageman, the state's lone House member and Trump's endorsed candidate, won the Republican nomination for retiring Sen. Cynthia Lummis's open seat with roughly 65% of the vote against businessman Sam Mead. She will face Democrat James Byrd, a former state representative, in November. In her victory statement Hageman framed the race as a fight against "a rising tide of Marxists." Secretary of State Chuck Gray — a prominent election denier and Trump ally — won the crowded nine-way primary for Hageman's open at-large House seat with about 25% of the vote, ahead of conservative activist Steve Friess at 20%. Former Wyoming Freedom Caucus chairman John Bear, whose faction backed rivals, said "I don't think any of us anticipated this kind of loss." But in the governor's race, Trump's endorsement did not carry. State Sen. Eric Barlow, a Gillette rancher and former speaker of the Wyoming House, beat Trump-backed Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder and Wyoming GOP-endorsed Brent Bien for the nomination to succeed retiring Gov. Mark Gordon. Barlow, who ran on a "we're running for Wyoming, not against anybody" message, credited a backlash to "a lot of out of state money and agendas." Degenfelder's loss was one of three Trump-endorsed primary defeats that night, pushing his 2026 cycle total to 12 — more than 2018, 2020 and 2024 combined.

“I don't think any of us anticipated this kind of loss.”
John Bear (R-WY) · Aug 19, 2026

Rep. Cory Mills Loses His Florida Primary by 13 Points While Under House Ethics Investigation — and Trump, Who Endorsed Him in February and Never Withdrew It, Says He Told Him to "Get Out of the Race"

Rep. Cory Mills (R-Fla.) lost the Republican primary in Florida's 7th Congressional District on August 18, 2026 to Ryan Elijah, a former Fox 35 Orlando news anchor who entered the race late. Elijah took 46.9% to Mills's 34.4%, a margin of more than 13 points. Mills spent the cycle under an ethical cloud: a House Ethics Committee investigation into alleged dating violence and potential campaign-finance violations, an assault allegation, and an ex-girlfriend's claim that he threatened to release sexually explicit images and videos of her. Mills has denied wrongdoing and has never been charged. Four days before the primary, Gov. Ron DeSantis told reporters in Daytona Beach that he had not endorsed Mills and did not support him. President Trump endorsed Mills in February 2026 and never publicly rescinded it. The day after the loss, Trump posted on Truth Social that he had privately told Mills to quit the race, and gave Elijah his "Complete and Total Endorsement." Mills's defeat was one of three Trump-endorsed primary losses that night — along with Catalina Lauf in Florida's 19th District and Megan Degenfelder in Wyoming's governor primary — bringing his 2026 cycle total to 12, more than the 2018, 2020 and 2024 cycles combined.

“I told Congressman Cory Mills of Florida, a friend of mine, to get out of the Race, but he wouldn't listen. He thought he could win, so who can blame him?”
Donald Trump (R-FL) · Aug 19, 2026

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