Morning Report is The Hill’s a.m. newsletter. Subscribe here.
In today’s issue:
T-minus 14 legislative days until shutdown
Lawmakers to meet with Epstein victims
What’s next for Trump’s big budget bill?
Xi-Putin-Modi alliance challenges Trump
LAWMAKERS ARE BACK in Washington after their month-long recess and face a mountain of legislative work as GOP powerbrokers contend with a litany of thorny political fights.
At the top of Congress’ to-do list: reaching an agreement to fund the government beyond the current Sept. 30 deadline.
While funding is set to expire in exactly one month, the House and Senate have just 14 legislative days to reach an agreement on a stopgap bill to avert a shutdown.
And the worst-case scenario is growing more likely after President Trump last week signaled his plans to unilaterally claw back nearly $5 billion in foreign aid funds without Congressional approval, a move Democrats have lambasted.
Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought aims to move forward with a “pocket rescission” that would bypass congressional spending authority altogether, with neither chamber expected to act on the proposal before federal funding lapses.
The Hill: Trump’s pocket recissions add a landmine to the funding fight.
CNN: White House red lines and Democratic demands set up shutdown showdown.
Former Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) told The Hill’s Alexander Bolton that “keeping the government open” is “going to be a really heavy lift this time.”
“With the extremely virulent atmosphere that is dominating Washington in a partisan way, it would be hard for a lot of Democrats to cast a favorable vote for a continuing resolution,” he said. “I’m not sure that we’re not at a point where the antagonisms are so deep and so virulent that you can’t get a continuing resolution.”
Democratic leaders have called Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) and Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to hold a “four corners” meeting to chart a path forward.
EPSTEIN, NOMINEES, NATIONAL GUARD: Lawmakers returned to a Washington with noticeable changes from the city they left just weeks ago. Though several of the political fights remain exactly where they left them.
National Guard troops and federal agents are now patrolling streets around the National Mall, Union Station and in neighborhoods across D.C., a heightened policing apparatus trumpeted by the president as a model for cracking down on urban crime.
Troops are also picking up trash and landscaping federal parks.
Lawmakers are sure to have plenty of opinions about the deployment. (Expect lots of social media content from members around town.)
Back at the Capitol, Thune will have to grapple with advancing a backlog of Trump nominees, with tensions in the Senate still simmering a month after the chamber was unable to break a logjam before going on recess after Democrats held up hundreds of lower-level picks.
GOP senators will need to walk a tightrope this month amid calls to change the rules to quickly confirm nominees. Trump’s firing last week of the Senate-confirmed head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which has caused upheaval at the health agency, is hanging over the push.
“He’s going to have a full plate,” one Senate Republican told The Hill’s Al Weaver about Thune.
Johnson will also have his share of issues to contend with immediately.
The list includes disputes among Republicans on the structure and length of a stopgap funding bill — with Democrats holding the power to force a shutdown — as well as revelations about the case surrounding convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
GOP lawmakers are also planning to press their leaders on hot-button issues like stock trading while addressing demands from Trump on crime and beyond, The Hill’s Emily Brooks reports.
As they race to address the funding deadline, Republicans will have less margin for defections on party-line votes given two special elections this month that almost certainly will add a pair of Democrats to the House.
Special elections will be held to fill the seats left vacant by the deaths of Reps. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) and Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.). Virginia’s special election is Sept. 9, and Arizona’s is Sept. 23.
“Time is ticking, and I think that’s the biggest challenge,” said Rep. Stephanie Bice (R-Okla.), who sits on the House Appropriations Committee. “We’ve put ourselves in a position where we’re racing against the clock to get an appropriations package done. … It’s going to be a very busy four weeks.”
The Hill: The House and Senate are headed for a tussle this fall over the annual, must-pass defense spending bill as the upper chamber’s version stands at odds with the Trump administration’s defense budget as well as the House’s.
The Hill: Trump and Republican lawmakers passed their major tax-and-spending cut bill earlier this summer, faster than almost anyone was expecting. Now, they’re planning their second act.
The Hill: Here is where key states stand on mid-decade redistricting.
3 Things to Know Today
1. Trump says he will sign an executive order to require voter ID in national elections and exclusive use of paper ballots as he pushes for a ban on mail-in voting.
2. Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who served as Trump’s personal lawyer during high-profile legal battles over the 2020 election results, will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Trump announced. Giuliani left the hospital Monday after undergoing treatment for injuries sustained during a weekend car crash.
3. Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), 78, a Manhattan liberal who has served in the House for more than 30 years, said he plans to retire rather than seek reelection in 2026. “I have mixed feelings,” he told NewsNation.
Leading the Day
NOT GOING AWAY: House GOP leaders returning to Capitol Hill today will be immediately confronted with the radioactive subject of Jeffrey Epstein.
Top Republicans had accelerated their July exit from Washington in part to avoid the thorny Epstein issue, and were hoping the attention swirling around the late sex offender would dissolve over the weeks-long recess.
Instead, the focus on Epstein is poised to erupt, creating headaches for Johnson and his leadership team as they race to prevent a government shutdown at the end of the month.
House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) and members of his committee will meet privately today with Epstein victims.
Meanwhile, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) on Sunday told NBC’s “Meet the Press” he is “very confident” the House will pass a bipartisan measure he’s sponsoring with Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) that calls for release of all files related to Epstein.
The lawmakers plan to hold an event Wednesday at the Capitol with some survivors of sexual abuse committed by Epstein and his imprisoned co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell.
“We will have the petition live on Sept. 2. We have all 212 Democrats committed to signing it. He has 12 Republicans. Only six of them have to sign it,” Khanna said.
Massie posted on Monday he is praying Johnson “will listen to the pleas of these victims for justice and quit trying to block a vote on our legislation to release the Epstein files.”
The New York Times: Comer has been vocal about seeking Epstein documents, both from the government and the disgraced financier’s estate.
The Hill: A House panel investigating Epstein has withdrawn a subpoena for former FBI Director Robert Mueller, citing his health.
CRIME AND FEDERALIZATION: National Guard members and other federal law enforcement officers are in their fourth week patrolling the streets of Washington, D.C., after Trump invoked the Home Rule Act to federalize the city’s police department.
But the president’s 30-day emergency order will expire this month, requiring him to ask Congress for an extension. Trump on Monday declared D.C. a “crime free zone” and pushed for other Democratic-run cities to work with his administration to bring down crime in their areas.
Data provided by D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) shows that since the federal takeover, carjackings are down 87 percent, while violent crime is down 45 percent.
Congressional Republicans are developing a “comprehensive crime bill” at Trump’s behest, his latest effort to push the issue to the foreground of politics. Details remain scarce, but both Johnson and Thune are said to be working on the legislation.
Leading House Democrats on the Judiciary and Oversight committees have already introduced legislation to terminate Trump’s federal takeover of D.C. police.
NewsNation: The House Oversight Committee will call D.C. officials, including Bowser, to testify about crime and safety.
The New York Times: Red state governors have sent National Guard members to D.C. to crack down on crime. But cities in their own states have higher crime rates than the nation’s capital.
The Chicago Tribune:Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Sunday announced a surge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in Chicago but did not say if it would be accompanied by National Guard deployment.
HEALTH POLICY: With his nomination as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, Trump pledged he’d empower Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — a notable vaccine skeptic and champion of the “Make America Healthy Again” movement — to “go wild” on health care.
Kennedy’s changes to his department, from ousting CDC Director Susan Monarez to increasingly restrictive vaccine authorizations, have sounded alarm bells for public health leaders and even some Republicans.
Nine former CDC directors on Monday spoke out against Kennedy in a New York Times op-ed, accusing the secretary of “endangering” Americans’ health.
“Mr. Kennedy has fired thousands of federal health workers and severely weakened programs designed to protect Americans from cancer, heart attacks, strokes, lead poisoning, injury, violence and more,” they wrote, before listing some of Kennedy’s actions as HHS secretary — including downplaying vaccines and canceling research grants.
Trump on Monday called on pharmaceutical companies to “justify the success” of their COVID-19 drugs after the Food and Drug Administration set new limits on who can receive vaccines for the virus.
Richard Besser, president and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and one of the co-authors of the op-ed, told ABC News’ “This Week” that people should listen to their doctor, not politicians, about vaccine recommendations.
“We are still seeing 200 children each year die from COVID, and the vast majority of those children are unvaccinated,”said Besser, a pediatrician. “My recommendation is … stop listening to the politicians, talk to your doctor about what’s right for you.”
CNN: These are the conditions that make you eligible for an updated COVID-19 vaccine.
FED POLITICS: Federal Reserve board member Lisa Cook is suing the Trump administration in a bid to retain her job. A judge set a Tuesday deadline for filings in Cook’s case, which was complicated by a new criminal referral to the Justice Department. Cook is being accused of mortgage fraud, allegations the White House cites as cause for her firing.
Trump’s attempt to remove Cook — as he pressures the bank to cut interest rates — get to the heart of the question about the Fed’s independence and the limits of Trump’s presidential powers.
The Senate is likely to meet the White House’s goal of fast-tracking Stephen Miran’s Fed confirmation before its September rate-setting meeting. His hearing is scheduled for Thursday. Miran, the White House’s economic adviser, is one of Trump’s chief strategists for scaling back the Fed’s autonomy.
The Wall Street Journal: Loans on several of Cook’s properties are at the center of a Trump administration effort to oust her — and gain more control over the central bank.
Where & When
• The president plans an announcement at 2 p.m. at the White House.
• The House willconvene at noon.
• The Senate willmeet at 3 p.m.
Zoom In
Morning Report’sAlexis Simendinger asked John Feehery — a veteran GOP strategist and partner at EFB Advocacy in Washington who previously served as a senior House leadership aide — to share his perspective on what’s ahead in Congress.
Morning Report: Trump, during his recent marathon Cabinet meeting, said Americans don’t know enough about the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Do you see that mammoth law as a drag for GOP candidates ahead of the midterm contests — in light of voter reactions over the summer related to Medicaid cuts, health benefits and tax changes tilted toward the wealthy?
Feehery: The problem with the OBBB is it is too big and the title doesn’t really give taxpayers a sense of what is in it. There are many provisions that are very beneficial for many people, but they are a bit complicated and it is hard to fight a simple message with a complicated one. That being said, none of the cuts that Democrats are going to talk about are going to have much impact on most voters and so the Republicans have a good chance of nullifying those attacks.
I have always believed that the OBBB will only be truly successful once the provisions have a chance to work and only if the economy gets better as a result. Affordability is the No. 1 issue that voters care about right now, and if they don’t think that they can afford the basics, Republicans are in trouble.
What odds do you give a government shutdown after Sept. 30? Some conservatives think voters would applaud if the government shuttered. What are you expecting?
Feehery: I don’t think the government shuts down. What are the political consequences if it does shut down? It depends on who is blamed for shutting down the government. If [Senate Minority Leader] Chuck Schumer refuses to let a [continuing resolution] pass because of pressure from the left, I think the voters will be smart enough to blame him, especially if his messaging is as incoherent as it has been. On the other hand, if conservatives get blamed for shutting the government down, that will hurt President Trump and the Republicans. I am not sure how long or how deep that damage on either side will be. Voters have a pretty short attention span. I don’t think that either side has much to gain with a protracted shutdown, and so I don’t think there will be one.
The president’s job approval ratings on the economy hover near 40 percent, historically not a good sign for the party in power ahead of midterm contests. Voters talk about rising prices, tariffs, softening U.S. growth and housing pressures. Is there a coordinated GOP congressional agenda this fall that could allay Americans’ pocketbook worries?
Feehery: There doesn’t seem to be. Most of this is being run out of the White House. I think Trump’s strategy is to get all of these tariff deals done by the end of the year, so that the business sector can feel confidence in investing in the economy next year. He wants [Federal Reserve Chair Jerome] Powell to lower rates so that all the people sitting on the house-buying sidelines get back in the game and get that sector moving again. Powell has been a real problem for him and I don’t blame the president for being frustrated.
Health care is another issue. He wants to do something on drug prices and he needs to figure out the ACA [Affordable Care Act federal insurance] subsidy issue. Having health care premiums go up can hurt him politically. The Congress is not going to lead on this unless they do another reconciliation bill, which seems unlikely at this point.
The Hill: GOP faces “big, beautiful” blowback risk on ObamaCare ACA subsidy cuts.
The Hill: Trump demanded pharmaceutical companies slash drug prices by the end of September.
The Wall Street Journal: The turmoil inside MAHA is about more than just vaccines.
Elsewhere
SHIFTING ALLIANCES: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin met on the sidelines of a regional summit in China on Monday. Experts say their display of friendship was aimed at projecting an alternative to U.S. global leadership, even as serious differences among them remain.
Putin said Tuesday that relations between Russia and China had “reached their highest level in history.” The Russian president attended a Chinese military parade alongside Xi and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Meanwhile, Trump on Monday stood by the steep tariffs he imposed on India as a penalty for buying Russian oil, a strain on New Delhi’s relations with Washington.
Trump reiterated his concerns about what he characterized as a trade imbalance in a post on Truth Social, calling the relationship between the U.S. and India “a totally one sided disaster!”
The import tax on Indian goods increased to 50 percent last week, after the implementation of Trump’s additional 25 percent tariff imposed as a penalty for oil purchases that Trump argues are helping fuel Moscow’s war efforts in Ukraine.
Trump said last week he is prepared to impose economic sanctions against Russia if Putin fails to agree to a ceasefire in the war in Ukraine. But peace in Ukraine remains far out of sight.
Putin is expanding Moscow’s strikes on Ukrainian cities, threatening escalation against Kyiv’s backers and pressing for further military gains in defiance of Trump’s deadlines.
The Hill: A plane carrying European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen was hit by radar jamming over Bulgaria on Sunday in a suspected Russian operation. Her plane was forced to land blind.
The New York Times: Putin is finding a growing embrace on the global stage.
ABC News: Approximately 1,100 people are dead after a 6.0 magnitude earthquake struck eastern Afghanistan late Sunday.
‘GAZA RIVIERA’: A Trump administration postwar plan for Gaza, modeled on the president’s promise to “take over” the enclave, would turn it into a trusteeship administered by the U.S. for at least a decade while it is transformed into a tourism resort and high-tech manufacturing and technology hub.
The Washington Post reports the plan foresees at least a temporary relocation of the enclave’s whole population, estimated at more than 2 million. The relocation would happen through either “voluntary” departures to another country or into restricted, secured zones inside Gaza. The plan is just one of several for a post-war future for Gaza.
The Israeli security Cabinet met Sunday to review plans for seizing control of Gaza City, as the government faces mounting domestic and international opposition. Discussing a ceasefire was not on the agenda as Israel pushes for a permanent end to the war, which experts warn could extend the conflict.
Axios: The Trump administration announced Friday it won’t issue visas to senior Palestinian officials who wish to travel to the United Nations General Assembly in September.
The Hill: The Trump administration suspended approval for most types of visitor visas for Palestinian passport holders.
BBC: A resolution passed by the leading association of genocide scholars, the International Association of Genocide Scholars, states that Israel’s conduct in Gaza meets the legal definition as laid out in the U.N. convention on genocide.
The Washington Post: Houthis in Yemen raided the offices of several U.N. organizations, detaining 11 staff members. The move came a day after Houthi officials confirmed that an Israeli strike killed the group’s prime minister.
Opinion
• This tracking protects a $600 billion economy. Cutting it is foolish, by Alexander William Salter, guest essayist, The Washington Post.
• When adults can’t make ends meet, kids pay the price, by Matt Helmer, opinion contributor, The Hill.
The Closer
And finally … Brotherhood, a true adventure and risk: This story has it all. It took 139 days for three Scottish brothers to row a boat, unsupported, across the Pacific Ocean from Peru to Australia, arriving Saturday. It was a 9,000-mile trip and in the end, they raised $945,690 through their nonprofit charity based on a target goal of $1.3 million for clean water projects.
They triumphed over violent storms, seasickness, injuries, dwindling rations and an episode when Lachlan Maclean, brother of fellow rowers Jamie and Ewan Maclean of Edinburgh, was washed overboard in the middle of a stormy night halfway through their trip. A safety harness and a hand-up from Ewan saved him.
Ewan, 33, said the journey was the hardest thing he had ever done, one he would have never contemplated without his siblings. “We’ve shed tears of joy and laughed till our cheeks hurt,” he said.
The previous record for the fastest full, unassisted, nonstop Pacific row was 160 days, set by Russian solo rower Fyodor Konyukhov in 2014.
BBC shared video from the Maclean boat and an interview with the brothers HERE.
