WATCH: Sen. Mullin cites recording as he accuses CDC leader of repeatedly lying, later walks it back  —  Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., questioned former CDC Director Susan Monarez at a Senate committee hearing Wednesday about her firing, accusing her of being untrustworthy and lying …

The Trump Fantasy Is Unraveling  —  The essence of President Trump's pitch to the American people last year was simple: They could have it both ways.  —  They could have a powerful, revitalized economy and “mass deportations now.”  They could build new factories and take manufacturing jobs …

Pam Bondi Needs a Free Speech Tutorial  —  The Attorney General seems to think ‘hate speech’ is illegal.  Charlie Kirk knew better.  —  Is a basic understanding of the First Amendment too much to expect from the nation's Attorney General?  Progressives have spent years trying to create and define a category called “hate speech.”

Fed approves quarter-point interest rate cut and sees two more coming this year  —  WASHINGTON - The Federal Reserve on Wednesday approved a widely anticipated rate cut and signaled that two more are on the way before the end of the year as concerns intensified over the U.S. labor market.

Ronny Jackson to Newsmax: Trans People Need Treatment  —  Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas, a physician and former White House doctor, told Newsmax on Tuesday that he believes inpatient mental health facilities should play a role in treating transgender people, whom he said have underlying psychiatric issues.

Trump officials pressuring federal prosecutors to bring criminal charges against NY AG Letitia James: Sources  —  Prosecutors have not found clear evidence James committed a crime, sources say.  —  New York State Attorney General Letitia James makes an announcement at the Office …

Kash Patel says court orders bar him from releasing the Epstein files.  Judges have said otherwise.  —  FBI Director Kash Patel claimed Wednesday that he is barred by recent court orders from releasing thousands of documents connected to disgraced sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.

America Loves Cocaine Again—Mexico's New Drug King Cashes In  —  The Trump administration's war on fentanyl created an opening for ‘El Señor Mencho’ to smuggle cocaine into the U.S. by the ton  —  From a heavily guarded mountain hideout in the heart of the Sierra Madre, 59-year-old Nemesio …

Federal Reserve issues FOMC statement  —  For release at 2:00 p.m. EDT  —  Recent indicators suggest that growth of economic activity moderated in the first half of the year.  Job gains have slowed, and the unemployment rate has edged up but remains low.  Inflation has moved up and remains somewhat elevated.

Confronting a Fuller Picture of Charlie Kirk's Killer  —  Attorney General Pam Bondi learned a tough lesson yesterday: There are still some pieties of the old right that conservatives aren't ready to abandon, and bristling at the concept of “hate speech” is one.

Bessent, Like Fed Governor, Made Contradictory Mortgage Pledges  —  US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent once agreed to occupy two different houses as his “principal residence” at the same time, mortgage documents show — the same kind of contradictory pledges that President Donald Trump …

Ezra Klein Accidentally Shows How the Media Brought Us Trump  —  It's easy to unequivocally condemn the killing of MAGA activist/podcaster/organizer Charlie Kirk as an act of political violence without making up a false version of Kirk to praise.  The wrongness of murder does not depend on what I think of the victim's political views.

House eyes Friday vote on stopgap as partisan tensions flare … While House GOP leaders have pushed their members for earlier action, they believe Friday morning is the likeliest option for the vote.  Hard-liners and others are pushing leaders to stick to the chamber's 72-hour-review rule.

Evergreen H.S. shooter hinted at his plans online, ADL says  —  The attacker, who shot and wounded two students, reposted a photo of a revolver and a box of ammunition two hours beforehand, research by the group's Center on Extremism shows.  —  DENVER — The 16-year-old who shot and wounded …

Exclusive Focus Group: Trump Bleeding Latino Voters  —  LATINO VOTERS FLOCKED TO DONALD TRUMP in surprisingly large numbers last November to help him retake the White House.  But a year later, the same cohort has soured on his presidency, with many saying they regret their vote.

Foreign disinformation about Charlie Kirk's killing seeks to widen US divisions  —  Russia moved to amplify online conspiracy theories about Charlie Kirk's killing just hours after it happened, seeding social media with the frightening claim that America is slipping into civil war.

Suspect in custody after driver rams car into FBI building gate in Pittsburgh  —  A suspect has been taken into custody after a driver rammed a car into a security gate at the FBI building in Pittsburgh early Wednesday, then removed an American flag from the back seat and threw it over the gate before leaving, authorities said.

A New Democratic Think Tank Wants to Curb the Influence of Liberal Groups  —  Led by a former aide to Senator Harry Reid, the Searchlight Institute is hoping to persuade Democrats to play down causes like climate change and L.G.B.T.Q. rights to appeal to more voters

Former GOP officials fear US strikes on alleged drug smugglers aren't legal … Yoo, now a professor at the University of California Berkeley, authored the Bush administration's legal justification for enhanced interrogation techniques against suspected al Qaeda terrorists in the early years of Bush's war on terror.

Top Trump Ally May Soon Control TikTok and CNN  —  Neither of these deals have been realized.  But I want to flag something on the horizon that is potentially a very big deal.  Yesterday, the Wall the Street Journal broke the news that the White House has negotiated a purchase of TikTok …

Unhappy Constitution Day  —  The checks and balances created by the Constitution are failing.  But the resistance is fighting back.  —  The Constitution is under attack, making today's commemoration of Constitution Day particularly poignant and important.

CDC stops work-from-home disability accommodations  —  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is no longer allowing remote work for employees with disabilities or those with temporary health issues, including those who've requested to work from home since the Aug. 8 attack on the agency's Atlanta headquarters .

Jamie Dimon at GOP lunch  —  The leader of the largest U.S. bank — JPMorgan Chase Chairman and Chief Executive Jamie Dimon — is a guest at Senate Republicans' closed-door lunch Wednesday afternoon.  Sen. Rick Scott of Florida was heard hyping up Dimon's attendance to his colleagues during votes ahead of the meeting.

Revealed: Trump administration retreats on combating human trafficking and child exploitation  —  Experts say decades of progress are under threat; Trump officials say administration remains committed to fighting trafficking and sex abuse  —  Aaron Glantz, Bernice Yeung and Noy Thrupkaew

You get some climate money, and you get some climate money  —  With help from Noah Baustin and Blake Jones  —  MONEY TALKS: Gov. Gavin Newsom and lawmakers got their long-awaited cap-and-trade extension over the finish line just in time — but the fight over the state's biggest pot of climate revenue is far from over.