September 16, 2025

Good Tuesday evening. In this edition: Democrats reject GOP funding proposal, raising odds of shutdown; and Patel clashes with Democrats over Kirk and Epstein.

• Plus, Kirk suspect, TikTok, Gaza City, Mangione, Miran, Cook, defamation, DC crime and state visit.

Government Funding

Top Democrats came out in opposition to Republicans' proposal for a short-term government funding patch, increasing the chances of a shutdown at the end of the month.

• It sets up a high-stakes showdown, with Republicans essentially daring Democrats to force a shutdown by rejecting a stopgap measure that was crafted without their input.

House Republicans this afternoon unveiled the text of a "clean" continuing resolution (CR) that would extend government funding at current levels through Nov. 21.

• It would also provide tens of millions of dollars in security assistance for lawmakers and other federal officials amid growing concerns of political violence.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) said it was up to Democrats to provide the votes needed in the upper chamber to get the bill to the president's desk.

• "We're going to give them every opportunity to vote for a clean CR, something that in the past Sen. Schumer and the Democrats have said they support," he told reporters.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said that while Democrats didn't want a shutdown, they were being left with few options after being excluded from negotiations.

• "By refusing to sit down with Democrats, Republicans are telling the American people they're happy to help Donald Trump burn this country down and they're happy to let the government shut down," he said.

Sen. Schumer was pilloried by his liberal base after lending support to a Republican CR in March that House Democrats had already voted in lockstep against.

• This time around, Sen. Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) are projecting a united front.

Democrats seem to be conditioning their support for a CR on the repeal of the recent changes to Medicaid as well as an extension of the expiring Obamacare subsidies.

• "Zero chance we will do that," Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said of the Democratic demands.
  
  
• "This will not be a partisan CR. This will be a clean, short-term continuing resolution. End of story."

While the speaker is expected to be able to get the CR out of the House with only Republican votes, Democratic support will be needed in the upper chamber to reach the 60-vote threshold.

• Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) indicated he will support the CR, but it will take six more Democrats to break a filibuster.

The House is planning to vote on the CR on Friday, with the aim of sending the measure to the Senate before the weeklong recess in observance of Rosh Hashanah.

Watch the remarks from Speaker Johnson and Sens. Thune and Schumer.

Federal Bureau of Investigation

FBI Director Kash Patel clashed with Senate Democrats during a testy hearing on Capitol Hill, fending off accusations that he has politicized the agency and bungled the investigation into the assassination of Charlie Kirk.

• It was his first appearance at an oversight hearing since his confirmation and comes at a time of internal upheaval at the agency and mounting concerns about political violence in the country.

Mr. Patel began his opening remarks by providing an update on the murder investigation, then highlighted his agency's efforts to crack down on violent crime, protect children from abuse and stem the flow fentanyl.

• "I'm not going anywhere," he concluded, seemingly responding to speculation that he was on the hot seat after receiving bipartisan criticism for his handling of the Kirk investigation.

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), the ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, called him "arguably the most partisan FBI director ever" and said he had "already inflicted untold damage on the FBI."

• The Illinois Democrat blasted his moves to fire career FBI officials, brought up a litany of his controversial past statements, and criticized his handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case.

The senator also ripped the director's handling of the Kirk investigation, including his social media post prematurely declaring that "the subject" of the shooting was in custody when the real suspect was still on the loose.

• "Mr. Patel was so anxious to take credit for finding Mr. Kirk's assassin, that he violated one of the basics of effective law enforcement: at critical stages of an investigation, shut up and let the professionals do their job," Sen. Durbin said.

Director Patel said he didn't see that as "a mistake," but rather an example of working with the public in a transparent manner.

• "Could I have been more careful in my verbiage and included 'a subject' instead of 'subject'? Sure," he said. "But I was doing the best I could."

In one particularly heated exchange, the FBI director lobbed personal insults at Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) as he was pressed on the decision to relocate Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell to a minimum-security prison after she sat for interviews with a top Justice Department official.

• "You are the biggest fraud to ever sit in the United States Senate. You are a disgrace to this institution, and you are an utter coward," Mr. Patel charged.
  
  
• "You can make an internet troll the FBI director, but he will always be an internet troll," Sen. Schiff shot back.

Republicans, who were largely supportive of the director, also pressed him on the Epstein files, with Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) urging him to be as transparent as possible.

• "This issue is not going away," the GOP senator said. "You're going to have to do more to satisfy the American people."

Watch the Senate hearing.

• Mr. Patel testifies Wednesday before the House Oversight Committee. Watch LIVE online at 10am ET.

In other news…

• Utah prosecutors formally charged the 22-year-old suspect in the assassination last week of conservative activist Charlie Kirk and said they would seek the death penalty. In addition to murder, the suspect was charged with six other counts, including witness tampering, obstruction of justice and felony discharge of a firearm.
  
  

• President Trump said he has reached a deal to find an American buyer for TikTok, potentially ending the lengthy saga about the popular social media app's Chinese ownership. "We have a group of very big companies that want to buy it," he told reporters on the eve of the latest deadline for it to be sold or banned in U.S. app stores.
  
  

• The Israeli military began its long-anticipated ground offensive into Gaza City, causing thousands of Palestinians to flee and dimming hopes of securing a ceasefire agreement after nearly two years of war. Israel, which received fierce international criticism for the incursion, said it was necessary to prevent Hamas from regrouping and planning future attacks.
  
  

• A New York state judge dropped the terrorism charges brought against Luigi Mangione over the December murder of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson. The judge said the two charges did not meet the definition of terrorism under state law. Mr. Mangione is still facing a second-degree murder charge in New York as well as federal charges.
  
  

• The Senate voted 48–47 on Monday evening to confirm Stephen Miran as a Federal Reserve governor, getting him in place ahead of the central bank's two-day policy meeting that began Tuesday. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) joined all Democrats in opposition. Mr. Miran, the chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, plans to take a leave of absence from the White House during his tenure on the Fed, which ends in January.
  
  

• The Trump administration indicated it will ask the Supreme Court to intervene after a federal appeals court on Monday evening blocked the president from firing Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook. The appeals court upheld a lower court ruling that prevented her immediate ouster while the two sides spar over whether the president has the legal authority to remove her from the independent central bank.
  
  

• President Trump filed a defamation suit against the New York Times seeking $15 billion in damages for its articles and a book making the case that he built his fortune and reputation in part through fraud. "It lacks any legitimate legal claims and instead is an attempt to stifle and discourage independent reporting," the newspaper said in a statement. "The New York Times will not be deterred by intimidation tactics."
  
  

• The House approved a pair of bills, both with bipartisan support, that aim to crack down on juvenile crime in Washington, DC, by prohibiting DC's local officials from changing sentencing laws and restricting judges' ability to be more lenient with younger criminals.
  
  

• President Trump departed this morning for a state visit to the United Kingdom, which will include a banquet hosted by King Charles III as well as meetings with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

For your radar…

• Susan Monarez, who was recently fired as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) after a clash over vaccines with HHS Secretary RFK Jr., testifies Wednesday before the Senate HELP Committee. Watch LIVE on C-SPAN3 at 10am ET.
  
  

• Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell holds a news conference Wednesday following the central bank's two-day policy meeting. Watch LIVE on C-SPAN3 at 2:30pm ET.

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