Thursday, September 17, 2026
Good morning, and welcome to RedState's "Morning Minute" — a brief glimpse at which stories are trending at the moment and a look ahead at what the day may bring. Consider this your one-stop shop for news to kickstart your day.
TOP O' THE MORNIN'
Red-Hot at RedState
Cornyn's Passive-Aggressive Tantrum Leads to an Incredibly Ironic Statement
All Cornyn seems to care about is venting his poor, hurt feelings that the Texas voters rejected him. But this isn't only about that; he's literally throwing all of the Republicans under the bus with that comment.
92-Year-Old Grassley Has Enough of Young Whippersnapper Cory Booker: 'Are You Ready to Shut Up?'
You could tell he thought he was killing it in the above nearly four and a half minute clip, but Grassley was obviously embarrassed that this guy is a sitting United States senator, because he’d probably be cut from his local community theater program for overacting.
Freddy Finds the Gateway Arch and Some Great Southern Food
Freddy's next game is at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Alabama. So he's en route from Iowa to Alabama. On the way, he found an enormous fireworks store in Missouri.
Trending Across Townhall Media
Bearing Arms — The Curious 'Democracy' Argument for Banning AR-15s
We don't submit our constitutional rights to a referendum every time someone wants to exercise them.
HotAir — Daycare Scammers Get Scooped Up in San Diego and Patel Drops a BOOMITY
Nervous people make mistakes sooner, and there have to be an inordinate number of very nervous scammers worried about knocks - or no knocks - at their phony business doors.
PJ Media — James Talarico's Lesbian Minister Just Outed Him
I’ve said before that Talarico’s pivot is a sign that his internal polling numbers are not as good as the public polls. Now his “minister” has confirmed he’s lying to win. If he were really ahead, this pivot wouldn’t be happening
Townhall — The Collapse of Hollywood Continues As Paramount Exits California
What the Left has done to Hollywood is nothing short of criminal.
Twitchy — Jessica Tarlov Didn’t Know Biden Lied About ‘Secure Border’ Until Fox News Drone Soared Over Hordes
For a person who claims to be a journalist, she somehow missed a huge story for at least four months.
WHAT'S ON TAP?
Today on Capitol Hill...
They came, they saw, they split. House is back on recess until after the midterms, but the Senate still has a meeting or two set for Thursday:
Senate Armed Services — To receive a closed briefing on the implementation of the National Defense Strategy and its impact on global defense posture.
Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs — Business meeting to markup the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2026, and the nominations of Brian Johnson, of Ohio, to be Director, Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection, Abby Warren, of Virginia, to be an Assistant Secretary of Commerce, and Irving Dennis, of Ohio, to be Chief Financial Officer, and Jeffrey Ledbetter, of Virginia, to be Inspector General, both of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Senate Foreign Relations — Hearings to examine the nominations of Michael Young, of Utah, to be Ambassador to the Republic of Serbia, Ronald Johnson, of Massachusetts, to be Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Julia Nesheiwat, of Florida, to be Ambassador-at-Large for the Arctic, Steven Gillen, of Virginia, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Counselor, to be Ambassador to the Kyrgyz Republic, and Nutan Patel, of California, to be Ambassador to the Republic of Cabo Verde, all of the Department of State.
The House held a couple of key votes before departing the Swamp:
President Trump Gets Rare 352–72 Win Right Before the House Splits Town on Recess
Russia Sanctions First Introduced by the Late Lindsey Graham Passes the House, Heads to Trump Next
White House What's Up
Here's what President Trump has in store for Thursday:
8:00 AM — THE PRESIDENT participates in Executive Time — The White House
11:00 AM — THE PRESIDENT receives his Intelligence Briefing — The White House
3:00 PM — THE PRESIDENT participates in a Policy Meeting — Oval Office
5:00 PM — THE PRESIDENT signs Executive Orders — Oval Office
6:00 PM — THE PRESIDENT participates in a Tele-Rally — Oval Office
7:00 PM — THE PRESIDENT participates in a Rose Garden Dinner — Rose Garden
Keeping Up With the Cabinet
Sec. State - Marco Rubio — Rubio recently announced a new visa restriction policy:
As @POTUS has made clear, the South African people are being failed by a government that is destroying its economy through an obsessive pursuit of racial grievance against the Afrikaner minority. The South African government has consistently failed to adequately address rural…
— Secretary Marco Rubio (@SecRubio)
September 15, 2026
As @POTUS has made clear, the South African people are being failed by a government that is destroying its economy through an obsessive pursuit of racial grievance against the Afrikaner minority. The South African government has consistently failed to adequately address rural crime, violent and dehumanizing rhetoric, and race-based discriminatory policies against Afrikaners and other minority populations.
Today, I’m announcing a new visa restriction policy targeting foreign nationals who enact or enable policies that promote race-based discrimination, incite violence, or enable land confiscation without compensation in South Africa. Those responsible for these injustices have no place in the United States.
Full Court Press...
Not a ton of notable court decisions on Wednesday, but Thursday's a big day for Missouri as the 8th Circuit will be hearing oral argument in the congressional map case and likely issuing a same-day ruling. We'll be watching.
COMING ATTRACTIONS
As noted, we're anticipating an 8th Circuit decision today on the Missouri congressional map dispute and...there could be a quick trip to SCOTUS after that.
President Trump is set to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on September 24.
MORNING MUSING
Happy Constitution Day!
I'm one of those silly folk who still adore the founding principles of our nation and the extraordinary wisdom that went into structuring our system of governance. The separation of powers, checks and balances, federalism, etc.
I understand and appreciate the fact that we have three separate branches (both on the national and state level), each with its own critical role. But the whirl of it all lately may be getting to me. As I was writing on the House skedaddling back out of town on Wednesday (after being back for only three days), I started questioning the current value of our legislative bodies. Under the present system, they're forced to spend an inordinate amount of their time campaigning for reelection — whether they're at home in their respective districts or mugging for the cameras in committee hearings, hoping for that viral moment that will further assist their campaigning.
Meanwhile, they've delegated much of their authority to the executive (only to cry foul when the executive exercises that authority, particularly if said executive hails from the "other" party). They've been reduced to sending lots of "strongly worded letters."
And here at the state level — at least in Missouri — we've gotten to the point where it's all about the referendums. Who cares who was elected and what laws they enact? We'll just referendum them to meaninglessness.
Anyhoo...it's got me in one of those pessimistic moods. Feh.
LIGHTER FARE
They do!
They look like they're surfing..🐾😍 pic.twitter.com/jvvP5JRi8r
— 𝕐o̴g̴ (@Yoda4ever)
September 17, 2026
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