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Justice division to ship federal screens to polling websites in California and New Jersey
The justice division introduced on Friday that it intends to ship federal observers from its civil rights division to “monitor polling websites” in 5 California counties and one New Jersey county throughout “the upcoming November 4, 2025, basic election to make sure transparency, poll safety, and compliance with federal regulation”.
The deployment of federal observers to make sure compliance with the federal voting rights legal guidelines was a key enforcement provision of the Voting Rights Act handed in 1965, however for many years the screens had been dispatched to counties the place violations of the rights of Black voters and different racial minorities had been noticed or suspected.
Earlier than a 2013 supreme courtroom ruling, 153 counties and parishes in 11 states had been licensed by the lawyer basic for federal observers: Alabama (22 counties), Alaska (1) Arizona (4), Georgia (29), Louisiana (12), Mississippi (51), New York (3), North Carolina (1), South Carolina (11), South Dakota (1) and Texas (18).
By 2024, the variety of states the place federal observers had been despatched to observe elections had widened to 27.
Thursday’s announcement that screens will solely be despatched to 6 counties, none of which had been below remark final yr, is a marked departure.
The brand new counties the place voting can be noticed on election day this yr are:
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Passaic county, New Jersey
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Los Angeles county, California
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Orange county, California
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Riverside county, California
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Kern county, California
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Fresno county, California
In each states, Republican leaders has requested the screens.
Earlier this week, Republicans in Passaic, New Jersey, requested assistant US lawyer basic Harmeet Dhillon, who leads the civil rights division, to supervise the processing of mail-in ballots within the county.
Dhillon, a former vice chair of the California Republican social gathering who ran unsuccessfully to be chair of the Republican Nationwide Committee in 2023, was requested to ship screens to the 5 counties the present chair of the California Republicans, Corrin Rankin. In a letter to Dhillon this week, Rankin wrote: “we now have acquired reviews of irregularities in these counties that we worry will undermine both the willingness of voters to take part within the election or their confidence within the introduced outcomes of the election.”
Dhillon was beforehand a authorized adviser to Donald Trump’s 2020 marketing campaign and advised Fox Information on 5 November that yr, two days earlier than Joe Biden’s victory was confirmed, that the marketing campaign hoped the supreme courtroom would halt the counting of votes in areas with out Republican social gathering screens. “We’re ready for america supreme courtroom – of which the president has nominated three justices – to step in and do one thing,” Dhillon mentioned. “And hopefully Amy Coney Barrett will come via.”
Voters in California can be contemplating a redistricting proposal supported by the state’s governor, Gavin Newsom, which might counter new gerrymandered congressional maps drawn to favor Texas Republicans by briefly redrawing California’s maps to tilt the sphere in favor of Democrats.
Key occasions
Senate Democrats say Nationwide Park Service getting used for ‘affect peddling’ by accepting donations for Trump’s ballroom
5 Senate Democrats say a Nationwide Parks Service belief devoted to preserving the White Home grounds is now getting used for “affect peddling,” by accepting donations to pay for Donald Trump’s “gold-plated $300 million ballroom”.
The senators, Elizabeth Warren, Richard Blumenthal, Ron Wyden, Chris Van Hollen, and Ed Markey put their allegations in a letter to the Nationwide Park Service comptroller and the president of the Belief for the Nationwide Mall.
“We’re involved in regards to the threat of quid-pro-quo preparations through which giant firms get backroom favors from the White Home and President Trump will get his multi-million-dollar ballroom — all whereas American households face rising costs throughout a authorities shutdown”, the lawmakers wrote. “The American public deserves solutions in regards to the circumstances surrounding the demolition of the East Wing of the White Home, about President Trump’s makes an attempt to construct a gold-plated $300 million ballroom, and about whether or not the Belief is getting used to facilitate corruption within the types of company particular pursuits’ insider entry to the White Home.”
The Belief was established in 2007 as a nonpartisan, nonprofit associate of the Nationwide Park Service. “Nevertheless,” the senators write, “the size of funds raised for President Trump’s ballroom, President Trump’s private involvement in fundraising for the mission, and the variety of company donors with enterprise earlier than the Trump Administration elevate new questions on whether or not the Belief is facilitating corrupt entry to and favor-seeking from President Trump and his Administration.”
Justice division to ship federal screens to polling websites in California and New Jersey
The justice division introduced on Friday that it intends to ship federal observers from its civil rights division to “monitor polling websites” in 5 California counties and one New Jersey county throughout “the upcoming November 4, 2025, basic election to make sure transparency, poll safety, and compliance with federal regulation”.
The deployment of federal observers to make sure compliance with the federal voting rights legal guidelines was a key enforcement provision of the Voting Rights Act handed in 1965, however for many years the screens had been dispatched to counties the place violations of the rights of Black voters and different racial minorities had been noticed or suspected.
Earlier than a 2013 supreme courtroom ruling, 153 counties and parishes in 11 states had been licensed by the lawyer basic for federal observers: Alabama (22 counties), Alaska (1) Arizona (4), Georgia (29), Louisiana (12), Mississippi (51), New York (3), North Carolina (1), South Carolina (11), South Dakota (1) and Texas (18).
By 2024, the variety of states the place federal observers had been despatched to observe elections had widened to 27.
Thursday’s announcement that screens will solely be despatched to 6 counties, none of which had been below remark final yr, is a marked departure.
The brand new counties the place voting can be noticed on election day this yr are:
-
Passaic county, New Jersey
-
Los Angeles county, California
-
Orange county, California
-
Riverside county, California
-
Kern county, California
-
Fresno county, California
In each states, Republican leaders has requested the screens.
Earlier this week, Republicans in Passaic, New Jersey, requested assistant US lawyer basic Harmeet Dhillon, who leads the civil rights division, to supervise the processing of mail-in ballots within the county.
Dhillon, a former vice chair of the California Republican social gathering who ran unsuccessfully to be chair of the Republican Nationwide Committee in 2023, was requested to ship screens to the 5 counties the present chair of the California Republicans, Corrin Rankin. In a letter to Dhillon this week, Rankin wrote: “we now have acquired reviews of irregularities in these counties that we worry will undermine both the willingness of voters to take part within the election or their confidence within the introduced outcomes of the election.”
Dhillon was beforehand a authorized adviser to Donald Trump’s 2020 marketing campaign and advised Fox Information on 5 November that yr, two days earlier than Joe Biden’s victory was confirmed, that the marketing campaign hoped the supreme courtroom would halt the counting of votes in areas with out Republican social gathering screens. “We’re ready for america supreme courtroom – of which the president has nominated three justices – to step in and do one thing,” Dhillon mentioned. “And hopefully Amy Coney Barrett will come via.”
Voters in California can be contemplating a redistricting proposal supported by the state’s governor, Gavin Newsom, which might counter new gerrymandered congressional maps drawn to favor Texas Republicans by briefly redrawing California’s maps to tilt the sphere in favor of Democrats.
Pentagon confirms it acquired $130m examine from nameless donor to pay navy salaries throughout authorities shutdown
Someday after Donald Trump mentioned an unnamed “pal” had simply despatched “a examine for $130m” for use to pay navy salaries throughout the federal government shutdown, a Pentagon spokesperson confirmed that the protection division “accepted an nameless donation of $130m below its basic reward acceptance authority”.
“The donation was made on the situation that it’s used to offset the price of Service members’ salaries and advantages,” the Pentagon spokesperson, Sean Parnell, mentioned in an announcement. “We’re grateful for this donor’s help after Democrats opted to withhold pay from troops.”
Though Trump referred to the $130m reward as sufficient to cowl “any shortfall” in funds accessible to pay navy personnel throughout the federal government shutdown, the administration advised Congress final week that it used $6.5bn in funds allotted for analysis to pay troops for the primary half of October. Meaning the donation will cowl simply 2% of the cash wanted to pay troops for the second half of the month.
It stays unclear what, if any, ethics evaluation was carried out earlier than the donation was accepted.
Pentagon coverage says officers “should seek the advice of with their acceptable Ethics Official earlier than accepting such a present valued in extra of $10,000 to find out whether or not the donor is concerned in any claims, procurement actions, litigation, or different specific issues involving the Division that should be thought-about previous to reward acceptance”.
My colleague, Eric Berger, has been overlaying the impact of funding for the federal government’s meals stamp program operating out, because the shutdown enters its twenty fourth day.
Federal {dollars} for the Supplemental Diet Help Program (Snap) are set to run on 1 November if the federal government doesn’t reopen, affecting the power of 42 million folks across the nation to place meals on the desk.
As Eric reviews, the Division of Agriculture not too long ago despatched a letter to regional Snap administrators warning them that funding for Snap will run out on the finish of the month and directing them to carry funds “till additional discover”.
Greater than 200 Democratic representatives have urged the USDA to make use of contingency funds to proceed paying for Snap advantages.
Learn his full report beneath.
Here is a recap of the day to date
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The premier of Ontario, Doug Ford, mentioned that he has spoken with Canadian prime minister Mark Carney and determined to pause the promoting marketing campaign that drew ire from Donald Trump efficient Monday, in order that commerce talks can resume. “Our intention was at all times to provoke a dialog in regards to the sort of economic system that People need to construct and the impression of tariffs on staff and companies,” Ford mentioned in a put up on X. The Ontario authorities paid for and produced the advert which makes use of archival footage of a speech by Ronald Reagan in 1987 denouncing tariffs. In response, Trump has halted all commerce talks with Canada, whereas White Home officers mentioned at the moment that the negotiating course of to date had been “tough”.
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Earlier, Donald Trump continued his criticism over the commercial, accusing the nation of making an attempt to affect the US supreme courtroom. “Canada is making an attempt to illegally affect america Supreme Court docket in one of the crucial essential rulings within the historical past of our Nation,” the president wrote in a Reality Social put up. The courtroom set a date of 5 November for arguments it’s going to hear regarding the legality of Trump’s sweeping international tariffs.
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Hakeem Jeffries, the Home minority chief, has endorsed Zohran Mamdani, the frontrunner within the New York mayoral race. Till now, the highest Democrat, who represents a piece of Brooklyn in Congress, had not formally backed Mamdani, a lot to the frustration of progressives throughout the social gathering. Jeffries mentioned in his assertion that he and Mamdani could have “areas of principled disagreement” however emphasised that the social gathering wanted to unite within the face of an “existential” risk from Donald Trump.
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New York lawyer basic Letitia James has pleaded not responsible to 2 felony fees of financial institution fraud and making false statements to a monetary establishment. She was arraigned at a federal courtroom in Norfolk, Virginia. “This isn’t about me. It’s about all of us,” she mentioned, including that the justice system had been “used as a software for revenge” in an announcement after her look in courtroom. “My religion is robust. I’ve perception within the justice system and the rule of regulation,” she added.
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The US is sending the Gerald Ford plane service and its accompanying warships to waters off Latin America and the Caribbean, the Pentagon mentioned. Protection division spokesperson, Sean Parnell, mentioned that the transfer helps the Trump administration’s objective of combating worldwide drug-trafficking networks. The improved pressure will bolster US capability to “detect, monitor, and disrupt illicit actors and actions that compromise the protection and prosperity of america homeland and our safety within the Western Hemisphere”. The added navy presence is a significant escalation in Donald Trump’s latest marketing campaign of concentrating on alleged drug-carrying vessels in a collection of strikes in latest weeks.
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On that observe, US has carried out its tenth strike on an alleged drug-carrying vessel, the protection secretary, Pete Hegseth, mentioned on Friday. The Pentagon chief added that six folks had been killed within the assault, asserting that they had been all members of the Venezuelan gang generally known as Tren de Aragua.
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Costs continued to rise in September, growing at an annual price of three%, in keeping with the newest authorities inflation report. In September alone, costs rose by 0.3%, a slight slowdown after rising 0.4% in August. The information had been delayed by the continuing US authorities shutdown. In the meantime, the White Home mentioned at the moment that the continuing authorities shutdown, will “probably lead to no October inflation report” – persevering with guilty Democratic lawmakers for the lapse in funding.
Robert Mackey
A federal choose in Portland, Oregon, on Friday rejected the Trump administration’s request to right away raise her order blocking the deployment of federalized nationwide guard troops to the town, saying that she would determine the matter by Monday.
The district courtroom choose, Karin Immergut, who relies within the metropolis, had beforehand issued two short-term restraining orders blocking the deployment of nationwide guard troops there, in response to a persistent however small protest outdoors an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) workplace.
Her first order, blocking the deployment of 200 troops from the Oregon nationwide guard, mentioned that Donald Trump has exceeded his authority by taking federal management of the troops based mostly on his declare that the town was in a state of war-like revolt. Trump’s evaluation, Immergut dominated, was “merely untethered to the info”.
When Trump responded to that order by sending 200 troops from California’s nationwide guard to Oregon, and threatened to ship 400 extra from Texas, Immergut decided it was an try to evade her order, and issued a second order barring the deployment of troops from anyplace within the nation to Portland.
Immergut’s first order was lifted on Monday by a three-judge panel of the ninth circuit courtroom of appeals, over the sturdy dissent of the one choose on the panel who lives in Portland. However as a result of the federal government by no means appealed Immergut’s second order, it stays in impact and the deployment of troops stays blocked till she decides whether or not or to not raise or modify it in response to the appeals courtroom ruling.
At a digital listening to on Friday, Immergut cited two causes for her to delay lifting the second injunction. The primary was that the appeals courtroom didn’t tackle a central truth in her second order: that she had issued it partly as a result of the federal government responded to her first order by trying to evade it. The second was that the ninth circuit appeals courtroom is at present contemplating a name from one in every of its judges to rehear the enchantment of Immergut’s first order earlier than a bigger panel of 11 judges.
On the finish of the listening to, Immergut mentioned that she would determine by Monday, if not earlier.
US deploys plane service to waters off Latin America, amid escalating anti-drug trafficking efforts
The US is sending the Gerald Ford plane service and its accompanying warships to Caribbean waters off Latin America, the Pentagon mentioned.
The protection division spokesperson, Sean Parnell, mentioned that the transfer helps the Trump administration’s objective of combating worldwide drug-trafficking networks. The improved pressure will bolster US capability to “detect, monitor, and disrupt illicit actors and actions that compromise the protection and prosperity of america homeland and our safety within the Western Hemisphere,” Parnell mentioned in an announcement. He didn’t say precisely when the Ford service could be stationed within the area.
The added navy presence is a significant escalation in Donald Trump’s latest marketing campaign of concentrating on alleged drug-carrying vessels in a collection of strikes in latest weeks. The latest of which killed six suspected members of the Venezuelan gang generally known as Tren de Aragua.
Ontario premier points pause of advert criticizing Trump tariffs
Doug Ford, the premier of Ontario, mentioned that he has spoken with Canadian prime minister Mark Carney and has determined to pause the promoting marketing campaign that drew ire from Donald Trump efficient Monday, in order that commerce talks can resume.
“Our intention was at all times to provoke a dialog in regards to the sort of economic system that People need to construct and the impression of tariffs on staff and companies,” Ford mentioned in a put up on X.
The Ontario authorities paid for and produced the advert which makes use of archival footage of a speech by Ronald Reagan in 1987 denouncing tariffs. In response, Trump has halted all commerce talks with Canada, whereas White Home officers mentioned at the moment that the negotiating course of to date had been “tough”.
Ford mentioned that earlier than the anti-tariff advert is taken off the air, he has directed his crew “to maintain placing our message in entrance of People over the weekend” by enjoying the business throughout the first two World Sequence video games.
‘Pure electoral poison’: GOP teams slam Jeffries endorsement of Mamdani
Since Hakeem Jeffries, the highest Home Democrat, endorsed Zohran Mamdani in an announcement to the New York Occasions, each state and nationwide Republican organizations have slammed the transfer, typically with deceptive and unfaithful claims.
“In an act of supreme cowardice and capitulation, Democrats’ Minority Chief in Congress simply threw his lot in with an overtly Communist, anti-Semitic, defund-the-police, globalize-the-intifada extremist,” mentioned NYGOP chair Ed Cox in an announcement.
In the meantime, the Nationwide Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), mentioned that Jeffries had “formally surrendered to Zohran Mamdani and the socialist mob now operating the Democrat Celebration”.
“Their far-left takeover has torched Democrats’ hopes of retaking the Home and turned their agenda into pure electoral poison. Each single Democrat is a keen confederate to their very own social gathering’s collapse,” mentioned Mike Marinella, a spokesperson for the NRRC.
High Home Democrat presents long-awaited endorsement of Mamdani
Hakeem Jeffries, the Home minority chief, has endorsed Zohran Mamdani, the frontrunner within the New York mayoral race, in an announcement.
Till now, the highest Democrat, who represents a piece of Brooklyn in Congress, had not formally backed Mamdani, a lot to the frustration of progressives throughout the social gathering. Early voting in New York begins on Saturday 25 October.
Jeffries mentioned in his assertion that he and Mamdani could have “areas of principled disagreement” however the state assemblyman received “a free and honest election” within the Democratic main. Jeffries emphasised that the social gathering wanted to unite within the face of an “existential” risk from Donald Trump.
“I assist our nominee’s sturdy dedication to constructing a Metropolis the place on a regular basis New Yorkers can afford to dwell. By necessity, this should contain a significant partnership with the personal sector to dramatically enhance the availability of reasonably priced properties,” Jeffries wrote.
For his half, Mamdani welcomed Jeffries’ endorsement, and mentioned he appears ahead “to delivering a metropolis authorities, and constructing a Democratic Celebration, relentlessly dedicated to our affordability agenda – and to preventing Trump’s authoritarianism”.