Senate Republicans say upcoming hearings will provide thorough oversight of President Trump’s use of executive power. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) says he;s observed a lot of presidents and says they all try to exert as much executive power as they can. Then he says as a matter of course those decisions often have to face scutiny from the courts and Congress, Thune  told CNN Republican senators “have a responsibility as an independent, coequal branch of the government to make sure that we’re doing appropriate oversight of these decisions.”

President Trump has called off a planned sit-down with Democrat leaders to discuss ways to avoid a government shutdown. Accusing Democrats of holding the government hostage over radiczl left demsnds, the President werote on X that was was czancelling a planned meeting with the House and Senate minority leaders this week. He wrote that Democrats in Congress seem to have totally lost their way. And that-quote- “They obviously have no idea what it means to put America First or to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”  House Democrat leader Hakeem Jeffries blasted back “Trump always chickens out”. Senate Minority Leader Schumer accused Trump of. -in his words-“running away from the negotiating table.”

Defense Secretary Hegseth says he’ll shutter a 74-year-old committee created to address the special needs of women in uniform. In a post on X, a spokesman says Hegseth has deicded to put an end to theDefense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services. The posting says Hegseth believes the committee is-quote-““focused on advancing a divisive feminist agenda that hurts combat readiness, while [he] has focused on advancing uniform, sex-neutral standards across the Department,” Hegseth announced in May he would be terminating a total of 14 defense advisory groups.

A leading Republican joins the pushback against FCC Chairman Brandon Carr. Former Majority Leader Mitch McConnell [R-KY] says he agrees with Texas Senator Ted Cruz who accused the FCC of overstepping it’s bounds with regard to the controversy over comments made by ABC latenight host Jimmy Kimmel. Cruz saud Chairman Carr’s threats of possible FCC action against the Network resembled something out of a gangster movie. McConnell wrote on X- “You don’t have to like what somebody says on TV to agree that the government shouldn’t be getting involved.”

Plenty of fireworks today on the Senate floor as lawmakers were set to vote on a pair of contrasting Continuing Resolution bills to avoid a government shutdown. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer [D-NY] failed to pass a Democrat version of a CR.  The Democrat bill was meant to make a statement but had no chance of passing.

Look for some heated rhetoric today in the Senate as Democrats try to push through an alternative to the Republican version of a Continuing Resolution to keep the govement up and running.. Democrat leader Chuck Schumer says it’s all about contrasting priorities. But Majority Leader John Thune says keeping the government up and running will provide time for ongoing bi-partisan talks. He says the Democrat’s goal is to avoid bi-partisan negotiation, by using the threat of a government shutdown. Republicans will need a handful of cemocrat votes to get the 60 thy’ll need to keep the government running thru mid-November.

On a party line vote of 51-47 the Senate has confirmed 48 Trump nominees in one fell swoop, ending a backlog caused by Democrats. Under the new rules in the Senate Republicans were able to combine all the nominations into one and confirm them with a simple majority vote. The new chamber rule allowing for the confirmation of certain executive branch nominees in large groups rather than one by one was enacted earlier this month on a strict party-line vote. Republicans say they took the unusual step to offset delays they blame on the Democrats.

House Republicans are considering a new plan to help ensure their version of a Continuing Resolution will be passed in the Senate. After Friday’s expected passage of the House version of a spending bill, Republicans in the chamber say they may gavel out of session, get out of town and not come back until after October 1st.  That would be past the deadline for Senate and House negotiators to hammer out a compromise bill, before the end of the month deadline. That means unless Senate Democrats go along with Republicans and pass the House bill in their chamber, a shutdown will ensue and Democrats won’t be able to blame it on the Senate GOP.

With less than two weeks to go before a government shutdown there’s little sign of compromise on Capitol Hill on the details of a continuing resolution. All but the most essential of government services are set to shut down unless Congress can pass a Continuing Resolution by September 30th. The stopgap measure set for a vote in the House on Friday would keep the government up and running until mid-November. In the Senate Republicans predict Minority leader Chuck Shumer is holding a losing hand as he refuses to compromise hoping to blame a likely shutdown on the GOP.

A former minister who now serves in the U.S. Senate says the killing of Charlie Kirk underscores the spiritual nature of the nation’s political struggles. Senator James Lankford [R-OK] notes that Charlie Kirk began his journey in politics, he soon began to see that spiritual issues lie at the root of many U.S. problems. Then he says Kirk excelled at convincing many young people to consider and embrace a Christian worldview. Senator Lankford spoke with the Salem Radio Network. He’s one of many lawmakers who will be in attendance at Charlie Kirk’s funeral this weekend.

Good news for President Trump in the latest Rasmussen Daily Presidential Tracking poll. 50% 0f respondents to the Wednesday Rasmussen poll say they approve of the job the president is doing. 49% say they disapprove.Among those who say they approve, 33% say they strongly approve. 39% say they strongly disapprove. It’ the first time the president’s approval has reached 50% since late August.

Senator Eric Schmitt [R-MO] is out with a new book detailing the extent to which the Biden White House sought to censor social media platforms. Senator Schmitt says it was all about circumventing the 1st Amendment He says the entire White House staff was on board with issuing threats to social media platforms And he says it was even worse when it came to Covid

Iowa Senator Joni (JONE’-eee) Ernst says presidential leadership is key to forging peace between Israel and its Arab neighbors. Senator Ernst tells the Salem Radio Network President Trump is providing the kind of leadership that was missing during the previous administration. So even though the war in Gaza is threatening to create new cracks in the tenuous Abraham Accords she predicts the presidents well manage to keep all parties engaged.

A Republican senator is challenging one part of the public narrative following the assassination of Charlie Kirk. To those calling for an end to violent political rhetoric,  Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton [R-ARK] notes that far more acts of political violence are being carried out by leftists than conservatives. He also noes that public opinion polls show support for political violence very low among Republicans bu embraced by a higher number of Democrats.

Conservative influencer Charlie Kirk was honored in the U.S. Senate today with a moment of silence. Republican Senator Bernie Moreno [R-OH] invoked the legacy of the slain conservative icon in calling for civil debate on both sides in the Senate. He encountered no objection when he sought unanimous consent for a moment of silence to honor Kirk and his family. A similar gesture erupted into a verbal melee last week in the House. A number of prominent Senate Democrats were quick to offer unqualified condemnation of the Kirk shooting, and call for a unified rejection of all political violence.

Former Democrat Senator Joe Manchin [I-WV] says Democrat leader Chuck Schumer was motivated by political theater when he tried to abolish the filibuster in 2022. He writes in a new book Schumer was not interested in legitimate debate on the filibuster when he led the effort to end it but rather -quote-““He wanted a spectacle. He wanted a vote he could weaponize, a moment he could broadcast to the radical left to prove his loyalty.”

Several more states are considering redrawing their congressional maps ahead of the 2026 midterms. Texas, California, and Missouri may have led the way, but the battl over redistricting is far from over. At least SEVEN states are considering new maps, likely to give either Republicans or Democrats better chances in the 2026 battle for the House. Republicans currently hold a 220-213 advantage with two seats previously held by Democrats now vacant and scheduled to be filled by special elections ove the next several weeks.

A former U.S. Senator says we can expect to see plenty of political fireworks as both parties seek to redraw congressional districts ahead of the 2026 midterms. Senator Jim talent says there’s no peaceful way to change the voting maps. He says debating over who has the moral high ground is a waste of time. even as republicans seek to redraw their voting map in Texas, Talent notes Democrats have seriously gerrymandered Illinois, and hope to do more in California.

Former California Congressman John Campbell [R-CA] says Democrats are getting quite creative as they seek to redraw the congressional voting map. He says the most “creative” changes in involves a district long held by a Republican near the California-Oregon border. The new map would stretch a slim finger hundreds of miles south into San Francisco, picking up enough democrat votes to flip the district.

Daniel Turner with Power the Future says he wants to know more about the Democrat environmentalists effort to cozy up with judges.Turner tells the Salem Radio Network he’s asking the Trump DOJ to take away the veil of secrecy. Especially  important now, Turner says, since climate activists are increasingly using the courts to circumvent their inability to enact the Green agenda through executive action and the GOP controlled Congress.

Many Floridians are blaming a fatal freeway crash on an illegal driver let into the country during the previous administration. Former Florida  State House Speaker Paul Renner says it all goes back to President Biden allowing millions of illegals to cross the border. And now even with President and working with Governors like Ron DeSantis to make good progress in deportIng illegals, it wasn’t enough to save the victims in this case from an illegal truck driver unable to read or write English, who made a fatal illegal U-turn on the freeway.

Jim Pfaff with The Conservative Caucus says because Democrat leaders in DC want the president to fail, it’s almost as if they’ve been pulling for the criminals. He claims the DC government has been using tensions between criminals and law enforcement as a political strategy. Pfaff  says it’s not hard to see why DC residents are giving President Trump’s crimefighting efforts a big “thumbs up”

President Trump has enjoyed a big bump in the polls following his sit-down last week with Vladimir Putin. Insider Advantage says its polling indicates President Trump now enjoys 54% approval, against a disapproval rate of just 44%. In fact he enjoys the advantage across every age, except for te oldest respondents in the survey. It shows his approval increasing among African-Americans and Hispanic-Latinos. Approval with white voters is at a near record of 64%.

A U.S. senator is casting doubt on the reliability of security guarantees as part of a negotiated peace between Russia and Ukraine. Senator Tom Cotton [R-ARK] says Ukraine had security guarantees from President Bill Clinton but when war later broke out during the Obama administration virtually no support or protection came. He says guarantees made today may not be much reassurance to leaders in Kiev.