Today’s notice: The firings will continue until morale improves. Congress is running out of time to make a spending deal. An exclusive look at Democratic efforts to get inspectors general hired. Also, a look at the party’s novel new strategy: registering voters.
THE LATEST
The FIRE this time? “We are creating the exact culture of fear that we should be trying to work against,” Adam Goldstein of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression told NOTUS’ Em Luetkemeyer as anger and sadness over the killing of Charlie Kirk metastasized into a culture of “mourn him properly or else,” as Reuters put it.
America is once again exploring the boundaries between free speech, personal views and professional conduct. Government employees at the state and federal level have been reprimanded for social media posts about Kirk — while educators at both universities and grade schools have been put on leave or fired for their online speech.
What makes this online dragnet different? Experts say the full endorsement from government officials creates some big First Amendment questions. Pete Hegseth and other military leaders have said they’ll fire employees who, as Navy Secretary John Phelan put it, create “posts displaying contempt toward a fellow American who was assassinated.”
Marco Rubio has made public statements about Kirk a litmus test for coming into the country, or keeping the legal status to remain in it. In Congress, some members — Rep. Clay Higgins, most prominently — have called for citizens who’ve celebrated Kirk’s death to lose business and drivers’ licenses.
Still, none of this is new: In fact, it’s a tactic that Kirk himself helped to popularize. Turning Point USA, the youth-focused conservative advocacy organization he founded, still keeps a public “professor watchlist” where students can report university employees that they deem sufficiently left wing.
Many of those participating in this online targeting campaign have made careers on vehemently opposing cancel culture. And many of them do not see a contradiction — this is about violence, they say. It’s about protecting fundamental rights. Of course, those are the same rights the people they’re going after say they are exercising.
Open tabs: New Docs Raise Questions About Trump’s Fraud Claims Against Lisa Cook (Reuters); Trump says new White House ballroom will be ‘a little bigger’ than planned (NBC); How Nancy Pelosi Quietly Shaped California’s Redistricting Fight (NYT); Judge worries Trump admin is sidestepping torture protections for deported Africans (Politico)
From the Hill
Down to the wire: Congress is scheduled to be in session for only seven days over the next two weeks or so. The shutdown deadline remains Sept. 30.
“I think we started late,” Sen. Shelley Moore Capito told reporters.
Still unresolved: Republican lawmakers’ plan — to pass three appropriations bills for military construction and Veterans Affairs, the legislative branch and Agriculture, plus a clean continuing resolution for the rest — needs to be aligned with the White House. Democrats have to decide whether they’ll go along with this. And, there’s no text of that CR yet for anyone to look at, NOTUS’ Riley Rogerson reports.
Exclusive: Dems seek answers on inspectors general. A group of Democratic lawmakers formally asked the U.S. comptroller general, Gene Dodaro, about the more than 20 still-unfilled inspector general appointments across the administration.
“We are concerned that those vacancies could be negatively impacting the work being performed within the IG Community,” reads the lawmakers’ letter, obtained by NOTUS’ Daniella Diaz.
From the campaign trail
DNC refocuses on voter registration: The organization is launching 27 voter registration events across 50 states and territories this week, NOTUS’ Alex Roarty reports. The weeklong program includes events on college campuses in states like Georgia, Arizona, Pennsylvania and Florida.
DNC officials say it’s the first concerted effort on voter registration by the party in years. It comes as Democrats reel from Republican registration gains and more voters choosing neither party when registering to vote.
Meanwhile, Dems dream of Louisiana: “Republicans are careening towards a nasty primary in Louisiana, where Sen. Cassidy’s popularity with the base is cratering and multiple primary challengers are threatening a campaign against him,” DSCC spox Maeve Coyle told NOTUS’ Torrence Banks.
They just don’t have a candidate running yet. State Sen. W. Jay Luneau is reportedly considering it, but the party is mostly waiting on former Gov. John Bel Edwards to make a decision.
Why aren’t Republicans worried? The state ended its jungle primaries this year. “It really eliminates the opportunity for Democrats to create any sort of coalition that allows them to overcome that historically low approval rating that they have now,” a Republican strategist told Torrence.
NEW ON NOTUS
Mifepristone case gets thornier: Attorneys general from Texas and Florida are looking to join the Biden-era lawsuit to remove the abortion pill’s FDA certification. This could complicate Donald Trump’s efforts to largely sidestep the issue, NOTUS’ Oriana González reports.
As a defendant, Trump’s DOJ cannot drop or withdraw from the lawsuit. The addition of Texas and Florida to the plaintiff list means past arguments about standing may no longer be relevant.
“Sometimes other states beat us to the punch, but when we show up on the field, we get things done,” Texas anti-abortion advocate Mark Lee Dickson told Oriana. “Texas and Florida are in this to end abortion pills once and for all.”
Emissions reporting changes: The EPA said Friday that the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program “has no material impact on improving human health and the environment,” announcing its plans to stop requiring companies to report their emissions.
Not everyone agrees: “Without it, policymakers, businesses and communities cannot make sound decisions about how to cut emissions and protect public health,” Joseph Goffman, a former EPA official in charge of air and radiation, told NOTUS’ Anna Kramer.
More: Rep. Michael McCaul Says He Plans to Retire, by Brett Bachman
NOT US
- From Scholarship Winner to Wanted Man: The Path of the Kirk Shooting Suspect, by Jack Healy, Sabrina Tavernise, Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs and Orlando Mayorquín for The New York Times
- Inside Stephen Miller’s Reign of Terror, by Asawin Suebsaeng, Nikki McCann Ramírez and Andrew Perez for Rolling Stone
- FBI director draws criticism from the right over handling of Kirk shooting, by Perry Stein and Jeremy Roebuck for The Washington Post
- Trump Has a Warning for Spencer Cox, by McKay Coppins for The Atlantic
WEEK AHEAD
Tuesday: The president and Melania Trump are scheduled to depart for a state visit to the U.K.
The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to host Kash Patel for a hearing on the FBI.
The Federal Reserve kicks off a two-day meeting of its Federal Open Market Committee, which sets interest rates and creates a survey of economic projections.
The House DOGE Subcommittee has a scheduled hearing on “Playing God with the Weather.”
Wednesday: The Senate HELP Committee is scheduled to host ousted CDC Director Susan Monarez for a hearing on her tenure.
Thursday: The House Oversight Committee is scheduled to hold a hearing on federal oversight for D.C.
Thank you for reading! If you like this edition of the NOTUS newsletter, please forward it to a friend. If this newsletter was shared with you, please subscribe — it’s free! Have a tip? Email us at tips@notus.org. And as always, we’d love to hear your thoughts on our newsletter at newsletters@notus.org.