GOOD NEWS FOR PROGRESSIVES

Arizona Court Rejects GOP Lawsuit Targeting Mail Voting: In a major victory for voting rights, the Arizona Court of Appeals has rejected a lawsuit brought by right-wing groups and the Arizona Republican Party that sought to limit how election officials verify mail-in ballot signatures. DEMOCRACY DOCKET

Judge rules Utah’s congressional map must be redrawn for the 2026 elections: The Utah Legislature will need to rapidly redraw the state’s congressional boundaries after a judge ruled Monday that the Republican-controlled body circumvented safeguards put in place by voters to ensure districts aren’t drawn to favor any party. AP

Appeals court says Pa. mail ballots can’t be thrown out over misdated envelopes: Pennsylvania election officials have rejected thousands of votes in recent years under a state law that requires voters to handwrite a date on the outer envelope when voting by mail. That practice disproportionately affects Democratic voters, who are far likelier than Republicans in the state to vote by mail — meaning Tuesday’s ruling, if it stands, would likely boost Democrats in future elections. POLITICO

Judge Dismisses Sweeping DOJ Lawsuit Against Maryland Judges: The ruling, by a Trump appointee, slammed the Trump administration for an “unprecedented” effort to “smear and impugn” judges who rule against it. The lawsuit was an effort by the Trump administration to overturn a standing court order that briefly blocks the government from deporting people after they have filed a challenge. DEMOCRACY DOCKET

NATIONAL

Federal Reserve’s Lisa Cook sues Trump over his attempt to fire her: Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook filed a lawsuit on Thursday claiming President Donald Trump has no power to remove her from office, setting up a legal battle that could challenge long-established norms for the U.S. central bank's independence. REUTERS

DEMOCRACY IN DANGER

Gov. Greg Abbott signs new Texas congressional map designed to give GOP five more seats: Gov. Greg Abbott signed Texas’ new congressional map into law Friday, celebrating in a social media video that the state is “now more red in the United States Congress.” Abbott’s signature concludes the legislative portion of this unusual mid-decade redistricting effort, which started earlier this summer when Trump began pushing state lawmakers to redraw Texas’s map to shore up the narrow GOP majority in the U.S. House ahead of the 2026 midterms. TEXAS TRIBUNE

Missouri’s governor orders redrawing of U.S. House map in response to Trump’s urging: Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe said Friday that he is calling Missouri lawmakers into a special session to redraw the state’s U.S. House districts as part of a growing national battle between Republicans and Democrats seeking an edge in next year’s congressional elections. It marked a win for Trump, who has been urging Republican-led states to redraw district lines to give the party a better chance of retaining control of the House. The White House is also pushing Indiana to redistrict. PBS MSNBC

INTERNATIONAL

Trump’s global tariffs are unlawful, appeals court says: A federal appeals court has ruled that most of Trump's sweeping global tariffs are illegal. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit rejected Trump's authority to carry out most of his tariffs, agreeing with the lower court that Trump's actions were "invalid as contrary to law." However, the court delayed the impact of its decision through mid-October to allow the Trump administration to appeal to the Supreme Court, as the tariffs remain in effect. ABC

Trump Moves to Cut $4.9 Billion in Foreign Aid Without Congress’s Approval: The Trump administration said it plans to rescind $4.9 billion in foreign aid without congressional approval, sparking a backlash on Capitol Hill and setting the stage for a messy and potentially market-rattling month ahead of a deadline for avoiding a government shutdown. WSJ (paywall)

DESI NEWS

From ‘Howdy, Modi’ to Adios Amigo: How the Much-Vaunted Modi-Trump Friendship Imploded: Even those who were dismayed by Trump 1.0, let alone 2.0, couldn’t have foreseen how quickly the much-vaunted Modi-Trump friendship would implode. For Indian Americans, especially, it’s been shocking indeed to see the India-U.S. relationship unravel, considering that a rising India had been touted as an asset for the U.S. and a bulwark against China. AMERICAN KAHANI

IMMIGRATION & CITIZENSHIP

Trump Deals a New Immigration Blow to International Students: The Trump administration has proposed a new rule that would limit international students to fixed periods of entry, making enrollment at U.S. universities more precarious. Immigration data for July 2025 showed a significant decline in the arrival of international students compared to the same period a year earlier, including a drop of almost 50% for students from India. FORBES

Federal agents arrest firefighters working on WA wildfire: Two people fighting the Bear Gulch fire on the Olympic Peninsula were arrested by federal law enforcement on Wednesday, in a confrontation described by firefighters and depicted in photos and video. The reason why the two firefighters were arrested is unclear. SEATTLE TIMES

CORRUPTION ALERT

Mystery surrounds $1.2 billion Army contract to build huge detention tent camp in Texas desert:  When the Trump administration last month awarded a contract worth up to $1.2 billion to build and operate what it says will become the nation’s largest immigration detention complex, it didn’t turn to a large government contractor or even a firm that specializes in private prisons. Instead, it handed the project on a military base to Acquisition Logistics LLC, a small business with no listed experience in running a correctional facility and that had never won a federal contract worth more than $16 million. The company also lacks a functioning website and lists a modest home in suburban Virginia, owned by a 77-year-old retired Navy flight officer, as its address. AP

DOJ drops charges against another client of AG Pam Bondi's brother Brad: For the second time in less than a month, the Justice Department on Wednesday abruptly dropped charges against a client represented by Brad Bondi, the brother of U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi. Federal prosecutors in Missouri this week agreed to voluntarily dismiss an indictment against Sid Chakraverty, a property developer who faced felony wire fraud charges. ABC

SCIENCE, HEALTH & SAFETY

Life-saving California weather forecast data is about to disappear: Federal funding cuts have targeted the network of ocean buoys that comprise the Coastal Data Information Program, which has been operated by UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography for the past 50 years. Experts say that eliminating the buoys may compromise the accuracy of weather forecasts, the timing of emergency response efforts, and the safety of surfers, mariners and swimmers out on the water. SF GATE

A week of chaos at the CDC: Chaos at the CDC as the new director resigns and employees protest against the various statements and actions of HHS Secretary RFK Jr. The CDC has also scaled back a surveillance program for foodborne illnesses: NBC NPR

SSA chief data officer and whistleblower resigns in blistering email: Social Security Administration chief information officer Charles Borges resigned on Friday. He filed a whistleblower complaint that alleges DOGE members recklessly uploaded a copy of an SSA database containing Americans’ highly sensitive personal information to a vulnerable cloud server. THE HANDBASKET

DHS says no funds for disaster groups that help unauthorized migrants: Government and aid group officials said the new rules will make it more difficult to help those in need in the aftermath of disasters. They also question whether the policy is constitutional, citing laws that restrict officials from asking about an individual’s legal status. SAN

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