Supreme Court Takes Up Election Case That Could Haunt Dems in 2026

The conservative Supreme Court on Monday agreed to take on a case—brought about by the Republican National Committee—that could potentially render mail-in ballots received after Election Day null and void.

Watson v. Republican National Committee sees the state of Mississippi defending its mail-in ballot law against an attack from the state party, the RNC, and the Libertarian Party of Mississippi. A favorable ruling for the RNC that comes before the 2026 midterms could have massive implications on a large swath of voters.

“With rare outliers, the states mandated that ballots must be received by election officials by election day,” the RNC argues in its challenge. “But recently, an increasing number of States—including Mississippi—have deviated from that practice by permitting at least some ballots to be received after election day.”

Fifteen states currently allow at least some mail-in ballots to be counted after Election Day, although multiple swing states—Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin—require ballots to be in before Election Day ends. Mississippi allows ballots up to five days after Election Day, as long as they were submitted on Election Day.

“Voters make that choice by casting—marking and submitting—their ballots by election day. The election has then occurred, even if election officials do not receive all ballots by that day,” Mississippi state officials wrote in their defense. “Under Mississippi law, voters cast their ballots by election day.”

This anti-mail in ballot push has clearly been influenced by the whims of President Trump.

“ELECTIONS CAN NEVER BE HONEST WITH MAIL IN BALLOTS/VOTING, and everybody, IN PARTICULAR THE DEMOCRATS, KNOWS THIS,” he claimed on Truth Social this summer. “I, AND THE REPUBLICAN PARTY, WILL FIGHT LIKE HELL TO BRING HONESTY AND INTEGRITY BACK TO OUR ELECTIONS.”

Trump, who himself has voted by mail before, has railed against mail-in ballots for years, asserting without evidence that they are less trustworthy.

“There is fraud; they found them in creeks, they found them with the name Trump in a wastepaper basket,” he said during a presidential debate with Joe Biden in 2020. “This will be a fraud like you have never seen … They’re being sold and dumped in rivers.”

Now, the court he’s shaped may once again give him exactly what he wants.

It turns out, the government shutdown ended because some senators want to be able to keep campaigning on Obamacare.

Seven Senate Democrats and one independent caved on the government shutdown Sunday, leaving their party empty-handed after a grueling 40-day deadlock with Republicans.

Those senators included  Dick Durbin, Catherine Cortez Masto, Jacky Rosen, Maggie Hassan, Jeanne Shaheen, John Fetterman, and Tim Kaine, as well as independent Angus King. All eight lawmakers are either retiring or won’t face another election for several years, making the alleged behind-the-scenes rationale for the crumbling stalemate even more asinine.

More than a dozen House and Senate Democrats expressed anxiety that actually preserving premium subsidies for the Affordable Care Act’s enhanced premium tax credits through their shutdown demands could strip them of a winning issue in the coming midterms, reported The New York Times. Their secondary anxiety involved the powerful Senate filibuster, fearing that conservatives might actually bow to Donald Trump’s demands to ax the disruptive legislative tool.

“The political logic of the shutdown fight was inverted: If Democrats got the tax credits extended—if they ‘won’—they would be solving a huge electoral problem for Republicans,” reported the Times. “If Republicans successfully allowed the tax credits to expire—if they ‘won’—they would be handing Democrats a cudgel with which to beat them in the elections.”

Without the premium tax credits, health insurance premiums for more than 20 million Americans are expected to double. 

The result, according to policy experts, will be a mass exodus from Obamacare plans altogether, leaving roughly four million Americans uninsured. The spike in uninsured Americans will spur a public health problem that has historically proved to make premiums more expensive for the insured as hospitals look to recoup the lost cash.

Low-income regions of the country, such as Mississippi, Tennessee, and South Carolina, will be particularly hard hit as recipients decide whether they can afford the rising costs. That is, apparently, a potential electoral opportunity, according to congressional Democrats—regardless of how many people will be at risk for physical and financial ruin in the interim.

The message is as simple as it is disastrous: Democrats will do anything to stay in power, even if it means undermining the needs of their constituents.

Senator Angus King, an independent who caucuses with the Democrats, didn’t seem to think standing up to Donald Trump would work in the government shutdown standoff.

Speaking to MSNBC’s Morning Joe Monday morning, King said that he supported Democrats’ shutdown strategy, the goals of which were, in his view, to stand up to Trump and resolve the issue of expiring health care subsidies. But he said the shutdown wasn’t accomplishing either goal, and there was “zero likelihood it was going to.”

“In terms of standing up to Donald Trump, the shutdown actually gave him more power,” King said, pointing out the president’s refusal to fund the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program despite multiple court orders, as well as the fact that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were among the few government employees still getting paid during the shutdown.

“Standing up to Donald Trump didn’t work. It actually gave him more power,” King concluded.

King spearheaded the deal to give in to Republicans in exchange for a promise of a future vote on extending health care subsidies. This deal caused backlash from other Democrats in Congress and the party base. For some reason, King felt that holding the line against Trump and the GOP wasn’t working, despite Democrats’ landslide election wins last week and favorable poll numbers.

Did King really believe this, or were there other reasons why he caved? His son, Angus King III, is running for governor of Maine, and Senator King’s decision may have been a misguided attempt to help him. King is also not up for reelection until 2030, so perhaps he thought he could escape electoral consequences.

But he seems alone among Maine’s Democratic leaders. The two leading Democratic candidates running for Maine’s other Senate seat next year, Governor Janet Mills and oysterman Graham Platner, oppose the budget deal. While 2030 is a long way away, perhaps King, age 81, needs to reevaluate his career choices.

House Speaker Mike Johnson has found a way around answering every question with “I don’t know”—he’s just not going to answer any questions at all.

During a press briefing Monday, Johnson discussed the tentative deal struck by a group of errant Democrats to end the government shutdown, but he scurried off before taking any questions.

“There are probably lots of questions, but I’m gonna get a lot of my own questions answered later today, so, stay tuned for more,” Johnson said, before quickly departing the press gallery.

Johnson isn’t very good at taking questions in the first place. During the shutdown, the Donald Trump ally has forged a reputation for feigning ignorance in the face of tough questions about everything from Trump’s brutal crackdown on immigrants, to the president’s blatant corruption, to what’s going on in his own chamber.

The handful of Democratic (and one independent) senators who caved to support the Republicans’ continuing resolution Sunday claimed that they’d managed to secure a House vote on a bill ensuring the continuance of Affordable Care Act subsidies. Not only is such a measure unlikely to pass the GOP-controlled House, but Johnson wouldn’t even commit to the vote Monday as reporters shouted after the fleeing Republican with questions about his plans.

Johnson insisted as recently as last week that he wouldn’t promise Democrats a vote on anything. Meanwhile, Democrats slammed their colleagues for settling for the promise of a vote.

Senator Jeanne Shaheen revealed that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer knew the entire time about the plan for a few Democrats to capitulate to Republicans on the government shutdown.

Shaheen, one of the seven Democrats (and one independent) who dropped their demand for a guaranteed extension of Obamacare subsidies, spoke to Fox News’s Brian Kilmeade on Monday morning.

“Senator Chuck Schumer, your leader in the Senate, said ‘I cannot support a continuing resolution that fails to address health care, I am voting no.’ Did you do this outside leadership, and was there a big push for you not to join the others and break the 60 threshold?” Kilmeade asked.

“No, we kept leadership informed throughout,” Shaheen responded. “And I think it’s important to remember who’s responsible for why we got into this shutdown. We are here because we are concerned about the health care costs rising significantly on millions of Americans, and we didn’t have any indication before the shutdown started that our Republican colleagues were willing to address it.”

Aside from serving as further proof that the Democrats are failing to act as an opposition party in any meaningful way, Shaheen’s comments also reveal one of two possible scenarios. Either Schumer was scheming to end the shutdown behind the scenes, only pretending to be against it while pinning the blame on the eight people who aren’t up for reelection anytime soon, or he has no control over his party. Either way, it proves the need for Democrats to jettison the minority leader.

Ghislaine Maxwell is asking Donald Trump to commute her prison sentence.

The longtime girlfriend and criminal associate of pedophilic sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein is working on a “commutation application,” according to documents obtained by the House Judiciary Committee via a whistleblower.

“Documents and information received over the last several days by this Committee … [indicate] that Ghislaine Maxwell is working on filing a ‘Commutation Application’ with your Administration—demonstrating either that Ms. Maxwell is herself requesting you release her from her 20-year prison sentence for her role as a coconspirator in Jeffrey Epstein’s international child sex trafficking ring, or that this child sex predator now holds such tremendous sway in the second Trump Administration that you and your [Justice Department] will follow her clemency recommendations,” Ranking Member Jamie Raskin wrote in a scathing memo dated Sunday.

Maxwell was transferred to a minimum-security prison camp mere days after she met with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche in July to help curate a new list of Epstein’s potential associates.

It was unclear at the time why the Trump administration would want to procure another list of Epstein’s associates, particularly when it already had (but refused to release) files pertaining to his investigation.

Since then, concerns have swelled among Republican lawmakers that Trump’s relationship with Epstein was even cozier than previously understood: A few conservative representatives with ties to the FBI and the Justice Department spilled last week that the true details of the Epstein files are “worse” for Trump than previously reported. In a convenient turn of events, Maxwell’s new list of Epstein associates does not include Trump’s name.

But the information exchange resulted in an extremely cushy transfer for Maxwell—one of the worst sex criminals of the century—shipping her from a Florida prison to a low-security prison camp in Texas that lawmakers have described as “not suitable for a sex offender.”

Maxwell has since raved about her new digs, celebrating the difference between the two facilities as akin to having “dropped through Alice in Wonderlands [sic] looking glass,” according to emails obtained by the House Judiciary Committee.

Maxwell was sentenced in 2022 to 20 years in jail for playing an active role in Epstein’s crimes, identifying and grooming vulnerable young women while normalizing their abuse at the hands of her millionaire boyfriend. Maxwell’s attorneys have pressed the White House for a pardon for several months now.

Trump was photographed with Maxwell several times over his long friendship with Epstein. She and Trump partied together, attended fashion shows together, and went “out on the town” together, according to a 1997 postcard.

President Donald Trump made a bad day worse for Washington Commanders fans, as he was loudly booed while making an announcement from the broadcasting booth during the game versus the Detroit Lions in Maryland on Sunday. 

The president performed an enlistment ceremony creed for new members of the military during a pause in the game. He read from a black binder, speaking into a microphone. House Speaker Mike Johnson and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stood close by, as the president was booed nonstop for over two minutes.  

“Please raise your right hand. I—and state your name—do solemnly swear, that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic,” Trump said.

The boos could be heard clearly, even on Fox’s official broadcast, and Trump had to pause multiple times in that short statement. In video taken from fans in the stands, middle fingers and jeers can be seen and heard from Lions fans and Commanders fans alike. 

Trump was the first sitting president to go to an NFL game in almost 50 years, with the last being Jimmy Carter in 1978. 

The president made an appearance on the Fox NFL television broadcast, joining Kenny Albert and Jonathan Vilma in the booth afterward, talking about his relationship with football, which he played in high school. He also brought up his role in building the Commanders’ new stadium, which he reportedly wants named after him. 

“They’re going to build a beautiful stadium. That’s what I’m involved in, we’re getting all the approvals and everything else,” he said. “And you have a wonderful owner, Josh (Harris) and his group. And you’re going to see some very good things.”

This is just one of many sporting events that the president has made a point to show face at, making himself known at UFC fights, the Daytona 500, the U.S. Open, and the Ryder Cup. Trump has even promised a UFC fight on the White House lawn next summer. 

Trump’s presence may have been a death stroke for the Commanders, as they lost to the Lions 44–22, falling to 3–7 on the season. 

Senator Chuck Grassley isn’t able to read like he used to.

The 92-year-old had difficulty parsing a prewritten statement on the demerits of Obamacare subsidies Sunday night.

“So everybody else that depends upon the subsidy for Obamacare, I want to make very clear to them that the pre-premium subsides for individuals and families under 400 percent of the federal poverty lever that existed prior to Covid are permanent law, and those people will not be affected because that permit of law is not being changed by anything that we’re debating here today,” Grassley said.

Grassley’s slip comes just a few weeks after the senator, who is third in line for presidential succession, struggled to understand a reporter’s question and gave a completely unrelated answer.

More than 20 percent of U.S. lawmakers are over the age of 70. That includes 86 members of the House and 33 senators, making the current Congress the oldest in U.S. history.

Calls for aging government officials to retire have grown louder in recent years, particularly after the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in 2020. Ginsburg remained on the Supreme Court until she passed despite an advanced pancreatic cancer diagnosis, providing Donald Trump the opportunity to replace her.

Representatives Gerry Connolly and Dianne Feinstein also died in office, leaving Democrats short on critical votes in the wake of their deaths.

Last week, after years of mounting pressure related to her age, Representative Nancy Pelosi announced she will not seek reelection. The longtime Democratic leader will exit when her term expires in 2027—at 87 years old—after 39 years in office.

Despite public clamor to make American politics young again, no branch of government appears to be safe from the seniority stripe. Last year, voters elected Trump to become the oldest president in U.S. history, and he attended his second inauguration at nearly 79 years old.

Meanwhile, this aging class of politicians is drafting the future of the country—one that, thanks in part to Grassley’s efforts, will not include Affordable Care Act subsidies. The government shutdown ended Sunday after 40 grueling days of deadlock on the merits of the ACA’s enhanced premium tax credits, which assist individuals making upward of 400 percent of the federal poverty level. It was the longest federal suspension in U.S. history.

Eight Senate Democrats caved to Donald Trump and voted to approve a budget deal with Republicans to end the government shutdown, angering their colleagues in Congress as well as their own party’s base. 

These eight senators, including independent Angus King who caucuses with the party, are all either retiring or up for reelection years from now. They likely feel that they won’t have to pay an electoral cost for failing to stand up for Democrats’ goal of extending health care subsidies, instead settling for a future vote on the matter.  

The full list of these Democrats is below: 

• Senator Richard Durbin (Illinois, retiring)
• Senator Angus King (Maine, term ends in 2030)
• Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (Nevada, term ends in 2028)
• Senator Jacky Rosen (Nevada, term ends in 2030)
• Senator Maggie Hassan (New Hampshire, term ends in 2028)
• Senator Jeanne Shaheen (New Hampshire, retiring)
• Senator John Fetterman (Pennsylvania, 2028)
• Senator Tim Kaine (Virginia, 2030)

The conservative-majority Supreme Court denied a challenge Monday to its landmark same-sex marriage ruling.

The Supreme Court rejected a long-shot petition from Kim Davis, a former Kentucky county clerk who refused to sign marriage licenses for gay and lesbian couples following the 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges ruling. Davis was seeking to overturn the decision that had legalized same-sex marriage.

Davis had appealed the $360,000 she was ordered to pay after refusing to grant a marriage license to David Ermold and David Moore, a same-sex couple, because she was acting “under God’s authority.”

When the two men pointed out that she had given marriage licenses to “murderer[s], rapists, and people who have done all kinds of horrible things,” Davis responded that “that was fine because they were straight,” according to court filings.

Three of the four justices who dissented from Obergefell are still on the court, helping to make up today’s 6–3 conservative majority, which tends to react with hostility to judicial precedent. But it seems that the court’s 2015 ruling will for now remain intact.

Davis’s appeal failed to explain why overturning Obergefell was necessary to resolve her case. While her suit quoted lengthily from the conservative justices who criticized the ruling, overturning the ruling was not the central thrust of her legal arguments to the court.

Davis had also asked the court to decide whether she had “qualified immunity” from denying the marriage licenses because same-sex marriage wasn’t really a “clearly established right,” even after the Supreme Court’s ruling. She’d previously asked the court to restore her qualified immunity defense after the Sixth Circuit agreed with a district court that that defense did not apply in this case. The Supreme Court declined.

The Supreme Court’s conservative majority likely does want to overturn Obergefell—Justice Clarence Thomas has made as much clear—but this case contained far too many questions to do it. If the court were to overturn its own landmark ruling, then it would likely be in the most straightforward case possible.

This story has been updated.