Claudia Grisales

Survivors, their friends and family urge Congress to release the Epstein files. House set to vote next week.

“You have the ability to vote to release the Epstein files, and with it, deliver a promise the American people have awaited for far too long. We implore you to do so.”

First and only woman to be U.S. House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, announces her last term in office in a video message to San Francisco. @pelosi.house.gov ends with final, 20th term in Congress, capping off a historic mark on legislating after nearly 40 years on Capitol Hill. A clip of her announcement…

Source tells me Senate Dems lunch today will cover how they’ll vote tomorrow on Defense approps bill. Leader Thune tee’d up vote, marking 1st such test on approps since government shut down. But source made clear regular approps plan won’t change dynamics to reopen gov/address ACA.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune responds to OMB head Russ Vought’s post “the RIFs have begun,” telling @jordainc.bsky.social and I:

“Well… I think they held off for as long as they could.”

Gotcha. Thanks.

“If the news about our military must first be approved by the government, then the public is no longer getting independent reporting. It is getting only what officials want them to see. That should alarm every American.” More from ⬇️ @pressclubdc.bsky.social

Top congressional leaders apparently in the dark on today’s U.S. military strike:

Senate Majority Leader Thune: “I have not been briefed on that… let me find out.”

SASC Chair Wicker: “It’s something I intend to look into”

SASC Ranking D Reed: was told “nothing at all”

Trump’s Truth Social post today

Congress still hasn’t been briefed on the 1st strike conducted on Sept. 2nd, which upended the U.S. drug interdiction program led by the U.S. Coast Guard to detain and arrest traffickers at sea.

Trump announcement today:

Congress worries U.S. strike on Venezuelan boat signals Trump's expanded war powers We look at the U.S. strike on a Venezuelan boat earlier this month, which has riled lawmakers, even Republican ones, who say the strike did not follow standard practices and policies.

President Trump ordered a second military strike on narco-traffickers today. The first already raised new questions of POTUS’s expanded war powers and fears Trump can order strikes “whenever he likes.” And Congress still knows very little. More here: www.npr.org/2025/09/14/n...

So… I won’t be washing my right hand for a while!! See the @npr.org Ed Sheeran Tiny Desk today here: www.youtube.com/live/Q2CW9TZ...

What a day for U.S. Capitol Police: At midday, an extensive response and investigation into a bomb threat at DNC HQ that wasn’t credible. Tonight, they’re investigating a suspicious vehicle that’s got several streets by the Senate blocked off.

Fuller Thune response on U.S. drug interdiction posture:

"I wouldn't read too much into it. I think it was a clear interpretation...by the cartels: You continue to ship substances up here that are killing Americans on a daily basis, we are going to deal with it as a national security threat."

Asked Senate Majority Leader Thune if strike signals shift in U.S. rules of engagement:

"I wouldn't read too much into it ...It was a clear interpretation ...by the cartels: You... ship substances up here... killing Americans ...we are going to deal with it as a national security threat."

Some Rs disagree on justification:

Sen. Graham says U.S. posture on drug interdiction has shifted: "We're considering narco-terrorist states to be military threats not law enforcement threats."

Sen. Paul: "is ...the new Coast Guard policy to shoot without asking questions?"

They also failed to share a legal opinion for the strike or say if WH &/or DOJ lawyers gave that greenlight, the source tells me. If this was a "Title 10" strike under war powers authorities, there was vague clarification if narco-traffickers will be now be considered terrorists.

Under the 2001 Authorization for the Use of Force (AUMF) that gives the president the authority for certain strikes, Congress should be notified within a 48-hour window. The source tells me they were not.

The briefing was resked for today after officials no-showed last week. The Trump administration did not send lawyers to the briefing, even as they said administration lawyers gave the greenlight for the strike. However, they failed to share the legal opinion for the strike...

A source tells me in a tense meeting this morning, Pentagon officials briefed Senate national security and leadership staff on last week’s U.S. strike on a Venezuelan boat. However, they provided little answers, and legal justification for the strike...

Other files include 9.24.07 non-prosecution agreement with USAO for Southern District of Fla., entries from Epstein's address/contact books 1.1.90-8.10.19; & info on Epstein’s bank accounts. Aide says staff will review docs and "make them public in the near future."

A House Oversight Committee aide says panel has received 1st set of docs from Epstein Estate in response to Chair Comer subpoena. The birthday book compiled by Ghislaine Maxwell for Epstein’s 50th birthday, Epstein's last will & testament among docs...

😣😫

Moving On After nearly 25 years at NPR, it's time for a new adventure

More from Ari’s substack: arishapiro.substack.com/p/moving-on?...

NPR’s ‘All Things Considered’ Host Ari Shapiro Leaving Amid Trump Funding Cuts Ari Shapiro, after 10 years co-hosting NPR's "All Things Considered" news program, is leaving the public broadcaster at the end of September.

I was sure I’d be fired as a 1st year radio journalist, lost after decades as a digital/print reporter. @ari-shapiro.bsky.social was a mentor who helped pull me out of that imposter syndrome hell. The biggest gut punch yet in an ongoing, brutal @npr.org exodus. variety.com/2025/digital...

Just caught Senate Majority Leader John Thune going back into the chamber, and when I asked if he had the votes, he gave me a thumbs up.

Whoever did this, I love you

U.S. CapitolPolice statement:

“The United States Capitol Police is aware of the violence targeting state lawmakers in Minnesota. We have been working with our federal, state and local partners. For safety reasons, we cannot provide specific details about our security posture.”

"She is a wonderful person," Klobuchar said of state Rep. Melissa Hortman. In a statement, Klobuchar said they started their political careers at the same time, and "were always there for each other."

It’s not yet clear if Klobuchar herself was on suspect’s list of targets.

Sen. @amyklobuchar.com
tells me she was with “good friend” state Rep. Hortman and her husband last night.

“We had a big political dinner,” in Minn., “she and her husband were right in the front.”

Klobuchar then traveled to Boston for an event, but rushed back amid tragic news.

Trump asks Congress to wipe out funding for public broadcasting President Trump is asking lawmakers to claw back the $1.1 billion in federal subsidies for public broadcasting that Congress approved earlier this year. His request also includes cuts to foreign aid.

For more on the CPB/NPR/PBS of it all, read this deeply reported piece by my incredible colleagues @davidfolkenflik.bsky.social, @deirdrekwalsh.bsky.social

www.npr.org/2025/06/03/n...

New White House rescissions package officially released: www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/u...