Vance gives briefing room another whirl

It’s Thursday. The deadlocked Lindsay Clancy jury is set to deliberate for the sixth day after it was unable to come to a unanimous decision on Wednesday.

Vance to hold White House press briefing

The government is funded through the midterms

Programming note : We’re Abigail Walker and Claire Leibowitz, filling in for Cate today. Please send me your tips, comments and story ideas to awalker@thehillcom or cleibowitz@thehill.com .

Vice President JD Vance will host Thursday’s White House press briefing, the first since July and since the departure of Karoline Leavitt last week.

The briefing, which will begin at 1 p.m. EDT, is the first in 42 days. Vance will act as placeholder for the still-vacant White House press secretary role.

It’s not clear what the vice president will discuss with reporters. But given this week’s headlines, the public might expect Vance to comment on the turmoil at the Pentagon , the latest developments in the Iran war or Republican strategy heading into the midterms.

GOP House leaders on Thursday cancelled two weeks of their September session, creating an abbreviated legislative schedule as the midterms approach.

The lower chamber was set to reconvene on Sept 14. but will remain out-of-office until mid-November.

Members could be called back should the Senate pass a budget reconciliation package.

Either way, they’ll now have plenty of time to campaign in their districts.

President Trump on Wednesday signed into law a stopgap government funding bill which will keep the government open until Dec. 11.

House Appropriations Committee Chair Tom Cole (R-Okla.) said on the House floor that while he didn’t approve of the entirety of the bill, he felt it necessary to avoid a shutdown ahead of the midterm elections.

“But they don’t really change the substance of the fact we bought the time that we need to get through the election cycle and hopefully the time that we need to get down to serious bargaining on the other side of it,” Cole said.

“It is not a good way to run our federal government,” Democrat Rep. Ted Lieu (Calif.) told reporters on Tuesday. “But it’s the only alternative that’s going to be before us, so I’ll be voting for it.”

Reporters asked Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) if he expects Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to return by Sept. 14, the end of the Senate recess.

“I expect that. I sure hope so,” he said. “I have not talked to him personally, but I’ve talked to his staff regularly.”

The senator announced that he was discharged from a rehabilitation center in August after undergoing intense physical therapy to recover from a fall he suffered in June.

McConnell has not voted since June 11. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) in August said he had not heard from the senator after requesting updates on his health.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth quietly extended 50,000 troop deployments in the Middle East into next year, which could drag the conflict well beyond the quick fight he and President Trump promised over six months ago.

The deployment also includes 19 warships, air-defense units, fighter squadrons and paratroopers, the Journal reported, and is part of a strategy designed to give Trump options in the war, according to people familiar with the matter.

The administration is hoping economic pressure will eventually bring Tehran to the negotiating table, but it has been unsuccessful so far. The U.S. and Iran continue to exchange strikes.

Hegseth is taking fire from concerned GOP lawmakers over turnover from senior Pentagon staff, an unclear plan in Iran and the failure of the administration to reach across the aisle to Democrats.

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), a former member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, on Wednesday blamed Hegseth for “inept management” of the Pentagon.

“He is intimidated by competence and retreats to ginning up culture wars instead of soberly attending to the vital work of our national defense and the health and well-being of our fighting force,” Tillis posted on social platform X.

Rep. Don Bacon , (R-Neb.) on Wednesday said he agreed with the senator. “I hate to tell the president who he should hire and fire,” he said on CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360.”

“I wouldn’t hire him myself. He would not be on my team,” he added.

Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he was “disappointed” when he learned of former Army Secretary Dan Driscoll’s resignation.

And House Armed Services Committee Chair Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) told reporters Tuesday that he’s “tired of all the churn.”

💡 Why this matters: Hegseth may have to start answering questions if he wants Congress to pass emergency defense funding before the end of September to continue the Iran war.

Lawmakers are concerned over his lack of transparency, including over the USS Abraham Lincoln’s record-breaking deployment in the Middle East, as sailors spent over 260 days at sea. The aircraft carrier just reached Thailand on Wednesday.

Hegseth has largely ignored Democrats in pushing $70 billion in emergency funding. Some Senate Republicans say that’s a mistake.

Gloria Steinem , activist, author and co-founder of Ms. Magazine, died Wednesday at her home in New York City.

Despite her declining health, her wit and humor remained intact, AP News reports . She had recently written a memoir set for release this fall.

Women weigh in: Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton joined CBS Mornings to share she was “heartsick,” calling Steinem an “architect” of women’s equality.

Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) took to the social platform X to say her advocacy helped “open doors once firmly closed to women.”

“May it be a comfort to all of us who loved Gloria that her extraordinary legacy will live on in every generation that carries her fight forward,” she added.

Lt. Gov. of Illinois and Senate candidate Juliana Stratton (D) said she was a “fierce leader, an unapologetic optimist, and a true hero,” on X.

Journalist Christiane Amanpour said Steinem “will go down in history as one of the most important activists of all time.”

And Stacey Abrams , former Democratic Georgia gubernatorial candidate, said the late activist “understood power: of women, words and coalitions, and she used that power to transform a stubborn nation.”

Trump on Wednesday urged Republicans in tight midterm races to run on his record, pledging to join them on the campaign trail.

Billionaire Leon Black filed a lawsuit Thursday challenging a House subpoena that demands he testify about his ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Does Trump wear a wig? He said no during a speech at a White House Rose Garden dinner Wednesday night. He addressed the controversy and shared a story of bad weather and a bad hair day while speaking at a 2024 rally for Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio).

Associated Press : The Fed’s Waller says inflation report next week is pivotal in making the call on raising rates

NBC News : Man rescued from inside garbage truck in San Francisco

Politico : The far-right leader pushing Germans to forget the Nazi past

The New York Times : Can the Lindsay Clancy Jury Break Its Deadlock?

The House in and the Senate is out. President Trump is in Washington. (All times EDT)

1 p.m. Vice President Vance briefs reporters. 💻 Watch livestream

4 p.m. Trump participates in signing time.

🎳 Celebrate : Today is National U.S. Bowling League Day. Go hit the lanes!

🎂 Happy belated birthday, former NYC Mayor Eric Adams . The New York Post caught him in a “walk of shame” Wednesday morning after celebrating Tuesday night. Adams responded on X, “Hold on a second. Don’t you party all night on your birthday?”

🌳Bravo to “ Pablo Torre Finds Out,” which broke open the Kawhi Leonard salary cap scandal that resulted in major punishment announced Wednesday against the Los Angeles Clippers and it’s owner, Steve Ballmer . Some well-earned gloating on today’s episode .

Because you made it this far, here are two dogs, Alvin and Bear , chasing a giant black bear out of their yard in Montana.