Patel grilled on ICE shootings, Trump Jr.’s wedding…and bestiality?

It’s Tuesday, and it’s Sen. Mitch McConnell’s first full day back in 92 days.

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FBI Director Kash Patel Tuesday morning appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee to field questions regarding shootings involving law enforcement, investigations into the 2020 election and the Epstein files.

Patel’s opening statement touted lowered rates of violent crime, the FBI’s seizure of more than 3,000 kilograms of fentanyl and the disruption of planned mass-casualty attacks.

He said that under his leadership, the FBI has had “the most prolific run of crime reduction in United States history.”

Durbin sets tone for Democrats: Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), the ranking member on the committee, called Patel the “least qualified and most partisan FBI director in our nation’s history.” He blasted the FBI’s investigation into Obama and Biden-era officials that President Trump accused of attempting to keep him out of office.

The Illinois senator also pushed Patel on investigations into the shootings of Marimar Martinez , a Chicago woman who was shot five times by a Border Patrol agent, and Silveria Villegas-Gonzalez, an immigrant killed in Chicago during a traffic stop conducted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Patel responded that the investigations are “ongoing,” so he couldn’t further comment.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) also questioned Patel on citizens shot by federal agents, Renee Good and Alex Pretti. The director pledged to support the investigations.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s a state investigation, federal investigation, bureau investigation, DHS investigation. We’re fully committed to support all of them,” he said.

“Why would you get into bestiality?”: Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) grilled Patel on a recent policy change regarding bestiality. The FBI shifted its hiring practices to lift a longtime ban on selecting new trainees if they have engaged in prostitution or bestiality.

Patel acknowledged he had some reservations when the change was suggested. “But they then explained to me and showed me cases in which people were forced into it and had applied to the FBI, and so I thought they should be considered. It’s not an automatic disqualification. That’s all,” he said.

What report on Trump Jr.’s wedding? Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) questioned if the director was investigating reports of “potential intelligence compromises” after Russian oligarch Umar Kremlev hosted post-wedding festivities for Donald Trump Jr. and his wife Bettina Trump.

Patel said he didn’t know what the senator was referring to, and he didn’t follow yesterday’s reporting to prepare for the hearing.

➤ WILL THE CLARITY ACT CLEAR KEY HURDLE?

A cryptocurrency regulation bill is set to a face a key test on the Senate floor after nearly a year of negotiations.

Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), alongside Senate Banking Chair Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and Senate Agriculture Chair John Boozman (R-Ark.), unveiled new Clarity Act text over the weekend to include a White House-approved ethics provision that an aide described as their “last, best and final offer.”

“Democrats got what they wanted; now they need to take yes for an answer,” Lummis said in a statement Sunday.

Politico reports that Democrats submitted a counteroffer Monday that would expand the scope of the ethics provision, alter the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act and overhaul the commodities portion of the bill overseen by the Senate Agriculture Committee.

The counteroffer “is language Democrats have been seeking for the better part of a year,” a spokesperson for Virginia Sen. Mark Warner (D) told Politico.

The bill is set to see the Senate floor at 2:15 p.m. EDT, where it could fail.

President Trump’s push to restrict mail-in voting in the upcoming midterms was shot down by the Supreme Court Monday night, according to The Hill’s Zach Schonfield.

On Sunday, Solicitor General John Sauer requested the Supreme Court allow the Trump administration to stop the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) from sending mail-in ballots to states who have not submitted lists of their eligible voters.

This was ultimately shot down by seven justices, including three conservatives. Justice Brett Kavanaugh issued his own statement siding with the majority, while noting the restrictions may be legal.

“But applying the rule in the 2026 elections would be arbitrary and capricious in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act because state and local election officials do not have sufficient time to reasonably implement the rule before elections,” Kavanaugh wrote.

Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito both dissented.

A “bad decision”: Trump lashed out at the Republican justices who voted against his mail-in voting plan.

“Republicans just got another bad decision from the United States Supreme Court, one that the Court System took forever to give, and then blamed it, in part, on no time left to implement a solution to our totally CORRUPT and out of control Mail-In voting ‘disaster,’ which is a laughing stock all over the World, and where we are the only country that has to endure such a Nation Destroying SCAM.”

Trump went on to say that both Thomas and Alito are “legends” for disagreeing with the “horrible, highly political, ruling,” but bombarded those who voted to strike down the mail-in voting plan.

“These are not the people I interviewed to serve on the United States Supreme Court, they are merely a shell of their original selves,” Trump continued.

More than 3,000 veterans with disabilities are employed through SourceAmerica and our nationwide nonprofit network.

The Republican nominee for Texas Railroad Commissioner, Bo French , faced backlash from University of Texas at Austin (UT) students following a controversial post targeting the student body.

Over the weekend, French posted on the social platform X a picture of UT students, primarily of South Asian descent, celebrating the Longhorns’ win over Ohio State.

His caption, “I heard UT graduation this year looked like this. I didn’t believe it. The problem is now obviously far worse than anyone imagined.”

Firing back: Dhairya Gupta , a student shown in the picture, told The Dallas Morning News on Monday that a moment filled with so much joy is being tarnished by “people being blatantly racist toward us.”

Gupta’s friend, Rahul Kodali , who was also shown in the image, said both are U.S. citizens, and “where or not we are immigrants, that doesn’t change anything,” Kodali said to the Dallas newspaper.

GOP lawmakers Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) and Rep. Lacey Hull (R-Texas) encouraged French to delete the post.

“Are other Republican elected officials going to condemn the intolerance and racism, or look the other way while it becomes normalized,” Cornyn said on the social platform X . “This is how great political parties self-destruct. Sad.”

South Carolina Republican Rep. Nancy Mace told TMZ Monday that Lindsey Clancy should receive the death penalty, emphasizing that “it should be a public execution.”

Bettina Trump , the wife of Donald Trump Jr. , defended the wedding gift they received from Russian oligarch Umar Kremlev , saying on Instagram “It’s unfortunate that something to personal and happy can be recast as something political or sinister simply because of who someone is or where they came from.”

Singer Macklemore was dropped from Ed Sheeran’s tour over pro-Palestinian comments he made during a show at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium. “What I said at MetLife I have been saying on stages around the world for almost three years,” Macklemore questioned on Instagram. “So why is it an issue now?”

The Kennedy Center board will vote Tuesday on whether they will close the main building for renovations. Officials have warned that the center faces “certain fiscal collapse within weeks.”

Reuters: British rock band Oasis announce 38-date tour in 2027

Associated Press: Belarus’ authoritarian leader meets US envoy to push for lifting sanctions

CNN: Harry and Meghan switch children’s school just days into term

NBC News: Sabotage disrupts Dutch train services ahead of state opening of parliament

The House and Senate are in. President Trump is in Washington. Attorney General Todd Blanche will hold a press briefing at the White House Rose Garden. (All times EST)

2 p.m. : Blanche holds briefing at the Rose Garden

2:15 p.m. : Senate vote on Digital Asset Market Clarity Act

2:30 p.m.: Trump holds a credentialing ceremony

🍔 Celebrate : Today is National Double Cheeseburger Day. This is your chance to have a cheat day and grab a burger from Five Guys, Shake Shack or wherever your favorite burger may be (May have to try and snag a table at Eebee’s Corner Bar in Washington, D.C.👀)

🎤 Taylor Swift skipped the Emmy Awards Monday night to go see her husband Travis Kelce and the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium. She sat next to actor Tom Cruise during the Chiefs’ dominant 31-10 win over the Denver Broncos. Swift did appear in a surprise taped segment at Emmys with host Mariska Hargitay .

🦦🚗 Because you made it this far, here’s an otter riding shotgun .

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