Supreme Court partially revives Arizona voter proof-of-citizenship requirement
CBSN
Washington — The Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to revive an Arizona law requiring documentary proof of citizenship when registering to vote using a state-created form, but declined to allow enforcement of provisions mandating such proof in order to vote for president or by mail.
The split decision from the high court rejects an emergency request by the Republican National Committee and GOP state legislative leaders. And while it denied Arizona's proof-of-citizenship requirements for casting ballots for president or through the mail, it granted Republicans' bid to put on hold a federal district court's order that blocked the rule for those registering to vote while pursuing an appeal.
Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch said they would have granted the Republicans' request in full. But Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, Amy Coney Barrett and Ketanji Brown Jackson said they would have fully denied it.
More employees of the Environmental Protection Agency were informed Wednesday that their jobs appear in doubt. Senior leadership at the EPA held an all-staff meeting to tell individuals that President Trump's executive order, "Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing," which was responsible for the closure of the agency's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion office, will likely lead to the shuttering of the Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights as well.
In her first hours as attorney general, Pam Bondi issued a broad slate of directives that included a Justice Department review of the prosecutions of President Trump, a reorientation of department work to focus on harsher punishments, actions punishing so-called "sanctuary" cities and an end to diversity initiatives at the department.
The quick-fire volley of tariffs between the U.S. and China in recent days has heightened global fears of a new trade war between the world's two largest economies. Yet while experts think the battle is likely to escalate, they also say the early skirmishes offer hope for an agreement on trade and other key issues that could head off a larger conflict.