Bernie and Bannon becoming bros? Maybe not, but they are both on the same team for AI regulation

2026-09-16 1:24 PM EDT / CNN Politics

By Dana Bash, CNN

Bernie and Bannon becoming bros? Maybe not, but they are both on the same team for AI regulation

Inside Politics

Sen. Bernie Sanders and Steve Bannon both spoke at an event to push for more government regulation of AI—and both said they want to rein in the oligarchs in Silicon Valley.

https://www.cnn.com/2026/09/16/politics/video/inside-politics-artificial-intelligence-bernie-sanders-steve-bannon

White House chief of staff Susie Wiles had medical procedure at Mayo Clinic this week

Updated on: September 16, 2026 / 3:58 PM EDT / CBS News

By Ed O’Keefe, Jennifer Jacobs

White House chief of staff Susie Wiles had a medical procedure related to her breast cancer diagnosis at the Mayo Clinic earlier this week, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter.

On Wednesday afternoon, she posted on X, “I am cancer free.”

Wiles was diagnosed in March.

She was back working soon after the procedure conducting White House business, making phone calls and running meetings, two of the sources said.

Spokespeople for the White House didn’t immediately disclose why she went to a medical facility outside Washington, D.C.

Wiles in a statement at the time she announced her illness noted that about one in eight women are diagnosed with breast cancer and indicated that like them, she planned to keep working.

“Every day, these women continue to raise their families, go to work, and serve their communities with strength and determination,” Wiles said in her March statement. “I now join their ranks.” When she announced her diagnosis President Trump said in a statement that she had a “fantastic medical team” and had been given an “excellent prognosis.”

She traveled with the president to Dallas last week for the Republican midterm convention, according to an Air Force One manifest provided by the White House.

Wiles, a longtime political consultant in Florida, served as campaign manager of President Trump’s 2024 bid for the White House. She is the daughter of the late football broadcaster Pat Summerall.

https://www.cbsnews.com/video/white-house-chief-of-staff-susie-wiles-announces-shes-cancer-free/

House holds billionaire investor Leon Black in contempt over Epstein probe

2026-09-16T18:49:05.298Z / https://www.cnn.com/2026/09/16/politics/leon-black-epstein-subpoenas

The House of Representatives held billionaire investor Leon Black in contempt of Congress on Wednesday for refusing to comply with subpoenas as part of the congressional investigation into Jeffrey Epstein.

It is now up to the Justice Department to consider whether to pursue criminal prosecution against Black.

The move is the latest escalation in the long-running congressional probe, which has brought in at least 19 high-profile witnesses, many of whom had never been questioned about their ties to Epstein, but has failed to produce the kind of revelations many lawmakers and Epstein survivors had hoped for.

The vote by the full House triggers a referral to the Justice Department and came after the oversight committee unanimously held Black in contempt on Tuesday for refusing to turn over nondisclosure agreements and appear for a deposition.

Black is currently suing the panel and House Oversight Chair James Comer to try to block the lawmakers from obtaining his documents and testimony, but lawmakers have argued that Congress is entitled to the information.

“I subpoenaed Leon Black for testimony and documents critical to our investigation. But he has refused to comply. Leon Black is legally required to appear for a deposition in front of the Oversight Committee and required to turn over all nondisclosure agreements to which he was a party,” Comer said at the committee meeting on Tuesday.

Attorneys representing Black admonished the committee for taking this step and said they have filed a confidential complaint on Tuesday with the Office of Congressional Conduct requesting an investigation into Comer.

“This an outrageous action that ignores the facts and the truth about Mr. Black,” Susan Estrich, of Estrich Goldin, and Aaron Cutler, of Hogan Lovells Cadwalader, said in a statement.

“To be clear, our lawsuit shows the Committee and Chairman Comer’s abused their Congressional power and broke the law. We believe that our confidential ethics complaint will further show that Chairman Comer violated the rules of the House,” they added.

The attorneys said that Black provided the panel “with the only confidentiality agreement that Jeffrey Epstein knew about as part of Mr. Black’s cooperation with the Committee’s efforts to ferret out the truth about Epstein. He also testified to this fact. We also told them that Ghislaine Maxwell had absolutely nothing to do with any of the agreements.”

“The Committee has continued to insist on looking for information that does not exist. They are looking to ask questions about every NDA Mr. Black ever signed including with business partners over his 50 year career and also with individuals who he never met. This is absurd. They even asked him to give the names of individuals in his social circle who have NDA’s,” the lawyers said in their statement provided to CNN.

“This vote is an important step towards justice and accountability. Leon Black has continued to defy two congressional subpoenas and we need to know why he gave Jeffrey Epstein $180 million dollars. We will continue to center the survivors in our fight to hold those responsible for these horrific crimes. We are just getting started,” Garcia said in a statement.

Black initially appeared for a voluntary interview in June, but that ended abruptly when Comer issued two subpoenas as lawmakers said that Black refused to answer a series of questions. Instead of appearing for his deposition, Black filed the lawsuit earlier this month.

Black is one of many influential and wealthy individuals whose past relationships with Epstein have come under further scrutiny since the Justice Department’s release of millions of Epstein files.

In his voluntary closed-door June interview, Black told members of Congress that he did not know the extent of Epstein’s crimes — and that he himself never abused women or had sexual relations with minors, according to a copy of his opening remarks shared by his legal team.

“Mr. Black has repeatedly said that he feels terrible for Epstein’s victims and that he regrets ever doing business with Epstein. He never abused a woman. He never was with an underage woman. He never engaged in sex trafficking. He never paid Epstein for access to women. He was never blackmailed by Epstein. Mr. Black had no knowledge of any of Epstein’s heinous conduct,” his lawyers said in the statement.

In a letter to the committee obtained by CNN earlier this month, Black’s attorneys argued that the nondisclosure agreements the panel was seeking were too broad, had no connection to Epstein and disregarded the privacy interests of third parties.

US Postal Service chief told associates he wants to quit, sources say

2026-09-16T19:11:36.955Z / Reuters

• Summary
• Companies

• Postmaster General Steiner frustrated as agency struggles with financial losses, four sources say
• Postal Service also in focus over Trump efforts to restrict voting by mail, blocked in part by Supreme Court
• Steiner was angry after June Senate hearing that focused on agency finances, his bonus and mail-in voting, sources say

WASHINGTON, Sept 16 (Reuters) – The head of the U.S. Postal Service ​has told confidants that he is deeply discouraged by his job and wants to resign, according to four people familiar with his thinking, as the ‌agency comes under scrutiny over financial losses and President Donald Trump’s effort to tighten rules on mail-in voting.

Postmaster General David Steiner, who took office in July 2025 after the White House forced out his predecessor, has expressed frustration over a lack of help from the White House and Congress in addressing the mail service’s long-running financial woes, the people said.

The Misinformation Monitor newsletter rounds up international misinformation narratives, with a “Real or Fake?” quiz in every edition. Sign up here.

At the same time, the Postal Service was thrust to ​the center of a debate over the federal government’s role in voting after Trump directed it in March to serve as a clearinghouse for mail ballots. The Supreme ​Court on Monday blocked the agency from implementing key elements of the plan, dealing the White House a significant setback.

The pressures culminated ⁠in a contentious June Senate hearing, where lawmakers from both parties interrogated Steiner over poor delivery service, Trump’s ballot restrictions and his compensation.

The hearing left Steiner furious, the people said. In ​conversations afterward, Steiner described the job as thankless, warned that the agency’s finances were increasingly dire without federal aid, and said he wanted out, according to the people, who spoke on ​condition of anonymity.

“The message was, this isn’t what he signed up for, and he didn’t come on board to get beat up like this,” one of the people said.

The Postal Service disputed the information from the sources, saying it had “absolutely zero validity,” but did not comment on specific incidents. The agency did not respond to a request for an interview with Steiner.

TRUMP ATTEMPTS TO INTERVENE ON MAIL-IN VOTING

The postmaster general, ​who runs the independent agency of 630,000 employees, is hired and evaluated by a bipartisan board of governors nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate. The agency’s structure was ​purposefully designed to insulate the mail service from political tinkering.

Steiner, a former FedEx

(FDX.N) board member and former chief executive of Waste Management

(WM.N), told board members during the hiring process he planned to serve for ‌roughly two ⁠years, the people said.

Since taking office, he has repeatedly told lawmakers that without new funding the Postal Service would be forced to cut delivery days and close unprofitable post offices, mostly in rural, Republican-leaning areas.

Lawmakers largely rejected Steiner’s proposals to reduce services, and mail and package companies chafed at large rate increases designed to ease losses.

Trump, in both of his terms, has been more involved with the Postal Service than his predecessors, pressuring the agency to raise parcel rates, intervening in the selection process for the postmaster general and attempting to implement mail-in ​voting restrictions.

His involvement has at times made the ​agency — and its leaders — the object of ⁠intense congressional scrutiny.

SENATE HEARING PUTS STEINER IN SPOTLIGHT

At the June hearing, Steiner sparred with Committee Chair Rand Paul of Kentucky, a Republican, over years of agency financial losses, and with Senator Elissa Slotkin, a Michigan Democrat, who accused Steiner of being a “pawn” in Trump’s plans to ​restrict voting access.

Steiner defended Trump’s proposal.

“I would think the states would want the information to ensure that the ballots that they ​think they’re sending out are ⁠the ballots that are actually being sent out,” he said at the hearing.

Republican Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri also called for Steiner to refuse his bonus because of the agency’s service issues. Steiner earns an annual salary of $346,780, according to postal financial disclosures, and drew a 2025 relocation bonus worth 50% of his salary.

The four people familiar with Steiner’s thinking said it was unclear how much ⁠congressional inquiries ​about Trump’s ballot rules had contributed to Steiner’s frustration. They noted that Steiner had already contemplated stepping down ​in late 2025 over the Postal Service’s difficult financial circumstances.

In an effort at that time to bolster Steiner’s morale and enlist White House support for his restructuring plans, Trump donors in the mailing industry organized a December 2025 ​trip for the postmaster general to golf with the president at one of his Florida resorts, the people said.

Reporting by Jacob Bogage in Washington; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Edmund Klamann

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

House cancels votes, cutting week short before adjourning until after midterms

2026-09-16 2:54 PM EDT / CBS News

By Caitlin Yilek Politics Reporter
Caitlin Yilek is a politics reporter at CBSNews.com, based in Washington, D.C. She previously worked for the Washington Examiner and The Hill, and was a member of the 2022 Paul Miller Washington Reporting Fellowship with the National Press Foundation.

Read Full Bio

Washington — House Speaker Mike Johnson on Wednesday canceled votes in the chamber that were planned for Thursday, cutting the work week short and sending members home until after the November midterm elections.

Lawmakers will be away from Washington for more than six weeks, avoiding potentially controversial votes and intraparty fighting before voters head to the polls. Johnson previously canceled votes for the last two weeks in September.

“The House has done its work,” Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, told reporters at the Capitol. “It’s time for our members to go home to their districts and make their case to the American people.”

Before leaving town, the House is expected to vote on legislation to impose new sanctions on Russia and a bill to shield consumers from data center energy costs. But lawmakers’ exodus from Washington will also leave some outstanding issues in limbo until they return following the elections.

Rep. Ralph Norman, a Republican from South Carolina, said canceling Thursday’s votes is “unacceptable.”

“The House has now canceled at least 63 scheduled voting days this Congress, including nine days this month alone, and now we’re leaving Washington until after the election,” he wrote on X. “The Founders did not envision taking this much time off and still getting paid. If Members of Congress want to go home and campaign instead of doing the job taxpayers sent us here to do, then their campaigns ought to be paying them, NOT the American taxpayer. We still have work to do.”

Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, who lost his primary to a Trump-backed challenger, on Tuesday introduced eight articles of impeachment against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over the Iran war. The resolution is privileged, meaning Johnson has two legislative days to act on it. The cancellation of Thursday’s votes pushes the issue to early November, when Johnson indicated Republicans will move to kill it.

Johnson said it was “ridiculous” to suggest that canceling Thursday’s votes was meant to avoid the vote on impeaching Hegseth.

“It’s a publicity stunt by someone who wants attention. It will immediately be tabled, of course,” he said.

In an interview with CNN on Tuesday night, Massie said he did not give GOP leaders a heads-up about his plan.

“I didn’t want to show my hand,” he said. “I didn’t show it to anybody. I was afraid that they would do something to subvert me getting on the floor for an hour and 20 minutes and reading these articles.”

Johnson also rebuffed calls by Democrats who wanted to cancel the recess to address rapid advancements in artificial intelligence. After AI industry leaders and researchers raised alarm about potentially catastrophic threats posed by the technology in recent weeks, Democratic lawmakers called on Johnson to keep the House in session until they can pass legislation to rein in AI.

“Congress should not leave town until something is done decisively to protect the safety and the well-being of the American people, in the face of growing concerns being raised by experts within the artificial intelligence industry itself,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Monday. “Republicans have completely abandoned their responsibility to legislate and engage in public policy efforts in a responsible fashion in the area of artificial intelligence.”

Members of Congress have offered a number of proposals to address their concerns about AI, but there is no consensus about legislative action. Opponents of more stringent constraints on the industry warn that regulations risk putting the U.S. at a disadvantage in its competition with China.

Johnson hasn’t expressed an urgency to pass AI guardrails, and in a series of posts on Monday, President Trump said all that’s needed to safeguard AI is a “strong” president.

“If I called an emergency session today and I brought everybody in the House and said, ‘Let’s regulate AI,’ nobody in the room knows yet what that should look like,” Johnson said at his weekly news conference Tuesday.

Johnson argued that AI companies should be able to “self-police” and “self-regulate.”

“They don’t need the government to tell them to slow it down. If they want to slow it down, they should,” he said.

Johnson has called for a meeting with AI executives and the White House, saying he expected one would come together by early next week.

“The reflex of the legislative bodies is to cover things up with red tape and in hyperregulation,” Johnson said Monday.

On another front, Congress has yet to renew a key spy authority, known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which expired in June.

The president’s controversial choice of Bill Pulte, the head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, to temporarily oversee the nation’s spy agencies complicated its renewal. Jay Clayton was sworn in as the director of national intelligence in August, but both chambers have been on recess for a majority of the time since then.

The Senate is scheduled, for now, to be in session through the end of September.

The upper chamber is working to pass a sweeping college sports bill, titled the Protect College Sports Act, that includes regulations around name, image and likeness rights and transfer eligibility. Senators are also nearing a bipartisan deal on a permitting reform overhaul.

“If the Senate works together and moves some of these important pieces of legislation, I will bring the House back on 48-hours’ notice,” Johnson said.

‘Godfather of AI’ weighs congressional proposals to regulate AI, says ‘kill switch’ won’t work in long run

2026-09-16T19:15:04.543Z / CNN Politics

By Blake McGill, CNN

Updated 3:15 PM EDT, Wed September 16, 2026

https://www.cnn.com/2026/09/16/politics/video/cncpm-geoffrey-hinton-godfather-artificial-intelligence-congress-regulation-kill-switch

Geoffrey Hinton, the Nobel Prize-winning computer scientist known as the “godfather of AI,” weighs in on several proposals before Congress to regulate artificial intelligence.

6:45 • Source: CNN

Politics of the Day 11 videos

‘Godfather of AI’ weighs congressional proposals to regulate AI, says ‘kill switch’ won’t work in long run
6:45

Now playing
• Source: CNN

‘We’re all angry right now’: Dan Osborn explains leaked audio of him saying some Trump voters’ ‘lives probably suck’
5:00

Now playing
• Source: CNN

‘Down we go’: Harry Enten looks at data behind Trump’s tanking approval rating on Russia-Ukraine war
3:46

Now playing
• Source: CNN

Todd Blanche defends Hegseth amid GOP congressman’s impeachment push
0:53

Now playing
• Source: CNN

Kerry Kennedy on Kennedy Center closure: This is ‘hostage taking by the president’
3:21

Now playing
• Source: CNN

Comer introduces bill to allow abuse survivors to speak out even if they signed an NDA
2:02

Now playing
• Source: CNN

Sanders bashes ‘narcissist’ Trump for downplaying AI concerns
1:04

Now playing
• Source: CNN

Rep. Massie pushes surprise impeachment vote of Hegseth
2:11

Now playing
• Source: CNN

Patel loses temper when asked how FBI will monitor elections
2:20

Now playing
• Source: CNN

Patel defends his trip to Italy during Olympics
1:06

Now playing
• Source: CNN

Gavin Newsom tells CNN’s Jake Tapper he won’t run for president if Kamala Harris runs in 2028
2:09

Now playing
• Source: CNN

Tax breaks helping fuel Trump’s latest tech push just landed in Dems’ crosshairs

September 16, 2026 2:27pm EDT / Fox News

A bill backed by 23 Democrats targets federal incentives fueling AI data center construction across the country

By Amanda Macias Fox News

Dems target lucrative tax breaks for booming industry at heart of Trump’s AI push

Rep. Chris Pappas says towns shouldn’t have data centers ‘shoved down their throats’ as Democrats push to block the facilities from tapping key federal tax incentives. (Credit: C-SPAN)

NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles!

blob:https://www.foxnews.com/d3fe6e04-43f7-4cb2-91e8-5c2fdd432a65

Listen to this article

3 min

House Democrats are moving to stop data centers from receiving lucrative federal tax breaks as the artificial intelligence (AI) boom accelerates their expansion nationwide.

The moves put Democrats at odds with President Donald Trump as he makes data centers central to his American AI agenda. The administration has sought to accelerate data center development and streamline permitting as the U.S. competes for dominance in the emerging tech industry.

Reps. Kristen McDonald Rivet, D-Mich., and Don Davis, D-N.C., unveiled legislation Wednesday that would block data centers from tapping certain federal investment incentives.

AMERICA’S REDDEST STATE CHASES BILLION-DOLLAR BOOM AS OTHERS SOUR ON MASSIVE EMERGING INDUSTRY

Data centers house the computing infrastructure that powers artificial intelligence and other digital services, and demand for the centers is surging across the country.(Ulysse Bellier/AFP/Getty Images)

The incentives in question weren’t created specifically for AI or data centers. But the industry’s massive infrastructure investments can qualify for these substantial tax benefits, which prompted Democrats to push to exclude data centers as concerns grow over electricity demand, water use and local development.

The bill is backed by 21 additional House Democrats, including Ways and Means Committee member Rep. Jimmy Panetta, D-Calif.

“Washington is giving handouts to Big Tech companies while American families are drowning. I hear that word in my district more than any other,” McDonald Rivet said at a news conference Wednesday.

“From rising costs, groceries, gas, housing, healthcare and a lot more. These are backward priorities, and they perfectly encapsulate everything that is wrong with the way Washington works, serving interests of big corporations and special interests at the expense of working people.”

THIS TINY FARMING TOWN YOU’VE NEVER HEARD OF IS HELPING MICROSOFT SELL AMERICA ON DATA CENTERS

Data centers are expanding rapidly across the U.S. as companies invest billions in the infrastructure needed to power the artificial intelligence boom.(Mikala Compton/The Austin American-Statesman/Getty Images)

Speaking alongside McDonald Rivet outside the Capitol, Rep. Deborah Ross, D-N.C., pointed to concerns over data center development in her Raleigh-area district, accusing tech companies of buying land without disclosing their plans in a plot to sidestep local input.

“They’ve sought to bypass local citizens’ right to provide input on putting a data center in their towns and cities,” Ross said.

The lawmaker also argued that the industry’s rapid expansion is straining electricity and water resources while developers benefit from federal and state tax incentives.

“It’s Americans struggling to get by, not Big Tech who need tax breaks,” Ross said.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

President Donald Trump has made the rapid expansion of U.S. data centers a key part of his push to bolster American leadership in artificial intelligence.(Anadolu via Getty Images)

Rep. Chris Pappas, D-N.H., argued that data center development is contributing to higher costs for his constituents as the facilities place growing demands on electricity and water supplies.

He also said communities should have more control over where the facilities are built.

“Our cities and towns shouldn’t have these data centers shoved down their throats without any recourse,” Pappas said. “They deserve the right to decide what’s appropriate for their community.”

Amanda Macias covers the intersection of business, economics and politics, with a focus on how policy decisions shape markets, businesses and American workers.

White House chief of staff Susie Wiles says she’s cancer-free

September 16, 2026 / 2:58 PM EDT / CBS News

By Ed O’Keefe, Jennifer Jacobs

Ed O’Keefe is CBS News’ senior White House and political correspondent reporting for all CBS News platforms. He’s part of the team covering President Trump and covered all four years of Joe Biden’s presidency. From the White House to the campaign trail, O’Keefe’s reports stretch from the politics of the moment to how policy enacted in Washington affects the nation and the world.

Jennifer Jacobs is a senior White House reporter at CBS News.

White House chief of staff Susie Wiles posted on X Wednesday that a medical procedure revealed that she is cancer-free.

She was diagnosed with breast cancer in March.

CBS News was first to report that she had undergone a procedure at the Mayo Clinic earlier this week. Pathology results from a biopsy Monday came back clear, sources confirmed to CBS News.

“I am cancer free,” Wiles posted. “Thank you to my family, friends, doctors, and everyone who prayed for me, checked in, and supported me along the way.” She went on to thank President Trump.

Since her diagnosis, Wiles has remained a fixture at Mr. Trump’s side. She traveled with the president to Dallas last week but did not join him on his recent weekend trip to Ireland.

Wiles has served as Mr. Trump’s top White House staffer since he was inaugurated in 2025.

https://www.cbsnews.com/video/white-house-chief-of-staff-susie-wiles-announces-shes-cancer-free/

US safety board urges fully electronic tolling after fatal Ohio crash

September 16, 2026 6:25 PM UTC / Reuters

WASHINGTON, Sept 16 (Reuters) – The National Transportation Safety ​Board on Wednesday ‌urged U.S. states and other operators ​to adopt ​fully electronic tolling on ⁠highways after ​a fatal 2024 ​crash at a toll plaza in Ohio.

An SUV ​traveling at ​a toll plaza in ‌Swanton ⁠Township, Ohio suddenly slowed and moved into the ​path of ​a ⁠truck-trailer while attempting to ​enter the ​low-speed ⁠manual toll booth. The truck struck ⁠the ​SUV ​and overturned, spilling sulfonic acid.

The Misinformation Monitor newsletter rounds up international misinformation narratives, with a “Real or Fake?” quiz in every edition. Sign up here.

Reporting ​by David Shepardson

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

House votes unanimously to hold Epstein business associate Leon Black in contempt of Congress

September 16, 2026 / 3:14 PM EDT / CBS News

By Caitlin Yilek

Caitlin Yilek is a politics reporter at CBSNews.com, based in Washington, D.C. She previously worked for the Washington Examiner and The Hill, and was a member of the 2022 Paul Miller Washington Reporting Fellowship with the National Press Foundation.

Read Full Bio

Washington — The House unanimously agreed to hold billionaire investor Leon Black in contempt of Congress for defying subpoenas as part of lawmakers’ investigation into the late Jeffrey Epstein.

The measure was passed by unanimous consent a day after the House Oversight Committee voted 41-0 to recommend holding him in contempt.

The matter now heads to the Justice Department for possible prosecution.

Black, a former business associate of the convicted sex offender, did not comply with subpoenas to appear before the committee on Sept. 3 and produce nondisclosure agreements.Black filed a lawsuit in D.C. federal court challenging the validity of the subpoenas.

“No one is above the law. Leon Black defied two subpoenas, and the U.S. House of Representatives acted swiftly to find him in contempt of Congress. We will continue to seek transparency for the American people and justice for survivors in our investigation of the federal government’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell criminal cases,” GOP Rep. James Comer of Kentucky, the committee’s chairman, said in a statement.

Democratic Rep. Robert Garcia of California, the committee’s ranking member, called the vote “an important step towards justice and accountability.”

Attorneys for Black called the action “outrageous” and said the House “has rushed through every stage of this inquiry.”

blob:https://www.cbsnews.com/1646d63a-3fe6-446b-8b47-4bc9568c478a

“The Committee has continued to insist on looking for information that does not exist. They are looking to ask questions about every NDA Mr. Black ever signed including with business partners over his 50 year career and also with individuals who he never met. This is absurd. They even asked him to give the names of individuals in his social circle who have NDA’s,” attorneys Susan Estrich and Aaron Cutler said in a statement.

This is a developing story and will be updated.