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Trump Calls AI Warnings a ‘Hoax’ to Tech Industry Conference

Jenna Monnin — Mon, 14 Sep 2026 21:07:01 GMT

President Trump said the “robots will not be taking over.” (Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP)

President Donald Trump unexpectedly called into a business and technology conference through Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s cell phone and dismissed urgent warnings from those inside the artificial intelligence industry as a “hoax.”

Trump called Huang, who has previously dismissed growing concerns about AI, while he appeared at the All-In Summit in Los Angeles on Monday.

“The robots will not be taking over,” Trump said to the crowd after Huang put the call on speaker. “The AI will not be taking over the rest of the world. The whole thing is a hoax.”

“We have to do things, and we have to do it prudently. But that doesn't mean we're going to stop an industry,” Trump added.

Trump appeared pleased that Huang shared his convictions about the AI industry.

During his brief call, the president doubled down on his view that the U.S. must not lose the AI development race to China. Nvidia, a large tech company that develops computer chips used in AI models, has found itself in the center of the tech race between the U.S. and China as each country tries to lead in the emerging field.

“We're going to make sure that everybody wins in the AI race in America,” Huang said.

Trump also called for protecting data centers alongside his call to safeguard AI from those trying to slow the pace of the developments.

“Data centers are great, and they make people wealthy,” Trump said.

The president has cast aside dire warnings from tech developers, industry leaders and lawmakers calling for the U.S. government to address the dangers of AI.

Both House and Senate lawmakers plan to discuss and focus on AI this week. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) will be joining forces with former Trump White House adviser Steve Bannon on Tuesday to push for “human-controlled AI,” Axios reported.

Earlier on Monday, Trump said he is the only “control or ‘guardrails’” needed for the industry and again pointed to what he deemed a “SICK conspiracy going on against AI and Data Centers, and the only one that is happy about it is China.”

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Google DeepMind Chair Demis Hassabis and SpaceXAI CEO Elon Musk have all called for independent oversight on AI and slowing development.

Amodei published an essay on Saturday calling for companies to partner with the federal government, which he said could serve as an “evaluator” that implements safety regulations or as a mediator between tech corporations in the process of establishing standards.

The mounting concern over AI spiraling out of control as a result of the race between the industry leaders came to a head when Jacob Coxon, an Anthropic researcher, quit his job and took to social media to issue an urgent warning.

Coxon told The Washington Sun that he felt like he was “contributing to the potential death race” through his work.

Anthropic’s alignment science lead, Evan Hubinger, backed up Coxon’s warning, writing that he believed the company “is trying its best, but we do not yet have a plan to solve alignment for superintelligence and are not clearly on track to.”

Kennedy Center Board Lists 10 Options for Putting Trump’s Name on the Building

Torrie Herrington — Mon, 14 Sep 2026 21:00:06 GMT

The Kennedy Center’s Board of Trustees draft resolution says the performing arts center is facing an imminent financial crisis and has exhausted its fiscal resources, putting its ability to meet payroll and routine maintenance obligations at risk within weeks. (Samuel Corum/Sipa USA via AP)

The Kennedy Center’s Board of Trustees is considering 10 different ways to recognize President Donald Trump on the building’s facade as part of what it says is an effort to secure his fundraising prowess for the performing arts center’s renovation.

The options, outlined in a draft board resolution reviewed by The Washington Sun, would place language recognizing Trump on the exterior marble beneath the Kennedy Center’s name.

“The Board seeks to provide multiple options so that President Trump can be legally and appropriately recognized and acknowledged on the facade of the Kennedy Center so that he agrees to carry the burden of managing the renovation and provides the Center with a much required financial rescue,” the resolution reads.

The proposals range from relatively straightforward acknowledgements of Trump’s support to language crediting him with overseeing the center’s renovation and restoration.

One option would read: “Renovation and endowment overseen by President Donald J. Trump and the Trump Kennedy Center Fund.” Another would say: “With Gratitude for Support from President Donald J. Trump and the Trump Kennedy Center Fund.”

Other proposals would credit Trump with directing or overseeing the renovation, while several would describe the center as being sustained through his “generosity.” One option reads, “A Legacy protected through the Generosity of President Donald J. Trump.”

The board’s draft resolution says the Kennedy Center is facing an imminent financial crisis and has exhausted its fiscal resources, putting its ability to meet payroll and routine maintenance obligations at risk within weeks.

Trump, according to the resolution, has offered to raise the money needed to keep the center from bankruptcy while it undergoes a major renovation.

The board says it believes Trump’s financial support is tied to giving him an appropriate public acknowledgement. The resolution says that without such recognition, Trump is unlikely to provide the oversight of the renovation or lead the center’s financial rescue.

The proposals come as a federal court prepares to consider an emergency motion from Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio), an ex officio member of the board, that seeks to block the Kennedy Center board from again adding Trump’s name to the building.

In December, after the president stocked the board with allies and made himself chairman, the trustees voted for the first time to rename the center after Trump. In August, the board voted once again to add the president’s name, this time opting to inscribe it into the marble facade after a federal judge ordered the previous signage had to be removed.

This week’s hearing is scheduled for 10 a.m. Tuesday, shortly before the board is set to meet and vote on resolutions concerning the center’s future, including possible closure and the proposed Trump recognitions.

The draft resolution says the board intends to pursue “all legal means” to carry out one or more of the proposed recognitions, subject to the board’s vote.

Trump Scraps Biden-Era Climate Pollution Rules for Power Plants

Mara Hoplamazian — Mon, 14 Sep 2026 20:45:00 GMT

Power plants are the largest industrial source of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States and represent a quarter of the country’s total emissions. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

The Trump administration is gutting regulations on climate-warming emissions from coal and gas-fired power plants, the Environmental Protection Agency announced Monday.

The announcement scraps the majority of the EPA’s Biden-era standards that sought to limit greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel plants. New coal and gas-fired plants would still be subject to some 2015 standards, and one Biden-era standard for new gas plants.

At the same time, the agency is proposing to repeal all remaining greenhouse gas emissions standards for power plants and remove the EPA’s ability to impose pollution controls going forward.

The rollback of standards for power plants is the latest EPA action to remove emissions controls across sectors. The Trump administration has erased vehicle emissions standards, repealed the “endangerment finding” that underpins all EPA regulations on emissions, rolled back rules limiting mercury and air toxins, and relaxed restrictions on highly potent greenhouse gases.

“It is part of an agenda that Lee Zeldin has been implementing to strip back EPA's mission regulating all forms of air pollution,” Zealan Hoover, a former EPA adviser for the Biden administration, said of the agency’s current administrator. “That's going to quite directly lead to hundreds of thousands of avoidable deaths.”

Power plants are the largest industrial source of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States and represent a quarter of the country’s total emissions. If the U.S. power sector was its own nation, it would emit more carbon pollution than all other countries except for China, India, Russia.

Monday’s finalized rule means coal-fired power plants will no longer be required to control their carbon pollution using carbon capture and storage technology or by switching some energy generation to natural gas. New gas-fired plants will also see emissions requirements relaxed.

When carbon pollution standards were finalized in 2024, the Biden administration said they were projected to result in $370 billion in benefits, between savings in health care costs and costs associated with climate change. In 2035 alone, they were expected to prevent 1,200 premature deaths.

The Trump administration says repealing the standards would increase coal production tenfold, and save energy companies and tax payers $310 billion over two decades.

The rollbacks do not affect standards for hazardous air pollutants or criteria pollutants — common air pollutants that can harm human health. But in an EPA regulatory impact analysis, emissions of particulate matter, nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide and mercury are projected to increase if all emissions standards disappear, compared to a baseline with carbon pollution standards.

The agency has stopped quantifying the benefits of limiting air pollution from ozone and fine particulate matter. An agency analysis says repealing all greenhouse gas standards could result in more additional premature deaths. Estimates based on a snapshot of years vary from 1,200 to 2,700 additional premature deaths.

Zeldin said emissions standards for power plants amounted to a “war on coal,” and that the repeal would help make energy more affordable.

“Americans will see a decrease in electricity prices, but this is just the beginning. We are working to go even further so that American energy can be fully unleashed. Realizing the full potential of American energy means more jobs, lower prices, and a more prosperous America,” he said.

The agency argues greenhouse gas emissions from power plants are out of its scope of responsibility because they have “no material impact” on climate change, and potential public health harms from those emissions are “uncertain, conjectural, remote and convoluted.”

Vickie Patton, general counsel for the Environmental Defense Fund, said this summer’s heat, wildfire smoke and drought demonstrate the need for regulation.

“There's an enormous, long foundation in law that's gone to the U.S. Supreme Court in a number of cases that has held that EPA has the authority and the responsibility to protect American people from dangerous climate pollution,” she said. “To try to walk away from that solemn responsibility is contrary to law, it’s contrary to the science, it’s also contrary to our lived human experiences.”

Patton said her organization feels an “urgent” need to act on the rollbacks, as power plants pop up across the country to fuel the buildout of AI data centers.

EPA officials said the proposal to eliminate all greenhouse gas emission regulations for power plants would be open for public comments for 45 days.

Trump Eyes World War II Memorial as Next Makeover Project

Kendall Staton — Mon, 14 Sep 2026 20:36:39 GMT

Rod Lamkey/AP Photo

The Trump administration is eyeing more D.C. monuments as clean-up targets in an effort to reshape the nation’s capital.

The Department of the Interior has initiated the process to revamp the World War II Memorial on the National Mall, seeking a contractor to clean granite elements, waterproof fountains, replace plumbing systems and address other deferred maintenance, according to a solicitation notice from the agency posted Monday.

President Donald Trump called for repairs to the monument earlier this year.

The monument features granite columns representing each U.S. state and territory at the time of the war, surrounding a pool filled with fountains. The 22-year-old memorial hasn’t been substantially rehabilitated since its construction, and many aspects have begun to deteriorate, according to the notice. But the memorial was closed for construction from January to May for a $3.7 million renovation, which included work on the fountains and lighting, according to the National Park Service.

Trump made his first calls to refine the WWII Memorial in the midst of work on the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, saying the bottom of the WWII fountain was “in pretty bad shape" and should be repainted. He said the color at the bottom of the fountain would be lighter than the reflecting pool’s “American flag blue.” The botched Reflecting Pool resurfacing cost more than $14 million and took more than 60 days to complete. The new paint started peeling off the bottom of the pool less than two weeks after the project finished.

The notice from the Interior Department said the WWII fountains will receive “new waterproofing,” but makes no mention of a fresh paint job.

A tourist vandalized the memorial in August with spray paint and dish soap. It closed for one day before reopening with no permanent damage.

The WWII Memorial is not the only monument the Trump administration set its sights on in recent weeks.

Earlier this month fences went up around the U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial near Arlington National Cemetery as contractors began cleaning the statue as part of Trump’s efforts to “beautify our nation’s capital,” according to a spokesperson for the National Park Service. That project, of which the scope is unclear, is expected to be completed in early November.

The Park Service did not answer questions about what work is being completed at the Marine Corps Memorial. Photos show the bronze statues have been polished.

The Trump administration has poured millions into restoring several fountains across the District, demolished the East Wing of the White House to make way for a 90,000-square-foot ballroom and continues to push for a 250-foot arch monument to the president just outside of Arlington National Cemetery.

Democratic Congressional Candidate Defends Resurfaced Explicit Photos

Raymond Fernández — Mon, 14 Sep 2026 20:27:14 GMT

Chris Gallant is vying to unseat Rep. Nick LaLota in New York’s 1st Congressional District. (Courtesy of Chris Gallant for Congress)

A Democrat running for a U.S. House seat representing Long Island said he is “not embarrassed or ashamed” after explicit photos resurfaced over the weekend.

Chris Gallant, 37, is vying to unseat Rep. Nick LaLota (R-New York), and said that the photos have no bearing on his ability to serve in Congress.

“I have always been unapologetically me," Gallant, who is openly gay, said in a message to supporters obtained Monday by Newsday. “These attacks on my identity have just made me stronger in my values and convictions."

The photos, which circulated as advertisements for a sex store in San Francisco up until 2020, depict Gallant modeling in a leather posture collar and metal chains. The pictures were first reported by the New York Post.

“The photographs are authentic and were taken during a private, consensual photo session involving Chris and his then-partner, with whom he was in a committed four-year relationship,” Gallant’s attorney told the Post of his work as a model. “These photographs have no bearing on Chris’s record, qualifications, judgment, or ability to serve.”

Some of the other images date back to 2007 and show Gallant — a retired Army officer and former Black Hawk helicopter pilot — wearing a leather harness and bartending in underwear in Fire Island.

Even before the pictures surfaced, Gallant faced an uphill battle for New York’s 1st Congressional District, which includes parts of Long Island and is rated solid Republican by the Cook Political Report. As of June 30, LaLota has outraised Gallant by over $3 million, according to Federal Election Commission records.

The images have created commotion online, but it remains unclear what role they will play in the race, which remains tight. In January, Public Policy Polling, a Democratic-affiliated polling firm, found Gallant three points behind LaLota, with 20% of voters undecided.

“He will not allow photographs from a past relationship or employment to be distorted and weaponized for political purposes or used to distract voters from the issues that matter," Gallant’s lawyer added.

Republican Candidate Doubles Down on the Racist Post Roiling Texas Politics

Gavin J. Quinton — Mon, 14 Sep 2026 20:21:25 GMT

Texas politicians condemned the social media post by Bo French, who stood by his comments. (Aaron M. Sprecher/AP)

Bo French, the Republican nominee for Texas railroad commissioner, stood by a series of racist social media posts he sent targeting Asian students at the University of Texas, dismissing criticism from fellow Republicans as he campaigns for a seat that oversees the state’s oil and gas industry.

French dismissed the backlash he garnered over his post on X showing a photograph of students celebrating Texas’ football victory over Ohio State, and suggested the students pictured benefitted from discriminatory admissions practices designed to exclude American-born students.

“Social media is exposing how many Americans have been displaced by foreigners” he wrote in a subsequent post. “It’s everywhere and far worse than any of us could imagine.”

French pushed back at those offended by his posts, including U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), in a Monday radio interview on “The Mark Davis Show.”

“I don’t have anything against the people specifically in that picture,” French told Davis on Monday.

“The establishment raised and spent $7 million against me in the primary,” he added. “Many of the people who criticized me yesterday were some of the same people involved in that effort. It’s no surprise that the less-conservative people in Texas are the ones attacking me.”

French’s original post was quickly corrected in an X community note, which specified that Texas state law requires at least 90% of the university’s freshmen be Texas residents, and that international students comprise about 4% of the school’s newcomers.

Cornyn had urged Republican officials to condemn French’s posts, warning that intolerance and racism should not become normalized.

“This is how great political parties self-destruct. Sad,” he wrote on X.

Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows, a Republican, also decried the posts and called for their removal, saying opposition to immigration policies did not justify disparaging people based on race or ethnicity.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott distanced himself from French’s message, too, while reiterating his support for immigration restrictions.

French is running for the statewide Texas railroad commissioner office, which serves as the primary regulatory body for the state’s massive oil and natural gas industry.

In November, he’s set to face off against Democratic state Rep. Jon Rosenthal, a Houston lawmaker who worked for 25 years as an oil and gas engineer. French defeated the incumbent commissioner, Jim Wright, in May’s Republican runoff.

Rosenthal said in a statement to The Texas Tribune that his campaign saw $35,000 in contributions following French’s remarks.

“Bo French’s own party has said he is unfit for the office he seeks to hold — and Texans are putting their money behind the oil field engineer who is qualified for it,” he said.

Following his talk-radio appearance Monday, French attempted to flip the controversy into a fundraising push for his campaign.

“The radical left and their allies are attacking me,” he wrote on X. “Join the thousands of patriots who are supporting our campaign.”

With Friends Like These…

Brett Bachman, Jenna Monnin, Kelly Poe — Mon, 14 Sep 2026 19:59:37 GMT

Mon, 14 Sep 2026 19:59:37 GMT https://www.washingtonsun.com/afternoon-sun-newsletter/with-friends-like-these

Donald Trump Jr.’s wife, Bettina Anderson, confirmed this morning that a Russian oligarch with ties to President Vladimir Putin bankrolled part of the couple’s wedding weekend in the Bahamas earlier this year. (Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP)

Good afternoon. This is the Afternoon Sun newsletter for Sept. 14, 2026. You can get it in your inbox every day by signing up here — it’s free!

THE LATEST

Donald Trump Jr.’s wife, Bettina Anderson, confirmed this morning that a Russian oligarch with ties to President Vladimir Putin bankrolled part of the couple’s wedding weekend in the Bahamas earlier this year.

“Friendship doesn’t require a political motive. Generosity doesn’t automatically come with an agenda. And sometimes a wedding gift is simply a wedding gift,” she wrote on Instagram.

THE HILL

John Fetterman’s surprise video at last week’s Republican midterm convention came after organizers sought an “oh shit” moment featuring “walk away” figures from the Democratic party. Sen. Dave McCormick (R-Pennsylvania), who has become friends with Fetterman, was the one who secured his involvement.

"I want to do it. I’m sure it will make people mad,” Fetterman told McCormick, Axios reported. "But you're my friend, and I want to introduce you.”

THE ADMINISTRATION

Trump is rejecting the idea of new AI regulation, posting Monday that “The only control or ‘guardrails’ that AI needs is a STRONG AND SMART (High IQ!) PRESIDENT.”

The detention center known as “Alligator Alcatraz” put immigrants inside small metal cages labeled “calming areas,” according to a report from the Department of Homeland Security inspector general.

The Environmental Protection Agency is repealing limits on greenhouse gas emissions created by coal- and natural-gas-fueled power plants.

The National Weather Service announced this morning that it would change the name of Lake Ontario on its maps and forecasts to use Trump’s preferred “Lake America” moniker.

THE COURTS

A second federal judge blocked the Trump administration from implementing a U.S. Postal Service rule that would tighten mail-in voting requirements.

States, cities and counties filed two lawsuits today challenging federal rules that would allow immigrants’ use of public benefits to be considered in applications to enter the country such as green cards.

A federal judge ordered the Trump administration to turn over thousands of internal USAID records sought by The Washington Sun (Hey, that’s us!).

THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL

Former Sen. Joe Manchin (D-West Virginia) endorsed Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) in her close race for reelection, calling his longtime legislative partner the “soul of the Senate.”

Chris Gallant, a 37-year-old Democratic candidate vying for a Long Island House seat, said he was “not embarrassed or ashamed” in a defiant text message to campaign supporters after explicit photos of him posing in bondage gear surfaced over the weekend.

"I have always been unapologetically me," Gallant, who is openly gay, said. "These attacks on my identity have just made me stronger in my values and convictions."

SPOOKY SEASON

https://x.com/DavidWright_7/status/2099261105520447982

Thank you for reading! Today’s newsletter was produced by Kate Nocera and Jonann Brady. If you liked it, please forward it to a friend. If someone shared it with you, please sign up — it’s free! Got a tip or comments to share? Email us at newsletters@washsun.com.]]>

Congress Is About to Do a Whole Lot of Nothing About AI

Igor Bobic — Mon, 14 Sep 2026 19:23:56 GMT

House Speaker Mike Johnson. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo)

Tech leaders are begging Congress to step in and provide guardrails on AI development after dire warnings about the rapid advances in the technology and its risks to humanity, but lawmakers remain as divided as ever on how and whether to do so.

“We do not want to jump in,” House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters Monday. “The reflex of legislative bodies is to cover things up with red tape and hyper-regulation. If you do that, then you lose your edge, and that is a national security concern for the American people,” he said, arguing the United States must stay ahead of China in the AI race.

Johnson said President Donald Trump was summoning officials and tech leaders to a meeting at the White House late this week or early next, but Trump has already declared flat-out opposition to new laws regulating AI.

In a Monday post on his social media website Truth Social, Trump said “the only control or ‘guardrails’ that AI needs is a STRONG AND SMART (High IQ!) PRESIDENT, and the U.S.A. has that, in spades!" He added that there “is a SICK conspiracy going on against AI and Data Centers, and the only one that is happy about it is China.”

Last week, several Anthropic researchers warned about the existential threat posed by AI, with one going so far as putting the risk of humanity’s extinction at greater than 10%. Top AI leaders including ChatGPT founder Sam Altman, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and Dario Amodei, the CEO of Anthropic, are also raising unprecedented warnings about the pace of development, calling for an immediate slowdown in advancing AI models.

Democrats argue legislation is needed to curb frontier AI development and put in oversight measures like independent evaluators to ensure the technology is kept in check and doesn’t go rogue like in several recent incidents. Many fear AI will enable sophisticated cyberattacks or aid the development of biological or nuclear weapons.

The Republican-controlled Congress doesn’t appear set to take meaningful action anytime soon. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is planning a caucus meeting on AI on Tuesday, while Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is pressing the Trump administration to hold a classified briefing for members of the Senate on the risks posed by AI.

“Warning bells are ringing louder than they ever have – and the Trump administration is looking the other way,” Schumer said in a statement on Monday. “Well, if they won’t hold themselves accountable, we will.”

Past meetings and briefings with top tech leaders have yielded little progress on AI, even when Democrats were in power.

In September 2023, for example, Schumer, who was Senate majority leader at the time, convened a bipartisan group of senators for a closed-door meeting on AI with top tech leaders, including Musk and Altman. Musk warned lawmakers at the time about the "civilizational risk" posed by AI, and voiced support for a standalone federal agency to regulate AI. The senators later released a roadmap for AI regulation aiming to balance technological growth with essential guardrails, but it went nowhere.

Democrats responded to last week’s warnings by calling for emergency action on AI, though there’s not much time to do so. The Senate is scheduled to be in session for three weeks before leaving town to allow senators to campaign ahead of the November midterm elections. The House is scheduled to be in session only for one week before doing the same.

“Congress should be on an emergency footing in the coming week,” said Hawaii Sen. Brian Schatz. “We have to move at the pace of the threat, not our own habits and rhythms. People are depending on us to take swift bipartisan action that meaningfully reduces AI risk.”

Senators are set to consider legislation this week regulating crypto and college sports. The House, meanwhile, is expected to vote on bipartisan legislation sanctioning Russia over its war in Ukraine.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, has called for a moratorium on data center construction and a halt on advanced AI development. He also introduced legislation to ban AI superintelligence, but no Senate Democrats have joined him on that measure.

Other Democrats favor a less aggressive approach, proposing safety measures while allowing for AI development to continue.

Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal wrote in a post online that a voluntary system of auditors was not enough, referring to tech leaders’ vows to institute internal safeguard. “It must be a statutorily established regimen, with power to determine whether models & new products are safe & effective, just as independent scientists are authorized to do under the FDA,” he said.

One measure that could gain traction is being written by Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, who chairs the Senate Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over technology issues. Cruz has been working alongside Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minnesota). The bill has not yet been publicly released, but Cruz said its goal is to “address catastrophic risks involving biological or nuclear threats” associated with AI.

“We cannot stick our heads in the sand and pretend this technology isn’t happening. We need guardrails,” Cruz wrote online. “But America needs to lead. If China leads the world in AI, the whole world is in trouble.”

Sen. Maria Cantwell, the top Democrat on the commerce committee, appeared to signal concerns with the bill over the weekend, noting Republicans attempted to pass a 10-year ban on state AI regulation in last year's tax-cut law.

“I welcome the urgency,” Cantwell wrote last week “But the answer is not a weak federal standard that becomes a backdoor for wiping out stronger state protections.”

In the House, lawmakers have introduced the Frontier Act, which would create a national framework for overseeing AI development, and the AI Kill Switch Act, which would require developers to maintain the ability to pause or shut down advanced AI systems.

With Congress mired in gridlock for the immediate future, however, the responsibility of slowing AI development will rest primarily with AI companies themselves.

In a midnight post on X on Sunday, Altman said his support for slowing AI development doesn’t mean stopping it outright. He also urged the U.S. and China to work together to address risks posed by the technology.

“Progress has been rapid and will continue to be. But it should be slower than it otherwise could be; interventions like safety cases and monitoring have significant costs,” he said.

“Pacing will be well worth this cost; no amount of American competitive pressure should justify recklessness, or let capabilities get ahead of alignment and monitoring,” he added. “Where we will need the help of our government is for international coordination. But first we should do what we can ourselves.”

National Weather Service Orders Staff to Use ‘Lake America’ in Future Forecasts

Jenna Monnin — Mon, 14 Sep 2026 19:15:34 GMT

A computer screen displays Lake Ontario under the name “Lake America.” (Jae C. Hong/AP)

The U.S. agency that provides weather forecasts and warnings to the public is implementing President Donald Trump’s name change for Lake Ontario, now dubbed “Lake America.”

The National Weather Service, which is part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, announced on Monday that “work is underway to update naming conventions as quickly as possible on online maps, weather products, websites and other materials across the NWS,” in accordance with Trump’s executive order on the lake.

The NWS and the NOAA are in turn part of the Department of Commerce, and all executive branch agencies are required to follow any presidential orders.

The NWS already uses “Gulf of America” instead of the Gulf of Mexico and “Mount McKinley” instead of Denali, reflecting Trump’s previous efforts to rename bodies of water and geographical landmarks to “honor American greatness” — without securing congressional approval.

The U.S. Geological Survey, a science and mapping agency inside the Department of the Interior, also changed its maps to reflect “Lake America.”

Lake Ontario sits on the border between the U.S. and Canada, and the two countries have been locked in an escalating trade war.

“I find Canada to be the worst country to deal with,” Trump told reporters Sunday on Air Force One. “With that being said, they’re dying to make a deal.”

When asked about Canada’s willingness to make a deal, Prime Minister Mark Carney told Bloomberg, "I'd say what we've been saying all along, which is that there is a mutually advantageous agreement that's possible between Canada and the United States," adding that he welcomes the Trump’s comments and he is ready to “sit down and negotiate.”

Carney appears willing to work through trade talks with the U.S. despite Trump’s push to change the name of their shared body of water, but Ontario Premier Doug Ford has taken a much harder line against the president.

Ford erected a large, two-story billboard last month that says “Lake Ontario Now and Always” in Grimsby, a Canadian city on the shore of the lake.

“Long before President Trump, this lake was called Lake Ontario. Long after President Trump is gone, it will still be called Lake Ontario,” Ford said standing in front of the billboard in a video posted to X on Aug. 29.

Despite Its Success, the Spirit Can’t Seem to Find the Back of the Net

Nicky Wolcott — Mon, 14 Sep 2026 19:10:10 GMT

The Washington Spirit huddle at home Sunday after losing to Boston Legacy FC, 3-0. (Kainaz Amaria/The Washington Sun)

Not long after the disastrous final moments of Sunday’s meeting with Boston Legacy FC, in which a narrow 1-0 deficit ballooned to a 3-0 loss in a matter of minutes, Washington Spirit midfielder Hal Hershfelt reflected on her team’s apparent inability to put the ball in the back of the net.

“I feel like a lot of our goals are from individual brilliance, because we have individually brilliant players,” Hershfelt said. “But I feel like it's getting to that point in the season where teams are figuring that out. We need to mix it up and work with each other in attacking moments.”

The Spirit entered Sunday’s game with plenty to feel good about. After a tough August stretch saw Washington go four games without a win, coach Adrián González’s team seemed to be getting back on track with back-to-back victories. It entered the weekend sitting in second place in the National Women’s Soccer League table, only two points behind Gotham FC in the race for the NWSL Shield. Boston came to D.C. in 14th place with the league’s third-worst defense, a perfect visitor for a team looking to maintain momentum.

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Instead, the Spirit’s recent attacking troubles were on display again as it struggled to create any clear-cut scoring opportunities in front of an eager home crowd at Audi Field. With the loss, Washington (13-7-4) fell five points behind Gotham and back into the thick of a tight playoff seeding race.

The Spirit’s only real chances came late in Sunday’s match, after Aïssata Traoré gave Boston a lead in the 81st minute. Not only did the Spirit fail to find an equalizer, it gave up a stoppage-time brace to Amanda Gutierres to seal the team’s worst home defeat since April 2025.

“We need to be better, of course, especially attacking-wise, connecting and trying to create chances,” González said. “Tough one, but as always, good learning. And I do prefer this now than obviously [at the] end of the season or in a potential playoff. We need to learn, we need to be humble and we need to accept it.”

The Spirit struggled to maintain possession while attempting to play through Boston’s press, and when it was able to get forward and find players in dangerous positions, they couldn’t execute the final ball. Washington produced just three shots on target, all of which were straight at experienced Boston goalkeeper Casey Murphy, and was shut out for third time in its last five games at Audi Field.

“They were very patient in a high block, and we probably didn't shift them left to right as much as we could have done to then open them up,” defender Esme Morgan said. “The moments where we did and we were able to find players in the pocket or Hal through the six, we were then able to progress a bit better, but then didn't really capitalize on those moments.”

Washington’s 33 goals in 24 league games is only the ninth-most of 16 NWSL teams, and its attacking output has slowed, with just 11 goals in its last 11 matches. The Spirit has been heavily reliant on Trinity Rodman to score and create goals this year and has struggled recently with other key attacking options out injured and a few newcomers forced into bigger roles.

Rodman is already up to 10 league goals and six assists, accounting for nearly half of the attacking production for a team that’s boasted a broader distribution of scoring in recent years — no individual player has notched more than 10 NWSL goals in a season for the Spirit since Crystal Dunn scored 15 times in 2015.

Forward Sofia Cantore and midfielder Leicy Santos have both netted five NWSL goals this year while midfielder Rebeca Bernal, who joined Manchester United on a transfer earlier this month, and forward Claudia Martínez, who returned on Sunday after missing two games with a lower leg injury, have scored three times. Defender Tara Rudd is the only other Spirit player to score multiple NWSL goals this year.

Despite the team’s scoring woes, González has still seen Washington get into dangerous positions in recent weeks and believes the team knows how to play to its strengths.

“Right now we are not in a momentum where you need to change the way that you create chances or you need to start implementing new things,” González said “Of course, we are always open, but I think it's a matter of knowing what we have and just exploring that.”

While the Spirit got into positive areas at times on Sunday, specifically early in the match when winning the ball high up the pitch, finding the back of the net has proven to be a challenge, especially while bringing new players into the fold and managing the return of others, like Martínez and Ashley Hatch, an experienced attacking option.

Monique Ngock and Mélissa Bethi, who joined the Spirit this summer from French league sides Fleury Merogis U.S. and Nantes, respectively, earned their second starts for their new club in midfield and have shown individual moments of quality — especially Bethi, who scored the 80th-minute winner against Portland and won a penalty kick in the 70th minute against Boston that was overturned after video review — but the duo still need time to develop chemistry with their new teammates.

“They're great players, and they give us a lot in the midfield and in an attack, but sometimes maybe they're not on the same page as the people who have been here for years,” Rudd said of Ngock and Bethi. “Those relationships come in training and playing together and knowing each other on the field and what your tendencies are.”

Washington also recently signed 21-year-old Tanzanian striker Clara Luvanga from Saudi Arabian side Al Nassr to a four-year contract, a move that could bolster its front line.

The Spirit doesn’t have an endless amount of time to form new connections as it approaches the business end of the season, but Washington remains in a strong position in the league table with six regular season games remaining. The Spirit will have a great opportunity to bounce back on Sunday when the team travels to take on the last-place Chicago Stars, who have conceded a league-high 54 goals in 24 games this season.

A Military Official Says U.S. Has Put ‘Space Control Weapons’ in Orbit

Hamed Ahmadi — Mon, 14 Sep 2026 18:19:17 GMT

“We continue to ensure we remain ready to meet the challenges of evolving threats wherever they exist,” Air Force Secretary Troy Meink said at the Air & Space Forces Association’s annual conference. (Mariam Zuhaib/AP)

The U.S. military has deployed weapons into orbit, Air Force Secretary Troy Meink said Monday, publicly acknowledging a capability in space that the Pentagon had kept largely secret.

“Today, we continue to ensure we remain ready to meet the challenges of evolving threats wherever they exist,” Meink said at the Air & Space Forces Association’s annual conference in National Harbor, Maryland, according to DefenseScoop. “This is why the United States now has on-orbit space control weapons capable of defending the joint force against hostile adversary actions.”

Meink did not say what the weapons are, how many are in orbit or what they can do. The Pentagon did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

In a statement to The Washington Sun, the Space Force said, “Space control requires both offensive and defensive actions,” including operations to disrupt, degrade, deny or destroy an adversary’s counterspace capabilities and actions to protect U.S. systems from attack.

The Space Force declined to say when the weapons were deployed, whether they are kinetic or non-kinetic, or to provide other details about the systems.

But Meink made clear that the disclosure was deliberate. Asked about the statement after his speech, Meink said his wording was “very well thought out,” according to Air & Space Forces Magazine.

Meink’s statement appears to be the first time the Pentagon has publicly acknowledged that the U.S. military has weapons operating in orbit.

Space Force officials had previously said they planned to field a “substantial on-orbit capability” by 2026. Senior military leaders have also openly called for putting weapons and interceptors in space. But until Monday, officials had stopped short of saying weapons were already there.

The disclosure follows a broader shift by the Space Force toward talking publicly about how it would fight in space.

In a warfighting framework released last year, the service laid out how U.S. forces could protect American satellites and disable or destroy an adversary’s systems. Those attacks could physically damage a satellite or use electronic or cyber capabilities to disrupt it or cut off its communications.

It is not clear whether the weapons Meink disclosed Monday can do any of those things.

U.S. officials have repeatedly pointed to China and Russia as the main threats driving the military buildup in space. The Space Force says both countries are developing ways to attack or disrupt American satellites, including missiles, jammers, lasers and systems placed in orbit.

Meink separately highlighted the Space-Based Interceptor program, which is being developed as part of President Donald Trump’s Golden Dome missile-defense system.

The interceptors are still under development. The Space Force is building a network of interceptors in low-Earth orbit and says it plans to demonstrate an initial capability integrated with Golden Dome in 2028.

Mahmoud Khalil Sues Columbia Over Its Treatment of Pro-Palestinian Activists

Associated Press — Mon, 14 Sep 2026 18:08:49 GMT

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested Mahmoud Khalil at his campus apartment in March 2025. (Ted Shaffrey/AP)

By Sudhin Thanawala

Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil sued Columbia University on Monday, alleging it failed to address harassment against him and other members of a pro-Palestinian campus group and retaliated against them when they reported it.

The university's “deliberate indifference” led to the doxing of multiple group members and Khalil’s detention by immigration agents, according to the civil rights lawsuit filed in federal court in New York City.

The university declined to comment on the lawsuit, but said in an email that “creating a campus environment where every member of our community feels welcome, supported, and safe is fundamental to who we are as a University.”

“Columbia is committed to protecting our community from discrimination and harassment, and responding promptly and appropriately when concerns arise,” it said.

Khalil also sued Columbia last year to block the release of student records to a congressional committee.

A former graduate student at Columbia University, Khalil gained prominence as a spokesperson for student activists protesting Israel's actions in Gaza.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested him at his campus apartment in March 2025, and he quickly became the face of the Trump administration's crackdown on pro-Palestinian demonstrators.

Khalil spent 104 days in a Louisiana immigration jail, missing the birth of his first child, before a federal judge in New Jersey ordered his release. His deportation case remains active.

Khalil's lawsuit says Columbia “refused to correct disinformation” about him while he was detained, “allowing a false narrative about his conduct and role to persist and further enabling peer-on-peer harassment of other Palestinian students and students with perceived shared Arab and/or Muslim ancestry.”

Instead of investigating reports of harassment, the university retaliated by characterizing events by a pro-Palestinian campus group as security risks and revising disciplinary policy to target criticism of the Israeli government, according to the lawsuit.

It accuses Columbia of civil rights violations, requests a court order restoring Khalil's access to the campus and ending the Palestinian group's suspension, and seeks damages “to be determined at trial.”

It also names the pro-Palestinian group and its president, Mohammad Zubairi, as plaintiffs.

Texas Landowners Sue to Stop Trump From Building a Wall Through Big Bend

Associated Press — Mon, 14 Sep 2026 18:00:48 GMT

Big Bend has about 500 miles of border. (Jon G. Fuller/VWPics via AP)

By Rebecca Santana

MARFA, Texas — Landowners, ranchers and business owners in the Big Bend region of Texas along with a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting the region's landscape and heritage are suing to stop the Trump administration's plans to build a wall and other border infrastructure through the remote section of the state.

The lawsuit, filed by Conserve Big Bend and six landowners and with the support of dozens more people along the border, comes as the administration is ramping up a $46 billion effort to line the roughly 2,000-mile southern border with a collection of 30-foot (9-meter) steel bollard walls, vehicle barriers, and technology intended to keep out smugglers and migrants.

In Texas, the effort has run up against numerous lawsuits and bipartisan opposition from sheriffs, elected officials, tour guides, environmental groups and landowners.

Officials backing the wall “were woefully unprepared for the hornet’s nest they stirred up because they had no idea how much we love this place,” said David Keller, an archaeologist and historian who specializes in the Big Bend and lives in the region.

“For us, the Big Bend is not an empty place on the map,” he said at a press conference announcing the suit. “It is our home.”

As part of its wall-building efforts, the administration has waived numerous regulations and statutes designed to protect the environment, archaeology or wildlife, on the basis that there's an urgent need to protect the border in what Homeland Security has called areas of “high illegal entry.”

But in the lawsuit announced Monday, the plaintiffs argue that when it comes to the Big Bend region, that's not an accurate description. They've cited historical statistics issued by Customs and Border Protection showing how few people cross the border in Big Bend compared with other areas along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Big Bend has about 500 miles of border — roughly one quarter of the total length of the border with Mexico from the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico. But the region only accounted for about 1% of arrests, according to the lawsuit’s stats.

Laura Allen, whose family's ranch would have border wall cut right through it under the plans, noted that illegal border arrests have plunged even further since Trump returned to office.

“Thank you, President Trump. You’ve secured the border,” Allen, a two-time Trump voter and former county judge, said at the press conference. "But now let it go. It’s time.”

The plaintiffs are arguing that the Department of Homeland Security is misusing powers from Congress that allow the secretary broad authority to waive regulations in order to build border walls or other infrastructure in areas where there are large numbers of people trying to cross into the country illegally.

“That determination is legally and factually unsound and unsupported,” the plaintiffs wrote.

The lawsuit filed Monday is the latest in efforts to slow or stop the administration's plans in Texas and elsewhere.

The biggest outcry has come over Customs and Border Protection's plans for the Big Bend National Park, which sits in a far southwestern corner of Texas where the Rio Grande separates the U.S. from Mexico.

The park's remote and rugged location, its steep limestone canyon walls and crystal clear starry night views attract visitors from around the world. The government has said in court hearings that no final plans have been decided for what will be built in the park but plans made public so far have included building a new road, installing detection technology and barriers to stop vehicles from crossing the border.

When bulldozers were spotted clearing land in the park in August, people across the state were outraged. CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott temporarily paused construction-related activity in the park but many activists and local residents would like to see even more changes to the administration's plans in the broader Big Bend region.

Native American groups have argued that the construction could inhibit their ability to practice their faith and is damaging important religious sites while environmentalists worry the wall will cause flooding or keep animals from migrating.

Landowners who've lived and worked along the Rio Grande for years have questioned how they'll feed livestock or water their crops if they can't access the river.

___

AP reporter Tim Sullivan in Minneapolis contributed to this story.

Judge Rules Trump Administration Must Give The Washington Sun USAID Records

Thuy Lan Nguyen — Mon, 14 Sep 2026 17:29:17 GMT

A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to release thousands of internal records maintained by the U.S. Agency for International Development, which President Donald Trump has sought to shutter.

U.S. District Judge Amir H. Ali ruled Thursday that USAID “shall produce records at a rate of 500 pages per month” to The Washington Sun. In March, The Sun, which at the time was known as NOTUS, sued the federal government, arguing that it illegally withheld records that are subject to the Freedom of Information Act.

The Sun’s lawsuit stems from a FOIA request Washington Sun Senior Editor Dave Levinthal filed with USAID in November 2024.

The request seeks records detailing how USAID officials anticipated and reacted to the results of the 2024 U.S. presidential election. Shortly after becoming president in January 2025, Trump oversaw the dismantling of USAID, an agency founded during the Kennedy administration that was — until recently — the world’s largest foreign aid agency.

"The court's ruling is a clear signal that the public has a right to observe the inner workings of a government agency the president is dismantling," Washington Sun Editor-in-Chief Tim Grieve said. "We're committed to fighting for these records until we get them."

By law, USAID had 20 working days after receiving Levinthal’s FOIA to disclose the scope of the responsive documents it would produce and to detail any plans to withhold documents under legal exemptions.

But until The Sun sued USAID, the agency had done neither. It also routinely ignored requests for updates and status reports. The agency, which in a court filing this month acknowledged possessing “4,707 potentially responsive records,” continues to withhold all records responsive to the request.

The case is titled NOTUS Media LLC & Levinthal v. U.S. Agency for International Development. Law firm Ballard Spahr LLP is representing The Sun.

For press inquiries, email communications manager Thuy Lan Nguyen: thuylannguyen@washsun.com.

DHS Watchdog Says Detainees Were Put in Small Cages at 'Alligator Alcatraz'

Jackie Llanos — Mon, 14 Sep 2026 17:07:05 GMT

“The use of such restrictive spaces is highly unconventional and does not align with standards for humane treatment.” the report states. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Staff at Florida’s now-shuttered detention center dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz” put immigrants inside small metal cages they labeled as “calming areas,” according to a report from the Department of Homeland Security inspector general.

The DHS watchdog said 79 detained immigrants spent several minutes to nearly two hours enclosed in the cages. At least two of those were outdoors and didn’t have enough space for someone to lay down, the report published Monday states.

The Office of the Inspector General described the practice as unlike anything its inspectors had witnessed at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility. Florida opened the center in July 2025.

“The use of such restrictive spaces is highly unconventional and does not align with standards for humane treatment.” the report states. “Facility staff described the small metal enclosures as ‘calming areas’ for detainees to deescalate and have time alone. Staff further maintained that detainees asked to spend time in the small metal enclosures.”

The existence of the cages was described in an Amnesty International report in December, and The Washington Sun spoke that month with detainees who witnessed others being put in “the box.”

“The mosquitoes were huge. And if someone tells you they’ll put you in the cage, you immediately get scared,” Rogelio Enrique Bolufé Izquierdo, a Cuban national who has since been deported to Ecuador, told The Sun in December.

The outdoor metal cages were 4 feet 3 inches by 4 feet 3 inches and 7 feet 9 inches tall and their use presents “significant risks to detainee health and safety,” according to the DHS OIG report.

Gov. Ron DeSantis announced in June the closure of the detention center in the Everglades, nearly a year after it opened. The facility had prompted several lawsuits from environmental and immigration advocacy groups and the Miccosukee Tribe.

“The left-wing media wants to focus on a confinement area for violent criminal aliens who have proven they cannot remain peaceful while awaiting deportation,” Alex Lanfranconi, DeSantis’ communications director, said in a statement. “While it adheres to all federal standards for criminal confinement, we’d make it even smaller if we could.”

Hundreds of the detainees first detained at Alligator Alcatraz didn’t have any criminal charges in the U.S., according to a Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times investigation.

The OIG team inspected the lockup in January, finding that it didn’t comply with medical care, food service, personal hygiene and other standards, according to the report. For example, detainees were only allowed to shower three times a week. There was also an insect infestation in the shower facilities.

DHS skirted responsibility for the conditions at Alligator Alcatraz, responding in a letter to the watchdog that it didn’t have a contract with the state to manage the detention space.

“Even as to a facility where a state detains aliens under 287(g) authority, the state maintains authority over the day-to-day operations of that facility,” ICE acting director David Venturella and Brian Cavanaugh, the under secretary for management at DHS, wrote in a letter.

The Florida Division of Emergency Management did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

This story has been updated to include a statement from Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office.

Donald Trump Jr.’s Wife Confirms Lavish Wedding Weekend Was Bankrolled by Russian Oligarch

Jenna Monnin — Mon, 14 Sep 2026 16:58:17 GMT

“Friendship doesn’t require a political motive. Generosity doesn’t automatically come with an agenda. And sometimes a wedding gift is simply a wedding gift,” Bettina Anderson, right, wrote on Instagram Monday. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

A Russian oligarch financed significant parts of Donald Trump Jr.’s wedding weekend in the Bahamas, his wife confirmed on social media Monday while attempting to brush off concerns about any conflicts of interest the arrangement raised.

“It was an extraordinarily generous wedding gift from a friend, and something for which we were and remain incredibly grateful,” Bettina Anderson posted on Instagram. “Friendship doesn’t require a political motive. Generosity doesn’t automatically come with an agenda. And sometimes a wedding gift is simply a wedding gift.”

Trump Jr. married Anderson, a Palm Beach socialite, during a lavish three-day affair at a pair of private islands, with guests put up in oceanfront villas.

But ProPublica reported early Monday morning that Umar Kremlev, a Russian oligarch with documented ties to President Vladimir Putin, put hundreds of thousands of dollars toward the wedding weekend.

Kremlev rented out a private island, put on a firework show and even had his team help plan the festivities for the president’s son and now daughter in-law, according to the investigative publication.

Anderson asserted that the multiday celebration was “never intended” to be their wedding weekend, and they only decided to get married that Friday because their plans changed. It’s unclear why the distinction would alleviate the conflict of interest concerns raised by the arrangement with Kremlev.

President Donald Trump notably did not attend the festivities.

A spokesperson for Trump Jr. did not dispute the wedding payments in a statement to ProPublica, though they claimed that Kremlev is “not someone he [Trump Jr.] has a business relationship with.”

The intimate guest list of around 50 people included Trump Jr.’s brother-in-law Jared Kushner, his brother Eric Trump and a comparatively large group of Russian guests, whose presence perplexed the other attendees, ProPublica reported.

Despite the limited invite list, Eric Trump’s spokesperson told ProPublica he has absolutely “no clue who this person is, nor has never heard his name” when asked about Kremlev.

Trump Jr. had emphasized the private nature and small guest list for the weekend several times on his podcast, saying it was just “really close friends” and “if you’re on that list, you weren’t talking.”

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Florida), who has campaigned with Trump Jr. and appeared on his podcast, jumped to the couple’s defense on Monday, calling the reports “gross attacks.”

“To be clear, these attacks come only a few days after the attacks on @jaredkushner regarding the peace negotiations. The fact is that this administration is actively pursuing a peace deal with Russia and Ukraine, and there are MANY people who DON’T WANT this deal to happen. So, they are now resorting to attacking @POTUS’ children,” Luna wrote Monday on X.

Rep. Robert Garcia (D-California), the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, is demanding answers about potential conflicts of interest related to the wedding weekend. “Umar Kremlev spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on the President’s son. What did he get in return? We need answers,” Garcia wrote on X.

Kremlev is the head of the once Russian-state financed International Boxing Association and was reportedly part of the delegation that accompanied Russian President Vladimir Putin to China just days before the wedding weekend — though a representative for Kremlev told Propublica that he was not a part of Putin’s "official delegation” on the trip.

Kremlev’s press office calls him a businessman and philanthropist and said he “has never discussed political matters with any of his American friends and acquaintances,” including the president’s son.

Kremlev is currently sanctioned by the Ukrainian government over his ties to Putin, specifically because he is “close friend of the head of Putin's security service.” Ukraine also called out Kremlev for his advocacy for Russian athletes who have been barred from international competitions and noted that he had received a medal by Putin’s decree in 2020 for “his great contribution to the development of physical culture and sports.”

The hundreds of thousands of dollars in wedding payments came from IB Challenger, an entity linked to the boxing association that Kremlev set up in Dubai as Europe became more hostile to Russian businesses.

When asked if Kremlev’s documented ties to Putin raised any concerns, the White House sent The Washington Sun the link to Anderson’s Instagram post.

“We are fortunate to have wonderful friends from all over the world, and we will never be embarrassed or apologetic about being grateful for them,” Anderson wrote in her Instagram post.

Trump Asks Smithsonian to Install ‘Colossus’ Statue of George Washington

Kendall Staton — Mon, 14 Sep 2026 15:36:59 GMT

Trump proposed a George Washington statue to replace the "Infinity" sculpture outside the National Museum of American History. (Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP)

President Donald Trump is calling on the Smithsonian to replace a decades-old sculpture outside the National Museum of American History with a “colossus” statue honoring George Washington.

Trump wrote in a Truth Social post Friday night that he is asking the Smithsonian to honor the nation's first president with a 30-foot statue ahead of Washington's 300th birthday in 2032. The statue would replace the abstract “Infinity” sculpture, which has welcomed visitors at the museum’s entrance since 1967.

“Replace a sculpture that says nothing about America with the man who, more than anyone else, says everything about America,” Trump said in the post.

Along with the statue, Trump also asked the institute to create a five-year exhibit dedicated to the first president and to install the 11-foot statue of Washington created for the Freedom Grand Prix race in August in the museum's Flag Hall. That statue should be in place no later than Constitution Day on Sept. 17, the post said.

The demands are the latest in Trump’s attempt to control the Smithsonian despite having no direct oversight of the independent agency. The Smithsonian has become part of the culture war during Trump’s second term as the president pushes back against what he calls “a revisionist movement.”

Trump has accused the Smithsonian of casting American history in a negative light. In a March 2025 executive order, he criticized the institution as promoting a narrative “driven by ideology rather than truth.” The Trump administration later launched a review of exhibitions at multiple Smithsonian museums, ultimately publishing a list of exhibitions it found objectionable.

Lonnie Bunch, secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, has defended the agency’s independence through it all. He announced last week he would step down by the end of the year.

In another Truth Social post Friday, Trump bashed “recently ended leadership” at the Smithsonian for giving too much attention to oppressed groups and not enough to people who overcame challenges.

“Instead of focusing on ideological activism, the leaders of America’s taxpayer-funded, National History Museum should be focused on telling America’s story — fairly, accurately, and coherently — and there is no better person to start with than George Washington,” Trump wrote.

Trump Says He's the Only Guardrail Needed for Artificial Intelligence

Raymond Fernández — Mon, 14 Sep 2026 15:36:52 GMT

Other tech leaders, including Elon Musk and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, have also called for greater caution. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

President Donald Trump said Monday that his presidency is the only regulation needed for artificial intelligence, doubling down on previous statements that the United States needs to rush to develop advanced AI tools to beat China at what he sees as an existential competition.

“The only control or ‘guardrails’ that AI needs is a STRONG AND SMART (High IQ!) PRESIDENT, and the U.S.A. has that, in spades!” the president posted on Truth Social. “We already have tremendous CRIMINAL and REGULATORY power over these companies! There is a SICK conspiracy going on against AI and Data Centers, and the only one that is happy about it is China.”

He also said the push to regulate AI was a “hoax” equivalent to the twin impeachment efforts during his first term as president, and urged tech leaders to change their minds on the issue.

“AI, and Data Centers, will be the Greatest Economic Development Engine in History — Bigger than Oil, Gold, Diamonds, or even the Internet. It will not be stopped by brilliantly run Destructive Forces during the Term of President DONALD J. TRUMP!” the post read.

The comments follow Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei’s calls over the weekend to slow down AI development until proper safety measures catch up with the fast growing autonomous systems. Without such measures, Amodei warned that AI “could be capable of taking over the entire internet” within six to 12 months.

Other tech leaders, including Elon Musk and Open AI CEO Sam Altman, have also called for greater caution.

But the Trump administration is not backing down from what it considers a national security issue and an economic competition with China. Vice President JD Vance told reporters on Monday that the administration was “thoughtful” about the risks of AI, while downplaying industry concerns.

“I feel a little bit weird about the fact that you have so many frontier AI tech companies kind of coming to the government and begging the government to regulate them,” Vance said. “It feels a little bit to me like a bit of a Trojan horse.”

Concerns over AI regulation and data centers have also become a central issue on the campaign trail ahead of this year’s midterm elections. The president has staunchly defended data centers despite growing voter opposition to projects that residents fear could drive up electricity costs, consume large amounts of water and reshape their communities.

That backlash has already led to projects being rejected or withdrawn in states including Ohio, Georgia, Indiana, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, while state and local officials across the country have moved toward moratoriums, tighter regulations and changes to tax incentives for the industry.

Two D.C. Landlords Settle Rent Inflation Lawsuit for $9.3 Million

Zara Norman — Mon, 14 Sep 2026 15:09:48 GMT

JBG Smith, co-owner of The Gale Eckington, will pay $8.1 million to settle claims of inflated rent at its properties. (Lillian Bautista/NOTUS)

Two D.C. landlords have agreed to pay $9.3 million to resolve claims that they “illegally conspired” to inflate rents across the thousands of apartments they own across the city, D.C. Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb said in a Monday press release.

It’s the biggest settlement to date in an ongoing series of suits between the D.C. attorney general’s office and 14 local landlords accused of using RealPage software to inflate rental prices at tens of thousands of apartments across the District, which resulted in renters paying millions of dollars more than they should have. Since 2025, three D.C. landlords have settled for a total of $2.4 million. Similar lawsuits have been filed in states including Maryland.

The latest to settle are Tennessee-based Mid-America Apartments, which will pay $1.2 million for allegedly inflating rents at the Post Massachusetts Avenue in Northwest D.C., one of its 269 District properties, and Bethesda-based giant JBG Smith, which owns more than 4,500 units in D.C. JBG Smith will pay $8.1 million to settle claims it inflated rents at multiple properties including The Batley in Northeast D.C., and West Half located in Southeast.

RealPage’s rental software, which uses confidential pricing data from landlords to estimate supply and demand and generate an inflated rental price, is widely employed across D.C. properties: More than 30% of apartments in buildings with five or more units and 60% in buildings with more than 50 units have been priced using it, the attorney general’s office said in its news release.

“This leaves many District residents with no choice but to pay inflated rents,” the office said.

Impacted residents will get some of their money back through a claims administration process, though some of the settlement will go to civil penalties and legal fees. Going forward, landlords will be prohibited from using these tools to artificially inflate rents.

It’s the latest headache for JBG Smith, which has about $2.6 billion in debt tied to its properties, according to its first-quarter Securities and Exchange Commission filings for 2026.

The company was ordered to pay $356 million in damages last month for misrepresenting a condo building it owns in Woodley Park, The Washington Business Journal reported. In May, The Washington Sun reported on a property co-owned by JBG Smith where tenants face abysmal housing conditions with little redress.

Conditions at that property, The Gale Eckington, have not improved since May, and management continues to be unresponsive, one tenant told The Sun. Landlords JBG Smith and Jonathan Rose Companies still owe more than $216,000 for 208 unresolved code violations at the property, according to a public Department of Buildings dashboard.

A spokesperson for JBG Smith said in a statement that the company did not have additional comment at this time, and referred questions about the distribution of settlement funds to the attorney general’s office.

This story was updated with a response from JBG Smith.

Democratic States and Cities Are Suing to Stop A Public Charge Rule

Manuela Silva — Mon, 14 Sep 2026 15:00:00 GMT

The Department of Homeland Security rule reverses a Biden-era policy that had restricted the consideration of public charge to consider only cash welfare. (Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP)

More than 20 Democratic-led states and several cities are announcing lawsuits Monday to stop the Trump administration from considering immigrants’ use of public benefits when deciding whether they qualify for permanent legal status.

New York Attorney General Letitia James is leading 20 states, the District of Columbia and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro in one legal challenge. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is leading Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle, and two counties, Santa Clara County in California and King County in Washington, in a separate case.

In July, the Department of Homeland Security published a final rule, set to go into effect on Sept. 18, that greatly widened the scope of what officers could consider when looking at public charge. Now, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services officers have few guardrails about what benefits they can consider, including an applicant's health or prior use of public assistance.

“Hardworking families should not be forced to go without the support they need because they fear asking for assistance will get them deported,” James wrote in a statement. “This rule preys on that fear and counts on families forfeiting the food assistance, health care coverage, and other public benefits to which they are legally entitled.”

The DHS rule reverses a Biden-era policy that had restricted the consideration of public charge to consider only cash welfare.

President Donald Trump tried to make similar changes to public charge during his first term, before a group of Democratic states sued over the changes. James filed a lawsuit in conjunction with New York City, Connecticut and Vermont at that time as well, which succeeded in blocking the enactment of the rule.

Both of the new lawsuits claim that the rule would cause undue hardship and burden to state and local governments, and that DHS wants to exceed the agency’s authority.

“The new public charge rule seeks to push immigrant families away from the programs that have kept people fed and healthy for decades,” Mamdani said in a statement. “That fear will not stop at the families that the federal government is targeting. Families who remain fully eligible for benefits will feel a chilling effect, and all New Yorkers will pay for it.”

Trump Cuts Irish Whiskey Tariffs Because ‘Everyone’s Been Bugging Me’ About It

Associated Press — Mon, 14 Sep 2026 13:45:59 GMT

President Donald Trump attends the Irish Open golf tournament at Trump International Golf Links. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

By Darlene Superville and Jill Lawless

DOONBEG, Ireland (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Sunday at the close of a golf tournament in Ireland that he plans to remove a 10% tariff on Irish whiskey.

Trump said during the trophy ceremony for the Irish Open that he had been asked about the issue by everyone, including Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin and even some of the golfers. Irish Open winner Shane Lowry was among them, Trump said.

“Everybody’s been bugging me” to do it, the Republican president said. “And I said, ‘On behalf of the United States of America, I am going to take the tariffs off'" of Irish whiskey.

Irish whiskey currently faces the standard tariff imposed by Trump on most imports from the European Union, which was reduced from 15% to 10% in July.

Trump announced in April that he was lifting certain tariffs on U.K. whiskey, which includes Scotch and spirits made in Northern Ireland, creating an imbalance with Ireland.

Trump’s surprise announcement was met with loud whistling and cheers from the crowd of spectators. Details on how soon the tariff would be lifted were not immediately available.

Chris Swonger, president & CEO of the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, called Trump's announcement “another positive step toward reducing barriers to spirits trade” and said everyone would benefit from it during the coming holidays.

“As U.S. hospitality businesses enter the critical holiday season, this action will provide a welcome boost for retailers, restaurants, consumers and the American economy,” Swonger said.

In May, the Irish Whiskey Association called for the tariffs to be removed, arguing that such a step would help many U.S. companies with Irish products in their portfolios and avoid uncertainty for consumers.

Trump said on April 30 that he gave the United Kingdom a tariff break on whiskey after King Charles III and Queen Camilla visited the White House. “The King and Queen got me to do something that nobody else was able to do, without hardly even asking!” Trump posted on social media.

The Scotch Whisky Association said July 24 that the zero-tariff policy had come into effect.

Stefon Diggs Scores in D.C. Debut, But His Celebration Proves Costly

Alex Schiffer — Mon, 14 Sep 2026 12:59:55 GMT

Matt Slocum/AP Photo

Stefon Diggs picked the wrong time to go for a hug.

The Maryland native had a respectable debut for his hometown team Sunday, catching four passes for 55 yards against the Eagles with a fourth-quarter touchdown. But Diggs’ celebration proved to be costly, as it prevented the team from attempting to tie the game early in the fourth quarter.

The Commanders fell to the Eagles, 24-22, after a failed two-point conversion with 1:01 left in the game. But Diggs deprived his team of another two-point try earlier in the quarter. After connecting with Jayden Daniels on a 10-yard pass for his first Commanders touchdown, Diggs launched himself into the goal post and hugged it, immediately drawing a 15-yard penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct. (Any contact with the goal post results in a penalty.)

The flag cost the Commanders a chance to go for two at that point, which coach Dan Quinn said he would have done. Ultimately, the Commanders hit a 48-yard extra point to make the score 17–16.

“I take full accountability,” Diggs told reporters after the game. He added that the Commanders’ offensive struggles through the first three quarters had frustrated him, which caused him to overcelebrate on the touchdown.

“When we clicked after not clicking for a little while, it got to me a little.”

Diggs, who also starred at Maryland, led the team in targets in the game with nine, and finished second in yards to rookie wide receiver Antonio Williams, who had four catches for 64 yards and the touchdown that set up Washington’s failed two-point conversion at the end of the game. (Washington’s primary pass catcher, Terry McLaurin, caught just two passes for 14 yards on four targets.)

The 32-year-old signed with his hometown team after spending last season with the AFC champion Patriots, catching 85 passes for 1,013 yards. He was released in March while facing charges of strangulation, assault and battery over a dispute with his former private chef. He was found not guilty in May and cleared by the NFL in June of any punishment in relation to its personal conduct policy.

Second Federal Judge Freezes Trump’s Mail-in Ballot Order

Associated Press — Mon, 14 Sep 2026 12:32:50 GMT

David Zalubowski/AP Photo/David Zalubowski

A federal judge late Sunday ordered that the U.S. Postal Service not implement President Donald Trump's executive order limiting mail balloting, adding another obstacle to the administration's effort to rewrite election rules as the Supreme Court is poised to weigh in on the matter.

The nation's highest court already is considering the administration's appeal of an order by U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani in Boston prohibiting the Postal Service from enforcing its new rule on mail voting before this year's midterm elections.

Late Sunday, U.S. District Judge Carl J. Nichols in Washington, D.C., handed down a similar hold on the rule, which was issued Aug. 21.

“Plaintiffs have demonstrated that, absent an injunction, there is an increased risk that a significant number of otherwise appropriate absentee or mail-in ballots will ultimately not be counted in the upcoming elections,” Nichols wrote in issuing the preliminary injunction. “The public has a strong interest in ensuring that doesn’t happen.”

Nichols in May had refused to issue an injunction because he ruled the lawsuit seeking one was brought too early. That was the high court's reasoning late last month when it lifted an earlier freeze by Talwani. But because the administration had just issued its rule to move ahead with Trump's plan, the plaintiffs in Boston and Washington, D.C., refiled their lawsuits.

Talwani was nominated by former President Barack Obama and Nichols was nominated by Trump.

The new Postal Service regulations stem from an executive order Trump issued earlier this year. Election officials say it would be impossible to implement the changes this close to a general election.

The regulations would require all ballot envelope designs to be pre-approved by the Postal Service and that states upload the identities of those who are to receive them into a still-inactive online portal. Mail ballots already are being sent out in at least three states — Alabama, North Carolina and Wisconsin — and more states are preparing to distribute mail ballots this week.

A whistleblower report to Congress warned that millions of people would be disenfranchised if the rule was allowed to take effect for the midterms. The union representing U.S. Postal Service workers has pushed back against the executive order, saying it is not the job of postal workers to verify voter eligibility.

Mail balloting has long been a favorite target for Trump, who has falsely blamed it for his 2020 loss to Democrat Joe Biden and claimed it is a pathway to fraud despite his own use of the voting method.

Trayon on Trial

Martin Austermuhle, Shamira Muhammad, Zara Norman — Mon, 14 Sep 2026 10:31:00 GMT

Mon, 14 Sep 2026 10:31:00 GMT https://www.washingtonsun.com/metro-newsletter/trayon-on-trial

Ward 8 council member Trayon White in federal court Friday. Opening statements in his bribery trial could begin as early as this week. (Dana Verkouteren via AP)

Good morning. This is The Washington Sun Metro newsletter for Sept. 14, 2026. You can get it in your inbox every day by signing up here — it’s free!

In today’s newsletter: The Trayon White trial, a warning about D.C.’s economy and the Commanders’ season-opening defeat.

Capital Weather’s Daily Digit: 9/10. Close to perfect with sunshine, dropping humidity and a refreshing breeze. Read the full forecast.

THE LATEST

A particularly high-stakes moment in D.C. politics is set to play out in the coming weeks, but it won’t be in City Hall — it will be in a federal courthouse.

Opening statements in the federal bribery trial of Ward 8 council member Trayon White could begin as early as this week. The long-awaited trial comes more than two years after he was indicted on charges of taking $35,000 in cash from D.C. businessman Allieu Kamara in exchange for promises that he would help Kamara maintain his existing contracts and land new ones.

White has conceded that he accepted the money. But as The Washington Sun’s Jenny Gathright and Martin Austermuhle report, his defense attorneys are expected to argue that he didn’t actually do anything official in exchange to help Kamara. A decade-old Supreme Court ruling involving former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell may help White — it tightened the definition of what it takes to prove that an elected official was actually bribed.

But those envelopes full of cash that were handed to White — all caught on video — will probably hang in the minds of jurors, said Peter Zeidenberg, a former public corruption prosecutor in D.C. who is now a partner at ArentFox Schiff: “It doesn’t smell right. Nobody looks at that situation and thinks, ‘This is normal.’”

The role of the FBI may also come into play. White has claimed he was entrapped by the government, and the fact that Kamara was working as an informant for the FBI may help buttress the claim. “It does look like the government went after White and set him up, essentially, and jurors don’t always like that,” said Erica Hashimoto, the director of the appellate litigation program at Georgetown Law.

White’s legal problems have hung over the city since he was indicted, and his trial comes as the Trump administration and congressional Republicans have aggressively inserted themselves into the city’s local affairs. Should he be convicted, White could face prison time — and would be immediately expelled from the council, triggering a special election in Ward 8.

DEEP DIVE

D.C. Chief Financial Officer Glen Lee isn’t mincing words.

In a presentation to the D.C. Chamber of Commerce last week, Lee told an audience of local business leaders that "economic and revenue signals are flashing red."

More than 36,000 jobs have been lost since June 2025, largely from federal government layoffs. The unemployment rate in D.C. stood at 6% in June, above the national rate of 4.3%. The office vacancy rate is up, and business tax revenue is down.

One positive note is that revenue from individual income taxes is up. But that comes with a caveat: Most of that is from people doing well in the stock market, or residents who received severance payments from the federal government. Lee said the revenue is “wild and subject to sudden swings,” unlike the preferred streams from property and sales taxes.

Lee’s warnings seemed to have had their intended effect. One attendee tells The Sun that the crowd came out of the event “sobered” about the challenges ahead.

Those challenges include a growing deficit that D.C. lawmakers will have to close next year — just as Janeese Lewis George, the expected winner of November’s mayoral race, will be trying to enact her ambitious agenda. In October, the council will start discussing possible tax increases to bring in more revenue, but there’s no certainty yet that they’ll actually pass any into law.

Lee’s warnings aren’t gospel: Some of his critics say that while they don’t contest that D.C. is facing economic headwinds, the CFO has sometimes underestimated how much revenue the city takes in. Earlier this summer, D.C. Auditor Kathy Patterson criticized Lee’s relationship with the council and urged him to more fully explain his dire predictions. “The CFO is damaging his office’s credibility by sounding alarms without adequate explanation,” she wrote.

FROM THE DISTRICT

Reflecting Pool AP - 26249769200328 (5575x3717, AR: 1.50)

Contractors admitted that their own errors, not vandalism, caused damage to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, The Sun’s Gavin J. Quinton reports. New documents show that Atlantic Industrial Coatings said workers had mistakenly layered two incompatible materials that caused paint on the pool liner to peel — and the government had knowledge of this error as it pursued criminal vandalism charges earlier this year.

Kennedy Center leaders say the venue is on the brink of bankruptcy and could close as soon as Tuesday, The Washington Post reports. In documents distributed to the center’s board, officials say the only way to avoid “certain fiscal collapse” could be putting President Donald Trump’s name on the building and therefore ensuring his support. Officials also recommend closing the building until a renovation is complete. The board could approve such a move at a special meeting Tuesday.

Trump wants a massive statue of George Washington installed outside the National Museum of American History. In a post to Truth Social last week, Trump wrote that he would like to see the "Infinity" sculpture that has stood outside the museum since 1967 replaced by a 30-foot statue of the founding father. Trump also proposed a five-year exhibit on Washington, starting in 2027 and running to his 300th birthday in February 2032.

WMATA has amended a policy requiring all bus operators to quote fares to passengers after public backlash over potential driver safety issues, WJLA reports. Now, only drivers in “fully enclosed workstations” are required to remind passengers of the fare. WMATA says it’s investing $18 million to install fully enclosed workstations on all buses by next May.

FROM MARYLAND

We Are CASA, a national immigrant rights advocacy group, filed a lawsuit last week against the Department of Homeland Security on behalf of four Maryland residents over what they say are unlawful arrests by ICE agents, The Sun’s Kendall Staton reports.

D.C. TRIVIA

Which group’s song inspired the name of legendary D.C. punk band Bad Brains?

The Clash
The Ramones
The Rolling Stones

Email us your answer — the first reader who gets it right will receive a shout-out at the end of tomorrow’s newsletter.

SPORTS

Jayden Daniels Eagles AP - 26256835961582 (4787x3191, AR: 1.50)

Eagles 24, Commanders 22: After stumbling through a 5-12 campaign last year, Washington showed signs of improvement in Sunday’s season opener. A revamped defense held the Eagles mostly in check, but Jayden Daniels and the offense took some time to get going. When they did, new additions Stefon Diggs and Antonio Williams scored second-half touchdowns and the Commanders gave themselves a chance to tie the game late. That hope ended with a failed two-point conversion attempt.

We’ve got you covered after a dramatic Week 1:

Martenzie Johnson breaks down the game and its key moments.

Dave Sheinin writes about Daniels’ up-and-down performance in his first game with a new play caller.

And Alex Schiffer rounds up the biggest Sunday storylines from the rest of the league.

High School Football Players of the Week: The Sun’s Noah Ferguson highlights five local standouts from Week 3, including a dual-threat quarterback from Largo and a Westfield running back who scored three touchdowns Friday.

What to Watch Today

NFL: Broncos at Chiefs, 8:15 p.m. (ESPN)

Thank you for reading! If you liked this newsletter, please forward it to a friend. If someone shared it with you, please sign up — it’s free! Got a tip or comments to share? Email us at metro@washsun.com.

The newsletter was produced by Jaden Amos, Michael Errigo and Nikie Johnson.]]>

Congress vs. The Machines

Thomas Burr, Evan McMorris-Santoro, Jasmine Wright, Manuela Silva, Jenna Monnin — Mon, 14 Sep 2026 10:00:00 GMT

Mon, 14 Sep 2026 10:00:00 GMT https://www.washingtonsun.com/newsletters/congress-vs-the-machines

Patrick Sison/AP

Today’s notice: Congress returns to perhaps, maybe address AI. Sen. Mark Kelly hits the campaign trail. Sen. Marsha Blackburn’s non-gubernatorial campaign fundraising. What’s next for “Pod Save America”? And: the Trumps’ crypto moves.

THE LATEST

Congress returns to Washington today to face reality on artificial intelligence. The snowballing worry from outside critics, inside developers and AI CEOs appears to put the issue on an emergency, red-alert level for lawmakers to do something to avoid the threat of rogue agents. There’s nothing like the head of Anthropic warning of the risks of cyberattacks, bioterrorism and serious economic disruption to spur Congress into action, right?

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) plans to convene his colleagues Wednesday for a briefing on the "extraordinary dangers” of AI. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said AI will be a high priority for Democrats in their weekly caucus huddle. So, yes, you can expect a lot of talk from Washington about AI.

“We have to resist Congress jumping in and imposing some sort of emergency moratorium. It's got to be done right, safely, wisely," House Speaker Mike Johnson told CNN’s “State of the Union.”

Donald Trump, too, said yesterday he doesn’t want to curtail AI development, especially in the race against China, because “whoever wins AI wins.” (Oh, and he told reporters on Air Force One that he uses AI but not how he uses it: “I don’t want to tell you that.”)

Keep an eye out this week for remarks from two top industry executives who say it’s time to “pace the frontier.” Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman speak Tuesday at Salesforce’s tech forum. Trump’s former AI czar David Sacks, who’s put the onus on the companies to rein this in, is also speaking at Politico’s Decoded Summit.

With 50 days until the midterms, expect this issue to ratchet up with voters, just like data centers are now squarely in the campaign sights. Barack Obama said recently that Democrats should map out how the party will tame AI’s risks should they retake the majority, The New York Times reported, and he pushed prospective 2028 candidates to make it a central campaign issue.

Given Congress’ penchant for can-kicking, we asked Claude, in its own estimation, will Congress take action on AI? “My honest guess: incremental, sector-specific stuff limps forward; the comprehensive framework gets kicked to 2027 regardless of who controls Congress,” Claude told us. OK, then.

More: Trump Says He Doesn’t Care if Voters See this Election as a Referendum on Him • Johnson Says Trump Needs ‘Congress to Act’ on His $5,000 Checks • Wisconsin Congressman Tearfully Recounts Surviving Emergency Plane Landing • What to Know About D.C. Council Member Trayon White’s Bribery Trial

Open tabs:

National Security Agency launches historic restructuring (WaPo)

Trespasser stopped at Kamala Harris’ Malibu property (Politico)

Pennsylvania woman dies from measles complications, state’s third death (NBC)

Kennedy Center could close as early as Tuesday, warns of bankruptcy (WaPo)

FROM THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL

Sen. Mark Kelly’s road trip: The Arizona Democrat, who is not yet running for president, will travel to Michigan and South Carolina next month to campaign for his party’s candidates, and that’s on top of stumping in 15 states in the last year. “All of us need to be out there and do whatever we possibly can to help candidates get across the finish line,” Kelly told The Washington Sun’s Alex Roarty.

The aggressive campaign schedule nonetheless serves a dual purpose, Alex writes, helping Democrats this year while signaling to potential donors, activists and voters that the senator can effectively campaign in red states and districts, winning over the kinds of voters any Democratic presidential nominee would need in a general election. Kelly said he’ll consider a presidential bid after the midterms.

“These emails won’t stop until we get an answer.” Those are the type of incessant fundraising missives, many replete with false urgency and high pressure, sent by Sen. Marsha Blackburn’s campaign, which has raised more than $9 million so far this cycle. But the Tennessee Republican isn’t running for reelection, she’s vying for governor — and federal contributions can’t be directly used for state-based campaigns.

But some of that money is still wending its way toward her gubernatorial campaign, The Sun’s Dave Levinthal reports. Federal and state campaign finance records indicate the senator’s federal joint fundraising committee, the Blackburn Tennessee Victory Fund, is helping seed a network of conservative Club for Growth super PACs with millions of dollars. And one of the network’s PACs is now spending millions of dollars to boost Blackburn’s gubernatorial campaign.

FROM THE WHITE HOUSE

The challenge in selling the economy: Former Biden officials told The Sun’s Jade Lozada that Trump is experiencing some of the same challenges on economic messaging that plagued his predecessor. Tonantzin Carmona, who served as Joe Biden’s special assistant for economic policy on the National Economic Council, said there was a “genuine disconnect” between improving economic indicators under Biden and Americans’ continued experience with rising prices.

Trump and his market messengers, like Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, are “trying to find some talking point on inflation and future price increases,” while what voters are more “upset about is the price level that they are experiencing right now,” said Sameera Fazili, the former deputy director of Biden’s National Economic Council.

THE BIG ONE

What is “Pod Save America” up to? What was once a mainstream, often milquetoast liberal media platform that was criticized for being too beholden to the ever-amorphous party “establishment” now reflects the party’s existential woes, The Sun’s Emily Kennard writes.

With the 2028 cycle looming, the podcast now plays host to the fights inside the Democratic Party that could help define the forthcoming primary. The hosts’ positions within the ongoing intraparty war are hard to pin down, Emily writes, though former Obama adviser Tommy Vietor tells her, “I don't know that the current DNC leadership is the biggest fan of our show.”

The establishment wing isn’t such a big fan, either. “I've watched lots of ‘Pod Save’ where they're critiquing the current Democratic Party and the Democratic establishment, and I just think: ‘Didn't you help construct this for eight consecutive years?’” said Third Way’s Yemisi Egbewole.

NEW ON THE WASHINGTON SUN

Cashing out on crypto? Trump and his three sons are taking steps that would allow them to cash out the digital “tokens” created by their family’s crypto firm, The Sun’s Jeff Stein scoops. While the change in holdings does not definitely mean that they are looking to sell their tokens, the new contract kicks off a two-year waiting period — and a lot of concerns around conflict of interest, too.

“It has never been clear what World Liberty Financial was supposed to do other than enrich the Trumps, and here we have them taking the first avenue they can to offload their coins,” Zach Everson, research director at Public Citizen, told Jeff.

A lawyer representing the Trump firm World Liberty Financial told Jeff that the “premise of your questions is misguided,” and a spokesperson said “there are no imminent sales.”

More: Federal Judge Says DHS Acted ‘Capriciously’ When Halving FEMA’s Staff • Burgum’s Arch Excavation Announcement Stirs Additional Legal Tensions • Immigration Group Sues Trump Admin Over Maryland Arrests

NOT US

How Your Mail Carrier Ended Up at the Center of the Midterms Battle, by Louise Radnofky and Esther Fung for The Wall Street Journal

The new threat election officials fear: Trump’s federal government, by Patrick Marley and Laura Meckler for The Washington Post

Trump’s Secret Points System for Cabinet Members, by Ashley Parker and Michael Scherer for The Atlantic

WEEK AHEAD

Today

The Senate and the House return to session.

JD Vance visits Missouri for a Fraud Task Force press conference before heading to Kansas for a MAGA Inc. campaign event.

Tuesday

Primary elections in Delaware.

FBI Director Kash Patel appears in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent appears in front of the House Financial Services Committee.

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman speak at a Salesforce conference.

Wednesday

Trump campaigns with North Carolina Republican Senate nominee Michael Whatley.

The Federal Reserve makes a decision on interest rates.

Friday

Hearing in a lawsuit over the “anti-weaponization fund” in federal court in Virginia.

Early in-person voting begins in Virginia for November’s elections.

Thank you for reading! If you liked this edition of The Washington Sun Newsletter, please forward it to a friend. If this newsletter was shared with you, please sign up — it’s free! Have a tip? Email us at tips@washsun.com. And as always, we’d love to hear your thoughts at newsletters@washsun.com.

The newsletter was produced by Thomas Burr, Gaby Morera Di Núbila and Nikie Johnson. Photo by Patrick Sison/AP.]]>

Mark Kelly Campaigns in Red States, for This Election And Maybe the Next

Alex Roarty — Mon, 14 Sep 2026 09:55:00 GMT

"I think I have a background that resonates with a lot of working-class people," the senator told The Washington Sun. Ross D. Franklin/AP

Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly will campaign in Michigan and South Carolina next month, according to an aide, visits to early presidential primary states that are certain to stir speculation about his future.

For the senator, however, the stopovers are part of a broader effort to help Democrats ahead of November’s midterm election — especially in red districts and states that aren’t always welcoming to national Democratic politicians.

Since last year, Kelly has visited 15 states to boost Democratic candidates, meeting voters, rallying with volunteers and raising money to help the party win House and Senate seats. The campaign stopovers have been concentrated in purple and red states, including North Carolina, Georgia, Ohio, Iowa and Kansas, each of which is home to a competitive Senate race.

In October, Kelly will visit another purple state, Michigan, to campaign with Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed, and a red state, South Carolina, to help Democratic Senate nominee Annie Andrews.

In an interview with The Washington Sun, Kelly reiterated that he would consider a potential presidential run after November but, for now, he is focused on this year’s election.

But the aggressive campaign schedule nonetheless serves a dual purpose, helping Democrats this year while signaling to potential donors, activists and voters that the senator can effectively campaign in even red states and districts, winning over the kinds of voters any Democratic presidential nominee would need in a general election.

“All of us need to be out there and do whatever we possibly can to help candidates get across the finish line,” Kelly said. “Some of these races are going to be really close, but we have an opportunity to win in some unexpected places.”

Kelly visited another early presidential state on Saturday, walking in the Navajo Nation Parade in New Mexico, before campaigning in his own state of Arizona.

Aides say that Kelly has also raised or contributed more than $10 million for Democratic candidates or party committees this election cycle, including over $3.5 million to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and $2 million to the Democratic National Committee. And in August, the senator raised more than $350,000 for Sherrod Brown, the Democratic Senate nominee in Ohio, after a three-day tour of the state.

Kelly, who has twice won the swing state of Arizona, said he’s able to campaign in deep Republican turf in part because of his blue-collar background. Both his parents were police officers.

“I didn’t go to some fancy Ivy League school,” he said. “I went to the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, where, along with a degree in engineering, I learned how to weld and start up a boiler, and worked in hot and sweaty engine rooms. I think I have a background that resonates with a lot of working-class people.”

“I went into the Navy, but my dad wasn’t like an admiral in the Navy, right? I didn’t have a trust fund. I just worked my way up.”

Kelly demurred when asked why Iowa, where he campaigned last month with Democratic Senate nominee Josh Turek, has trended away from Democrats.

“I haven’t been doing this a long time. I’m sure somebody wrote a paper in some political science class on it,” the senator said. “I think these things often go in cycles in different places and people are frustrated and when they don't feel like the government is delivering for them and making smart choices for them and their families, they go in a different direction.”

Kelly is one of many Democrats eyeing a presidential run who have actively tried to help Democrats win races this year, in what strategists say is an early attempt to woo the party before the primary starts in earnest next year. Former Vice President Kamala Harris is set to campaign in some electoral battlegrounds, including Georgia next month, while Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced a new political action committee this week that would spend $20 million on midterm races.

Former Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, meanwhile, has traveled extensively this year, making public appearances in roughly 30 states on behalf of nearly 50 candidates. He, like Kelly, has also campaigned in some deeply red areas, and this past weekend campaigned in a battleground House district in Arizona.

“It’s a signal to both voters and the opinion-makers that this is someone who can appeal to red-state swing voters,” said Addisu Demissie, who managed Cory Booker’s 2020 presidential campaign and has also worked with Democrats including California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who recently campaigned for Democrats in South Carolina. “And that has traditionally been an important criteria that Democratic primary voters evaluate their presidential candidates on.”

Kelly already has some credibility in that area, Demissie added, given his swing-state success. He also has more than $20 million banked in his own federal campaign account, money that could immediately seed a presidential bid should he decide to run.

The senator, whose public fight with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has helped raise his national profile, told The Sun that he would make a decision about running for president on his own timeline and not be pressured into making a quick decision after November.

“It's full speed ahead until November,” Kelly said. “On the other side of that, at some appropriate point, I don't know exactly when that is, but I'll make a decision, whether or not … I feel it's the right thing for, first, the country, and then for my family, to pursue higher office.”

Is the Trump Family Preparing to Cash Out on Its Own Crypto?

Jeff Stein — Mon, 14 Sep 2026 09:30:00 GMT

President Trump hugs his sons Barron, Don Jr., and Eric after taking the oath of office in January 2025. (Kevin Lamarque/AP)

President Donald Trump and his three sons have taken a step that would permit them to cash out the digital “tokens” created by the family’s cryptocurrency firm, intensifying concerns from ethics experts about potential conflicts of interest.

On May 19, four anonymous digital wallets simultaneously moved more than 20 billion in $WLFI — one of the two crypto “tokens” launched by the Trumps’ firm — to a vesting contract. The new contract kicks off a waiting period after which the accounts are able to sell their holdings.

One of the exchanges was for the precise amount of crypto that Trump was awarded when setting up the firm, World Liberty Financial, which he controls. Three of the others match precisely the amount of crypto given to other relatives of the president. Trump’s sons — Don Jr., Eric, and Barron — are the only other family members who have been identified as founders.

The change to the holdings has not been previously reported. In a statement to The Washington Sun, Eric Hageman, a partner at a law firm representing World Liberty Financial, said that new governance rules approved by the company required its founders to move the tokens to a vesting contract and denied that the new vesting contract represented a first step toward a sale of the tokens.

“The premise of your questions is misguided,” Hageman said. “WLFI token holders approved a governance proposal that obligated the founders to burn 10 percent of their holdings.”

However, three experts who reviewed World Liberty Financial’s governance documents told The Washington Sun that the transaction was optional, and government watchdogs are concerned the Trump family is taking steps to get a payout.

“It has never been clear what World Liberty Financial was supposed to do other than enrich the Trumps, and here we have them taking the first avenue they can to offload their coins,” said Zach Everson, the research director at Public Citizen.

David Wachsman, a spokesman for World Liberty Financial, emphasized that there was still a two-year vesting period before the tokens could be sold. "You must note that co-founder’s tokens are unable to be sold for a very long time," Wachsman said. "There are no imminent sales."

World Liberty Financial brands itself as a "next-generation financial platform" that will improve the speed and efficiency of sending money between platforms. Government watchdogs have long warned that it could instead amount to a legal way for foreign investors and domestic consumers to curry favor with the Trump family by purchasing a “token” currency of little real value.

While their value would decline if sold, the tokens owned by the family are currently valued at more than $1 billion. The president has already reported more than $550 million in income from sale of World Liberty Financial tokens, while retail investors have lost $1 billion from their investments in the company, according to an analysis by a blockchain company.

Hageman said the founders were obligated to remove 10% of their $WLFI holdings from circulation, and that “the only way” to do so was to move them into a vesting contract. Wachsman also said that "all" the co-founders of the company agreed to the "overwhelmingly popular governance proposal."

The company's latest governance rules, approved on May 6, state that founders "will have the option to elect less favorable unlock terms or remain locked indefinitely." Before the transfers, the crypto tokens were considered “locked” and could not be moved. After the transfers, the tokens can be sold after a vesting period.

Additionally, the governance document states the conditions of the vesting contract apply "if" founders "opt in." It adds that if a founder "does not affirmatively accept this new vesting schedule, their tokens will not be burned and they will continue to have their tokens locked indefinitely." The tokens can be used to vote on World Liberty Financial’s governance.

"They could've stuck with the indefinite lock," said Molly White, a crypto expert who runs a newsletter covering cryptocurrency, technology, and tech policy. “They say explicitly in the WLFI proposal that was voted in that it was optional … The Trump family is laying the groundwork to cash out their WLFI stake.”

Trump’s personal allotment of 14.175 billion in $WLFI tokens has a current market value of roughly $1 billion, though that would surely plummet if the president tried to sell them. The other three accounts, appearing to belong to Trump’s sons, each contain roughly 2.75 billion in $WLFI tokens, which would likely be worth hundreds of millions of dollars in the event of a sale.

The opportunity to use Trump’s crypto firm to buy influence with the White House has raised alarms. Chinese crypto billionaire Justin Sun bought $75 million in $WLFI tokens, after which the Securities and Exchange Commission dismissed an outstanding civil fraud lawsuit against Sun and his businesses. Four days before Trump’s inauguration, a firm backed by top officials in the United Arab Emirates also purchased a 49% stake in the family crypto firm.

The White House has previously said Trump has "no involvement in business deals that would implicate his constitutional responsibilities.”

Hageman and Wachsman did not respond to requests for comment explaining the diverging interpretations of the company’s governance documents.

“It’s right there in the documents: It’s an option. The terms of the deal make it clear that the big insider holders have the option to choose which investment path their tokens go down,” said Corey Frayer, who served as senior adviser to former SEC chair Gary Gensler, who is now the director of investor protection for Consumer Federation of America. “Within that set of options, one of them is to exit out. And it looks like they’re trying to turn their monopoly money into something that is real.”

The Commanders’ Dilemma: Protect Jayden Daniels or Let Him Loose?

Dave Sheinin — Mon, 14 Sep 2026 09:20:00 GMT

Jayden Daniels stuck to the script for the first three quarters of Sunday's season opener. (Matt Slocum/AP)

PHILADELPHIA — Jayden Daniels walked through the bowels of Lincoln Financial Field and toward the Washington Commanders’ bus Sunday night with every limb fully intact and operable, if not downright pristine. For a quarterback who spent most of 2025 either unable to get on the field or unable to stay there, that represented progress.

“It’s been a long time [Dec. 7, 2025, to be exact] since I played football,” Daniels said after the Commanders’ season-opening 24-22 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. “A long time since I started and finished a game.”

In a perfect world, the Commanders wouldn’t have to choose between keeping their franchise quarterback healthy and winning games. In a perfect world — such as the one they inhabited in 2024, when Daniels was a spectacular rookie and the Commanders were a 12-5 juggernaut — they can accomplish both objectives.

But here, at the start of the 2026 season, it’s already feeling like something close to a binary choice. And for most of Sunday night’s entertaining game, it felt like the Commanders were unsure which side of that line they wanted to occupy.

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They absolutely, positively, 100% don’t want Daniels to feel like he has to go out there and win games for them with his unique blend of athleticism, artistry and aerial acumen. Until they absolutely, positively, 100% need him to do exactly that. And then, it seems, they are willing to hold their breath and turn him loose.

On Sunday night, that strategy almost won them a crucial game in a stadium that has long been a house of horrors for this franchise. But it fell two points short when the final play of the game — a two-point-conversion try featuring an ill-conceived shovel pass to tight end John Bates — was stopped shy of the goal line.

Almost everything the Commanders did in the offseason seemed designed with one purpose in mind: keeping Daniels upright for 17 games. Behind rookie coordinator David Blough, they installed an offense full of motion and deception, with Daniels largely coming out of the huddle and playing under center — as opposed to the old, up-tempo design with Daniels mostly in the shotgun formation. They surrounded Daniels with the best collection of offensive weapons and targets of his pro career. They emphasized quick, smart decisions that boiled down to one notion: You don’t have to be the hero.

For the first three quarters Sunday night, the Commanders mostly stuck to that script. And what did that get them? A 17-9 deficit. Nine completions in 24 attempts for Daniels, for a total of 65 passing yards. No sacks, but no touchdown passes. Their longest play from scrimmage at that point was for 15 yards. They were 2 for 11 on third-down conversions. Terry McLaurin, their two-time Pro Bowl wideout, had two targets and no catches.

Daniels, though, was doing a bang-up job of not being the hero.

Asked afterward if it was beginning to feel natural for him to play smarter and safer, Daniels said, “It’s natural. I mean, kind of. But yeah, it’s natural. [The goal is] protecting the team, and when a play is there to be made with me scrambling, using my legs to go out there and make a play. But when there’s nothing there, don’t try to force anything. ... Throw the ball away. I’m kind of proud of myself for that.”

But with the final play of the third quarter, everything suddenly changed. Now operating out of the shotgun, Daniels saw the pocket collapse, shifted to his right, then took off downfield. He spun around one would-be tackler, then another — as you could practically hear the Commanders’ coaches yelling, “No, no, no, no, YES!” — and wound up with a 13-yard gain and a first down.

https://x.com/NFL/status/2099270551802151394

It was vintage Daniels, circa 2024, and it seemed to stir something in him. He suddenly got a little less risk-averse, taking his first sack of the day later in that drive. But he also stood in the pocket, against what is likely to be the best defense he will face all season, and unleashed a 33-yard laser to rookie Antonio Williams, then three plays later found veteran Stefon Diggs in the end zone for a touchdown.

“You see how we have success when we sustain drives,” McLaurin said. “Staying out of second and long, third and long, and converting in situations where we had to, and staying on the field.”

By the time Daniels, trailing now by eight late in the fourth quarter, moved the Commanders down the field for a late touchdown — finding Williams in the end zone from one yard out with just over a minute left — it seemed obvious what they would do with the two-point conversion try. Don’t overthink it. Let your best player — who happens to be the one through whom every play must run — make a play.

Instead, they ran the shovel pass to Bates, a run-blocking specialist of a tight end. Center Nick Allegretti missed his block, and Bates came up well short of the goal line.

“I knew the play. It was a good one,” coach Dan Quinn said of Blough’s play-call. (A Commanders spokesperson said Blough was unavailable to speak Sunday, but would address the media during his regularly scheduled appearance on Thursday.) “It just didn’t execute, which sucks.”

Things get no easier from here for the Commanders. They travel to Dallas next week, then make their home debut in Week 3 against the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks — part of a stretch in which they play against five 2025 playoff teams in their first eight games.

These next couple of months would have looked a lot less daunting with a win here against the Eagles. And a win here against the Eagles would have been a lot more feasible had Daniels turned himself loose a quarter or two sooner.

The heart wants Daniels to go out there, make plays and win games the way he did in 2024. The head wants him to be smart and stay on the field all season, the way he did not in 2025. Maybe it’s too much to ask that Daniels, in 2026, can do both.

DMV High School Football Players of Week 3

Noah Ferguson — Mon, 14 Sep 2026 09:15:00 GMT

South Lakes junior Joshua-Benjamin Dagbe starred on both sides of the ball for the Seahawks last week. (Courtesy Paul Ross)

Week 3 of the high school football season featured a full slate and several high-profile matchups. Here are five players that turned in exceptional performances in their teams’ wins:

Joshua-Benjamin Dagbe, Junior, Defensive Back, South Lakes

Dagbe was one of the brightest stars in South Lakes’ momentous 34-12 win over Virginia Class 6 power Battlefield on Thursday. The defensive back, who also plays wide receiver for the Seahawks, nabbed an early interception and returned it 48 yards to the house to give Coach Jason Hescock’s team some early momentum. Dagbe then pulled down two touchdown catches on offense and racked up 160 scrimmage yards as South Lakes stunned the Bobcats. Through three games, Dagbe has seven total touchdowns and two interceptions.

Gabe Hudgens, Senior, Wide Receiver, Theodore Roosevelt

The senior wideout has already started building a strong resume for DCIAA Player of the Year. In a thrilling comeback victory over Digital Pioneers Academy on Friday, Hudgens tallied 172 receiving yards and two touchdowns as the Roughriders stormed back from an early 16-point deficit to earn a 29-28 victory. “I don’t see many teams that can stop him one-on-one,” Coach Chris Harden said of Hudgens. “I think teams are going to have to put two or three guys on Gabe, because Gabe is a monster out there on that field.”

Akeem Jervis, Senior, Quarterback, Largo

Jervis torched Glen Burnie in more ways than one in Largo’s 50-34 win last week. The senior rushed for 132 yards and a touchdown and threw for 123 yards and two more scores as the Lions poured it on against a Glen Burnie team that advanced to the Maryland 4A state quarterfinals last season. Coach Derron Thomas’ run-heavy offense finished with 336 rushing yards.

Aiah Mbayo, Senior, Running Back, Bethesda-Chevy Chase

Mbayo produced a handful of explosive plays to help key Bethesda Chevy-Chase’s 50-36 victory over Blair on Thursday. The senior made the most of his eight carries, running for 152 yards and two touchdowns on the ground. He added a third touchdown with a 98-yard kickoff return as the Barons brushed off last week’s gut-wrenching loss to rival Churchill with a huge offensive showing.

PJ Sutherland, Senior, Running Back, Westfield

Sutherland found the end zone three times in the Bulldogs’ 35-28 win over Langley on Friday. His first came in the first half, when he hauled in a deep pass over his shoulder for a 56-yard receiving touchdown to give Westfield a two-score lead. Sutherland’s second touchdown was equally impressive — with his team clinging to a one-score lead deep in the second half, he burst through a horde of Saxon tacklers for a 10-yard touchdown run. His final score, a 23-yard jaunt to the end zone with just minutes left in the fourth quarter, gave the undefeated Bulldogs a nice cushion.

Blackburn Is Raising Millions for a Federal Race While She Runs in a State One

Dave Levinthal — Mon, 14 Sep 2026 09:15:00 GMT

Sen. Marsha Blackburn is running for governor of Tennessee. (George Walker IV/AP)

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For months, Sen. Marsha Blackburn’s federal political operation has sent prospective donors incessant fundraising missives, many replete with false urgency and high pressure — tactics criticized by government agencies and elder advocacy groups. Sometimes, emails arrive multiple times a day.

They work: The Tennessee Republican’s operation has raised more than $9 million during the 2026 election cycle, according to Federal Election Commission records. Much of that money comes from tens of thousands of small-dollar contributions sent by individual donors who’ve responded to solicitations, records indicate.

Blackburn isn’t running for reelection to a federal office. She’s campaigning for state office — governor of Tennessee — where federal campaign dollars generally can’t get spent.

But some of that money is still wending its way toward her gubernatorial campaign. Federal and state campaign finance records indicate the senator’s federal joint fundraising committee, the Blackburn Tennessee Victory Fund, is helping seed a network of conservative Club for Growth super PACs with millions of dollars. And one of the network’s PACs is now spending millions of dollars to boost Blackburn’s gubernatorial campaign.

Blackburn’s novel financial machinations have alarmed some political ethics watchdogs, who say they blur lines between different campaigns and could skirt the spirit, if not the letter, of rules governing the intermingling of state and federal political cash.

“It raises red flags,” said Stuart McPhail, director of campaign finance litigation at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, which generally supports stronger campaign finance laws. “It’s fair to ask, ‘Why is a state-level candidate using a federal committee in this way?’”

Blackburn’s Senate office directed questions to Blackburn’s gubernatorial campaign, which did not respond to repeated requests for comment. The Club for Growth and several of its connected super PACs did not respond to inquiries.

Blackburn’s multi-step transfer of political wealth to Club for Growth’s political committee network began last year with the Blackburn Tennessee Victory Fund, which is composed of her Senate campaign, federal leadership PAC and a federal arm of the Tennessee Republican Party:

The Blackburn Tennessee Victory Fund shifted about $2.1 million to Marsha for Senate, Blackburn’s dormant Senate campaign committee over the course of 15 months, from March 2025 to June 2026.
Marsha for Senate contributed $4.8 million to the Club for Growth Action super PAC on May 8, as first reported by the Tennessee Lookout.
Club for Growth Action contributed $3.55 million to School Freedom Fund Oklahoma, an affiliated state-level political committee established in April, between May 11 and June 8.
The School Freedom Fund — a related political committee funded by billionaire businessman Jeff Yass, and which shares a Washington, D.C., address with the School Freedom Fund Oklahoma — contributed $4.81 million to the Tennessee Freedom Fund between May 7 and July 7.
The Tennessee Freedom Fund spent nearly $1.8 million between June 10 and July 9 to advocate for Blackburn’s gubernatorial campaign.

State and federal campaign finance records covering the groups’ activity during August and September aren’t slated for public release until next month.

Bradley Smith, a former Republican chairman of the Federal Election Commission, said the Blackburn Tennessee Victory Fund is legally permitted to continue raising money, particularly since Blackburn hasn’t categorically ruled out running for Senate in the future. (Her current term expires in early 2031.)

The Blackburn Tennessee Victory Fund and Marsha for Senate committees can legally contribute money to super PACs, which may then independently choose how to use that money, including in state races, Smith added.

Tennessee state law prohibits a federal campaign committee from transferring funds to a state-level committee maintained by the same candidate, but does not address the kind of financial moves the Blackburn Tennessee Victory Fund has made.

“There are good reasons to keep raising money for the federal committee,” said Smith, who’s now chairman of the Institute for Free Speech, which generally opposes strong campaign finance laws.

The bipartisan FEC would typically investigate any complaint accusing the Blackburn Tennessee Victory Fund, or any federal committee, of not complying with federal campaign finance rules.

But the commission has been almost entirely out of commission since May 1, 2025, when it lost its legally required quorum of four commissioners needed to execute high-level business, such as formalizing investigations, conducting audits, interpreting statutes, penalizing scofflaws and even conducting public meetings.

President Donald Trump, who alone may float new commissioners to fill empty seats, waited until February to float the Senate two nominees for confirmation. Since then, the Senate has failed to even conduct a confirmation hearing for the pair of Republicans, Ashley Stow and Andrew Woodson.

The FEC declined to comment.

“This underscores how we need a functioning FEC to investigate these questions,” said Faith Williams, senior policy manager for anti-corruption and accountability at Common Cause. “The Senate can do something about it — wouldn’t that be nice — but isn’t.”

Recent polls show Blackburn with a sizable lead over her main gubernatorial race rival, Democrat Jerri Green. The Republican entered August with about $2.7 million in her state campaign account. Green’s campaign, in contrast, had about $118,000.

Meanwhile, back at the federal level, the Blackburn Tennessee Victory Fund keeps asking potential donors for money with aggressive pitches:

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