In partnership with
Good morning and happy Friday! Here’s what on tap today:
Trump defies SCOTUS on birthright citizenship — again
Bernie introduces guaranteed paid vacation
Trump's endorsed candidates keep losing
A private prison company is cashing in on ICE
And: Canada’s Prime Minister expertly trolls Trump
Heads up: we publish Sunday mornings too, but that edition is only for paid subscribers only. Sign up here before it drops.
KEY DEVELOPMENTS
1. Trump defies the Supreme Court on birthright citizenship — again
Five weeks after SCOTUS struck down his first attempt, Trump signed two new executive orders yesterday to restrict birthright citizenship and ban so-called "birth tourism."
The orders attempt to broaden the categories of children ineligible for automatic citizenship — a right written into the 14th Amendment — and Trump called the Court's June ruling "very, very unfortunate" while announcing he was making "adjustments."
His administration has now spent more than a decade trying to undo a constitutional guarantee that has survived every previous assault. The legal challenges will be immediate.
2. Trump's endorsed candidates keep losing; GOP panic goes on the record
Trump-backed Rep. Andy Ogles lost his Tennessee primary Thursday to Charlie Hatcher, a former state agriculture commissioner, making it the second Trump-endorsed Republican to lose a primary this week.
In a separate race, Trump's pick in a Michigan contest lost to a candidate who had already dropped out of the race weeks earlier. Inside a closed-door GOP strategy session, Sen. Steve Daines confronted Trump's own pollster and political operatives, demanding to know when the president would stop attacking fellow Republicans and start targeting Democrats ahead of the midterms. The answer, apparently, was not reassuring.
3. ICE is tracking 54,000 people with ankle monitors — and a private prison company is cashing in
ICE is now monitoring nearly 54,000 immigrants through GPS ankle monitors, up from 17,000 just over a year ago — a number disclosed not by the government, but by the private prison corporation profiting from it. The Geo Group, which owns the company running ICE's electronic surveillance program, revealed the figure on its earnings call Thursday.
Meanwhile, airline workers are reportedly declining to assist federal agents making arrests at airports, as ICE and TSA have expanded collaboration to make as many as three dozen daily arrests at U.S. airports per month.
And at Delaney Hall in New Jersey, Edwin López-Cornejo — a 39-year-old Salvadoran immigrant with documented epilepsy and high blood pressure whose attorney had filed a habeas petition flagging his medical needs just days earlier — died on Saturday, becoming the 22nd person to die in ICE custody this year.
4. Bernie introduces guaranteed paid vacation — and 86 House members sign on
Sen. Bernie Sanders reintroduced the Guaranteed Paid Vacation Act yesterday, legislation that would require at least two weeks of paid vacation for every full-time worker in America. The bill has four Senate co-sponsors — Chris Murphy, Ed Markey, Ruben Gallego, and Alex Padilla — and companion legislation in the House introduced by Rep. Seth Magaziner with 86 co-sponsors.
The United States remains the only major wealthy country on Earth with no federal paid vacation guarantee.
Sanders framed it simply: "When a husband, wife, and kids, during the course of an entire year, are unable to spend any time together on vacation, that is not a family value."
It obviously won't pass this Congress but it should be in every Democratic platform by 2028 — and the 86 House co-sponsors are the map.
The #1 Roth Conversion Mistake That Costs Retirees
Most people missed the first Roth conversion window. History is offering a rare second chance — but not a long one.
With today's tax rates extended, IRA Millionaires have a brief stretch of historically low brackets left. When it closes, the math changes: higher rates, bigger required distributions, and fewer conversion opportunities each year you wait.
Craig Wear, CFP®, has spent 15+ years helping more than 3,000 families with $1M+ in IRAs plan Roth conversions — helping them avoid a projected $10B+ in lifetime taxes. His new book, Roth Conversion Reset, is the step-by-step playbook:
Lock in today's low rates
Avoid RMD surprises at 73
Protect your spouse from survivor taxes
Keep more for your heirs
The book is free — no credit card, no shipping. The full PDF lands in your inbox in minutes.
KEPT OUT OF YOUR FEED
What the algorithm buried:
Jon Stewart called out lame-duck Republican senators for caving to Trump — and getting nothing in return
Trump, 80, just forgot how to spell “dumb” in public
Abdul El-Sayed already has his first target picked out — and he did not hold back
Now AIPAC is dropping $5 million to stop a progressive from winning Eric Swalwell's old seat
Trump's new CDC director nominee says the government should do more "abortion surveillance" — including ensuring states aren't "hiding" abortions
Trump just proposed gutting the program that feeds and educates 500,000 low-income kids
Trump's crowd booed a fallen cop because his name sounded foreign — he was a Marine who died in the line of duty
Tucker Carlson unveiled a 10 point plan for “what America should be” after Trump— and yes, Epstein is somehow central to it.
Trump's Truth Social has lost 40% of its daily active users in the past year
Bernie Sanders tells James Carville to ‘start his own party’ if he doesn’t like what’s happening
The GAO just confirmed that DOGE's $215 billion in "savings" was wildly overstated
One company could soon own the local news in nearly half the country — and the FCC says it’s fine
Susie Wiles is at the center of a MAGA civil war over a sudden White House reversal on a hemp ban — her son-in-law runs a major hemp products company
The DNC owes Washington D.C. $313,000 in overdue property taxes on its $12.1 million headquarters
A Texas Republican voted for Trump — and then ICE arrested his fiancée
Trump is reportedly drafting an executive order targeting the childhood vaccine schedule and autism — driven by his own private theories on the subject
Canada's new PM just trolled Trump with a perfectly timed ‘conspiracy’ joke
NOTICE POLLING
Yesterday we asked, Do you think Todd Blanche, Trump's personal lawyer, will get the votes need to be confirmed as Attorney General?
56% OF YOU SAID YES — 44% SAID NO:
“I know that many will think that Blanche has the job in the bag, but I believe that some people are counting their chickens before they've hatched. Three GOP Senators may be inclined to vote "no" on confirming him for the position: Susan Collins, Bill Cassidy and Lisa Murkowski. If all three of them join the Democrats in voting against Blanche, then he's toast!”
- cdmalin
“Unfortunately, he will get through because so many on the right are spineless.”
- lorifabritius
“I hope not, but apparently he will get the votes. It would be a sad day for America. The land of the free isn't safe for women and girls. We are becoming the land of the insane. Don't tell me this policy has anything to do with Christianity. ”
- lamakul
“Republican Senators are not working for the American people. They vote against anything that will help the mainstream, they are dishonest and corrupt and those that aren’t are weak ”
- starkat1937
That’s all for today — we will see you tomorrow. And if you know someone who might enjoy this newsletter, please share it with them!
DON’T MISS SUNDAY'S EDITION
It goes out to paid members only, every Sunday morning. Become a member now or you won't see it. $4/month, cancel anytime.