memeorandum: Republicans fear two key Senate races are slipping from their grasp (CNN)

1:25 PM ET, September 26, 2026

Top Items:

CNN:

White House bars CNN from covering Trump on behalf of major TV networks as he travels to Tennessee — The White House is barring CNN from flying on Air Force One on Saturday as part of the news outlet's duties covering the president on behalf of major television networks.

Discussion: Washington Examiner, The Washington Sun, RedState, The Independent, The Gateway Pundit, KTLA, twitchy.com, France 24, Newsbusters, The Hill, The Guardian, Bloomberg, NPR, The Wrap, New York Times and MS NOW, more at Mediagazer »

Erik Wemple / New York Times:

White House Blocks CNN From Air Force One — CNN won't be able to join President Trump on a Saturday trip to Tennessee. He had banned CNN and two other news outlets from the White House, but a court order on Thursday restored their access. — The White House on Friday night blocked CNN …

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog

Ben Johansen / Politico: White House blocks CNN from traveling with Trump on Air Force One

Casey Wooten / NBC News: White House blocks CNN from covering Trump's Tennessee trip

Michael M. Grynbaum / New York Times:
A 7-Day Standoff That Said So Much About Trump and the Media

Discussion: New Republic, more at Mediagazer »

Greg Sargent / New Republic: Trump's Angry Tirade Over Failing Press Ban Reveals His Achilles' Heel

Hallie Golden / Associated Press:
White House TV pool appears to be back in operation, but CNN's media analyst calls situation ‘fluid’

Discussion: PBS NewsHour, twitchy.com, RedState, Associated Press, The Hill, Reason, Los Angeles Times, Washington Examiner, Mediaite, WTOP News, CNN, Daily Kos and Poynter, more at Mediagazer »

Scott Nover / Washington Post:
White House blocks CNN from trip on Air Force One

Discussion: The Independent, MS NOW, The Guardian and The Wrap, more at Mediagazer »

CNN:
Trump's disruption to TV coverage during Xi visit frustrates Chinese officials

Discussion: twitchy.com, Reuters, RedState, HuffPost, Newsweek, The Wrap, Deadline, Forbes, New Republic, The Contrarian and Washington Post

Melissa Korn / Wall Street Journal:
White House Removes CNN From Planned Weekend Trip

Discussion: Deadline and Bloomberg

Wall Street Journal:

Trump Rejects Iran Ceasefire, Expects Renewed Bombing After Midterms — The president is skeptical that Tehran will meet his demands — President Trump has rejected Iran's proposal for a seven-day ceasefire and has told aides he expects to resume bombing Iran after the November midterms, U.S. officials said.

Discussion: Salon, The Hill, Washington Examiner, NBC News, CNBC, Reuters, Bloomberg, Daily Mail, Associated Press, Breitbart, Politico, CBS News, Mediaite and Al Jazeera

MS NOW:
Trump posts map showing ‘Trump Strait’ off Iran, and other Mideast developments

Discussion: Associated Press, Al Jazeera, NewsMax.com, One America News Network, KEYT-TV, WTOP News, Modern Diplomacy, The Independent, France 24, HuffPost, The Guardian and Mediaite

Robin Wright / New Yorker: Iran's Bitterness and Bewilderment Over How to Make Peace with Trump

Barak Ravid / Axios:
Trump says he rejected the latest Iranian proposal

Discussion: RedState and NewsMax.com

Barak Ravid / Axios:
Trump asked Xi to stop supporting Iran

Discussion: Reuters, Focus Taiwan, New York Post, Washington Examiner, CNBC, The Hill, Semafor, Bloomberg, Mediaite and Middle East Monitor

Associated Press:

Trump administration uses rare authority to claw back nearly $1B in spending approved by Congress — President Donald Trump is canceling nearly $1 billion in spending approved by Congress, the White House announced on Friday, using a rare and contested power to axe funding for immigrant services and diversity-focused initiatives.

Discussion: American Greatness and WTOP News

Michael Birnbaum / Washington Post: Lawmakers slam Trump's move to cancel $810M in funding approved by Congress

NBC News:
Lawmakers slam Trump's ‘unlawful’ move to cut $810 million in federal funds

Discussion: Fox News, [your]NEWS, ABC News, Newsweek, New York Times, NewsMax.com and New York Post

The White House:
President Trump Takes Historic Action to Eliminate Wasteful and Harmful Spending

Discussion: The Hill, CBS News, Mediaite, Washington Examiner and The Guardian

Politico:
Trump cancels $1B in federal spending in latest challenge to Congress

Discussion: RedState and Mock Paper Scissors

Joseph Pisani / Wall Street Journal:
Trump Angers Lawmakers With $810 Million in Cuts

Discussion: Reuters

Axios:

GOP election outlook goes from bad to “craptastic” — President Trump told voters to pretend he's on the ballot. Apparently they're listening: Republicans coast to coast are getting pulled under by a violent undertow fueled by Trump's unpopularity.

Soorin Kim / MS NOW:

What Trump's super PAC spending says about the GOP's Senate map — The president's super PAC and its allies are playing defense in some red states and easing off in battlegrounds Republicans need to win the Senate. — After sitting out much of the summer, President Donald Trump's political operation has started spending big.

Discussion: Daily Kos, Conservative Daily News and Axios

Wall Street Journal:

Trump Is Predicting Midterms Success but Republicans Are Starting to Panic — President's approval rating drops to 37% in WSJ poll, lowest of any president heading into midterm elections in Journal polls dating to 1990 — WASHINGTON—President Trump took French President Emmanuel Macron …

Discussion: Wide World of News and NewsMax.com

CNN:
Republicans fear two key Senate races are slipping from their grasp

Discussion: NewsMax.com

Apoorva Mandavilli / New York Times:

‘Zombified’ C.D.C., Hobbled by Cuts, Struggles to Fulfill Scientific Mission — The agency has lost its independence and nearly a third of its staff, as Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and associates have tightened control. — For decades, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention …

New York Times:

OpenAI's Systems Meddled With U.S. Government Sites After Going Rogue — The company did not learn until recently that its technology had meddled with websites for the Education Department, Commerce Department and Securities and Exchange Commission. — OpenAI's artificial intelligence went rogue …

Discussion: The Hill, Associated Press, Washington Post, Reuters, KEYT-TV, France 24, Gizmodo, Bloomberg, NewsMax.com and Mediaite, more at Techmeme »

Politico:
Rogue OpenAI agents accessed US government websites

Discussion: The Information

Shane Goldmacher / New York Times:

Rahm Emanuel Makes His 2026 Play … Rahm Emanuel, the former Chicago mayor and chief of staff to President Barack Obama, has been recruiting Democratic House candidates and helping to guide their campaigns.Lexi Parra/The New York Times — At a private dinner of branzino and salad at Centrolina …

Discussion: Mock Paper Scissors

Wall Street Journal:

How the Trump Administration's Election Plan Is Falling Into Place — A Supreme Court decision on Friday allowed the use of an immigration database to check voter eligibility, but federal strategy spans multiple fronts — The Supreme Court on Friday allowed the federal government to deploy …

Discussion: New York Times, The Parnas Perspective, CBS News, The Gateway Pundit, NBC News, Democracy Docket and Bloomberg

New York Times:
Supreme Court Ruling Could Have Limited Impact on Voter Screening in Midterms

Jude Joffe-Block / NPR:
The Supreme Court revives a controversial data system for citizenship checks

Wall Street Journal:

The Mystery Man Shadowing Kimberly Guilfoyle as She Pushes Deals Across Europe — Christos Marafatsos works as an energy lobbyist while also closely advising the U.S. ambassador to Greece — Kimberly Guilfoyle was a long way from Mar-a-Lago. — The U.S. ambassador to Greece …

Ben Penn / Bloomberg Law:

FBI Ousts Officials Probing Threats to Stephen Miller's Family — FBI leadership removed two counterterrorism leaders due to dissatisfaction with their investigation of allegedly threatening phone calls made to senior White House aide Stephen Miller's wife, said three people familiar with the matter.

Steven Zeitchik / The Hollywood Reporter:

The Major Social Media Platforms Are All Rejecting Paid Ads for ‘Musk’ (Exclusive) — Its U.S. distributor has received denials from YouTube, Meta, TikTok and X on running the trailer. The studio is appealing. — So much for free speech. … YouTube, TikTok along with Instagram …

Discussion: Gizmodo, more at Mediagazer »

Erika:

I'm the Mom in That Viral Giants Clip. Let Me Tell You About My Husband. — Millions of people have watched me carry my daughter and food back to my seat at a San Francisco Giants game. They have praised me as “mom of the year” and called my husband too many names to list.

Discussion: The San Francisco Standard

Dan Diamond / Washington Post:

Trump heads to Texas-Tennessee football game as midterm rallies slide — He will also attend the President's Cup golf tournament this weekend. Officials say Trump's GOP campaign push will ramp up in October. — SummaryLoading... President Donald Trump has vowed to go all-out campaigning …

Discussion: The Hill, Daily Mail and Deseret News

Scott Wong / NBC News:

Some lawmakers doubt a Congress that's ‘barely capable of email’ can regulate AI — Congress' slow pace and inexperience with AI are colliding with a fast-moving technology. Though one Democrat countered: “We don't have to be biologists or chemists to set up the FDA.”

Corinne Ramey / Wall Street Journal:

How a Business Litigator Became DOJ's Point Man Against Transgender Care — Jordan Campbell's enforcement efforts have pressured healthcare providers even as they have hit roadblocks in court — For a decade, Texas lawyer Jordan Campbell lived the life of a business litigator …