Bestiality in Show

Good afternoon. This is the Afternoon Sun newsletter for Sept. 15, 2026. You can get it in your inbox every day by signing up here — it’s free!

THE LATEST

Donald Trump’s name cannot be affixed to the Kennedy Center without congressional approval, a federal judge ruled for the second time. Hours after the decision, the institution’s board voted to temporarily close the building for renovation — but the president said planned construction would not proceed unless he is allowed to add his name to the building.

• “If the ruling is a negative one, which it should not be, and is not overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court, the Reconstruction and the Renovation of The Kennedy Center will not take place,” Trump wrote on Truth Social soon after the vote.

Senate Democrats voted down the CLARITY Act today, leaving it all but certain Congress will not regulate cryptocurrencies just as the industry is primed to unleash a wave of spending in the midterm elections.

THE ADMINISTRATION

Kash Patel faced harsh questioning from Senate Judiciary Democrats today during an oversight hearing about immigration agents’ actions, and said he won’t promise to keep FBI agents away from polling places.

• The conversation also included a bizarre exchange about “bestiality” and job candidates.

Trump wrote a scathing criticism of SCOTUS today, condemning its decision yesterday to stop USPS from implementing its mail-in ballot rule.

The Iran war has cost nearly $40 billion, consumed as many as two-thirds of some critical missile interceptors and is expected to push inflation higher into next year, according to a new CBO report.

The administration paid billions to federal employees who weren’t working because of their participation in deferred resignation programs, a government watchdog said in a report released today.

Federal authorities charged a dozen people with fraudulently collecting more than $10 million in government child care payments when the operators had few or even no actual children attending their facilities.

THE HILL

Lobbying for the Protect College Sports Act has been heating up — the Senate could vote as soon as this week on the measure, with a number of Democrats expected to join Republicans to get it over the threshold.

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Kentucky) introduced articles of impeachment against Pete Hegseth today, alleging the defense secretary had committed high crimes and misdemeanors.

The House unveiled its portrait of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who lasted 269 days in the role before being ousted. Six of the eight Republicans who voted with Democrats to remove him from the speakership are leaving Congress by next January or are already gone.

• “No regrets, no regrets,” Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tennessee), one of the two returning lawmakers, told The Sun’s Emily Kennard of his decision to vote out McCarthy.

THE STATES

A former Missouri elections official filed a whistleblower lawsuit against Republican Secretary of State Denny Hoskins, alleging he was fired after raising concerns that staff were plotting to file a fake complaint in a legal case about the state’s voter database.

The Cleveland City Council voted this week to rename parts of Lake Erie the “Gulf of Cleveland,” mocking Trump’s executive order renaming Lake Ontario as “Lake America.”

THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL

Republican Mike Rogers won’t attend a Michigan Senate debate today over suspicions that the event’s moderator has “bias and favoritism” toward Democratic opponent Abdul El-Sayed.

SOUND IT OUT

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