Today’s notice: Another tragedy threatens the democratic process. A White House in mourning. Sadness turns to anger. And: How Charlie Kirk changed politics.
THE LATEST
‘This is not who we are’ was the somber quote from Mike Johnson in the Capitol before he led his colleagues in a moment of silence for the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who was killed at a political event on a university campus in Utah.
The line has become, in recent years, less a restatement of a core American fact and more an abject plea from people who still believe that politics is the civilized, mature way to work out how we all live together.
Governing in the age of political violence: “I’ve experienced a lot of this myself,” Rep. Roger Williams, who survived the shooting at the 2017 Republican congressional baseball team practice, told our Hill team. “These things always take me back to [the shooting].”
On the Hill, as there was in June after state legislators were shot in Minnesota, there was a new focus on member security.
Lawmakers working through this moment are looking for answers. “There’s a bigger problem, which is that rhetoric in modern politics is reaching a level where people — I know nothing about the person — but sadly, in a lot of these cases, it taps into people who are not mentally well,” Rep. Joe Morelle told NOTUS.
For now, more partisanship is coming. “For years, those on the radical left have compared wonderful Americans like Charlie to Nazis and the world’s worst mass murderers and criminals,” Donald Trump said in a video last night on Truth Social. “This kind of rhetoric is directly responsible for the terrorism that we’re seeing in our country today, and it must stop right now.”
The president promised his administration would go after organizations he claimed “fund” political violence and “support it,” along with groups he said go after judges, law enforcement “and everyone else who brings order to our country.” (There is no shooter in custody and officials have released no motive for the attack.)
Political violence has touched Trump’s own life. He drew a line from his attempted assassination in 2024 to Kirk’s killing yesterday. Other attacks were mentioned, too, like the killing of the UnitedHealth CEO. Not mentioned: this year’s other political assassination, which was of a Democratic lawmaker at her home in Minnesota.
Open tabs: 3 Students, Including Attacker, Shot at Colorado High School (NYT); Republicans Muscle Defense Bill Through the House (NOTUS); SCOTUS denies South Carolina’s request to enforce anti-trans school bathroom policy (Politico); Lawsuit: Directives to Fire FBI Agents ‘Were Coming from the White House’ (NOTUS)
From the Hill
As Republicans mourned Kirk’s death, many turned to anger. Conservative commentators and lawmakers also blamed left-wing rhetoric for the shooting, and without evidence assigned motivations to the act before the suspect was captured. Some of Trump’s staunchest allies across the MAGAverse even argued for a broad crackdown on the political left in response to Kirk’s death.
“The Democrat party needs to understand that they’re more than a little culpable in this,” Rep. Derrick Van Orden told NOTUS. “I think if these Democrats keep up with this violent political rhetoric, they should be censured,” he added, and “removed from every single one of their committees.”
Boiling point: An extended and expletive-riddled shouting match broke out between some Democrats and Republicans after the moment of silence was called for Kirk on the House floor. Rep. Lauren Boebert interjected to demand a prayer, a request that was met with groans from the other side of the aisle.
“You fucking caused this” was what Rep. Anna Paulina Luna then yelled at her Democratic colleagues, according to a witness.
From the White House
News of the slaying shook Trump’s administration deeply. The New York Times’ Maggie Haberman reported that she spotted several red-eyed White House staffers who looked like they’d been crying after Kirk’s death was announced. A who’s who of Trumpworld insiders posted glowing tributes to the activist, who was close with many conservative power players, including the president and his family.
“Charlie was the best of America,” Trump said in his video address last night. “He was loved and admired by ALL, especially me, and now, he is no longer with us,” the president wrote in a separate post on Truth Social.
THE BIG ONE
Kirk’s impact on politics was huge. The 31-year-old rose from young campus provocateur to the heights of conservative media and politics in a little over a decade. He was killed while doing what made him famous: debating a college audience in a very public, made-for-social-media format.
Kirk launched Turning Point USA, his youth-focused conservative organization, in 2012. It was a tough era for campus conservatives: Barack Obama was cruising to reelection thanks in no small part to his support among young Americans.
But Kirk and Turning Point USA were at the right place at the right time. He was an early Trump backer during the president’s 2016 run, and over the next few years built TPUSA into a well-funded juggernaut whose annual conference was a mandatory stopping point for Republican candidates aspiring for higher office. The organization even helped run Trump’s get-out-the-vote effort in 2024, swinging young voters toward the president by a noteworthy margin over his 2020 total.
As the public face of the youth organization, which claims to have more than 250,000 members, Kirk was a prototype for the sort of populist conservative media figures that now dominate the political landscape.
NEW ON NOTUS
Louder calls for Russia sanctions: After drones were intercepted over Poland by NATO forces, lawmakers called for increased pressure on the country that sent them. “That was a provocative act, which clearly is an attempt to test the U.S. and our NATO allies,” John Thune told reporters, summarizing the view on Russia’s actions coalescing in the Senate.
White House’s next move: A Trump administration official told NOTUS’ Haley Byrd Wilt that the president was gathering all information before deciding how to react.
D.C. overhaul: House Republicans have filed 13 bills aimed at changing criminal law in D.C. NOTUS’ Daniella Diaz reports that if passed as written, they would restore cash bail, enforce mandatory sentencing minimums, end early release for minors, criminalize outdoor encampments and lower the age for juveniles to be tried as adults for violent crimes from 16 to 14.
Republicans also want to weaken the District government’s power to make laws in the first place: One proposal would subject D.C. laws to a 60-day review, allowing line vetoes and extending review of District regulations and mayoral orders.
More: Dems Demand Answers on Trump Inaugural Fundraising ‘Discrepancies,’ by Dave Levinthal
Jamie Raskin Demands Answers From FBI Director on Epstein Files, by Riley Rogerson
NOT US
- National Guard documents show public ‘fear,’ veterans’ ‘shame’ over D.C. presence, by Alex Horton for The Washington Post
- Vaccines and C.D.C. Chaos Expose Tensions Between Trump and Kennedy, by Sheryl Gay Stolberg and Maggie Haberman for The New York Times
- From slavery to pollution, National Park employees flagged material deemed ‘disparaging’ to US, by Dorany Pineda for the Associated Press
- Flagging economy weighs on Republicans’ midterm hopes, by Burgess Everett, Eleanor Mueller and Shelby Talcott for Semafor
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