September was the last month Congress bothered to work before the midterm elections. In this episode, we’ll examine the laws signed in September, including one that significantly expands President Trump’s tariff powers, the votes that revealed where members of Congress stand on the wars in Iran and Gaza, and the impeachment vote that House Speaker Mike Johnson went out of his way to prevent.
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Background Sources
Secretary of Labor Keith Sonderling
Ethics Agreement [Letter to the U.S. Department of Labor]. Keith Sonderling. February 4, 2025. U.S. Office of Government Ethics.
Public financial disclosure report (OGE Form 278e). Keith Sonderling. 2025. U.S. Office of Government Ethics.
5 CFR § 2635.102 – Definitions.
H.R.6500 – Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2027
H.R. 6500 House Roll Call Vote – September 1, 2026.
H.R. 6500 Senate Roll Call Vote – August 8, 2026.
H.R.5334 – Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026
“What’s in the diesel deal between Putin and Trump?” October 12, 2026. Reuters.
“Concerns grow about tariffs in US sanctions bill on Russia.” Timothy Gardner and Patricia Zengerle. July 15, 2026. Reuters.
H.R.5366 – Doug LaMalfa Federal Disaster Tax Relief Certainty Act
H.R.2069 – Stop Secret Spending Act of 2025
“Federal Information Transparency: Action Needed to Improve Efficiency and Effectiveness and Enhance Program Integrity,” [GAO-26-109034]. Jeff Arkin. March 18, 2026. U.S. Government Accountability Office.
S.759 – Modernizing Access to Our Public Oceans Act
S.307 – Prison Staff Safety Enhancement Act
S. 307 House Roll Call Vote – August 31, 2026.
“Evaluation of the Federal Bureau of Prisons’ Efforts to Address Sexual Harassment and Sexual Assault Committed by Inmates Toward Staff,” [Report No. 23-034]. February 2023. U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General.
S.766 – Billion Dollar Boondoggle Act of 2025
H.R.5345 – Improving Social Security’s Service to Victims of Identity Theft Act
S.550 – A bill to provide for the equitable settlement of certain Indian land disputes regarding land in Illinois, and for other purposes
“A bill to provide for the equitable settlement of certain Indian land disputes regarding land in Illinois, and for other purposes,” [S. Rep. No. 119-76]. October 14, 2025. U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs.
S.2398 – Kay Hagan Tick Reauthorization Act
“Former U.S. senator Kay Hagan, North Carolina Democrat, dies at 66.” Harrison Smith. October 28, 2019. The Washington Post.
H.R.2196 – National Emergency Medical Services Memorial Extension Act
S.858 – Hershel ‘Woody’ Williams National Medal of Honor Monument Location Act
H.R.1276 – To remove restrictions from a parcel of land in Paducah, Kentucky
S.32 – LACA (Local Access to Courts Act)
S.603 – A bill to designate the General George C. Marshall House, in the Commonwealth of Virginia, as an affiliated area of the National Park System, and for other purposes
S.603 – A bill to designate the General George C. Marshall House, in the Commonwealth of Virginia, as an affiliated area of the National Park System, and for other purposes
S.790 – A bill to redesignate the National Historic Trails Interpretive Center in Casper, Wyoming, as the “Barbara L. Cubin National Historic Trails Interpretive Center”
H.R.3657 – Hydropower Licensing Transparency Act
H.R.7250 – To reauthorize the Fort Peck Reservation Rural Water System Act of 2000
Iran War
H. Con. Res. 93, House Roll Call Vote – September 15, 2026
H. Con. Res. 89, Senate Roll Call Vote – September 24, 2026
Israel
S. Res. 852, Senate Roll Call Vote – September 29, 2026
“Sen. John Fetterman on Democratic Divides, DSA & Israel.” August 5, 2026. The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart on YouTube.
Trump Impeachment Vote
H. Res. 1486, House Roll Call Vote – September 15, 2026.
Audio Sources
House Session
September 16, 2026
Full Transcript of Massie’s Speech
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY):
I want to spend a little bit of time, a little bit more time, on the thing that caused tomorrow to be canceled, which is the impeachment of Peter Brian Hegseth. If you’re looking over at the administrative branch and trying to give an award for the person who’s racked up the most illegal and unconstitutional act, there’s one clear winner. It’s Peter Brian Hegseth. He’s killed over 200 people in fishing boats. When you’re in a civilian mode, and you don’t have a gun, and you don’t have a drone, and you don’t have a rocket, you’re presumed to be innocent. You don’t send in soldiers to assassinate people in boats, and you certainly don’t circle back and kill the people that are floating in the water because if it were a war, there’s accepted norms of warfare. What Secretary Hegseth did by ignoring those rules of engagement, he endangered our own soldiers. He’s just encouraged every one of our adversaries to shoot our wounded, to shoot our captured, to shoot are shipwrecked because that’s what he’s doing. Pete Hegseth is waging war in Iran without a legal authorization. We passed a concurrent resolution in this body. We passed one in the House and we passed one in the Senate. And the War Powers Resolution from 1973 says if you do that, send it to the White House. They got to stop the war. They didn’t stop the war. They haven’t even paused the war for that. They don’t even acknowledge that. They say, “Oh, we don’t believe in that law. He asks us to turn off the targeting minimization procedures that keep us from blowing up civilians, minimizing it. There’ll be some casualties. Well, Congress said no. We like this law. We’re not going to repeal it. So Hegseth just shut down the department over there at the Department of Defense, and the outcome was predictable. They bombed schoolchildren on the first day of the war. I’m saying Peter Hegseth himself personally is culpable for that because he doesn’t care about rules of engagement. He has degraded the ability to discriminate between civilian targets and valid military targets. We’ve exhausted all other opportunities to try to stop this war, right? We’ve done the concurrent resolution. We’ve said that the clock ran out on the War Powers Resolution, 1973. We’ve done what we can do, and we can’t do any more, except to take Peter Hegseth out of that job.
Executive Producer Recommended Sources
“Challenging Torture.” Scott Horton. February 4, 2008. Harper’s Magazine.
Music
Tired of Being Lied To by David Ippolito
