September 6, 2026 - Witkoff, Kushner Meet Putin in Moscow

Labor Day weekend is the traditional starting gun for the final sprint to a midterm election, and this year the race is worth a closer look for what's actually at stake.

Midterm elections are usually sold as a referendum on an agenda. This one isn't, because there isn't much of one to vote on. It's largely a referendum on President Trump.

Plus, consider the circumstances. Republicans hold the White House, the Senate and the House. That is the moment a president is supposed to be at his most aggressive on Capitol Hill. Instead, the fall calendar is thin: a crypto bill, college sports, a spending package that has to be done by December 11. The tariffs, the Iran war, the ICE surge, the ballroom - the defining moves of this term have come by executive action, not by statute. Legislation does not appear to be the president's priority, and the Republican Congress has mostly gotten out of his way.

So if control of the House won't change what gets signed into law, what does it change? One thing, and it's the biggest prize on the board: subpoena power.

A Democratic majority would inherit gavels on Oversight and Judiciary, and with them the ability to compel documents and testimony. Democrats are already drafting their list and sending records requests before a single ballot is cast. Trump has told House Republicans that if they lose, "they'll find a reason to impeach me." Democratic leaders insist impeachment isn't the plan - investigations are. That's a distinction that will hold only until the first hearing produces something.

Which is why the interesting question isn't whether Democrats would use the power, but where they'd point it first. 

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U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner wrapped more than three hours of Kremlin talks with Vladimir Putin on Sept. 5 aimed at ending Russia's war on Ukraine, with no outcome announced and the pair set to travel to Kyiv the next day.

The Kyiv Independent

President Trump's main super PAC, MAGA Inc., made its first general election expenditure with a $10 million ad buy in the Texas Senate race, splitting the money between boosting Republican Ken Paxton and attacking Democrat James Talarico, who has led in polling and fundraising.

The Texas Tribune

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan reinforced an order requiring the Trump administration to give 48 hours' notice before doing any work beyond on-site information gathering at the site of a proposed 250-foot arch near Arlington National Cemetery.

USA Today

The latest quarterly updated from Gallup tracks Americans' party affiliation, showing shifts in the shares identifying as Democrats, Republicans and independents.

Gallup

With no clear frontrunner, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and California Gov. Gavin Newsom top The Hill's early ranking of Democratic 2028 presidential contenders, followed by Sen. Jon Ossoff, former Vice President Kamala Harris and former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

The Hill

A piece of ceiling in the Kennedy Center's grand foyer partially collapsed during Friday storms, injuring no one but bolstering the Trump-aligned board's push to close the venue for a $250 million renovation that a federal judge has blocked.

CBS News

Severe thunderstorms with damaging wind gusts are targeting parts of Virginia and the Carolinas on Saturday before the threat shifts Sunday to South Carolina and Georgia, while flash flooding looms over national parks in Arizona and Utah.

ABC News

Robert Pattinson’s portrayal of “To Catch a Predator” host Chris Hansen in “Primetime” earned a rapturous seven-minute standing ovation at the Venice Film Festival, with partner Suki Waterhouse among his biggest supporters.

Variety

WIRED reports that Madison Square Garden owner Jim Dolan has built an expansive surveillance operation using facial recognition, security teams and private intelligence tactics to monitor fans, protesters, lawyers, employees and other perceived adversaries.

WIRED

U.S. forces struck three Iranian oil tankers after the military said Iranian missiles targeted American warships, escalating tensions in the Strait of Hormuz as both sides traded further attacks.

Associated Press