“House Republicans are inching closer together on a plan to fund the government, with a key GOP hard-liner suggesting he could tolerate a short-term punt before funding runs out Sept. 30,” Politico reports.
“Maryland Rep. Andy Harris, who chairs the House Freedom Caucus and for weeks has pushed for a year-long continuing resolution, said in a brief interview Monday he could support a shorter stopgap plan that Appropriations Chair Tom Cole is backing — if Cole has the votes.”
“It was hard to miss the letter Donald Trump reportedly sent disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffery Epstein for his 50th birthday — complete with a sketched outline of a naked woman — after the House Oversight Committee Democrats published a copy of the 2003 note to X on Monday afternoon,” NOTUS reports.
“But the Republican lawmakers gathered on Capitol Hill, just hours later, claimed they were not among those millions of viewers.”
“New video footage shows there was more to the skirmish last week between a protester and Rep. Tim Burchett, which ended with the Tennessee Republican forcefully shoving the man,” Politico reports.
“Burchett characterized the encounter at the time as a heated verbal exchange that grew physical when the demonstrator got in the lawmaker’s face and ‘bumped’ him. But a recording of the incident shows that prior to the two of them coming face to face, Burchett taunted the man, saying ‘come over here.’”
“After a tense back-and-forth, the protester appeared to move away from Burchett, but the lawmaker stepped toward him again and escalated the interaction, mocking the man for ‘quivering.’”
A member of President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club joked about the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein selling Trump a “fully depreciated” woman for $22,500 in 2003.
President Trump suggested that offenses that “take place in the home” should not count against his record of crime reduction in Washington, saying his opponents are using reports of “a little fight with the wife” to undermine his crackdown, the New York Times reports.
Jonathan Chait: “The president’s initial strategy of denying that the document exists leaves him with few options now that it has been made public.”
Aaron Blake: “The key fact here is that this comes from Epstein’s estate. In other words, for this letter to have been fake, someone would have had to plant it in Epstein’s possessions a long time ago, somehow.”
“The White House is denying the authenticity of a newly released letter that President Donald Trump reportedly sent to Jeffrey Epstein for his 50th birthday, suggesting that the signature on the document does not match current documents,” NOTUS reports.
“They’re just not that different. They’re reporting the same fucking thing, starching it, trying to make it interesting, and then showing some guy who’s raising dogs in Alaska alone and some inspiring stories so we’re not just totally depressed about it. It’s the same fucking thing over and over.”
— Scott Galloway, on Pivot, predicting the end of the television network news business.
“The Department of Homeland Security said Monday it has launched a new immigration enforcement operation in Chicago as part of the Trump administration’s effort to target “sanctuary cities,” and immigrant advocates said several people in heavily Hispanic communities had already been detained,” the Washington Post reports.
“The new ownership of CBS News on Monday selected Kenneth Weinstein, a former chief executive of the Hudson Institute, a right-leaning policy think tank, to review complaints about its coverage in a new post as ombudsman at the network,” the New York Times reports.
“Rupert Murdoch’s chosen son Lachlan will remain in charge of the family business, forestalling a predicted challenge from his siblings over the political bent of the conservative media empire,” CNN reports.
“Instead, three siblings are exiting the business altogether — in an ending worthy of a dramatic series finale.”
“The companies said that the Murdoch family’s existing trust setup is being replaced. Prudence MacLeod, Elisabeth Murdoch and James Murdoch, described in legal filings as the ‘departing members,’ will receive about $1 billion each for their shares.”
The Wall Street Journal analyzes the text and drawing Donald Trump gave to Jeffrey Epstein in a 2003 birthday book.
“Lawyers for Jeffrey Epstein’s estate have given Congress a copy of the birthday book put together for the financier’s 50th birthday, which includes a letter with Trump’s signature that he has said doesn’t exist,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
Said Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA): “President Trump called the Epstein investigation a hoax and claimed that his birthday note didn’t exist. Now we know that Donald Trump was lying and is doing everything he can to cover up the truth. Enough of the games and lies, release the full files now.”
“Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other senior defense officials visited Puerto Rico on Monday, as the Pentagon looks to intensify military operations against drug cartels based in Latin American countries,” the Washington Post reports.
Reuters: Top Pentagon officials visit Puerto Rico as tensions with Venezuela soar.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams has abandoned his effort to appear on two ballot lines — “EndAntiSemitism” and “Safe & Affordable”— in November’s mayoral election, opting to only run on the latter, the New York Daily News reports.
“The Jeffrey Epstein scandal will lead the news again this afternoon, much to the dismay of the White House and House GOP leaders. And President Donald Trump is in the middle of it all, as always,” Punchbowl News reports.
“The Epstein estate is expected to release the disgraced financier’s 2003 ‘birthday book’ and additional documents to the House Oversight Committee today.”
“Trump penned a congratulatory note and a picture of a hand-drawn naked woman to Epstein for his 50th birthday… Trump has denied writing the letter or sketching out the drawing, calling it a ‘fake thing.'”
French Prime Minister François Bayrou has lost the vote of confidence he called in his government, the BBC reports.
Bloomberg: “Parties across the political spectrum in France’s lower house joined forces Monday to overwhelmingly issue the rebuke to Bayrou, who called the motion in a failed attempt to rally support for his unpopular budget reforms. Just 194 lawmakers voted in support of the prime minister and 364 voted against.”
“President Emmanuel Macron will now have to decide whether to name a new premier or dissolve the National Assembly and call a new election, which would throw the country and markets into another period of chaos. The new government would still have to find a way to pass a new budget — an exercise that has now toppled the last two prime ministers.”
New York Times: “This was a demise foretold. Fatalistic in the face of a parliamentary impasse, Mr. Bayrou had, even before the debate began, invited his entourage to a ‘convivial moment,’ or farewell soirée, this evening. With four prime ministers in the past 20 months, and a fifth likely to be appointed now, the fall of French governments, once unusual, has become close to mundane.”
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.
