Principals

1. CDC’s night of chaos
2. Republicans’ rules plans
3. Vance in Wisconsin
4. Ukraine peace doubts
5. Trump’s crackdown limits
6. Fed uncertainty
7. China chairs back GoPro
8. DNC dispatch

PDB: Minneapolis school shooting investigated as hate crime

Trump signs executive orders … Russian strike hits EU mission in Kyiv … NYT: Bolton probe picked up momentum under Biden admin

White House fires CDC director

A showdown at the CDC culminated in the White House formally firing its director, Susan Monarez, on Wednesday night. Monarez was ousted earlier in the day, after Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. asked her to step down amid disagreements over changing vaccine policies, The Washington Post reported — and HHS confirmed her departure. But Monarez’s lawyer, Mark Zaid, pushed back. Zaid said in a statement later that a White House staffer had delivered the news, and since that Monarez is a Senate-confirmed officer, “only the president himself can fire” her. “For this reason, we reject the notification Dr. Monarez has received as legally deficient and she remains as CDC Director,” Zaid said. Four other top CDC directors also resigned Wednesday. “These high profile departures will require oversight by the” Senate health committee, panel chair Bill Cassidy, R-La., posted on X.

— Shelby Talcott

Nuclear option fight returns to Senate

Remember that brouhaha over changing the Senate rules? Despite a brief August respite, it’s all coming back to Washington next week when the Senate returns, Semafor’s Burgess Everett reports. Senate Republicans are still feeling motivated to use the unilateral “nuclear option” to either cut down debate time on Trump’s nominees or potentially eliminate some procedural votes to quicken the pace for the president’s picks, which are facing routine delays from Democrats and angering the president. “We need a change in behavior with the Democrats or we’re going to need to change the rules, one way or the other,” Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso said in an interview. Recess appointments are still on the table, but they aren’t viewed as a permanent solution to the ongoing escalation of delay tactics in the Senate used by both parties.

Vance’s big, beautiful roadshow

Vice President JD Vance continues his “big, beautiful bill” roadshow today in La Crosse, Wis., home of what’s likely to be one of the closest House races in the country next year. At a steel plant in the city, Vance will discuss his party’s tax cuts law and emphasize the relief it provides to working families and businesses, according to the White House. Republicans expect some of the state’s congressional delegation to be there; Rep. Derrick Van Orden represents the district, though a spokeswoman did not respond to a question about whether he will attend. The event showcases Vance’s versatility in the administration, from selling Indiana Republicans on redistricting on Tuesday to his stops selling Trump’s signature tax law. Vance has also visited Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Georgia to sell the bill — and we don’t expect the Wisconsin trip to be his last.

— Burgess Everett

Americans doubt Ukraine peace deal

Few Americans are hopeful for peace in Ukraine. New Gallup polling found that two-thirds of US adults are at least somewhat pessimistic about the prospects of Russia and Ukraine reaching a peace deal to end the war. That includes a majority of respondents in both political parties, though fewer Republicans (57%) harbor doubts than Democrats (78%) or independents (69%). Significant majorities of US adults also worry that a deal would be too favorable to Moscow, and that Russia would violate its terms. The survey was conducted just before President Donald Trump sat down with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and comes as the president’s own efforts to broker a deal seem to have stalled. “Maybe they will, maybe they won’t,” Trump said Monday of a possible meeting between Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Juries hamper Trump’s DC crackdown

Trump’s crime crackdown in Washington is running into resistance from grand jurors. Federal prosecutors failed to secure a felony indictment against Sean Charles Dunn, the man who threw a sandwich at a federal agent earlier this month and has since become a fixture in street art across the city. The grand jury’s rejection of the charge represented a “remarkable failure” of US Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office, The New York Times writes. And earlier this week, prosecutors separately failed a third time to secure an indictment against a woman accused of assaulting a federal agent during an ICE arrest in July. It could be a sign of popular groundswell building against Trump as he looks to clamp down on crime in the nation’s capital (a similar pattern has also played out in Los Angeles).

Fed uncertainty builds

The drama at the Federal Reserve takes center stage again today, after Nvidia’s lackluster forecast distracted investors for a day. National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett told reporters Wednesday that Governor Lisa Cook, who plans to file a lawsuit challenging Trump’s attempt to fire her over alleged mortgage fraud, should “take leave right now.” Separately, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said administration officials will begin vetting “11 very strong candidates” for Fed chair “after Labor Day,” with the goal of “present[ing] three or four candidates” to Trump.

Monetary policymakers mulling an interest rate cut next month will receive another key datapoint today: The Commerce Department is set to release GDP data for the second quarter. The Conference Board said earlier this week that consumer confidence fell in August, in part thanks to anxiety over Trump’s trade plans.

— Eleanor Mueller

Trade panel pressed on GoPro dispute

The leaders of the House select committee on China recently wrote to the US International Trade Commission backing the California-based camera maker GoPro in its patent dispute with a Chinese competitor. An initial ruling in the case earlier this year found that Insta360, which has its headquarters in China, infringed on a GoPro camera patent, while denying the company’s other infringement claims. Reps. John Moolenaar, R-Mich., and Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., penned a letter earlier this month imploring the panel to crack down on what they described as a pattern of “illegal and predatory economic practices” by China. The lawmakers also raised concerns about dual-use application of the imaging technology Insta360 allegedly infringed, which could be used for Chinese military systems or surveillance. The ITC declined to comment, beyond confirming the letter has been entered into the record for the case. A final ruling is expected by Nov. 10.

— Morgan Chalfant

Democrats let it all out

Democratic National Committee members turned up to their meeting in Minneapolis this week spoiling for a fight, Semafor’s David Weigel writes. The party, new DNC Chair Ken Martin said, was now bringing “a bazooka to a knife fight,” and would no longer “play by the rules” if Republicans broke them. Attendees cheered California Democrats’ retaliatory redistricting effort. But they also sparred with each other: Over the course of three days, they debated how to respond to Republicans’ tough-on-crime messaging, braced for more anti-trans ads, and passed Martin’s resolution on Israel’s war in Gaza, only for Martin to withdraw it and promise to set up a task force instead. Some messiness at such meetings is normal, David writes, but Democrats “are still trying to work out their usual differences while Republicans have completely unified behind their president.”

Blindspot: Tariffs and CDC cuts

Stories that are being largely ignored by either left-leaning or right-leaning outlets, curated with help from our partners at Ground News.

What the Left isn’t reading: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said US tariffs could bring in more than $500 billion in revenue a year.

What the Right isn’t reading: Red states are seeing the biggest impact from the Trump administration’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention grant cuts because only blue states are suing to stop them, according to a KFF Health News analysis. 

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