#thomas-massie — Public Fediverse posts

https://www.europesays.com/unitedstates/5357/ Tucker Carlson’s left-right, third party dream #DonaldTrump #MarjorieTaylorGreene #PoliticalCampaigns #PoliticalParties #Politics #RoKhanna #ThirdParties #ThomasMassie #TuckerCarlson #WarParty #YoungTurks

Hegseth Pushes to Cut U.S. General Officer Posts by 20%

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. AFP/Yonhap News U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is pushing to cut the number…
#EuropeSays #Korea #KR #Seoul #flagofficers #generalofficercuts #JackReed #militaryleadershipoverhaul #PeteHegseth #ThomasMassie #U.S.DefenseDepartment
https://www.europesays.com/korea/172949/

https://www.europesays.com/conflicts/15276/ Hegseth is set to announce more cuts to the military’s general and admiral ranks #DonaldTrump #HegsethPentagonGeneralsJobCuts #Iran #JackReed #Package100024APOnline #Package100373MCCompleteState&National #PeteHegseth #Product30598APNationalNewsReport(AWire) #Product31998APOnlineNationalNews #RandyGeorge #ThomasMassie #USMilitary

https://www.europesays.com/conflicts/15217/ Hegseth is set to announce more cuts to the military’s general and admiral ranks #DonaldTrump #HegsethPentagonGeneralsJobCuts #Iran #JackReed #Package100024APOnline #Package100373MCCompleteState&National #PeteHegseth #Product30598APNationalNewsReport(AWire) #Product31998APOnlineNationalNews #RandyGeorge #ThomasMassie #USMilitaryNews

Hegseth is set to announce more cuts to the military’s general and admiral ranks

WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is planning to announce further cut…
#UnitedStates #US #USA #DonaldTrump #Død #hegsethpentagongeneralsjobcuts #Iran #JackReed #package100024APOnline #package100373MCComplete-State&National #pentagon #petehegseth #product30598APNationalNewsReport(AWire) #product31998APOnlineNationalNews #RandyGeorge #SecretaryofDefense #ThomasMassie
https://www.europesays.com/3279812/

https://www.europesays.com/unitedstates/283/ Thomas Massie Goes Scorched Earth on Corruption in Congressional Committees: ‘The Game Is Rigged’ #Congress #HouseAndSenate #Senate #ThomasMassie #USCongress #USSenate #VeteransCommittee

https://www.europesays.com/people/246699/ Mike Johnson says don’t vote for people who “promise free things.” What about $5,000? #Diesel #gas #Inflation #IranWar #MikeJohnson #recommended #ScottBessent #ThomasMassie

House Democrats plan vast oversight of Trump administration. Impeachment is an option

WASHINGTON – House Democrats are preparing a vast oversight agenda, with investigations of President Donald Trump, his family…
#UnitedStates #US #USA #DonaldTrump #Død #elections #GregoryMeeks #HakeemJeffries #jamieraskin #JaredHuffman #jeffreyepstein #jr. #pentagon #petehegseth #RobertF.KennedyJr. #robertgarcia #SecretaryofDefense #ThomasMassie #Washingtonnews
https://www.europesays.com/3275830/

https://www.europesays.com/people/244897/ House Democrats plan vast oversight of Trump administration. Impeachment is an option #DonaldTrump #Elections #GregoryMeeks #HakeemJeffries #JamieRaskin #JaredHuffman #JeffreyEpstein #Jr #PeteHegseth #RobertFKennedyJr #RobertGarcia #ThomasMassie #WashingtonNews

https://www.europesays.com/people/244150/ Thomas Massie moves to impeach Secretary Pete Hegseth #Congress #DEFENSE #ForeignPolicy #handling #hegseth #Impeachment #Iran #mcnd #PeteHegseth #Republicans #resolution #SecretaryPeteHegseth #ThomasMassie #Trump #tuesday #USRepThomasMassie #UnlawfulMilitaryOperation #VenezuelanLeaderNicolásMaduro #Yemen

https://www.europesays.com/people/243829/ House Democrats plan vast oversight of Trump administration. Impeachment is an option #DonaldTrump #Elections #GregoryMeeks #HakeemJeffries #JamieRaskin #JaredHuffman #JeffreyEpstein #Jr #PeteHegseth #RobertFKennedyJr #RobertGarcia #ThomasMassie #WashingtonNews

https://www.europesays.com/people/243792/ House Democrats plan vast oversight of Trump administration. Impeachment is an option #DonaldTrump #DonaldTrumpJr #Elections #GregoryMeeks #HakeemJeffries #JamieRaskin #JaredHuffman #JeffreyEpstein #Jr #PeteHegseth #RobertFKennedyJr #RobertGarcia #ThomasMassie #Trump #WashingtonNews

https://www.europesays.com/people/243351/ Massie: Trump’s ‘comeuppance will happen on Election Day,’ then ‘a reckoning’ the next day #DepartmentOfHomelandSecurity #ElectionDay #ImmigrationEnforcement #Impeachment #MikeJohnson #reckoning #ThomasMassie #Trump #XiJinping

https://www.europesays.com/people/243238/ Johnson sends House home early, delaying Hegseth impeachment vote #HegsethImpeachment #HouseRecess #IranConflict #LindseyGraham #MikeJohnson #RussiaSanctions #ThomasMassie #WarPowersResolution

Chuck Baldwin: “Impeach Hegseth and Trump!”

Article republished by Jerry Alatalo | September 24, 2026

[Editor’s note: So there is no doubt regarding the stance embraced by this writer, – my perspective aligns perfectly with that expressed in this article, fearlessly written by Pastor Chuck Baldwin. Please share this information far and wide. Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments. Thank you very much. Peace.]

***

Impeach Hegseth!

By Chuck Baldwin
Chuck Baldwin Live

September 24, 2026

“No point is of more importance than that the right of impeachment should be continued. Shall any man be above Justice?”

George Mason

No, no man is above justice, not even Pete Hegseth.

Hegseth equals Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara (under President Lyndon Johnson) as one of the very worst defense secretaries America has ever seen. He is guilty of International War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity. He is a mass murderer, liar, drunk, misogynist, racist and totally unfit for the office he holds. From the reports I read from military veterans, morale among our U.S. service personnel has never been lower than it is right now.

It is time to impeach Pete Hegseth.

And that is exactly what Congressman Thomas Massie is proposing to do.

From Politico:

Kentucky Republican Rep. Thomas Massie on Tuesday introduced articles of impeachment against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, an extraordinary attempt by members of the president’s own party to oust a Pentagon chief.

The articles are for high crimes and misdemeanors, including the war in Iran, the Trump administration’s boat strikes in the Caribbean and Hegseth’s alleged suppression of free speech in his fight with Democrats over their calls for troops to refuse illegal orders.

The nature of the resolution means the House will be forced to vote on it this week, setting up a politically complicated vote for Republicans right before the midterm elections.

A group of nine Democrats, led by Rep. Yassamin Ansari (D-Ariz.), introduced an impeachment resolution in April against Hegseth. They accused him of prosecuting an unauthorized war in Iran, targeting civilians and mishandling classified information, among other charges. But Massie’s move is a first-of-its kind effort to go after a Cabinet member in the same party.

Thomas Massie is exactly the kind of congressman we need representing us in Washington. He is honest, courageous and loyal to the U.S. Constitution—even if it means bucking his own party. While the vast majority of congressmen and senators on Capitol Hill are preoccupied with taking bribes from Israel and the military-industrial complex and bowing to party bigwigs like the idolaters they are, Massie stands as a giant among pygmies.

With the GOP in the majority in the House of Representatives, it is unlikely that Massie’s articles of impeachment will survive a House vote; but it forces House members to put their vote on record. And Hegseth (along with Donald Trump) is on the wrong side of history, and each House member that votes against Hegseth’s impeachment will carry a tarnished congressional reputation for the rest of their life.

Breaking news yesterday: Politico reports:

Speaker Mike Johnson said Wednesday he is canceling planned Thursday votes and sending members home for a seven-week recess a day earlier than expected.

The decision lops another day off a pre-election legislative schedule that Johnson had already truncated by two weeks. It also allows members to avoid having to take a vote on an impeachment resolution introduced by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) targeting Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, which would have hit the floor no later than Thursday under House rules.

The corruption of Mike Johnson and the GOP leadership is off the charts. They will lie, cheat, steal—and even kill—to ignore the will of the electorate and ram their pro-Zionist agenda down the throats of the American people.

As for Donald Trump, I was delighted to see a young man put these salient words on the record. His name is Jason Chukwuma:

Quoting Donald Trump: I’m an extremely stable genius. In less than two years, my administration has accomplished more than almost any administration in the history of our country. I got more votes than any president in the history of our country. In the history of our country, right? Not even close. 75 million. Far more than Obama. Far more than anybody.

Jason Chukwuma: Of all the vices Donald Trump seems committed to practicing on a daily basis, it can be hard to single out any one of them as his worst. The bigotry, the cruelty, the lack of empathy, the greed, the vindictiveness, it can all blur together into one giant moral indictment.

But as a Christian, there’s one sin that stands above all the others. Not necessarily in terms of its consequences for the world, but in terms of its spiritual significance for the inner Christian life. Something I’m sure Donald Trump knows nothing about, but that many of his supporters, especially his most fervent ones, profess to be experts on.

The sin I’m talking about is pride.

Pride isn’t incidental to Donald Trump’s public identity. It is his identity. The man’s capacity for self-praise is endless, and so is his constant insistence that everyone around him participate in his self-worship service. He doesn’t merely demand loyalty from those around him. He wants grown men and women, senators, governors, members of Congress, billionaires and cabinet officials to crawl before his ego. To beg, to grovel, to flatter, to praise him and humiliate themselves just to prove that they understand how special he is.

This was the principal character trait of the demonic Roman Caesars such as Caligula, Nero and Commodus. Trump’s heart is just as evil as theirs was.

You would think that a man with such a debased moral character would be soundly rejected by Christians who claim to follow a God so humble that, despite literally being God, He willingly chose to come to Earth as a human being. And not just any human being. He didn’t come as a king, or an emperor, or a billionaire or a president. He chose to be born into a poor family from the middle of nowhere as a member of an oppressed ethnic minority, living under the domination of a ruthless empire. And that same empire would eventually torture and murder Him after He spent His earthly life tending to the sick, the poor and the vulnerable, while rebuking the rich, the proud and the powerful.

And yet somehow, many of the people who claim to follow this crucified Messiah seem to have no serious problem with Donald Trump’s many sins, least of all his pride, which is a very big problem for them as people who claim to follow Jesus.

That’s because Donald Trump as a person embodies the spiritual posture the Bible most consistently says God hates. Time and time again, Scripture singles out this specific sin as uniquely evil, uniquely dangerous and uniquely detestable to God. That’s because humility, the opposite of pride, isn’t just one Christian virtue among many. It’s the foundation that makes all the other virtues, and the Christian life itself, possible. Without humility, you can’t repent. Without humility, you can’t confess sin. Without humility, you can’t forgive; you can’t receive correction; you can’t serve; and you can’t follow Jesus. Because following Jesus begins with the admission that you are not God. Pride makes repentance impossible because repentance begins with the one thing that a proud person refuses to say, “I was wrong.”

To repent is to take responsibility for your actions, to admit that you’re not perfect, that you make mistakes, that, in other words, you’re not God.

But instead, we have a president who openly admitted that he’s never asked God for forgiveness for anything. And the Christians supporting him don’t seem to find any serious problem with that.

Fortunately, God does.

After so many years of being exposed to Donald Trump’s behavior, many of us have been conditioned to just accept it as normal. They say, “This is just Trump,” or “This is just politics now and the way things are.” But it’s not normal. It has never been normal. And it will never be normal.

The longer we’re told to adjust ourselves to the increasingly pathological, dysfunctional and openly wicked character of our political system, the more important it becomes to call this derangement what it is. Because Trump’s narcissism isn’t subtle or hidden; it’s blatant, extreme, public and constant.

Think about the most obnoxious, self-centered person you have ever met in your life. The person whose need for validation was so exhausting, whose self-aggrandizement was so absurd and whose arrogance was so offensive that everyone around them felt uncomfortable merely by being in their presence. I’m willing to bet that for most of you, compared to Donald Trump, that person would come across as modest. That’s what makes the indifference of his Christian supporters so jarring.

We’re not talking about a faint trace of pride or a little bragging here and there. We’re talking about the most exaggerated display of boasting, self-praise, grievance, vanity and the hunger for validation ever performed on the American public stage. And yet millions of Christians have looked at all of that and somehow decided it’s not a serious spiritual problem.

Which becomes even more astonishing once you read what the Bible actually has to say about arrogance and pride and how intensely God despises it.

The reward for humility is honor, but the price of arrogance is shame and failure. Jesus Himself says so: “For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

The desire to exalt oneself in one’s own sight and the sight of others does not come from God. It runs completely counter to the very essence of who He is, making it totally unbecoming and inappropriate for anyone who claims to follow Him to indulge, practice or endorse.

The need to boast and praise oneself is not a trait of Jesus. However, it is a hallmark of His exact opposite, the Antichrist. Throughout Scripture, the Bible warns that grotesque and obscene levels of pride will be one of the core identifying features of this figure.

The sheer degree of his [Trump’s] pride and boastfulness, which is clearly pathological and well beyond any commonly acceptable bounds of human behavior, is eerily consistent with the extreme narcissism the Bible tells us the man of lawlessness will display when he comes.

I encourage readers to watch my message from Revelation 13 that describes and identifies the “Antichrist.”

Instead of resisting this rising tide of evil, too many Christians are joining it. They’re falling away from the truth to embrace the lies of a man of lawlessness, a man with no room in his heart to love God or anyone else, for that matter, because he is utterly consumed by vain and diseased self-obsession.

Jesus warned his followers that a man cannot serve two masters. Eventually, he will love one and hate the other. In the same way, Christians cannot continue to call Christ their Lord while invoking His name to sanctify a man and political movement that stand completely opposed to everything Jesus lived, preached and died for.

Amen, Jason!

Donald Trump’s pathological pride and slavish obeisance to Benjamin Netanyahu and the Zionist State of Israel have probably done more to drive people away from Christianity than any other single individual in U.S. history. Not primarily because of Trump the man, but because of the enthusiastic and cult-like manner in which evangelical Christians support and idolize this man.

And men such as Pete Hegseth and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent—and most of the men in charge of Trump’s administration—are carbon copies of Trump. They share his pride, his deceit and his bloodlust.

History will judge them accordingly.

Thank God for Thomas Massie. Shame on the white evangelicals in Kentucky’s Fourth District (mostly the “Boomers”) that defeated Massie’s re-election bid. And shame on evangelical pastors and “Christians” who continue to support and defend maniacal madmen such as Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth.

Both men need to be impeached, convicted in the Senate, removed from office, prosecuted for International War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity and imprisoned. That’s the only way that America can salvage its reputation as a “City on a Hill” (John Winthrop, 1630) in the eyes of the peoples of the world and, perhaps, in the eyes of Almighty God.

Reprinted with permission from Chuck Baldwin Live.

(Source/credit: LewRockwell.com)

https://www.europesays.com/people/241282/ Thomas Massie moves to impeach Secretary Pete Hegseth #Congress #DEFENSE #ForeignPolicy #handling #hegseth #Impeachment #Iran #mcnd #PeteHegseth #Republicans #resolution #SecretaryPeteHegseth #ThomasMassie #Trump #tuesday #USRepThomasMassie #UnlawfulMilitaryOperation #VenezuelanLeaderNicolásMaduro #Yemen

Senate to vote on resolution to halt the Iran war as gas prices upend midterms

WASHINGTON – Increasingly anxious about the Iran war, senators are set to vote Thursday on a war powers…
#NewsBeep #News #BreakingNews #breakingnews #DonaldTrump #Elections #Iran #JohnKennedy #JoshHawley #PeteHegseth #Politics #ThomTillis #ThomasMassie #TimKaine #Washingtonnews #ZachNunn
https://www.newsbeep.com/744620/

Senate to vote on resolution to halt the Iran war as gas prices upend midterms

WASHINGTON – Increasingly anxious about the Iran war, senators are set to vote Thursday on a war powers…
#Conflict #Conflicts #War #DonaldTrump #elections #geopolitics #JohnKennedy #joshhawley #petehegseth #Politics #ThomTillis #ThomasMassie #TimKaine #Washingtonnews #ZachNunn
https://www.europesays.com/3270422/

https://www.europesays.com/iran/305165/ Senate to vote on resolution to halt the Iran war as gas prices upend midterms #DonaldTrump #Iran #JohnKennedy #JoshHawley #Package100024APOnline #Package100373MCCompleteState&National #PeteHegseth #Product30598APNationalNewsReport(AWire) #Product31998APOnlineNationalNews #Product32510APOnlineGeneralElectionNews #Product32520APOnlineOtherUSGovernmentNews #Product46986APOnlineTopStories #ThomTillis #ThomasMassie #TimKaine #WarPowersIranSenateTrump #ZachNunn

https://www.europesays.com/people/?p=239593 Pete Hegseth confronts House with a lame-duck impeachment dilemma #ArticlesOfImpeachment #democrats #GOP #HakeemJeffries #HouseJudiciaryCommittee #ImpeachmentArticles #ImpeachmentProceedings #Iran #JamieRaskin #MikeJohnson #PeteHegseth #SupportImpeachment #ThomasMassie

https://www.europesays.com/people/238451/ Massie touts poll showing slight majority support Hegseth impeachment #Congress #HouseOfRepresentatives #Impeachment #Iran #PeteHegseth #ThomasMassie

https://www.europesays.com/people/237018/ Nancy Mace Warns Midterms Will Be a ‘F—ing Bloodbath’ as GOP Braces for Election Fight #MikeJohnson #NancyMace #PeteHegseth #TheHouse #ThomasMassie

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/CDbF5Z2P-7E?is=KesehjuMbGaPWEzb

#USHouse #Congress #RepMassie #ThomasMassie #Hegseth #Republicans #DeptOfDefense #MikeJohnson #MicroJohnson #SpeakerOfTheHouse #Midterms #Election #Vote #tRump #Politics #USPol #USA #America #Impeach

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/CDbF5Z2P-7E?is=KesehjuMbGaPWEzb

#USHouse #Congress #RepMassie #ThomasMassie #Hegseth #Republicans #DeptOfDefense #MikeJohnson #MicroJohnson #SpeakerOfTheHouse #Midterms #Election #Vote #tRump #Politics #USPol #USA #America #Impeach

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/CDbF5Z2P-7E?is=KesehjuMbGaPWEzb

#USHouse #Congress #RepMassie #ThomasMassie #Hegseth #Republicans #DeptOfDefense #MikeJohnson #MicroJohnson #SpeakerOfTheHouse #Midterms #Election #Vote #tRump #Politics #USPol #USA #America #Impeach

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/CDbF5Z2P-7E?is=KesehjuMbGaPWEzb

#USHouse #Congress #RepMassie #ThomasMassie #Hegseth #Republicans #DeptOfDefense #MikeJohnson #MicroJohnson #SpeakerOfTheHouse #Midterms #Election #Vote #tRump #Politics #USPol #USA #America #Impeach

https://www.europesays.com/iran/299886/ Top Black Democratic Rep Wants To Block Bombs To Israel #Congress #Democrats #DonaldTrump #Gaza #GregoryMeeks #House #HouseForeignAffairsCommittee #HumanRightsWatch #InternationalCriminalCourt #Israel #JeanneShaheen #KennethRoth #Lebanon #MarcoRubio #NewYork #Queens #SecretaryOfState #Senate #ThomasMassie #trump #US #Washington

https://www.europesays.com/people/235686/ Thomas Massie moves to impeach Secretary Pete Hegseth #Congress #DEFENSE #ForeignPolicy #handling #hegseth #Impeachment #Iran #mcnd #PeteHegseth #Republicans #resolution #SecretaryPeteHegseth #ThomasMassie #Trump #tuesday #USRepThomasMassie #UnlawfulMilitaryOperation #VenezuelanLeaderNicolásMaduro #Yemen

@meidastouch If #PeteHegseth thinks victory evades the #UnitedStates in the #FelonsCrusade in #Iran because too many #American soldiers don’t get “spontaneous morning erections”, then it is LOOONG past time for #WhiskeyPete to be impeached by #Congress.

Too bad #MAGA #MikeJohnson is too much of a coward to allow the #impeachment vote demanded by #ThomasMassie. Come to think of it, maybe the #LittlePrick from #Louisiana could use a dose of testosterone himself!

#Resist #ElbowsUp 💪

@meidastouch If #PeteHegseth thinks victory evades the #UnitedStates in the #FelonsCrusade in #Iran because too many #American soldiers don’t get “spontaneous morning erections”, then it is LOOONG past time for #WhiskeyPete to be impeached by #Congress.

Too bad #MAGA #MikeJohnson is too much of a coward to allow the #impeachment vote demanded by #ThomasMassie. Come to think of it, maybe the #LittlePrick from #Louisiana could use a dose of testosterone himself!

#Resist #ElbowsUp 💪

@meidastouch If #PeteHegseth thinks victory evades the #UnitedStates in the #FelonsCrusade in #Iran because too many #American soldiers don’t get “spontaneous morning erections”, then it is LOOONG past time for #WhiskeyPete to be impeached by #Congress.

Too bad #MAGA #MikeJohnson is too much of a coward to allow the #impeachment vote demanded by #ThomasMassie. Come to think of it, maybe the #LittlePrick from #Louisiana could use a dose of testosterone himself!

#Resist #ElbowsUp 💪

The cost of the Iran war has risen to $43.6B, Pentagon tells Congress

WASHINGTON – The war in Iran has cost the U.S. military $43.6 billion as of Sept. 3, according…
#NewsBeep #News #BreakingNews #Americanservicemembers #breakingnews #costestimate #Iran #iranwar #nationalsecurity #thepentagon #ThomasMassie #U.S.Navy
https://www.newsbeep.com/737166/

@ponderingpolitics.bsky.social reacts to Republican Congressman #ThomasMassie HUMILIATING Donald Trump, #MikeJohnson, and #PeteHegseth after Trump ordered Johnson to shut down Congress.
youtu.be/gLfIjZw-v4k?...

Republican EXPOSES Trump SECRE...

@ponderingpolitics.bsky.social reacts to Republican Congressman #ThomasMassie HUMILIATING Donald Trump, #MikeJohnson, and #PeteHegseth after Trump ordered Johnson to shut down Congress.
youtu.be/gLfIjZw-v4k?...

Republican EXPOSES Trump SECRE...

Rep #ThomasMassie introduces 🎉🎉articles of impeachment 🎉🎉against rapist #christofascist and fail-up twat #PeteKegsbreath

🍿🍿🍿🍿

https://m.youtube.com/shorts/tvleJuvYIj0

😁

Rep #ThomasMassie introduces 🎉🎉articles of impeachment 🎉🎉against rapist #christofascist and fail-up twat #PeteKegsbreath

🍿🍿🍿🍿

https://m.youtube.com/shorts/tvleJuvYIj0

😁

Rep #ThomasMassie introduces 🎉🎉articles of impeachment 🎉🎉against rapist #christofascist and fail-up twat #PeteKegsbreath

🍿🍿🍿🍿

https://m.youtube.com/shorts/tvleJuvYIj0

😁

House passes Russia and Iran sanctions bill championed by Sen. Lindsey Graham

The House passed a Russia and Iran sanctions bill championed by the late Sen. Lindsey Graham Wednesday night…
#NewsBeep #News #BreakingNews #andyharris #breakingnews #darlinegraham #Iran #Iransanctions #LindseyGraham #PresidentDonaldTrump #RalphNorman #sanctionsbill #sanctionsonRussia #theHouse #ThomasMassie #TomMcClintock
https://www.newsbeep.com/734767/

@meidastouch #RogerWaters just called #EdSheeran “a #LittlePrick “ for not standing up for #FreeSpeech when he let #fascist #billionaires fire #Macklemore from *his* tour!

Whether he was a #PinkFloyd fan in his youth, or not, #ThomasMassie *should* follow suit and call #MikeJohnson “a Little Prick” for allowing #DonaldTheDeplorable #Trump to make a mockery of the #UnitedStates #Constitution for all the world to see.

#Resist #kakistocracy in #USpol with #ElbowsUp 💪!

@meidastouch #RogerWaters just called #EdSheeran “a #LittlePrick “ for not standing up for #FreeSpeech when he let #fascist #billionaires fire #Macklemore from *his* tour!

Whether he was a #PinkFloyd fan in his youth, or not, #ThomasMassie *should* follow suit and call #MikeJohnson “a Little Prick” for allowing #DonaldTheDeplorable #Trump to make a mockery of the #UnitedStates #Constitution for all the world to see.

#Resist #kakistocracy in #USpol with #ElbowsUp 💪!

@meidastouch #RogerWaters just called #EdSheeran “a #LittlePrick “ for not standing up for #FreeSpeech when he let #fascist #billionaires fire #Macklemore from *his* tour!

Whether he was a #PinkFloyd fan in his youth, or not, #ThomasMassie *should* follow suit and call #MikeJohnson “a Little Prick” for allowing #DonaldTheDeplorable #Trump to make a mockery of the #UnitedStates #Constitution for all the world to see.

#Resist #kakistocracy in #USpol with #ElbowsUp 💪!

RE: https://mastodon.online/@SocraticEthics/117282827094488729

#LittlePrick #MikeJohnson just gave *actual* #Conservatives across the #UnitedStates - who support #ThomasMassie of #Kentucky - even *more* reason to join the #BlueTsunami in the #midterms. So that the mandatory vote to #impeach #PeteHegseth will pass on January 3, 2027, even though #Massie will no longer be in the #DoNothingCongress.

It’ll be a *very* #HappyNewYear folks!

RE: https://mastodon.online/@SocraticEthics/117282827094488729

#LittlePrick #MikeJohnson just gave *actual* #Conservatives across the #UnitedStates - who support #ThomasMassie of #Kentucky - even *more* reason to join the #BlueTsunami in the #midterms. So that the mandatory vote to #impeach #PeteHegseth will pass on January 3, 2027, even though #Massie will no longer be in the #DoNothingCongress.

It’ll be a *very* #HappyNewYear folks!

RE: https://mastodon.online/@SocraticEthics/117282827094488729

#LittlePrick #MikeJohnson just gave *actual* #Conservatives across the #UnitedStates - who support #ThomasMassie of #Kentucky - even *more* reason to join the #BlueTsunami in the #midterms. So that the mandatory vote to #impeach #PeteHegseth will pass on January 3, 2027, even though #Massie will no longer be in the #DoNothingCongress.

It’ll be a *very* #HappyNewYear folks!

Johnson Cancels House Votes to Dodge a Hegseth Impeachment Showdown

https://thedemocracyadvocate.com/elections/johnson-cancels-house-votes/

Wild Wednesday Reads

Good Afternoon!!

Trump is supposedly involved in a war with Iran that is spreading throughout the Middle East, but all he really seems to care about is tearing down the White House to build a giant, garish ballroom, putting his name on buildings, and imposing his ideological views on all of us.

Yesterday, it was the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, a building dedicated to an assassinated president.

Julia Jacobs and Zach Montague at The New York Times (gift link): Kennedy Center Closes Its Doors Despite a Judge’s Order.

Simmering turmoil over the future of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts boiled over on Tuesday as the center abruptly closed to the public and President Trump threatened to cancel a planned $257 million renovation if his name was not returned to the front of the building.

Allies of Mr. Trump have been pushing for months to close the center for major renovations and to honor the president by affixing his name to its marble facade. A federal judge has blocked both efforts.

On Tuesday, the center aggressively tested the judge’s order not to close by shutting its doors in what officials called an emergency action designed to protect people from deteriorating conditions inside the building. Shortly after 4:30 p.m., employees heard a sudden notice on the P.A. system: “The center is now closed to the public. Please exit the center by way of the Hall of States.”

A security guard stands in front of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on Sept. 15, 2026 in Washington, D.C.

By the evening, security guards stationed outside entrances to the main lobby were turning people away. One officer said the building had just closed.

The Kennedy Center said in a statement that an immediate temporary closure of the building was necessary for safety reasons but that an extended closure would begin once the court gives its approval. Earlier on Tuesday, the center’s Trump-allied board voted — for a third time — to close the building, citing a recent incident in which a five-foot-long section of ceiling plaster fell amid a storm.

But lawyers for Representative Joyce Beatty, a Democratic ex officio board member whose lawsuit is at the center of the court battle, signaled that they would view any closure as in direct conflict with a court order.

“If true,” the lawyers, Norm Eisen and Nathaniel Zelinsky, said in a statement, “it would appear a direct violation of the court’s order and courting contempt.”

Earlier on Tuesday, Judge Christopher R. Cooper barred the center from honoring Mr. Trump with an inscription on the institution’s exterior. He ruled it would violate his previous order that blocked the board from renaming the center.

“Simply put, defendants cannot install memorials for President Trump or anyone or anything else at the Kennedy Center without Congress’s blessing,” Judge Cooper wrote. “The board resolution bucks a federal court order and a statute Congress enacted.”

A bit more:

For weeks, Mr. Trump’s allies have suggested that the president’s continued commitment to the Kennedy Center was contingent on some conspicuous acknowledgment on the center’s exterior. A recent draft resolution submitted to board members said the center was at risk of bankruptcy but could be saved by fund-raising by Mr. Trump — if he were to receive “appropriate recognition.”

Mr. Trump’s made that quid pro quo even more clear in his social media post on Tuesday. It said that $17 million raised by the president had been put into the center’s account “to keep it afloat.”

The post followed a day of rage directed at those blocking his agenda for the Kennedy Center. Shortly before the judge’s ruling was publicly released, Mr. Trump declared on social media that the center was in a “virtual state of collapse.” He called Judge Cooper “very hostile and conflicted” and predicted that the building was “destined to doom” unless it was allowed to close.

Mr. Trump continued those arguments during a virtual board meeting on Tuesday afternoon, where he got into a bitter argument with Ms. Beatty, according to two people familiar with the meeting. They said that Mr. Trump and Ms. Beatty, who have been at odds in court for months, traded personal attacks: The president said the congresswoman had “never built anything” in her life, while Ms. Beatty called Trump “ignorant” and blamed him for the center’s financial problems.

Use the gift link to read more, if you wish.

Joey Garrison at USA Today, via Yahoo News: Trump threw ‘tantrum’ at Kennedy Center meeting, Congresswoman says.

President Donald Trump threw a “tantrum” during a Kennedy Center board meeting when he learned that a federal judge blocked his administration’s latest effort to put his name on the institution’s building, according to a Democratic congresswoman who serves on the board.

Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio)

Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, the lead plaintiff who the judge sided with in his ruling, recounted the heated Sept. 15 meeting in an appearance on MS NOW. She said it opened with attorneys informing the board ‒ which Trump chairs after he appointed himself ‒ that in the case of Beaty v. Trump, “Beatty had been victorious.”

“And he went into a tantrum,” Beatty said. “I mean, let me just make it simple. It was the most unprofessional thing that I’ve ever witnessed or been a part of. He went into name-calling, everything from trying to say that I was an obstructionist, I was dumb. He said, ‘I think you’re incompetent.’ And I said, ‘I know you’re incompetent.'”

Shortly before the board met, U.S. District Court Judge Christopher Cooper ruled that the Kennedy Center’s plan to add an inscription below the building’s sign to honor Trump’s financial contributions violates federal law and the judge’s previous ruling in May ordering the Kennedy Center to remove Trump’s name from the center’s title and signage.

As the president aired his frustrations to her, Beatty said she asked the president, “‘Are we really going to do this? This is really unprofessional.’ But I was not going to let him call me awful things. And he said he was going to hold me responsible if something fell out of the ceiling (of the Kennedy Center) and killed someone.”

Kennedy family members appealed to Trump to be reasonable (not likely!). Devin Garbit at ABC News: Kennedy niece says Trump holding Kennedy Center ‘hostage’ amid battle over name.

One of former President John F. Kennedy’s nieces accused President Donald Trump of taking the Kennedy Center “hostage” after Trump said he wouldn’t spend congressionally approved funding for the center’s renovation unless the building also bears his name.

The comments by Kerry Kennedy, whose father was Robert F. Kennedy, followed a ruling by a federal judge blocking the performing arts center’s board from adding a tribute to Trump on the building or site.

About an hour after that ruling, the board, which is controlled by Trump appointees, voted to close the center immediately for renovations.

Trump, in a social media post following the board’s vote, then said those renovations will not take place unless his name is added onto the building.

Kerry Kennedy

Congress last year appropriated $257 million for the renovation. In a Tuesday interview with CNN, Kennedy described the board’s efforts as “a tragedy,” adding that the center is loved by many and the public “see the corruption of this.”

“President Trump has said they have $250 million ready to hand over tomorrow,” Kennedy said. “He’s just withholding it because he wants his name on the building. So, this is like so many other things that trump has touched. It’s a bankruptcy because he adds his name to it.” [….]

In a direct appeal to the president, Kennedy said, “President Trump, please focus on what’s important. Leave the Kennedy center alone. Allow us to move forward with this great art center, this monument to a slain president, and leave it alone. Focus on your job.”

Kennedy’s comments on CNN on Tuesday followed a similar statement released by another niece, Maria Shriver, who also described Trump’s threat to prevent renovations a “tragedy.” Shriver described Trump as “small minded” and “narcissistic.”

Appealing to Trump to be reasonable is useless. He has the maturity of a 3 year-old child, if that.

Trump is also trying to leave his mark on the Smithsonian.

Robin Pogrebin at The New York Times (gift link): Trump Administration Outlines Plan for Signs Outside Smithsonian Museum.

President Trump remains determined to install warning signs outside the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History to alert the public that the institution, in his view, does not accurately present U.S. history.

In letters to two senators, the Interior Department outlined a plan for 12 temporary signs to be installed at a total cost of $84,000. The letters did not specify the dimensions or language of the signs, which were originally ordered in July, but it went into considerable detail about the kind of information they plan to convey.

In the letter to Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, dated Sept. 3, Doug Burgum, the interior secretary, said he was responding to questions about Mr. Trump’s March 2025 executive order, “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History.” The order described a “revisionist movement” across the country that it said “seeks to undermine the remarkable achievements of the United States by casting its founding principles and historical milestones in a negative light.”

Smithsonian Museam of American History

Americans should enter the National Museum of American History “with relevant information about the curators’ interpretation of history and their stated goal of changing the viewpoints of visitors,” said the letter, which was earlier reported in The Atlantic on Tuesday. Instead, the letter argued, the museum and Smithsonian’s leaders “have altered the museum’s role from accurately and coherently telling America’s story to using the museum as a tool to advance personal, radical ideologies.”

“We believe the public should enter the museum fully equipped with the information needed,” the letter said, “to evaluate whether to invest their time viewing these exhibits and programming.”

The museum’s director, Anthea M. Hartig, has contested the thrust of a July 4 White House report that accused her of “radical activist ideology” and the museum of undermining “faith in American institutions.”

Though the letter said that the language of the signs had not been finalized and gave no installation timeline, it described some of the topics they were intended to address, all of which had been outlined in the White House report.

For example, the letter said the signs should “ensure parents bringing young children to the museum are equipped to protect the well-being of their children” regarding exhibits that “present ideological viewpoints inconsistent with biology, including ideologies that sex is not binary, that biological men can be women and that biological men should be permitted to compete in women’s sports.”

Mr. Burgum’s letter said a copy had also been sent to Senator Jeff Merkley, Democrat of Oregon.

You can read more using the gift link.

More on Trump Smithsonian demands from Kelsey Ables at The Atlantic (gift link).

A person familiar with the plans described some of the preparations to me. Although the Park Service has an idea of the physical structure of the signs, what the signs will actually say and who is writing the text remains a mystery to people in the agency working on them, said the person, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the record. The letter from Burgum says that the signs are not finalized, but it offers a preview of what they might look like, describing a number of things “visitors should know” before they enter the museum. Burgum, whose department includes the Park Service, extensively quotes the museum’s director, Anthea Hartig, and criticizes outgoing Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch, seeking to frame both as ideologues. The letter also calls out exhibitions and materials that have touched on groups the administration has gone after, such as undocumented immigrants and transgender Americans.

“The informational signage therefore will provide visitors with important context about the exhibits they are about to encounter and the personal viewpoints that the curators of the exhibits are seeking to advance,” the letter says. It goes on to justify the move, echoing a 162-page report on the museum released by the White House and asserting that the museum is pushing “ideologies that distract from a coherent and accurate presentation of America’s story.” Burgum adds, “This may be the first instance in which executive branch intervention of this nature has become Necessary.”

Trump also wants a giant statue of George Washington installed.

The Smithsonian, which is partially federally funded, has historically operated independently, has its own governing body, and is regarded in the wider museum world as measured in its approach. The institution has been heading off threats and criticism from the Trump administration since March 2025. Recently, the administration’s attention has turned to the American-history museum, which Trump made a number of curatorial demands of on social media this past Friday, including insisting that it remove an abstract sculpture and erect a 30-foot-tall George Washington statue in its place. Although the Trump administration has accused the Smithsonian, and specifically the American-history museum, of not being patriotic enough, the museum’s leadership has pointed to the abundance of patriotic material on display inside—368 objects and 340 labels on the founding era; 54 George Washington mentions, according to Hartig—and has maintained that telling the American story in its full complexity is a crucial part of its role.

Use the gift link to read more if you’re interested.

This is breaking news. Speaker Mike Johnson just sent House members home again in order to avoid a vote on impeaching Pete Hegseth. Yesterday Rep. Thomas Massie read articles of impeachment on the House floor. Today he tried to force a vote.

ABC News: Rep. Thomas Massie forcing vote on Pete Hegseth’s impeachment.

Outgoing Republican Rep. Thomas Massie seized the House floor for more than an hour Tuesday afternoon, launching a long-shot effort to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stemming from his controversial administration over the Pentagon, including the war in Iran.

Rep Thomas Massie introduces a resolution to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in a speech on the floor of the House of Representatives at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, September 15, 2026.

After sending a news release announcing his intent to impeach Hegseth, Massie quickly appeared on the floor where he stood for more than 67 minutes reading the sweeping 34-page resolution with eight articles of impeachment aloud.

“Secretary Hegseth has acted in a manner contrary to his trust as Secretary of Defense and subversive of constitutional government, to the great prejudice of the cause of law and justice, and to the manifest injury of the people of the United States of America,” Massie read from the resolution, contending that Hegseth will “remain a threat to civilians and the laws of war, the integrity of United States diplomacy, and the Constitution if allowed to remain in office, and has acted in a manner grossly incompatible with his duties and the rule of law.”

“Peter Brian Hegseth thus warrants impeachment and trial, removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust, or profit under the United States,” the resolution states….

The articles of impeachment against Hegseth include ignoring laws that minimize civilian casualties, administering an “unlawful war” in Yemen, ordering extrajudicial killings, suppressing free speech and kidnapping a sovereign leader — alluding to the U.S. capture of Nicolas Maduro early this year.

“Frankly, I was concerned that Mike Johnson would end Congress again, like shorten even our already truncated work period if he found out I was doing.

And that’s exactly what Johnson did today. Malcolm Ferguson at The New Republic: House Cancels Votes to Avoid Embarrassment Over Hegseth Impeachment.

The House is going home again—this time to avoid a vote on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s impeachment.

House GOP leadership announced Wednesday morning that they will end their current slate of votes early and head home until the midterms, a nearly two-month break.

“Members are further advised that upon completion of today’s legislative business, votes are no longer expected in the House tomorrow, September 17th,” a message from the office of House Majority Whip Tom Emmer read. “The last votes for the week are expected at approximately 4:45 p.m. this afternoon. This is a change from the previously announced schedule.”

The House will now move up votes on cutting Environmental Protection Agency regulations to Wednesday.

The vote the House GOP is most notably avoiding regards outgoing Republican Representative Thomas Massie’s eight articles of impeachment against Hegseth for his handling of the Iran war and other “high crimes and misdemeanors.”

Massie’s impeachment articles focused on Hegseth’s “waging the Iran war despite no declaration of war, statutory authorization, attack on the United States, or imminent threat,” and continuing to attack Iran after the War Powers Resolution expired. They also cited Hegseth’s suppression of Democratic Senator Mark Kelly’s right to free speech, initiating an unlawful war in Yemen, and “ignoring laws that minimize civilian casualties.” Massie said he hid his privileged resolution, which forces a vote within 48 hours, from House leadership.

I’ll end with some bad news and then good news.

The bad news:  It’s no secret that Trump’s economy is struggling.

Alan Rappaport at The New York Times (gift link): The World Economy Is Becoming Wary of the U.S.

Global investors are balking at U.S. bonds. Talk of the dollar’s dwindling power is getting louder. Foreign governments are hauling their gold out of American vaults.

Almost two years into President Trump’s second term, the world economy is increasingly looking for ways to distance itself from America. Concerns about a $40 trillion debt burden, the excessive use of sanctions to solve foreign policy problems and Mr. Trump’s penchant for pushing the limits of the rule of law are raising questions about the appeal of the United States as a haven for global investment.

Despite pledges by foreign companies and nations to invest in the United States — in many cases to curry favor with the White House — capital is starting to seek alternative destinations.

“Geopolitical factors and U.S. weaponization of the dollar through financial sanctions are causing central banks and other official investors to attempt to diversify away from dollar assets,” said Eswar Prasad, the former head of the International Monetary Fund’s China division.

The United States is not yet an investment pariah. Private investors are still pouring money into American financial markets and stocks, artificial intelligence infrastructure is booming and no rival currency is poised to topple the dollar imminently….

But cracks in America’s economic dominance are starting to show.

The most glaring example has been in the bond market. Yields have been soaring as investors nervous about the mounting national debt demand a higher rate of return for buying Treasury bonds. This week, the yield on the 10-year Treasury topped 5 percent, reaching its highest level since 2007.

A decision to raise rates on Wednesday could help to alleviate concerns about the Fed’s grip on elevated inflation, fears that have injected more jitters into bond markets.

Read more at the NYT link. (The Times is giving subscribers unlimited gift links now.)

How about some good news? There’s a new Times/Sienna poll out that looks good for Democrats.

Nate Cohn at The New York Times (gift link): A ‘Blue Wave’ May Be Building, but How High?

Today’s New York Times/Siena poll finds that the conditions for a so-called wave in November’s midterm elections might be coming into place. The only question is whether — and where — Democrats will be able to ride it.

Overall, Democrats lead Republicans, 51 percent to 43 percent, among likely voters on the generic ballot question, which asks voters which party they will support for Congress in their district.

That’s “blue wave” territory. At least in terms of the national vote, the Democratic margin in the poll — 8.5 points — would almost exactly match the party’s 8.6-point margin in 2018. And it would exceed the winning margins for the party out of power in other recent wave elections, like in 1994, 2006 and 2010.

If, in the end, this election does prove to be a blue wave, it will be easy to explain. Historically, the party out of power fares well in midterm elections, and especially when the president is unpopular. The poll finds that President Trump’s approval rating is just 38 percent among likely voters — lower than any president heading into a midterm election since George W. Bush in 2006.

As my colleague Carl Hulse recently pointed out, there are a lot of similarities between Mr. Trump’s predicament today and Mr. Bush’s back in 2006. Mr. Bush was in a quagmire in Iraq and dogged by high gas prices. Today, Mr. Trump has just a 31 percent approval rating on the war in Iran, and a 28 percent rating on the cost of living.

Whether Democrats can translate these enormous national advantages into control of the Senate and a large House majority is a more complicated question. To win the Senate, Democrats will need to win at least two seats where Mr. Trump won by at least 11 points in the last election. That’s really tough, even in a wave year.

Here again, 2006 offers a useful comparison: To flip the Senate, Democrats needed to win at least a few seats in states where Mr. Bush had won by at least eight points in the previous election. In the end, they pulled it off — but only barely, including two extremely narrow victories in Montana and Virginia. Without a few fortunate breaks in those states, those races could have gone the other way — along with the Senate.

The national environment may have been great for Democrats, but a Senate win was far from inevitable.

There’s still plenty of time for Trump to alienate voters.

That’s all for me today. What’s on your mind?

Wild Wednesday Reads

Good Afternoon!!

Trump is supposedly involved in a war with Iran that is spreading throughout the Middle East, but all he really seems to care about is tearing down the White House to build a giant, garish ballroom, putting his name on buildings, and imposing his ideological views on all of us.

Yesterday, it was the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, a building dedicated to an assassinated president.

Julia Jacobs and Zach Montague at The New York Times (gift link): Kennedy Center Closes Its Doors Despite a Judge’s Order.

Simmering turmoil over the future of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts boiled over on Tuesday as the center abruptly closed to the public and President Trump threatened to cancel a planned $257 million renovation if his name was not returned to the front of the building.

Allies of Mr. Trump have been pushing for months to close the center for major renovations and to honor the president by affixing his name to its marble facade. A federal judge has blocked both efforts.

On Tuesday, the center aggressively tested the judge’s order not to close by shutting its doors in what officials called an emergency action designed to protect people from deteriorating conditions inside the building. Shortly after 4:30 p.m., employees heard a sudden notice on the P.A. system: “The center is now closed to the public. Please exit the center by way of the Hall of States.”

A security guard stands in front of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on Sept. 15, 2026 in Washington, D.C.

By the evening, security guards stationed outside entrances to the main lobby were turning people away. One officer said the building had just closed.

The Kennedy Center said in a statement that an immediate temporary closure of the building was necessary for safety reasons but that an extended closure would begin once the court gives its approval. Earlier on Tuesday, the center’s Trump-allied board voted — for a third time — to close the building, citing a recent incident in which a five-foot-long section of ceiling plaster fell amid a storm.

But lawyers for Representative Joyce Beatty, a Democratic ex officio board member whose lawsuit is at the center of the court battle, signaled that they would view any closure as in direct conflict with a court order.

“If true,” the lawyers, Norm Eisen and Nathaniel Zelinsky, said in a statement, “it would appear a direct violation of the court’s order and courting contempt.”

Earlier on Tuesday, Judge Christopher R. Cooper barred the center from honoring Mr. Trump with an inscription on the institution’s exterior. He ruled it would violate his previous order that blocked the board from renaming the center.

“Simply put, defendants cannot install memorials for President Trump or anyone or anything else at the Kennedy Center without Congress’s blessing,” Judge Cooper wrote. “The board resolution bucks a federal court order and a statute Congress enacted.”

A bit more:

For weeks, Mr. Trump’s allies have suggested that the president’s continued commitment to the Kennedy Center was contingent on some conspicuous acknowledgment on the center’s exterior. A recent draft resolution submitted to board members said the center was at risk of bankruptcy but could be saved by fund-raising by Mr. Trump — if he were to receive “appropriate recognition.”

Mr. Trump’s made that quid pro quo even more clear in his social media post on Tuesday. It said that $17 million raised by the president had been put into the center’s account “to keep it afloat.”

The post followed a day of rage directed at those blocking his agenda for the Kennedy Center. Shortly before the judge’s ruling was publicly released, Mr. Trump declared on social media that the center was in a “virtual state of collapse.” He called Judge Cooper “very hostile and conflicted” and predicted that the building was “destined to doom” unless it was allowed to close.

Mr. Trump continued those arguments during a virtual board meeting on Tuesday afternoon, where he got into a bitter argument with Ms. Beatty, according to two people familiar with the meeting. They said that Mr. Trump and Ms. Beatty, who have been at odds in court for months, traded personal attacks: The president said the congresswoman had “never built anything” in her life, while Ms. Beatty called Trump “ignorant” and blamed him for the center’s financial problems.

Use the gift link to read more, if you wish.

Joey Garrison at USA Today, via Yahoo News: Trump threw ‘tantrum’ at Kennedy Center meeting, Congresswoman says.

President Donald Trump threw a “tantrum” during a Kennedy Center board meeting when he learned that a federal judge blocked his administration’s latest effort to put his name on the institution’s building, according to a Democratic congresswoman who serves on the board.

Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio)

Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, the lead plaintiff who the judge sided with in his ruling, recounted the heated Sept. 15 meeting in an appearance on MS NOW. She said it opened with attorneys informing the board ‒ which Trump chairs after he appointed himself ‒ that in the case of Beaty v. Trump, “Beatty had been victorious.”

“And he went into a tantrum,” Beatty said. “I mean, let me just make it simple. It was the most unprofessional thing that I’ve ever witnessed or been a part of. He went into name-calling, everything from trying to say that I was an obstructionist, I was dumb. He said, ‘I think you’re incompetent.’ And I said, ‘I know you’re incompetent.'”

Shortly before the board met, U.S. District Court Judge Christopher Cooper ruled that the Kennedy Center’s plan to add an inscription below the building’s sign to honor Trump’s financial contributions violates federal law and the judge’s previous ruling in May ordering the Kennedy Center to remove Trump’s name from the center’s title and signage.

As the president aired his frustrations to her, Beatty said she asked the president, “‘Are we really going to do this? This is really unprofessional.’ But I was not going to let him call me awful things. And he said he was going to hold me responsible if something fell out of the ceiling (of the Kennedy Center) and killed someone.”

Kennedy family members appealed to Trump to be reasonable (not likely!). Devin Garbit at ABC News: Kennedy niece says Trump holding Kennedy Center ‘hostage’ amid battle over name.

One of former President John F. Kennedy’s nieces accused President Donald Trump of taking the Kennedy Center “hostage” after Trump said he wouldn’t spend congressionally approved funding for the center’s renovation unless the building also bears his name.

The comments by Kerry Kennedy, whose father was Robert F. Kennedy, followed a ruling by a federal judge blocking the performing arts center’s board from adding a tribute to Trump on the building or site.

About an hour after that ruling, the board, which is controlled by Trump appointees, voted to close the center immediately for renovations.

Trump, in a social media post following the board’s vote, then said those renovations will not take place unless his name is added onto the building.

Kerry Kennedy

Congress last year appropriated $257 million for the renovation. In a Tuesday interview with CNN, Kennedy described the board’s efforts as “a tragedy,” adding that the center is loved by many and the public “see the corruption of this.”

“President Trump has said they have $250 million ready to hand over tomorrow,” Kennedy said. “He’s just withholding it because he wants his name on the building. So, this is like so many other things that trump has touched. It’s a bankruptcy because he adds his name to it.” [….]

In a direct appeal to the president, Kennedy said, “President Trump, please focus on what’s important. Leave the Kennedy center alone. Allow us to move forward with this great art center, this monument to a slain president, and leave it alone. Focus on your job.”

Kennedy’s comments on CNN on Tuesday followed a similar statement released by another niece, Maria Shriver, who also described Trump’s threat to prevent renovations a “tragedy.” Shriver described Trump as “small minded” and “narcissistic.”

Appealing to Trump to be reasonable is useless. He has the maturity of a 3 year-old child, if that.

Trump is also trying to leave his mark on the Smithsonian.

Robin Pogrebin at The New York Times (gift link): Trump Administration Outlines Plan for Signs Outside Smithsonian Museum.

President Trump remains determined to install warning signs outside the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History to alert the public that the institution, in his view, does not accurately present U.S. history.

In letters to two senators, the Interior Department outlined a plan for 12 temporary signs to be installed at a total cost of $84,000. The letters did not specify the dimensions or language of the signs, which were originally ordered in July, but it went into considerable detail about the kind of information they plan to convey.

In the letter to Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, dated Sept. 3, Doug Burgum, the interior secretary, said he was responding to questions about Mr. Trump’s March 2025 executive order, “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History.” The order described a “revisionist movement” across the country that it said “seeks to undermine the remarkable achievements of the United States by casting its founding principles and historical milestones in a negative light.”

Smithsonian Museam of American History

Americans should enter the National Museum of American History “with relevant information about the curators’ interpretation of history and their stated goal of changing the viewpoints of visitors,” said the letter, which was earlier reported in The Atlantic on Tuesday. Instead, the letter argued, the museum and Smithsonian’s leaders “have altered the museum’s role from accurately and coherently telling America’s story to using the museum as a tool to advance personal, radical ideologies.”

“We believe the public should enter the museum fully equipped with the information needed,” the letter said, “to evaluate whether to invest their time viewing these exhibits and programming.”

The museum’s director, Anthea M. Hartig, has contested the thrust of a July 4 White House report that accused her of “radical activist ideology” and the museum of undermining “faith in American institutions.”

Though the letter said that the language of the signs had not been finalized and gave no installation timeline, it described some of the topics they were intended to address, all of which had been outlined in the White House report.

For example, the letter said the signs should “ensure parents bringing young children to the museum are equipped to protect the well-being of their children” regarding exhibits that “present ideological viewpoints inconsistent with biology, including ideologies that sex is not binary, that biological men can be women and that biological men should be permitted to compete in women’s sports.”

Mr. Burgum’s letter said a copy had also been sent to Senator Jeff Merkley, Democrat of Oregon.

You can read more using the gift link.

More on Trump Smithsonian demands from Kelsey Ables at The Atlantic (gift link).

A person familiar with the plans described some of the preparations to me. Although the Park Service has an idea of the physical structure of the signs, what the signs will actually say and who is writing the text remains a mystery to people in the agency working on them, said the person, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the record. The letter from Burgum says that the signs are not finalized, but it offers a preview of what they might look like, describing a number of things “visitors should know” before they enter the museum. Burgum, whose department includes the Park Service, extensively quotes the museum’s director, Anthea Hartig, and criticizes outgoing Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch, seeking to frame both as ideologues. The letter also calls out exhibitions and materials that have touched on groups the administration has gone after, such as undocumented immigrants and transgender Americans.

“The informational signage therefore will provide visitors with important context about the exhibits they are about to encounter and the personal viewpoints that the curators of the exhibits are seeking to advance,” the letter says. It goes on to justify the move, echoing a 162-page report on the museum released by the White House and asserting that the museum is pushing “ideologies that distract from a coherent and accurate presentation of America’s story.” Burgum adds, “This may be the first instance in which executive branch intervention of this nature has become Necessary.”

Trump also wants a giant statue of George Washington installed.

The Smithsonian, which is partially federally funded, has historically operated independently, has its own governing body, and is regarded in the wider museum world as measured in its approach. The institution has been heading off threats and criticism from the Trump administration since March 2025. Recently, the administration’s attention has turned to the American-history museum, which Trump made a number of curatorial demands of on social media this past Friday, including insisting that it remove an abstract sculpture and erect a 30-foot-tall George Washington statue in its place. Although the Trump administration has accused the Smithsonian, and specifically the American-history museum, of not being patriotic enough, the museum’s leadership has pointed to the abundance of patriotic material on display inside—368 objects and 340 labels on the founding era; 54 George Washington mentions, according to Hartig—and has maintained that telling the American story in its full complexity is a crucial part of its role.

Use the gift link to read more if you’re interested.

This is breaking news. Speaker Mike Johnson just sent House members home again in order to avoid a vote on impeaching Pete Hegseth. Yesterday Rep. Thomas Massie read articles of impeachment on the House floor. Today he tried to force a vote.

ABC News: Rep. Thomas Massie forcing vote on Pete Hegseth’s impeachment.

Outgoing Republican Rep. Thomas Massie seized the House floor for more than an hour Tuesday afternoon, launching a long-shot effort to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stemming from his controversial administration over the Pentagon, including the war in Iran.

Rep Thomas Massie introduces a resolution to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in a speech on the floor of the House of Representatives at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, September 15, 2026.

After sending a news release announcing his intent to impeach Hegseth, Massie quickly appeared on the floor where he stood for more than 67 minutes reading the sweeping 34-page resolution with eight articles of impeachment aloud.

“Secretary Hegseth has acted in a manner contrary to his trust as Secretary of Defense and subversive of constitutional government, to the great prejudice of the cause of law and justice, and to the manifest injury of the people of the United States of America,” Massie read from the resolution, contending that Hegseth will “remain a threat to civilians and the laws of war, the integrity of United States diplomacy, and the Constitution if allowed to remain in office, and has acted in a manner grossly incompatible with his duties and the rule of law.”

“Peter Brian Hegseth thus warrants impeachment and trial, removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust, or profit under the United States,” the resolution states….

The articles of impeachment against Hegseth include ignoring laws that minimize civilian casualties, administering an “unlawful war” in Yemen, ordering extrajudicial killings, suppressing free speech and kidnapping a sovereign leader — alluding to the U.S. capture of Nicolas Maduro early this year.

“Frankly, I was concerned that Mike Johnson would end Congress again, like shorten even our already truncated work period if he found out I was doing.

And that’s exactly what Johnson did today. Malcolm Ferguson at The New Republic: House Cancels Votes to Avoid Embarrassment Over Hegseth Impeachment.

The House is going home again—this time to avoid a vote on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s impeachment.

House GOP leadership announced Wednesday morning that they will end their current slate of votes early and head home until the midterms, a nearly two-month break.

“Members are further advised that upon completion of today’s legislative business, votes are no longer expected in the House tomorrow, September 17th,” a message from the office of House Majority Whip Tom Emmer read. “The last votes for the week are expected at approximately 4:45 p.m. this afternoon. This is a change from the previously announced schedule.”

The House will now move up votes on cutting Environmental Protection Agency regulations to Wednesday.

The vote the House GOP is most notably avoiding regards outgoing Republican Representative Thomas Massie’s eight articles of impeachment against Hegseth for his handling of the Iran war and other “high crimes and misdemeanors.”

Massie’s impeachment articles focused on Hegseth’s “waging the Iran war despite no declaration of war, statutory authorization, attack on the United States, or imminent threat,” and continuing to attack Iran after the War Powers Resolution expired. They also cited Hegseth’s suppression of Democratic Senator Mark Kelly’s right to free speech, initiating an unlawful war in Yemen, and “ignoring laws that minimize civilian casualties.” Massie said he hid his privileged resolution, which forces a vote within 48 hours, from House leadership.

I’ll end with some bad news and then good news.

The bad news:  It’s no secret that Trump’s economy is struggling.

Alan Rappaport at The New York Times (gift link): The World Economy Is Becoming Wary of the U.S.

Global investors are balking at U.S. bonds. Talk of the dollar’s dwindling power is getting louder. Foreign governments are hauling their gold out of American vaults.

Almost two years into President Trump’s second term, the world economy is increasingly looking for ways to distance itself from America. Concerns about a $40 trillion debt burden, the excessive use of sanctions to solve foreign policy problems and Mr. Trump’s penchant for pushing the limits of the rule of law are raising questions about the appeal of the United States as a haven for global investment.

Despite pledges by foreign companies and nations to invest in the United States — in many cases to curry favor with the White House — capital is starting to seek alternative destinations.

“Geopolitical factors and U.S. weaponization of the dollar through financial sanctions are causing central banks and other official investors to attempt to diversify away from dollar assets,” said Eswar Prasad, the former head of the International Monetary Fund’s China division.

The United States is not yet an investment pariah. Private investors are still pouring money into American financial markets and stocks, artificial intelligence infrastructure is booming and no rival currency is poised to topple the dollar imminently….

But cracks in America’s economic dominance are starting to show.

The most glaring example has been in the bond market. Yields have been soaring as investors nervous about the mounting national debt demand a higher rate of return for buying Treasury bonds. This week, the yield on the 10-year Treasury topped 5 percent, reaching its highest level since 2007.

A decision to raise rates on Wednesday could help to alleviate concerns about the Fed’s grip on elevated inflation, fears that have injected more jitters into bond markets.

Read more at the NYT link. (The Times is giving subscribers unlimited gift links now.)

How about some good news? There’s a new Times/Sienna poll out that looks good for Democrats.

Nate Cohn at The New York Times (gift link): A ‘Blue Wave’ May Be Building, but How High?

Today’s New York Times/Siena poll finds that the conditions for a so-called wave in November’s midterm elections might be coming into place. The only question is whether — and where — Democrats will be able to ride it.

Overall, Democrats lead Republicans, 51 percent to 43 percent, among likely voters on the generic ballot question, which asks voters which party they will support for Congress in their district.

That’s “blue wave” territory. At least in terms of the national vote, the Democratic margin in the poll — 8.5 points — would almost exactly match the party’s 8.6-point margin in 2018. And it would exceed the winning margins for the party out of power in other recent wave elections, like in 1994, 2006 and 2010.

If, in the end, this election does prove to be a blue wave, it will be easy to explain. Historically, the party out of power fares well in midterm elections, and especially when the president is unpopular. The poll finds that President Trump’s approval rating is just 38 percent among likely voters — lower than any president heading into a midterm election since George W. Bush in 2006.

As my colleague Carl Hulse recently pointed out, there are a lot of similarities between Mr. Trump’s predicament today and Mr. Bush’s back in 2006. Mr. Bush was in a quagmire in Iraq and dogged by high gas prices. Today, Mr. Trump has just a 31 percent approval rating on the war in Iran, and a 28 percent rating on the cost of living.

Whether Democrats can translate these enormous national advantages into control of the Senate and a large House majority is a more complicated question. To win the Senate, Democrats will need to win at least two seats where Mr. Trump won by at least 11 points in the last election. That’s really tough, even in a wave year.

Here again, 2006 offers a useful comparison: To flip the Senate, Democrats needed to win at least a few seats in states where Mr. Bush had won by at least eight points in the previous election. In the end, they pulled it off — but only barely, including two extremely narrow victories in Montana and Virginia. Without a few fortunate breaks in those states, those races could have gone the other way — along with the Senate.

The national environment may have been great for Democrats, but a Senate win was far from inevitable.

There’s still plenty of time for Trump to alienate voters.

That’s all for me today. What’s on your mind?

Wild Wednesday Reads

Good Afternoon!!

Trump is supposedly involved in a war with Iran that is spreading throughout the Middle East, but all he really seems to care about is tearing down the White House to build a giant, garish ballroom, putting his name on buildings, and imposing his ideological views on all of us.

Yesterday, it was the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, a building dedicated to an assassinated president.

Julia Jacobs and Zach Montague at The New York Times (gift link): Kennedy Center Closes Its Doors Despite a Judge’s Order.

Simmering turmoil over the future of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts boiled over on Tuesday as the center abruptly closed to the public and President Trump threatened to cancel a planned $257 million renovation if his name was not returned to the front of the building.

Allies of Mr. Trump have been pushing for months to close the center for major renovations and to honor the president by affixing his name to its marble facade. A federal judge has blocked both efforts.

On Tuesday, the center aggressively tested the judge’s order not to close by shutting its doors in what officials called an emergency action designed to protect people from deteriorating conditions inside the building. Shortly after 4:30 p.m., employees heard a sudden notice on the P.A. system: “The center is now closed to the public. Please exit the center by way of the Hall of States.”

A security guard stands in front of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on Sept. 15, 2026 in Washington, D.C.

By the evening, security guards stationed outside entrances to the main lobby were turning people away. One officer said the building had just closed.

The Kennedy Center said in a statement that an immediate temporary closure of the building was necessary for safety reasons but that an extended closure would begin once the court gives its approval. Earlier on Tuesday, the center’s Trump-allied board voted — for a third time — to close the building, citing a recent incident in which a five-foot-long section of ceiling plaster fell amid a storm.

But lawyers for Representative Joyce Beatty, a Democratic ex officio board member whose lawsuit is at the center of the court battle, signaled that they would view any closure as in direct conflict with a court order.

“If true,” the lawyers, Norm Eisen and Nathaniel Zelinsky, said in a statement, “it would appear a direct violation of the court’s order and courting contempt.”

Earlier on Tuesday, Judge Christopher R. Cooper barred the center from honoring Mr. Trump with an inscription on the institution’s exterior. He ruled it would violate his previous order that blocked the board from renaming the center.

“Simply put, defendants cannot install memorials for President Trump or anyone or anything else at the Kennedy Center without Congress’s blessing,” Judge Cooper wrote. “The board resolution bucks a federal court order and a statute Congress enacted.”

A bit more:

For weeks, Mr. Trump’s allies have suggested that the president’s continued commitment to the Kennedy Center was contingent on some conspicuous acknowledgment on the center’s exterior. A recent draft resolution submitted to board members said the center was at risk of bankruptcy but could be saved by fund-raising by Mr. Trump — if he were to receive “appropriate recognition.”

Mr. Trump’s made that quid pro quo even more clear in his social media post on Tuesday. It said that $17 million raised by the president had been put into the center’s account “to keep it afloat.”

The post followed a day of rage directed at those blocking his agenda for the Kennedy Center. Shortly before the judge’s ruling was publicly released, Mr. Trump declared on social media that the center was in a “virtual state of collapse.” He called Judge Cooper “very hostile and conflicted” and predicted that the building was “destined to doom” unless it was allowed to close.

Mr. Trump continued those arguments during a virtual board meeting on Tuesday afternoon, where he got into a bitter argument with Ms. Beatty, according to two people familiar with the meeting. They said that Mr. Trump and Ms. Beatty, who have been at odds in court for months, traded personal attacks: The president said the congresswoman had “never built anything” in her life, while Ms. Beatty called Trump “ignorant” and blamed him for the center’s financial problems.

Use the gift link to read more, if you wish.

Joey Garrison at USA Today, via Yahoo News: Trump threw ‘tantrum’ at Kennedy Center meeting, Congresswoman says.

President Donald Trump threw a “tantrum” during a Kennedy Center board meeting when he learned that a federal judge blocked his administration’s latest effort to put his name on the institution’s building, according to a Democratic congresswoman who serves on the board.

Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio)

Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, the lead plaintiff who the judge sided with in his ruling, recounted the heated Sept. 15 meeting in an appearance on MS NOW. She said it opened with attorneys informing the board ‒ which Trump chairs after he appointed himself ‒ that in the case of Beaty v. Trump, “Beatty had been victorious.”

“And he went into a tantrum,” Beatty said. “I mean, let me just make it simple. It was the most unprofessional thing that I’ve ever witnessed or been a part of. He went into name-calling, everything from trying to say that I was an obstructionist, I was dumb. He said, ‘I think you’re incompetent.’ And I said, ‘I know you’re incompetent.'”

Shortly before the board met, U.S. District Court Judge Christopher Cooper ruled that the Kennedy Center’s plan to add an inscription below the building’s sign to honor Trump’s financial contributions violates federal law and the judge’s previous ruling in May ordering the Kennedy Center to remove Trump’s name from the center’s title and signage.

As the president aired his frustrations to her, Beatty said she asked the president, “‘Are we really going to do this? This is really unprofessional.’ But I was not going to let him call me awful things. And he said he was going to hold me responsible if something fell out of the ceiling (of the Kennedy Center) and killed someone.”

Kennedy family members appealed to Trump to be reasonable (not likely!). Devin Garbit at ABC News: Kennedy niece says Trump holding Kennedy Center ‘hostage’ amid battle over name.

One of former President John F. Kennedy’s nieces accused President Donald Trump of taking the Kennedy Center “hostage” after Trump said he wouldn’t spend congressionally approved funding for the center’s renovation unless the building also bears his name.

The comments by Kerry Kennedy, whose father was Robert F. Kennedy, followed a ruling by a federal judge blocking the performing arts center’s board from adding a tribute to Trump on the building or site.

About an hour after that ruling, the board, which is controlled by Trump appointees, voted to close the center immediately for renovations.

Trump, in a social media post following the board’s vote, then said those renovations will not take place unless his name is added onto the building.

Kerry Kennedy

Congress last year appropriated $257 million for the renovation. In a Tuesday interview with CNN, Kennedy described the board’s efforts as “a tragedy,” adding that the center is loved by many and the public “see the corruption of this.”

“President Trump has said they have $250 million ready to hand over tomorrow,” Kennedy said. “He’s just withholding it because he wants his name on the building. So, this is like so many other things that trump has touched. It’s a bankruptcy because he adds his name to it.” [….]

In a direct appeal to the president, Kennedy said, “President Trump, please focus on what’s important. Leave the Kennedy center alone. Allow us to move forward with this great art center, this monument to a slain president, and leave it alone. Focus on your job.”

Kennedy’s comments on CNN on Tuesday followed a similar statement released by another niece, Maria Shriver, who also described Trump’s threat to prevent renovations a “tragedy.” Shriver described Trump as “small minded” and “narcissistic.”

Appealing to Trump to be reasonable is useless. He has the maturity of a 3 year-old child, if that.

Trump is also trying to leave his mark on the Smithsonian.

Robin Pogrebin at The New York Times (gift link): Trump Administration Outlines Plan for Signs Outside Smithsonian Museum.

President Trump remains determined to install warning signs outside the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History to alert the public that the institution, in his view, does not accurately present U.S. history.

In letters to two senators, the Interior Department outlined a plan for 12 temporary signs to be installed at a total cost of $84,000. The letters did not specify the dimensions or language of the signs, which were originally ordered in July, but it went into considerable detail about the kind of information they plan to convey.

In the letter to Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, dated Sept. 3, Doug Burgum, the interior secretary, said he was responding to questions about Mr. Trump’s March 2025 executive order, “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History.” The order described a “revisionist movement” across the country that it said “seeks to undermine the remarkable achievements of the United States by casting its founding principles and historical milestones in a negative light.”

Smithsonian Museam of American History

Americans should enter the National Museum of American History “with relevant information about the curators’ interpretation of history and their stated goal of changing the viewpoints of visitors,” said the letter, which was earlier reported in The Atlantic on Tuesday. Instead, the letter argued, the museum and Smithsonian’s leaders “have altered the museum’s role from accurately and coherently telling America’s story to using the museum as a tool to advance personal, radical ideologies.”

“We believe the public should enter the museum fully equipped with the information needed,” the letter said, “to evaluate whether to invest their time viewing these exhibits and programming.”

The museum’s director, Anthea M. Hartig, has contested the thrust of a July 4 White House report that accused her of “radical activist ideology” and the museum of undermining “faith in American institutions.”

Though the letter said that the language of the signs had not been finalized and gave no installation timeline, it described some of the topics they were intended to address, all of which had been outlined in the White House report.

For example, the letter said the signs should “ensure parents bringing young children to the museum are equipped to protect the well-being of their children” regarding exhibits that “present ideological viewpoints inconsistent with biology, including ideologies that sex is not binary, that biological men can be women and that biological men should be permitted to compete in women’s sports.”

Mr. Burgum’s letter said a copy had also been sent to Senator Jeff Merkley, Democrat of Oregon.

You can read more using the gift link.

More on Trump Smithsonian demands from Kelsey Ables at The Atlantic (gift link).

A person familiar with the plans described some of the preparations to me. Although the Park Service has an idea of the physical structure of the signs, what the signs will actually say and who is writing the text remains a mystery to people in the agency working on them, said the person, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the record. The letter from Burgum says that the signs are not finalized, but it offers a preview of what they might look like, describing a number of things “visitors should know” before they enter the museum. Burgum, whose department includes the Park Service, extensively quotes the museum’s director, Anthea Hartig, and criticizes outgoing Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch, seeking to frame both as ideologues. The letter also calls out exhibitions and materials that have touched on groups the administration has gone after, such as undocumented immigrants and transgender Americans.

“The informational signage therefore will provide visitors with important context about the exhibits they are about to encounter and the personal viewpoints that the curators of the exhibits are seeking to advance,” the letter says. It goes on to justify the move, echoing a 162-page report on the museum released by the White House and asserting that the museum is pushing “ideologies that distract from a coherent and accurate presentation of America’s story.” Burgum adds, “This may be the first instance in which executive branch intervention of this nature has become Necessary.”

Trump also wants a giant statue of George Washington installed.

The Smithsonian, which is partially federally funded, has historically operated independently, has its own governing body, and is regarded in the wider museum world as measured in its approach. The institution has been heading off threats and criticism from the Trump administration since March 2025. Recently, the administration’s attention has turned to the American-history museum, which Trump made a number of curatorial demands of on social media this past Friday, including insisting that it remove an abstract sculpture and erect a 30-foot-tall George Washington statue in its place. Although the Trump administration has accused the Smithsonian, and specifically the American-history museum, of not being patriotic enough, the museum’s leadership has pointed to the abundance of patriotic material on display inside—368 objects and 340 labels on the founding era; 54 George Washington mentions, according to Hartig—and has maintained that telling the American story in its full complexity is a crucial part of its role.

Use the gift link to read more if you’re interested.

This is breaking news. Speaker Mike Johnson just sent House members home again in order to avoid a vote on impeaching Pete Hegseth. Yesterday Rep. Thomas Massie read articles of impeachment on the House floor. Today he tried to force a vote.

ABC News: Rep. Thomas Massie forcing vote on Pete Hegseth’s impeachment.

Outgoing Republican Rep. Thomas Massie seized the House floor for more than an hour Tuesday afternoon, launching a long-shot effort to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stemming from his controversial administration over the Pentagon, including the war in Iran.

Rep Thomas Massie introduces a resolution to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in a speech on the floor of the House of Representatives at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, September 15, 2026.

After sending a news release announcing his intent to impeach Hegseth, Massie quickly appeared on the floor where he stood for more than 67 minutes reading the sweeping 34-page resolution with eight articles of impeachment aloud.

“Secretary Hegseth has acted in a manner contrary to his trust as Secretary of Defense and subversive of constitutional government, to the great prejudice of the cause of law and justice, and to the manifest injury of the people of the United States of America,” Massie read from the resolution, contending that Hegseth will “remain a threat to civilians and the laws of war, the integrity of United States diplomacy, and the Constitution if allowed to remain in office, and has acted in a manner grossly incompatible with his duties and the rule of law.”

“Peter Brian Hegseth thus warrants impeachment and trial, removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust, or profit under the United States,” the resolution states….

The articles of impeachment against Hegseth include ignoring laws that minimize civilian casualties, administering an “unlawful war” in Yemen, ordering extrajudicial killings, suppressing free speech and kidnapping a sovereign leader — alluding to the U.S. capture of Nicolas Maduro early this year.

“Frankly, I was concerned that Mike Johnson would end Congress again, like shorten even our already truncated work period if he found out I was doing.

And that’s exactly what Johnson did today. Malcolm Ferguson at The New Republic: House Cancels Votes to Avoid Embarrassment Over Hegseth Impeachment.

The House is going home again—this time to avoid a vote on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s impeachment.

House GOP leadership announced Wednesday morning that they will end their current slate of votes early and head home until the midterms, a nearly two-month break.

“Members are further advised that upon completion of today’s legislative business, votes are no longer expected in the House tomorrow, September 17th,” a message from the office of House Majority Whip Tom Emmer read. “The last votes for the week are expected at approximately 4:45 p.m. this afternoon. This is a change from the previously announced schedule.”

The House will now move up votes on cutting Environmental Protection Agency regulations to Wednesday.

The vote the House GOP is most notably avoiding regards outgoing Republican Representative Thomas Massie’s eight articles of impeachment against Hegseth for his handling of the Iran war and other “high crimes and misdemeanors.”

Massie’s impeachment articles focused on Hegseth’s “waging the Iran war despite no declaration of war, statutory authorization, attack on the United States, or imminent threat,” and continuing to attack Iran after the War Powers Resolution expired. They also cited Hegseth’s suppression of Democratic Senator Mark Kelly’s right to free speech, initiating an unlawful war in Yemen, and “ignoring laws that minimize civilian casualties.” Massie said he hid his privileged resolution, which forces a vote within 48 hours, from House leadership.

I’ll end with some bad news and then good news.

The bad news:  It’s no secret that Trump’s economy is struggling.

Alan Rappaport at The New York Times (gift link): The World Economy Is Becoming Wary of the U.S.

Global investors are balking at U.S. bonds. Talk of the dollar’s dwindling power is getting louder. Foreign governments are hauling their gold out of American vaults.

Almost two years into President Trump’s second term, the world economy is increasingly looking for ways to distance itself from America. Concerns about a $40 trillion debt burden, the excessive use of sanctions to solve foreign policy problems and Mr. Trump’s penchant for pushing the limits of the rule of law are raising questions about the appeal of the United States as a haven for global investment.

Despite pledges by foreign companies and nations to invest in the United States — in many cases to curry favor with the White House — capital is starting to seek alternative destinations.

“Geopolitical factors and U.S. weaponization of the dollar through financial sanctions are causing central banks and other official investors to attempt to diversify away from dollar assets,” said Eswar Prasad, the former head of the International Monetary Fund’s China division.

The United States is not yet an investment pariah. Private investors are still pouring money into American financial markets and stocks, artificial intelligence infrastructure is booming and no rival currency is poised to topple the dollar imminently….

But cracks in America’s economic dominance are starting to show.

The most glaring example has been in the bond market. Yields have been soaring as investors nervous about the mounting national debt demand a higher rate of return for buying Treasury bonds. This week, the yield on the 10-year Treasury topped 5 percent, reaching its highest level since 2007.

A decision to raise rates on Wednesday could help to alleviate concerns about the Fed’s grip on elevated inflation, fears that have injected more jitters into bond markets.

Read more at the NYT link. (The Times is giving subscribers unlimited gift links now.)

How about some good news? There’s a new Times/Sienna poll out that looks good for Democrats.

Nate Cohn at The New York Times (gift link): A ‘Blue Wave’ May Be Building, but How High?

Today’s New York Times/Siena poll finds that the conditions for a so-called wave in November’s midterm elections might be coming into place. The only question is whether — and where — Democrats will be able to ride it.

Overall, Democrats lead Republicans, 51 percent to 43 percent, among likely voters on the generic ballot question, which asks voters which party they will support for Congress in their district.

That’s “blue wave” territory. At least in terms of the national vote, the Democratic margin in the poll — 8.5 points — would almost exactly match the party’s 8.6-point margin in 2018. And it would exceed the winning margins for the party out of power in other recent wave elections, like in 1994, 2006 and 2010.

If, in the end, this election does prove to be a blue wave, it will be easy to explain. Historically, the party out of power fares well in midterm elections, and especially when the president is unpopular. The poll finds that President Trump’s approval rating is just 38 percent among likely voters — lower than any president heading into a midterm election since George W. Bush in 2006.

As my colleague Carl Hulse recently pointed out, there are a lot of similarities between Mr. Trump’s predicament today and Mr. Bush’s back in 2006. Mr. Bush was in a quagmire in Iraq and dogged by high gas prices. Today, Mr. Trump has just a 31 percent approval rating on the war in Iran, and a 28 percent rating on the cost of living.

Whether Democrats can translate these enormous national advantages into control of the Senate and a large House majority is a more complicated question. To win the Senate, Democrats will need to win at least two seats where Mr. Trump won by at least 11 points in the last election. That’s really tough, even in a wave year.

Here again, 2006 offers a useful comparison: To flip the Senate, Democrats needed to win at least a few seats in states where Mr. Bush had won by at least eight points in the previous election. In the end, they pulled it off — but only barely, including two extremely narrow victories in Montana and Virginia. Without a few fortunate breaks in those states, those races could have gone the other way — along with the Senate.

The national environment may have been great for Democrats, but a Senate win was far from inevitable.

There’s still plenty of time for Trump to alienate voters.

That’s all for me today. What’s on your mind?

7 House Republicans Defect to Curb Trump’s Iran War Powers

House Republicans didn’t form a stampede, but a small group just told President Trump “not so fast”…
#NewsBeep #News #BreakingNews #breakingnews #Congress #democrats #GasPrices #HouseRepublicans #Iran #nancymace #nationalsecurity #ThomasMassie #TomBarrett #WarPowersAct
https://www.newsbeep.com/734299/

The #impeachment resolution touched on more than #Iran. #ThomasMassie also took aim at #Hegseth for what he called the “kidnapping of a sovereign foreign leader” in #Venezuela, referring to the capture of then-President Nicolás #Maduro. He accused the #Pentagon of #abduction of the nation’s leader “under the guise of narcotics law enforcement, though in actuality intended to assert #US control over Venezuela’s #oil reserves.”

#geopolitics #law #Congress #Trump #sovereignty #InternationalLaw

The #impeachment resolution touched on more than #Iran. #ThomasMassie also took aim at #Hegseth for what he called the “kidnapping of a sovereign foreign leader” in #Venezuela, referring to the capture of then-President Nicolás #Maduro. He accused the #Pentagon of #abduction of the nation’s leader “under the guise of narcotics law enforcement, though in actuality intended to assert #US control over Venezuela’s #oil reserves.”

#geopolitics #law #Congress #Trump #sovereignty #InternationalLaw

The #impeachment resolution touched on more than #Iran. #ThomasMassie also took aim at #Hegseth for what he called the “kidnapping of a sovereign foreign leader” in #Venezuela, referring to the capture of then-President Nicolás #Maduro. He accused the #Pentagon of #abduction of the nation’s leader “under the guise of narcotics law enforcement, though in actuality intended to assert #US control over Venezuela’s #oil reserves.”

#geopolitics #law #Congress #Trump #sovereignty #InternationalLaw

In his 34-page resolution, #ThomasMassie argued that #Hegseth has repeatedly abused the powers of his office in leading the #US #war with #Iran, including carrying out #unlawful orders & continuing to keep troops deployed without authorization from #Congress.

Hegseth, he argued, “has demonstrated that he will remain a threat to the #Constitution if allowed to remain in office, & has acted in a manner grossly incompatible with his duties & the rule of law.”

#Trump #House #IranWar #WarPowers

In his 34-page resolution, #ThomasMassie argued that #Hegseth has repeatedly abused the powers of his office in leading the #US #war with #Iran, including carrying out #unlawful orders & continuing to keep troops deployed without authorization from #Congress.

Hegseth, he argued, “has demonstrated that he will remain a threat to the #Constitution if allowed to remain in office, & has acted in a manner grossly incompatible with his duties & the rule of law.”

#Trump #House #IranWar #WarPowers

In his 34-page resolution, #ThomasMassie argued that #Hegseth has repeatedly abused the powers of his office in leading the #US #war with #Iran, including carrying out #unlawful orders & continuing to keep troops deployed without authorization from #Congress.

Hegseth, he argued, “has demonstrated that he will remain a threat to the #Constitution if allowed to remain in office, & has acted in a manner grossly incompatible with his duties & the rule of law.”

#Trump #House #IranWar #WarPowers

#House #GOP lawmakers were already eager to get out of town. They’d been in a dour mood, faced w/ growing political pressure to act on contentious issues like #AI & #tariffs, all while anxiety rises over their ability to hold the chamber in the #midterms.

Then came a new headache∶ One of their fellow #Republicans, Rep #ThomasMassie, announced he would be forcing an unprecedented vote to #impeach #Hegseth over his handling of the #US #war w/ #Iran.

#Trump #impeachment #law #Congress #WarPowers

#House #GOP lawmakers were already eager to get out of town. They’d been in a dour mood, faced w/ growing political pressure to act on contentious issues like #AI & #tariffs, all while anxiety rises over their ability to hold the chamber in the #midterms.

Then came a new headache∶ One of their fellow #Republicans, Rep #ThomasMassie, announced he would be forcing an unprecedented vote to #impeach #Hegseth over his handling of the #US #war w/ #Iran.

#Trump #impeachment #law #Congress #WarPowers

#House #GOP lawmakers were already eager to get out of town. They’d been in a dour mood, faced w/ growing political pressure to act on contentious issues like #AI & #tariffs, all while anxiety rises over their ability to hold the chamber in the #midterms.

Then came a new headache∶ One of their fellow #Republicans, Rep #ThomasMassie, announced he would be forcing an unprecedented vote to #impeach #Hegseth over his handling of the #US #war w/ #Iran.

#Trump #impeachment #law #Congress #WarPowers

Iowa Republicans in battleground House races vote to halt the Iran war

DES MOINES, Iowa – Two House Republicans in battleground Iowa districts, including one who recently campaigned alongsi…
#NewsBeep #News #BreakingNews #AshleyHinson #breakingnews #brianfitzpatrick #ChristinaBohannan #DonaldTrump #Elections #Iran #JDVance #JoniErnst #MariannetteMiller-Meeks #nancymace #PeteHegseth #Politics #SarahTroneGarriott #ThomasMassie #TomBarrett #WarrenDavidson #ZachNunn
https://www.newsbeep.com/734155/

@ponderingpolitics.bsky.social reacts to Republican Congressman #ThomasMassie filing and reading articles of IMPEACHMENT against #Republican Defense Secretary #PeteHegseth. Finally his high crimes and misdemeanors are being named PUBLICLY, forcing congress to sign their vote
youtu.be/tFIUDHqPyBk?...

🚨 Republican launches Hegseth ...