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12:30 REPORT

It's Thursday. Do you remember, the 21st night of September?🕺 I have had that song stuck in my head all morning! At least it's a good one. Anyway, here's what's coming up today:

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is making the rounds in Washington, D.C., today. He has planned stops at the White House, Pentagon and U.S. Capitol.
Jeffrey Goldberg published a fascinating piece on Gen. Mark Milley's time working in the Trump White House. It's worth reading.
Media mogul Rupert Murdoch is retiring as chairman of Fox and News Corp.

I'm Cate Martel with a quick recap of the morning and what's coming up. Send tips, commentary, feedback and cookie recipes to cmartel@thehill.com. Did someone forward this newsletter to you? Sign up here. 

🦊 News this morning

Logan Roy, I mean Rupert Murdoch, is stepping down:

Media titan Rupert Murdoch, 92, is stepping down as the chairman of Fox and News Corp. after seven decades of building his media empire. (The Hill)

Who is taking over?: His son Lachlan Murdoch

Murdoch will still have a title at his companies: He will be given the role of chairman emeritus.

Murdoch says he timed his departure: "Murdoch insisted he was stepping down at a point where the companies are in good health after a turbulent year that saw Fox News, the crown jewel of his conservative media empire, agreed to pay $787 million to Dominion Voting Systems to settle claims of defamation out of court in connection with false statements the network aired about the company's software being promoted by former President Trump and his allies."

Read Rupert Murdoch's memo

^ Btw, that headline is not just tongue in cheek: HBO's "Succession" reportedly draws heavily from the Murdoch family. (New York Magazine)

➤ THROWBACK TO AN INTERERSTING READ FROM 2022:

"Lachlan Murdoch, once the ambivalent Fox heir, makes his views clear: The News Corp. co-chair, Rupert's eldest son, left no mystery about his conservative politics in a fiery speech." Read the full piece

🤝 In Congress

Why security is tighter at the Capitol today:

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is meeting with congressional leaders on Capitol Hill today.

The scene: Zelensky is walking through the Capitol with Senate leaders Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) Photo Another photo

Photos of the crowd walking with Zelensky

Zelensky's day: Zelensky will head to the White House to meet with President Biden and Vice President Harris. He will also stop at the Pentagon. (The Washington Post)

How I imagine Dems playing out this scenario in their head:

"Senate Republicans are predicting that Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) will need to reach out to House Democrats to get the votes to prevent a government shutdown at the end of next week."

Why?: Republican senators don't think McCarthy will be able to cobble enough GOP votes to pass a government spending bill. He has until Sept. 30 to do so.

FWIW, that hasn't happened yet: "[They] predict the Speaker won't reach out across the aisle until the last possible moment to avoid a backlash from House conservatives, who are threatening to offer a motion to essentially dump him as Speaker if he does not hew to their demands for major spending cuts."

This could play out pretty dramatically. (The Hill)

➤ MEANWHILE — SOME PROBLEM-SOLVING IS HAPPENING:

The bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus unveiled an alternative government funding plan amid the drama over preventing a shutdown by Sept. 30. The plan would keep funding levels the same through Jan. 11, 2024, to buy more time. (The Hill)

🗳 2024

I think I'm made for the NFL:

Not those regular season games, though. And definitely no practices. I think I'd be a good fit for the Super Bowl.

The Iowa caucuses and primary season are still months away, but former President Trump is already acting like a general election candidate with his eyes set on President Biden.

How so — from The Hill's Brett Samuels: "Trump's words and actions are that of a candidate less concerned with his primary rivals, who trail him by a wide margin in nearly every state and national poll, and more focused on attacking Biden and winning over voters in key swing states."

And he may be right: Florida-based GOP strategist Ford O'Connell told The Hill: "Trump is running the race as if this is going to be himself and Joe Biden in November of 2024. And anyone who's being honest will tell you that's the right way to go, barring a seismic moment or shift or anything else." (The Hill)

Getting traction — Gen. Mark Milley's tell-all from working with Trump:

In The Atlantic, Jeffrey Goldberg has fascinating reporting of "how General Mark Milley protected the Constitution from Donald Trump."

Powerful excerpt: "Milley found himself in a disconcerting situation: trying, and failing, to teach President Trump the difference between appropriate battlefield aggressiveness and war crimes."

➤ INTERESTING TIDBITS FROM THE PIECE:

Oh, yikes: Milley chose a severely injured Army captain to sing "God Bless America." After the performance, Trump said to Milley, "Why do you bring people like that here? No one wants to see that, the wounded." Trump also told Milley not to "let her appear in public again." Goldberg then noted that Milley invited that Army captain to sing at his retirement ceremony.

Excerpt on marching into Lafayette Square in June 2020: "This conflict reached its nadir with the Lafayette Square incident in June 2020. The day when Milley appeared in uniform by the president's side, heading into the square, has been studied endlessly … 'I absolutely, positively shouldn't have been there,' Milley says of Lafayette Square. 'I'm a soldier, and fundamental to this republic is for the military to stay out of politics.'"

It all comes full circle: Bloomberg's Ryan Teague Beckwith pointed out an excerpt where Milley compared the situation to the Roman Empire. "Boys think about Rome regularly, part 4,937," Beckwith posted. Read the excerpt

Read the full story

It's me. Hi. I'm the controversy, it's me.:

Vivek Ramaswamy's presidential campaign has been marked by a series of comments some have called racially charged.

To name a few examples: "Recently, the 38-year-old entrepreneur faced backlash for comparing Rep. Ayanna Pressley, a Black Democrat representing Massachusetts, to 'modern grand wizards' of the Ku Klux Klan. He has said that the U.S. education system is a 'modern ghetto system,' that the government pays women in inner cities to be single, and has argued with former CNN anchor Don Lemon on what it was like to live as a Black person in America."

From Brandon Weathersby, presidential communications director for the American Bridge PAC: "I think there is a pattern here, but to be honest, I will go one step further and say that this is a cornerstone of his campaign."

Full read from The Hill's Cheyanne M. Daniels

YOU'RE INVITED:

Making the Grade: Solving the U.S. Math Problem

Sept. 26, 3:30-5:30 p.m. ET

A recent study by NWEA found that middle and elementary school students' math progress stagnated last year. Join The Hill as we convene lawmakers, math advocates and educators to discuss the state of U.S. math education and why it's no longer acceptable to laugh off being "bad at math." Speakers include:

Rep. Jim Baird (R-Ind.), co-sponsor of Mathematical and Statistical Modeling Education Act
Rep. Bill Foster (D-Ill.), member of the House Financial Services Committee
Rebecka Peterson, 2023 National Teacher of the Year
Tim Hudson, Chief Learning Officer at Dreambox
Josh Recio, Course Program Specialist, Secondary Mathematics at the University of Texas at Austin; and more.

RSVP Now

🗓 On The Agenda

The House and Senate are in. President Biden and Vice President Harris are in Washington, D.C. (all times Eastern)

1 p.m.: White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and national security adviser Jake Sullivan brief reporters. 📺 Livestream
1:45 p.m.: A Senate confirmation vote if cloture is invoked. 🗓️ Today's agenda
3 p.m.: Biden and first lady Jill Biden welcome Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his wife Olena Zelenska to the White House.
3 p.m.: Harris holds a press call to make an announcement on medical debt.
3:25 p.m.: Biden and Zelensky meet, followed by an expanded meeting. Harris attends the expanded meeting. 📺 Livestream
4 p.m.: Last House votes. 🗓️ Today's agenda
8:25 p.m.: Biden speaks at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute 46th annual gala. 📺 Livestream

🐝 Internet Buzz

☕️ Celebrate: Today is National Chai Day!

🎮 If you've ever played Fortnite: More than 37 million people are owed refunds after a settlement was reached with Epic Games, the owner of Fortnite. (The New York Times)

🍽️ NYT's 50 best restaurants in the U.S.: The New York Times released its 2023 restaurant list of "the 50 places in the United States that we're most excited about right now." The list

🕶️ Everyone wants a piece of Taylor Swift: Tech billionaire Elon Musk called on Taylor Swift to release music directly on X, formerly known as Twitter. The internet had some fun with that post. (Buzzfeed)

💸 The FAFSA is getting simplified: The Department of Education is simplifying the form for high school seniors to complete to see if they're eligible for financial aid in college. It won't be available until December this year, but it will only include 36 questions instead of the previous 108. (USA Today)