Day 888: "Extraordinarily unusual."
1/ The Supreme Court dismissed Louisiana’s effort to block the creation of a second Black-majority congressional district, restoring a federal court’s ruling that the state’s congressional lines diluted the power of Black voters in violation of the federal Voting Rights Act. The court order noted that the case should be resolved “in advance of the 2024 congressional elections in Louisiana.” Louisiana state officials were sued last year for a new congressional map that the Republican-led state legislature adopted after overriding Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards’s veto. The new map made one of the state’s six districts majority Black, despite the 2020 census showing that the state’s population is 33% Black. (Associated Press / NBC News / CNN / Wall Street Journal / Politico)
2/ Roughly half a dozen Secret Service agents have testified before the grand jury investigating Trump’s role in the Jan. 6 insurrection. It’s not known how close the agents were to Trump on Jan. 6 or what information they have provided to special counsel Jack Smith’s grand jury. A year ago, former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson told the Jan. 6 committee that she heard secondhand that Trump knew some of his supporters were armed when he directed them to march on the Capitol on Jan. 6 and that he wanted Secret Service agents to drive him to the Capitol to join the rioters. Hutchinson said she heard this from Tony Ornato, who was Trump’s deputy White House chief of staff at the time. (NBC News)
3/ The Biden administration announced $42.5 billion in new federal funding to expand high-speed internet access to every American household by 2030. An estimated 8.5 million homes and small businesses – which represent more than 7% of the country – are considered underserved, with internet speed below 25 megabits per second for downloads and 3 Mbps for uploads. The funding, allotted by Congress through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, will go to all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and U.S. territories, with each state receiving a minimum of $107 million. 19 states receiving over $1 billion. (CNBC / Washington Post / ABC News)
4/ The Supreme Court rejected a Republican effort to block the Biden administration’s immigration policies. The Supreme Court said Texas and Louisiana lacked standing to challenge the federal guidelines, which prioritized the deportation of immigrants who pose a risk to public safety or those who entered the U.S. illegally. The states had argued that the policies prevent immigration authorities from doing their jobs. Writing for the majority, Justice Brett Kavanaugh called the legal challenge “an extraordinarily unusual lawsuit.” (Washington Post / Associated Press / New York Times / NPR / USA Today)
5/ The second most popular Republican presidential candidate proposed eliminating birthright citizenship despite the 14th Amendment guaranteeing citizenship to all individuals “born or naturalized in the United States.” Trump, the current front-runner in the Republican primary, has also promised to try to eliminate the protection if elected. (CNN / ABC News)
6/ Biden said the U.S. and its allies had “nothing to do with” a mercenary group’s brief uprising against Putin. “We made clear we are not involved,” Biden said, “this was part of a struggle within the Russian system.” Over the weekend, the leader of the Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, led an armed rebellion targeting Russia’s military leaders and accusing Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu of incompetence and botching the war in Ukraine. Prigozhin’s group took control of the strategic city of Rostov-on-Don and then advanced an army within 124 miles of Moscow before Putin gave Prigozhin a “personal guarantee” that he’d be allowed to leave for Belarus. Prigozhin later said he wasn’t trying to oust Putin but rather protest against a new law that would require his fighters in Ukraine to sign contracts with the Russian government by July 1. (New York Times / Wall Street Journal / Bloomberg / CNBC / CNN / CBS News)
7/ Trump received the Oakland County Republican Party’s “Man of the Decade” award despite his presidential loss in 2020, being impeached twice, charged with 34 felony counts related to hush money payments made during his 2016 presidential campaign, charged with 37 felony counts in a federal indictment for mishandling classified documents, and unanimously being found Trump liable for sexual abuse, battery, and defamation. (Daily Beast / Rolling Stone)
poll/ 36% of Americans view neither Biden nor Trump favorably. The 2016 Trump-Clinton presidential race is the only election on record in which both candidates were disliked by more Americans than liked on Election Day: Trump’s 61% unfavorable score was worst in presidential polling history, while Clinton’s 52% unfavorable score was the second-worst. (CNN)
✏️ Notables.
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Justice Samuel Alito appears to have violated federal ethics laws by failing to disclose a luxury fishing trip to Alaska in 2008 with a Republican billionaire who later had cases before the Supreme Court. Republican megadonor Paul Singer’s hedge fund has appeared before the Supreme Court in at least 10 cases, including one in which Alito ruled in Singer’s favor, resulting in a $2.4 billion payout. Alito has never recused himself. (ProPublica)
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A federal judge in Arkansas struck down the state’s law banning gender transition care for minors. The case had been closely watched as an important test of whether bans on transition care for minors, enacted by more than a dozen states, could withstand challenges. (New York Times)
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The New York State Legislature approved a measure to provide legal protection for state doctors who prescribe and send abortion pills to patients in states with abortion bans. The legislation prevents New York courts and officials from cooperating with prosecution, lawsuits, or penalties against healthcare providers who comply with New York law. (New York Times)
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The House voted to censure Adam Schiff for his role in leading investigations into Trump as chair of the House Intelligence Committee. The vote was along party lines. (NPR)
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Hunter Biden agreed to plead guilty to not paying taxes in 2017 and 2018. Biden will also enter into a probation agreement on a charge of illegally owning a gun while being a drug user. (Axios)
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American middle schoolers’ test scores in math and reading got significantly worse last year. The average math score for 13 year olds declined 9 points from the 2019-20 to 2022-23 school years, while their average reading score declined 4 points over the same time period. (Axios)