June 28-July 4, 2026
BE PART OF THIS CHANGE ELECTION!
Dear fellow TSB member, as we celebrate the 250th birthday of this great country that gave us opportunity and a home, we are reminded that democracy needs every citizen to be vigilant and active to keep it flourishing. You can do your bit by supporting organizations like TSB with your time, energy, and money. We need your help to turn things around so we can once again become a country of rules, law and order, and the ideal of freedom for all. theyseeblue.org/donate. Write to us at tsbmarcomm@gmail.com if you want to work with our postcarding, phonebanking, or door-knocking teams… we will connect you with the right groups and leaders.
SUPREME COURT DECISIONS THIS WEEK
The conservative-leaning US Supreme Court handed down a slew of decisions this week, not all of which were agreeable to the Trump administration.
Supreme Court OKs late-arriving mailed ballots in loss for Trump: The Supreme Court on June 29 said Mississippi can count late-arriving mail-in ballots, handing a defeat to President Donald Trump, who is trying to curtail voting by mail. The court upheld a state law allowing ballots cast by Election Day to be counted if they’re received within five days. Justice Amy Coney Barrett and Chief Justice John Roberts joined the court's three liberal justices in backing the law. USA TODAY
Supreme Court Lifts Spending Limits on Political Parties and Candidates: Analysts say the Supreme Court’s landmark decision Tuesday further easing campaign finance rules is likely to benefit the Republican Party and its candidates and could play a role in the battle for control of Congress this November. The court agreed with congressional Republicans, who argued that limiting what political parties can spend in coordination with candidates violated the parties' free speech rights. (More corporate money in politics! What could go wrong?) SPECTRUM
US Supreme Court rules states can exclude trans athletes from female sports: The US Supreme Court has upheld laws in two conservative states excluding transgender girls and women from competing in female sports in a far-reaching ruling likely to pave the way for similar bans throughout the US and hand Donald Trump a key “culture war” victory. (Be prepared for your daughters and granddaughters to be subjected to invasive searches in an effort to weed out trans sportspeople) THE GUARDIAN
Supreme Court expands Trump’s power to fire independent agency officials but lets Lisa Cook remain at Fed: The Supreme Court on Monday rejected President Donald Trump’s attempt to immediately fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, further cementing the Fed’s independence. The court, meanwhile, expanded the president’s power to fire officials, overturning the nearly century-old precedent Humphrey’s Executor. Justice Sonia Sotomayor, in a dissent, said it “promises only chaos.” CNN
Trump must pay E. Jean Carroll $5 million after Supreme Court denies his appeal of sexual abuse verdict: The Supreme Court Monday declined to take up an appeal from President Donald Trump over a $5 million verdict and finding that he sexually abused and defamed E. Jean Carroll, a decision that means the president will now have to pay the magazine columnist. CNN
Supreme Court upholds birthright citizenship, rejecting Trump’s proposed limits: A divided Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld a broad conception of birthright citizenship, rejecting President Donald Trump’s executive order declaring that children born to people who are in the United States illegally or temporarily are not American citizens. AP
WORST ADMINISTRATION EVER
Trump pardons people who violated the Clean Air Act: U.S. President Donald Trump pardoned 11 people on Friday, a White House official said, All but two of whom had been convicted of violating the Clean Air Act by modifying or disabling emissions controls on trucks. REUTERS
Here’s Why Weather Forecasts Have Seemed So Inaccurate Lately: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) was among several agencies gutted by the Trump Administration’s Department of Government Efficiency in 2025. Federal forecasters have relied on weather balloons for more than a century, though today’s models are far more advanced. This technology has stood the test of time. Following the Trump administration’s staffing cuts, many sites that haven’t stopped weather-balloon operations altogether have pushed morning launches to the early afternoon. Dealing with the logistical challenges of unreliable daily forecasts is a nuisance, but when it comes to predicting severe weather, a lack of data can be dangerous. In May, the start of peak tornado season for the Southern Plains, NWS offices in Kansas failed to conduct three-quarters of scheduled morning weather balloon launches. (The whole article is worth reading) GIZMODO
How Trump Helped China Make America’s Cheapest EV: Slate is the latest automaker to transition to lower-cost batteries built on Chinese technology, driven in part by the repeal of EV tax credits that required materials to be sourced domestically. WIRED
Trump seeks to loosen environmental regulations to ‘unleash’ nuclear energy: The Trump administration is moving to loosen environmental rules for nuclear energy. Earlier this month, the Energy Department published an exclusion to environmental reviews for the reactors under its jurisdiction. And it could be loosening other rules, including radiation limits. THE HILL
White House Secretly Swayed Board Meant to Stop Civil Service Politicization: Behind the scenes, the Trump White House went to extensive lengths to advance its theory of executive power, potentially giving the president remarkable leeway to install loyalists at nearly every echelon of government. NEW YORK TIMES
New Mexico governor calls for criminal probe of DEA allowing fentanyl shipments to hit streets: New Mexico’s governor called for a criminal investigation into the Drug Enforcement Administration after an Associated Press investigation found federal agents allowed hundreds of thousands of fentanyl pills to reach the streets over a two-year period while pursuing larger drug-trafficking cases. AP
DEMOCRACY IN DANGER
Following court order, DHS appears to have shut down SAVE for checking voter citizenship: The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) seems to have acceded to a court order and shut down the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) database for use as a voter registration list citizenship checker. In a ruling last week, U.S. District Court Judge Sparkle Sooknanan ordered DHS to set aside upgrades it had made to SAVE to turn it into a tool for checking the citizenship status of millions of registered voters at a time, which President Donald Trump had directed last spring. DEMOCRACY DOCKET
SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND SAFETY
They Welcomed 37 Data Centers to Town. Now Their Schools Have to Dim the Lights to Cut Energy Costs: Henrico County, Virginia, has spent years courting data centers. Now it’s asking public employees to help shrink the power bill. Beginning July 1, Henrico’s electricity rate will rise nearly 25 percent, adding about $5 million in annual costs across county government and school facilities. In a June 26 email, County Manager John Vithoulkas asked employees to turn off lights, shut down computers, unplug chargers, adjust blinds, and avoid using space heaters, which he said can cost the county $150 to $300 per year to run. INC
Trump administration seeks to stomp out all fires quickly, reviving policy that has been discredited: The deaths of three U.S. government firefighters in a Colorado wildfire are casting a spotlight on the Trump administration’s creation of a new federal fire service and its revival of a previously discredited policy to stomp out all wildfires quickly. AP
Stalled US permits threaten $121 billion in wind and solar investment, report shows: Trump administration policies that have stalled permits for renewable energy projects are putting more than $121 billion of investment at risk and slowing development of wind, solar and storage capacity needed to meet rising power demand, according to a report. REUTERS
CORRUPTION ALERT
Trump bought as much as $5 million in Axon stock before ICE sought $220 million Taser deal: President Donald Trump disclosed buying between $1 million and $5 million in Axon Enterprise stock on Feb. 10. Two weeks later, ICE posted a notice seeking a five-year, $220 million Taser contract for about 17,800 devices, along with unlimited cartridges and training — enough to more than quadruple its current inventory. The ICE notice does not name Axon, but procurement reviewers and policing experts told CNBC the specifications appear to match only Axon products. ( Whatever happened to the blind trust?) CNBC
Trump Pulled In at Least $2 Billion After Returning to the White House: President Donald Trump reported billions of dollars in income, revenue and other proceeds during his first year back in the White House, much of it tied to cryptocurrency ventures, according to his annual financial disclosure released Tuesday. YAHOO FINANCE
Trump is using a $500M no-bid contract to build his White House ballroom: The White House awarded a no-bid contract worth up to $500 million to construct the East Wing ballroom, the Washington Post reported. The contract for the project was routed through the Executive Residence, which is exempt from rules requiring federal agencies to seek competitive bids and publicly share contract details, according to a copy of the agreement obtained by the Post.
Trump Cut a Billion-Dollar Mining Deal. His Sons Stand to Profit: An agreement between the U.S. and Kazakhstan has given a group of American investors with ties to the president and the commerce secretary access to one of the world’s largest untapped tungsten reserves. NYT
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