Morning Report is The Hill’s a.m. newsletter. Subscribe here.
In today’s issue:
▪ Bondi does damage control
▪ Trump in the UK
▪ Decision day for Fed
▪ Utah governor’s civility mission
Attorney General Pam Bondi is facing broad backlash on the right after suggesting the federal government may try to prosecute alleged hate speech, with efforts to clarify the comments stoking criticism.
Her remarks came on former Trump administration official Katie Miller’s podcast regarding a flood of comments made online celebrating the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk last week.
“There’s free speech and then there’s hate speech, and there is no place, especially now, especially after what happened to Charlie, in our society,” Bondi told Miller in an interview published Monday.
“We will absolutely target you, go after you, if you are targeting anyone with hate speech,” the attorney general said.
The backlash against Bondi’s comments was swift from across the political spectrum. A chorus of conservative voices particularly pushed back, pointing to sweeping protections under the First Amendment for free speech and dismissing the idea of prosecuting alleged hate speech.
“For a couple [of] decades, we defended religious freedom and speech that some people deemed to be inappropriate,” House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) told reporters. “Look, in America, it’s a very important part of our tradition that we do not — this is a conservative principle and certainly an American principle — we do not censor and silence disfavored viewpoints.”
“Someone needs to explain to Ms. Bondi that so-called ‘hate speech,’ repulsive though it may be, is protected by the First Amendment,” Fox News chief political analyst Brit Hume posted. “She should know this.”
▪ The Hill: Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas): “You cannot be prosecuted for speech.”
▪ The Hill: Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) hit back at Bondi, saying she failed “to prosecute MULTIPLE direct death threats” against him.
Bondi sought to clarify her comments with a post Tuesday on the social platform X, arguing “hate speech” that rises to the level of violent threats isn’t protected by the First Amendment.
“For far too long, we’ve watched the radical left normalize threats, call for assassinations, and cheer on political violence. That era is over,” she said.
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon further pushed to clarify the Justice Department would not try to prosecute individuals for “nasty speech” but would for incitement of violence or “hate-motivated attacks.”
Bondi still received criticism even after her clarification, with Fox News host Will Cain directly rejecting the attorney general’s comments.
“No. We don’t have ‘hate speech.’ Private employers firing people for abhorrent celebration of murder…cool,” he said. “Going after direct incitement, which some are getting close to…cool. But we don’t have ‘hate speech’ in the USA.”
The uproar comes amid a broader push by President Trump and his administration to crack down on certain types of rhetoric and go after left-wing groups in the wake of Kirk’s killing, The Hill’s Brett Samuels reports.
BACK IN THE HOT SEAT: FBI Director Kash Patel will return to Capitol Hill on Wednesday to answer questions about the Kirk assassination investigation and other topics before the House Judiciary Committee.
His appearance comes a day after he testified before the Senate Judiciary panel and faced grilling from Democrats who slammed him for his conduct in office, most recently his leadership in the probe to find Kirk’s killer.
Patel posted on X just hours after Kirk was shot to report a “subject” had been taken into custody, only to later say the person had been released and the manhunt for the killer continued. The bureau typically limits updates on such high-profile cases until it is confident in the information.
But Patel has stood by his conduct, engaging in intense exchanges with Senate Democrats on Tuesday, including multiple shouting matches.
▪ The Hill: Patel lashes out at Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), calling him “political buffoon at best.”
▪ NBC News: Patel defends handling of Kirk investigation and FBI firings in fiery hearing.
Trump has expressed confidence in Patel multiple times leading up to his Capitol Hill appearances, praising the FBI chief after the suspect in Kirk’s shooting was taken into custody within two days.
The suspect, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, was formally charged in Utah on Tuesday on counts of aggravated murder and other felonies. Officials also released texts he purportedly sent confessing to his partner and saying he spent more than a week planning it.
Smart Take with Blake Burman
I predicted last year the chairman of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell, would become one of the most well-known names in politics in 2025. Well, here we are. You’ll see Powell across your television screen and news feeds later today, as he is likely to announce the first interest rate cut of 2025.
I suspect he will be asked about Lisa Cook, but don’t expect much there as the Fed already put out a fairly muted response last month. The news is likely to come from what Powell says about potential interest rate cuts for the remainder of 2025. Wall Street is pricing in three quarter-point cuts to end the year.
We know President Trump wants steep interest rate cuts, and now he has a close ally at the table. Stephen Miran, one of the president’s top White House economic advisers, is now a newly minted voting member at the Fed. One thing I’ll be watching is how Miran votes, and if Powell reveals anything about this new dynamic.
Burman hosts “The Hill” weeknights, 6p/5c on NewsNation.
3 Things to Know Today
1. The deadline for ByteDance to divest from TikTok has been extended again to Dec. 16 via executive order from Trump. It comes as he touts a “framework” agreement that he said the U.S. reached with China to keep the app available in the country.
2. Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) is moving forward with her resolution to strip Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) of her committee assignments over Omar’s criticism of the GOP after Kirk’s death. An Omar spokesperson said the lawmaker was “one of the first” to condemn Kirk’s murder.
3. Trump confirmed that the GOP will hold a midterm convention as an attempt to rally Republicans ahead of the 2026 elections. His announcement came after speculation Democrats might do the same.
Leading the Day
THE KING AND TRUMP: Trump is set to meet with King Charles III and members of the royal family for the first time of his second term on Wednesday during his trip to the United Kingdom.
Aside from the celebratory nature of the visit and the planned state banquet, observers will be watching how Trump interacts with the king. He memorably visited with the late Queen Elizabeth II while visiting the U.K. during his first term.
Perhaps more important will be Trump’s meeting with Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Thursday, when the two are expected to discuss a variety of issues from the Russia-Ukraine war to tariffs.
The Hill’s Niall Stanage has five things to watch for ahead of the meetings.
▪ Follow coverage with The Hill’s live blog here.
▪ BBC: ‘Tomorrow is going to be a big day,’ Trump says as he arrives in UK for second state visit.
Trump’s visit could also be a chance for him to try to move the conversation past the controversy surrounding the possible release of files related to the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, but that at least doesn’t seem to be off to a great start.
Images of Epstein, Trump and Prince Andrew were projected onto Windsor Castle’s walls overnight ahead of Trump’s visit. Four individuals were arrested over the incident, the BBC reports.
Meanwhile, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee released additional documents on Tuesday that it received from Epstein’s estate.
Among the documents released was a full transcript of a deposition that former Attorney General William Barr gave to the committee, during which he said he “absolutely” believed Epstein died by suicide in 2019.
INTEREST RATE CUT: The Federal Reserve is widely expected to lower interest rates at its meeting on Wednesday as the economy has slowed down and as Trump has ramped up pressure on the independent agency to act.
Wall Street is expecting a quarter-point cut that would bring interest rates down to 4 to 4.25 percent.
Trump has been eager for months for the Fed to lower interest rates as a boost for the economy and slammed Powell as “incompetent” for keeping interest rates as-is for months.
“I don’t think he can help with cutting. It’s perfect for cutting. And the thing that he’s hurting most is housing for people, but because we’re doing well and everything, energy is way down, groceries are down, everything, almost everything, is way down,” Trump said. “But housing, because of the Fed, is not what it should be, but it’s not what it is.”
But the Fed has remained concerned about inflation, which is still considerably above its target of 2 percent. Inflation rose last month to a 2.9 percent annual increase compared with 2.7 percent in July.
Still, Trump has sought to mold the Fed in his vision to the extent that he can despite the agency’s independence from the rest of the federal government.
The Senate voted along party lines to confirm Stephen Miran, the chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, to fill a vacancy on the Fed’s board of governors. Miran is now a member of a seven-person board that votes on interest rate decisions and was sworn into office in time to vote on the interest rate decision Wednesday.
The Hill’s Sylvan Lane notes that Miran’s addition to the board isn’t likely to make a major impact this time as the Fed is already expected to lower rates, but he has made the analytical case for Trump’s positions on trade, taxes and spending.
And Trump is engaged in a battle to try to fire another board member, Lisa Cook, over the administration’s allegations that she committed mortgage fraud.
A federal appeals court on Monday refused the administration’s request to authorize her firing, allowing Cook to participate in the board’s vote on Wednesday.
Check out The Hill’s newsletter The Gavel, authored by Zach Schonfeld and Ella Lee, later this morning for more information on what the future may hold for Cook.
▪ CBS News: Will the Fed cut rates on Wednesday? See 5 economic charts that may determine its decision.
▪ The Washington Post: Trump officials to ask Supreme Court to allow firing of Fed governor Cook.
▪ The Hill: BLS chief fired by Trump over jobs report comments publicly for first time.
When & Where
The president is in the United Kingdom. He is expected to visit Windsor Castle this morning. Later, he is set to lay a wreath at the tomb of Queen Elizabeth II and attend a state banquet in the evening.
The House and Senate will convene at 10 a.m.
Zoom In
AVOIDING THE SHUTDOWN: The House GOP is looking to move ahead with a plan to extend government funding and hold off a shutdown set to arrive after Sept. 30 if no continuing resolution (CR) is passed.
After Trump called for Congress to pass a “clean” CR that would keep government funding at current levels, Republican leadership unveiled legislation to do so and keep the government operating through Nov. 21.
The legislation includes $30 million for new funding for security for lawmakers, which was added last minute in response to Kirk’s shooting, but it doesn’t include Democratic priorities like ObamaCare tax credits and health care issues.
The odds of a shutdown have increased after Democratic leaders on Tuesday swiftly rejected the stopgap funding proposal, The Hill’s Alexander Bolton reports.
▪ The Hill: Senate leaders trade blows over looming shutdown.
OUSTED CDC LEADER TESTIFYING: Former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Susan Monarez will be back in the spotlight today as she shares her story with the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee.
In the testimony that Monarez will deliver obtained by The Hill’s Joseph Choi, Monarez will testify that she was fired as CDC director less than a month after being confirmed because she held “the line on scientific integrity” and wouldn’t cave to pressure from Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Her testimony is likely to add to scrutiny facing RFK Jr. surrounding his conduct overseeing the country’s health agencies. The Cabinet secretary forcefully pushed back on Monarez in his own testimony earlier this month after firing the CDC official.
Debra Houry, the CDC’s former chief medical officer, who along with three other top officials resigned in protest of Monarez’s firing, will also testify Wednesday, alleging that Kennedy’s leadership has “significantly weakened and undermined” the agency’s ability to protect people’s health.
One lawmaker many will have their eyes on: Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), the committee chair who was a key vote in confirming Kennedy as HHS secretary. But Cassidy’s patience with Kennedy seemed to be waning earlier this month during Kennedy’s testimony before his committee.
Cassidy pressed Kennedy on his decisions to cut $500 million in contracts for mRNA research and his selections to serve on a vaccine advisory panel with alleged conflicts of interest.
“It surprises me that you think so highly of Operation Warp Speed when as an attorney, you attempted to restrict access to the COVID vaccine,” he told Kennedy.
The Hill’s Nathaniel Weixel reports on the wedge that Cassidy appears to be trying to drive between Trump and Kennedy. But so far Trump is standing by his Cabinet member, defending vaccines like those for polio and COVID-19 while saying Kennedy has “a lot of good ideas.”
Elsewhere
COX CALLS FOR CIVILITY: While drawing little attention on the national stage before the shooting of Kirk at a university in Utah last week, Gov. Spencer Cox (R) seems to be having a moment.
Cox has seemingly tried to be a voice of reason in the aftermath of the shooting, calling for the country to reflect rather than rushing to attack others or become violent in response.
The Hill’s Amie Parnes notes that Cox had a similar reaction in 2016 while he was serving as lieutenant governor following the shooting at Florida’s Pulse night club, an LGBTQ bar, that killed 49 people.
“There were some kids in my class that were different. Sometimes I wasn’t kind to them,” he said at the time. “I didn’t know it at the time, but I know now that they were gay. I will forever regret not treating them with the kindness, dignity and respect — the love — that they deserved.”
Parnes reports that Cox has bucked common political rhetoric again with a call for better angels.
“This is our moment: Do we escalate or do we find an off-ramp?” he said to reporters.
▪ The Hill: What to know about Cox.
▪ Business Insider: Cox calls social media companies ‘conflict entrepreneurs’ that share blame for Kirk’s death.
KIRK LEGACY: Kirk’s death is already galvanizing conservatives to double their efforts to appeal to young voters, who the conservative activist concentrated on for years.
The Hill’s Julia Manchester reports that Turning Point USA, which Kirk founded and led, received 37,000 new chapter requests in the 48 hours following Kirk’s shooting.
“In the same way that Trump supporters really rallied to President Trump when he was attacked, young Americans feel like someone who really cared about and spoke to them being attacked is a similar rally cry,” Republican strategist Matt Whitlock told The Hill.
Trump’s gains among young voters, particularly the male voters that Kirk tried to appeal to, were key to ensuring his reelection in November. White House chief of staff Susie Wiles directly credited Kirk for the gains during an appearance on “The Charlie Kirk Show” that Vice President Vance guest hosted Monday.
“That was a tactical assist to the campaign. We didn’t have to pay for it,” she said. “We didn’t have to think about it. We didn’t have to follow up after him. It was an immeasurable help.”
▪ The Atlantic: What Charlie Kirk Told Me About His Legacy.
Opinion
Kennedy said he wouldn’t take away vaccines. This week will be the test, primary care physician Danielle Ofri writes in The New York Times.
Kirk’s death wasn’t shocking, if you had been paying attention, writes The Hill opinion contributor Jos Joseph.
The Closer
And finally … Future NFL Hall of Famer Tom Brady is set to return to the football field next year but in a different way from what defined his multi-decade career.
The Las Vegas-based CBS affiliate KLAS reported that Brady, who is a part owner of the Las Vegas Raiders, will play with current NFL players in the Fanatics Flag Football Classic in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The tournament will take place next year as part of the Riyadh Season, an annual event that includes entertainment and cultural and sporting events, the outlet reported.
Three teams will participate, coached by Pete Carroll, Sean Payton and Kyle Shanahan. Rosters for the teams haven’t been announced yet, but other players participating include Saquon Barkley, Christian McCaffrey, CeeDee Lamb and Rob Gronkowski.
