🚨 HAPPENING RIGHT NOW 🚨
Speaking from Vienna on Monday, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz are climbing, with the seven-day rolling average of transit trending upward as U.S. efforts to restore traffic through the chokepoint continue to pay off — and in the same breath he moved to tamp down nuclear-proliferation concerns, saying Saudi Arabia has no plans to enrich uranium for nuclear weapons even as the kingdom pursues civilian nuclear energy cooperation with Washington. Follow the latest developments
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14th, 2026
Before we get to today’s news, here’s what happened on this date in history. Francis Scott Key put pen to paper on September 14, 1814, writing the poem “The Defence of Fort M’Henry” after watching the American flag still flying over a Maryland fort at dawn following a night of British bombardment — the words later became The Star-Spangled Banner, the U.S. national anthem.
A presidency changed hands on this date in 1901, when President William McKinley died of an infection from gunshot wounds he had suffered eight days earlier after being shot twice by an anarchist in a receiving line at Buffalo’s Pan-American Exposition; Vice President Theodore Roosevelt was sworn in as his successor the same day.
🌍 Putin Warns Europe That Troops in Ukraine Mean War With Russia
Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a stark warning at the BRICS summit in New Delhi on Friday, cautioning that any European troop deployment to Ukraine would amount to direct war with Russia.
French President Emmanuel Macron announced that 26 countries, including the United Kingdom, have pledged to support a postwar peacekeeping mission in Ukraine.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov reiterated that Moscow’s position is a firm red line, not merely symbolic messaging.
The warning came amid intense Russian drone attacks on Ukraine, with nearly 500 strikes reported in a single day over the weekend.
⚖️ Judge Blocks Trump Administration’s Plan to Cut FEMA’s Workforce in Half
A federal judge in California blocked a Trump administration directive Friday that would have slashed the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s workforce by half.
U.S. District Judge Susan Illston of the Northern District of California ruled that the Department of Homeland Security “acted unlawfully in usurping FEMA’s authority over its personnel.”
Labor unions representing on-call disaster-response and recovery employees had challenged the planned reduction in court.
The injunction halts the directive from taking effect while the underlying legal fight continues.
🔍 DOJ Opens Criminal Probe Into Gavin Newsom’s Donor-Funded Travel
California Gov. Gavin Newsom is facing a federal criminal investigation into international travel funded by private donors through the California State Protocol Foundation, a nonprofit he has used since 2019.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California issued subpoenas in early September seeking six years of the foundation’s records and communications with Newsom’s advisers.
Investigators are examining whether donors — including CVS, Blue Shield, and crypto billionaire Chris Larsen — received favorable state policies in what’s described as a “pay to play” arrangement.
Newsom has directed more than $7.5 million in donations to the foundation since 2019, including roughly $5.1 million left over from his inaugural fund.
🗽 A New York Pardon Just Derailed a Major Supreme Court Immigration Fight
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s pardon of a convicted felon last month has rendered a closely watched Supreme Court immigration case moot, heading off a ruling the Trump administration had been seeking.
Hochul pardoned Keisy Guerrero Mariano, a lawful permanent resident convicted of second-degree assault, in late August.
The pardon mooted Genalo v. Black, a case that would have decided whether noncitizens detained for extended periods have a constitutional right to bond hearings.
Solicitor General John Sauer said the administration will pursue a different case to challenge a 2024 Second Circuit ruling granting prolonged detainees due-process protections.
— Fox News
🏛️ House Set to Vote on Bill Making Tech Companies Cover Data Center Energy Costs
The House is scheduled to vote Tuesday on a bipartisan bill that would require tech companies to shoulder the infrastructure and energy costs tied to building new data centers.
The push comes as data centers have become a flashpoint in the 2026 midterms, with lawmakers from both parties facing voter anger over rising utility bills.
Constituents near planned or existing data centers have raised concerns about electricity costs, property values, and quality of life.
The bill’s backers say shifting the cost burden onto tech companies, rather than ratepayers, is necessary as AI-driven power demand surges.