Current Events · 2026-07-28

Elections

The Trump administration tells the Supreme Court its own voter-list order isn't in effect yet¹

An emergency application to the Supreme Court is not a ruling on the merits. It asks the justices to pause a lower court's order while the appeal continues, and it succeeds only if the applicant can show the case is fit for review now, before the underlying harm becomes irreversible. Solicitor General D. John Sauer filed exactly that argument on July 27, docketed No. 26A124, asking the Court to lift a First Circuit refusal to stay a district court order blocking Executive Order 14,399's federal voter-list and mail-ballot program in the 23 states, plus the District of Columbia and Pennsylvania's governor, that sued to stop it.¹ The government's own brief argues the suit is premature.¹ The Department of Homeland Security "continues to deliberate" on compiling citizenship data, and the Postal Service has issued no final rule.¹ In the filing's own words, "the Order itself does not affect their election processes at all."¹ Two courts already rejected that theory. A district court granted summary judgment for the states on June 25,¹ and the First Circuit refused to stay it on July 25, with Judges Gelpí and Rikelman in the majority and Judge Dunlap dissenting in part.²³ Two other courts reached similar non-justiciability conclusions in parallel suits over the same order, by the government's own account of them, which is why the theory is not frivolous on its face even as it now goes before a third forum.¹ The stakes are the government's own to state: implementation "will need to begin well before November — indeed, as soon as early to mid-August" to be ready for the Nov. 3 election.¹

Foreign Policy

Senate nears a vote on tariffs up to 100% for Russia's biggest oil buyers⁴

Volodymyr Zelensky meets Trump at the White House today, then briefs the Senate this evening, the same day both attend Sen. Lindsey Graham's Washington funeral.⁵ He is lobbying for a bill Majority Leader John Thune plans to move toward cloture Tuesday night, once nominations business clears and before the funeral occupies the chamber Tuesday and Wednesday.⁶ South Carolina services follow Wednesday.⁷ The bill, S.1241, would impose mandatory sanctions on Vladimir Putin, senior Russian officials and oligarchs, and the Central Bank of Russia, Sberbank, and Gazprombank, and would bar US persons from buying Russian sovereign debt.⁴ It sets tariffs of up to 100%, down from an original 500% blanket-tariff design, on the five countries that buy the most Russian oil and gas, reassessed every 180 days and subject to a presidential national-interest waiver.⁴ Those five buyers include China and India.⁵ Trump is also pushing to add Iran sanctions to the bill. Zelensky has told a Trump ally he thinks that is "a great idea."⁵ Three days earlier, Ukraine's ambassador to Israel said a Ukrainian strike hit an Iranian tanker in the Caspian Sea carrying drones and military components bound for Russia.⁵

Middle East

Iran calls a US Red Sea move "an attempt to escalate war in the region"⁸

Iran's Khatam-al-Anbia Central Headquarters, the joint command that runs its regional operations, condemned a US "blockade attempt" Tuesday as "an attempt to escalate war in the region."⁸ The statement followed a week in which Houthi forces fired on Saudi tankers in the Red Sea's Bab el-Mandeb Strait, forcing container ships to reroute around Africa, days after Saudi Arabia signed a civil nuclear agreement with the United States.⁹ Rystad Energy's Jennifer Li called the nuclear deal itself "escalatory," since "there isn't really a scenario in which the Iranians will view this favorably."⁹ Crude oil hit $100 a barrel Thursday for the first time since early June; Rapidan Energy's Fernando Ferreira put the risk as "skewed towards a return of a regional war in the Middle East," with analysts warning further escalation could push oil closer to $120, near the $124 high it hit in April.⁹ Each side casts the other as the one escalating. Tehran points to the US Red Sea posture; Washington-aligned accounts point to the Houthi strikes on Saudi tankers.⁸⁹

Antitrust

California and 11 other states freeze the $110 billion Paramount-Warner Bros. merger¹⁰

California Attorney General Rob Bonta and an 11-state coalition secured a stipulated agreement, announced Friday, halting Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery's proposed $110 billion merger until June 1, 2027, or until a court rules on the states' antitrust suit, whichever comes first.¹⁰ If the states win, the merger stays blocked pending appeal.¹⁰ The coalition sued under Section 7 of the Clayton Act, arguing the combined company would dominate film distribution, "anticipated blockbuster film distribution," and cable-TV channel licensing.¹⁰ Bonta: "When too few corporations have too much power in markets central to American life, it makes things more expensive, and it makes things worse."¹⁰ The stipulation supersedes a 14-day restraining order a federal judge issued July 20 after finding the states presented "compelling evidence" the combined firm would hold substantial market share in wide-release distribution; that order had set an Aug. 3 preliminary-injunction hearing.¹¹ Paramount has said it is confident the states' antitrust arguments "are without merit." The freeze carries its own cost: Paramount owes Warner shareholders roughly $650 million for every 90-day delay starting Oct. 1.¹¹

Public Safety

Seattle police take five hours to face reporters after a shooting that killed three¹²

Three people died and four more were hurt, including a toddler, when two people exchanged gunfire outside the Seattle Center Armory during the Bite of Seattle festival around 6 p.m. Sunday.¹² At 6:29 p.m., Seattle police's first public word was a single social-media post: "Police are investigating a shooting. Multiple shooting victims. Shots fired at the Seattle Center."¹³ The department's first press conference did not happen until 10:50 p.m., nearly five hours after the shooting.¹³ At 11 a.m. Monday, Chief Shon Barnes disclosed that the detained suspect is 15 years old and that no homicide arrest had been made.¹³ By 1:30 p.m., court documents showed a third person, allegedly part of the gunfight with the 15-year-old and a 19-year-old who died at the scene, remained unidentified and at large.¹³ By 4 p.m., Mayor Katie Wilson confirmed the manhunt was still active nearly 24 hours after the shooting.¹³ Barnes declined to answer questions about his own absence during the shooting and grew visibly defensive with reporters, then separately told them the department had "no problem" reviewing its communications after the fact.¹³ The three killed were identified as Carlos Israel Sanchez Villalba, 44; Ashley Whitehead, 56; and Junior Cee Nio Semo, 19, the acquaintance suspect who died at the scene.¹⁴

The Trump administration tells the Supreme Court its own voter-list order isn't in effect yet1

Senate nears a vote on tariffs up to 100% for Russia's biggest oil buyers4

Iran calls a US Red Sea move "an attempt to escalate war in the region"8

California and 11 other states freeze the $110 billion Paramount-Warner Bros. merger10

Seattle police take five hours to face reporters after a shooting that killed three12

Sources

The Trump administration tells the Supreme Court its own voter-list order isn't in effect yet¹

Senate nears a vote on tariffs up to 100% for Russia's biggest oil buyers⁴

Iran calls a US Red Sea move "an attempt to escalate war in the region"⁸

California and 11 other states freeze the $110 billion Paramount-Warner Bros. merger¹⁰

Seattle police take five hours to face reporters after a shooting that killed three¹²