RED, WHITE… NOT BLUE

The Supreme Court seems open to handing Donald Trump and Republicans a staggering victory: A big, new, long-term advantage in elections for the House of Representatives.

• Ever since President Donald Trump took office in January, the Supreme Court’s conservative majority has seemed hell-bent on thanking him for hand-picking several of their members. Their gratitude was on display today, when those conservatives expressed openness to flambéing the historic Voting Rights Act. To be clear, conservatives don’t wanna scrap voting rights entirely — just an extremely crucial part, in a change that could help Republicans maintain control of the House for a generation.

• Such a ruling could supercharge Trump’s efforts to push red states to redraw their election maps to elect more of his allies into the House. Gutting the act would remove a key barrier that has blocked Republican politicians in Southern states from effectively wiping out about a dozen majority-minority districts. If that happens, Republicans might be able to lose the popular vote decisively but still win a majority in the House.

• The case in question focuses on one district in Louisiana, which was recently redrawn to better represent the majority Black community that had been represented by white Republicans for more than three decades. A Democrat won the seat, and some white residents argued that they were discriminated against. So, the Supreme Court is considering reversing the part of the Voting Rights Act that has been interpreted to require the creation of majority-minority districts.

• Liberals warn that dismantling the law would allow politicians to redraw districts to their own benefit, but not help remedy historic discrimination. Conservatives seem open to imposing a time limit on using race to determine district lines: “They should have an end point,” Justice Brett Kavanaugh said during the oral arguments.

This case is a very big deal for the future of elections in the United States.

• It’s unclear if the Supreme Court will rule in time for the midterms next year. (Such decisions are typically released in the summer after the oral argument — which would be just months before the November 2026 midterms.) But there is at least a chance that Republicans could be allowed to reshape districts across the country in this next election, dramatically lowering Democrats’ chances of winning back the House.

• “The new seats would eventually be enough to make Republicans favored to win the House even if they lost the popular vote by a wide margin,” Nate Cohn, chief political analyst for the New York Times, wrote today. “With those new seats added to the ones Republicans already seem poised to gain, the House would not be competitive in most election years.”

• When President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act in 1965, he declared: “Today is a triumph for freedom as huge as any victory that has ever been won on any battlefield.” Six decades later, justices hand-picked by a convicted felon might reverse that victory.

“This is an affront to every community that has fought, marched and bled for the right to vote,” Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-NY), chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, told reporters today.

WHAT ELSE?

Hamas has been reasserting control in the Gaza Strip this week, clashing with clans that oppose the militant group. Their actions are rattling the fragile ceasefire with Israel, as Donald Trump also threatens to disarm Hamas “quickly and perhaps violently” if the group doesn’t disarm itself.

On that note, Israel claimed today that one of the hostage bodies recently handed over by Hamas wasn’t actually a hostage. That further threatens the ceasefire, a day after Israeli forces reportedly killed several Palestinians who were inspecting their homes. Israel is also slowing the amount of aid allowed into Gaza, accusing Hamas of delaying the handover of dead hostages.

Vice President JD Vance downplayed the news of a disturbing young Republicans’ group chat, in which they praised Adolf Hitler and joked about rape. “Kids do stupid things, especially young boys,” Vance said today, describing the texts as “edgy, offensive jokes.”

The Department of Homeland Security spent at least $51 million on ads this year thanking Trump for his actions aimed at reducing migrant crossings at the southern border, according to new data. The government isn’t supposed to spend taxpayer dollars on political messaging, but DHS claims these ads aren’t political. Phew! This whole government efficiency thing is going great!

Trump has spent upwards of 20 hours on some of his redesign projects for the White House, aides told Axios. He regularly gives tours showing off his gaudy new decor, and even asks visitors to help choose new floor tiles. “He’s stamping his legacy on the presidency and on the White House forever,” a senior adviser said. “No one can get rid of the ballroom. It will be difficult to take all of the gold away. Who would even do that?” Me! I would!

The military leader who led a coup in Madagascar this week said that he’s “taking the position of president.” Armed forces will be in control of the African island for up to two years, until new elections take place, Col. Michael Randrianirina told the Associated Press.

Light at the End of the Email…

A federal judge blocked the Trump administration from firing more federal workers, calling the purge illegal. The White House has “taken advantage of the lapse in government spending, in government functioning, to to assume that that all bets are off, that the laws don’t apply to them anymore,” the judge said.

Fifteen Democratic governors announced an alliance to safeguard public health in their states, as the Trump administration guts federal agencies. The states will work together to monitor diseases, buy vaccines and supplies for pandemics, and establish health guidance.

The Australian government barred far-right activist Candace Owens from entering the country, after the High Court ruled that she could “incite discord.” She’s the second prominent American to be barred entry to the Land Down Under recently — following the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, who was denied after releasing a song titled “Heil Hitler.” Good company, Candance!

Restaurants and coffee shops across Chicago put up signs barring immigration agents from entering, amid the Trump administration’s violent crackdown on the city. “It was a no-brainer for me,” one shop owner told the Chicago Tribune. “With my business and my kids, I can’t escort students to and from school or other things like that. So it was like, well — what can we do?”

A family from Pennsylvania drove 100 miles on a road trip to New Hampshire when they pulled over for a break… and noticed that their cat was on the roof. “The roads that we’ve traveled on, the semitrucks that we’ve passed, the hills, the stop signs, everything. How did this cat stay on there?” the mom said. “And he was completely unfazed. He’s stretching like he just got up from a nap.” Now that’s what I call a cat nap! *ba dum tiss*

A manufacturing engineer from California won the 52nd World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off last weekend, with his prized 2,346-pound gourd. “I work on electric vehicles as my day job and grow pumpkins as a hobby,” Brandon Dawson said. Man, I need cooler hobbies.

A lost short story by writer Jack Kerouac was found among the belongings of a mafia boss who was gunned down in the 1980s. The two-page story, named “The Holy, Beat, and Crazy Next Thing,” was written shortly before he wrote “On the Road.” This mobster liked freewheeling literature, Tony Soprano liked ducks. Mafia bosses are complicated people.

Chances are you’ve walked a few times in your life. But have you tried… wait for it… walking backwards? Researchers found that “retro walking” can “increase hamstring flexibility, strengthen underused muscles and challenge the mind,” the AP writes. If you see me walking backwards through your neighborhood, just know that I’m working on myself.

A 95-year-old man is the head of a 100-member Taylor Swift fan club at his retirement home in Nebraska, regularly handing out “I ❤ TAYLOR” pins and walking around with a Taylor Swift-themed license plate attached to his walker. “Unless it’s bingo, I have not seen a communal response like this,” the man’s occupational therapist said. Now that’s a true Swiftie.