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Browse major news stories and see what officials have said.

Sep 4, 2026

Trump Says He Will Bill Europe for the Weapons the United States Already Gave Ukraine — "We Will Be Asking for That Money, Though Somewhat Belatedly" — and Halts Munitions Sales to Allies While He Denies the Iran War Has Drained the Stockpile

On September 3, 2026, President Trump wrote on Truth Social that the United States would seek retroactive payment from European countries for the munitions and military aid sent to Ukraine under the Biden administration. "Hundreds of Billions of Dollars was given to Ukraine and NATO, free of charge, that Europe would have paid for — If they were only asked, but we will be asking for that money, though somewhat belatedly!" He did not name which countries he meant, or identify any legal mechanism for collecting. The post was also a rebuttal. Reporting through late August had described U.S. precision-munitions stockpiles heavily depleted by six months of war with Iran, and combatant commanders had formally objected to extending the campaign. Trump wrote that the United States has "virtually unlimited amounts of Mid to High Grade Ammunition" and is producing at "levels never seen before" — while simultaneously confirming a pause in sales to allies: "We are taking them for ourselves, the U.S.A., rather than selling them to others, but the sales to allies will soon again, begin." The demand landed as European governments were already refusing to join the Iran campaign. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, speaking at the G20 finance meeting in North Carolina, described a global energy shock driven by both the Ukraine and Iran wars. Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), the ranking Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, had just returned from a bipartisan congressional delegation to Ukraine. She called the president's demand "outrageous" and said she would increase Ukraine funding if Democrats win the House.

“This is extraordinary… it's outrageous. It's an outrageous commentary. I don't believe he even knows or understands what he's speaking about. I really don't think he understands or he gets it.”
Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) · Sep 4, 2026

Trump Signs an Executive Order Starting the Removal of Gray and Mexican Wolves From the Endangered Species List — "But You Can Shoot Them as of Today," He Tells Ranchers, and His Agriculture Secretary Has to Explain That They Still Cannot

On Friday, September 4, 2026, President Trump signed an executive order titled "Supporting America's Ranchers" that gives Interior Secretary Doug Burgum 90 days to determine whether the gray wolf and the Mexican wolf have met the recovery criteria for delisting or downlisting under the Endangered Species Act — and, if he finds they have, to begin the delisting process. The order also directs greater state involvement in wolf management and changes to how livestock depredations are investigated and how ranchers are compensated for confirmed kills. At the signing event Trump told ranchers they could shoot wolves "as of today." Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, standing with him, explained that the animals remain federally protected and that ranchers can only "sit and watch them destroy their herd" while the listing stands — the order starts a review, it does not itself lift protections. The wolf order was signed alongside a second rancher-directed order on meat processing, antitrust enforcement under the Packers and Stockyards Act, and a review of mandatory country-of-origin labeling for beef — the White House's answer to the backlash from cattle producers over its decision to waive tariffs on 300,000 metric tons of imported ground beef. Republicans who have pushed delisting bills for years welcomed it. As of the following day no Democratic member of Congress had gone on record against the wolf order; the opposition on the record came from conservation groups.

“You're not allowed to protect yourself, right? Or your company, your cattle. So how do you like the idea that I'm letting you do that?”
Donald Trump (R-FL) · Sep 4, 2026

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Trump Waives Tariffs on 300,000 Metric Tons of Foreign Ground Beef to Cut Grocery Prices — and Nearly Every Republican From Cattle Country Turns on Him, With One Calling It "Worse Than Socialism"

On Friday, August 21, 2026, President Trump announced that for the next 90 days the United States will allow up to 300,000 metric tons of lean beef trimmings for ground beef to be imported with no out-of-quota tariff. He said foreign exporters had committed that "this beef will be sold at 25 percent below current market prices," and framed it as relief for grocery bills eleven weeks before the midterms: "This deal will reduce prices for Americans while giving space for our Great American Beef Herd to grow again." An executive order was expected within two weeks. The USDA touted the move as proof of Trump's commitment to "lowering the cost of everyday goods for the American people." The backlash came the same afternoon, and it came almost entirely from his own party. Both Nebraska senators, all three Nebraska House Republicans, Montana's Republican senator, Iowa's senior Republican senator and two of the House GOP's most vocal backbenchers went on the record against it within hours. Sen. Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.) said he had privately advised Trump against the policy "for a year" and warned that the ranchers it would hurt are "most of whom are MAGA Republicans." Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) called it "Worse than socialism!" Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) said she was "extremely disappointed by this decision from the White House." The substantive objection was consistent across party lines: the U.S. cattle herd is at historically low levels, and ranchers argue that suppressing prices with imported product removes the incentive to rebuild it. National Cattlemen's Beef Association CEO Colin Woodall said the move "sacrifices long-term stability for short term messaging." Democrats attacked from a different angle — Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) tied it to the administration's earlier expansion of the Argentine beef quota. Trump, asked about the rancher complaints, said: "I love the ranchers; they've done a fantastic job. But they admit that we need a little help, and, in order to get the prices down, so that's what we're doing."

“For the first time ever, we’re going to give farmers and ranchers the right to process their own food. They’ll have inspectors. They’ll have everything, just like these big plants. I would be willing to say that our ranches will be more sanitary than those plants.”
Donald Trump (R-FL) · Sep 4, 2026

Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer Resigns Amid Misconduct Investigation

On April 20, 2026, Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer resigned from the Trump Cabinet, becoming the third cabinet member to depart during Trump's second term. She stepped down amid an active Labor Department Inspector General investigation into allegations of misconduct. The IG was investigating claims that Chavez-DeRemer was having a sexual relationship with a member of her security detail, using staff for personal errands including liquor pickups, and exploiting official travel for personal purposes. Her husband had also been separately banned from Labor Department headquarters amid sexual assault allegations, though that criminal investigation was later closed. Chavez-DeRemer, a former Oregon congresswoman who had been seen as a bridge between Trump's base and organized labor, denied the allegations and blamed "high-ranked deep-state actors" for coordinating with media to undermine her. Deputy Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling was named acting secretary. Democrats called her departure a disgrace and pressed the IG to publicly release its findings.

“Now that the investigation is complete, we need answers. Members and staff were not briefed on the findings. That is unacceptable and disregards Congress's constitutional oversight role.”
Bill Cassidy (R-LA) · Sep 4, 2026

Treasury and the IRS Propose Stripping Tax-Exempt Status From Any Private School That Considers Race — as Many as 18,000 Institutions, From Elementary Schools to Universities — and the Top Ways and Means Democrat Calls It "Racist Weaponization of the IRS"

On September 3, 2026, the Treasury Department and the IRS issued a notice of proposed rulemaking titled "Racial Nondiscrimination in Private Schools." Under the proposal, a private school that "adopts, maintains, or enforces a policy or practice that discriminates on the basis of race, color, or national or ethnic origin" would not be treated as operated exclusively for exempt purposes and would lose its federal tax exemption under section 501(c)(3). The rule reaches admissions, educational policies, scholarships and loans, athletics, and every other school-administered program, and Treasury estimates it may affect as many as 18,000 private educational institutions — elementary schools, trade schools, professional schools, colleges and universities. The rule rescinds prior IRS guidance the administration says permitted racial preferences, and permits race-neutral substitutes such as income-based or geographic criteria. Religious schools may still impose religious affiliation requirements. The proposal was scheduled for publication in the Federal Register on September 4, with comments due sixty days later, and would apply to taxable years beginning on or after May 31, 2027. Because 501(c)(3) status also governs the deductibility of donations, the rule puts at risk the charitable deduction for gifts to affected schools — a point tax practitioners flagged immediately. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent framed the rule as civil rights enforcement. IRS chief Frank Bisignano said institutions that "promote discriminatory practices" would no longer receive the benefits of exemption. Rep. Richard Neal (D-MA), ranking member of the House Ways and Means Committee, called it a racist weaponization of the tax code, and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund promised litigation.

“Schools rebranding race-based preferences as equitable, inclusive, or diversity-enhancing does not change their discriminatory nature.”
Scott Bessent (R-SC) · Sep 3, 2026

Speaker Johnson Cancels the Last Two Weeks of September Votes, Leaving the House Four Legislative Days Before the Midterms — "This Congress Has Done Phenomenal Work," He Says, While Raskin Calls It Republicans "Scrambling to Catch Up With Their Constituents"

On September 3, 2026 House Republican leadership scrapped the weeks of September 21 and September 28 from the legislative calendar — eight scheduled voting days — in a reversal of what Speaker Mike Johnson had told reporters earlier in the same week. Under the revised schedule the House returns the evening of Monday, September 14, works through Thursday, September 17, and then leaves Washington for roughly six weeks of campaigning ahead of the November 3 midterm elections. The move follows the September 1 passage of the continuing resolution funding the government through December 11, which Trump signed on September 2 and which removed the last must-pass item from the pre-election calendar. It comes 60 days out from an election in which public polling has shown Democrats positioned to take the House. Johnson framed the change as members balancing competing demands and noted that members can be called back into session. Minority Whip Katherine Clark's office flagged it as a departure from the announced schedule, and House Judiciary ranking member Jamie Raskin cast it as a party fleeing its own record. Rank-and-file Republicans split: Tim Burchett and Rich McCormick argued there was nothing left to do in Washington, while Diana Harshbarger and Michael Cloud said there was unfinished legislative business.

“This Congress has done phenomenal work, and the members are jostling a lot of different priorities right now.”
Mike Johnson (R-LA) · Sep 3, 2026

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Sep 3, 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.

“A significant amount of unrest on campuses has resulted from efforts by anti-Israel radicals to coerce institutions into divesting from and boycotting Israel.”
Joe Wilson (R-SC) · Sep 3, 2026

Reports of an ICE Surge in Indianapolis Draw a Congressional Inquiry From André Carson and a Warning From Jim Banks That "We Will Not Let Indianapolis Become Minneapolis" — While the Mayor Says Nobody Told the City Anything

In the first days of September 2026, immigrant-aid groups in Indianapolis and Bloomington reported a sharp increase in Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity — masked agents, unmarked vehicles, arrests off traffic stops, and a foot pursuit that crossed multiple lanes of traffic. ICE would not confirm an operation or provide details. On Sept. 3, Rep. André Carson (D-Ind.) sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin and acting ICE Director David Venturella demanding an accounting. Carson's objection was to the method as much as the scale: agents whose identity, authority and mission the public cannot verify, he wrote, produce fear rather than safety. Indiana's Republicans answered in the opposite direction. Sen. Jim Banks said anyone obstructing ICE in Indiana should be arrested and prosecuted, and invoked Minneapolis — where Operation Metro Surge and the shooting of Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis by ICE officer Christian Castro have produced eight months of litigation — as the outcome he intends to avoid. Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith said he "proudly" supported the officers working in the state. City government's position was that it had no position, because it had no information. Mayor Joe Hogsett's office and City-County Council President Maggie Lewis both said no federal immigration authority had communicated with any city or county agency about current or planned operations in Marion County; the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department and the Marion County Sheriff's Office each said they were not involved. Both Hogsett and Lewis paired that with a statement of what kind of city Indianapolis intends to be.

“At this time, we have no information indicating that federal immigration authorities have formally changed their approach or are specifically targeting Indianapolis.”
Maggie Lewis (D-IN) · Sep 3, 2026

A Sitting Congressman Learns the FBI Recorded His Calls — Rep. Suhas Subramanyam Releases the DOJ Notice Showing a Wiretap Swept Up His Conversations With the Virginia Senate Leader Who Ran the Redistricting Referendum

On September 3, 2026 Rep. Suhas Subramanyam (D-VA-10) released a notice he said the Justice Department and FBI had sent him disclosing that a federal judge authorized a wiretap in early March 2026 that intercepted some of his own phone calls between March 6 and April 5. The tap was placed as part of the Justice Department's corruption investigation into L. Louise Lucas, the president pro tempore of the Virginia Senate, over an alleged bribery scheme connected to a marijuana dispensary business she co-owns. Lucas has not been charged and denies wrongdoing. Subramanyam did not dispute that he was incidentally captured rather than targeted, but pointed at the calendar: the interception window sat at the peak of campaigning for Virginia's redistricting referendum, which Lucas helped lead, and overlapped with the House Oversight Committee's push to make then-Attorney General Pam Bondi testify about the Epstein files. He placed the wiretap in a line that runs through the Department's investigations of Democratic state attorneys general and the former FBI director, and said the surveillance would not deter Democratic oversight of the administration. The FBI declined to comment and the Justice Department did not respond to reporters. The investigation itself predates the current administration — it was opened under President Biden — and the FBI's May 6, 2026 search of Lucas's Portsmouth office and cannabis business had already drawn a round of statements from Virginia Democrats, most of whom stopped short of asserting the probe was manufactured while insisting the political context could not be ignored.

“The FBI and DOJ recently informed me that my phone conversations with State Senator and President Pro Tempore Louise Lucas were being monitored as part of their investigation into Senator Lucas. This is deeply concerning.”
Suhas Subramanyam (D-VA) · Sep 3, 2026

Twenty-Two States and D.C. Sue to Stop the Rule That Cuts Off Federal Medicaid and CHIP Money for Transgender Minors — Filed Six Weeks Before It Takes Effect, and RFK Jr. Says the Care "Fails to Meet the Evidentiary Standard Our Children Deserve"

On September 2-3, 2026 a coalition of 22 state attorneys general and the District of Columbia, joined by the Governor of Pennsylvania, filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts to block a Department of Health and Human Services rule that bars federal Medicaid and CHIP reimbursement for gender-affirming care for minors. The rule, finalized by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on August 13, 2026 and effective October 13, prohibits federal matching funds for puberty-suppressing medication, hormone therapy and surgery for Medicaid beneficiaries under 18 and CHIP beneficiaries under 19 — while leaving the identical treatments reimbursable when provided to patients who are not transgender. Children already on hormone therapy get up to six months of continued funding after the effective date. HHS received more than 30,000 comments on the proposal; more than 90 percent opposed it. The complaint argues the rule exceeds HHS's statutory authority, misuses the evidence offered to justify it, and would set a precedent that the executive branch can substitute a categorical agency ban for the individualized judgments of licensed clinicians without any authorization from Congress. Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield led the filing; California's Rob Bonta, Illinois's Kwame Raoul, Maryland's Anthony Brown, Connecticut's William Tong and Massachusetts's Andrea Joy Campbell co-led. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had defended the rule when it was finalized in August, saying the government would no longer fund procedures he characterized as carrying risk of irreversible harm.

“Freedom means very little if the government can reach into your family's private decisions and take it away.”
Dan Rayfield (D-OR) · 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."

“This is about the victims getting the evidence and documentation for themselves that the DOJ is denying them, and then also the AGs in different states should be able to pursue this, particularly New Mexico.”
Nancy Mace (R-SC) · Sep 3, 2026

The Army Secretary Quits After Eighteen Months of Losing to Hegseth Over Who Gets to Be a General — and the Senate Armed Services Ranking Democrat Says the Defense Secretary Is "Cultivating a Culture Where Dissent Is Punished"

Army Secretary Dan Driscoll submitted his resignation to the White House on Monday, August 31, 2026, effective September 3, after eighteen months of escalating conflict with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over control of Army senior officer promotions. Driscoll, an Iraq War veteran, tech investor and close friend of Vice President JD Vance whom he met at Yale Law School, became the youngest Army secretary in history at 38 and was known inside the building as the president's "drone guy" for his focus on Army modernization. The break point was personnel. Hegseth has removed at least 45 officers from promotion lists selected by their own peers this year, more than half of them women or Black officers, and in late August pulled four more Army colonels off the brigadier general list over their ties to Gen. Randy George — the Army chief of staff Hegseth fired without explanation in April — and Gen. Chris Donahue, the U.S. Army Europe and Africa commander he ousted in June. Reporting indicates Driscoll refused to strike names from a promotion list when Hegseth asked, and Hegseth did it himself. In his resignation, Driscoll raised concerns about Army transformation and readiness and about Hegseth blocking those efforts by firing the generals responsible. The White House praised Driscoll's tenure without acknowledging the dispute. Hegseth is reportedly weighing Pentagon chief spokesperson Sean Parnell as a successor, a pick that would face a difficult Senate confirmation. Driscoll was unusually well regarded by lawmakers in both parties, and the reactions to his exit split along a familiar line: Republicans praised the departing secretary, Democrats used the occasion to indict the man he was fighting.

“I am pleased to announce that Adam Telle, the current Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works, will become Acting Secretary of the Army, effective immediately. He is a Great Patriot, who is respected by all.”
Donald Trump (R-FL) · Sep 3, 2026

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