• The Fed lowers interest rate: The Federal Reserve on Wednesday evening lowered the interest rate by a quarter point to a range of 3.5% to 3.75%. It marks the third consecutive rate cut by the Fed this year, representing a 1.75-percentage-point decrease since September 2024. What made this move unexpected was Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s comments six weeks ago after the Fed cut interest rates, suggesting that any further rate cuts this year would be unlikely. That’s because the 2% inflation target has remained stubbornly elusive. Powell pointed to the federal government shutdown negatively impacting the economy, “but these effects should be mostly offset by higher growth next quarter, reflecting the reopening,” he observed. “Conditions in the labor market appear to be gradually cooling and inflation remains somewhat elevated. Inflation has eased significantly from its highs in 2022, but remains somewhat elevated relative to our 2% longer run goal.”

• DHS purchases a fleet of deportation planes: The Department of Homeland Security has signed a contract with Daedalus Aviation to buy six Boeing 737 jets for $140 million. The deal will free DHS from the complication of chartering deportation flights. The funding comes from the $170 billion earmarked in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act for Donald Trump’s immigration agenda. These jets will help fulfill the administration’s goal of deporting one million illegals in Trump’s first year. That goal is still a ways off, with Tom Homan most recently reporting the removal of 579,000 illegals. Tricia McLaughlin, a DHS spokesman, says the purchase will save the taxpayer $279 million.

• Trump’s immigration gold card goes live: Donald Trump’s idea, which he floated at the beginning of his term, that wealthy foreigners can pay a large sum to obtain residency in the U.S., is now a reality. For $1 million and a $15,000 DHS processing fee, a foreigner can obtain EB-1 residency. For corporations, the cost is doubled, and the website promises a $5 million option coming soon that will allow individuals to spend up to 270 days in the U.S. without paying U.S. taxes on non-U.S. income. This isn’t quite a simple pay-to-play scheme, as the website assures applicants that they will still be subject to an “in-depth background check.” Trump wants to encourage foreign investment in the U.S. and to make America a destination for the wealthy — this seems an excellent move in that direction.

• Deficit improves thanks to Trump’s tariffs: The federal government’s deficit has declined slightly in the new fiscal year, despite increased spending. That’s because federal revenue has increased by 18%, and that increase is primarily due to Donald Trump’s tariffs. Currently, tariffs are running $50 billion above last fiscal year, with the government bringing in $112 billion more over the last two months than over this same span last year. Despite this increase, the federal government is still outspending its collected revenue. In FY2025, the government collected $5.2 trillion in revenue, but spent roughly $7 trillion, thereby adding $1.8 trillion to the ballooning national debt. And over the last two months, the government has spent $179 billion in interest payments alone on that debt.

• $901 billion in War Department spending authorized: The National Defense Authorization Act, approving $901 billion in spending, passed the House on Wednesday. The final tally was 312-112, with 94 Democrats and 18 Republicans voting “no.” Some conservatives are unhappy that the bill includes $400 million in funding for Ukraine in each of the next two years. The bill also cuts the Trump administration’s ability to reduce troop presence in Europe, specifically the Baltic states, or in South Korea. Conservatives can be happy about a 4% pay rise for our troops and the elimination of DEI policies. The Washington Post’s libelous “second strike” story has yielded fruit in this bill, which includes a provision that cuts Secretary Pete Hegseth’s travel budget until the unedited footage of the September 2 strike is handed over.

• U.S. seizes Venezuelan oil tanker: On Wednesday, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced that the U.S. had seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela that was involved in “an illicit oil shipping network.” She said that the FBI, DHS, U.S. Coast Guard, and the Department of War coordinated the seizure. Bondi explained that the U.S. had sanctioned this oil tanker over its years of involvement in the illicit shipping of oil to terrorist organizations. The ship known as the “Skipper” was seized with a load of Venezuelan crude oil, apparently bound for Cuba. FBI Director Kash Patel said the “administration’s efforts to crush FTOs and cut off their resources will continue day and night.” This action appears aimed at further squeezing Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro in an effort to see him removed from office.

• Machado slips past Maduro to accept Nobel Peace Prize: Ana Corina Sosa Machado, the daughter of Venezuelan resistance leader María Corina Machado, accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of her mother on Wednesday. When the ceremony was being scheduled, it was believed that María — who had been in hiding for months — would not be able to leave Venezuela safely to accept the award, but her daughter announced on stage that María had escaped and would arrive in Oslo shortly. On Thursday morning, María made her first public appearance since August 2024. Her escape involved donning a disguise and slipping past 10 military checkpoints to a skiff that took her to Curaçao, an island under Dutch control. The two U.S. Navy F-18s that boldly entered Venezuelan airspace on Tuesday now appear to have been covering Machado’s escape.

• Environmentalists sue over Trump’s face: The Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), an environmental group, has raised a lawsuit against the Trump administration in an effort to stop the Interior Department’s decision to include an image of Donald Trump on the 2026 national park and monument pass. The CBD argues that the nation doesn’t want to see Trump’s “bloated, fragile, attention-seeking” face on the national park pass. The CBD notes that the winning photo from the National Parks Foundation’s annual contest has historically been used to design new park passes, and that this year’s would have been a photo of Glacier National Park. That photo will still be used, but only for the “nonresident” pass. The CBD argues that the 2004 Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act requires using the winning photo.

Headlines

• Yes, some children may have died from COVID shots (The Atlantic)

• The actual facts on enhanced ObamaCare subsidies (Just Facts)

• GOP Obamacare proposal cuts Medicaid funding for illegal immigrants (Washington Examiner)

• Trump administration moves to end the SAVE plan for millions of student borrowers (CBS News)

• Newsom posts AI video of Trump in handcuffs (The Hill)

• ‘Abolish ICE’ creeps back into Democrat messaging (NBC News)

• Tim Walz pledges to “welcome more” Somalis into Minnesota (Washington Free Beacon)

• 90% of college kids think “words can be violence” (Not the Bee)

• Trump announces aid package to farmers to help them deal with how amazing economy is (Babylon Bee)

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