El-Sayed torched online after uneasy union member struggles through campaign event

2026-09-01T13:34:35-04:00 / Fox News

The UAW member had never spoken at a press conference before, and conservative critics questioned whether she was coerced

By Robert Schmad Fox News

Published September 1, 2026 1:34pm EDT

Union member repeatedly pauses during remarks at El-Sayed news conference

A woman speaking at a campaign event for Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed went viral after appearing nervous while on stage. (Credit: WJBK)

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A woman delivering remarks at a news conference held by Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed on Monday appeared visibly nervous and repeatedly paused during her speech, prompting a wave of speculation on social media about the reason for her unease.

The woman, whom El-Sayed’s staff identified as a union member employed by a truck factory, paused at multiple points during her speech, was breathing heavily and appeared uneasy. El-Sayed and Democratic State Sen. Mallory McMorrow both attempted to comfort the woman as she trudged through her remarks.

Some conservative commentators on social media questioned whether the woman had been coerced into speaking at the event, while others used the moment to criticize El-Sayed’s campaign organization. These claims drew the ire of Mallory McMorrow, who ran against El-Sayed in the state’s Democratic primary but has since endorsed his candidacy.

“She had never spoken at a press conference before. Beforehand, she shared with me that she was really nervous. But she told me it was important for her to be there as a UAW member because she believed in using her voice for her fellow members and for working families,” the state senator wrote on X. “But the way you all are tearing her apart … It’s callous, cruel and it’s no wonder why so many people absolutely despise this moment that we’re in.”

DEMOCRATS’ CIVIL WAR HEADS TO MICHIGAN WHERE PROGRESSIVES FACE BIGGEST TEST YET IN HIGH-STAKES SENATE SHOWDOWN

US Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed speaks during a press conference in Detroit, Mich., on Aug. 5, 2026, after narrowly winning the Michigan Democratic Senate nomination. He was flanked by Michigan State Sen. Mallory McMorrow and Michigan Democratic Party Chair Curtis Hertel Jr.(AFP via Getty Images)

Some commentators focused on the union member’s race, tying the episode to broader criticism of El-Sayed’s support among Black voters in the Democratic primary.

BLACK VOTERS RIP DEMS OVER TAKING THEM FOR GRANTED IN EL-SAYED’S BACKYARD: ‘HUSH US UP’

Mallory McMorrow campaigns at the Michigan Democratic Nominating Convention in Detroit on April 19, 2026.(Jim West/UCG/Universal Images Group)

“Abdul’s support from black Michiganders summed up perfectly in 40 seconds,” radio host and conservative columnist Derek Hunter wrote on X.

“The El Sayed campaign is in free fall,” Trump administration official Richard Grenell said.

Others questioned whether the woman even wanted to be speaking at a campaign event.

“Are they holding a gun to her back?” an organization purporting to represent Democrats backing GOP Senate nominee Mike Rogers posted in response to the clip.

“She seems to be under duress! Looks like she’s being coerced into speaking. Very eerie!” conservative commentator Link Lauren wrote.

“Is it just me or does she look hostage-level nervous?” another X user asked.

“Haven’t seen someone set themselves on fire for no reason like this since Aaron Bushnell,” Daily Signal senior correspondent Tony Kinnett posted.

MICHIGAN DEMOCRAT MALLORY MCMORROW DROPS OUT OF SENATE RACE WEEKS BEFORE PRIMARY

Abdul El-Sayed, a Democratic Senate candidate in Michigan, speaks to supporters at a campaign event, on August 2, 2026, in Detroit, Michigan(Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)

Zaid Jilani, a left-of-center journalist, responded to criticisms of the union member by stating that “conservatives lose a lot of support by being needlessly cruel.”

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The El-Sayed campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment when reached by Fox News Digital on Tuesday.

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Ford recalls nearly 149,000 Mustang vehicles over “loss of drive power” risk

September 1, 2026 / 1:33 PM EDT / CBS News
By Mary Cunningham

Ford Motor Company is recalling 148,663 Mustang vehicles due to an issue that could cause the cars to lose power or disrupt other functions, such as the headlights, increasing the risk of a crash.

Federal safety regulators said in a recall notice that an issue with the electrical wiring system in certain Mustang vehicles could lead to a “loss of drive power, or a loss of function in the windshield washing system, headlights, air conditioning, or engine cooling fan.”

The recall includes 2024 to 2026 Ford Mustang vehicles that were produced between Sept. 7, 2022 and June 9, 2026. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said 1% of the vehicles are expected to have the defect.

Letters informing owners of the issue are slated to go out between Aug. 31 and Sept. 4. Additional letters will be mailed once a remedy is available, around March 2027.

Drivers can bring affected Mustang vehicles to a Ford or Lincoln dealer to have their engine compartment wiring harness ground terminals replaced free of charge, the recall notice says.

NHTSA’s recall number is 26V547. Ford’s recall number is 26C40.

Edited by Aimee Picchi

US states’ lawsuit seeking to curb abortion drug access paused for now

2026-09-01 18:35:39 UTC / Reuters

By Daniel Wiessner

September 1, 2026 6:35 PM UTC Updated 35 mins ago

Boxes of Mifepristone, the first pill in a medical abortion, are seen at Alamo Women’s Clinic in Carbondale, Illinois, U.S., April 9, 2024. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/File Photo

Sept 1 (Reuters) – A federal judge paused a lawsuit by Florida and Texas seeking to severely limit access to the abortion pill mifepristone nationwide while President Donald Trump’s administration completes a ​review of the drug’s safety.

U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor in Fort Worth, Texas, said ‌on Monday that because the states’ Republican attorneys general and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which is conducting the review, had agreed to put the case on hold, it was reasonable to do so.

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O’Connor also rejected a ​motion by drugmakers GenBioPro and Danco Laboratories, which make mifepristone and have intervened in the ​lawsuit, to dismiss the case. The judge, an appointee of Republican President ⁠George W. Bush, paused the lawsuit until the sooner of December 1 or when the ​FDA completes its review.

The lawsuit filed last December challenges the FDA’s initial 2000 approval of mifepristone and ​regulations adopted under Democratic Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden expanding access to the drug, including a 2023 rule allowing mifepristone to be dispensed through the mail. A judge in April put on hold a separate lawsuit by the ​state of Louisiana challenging that regulation.

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The offices of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Florida ​Attorney General James Uthmeier, and GenBioPro and Danco, did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Tuesday.

The ‌FDA first ⁠announced the review of mifepristone, which is used in more than 60% of U.S. abortions, last year. The study has reportedly been delayed until after the November midterm elections.

Nearly half of U.S. states have banned or severely restricted access to abortion since the U.S. Supreme Court rolled back the ​constitutional right to undergo ​the procedure in 2022. ⁠That has driven a surge in medication abortion and spurred a series of legal battles over access to the drugs.

Medication abortion is a two-drug regimen ​consisting of mifepristone followed by misoprostol used to terminate a pregnancy ​within the first ⁠10 weeks.

Five states have filed three separate lawsuits, which generally claim the FDA has failed to thoroughly evaluate the safety and effectiveness of mifepristone since its initial approval and disregarded the risks to the ⁠women ​who take it.

Most major medical groups, and the FDA at ​various times over the last quarter-century, have said that mifepristone is safe and effective when taken as directed and that ​serious adverse events are rare.

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Reporting by Daniel Wiessner in Albany, New York; Editing by Bill Berkrot

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Modest pay hikes next year could leave some workers lagging inflation

September 1, 2026 2:51 PM EDT / CBS News

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Megan Cerullo Reporter, MoneyWatch
Megan Cerullo is a New York-based reporter for CBS MoneyWatch covering small business, workplace, health care, consumer spending and personal finance topics. She regularly appears on CBS News 24/7 to discuss her reporting.

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Employers are likely to offer their workers only modest pay hikes in 2027, according to a new estimate.

Salary increases next year are forecast to average 3.5%, including merit raises, cost-of-living adjustments, promotions and other pay increases, Marsh, a professional services firm, found in a survey of 1,000 U.S. organizations.

“2023 was the high-water mark for salary increases, and since then, we’ve seen them moderate,” Marsh compensation expert Mark Bowling told CBS News. “We may have reached a new normal for what organizations are budgeting for salary increases.”

Marsh noted that most employers have yet to finalize their budgeting decisions. If the projections hold, however, limited pay increases could leave many employees barely keeping up with inflation. Consumer prices rose at a 3.4% annual rate in July, although economists generally expect inflation to fade this year and in 2027.

Bowling noted that companies face the challenge of strategically distributing their limited compensation budgets across their ranks, especially amid ongoing economic uncertainty. “They focus on increases where they can have the greatest impact on retention and their business priorities.”

That’s why many employers are moving away from spreading pay hikes evenly across their workforces in what is known as “peanut-butter” raises in favor of sweetening the comp of strong individual performers, according to Payscale.

Indeed, top performers in higher-paying sectors could see higher pay hikes next year, Marsh’s survey shows. For example, the average projected salary increase among high-tech companies is 3.8%, while banking industry workers could see average raises of 3.7%.

By contrast, workers in industries where job opportunities are dwindling, such as retail, could receive lower pay increases that fall short of inflation.

“There are going to be folks who aren’t keeping up with inflation,” Bowling said.

Edited by Alain Sherter

Congress votes to avert government shutdown ahead of midterm elections

2026-09-01T18:06:55.861Z / CNN

By Annie Grayer, Ellis Kim
Updated 1 hr 2 min ago
Updated Sep 1, 2026, 3:02 PM ET
PUBLISHED Sep 1, 2026, 2:06 PM ET

The US Capitol on August 23.

Finn Gomez/Getty Images/File

The House passed a bill on Tuesday to extend government funding to December 11, clearing a path to avert a shutdown ahead of the midterm elections.

The bill passed with overwhelming bipartisan support and now heads to President Donald Trump’s desk to be signed into law.

By extending government funding beyond the September 30 deadline, lawmakers are taking the threat of a shutdown off the table to focus on the final campaign sprint ahead of the November elections, where control of Congress is at stake.

Government funding has frequently been a divisive issue this Congress, which holds the record for the longest shutdown in US history. But Tuesday’s vote passed with little fanfare as lawmakers are eager to get out of Washington and back on the campaign trail.

House lawmakers voted on the Senate’s version of a short-term government funding bill that the chamber passed last month before leaving town for August recess.

The Senate measure differed from an initial funding extension offered by the House in several ways, including a lack of funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection, which have already been funded through the end of Trump’s term, and a temporary block on a proposed administration rule that critics warn would further politicize federal grants.

Rising bond yields threaten to push up U.S. borrowing costs, experts say. Here’s what to know.

2026-09-01 3:12 PM EDT / CBS News

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Treasury yields edged higher on Tuesday, extending a global bond sell-off and threatening to raise borrowing costs for millions of Americans.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which influences mortgage rates, rose to 4.78%, up from 4.75% late Monday and the highest level since January 2025. The yield on the 2-year Treasury, which closely tracks expectations for the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decisions, rose to 4.37%, up from 4.34% late Monday. The 30-year Treasury hovered around 5.25% on Tuesday.

The global rout pushed a key Bloomberg gauge of bond yields to 3.72%, its highest level since June 2008. The sell-off is being driven partly by persistently higher inflation and concerns about government debt, prompting investors to demand higher yields as compensation for the added risk.

“Fiscal concerns, rising energy prices and AI-related investment have lifted long-term government bond yields across major economies to multi-decade highs,” James Reilly, a senior markets economist at Capital Economics, said in a research note Tuesday.

Here’s what to know about the sell-off and what it means for you.

Why are bond yields rising?

Yields are rising as investors, spooked by inflation and rising government debt, dump their government bonds. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions, with rising yields signaling that investors are demanding higher returns as investments grow increasingly risky.

Investors are also worried about rising energy prices as the U.S. and Iran continue to clash. The U.S. launched its military action against Iran in a month this weekend, causing oil prices to spike. Renewed tensions raised concerns that the war, now in its seventh month, could further fuel inflation and push up borrowing costs.

“The spike in borrowing costs comes as the latest flare-up in the U.S.-Iran war has raised concerns that central banks will hike interest rates to combat inflation from higher energy costs,” Morningstar, an investment research company, said in a post on Tuesday.

Stubborn price pressures have been a concern for the Federal Reserve, which has sought to bring inflation down to its goal of a 2% annual pace. Last week, while speaking at the central bank’s annual conference in Wyoming, Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh said the Fed will have “work to do” if inflation doesn’t subside, suggesting that the Fed could be prepared to raise interest rates when it meets next from Sept. 15 to 16.

Interest rate traders now believe there’s a 66% likelihood that the Fed will raise rates in September, according to CME Group’s FedWatch tool.

What does the bond sell-off mean for you?

Movements in the U.S. bond market influence what everyday Americans pay for loans and how much interest they earn on their savings accounts.

Higher government yields can deliver a blow to borrowers by pushing up costs for everything from auto loans to mortgages. The average 30-year mortgage rate, for example, tends to track the 10-year Treasury, meaning rising yields can push up home borrowing costs.

Elevated borrowing costs also tend to weigh on stock prices, gold and cryptocurrencies, while making it more difficult for businesses to expand.

While higher yields hurt borrowers, they can help increase earnings for savers with high-yield savings accounts and CDs.

Where could yields go from here?

Yields could ease, but it’s not likely in the near term, according to analysts.

“Unlike past bond sell-offs, which had an obvious and often fixable cause, this one is unlikely to suddenly shift into reverse anytime soon,” Reilly said in Capital Economics’ note on Tuesday.

Ulrike Hoffmann-Burchardi, the chief investment officer of the Americas and global head of equities for UBS Global Wealth Management, said in an email Tuesday that she expects yield volatility to persist in the near future before settling at the end of the year. She projects 30-year and 10-year Treasury yields to end the year at 5% and 4.5%, respectively.

Edited by Aimee Picchi

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

https://www.cbsnews.com/video/oil-prices-rise-again-as-us-renews-iran-strikes/

Oil prices rise again as U.S. renews Iran strikes

(02:12)

The light is blinking red on Trump messing with the 2026 election

2026-09-01T17:13:52.320Z / CNN

It should surprise nobody that the president who tried to overturn the 2020 election based on lies — and didn’t seem to mind his supporters rising up violently on January 6, 2021 — might try to monkey with the 2026 midterm elections.

It remains to be seen whether President Donald Trump’s efforts to interfere in the 2026 election will actually work.

But recent developments should serve as a reality check that he’s trying, with potentially ugly results.

First, CNN reported exclusively that the Department of Homeland Security is surging efforts to find supposed voter fraud in a handful of states.

While that might not sound shocking in and of itself, there is plenty about it that’s irregular.

The effort involves using an arm of Immigration and Customs Enforcement called Homeland Security Investigations, which typically handles other crimes like human trafficking and drug smuggling.

But mostly, the reason it should raise eyebrows is because of the proximity to the 2026 election, now just a little more than two months away. As CNN’s Priscilla Alvarez, Tierney Sneed and Gabe Cohen note, the federal government typically avoids such “overt” investigatory actions so close to an election. The reason is that mere allegations that haven’t been thoroughly examined could influence the election.

But when it comes to Trump and alleged voter fraud, that’s a feature rather than a bug.

Trump has spent a decade trying and failing to substantiate his claims of widespread fraud. In his first term, he launched a voter fraud commission that folded with little to show. His campaign paid people to find widespread fraud after the 2020 election, to no avail.

What the administration has produced of late is a lot of manufactured smoke.

That includes its bogus claim about 250,000 noncitizens being registered to vote in just four states. It also includes a highly unorthodox unsigned report from the US Census Bureau last month claiming tens of thousands of noncitizens voted in the 2020 presidential election. (Experts have decried both claims.)

The DHS effort would seem to be geared toward promoting such claims, given the department’s purview.

But if other efforts to find widespread voter fraud didn’t produce anything substantive, the odds would appear slim that DHS will change that in just two months.

Of course, producing ironclad evidence of fraud probably isn’t the point. The Trump administration’s goal appears to be seeding more doubt — and possibly even creating a pretext for more federal intervention in the election (which we’ll get to).

The other big development this week was an unnamed federal whistleblower issuing a major warning about the Trump administration’s new system for verifying mail ballots. The system has devolved into what workers describe as a “sh*t show” that could lead to mass disenfranchisement of mail voters, the whistleblower says

The whistleblower report, released by Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, builds on concerns previously expressed by election officials that the system has not been sufficiently tested ahead of the 2026 midterms.

According to the whistleblower, if even a single ballot envelope scan in a large batch of ballots doesn’t comport with the information in the system, the US Postal Service won’t deliver the entire batch until the discrepancy is resolved.

It remains to be seen whether the system will actually be used; the issue is the subject of extensive litigation. But Trump — who has himself voted by mail in Florida — has long decried mail voting. And because of that, it skews substantially toward Democrats.

In other words, if mail voters are disenfranchised, it could disproportionately hurt Democrats.

These developments only add to the warning signs about what might lay ahead.

Trump in March signed the executive order giving the USPS an unprecedented role in screening mail ballots. By June, CNN reported that the administration was planning to threaten not to deliver mail ballots for states that failed to turn over their voter lists to the federal government.

(Even some red states have resisted turning over those voter lists.)

By July, Trump delivered a primetime speech that provided no new evidence of widespread fraud, but did exaggerate China’s supposed efforts and baselessly claimed it had been covered up. That turned heads because it invoked national security, and courts generally give presidents greater latitude to take unilateral actions if national security is at stake.

And a few weeks later, Trump declined to rule out precisely such a scenario. In an interview, he left open the possibility of declaring a national security emergency to institute a series of voting changes that the GOP-controlled Congress has failed to pass, including limiting mail voting.

And last week brought a particularly striking scene.

Amid longstanding concerns that the Trump administration might overzealously insert itself into the voting process, the Republican governor of a dark-red state accused Justice Department election monitors of “aggressive” behavior while observing that state’s primary election.

Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon asked his state’s attorney general to investigate, while adding: “I don’t like the federal government coming in and taking our votes.”

Trump has previously expressed regret for not seizing voting machines after the 2020 election.

It’s impossible to say which of these developments might lead to concrete action or problems ahead of the 2026 election. Trump tends to throw things at the wall, and sometimes he backs off when they prove impractical. Other times, his and his team’s efforts prove half-baked or ham-handed. The courts could get in his way on things like his plans for mail ballots.

But as CNN’s Zachary B. Wolf wrote this weekend, there are a bevy of potential nightmare scenarios in play ahead of this fall’s midterms.

And with Trump’s party staring down a difficult election that could give Democrats at least one chamber of Congress — and thus could sap Trump of power over his final two years as president — it’s worth taking those possibilities seriously.

History and recent developments suggest Trump is capable of plenty.

WATCH: FBI agents confront Swalwell at airport in new footage as viewers zero in and pile on

September 1, 2026 1:05pm EDT / Fox News

Agents seized the former congressman’s phone and laptop as part of a federal criminal investigation

By Ashley J. DiMella
Fox News

FBI agents surround former Rep. Eric Swalwell in new footage at San Francisco Airport

Video shows FBI agents swarming former Rep. Eric Swalwell during a criminal investaigtion and seizing his electronic devices at San Francisco Airport. (Credit: Obtained by CA Post, Aug. 15)

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New footage shows former Rep. Eric Swalwell being met by FBI agents at San Francisco International Airport, prompting criticism and mockery on social media.

The video, first obtained by the California Post, shows Swalwell sporting a black sweatshirt and hat deboarding a plane where FBI agents met him at his gate on Aug. 15.

The FBI seized Swalwell’s cellphone and laptop at the airport on Aug. 15, according to Fox News Digital’s previous reporting. Swalwell resigned from Congress in April amid allegations of sexual misconduct.

The FBI searched his Washington, D.C., home the following day, Fox News Digital previously reported.

FBI SEIZES SWALWELL’S DEVICES AT AIRPORT AS SEXUAL MISCONDUCT INVESTIGATION ESCALATES: SOURCES

Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell delivers a speech as he attends the SEIU-United Service Workers West (SEIU-USWW)’s Gubernatorial Candidate Worker Forum at Meruelo Studios in Los Angeles, California, on Jan. 10, 2026.(ETIENNE LAURENT / AFP via Getty Images)

Critics took to social media to roast the California progressive, including for his attire.

“I needed this lol,” wrote former Rep. George Santos.

“He’s still cooked,” said popular conservative account Catturd.

“Looks like he’s headed to an Eminem concert,” wrote one user.

“Why is he dressed like Eminem,” said another user.

HOUSE AVOIDS UNPRECEDENTED FOUR-MEMBER EXPULSION WEEK AS SWALWELL AND GONZALES RESIGN INSTEAD

Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) speaks alongside Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) during a news conference on the introduction of their Protection from Abusive Passengers Act at the U.S. Capitol Building on April 6, 2022, in Washington, D.C. Swalwell and Reed’s legislation is designed to improve air safety, increase traveler protections, reduce in-flight violence and hold unruly passengers accountable if they assault flight attendants and airline crew members.(Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

“WTF is he wearing,” asked one woman.

Swalwell resigned from Congress in April after 13 years in office following mounting allegations of sexual misconduct, which he has denied.

He also withdrew from the California gubernatorial race.

At least five women, including one former staffer, have accused Swalwell of sexual misconduct or rape.

“I will fight the serious false allegations made against me,” Swalwell wrote at the time of his resignation. “However, I must take responsibility and ownership for the mistakes I did make.”

SWALWELL ACCUSERS DETAIL EXPERIENCES WITH LAWMAKER AFTER HE ANNOUNCES HIS RESIGNATION FROM CONGRESS

Rep. Eric Swalwell spoke during a press conference on committee assignments for the 118th Congress at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 25, 2023, in Washington, D.C.(Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

The White House recently released declassified documents related to an FBI investigation into his relationship with Christine “Fang Fang” Fang, a suspected Chinese intelligence operative.

The California progressive told FBI agents he had “physical relations” with Fang on a handful of occasions and their last sexual encounter occurred in March 2015, according to documents released by the White House Government Transparency task force.

Swalwell was interviewed by the FBI first in May 2015 and later in March 2016 regarding his relationship with Fang.

CONGRESS IS A HUGE TARGET FOR SPIES. MEMBERS AND STAFF NEED A WAKE-UP CALL AND TRAINING

Fang was previously described by U.S. officials as having suspected ties to China’s Ministry of State Security, while her parents were reportedly linked to Chinese intelligence.

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Fox News Digital reached out to Swalwell’s attorney and FBI for comment.

Fox News Digital’s Peter D’Ambrosca contributed to this report.

Ashley J. DiMella reports on politics for Fox News Digital.

USDA to test satellites, AI to try to improve crop estimates amid farmer criticism

2026-09-01T18:46:51.758Z / Reuters

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins speaks with reporters at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., August 25, 2026. REUTERS/Evan Vucci Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

• Summary

• USDA pilot to use satellite imagery, geospatial tools and crop models alongside farmer polls
• USDA said it will improve survey mobile access, explore artificial intelligence and machine learning
• Changes aim to cut repeated farmer requests for information, improve timeliness and accuracy, agency said

BOONE, Iowa, Sept 1 (Reuters) – The U.S. Department of Agriculture is launching a pilot project that will rely more heavily on technology as part of a broader effort to improve its closely watched U.S. crop acreage and yield estimates, Secretary Brooke Rollins said on Tuesday, as the agency faces mounting criticism from farmers and traders over the reliability of government agricultural data.

Rollins discussed USDA’s data modernization plan at the Farm Progress Show in Boone, Iowa, following a month-long series of listening sessions with farmers and agricultural groups.

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“We will conduct a pilot to evaluate the use of improved satellite imagery, working with NASA and other federal government agencies across the country to figure out how we can make this reporting more accurate,” Rollins said during the farm conference.

Under the plan, the project will use geospatial tools and crop models alongside farmer polls to estimate crop acreage and yields. The department also said it would explore the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning.

The announcement follows complaints about the reliability of department data from farmers, grain traders and economists after deep staff cuts and unprecedented increases between initial and final estimates of how many acres of corn U.S. farmers planted and harvested in 2025.

The data collection changes are intended to reduce the amount of information USDA repeatedly asks farmers to provide while improving the timeliness and accuracy of its statistics. USDA said it would also provide farmers with more information about its methodologies, survey response rates and limitations in its data.

Much of the criticism USDA has faced has centered on the National Agricultural Statistics Service, whose closely watched reports can move commodity markets, affect the prices crop farmers get for their harvests and influence federal farm programs. After the January final estimates were released, already low grain prices sank more than 5%, at a time when growers were struggling to make money.

Rollins’ trip to Iowa this week comes soon after the non-partisan election analysis group Cook Political Report shifted Iowa’s U.S. Senate race from “leans Republican” to “toss up” in the agriculture-dominated state, where farmers have struggled with tariffs, and rising diesel and fertilizer costs in the wake of the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran. The race is widely seen as competitive.

Democrats, eager to win control of the U.S. Senate this fall, need to win all their current seats and pick up four more, with some of those wins from states long held as Republican strongholds like Iowa.

USDA launched its listening sessions at Minnesota Farmfest on August 4. Rollins plans to host more listening sessions through this fall, USDA spokesman Harry Fones told Reuters on Tuesday.

The sessions have exposed deep frustration among farmers over the reliability of USDA statistics, staffing cuts at the agency and other Trump administration policies affecting an already strained farm economy. Rollins herself has acknowledged the loss of confidence, saying USDA needs to rebuild farmers’ trust in its data.

They also have at times become forums for farmers to vent broader grievances. When Rollins visited the Iowa State Fair last month, she faced criticism from cattle producers over President Donald Trump’s announcement that the United States would increase imports of Argentine beef — a move intended to lower consumer prices but which producers feared would hurt cattle prices.

Karl Plume reported in Boone, Iowa, and P.J. Huffstutter in Chicago. Editing by Emily Schmall and Aurora Ellis

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‘Stupidest questions’: Speaker Johnson rebuffs question on prolonged war in Iran

2026-09-01T16:56:37.827Z / CNN

By Janelle Olisea, CNN

Updated 2:24 PM EDT, Tue September 1, 2026

‘Stupidest questions’: Speaker Johnson rebuffs question on prolonged war in Iran

Asked by CNN’s Manu Raju about the prolonged warfare in Iran, Speaker Mike Johnson said he has, “nothing to do with the prosecution of the war across the globe.”

0:38 • Source: CNN