President Donald Trump stated on September 15th, 2025, that he would have ordered flags lowered had Governor Tim Walz requested it following the murders of Melissa and Mark Hortman, but called his state's governor "a mess" and "waste of time" to contact. Meanwhile, ICE announced it has received over 150,000 applications from Americans seeking to remove criminal illegal aliens, issuing more than 18,000 tentative job offers with incentives including a $50,000 signing bonus. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard described the murder of Charlie Kirk as "the definition of terrorism," drawing parallels to 9/11, according to a report from Ken Klippenstein. Separately, House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole indicated that leadership is awaiting the resolution of a member security provision to finalize a continuing resolution (CR), stating it will be "very clean" and exclude items Democrats have "a substantive objection" to, noting Democrats are pushing for healthcare provisions in the CR. House Admin Chair Bryan Steil is scheduled to brief House Republicans on available security resources on Tuesday morning amid lawmaker concerns following Charlie Kirk's assassination, as reported by Politico. In the Senate, Chuck Schumer stated that bipartisan negotiation is required to pass a CR and that refusal to negotiate would cause a shutdown, while also expressing a desire to address "grave harms Donald Trump has caused to our health care system and help Americans with the cost of living." Tyler Robinson, the suspect in the Charlie Kirk shooting, is scheduled for a virtual court hearing tomorrow from jail, according to CBS News. Previous reports detailed President Trump's deployment of the National Guard to Memphis to address crime, with Chicago potentially being the next city, as part of a broader federal response to political violence involving Stephen Miller of the Department of Justice and Homeland Security. In other news, the Trump administration has ordered the removal of slavery-related exhibits from national parks. Military academies will accept scores from the Classic Learning Test for the 2027 admissions cycle. President Trump also commented on Israeli strikes, stating Prime Minister Netanyahu did not alert him beforehand, and alluded to a decrease in Venezuelan narcoterrorist activity at sea.
