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On Politics

Thu Sep 4 2025

Rebecca Morin | Newsletter Writer

@RebeccaMorin_

Hello! Rebecca Morin here. Calling all Hamilton fans! Don't hold your breath to see if the Tony-winning Broadway musical will get a feature film adaptation. Lin Manuel-Miranda said he doesn't see it happening.

RFK Jr. grilled on Capitol Hill

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime vaccine skeptic who has promoted misinformation about public health, is being grilled on Capitol Hill by senators on both sides of the aisle. The hearing before the Senate Finance Committee comes after Kennedy recently ousted his hand-picked CDC director, Dr. Susan Monarez, with President Donald Trump's backing in a blowup that saw several top officials quit the agency. Kennedy's "Make America Healthy Again" commission also delivered an action plan to the White House to combat chronic diseases in U.S. children. That plan has yet to be released to the public. Follow the latest from the hearing.

Trump's vaccine stance: Trump on Monday demanded that COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers prove that their shots have been effective, adding to his long string of comments alternately praising − and doubting the effectiveness of − the potentially life-saving medication. This stance appears to be far less supportive of COVID-19 vaccines than during Trump's first term, when he championed the "Operation Warp Speed" campaign to develop safe and effective shots for the pandemic that originated in Wuhan, China in late 2019. See the timeline of Trump's COVID-19 vaccine stance.

Tide turning against Kennedy: More than 1,000 current and former Health and Human Services officials called for Kennedy to step down from his position saying he was "endangering the nation's health by spreading inaccurate health information." Meanwhile, part of Kennedy's core "Make America Healthy Again" constituency is frustrated by the Trump administration for not doing enough to regulate pesticides. As pressure mounts, the White House says Trump still has confidence in Kennedy.

•	Three states ditch RFK's CDC with new vaccine alliance.
•	DeSantis takes aim at doctors, vows to kill vaccine mandates.

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Secretary of Health and Human Services, arrives to testify about the health care agenda for the Trump administration in front of the Senate Committee on Finance in Washington, D.C., on September 4, 2025.

Jack Gruber, JUSA TODAY

A politics pit stop

•	Rudy Giuliani says car crash was the 'hardest' he's ever been hit.
•	'Very, very impressive.' Trump responds to giant military parade in China.
•	Social Security recipients will soon no longer get paper checks.
•	Army could have stopped deadly mass shooting, lawsuit says.
•	Zelenskyy and Ukraine allies meet in Paris, hope to gain US backing.

DOJ opens probe into the Fed's Lisa Cook

The U.S. Justice Department has opened a mortgage fraud probe into Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, whom President Donald Trump has been trying to fire, according to Reuters and the Wall Street Journal. In late August, Trump posted on Truth Social that he was firing Cook after determining there was evidence that Cook had made false statements on mortgage applications. Cook fired back with a federal lawsuit, arguing the president didn't have the power to remove her from office. Her case is pending. What to know about the probe.

Epstein accusers interrupted by Trump's military jet flyover

Women who say they were abused by disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein rallied near the U.S. Capitol to urge Congress to release Epstein's sex trafficking files. Thirty minutes into the nationally televised news conference, a military flyover of the U.S. Capitol drowned out some of their remarks. Was it a coincidence? The White House said the fighter jets were participating in maneuvers to honor a fallen Polish army pilot killed recently in a training exercise − and to "celebrate the special relationship between our two countries." Why some observers raised questions about the flyover's timing.