Attorney General Blanche on Supreme Court blocking Postal Service rules for mail-in ballots; Senate votes not to advance cryptocurrency bill; Pres. Trump says Kennedy Center will be renovated only if his name is added

0:00Welcome to Washington today on C-SPAN radio for Tuesday, September 15, 2026. A change in Todd Blanche fills in as White House Press Secretary for today's news conference and is asked about the Supreme Court blocking the Trump administration's plans to restrict mail-in ballots for the midterm elections. FBI Director Cash Patel tells the Senate Judiciary Committee that FBI agents may be sent to the polls on Election Day. Director Patel also asked about changes to hiring standards to no longer automatically disqualify applicants who had engaged in prostitution or bestiality. More questions to lawmakers today about potential dangers of artificial intelligence and whether legislative action is needed after President Donald Trump called such concerns a hoax. The Senate does not advance a cryptocurrency regulation bill amid a dispute over whether there are enough ethical standards to prevent elected leaders from profiting off of digital assets. Federal Judge Rules, the Kennedy Center Board cannot put President Donald Trump's name

1:01on the building than the Board, comprised of President's allies, votes to close the Center for Innovations, then the President posts that the renovations will not take place unless his name is added because only he can raise the money. Plus, Democratic Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania tells reporters he is not going to switch to the Republican Party and former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has an official speaker's portrait unveiling in the U.S. Capitol that had more coming up on Washington today. Washington Times writing a turn general Todd Blanche on Tuesday said efforts to tighten rules around mail-in voting will continue beyond November, despite the Supreme Court's refusal to step in and revive President Trump's plan to police mail-in ballots for the midterm elections. President Trump is not going to stop simply because it faced a recent setback in the courts. President Trump today putting up more than a 450-word truth social post about the court's decision includes this line. It's a big loss for Republicans and America itself and makes cheating by the radical left

2:02Democrats on mail-in ballots a much easier thing to do and now they have an open field to do so. Also from the post, the Supreme Court is bullied and controlled by the radical left into making decisions that have set America back at least 100 years. These are not the people I interviewed to serve on the United States Supreme Court and they are merely a shell of their original selves, part of the post from President Trump, conservative justice's Samuel Lito and Clarence Thomas dissented from this order. Turn general Todd Blanche filling in for the White House press secretary's position today, holding a news conference in the Rose Garden, getting questions about this decision. We said prosecutions of potential election fraud are going to continue despite the court ruling. But does the Justice Department plan to suspend the attempts to establish federal mail-ballot standards for the 2026 cycle? Well that end for now. And then I'm curious what you make, whether you agree with the President and what he said

3:04about his three Supreme Court nominees that they quote, are not the people I interviewed to serve on the United States Supreme Court. They are merely a shell of their original selves. So of course we're going to comply with the Supreme Court's decision, as we always do. That doesn't mean that we're not going to do everything in this administration that we can to make sure that there are free and fair elections. And again, there's this constant pressure and this effort by the media and mostly by Democrats that somehow doing that is a bad thing. Nobody should want that. The Republicans and Democrats should want free and fair elections. So while the Supreme Court did what it did, we're not going to stop the work that we're doing, but we are of course going to follow the orders of the court. As far as President Trump's truth about the justices, he is very frustrated. And I wasn't at the interviews that he participated in during the last administration when he selected these folks to be on the Supreme Court.

4:06He has every right. And indeed he should communicate his concerns with the Supreme Court whenever he has them. This isn't the first time that he's done it and it won't be the last. He's also publicly very appreciative of the Supreme Court when there's decisions that he very much agrees with. That's what a democracy is about. A democracy is about three branches of government and President Trump being critical of folks on the Supreme Court. We very much disagree with the Supreme Court's decision. And that should be obvious from our papers and from what we've said publicly about the case. And so I am also upset about the Supreme Court decision, but the idea that President Trump shouldn't be allowed to communicate to the American people, his frustration, I don't share that. Attorney General Todd Blanche, Andrew reporter's questions in the White House Rose Garden filling in today as the press secretary. On Capitol Hill, Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat from New York, the minority leader, also made some comments about the Supreme Court's decision released Monday night.

5:08The Supreme Court just dealt Trump another blow. He tried to take over mail-in voting. We sued. We said, NFW, Trump, you're not taking over mail-in voting. I was proudly a plaintiff in the case that the court ruled on last night. And the court saw the scheme for what it was. And that is an unconstitutional ploy to avoid accountability in the polls. Trump knows the American people are angry at him. He's scared to face them. They know. He knows that the American people know that he's sent costs skyrocketing, his chaos and wars have made America less safe. His corruption means billionaires get ahead at expense of the American family. Getting mail-in voting is not the only revenue that Trump is suing to try and Trump is using to try and get us ahead. So yesterday, Senator Padilla, who you'll hear from in a minute and high, released a bombshell

6:10whistleblower complaint from a DHS employee. The brave whistleblower exposed how Trump is directing agents to break state laws. He's asking them to lie to obtain sensitive voter information in producer baseless claims of voter fraud. The whistleblower reports that innocent American citizens have been caught up in his illegal efforts to promote his election lies. And that's how desperate Trump is. We're not going to stand for that either. Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat from New York, the minority leader. As a news conference day on Capitol Hill, NPR writing that voting by mail has already begun in states including Alabama, North Carolina and Wisconsin, with more soon to follow, including western states, such as Hawaii, Oregon and Washington, where elections are held primarily or fully with mail ballots. Under the still blocked U.S. Postal Service Plan, which followed an executive order by President Trump, states would have to turn over lists of voters' names and addresses and have certain

7:10specific barcodes on ballot envelopes in order to have them delivered by the mailing agency. That was from National Public Radio. For the truth, social post by President Trump today, everybody knows that crooked Joe Biden's FBI didn't do what they should have with respect to the lunatic who shot me in Butler, Pennsylvania. By the time I got into office on January 20, most of the information was missing altered corrupted or gone. New info was just found why wasn't it seen long ago. This was all a Democrat plot to get me out of the election that failed. The dirty cop Christopher Rae should pay a price for the way he handled this assassination attempt. And certainly for the things he said, God bless America, make America great again signed, President Donald J. Trump that post on truth social. Back to the Attorney General Todd Blanche's news conference in the White House Rose Garden, he got a question about what does this mean. Earlier today, President Trump said that there was new evidence in the assassination of President Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania. He said it was a democratic plot.

8:13Moments later, Kashpatel testified that the shooter wasn't speaking to anyone other than his parents. Can you please explain both how this was a democratic plot and what this new evidence is? And a second question, which is in the same post, he said that Christopher Rae should be punished for his lack of oversight during this investigation, is the Justice Department considering bringing charges against Chris Rae? So the Department of Justice doesn't punish, by the way. So look, I was with President Trump during the time period before and after the attempt of assassination attempt on his life. And he was shot, he was a victim. There was an innocent man killed. There were other people who were very seriously injured when that happened. What President Trump said today about the new information, and this new information is information that we found, that the FBI found, that produced to the Senate in response to inquiries that they had. It is new information about the shooter and about his background, about his history, and

9:14that stuff that we didn't know before. So that's the new information. As far as the President's frustration with the FBI, I was there with him. I lived it. I mean, you have a situation where it's not really clear what the leadership of the FBI were doing in the weeks and months ahead of the attempt of assassination to protect President Trump. And I had a same organization that was simultaneously trying to put him in prison until he dies. So his frustration and concern about what the former director was doing is something that is not new. He said that for a very long time. I was with him during the investigation and trying, you know, before he was elected President, trying to understand what happened and why. And director Patel has undertaken a Herculian effort to go through all the documents and understand what was missed if anything and to provide anything that hadn't come forward to the American people, to the American people. And that's what he's done. Okay. Last question for you. Attorney General Todd Blanche holding a news conference in the White House Rose Garden.

10:16He is the White House press secretary for the day. This is C-SPAN radio's Washington today. A story from the Washington Sun, formerly notice, Senate Democrats pressed FBI director Cash Patel on Tuesday for assurances that federal agents won't be stationed at the polls on election day, reflecting concerns on their side of the Trump administration will use its power to attempt to intimidate voters. Senator Peter Welch of Vermont was one of those Democratic senators asking director Patel about this at a judiciary committee hearing. Last month Congressman and Michigan gubernatorial candidate John James said to podcaster Benny Johnson, quote, I've already had a good conversation with my friend Cash Patel who has said already that the FBI will have a presence leading up to election day in Michigan in both West Michigan and Southeast Michigan. Is that true? We have an election curiom community coordinator in all 56 field office.

11:17So you bet we're going to have them there and manning the post for election interference matters. I thought you weren't going to be sending people to the polls. When did you hear that? It's just another lie. You answered Mr. Blumenthal. Nope. So you are sending, you are sending, you have election, crisis coordinators, manned at all 56 field offices, election integrity is of paramount importance. This FBI is not going to shy away from that effort. And if you want to continue lying about the men and women of the FBI so you can have your four second campaign at go ahead. But the historic results, the 20% reduction in murder rate, the 1100 terrorist attacks stopped the 11000 children found the 54,000 violent offenders are what this FBI is driving towards. The top 10 most captured. Not the question I am. I am. I am. I am. I am. I am. I am. I am. I am. I am. I am. I am. I am.

12:17I am. I am. I am. Mr. Chairman. Please proceed. This is existential. You told Mr. Blumenthal you weren't sending FBI agents to election sites. You told, according to Mr. James, you said the FBI is on the way. And this is about whether the United States citizens, Republicans, Democrats, independents are the decidedes of this election. For this election interference led by the FBI and the Trump administration. That's what this is about. Do you pledge that you will not in any way interfere in the will of the American people when they go to the polls in November? I pledge unequivocally that I will not participate in your charade of lies. Then why are you being such a panderer to President Trump who is still claiming that he won the 2020 election and who has said the only way Democrats can win in 2026 as if

13:20they cheat? Do you believe that? What I believe in is the rule of law. What I will always believe is that the rule of law is a rule of law. The rule of law is a rule of law. Are you done with your campaign ad? By the way. It's been rigged. I want to know how your wealth increased 4,000% and she became the United States Senator. That's a magic act. All Americans should be available. The FBI Director Cash Patel testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee being questioned by Senator Peter Welch, Democrat from Vermont. The story from Washington Sun formally noticed, writing about the hearing, the discussion about the 2026 election was nearly overshadowed by a bizarre exchange earlier in the hearing as Patel defended the Bureau's decision to drop automatic disqualification for job candidates over bestiality. Patel explained that previous regulations automatically disqualified anyone to work at the FBI who had been forced by adults to engage in sex with animals on either side when they were children. He said, obviously, we are never going to hire the criminals reporting from the Washington

14:23Sun. Here's Senator John Kennedy, a Republican from Louisiana asking Director Patel about this subject. What about the beach reality? Same thing, because the regs wrote it up in a fashion before I arrived that addressed prostitution, beach reality, and trafficking. They were there before I got there. But tell me what it said before. It automatically disqualified any individual who participated on either side of it. Obviously, we are never going to hire the criminal. The side of what? The beach reality? Yes. So you disqualified the animal? Well, I don't think we have great canines, but we're not going to disqual. I understand. I'm trying to understand why you did this. This is not directed at you, Mr. Director. And I understand the game. People try to make you look bad. We do the same thing when the other parties in office. And all this stuff is really hurt the FBI.

15:24It's really hurt the FBI. So I'm trying to get to the bottom of this. Why would you... In light of the context and what we're going through and we're having a tough time attracting agents, good quality agents, we all can trust, because so many people, fairly or unfairly, think that in order to be an FBI agent now, your political point of view matters. Why would you even get in the beach reality? We are not in to becealty, but a lot of these individuals... I know you're not, but you changed. You changed? But I'm trying to explain it. You changed the qualifications and mentioned beach reality. If Joe participated in beach reality, not as the animal, but as the human, don't you think

16:25he ought to be disqualified? If he voluntarily did it, sure, but if he was trafficked into it, he could say it. How do you involuntarily do it? And a lot of these cases, when human traffickers, who are some of the worst individuals on planet earth, they don't just traffic you for prostitution, they traffic you for degrading acts of all kind, and they force you into that type of conduct. And some of these individuals would go on to be law enforcement officers who qualified to be law enforcement officers and later applied to the FBI. I mean, this didn't... These changes didn't start with you, did they? Somebody came to you and recommended. Yeah. Yeah. When you saw beach reality, I say this with respect, the person who recommended it, why didn't you just say what planet did you parachute in from? Why do I want to leave? Well, that was my initial thought. Why do I want to leave with my chin and get in to beach reality? That was my initial response, Senator. But they then explained to me and showed me cases in which people were forced into it

17:27and had applied to the FBI. And so I thought they should be considered. It's not an automatic disqualification. That's all. Okay. All right, I think I understand. But you're not telling us today that if a human being had sex with an animal, that they can still be an FBI agent. No. Are you? No. They can't be. They can't. In fact, they ought to be in jail, right? They all are. FBI Director Cash Patel at today's Judiciary Committee hearing being questioned by Senator John Kennedy or Republican from Louisiana. CBS News, which first reported this change in FBI hiring standards in late August, included this paragraph in their story. Former FBI analyst Philip Fields reviewed government personnel data and found that in 2025 alone, the FBI lost 1,139 special agents with an average tenure of 21.8 years. This review was published by the nonprofit advocacy group Justice Connection.

18:29The FBI says it employs around 13,700 agents. Some of the agents and analysts who have been fired were assigned to cases that the Trump administration disliked, such as those pertaining to the investigations into President Trump's retention of classified documents and efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. That was the article from August from CBS News. More on today's hearing from Reuters in his first appearance before the Senate since May, Patel also faced questions about his agency's handling of files related to the late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, the use of taxpayer funds for personal travel and allegations that he politicized the FBI. You can find the full hearing at our website, Cspan.org. This is Washington today. TechExplor.com writes the world's largest AI companies are working to create a standards body. Chat GPT maker OpenAI said Tuesday, as fears rise about the dangers of AI and pressure amounts to create a safer version of the technology.

19:29OpenAI said it was working within Thropic and Google on an idea proposed by Google DeepMinds Dennis Asabis for a self-regulatory body modeled after the financial industry regulatory authority, which oversees US brokers and investment firms reporting from techexplor.com. President Donald Trump has been posting the last couple of days on truth social that fears of a catastrophe from AI is a hoax, similar to what he called the global warming scam. House Speaker Mike Johnson, public from Louisiana, was asked a news conference today on Capitol Hill about the president's position and that of the Republican Party. I talked to the president about this last night. We talk about it often and we are summoning together the top leaders, the CEOs of the AI providers, the ones that run the frontier labs and the others.

20:30And so all the big names that you know, I think within the next week, we will be together at the White House for an important meeting. When the president says a hoax, what he is referring to is we have all seen this movie before. We are 49 days out from an election. A catastrophe is created. The media gets spun up, social media gets spun up. Everybody says they literally said we are all going to be dead in 10 years. You remember when AOC said, was it climate change? What was her stupid thing? She said we are all going to be dead in 10 years. This is what the president is saying is you are not all going to be dead in 10 years. That is a hoax. At the same time, we have to say I saw a commend to your viewing what David Sacks did to give a CBS interview. I think it was last night. I linked the interview about a half hour. Following up on his social media post about 48 hours ago, remember he was the AI's R and the Trump administration in the second term and now he is the co-chair of the Science of Technology Commission. David Sacks who comes from Silicon Valley and knows this well, he says this is alarmism.

21:30Listen, AI is serious. We do need to make sure that it is done safely but let's again, let's apply common sense. If you are a company, if you are a corporation in America, including a tech corporation, you have a responsibility to make safe products. We have all sorts of federal laws and regulations that already insist upon that and provide it. We also have product liability law. If you are Dario or Sam or any of the big providers, those two lead frontier labs in the development of AI and what happens next. They can self police, they can self regulate. They don't need the government to tell them to slow it down. They want to slow it down. They should. But we cannot have a moratorium on the development of AI because then we will lose our edge to China and that has serious national security implications for every American family. So there is a balance here. And we are going to have steady hands at the wheel on this as we do everything else. House Speaker Mike Johnson, Republican from Louisiana at a news conference today in he was capital building with other House Republican leaders.

22:31Senator Bernie Sanders, independent from Vermont, spoke today about artificial intelligence at the future of life institutes pro human assembly in Washington, DC, which is advocating for greater government control of this technology. If AI surpasses human intelligence as many scientists believe could happen, this technology will escape human control with potentially catastrophic consequences. And perhaps the most important point that I want to leave with you this afternoon is that AI is advancing exponentially, exponentially every single day. In other words, what you are looking at right now is the least capable version of AI that

23:32we will ever have, the least capable, the dumbest version. The speed and scope of AI development in just the last four years has been almost beyond human comprehension. When Chatchy BT was first released in November of 2022, AI models could write a short poem, a few tweets and maybe an essay that sort of made sense. Today AI models can already escape human control, commit felonies by hacking into other computers and create viruses that have never been seen before. And my friends, if you are concerned about what is happening today, take a deep breath

24:32and try to imagine where AI will be five years from now, 10 years from now, 20 years from now. And to my mind, here is what is most extraordinary about the transformative and unprecedented changes that AI is making to our society. Despite living in a so-called democracy, the public has had virtually no input into the AI revolution that is transforming the world in which they live. Congress, under both democratic and Republican control, have been asleep at the wheel and we now have a president whose ignorance regarding this issue is truly embarrassing. Senator Bernie Sanders, independent from Vermont, at today's future of life institutes,

25:35pro-human assembly in Washington, D.C., he has sponsored a bill that would make illegal artificial superintelligence, which is software that one day could be smarter and more creative than humans. Another speaker at today's assembly was conservative podcasters Steve Bannon, who is a former top aid in the Trump White House of first term. He said he doesn't agree with Senator Sanders on many things, but on this he does. I think Senator Sanders did a very good job of summarizing the risk. Obviously he and I have a quite different opinion of the president of the United States, but we are trying to raise above partisanship and we have to because this is a unique point. What I love about Max, when I met him a couple of years ago, I don't think you could find any two harder partisans than Bernie Sanders on the left and Steve Bannon on the right. And I think that speaks to not just Max, to the threat is we have to rise above it.

26:41This is a hinge in history. We have to hand this right correctly. To handle it correctly, number one, we can never trust what Oleg Ark says because all they do, they're disingenuous and they lie. This has to be the American people. You cannot be a supplicant and we're not going to be supplicants anymore. The American people are going to drive this. Steve Bannon at the future of life in suits pro-human assembly in Washington, D.C. New York Times writing about a new New York Times CNN University poll less than two months before the midterm elections. Neither party has claimed a clear advantage on AI. 42% of voters said they trusted Republicans more. Well, 40% said they trusted Democrats more. Voters gave Democrats an edge on every other issue tested, including immigration, the economy and foreign wars. That was from the New York Times. The CEO of Anthropic, Dariel Amade, who this past weekend wrote an essay calling for all companies with AI development programs, including his, to slow down and take steps

27:45to mitigate the potential risks, was interviewed today at the Dream Force Software and Technology Conference in San Francisco. Everything from your first essay that you wrote, you know, about loving grace to the essay this weekend on pacing has been incredible. But give us your state of the AI industry and pacing and where your mind is right now. Yeah, I think it's maybe easiest to explain it by analogy. So let's say you're running a car company and another car company, not yours. They have some kind of safety incident, right? Something goes wrong with the brakes, you know, something with the manufacturing. Now you believe you have the best safety record in the industry. What do you do? How do you approach it? Obviously it's very tempting to attack your competitor and say these guys are unsafe, for safe. But I think the more responsible way to respond to it is to say, hey, first of all, let's look at our own record, right? We may not have had this big, high profile incident, but I'm sure we're not perfect. Let's look at everything and we can always be better.

28:46Let's make our practices better. Let's recommit transparency. Let's invest more in safety. Then let's organize the rest of the industry and say, what can we do to set standards for everyone? What can we do to make everyone's standards better? And then finally, there should be an international component to it. And that's essentially the three-step plan that I laid out, that I laid out in the essay, the first of which we committed to, and the others of which we're going to have a dialogue with the rest of the industry about. And I think that's the way to lead the industry forward to set an example to say that everyone can always be better. And Thropic CEO Dario Amadei at today's technology conference called Dream Force in San Francisco. Associate of Press in North Carolina writing the first lady, Melania Trump, visited an elementary school in northwestern North Carolina Tuesday, where she said the US must lead on artificial intelligence. As she spoke with students, teachers, and staff about how they're using technology and

29:49AI in the classroom, her trip to Ash County on Tuesday came as tech and political leaders debate about how best to regulate AI. Prominent tech leaders have been warning about the dangers of the technology and calling for more oversight. Well, President Donald Trump on Monday angerly dismissed the idea that more limits are needed calling it a hoax that was the article from AP. Here's first lady, Melania Trump. Resilience, however, is more than just being strong and rebuilding what was lost. True resilience means having the courage to look ahead and move society forward, creating a better future for our children. And last and two years after Helene, North Carolina did just that. Through the presidential AI challenge, students and teachers from North Carolina took the national stage, inspired by what's possible. One of the America's 2026 presidential AI national champions came from right here in

30:54North Carolina. Miss Carrier Rebleido, a second grade teacher at Star Elementary School created AI in insect detectives. She introduced young children to artificial intelligence using science, curiosity and the natural world. First lady, Melania Trump at Mountain View Elementary School in North Carolina today in Ash County. It's also the two year anniversary of Hurricane Helene devastating that area. The first lady later visited a fifth grade science classroom to see firsthand the use of AI in the classroom. They did an experiment simulating pressure changes in the human chest cavity. And more from the AP article, she also announced that her B-Best initiative would be helping provide 1,500 students in Ash County with subscriptions to study fetch and AI learning platform. And that Mountain View Elementary and other schools in the district would be receiving 1,000 Jetson Nano Developer Kits.

31:57Small computers for running AI applications that was from AP. Washington today continues in a moment. Welcome back to Washington today available as a podcast on the free. C-SPAN now will blap in wherever you find your podcasts. Senate Democrats begins an AP article on Tuesday blocked legislation to create a new regulatory framework for cryptocurrency stalling and industry back-deferred to place new guardrails around digital assets after demanding more limits on President Trump's investments. The 49-50 vote on whether to move forward with legislation was a pivotal election year test for the 2.3 trillion dollar cryptocurrency market as the industry has pushed aggressively for a uniform set of rules. Senate debate came as cryptocurrency companies have become a major political force and as President Trump has a mass significant wealth in crypto wallet office. That was from AP. Republican senators Susan Collins of Maine Josh Hawley of Missouri and Jerry Moran of Kansas voted no.

32:58Senator Chris Coons of Delaware did not vote. Senator Tom Tilles of North Carolina changed his vote from yes to no and entered a motion to reconsider. That would allow for another vote in the future. The bill is officially titled Digital Asset Market Clarity Act. Clarity Act for short. Here's some of the debate before today's procedural vote. Senator Cynthia Lumus, Republican from Wyoming in favor. In July, President Trump voluntarily put himself the vice president every judge, federally elected official and their spouses. Under the strictest ethics restrictions this country has ever seen. Almost no one in Washington would have offered that on their own. The Democrats still wanted more. They wanted independent outside enforcement. So President Trump went back to the table and he gave more. This final text reflects substantially all of the Tilles Gallego framework built on

34:00top of what was already historic. State attorneys general now have direct authority to enforce these ethics rules against federal officials themselves. They can go after exchanges and issuers under consumer protection law. So bad actors get hit, coming and going. No president has ever gone this far and this president did it twice. Let's be honest about what a no vote actually is today. It's not a principled stand against the president. It's not a vote against a bill that has had a partisan flair. It's a vote to protect politicians personal crypto holdings from the very limits Democrats demanded and got. It's a vote against the consumer protections American families are counting on.

35:03And it's a vote to hand the future of financial innovation to a foreign competitor who will not be foolish enough to waste this chance to lead our global digital economy and ensure this industry and the good paying jobs it creates. This country put the first man on the moon. We built financial institutions and we built the internet. We do not watch history happen to us. We make history. We should not stop that tradition today. Senator Cynthia alumnus Republican from Wyoming she chairs the digital assets subcommittee speaking on the senate floor. Senator Elizabeth Warren, Democrat of Massachusetts is the ranking member on the full banking committee. She opposed the bill. I believe we can get crypto legislation that both Republicans and Democrats can agree on. But not this bill. This bill poses a massive risk to families, to our economy and to our national security.

36:08We need crypto legislation that stops political self-dealing. And I know that many in the crypto industry agree with that. But this bill would turbo charge Donald Trump's unprecedented corruption. Donald Trump's primary campaign promise was that he would lower prices beginning on day one. His promise his words. Instead, Trump's tariffs, Trump's forever war halfway around the world, Trump's health care cuts, Trump's closing cheaper clean energy, Trump policies are boosting the costs of everything. From groceries to gas to health care to utilities, they are all going up, up, up. And while Donald Trump is raising costs for working people, Trump is also using the presidency to make himself richer. And he's added crypto to his ways to cash in.

37:10Instead of doubling down on efforts to prosecute crypto scams and to block terrorists and drug traffickers from using crypto, Donald Trump has used his office to promote crypto. He's talked up crypto. He's held a crypto contest with the prize being dinner with the president. Bernie is appointed crypto friendly regulators. And the money has just rolled in for him. Senator Elizabeth Warren, Democrat from Massachusetts ranking member on the banking housing and urban affairs committee on the Senate floor. Again, the Senate voted not to move forward with this bill. 49 to 50. Short of the 60, yes votes needed. Senator Tom Tilla is Republican from North Carolina. I had voted yes, but then changes vote to no. That way he can file a motion to reconsider and call for a vote in the future he posted. This is not the end for the clarity act. We've made substantial bipartisan progress in large part because of the White House. The procedural motion allows us to continue working toward a positive outcome.

38:16Wall Street today, the Dow down 328, NASDAQ 204, S&P down 34. From CNBC, the benchmark 10 year treasury yield climbed to its highest level in 19 years on Tuesday. As oil prices surge from the Iran conflict and expectations grow, the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates on Wednesday. The rate milestone could ripple through the economy as the 10 year yield is a benchmark for consumer loans and corporate funding. That was from CNBC. The Treasury Secretary Scott Besant was asked about this today and other aspects of the health of the U.S. economy by Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Democrat from California, ranking member of the Financial Services Committee. You have dared to mark it to bet against you claiming that quote, I am the house now quote unquote. So despite your feeble efforts, there continues to be a sell-off of U.S. treasuries with 30 year treasury yields rising to levels that have not been seen since 2007.

39:16Yes, yesterday, in fact, the 10 year treasury hit 5 percent, Mr. Secretary. Do you agree that these high treasury yields or interest rates on Americans' bonds means that loans paid by families to fix a roof or buy a car will also be expensive? Yes or no? The U.S. bond market has been the best performance in major. Yes, but no, Mr. Secretary. And we have had record. We have had record. Reclaiming my time. Reclaiming my time. Reclaiming my time. Reclaiming my time. Reclaiming my time. That better than the past 20 years. Reclaiming my time. You keep talking, I'll keep reclaiming my time. And I'm asking you, Mr. Secretary, turn it to your trade policy if tariffs are not inflationary as you claimed in your previous testimony. Then why has inflation increased by more than 3 percent over the past year? Through you deny that inflation is too high at 3 percent, yes or no?

40:18The representative wants to. Yes or no, Mr. Secretary. Yes or no, Mr. Secretary. Reclaiming my time. Reclaiming my time. Reclaiming my time. Reclaiming my time. That's the general latest time. I didn't hear you, Mr. Hill, what'd you say? I said it's the general latest time. That's the general latest time. That's the general latest time. Indeed. Indeed it does. And so that's not good enough, sir. You and President Trump, the so-called conservatives, you have overseen an increase in the debt to a record $40 trillion, $40 trillion. You have promised reduced deficit, but deliver only higher numbers and paying for American households. And this is so outrageous when you and others have claimed to be about getting rid of the deficit. And when Maxine Waters, Democrat from California, questioning the Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent at today's Financial Services Committee hearing, topic officially was oversight of the International Monetary Fund, but many of the questions from the members were on the Trump administration's

41:21broader economic agenda. There are also protesters in the audience who interrupted talking about US sanctions on Iran and Cuba. They were escorted out of the hearing room by Capitol Police officers. You can find this full hearing as well at our website, cspan.org. Other AP article, federal authorities charged a dozen people Tuesday for fraudulently collecting more than $10 million in government child care payments in Southern California, when the operators had few or even no actual children attending their facilities. The charges jointly announced in San Diego by the Justice Department and Criminal Investigations Division of the IRS are the latest effort by the Trump administration to investigate and charge alleged cases of fraud and waste in government programs, reporting from AP. The column McDonald, the Systems Attorney General for the National Fraud Enforcement Division, was at the news conference in San Diego. Last Thursday, the first 12 defendants charged an operation cradle to grift were arrested on federal warrants issued by the federal court here in San Diego. All 12 defendants, six males and six females are charged with fraud offenses for allegedly

42:26defrauding federal and state funds by running ghost daycares. According to the allegations, these were made up fake daycares that day after day, month after month, year after year, build the taxpayer for allegedly taking care of children. But there were no children. There were no daycares. These daycares were fake and the taxpayers were paying for all of it. Thousands of dollars a month. In total, these 12 ghost daycares build the taxpayer more than $10 million. Money that should have gone to feeding, protecting and supporting our children. Colomac, Donald, the System Attorney General for the National Fraud Enforcement Division at today's news conference in San Diego, California. This is Washington today on C-SPAM radio. From ABC News, one month after the board of the Kennedy Center voted to add President Donald Trump's name to the historic building, the board voted on Tuesday to meet Lee.

43:31Those performing arts centers, main building for renovation sources told ABC News. The vote came an hour after a federal judge blocked the Kennedy Center board from adding a tribute to Trump on the building or site. President Trump and a social media post following the board's vote said the Kennedy Center's renovation will not take place unless his name is added onto the building. He wrote, the closing will take place immediately, however, the renovation and reconstruction, which is a very large and complex job, cannot begin until such time as the DC Circuit rules on the board's approved name. If the ruling is a negative one, which it should not be, and it's not overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court, the reconstruction or renovation of the Kennedy Center will not take place reporting from ABC News. Attorney Norm Eisen and Congresswoman Joyce Beatty, Democrat from Ohio, an ex-officio member of the Kennedy Center board, spoke to reporters today after the court hearing before the judge had ruled. We just concluded a hearing in which we argued for discovery in order to test the outrageous

44:43statements and behavior of the Kennedy Center board of trustees in essence taking hostage the Kennedy Center unless Donald Trump's name can be affixed to that as Mr. Zelinsky stated in the argument that issue is inextricably connected because the Kennedy Center leadership and this administration has connected it, saying that the center cannot and will not be preserved unless it's renamed. We learned that the judge is going to promptly address this persistent behavior that in our view is an affront to his decision. It's already been determined that it's illegal to rename the Kennedy Center. There's a variety of other issues that we'll speak to.

45:44We'll take a few questions. The important thing here is that Congresswoman continues her fight for the survival and the success of this precious memorial to a slain president and also our nation's art center. And that's why we need the information that we're fighting for in court in order to determine the actual state of affairs. Congresswoman? No, thank you Attorney Eisen. I think he said it well. We're here today. We want to make sure that we keep the Kennedy Center healthy. And certainly as you know, we have been dealing with the unlawful naming and it is being held hostage. Every time there's an issue that comes up, it has been connected. We will consider it to do this, but or unless it has Donald Trump's name on the building. Today, I was here to simply sit in the discovery hearing and to hear what options will be

46:51available. Congresswoman, Joyce Beatty, Democrat from Ohio and Norm Eisen with democracy defenders outside the federal courthouse today in Washington, D.C. The judge laid a rule that the president's name cannot be added to the Kennedy Center. Then the Kennedy Center board voted to close the center for renovations and President Trump posted it unless an appeals court allows his name to be added. The renovation will not take place. He said he's the only one who can raise the money for that renovation. From associate to press, the US war against Iran has caused the Department of Defense more than $38 billion through August 1st and will continue costing up to $3 billion a month or more, depending on the intensity of the conflict according to an assessment released Tuesday. But the nonpartisan congressional budget office, CBO, said the war is expected to contribute to inflation into the first quarter of 2027, making inflation roughly 0.5 percentage points higher than they had previously estimated that's driven largely by the reduction of oil and natural gas shipments through the straight up removes and disruptions to shipping through

47:52the Red Sea. That was from AP. Tonight, the US House will be voting on another Iran War Powers Act resolution brought to the floor by Democrats to try to force the president to withdraw US forces. Members debated this resolution late Monday night. Congressman Brian Mass, Republican of Florida, chairs the Foreign Affairs Committee. I've spoken in length on this floor about Iranian threats. What they've been doing to the United States of America for the last 50 years or the last 50 months. The people that they've killed, the attacks that they've levied against us. I would love to hear from my colleagues and the authors and the co-sponsors of this legislation, what do they think that we are defending the United States of America from? Again, I've spoken in length about it. I would love to know, do they see a threat? Do they see no threat? And more specifically about the letter of the law, the letter of this bill, what is it

48:54that the sponsors want removed? Because that is what it says. Remove United States Armed Forces from hostilities against Iran, other than those elements of the armed forces that may be necessary to defend the United States or an ally. What is it that you want removed? Do you want us to remove refueling aircraft so they cannot support Israel or Saudi Arabia? Do you want us to remove our amphibious ready groups? Shall we remove our NV22 Osprey's? Our Shannuk's, our heavy-lift helicopters, our attack helicopters, or utility helicopters? What about our Air Force and our naval aviation? What would you like removed there? We have veterans from the Marine Corps, Army brothers, Army Rangers, others over here that I am guessing are here to speak about what they want removed from this space.

49:56Do you want F-15 removed? F-15 Eagles? Do you want F-16 falcons? F-35 A or B, do you want those removed? Or do you want them to remain? F-18 Super Hornets. What is it that you want out of there? That is what you are asking for. Remove the United States Armed Forces from hostilities against Iran, other than those elements of the Armed Forces that may be necessary to defend the United States or an ally. Congressman Brian Mass, Public and Florida, Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee Monday night on the House floor. After his statement, Congressman Seth Molten, Democrat from Massachusetts, responded and then yielded time to the ranking member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Gregory Meeks, President of New York. The gentleman from Florida has asked two basic questions. The first is, is Iran a threat? And the second is, what troops or material should be removed? They actually have very simple answers. He answered the first one himself by quoting me when I have in the past many times said

50:58that Iran is a serious threat. The second question, what should be removed also has a very simple answer. We should remove the troops and material that are going towards a war that is not only failed but backfired. Troops and material that are depleted resources needed elsewhere in the globe. That's a very simple answer to the gentleman's question, which I will be happy to detail later. But, Mr. Speaker, right now I would like to yield five minutes to my colleague, the gentleman, from New York. Mr. Speaker, I rise to day in strong support of Representative Motens, Iran War Powers Resolution. Seven months into a war of choice that President Trump said would only last four to six weeks. American families have paid over $100 billion more for gasoline and diesel, roughly $800

52:00more per household, while gas average is more than $4 a gallon and diesel is near $6 million. The resolution closely follows my resolution, H. Congress 86, which passed both the House and the Senate. That resolution made clear, but the Constitution makes clear that Congress, not the President, has the power to decide when the United States goes to war. This Congress has not authorized the war with Iran, and yet this administration has kept our troops in harm's way without a declaration of war, without an authorization from Congress, and without any plan for how to win or in the war. Congressman Gregory Meeks, Democrat from New York, and before that Congressman Seth Maltin, Democrat from Massachusetts on the House floor Monday night, and a vote on this Iran War Powers Act resolution is expected tonight.

53:04You can follow it on C-SPAN television and on our free app C-SPAN now as we cover the House, Gabbled to Gabbled. NPR writing that Congressman Thomas Massey, a Republican of Kentucky, moved Tuesday to impeach Secretary of Defense Pete Hexeth over the war in Iran. Congressman Massey, a longtime critic of the Trump administration, read the articles of impeachment allowed from the House for just after the chamber convened at noon. Massey alleges that Hexeth has waged the brand war illegally among other, quote, high crimes. And misdemeanors, Massey has repeatedly clashed with members of his own party in recent years and is ending this time in office after losing his primary to an opponent backed by President Trump. That was from NPR. The House today also voted to table or kill a resolution from Congressman Al Green, Democrat from Texas to impeach President Trump over his administration's immigration policies, specifically what the resolution calls unjustified ice killings of civilians. Vote today was 232 to 147.

54:0518 Democrats joined every Republican in voting to table. 47 lawmakers voted present, including top Democratic leaders. They said their non-committal votes reflected the fact that the impeachment articles were brought to the floor without any formal investigations, hearings or broader examination of the charges they contained, according to the hill.com. From NBC News, Senator John Federman, Democrat of Pennsylvania, insists the Tuesday he won't become a Republican, showing frustration with the ongoing questions about his intentions. He sparked the speculation in mid July when he opened the door to leaving the Democratic Party if it, quote, officially became anti-Israel in the party platform. President Roosevelt again last week when Federman made a video appearance at the two-day Republican midterm convention in Dallas to introduce his friend, Senator Dave McCormick, Republican of Pennsylvania. Reporters followed Senator Federman around today on Capitol Hill. I'm not going to be a Republican.

55:07And why can't you guys just wait till the midterm? You know, and if I turn to a Republican, then I'll be a liar, then. My name is not on the ballot. Like chill and wait for the midterm here. I've always been a Democrat. It's like no matter how many times I say that, I'm still getting asked just getting into the elevator. Senator John Federman, Democrat of Pennsylvania, with reporters in the hallway on Capitol Hill heading in front of the elevator. More from the NBC News article, his seat comes up for re-election in 2028 and Federman's prospects of winning re-nomination as a Democrat are rapidly fading. New York Times, Philadelphia, and Chiracian, a poll last month found Federman's approval rating among Democrats was just 22%. Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a Republican from California, had his official speaker portrait unveiled in statutory hall in the U.S. Capitol today. He was the 55th House Speaker, serving from January 7, 2023 to October 3, 2023, and

56:1369 days, third shortest speaker tenure in U.S. history. It's easier for me to say when I'm out looking in. Don't focus and fight on all the small things. When you do that, the adversaries win. I love to bait on the other side, but we still have to respect people. The place has to try to work together. You're in the majority you lead, but we can't sit back and let others gain on us. I will tell you this. When I first took over, I brought how came in and I said, I'm going to treat you the way I wish I was treated. I took the political stuff and it was a difficult time. We had just gone through COVID, we had gone through January 6, we had magnetometers in there. I tried to get people together, I create movie night, however we can make people bond

57:15together. But there are more if you study all the votes, you vote more together than you've ever voted apart. I was very proud when we had the President of Taiwan come to America and go to the Reagan Library and we had this select committee on China, Republicans and Democrats all there together. When we stood out the press conference before, I remember Andrea Mitchell. We're standing right in front of the piece of the Berlin Wall. She said, I was there when Reagan made that famous speech and I teared up. I get just as emotional now as I did then. Thank Longer, Act Longer. It was too great for small ideas and small fights. Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, Republican from California, in statutory hall in the US Capitol building at his official speaker, Portrait Unveiling. It took 15 rounds of voting to elect him in January 2023 and then by October he became

58:18the first speaker to be removed by a floor vote after a revolt within his party. Speaker Portrait's hang in the Speaker's lobby, the long quarter outside the House Chamber in the Capitol. Thanks for listening to Washington today. Remember, a cease-band brings you news throughout the day with AP updates at the top of each hour. Hope you have a good night.