The $1.2 Trillion Surprise

Good afternoon. This is the Afternoon Sun newsletter for Sept. 10, 2026. You can get it in your inbox every day by signing up here — it’s free!

THE LATEST

Key Republicans say they were blindsided by Trump’s call for $5,000 checks, The Sun’s Jeff Stein, Al Weaver and Reese Gorman report.

• The $1.2 trillion surprise proposal shocked senior Republicans, including John Thune. The White House does not appear to have consulted leading conservative think tanks or advocacy groups, either.
• JD Vance defended the idea, and Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) said he will “get a bill ready” to get the “Trump Dividend” passed immediately after the midterms.

Trump also announced that around 1 million Americans will receive $500 from the government as a rebate for excessive Affordable Care Act fees.

A federal appeals court denied the Trump administration’s request to lift a block on new rules for mail-in ballots before the midterms. The case is awaiting the Supreme Court’s weigh-in.

THE HILL

Sen. Chris Van Hollen sent a letter to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman expressing concern about the company’s latest model, the Afternoon Sun first reports. The Maryland Democrat is requesting a public response about potential gaps in the company’s safety framework for its GPT-6 Astra model.

New Mexico lawmakers called on Apple and Google to keep using New Mexico on their map applications rather than Trump’s suggested name for the state, New America.

THE ADMINISTRATION

Scoop: The Trump administration awarded a $45.3 million contract to construct a flight simulator to train pilots and aircrew to fly his Qatari-gifted Air Force One, The Sun’s Mark Alfred reports.

A Jimmy Kimmel interview with Texas Democrat James Talarico will not air on television amid an ongoing legal dispute between ABC and the FCC. The segment will be uploaded onto YouTube instead.

THE COURTS

The Supreme Court stopped Missouri Republicans from using their new GOP-friendly congressional map that targeted one of two Democratic U.S. House seats.

• The Missouri Supreme Court ruled state Secretary of State Denny Hoskins had violated its order by directing officials to use a map the court had already rejected — but said Hoskins had since “purged himself of contempt” by directing officials to not use it about an hour before the court’s 2 p.m. hearing.

Denver and several advocacy groups asked a federal judge to prohibit the Trump administration from deploying federal immigration agents to polling sites ahead of the midterms.

A federal appeals court compared the Trump administration’s no-bond immigrant detention policy to the mass internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, in a scathing decision.

THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL

Vivek Ramaswamy deleted a campaign video of himself in a batting cage after the Ohio Republican gubernatorial candidate’s swings became an online punch line.

THERE’S ALWAYS A GATE

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