Principals

1. House pushes stopgap
2. Trump backs Patel
3. Social media scrutiny
4. Economic team drama
5. Miran vote tonight
6. Rubio in Israel

VIEW: How Kirk sought to mend the GOP divide on Israel

Trump to meet Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew … Bessent says US, China close to resolving TikTok issue … Vance to host Kirk’s podcast

House GOP eyes stopgap funding bill

House Republicans want to move a stopgap government funding bill this week. Democrats may not go along. The House GOP aims to continue current spending until around Nov. 20, then negotiate on three Senate-passed bills, which could also address lawmaker security. “We may need a short gap funding measure … to allow the negotiations to continue,” Speaker Mike Johnson said on Sunday. Democrats aren’t aware of any serious negotiations and want a health care deal. “If Republicans follow Donald Trump’s orders to not even bother dealing with Democrats they will be single-handedly putting our country on the path towards a shutdown,” said a spokesperson for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. All eyes will be on whether House Republicans can move their plan. “Republicans are obviously in control if they stick together,” said Sen. John Kennedy, R-La. “Then it will depend on Chuck’s politics.”

— Burgess Everett and Eleanor Mueller

Trump stands by Patel amid criticism

FBI Director Kash Patel met with President Donald Trump over the weekend in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s killing, a source familiar with the situation told Semafor. The in-person get-together (the two spent time golfing) at his Bedminster club lasted for a few hours and comes as some conservatives have expressed frustration over the handling of the high-profile case by Patel, who posted on X that a “subject” was in custody before walking the comment back. Patel is also facing scrutiny from members of other agencies, including Attorney General Pam Bondi, Fox News reported. But Trump doesn’t seem concerned: He told Fox News that Patel did “a great job”; another source familiar with their Saturday meeting said it “went very well.” White House communications director Steven Cheung also dismissed outside criticism, saying in a statement that “anyone who doubts his resolve and dedication — especially when Charlie was such a close friend to him — simply is using this extremely sad moment in a disgusting act of political gamesmanship.”

— Shelby Talcott

Politicians to America: Log off

Republicans and Democrats alike post all day long, but some in both parties are coming to grips with social media’s role in political violence after Kirk’s killing. GOP Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said on NBC that “cancer probably isn’t a strong enough word” for social media and that it’s played a “direct role” in recent assassinations and attempted killings. “We’ve got social media companies that clearly are exploiting kids,” said Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., adding that “I hope some of these social media companies can scrub” video of Kirk’s murder from their platforms.

Cox is advising Americans to log off, earning praise from some Democrats for a potential electoral message. “Pull yourself together, read a book, get some exercise,” advised Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, himself a prolific poster. “Anything other than let this algo pickle your brain and ruin your soul.”

— Burgess Everett

Drama cools among Trump’s econ team

Could the drama among Trump’s economic advisers be subsiding for now? Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte both traveled with the president to New York last week, according to pool reports, and Pulte on X called a Bessent editorial “a great piece.” But it’s not clear that the tensions behind Bessent’s reported threat to punch Pulte have ebbed. Former Trump aide Steve Bannon told Semafor on Sunday that Pulte is “simply the twisted instrument of [Commerce Secretary] Howard Lutnick in his ongoing war against Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.” (Lutnick, of course, angled early on for the Treasury post.) And one Republican senator told Semafor Pulte “may end up being collateral damage I could live with, to be honest with you, because I’m done.” Spokespeople for all three officials involved, and the White House, offered no comment.

— Shelby Talcott and Eleanor Mueller

Senate to confirm Fed pick ahead of meeting

The Senate is expected to vote tonight to confirm Trump’s pick to join the Federal Reserve, Stephen Miran, less than a day before the central bank kicks off its next meeting. Miran, who will serve out former Fed Governor Adriana Kugler’s term, has said he does not plan to resign from his White House role — an unusual move The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board on Sunday argued “the GOP might regret … next time there’s a Democratic President.” He’ll get to weigh in this week on whether policymakers decide to cut interest rates — as will Fed Governor Lisa Cook after a federal judge blocked Trump from removing her. A 2021 document reviewed by Reuters shows Cook told her credit union that she would not use an Atlanta condo as her primary residence, which runs counter to the administration’s allegations that she committed mortgage fraud.

— Eleanor Mueller

Rubio looks for a way forward on Gaza

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is trying to execute a balancing act in Israel as the Trump administration looks to get Gaza ceasefire talks back on track after an Israeli strike on Hamas in Qatar. “Obviously we’re not happy about it,” Rubio told reporters. “Now we need to move forward and figure out what comes next.” The top US diplomat visited a religious site with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday and is expected to meet with him again today. His trip follows Trump’s Friday dinner with Qatar’s prime minister, who accused Israel of “state terrorism” on Sunday, as Arab states readied a resolution condemning the strike. Trump called Qatar a “great ally” and warned Netanyahu to be “very careful” on Sunday. Faisal J. Abbas, editor-in-chief of Arab News, wrote in a column for Semafor that the US must take “decisive action to curb Israel,” and Hadley Gamble argued that Trump is creating a “trust deficit” with Gulf leaders that will be difficult to repair.

The night before his assassination, Charlie Kirk and two of his producers were on Zoom getting ready to answer the questions about Israel that kept popping up on his college tour. Kirk was frustrated that Israel figured in almost half the questions he took on tour, when “he just wanted to talk about America,” said Rabbi Pesach Wolicki, one of two staunch supporters of Israel Kirk had asked to help him prepare.

Indeed, to the increasingly anti-Israel young people he encountered online and on campuses, Kirk was a staunch defender of the Jewish state. He faced years of sometimes overtly antisemitic harassment from Nick Fuentes’ extreme-right supporters. But to older friends of Israel, Kirk was a potential problem: He was a young man who seemed to be feeling the pull of his generation — which is, across parties, critical of Israel’s war in Gaza.

World Trade Organization Director-General Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala will join the stage at The Next 3 Billion — the premier US summit focused on closing the global digital divide. Semafor editors will sit down with global executives and thought leaders to highlight the economic, social, and global impact of bringing the next three billion people online.

September 24, 2025 | New York City | Delegate Application →

Beltway Newsletters

Punchbowl News: In a new book out tomorrow, Dead Center, former Sen. Joe Manchin, I-W.Va., a lifelong Democrat who publicly broke with his party last year, offers some biting criticisms of former Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama, as well as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and late Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

Playbook: President Trump’s popularity with Latino voters has fallen sharply, a new poll commissioned by a liberal-leaning Latino voter group finds.

WaPo: America’s growing wealth gap explains much of today’s populist politics, with Democratic operative Alyssa Cass saying that “candidates who are tapping into that are the ones who are succeeding most prominently and beating expectations.”

Axios: The FBI is investigating whether leftist groups in Utah may have played a part in Charlie Kirk’s assassination.

White House

• President Trump intends to make his new White House ballroom even larger than planned. — NBC
• Trump indicated he would impose new sanctions on Russia only after NATO countries stop buying Russian oil.
• Trump renewed pressure on DC Mayor Muriel Bowser for not cooperating with the administration’s immigration crackdown, writing in a Truth Social post: “I’ll call a National Emergency, and Federalize, if necessary!!!”

Congress

• Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, is retiring after 11 te