Some media outlets reported on Tuesday that the Supreme Court ruled in favor of birthright citizenship by a 6–3 vote. But that’s not quite right.
The Supreme Court gutted one of President Trump's signature policies, rejecting his effort to end birthright citizenship. Jan Crawford has more details.
Congress is not powerless to stop the worst aspects of birthright citizenship.
In an apparent admission of defeat, the Trump administration is dismantling the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) system, a controversial tool at the Department of Homeland Security to verify people's citizenship that they had been hoping to run every registered voter in the country through.The news was broken on X by ProPublica reporter Jen Fifield on Tuesday.It comes after U.S. District Judge Sparkle Sooknanan, a judge in Washington, D.C., who has shut down a number of President Donald Trump's extralegal schemes, issued an order further prohibiting the use of SAVE as a violation of data privacy laws."The revamped tool allowed officials to check entire voter rolls for noncitizens, using partial or full Social Security numbers," wrote Fifield, noting that prior reporting from ProPublica and the Texas Tribune "revealed that DHS had rushed it into use before it could discern voters’ most up-to-date citizenship information," with the result that "hundreds of voters had been falsely flagged as potential noncitizens."This system was integral to the SAVE America Act, the controversial legislation pushed by Trump and Republican hardliners in Congress to curtail voting rights. Among much else, the law would have required all voter rolls in the country to be checked through the SAVE database."It's unclear if that provision will survive now," wrote Fifield.In a further indignity, she noted, even with all of the false positives being flagged by the system, SAVE "hasn’t validated President Donald Trump’s repeated claims that millions of noncitizens are registered to vote" for the time it was in use.All of this comes as the SAVE America Act itself hit yet another dead end in Congress, with House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) failing in his attempt to pass a rule tying it to the national defense budget bill and leaving the House floor paralyzed.
First Lady Melania Trump put a new spin on a Supreme Court ruling her husband called a "big win," declaring that she "fully supports the LGBTQIA+ community."The U.S. Supreme Court ruled six to three on Tuesday that schools may ban transgender athletes from women's and girls' sports. President Donald Trump cheered."BIG WIN: The United States Supreme Court just RULED AGAINST MEN PLAYING IN WOMEN'S SPORTS. Wow! That takes that ridiculous situation off the table!!!" Donald Trump posted on Truth Social.Hours later, the first lady made her own surprise statement on social media."As many of you may know, I fully support the LGBTQIA+ community. But we must also ensure that our female athletes are protected and respected," she wrote on X, quoting her book MELANIA at page 156."America, we can support the rights of the LGBTQIA+ community and also protect opportunities for female athletes. Respect everyone and keep girls' sports fair," she continued. "Both ideals are essential."The case, West Virginia v. B.P.J., asked whether states could limit women's sports to biological females under Title IX — the federal law banning sex discrimination in school sports — and the Constitution. The conservative court said yes.Justice Sonia Sotomayor dissented, writing that the majority's ruling left a transgender girl unable to join her school's team "even if she would not take anyone's spot in an eventual competition."It is not the first time Melania Trump has broken publicly with her husband.In October 2024, her memoir revealed that she supports abortion rights, putting her at odds with Donald Trump's record on the issue."Individual freedom is a fundamental principle that I safeguard," she said at the time.Donald Trump was asked about his wife's abortion stance and told Fox News he had one answer."You have to write what you believe. I'm not going to tell you what to do."
MAGA followers were livid after first lady Melania Trump issued a rare statement voicing her support for the LGBTQ+ community on Tuesday.Trump shared her comments in a post on X following the Supreme Court's decision to uphold laws in West Virginia and Idaho that bar transgender girls from female school sports. The ruling was considered a setback for the transgender community, according to The Associated Press.In her statement, Trump cited an excerpt from her own self-titled book "Melania" — and the page number."The U.S. Supreme Court has now legally confirmed this opinion: 'Under Title IX and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, may schools maintain women’s and girls’ sports for biological females? ... The answer is yes.' America, we can support the rights of the LGBTQIA+ community and also protect opportunities for female athletes. Respect everyone and keep girls' sports fair. Both ideals are essential," Trump wrote.Loyal MAGA fans expressed their outrage in response to the first lady's comments."What is ideal about men claiming they can become women? What in that do you actually support?" User Debbie, who self-describes as "MAGA," wrote on X."I support the trans community getting the mental health treatment they need to recognize they are not members of the opposite sex," Matt Van Swol, a MAGA commentator and former nuclear scientist for the U.S. Department of Energy with more than 527,000 followers, wrote on X."Wrong," the account The Waitress, which frequently posts MAGA-related content, wrote on X."Respectfully, I don’t want my FLOTUS to support a community of people with a severe mental illness. They need God, and mental help," user JJ, who self-describes as "MAGA" and "America First," wrote on X."I’m thoroughly disappointed with this post. LGTBQ+ (sic) (alphabet soup) is an Anti-God movement. Sorry to say, but I’ve lost respect," user Lori Smith, who self-identifies as a "small business owner" and often shares Trump-related content, wrote on X.
Justice Clarence Thomas shredded the Supreme Court‘s ruling striking down President Donald Trump‘s birthright citizenship order on Tuesday, accusing the majority ruling of using an “alternative history” of the 14th Amendment and expressing dismay over how it “devalues” citizenship. The high court ruled 5-4 that the 14th Amendment provides citizenship to children born in the […]
The birthright ruling brings to an end a Supreme Court term that has delivered the president some key victories.
The Trump administration announced Tuesday that it is cutting off federal funding for New York’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, arguing the office has failed to adequately prosecute Medicaid fraud despite overseeing one of the nation’s largest programs. In a letter to New York Attorney General Letitia James, Department of Health and Human Services officials said […]