FBI Director Kash Patel announced on September 9th, 2025, that the FBI has been investigating the murder of Iryna Zarutska from day one, according to an X post by EricLDaugh. The announcement comes amidst ongoing political debate regarding a strike in Venezuela and a blockade of Senate nominees. In parallel developments, Senator Rand Paul criticized Vice President Vance's comments on the Venezuela strike, stating that Vance glorified killing without due process, which Paul found to be a disdain for human life. A person close to Vance countered, suggesting Paul suffers from "Trump Derangement Syndrome" and that the Vice President supports using overwhelming force to protect American interests. Senator John Fetterman commented that with 100,000 American lives lost to overdoses, it might be time to push back, though he clarified he was not advocating for destroying every boat. Paul also stated that others are afraid to voice criticism, while Senator Roger Wicker had no issue with the strike. Separately, Senator John Thune's resolution highlights that 48 civilian nominees, including Kimberly Guilfoyle for U.S. ambassador to Greece, have been stalled due to a "historic across-the-board blockade" by Democrats, with no civilian nominees approved by voice vote in September. This situation is characterized as unprecedented. In unrelated news from the previous reporting window, Representative Tim Burchett was involved in a physical altercation with a protester outside the Capitol on September 8th, 2025. Burchett also voiced frustration over government secrecy regarding Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP). The Senate Homeland Security Appropriations markup, originally scheduled for September 11th, 2025, was delayed.
