Day 1702: "It’s not incredibly obvious what to do."

1/ Former CDC director Susan Monarez told senators she was fired for refusing Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s demand to preapprove vaccine recommendations from his handpicked advisory panel “regardless of the scientific evidence.” “He just wanted blanket approval,” she testified, adding that Kennedy grew “very upset,” called CDC “the most corrupt federal agency in the world,” and said its employees were “killing children” and “bought by the pharmaceutical industry.” Kennedy barred her from speaking to Congress after she raised concerns and told her “the childhood vaccine schedule would be changing starting in September.” Former CDC chief medical officer Debra Houry, who resigned in protest, told senators she could not “in good conscience remain under those conditions,” accusing Kennedy of having “censored CDC science, politicized its processes and stripped leaders of independence.” Both Houry and Monarez said they’re “very nervous” about Kennedy’s new vaccine panel, which meets this week to consider changes to Covid, measles, and hepatitis B shots. Houry warned that “If we continue down this path […] we’re going to see kids dying of vaccine-preventable diseases.” (NPR / ABC News / CNN / Politico / New York Times / NBC News / Wall Street Journal / Washington Post / CBS News / Associated Press / Bloomberg / Politico / Axios)

2/ The Federal Reserve cut interest rates by a quarter point for the first time in nine months, lowering its benchmark rate to 4%–4.25%, with two more cuts projected this year. The vote was 11–1, with Trump appointee Stephen Miran dissenting in favor of a half-point cut days after joining the Fed board. Chair Jerome Powell called the move “risk management,” saying “the downside risks to employment have risen” and that “the labor market is really cooling off.” Job gains have slowed to near zero, even as inflation climbed to 2.9% in August, driven in part by Trump’s tariffs, and has remained above the Fed’s 2% target for more than four years. Powell, speaking to the rare combination of weak hiring and persistent inflation, said: “There are no risk-free paths now. It’s not incredibly obvious what to do.” Trump, nevertheless, demanded that the Fed “MUST CUT INTEREST RATES, NOW, AND BIGGER THAN HE HAD IN MIND.” (Bloomberg / NBC News / CNN / Wall Street Journal / Axios / Associated Press / NPR / Washington Post / New York Times / ABC News / Axios / CNBC)

3/ The Justice Department sued Oregon and Maine for refusing to turn over voter registration lists that include personal data such as birth dates, addresses, and partial Social Security numbers. Officials said the states violated federal law by not providing electronic copies of the lists or details on ineligible voters. “States simply cannot pick and choose which federal laws they will comply with,” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon said. Oregon Secretary of State Tobias Read responded that “If the President wants to use the DOJ to go after his political opponents and undermine our elections, I look forward to seeing them in court.” Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, meanwhile, called the move “absurd” and said DOJ was targeting states “just like we are” fighting back against federal “abuse of power.” (Associated Press / NPR)

4/ FBI Director Kash Patel testified before Congress that he couldn’t release more Jeffrey Epstein records because of court orders, even though several judges have said the administration can disclose them. Last month, U.S. District Judge Richard Berman wrote that “the government is the logical party to make comprehensive disclosure to the public of the Epstein files.” Patel also said he’s never spoken with Trump about the files, denied Trump was an FBI informant, and said there were no photos of Trump with girls of an “uncertain age.” Democrats, meanwhile, accused Patel of hiding the files, saying “You are part of the cover-up.” (Politico / Axios / Bloomberg / ABC News / CNN)

⏭️ Notably Next: Congress has 13 days to pass a funding measure to prevent a government shutdown; and the 2026 midterms are in 412 days.

✏️ Notables.

• South Korea opened an investigation into possible human rights abuses after ICE agents detained 317 of its workers at a Hyundai-LG plant in Georgia, saying it had raised “grave concerns” with Washington. ICE claimed visa violations, but workers said they were shackled, held in poor conditions, and treated “like violent criminals.” The raid came days after Seoul pledged $350 billion in U.S. investment. (Washington Post)

• Trump officials pushed prosecutors to indict New York Attorney General Letitia James for mortgage fraud despite a probe that “uncovered no clear evidence” after months of review. Ed Martin, the head of the DOJ’s Weaponization Working Group, and Bill Pulte, the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, pushed Erik Siebert, U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia, to seek an indictment. After Siebert, Pulte urged Trump to fire him. (ABC News / CNN)

• Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent pledged two different houses as his “principal residence” in 2007 – the same kind of filing Trump has used to justify firing Fed Governor Lisa Cook. Bank of America confirmed that both Bessent homes were secondary residences and said “there was absolutely nothing improper,” while Trump called Cook’s filings “potentially criminal conduct.” (Bloomberg / The Guardian / CNBC)

• Democrats won the special election to replace former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman, who was assassinated in June, returning the state House to a 67-67 split. Xp Lee, a state health official and ex–city council member, said Hortman left a “legacy of principled leadership.” (New York Times / NBC News)

• Obama warned that the nation is at an “inflection point” after the killings of Charlie Kirk and Minnesota’s Melissa Hortman, calling the violence “horrific.” He criticized the Trump administration for blaming an “enemy” before facts were known, adding that “There are no ifs, ands or buts about it” that debate must occur “without resort to violence.” The White House, meanwhile, called Obama “the architect of modern political division.” (Associated Press / Washington Post)

• House Republicans moved to censure Rep. Ilhan Omar and remove her from committees over her comments about Charlie Kirk. “If you celebrate murder, maybe Somalia can take you back,” Rep. Nancy Mace said. Omar called Kirk’s killing “mortifying” and said her “heart does break” for his family, while also criticizing portrayals of him as only seeking “a civil debate.” She said the resolution cited “somebody else’s words” and called Mace “not well or smart,” and Mace replied, “One-way ticket to Somalia with your name on it.” (Washington Post / The Hill / Axios / HuffPost)

• Rep. Ronny Jackson called for transgender people to be institutionalized, calling them a “virus” and a “cancer” that must be taken “off the streets” and “off the internet.” He claimed trans women “have an underlying level of aggressiveness” and accused Democrats of having “bred” left-wing “domestic terrorists” responsible for Charlie Kirk’s killing. The Justice Department, meanwhile, deleted a study that showed right-wing extremists “continues to outpace all other types of terrorism and domestic violent extremism” in the U.S. (Talking Points Memo / The Independent)