Politics

خلاصہ: Senate Democrat: Trump credibility on line with Russia deadline Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) on Friday argued President Trump’s reputation is on the line as the world awaits pending secondary sanctions on Russia. “I believe that his credibility will be damaged if he fails to follow through today on this deadline. There is no excuse for succumbing to this Putin ploy,” Blumenthal said on “CNN News Central.”  “The president has demonstrated that he means business. He said he’s disappointed with Putin. He ought to impose those sanctions on China, India, Brazil. They are buying Russian oil. They are sustaining his war machine, and they ought to be held accountable,” he added. The White House has threatened to impose additional sanctions targeting key Russian trading partners on Friday. A senior official said Wednesday following special envoy Steve Witkoff's meeting with Putin in Russia that the sanctions were "still expected to be implemented Friday." Trump said the meeting between his envoy and the Russian leader was "highly productive" and claimed there was "great progress" from the meeting. The U.S. has used the deadline for weeks in an effort to push Moscow to the negotiating table for a potential ceasefire in Ukraine, a first step toward ending the more than three-year war. “I don’t know that sanctions bother him . You know? They know about sanctions. I know better than anybody about sanctions, and tariffs and everything else. I don’t know if that has any effect. But we’re going to do it,” Trump said in July. Trump has announced he will hit India with tariffs of up to 50 percent while criticizing New Delhi for purchasing Russian oil. China has also defended its purchase of Russian oil, pushing back on the threat of new U.S. tariffs. Blumenthal said Friday that profits spurred by foreign oil purchases can be categorized as “blood money.” “And they should pay a price for fueling the kind of merciless and murderous aerial assault that is killing Ukrainians, literally last night in their homes, hospitals, educational centers. It is atrocities that they should be held accountable for supporting,” Blumenthal said. Blumenthal said without repercussions, the Kremlin will continue to strike and advance in the region.  “The credibility of the president and the United States is at stake. Putin is simply stringing us along," Blumenthal said. 📰 Source InformationPublisher: The HillOriginal Source: https://thehill.com/policy/international/5443066-blumenthal-trump-putin-sanctions/ 🔗Published: 2025-08-08 15:29:29Source From: NewsBlur

خلاصہ: Democrats demand answers on FBI efforts to track Texas Democrats The ranking Democratic members of two key House committees have written a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel to express “great concern about the abuse of federal public safety resources” in response to reports the FBI is helping Texas law enforcement track down Democrats who fled Texas to stop a partisan redistricting effort. The Democrats, led by Reps. Robert Garcia (Calif.), the ranking member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and Jamie Raskin (Md.), the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, raised alarm over reports the “FBI is diverting federal law enforcement away from fighting terrorism, drug trafficking and other federal crimes to instead harass and target Texans’ duly elected representatives.” They wrote that the reports “raise urgent questions about the legal basis, scale, and appropriateness of federal law enforcement involved in a state-level political matter.” Reps. Greg Casar (D-Texas) and Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) also signed the letter. The letter came in response to a claim made by Texas Sen. John Cornyn (R) on Thursday that the FBI is assisting the Texas Department of Public Safety in identifying or locating Democratic state lawmakers who left the state to stop a GOP effort to radically redraw Texas’s congressional map. The House Democrats pointed out that Texas state Democrats from both parties have fled the state in prior years to disrupt bills from moving forward. They noted that the House Ethics Committee reprimanded then then-House Majority Leader Tom Delay (R-Texas) for requesting that the Federal Aviation Administration and the Department of Homeland Security track a plane of Democratic state lawmakers who fled Texas in 2003 to stop a GOP-led effort to redistrict the state’s congressional map. Garcia, Raskin and their colleagues pointed out that a Texas state district judge ruled in 2003 that the state’s Department of Public Safety lacked the authority to apprehend lawmakers for breaking quorum in the state legislature. “The court held that Texas law ‘limits the role of DPS to enforcing the laws protecting the public safety and providing for the prevention and detection of crime.’ The ruling made clear that the state cannot treat quorum-breaking as a criminal offense subject to law enforcement pursuit,” they wrote. The House Democrats suggested that Cornyn asked the FBI to get involved in the political fight because he’s battling for his political survival in the face of a primary race next year against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. “On July 31, 2025, U.S. Senator John Cornyn, trailing far behind in a Republican Senate primary, chose to ignore this precedent and publicly called for the FBI to assist Texas authorities in tracking down Democratic state lawmakers,” they wrote. “This request has been criticized by legal experts and civil rights advocates, who raised concerns about criminalizing political protest and the potential misuse of federal resources in a partisan dispute.” The Democrats asked for confirmation on whether the FBI or the Department of Justice has agreed to assist with the efforts to track state lawmakers. They wanted a full accounting of Justice Department and FBI personnel assigned to the state of Texas or the Texas Department of Public Safety to assist in locating and identifying state lawmakers. They requested a detailed explanation of what legal authority the FBI is citing to pursue state-level lawmakers. They asked for all communications between Justice Department, FBI and Texas officials about the matter. The FBI declined to comment on the matter. The Department of Justice did not immediately respond to a request for comment.📰 Source InformationPublisher: The HillOriginal Source: https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5443144-fbi-texas-democrats-redistricting/ 🔗Published: 2025-08-08 15:32:04Source From: NewsBlur

خلاصہ: President Trump taps federal law enforcement agencies to police Washington, D.C.President Trump has ordered federal law enforcement agencies to begin policing the streets of Washington, D.C., citing crime in the city. (Image credit: JIM WATSON)Source: NPR

خلاصہ: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reposts video of pastors saying women shouldn't voteSecretary of Defense Pete Hegseth reposted the video profiling Christian Nationalist Pastor Doug Wilson, who opposes same-sex marriage.(Image credit: Andrew Harnik)Source: NPR

خلاصہ: California Democratic leaders endorse Gov. Newsom's redistricting plansIn response to Texas drawing five more GOP-leaning congressional seats, Democrats in California officially reveal their plan to redistrict ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.Source: NPR

خلاصہ: Justice, democracy, and lawJustice, Democracy, and Law is a recurring series by Edward B. Foley that focuses on election law and the relationship of law and democracy. Please note that the views of outside contributors do not reflect the official opinions of SCOTUSblog or its staff. I’m delighted and honored to present this, my inaugural Justice, Democracy, and Law essay. I’ve entitled this series Justice, Democracy, and Law because I will focus on the fundamental interplay of these three normative features of our society (or indeed any society). As appropriate for SCOTUSblog, I will pay particular attention to the role that the Supreme Court plays regarding the relationship of these three elements. As I see it, justice is – or at least should be – the main aim of social relations. The law thus exists to achieve justice. Indeed, the Constitution’s preamble declares this explicitly, listing to “establish Justice” among its core objectives (along with promoting “the general Welfare,” securing “the blessings of Liberty,” and other worthy goals). In enforcing the Constitution’s commands, the Supreme Court often must try to secure a just outcome directly. The Fifth Amendment, for example, prohibits the government from taking private property for public use “without just compensation,” and so the judiciary must determine what amounts to “just” compensation and order that it be provided. Likewise, to avoid injustice, the Eighth Amendment prohibits “cruel and unusual punishments,” and here the court is tasked with determining what counts as cruel or unusual. Even when the Constitution is not explicit on what justice requires in a specific context, the court can be called upon to insist that the government not act with obvious injustice. One clear example is the 1977 case of Moore v. City of East Cleveland. In that case, a local zoning ordinance made it a crime for a grandmother to live at home with her two grandchildren when those two grandchildren were first cousins rather than siblings. The Supreme Court struck down the zoning ordinance as unconstitutional. Although there was no specific clause of the Constitution that addressed this exact situation, a majority of the justices on the court (Justice Lewis F. Powell writing for four justices, and Justice John Paul Stevens writing separately) found it unconscionable for the government to criminalize a grandmother’s efforts to provide a home for her grandchildren. Whether justified by the Ninth Amendment’s pronouncement that “he enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people” or otherwise, the court was not going to let this gross injustice – contrary to the “tradition” of “extended family households” that has a “venerable” history in our society – continue. The court admitted that the idea of unenumerated constitutional rights susceptible to judicial enforcement is “treacherous,” requiring “caution and restraint.” Nevertheless, the majority refused to withhold its power to rectify such an egregious wrong. But the principle invoked in Moore v. City of East Cleveland must be circumscribed. Reasonable disagreement over what justice requires in various contexts requires the court to refrain from imposing its conception of justice without an applicable directive in the Constitution for the court to enforce. In other words, the court cannot pull its sense of justice out of thin air, but must instead ground it in the Constitution itself. And here is where democracy comes in: Good-faith debates over the demands of justice should be resolved democratically, with each citizen having equal input on either what the content of the law should be (like in a referendum) or the choice of the elected officials who will determine the law’s content (as in a representative government).  What then is the court’s responsibility to assure that democracy exists to enable the just resolution of disputes? There was a time when the court saw itself as responsible for guaranteeing that legislation be the product of democratic procedures. Perhaps the court’s most emphatic expression of this self-conception came in the 1969 case of Kramer v. Union Free School District No. 15. This case involved a state law that limited the right to vote in school board elections to only citizens who had children in the local public schools or who owned or rented real estate in the school district. The court invalidated this statute on the ground that it unconstitutionally denied equal voting rights to other adult citizens residing in the school district. The majority justified its exercise of “strict scrutiny” – the most stringent constitutional test – over this denial of the right to vote on the ground that protecting fair democratic process meant that the court would not need to assess the fairness of the substantive social policies enacted by the legislature. That is, so long as the process was fair, the court would not have to weigh in on the law that resulted from this process.   As the court declared, “ny unjustified discrimination in determining who may participate in political affairs or in the selection of public officials undermines the legitimacy of representative government.” Consequently, the court saw its own role in reviewing the validity of legislation as hinging on whether the legislation was democratically enacted: “The presumption of constitutionality and the approval given ‘rational’ classifications in other types of enactments are based on an assumption that the institutions of state government are structured so as to represent fairly all the people. However, when the challenge to the statute is in effect a challenge of this basic assumption, the assumption can no longer serve as the basis for presuming constitutionality.” In other words, the court need not concern itself with the justice or injustice of laws enacted by legislatures if – but only if – the legislatures that enacted them are sufficiently democratic in character. Insofar as a local school board is a legislative body that enacts the rules governing educational policy for the local district, it too must comply with the same minimal requirements of democratic procedural fairness as the general legislature for the state. Indeed, the judicial philosophy expressed in Kramer was the foundation for...

خلاصہ: Trump and Putin prepare to meet. Do they both want the same thing?NPR's Mary Louise Kelly speaks with former Trump national security advisor Ambassador John Bolton about the President's upcoming summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Source Information Publisher: NPR Original Source: Read More https://www.npr.org/2025/08/12/nx-s1-5499356/trump-and-putin-prepare-to-meet-do-they-both-want-the-same-thing

خلاصہ: Inside one of the most understaffed immigration courts in the countryThe Chelmsford, Mass., court has hemorrhaged judges, a consequence of the Trump administration's seemingly contradictory efforts to downsize the federal government and increase immigration arrests.(Image credit: Meredith Nierman) Source Information Publisher: NPR Original Source: Read More https://www.npr.org/2025/08/13/nx-s1-5482883/trump-immigration-court-firings-chelmsford

خلاصہ: High prices and health care costs may turn Latino voters away from Republicans in 2026Latino voters helped deliver the White House to President Trump in the last election. Many of them already say they won't vote for Republicans next year, but they aren't yet turning to Democrats.(Image credit: Allison Dinner) Source Information Publisher: NPR Original Source: Read More https://www.npr.org/2025/08/13/nx-s1-5490046/latino-voters-economy-inflation-healthcare-costs-trump-2026-midterms

خلاصہ: With midterms more than a year away, a record number of lawmakers are eyeing the exitsA record number of congressional lawmakers have announced they don't plan to run for their current seats in 2026, including three sitting senators leaving Washington to run for governor.(Image credit: Drew Angerer) Source Information Publisher: NPR Original Source: Read More https://www.npr.org/2025/08/13/nx-s1-5495665/lawmakers-leaving-washington-run-for-governor-congress-2026-midterms

خلاصہ: Trump administration calls for 'comprehensive review' of 8 Smithsonian museumsThe White House told the Smithsonian it wants to review eight of its museums to make sure they align with Trump's cultural directives. NPR speaks with Georgetown University professor Lisa Strong. Source Information Publisher: NPR Original Source: Read More https://www.npr.org/2025/08/13/nx-s1-5500595/trump-administration-calls-for-comprehensive-review-of-8-smithsonian-museums

خلاصہ: Trump official tells census workers Congress has final say over the count, not TrumpDays after the president's call for a "new" census, the top official overseeing the Census Bureau told employees that Congress, not Trump, has final say over the tally, NPR has exclusively learned.(Image credit: Anna Moneymaker) Source Information Publisher: NPR Original Source: Read More https://www.npr.org/2025/08/12/nx-s1-5500526/can-the-president-order-a-new-census-trump-congress

خلاصہ: Letitia James' lawyer discusses DOJ investigation into New York attorney generalThe Justice Department launched a grand jury investigation into New York Attorney General Letitia James. NPR speaks to James' lawyer, Abbe Lowell, who calls it a "dangerous escalation." Source Information Publisher: NPR Original Source: Read More https://www.npr.org/2025/08/13/nx-s1-5497743/letitia-james-lawyer-discusses-doj-investigation-into-new-york-attorney-general

خلاصہ: Is Kari Lake a CEO? Her agency said so. The law suggests notKari Lake has sought to dismantle Voice of America and its federal parent, the U.S. Agency for Global Media. The agency has recently called her its acting CEO. But the law suggests she's not eligible for the job.(Image credit: Real America's Voice/via YouTube) Source Information Publisher: NPR Original Source: Read More https://www.npr.org/2025/08/13/nx-s1-5500554/kari-lake-ceo-agency-usagm-voice-of-america

خلاصہ: The fight is on. How redistricting could unfold in 8 entangled statesState leaders in both parties say they're ready to redraw political lines ahead of 2026, but state laws and constitutions make mid-decade redistricting virtually impossible in many places. (Image credit: Leah Willingham) Source Information Publisher: NPR Original Source: Read More https://www.npr.org/2025/08/14/nx-s1-5501537/texas-california-gerrymandering-redistricting