HHS Secretary Kennedy Spars With Senators in Feisty Hearing

RFK, Jr.’s willingness to make changes on vaccine recommendations and make staffing changes to best work out his agenda has riled up many on Capitol Hill. The HHS Secretary appeared before the Senate Finance Committee. Wall Street Journal: Kennedy faced bipartisan criticism for replacing a vaccine-advisory panel with handpicked critics of vaccines, and senators from both parties sounded the alarm over possible changes to the routine childhood immunization schedule. He rejected assertions that he was taking vaccines away, even as senators pointed to examples of immunocompromised people being denied Covid vaccines under new federal limits on who can get them (Wall Street Journal). One of the most heated interchanges was that of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders with Kennedy. After Sanders points out how pretty much everyone there had taken PAC money from the pharmaceutical industry, Kennedy responds: I don’t know what you’re talking about. The issue is every time anyone disagrees with you, are you saying the pharmaceutical industry was supporting my presidential campaign? I don’t think so (X).

RFK, Jr. Confirms Biden Administration’s Malfeasance on Abortion Drug Mifepristone; “They actually twisted the data”

At yesterday’s hearing, both Senator Daines (R-MT) and Senator Lankford (R-OK) asked questions on the abortion drug mifepristone. Notably, RFK—who has not historically been a pro-life champion—had a response on testing encouraged proponents of for life: I talked to Marty Makary about it yesterday and he said it is progressing a pace. We’re getting data in all the time, new data that we’re reviewing, and we know that during the Biden administration, they actually twisted the data to bury one of the safety signals with a very high safety signal round of 11%. So we’re going to make sure that that doesn’t happen anymore. We’re producing honest science and gold standard science on that (Americans United for Life). Marjorie Dannenfelser of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America responded: “We thank pro-life leaders Senators Lankford and Daines for prioritizing women’s safety during the hearing. Senator Daines called out the Biden admin’s illegal mail-order move during COVID-19, and Senator Lankford pressed for an update on the FDA’s review…. Disturbing reports  that abortion drugs are fueling abuse nationwide are growing– including cases where health care professionals prescribe them off-label to men who then use them against women’s will and without their knowledge. We look forward to hearing the update on restoring the in-person dispensing of mifepristone” (SBA).

Department of Defense Will Now Be Department of War

President Trump will sign an executive order today. New York Times: President Trump will sign an executive order on Friday renaming the Department of Defense the Department of War, the White House said, fulfilling his pledge to realign the military’s mission by restoring the name the agency held until shortly after World War II. The measure, which has been expected for some time, underscores Mr. Trump’s efforts to reshape the military to align with his goals of projecting a more aggressive image by showcasing war-fighting capabilities. Mr. Trump looks to project strength rather than the “wokeness” that he and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth say clouded the military’s morale and mission under former President Biden…. During his August remarks about the potential renaming, Mr. Trump said he was confident that it would be approved. “We’re just going to do it,” he said. “I’m sure Congress will go along if we need that. I don’t think we even need that” (New York Times).

Trump Files Tariff Challenge at Supreme Court

With a number of setbacks in the lower courts and the administration’s heavy use of tariffs, the case before the Supreme Court is high stakes. Bloomberg reports: President Donald Trump asked the US Supreme Court to quickly uphold his global tariffs, seeking review in a case that could affect trillions of dollars in trade and give him broad new leverage over the world economy. The appeal calls for putting the case on a highly expedited schedule with arguments in early November. It follows a federal appeals court decision that said Trump can’t impose wide-scale import taxes by invoking a 1977 law designed to address national emergencies…. The appeal will test a conservative-controlled court that so far has largely accommodated Trump as he asserts powers never claimed by his predecessors. Assuming they take up the case, the justices will be grappling with a law that gives the president a panoply of tools to address national security, foreign policy and economic emergencies but doesn’t explicitly mention tariffs as one of those powers. The 7-4 ruling from the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Friday upheld a decision by the US Court of International Trade. Both courts said the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act doesn’t authorize such sweeping import taxes through a provision that says the president can “regulate” the “importation” of property to address an emergency (Bloomberg). SCOTUS Blog: In his 34-page filing, [U.S. Solicitor General D. John] Sauer emphasized that Trump had determined that the “tariffs and the ensuing trade negotiations with all our major trading partners are pulling America back from the precipice of disaster, restoring its respect and standing in the world, eliminating decades of unfair and asymmetric trade policies that have gutted our manufacturing capacity and military readiness, and inducing our trading partners to invest trillions of dollars in the American economy” (SCOTUS Blog).

Thwarted: Attack From Two Turkish Islamists on Christian Festival in Rome

Washington Times: Two armed Turkish men were being questioned Thursday after being arrested in Viterbo, near Rome, hours before a popular local festival, Italy’s Premier Giorgia Meloni said. Meloni praised police and Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi for their “swift intervention” leading to the arrests on Wednesday night, which she said “allowed for the safe celebration of a unique event.” Italian media reported that the two men were suspected of preparing an attack during the celebration, which was attended by Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani….  Thousands of people attend Viterbo’s Macchina di Santa Rosa festival, a religious procession and celebration held every year on Sept. 3 to honor the city’s patron saint, Santa Rosa. The main event involves 100 “Facchini di Santa Rosa,” porters carrying a towering, illuminated structure called the “Macchina,” which weighs nearly 5 tons, through the city’s narrow medieval streets (Washington Times). Reports are preliminary, but it looks like it could have been horrific: Italy: We almost had another mass-Christian-casualty event in Europe. In Viterbo last night, two Turkish Islamists armed with machine guns were reportedly ready to fire upon a crowd of 40,000 Christians, all gathered for a local festival. The men had set up their weapons in a rented apartment overlooking the square where the Christian procession would pass. They hoped to kill as many Christians as possible. Praise God, police stormed the apartment in time to thwart the attack (Christian Emergency Alliance).

S&P 500 Hits All-Time High as Markets Anticipate Today’s Jobs Report

The market is actually anticipating a relatively weak jobs report which would make a Fed rate cut more likely. Bloomberg: Wall Street traders gearing up for Friday’s jobs report got a trio of data that reinforced the view of a cooling labor market, keeping bets on Federal Reserve rate cuts alive while driving stocks and bonds higher. The latest readings on hiring and unemployment claims came on the eve of data that’s expected to extend the weakest stretch of US job growth since the pandemic. Treasury two-year yields fell to the lowest in about a year (Bloomberg). Kiplinger: “Tomorrow’s jobs report will be the deciding factor,” notes E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley Managing Director Chris Larkin, “but so far this week the data is confirming a slowdown in the labor market.” Larkin says “markets may embrace that data” in the short term “because it should increase the odds of Fed rate cuts.” At the same time, he adds, “If the numbers deteriorate too much, it could raise concerns about the health of the economy.” … At Thursday’s closing bell, the broad-based S&P 500 was up 0.8% to a new all-time closing high of 6,502 (Kiplinger).

No: Alligator Alcatraz Is Not Closing

The left and elite media were celebratory over court challenges to the holding facility for illegal immigrants in the process of deportation. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis: The mission continues on immigration enforcement. The media was giddy that somehow Alligator Alcatraz was shutting down. Now, we told them that that wasn’t true….  But they ran with the narrative because some leftist judge ruled implausibly that somehow Florida wasn’t allowed to use our own property to help the federal government in this important mission because they didn’t do an environmental impact statement…. I’m pleased to say that the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals has just stayed that ruling and stayed the case. So Alligator Alcatraz is, in fact, like we’ve always said, open for business (DeSantis). Catherine Salgado of PJ Media: After [U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams] issued her initial ruling, DeSantis already promised not to let it interfere with arresting, jailing, and deporting illegal alien criminals. “We’re not going to be deterred. We see this happening all over the country. We knew the minute this judge got the case, we knew exactly what she was going to do. This is not anything that was unexpected, but we’ll make sure to get the job done in the end,” he vowed. And the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals justified his optimism. Alligator Alcatraz is open for business, helping keep Americans safe from violent and vicious foreign criminals (PJ Media).

Watching the Issues for the High-Stakes Midterms

The President and the GOP know that history would indicate the likelihood of Republicans losing control of one or both chambers of Congress. Brookings reminds us of the history: The president’s party almost always loses ground in midterm House elections, as has happened in 20 of the past 22 midterm elections stretching back to 1938, and both exceptions reflected unusual circumstances. The 2002 midterms were decisively shaped by the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, after which public approval of President George W. Bush soared and stood at 63% on Election Day of 2002 (Brookings). Recent voter registration numbers have given Republicans optimism, but nothing is a given. Karl Rove looks at the centrality of the economy for next year’s vote: It’s likely to be the dominant issue for voters. That should concern Republicans. A new Wall Street Journal/National Opinion Research Center poll shows voters are sour about their circumstances and pessimistic about the future. There’s time to turn those attitudes around—think the 1983 economy followed by Ronald Reagan’s 1984 re-election—but it’ll take a lot more than happy talk. People must see positive results when they shop, fuel up their cars, deposit paychecks and glance at their retirement accounts (Wall Street Journal). The latest polling supports the centrality of economic issues for voters. These two issues—(1) Price increases/inflation/affordability and (2) Economy and jobs are at the top of the list in the Harvard Harris poll. Together, they make up the top response for 65 percent of respondents (Harvard Harris).

“The Tory party is dead”

Those words come from Nadine Dorries—a former Tory/Conservative, uttered as she announced her switch to Reform UK, the party of populist leader Nigel Farage. The frustration for British conservatives, anglophiles and all who care about freedom-loving democracy is that there has been no real conservative alternative to left in the U.K. Dorries switch to Reform U.K. may strengthen the party of Farage. Financial Times: Dorries is the most high-profile Tory politician to have switched allegiances to the rightwing populist party to date. In an article for the Daily Mail on Thursday, she said the decision to join Reform was possibly “the most difficult I have ever had to make”. “The time for action is now and I believe that the only politician who has the answers, the knowledge and the will to deliver is [Reform leader] Nigel Farage,” she wrote. While she would not agree with Farage on every policy, Dorries said they were on the same page on the need for tougher law and order measures and the need to drastically cut both immigration and public spending (Financial Times). Today: There are only four Reform members in Parliament (UK). But—when you look at voter intentions—31 percent plan on voting for Reform UK in the next election, placing them in the lead. Economist magazine is alarmed that a Trump-ish figure could win: On Sept 5th-6th Mr Farage will present his plans for a Reform government at a glitzy party conference in Birmingham. This is a plausible prospect. The party leads the national polls, at 31%, according to The Economist’s poll tracker. A simple calculation based on uniform national swing suggests it would have an almost one-in-two chance of a majority if an election were held tomorrow. Its success is fuelled by discontent over immigration and a perception of skewed policing (Economist).

UK Comedian Graham Linehan Stands His Ground

Yes, he did his comedy work in the UK, but it’s worth noting that he now lives in Arizona. He was arrested earlier this week for X posts on the transgender issue. He showed up in court yesterday like a man with backbone. David Strom of Hot Air: This is how it is done. Graham Linehan, who was recently arrested in the UK for mean tweets he posted while in the United States, showed up today for his court hearing wearing a billboard declaring that men are men and women are women…. Linehan’s arrest serves as a clarifying moment in the debate over free speech, not because what was done to him was an outlier, but because it was not. The Metropolitan Police have been embarrassed by the event, but remain unrepentant. They are, we are told, just following orders. And I suppose they are. But about 30 people a day get arrested for speech crimes in the UK, and the arrest of Linehan is embarrassing, mainly because he is a celebrity in Britain. No doubt the police did not anticipate the firestorm that came at them, and they are on the defensive. I am glad to see that Linehan and a few others are standing up to the madness, and it seems likely that they will get a temporary victory or two. But until the British people rise up against their elites, every victory will be temporary, and freedom will slip away (Hot Air).