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‘Tremendous Loss’: Supreme Court Deals Trump Triple Blow

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The U.S. Supreme Court kicked off the closing stretch of this term with a triple blow to President Donald Trump.

In a much-watched case surrounding states’ rights and voting, the court ruled that the federal government cannot require states to toss mail-in ballots that arrive after Election Day, as long as they are postmarked by that deadline.

Trump wants to ban most voting by mail, and the Republican National Committee had sued Mississippi, which grants a five-day grace period for ballots received after Election Day as long as they are postmarked by Election Day.

“The ruling, authored by Justice Amy Coney Barrett, is a setback for President Donald Trump, who has frequently criticized mail-in voting, claiming without offering evidence that it is rife with fraud,” NBC News reported. The votes of hundreds of thousands of Americans voting by mail were counted in the 2024 election despite being received after Election Day.

“This ruling is a big loss for Trump & GOP allies who have repeatedly claimed that ballots postmarked by Election Day – but arriving days later in the mail – should not be counted,” observed journalist Jamie Dupree. “That issue is now off the table for the 2026 midterms.”

Trump himself recognized the ruling as a “tremendous loss” just one hour after it was handed down — and he used it to again call for passage of his SAVE America Act, which critics say is a voter suppression bill.

He wrote that there was only one reason to oppose the legislation: “Cheating!”

“In a time when there is a powerful Communist Movement taking place in our Country, one more dangerous than World War I, World War II, Pearl Harbor, or September 11th, all Dumocrats, and our five Republican Senate Hold Outs, Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins, Thom Tillis, Bill Cassidy, and Mitch McConnell must vote to save our country,” he wrote. “There can be no more excuses!”

Trump also faced another loss on Monday, when the court ruled that the president could not fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, at least for now. NBC News called the court’s ruling a “setback” for Trump. The court did, however, grant the president greater control over other independent federal agencies, a win Trump quickly trumpeted.

“It is such an Honor to be the sitting President who won this Historic and Unprecedented Ruling, one of the most important ever given with respect to Presidential Powers,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

The Supreme Court also refused to review lower-court rulings that require Trump to pay journalist E. Jean Carroll $5 million.

“A 2023 trial found President Donald Trump liable for allegedly sexually assaulting journalist E. Jean Carroll,” The Washington Post reported. “The decision Monday leaves in place a ruling affirming the judgment.”

 

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Trump Floats a New Workaround for His Latest Supreme Court Defeat — It Has a Problem

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President Donald Trump, appearing not to grasp the legal effect of the Supreme Court’s majority opinion that struck down his executive order on birthright citizenship, just hours later floated a workaround.

“The Supreme Court upheld Birthright Citizenship, which is too bad for our Country, but we can easily make it up in Congress through Legislation, with the support of the President, that has now been determined during this process,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “No long and unwieldy Constitutional Amendment is necessary! Congress should start TODAY to work on ending expensive and unfair to our Country, Birthright Citizenship.”

Politico senior legal affairs reporter Kyle Cheney responded to the president’s message, writing, “Trump incorrectly suggests Congress can act to limit birthright citizenship without a constitutional amendment, which the majority foreclosed.”

Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for the 6-3 majority, said, “Citizenship, then and now, was the right to have rights — to freely participate in our political community.”

“The framers of the 14th Amendment extended that promise to ‘every free-born person in this land,’” he added. “We keep that promise today.”

As The New York Times noted, Trump “wrongly asserted that ‘no long and unwieldy Constitutional Amendment is necessary.'”

And as NBC News reported, a constitutional amendment would be required to change the law. That means a two-thirds majority in the House and the Senate — plus ratification by three-fourths of the state legislatures.

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, a constitutional lawyer, noted that he was “very disappointed” with the ruling, as Alternet reported. But, contrary to Trump’s take, Johnson said that it is time to amend the Constitution over birthright citizenship, which he argued has been “grossly abused in recent years.”

Noting that Trump had attended oral arguments for the birthright citizenship case, journalist Gabe Fleisher wrote that “Trump has now responded to the birthright citizenship opinion, but does not seem to have understood its holding. Trump says that birthright citizenship could still be undone by statute, without a constitutional amendment, even though a 5-justice majority said the opposite.”

Forbes’ Mark Joyella responded to Trump’s claim, writing, “Ya gotta love how little Trump understands how this country works.”

Journalist Michael McGough asked, “Did he even consult with a lawyer before coming out with this?”

 

Image via Reuters 

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Mitch McConnell Was Hospitalized Two Weeks Ago — We Still Don’t Know Why

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U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY), the former Senate Majority Leader, was hospitalized more than two weeks ago for reasons not made public. His office has not explained why or when he is expected to return to the Senate.

The 84-year-old seven-term lawmaker was hospitalized on June 14.

Local CBS affiliate WLKY reported that there are “still few details surrounding his condition or why he’s there.” The senator’s office would only offer that there were “no updates at this time.”

Last week, McConnell’s office in a statement said the senator was “still working closely with staff on Senate business and Kentucky matters as he continues his recovery.”

“As of Wednesday of last week, there are no Senate votes, as the Senate is not in session to vote,” the spokesperson also said.

It remains unclear whether Senator McConnell is still hospitalized or if he has been released, and the reason for his hospitalization is still unknown to the public.

The Lexington Herald-Leader also reported that there are “few details” surrounding McConnell’s health condition, and a “spokesperson for McConnell’s office did not have any updated information regarding the Kentucky senator’s health to share as of Monday.”

McConnell has had “several health scares,” in recent years, “including freezes during public events. He also had three public falls in 2025, and he suffered a concussion in 2023 when he fell down steps in Washington D.C. In 2025, McConnell’s team said he still deals with ‘lingering effects’ from surviving polio as a child.”

The day after his hospitalization, Newsweek published a timeline of McConnell’s recent health issues, including that he “struggled to speak during a press conference on August 30, 2023, marking the second time in weeks he required assistance from staffers. The lawmaker froze for about 30 seconds at a lectern in Kentucky, but a member of his staff intervened.”

“All right, I’m sorry, y’all,” an aide told reporters. “We’re going to need a minute.”

On July 26, 2023, McConnell “froze while speaking to reporters and stared ahead for roughly 20 seconds before being escorted away by aides. He soon returned but dismissed questions that the incident had been linked to a concussion earlier in the year.”

McConnell is not running for reelection and is expected to retire at the end of his term.

 

Image via Shutterstock

 

 

 

 

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Defense Contractor Is Quietly Paying for Trump’s Latest ‘Unannounced’ White House Project

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President Donald Trump, without prior congressional approval, has demolished the East Wing of the White House to construct a multimillion-dollar ballroom, remade the Rose Garden (twice), constructed an ultimate fighting cage, installed a Presidential Walk of Fame mocking his Democratic predecessors, changed the walkway to granite, refurbished the Oval Office with gold decorations, renovated the Lincoln bathroom, and now is constructing a helipad on the White House South Lawn.

The president has often boasted that his renovations will cost the taxpayers nothing — while their true cost, such as the security enhancements of his ballroom project, will reach into the hundreds of millions of dollars, and possibly $1 billion.

His latest project, the “unannounced” helipad, is being funded in part by a $5 million donation from top defense contractor Lockheed Martin, according to a report by The Washington Post. It is “intended to resolve a years-long problem with the new Marine One helicopters: They run the risk of scorching the White House’s grass.”

The total cost of the project was not disclosed, nor was the construction before it began.

“Construction crews worked into the night Monday on the White House’s South Lawn, with the project blocked off by a large fence,” the Post reported. “The helipad will be located near the South Portico, the traditional landing site for Marine One, the call sign for whichever helicopter is transporting the president, the people said.”

Retired Marine Corps Colonel Ray L’Heureux “said it appears the installation of the White House helipad was determined to be operationally necessary.”

“The new [Marine One] program is a costly one and not using the capability is bad optics all around for many reasons,” he added.

He hopes that altering the aesthetics of the White House grounds can be mitigated by painting the helipad green.

The Daily Beast reported that Trump was “secretly breaking ground on the latest desecration at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.”

Trump’s many construction and renovation projects have drawn a loud, unrelenting backlash.

“Conservationists, lawmakers, government watchdogs, transparency advocates, and much of the public at large have balked as he charges ahead with building a glitzy new ballroom at the site where the building’s historic East Wing once stood,” The Daily Beast added.

 

Image via Reuters 

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