Garlic Butter Chicken in the Kitchen

Marly e-mailed to note Southern Living's recipe for Garlic Butter Chicken:

Ingredients

• 4 (5- to 6-oz.) chicken cutlets

• 3/4 tsp. kosher salt

• 1/2 tsp. ground black pepper

• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour

• 6 Tbsp. unsalted butter, divided

• 4 cloves garlic, minced

• 2/3 cup chicken broth

• 1 Tbsp. minced fresh chives

• 3 Tbsp. minced fresh parsley

Directions

1. Season and dredge the chicken:

   Sprinkle the chicken evenly with salt and pepper. Place flour in a shallow dish; dredge chicken lightly in flour, shaking off excess. Discard any remaining flour. 

 Cook chicken:

Heat 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium-high. Cook 3 to 4 minutes on each side until golden brown and cooked through. If needed, brown the chicken in 2 batches. 

 Keep chicken warm:

Transfer the chicken to a plate and lightly tent with aluminum foil to keep warm. 

 Make garlic-butter sauce:

Add 1 tablespoon butter to pan and add garlic. Cook 1-2 minutes until fragrant. Add chicken broth and cook until reduced by half, about 5 minutes, stirring frequently and scraping up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan.

 Add herbs:

Reduce heat to low and whisk in remaining 3 tablespoons butter until melted. Stir in chives and parsley.

Spoon sauce over chicken to serve.  

That's a good recipe and you can serve the chicken over rice, pasta or mashed potatoes. 

News?  This is from tonight's The NewsHour (PBS).

Geoff Bennett:

Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch announced today that he is stepping down as the institution he leads faces an escalating battle with the Trump administration over how it tells the American story.

Bunch, the first African American to lead the Smithsonian, plans to retire at the end of the year, capping a career that transformed the institution. He was the founding director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, which marks its 10th anniversary this month.

I spoke with Bunch last week, before he announced his retirement, about the political pressure, what's at stake for the Smithsonian, and how he sees his legacy. It's part of our series Art in Action, exploring the intersection of art and democracy, part of our Canvas coverage.

Lonnie Bunch, Smithsonian Institution Secretary:

I had hoped that this museum, as part of the Smithsonian, would be important to America. It's become even more important than I could ever imagine.

Geoff Bennett:

The National Museum of African American History and Culture was Lonnie Bunch's great undertaking, an institution he spent more than a decade bringing to life.

When it opened on the National Mall in 2016, the museum offered something unprecedented, bringing together the sweep of Black history and culture and its central place in the American story.

Lonnie Bunch:

When I think about the 10 years and I walk through the building now, I'm almost so proud to be an American, that this is something you could build in America, that you could ask these difficult questions.

Geoff Bennett:

When we spoke a decade ago, upon the opening, you described this museum as a kind of a reservoir, a place where people can find understanding and resilience and laughter and hope. Ten years in, has it become what you hoped it would be?

Lonnie Bunch:

Even more so, because, in a way, I see people who are really using it as that reservoir. I watch people come in here and they sort of learn new stories. I watch people understand that slavery is something that's not just a story for African Americans, but a kind of quintessential American story.

And I find people around the country saying to me, I came to the museum and I was made better. And that really just makes me feel so good about what the Smithsonian can do.

Geoff Bennett:

Building the museum also meant finding the artifacts that could tell those stories, sometimes by going straight to the source.

How did you acquire this Cadillac?

Lonnie Bunch:

I called Chuck Berry and said, "I want..."

Geoff Bennett:

You called up Chuck Berry?

(Laughter)

Lonnie Bunch:

Yes. "I want one of the guitars that you wrote "Maybellene" on. And he said: "OK, but if you want a guitar, you got to take my car."

And I was like: "I don't care about a car, and I didn't want it. And so I was like, fine." And -- but we have gifted staff who basically knew that this was so important to Chuck Berry to sort of middle-class respectability, all of that. And so they collected it and convinced me that it should be on display.

And I remember thinking, this is not the story I want to tell. It's become the number one photographed item in our museum. But I loved that picture of him. It meant so much to Chuck Berry. And if it got me the guitar...

(Laughter)

Geoff Bennett:

Though the museum is now one of the most visited in Washington, Secretary Bunch has found himself defending what he built against a presidential administration determined to reshape how the Smithsonian tells the American story.

President Donald Trump:

We want the museums to treat our country fairly. We want the museums to talk about the history of our country in a fair manner, not in a woke manner or in a racist manner.

Geoff Bennett:

In March of last year, President Trump signed an executive order called Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History. It accused the Smithsonian of promoting what the order called a "distorted narrative driven by ideology, rather than truth," singling out exhibits that examine race and slavery as examples of what it deemed improper ideology.

By August of 2025, the White House had sent Bunch's office a formal letter ordering a content review of Smithsonian Museums ahead of the nation's 250th anniversary. And just last week, the administration threatened to withhold federal support.

President Trump has accused the institution of presenting American history through a distorted ideological lens. What does he fundamentally misunderstand about the work the Smithsonian does?

Lonnie Bunch:

I think the Smithsonian, first and foremost, does what it's done for 180 years, use scholarship, use good public servants, use research to help America understand itself, to help America find hope and healing.

And I think that, because the Smithsonian tells a fuller, more complicated story, that makes it hard for some people to understand what we do. But I think the most important thing to remember is that the Smithsonian is not a place driven by left-wing crazy people.

It's really a place driven by people who love a nation and who basically believe, like I do, that the great strength of a nation is that it's aspirational, and that, for me, Thomas Jefferson's Declaration of Independence is so powerful because it challenges us to live up to certain ideals.

And what you see through history, what you see through African American history are people for hundreds of years protesting, demonstrating, voting, dying in order to make concrete those words. And there's nothing more powerful, it seems to me, than a nation that aspires to -- for that more perfect union.

Thank you to Lonnie Bunch for all the years and all the work he put in  The Smithsonian matters today because of Lonnie Bunch and the others at the museum. 

This is C.I.'s "The Snapshot" for Tuesday: 

Tuesday, September 8, 2026.  Chump gets a new 'do as he declares himself First Lady of the United States, while that takes place corruption runs wild in his administration, and much more. 

Chump the fool.  Chump the moron.  This morning Daniel Hampton (RAW STORY) notes:

A Wall Street Journal investigation published Monday night portraying Corey Lewandowski as the unofficial power broker who steered billions in Department of Homeland Security spending has set off a wave of fury online.

The report alleged that Lewandowski, Donald Trump's 2016 campaign manager, operated as the department's "shadow secretary" under then-Secretary Kristi Noem, his long-rumored romantic partner, pitched himself for private hire to Qatari and Emirati officials, and helped slash a Palantir contract from $2.7 billion to $1 billion after the company refused a one-on-one meeting. Lewandowski has denied wrongdoing, and a federal watchdog investigation is weighing a criminal referral.

The report sparked a firestorm online.

Former CIA officer and MS NOW national security contributor Marc Polymeropoulos applauded the report: "Bravo to the WSJ. Staggering corruption now for the American people to see. But is anyone really surprised? This administration will go down as the most corrupt in modern history. This is just the tip of the iceberg. The rent is coming due."

Dartmouth political scientist Brendan Nyhan, who co-directs the democracy watchdog Bright Line Watch, chimed in: "Unprecedented corruption," while writer Hemant Mehta added: "There is no bottom to how corrupt Republicans are."

There is no oversight provided in the Chump administration.  Everyone just rips off the taxpayer and Chump's fine with it.  Malcolm Ferguson (THE NEW REPUBLIC) notes:

A Thursday report from the Inspector General states that former Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer went to a strip club while on the job, even forcing her driver to rain dollar bills on one of the dancers.

The report further details just how sloppy and reckless Chavez-DeRemer’s tenure as Labor secretary was until she stepped down in April.

 “During Chavez-DeRemer’s April 15–20, 2025 personal travel to Oregon, she requested an off-the-record stop at an establishment that was determined upon entry to feature partially nude dancers,” the IG report reads, noting that Chavez-DeRemer made a point to bring her limousine driver inside with her.

“Chavez-DeRemer subsequently took money from her purse, gave the money to the driver, and directed him to give it to the performer. When the agent resisted and sought guidance from [Assistant Special Agent in Charge]1, ASAIC 1 instructed him to comply with Chavez-DeRemer’s requests,” the report continues. “Chavez-DeRemer then took additional money from her purse and asked the agent to drop the bills one by one onto the partially nude woman. The agent again hesitated and sought intervention from ASAIC 1, who told him to follow Chavez-DeRemer’s instructions. The agent complied against his wishes.”

This is how they govern in the Chump administration.  They don't care about ethics, they don't care.  They do what they want and they violate the rules.  And Chump's too busy praising himself to ever provide the oversight of his administration that he's supposed to as president.  

That lack of oversight is most evident in Chump's refusal to fire Pete Hegseth from the post of Secretry of Defense.  Adam Entous and Greg Jaffe (NNEW YORK TIMES) report: 

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth decided in early 2025 to spike Gen. Christopher T. Donahue’s nomination to be the top U.S. military officer in Europe.

Mr. Hegseth believed that President Trump wanted heads to roll for the deaths of 13 U.S. service members in a suicide bombing at the Kabul airport during the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021. General Donahue was not responsible for security at the bombing site. But he was a top commander at the airport, and so Mr. Hegseth decided he needed to go.

It fell to Joe Kasper, Mr. Hegseth’s chief of staff, to try to convince him that he was wrong.

Mr. Kasper asked a senior Pentagon official to prepare a card with a half-dozen bullet points laying out the facts in General Donahue’s defense, current and former officials said. He took it with him in March of last year as he and Mr. Hegseth sped through traffic to the White House for a press event.

For those few minutes in the car, Mr. Kasper knew he would have his boss’s undivided attention.

Sirens were blaring. He handed Mr. Hegseth the card.

These were the facts of General Donahue’s three-decade career: He had seen more combat in his 20-plus deployments than just about any officer in the U.S. military. A star in the clandestine world of special forces, he had spent years in the shadows hunting terrorist leaders. And then as the world and warfare changed, he changed with it.

He had played a central role in the U.S. military’s efforts to help Ukraine hold off a much larger Russian force, a job that inspired his vision for a new kind of combat that married divebombing drones, robotics and artificial intelligence.

Now his fate lay in the hands of Mr. Hegseth, a former Fox News host who had two deployments as an Army officer to Iraq and Afghanistan. Mr. Hegseth had come to the Pentagon vowing to weed out the “small” and “feeble” generals who he believed had failed in those wars.

What played out in the 16 months after the car ride was a clash between Mr. Hegseth and General Donahue’s supporters, who viewed him as a generational talent.

That clash, and its outcome, was described to The New York Times by more than 40 people at the Pentagon, in Congress and around the world, nearly all of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid retribution.

Hegseth is a failure, an utter failure.  He was the topic of two of the Sunday chat & chews.  ABC's THIS WEEK started their Hegseth segment with a thorough review of recent events for Hegseth:

MARTHA RADDATZ:  And as the Iran war drags on, this week, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has faced mounting questions about his leadership. His army secretary resigned Monday. And that’s just the latest in a series of resignations and firings in Hegseth’s tumultuous tenure at the Pentagon.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RADDATZ (voice-over):  For Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, it was a week of unwelcome headlines and renewed calls for his ouster.

Republican Thom Tillis posting on X, “I have never witnessed more inept management of the brave men and women who serve our country. I urge the president to find a new leader at the Pentagon who will retain and empower our military talent, rather than diminish it.”

That followed the resignation of Army Secretary Dan Driscoll after repeated disagreements with Hegseth over the firing of multiple senior military officers, including the highly respected Army chief of staff, Randy George, and a slew of others.

REP. DON BACON, (R) NEBRASKA: He has not been a very good leader in many -- in many ways.

REP. MIKE LAWLER, (R) NEW YORK: It is critical, frankly, that Pete Hegseth come forth and talk about exactly why these changes have been made.

RADDATZ (voice over): Before resigning, Driscoll warned President Trump about the impact of Hegseth firing senior military leaders and blocking promotions as well, according to sources familiar with the matter.

VICE ADM. NANCY LACORE, FORMER CHIEF OF U.S. NAVY RESERVE (RET.) & (D) SOUTH CAROLINA CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: One year into that position, I was removed by Pete Hegseth. I was not given a reason.

RADDATZ (voice over): One Navy vice admiral Hegseth fired, Nancy Lacore.

LACORE: There was no notice other than, you know, being called down to a senior Navy four-star’s office on Friday afternoon and given the message. And that was it. An hour later, I was out of the Pentagon.

RADDATZ (voice over): Lacore, now running as a Democrat for the congressional seat currently held by Representative Nancy Mace.

LACORE: The abrupt end to my service really just wasn’t sitting well with me. And I, you know, service has been my entire life. And I just wanted to continue serving. Running for Congress was another way of serving our country.

RADDATZ (voice over): And it is not just those who have been ousted from the Pentagon who have concerns. “The Washington Post” reported that top military leaders have advised Hegseth that prolonging large scale operations against Iran was unsustainable and risked weakening our ability to confront threats elsewhere and at home. Leaks have infuriated Hegseth, but they keep coming, reportedly prompting him to polygraph Pentagon staff.

“The New York Times” reporting late Friday that some 50 members of the U.S. military’s joint staff have been polygraphed because of leaks about critical munitions shortages. Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell telling ABC News, the department “does not comment on internal personnel or investigative matters but takes all leaks of classified national security information extremely seriously and investigates accordingly.” Hegseth has repeatedly claimed the U.S. has won the war and depleted Iran’s missiles, while denying the U.S. has a problem.

PETE HEGSETH, DEFENSE SECRETARY: We had plenty when we needed it, and we have plenty now, and we’ll have plenty when we’ll need them in the future.

RADDATZ (voice over): Since the beginning of the war, Hegseth has rarely held press conferences, which are often combative.

HEGSETH: Excuse me. Why are you so rude? Just wait. I’m calling on people.

RADDATZ (voice over): And none since May 5th, more than four months ago. And never any explanation why he has taken the axe to so many senior officers.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RADDATZ (on camera): And to talk about all of that, I’m joined now by former secretary of the Air Force under Joe Biden, Frank Kendall, who caused quite a stir this week with a “New York Times” op-ed titled “Military Officers Can’t Look Away From This Any Longer.”

It’s good to see you, sir.

And what you are talking about is Pete Hegseth’s Pentagon. You spent years at the Pentagon. Twenty years at the Pentagon in civilian jobs. About 11 years active duty in the Army. You know, politics has no place in the military, yet you say military officers should take action. What do you mean by that?

FRANK KENDALL III, FORMER AIR FORCE SECRETARY: I’ve always been incredibly impressed with the apolitical professionalism of our military. And I’ve served a total of 20 years, as you said, in the Pentagon. I’ve been through a number of transitions. Different parties come in. People just continue to do their jobs. They support whatever the policies are of the current party in power.

I’ve never seen an attempt to politicize our military like the one being conducted by Pete Hegseth. He’s fired 25, roughly, senior officers. He’s pulling people off of promotion lists. And that effect is rippling all the way down through the ranks. It’s causing people to be afraid and refuse -- and, in many cases, I think he’s not getting good advice because people are afraid to tell him things that he doesn’t want to hear. Long term serious damage is being done to our military.

But what the op-ed addressed was a tendency to try to partition the military off from responsibility for some of the decisions that the administration is making, that the military’s asked to carry out. There’s an obligation on our officers, particularly our senior officers, who interact directly with the senior political leadership to tell them the truth and to stand up to them when they want to do something which is morally wrong, unethical, or illegal. And we’re not -- I’m afraid they’re not doing that.

RADDATZ: The chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Dan Caine, you addressed that in your piece. He has said, in front of Congress, we don’t make policy. And the military doesn’t make policy. But do you think he’s filling his -- fulfilling his obligation to give the president his best military advice?

KENDALL: I think he’s trying to keep the military apolitical, but he’s drawing the line in the wrong place. He made a comment in a speech about how his role was about telling the administration what they can do, not what they should do. That’s not accurate. It can be accurate in one sense technically, but it’s not accurate when you’re asked to do something that’s illegal, immoral, wrong, or even unconstitutional. The most egregious example is the strikes on drug boats. Just because the president's lawyer told you they were legal, you have to look at this on your own and make your own decision.

And as we approach the midterms, I'm worried that all of our guardrails are gone. We already saw once what President Trump is capable of doing when he doesn't like the results of an election. I think we're going to get an opportunity to see that again. And with the Justice Department in the hands it's in, with the State Department -- I'm sorry, with the National Security, Homeland Security Department in the hands of (INAUDIBLE), with a passive Congress and, of course, with Pete Hegseth in the Pentagon, the professionalism and the apolitical nature of our military, I think, is going to be tested in a very serious way.

RADDATZ: But let me go back to -- you're talking about the military not saying what they want to say, not saying what should happen. The "Washington Post" reported this week that top military leaders have warned Hegseth that prolonged operations against Iran are unsustainable. Isn't that exactly what you're saying should happen and that has happened?

KENDALL: It is, Martha, but that's on the narrower, purely military advice side of the equation. That's the sort of thing I would routinely expect as a matter of course our military people are talking about. What I don't understand, frankly, about the Iran war is what advice was given to the president that led him to start this conflict?

Aside from the fact that he never got approval from Congress to do it, the results of the initial strike have been about as one would have predicted. The illusion that the Iranian regime would suddenly fall and this would be a very short conflict was not one that's been held by anybody else until now.

RADDATZ: What -- look, officers are, and enlisted, are understandably, if they go forward and say something about the Pentagon or about Pete Hegseth, they're fearful. You saw, Driscoll, Dan Driscoll resigned this week. You have seen other senior military officers who have been fired or resigned not say anything publicly after that because they're -- they say there is a real fear there.

KENDALL: I'm in touch with a lot of people who are currently serving and have served recently. And that climate of fear, which I wrote about over a year ago, is very real and it's very debilitating. Very good people that I know are leaving because of the climate of fear and because of the things the military is being asked to do. I talked to someone who was involved in teaching ethics at the Air Force Academy the other day.

They're in a very difficult time explaining how the decisions being made by this administration conform to ethics as it's been taught to our officers.

RADDATZ: We have about 20 seconds. What would you do if you were Air Force secretary right now?

KENDALL: I couldn't serve this administration.

RADDATZ: OK. Thanks for joining us this morning. We appreciate your time.

KENDALL: Thank you.

CBS' FACE THE NATION also saw Hegseth as a story worth covering:

MARGARET BRENNAN: We're joined now by Colorado Democratic Congressman Jason Crow.

It's good to have you here in person.

REPRESENTATIVE JASON CROW (D-Colorado): Thank you. Thanks for having me.

MARGARET BRENNAN: So, CBS is reporting that several dozen of the highest- ranking officials in the United States military were subjected to polygraph tests as part of the sweeping leak probe that Secretary Hegseth has ordered.

This includes combatant commanders. They're looking for who leaked the highly classified details about the nation's stockpiles of sophisticated weapons. This is extremely rare.

REPRESENTATIVE JASON CROW: Yes.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Is it appropriate? Has Congress been told anything about the outcome?

REPRESENTATIVE JASON CROW: I haven't been briefed anything about this.

I'm a senior member of the Armed Services Committee and the Intelligence Committee. We haven't received any information. It's just been public reports. And, certainly, stopping leaks and protecting classified information is really important. And I would always support that.

The problem is, is the broader context that Pete Hegseth has created here. He has purged over 80 generals and admirals. The top 10 percent of the entire military chain of command has been purged. We are at a 25-year low for the number of women on the promotion list. And he's created an environment of fear. He's pushed out journalists.

He's pushed out media. This is part of his effort to create fear and to clamp down on information coming out of the Pentagon.

MARGARET BRENNAN: I mean, polygraph tests are part of routine cadence.

REPRESENTATIVE JASON CROW: Right.

MARGARET BRENNAN: But, from what I understand, it's the number, it's the rank of people here. It also seems to confirm the reporting about the problems with America's munitions shortages.

REPRESENTATIVE JASON CROW: Right.

MARGARET BRENNAN: What is the state of that?

REPRESENTATIVE JASON CROW: Well, because they don't – they don't want people to know. This is exactly the point. They don't want people to know what's actually happening.

That's why they fired the editor of "The Stars and Stripes," an independent newspaper that's been around since 1861, by the way, 1861. It was founded during the Civil War to be an independent media outlet for our service members, so that people would understand what they're going through.

This is the broader trend of them not wanting anybody, including members of Congress, to understand what's going on. Munitions have been depleted. The stockpiles are very low. Contrary to what Donald Trump wants us to believe. these types of precise munitions do not grow on trees. They take a long time to build up.

They started this war, the president started this war without a plan, without a strategy. I mean, I just heard your prior guest, Secretary [of Energy Chris] Wright, talk about numbers and barrels and – and that's all tactical discussion, right? These are tactical decisions.

There's no strategy here. There's no off-ramp. There's no longer-term plan for how we get out of this and how we normalize the markets and how we drive down prices for Americans.

Hegseth is just as lost on this war as Chump.  The two don't know what they're doing. And what they're doing is disgusting.  And their efforts are racist.  Janna Brancolini (THE DAILY BEAST) reports this morning that Hegseth announced the upcoming return of a Confederate memorial: 

President Donald Trump’s administration has installed a new informational plaque that sanitizes a former memorial to the Confederacy as Pete Hegseth’s Defense Department prepares to return the “racist” sculpture to Arlington National Cemetery.

The Confederate Memorial was removed from the cemetery in 2023 after Congress passed a law requiring the U.S. military to change property names and remove symbols honoring the Confederacy.

It was replaced with a marker explaining that the monument had portrayed a “nostalgic, mythologized vision of the Confederacy, including highly sanitized depictions of slavery” in the form of a “Mammy” figure and a “faithful slave” following his owner to war. 

Despite the congressional mandate, Hegseth announced last year that the “beautiful and historic sculpture” will “rightfully be returned” to Arlington National Cemetery.

The administration is now preparing for its reinstatement next year with a new sign providing “historical background” on the monument that conveniently omits any mention of its controversial past, The Washington Post reported.

This anti-Blackness coming out of the administration succeeds because there's a lot of anti-Blackness on the right.  And, as Ava and I noted in "Media: BIG MISTAKES, PROUD, LUCKY and anti-Blackness," on the left as well.  

Yesterday, Luke Broadwater and Maggie Haberman (NEW YORK TIMES) reported: 

Howard Lutnick, President Trump’s billionaire commerce secretary, was holding court before reporters outside a Washington courthouse recently when he acknowledged what had become readily apparent inside the White House.

As the war with Iran grinds on, Mr. Trump finds reprieve by focusing on the minutia of an endeavor much more within his grasp: renovating Washington with ornate projects.

[. . .]

He is at his most animated, aides and visitors to the White House say, when he is showing off the designs for the ballroom, boasting about the size of the columns and their designs, or taking officials on tours of the White House to show off where he has gilded the interiors. His personal touch has been quite literal: He has used super glue to affix gold pieces onto the walls and the Oval Office mantle, among other places.

And now he's  designing uniforms.  Ed Mazza (HUFFINGTON POST) reports: 

President Donald Trump on Sunday unveiled a potential redesign of U.S. Space Force uniforms, and it’s giving sci-fi fans a bad feeling. 

The president posted an image of the supposed “next generation” design on his Truth Social feed: 

Trump shared the image during a massive day-long posting spree, and it’s not clear if this is a real design for a new uniform or just one of the many images, memes and AI slop creations he likes to throw into his feed. 

They're so cute with the men  and the wearing belts over the jackets to make them look like skirts -- in fact, he appears to have been inspired by Judy Garland's outfit from her "Get Happy" number.

He's not just the president, you understand, he's also the First Lady.  That explains his beautification efforts and his designing clothing.  It even explains his coloring mishap over the weekend when they left the hair dye on too long and left him looking like Betty Ford circa 1975.  And 80 year old man who dyes his hair.  That is our First Lady Donald Chump. 

Let's wind down with this from Senator Mark Kelly's office:

U.S. Senators Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Peter Welch (D-VT) and 10 of their colleagues condemned the Department of Justice (DOJ)’s refusal to seek immediate appellate relief from a recent district court decision striking down key regulatory requirements of the National Firearms Act of 1934 (NFA).  

In a letter to Attorney General Todd Blanche, the senators expressed serious concerns about DOJ’s failure to vigorously defend the NFA, a foundational federal gun violence prevention law that regulates some of the most dangerous concealable weapons in the country.  

“For months, DOJ has defended the NFA in court against legal challenges brought by the firearms industry, certain state attorneys general, and the gun lobby. But less than one week after you were confirmed as Attorney General, the Department appears to have reversed course,” wrote the senators. “The Department’s failure to immediately pursue an appeal in support of the NFA calls into question statements you made to the United States Senate during your confirmation process and raises serious doubts about your willingness—and ability—to keep Americans safe.” 

Last month, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas held the NFA’s regulatory requirements for certain highly dangerous weapons unconstitutional. Although the court temporarily stayed its order to give DOJ time to seek immediate appellate relief, DOJ declined to do so, opting instead to let the court’s injunction take effect.  

The senators demanded answers about DOJ’s justification for not seeking immediate relief and called on DOJ to appeal the district court’s decision.  

“As a result of DOJ’s refusal to seek a stay of the District Court’s order, some of the most dangerous concealable weapons in the country—including those that have been used in several mass shootings—can now be (and have been) bought and sold outside the NFA’s heightened regulatory framework for the first time in nearly 100 years,” concluded the senators. “We urge the Department to resume its vigorous defense of the NFA and fulfill the promises you made to defend the constitutionality of laws passed by Congress and keep Americans safe.”  

In addition to Kelly, Padilla, and Welch, the letter was signed by Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Jack Reed (D-RI), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). 

This letter continues Kelly’s push for commonsense gun violence prevention. Kelly has repeatedly introduced the GOSAFE Act, legislation to protect communities from gun violence while safeguarding Americans’ constitutional right to own a firearm. He also introduced the Background Check Completion Act to close the “Charleston loophole” that allows gun sales to proceed before a background check is completed. As a gun owner, combat veteran, and husband of a gun violence survivor, Kelly knows firsthand the damage these weapons can cause and has pushed Congress not to wait for the next tragedy to act. 

Click here to read the full text of the letter. 

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  Creamy Tuscan Chicken in the Kitchen

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Creamy Tuscan Chicken in the Kitchen

Becky e-mailed to note Delish's recipe for Creamy Tuscan Chicken:

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
• 4 (6- to 8-oz.) boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tsp. dried oregano
• 3 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 1/2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
• 3 cups baby spinach
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 oz. Parmesan, finely grated (about 1/4 cup)
• Lemon wedges, for serving

Directions

• 1. Step 1 In a large skillet over medium heat, heat oil. Sprinkle chicken all over with salt, pepper, and oregano. Cook, turning halfway through, until browned on both sides and an instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part registers 165°, about 8 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate.
  2. Step 2 In same skillet over medium heat, melt butter. Stir in garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add tomatoes; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, until tomatoes are beginning to burst, about 5 minutes. Add spinach and cook, stirring, until spinach is beginning to wilt, 2 to 3 minutes more.
  3. Step 3 Stir in cream and Parmesan and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low and continue to simmer, stirring occasionally, until sauce is slightly reduced, about 3 minutes. Return chicken to skillet and cook, stirring occasionally, until heated through, 5 to 7 minutes.
  4. Step 4 Divide chicken among plates. Spoon sauce over. Serve with lemon wedges alongside.

That sounds like a delicious recipe.  I plan on trying it this weekend. 

News?  Ed Kilgore (Intelligencer) reports:

The first session of the 119th Congress was characterized by frenetic activity, even if some of it was simply a matter of getting out of the way of Donald Trump’s various executive-branch power grabs. The largest and broadest single piece of legislation ever, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, was signed into law on July 4, 2025. It was so packed with policy dynamite (tax cuts, a huge plus-up for defense and immigration-enforcement spending, and social-services cuts that wreaked havoc around the country) that members of both parties are still campaigning on its good and bad features well over a year later. In 2025, Congress revoked much of the regulatory legacy of the Biden administration and found new ways to confirm Trump’s executive and judicial nominees quickly and without debate.

If reckless speed was the watchword for the Republican Congress in 2025, in 2026 it was mañana. Yes, it passed another budget-reconciliation bill, but it was very narrowly tailored to pre-fund immigration enforcement. Yes, Congress kept the federal government open, aside from a partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security that dragged on for months with no real resolution. But again and again, sometimes with the House leading the foot-dragging and sometimes the Senate, Congress kept putting off major initiatives, including many that the tyrant at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue had insisted he just had to have. And now Congress is in recess, for all intents and purposes, until after the midterm elections (yes, the House is due to return for four days in mid-September, but only to ventilate the air over “messaging” bills that aren’t intended to become law).

Politico’s take on Congress’s unfinished business mentioned much-needed data-center legislation distancing the GOP from that suddenly very unpopular by-product of the AI revolution; the Russia-sanctions legislation once expected to quickly be enacted as a memorial to Lindsey Graham; and steps to continue Epstein-files oversight and examine DoJ’s slow-walking of the controversy. But as Democratic senator Brian Schatz noted, there is so, so much more going undone:

,

No farm bill. No AI regulations. No affordability agenda. No transportation bill. No water resources bill. No college sports bill. No end to this war … See you right before the holidays! Great job!

,

Perhaps most remarkable of all, there’s no third budget-reconciliation bill, which was supposed to be the vehicle for a veritable ton of agenda items various Republicans wanted and needed. It was necessary, we were told, to pay for the unanticipated costs of the Iran war, to provide succor to farmers aggrieved by the president’s trade initiative, and most important, to give said president a sort of down payment on the radical proof-of-citizenship voting scheme he wanted to impose via the SAVE America Act. Some fiscal hawks, moreover, hoped Reconciliation 3.0 might begin the much-anticipated work of gutting the social safety net far more than contemplated in the Big Beautiful Bill and even beginning to reduce the national debt. None of that is happening.

None of that is happening?  Thank the Lord, this nightmare may be over. 

This is C.I.'s "The Snapshot" for Friday: 

Friday, September 4, 2026.  Chump's incompetence continues, no one wants to go to next week's Trumpaloser in Dallas, Chump looks weaker each day as he refuses to fire Pete Hegseth, calls against Hgeseth's incompetence increase, Leon Black refuses to appear before the House Oversight Committee to answer questions regarding Epstein, Speaker of the Closet Mike Johnson quickly moves to shut down the House to avoid the latest discharge petition, and much more. 

MEIDASTOUCH NEWS' Scott MacFarlane appeared on CNN's NEWSNIGHT and commented on the spread Chump put out for Republican lawmakers at the White House Wednesday night.  Cameron Adams (DAILY BEAST) reports on MacFarlane's comments:

“He’s in the Rose Garden tonight eating fine beef, eating a three-course meal, out on the patio,” MacFarlane said.

“The hamburgers cost $6 apiece at the grocery store right now. The box of sugar cereal, which sometimes is dinner, $6 for the box of cereal, $4 for a loaf of bread.”

MacFarlane said Americans are “not being subtle” about what their priorities are as the president is focused on renaming lakes and building his outsized White House ballroom.

“It’s not the culture war c--p,” he said. “It’s food can’t be purchased at the levels you need when you have two teenagers. They can’t afford college, they can’t afford healthcare. Fertilizer costs too much, which means farmers are struggling, which is why Iowa is in play.”

He added, “All of this, all of this transcends the traditional culture war we saw in 2004, and other variants of over time.”

Does Chump care about looking out of touch?  Does he even realize how it looks?  60 days away from the midterm vote and this is what he's choosing to serve?  

Chump continues to tout AI data centers despite their increasing unpopularity with the American people. Kelsey Brugger and Brian Faler (POLITICO) report: 

Voters are in an uproar over data centers — and Democrats are trying to direct anger toward Republicans by pointing to a tax provision buried in the GOP’s “big, beautiful bill.”

Of the myriad talking points on this issue that Democrats are preparing deploy heading into the midterms, they this week began alluding to “Opportunity Zones” — an initiative designed to boost growth in areas deemed underdeveloped and which, at one point, Republicans had touted as a way to spur the construction of data centers.

“Every single House Republican but one or two voted to unleash data centers on the American people in an unfettered fashion,” said House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries at a news conference Monday.

The next day, a senior House Democrat — Rep. Jim McGovern of Massachusetts — made a similar observation on the chamber floor.

“A year ago, Republicans were bragging about giving tax breaks to Big Tech in order to build data centers,” McGovern said. “With November on the horizon, some House Republicans are acting as if they did not turbocharge the data center buildout.”

Some in the administration are attempting their own talking points.  Take Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick.  Now Lutnick is a known liar having lied to Miranda Devine in her podcast last fall when he claimed neighbor Jeffrey Epstein invited him and his wife over for a tour and that they were so creeped out by seeing his residence Lutnick cut off all contact with him.  As we later learned, he became a travel buddy of Epstein's with him going to Epstein Island and they were business partners -- all of this after Lutnick swore to Devine that he had decided to never have anything to do with Epstein again.  Lutnick's not very smart for thinking he could get away with that lie. 

The idiot thought he could get away with another lie this week. REUTERS reports, "U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick apologized on Thursday for stating that no Americans had died in the Iran war, acknowledging that 18 service members have been killed and he was thinking about Venezuela when he made the mistaken statement." He was on CNBC and he was lying about the Iran War.  And this was just another lie he was telling.  He knew what he was doing.  

 And he's not very smart with his other big lie this week. Somaiyah Hafeez (THE MIRROR) reports: 

Appearing on CNBC's Squawk Box, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick falsely claimed that AI data centers "don't use water."

Lutnick appeared on the show on Wednesday, and when the topic of data centers and the pushback to them came up, he was adamant that data centers do not "use water" as he laughed off and called it "propaganda."

"One of my favorite things is when people talk about data centers using water. The number one product in America that uses water is cattle," he said, laughing.

"I mean data centers don't use water. This is propaganda by our adversaries to try to slow us down. We've got the greatest chips in the world, we've got the greatest economy in the word," he continued.

They don't use water?  Back to the article:

Data centers depend largely on large volumes of water to generate heat around the clock, cooling their hardware and supporting operational performance and longevity.

Additionally, water is used indirectly through electricity use. Data centers use hundreds of thousands, or even millions, of gallons of water per day, depending on their size.

Simon Marks (THE i PAPER) notes the lie as well:

Over on CNBC, the Commerce Secretary, Howard Lutnick, was talking literal and provable nonsense in an interview about AI data centres. As Republican lawmakers across the US find themselves on the receiving end of growing public fury over the rapidity with which they have embraced applications to build data centres, Lutnick scoffed at the notion that they put pressure on local water supplies. “Both [parties] seem to think that there’s some political points to be scored by being anti-data centre”, observed pro-Trump CNBC host Joe Kernan, who then suggested “a little education might change that”. Lutnick responded: “One of my favourite things is when people talk about data centres using water. The number-one product in America that uses water is cattle… I mean data centres don’t use water. This is propaganda by our adversaries to try and slow us down.” At no point did Kernan interrupt him and correct the record. In fact, data centres consume several million litres of water daily to cool servers and generate electricity. The University of Oxford’s Department of Engineering Science calls them “water-guzzling” and a recent case study reported that “a relatively small one-megawatt data centre… would use 26 million litres of water per year. Regional water stress must be considered.”

This is our Secretary of Commerce?  Lying about something so basic or, even worse, completely ignorant about the business he is pushing.  Turns out, he's just a liar. David Moye (HUFFINGTON POST) explains, "Lutnick’s statement is also contradicted by (checks notes) Howard Lutnick, who, last year, admitted to Fox News’ Sean Hannity that, while he supported building the data centers, 'these AI things suck water. They need water'."   

Lutnick is, of course, not the only liar or fool.  There's always wayward Democrat John Fetterman, the senator bound and determined to rescue Chump whenever possible. Robert Davis (RAW STORY) notes FettyCrap's appearance on CNN's THE AREA WITH KASIE HUNT: 

 

Fetterman told Hunt that concerns about data centers are largely overblown, but his reasoning left several critics alarmed.

"A lot of the opposition has been driven by the [Chinese Communist Party], and a lot of influence," Fetterman said. "Also, there are the facts. It consumes maybe less than 1/10 of the water, and contributes to our economy and our land uses too. In Pennsylvania, we are land rich and also water rich, too. So, I think it's an important part of our economy right now."

Critics reacted to Fetterman's comments on social media.

"As far as I'm concerned, John Fetterman is already a lobbyist," Nick Field, a politics writer, posted on X.

"I dare Fetterman to go visit a community pissed about data centers and tell them this BS," J.J. Abbott, a Democratic political communications strategist in Pennsylvania, posted on X. "He won’t because he’s too afraid to go out in public in PA without his Dave McCormick security blanket."

"When your whole thing is being an online contrarian, and all you see is tons of people online sharing an opinion (because that opinion also happens to be shared by tons of people offline), you end up saying stuff like this," Prem Thakker, a reporter at Zeteo News, posted on X.

Again, Chump continues hyping data centers.  Even as more people turn against them.  Helen Coster and Dawn Kopecki (REUTERS) note, "Across the country, as Democrats ride a wave of local opposition to data centers ahead of the November elections, Republicans are increasingly breaking from U.S. President Donald Trump’s pro-AI agenda.  Republican candidates in at least five states – including Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania – have recently adopted tougher rhetoric on data centers or proposed restrictions on their development, creating a new fault line within the party."  Greta Reich (USA TODAY) adds, "Almost three-fourths of U.S. adults said they oppose building data centers near them, according to a recent Gallup survey. Part of this has to do with water usage – a 2025 report from the Environmental and Energy Study Institute found large data centers can consume up to 5 million gallons of water every day, roughly equivalent to the water use of a town of 10,000 to 50,000 people. In addition to water, many are concerned about consumer protections regarding electricity rate increases, demands on renewable energy and requirements about who gets employed to construct data centers."  Keith Naughton (THE HILL) also details public opinion, "And it shows up in the polls. According to a recent YouGov poll, data centers are viewed negatively by a net margin of 20 points overall, with Democrats net-negative 47 points and young voters net-negative 36 points. They do best with self-described MAGA voters: net-positive by just 8 points, with approval only at 41 percent (18 percent neutral)."

But, again, Chump promotes them.  Brendan Rascius (INDEPENDENT) reports: 

A majority of Americans have concerns about data centers cropping up across the country, and the opposition among lawmakers spans party lines.

But the industry has found a champion in President Donald Trump, who has hailed the colossal computing facilities as the “golden goose,” despite being shown unfavorable polling among voters on the issue, according to a new report.

Last week, Trump said that if he were a town mayor, he would “absolutely” welcome an “AI plant or data center,” citing what he described as enormous job opportunities.

On Monday, he struck a harsher tone.

“The only reason that communities throughout the U.S.A. should not want Data Centers is if they want to end up being backwards and poor... If we kill the Golden Goose, you will only have yourselves to blame,” he posted on Truth Social.

Trump’s advocacy reflects several calculations: his view that the U.S. must outpace China in artificial intelligence and his belief that data center construction is helping sustain the economy, Politico reported.

Chump's support for them may be behind a proposed EPA change.  Matthew Daly (INDEPENDENT) reports: 

A plan by the Environmental Protection Agency could make it harder for the public to learn about and comment on proposed AI data centers that have sparked backlash in communities across the United States and transformed the midterm election landscape.

The EPA proposal would eliminate a federal requirement that states notify the public and seek comment before issuing air pollution permits for data centers and other industrial facilities. States could still offer opportunities for public comment, but the EPA would no longer mandate them as a condition for states to grant permits.

Critics say the move could thwart local residents from learning about proposed data centers or making their voices heard before projects are approved and construction begins. The move comes during a widespread backlash as tech giants build hundreds of massive server warehouses to fuel artificial intelligence and cloud computing.

“By eliminating the long-standing federal requirement for public notice, this proposal continues efforts by the Trump administration to turn its back on the fundamental EPA principle of transparency,” said Mike Koerber, a former deputy director of EPA’s air quality office.

Meanwhile, Edith Olmsted (THE NEW REPUBLIC) reports:

Sailors fresh off the USS Abraham Lincoln have some serious concerns about their record-setting deployment.

MS NOW’s Priya Sridhar appeared on The Last Word Wednesday night after speaking with some of the 5,000 sailors deployed for nearly 300 days onboard the aircraft carrier during their long-awaited port call in Pattaya, Thailand.

“Many of them told me that this was in fact the worst deployment that they have ever experienced,” Sridhar said. “It was incredibly hard. And many of them expressed to me that they actually wished they hadn’t even done a port call, at this point, they wanted to just go directly home.”

The sailors also expressed concerns that amid President Trump’s ongoing war with Iran, lengthier deployments would become normalized and hurt Navy retention, especially among junior service members, Sridhar said.

The mission was complicated by lack of planning.  Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth sits at the top of the Defense Department so the buck stops with him -- or should.  And the service members on board the USS LINCOLN suffered due to Hegseth's ignorance and lack of experience.  In April, news reports first noted that the service members on board the USS LINCOLN did not have enough food supplies and were existing on highly rationed food.  When those reports emerged, Hegseth insisted that they were lies.  By August, the situation had gotten much worse and Hegseth had done nothing.  Grasp that.  It never should have gotten as bad as it did in April.  But to have it get that bad and to fail to fix it over the next four months?  That's dereliction of duty. And that's far from the only example of it. 

Robert Reich notes:

The latest casualty of Pete Hegseth’s disastrous tenure as Secretary of “War” is Dan Driscoll, who resigned Monday as Secretary of the Army after repeatedly clashing with the Heg.

Driscoll isn’t a liberal in lion’s clothing. He’s an old friend of JD Vance from Yale Law days. He resigned because of his concerns that Hegseth is damaging the Army’s efforts to modernize and adapt to the 21st century battlefield environment — where drone warfare is becoming increasingly important — by firing or pushing out leaders spearheading those efforts.

A defense official in Europe told CNN that even though Hegseth talks about technology reform, he’s focusing instead on “muscles, dudes in dresses, testosterone.”

Hegseth’s tenure has been disastrous from the moment he walked into the Pentagon. Even if Trump were capable of hearing sound advice, Hegseth hasn’t come close to giving it to him. Instead, he’s been pursuing grievances about DEI, promoting testosterone, and denigrating or firing women and Black officers.

The Army now has no Senate-confirmed secretary or chief of staff (George’s replacement, General Christopher LaNeve, so far doesn’t have the votes to be confirmed).

The Iran war, meanwhile, is requiring the ongoing deployment of 19 warships, air-defense units, fighter squadrons and paratroopers across the region — straining service members and their families and creating a maintenance backlog that could take years to unwind, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The Washington Post reports that multiple senior military leaders — those still left, that is — have warned Hegseth that the United States cannot indefinitely extend military operations against Iran. Even the chief of naval operations, Admiral Daryl Caudle (who campaigned for the job by signaling agreement with Hegseth’s culture-war obsessions), told Hegseth that the Navy cannot “sustain its current level of support for the Iran conflict because there is no anticipated end date.”

And Travis Gettys (RAW STORY) notes, "The Defense Department is quietly extending troop deployments for another year – or longer – amid a six-month-old U.S. military campaign against Iran, even though Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth promised a quick, decisive operation when it began, according to a Wall Street Journal report."

Again, lack of planning and add in Hegseth's refusal to actually listen to the people who have more experience than he does.  Yes, he keeps running these people off.  But he didn't listen to them before he forced them out and the ones remaining he won't listen to either.  He has never held a position like this before and he does not have the training nor does he have the temperament.   He would rather waste his time trying to drum out transgender members, to block the promotion of all women and people of color.  He is a rather strange 'straight' man as he obsesses over the bodies of other men, as he has hissy fits about the weight of service members, as he wants to mandate testosterone testing.  On the last one, REUTERS notes, "The Pentagon is temporarily rescinding recently published clinical guidance for a new, mandatory testosterone deficiency screening policy for service members age 30 and older, a U.S. official told Reuters on Thursday."

But he has focused on everything but his job -- this week has included verbally attacking transgender people and mocking a Canadian high school female over her body.  On the mocking of the Canadian high schooler, US House Rep Don Bacon (a Republican) denounced Hegseth's actions, "It’s lowbrow. I think it’s unprofessional, and I’d like to think that our leadership, representing us in the Pentagon and in the White House, we should be better than that, and I thought it was demeaning and uncalled for."

He does not focus on his job. 

He isn't fit to serve as Secretary of Defense.  

Max Rego (THE HILL) notes:

Former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta blasted current Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth on Thursday for “undermining the strength” of the U.S. military.

“I think the secretary is undermining the strength of our military — and particularly the Army — by creating the kind of turmoil in the command structure that he’s been creating,” Panetta told host Wolf Blitzer on CNN’s “The Situation Room.”

Coming from Leon, that's pretty much the end of it.  Leon was Secretary of Defense.  He knows the job.  And if he says Hegseth is undermining the strength of the US military?  Then that's what's happening.    

Darryl Coote (UPI) reports: 

Sen. Thom Tillis has called on President Donald Trump to fire Pete Hegseth as secretary of Defense following a series of high-profile exits and firings of senior Pentagon officials in recent months.

Tillis' comments on Wednesday are the strongest yet from a Republican politician amid mounting GOP criticism of Hegseth's leadership of the Department of Defense, and came two days after Army Secretary Dan Driscoll resigned following months of reported of clashes with Hegseth.

"I have never witnessed more inept management of the brave men and women who serve our country. He is intimidated by competence and retreats to ginning up culture wars instead of soberly attending to the vital work of our national defense and the health and well-being of our fighting force," Tillis said on X.

"I urge the president to find a new leader at the Pentagon who will retain and empower our military talent rather than diminish it."

Hegseth, a former Army National Guard major who took office with less senior government and military leadership experience than any other secretary of Defense, has overseen a sweeping overhaul of the department, which has seen nearly two dozen generals, admirals and senior civilian defense officials resign, retire early or be fired. Several have left following reported clashes with Hegseth.

The numbers speaking out against Hegseth are only increasing.  And it's because, as Leon Panetta noted, Hegseth is undermining the strength of the military he is supposed be overseeing.  Sara Dorn (FORBES) notes:

The Army has fewer generals than at any point in recent history, according to The Atlantic, and the number of four-star generals on active duty is down to five, from 10, when Hegseth took office, The New York Times reported in April. Hegseth replaced George with Gen. Chris LaNeve. Army Gen. Christopher Donahue also resigned in June after Hegseth allegedly blocked him from extending his career. The Trump administration has said it intends to formally nominate LaNeve for the position permanently, but has yet to do so, amid opposition from at least one Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa. LaNeve is serving as both acting chief of staff and vice chief of staff, replacing Gen. James Mingus in the latter role after Hegseth forced out Mingus last year.

Aaron Blake (CNN) examines Hegseth's record and notes:

While the GOP backlash over Driscoll’s departure has yet to expand, it’s merely the latest example of Republicans raising concerns about Hegseth.

And those concerns have often come from high places, including chairmen of both the Senate and House Armed Services Committees and other committees, the former chairman of the House Intelligence Committee and several senators who voted to confirm Hegseth:

Just weeks into Hegseth’s tenure, Senate Armed Services Chairman Roger Wicker decried Hegseth’s comments about concessions Ukraine would have to make as a “rookie mistake.” Hegseth backed off the comments.

Wicker has also said it was inappropriate for Hegseth to try and discipline Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona for participating in a video telling service members to disobey illegal orders.

Ex-House Intelligence Chairman Mike Turner has questioned the administration’s boat strikes killing alleged drug traffickers without due process and raised concerns about the information the Pentagon is sharing about the Iran war.

Sen. Rand Paul, who chairs the homeland security committee, has said Hegseth’s handling of questions about the boat strikes shows he’s either “lying to us … or he’s incompetent.”

Other GOP senators have recently raised concerns about the Pentagon excluding Democrats from briefings, including classified ones. “The Democrat members need to be brought up to speed,” Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota said last month.

That’s a lot. And it doesn’t even include Hegseth’s sharing of highly sensitive information about impending military strikes on the unclassified app, Signal. An inspector general’s report last year found that Hegseth could have jeopardized both the mission in Yemen and risked harm to US troops.

The Pentagon, for its part, has defended his leadership in previous comments to CNN as ushering in a new era for the department at the president’s direction.

But it seems the drip-drip-drip of controversy has registered with the American people, too.

Polls in recent months from Quinnipiac University and Marquette Law School show Hegseth about 20 points underwater. Registered voters disapproved of him 56%-34% in the former, and Americans viewed him unfavorably 46%-27% in the latter.

Chump dithers as all this goes down and looks ineffectual as a result.  He won't fire Pete.  He's scared to fire him.  In his first term?  he went through two Senate confirmed Secretary of Defenses and three acting ones.  Five.  Five is how many he had in his first term.  In his second term?  He's too paralyzed to act.  Too scared to drop the hammer.  He's the one who got famous saying, "You're fired."  Now he's so old and addled and can't manage much more than napping during public meetings.  He looks weak.

James Downie (MS NOW) writes of Chump entering his lame duck phase:

President Donald Trump will be in Dallas next week to headline a two-day GOP convention. But many Republican lawmakers and candidates reportedly have other plans — or aren’t sure about attending. While the party’s congressional leadership will attend, of the 70 members of Congress or would-be members Politico surveyed, “most either do not plan to attend or are still weighing whether to go. Dozens more declined to share their plans.”

This is how an unpopular president becomes a lame duck.

The reasons for non-attendance abounded: “I just felt I’d be more useful in my district,” said Michigan’s Tom Barrett. “I’m not a party guy,” said Pennsylvania’s Brian Fitzpatrick. “Rep. Nick LaLota, R-N.Y., said he instead plans to visit colleges with his daughter,” Politico reported.

Sincere or not, the rationales also likely stem from one number: 35.9%. That’s Trump’s average approval rating according to FiftyPlusOne. Other polling averages have the president a point or two higher, but in all averages, the president is at or near record-low approvals — including his first term.

His nightmare midterm convention.  When they thought it up, he was higher in the polls.  Not a lot but higher.  Now he prepares to take American Airlines Center in Dallas and he's just not that popular.  Or wanted.  And he wants to be feted like a hero and over exposed like a super model. Ewan Palmer (DAILY BEAST) notes:

Donald Trump will now speak on both nights of his midterm convention as he desperately tries to drum up enthusiasm.

The president, 80, was originally supposed to headline only the second night of the two-day televised party convention in Dallas next week. The event was organized to try to give the GOP a much-needed election boost and mobilize Trump’s MAGA base, even though his name will not be on the ballot in November.

However, with scores of Republicans already confirming their intentions to skip the Sept. 9-10 event—amid concern that viewers at home would much rather watch the opening games of the NFL season airing at the same time—Trump will now deliver a speech on Wednesday and Thursday night.

Two speeches.  And him in Dallas and not DC or Florida?  Sounds like he could get tired and cranky.  Molly Sprayregen (LGBTQ NATION) notes, "Among the timing issues is the fact that the convention takes place during the first two NFL games of the season, leading some to worry the convention won’t get enough attention from media outlets, which will likely get more viewers by showing football games. The event is also the same week as the 25th anniversary of 9/11 and may also conflict with memorial events. Sources told the Washington Examiner, for example, that CNN and CBS won’t offer live coverage for most of the convention."

Turning to Chump's late friend, sex trafficker and pedophile Jeffrey Epstein,  Malcolm Ferguson (THE NEW REPUBLIC) notes: 

Republican House leadership has announced that the largest U.S. governing body will be taking a massive fall break, seriously cutting legislative calendar before November’s midterm elections. This comes after the House was already out of session for 5 weeks until returning on Monday.

The House will no longer vote in the final two weeks of September as previously scheduled, according to a notice from Majority Whip Tom Emmer’s office. After a Labor Day break, the House will only be in session for four days before representatives head home again for all of October. 

What does that have to do with Jeffrey Epstein?  Just that Speaker of the Closet Mike Johnson is yet again attempting to stop a discharge petition on The Epstein Files.  Sarah Rumpf (MEDIAITE) explains:

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) fired back at Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) for calling him “stupid” for predicting something that did, in fact, happen.

[. . .]

On Tuesday, Massie posted on his social media that he and several other members had launched a discharge petition to force a vote on an updated second bill to release the files related to deceased child sex predator Jeffrey Epstein.

However, noted Massie, there were “rumors” that Johnson “will soon recess the House until after the midterm elections,” which he speculated would be done “to avoid the vote.”

Johnson reacted to Massie’s post with indignation when he was asked about it later that day by LindellTV’s congressional correspondent, Alison Steinberg.

“Let me tell you how stupid Thomas Massie’s comment is,” said Johnson, insisting that “Republicans are here to work,” and Massie would know that if he had attended the House Republican Conference meeting that morning. Johnson vowed that House Republicans “would abide by that calendar” that had been “out for a year,” which mean they would “work all the way through September and every day that’s on the calendar, so long as people like him don’t stop the progress.”

[. . .]

“So that is a nonsensical statement by someone who is not participating as a full member of the Congress, and it’s really sad that he doesn’t,” Johnson concluded.

Massie fired back Thursday, tweeting a fire emoji and screenshots of his Tuesday tweet and the updated House calendar with the recess dates crossed out.

“Tuesday I tweeted Mike Johnson would recess Congress until after the election in an attempt to stymie our latest Epstein bill,” wrote Massie. “Johnson went on TV adamantly saying that was STUPID and we’d work every day. Today he announced we’ll recess on Sept 17… until after the election!”

In other news, Leon Black.  Democrats on the House Oversight Committee issued the following yesterday:

Washington, D.C. — Today, Rep. Robert Garcia, Ranking Member of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, released the following statement after Leon Black, billionaire and primary client of Jeffrey Epstein, defied his subpoena and refused to appear for a deposition before the Oversight Committee. In June, Black stormed out of his transcribed interview with the Committee when asked about non-disclosure agreements.

“By refusing to testify today, Leon Black is now defying two Congressional subpoenas. Black gave Jeffrey Epstein over $180 million over six years. He funded Epstein's abuse and trafficking of women. Multiple women have also accused Black of sexual assault. His connections to Epstein and his unwillingness to cooperate are unacceptable. We must hold him in contempt immediately.” said Ranking Member Robert Garcia.

Leon Black had a longstanding relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. Black was Epstein’s primary client, even after Epstein was convicted in Florida of sex crimes. Black paid millions to women he engaged with sexually, some of whom were also connected to Epstein. Black made women sign strict non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) to keep them quiet. He also paid $62.5 million to the U.S. Virgin Islands to avoid Epstein-related claims against him. Black’s name is mentioned hundreds of times in the Epstein files.

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On the Republican side of the Committee, Chair James Comer. 

So Black has gotten both side of the Committee's attention.  Bill Chappell  (NPR) reports:

Billionaire Leon Black was scheduled to testify about his dealings with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein under a subpoena from the House Oversight Committee on Thursday morning. But instead of appearing, Black filed a lawsuit against the committee and its Republican chairman, accusing them of overstepping their authority.

His civil lawsuit describes the House panel's inquiry — led by Rep. James Comer, R-Ky. — as a "public fishing expedition," accusing its members of attempting to score political points.

In response, Comer called Black's actions "unacceptable" and said he and other panel members would discuss whether to hold Black in contempt.

Alexandra Marquez and Raquel Coronell Uribe (NBC NEWS) add:

Lawmakers have for months sought more information on the financial web that allowed Epstein to fund his sex trafficking operation and whether Black was at all involved or aware of any illegal activity. They specifically have sought information about any nondisclosure agreements Black signed with women.

[. . .]

In 2022, Black was sued over allegations that he raped a woman in Epstein’s New York City mansion in 2002. That case was later dropped with prejudice after both parties reached an agreement to do so and Black denied the allegations against him. A separate but ongoing lawsuit, filed in 2023, accused Black of raping a 16-year-old girl at Epstein’s Manhattan townhouse in 2002. A lawyer for Black denied the allegations, calling them “frivolous and sanctionable.” In April, a judge overseeing the case wrote that the plaintiff and her attorney “engaged in serious, sanctionable misconduct in this case,” but allowed the case to proceed. 

Let's wind down with this from Senator Elizabeth Warren's office:

“[T]he agency has displayed a worrying lack of public transparency about what this vast sum of money has been spent on or will be spent on in the future.”

Text of Letter (PDF)

Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) raised their concerns in a letter to Department of Education (ED) Secretary Linda McMahon about ED’s use of the $1 billion that Republicans’ One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) allocated to ED for student loan administration. Senators Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) joined the letter as well.

Student loan borrowers are facing the largest default and delinquency crisis in recorded history. While OBBBA allocated $1 billion to be used to cover “administrative costs” of the federal student loan program, the law created no accountability, oversight, or transparency measures regarding how the money is spent. ED has reported that it spent approximately $216 million of this fund by the start of Fiscal Year 2026, but it has not disclosed to the public what it has spent this money on or its future plans for the fund, leaving borrowers, advocates, and lawmakers in the dark. 

“While ED has disclosed that it has already spent hundreds of millions of dollars from the fund, the agency has displayed a worrying lack of public transparency about what this vast sum of money has been spent on or will be spent on in the future,” wrote the senators.

In addition to pushing for increased transparency regarding the student loan administration fund, the senators urged Secretary McMahon to use the money to address the ongoing student loan default crisis, such as by expanding outreach to borrowers at risk of defaulting or who have already defaulted, improving Federal Student Aid customer service, and rehiring ED’s servicer oversight team to ensure that servicer errors do not raise the risk of default.

“ED should spend the money on whatever measures are necessary to address the default crisis by bringing borrowers out of default and preventing additional borrowers from defaulting,” wrote the senators.

The senators asked McMahon to provide answers to their questions regarding how ED has used — and intends to use — this $1 billion fund no later than September 16, 2026.

Senator Warren has led the fight to make our higher education system more affordable, cancel student loan debt, and hold student loan servicers accountable for incompetence and malfeasance. She launched the Save Our Schools campaign in a coordinated effort to fight back against President Trump’s attempts to abolish the Department of Education: 

• On August 27, 2026, Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) led a group of senators in investigating federal student loan servicer MOHELA on the company’s plans to address the false delinquency notices that it reportedly sent to numerous student loan borrowers.
• On July 30, 2026, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee’s bipartisan 21-1 vote to advance Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Bill Cassidy’s (R-La.) College Transparency Act out of committee, Senator Warren released the following statement.
• On July 21, 2026, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) introduced the Accreditation Reform and Enhanced Accountability Act of 2026 (AREAA). The legislation would take steps to reduce student debt and protect students and taxpayers by reforming higher education accreditation and centering student outcomes and consumer protection. On July 16, 2026, at a hearing of the Senate Finance Committee, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) pressed Francis Brooke, nominee to be Deputy Secretary of the Department of the Treasury, to answer basic questions about the largest student loan default crisis in recorded history, which the Treasury Department has now inherited as part of President Trump’s efforts to dismantle the Department of Education. Mr. Brooke was unable to answer questions about the size of the default crisis and potential effects on Social Security benefits for seniors with defaulted loans.
• On July 6, 2026, in response to a May 2026 request from U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), the Government Accountability Office (GAO), an independent government watchdog, confirmed it would investigate whether the Trump administration’s dismantling of the Department of Education (ED) is harming ED’s ability to root out waste, fraud, and abuse of Title IV financial aid funds.
• On June 8, 2026, Senators Warren (D-Mass.) and Merkley (D-Ore.), along with Representatives Pressley (D-Mass.) and Carson (D-Ind.), led 62 members of Congress in pressing the Department of Education to immediately address the largest student loan default and delinquency crisis on record, which has been made worse by the Trump administration’s policies.
• On May 28, 2026, in response to a request from Senator Warren (D-Mass.), the Government Accountability Office (GAO), an independent government watchdog, confirmed the expansion of its investigation into the Department of Education’s (ED) transfer of critical programs to other agencies through interagency agreements (IAAs), including the transfer of student loan default collections to the Department of the Treasury. GAO previously confirmed it had initiated an investigation into ED’s transfer of grant programs for career and technical education and adult education to the Department of Labor.
• On May 21, 2026, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) asked the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to open a new investigation into whether the Trump administration’s dismantling of the Department of Education (ED) is harming ED’s ability to root out waste, fraud, and abuse of Title IV financial aid funds.
• On May 4, 2026, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) released new responses from the Department of Education and the Treasury Department demonstrating that the agencies cannot articulate a clear purpose or plan for implementing their illegal interagency agreement (IAA) transferring the administration of federal student loans to the Treasury.
• On April 28, 2026, Senators Warren (D-Mass.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) pressed the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s new Student Loan Ombudsman, Geoffrey Gradler, on his plan to protect student loan borrowers, especially given his past censorship of a key student loan report at the CFPB and his background as a lobbyist for lenders. The senators also asked him to recuse himself from past clients’ matters that might come before his office at the CFPB.
• On April 2, 2026, Senators Warren, Sanders, Wyden, Murray, and Baldwin—all top Democrats on influential education committees—pressed Secretary of Education Linda McMahon and Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent to rescind their plans to move the administration of federal student loans to the Treasury Department, the latest move in the Trump administration’s attempts to dismantle the Department of Education.
• On February 23, 2026, Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, along with Representative Ayanna Pressley, released a response from the Department of Education to their November letter regarding a potential sale of the federal student debt portfolio. In the response, ED confirms for the first time publicly that they are weighing a sale of the federal student loan portfolio.
• On February 19, 2026, Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) pushed Education Secretary Linda McMahon on concerns that the U.S. Department of Education is apparently obstructing Congressional efforts to hold federal student loan servicers accountable for underperformance.
• On February 2, 2026, Senator Warren released a new report revealing the findings of their investigation into how private student loan lenders will reap the benefits from cuts to federal student loan access enacted in Republicans’ Big, Beautiful Bill (OBBBA). The report is the first Congressional analysis of the impacts of the OBBBA’s student loan restrictions on the private lending market.
• On January 22, 2026, Senators Elizabeth Warren, Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), and Tim Kaine (D-Va.) led their Senate colleagues in demanding answers from Trump Education Secretary Linda McMahon about the Trump Administration’s proposal to eliminate affordable student loan repayment options for millions of Americans.
• On December 8, 2025, Senator Warren led her colleagues in writing to the federal student loan servicers to ensure they are providing borrowers with the customer service they deserve in the wake of the Trump administration’s student loan policy whiplash. The senators sent letters to MOHELA, Nelnet, EdFinancial, Maximus, and CRI.
• On December 1, 2025, Senator Warren published an op-ed in USA Today calling for Secretary of Education Linda McMahon to resign following the recent news that President Trump and Secretary McMahon plan to further dismantle the Department of Education (ED).
• On November 17, 2025, Senator Warren led over 40 of her colleagues in a letter urging Secretary of Education Linda McMahon and Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent to immediately end any plans to sell or transfer the federal student loan portfolio to the private market.
• On November 10, 2025, Senator Warren led her colleagues in a letter urging the Trump administration to use the IRS’s existing legal authorities to stop the looming “tax bomb” facing borrowers who obtain income-driven repayment (IDR) discharges of their student loan debt.
• On October 15, 2025, Senator Warren and Representative Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) led 70 members of Congress in a letter calling on the Trump administration to address the ongoing and unprecedented wave of student loan delinquencies and defaults, which threatens the financial stability of millions of people and could have disastrous effects on the American economy.
• On September 19, 2025, following a push by Senator Warren and nine other senators, the Acting Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Education agreed to open an investigation into DOGE’s infiltration of internal systems, including the scope of its access to sensitive student loan borrower information and its impact on borrowers’ rights and privacy.
• On August 26, 2025, Senator Warren led colleagues in sending a follow-up letter to Education Secretary Linda McMahon condemning the Department of Education for deliberately hiding the “Submit a Complaint” button on the Office of Federal Student Aid’s website, firing employees responsible for providing customer service to borrowers and families, and misleading Congress about the scope of these firings.
• On August 4, 2025, Senator Warren led eight senators in pressing major private student loan lenders on their plans to serve the incoming surge of borrowers who will be pushed to the industry because of Republicans’ recently passed “Big, Beautiful Bill.”
• On July 17, 2025, Senator Warren released a new 23-page report, “Education At Risk: Frontline Impacts of Trump’s War on Students,” highlighting warnings from 11 major national education and civil rights organizations on the impact of the Trump Administration’s dismantling of the Department of Education (ED) and slashing support to millions of American students, primary and secondary school teachers, administrators, parents, and student loan borrowers.
• On July 15, 2025, Senators Warren and Sanders, along with Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, sent a letter to Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, urging her to reverse the interest hike on student loan borrowers in the SAVE forbearance.

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