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WEEKLY POINTS

This week’s guide to government and politics in under 10 minutes

I SUSPECT ARRESTED FOR CHARLIE KIRK’S MURDER

Authorities have arrested the suspected gunman in the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Officials said the suspect turned himself in on Friday after his father recognized him in an FBI photo and persuaded him to surrender. Kirk was killed last Wednesday while speaking at an outdoor event at Utah Valley University. His death has drawn national condemnation and renewed concern over escalating political violence. Recent incidents include the killing of a Minnesota lawmaker and her husband, an arson attempt at Pennsylvania’s Governor’s Mansion targeting Gov. Josh Shapiro, and two assassination attempts on President Donald Trump.

>> Watch ASP’s Mark Kassen speak with Ben Sheehan about the state of civic discourse in the U.S. here.

I TRUMP TO DEPLOY NATIONAL GUARD TO MEMPHIS

President Donald Trump announced on Friday that he is planning to deploy the National Guard to Memphis, TN as part of his efforts to crack down on crime in the nation’s largest cities. Memphis had the highest rate of violent crime in the nation among cities with at least 250,000 people, according to FBI data. The decision to send troops to Memphis follows similar deployments in Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles. Earlier this month, a federal judge ruled that the deployment to Los Angeles was illegal under the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, which prohibits the federal government from using the military as domestic law enforcement agents. During the announcement, President Trump said both Tennessee’s Republican governor and Democratic mayor welcomed the plan. Tennessee was one of the states that deployed its National Guard to Washington, D.C. It is unclear if those troops will return to their home state under the new plan.

>> Learn more about the Posse Comitatus Act and the National Guard here.

I GOVERNMENT FUNDING DEADLINE APPROACHES

With a shutdown deadline approaching on September 30, congressional Democrats are threatening to withhold support for a short-term spending bill unless it extends expiring health care subsidies. Without action, premiums for insurance plans obtained through the Affordable Care Act could increase by as much as 75% according to the nonpartisan health policy research group KFF. On Friday, President Trump dismissed the demand, saying, “Don’t even bother dealing with them.” Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) has said he is unlikely to extend the subsidies in a short-term spending bill, instead favoring a “clean” stopgap resolution.

I SUPREME COURT BEGINS TARIFF CASE

The Supreme Court is taking up a challenge to President Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs, which lower courts have ruled exceeded presidential authority. Both the U.S. Court of International Trade and a federal appeals court ruled that the tariffs exceeded the powers granted in the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), noting Congress never authorized the use of tariffs under the law. The Trump administration argues the tariffs are necessary to correct a trade imbalance between the U.S. and other countries and, in some cases, to combat the flow of fentanyl into the country. The Court has ordered the Trump administration to file its opening brief by September 19, with challengers responding by October 20.

>> Dig deeper into the IEEPA and the debate over the tariffs here.

I NATO RESPONDS TO RUSSIAN DRONES IN POLAND

NATO is moving to reinforce Europe’s eastern borders after a Russian drone entered Polish airspace last week. Poland condemned the violation as deliberate and invoked NATO’s Article 4, which requires emergency consultations among NATO members. Article 4 has been invoked only eight times in NATO history, most recently by Eastern European members after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. While Article 4 does not automatically lead to military action, it highlights rising concerns over Moscow’s tactics nearly three years into the war.

>> Understand how NATO works and the difference between Article 4 and Article 5 here.

Confronting Political Violence

Following the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, ASP’s Mark Kassen spoke with author and civic educator Ben Sheehan to unpack the surge of political violence, how we got here, and what it will take to change course.

“If we get to a point where we as a society think emotionally that somebody could deserve something like that because of their beliefs, then we’re not headed down the path to a scary place, we’re in a scary place,” ⁠Sheehan warned.

He pointed to social media as a challenge, saying, “Our brains are not designed to pick up our phones and, you know, see recipe tutorials followed by people getting their heads blown off.”

Sheehan added that people can take a practical step to break out of their political silos: “Something people can do immediately in their own life is to continue to have dialogue with someone who thinks differently,” he said. “We can all be those contrasting viewpoints to prevent people from sliding further and further on the spectrum to a place that ends up bad for all of us.”

Watch the full conversation here.

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