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Browse major news stories and see what officials have said.

Sep 29, 2026

Trump Hosts Zuckerberg, Musk, Amodei and Huang for a White House Lunch and Announces They Have Signed an Accord to "Self-Police" — "I Think It's Morally Binding" — the Same Day Ted Cruz Blocks the Senate's Bipartisan AI Safety Bill and Bernie Sanders Says "Congress Does Not Regulate AI. AI Regulates Congress"

On Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026, President Trump hosted nearly 20 technology executives — among them Meta's Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, Anthropic's Dario Amodei, Nvidia's Jensen Huang, Google's Sundar Pichai, Microsoft's Satya Nadella, Amazon's Jeff Bezos, Palantir's Alex Karp and OpenAI's Greg Brockman — at a White House "Super Intelligence Luncheon" attended by Speaker Mike Johnson, Vice President JD Vance and several Cabinet members. Afterward Trump announced that the companies had signed "The White House Accord on Superintelligence: A Joint Commitment on Frontier SI Responsibilities," a voluntary statement of principles promising internal controls and internal and external review of frontier models. Asked whether it was binding, Trump said, "I think it's morally binding." The accord has no enforcement mechanism. The summit came weeks after OpenAI and Anthropic disclosed that AI agents had gone rogue and accessed systems without authorization, and as calls for a development slowdown grew. That same morning, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), chairman of the Commerce Committee, objected to a unanimous-consent request by Sens. Mark Warner (D-Va.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) and Andy Kim (D-N.J.) to pass the Artificial Intelligence Risk Management and Security Act of 2026, which would create a permanent AI safety board at the Commerce Department with authority to review frontier models 45 days before release.

“There's a belief that there should be tremendous self-regulation, and we automatically have regulation. … But the self-regulation is very important. … I think I'm seeing tremendous self-policing. And they understand that they have to self-police. … I will never stifle the growth of a technology that will be bigger than the industrial revolution. We can't stifle it, and we're leading by a lot. [Asked whether the accord is binding:] I think it's morally binding.”
Donald Trump (R-FL) · Sep 29, 2026

Artificial Intelligence

Five Weeks Before the Midterms, Senate Republicans Block Tammy Baldwin's Resolution to Overturn Trump's Obamacare Marketplace Rule — Susan Collins Is the Only Republican to Vote Yes, and Baldwin Says the Rule Will Make "Out-of-Pocket Costs … Skyrocket"

On Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026, the Senate rejected a motion to proceed to S.J.Res. 197, Sen. Tammy Baldwin's (D-Wis.) Congressional Review Act resolution to overturn a Trump administration rule governing the Affordable Care Act marketplaces. The vote was 48-51 on the Senate floor record (some outlets reported 48-50); Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) was the only Republican to vote with Democrats. The rule promotes catastrophic and bronze-tier plans with very high deductibles, loosens network-adequacy requirements and lets insurers sell plans without provider networks. Democrats say it will push up to 2 million people off marketplace coverage and raise the maximum out-of-pocket limit to $15,600 for individuals and $31,200 for families in 2027. The vote was one of the Senate's last before members leave to campaign.

“We know that everything this administration is trying to do is to gut people's opportunity to get quality, affordable healthcare.”
Ron Wyden (D-OR) · Sep 29, 2026

Sep 28, 2026· Updated

The Senate Votes 74-24 to Take Up the Cruz-Cantwell College Sports Bill — Cruz Calls It "a Bipartisan Solution Designed to Bring Order to the Chaos," While Chris Murphy Says "What This Bill Does at Its Core Is to Protect a System of Exploitation" and All Four Black Democratic Senators Vote No

On Sept. 15, 2026, the Senate voted 74-24 to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to the Protect College Sports Act (S. 4668), written by Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and ranking member Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and backed by the NCAA. The bill would write national rules for college athletics into law: revenue sharing with players capped at 22% of athletic department revenue, one penalty-free transfer, a five-year eligibility window, pooled conference media rights, a cap on agent fees and limited antitrust protection for the NCAA and conferences. The 24 no votes came from 20 Democrats and four Republicans — Ashley Moody, Rand Paul, Rick Scott and Tommy Tuberville. All four Black Democratic senators — Cory Booker, Raphael Warnock, Lisa Blunt Rochester and Angela Alsobrooks — voted no; the NAACP, the AFL-CIO and the Congressional Black Caucus oppose the bill, arguing it caps what largely Black football and basketball players can earn while leaving coaches' pay untouched. The Senate continued debate on Sept. 16; if the bill passes, it goes to the House. On Sept. 28, 2026, the Senate passed the bill 77-22 after rejecting two amendments from Cory Booker (D-N.J.), 49-50 and 47-52, including one that would have applied the bill's rules to coaches' pay. The bill now goes to the House, which has left town until after the midterm elections.

“We're not turning back the clock, and whether you loved or hated the old system, we shouldn't try. The problem is that college sports entered this new era without a stable framework to govern it.”
Eric Schmitt (R-MO) · Sep 28, 2026

As Xi Jinping Arrives for a State Visit, Senate Democrats Demand Votes on Three Bipartisan Bills to Keep America's AI Chips Out of China — Chuck Schumer Says "Trump Is Handing China the Technology It Needs to Win the AI Race," Elizabeth Warren Says Jensen Huang "Should Be Nowhere Near the Negotiating Table," and the White House Says It Has "the Most Rigorous Export Control Regime in Modern History"

On September 23, 2026 — the day Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Washington for his first U.S. state visit since 2015 — Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Elizabeth Warren, Andy Kim and Elissa Slotkin called on Majority Leader John Thune to bring three bipartisan chip export-control bills to the floor: Sen. Jim Banks's AI OVERWATCH Act, which would write Trump's ban on sales of the most powerful AI chips to adversaries into law for 18 months and require licenses for "countries of concern"; the MATCH Act from Sens. Pete Ricketts and Schumer, which would align controls on chipmaking equipment with allied suppliers; and Sen. Tom Cotton's Chip Security Act, which would require location tracking on advanced chips. All three passed House Foreign Affairs by wide margins and were folded into the Senate NDAA manager's amendment, but the defense bill has been stalled since Senate Democrats blocked it in July over the Iran war and the Pentagon topline. Democrats pointed to Trump's earlier decision to let Nvidia sell H200 chips to China and to reports that Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang would attend the state dinner. The White House answered that the administration has "the most rigorous export control regime in modern history." Days earlier, Republican Commerce Chairman Ted Cruz had said Huang's argument against tight controls was "not a frivolous argument," while Democrats Mark Warner and Chris Coons questioned it.

“This is not some idea that we have. It is actual legislation that we have ready to go.”
Andy Kim (D-NJ) · Sep 23, 2026

China

Xi Jinping

8 statements

Sep 20, 2026· Updated

In the Worst Measles Year Since 1991, Trump's Health Nominees Break With RFK Jr. on Vaccines Under Oath — Surgeon General Pick Nicole Saphier Says "I Do Not Believe Childhood Vaccines Cause Autism," and the Republican HELP Chairman Says "Misinformation and Misguided Policies Are Leaving Children and Adults Unprotected"

On Sept. 15 and 16, 2026, Senate committees questioned two of President Trump's top health nominees as the country recorded its most measles cases since 1991 — nearly 3,300 — including four deaths in Pennsylvania. At a Senate Finance hearing on Sept. 15, HHS deputy secretary nominee Chris Klomp told Sen. Ron Wyden that the MMR vaccine is "the single most effective public health tool that we have against measles." On Sept. 16 the HELP Committee heard from Dr. Nicole Saphier, a Fox News contributor and Trump's third choice for surgeon general, along with Klomp and SAMHSA nominee Dr. Timothy Westlake. HELP Chairman Bill Cassidy (R-La.), a physician, blamed the measles deaths on "misinformation and misguided policies" and criticized Trump's executive order overhauling the childhood vaccine schedule, including splitting the combined MMR shot. Saphier said she does not believe childhood vaccines cause autism after Cassidy said an earlier answer had left "too much wiggle room," but she declined to renounce Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s vaccine decisions. HHS called claims that the administration discourages measles vaccination "absolutely fake news."

“Having measles is not a kind of victimless kind of experience. It's a little bit like drunk driving. … The president should be saying, "Be vaccinated. It is safe and effective."”
Bill Cassidy (R-LA) · Sep 20, 2026

Hours Before the Crypto Bill's Make-or-Break Senate Vote, Trump Agrees to Ethics Rules on His Own Family — Lummis Says He "Voluntarily Agreed to Unprecedented Ethics Restrictions," and Elizabeth Warren Calls the Deal a "Weak Fig Leaf" That Will Not Stop "His Next $1.4 Billion in Crypto Profits"

Late on Sept. 13, 2026, Sens. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), John Boozman (R-Ark.) and Tim Scott (R-S.C.) released what they called the final text of the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act — the CLARITY Act — ahead of a cloture vote Majority Leader John Thune had scheduled for 2:15 p.m. on Sept. 15. The sponsors said the draft contained 126 substantive changes requested by Democrats and adopted substantially all of the Tillis-Gallego ethics language, including a role for state attorneys general in enforcing conflict-of-interest rules against federal officials. President Trump, whose 2025 financial disclosure reported roughly $1.4 billion in crypto-related income, signed off on most of it. The concession did not move the Democrats whose votes the bill needs to reach 60. On the Senate floor the night of Sept. 14, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) called the ethics deal a "weak fig leaf" and argued the enforcement design means "the law could never be enforced against Donald Trump." Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) — co-author of the ethics framework Republicans said they had adopted — told reporters the same evening that the final language "leaves a lot to be desired." Seven Senate Democrats had already said in July that the Republican text "falls short," and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) has said she will not support market-structure legislation without an enforceable ban on officials profiting from crypto. Seventeen state attorneys general and the banking industry also came out against the final draft. A failed cloture vote would effectively end the bill for 2026, seven weeks before the midterms.

“The full cost of today's result may not be known for years to come, but this much is clear: it increases the risk that the standards that global financial markets adhere to in the future will be those of Brussels or Beijing, rather than Washington and New York.”
Patrick Witt (R) · Sep 15, 2026

Trump Names Housing Official Bill Pulte as Acting DNI, Replacing Tulsi Gabbard

President Trump on June 2, 2026 appointed Bill Pulte — head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency and known for using his government access to refer Trump opponents for prosecution — as acting Director of National Intelligence, replacing Tulsi Gabbard who resigned citing her husband's cancer diagnosis. Pulte has no intelligence or military background and will simultaneously hold his FHFA post overseeing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The appointment drew rare bipartisan criticism: Senate Majority Leader Thune warned against a "weaponized DNI," Mitch McConnell cited the statutory requirement for "extensive national security experience," and Democrats called it a dangerous politicization of the intelligence community ahead of the 2026 midterms.

“We don't need a weaponized DNI, we need professionals there.”
John Thune (R-SD) · Jun 2, 2026

May 27, 2026· Updated

Ken Paxton Defeats Sen. John Cornyn in Texas GOP Primary Runoff

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton crushed four-term incumbent Sen. John Cornyn 64%-36% in the May 26, 2026 Republican primary runoff — the widest primary defeat of a sitting U.S. senator in nearly five decades. Trump had endorsed Paxton one week before the vote, overriding his own Senate leadership's backing of Cornyn. Senate Majority Leader Thune immediately called on Republicans to "pivot" to supporting Paxton, while Democrat James Talarico, who will face Paxton in November, declared him "the most corrupt politician in America."

“I will do some nice, big, beautiful rallies for Ken. John Cornyn ran a strong and powerful race but, more importantly, had a truly great career.”
Donald Trump (R-FL) · May 27, 2026

Republicans Push Second Reconciliation Bill; Medicaid Cuts Spark GOP Revolt

With the 2025 "One Big Beautiful Bill" already cutting ~$1 trillion from Medicaid, House Republicans and Senate Budget Committee Chair Lindsey Graham pushed in early 2026 for a second reconciliation package focused on immigration enforcement funding. But a bloc of GOP senators — Collins, Murkowski, Moran, Hawley — warned against further Medicaid cuts, especially to rural hospitals. The bill stalled in May 2026 amid Republican infighting.

“Maybe he doesn't think he needs us. But I don't know. Last I checked, the laws don't just appear before his desk to be signed.”
Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) · May 20, 2026

May 20, 2026· Updated

Senate Republicans Advance $72 Billion ICE and CBP Reconciliation Bill

Senate Republicans advanced a nearly $72 billion budget reconciliation package to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement ($38.2B) and Customs and Border Protection ($26B) through FY2029, plus $1 billion for White House security upgrades. The Senate Homeland Security Committee approved its portion 8-7 on May 19, 2026, followed by the Budget Committee advancing the bill 11-10 on May 20, clearing it for a Senate floor vote before the planned June 2 recess. The package — the largest immigration enforcement funding proposal in U.S. history — advances via reconciliation, requiring only 51 votes and bypassing a Democratic filibuster.

“I didn't come prepared with the long list of victims of illegal immigrant crime: Laken Riley, Rachel Morin, and a very long list of … I don't have the list of the literally tens of thousands, I think over hundreds of thousands, of children lost, immigrant children shuffled through the system, probably into the hands of sex traffickers.”
Ron Johnson (R-WI) · May 20, 2026