A federal judge on Tuesday blocked a key part of President Donald Trump’s effort to tighten mail-in voting rules ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, preventing the U.S. Postal Service from implementing new nationwide requirements for mail ballots.
U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani issued a preliminary injunction barring the Postal Service from enforcing the mail-voting provisions of Trump&#8217;s executive order for the November elections or any earlier federal election.
The ruling expands an <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/06/25/trump-mail-in-voting-order-blocked">earlier injunction</a> from Talwani that applied only to the 23 states and Washington, D.C., that sued over the order. The new ruling applies nationwide. 
Trump’s <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-targets-mail-in-as-new-move-could-reshape-how-your-ballot-is-handled">executive order</a> directed federal agencies to work with states to create lists of eligible voters and instructed the Postal Service to use those lists when determining whether to deliver mail-in and absentee ballots.
Under the order, states could submit lists of voters they intended to provide mail ballots to, while the Postal Service would establish state-specific participation lists and transmit ballots only for voters enrolled through the new system. The order also called for official election-mail markings, unique barcodes, and other requirements for ballot envelopes.
Talwani ruled that the president likely lacks the constitutional authority to impose the requirements, siding with voting-rights groups that argued election regulation rests with states and Congress rather than the executive branch. 
“The court finds that enfranchisement heavily outweighs the executive’s attempt to unconstitutionally insert itself into the domain of election regulation,” Talwani <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28549939-league-of-women-voters-vs-donald-trump-memorandum-and-order/">wrote</a>. 
She also warned that allowing the administration to implement the changes could create “increasing chaos and an erosion of trust in our democracy,” particularly with the midterm elections rapidly approaching.
&#8220;That it is now less than 90 days before the November 3, 2026 midterm elections underscores the critical need for an injunction to prevent Defendants from changing election rules on the eve of the election,&#8221; she wrote.
The Trump administration has argued that the executive order is intended to prevent noncitizens from voting and strengthen election security. Noncitizen voting in federal elections is already illegal, but the administration argues additional safeguards are necessary to verify voter eligibility.
The order came after Trump-backed legislation imposing additional federal voting requirements —the SAVE America Act— stalled in Congress. 
State election officials and voting-rights groups challenged Trump&#8217;s executive action, arguing that the Constitution gives states and Congress, rather than the president, authority over election procedures. 
Talwani, an Obama-appointed judge, agreed that the challengers were likely to prevail, concluding that the administration could not use the Postal Service to carry out the mail-voting provisions. 
The Trump administration has already asked the Supreme Court to intervene in the earlier litigation over the executive order, seeking to revive provisions blocked by lower courts before the November 3 midterms. 
The White House vowed Tuesday to continue fighting for Trump&#8217;s election agenda following Talwani&#8217;s latest ruling.
&#8220;The entire Trump Administration will continue lawfully enacting the agenda President Trump was elected to enact &#8211; which includes the safety and security of American elections,&#8221; White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis said in a statement. &#8220;This campaign pledge from the President is why millions of Americans sent him back to the White House.&#8221;
The ruling comes with less than three months remaining before Election Day, leaving the administration and states with limited time to resolve the legal dispute before voting begins.

President Trump Meets With Lebanese President Joseph Aoun

Trump’s Midterm Election Push Hits Legal Roadblock

2026 Midterms

election integrity

Executive Orders

federal judge

Mail-In Voting

Midterms

SAVE Act

SAVE America Act

Trump Administration

Voter ID

Voter Integrity

Voting

The Trump administration <a href="https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/press-releases/cms-ends-federal-medicaid-chip-funding-sex-rejecting-procedures-children-youth" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> Tuesday that a final rule barring federal Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) funds from being used to pay for transgender medical interventions for minors, including puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries.
“Today, we are ending federal taxpayer funding for sex-rejecting procedures on children,” Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said. “These interventions carry serious risks and can cause irreversible harm. The federal government will no longer use Medicaid and CHIP dollars to fund procedures that fail to meet the evidentiary standard our children deserve.”
President Donald Trump celebrated the decision Tuesday, saying his administration would no longer force taxpayers to finance “barbaric surgeries and practices” on children. 
“Just think about all of the young, innocent, and perhaps confused children who will be spared!” Trump wrote on <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/117078967972327386">Truth Social</a>.
Centers for Medicare &amp; Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz said the policy is intended to protect children from experimental and potentially irreversible medical interventions. 
“Children deserve our protection, not experimental interventions that pose serious risks and convey no proven benefits,” Oz said. “By cutting off federal funds for these sex-rejecting procedures, we’re following the science, saving taxpayer dollars, and, most importantly, protecting children from potentially irreversible harm so they can truly flourish.”
CMS said its decision followed a review of national and international research conducted by HHS that identified what the agency described as significant evidence gaps and safety concerns.
CMS said the procedures can carry potentially permanent consequences, including infertility, impaired sexual function, diminished bone density, altered brain development, and other lasting physiological effects.
The agency also pointed to the United Kingdom’s Cass Review, a comprehensive examination of medical treatment for transgender-identifying children, as evidence of international scrutiny surrounding the treatments.  
The new rule includes a taper-off period for minors already receiving hormone therapy. Federal Medicaid and CHIP funding will remain available for up to six months after the rule takes effect to allow patients to safely get off hormone treatment.
The rule does not affect Medicaid or CHIP coverage for mental health services, which CMS said will continue to be covered under existing federal requirements.
Trump tied the policy to the upcoming midterm elections.
“Please remember this when you are casting your vote in the Midterm Elections in November,” he wrote.
CMS said Tuesday’s action is specifically focused on the use of federal taxpayer dollars. 
“The Trump Administration is drawing a clear line: America’s children will not be subjected to life-altering interventions on the taxpayer’s dime without reliable evidence of safety and clinical benefit,” HHS Press Secretary Emily Hilliard said.
The rule is set to take effect October 13, putting the federal funding restrictions in place less than a month before the November midterm elections.

President Trump Participates In Swearing-In Ceremony For Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz

Trump Admin Ends Medicaid Funding For Child ‘Sex-Rejecting’ Procedures

Department of Health and Human Services

Donald Trump

Dr. Oz

Gender Transition

Health and Human Services

Health Care

LGBT

LGBTQ

Medicaid

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Mental Illness

President Donald Trump

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

trans kids

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transgender surgery

WASHINGTON — One year after President Donald Trump began his mission to &#8220;Make D.C. Safe and Beautiful&#8221; again, the nation&#8217;s capital is noticeably cleaner and safer.
The president declared a crime emergency on August 11 of last year and launched a federal surge soon afterward as part of his &#8220;Make D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force.&#8221; Trump was determined to clean up the streets and monuments of the city and to put criminals behind bars, spurred on by the fatal shooting of 21-year-old Eric Tarpinian-Jachym, a Capitol Hill intern.
Washington is not the same place it was a year ago. As of August 2026, the city&#8217;s fountains are running again. Graffiti is cleaned off most major monuments. National Guardsmen stroll the streets and chat with tourists and families.
&#8220;This has been the largest, most aggressive law enforcement collaboration ever assembled to confront crime in a major American city,&#8221; the U.S. Marshals shared in a press release, describing how &#8220;federal, state, and local law enforcement&#8221; stood &#8220;shoulder to shoulder with the National Guard, refusing to accept violence as the status quo in Washington, D.C.&#8221;
<div id="attachment_1154759" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/heres-what-trumps-d-c-crackdown-accomplished-one-year-later/trump-increases-federal-law-enforcement-presence-deploys-national-guard-in-nations-capital-14" rel="attachment wp-att-1154759"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1154759" class="wp-image-1154759 size-full" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/GettyImages-2232835059.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="683" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/GettyImages-2232835059.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/GettyImages-2232835059-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/GettyImages-2232835059-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/GettyImages-2232835059-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a>(Photo by Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)</div>
Trump&#8217;s efforts to clean up D.C. resulted in over 16,000 arrests, the U.S. Marshals shared. Thirty-five homicide suspects were apprehended, and authorities found 25 missing children and returned them to their homes. Authorities took more than 100 gang members off the streets and made more than 3,200 narcotics arrests. They also seized almost 2,000 illegal firearms.
Newly confirmed Attorney General Todd Blanche described the Justice Department&#8217;s efforts, in collaboration with their law enforcement partners, as &#8220;extraordinary.&#8221;
&#8220;More than 16,000 arrests, thousands of illegal drugs and firearms taken off the streets, and dangerous violent offenders brought to justice mean safer neighborhoods and lives protected,&#8221; he said in a statement. &#8220;We will not relent until every community in Washington, D.C., is safe.&#8221;
In September 2025, the task force tracked down two suspects in Tarpinian-Jachym&#8217;s killing, 17-year-old Jailen Lucas and 17-year-old Kelvin Thomas, as well as a third suspect, 18-year-old Naqwan Lucas, who was apprehended in October 2025. Lucas was also charged with the murder of 17-year-old Zoey Kelley.
The task force additionally arrested 19-year-old Laurence Cotton-Powell and 18-year-old Anthony Taylor for violently attacking and beating a former Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) staffer.
<div id="attachment_1154755" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/heres-what-trumps-d-c-crackdown-accomplished-one-year-later/vp-vance-and-defense-secretary-hegseth-visit-federal-law-enforcement-officers-patrolling-at-d-c-s-union-station-3" rel="attachment wp-att-1154755"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1154755" class="wp-image-1154755 size-full" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/GettyImages-2230417689.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="683" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/GettyImages-2230417689.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/GettyImages-2230417689-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/GettyImages-2230417689-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/GettyImages-2230417689-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a>(Photo by Al Drago-Pool/Getty Images)</div>
And in January, the task force captured three confirmed MS-13 gang members who were wanted on first-degree murder warrants for shooting a 14-year-old boy in Prince George&#8217;s County, Maryland.
&#8220;This operation shows the relentless dedication we have to investigate and apprehend the most violent, dangerous fugitives,&#8221; Gadyaces S. Serralta, director of the U.S. Marshals Service, shared in a statement. &#8220;When law enforcement works together, the impact is exponential. The D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force is proof of that the whole-of-government approach works.”
Two National Guardsmen were ambushed while they were serving under the task force. On November 26, 2025, a shooter targeted Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe of the West Virginia Air National Guard and Army National Guard Specialist Sarah Beckstrom. Beckstrom was killed by the gunman, while Wolfe continues to recover from his wounds.
&#8220;Sgt. Sarah Beckstrom gave the last full measure of devotion, and Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe endured a profound sacrifice in service to others,&#8221; said Brigadier General Leland D. Blanchard II, Commanding General (Interim) of the District of Columbia National Guard. &#8220;Their courage will forever be part of this mission’s legacy. We honor them by carrying the work forward -united in purpose, steadfast in service, and committed to protect the people of Washington, D.C.&#8221;

President Trump Signs An Executive Order In The White House’s South Court Auditorium

Here’s What Trump’s D.C. Crackdown Accomplished, One Year Later

Crime

National Guard

Shooting

Washington D.C.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday directing the federal government to overhaul childhood vaccine recommendations, delivering a major policy victory to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the Make America Healthy Again movement.
The order, dubbed “Gold Standard Childhood Vaccine Recommendations,” calls for reducing the number of diseases for which vaccines are routinely recommended for all children, spacing out childhood immunizations, and eventually administering the combined measles, mumps and rubella vaccine as three separate shots.
Under the order, vaccines for 11 diseases, including measles, mumps, rubella, polio and whooping cough, would be recommended for all children, down from 18 under the current schedule. Vaccines for several other diseases, including hepatitis A and B and meningococcal disease, would instead be recommended for certain higher-risk groups or through shared decision-making between parents and doctors. Influenza and COVID-19 vaccines would also fall into the shared decision-making category.
The order also directs federal agencies to work toward making separate measles, mumps and rubella vaccines available in the United States. “To the maximum extent feasible,” it calls for childhood immunizations to be administered at separate medical visits. 
Trump defended the changes during an Oval Office signing ceremony, saying they would reduce the number of vaccines administered during individual visits and arguing that parents should have greater control over when their children receive shots. 
“It’s inconvenient, it’s five stops, but it’s something that I think will have a huge impact on autism,” Trump said.
Trump has repeatedly suggested that childhood vaccines could be connected to rising autism diagnoses. Numerous large studies have found no association between the MMR vaccines and autism. The president also acknowledged Monday that he did not have scientific evidence for a claim he made that the current MMR vaccine could be “lethal.”
“What I’ve heard is that there are some people that say it is that way, and I say, ‘Well, let’s say there’s a 5 percent chance of it; let’s split it up,’” Trump said. 
Secretary Kennedy, who has promoted vaccine skepticism for years and made reshaping federal vaccine policy a central part of his tenure at the Department of Health and Human Services, stood alongside Trump during the announcement.
The order directs HHS to develop proposed changes to the childhood vaccine schedule within 90 days. It also calls for additional research into vaccine safety, alternative vaccine ingredients and the timing and sequencing of childhood immunizations.
The practical effect of the order remains uncertain. States generally determine which vaccines children must receive to attend public schools, rather than the federal government, and individual measles, mumps, and rubella vaccines are not currently available in the United States. Manufacturers would have to develop and obtain approval for each product separately.
The order acknowledges that similar previous directives have been <a href="https://www.npr.org/2026/03/16/nx-s1-5749530/judge-blocks-rfk-jr-vaccine-changes">delayed by litigation</a> and instructs federal agencies to advance the new recommendations “to the fullest extent allowable by law.” It also directs the Justice Department to pursue what it calls “meritorious” legal challenges involving state vaccine requirements and exemptions, including those based on parental authority and religious and medical grounds. 
Medical organizations and some Republicans have criticized the order.
 “I’m a doctor. This executive order is wrong,” Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), chairman of the Senate Health Committee, wrote on <a href="https://x.com/SenBillCassidy/status/2086906268669624512">X</a>. “The President does not have the expertise to make these changes.”
“Vaccines are overwhelmingly safe. Vaccines are effective. Vaccines DO NOT cause autism,” Cassidy added, arguing that separating vaccines could require children to receive more shots to obtain the same protection.
The administration has portrayed the changes as part of a broader effort to give parents more control over medical decisions and to reconsider longstanding federal recommendations.

US-POLITICS-TRUMP

Trump Orders Major Overhaul Of Childhood Vaccine Recommendations

Children's Health

Family policy

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vaccine

Vaccines

A recount decided by just three votes turned a closely watched Indiana GOP primary on its head Monday, ousting another Republican lawmaker who bucked President Donald Trump’s redistricting push and handing the president another victory in his campaign against GOP dissenters.
The Indiana Recount Commission certified Trump-endorsed challenger Paula Copenhaver as the winner over Republican state Sen. Spencer Deery by just three votes, 6,332 to 6,329, bringing Trump’s campaign against Indiana Republicans who rebelled against his redistricting push to the brink of a clean sweep.
Eight votes originally credited to Deery were tossed over “clerical errors” by election officials, <a href="https://fox59.com/news/politics/trump-backed-republican-candidate-wins-indiana-state-senate-district-23-race-after-recount/">according</a> to local outlet FOX59.
Copenhaver&#8217;s victory means six of the seven Indiana Republican senators targeted by Trump over their opposition to his redistricting push have now lost their primaries.
<div class="article__section article__section_type_text utility__text">
&#8220;Today, we saw members of the Indiana Election Commission attempt to undermine the will of voters by treating ballots differently based on whether they furthered the president’s political goals,&#8221; Deery <a href="https://x.com/SpencerDeery/status/2086875455030767629?s=20">said</a>, vowing to appeal the recount to a higher court. &#8220;This was not a meeting intended to find fairness; it was designed to find votes.&#8221;
</div>
It’s a stunning turnaround from <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-flexes-political-muscle-against-republicans-who-bucked-him-on-redistricting">the May primary</a>, when Deery initially finished just three votes ahead of Copenhaver, 6,337 to 6,334.
The recount result comes less than two weeks after Indiana Senate President Pro Tem Rodric Bray announced he would not seek another term as the chamber&#8217;s leader. Bray&#8217;s office <a href="https://www.indianasenaterepublicans.com/bray-announces-he-will-not-seek-re-election-as-senate-president-pro-tem-in-november">cited</a> threats to recruit and fund primary challengers against senators who supported him for leadership. 
Trump celebrated the announcement: “I am pleased to announce that the man who so foolishly led the Indiana State Senate, with almost every Candidate losing their Race, many of them in Office for years, will not be seeking Re-Election as Senate President because he wouldn’t have had a chance to be elected — Better yet would be if he would resign from Office, completely, but he will be met by us at the Indiana Polls,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/117015146759027639">post</a>.
In December 2025, the Indiana Senate voted 31-19 to reject a mid-decade congressional redistricting plan, defying intense pressure from Trump and Republican Gov. Mike Braun. Twenty-one Republicans joined all 10 Democrats to defeat the Trump-backed map.  
Shortly afterward, Trump vowed political retaliation, endorsing primary challengers against the state lawmakers, many of whom were longtime incumbents. 
&nbsp;

Indiana Redistricting/Trump

Three-Vote Recount Boots Another Indiana Republican Who Defied Trump

Indiana

News

Paula Copenhaver

Politics

Redistricting

Republicans

Rodric Bray

Spencer Deery

Turning Point USA

Podcaster Chuck Todd melted down over the Senate’s confirmation of Todd Blanche as U.S. attorney general, claiming — without providing evidence — that Republicans who voted for him have inflicted damage on America that will take “decades” to fix.
“I do not think he understands the distinction between being the lawyer for Donald John Trump and the lawyer for the people,” Todd said of Blanche. “This is damage that&#8217;s going to take decades to get out of, and this confirmation has just made the project of fixing America a lot harder and a lot longer.&#8221;
Todd, a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/former-nbc-host-says-hell-never-enter-a-room-with-trump-in-it-again">longtime Trump critic</a> and former host of NBC’s “Meet the Press,” argued that Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Thom Tillis (R-NC), and John Cornyn (R-TX) had caved to pressure from people to whom he referred as “Trump’s goons.”
“I know the reality that they live in. I have empathy personally. These people are terrible. The Trump goons come after anybody that stands in their way, and goons is the way to call them. I understand the incoming that they&#8217;re receiving, and they just want to go into retirement, and they&#8217;re in their 60s and 70s, and they don&#8217;t want to do this. It&#8217;s exhausting, and then after they leave, they will tell us how terrible it is,” he lamented on his podcast.
Over the weekend, the U.S. Senate <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/senate-confirms-todd-blanche-as-attorney-general-in-razor-thin-late-night-vote">confirmed</a> Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche as the nation’s attorney general following a drawn-out process marked by political bargaining and divisions within the Republican Party.
The chamber voted 50-49, with two Republicans — Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) — joining Democrats in opposing Blanche’s nomination. Collins said her vote stemmed from her belief that the Justice Department “has become increasingly political.”
“Mr. Blanche has taken several actions that have further eroded the Department’s independence, and that is the basis for my vote to oppose his confirmation,” she said in a <a href="https://www.collins.senate.gov/newsroom/senator-collins-statement-on-nomination-of-todd-blanche-to-serve-as-attorney-general">statement</a> earlier this week.
Cornyn, working with Tillis, exacted a major concession from the Trump administration in exchange for their votes: kill the proposed $1.8 billion <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/senator-scorned-by-trump-threatens-to-hold-ag-nominee-hostage-over-weaponization-fund">“anti-weaponization” fund</a> that drew bipartisan backlash and never materialized.
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), who had also voiced strong concerns about Blanche, ultimately fell in line, providing the pivotal vote.
“Mr. Blanche is not perfect, and he will tell you this,” Cassidy <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/todd-blanche-gets-guarantee-from-key-senator-on-confirmation-vote">said</a>. “But the choice is not between perfection and Mr. Blanche. It is between Mr. Blanche and another acting attorney general who may not run the department effectively under President Trump, and who indeed may not be as good as Mr. Blanche.”
That rationale angered Chuck Todd, who argued Senate Republicans have repeatedly appeased Trump on issues ranging from January 6th, public health, and the rule of law.
“But at the end of the day, they didn&#8217;t have the guts to do this when it mattered. Look, they have to sleep at night. I don&#8217;t know if they will be able to,” Todd said. “What&#8217;s the point of advice and consent? All you&#8217;re going to do is consent. And consent. I guess we should call it advice and capitulate, because that&#8217;s what this feels like–a capitulation.”

Meet the Press – Season 76

Chuck Todd Melts Down Over Blanche, Says GOP Senators Fear Trump’s ‘Goons’

bill Cassidy

Chuck Todd

Department of Justice

John Cornyn

Thom Tillis

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U.S. Senate

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) announced Friday that he will vote to confirm Todd Blanche as attorney general, likely securing President Donald Trump’s nominee enough Republican support to take over the Justice Department permanently.
Cassidy’s decision came after Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Susan Collins (R-ME) <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/second-gop-senator-comes-out-against-blanche-confirmation">announced</a> they would oppose Blanche’s nomination, raising questions about whether the former Trump defense attorney could secure enough votes in the narrowly divided Senate.
In a speech on the Senate floor, Cassidy said he had spent days reviewing Blanche’s record, speaking with the nominee, fellow senators, current and former Justice Department officials, and former Attorney General William Barr before reaching his conclusion.
“Mr. Blanche is not perfect, and he will tell you this,” Cassidy said. “But the choice is not between perfection and Mr. Blanche. It is between Mr. Blanche and another acting attorney general who may not run the department effectively under President Trump, and who indeed may not be as good as Mr. Blanche.”
Cassidy said his decision was not an endorsement of Trump’s broader approach to the Justice Department, but rather a judgment about whether Blanche would be able to effectively lead the agency and provide legal counsel to the president. “This is not a referendum on President Trump,” Cassidy said. “It is a decision regarding Mr. Blanche in very specific circumstances.”
The Louisiana senator acknowledged several concerns surrounding Blanche’s nomination, including his involvement in a proposed $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund created as part of a settlement involving President Trump’s lawsuit against the IRS, as well as an agreement that initially provided broad protections from tax audits for Trump and his businesses.
Cassidy said Blanche’s role in approving those measures reflected “poor judgment,” but argued the nominee had taken steps to address the concerns, including rescinding the proposed fund and clarifying the scope of the tax agreement. “No American should be unfairly targeted by the law, but no American should be above the law,” Cassidy said.
The senator also raised broader concerns about what he described as “apparent lawfare,” warning that the Justice Department’s use of prosecutions against political opponents has damaged public trust. “Both parties, presidents of both parties, have been guilty of this,” Cassidy said. “It must stop. It should stop now.”
However, Cassidy said he ultimately concluded that a confirmed attorney general would have more authority to resist inappropriate political pressure than an acting official. 
“I am told that Senate confirmation is important in interactions with the President, with others in the Cabinet, and is important to DOJ employees in general,” Cassidy said. “Being Senate confirmed gives them greater leverage to push for things that should be pushed forward.”
Cassidy pointed to Blanche’s previous work as a federal prosecutor, his management of Justice Department priorities, and his support among U.S. attorneys as evidence that he could lead the agency effectively.
He specifically cited conversations with two Louisiana U.S. attorneys, who Cassidy said praised Blanche’s focus on violent crime, drug trafficking, fraud enforcement, and providing resources to federal prosecutors.
The announcement came after Murkowski and Collins broke with the Republican majority to oppose Blanche’s confirmation. 
“The country needs an Attorney General who will check the worst impulses of this administration,” Murkowski said. “I hope Mr. Blanche is able to achieve that, if confirmed, but I simply do not have confidence that will be the case.”
Collins expressed similar concerns, citing Blanche’s involvement in the IRS settlement, the proposed anti-weaponization fund, and what she viewed as threats to Justice Department independence. With Cassidy’s support, Blanche appears positioned to overcome the opposition from Murkowski and Collins and become the second confirmed attorney general of Trump’s second administration.
Cassidy, who lost his 2026 Republican primary after Trump endorsed his challenger, acknowledged that his vote would draw criticism. “I’ll be criticized for this vote,” Cassidy said, briefly becoming emotional during his remarks. “What’s new?”
“I have a history with Mr. Trump,” Cassidy said. “But that history does not matter one bit.”

Bill Cassidy

Todd Blanche Gets Guarantee From Key Senator On Confirmation Vote

Attorney General

Congress

justice department

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A federal appeals court on Friday blocked further above-ground construction of President Donald Trump’s planned White House ballroom, ruling that the administration cannot move forward with the project without congressional authorization.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit <a href="https://media.cadc.uscourts.gov/opinions/docs/2026/08/26-5123-2187096.pdf">ruled 2-1</a> that Congress, not the president alone, has authority to approve the ballroom project, siding with the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which challenged the construction. The court paused its ruling for two weeks to give the Trump administration time to seek emergency relief from the Supreme Court.
“Whether or not a massive ballroom should be constructed is for Congress to decide and is not a matter for executive self-help,” the court wrote. 
The ruling, however, does not completely halt all work at the site. The panel allowed below-ground construction to continue, including work related to security infrastructure, while permitting above-ground construction only when strictly necessary to protect those facilities or ensure the safety and structural integrity of the White House complex.
The decision came from a three-judge panel consisting of U.S. Circuit Judges Patricia Millett, Neomi Rao, and Bradley Garcia. Millett, appointed by former President Barack Obama, and Garcia, appointed by former President Joe Biden, formed the majority. Rao, a Trump appointee, dissented.
“Each president is a temporary tenant, not the owner, of the White House and its executive residence,” Millett and Garcia wrote in their opinion. 
The judges argued that the White House belongs to the American people and that major structural changes require congressional approval. 
“We are aware of no instance in American history in which a President unilaterally and using privately collected funds demolished substantial portions of the White House that Congress authorized to be built and American taxpayers paid for,” the majority wrote.
Rao argued that the courts had overstepped their authority by intervening in a presidential construction project and said Trump had sufficient authority to proceed. 
“The district court seized supervision of construction at the White House, and my colleagues affirm this judicial overreach,” Rao wrote. “Because the injunction is beyond the proper province of the federal courts, construction should be allowed to continue.”
Trump announced plans for the 90,000-square-foot ballroom as part of a broader effort to expand event space at the White House. Trump has said the ballroom would cost roughly $400 million and would be funded through private donations rather than taxpayer money, though subsequent reporting has raised questions about the extent of public funding for security work associated with the broader project. 
The administration has argued that the ballroom is necessary for both practical and national security reasons, citing the difficulty of hosting large events in temporary structures and the need for additional security capabilities.
Government attorneys have argued that the project includes protections against threats including drones, ballistic missiles, and other attacks targeting the president and White House personnel.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation argued that the administration lacked authority to demolish the East Wing and begin construction without additional approvals.
The White House demolished the East Wing last fall to make way for the new structure, sparking criticism from preservation groups that said the project represented an unprecedented alteration of the historic complex.
The appeals court’s decision leaves the future of the ballroom uncertain as the administration continues to weigh whether to seek intervention from the Supreme Court.

White House East Wing

Trump’s White House Ballroom Plans Just Hit A Major Legal Roadblock

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The Trump administration reported the single largest month for arrests by ICE in July, but now, its efforts are moving beyond the border and into community banks. 
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent traveled to Arizona on Thursday to tell lenders to view credit applications under an increasingly scrutinized lens. 
&#8220;This administration will not tolerate blatant abuse of our financial system, nor will it permit risks posed by the extension of financial services to illegal aliens,&#8221; Bessent <a href="https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sb0595">told</a> the bankers. 
He was careful to frame the ask as part of the bankers’ ordinary duties rather than an expansion into border enforcement. 
&#8220;We do not ask bankers to assume the burdens of border enforcement,&#8221; Bessent said. &#8220;But we depend on banks to do what you do best: know your customers, identify risks as they arise, and report suspicious patterns before they metastasize into criminal schemes.&#8221;
The administration is pushing the banks to view lending money to undocumented immigrants as an added risk. The administration outlined concerns, such as the possibility of deportation and termination after an employer discovers the employee doesn&#8217;t have a valid work authorization. The guidance does not carry the force of law, however, as banks are not prohibited from offering accounts or loans to illegal immigrants.
Bessent argued that Arizona carries particular weight in the effort, telling the bankers the state &#8220;remains uniquely exposed to the aftershocks of Biden&#8217;s border crisis, including cartels and criminal organizations that seek to conceal illicit proceeds within legitimate channels.&#8221; He made similar remarks in Texas, given its proximity to the southern border. 
Critics of the Trump administration&#8217;s new guidance argue that community banks will suffer if they have to bear the burden of increased compliance as they face pressure to more closely scrutinize their customers. 
The National Association of Latino Credit Unions and Professionals <a href="https://inclusiv.org/news/inclusiv-nlcup-joint-statement-executive-order-restoring-integrity-americas-financial-system">said</a> the guidance will create a “nearly insurmountable operations and compliance burden for financial institutions in tracking the immigration and work authorization status of their members. This burden will be felt most acutely by small credit unions and will likely lead to closures and fewer affordable financial services in the communities that need credit unions the most.”
Bessent responded to that criticism by framing the federal government&#8217;s relationship with community banks as a two-way street. The secretary told the audience that even as Washington leans on community banks for vigilance, Treasury owes them relief from what he called years of &#8220;overregulation&#8221; that has cut the number of community and small banks in half since the 2008 financial crisis. 
&#8220;Dodd-Frank was supposed to end &#8216;too big to fail,'&#8221; Bessent said. &#8220;Instead, it created &#8216;too small to succeed.&#8217;” 
He reminded the banks of the administration’s commitment to reducing regulation and reminded them that increased regulation did not stop three bank failures in 2023.

FILE PHOTO: U.S. Treasury Secretary Bessent testifies before a House Ways and Means Committee hearing on Capitol Hill

Trump Admin Taps Surprising New Partner To Combat Illegal Immigration

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Community Banks

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President Donald Trump on Thursday downplayed a report suggesting he had already settled on Vice President JD Vance as his preferred successor to carry his MAGA movement forward. 
<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/08/06/trump-tells-donors-we-need-elect-jd-vp-weighs-his-future/">The Washington Post</a> reported Thursday that Trump has privately encouraged donors to support Vance&#8217;s future presidential ambitions, citing anonymous sources familiar with the conversations. 
“At the end of the day, we need to elect JD,” Trump reportedly told donors during an Oval Office meeting two weeks ago, according to the report. 
The outlet also cited six additional “Trumpworld advisors” who anonymously said they did not believe a Vance endorsement was a done deal.
“Anyone assuming it’s a lock is just getting way ahead of themselves, or just doesn’t know the president very well,” one Trump administration official told The Post. 
Hours later in the Oval Office, The Daily Caller’s Reagan Reese posed the question to Trump directly. 
“No. I heard about it a little while ago. I think he&#8217;s great,” Trump <a href="https://x.com/Acyn/status/2085462419598614610?s=20">said</a> of Vance. “We&#8217;re way too early to even be thinking about that.”  
The Post reported that Trump has grown increasingly impressed with Vance&#8217;s performance as vice president, highlighting his role in brokering the Iran ceasefire that later collapsed, leading a federal task force targeting fraud, and entering the media lion&#8217;s den to promote his book and Catholic conversion.
Vance has not publicly confirmed whether he plans to run for president. Some early polling suggests Vance is the frontrunner, though other potential contenders have gained ground.
After the vice president, Secretary of State Marco Rubio polls the strongest among Republican primary voters, according to the most recent survey data.  A New Hampshire poll released in July showed support for Vance slipping significantly in the Granite State. About 36% of likely GOP primary voters backed Vance, down sharply from 53% in February. Rubio appeared to capitalize on the shift, more than tripling his support from 7% to 26%, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/a-new-2028-poll-just-shook-up-both-parties">The Daily Wire reported. </a>
While Vance&#8217;s support has softened in some early-state polling, he continues to lead nationally. The <a href="https://www.realclearpolling.com/polls/president/republican-primary/2028/national">RealClearPolitics </a>polling average still shows Vance with a commanding 18.2-point national lead over a hypothetical field of Republican rivals, including Rubio, Donald Trump Jr., Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Speculation about Trump&#8217;s eventual endorsement has also been fueled by divisions within the conservative movement over U.S. policy toward Iran. In a Wednesday <a href="https://x.com/Acyn/status/2085148515593064844?s=20">interview</a> with FOX News, Vance denied any daylight with the president over foreign policy. 
“The president runs this administration. He is the very top of the administration. He makes orders. We, of course, have debates and conversations about what exactly we should do. But when the president of the United States makes a decision, we are unified in this administration in carrying out that mission,” Vance said.

Late Senator Lindsey Graham Memorialized In Washington DC

Trump Pushes Back On Report About His Political Heir

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Grocery prices are too high; we all know it; we all get it.
They&#8217;re up about 35% since 2019 — first because of COVID-19, then because of Joe Biden&#8217;s inflationary policies. Inflation has slowed; grocery prices are up about 2.7% for the year right now.
But let’s set the record straight: Grocery prices are never coming back down to where they were in 2019. The only way for them to do that would be for us to experience a serious, actual deflationary episode, which generally means an economic depression.
Food inflation started to level out in 2023 while Joe Biden was still president, and has continued at a relatively tepid pace since. Yet the impression persists that the Trump administration isn&#8217;t doing enough to address inflation, in part because of the tariffs. Tariffs don&#8217;t target consumer prices; they target fairness in the production process and a level playing field with foreign countries
But there’s a far worse and more serious problem in the United States: Unrealistic, inflated utopian expectations.
Many young people have a completely broken set of expectations about life right now.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ben-shapiro-show-ep-2479?elementPosition=1&amp;row=0&amp;rowHeadline=Recent+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-981859" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/ben-banner.avif" alt="" width="1024" height="171" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/ben-banner.avif 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/ben-banner-300x50.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/ben-banner-768x128.jpg 768w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a>
One student wrote, “A burrito shouldn&#8217;t cost 20 bucks.” Andrew Kolvet of TPUSA commented, “Yeah, a lot of this is a hangover from Covid and Biden-era inflation, but the lived experience is the same: It just feels like basic things cost too much.”
I agree things cost more than they should. But there is only one way in the United States of America in 2026 for a burrito to cost $20: You went to an expensive restaurant.
A burrito at Chipotle probably tops out at about $13. A top-shelf burrito option at Taco Bell runs $5.99 plus tax.
Let’s pretend that you&#8217;re a poor young student, as I once was. Or pretend you&#8217;re a dude who is just starting his work life and wants upward mobility, as I once did.
This is what you do: If you want a burrito, you head to the supermarket. Here are today&#8217;s prices via Instacart: You buy a package of 10 tortillas for roughly $4. You also grab a can of refried beans for $2.50, then grab some cheese, salsa, maybe an avocado, and nuke it in the microwave.
Boom, you&#8217;re talking about a pretty good burrito for less than $2, one-tenth of the price that student was talking about.
So what the hell are we even talking about here?
Unfortunately, this has become the mode for a lot of young people: “Why can&#8217;t I afford what my parents could afford when they were my age?”
Spoiler alert about groceries: You can. And even in areas for housing where deregulation has been the rule, you still can.
In fact, today you have more restaurant options, your food takes up a smaller share of your disposable income, and it is probably significantly better than it was back in 1950, when your grandparents were consuming, on average, about 1,000 fewer calories per day than you do now.
Food expenditure as a share of family disposable income in the United States has been flat at well under 10% since the mid-1990s. If you go back to when your parents were doing this, it was roughly 13% to 15%. But we&#8217;re constantly being told that we can&#8217;t even afford food, which is a wild exaggeration.
We are, if anything, a very overweight country, and all of this is yet another form of black-pilling.
Things can get better. There are things we can do to get government out of this business, and we should. But insane, outsized expectations of reality wreck politics. That’s because if both parties are promising you something that can never be achieved via politics, you will inevitably be annoyed. You will swivel over to the other side, and then they&#8217;ll fail, and you&#8217;ll swivel back to the first side.
Here is the deal: In the United States of America, we are fatter and richer, and we have nicer houses and nicer cars than in the past, and the food we eat is much, much better than it was for our parents, in general.
There are secondary distortions that follow from that. “You know what? We need to go back to the way it was. Our food system is broken. We need to go totally domestic. We&#8217;re talking about chicken coops in the backyard.”
I think our ancestors would have laughed at us trying to cosplay the 1850s, when it turns out that if we had lived in the 1850s, we all would have been miserable and smelly, crapping in a hole in the backyard.
Life was not great back then. In fact, if you take people from poorer countries today and you bring them to the United States, they&#8217;re not complaining about the status of our food supply.
There&#8217;s a woman we know from the Philippines. She&#8217;s wonderful, and she just brought her mom over from there. The family grew up in a shack in the Philippines with no actual floor, along with 10 siblings. When her mom came over, she walked into an American supermarket, and it blew her mind.
Why?
Because for most of the world, the luxury that we experience on a daily basis here in the United States is utterly unthinkable.
Our system is not broken. It is working really, really, really efficiently. We have one of the most efficient food production and delivery systems in the history of the world — and the cheapest.
According to the Foundation for Economic Education, the price of eggs declined 96% between 1919 and 2019. That means an unskilled laborer today can buy 24 times as many eggs as an unskilled laborer could a century ago for the same amount of work.
Does this mean everything is perfectly ideal? No. We could probably reduce food prices by 5% to 10%. All you&#8217;d have to do is eliminate tariffs and ramp up American oil production.
There is so much black-pilling, so much doom-scrolling, so much “America is terrible. Everything&#8217;s awful. No one can afford anything.”
None of this is to claim that everything is ideal.
But there&#8217;s no such thing as ideal. Everything is comparative.
Donald Trump versus Kamala Harris. Trump is far better.
America versus other countries. America is far better.
America&#8217;s living situation now versus your parents’ living situation. Comparatively, America is far better now.
Economics is a study in trade-offs. If you&#8217;re on the Right and you spend all day complaining about the production side — “What if all of our labor was both domestic and unionized and we got rid of technology? And what if all of our food was produced in Iowa and was totally organic?” — then you don&#8217;t get to complain about the prices being too high. All of your inputs just doubled.
If you want prices to go down, end the tariffs, ramp up market-based incentives for innovation, and break up useless unions. Prices will go down.
There&#8217;s one kind of silly critique that I&#8217;ve heard online. “We need to stop being distracted by foreign wars. It&#8217;s the foreign wars that are causing the food inflation.”
No, it isn&#8217;t. The war in Iran has had basically no impact on food prices in the U.S.
Here&#8217;s the food inflation percentage increase between 2016 and 2026: 2023: 2.7; 2024: 2.5; 2025: 3.1; 2026: 3.0.
That is not a gigantic bump based on the war in Iran.
If you actually want the prices to go up, you should leave Iran in charge of the Strait of Hormuz so it can keep throttling up or throttling down our prices at will, based on oil shocks.
Losing wars to failed dictatorships seeking nuclear weapons is not a brilliant trade strategy.
But put all that aside and go back to the larger point: The Right is doom-pilling; it is black-pilling, and right now it is having an impact.
Not everything in America does, in fact, suck. Things are quite good by any historical standard — much better than if Kamala Harris had been president.
That may not be a winning message in 2026, but I can tell you what a losing message looks like: “America totally sucks under Trump, and if you elect more Republicans, it will surely continue to suck. What we need is a Tucker Carlson third party. What we need is a common-good conservatism third party that totally changes everything that&#8217;s been done. Elect Democrats. Split the GOP vote. Then it&#8217;ll get better.”
This demoralization is what the black-pillers are doing right now.
Don’t buy into it.

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The Black Pill Trap

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The Trump administration wants migrant children who came to the United States alone to feel empowered to seek help if they have become victimized by traffickers.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) plans to release a 30-second video this week informing migrant children about the Office of Refugee Resettlement’s National Call Center, a hotline where they can seek help if they&#8217;re being abused or exploited, The Daily Wire has learned.
The video, which includes Spanish subtitles, urges migrant children who are in forced labor or exploitative conditions to call a number for support.
Once a child reports abuse, Homeland Security Investigations will &#8220;immediately&#8221; open an investigation, often &#8220;within hours,&#8221; and begin tracking down the victim, John Fabbricatore, a senior advisor at HHS leading the effort to track down the thousands of migrant kids who went unaccounted for under the Biden administration, told The Daily Wire.
&#8220;It&#8217;s a tool in our toolbox that we can put out there to hopefully get some information on children that are still out there,&#8221; Fabbricatore, who previously served as the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) field office director in Denver, said.
<div data-narration-ignore="true" data-testid="ad-wrapper">&#8220;We&#8217;re gonna do everywhere that we can &#8230; We&#8217;re going to contact social media, we&#8217;re gonna contact influencers, we&#8217;re gonna contact news organizations and try to push that out everywhere we can &#8230; share it with Telemundo and Spanish-speaking channels and media and try to get it out to the broadest audience that we can,&#8221; he said.</div>
The PSA video features an animation of a child walking alone before he&#8217;s seen working cleaning and construction jobs.
&#8220;If you&#8217;re one of the nearly 479,000 children that came to the U.S. alone prior to January 2025, without family, without support, if you&#8217;re being forced to work, experiencing exploitation, or feeling unsafe, help is available,&#8221; the video states.
&#8220;The national call center connects you to support, information, and a safe way to report concerns. You&#8217;re not alone; don&#8217;t let anyone take advantage of you. If you need help or are in danger, call now,&#8221; it adds.
Under then-President Joe Biden&#8217;s watch, federal authorities lost track of roughly 320,000 migrant kids after they were released into the United States to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/inside-the-trump-administrations-effort-to-stop-child-migrant-trafficking?row=0&amp;elementPosition=1&amp;rowType=Web+Search+Overlay">poorly vetted sponsors</a>, according to an August 2024 inspector general’s report.
The Biden administration&#8217;s hotline for migrant minors in distress also had 65,000 unanswered calls, Fabbricatore said.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said Monday that federal authorities have now located more than 148,000 previously unaccounted-for children.
Mullin said the administration &#8220;will not stop fighting until every last one is rescued.&#8221;
Roughly 291,000 of the migrant children were never given future court dates, making it nearly impossible for federal authorities to know their whereabouts, according to the inspector general report. 

There were another 32,000 migrant children that were released with hearing dates but failed to appear in court, according to the report, which tracked cases from October 2018 to September 2023.
Federal whistleblowers also exposed the faulty vetting system that they said placed some of the children with gang members, criminals, and traffickers.
Since President Donald Trump&#8217;s return to the White House, the vetting process has been completely overhauled.
The Trump administration now requires sponsors and other adults living in their home to provide their fingerprints for thorough background checks. DNA testing is required for sponsors who claim to be relatives of the child.
Homeland Security agents must also meet with the sponsor and HHS officials inspect the sponsor&#8217;s home to ensure it&#8217;s suitable for the child.
Fabbricatore emphasized that the Trump administration won&#8217;t &#8220;tolerate children being placed with sponsors who pose risks to their safety and well-being.&#8221;
&#8220;It&#8217;s very important that we&#8217;re not just releasing children into the community that are just going to disappear,&#8221; Fabbricatore said.
&#8220;We want to make sure that if there is a release that we&#8217;ve gone through an entire process to make sure that that child is going into a safe environment,&#8221; he said. &#8220;We&#8217;re not releasing kids within a matter of minutes or days like the last administration did.&#8221;
One of the victims of the Biden administration&#8217;s lax vetting system for sponsors recently shared her disturbing account of being held by abusive sponsors. The video was released by Steve Hilton, the Republican gubernatorial candidate in California, to highlight the failures of his opponent, former HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
NEW TESTIMONY: “I was sexually abused because of Xavier Becerra.”
Migrant girl sent to child traffickers after Becerra dismantled HHS vetting procedures. Forced to work 20 hour days—no pay, no water. Slept on ceramic floor surrounded by men. Sexually assaulted.
“They kept me… <a href="https://t.co/gcycSJO3Xy">pic.twitter.com/gcycSJO3Xy</a>
— Steve Hilton (@SteveHiltonx) <a href="https://x.com/SteveHiltonx/status/2084377908798452222?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 3, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<div data-narration-ignore="true" data-testid="ad-wrapper">&#8220;Because of the administration of Xavier Becerra, I have been sexually abused. I slept on a ceramic floor in a room with four men who were sleeping there. A drunk man came in the house &#8230; and stayed to sleep next to me and he wanted to rape me,&#8221; the girl recounted.</div>
<div data-narration-ignore="true" data-testid="ad-wrapper"></div>
<div data-narration-ignore="true" data-testid="ad-wrapper">&#8220;I got up and knocked on the door of my supposed sponsor. I knocked on the door and told her that I didn&#8217;t know what that man was doing there. And that&#8217;s where I sleep, I told her. She said, &#8216;Let him because he&#8217;s drunk and he doesn&#8217;t know what he&#8217;s doing.&#8217; Xavier Becerra failed me because he never cared about my safety. I ended up in the hands of child traffickers and I was almost raped. They kept me like a slave and they didn&#8217;t let me talk to my family,&#8221; she added.</div>

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Trump Admin Sets Up Hotline Targeted At Nearly 500,000 Migrant Kids Who Came Alone Under Biden

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