Birthright citizenship order challenged
Happy Thursday. Good luck to the Caps tonight in a crucial Game 5! How's everyone in D.C. feeling?
In today's issue:
Today is the first day of Supreme Court opinions before the court's summer break. But even more importantly, the Supreme Court is hearing last-minute oral arguments in what may be one of the most highly anticipated cases of the term. Let's break it down:
First, the birthright citizenship case: The justices are hearing oral arguments on a challenge to President Trump's birthright citizenship executive order, which would block automatic citizenship for children born on U.S. soil to noncitizens.
There's an open question as to what exactly the court will be deciding with this case. The New York Times reports this case is fairly narrow, arguing it's not about the full legality of the policy, but whether a judge can single-handedly halt a nationwide policy.
However, Politico's Josh Gerstein reports that the justices could go either way. Read his reporting
From Gerstein: 'Most cases that come to the court have a precise 'question presented' that tees up the legal issue to be resolved. But the birthright citizenship cases arrived as a trio of expedited appeals on the court's emergency docket, not through the customary briefing process. And when the court took the rare step of ordering special oral arguments on those appeals, it was silent on what question or questions should be addressed.'
Either way, this case could have wide-ranging implications for Trump's executive agenda.
Isn't this kinda late for oral arguments?: Usually, yes. Most oral arguments wrap by April, but this was an emergency ask added to the docket.
This morning — Trump bashed birthright citizenship: Trump argued that the United States is a 'STUPID Country' for allowing birthright citizenship. Read Trump's full post
🗨️ Follow today's live blog
OK, now onto the court's first ruling today: The court issued its first opinion, unanimously deciding to make it easier to bring unreasonable force claims against police. More on the ruling
➤ WHICH CASES ARE STILL ON THE DOCKET?:
There are a lot of pending cases still left for the term. The Hill's Zach Schonfeld and Ella Lee break down the top cases to watch. Here are a few big cases:
➤ Gender-affirming care➤ Parent opt-outs for LGBTQ schools➤ South Carolina's bid to defund Planned Parenthood➤ Reverse discrimination➤ Ghost guns
📝Explainer for all the top cases left for the term
Another way I like to follow the cases: SCOTUSblog goes live on TikTok to give live analysis of the decisions. They usually begin at 10 a.m. EDT.
President Trump is wrapping up his Middle East trip today, but he has left the door open to extending it by another day.
Why would he extend it?: Trump floated the possibility of stopping in Turkey for the Ukraine-Russia peace talks.
Backstory: Russian and Ukrainian officials are meeting in Turkey to negotiate amid their ongoing war. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Secretary of State Marco Rubio attended, but Russian President Vladimir Putin was a no-show.
Trump was asked this morning about Putin's absence, and he attributed it to himself. 'I actually said, 'Why would he go if I'm not going?'' Trump told reporters in Qatar. 'I would go, but I wasn't planning to go, and I said, 'I don't think he's going to go if I don't go.''
'If something happened, I would go on Friday if it was appropriate,' Trump said.
The Hill's Amie Parnes reports on the uptick of Democrats making stops at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. to meet with the president in recent weeks. Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) stopped by last week, and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) visited in April.
It's not *just* at the White House: Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) traveled to Mar-a-Lago earlier this year, and California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) met with Trump at the airport during the wildfires.
Plus: Democratic Govs. Kathy Hochul of New York and Phil Murphy of New Jersey also met with him.
And some Democrats seem more open to working with him: Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine), who represents a Republican-leaning district, defended Trump's tariff policies.
Why this matters: Democrats have been trying to rebuild since the 2024 election. While some Democrats flatly refuse to work with the new administration, others acknowledge the meaning behind November's election results. There is some political risk to working with Trump, though, as some strategists warn.
Read more: 'Trump gets unlikely visitors at White House: Democrats'
➤ MORE READS:
The Washington Post: Trump wants a new plane. Now, so does Homeland Security Secretary Noem.
The Wall Street Journal: How Qatar Spent Billions to Gain Influence in the U.S.
Walmart says it will raise prices this month due to increasing costs driven by President Trump's trade war.
Walmart Chief Financial Officer John David Rainey told The Wall Street Journal: 'The magnitude and speed at which these prices are coming to us is somewhat unprecedented in history.' (WSJ)
Keep in mind: Walmart's profit dropped during the first quarter, per AP.
The House and Senate are in. President Trump is in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. (All times EST)
1:50 p.m.: Trump arrives at the Ritz-Carlton Abu Dhabi.
1:45 p.m.: A Senate vote. 📆Today's agenda
4 p.m.: First and last House votes. 📆Today's agenda
Saturday night: The season finale of NBC's 'Saturday Night Live.' Actor Scarlett Johansson will host.
Sunday, May 18: Vice President Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio will attend Pope Leo XIV's first Mass of his papacy.
🍪 Celebrate: Today is National Chocolate Chip Day. To celebrate, I'm making brown butter chocolate chip banana bread today. Here's the recipe if anyone wants to join me!
🦠 That is … not safe to do: Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. swam in Rock Creek on Mother's Day. Rock Creek has alarmingly high levels of bacteria, so people are advised against swimming there. 📸 Photos — yes, he's fully submerged.
🐊 Rest in peace to an alligator legend: Morris, an 80-year-old alligator that has appeared in lots of TV shows and movies over the years — including the Adam Sandler classic 'Happy Gilmore' — has died.
🤖 This is a fascinating observation about AI: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman discussed how different generations use AI. He notices that older people tend to use it as a Google replacement, and younger people tend to use it as a life adviser. 📹 Watch the Fortune clip
Because I always want to leave you with a smile, watch this angel appear from the sky.
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Cockroaches and rodents scurried around. The U.S. Institute of Peace looked like a frat house after an all-weekend rager when its employees were granted access to its Washington headquarters last month, according to USIP's head of security, COLIN O'BRIEN. USIP is an independent, congressionally funded organization that DOGE took over in March. When employees returned following a court order that blocked the Trump administration from dismantling the institute, they found the multimillion-dollar building on the National Mall in disarray. O'Brien said that based on accounts from people who were in the building during the two month-long DOGE takeover, 'they were smoking weed in the building' and leftover marijuana was scattered about. Numerous USIP flags throughout the building were missing when the institute's employees returned, he added. When USIP employees were removed from their positions following a dramatic standoff with DOGE staffers, they had to turn in their laptops, cell phones and chargers. But when they came back last week, the hundreds of laptops were haphazardly stacked on top of each other, with no documentation of their ownership. Hundreds of chargers were thrown in recycle and waste baskets, which employees had to dig out, O'Brien said. 'It was neglect,' he said. 'These folks don't know how to run a large, multi- building commercial office complex.' The White House did not respond to a request for comment. MESSAGE US — West Wing Playbook is obsessively covering the Trump administration's reshaping of the federal government. Are you a federal worker? A DOGE staffer? Have you picked up on any upcoming DOGE moves? We want to hear from you on how this is playing out. Email us at [email protected]. Did someone forward this email to you? Subscribe! POTUS PUZZLER Which president was considered 'The Dude'? (Answer at bottom.) Musk Radar ANGERED SOME FOLKS: The top two congressional leaders rebutted Musk's criticism of Trump's 'big, beautiful bill' today, as the Tesla CEO continued to attack the legislation and threatened to 'fire' the lawmakers who supported it next November, our MEREDITH LEE HILL and JORDAIN CARNEY report. Speaker MIKE JOHNSON spent time in a closed-door House GOP conference this morning pushing back on Musk's comments and reassuring Republicans. 'I think he's flat wrong, and I've told him as much,' Johnson said at a news conference. Senate Majority Leader JOHN THUNE downplayed the impact of Musk's criticism. 'Obviously he has some influence, got a big following on social media,' he told reporters. 'But at the end of the day, this is a 51-vote exercise here in the Senate, and I think [the] question for our members is going to be: Would you prefer the alternative? And the alternative isn't a good one.' BEEN A LONG TIME COMING: Musk's issues with the White House existed long before his criticism of Trump's megabill, ABC News' RACHEL SCOTT and WILL STEAKIN report. Multiple people described a widening rift between the two men on a number of issues. Musk has particularly taken issue with the spending bill's electric vehicle tax credit cut. He has also become increasingly frustrated with the administration striking AI deals with his competitor, SAM ALTMAN. He was also frustrated by the administration's decision last week to pull the nomination of JARED ISAACMAN, a longtime ally of Musk, to lead NASA. Agenda Setting NOT HOW THAT WORKS: Trump administration officials delayed and redacted a government forecast report because it predicted an increase in the country's trade deficit in farm goods later this year, our MARCIA BROWN reports. The numbers run contrary to the president's messaging that his economic policies, including steep tariffs, will reduce U.S. trade imbalances. The data prompted officials to block the publication of the written analysis normally attached to the report because they disliked what it said about the deficit. The report, released Monday, includes numbers unchanged from how they would've read in the unredacted report. ASTERISK NEXT TO THIS ONE: Economists are questioning the accuracy of recent U.S. inflation data following significant government cuts, WSJ's MATT GROSSMAN reports. The Bureau of Labor Statistics, the office that publishes the inflation rate, told outside economists this week that a hiring freeze at the agency forced the survey to cut back on the number of businesses that participate in price checks. Government statisticians had to use a less precise method for guessing price changes in last month's report than in previous ones. WHO'S IN, WHO'S OUT HERE TO STAY: At least three of Musk's early DOGE operatives and key lieutenants are staying in the government as full-time employees, WIRED's MAKENA KELLY reports. EDWARD CORISTINE, LUKE FARRITOR and ETHAN SHAOTRAN's employment designations at the GSA have officially been converted to full-time from the restricted classification that limited their time in government to 130 days. Coristine, otherwise known as 'Big Balls,' previously worked for a telecommunications firm known for hiring former blackhat hackers. KYLE SCHUTT, another early DOGE operative, has also appeared to change employment classification at least twice but is still listed as a special government employee. HUH? During his testimony in front of a House appropriations committee on the president's budget request this afternoon, OMB Director RUSS VOUGHT said former Boring CEO STEVE DAVIS is currently leading DOGE but that they're in the middle of 'establishing leadership on an ongoing basis.' But with Davis reportedly also out the door, Rep. MARK POCAN (D-Wis.) had a question: 'Who's in charge of DOGE?' 'The Cabinet agencies that are in charge of the DOGE consultants that work for them are fundamentally in charge of DOGE,' Vought said. Knives Out MORE ON THE DRUGS … Rep. STEPHEN LYNCH (D-Mass.), ranking member on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, today asked Trump for information about Musk's alleged drug use during the 2024 campaign and whether he was consuming illicit substances during his time as an adviser at the White House, CBS News' MELISSA QUINN reports. Lynch wrote in a letter to the president that he is beginning an investigation into the extent of Musk's alleged drug use and asked Trump to turn over information about what he or other officials knew about it. 'The drastic and erratic nature of Mr. Musk's decisions and actions as a government employee, coupled with the reports of his drug use, begs the question of whether Mr. Musk was under the influence of illicit substances while working in your White House,' Lynch wrote. What We're Reading A Gross and Brazen 'DOGE Check' Scam (The Bulwark's Andrew Egger, Cathy Young and Jim Swift) How DOGE's push to amass data could hurt the reliability of future U.S. statistics (NPR's Hansi Lo Wang) A Student at Brown Channeled Elon Musk. Then He Got in Trouble (NYT's Jeremy W. Peters) Karine Jean-Pierre is leaving the Democratic Party. Her former White House colleagues have some thoughts. (POLITICO's Eli Stokols) POTUS PUZZLER ANSWER No, not JEFF BRIDGES. It was CHESTER A. ARTHUR, of course. In the late 1800s, a 'dude' was considered 'a term of mockery for young men who were overly concerned with keeping up with the latest fashions.' And Arthur lived up to the nickname, as he had a love for fashion. After he became president following JAMES GARFIELD's assassination, Arthur spent $30,000 (almost $1 million today) on renovating the White House to better handle his extravagant parties.
