Month: September 2025

Conservative activist and Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk was shot and killed during an outdoor event at Utah Valley University in Orem, just north of Provo. Kirk, 31, was shot from the university’s Losee Center, roughly 200 feet away from where he was speaking when he suffered a single gunshot wound to the neck. Kirk was participating in an event at the school as part of his organization’s “The American Comeback Tour” when he was shot and killed.

The FBI said it is working alongside state and local law enforcement “to fully investigate and seek justice in the fatal shooting” of Kirk, with the FBI asking for tips from the public as the manhunt for the gunman continued, urging anyone with information, photos and video from the incident to share it with investigators.

President Trump confirmed Kirk’s death, sharing in a Truth Social post: “The Great, and even Legendary, Charlie Kirk, is dead. No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie. He was loved and admired by ALL, especially me, and now, he is no longer with us. Melania and my Sympathies go out to his beautiful wife Erika, and family. Charlie, we love you!”

A spokesperson for Turning Point USA also released a statement on Kirk’s death: “It is with a heavy heart that we confirm that Charles James Kirk has been murdered by a gunshot that took place during Turning Point USA’s ‘The American Comeback Tour’ campus event at Utah Valley University on September 10, 2025. May he be received into the merciful arms of our loving savior, who suffered and died for Charlie. We ask that everyone keep his family and loved ones in your prayers. We ask that you please respect their privacy and dignity at this time.”

Authorities in Utah provided an update on the ongoing manhunt for the gunman, with state and federal agencies co-lead ing the investigation into what they believe was a targeted attack. The Utah Department of Public Safety said in a press release: “We initially took in George Zinn as a suspect. He was later released and charged with obstruction by UVU police. A second suspect, Zachariah Qureshi, was taken into custody and released after interrogation with law enforcement. There are no current ties to the shooting with either of these individuals. There is an ongoing investigation and manhunt for the shooter.”

The White House lowered its flags to half-staff within an hour after Trump confirmed Kirk’s death. The President also issued a proclamation ordering flags to lowered to half-staff at the at all federal buildings, embassies, consular offices and other U.S. government properties abroad until sunset on Sept. 14, 2025. Trump wrote on Truth Social: “In honor of Charlie Kirk, a truly Great American Patriot, I am ordering all American Flags throughout the United States lowered to Half Mast until Sunday evening at 6 P.M. “

Kirk co-founded Turning Point in 2012 at the age of 18, a conservative non-profit that promotes conservative causes and viewpoints at colleges, universities and elsewhere.  Kirk was a prominent supporter of Pres. Trump who courted young voters and used his network of nonprofits to seek to turn out voters on campuses and churches for Trump in 2024. A native of Illinois, Kirk and his wife Erika Frantzve were married in 2021, and the couple shared two young children.

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The U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of the Inspector General announced Wednesday that they have opened an inquiry into the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) methods for gathering and publishing key economic data for the Consumer Price Index and the Producer Price Index.

In a letter sent by Laura Nicolosi, the department’s Assistant Inspector General for Audit, to the BLS’s acting director, William Wiatrowski, the OIG announced the intent to review the department. The letter stated that “our focus will be on the challenges and related mitigating strategies for (1) collecting PPI and CPI data, and (2) collecting and reporting, including revising, monthly employment data,” adding that the BLS recently issued “a large downward revision of its estimate of new jobs in the monthly Employment Situation Report.”

The review comes just a day after the BLS announced its latest annual revisions, which showed nearly one million fewer people were employed in the year ending in March than earlier figures had indicated. Nicolosi did not specifically mention the revisions in her letter, however, she referenced worries linked to a recent “large downward revision” in job growth that appeared in the agency’s monthly employment reports. Nicolosi’s letter said the investigation would not only examine employment data but also look closely at the production of two critical inflation indicators: the Consumer Price Index and the Producer Price Index.

The scrutiny also follows last month’s dismissal of BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer, who was removed by Trump after the agency cut job growth estimates for May and June by a combined 258,000. Without evidence, Trump alleged that McEntarfer had manipulated the figures for political reasons.

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Three former senior FBI leaders have filed a lawsuit against FBI Director Kash Patel and Attorney General Pam Bondi, alleging they were dismissed under orders from the White House and the Justice Department.

The complaint, filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., Wednesday, alleges that Patel carried out the firings to protect his own position, telling one of the agents that his job as FBI director depended on firing agents involved in past investigations of President Trump. NPR and MSNBC were the first outlets to report the lawsuit.

Patel allegedly said “he had to fire the people his superiors told him to fire, because his ability to keep his own job depended on the removal of the agents who worked on cases involving the President .. Patel explained that there was nothing [anyone] could do to stop these or any other firings, because ‘the FBI tried to put the President in jail and he hasn’t forgotten it.’”

The three fired agents who brought the case were decorated veterans of the agency who had served in senior roles. One of the agents, Brian Driscoll, had briefly been acting FBI director while Patel was going through the Senate confirmation process. Steven Jensen served as assistant director in charge of the Washington, D.C., field office. Spencer Evans had once led the Las Vegas field office, but by the time he was fired he had been removed from that position and was being relocated to the Huntsville, Alabama, office. According to the complaint, Driscoll indicated he believed Patel was referring to his superiors at the White House and the Justice Department which “Patel did not deny.” In the lawsuit, Driscoll, Jensen, and Evans ask a federal court to rule that their dismissals are legally invalid. They are also seeking a formal “name-clearing” hearing and reinstatement to their positions.

The filing comes after a report stated that Driscoll was removed from his role shortly after resisting a Justice Department order. At the time, DOJ sought a list of all FBI agents who had participated in investigations connected to the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol. Driscoll wrote in a memo to FBI staff that “this request covers thousands of employees nationwide who contributed to those cases. I count myself among them.”

The FBI  and the Justice Department have not yet responded to requests for a comment.

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A judge in Michigan has dismissed criminal charges against 15 individuals accused of trying to falsely certify Donald Trump as the winner of the 2020 presidential race in the state — a significant setback for prosecutors as similar cases in other states face ongoing challenges. The case had been pending since Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, a Democrat, announced the charges more than two years ago.

During a hearing on Tuesday, District Court Judge Kristen D. Simmons ruled that the Republican defendants would not stand trial.  Judge Simmons announced Tuesday that “these cases will not be bound over to the circuit court, Each case will be dismissed.”

The group of so-called ‘fake electors’ — which included several prominent state GOP figures — faced eight counts each of forgery and conspiracy to commit election forgery. The most serious charges carried potential sentences of up to 14 years in prison. According to investigators, the defendants gathered at the Michigan Republican Party headquarters in December 2020 and signed a certificate falsely claiming they were the state’s “duly elected and qualified electors.” However, former President Joe Biden won Michigan by nearly 155,000 votes, a result later upheld by a Republican-led state Senate investigation in 2021.

Electors, who make up the 538-member Electoral College, are responsible for formally choosing the president. In nearly all states, electors cast ballots for the candidate who won the statewide popular vote. Only Nebraska and Maine use a system that also allocates votes by congressional district.

Michigan’s case is one of several brought nationwide tied to efforts to install alternate slates of electors for Trump despite his 2020 loss. Prosecutors in Nevada, Georgia, Wisconsin, and Arizona have filed similar charges, but none of those prosecutions have moved into the trial phase, with many slowed by appeals and procedural disputes.

In Nevada, the attorney general revived the case last year. In Arizona, a judge ordered prosecutors to return their case to a grand jury this past May. Wisconsin courts recently allowed felony charges against three Trump allies to proceed, rejecting defense requests to dismiss the case. Meanwhile, the high-profile prosecution in Georgia is effectively paused as Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis fights an appeal over her removal from the case. Although Trump technically remains a defendant, legal experts note that prosecuting a sitting president is highly unlikely.

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A new federal report shows that U.S. high school seniors are performing at their weakest levels in reading and math in more than 30 years. According to a new report from the National Center for Education Statistics, which released its findings Tuesday in what it calls the Nation’s Report Card, students across the country are increasingly struggling to meet proficiency standards in science, math and reading.

The report, published by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), found that average scores for 12th graders in both subjects fell three points between 2019 and 2022, marking the steepest decline since the assessments began in 1992. The 2022 results mark the first NAEP assessments administered since the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted in-person learning nationwide. The exams, given every two years since 1969, provide one of the most consistent long-term snapshots of student performance in the U.S.

Pre-pandemic results already showed limited progress. In 2018, eighth graders saw no gains in math and only a one-point increase in reading, with an average score of 267 out of 500. The pandemic-era data confirms that many students continued to struggle in the aftermath of remote instruction.

The center evaluated approximately 23,000 eighth graders in science,19,300 12th graders in mathematics and 24,300 12th graders in reading from January to March 2024. Upon assessing eighth graders in science and 12th graders in mathematics and reading, the students’ average scores dropped in each subject between 2019 and 2024.

The report also highlighted setbacks in science. Among eighth graders, average scores dropped four points since 2019. Nearly one-third of students tested scored below the “basic” benchmark—the lowest share since 2005—while 45% of 12th graders and 38% of eighth graders were also below basic levels, suggesting many are struggling to grasp even foundational science concepts.

U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon described the findings as “bleak” and noted that despite billions spent on K-12 programs each year, achievement gaps continue to widen and said that “more high school seniors are now performing below the basic benchmark in math and reading than ever before.” McMahon also argued during a visit to Detroit on Monday that more authority over education should be shifted to state governments, and underscored the urgency of reversing the decline: “If America is to remain competitive in the world, students must be able to read proficiently, think critically, and graduate ready to tackle complex challenges,” she said.

U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Mich.), chair of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, said in a post on X about McMahon’s visit to Michigan that restoring control to states would allow parents and communities to better equip children with the skills needed for future success.

The National Association of Secondary School Principals, meanwhile, urged caution in interpreting the results, emphasizing that test scores represent only one measure of student achievement. The group said in a statement on X:  “Students need more mental health supports, educators need resources, and schools need safe environments to thrive.”

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