Monday, August 31, 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
He Is Not OK: MAGA Unlikely to Forgive Jelly Roll — but Politics Isn’t the Issue
No superficial, bait-and-switch rebrand is going to undo the damage that Kimmel and his ilk have done — and the collateral damage to Jelly Roll’s career, wherever it may lead, is a testament to the toxicity that they brought upon themselves
Tish Got Caught Red-Handed: Prosecutor’s Email Alleging a Trump Hunt Was Deleted From State Servers
A prosecutor inside New York Attorney General Letitia James’ (D) office has accused his own bosses of turning the state’s law-enforcement machinery into a political weapon to hunt President Trump and his associates.
Google Maps Sent Drivers the Long Way on Purpose, Without Their Consent
Google's own paper admits that its users and drivers were unlikely to notice any changes. The average time saving was 0.25 percent of a trip. Your commute varies 40 times more than that just from day to day. Six months. Ten cities. Millions of drivers who weren't told. A quarter of a percent.
Trending Across Townhall Media
Bearing Arms — First Batch of 'Felons' Get Gun Rights Back
It's funny how people act like an ID to vote is a massive burden that makes it so voting is harder than gun ownership, all while ignoring that felons get their voting rights back a whole lot earlier than their gun rights, among other differences.
HotAir — Hasan Piker: The Revolutionary Who Can’t Stand Being Disliked
It's delicious that Piker whines about the people he openly hates not liking him. What, did he expect them to embrace him and realize that what they have believed all their lives is wrong, or even evil? If so, he's an idiot; if not, he's still an idiot for complaining.
PJ Media — Michelle Obama Proves Again She's a Horrible Person
So why is she acting like she just wrapped up a decade of exhausting, hands-on motherhood? Parenthood isn’t easy; no one is saying it is. But her attitude about it is probably the worst I’ve heard from a parent. She sounds more like a childless person boasting about why not having kids is so liberating than an actual parent.
Townhall — Republicans Are Being Shockingly Smart on Data Centers
The data centers are going to get built because they must be built. But it’s not on Republicans to make it happen without conditions just because some company wants it. That’s a different kind of Republican, an obsolete one. That Chamber of Commerce crap is dead. The tech bros need to get smart, and they need to get out their checkbooks.
In other words, deportees said it was mean and stuff, and since the NYT hates Trump, they ran with it.
WHAT'S ON TAP?
Today on Capitol Hill...
They're ba-acckkk!! Well, the House is anyway. And they've got a couple of items on Monday's agenda:
- House Intelligence (Permanent Select) — Committee Business to Consider: Review of the 9/11 Commission Report
- House Rules — H.R. 9436 – To amend the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 to extend the time period for which certain regulation concerning the North Atlantic right whale are effective. [Northeast Lobsterman Protection Act of 2026]; H.R. 4795 – Protect Economic and Academic Freedom Act of 2026; H.R. 1501 – Protecting Domestic Mining Act of 2025; H. Res. 1490 – Providing for the condemnation and denouncement of socialism in all its forms, and for other purposes.
Next big question: When will the House take up the continuing resolution passed by the Senate to fund the government through December?
White House What's Up
Here's what President Trump has in store for his Monday:
- 8:00 AM — THE PRESIDENT participates in Executive Time — The White House
- 2:00 PM — THE PRESIDENT participates in a Policy Meeting — Oval Office
- 3:00 PM — THE PRESIDENT makes an Announcement on Healthcare Affordability — Oval Office
- 4:30 PM — THE PRESIDENT participates in Signing Time — Oval Office
Keeping Up With the Cabinet
Sec. Housing & Urban Development - Scott Turner — Turner recently sat for a Morning Wire interview and shared his approach to assessing and improving the agency he heads.
On day one as HUD Secretary, I took inventory of every HUD program by asking a simple question: “Does this serve our mission?”
— Scott Turner (@SecretaryTurner) August 30, 2026
No? Cut it.
Yes? Make it better. pic.twitter.com/biV8sun1UO
Full Court Press...
We had some notable court rulings on Friday/over the weekend, including:
- ❌ In People of the State of NY v. Trump (removal of Manhattan criminal case), Judge Alvin Hellerstein DENIES DJT's motion for leave to file second notice of removal. (I'm working on an OpEd on this one — should be out later today.)
- ❌ In Nemeth-Greenleaf v. OPM (disclosure of personal financial records to DOGE), Judge Christopher Cooper (D.C.) DENIES admin's motion to reconsider prior denial of motion to dismiss and alternative motion to strike class allegations.
- ❌ In Stanford Daily Publishing Corp. v. Rubio (1st Amendment), Judge Noël Wise (Northern District of California) GRANTS declaratory judgment for plaintiffs, finding federal deportation and visa-revocation provisions unconstitutional as applied to protected speech; DENIES broader permanent injunctive relief.
COMING ATTRACTIONS
We're awaiting the Supreme Court's more formal decision on the ballroom battle.
As noted above, the House will, at some point, have to take up the budget CR.
President Trump is heading to Sterling, Virginia, on Saturday, and to Ireland in mid-September.
MORNING MUSING
Some people celebrate their "29th" birthday multiple times. Me? I'm acknowledging this as the second anniversary of my own. But what that also means is that it marks 29 years since the death of Princess Diana in a horrific car crash in Paris, France.
Like so many key historic/cultural moments, this is one of those for which I'll always remember exactly where I was when I heard the news — or, in this case, saw the news: I was on my honeymoon in Hawaii, walking along a sidewalk in Honolulu with my then-husband, when I caught sight of the headline in a newspaper vending box. (Remember when print newspapers were still one of the primary ways we received news?!)
I was sure my eyes were deceiving me — surely Princess Di couldn't be gone? But she was. And though I'd never characterize myself as an anglophile or a royal watcher, the sad news still came as a gut punch.
And now, it's hard for me to wrap my brain around the fact that that was half a lifetime ago (literally). Anyway, I just thought today might be an appropriate day to give Princess Di a nod.
LIGHTER FARE
Alright, this is pretty cute. Wholesome, even. (H/t to the Handsome Beau!)
I may have found the video that wins the whole summer.
— Jonathan DJ Powers (@DJpowers69) August 30, 2026
2 kids, 1 kitten, 1 baby raccoon = 🥹 pic.twitter.com/oPGjwLMkoQ
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