Up First from NPR - Vance and Charlie Kirk, Patel On The Hill, Fed Preview

Episode Date: September 16, 2025

Vice President JD Vance calls Charlie Kirk’s death personal and political, vowing to target groups he blames for fueling violence. FBI Director Kash Patel faces senators after his tweets during the Kirk investigation raised questions about his leadership. And the Federal Reserve is expected to cut interest rates as President Trump reshapes the central bank’s governing board.Want more comprehensive analysis of the most important news of the day, plus a little fun? Subscribe to the Up First newsletter.Today’s episode of Up First was edited by Roberta Rampton, Ana Yukhananov, Rafael Nam, Mohamad ElBardicy, and Olivia HamptonIt was produced by Ziad Buchh, Nia Dumas and Christopher Thomas.We get engineering support from Stacey Abbott. And our technical director is Carleigh Strange.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Vice President Vance is turning Charlie Kirk's death into a mission. We're going to go after the NGO network that fomence, facilitates, and engages in violence. He blames the left for political violence. I'm May Martinez, that's Michelle Martin, and this is up first from NPR News. FBI director Cash Patel faces lawmakers on Capitol Hill today. His tweets during the Kirk investigation caused confusion. Could I have worded it a little better in the heat of the the moment? Sure. But do I regret putting it out? Absolutely not. Was he being transparent or just

reckless? And the Federal Reserve is set to cut interest rates just as President Trump installs a close ally on the board. So is the Fed following the data or folding under the president's pressure? Stay with us, we'll give you news you need to start your day. Hey, it's Rachel Martin. I'm the host of Wildcard from NPR. For a lot of my years as a radio, host, silence sort of made me nervous. That pause before an answer, because you don't know what's going on on the other side of the mic. But these days, I love it. Hmm. Ah. Gosh. Give me a minute. Yeah, yeah. Think. Listen to the Wild Card podcast only from NPR. When J.D. Vance first started thinking about running for public office, he says one of the first

people he called was Charlie Kirk, someone known for organizing young conservative voters. Kirk introduced Vance as some people who would end up running his Senate campaign. A few years later, Kirk lobbied publicly and privately for Vance to become Donald Trump's running mate. If it weren't for Charlie Kirk, I would not be the vice president of the United States. After Kirk was killed last week, Vance now says he's going to help carry forward his friend's political legacy. NPR White House correspondent Franco Ordonez joins us now. So, Franco, that clip we played was from Vance hosting Charlie Kirk's podcast yesterday. What's that out to you from this two-hour show? Yeah, a Vance really emphasized that the administration plans to target political violence.

And what they say they're talking about is left-wing riots and attacks on law enforcement. But Vance and others on that podcast also say that they believe vitriol from the left played a role in Kirk's death. And I'll just note that the suspect is doing court on Tuesday. And right now, there is little known about the investigation and a possible motive. Here's what Vance said about his mission now. We're going to go after the NGO network that Fomence, facilitates, and engages in violence. That's not okay. All right.

So you mentioned an NGO network there. What's he referring to? I mean, it's not really clear. I mean, what NGOs Vance is referring to. And what I even asked President Trump about it later in the day, and he didn't get into details earlier. But a few days ago, Trump singled out the Democratic donor, George Soros, who was funded progressive causes. Trump said Soros should be investigated for federal racketeering charges. Now, Soros and his Open Society foundations have dismissed these allegations, and they've condemned Kirk's killing.

Okay. Now, it hasn't even been a week yet since Charlie Kirk was killed. What role has J.D. Vance been playing since? You know, this is very personal for Vance after the shooting, the vice president and his wife, Usha Vance, traveled to Utah, and they were a real source of support for Kirk's widow. They flew with her and Kirk's Casket on Air Force 2 back to Kirk's home state of Arizona. And as you guys noted earlier, Vance gives so much credit to Kirk for his own political career. Vance has been talking about all the things that Kirk did for him, how he believed in him, even when he was pretty much an unknown. Kirk also connected Vance with donors. He connected Vance with Donald Trump Jr., who also came to champion Vance to become his father's running mate.

So obviously very, very personal for J.D. Vance, but this is also a political moment as well. So tell us about that. Yeah, I mean, it really is. I mean, this is Washington, of course, where politics underscore most things. Vance clearly has ambitions beyond the vice presidency, and there are many eyes watching him in this moment. Ryan Williams, who is a longtime Republican strategist, told me that Vance is the top official in the Trump White House who has these deep ties to the movement that Kirk was leading. The vice president can just very naturally step in and help promote Kirk's message and also console his supporters. Yeah, Vance is seen as the next generation. He's young. He's only 41 years old. And as Williams put it, Vance lives that faith-based

lifestyle that Kirk promoted. Vance is considered a young and upcoming warrior of conservative values. And he's someone who Kirk's followers can relate to. All right. That's NPR White House correspondent Franco Ordonez. Thank a lot. Thank you. FBI Director Cash Patel is said to testify today before lawmakers on Capitol Hill. His appearance comes as Patel faces questions about his ability to lead the nation's premier law enforcement agency. NPR Justice correspondent, Ryan Lucas, is covering this. And he's with us now here in our studios. Good morning, Ryan. Good morning.

So Patel's appearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee today. It turns out that it was already skilled. But obviously, there's more to talk about now. What are you expecting to hear today? Well, you're right. There certainly is a lot to talk about, including, of course, the recent shooting of conservative organizer Charlie Kirk we were just talking about, and the 22-year-old man from Utah who is in custody as the suspected shooter. State authorities in Utah are expected to formally charge him later today. But in Congress, the FBI's response to the shooting, and Patel's actions in particular are likely to come under scrutiny from lawmakers. I expect some senators, certainly Democrats, to press Patel about his posts on social media during the manhunt. Patel said just hours after the shooting that the subject was in custody, only to tweet roughly 90 minutes later that the person had been released and the investigation was still ongoing. Patel was on Fox and Friends yesterday. He was asked about those tweets. Here's what he said. Could I have worded it a little better in the heat of the moment? Sure. But do I regret putting it out? Absolutely not. I was telling the world what the FBI was doing as we were doing. And I'm continuing to do that. So you hear no regrets there.

But look, it is highly unusual, if not unheard of for FBI officials to use social media like Patel did here. It leads to mistakes. it leads to public confusion. And in this instance, it has fueled questions about Patel's ability to lead the Bureau through high-stakes moments like these. So to be clear, there were already questions about Patel's suitability to lead the FBI. Now that he's been in charge for seven months, have any of those questions subsided? Not really. No. In many ways, they've only grown. Last week, for example, three senior FBI officials, some of the FBI's most lauded agents sued Patel and the FBI. They argue in their lawsuit that they were fired for improper political

reasons, even though Patel had promised at his confirmation hearing that no one would be fired for such improper reasons. Now, the lawsuit describes Patel and his deputy, former right-wing podcaster Dan Bongino, and their fellow leaders at the Justice Department as partisan, as inept. It also says that Patel told one of the fired agents that DOJ leaders and the White House had instructed Patel to fire anyone involved in past investigations of President Trump, and that Patel said his own job depended on doing so. The FBI has declined to comment. It declined to comment when the lawsuit was filed. But look, when Trump tapped Patel to lead the FBI, there were a lot of concerns about his temperament because he was seen as a Trump loyalist as someone who would do the president's bidding, including pursuing his promise campaign of retribution.

And that line of questioning remains front and center. Now that Patel's been in the job these seven months. Ryan, what does your reporting indicate about whether Patel's job is secure or not? Well, it's interesting. There's been some reporting that the White House was not happy with Patel's social media. steps during the Kirk investigation. Ultimately, law enforcement did catch a suspect within a day and a half, and Patel has been playing that up in his public comments since then. He's also been talking up decisions that he said he made that led to the suspect's capture, such as putting out public

photos and video. President Trump told Fox News over the weekend that he was proud of the FBI and that Patel and everyone else have done a great job in the Kirk investigation. And Patel, always the active one on social media, promptly reposted that headline. That is NPR justice correspondent, Ryan Lucas. Ryan, thank you. Thank you. The Federal Reserve begins a two-day policy meeting today that's likely to end with the central bank cutting interest rates for the first time this year.

But here's a thing. There's been some last-minute scrambling over who will take part in that rate decision. And it comes as President Trump has been waging an all-out campaign to get the Fed to lower interest rates. And here is Scott. Scott Horsey is with us now with the latest. Good morning, Scott.

Good morning, Michelle. So what's the Fed expected to do this week? Markets are all but certain the Fed is going to cut its benchmark interest rate by a quarter percentage point. That would make it a little bit cheaper to finance a car purchase or bankroll a business or just carry a balance on your credit card. The Fed has been holding rates steady ever since December, partly out of concern that President Trump's tariffs might rekindle inflation. That concern has not gone away, but it has taken a back seat for now to worries about the job market, you know, hiring. has slowed sharply in recent months. So the Fed is expected to start cutting rates again to try to prevent the job market from weakening further. So is Trump getting what he has made

very clear that he wants? Well, he's getting a bit of what he wants at his lower interest rates. But, you know, the president wanted rate cuts months ago, and he continues to agitate on social media and elsewhere for bigger rate cuts now. He's repeatedly mocked Fed Chairman Jerome Powell for not acting more aggressively. And now the president is trying to reshape the committee that makes these interest rate decisions. Here's how Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren described the president's high-pressure tactics at a Senate hearing earlier this month. He wants to install his lackeys so that we will have a Fed that uses its power to please the president, but that can't be trusted to keep inflation under control. And some of those personnel moves by the president have come

to a head in just the last 24 hours or so. So, Scott, tell us more about that. Well, the president has just installed one of his allies, White House economist Stephen Myron, to fill a short-term vacancy on the Fed's seven-member governing board. Myron was confirmed on a mostly party-line vote by the Senate last night in the nick of time to take part in today's meeting. His appointment has raised eyebrows in part because Myron's not giving up his White House job. He's only taking the leave of absence. And critics warned that could give the president undue influence over the Fed, which is supposed to operate independently of the administration. Even more controversial is Trump's effort to oust Fed Governor Lisa Cook over unproven allegations from

a Trump loyalist. The Cook made false statements on a mortgage application years ago. Cook has denied any wrongdoing and gone to court to keep her seat on the Fed board. That also came down to the wire. A federal appeals court ruled two to one late last night to allow Cook to remain on the board, at least for now. So big picture, Scott, what does all this drama at the Fed mean for the economy? Well, in the short term, not much. Neither, my Norcoq is expected to cast a decisive vote this week on interest rates. But longer term, this is a real showdown over how much control the president is allowed to exercise at the central bank. And the stakes are high.

As Senator Warren notes, whenever central banks operate under the influence of politicians, they typically do a worse job of managing inflation. When the Fed loses its credibility, businesses and consumers stop trusting it to control inflation and start acting like inflation is here to stay. And that raises prices across the board for American families in the long run. That's why the Fed and other central banks were set up to be insulated from political pressure. That norm, like so many others, is now being tested by this president. That is. NPR Scott Horsley. Scott, thank you.

You're welcome. And that's up first for Tuesday, September 6th. 16th. I'm Michelle Martin. And I'm me, Martinez. Thanks for waking up with MPR. Your MPR station makes Up First possible each and every morning. Support their work in ours at donate.nepr.org slash Up First. Today's episode of Up First was edited by Roberta Ramton, Anna Yucaninoff, Raphael Nam, Mohamed Elberdisi, and Olivia Hampton.

It was produced by Zia Budge, Mia Dumas, and Christopher Thomas. We get engineering support from Stacey Abbott and our technical directors, Carly Strange. We hope you'll join us again tomorrow. tomorrow.