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Undercover video exposes Dem Senate nominee’s plan to embrace socialists: ‘Got to be together’

The North Carolina Senate candidate says Democrats need a ‘wide spectrum’ as he faces Republican Michael Whatley

September 10, 2026 7:30pm EDT / Fox News

By Leo Briceno Fox News

‘Moderate’ Senate candidate refuses to sign condemnation of DSA platform

In footage obtained by Fox News Digital, Roy Cooper says the party must take a ‘wide spectrum’ approach

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Roy Cooper, former North Carolina governor and a Democratic candidate for the Senate, believes his party should incorporate a big-tent approach to an emerging wave of socialist candidates backed by the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA).

When asked if he would sign the Promise to America, a repudiation of socialist stances put out by moderate Democrats, Cooper said he wouldn’t.

“I don’t see any need to,” Cooper said in video footage obtained by Fox News Digital.

“I think the party needs a wide spectrum, particularly at a time when the Republican Party is shrinking and having all kinds of loyalty tests. I think we need to have all kinds of folks to be a part of our party.”

FLORIDA BOARD VOTES TO BAN ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS FROM PUBLIC COLLEGE ADMISSIONS

Then-Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat from North Carolina, speaks with reporters on Sept. 10, 2024 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania(Paul Steinhauser – Fox News)

Cooper’s comment comes as he wages a bid to fill the seat of retiring Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., and win over a historically Republican-leaning state. It also raises questions of whether moderate Democrats believe their platforms can coexist with the aims of the DSA.

The DSA espouses positions like abolishing the U.S. Senate, establishing public ownership of corporations and abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), according to their website.

The group paints a picture of what those policies could look like in practice on its website.

“You have no debt. You don’t need health insurance. You don’t pay a mortgage or have a landlord, because comfortable housing is a human right. Your retirement is publicly funded. Food, education, energy, medicine and transportation aren’t for-profit businesses; they are common goods and utilities,” the group states.

Cooper is not affiliated with or backed by the DSA and has pitched himself as a candidate with an ability to reach across the aisle. His campaign has highlighted his ability to work with a Republican-controlled legislature during his tenure as governor from 2017 to 2025.

In his own words, Cooper has pushed back on questions about being tied to the DSA.

TRUMP HERALDED AS GOP ‘KINGMAKER’ AFTER LOUISIANA SENATE RESULTS RATTLE PARTY ESTABLISHMENT

Roy Cooper, governor of North Carolina, speaks to members of the media in the spin room following the second presidential debate at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024.(Hannah Beier/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“For the record, no,” he told the New York Times on whether he was a Communist. “I have a record of working across the aisle. The people of North Carolina know that I can be a senator that puts them first. Before power, before party, before politics. I feel confident that at the end of the day, they’ll send me to Washington.”

When asked if Cooper’s platform is at odds with the DSA’s views, Cooper’s campaign declined to comment, noting that his commitments are reserved for his constituents.

“The only pledge Roy makes is to the people of North Carolina. Roy is not a socialist and he will work with anyone, including Republicans, as he has done his entire career to lower costs for hardworking families and fight for North Carolina,” his campaign told Fox News Digital.

Some Republicans are skeptical of that reasoning.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, believes moderates are afraid to challenge their progressive flank as candidates championing the far left have surged in the 2026 midterm primaries.

“That dynamic is dangerous right now because they are terrified of the extreme left. Finding a middle ground on ideological issues right now is … the prospects for success, particularly between now and election day, are not high,” Cruz said at an energy summit hosted by Club for Growth and Arnold Ventures on Thursday.

“Schumer is truly terrified right now,” he added, referring to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

In the video interview, Cooper said he believes the party will only weaken itself in its resistance to the administration if it doesn’t band together.

TRAFFIC DRAMA THREATENS TO END DEM GOVERNOR’S TENURE AS VOTERS HEAD TO POLLS IN RHODE ISLAND

Roy Cooper, governor of North Carolina, during a campaign event with Vice President Kamala Harris, not pictured, at Bojangles Arena in Charlotte, North Carolina, US, on Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024.(Allison Joyce/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“Particularly now when we’re in such difficult straits and we’re in a foxhole right now. We’ve all got to be together to take our government back,” Cooper said.

“We could fall to the autocracy, anytime we don’t stick together. So, I don’t see the need signing something,” Cooper said.

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Having secured the Democratic nomination, Cooper now heads to the Nov. 3 general election where he faces off against Republican nominee Michael Whatley, the former chair of the Republican National Committee (RNC).

Leo Briceno is a politics reporter for the congressional team at Fox News Digital. He was previously a reporter with World Magazine.

Trump’s $5,000 dividend checks would come with a major catch under GOP senator’s plan

September 10, 2026 4:16pm EDT / Fox News

Sen Bernie Moreno plans to introduce legislation funding the one-time payments through market access fees on foreign goods

By Alex Miller, Elizabeth Elkind, Paul Steinhauser, Fox News

Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, says his plan to make President Donald Trump’s $5,000 tariff-funded dividend checks law would require congressional approval, with payments restricted to spending in the U.S.

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DALLAS — There’s a push in the Senate to turn President Donald Trump’s pitch of $5,000 checks for Americans into a reality, with a couple of caveats along the way.

Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, plans to introduce legislation that would codify the dividend checks and wants it done as soon as the upcoming midterm elections are over, when the balance of power could tilt in favor of Democrats.

But the money, Moreno told Fox News Digital, wouldn’t come from taxpayers’ coffers. Instead, he wants to approve certain structural tariffs to act as a “market access fee” that would find its way back into the pockets of Americans.

TRUMP DEFENDS $5,000 DIVIDEND PROPOSAL, PRAISES ‘BEAUTIFUL’ TARIFFS ON ‘INGRAHAM ANGLE’

President Donald Trump speaks during the Republican convention at American Airlines Center on Sept. 9, 2026, in Dallas.(The Dallas Morning News via Getty Images)

And it can only be spent in the U.S.

“This dividend would be something that is allowing working Americans to share in the prosperity of this country,” Moreno said. “The money would be used only here in the United States, so it’s not to be used outside the United States. I think it would provide a big economic boost to our economy.”

“So, if you’re a company out there, anywhere in the world, you want to sell your products in America, you either make it here in the United States, or you pay a fee to enter our market,” he continued. “That money goes to funding this one-time dividend.”

Trump floated the plan Wednesday night during the Republicans’ midterm convention in Dallas, where the GOP and several — but not all — vulnerable incumbents and candidates flocked to energize their base and pitch why they should maintain control of Congress.

TRUMP JUST EXPANDED HIS TARIFF PLAYBOOK WITH A POWERFUL TRADE WEAPON NO PRESIDENT HAS EVER USED

Top House Democrat blasts Trump’s $5,000 dividend proposal: ‘It’s not happening’https://www.foxnews.com/video/6404888030112

The cost, however, could be an eye-popping $1.2 trillion. Moreno argued that the cost was worth it and noted that despite the steps Republicans have taken to lower costs, Americans are still feeling the crunch.

“It’s about providing relief,” Moreno said. “It’s acknowledgment that during the Biden years, it was so bad for working families, that, despite what we’ve already done in 18 months, it just isn’t enough to get working families to basically so that they’re level, right?”

“Because they’re underwater right now,” he continued. “I think it’s extremely important for us to understand in elected office that working families are struggling.”

For the plan to work, Republicans would need to maintain their control of both chambers of Congress, and it comes as the nation’s federal deficit skyrocketed to $40 trillion last month and as the GOP has consistently pitched itself as the party of fiscal responsibility against Democrats’ wanton federal spending.

Trump’s plan scored one unlikely ally in House Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris, R-Md., leader of a pack of fiscal hawks who routinely scoff at Congress’ inability to tackle the nation’s debt.

“Hardworking American taxpayers probably deserve a tax rebate. We’re gonna have to discuss, you know, how large a rebate that would be. But I think, again, American taxpayers deserve relief from taxation. I think that’s a good idea,” Harris told Fox News Digital in an interview during the GOP midterm convention.

REPUBLICAN SOUNDS ALARM ON RISING DEM STAR: ‘THIS GUY’S GOING TO BE A PROBLEM’

“I think it would provide a big economic boost to our economy,” Sen. Bernie Moreno said of the dividend.(Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Harris said such a plan “would have to go through Congress,” and he suggested that the party-line budget reconciliation process would be needed to skirt Democratic opposition.

The Senate’s top Republican agreed with Harris.

“It smells very much like a reconciliation issue,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told Fox News Digital.

Thune said Senate Republicans would be willing to work with Trump and his team to get the dividends done, but noted that until Wednesday night it was a proposal that “we hadn’t heard before.” He argued that the idea showed the difference between the GOP and Democrats seeking power.

“I think it illustrates the clear contrast between us and the Democrats about how you want to, how you see government functioning,” Thune said. “And one is in giving more power, control, money in the pockets of the American people, and the other, giving more power to, you know, for people in Washington to tell you how to run your life.”

And Republicans will likely have to rely on reconciliation to do it, given that Democrats are already slamming the idea.

“Donald Trump is a known liar. This is the biggest liar to ever serve in government, period. And look, the dividend is not happening,” Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., told Fox News Digital. “He promised a dividend on tariffs, that didn’t happen. He promised a dividend on Doge, that didn’t happen. He promised some strange new dividend from Air Force One, what, six months ago. That never happened.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., recoiled and slammed the move as emblematic of Trump’s presidency being “so failed and broken, he is resorting to trying to bribe the American people for their votes.”

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“An insult to Americans, to democracy, and an admission of how absolutely screwed he is,” Schumer said on X.

Moreno countered that when it comes to dumping tens of billions of dollars outside the U.S., Democrats were all on board but didn’t show the same vigor when it came to seeing money flow back into America.

“So look, at the end of the day, these politicians are all hypocritical. They love helping anybody on earth except for working Americans,” Moreno said. “They love giving money to foreign countries. They love funding endless wars. They love having us solve the entirety of the world’s problems. When it comes to helping working Americans, all of a sudden, there’s no money. What we’re saying is no.”

Alex Miller is a writer for Fox News Digital covering the U.S. Senate.

Trump faces reckoning as GOP figures label $5K promise a ‘socialist vote-buying scheme’

September 10, 2026 4:26pm EDT / Fox News

The plan could cost more than $1.2 trillion, meaning tariff revenue would cover only 13% of the estimated price tag

Morgan Phillips

By Morgan Phillips Fox News

President Donald Trump’s proposal to send $5,000 checks to American adults if Republicans win both chambers of Congress is forcing Republicans to debate an idea more commonly associated with the Democratic side of the aisle: sending direct government payments to voters.

Called a “socialist vote-buying scheme” by former GOP Rep. Bob Good of Virginia, the so-called Trump Dividend would only be handed down if Republicans keep the House and Senate in November, the president announced at the party’s midterm convention in Dallas.

Good warned that the checks would add to the national debt, which has topped $40 trillion.

The plan could cost more than $1.2 trillion, based on estimates of roughly 240 million eligible adults. The president cannot direct the Treasury to issue the checks without a law providing that authority, so Congress would need to authorize the spending plan.

TRUMP MAKES STUNNING FIRST-OF-ITS-KIND CASH PROMISE IN BID TO RALLY GOP VOTERS AT DALLAS MIDTERM CONVENTION

President Donald Trump speaks on stage on the first day of the 2026 Republican National Convention at the American Airlines Center on Sept. 9, 2026, in Dallas, Texas.(Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

“If the Republicans win the House of Representatives and the United States Senate, both of them … I will issue a dividend to every adult citizen in the United States of America for $5,000,” Trump said during his keynote address Wednesday night.

He compared the payment to a cash distribution from a successful company to its shareholders and said the money would have to be spent domestically.

“The only caveat I have is that the dividend that we’re making must be spent in the United States of America,” Trump said. “We don’t want you going to Canada to spend the money.”

“If you keep us in power and allow us to continue to do these things, then you’re going to share in some of the benefit of this incredible wealth that we’re creating in the United States of America,” Vice President JD Vance said after Trump unveiled his new idea.

Conservative commentator Matt Walsh called the plan “flagrant bribery” and said Republicans could help working Americans by allowing them to keep more of their own money through tax cuts.

“Holding it as a carrot on the stick for after the election is just shameless,” Walsh wrote.

Vance and Trump both pointed to tariff revenue as a potential funding source for the payments, and questions emerged over where the money would come from to fund the dividends.

“The reason the Democrats can’t do that is because they don’t do tariffs. They don’t take in money. All they know is poverty,” Trump said Wednesday night.

Treasury data show the federal government collected about $154.4 billion in customs duties from Oct. 1, 2025, through July 31, 2026, which would cover roughly 13% of the estimated $1.2 trillion cost of sending $5,000 checks to about 240 million adults.

The administration has not provided an income threshold for the proposed middle-class payments or explained how much tariff revenue would be dedicated to the program. The remaining cost would have to be covered through other federal revenue, spending reductions or additional borrowing.

CONGRESS SPENDS $7 TRILLION; HERE’S HOW THAT MATH WORKS OUT IF YOU THINK OF JUST $100

President Donald Trump speaks on stage on the first day of the 2026 Republican National Convention at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, Sept. 9, 2026.(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Vance also suggested in an interview after the president’s speech Wednesday that the proposal could be limited to middle-class Americans rather than every adult citizen, potentially lowering the cost.

The VP defended the idea as “fundamentally a dividend for American workers,” arguing that tariffs have generated revenue from foreign companies and countries that have taken advantage of American workers.

The proposal’s funding and eligibility questions have fueled criticism from fiscal conservatives, who say the plan would create a new government benefit while adding to the national debt.

Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, said the estimated $1.2 trillion cost of the dividend proposal could instead be used to eliminate taxes for married parents with dependents earning up to $200,000.

“Or maybe some of us think dependency is evil & soul-sucking in all its forms,” Roy wrote in a follow-up post.

That criticism from Republicans reflects a broader conservative argument that tax cuts are preferable to direct payments because they reduce the government’s role rather than create a new reason for Americans to rely on it.

James Fishback, a former Florida gubernatorial candidate who previously proposed a $5,000 DOGE dividend, said his plan would have returned savings generated by spending cuts. Meanwhile, he argued Trump’s proposal would add to the debt without a comparable reduction in government spending.

Investor Joe Lonsdale called the idea “bread and circus bribes.” Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson urged Republican leaders to reject it and focus on reducing the debt.

President Donald Trump greets attendees as he walks on stage on the first day of the Republican National Convention at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, on Sept. 9, 2026.(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Other Republicans and Trump allies are moving in the opposite direction.

Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, said he would prepare legislation to pass the dividend after the election, while Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., asked voters how they would spend their $5,000.

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The reactions show a Republican Party split between treating tariff revenue as money to return to Americans and preserving the party’s traditional emphasis on lower taxes, limited spending and less government dependence.

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US House to take up bill aimed at curbing data center-driven electricity costs

September 10, 2026 10:58 PM UTC / Reuters

A drone view shows construction underway on Microsoft’s ATL11 data center in Union City, Georgia, U.S., September 1, 2026. REUTERS/Brian Snyder/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights

Sept 10 (Reuters) – Republican lawmakers plan to bring legislation to ​the House floor next ‌week that seeks to rein in electricity bill increases tied ​to data center ​expansion, a spokesperson for Speaker ⁠Mike Johnson said on ​Thursday.

The plan to hold ​a vote on the bipartisan Ratepayer Protection Act before the midterm ​elections was first ​reported by Axios.

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“The bill will be ‌on ⁠the floor of the House next week,” Taylor Haulsee, a spokesperson for Johnson, ​said ​in ⁠an email.

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Government officials nationwide are under pressure ​to take steps ​to ⁠prevent the soaring cost of data center power needs ⁠from ​being passed ​on to average households.

Reporting by Nichola ​Groom; Editing by Nia Williams

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Former crypto billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried appeals conviction to Supreme Court

2026-09-10T20:40:26.808Z / CNN

By John Fritze

3 hr ago

PUBLISHED Sep 10, 2026, 4:40 PM ET

Sam Bankman-Fried Crypto Supreme Court

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Sam Bankman-Fried leaves the Federal Courthouse in New York in July 2023 following a bail hearing ahead of his trial.

Angela Weiss/AFP/Getty Images

Sam Bankman-Fried, the former crypto mogul who was convicted of defrauding investors by secretly diverting billions of dollars of their money, asked the Supreme Court on Thursday for a new trial and to throw out a court order requiring him to pay $11 billion as part of his sentence.

Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in prison in 2024 after prosecutors said he directed billions of dollars from the crypto exchange FTX to a hedge fund he controlled called Alameda Research, where the funds were used for risky investments, political donations and his own personal benefit.

The Supreme Court appeal, which was reviewed by CNN, raises a technical question about evidence that was submitted at his trial, and whether Bankman-Fried should have been permitted to demonstrate that his investments were ultimately sound and would have covered any losses by FTX customers.

He also argues that the $11 billion forfeiture violates the 8th Amendment’s prohibition on excessive fines.

“Where the government pursues a theory of fraud under which it doesn’t matter whether any victims lost money, introducing evidence suggesting that people actually lost money is distracting and prejudicial,” veteran Supreme Court attorney Jeffrey Fisher told CNN. “All the more so where the truth is the victims did not lose money, and the defendant is unable to make that clear.”

The 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the arguments earlier this year.

The case hinges in large part on a recent decision from the Supreme Court centered on a US Department of Transportation contractor who promised to meet disadvantaged business requirements to secure a multi-million-dollar bridge painting contract. The contractor ultimately failed to work with that disadvantaged business, instead setting up a passthrough scheme and submitting false certifications to cover up the arrangement.

After prosecutors secured wire fraud and conspiracy convictions, the company and its manager appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing that such a deception couldn’t constitute wire fraud if the defendants never intended to cause economic harm. After all, the work was completed.

The Supreme Court rejected that appeal unanimously in 2025.

Bankman-Fried’s claim acknowledged that decision but raises a more nuanced question. If prosecutors don’t need to demonstrate economic loss to bring fraud charges under the “fraudulent inducement” theory the high court embraced last year, then why allow prosecutors to admit evidence of economic loss at all? And if they can do so, Bankman-Fried argues, then defendants should be able to submit evidence working the other direction.

The Supreme Court will review the appeal later this year.

Sam Bankman-Fried Crypto Supreme Court

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GA Secy of State: ‘Not enough time’ to implement Trump’s changes to mail-in voting

2026-09-10T23:17:14.543Z / CNN Politics

By Jake Tapper, CNN

Published 7:17 PM EDT, Thu September 10, 2026

GA Secy of State: ‘Not enough time’ to implement Trump’s changes to mail-in voting

Georgia Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger joins The Lead.
1:42 • Source: CNN

US prosecutor overseeing probe of Trump foes resigns

2026-09-10T21:56:10.351Z / Reuters

A new banner depicting U.S. President Donald Trump is put up on the Department of Justice building in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 20, 2026. REUTERS/Ken Cedeno Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

• Summary

• Investigation has sought to establish that Trump was victim of criminal conspiracy
• Florida-based investigation has so far not led to charges
• Trump ally took over investigation after career prosecutor was removed

WASHINGTON, Sept 10 (Reuters) – A U.S. prosecutor who has been overseeing a wide-ranging probe into past investigations of President Donald Trump told Reuters on Thursday that he has resigned.

Joseph diGenova’s departure injects uncertainty into an investigation that has been scrutinizing several of Trump’s foes and has sought to establish that the president was the victim of a long-running criminal conspiracy. DiGenova, a Trump ally, joined the Justice Department in April to take over the Florida-based investigation.

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“It was an honor and privilege to serve the president and the department,” DiGenova said. He declined to elaborate.

A Justice Department spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. ABC News first reported his resignation.

The investigation has examined the 2017 U.S. intelligence finding that Russia sought to boost Trump’s first presidential campaign in 2016, as well as more recent investigations by former Special Counsel Jack Smith that probed Trump’s retention of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago resort and his attempts to overturn his 2020 election defeat.

The investigation has so far not resulted in any criminal charges. Investigators have interviewed current and former intelligence employees and have in recent weeks sought to question FBI officials who were involved in the 2022 search of Mar-a-Lago.

DiGenova, a former U.S. Attorney in Washington under Republican President Ronald Reagan, has aligned himself with Trump in recent years. He has echoed the president’s claims that the Russia investigation was a politically motivated effort to damage Trump.

The investigation is part of a larger effort by the Justice Department to pursue the president’s perceived enemies and investigate his grievances. Some Trump allies have expressed hopes that the probe could ensnare Smith, former CIA Director John Brennan and former FBI Director James Comey, who has already been charged by the Trump administration in two other cases.

DiGenova took over the investigation after the Justice Department removed a career federal prosecutor who had been leading the probe, which initially focused largely on congressional testimony from Brennan about the 2017 intelligence assessment.

Brennan has denied wrongdoing, and his lawyers have sued the Justice Department to force officials to preserve documents related to the investigation.

Any charges from the investigation could face legal hurdles. Some legal experts have questioned whether prosecutors could bring a criminal case in Florida given that much of the activity in the Russia investigation happened in Washington and Virginia.

It is also unclear how investigations involving Trump that examined separate issues at different times could be included in one conspiracy.

Reporting by Andrew Goudsward; editing by Andy Sullivan and Alistair Bell

The CPI report arrives tomorrow. It could determine whether the Fed hikes rates next week.

2026-09-10T16:11:00-0400 / CBS News

By

Updated on: September 10, 2026 / 4:13 PM EDT / CBS News

A key inflation reading tomorrow could determine whether the Federal Reserve issues its first interest rate hike in more than three years.

The August Consumer Price Index report, scheduled for release at 8:30 a.m. ET on Friday, is the last major inflation snapshot Fed officials will receive before announcing their next interest rate decision on Sept. 16. Economists expect prices last month rose 3.3% on an annual basis, reflecting an easing after reaching a three-year high of 4.2% in May.

The August report could help Fed officials determine whether the recent easing reflects an ongoing trend, or whether inflation is becoming stubbornly entrenched amid high fuel prices caused by the Iran war. Its primary tool for taming inflation, one of its core mandates, is to raise borrowing costs, which helps cool spending.

At the Fed’s previous meeting, nearly half of its policymakers said they would support a rate hike later this year. If officials vote to raise their benchmark rate next week, it would mark the first increase since July 2023, when the central bank was battling the highest inflation in more than four decades.

“It’s clear that the swing voters at the Fed are paying close attention to this inflation data,” Heather Long, a chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union, said of the CPI report.

“I think that’s what’s really giving it heightened meaning,” she added.

On Thursday, the Labor Department said the producer price index — which captures inflation before it reaches consumers — rose 5.4% in August from a year ago, up from 4.8% in July. U.S. oil prices topped $100 a barrel Thursday on renewed fighting in the Middle East, while President Trump has intensified a trade war with Canada, a sign tariffs still could push up costs.

The Fed’s swing voters include Fed Governor Christopher Waller, who said in a speech earlier this month that he would consider a rate hike “if inflation comes in hot.” But he added that if the August CPI shows progress toward the Fed’s 2% goal, he would be willing to hold rates steady.

Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh has been more guarded in his communication about the Fed’s next moves. However, last month while speaking at the Fed’s annual conference in Jackson Hole, he said the Fed will “have work to do” if inflation doesn’t drop toward the central bank’s 2% target at a “sufficient speed.”

What’s the likelihood of an interest rate hike?

The Fed has held its benchmark rate at its current range of 3.5% to 3.75% since December 2025.

However, investors are bracing for an increasing likelihood that the central bank will raise rates as it grapples with ongoing price pressures stemming from the war in the Middle East. Markets are now pricing in a 70% probability the Fed will increase its benchmark rate to 3.75% to 4% at its Sept. 16 meeting, according to CME FedWatch, which bases its forecast on 30-day Fed funds futures prices.

Prices at the pump also remain elevated, with diesel hitting an all-time high of almost $6 a gallon on Thursday. Other factors are also fueling inflation, including tariffs, rising health insurance costs and AI expenditures, experts told CBS News.

“The CPI report is unlikely to alter the message of limited inflation progress and should provide sufficient support for the Fed to hike rates at the September meeting,” Stephen Juneau, a U.S. economist at the Bank of America Securities, said in a research note Thursday.

What is the inflation report expected to show?

Economists polled by FactSet expect that inflation rose at an annual rate of 3.3% in August, slightly below the 3.4% pace recorded in July.

However, Gregory Daco, chief economist at EY-Parthenon, said the Fed will pay closer attention to core inflation — which excludes more volatile energy and food categories — to monitor whether higher energy prices are passing through to goods and services.

Economists polled by FactSet expect that core CPI rose 2.4% on an annual basis last month, which would extend a downward trend that started in June.

“Traditionally, the Fed used to think along a framework that would assume supply shocks were infrequent and short-lived, and therefore it could look through those supply shocks,” Daco said.

“That’s no longer a reality. We have more layered supply shocks, and therefore the Fed has to think carefully about the potential pass-through of these higher commodities prices, higher supply chain costs, higher transportation costs into core items.”

Edited by Aimee Picchi

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Fetterman’s GOP convention video caught even some of his staffers off guard

2026-09-10T22:01:06.211Z / CNN

Even some of Democratic Sen. John Fetterman’s staffers were caught off guard when they saw him appearing in a video at the Republican midterm convention, according to two sources.

But they weren’t exactly surprised.

Fetterman has a long history of breaking with his own party, voting for some of Trump’s nominees and backing the president’s military actions in the Middle East. But more than that, the sources said, he is unusually close with the Senate colleague he introduced at the convention: GOP Sen. Dave McCormick.

One source involved in the convention programming said McCormick was key to securing Fetterman’s participation; another insisted it wasn’t a challenge to get the Pennsylvania Democrat on board. His decision to participate, though, infuriated Democrats, who accused him of subverting his own party’s efforts to win in November and giving Republicans a gratuitous win.

The convention, after all, was meant to rile up the Trump base and attract media attention; it was designed by some of the same Trump political team members who had him flipping burgers at McDonald’s during the 2024 campaign. Some Republicans briefed on the planning said officials had even hoped Fetterman might show up in person, raising the shock value.

Just four years ago, Fetterman and McCormick nearly faced each other in their state’s heated 2022 Senate battle . Instead, McCormick lost that year’s primary, only to have a successful comeback bid two years later. Now, former staffers describe Fetterman as intensely loyal to his Republican counterpart, saying that he often remarked to staffers that he saw McCormick, who is officially the state’s junior senator, as a “mentor.”

It’s a relationship that had been a regular source of tension for some former Fetterman staffers, some who said they had concerns Fetterman was too accommodating to Pennsylvania’s junior senator.

“He has literally never said no to McCormick,” one former staffer told CNN, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the dynamics of the relationship. “It’s the most bizarre dynamic I have ever seen.”

Another person close to Fetterman called McCormick Fetterman’s “emotional support Republican,” adding that they feared Fetterman’s friendship with McCormick was at times clouding his political judgement.

CNN has reached out to Fetterman’s and McCormick’s offices to request comment.

Fetterman and McCormick have forged a strong alliance in the Senate, a rarity in the Senate for lawmakers who hail from the same state and opposite parties. Pennsylvania – a quintessential political battleground – is one of just three states in the Senate with split delegations, alongside Maine and Wisconsin.

In the last year, Fetterman and McCormick have issued nearly a dozen joint press releases or referred to each other in statements while introducing joint bills ranging from battling opioid addiction to taming the invasive lantern fly. They’ve sent joint letters to university presidents demanding answers on antisemitism, and they have boasted of bridge and infrastructure projects for the state – notably, sharing political kudos, rather than battling over who deserved credit for the moves.

“They disagree on most ideological questions, but they have found a lot of common ground on Pennsylvania-centric issues,” McCormick adviser and CNN contributor Brad Todd told CNN Thursday. “They agree that Israel has the right to exist and Pennsylvanians have a right to make a good living and they are willing to work together on those things.”

Even more unexpected, the two men have teamed up to fundraise: Earlier this summer, they launched a joint fundraising committee, drawing the ire of some Democrats who blasted the move.

Some of Fetterman’s fellow Pennsylvania Democrats saw the move as something of a political mutiny, given their party’s steep financial needs this midterm cycle, including in a handful of key races in their home state.

Many felt a similar sentiment at Fetterman’s involvement in the GOP convention on Wednesday night.

Rep. Madeleine Dean, a Democrat who represents part of the Philadelphia suburbs, said her constituents – some of whom knocked doors for Fetterman – are “absolutely livid” at him now.

“I am gravely disappointed with John and that stunt. What I wish he was doing was back home in Pennsylvania, making sure, like I am, that Pennsylvania will see more Democratic members of the House who uphold the values that he originally ran on,” she said at a press conference in Texas on Thursday, which Democrats organized as counterprogramming to the GOP convention.

Privately, several Democrats are already eying primary runs against Fetterman in 2028. Rep. Chris Deluzio, a progressive Democrat who represents the Pittsburgh suburbs, has been particularly critical, along with Rep. Brendan Boyle and former Rep. Susan Wild, who have also not ruled out a run.

But behind the scenes there is also a feeling among some Democrats that there need not be any recourse for Fetterman. Democratic leaders would rather keep him the fold than alienate him – especially when he still largely votes with Democrats. Fetterman has made clear he isn’t looking to change parties. And he still has a relationship with Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, whom he dined with right before the August recess in a one-on-one meeting, according to a source familiar with the dinner.

In recent days, Fetterman has attracted more scrutiny. A Wall Street Journal story published earlier this month reported Fetterman was consistently pushing off meetings and needing to be coaxed into performing routine duties of the job. As backlash mounted online, McCormick swiftly defended Fetterman, dismissing the allegations as “the latest example of outrageously disloyal staff and forces on the left using anonymous leaks to cancel my friend John Fetterman.”

“They hate that he is an independent thinker who refuses to fall into line so they want to silence him. He and I will continue to work together to deliver for Pennsylvania by saving jobs at U.S. Steel, passing a new law to make housing more affordable,” McCormick said on X.

On Wednesday night, Fetterman returned the favor, https://www.cnn.com/2026/09/09/politics/video/fetterman-introduces-mccormick-at-midterm-convention-digvid in front of a steel factory, introducing McCormick who was slated to speak at the convention as a “friend” and despite their party differences “the kind of senator who gets the job done.”

Todd, the McCormick adviser, attributed the rare partnership between the two Keystone State senators to the state’s own politics – since almost every other state’s delegation share a political party. “We just don’t have many split delegations now, so therefore people have decided this is weird,” Todd said.

Trump’s $5,000 dividend would reignite inflation and swell the U.S. deficit, economists say

September 10, 2026 / 7:33 PM EDT / CBS News

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President Trump’s vow to send $5,000 to every U.S. adult if the Republican Party keeps control of Congress in the midterm elections would drive up the federal deficit, reignite inflation and alarm investors, according to economists.

After Mr. Trump raised the idea of such a dividend on Wednesday night at the Republican National Committee’s midterm convention, Vice President JD Vance told Fox News that the U.S. would fund the payment using tariff revenue collected by the Trump administration, and that it would be aimed at the middle class.

Those tariffs are generating about $125 billion in annual revenue — one-tenth of the $1.25 trillion that would be required to pay $5,000 to each of the nation’s roughly 245 million U.S. adults, Erica York, senior economist with the Tax Foundation’s Center for Federal Tax Policy, told CBS News.

Because tariff revenue would fall short, the U.S. would likely need to issue government debt to pay for the dividends, raising the federal deficit to $3 trillion, up from its current level of about $1.8 trillion, York estimated.

Why the dividend would drive inflation

The one-time payments would also likely stoke inflation by fueling a surge in consumer spending, as did the multiple federal stimulus checks during the pandemic.

Economists say those payments contributed to consumer prices reaching a 40-year high in June 2022.

A $5,000 giveaway would also rattle financial markets, York said. With the nation’s debt recently surpassing$40 trillion for the first time, Treasury bond buyers would likely demand higher yields to offset increased fiscal risks, she added.

“If financial markets are already concerned about U.S. budget deficits, which are historically large and are projected to grow, and the message that you’re giving is, ‘We don’t really care. We’re almost going to double our deficits’ — that’s madness,” York said of Mr. Trump’s proposal.

Offering such a payment to Americans would be “fiscally dangerous,” Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a nonpartisan think tank that favors reducing the U.S. deficit, said in a statement on Thursday.

“It’s hard to understand how anyone could look at our current fiscal and economic situation and think we need to borrow another $1.2 trillion to send everyone cash,” she said.

The White House said that Mr. Trump has “consistently proven his doubters wrong.”

“The doomers and naysayers have consistently doubted President Trump: when he pledged to create the historic Trump Accounts, lowered prescription prices with Most Favored Nations, secured the border with no crossings, cleaned up our streets, ended taxes on tips, grew real wages, renegotiated broken trade deals and reshored key manufacturing back to the United States,” White House spokesperson Davis Ingle said in a statement to CBS News.

Piling on debt

Many fiscal hawks have urged lawmakers to start addressing the mounting federal debt, which has doubled in less than a decade due to multiple tax cuts and COVID-related spending, among other factors.

Adding $1.25 trillion in debt to the nation’s ledger is “completely detached from fiscal reality,” York said.

Rising U.S. debt has pushed up the nation’s interest costs, with the U.S. government now spending more on servicing its debt than on national defense or Medicare. Investors are demanding higher Treasury yields due to the worsening federal fiscal outlook. That, in turn, is pushing up borrowing costs for consumers, including mortgages, auto loans and personal loans.

“The bond market is already nervous about inflation and America’s $40 trillion debt,” Heather Long, chief economist at the Navy Federal Credit Union, said in an email. “This would likely cause borrowing costs to jump even further.”

Long added that because of those issues, Wall Street is “largely ignoring” the Trump administration’s dividend plan, writing it off as unlikely to gain traction with Congress, which would need to approve it.

In an exclusive interview with CBS News Texas, President Trump said on Thursday that he doesn’t think lawmakers would need to approve the $5,000 payments.

During his speech on Wednesday, Mr. Trump also proposed other ways to lower the cost of living for Americans, which polls show is a key campaign issue ahead of the November elections. That includes possibly eliminating credit card swipe fees, which he said could save the typical family about $1,200 a year.

But the $5,000 payment has garnered the most attention, likely because many consumers say they’re struggling with the cost of living, with gas prices remaining above $4 a gallon and inflation still elevated.

Consumer Price Index data for August, set to be released on Friday, is expected to show inflation rose at an annual pace of 3.3%, well above the Federal Reserve’s annual target of 2%.

While a $5,000 payment might initially help struggling consumers, such a program would soon backfire by driving inflation even higher, York told CBS News. The COVID stimulus checks caused inflation to rise by 2.6% during the pandemic, according to 2023 research from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

“We would be stimulating the economy in a really massive way with $5,000 payments, when the economy is not really calling for that,” she said. “You’re really kind of worsening the problem that you’re supposedly trying to address with this proposal.”

Edited by Alain Sherter