Supreme Court rejects Florida’s attempt to sue California and Washington over immigrant truck drivers

May 26, 2026 / 1:11 PM EDT / CBS News

Washington — The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected Florida’s bid to file a lawsuit against Washington and California for allegedly providing commercial driver’s licenses to truck drivers who are in the U.S. illegally and not proficient in English.

Florida sought to sue the two states following a fatal crash on a state highway in August 2025 that occurred when truck driver Harjinder Singh, an Indian national who crossed into the U.S. from Mexico, attempted to make an illegal U-turn. State and federal investigations showed that Singh likely could not read the road signs. He faces criminal charges and has pleaded not guilty.

The Department of Homeland Security and Florida officials said Singh had obtained commercial driver’s licenses from California and Washington.

In the long-shot bid for intervention by the Supreme Court, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier claimed California and Washington ignored federal safety standards and immigration law by allowing people in the U.S. illegally to drive commercial motor vehicles “without proper training or the ability to read road signs.”

He asked the high court to block the two states from issuing commercial driver’s licenses to individuals who are not U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents, and who don’t meet federal safety requirements.

“California’s and Washington’s decision to endanger their own citizens is reprehensible. But commercial drivers routinely cross state lines, endangering citizens of other States,” Uthmeier, a Republican, wrote, adding that those decisions lead to “mayhem” in other states.

But officials from each of the two states rejected Florida’s assertions. California Attorney General Rob Bonta told the Supreme Court in a filing that its Department of Motor Vehicles verifies legal presence using a federal database known as SAVE and tests for English proficiency, as required by state law.

As to Singh, California officials said the state’s DMV issued him a non-domiciled commercial driver’s license only after complying with federal and state regulations. They said he applied for the license in July 2024 and provided an employment authorization document, which was verified through the federal database.

“The allegations in the proposed complaint are notably lacking, as Florida admits that it does not even know how California’s commercial driver’s license program works,” Bonta said. “Its claims are based on assumptions about California law and practice that are wrong: DMV requires verification of legal presence and tests for English language proficiency before issuing commercial driver’s licenses.”

Washington officials, meanwhile, called Florida’s proposed lawsuit a “political stunt,” and noted that Uthmeier announced the lawsuit on Fox News. They claimed that Florida has improperly licensed “thousands” of commercial drivers without evidence they speak English or satisfy residency requirements.

Washington officials wrote that state law requires applicants for a commercial driver’s license to pass written knowledge tests and skills tests that meet federal standards, and requires applicants to reside in Washington or be otherwise federally qualified.

“This dispute is not about boundaries or water; it is about the wisdom of state policies,” they wrote. “Even setting that aside, Florida’s claims are meritless.”

They also said that Singh did not have a valid commercial driver’s license from Washington at the time of the 2025 crash in Florida.

Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito said they would have allowed Florida to sue the two states, reiterating their view that the Supreme Court cannot refuse to hear suits between states.

The U.S. Department of Transportation has taken steps to crack down on states that it says have issued commercial driver’s licenses to immigrant truck drivers and has sought to withhold federal funding to states that refuse to cancel licenses that it says were illegally issued.

President Trump signed an executive order in April 2025 that reinforces a federal law that requires commercial truck drivers to read and speak English proficiently.

WATCH: Embattled GOP senator warns red state ‘at risk’ of historic Dem victory as voters head to polls

May 26, 2026 1:42pm EDT / Fox News

Texans head to the polls today after what has been a particularly bruising GOP primary race for a critical Senate seat

By Peter Pinedo , Paul Steinhauser

Cornyn warns Dems could pull off historic upset as voters head to polls

Longtime Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, is warning that Democrats could pull of a historic victory this election cycle as voters head to the polls in the Texas primary runoff.

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As voters head to the polls today in Texas, GOP Sen. John Cornyn is warning the longtime red state is “at risk” of Democrats pulling off a historic upset for a critical Senate seat.

Cornyn’s primary race against challenger Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton finally comes to a head in today’s runoff election. After what has been a particularly bruising primary, Cornyn expressed his worry that Republicans stand to lose a seat that would be devastating for the party’s hopes of retaining a majority in the upper chamber.

Speaking with Fox News Digital ahead of Election Day, Cornyn touted Texas as “the most conservatively governed state in the country,” making it a “land of opportunity and where the American dream is still very much alive.”

“But I think all of that’s at risk, depending on how this primary runoff turns out, because I think Ken Paxton’s flaws and the baggage he brings to the general election are going to be exploited up to the fullest by James Talarico and by Democrats,” he said.

SENATOR JOHN CORNYN RESPONDS TO TRUMP’S ENDORSEMENT OF KEN PAXTON

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, is calling Democratic challenger James Talarico to condemn his pastor for making light of third assassination attempt on President Donald Trump’s life.(Photo by Danielle Villasana // by Heather Diehl/)

Whoever emerges Tuesday night will have to face state Rep. James Talarico, a Democratic rising star who many in the party believe has broad enough appeal to finally flip the state for the first time in over two decades.

Cornyn expressed worry about Talarico’s fundraising abilities, citing the $27 million he raised in the first quarter of the year. He asserted that if Paxton wins, “there will be a tsunami of money coming into the state from outside.”

He also asserted that “it’s not only that Senate seat he [Paxton] puts at risk, it’s also all the down-ballot races, state legislative races, local races, like the judges and the like.”

“We haven’t elected a Democrat in statewide office since 1994 in Texas,” he said. “President Trump is not running, so the Senate race will be at the top, and I believe that I will be in a better position to help provide a significant margin, a winning margin, not only in my case, but also to help everybody down ballot.”

“I don’t think the attorney general can do that because of the significant baggage he brings into the race, which jeopardizes success from the top to the bottom,” he said.

Paxton has faced a slew of scandals and legal problems that have battered him over the past decade. In 2023, the Texas House of Representatives voted to impeach Paxton, but he was eventually acquitted of all charges by the state Senate.

TRUMP FLEXES MAGA MUSCLE IN TEXAS SENATE RUNOFF CLASH BETWEEN CORNYN AND PAXTON

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has leaned heavily on President Donald Trump’s endorsement in his Senate runoff campaign against Sen. John Cornyn.(Elías Valverde II/The Dallas Morning News/Getty Images)

The attorney general is also dealing with a very messy divorce, with his wife citing “biblical grounds” based on “recent discoveries” in filing last year to end their marriage.

Despite this and Cornyn’s status as a longtime fixture of the Republican Party, it is Paxton who has been endorsed by President Donald Trump.

“Ken is a true MAGA Warrior who has ALWAYS delivered for Texas, and will continue to do so in the United States Senate,” Trump wrote in a social media post.

Trump said, “John Cornyn is a good man, and I worked well with him, but he was not supportive of me when times were tough.” Pointing to the senator’s past criticism of him, Trump added, “John was very late in backing me in what turned out to be a Historic Run for the Republican Nomination, and then, the Presidency.”

Cornyn, in turn, emphasized his support for the president and his agenda, telling Fox News Digital, “President Trump has called me a friend and a good man, and we’ve worked with him closely for both terms of office.”

Paxton, who grabbed significant national attention the past dozen years by filing lawsuits against the Obama and Biden administrations, disagreed.

ON EVE OF REPUBLICAN SENATE RUNOFF ELECTION, GOP SEN JOHN CORNYN TELLS FOX NEWS DIGITAL ‘TEXANS CAN BE PRETTY INDEPENDENT’

Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, center, campaigns at a meet and greet in Corpus Christi, Texas, on May 22, 2026, days ahead of the runoff election for the GOP Senate nomination.(Luke Travisan/Fox News)

“John Cornyn fought Trump on the border. And you can go back over about a decade and see that he was not for the border wall,” Paxton charged in an interview on Fox News’ “The Big Weekend Show.”

Paxton also argued that the senator “fought the president’s reelection. He fought him in 2024, said his time had passed, and he fought him in 2016. So, this is not a pro-Trump guy. I don’t know if we could be more different on the Republican issues than John Cornyn and me. So, there is a vast difference between the two of us.”

Cornyn pushed back.

“I don’t know how much more with him I could be than 99.3% of the time,” the senator told Fox News Digital.

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“I want him to be successful. I want America to be successful, and I want Republicans to be successful. But you know, in the end, as I said, Texans are the only ones going to be able to make a choice, and I think Texans can be pretty independent,” Cornyn added.

Fox News Digital reached out to Talarico for comment.

Peter Pinedo is a politics writer for Fox News Digital.

South Carolina Senate rejects Trump’s call to redraw congressional map

May 26, 2026 / 2:27 PM EDT / CBS/AP

As early in-person voting began Tuesday in South Carolina’s primaries, the state Senate rejected a Republican plan to cancel those congressional votes and instead schedule a new primary under revised districts designed to help the GOP oust a longtime Democrat.

Some senators said it was simply too late to make a change.

“South Carolina citizens are going to the polls today. And neither my conscience or common sense is going to let me stop an election that is already underway,” GOP state Sen. Richard Cash said.

Among the first to cast an early ballot in the small city of Orangeburg was Rep. Jim Clyburn, the Democrat whose district Republicans were trying to reshape in their quest for a clean sweep of South Carolina’s seven congressional seats. A defiant Clyburn insisted he would run for reelection, regardless of what the district looks like.

“I’m OK if it’s Trump plus 20,” Clyburn said while describing the potential Republican advantage in a reshaped district. “I would be running where I live.”

The political drama in South Carolina is part of a Republican strategy — propelled by Mr. Trump — to redraw voting districts to the GOP’s advantage in an attempt to hold on to a slim House majority in the midterm elections. Republicans have been moving quickly to try to leverage a recent Supreme Court ruling that weakened minority protections under the federal Voting Rights Act.

Campaign signs near a polling location in Columbia, South Carolina, on Tuesday, May 26, 2026. Sam Wolfe / Bloomberg via Getty Images

But the GOP also suffered a setback Tuesday in Alabama, where a three-judge federal panel issued a preliminary injunction blocking the state from using a Republican-drawn congressional map that could help the GOP win an additional seat. The court said the Republican plan “intentionally discriminated based on race” by including only one Black-majority district and ordered the continued use of a court-imposed map that includes two districts with a significant proportion of Black residents.

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, a Republican, vowed a quick appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court and predicted an eventual victory.

Democrats, who have suffered their own share of setbacks in the national redistricting battle, praised the turn of events in Alabama.

The “fight for justice is far from over in states across the country where politicians are enacting gerrymanders on top of gerrymanders to erase equal representation for communities of color,” said Marina Jenkins, executive director of the National Redistricting Foundation, a nonprofit affiliate of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee.

Trump’s redistricting push

Voting districts typically are redrawn after a census at the start of a decade. But Mr. Trump has urged Republican-led states to redistrict ahead of the November elections to try to rebuff political headwinds, which typically result in lost congressional seats for the president’s party in midterms.

Since Mr. Trump first urged Texas to redraw its voting districts last summer, Republicans also have enacted new House districts in Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Florida and Tennessee. Meanwhile, voters in California adopted new Democratic-drawn districts, and a court imposed a favorable map for Democrats in Utah. Democrats suffered a setback in Virginia, where the state Supreme Court invalidated a voter-approved redistricting plan that could have helped Democrats win additional seats.

Redistricting discussions are ongoing in Louisiana following an April high court ruling that struck down a majority-Black congressional district as an illegal partisan gerrymander. The Louisiana House could vote later this week on a new map that could eliminate a seat held by Democratic U.S. Rep. Cleo Fields and improve Republicans’ chances of winning six out of the state’s seven seats.

The Congressional Black Caucus on Tuesday called on major corporations across the U.S., including those that previously expressed support for voting rights and racial justice, to oppose redistricting efforts by Republican-led states that seek to eliminate majority-Black U.S. House districts. That comes after the caucus last week called for Black athletes to boycott public universities in states that are gerrymandering congressional maps to eliminate districts held by Black lawmakers.

More than 26,000 votes were cast in South Carolina by noon Tuesday on the first day of early voting for the June 9 primary after Democrats called for people against a proposed new map to turn out in force. In 2022, about 125,000 early votes were cast over the entire two weeks.

The Republican-led House already had passed a plan that would reconfigure Clyburn’s district, void the results of current congressional primaries and instead hold new U.S. House primaries in August.

Mr. Trump has lobbied for the plan, making at least two phone calls to Republican state Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey and also phoning in to a private meeting of Republican senators earlier this month. He also has maintained the pressure on social media.

Democrats were staunchly opposed, and some GOP lawmakers in the Senate had concerns that an aggressive redistricting could backfire by making some Republican-held seats susceptible to losses because of the addition of Democratic voters.

Clyburn noted that when state lawmakers last redrew congressional districts, after the 2020 census, they spent months holding meetings across the state to gather public suggestions. Although that map resulted in a 6-1 seat advantage for Republicans over Democrats, the process was orderly and fair, he said.

“When the map was challenged, the U.S. Supreme Court said, yes, this is constitutional,” Clyburn said. But now, “this White House says, to hell with the process, to hell with the Constitution, just do what we want done.”

Trump’s redistricting push suffers setbacks in Alabama, South Carolina

2026-05-26T18:23:05.638Z / Reuters

Court ruling goes against Republicans in Alabama
Judges preserve significantly Black US House district
Republican South Carolina lawmakers balk at new map
Voting already underway in party primaries in the state

May 26 (Reuters) – President Donald Trump’s push for Republican-led states to draw electoral maps more favorable to his party ahead of November’s midterm elections suffered twin setbacks on ​Tuesday, when efforts in South Carolina and Alabama to reshape U.S. House of Representatives districts were stymied.

In a rare break with Trump from members of his ‌own party, several Republican state senators in South Carolina voted with Democrats to abandon a new map aimed at dismantling the U.S. House district held by congressman James Clyburn, a Black Democrat first elected to the seat more than three decades ago.

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Separately, a panel of three federal judges blocked Alabama Republicans from installing a new map that would eliminate one of the state’s two districts with major Black populations, ruling that state lawmakers intentionally ​discriminated against Black voters in reconfiguring the boundaries.

At Trump’s urging, Republicans in several Southern states have rushed to implement new maps following a U.S. Supreme Court decision in April that ​weakened protections for U.S. House districts with significant Black or Latino populations.

Tennessee already has approved a new map that broke up a majority-Black, Democratic-held ⁠district based in Memphis, while Louisiana is advancing a plan to eliminate one of two districts with sizable Black populations in that state.

Black voters typically support Democrats.

Democrats and civil rights advocates ​have called the Republican efforts racially discriminatory. Republican backers have said they are focused on partisan advantage, not race.

Republicans are seeking to retain their narrow U.S. House majority in the midterms at a ​time when Trump is registering low approval ratings in public opinion polls, thanks in part to the unpopular Iran war and the higher gasoline prices it has caused.

SOUTH CAROLINA MAP FAILS

The proposed map in South Carolina would have positioned Republicans to sweep all seven U.S. House districts in the state after taking apart the seat held by Clyburn, 85, a Democratic power broker.

Tuesday’s vote was the second time that the effort stalled in the ​state Senate. Five Republicans joined Democrats earlier in the month to deny the two-thirds majority needed to advance the plan during a regular session of the chamber.

Republican South Carolina Governor Henry ​McMaster, who had previously had rejected White House pressure to call a special session, reversed course and brought lawmakers back to consider the map.

Early voting began in the state on Tuesday in party primaries. Some Republican ‌senators said ⁠they could not support changing the map and postponing the primaries once ballots had already been cast.

“As far as I can tell, there is no historical precedent for a legislature to change the date of an election and redraw the maps once voting has begun,” Senator Richard Cash said during floor debate.

Cash noted that tens of thousands of votes had been recorded by midday.

ALABAMA MAP DEEMED ILLEGAL

In Alabama, a three-judge panel decided that a Republican-backed map intentionally discriminated against Black voters and could not be used for the 2026 elections. Instead, the court said, Alabama must continue to ​use a map that has two districts with ​sizable Black populations, not just one.

Republican officials ⁠in Alabama immediately said they would appeal to the conservative-majority U.S. Supreme Court.

Republican Alabama Governor Kay Ivey previously postponed until August the party primaries for four U.S. House districts that were redrawn as part of the disputed map, which was first approved in 2023.

The map breaks up a district ​in which Black people comprise just shy of 50% of the population. White people make up about 40% of the district, with other ​minorities including Asian and Hispanic ⁠people filling out the balance. Black people make up about a quarter of Alabama’s population. The district is currently represented by congressman Shomari Figures, who is Black.

The same panel of judges found the map discriminatory in 2023 and blocked it. Two weeks ago, the Supreme Court granted Alabama’s request to lift that block, and directed the judges to reconsider their findings in light of its April decision that ⁠raised the bar ​for challenging electoral maps on the basis of race.

But the panel reached the same conclusion: that the map purposefully ​and unlawfully targeted Black voters.

“Ultimately, we cannot see our way clear to requiring Alabamians to cast their votes in the 2026 elections under a districting plan tainted by intentional race-based discrimination,” wrote the panel, which includes two judges appointed ​by Trump and one appointed by Democratic former President Bill Clinton.

Democrats hold Alabama’s two districts with sizeable Black populations. Republicans control the state’s other five districts.

Reporting by Joseph Ax; editing by Paul Thomasch

Trump administration proposes having all federal workers sign NDAs

2026-05-26 1:58 PM ET / CNN

By Tami Luhby

Updated May 26, 2026, 3:21 PM ET

PUBLISHED May 26, 2026, 1:58 PM ET

A large mirror adorns a wall outside of the Oval Office at the White House on September 28, 2025.

Pete Marovich/Getty Images/File

Summary

• The Trump administration has proposed a government-wide nondisclosure agreement for federal workers to sign.
• The draft NDA would cover a broad range of information including internal operations and pre-decisional material.
• The largest federal workers union says it believes the administration will push agencies to require employees to sign the NDA and then fire those who refuse.

AI-generated summary was reviewed by a CNN editor.

The White House is preparing a government-wide nondisclosure agreement aimed at curtailing federal workers’ sharing of “confidential government information,” as it seeks to stop internal leaks to media organizations.

The draft notice, posted to the Federal Register on Tuesday by the Office of Personnel Management, says the NDA is intended to track existing and new federal employees’ agreement to “safeguard non-public, confidential or proprietary information, created or obtained through their official duties.” The proposal is scheduled to be published on Wednesday.

Agencies have the option of using the NDA, according to the draft notice, which will be subject to a 30-day comment period after it is published.

The controversial move is the latest step in the Trump administration’s efforts to crack down on the dissemination of its internal planning and data. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s office last year started mandating that Pentagon officials sign NDAs before being read in on projects, initiatives and other work products, CNN has reported.

President Donald Trump is also upending the federal workforce, which he sees as an impediment to implementing his agenda.

The draft cites federal workers’ providing the New York Times and Washington Post with “unauthorized disclosures” in advance of the US raid on Venezuela earlier this year. News organizations delayed publishing the information “to avoid endangering US troops,” the draft said.

The New York Times’ executive editor has said the paper did not have verified details about the raid to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, nor did it withhold publishing a story at the Trump administration’s request. A Washington Post spokesperson declined to comment, saying the paper does not discuss its newsgathering practices.

Also, a federal staffer this year disclosed the personal information — including names, addresses, emails, phone numbers and job titles — of about 4,500 Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel, putting their safety at risk, according to the draft.

The draft proposal takes a wide view of confidential information, defining it as “internal agency operations, personnel matters, procurement processes, or any sensitive, pre-decisional or deliberative material that is not currently publicly available and should not be disclosed under applicable law.” Such disclosures “disrupt agency operations and erode public trust.”

The measure would not create “new substantive restrictions” on workers and would preserve the rights of whistleblowers, according to the draft proposal.

But the federal workforce’s largest union, the American Federation of Government Employees, decried the draft as an attempt to silence staffers, noting the proposal “sweeps in an extraordinarily broad category of information.”

The union said it believes the administration will push agencies to require their employees to sign the NDA and then fire those who refuse.

“This proposed NDA is another attempt by the administration to purge the civil service of nonpartisan career employees and replace them with loyalists who won’t speak out against waste, fraud, and abuse,” Everett Kelley, AFGE’s national president, said in a statement. “Federal employees do not surrender their First Amendment rights when they accept federal employment, and the public has a right to know about this administration’s abuses.

This article has been updated with additional information.

Trump administration proposes NDAs for all federal employees to curb leaks

May 26, 2026 3:23 PM EDT / CBS/AP

The Trump administration is proposing that all new and current federal employees sign non-disclosure agreements as part of its crackdown on press leaks.

On Tuesday, the Office of Personnel Management posted a notice in the Federal Register asking for comment on a draft NDA that federal agencies would use for “both new and existing employees.”

“The form is intended to document Federal employees’ acknowledgment of, and agreement to comply with, current legal obligations to safeguard non-public, confidential, or proprietary information, created or obtained through their official duties, while expressly preserving the right to make disclosures authorized by law,” the notice said.

The OPM notice includes a proposed NDA that federal agencies may use if they wish. It also says that the proposed NDA “does not create new substantive restrictions on employee speech or disclosure rights” and “expressly” preserves employees’ “rights to make disclosures authorized by law, including protected whistleblower disclosures.”

The OPM cited examples of internal agency communications related to rulemaking and policy development that were disclosed without authorization. It also raised instances in which FBI and the Department of Homeland Security employees disclosed information without authorization about planned immigration enforcement actions.

For instance, the OPM’s request for comment stated that the New York Times and Washington Post had received unauthorized information on the U.S. raid in Venezuela this past January and delayed “publishing what they knew to avoid endangering U.S. troops.”

But days after the raid, New York Times executive editor Joe Kahn wrote, “Contrary to some claims, however, The Times did not have verified details about the pending operation to capture Maduro or a story prepared, nor did we withhold publication at the request of the Trump administration.”

He also said, “While not relevant in this case, The Times does consult with the military when there are concerns that exposure of specific operational information could risk the lives of American troops. We take those concerns seriously, and have at times delayed publication or withheld details if they might lead to direct threats to members of the military.”

Representatives for the New York Times and Washington Post did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Locating leaks that the administration deems harmful to its messaging has become a priority in multiple agencies since the beginning of President Trump’s second administration. In January, the FBI seized Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson’s phone, laptops, portable hard drives and Garmin watch, as part of an investigation into a government contractor who was later indicted for allegedly disseminating classified material.

And last year, dozens of reporters turned in their access badges at the Pentagon, instead of complying with new rules imposed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that would leave journalists vulnerable to expulsion if they sought to report on information — classified or otherwise — that had not been approved by the secretary for release.

The American Federation of Government Employees did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

By

Katelyn Polantz
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Tierney Sneed

26 min ago

PUBLISHED May 26, 2026, 3:03 PM ET

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An election worker handles ballots as vote counting in the general election continues at State Farm Arena on November 4, 2020, in Atlanta.

Brynn Anderson/AP

Summary

• The Justice Department is seeking to interview poll workers from the 2020 election in Fulton County, Georgia.
• A prosecutor told a federal judge that investigators want to question individuals who may have witnessed ballot-processing activities.
• Fulton County opposes the subpoena for election workers’ names and addresses, warning it could expose them to potential targeting and discourage future civic participation.

AI-generated summary was reviewed by a CNN editor.

The Justice Department wants to interview some poll workers and ballot counters who participated in the 2020 election in Fulton County, Georgia, in a new effort to dig up details about the ballot-processing, prosecutors revealed at a court hearing last week.

A prosecutor working with a grand jury in Fulton County told a federal judge on May 19 that once the Justice Department has names and addresses of 2020 election workers in the investigation, federal investigators would try to talk to the workers.

“This would simply be a pathway to determine and speak with and interview certain individuals who worked at the polls who may have seen, heard or done something in and of themselves,” the prosecutor, William McComb, told the judge, according to a transcript of the hearing obtained this week by CNN and other media outlets.

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Judge William Ray II had questioned how the department planned to use the election workers’ details.

“We’re simply asking for the employees and volunteers who worked with or had access to the ballots and the ability to contact them and question them as witnesses,” McComb said. “There is no other way beyond a grand jury subpoena in which to do that.”

The unusual investigative approach could potentially reinflate fraud theories that have been roundly rejected by several voting and law enforcement authorities about the result of the 2020 election, which President Donald Trump continues to want to avenge.

Joe Biden won more than two-thirds of the 517,000 votes cast for president in populous Fulton County, which includes Atlanta. Yet Trump has continued to say the 2020 election was rigged against him, and Justice Department leadership has used specially designated prosecutors to lead investigative efforts in Fulton County this year.

Fulton County’s elections office has asked the judge to block the subpoena for names of election workers, arguing that it is an invasive fishing investigation that could hurt civic participation around upcoming elections. The federal election workers’ names, addresses and phone numbers being turned over could prompt the Trump administration to “target and harass (Trump’s) perceived political enemies,” the county has said.

A lawyer for the county argued at the hearing that the subpoena is too broad and that it would attempt to reopen events that are past the timeframe that could result in federal criminal charges. The grand jury activity also could chill the county’s election workers from wanting to participate in future elections, the lawyer, Kamal Ghali, said in court.

“You know, an overbroad fishing expedition is bad and is not allowed. But one that’s not overbroad is kind of OK,” the judge said on May 19. “And the question is, how do we, how do I as a judge, decide when does it go too far?”

Related article An employee of the Fulton County Board of Registration and Elections processes ballots in Atlanta, Georgia, on November 5, 2020. Brandon Bell/Reuters Judge won’t order DOJ to return seized 2020 ballots to Fulton County 3 min read

The hearing last week in Rome, Georgia, took place on the same day voters were casting primary ballots for governor and congressional candidates.

The judge pointed out that 2020 election workers who may not agree with the current administration may be concerned if their private information was turned over to the federal authorities and, potentially made public. He has not decided whether to stop the Justice Department from collecting the thousands of names and contact details.

The Justice Department, however, is arguing that the grand jury wants the data to determine whether there’s criminal investigative work to do about the 2020 election.

More details on the Justice Department’s reasoning for seeking the election workers’ details aren’t publicly available but may be submitted to the judge privately.

“As we sit here now, we are not sure what charges can be brought. That’s the whole point of the investigation,” McComb said in the May 19 hearing.

“We don’t know what they will tell us as far as what happened or what improprieties may or may not have happened in the 2020 election and whether that is a continuing situation in this current election cycle or in the next election cycles for the Fulton County Board,” McComb also said.

Previously, the Justice Department seized all of the county’s 2020 election ballots as well as other voting materials. A separate federal judge rejected a lawsuit Fulton County filed to force those materials’ return.

Trump’s redistricting push suffers setbacks in Alabama, South Carolina

2026-05-26T18:23:05.638Z / Reuters

Court ruling goes against Republicans in Alabama
Judges preserve significantly Black US House district
Republican South Carolina lawmakers balk at new map
Voting already underway in party primaries in the state

May 26 (Reuters) – President Donald Trump’s push for Republican-led states to draw electoral maps more favorable to his party ahead of November’s midterm elections suffered twin setbacks on ​Tuesday, when efforts in South Carolina and Alabama to reshape U.S. House of Representatives districts were stymied.

In a rare break with Trump from members of his ‌own party, several Republican state senators in South Carolina voted with Democrats to abandon a new map aimed at dismantling the U.S. House district held by congressman James Clyburn, a Black Democrat first elected to the seat more than three decades ago.

Jumpstart your morning with the latest legal news delivered straight to your inbox from The Daily Docket newsletter. Sign up here.

Separately, a panel of three federal judges blocked Alabama Republicans from installing a new map that would eliminate one of the state’s two districts with major Black populations, ruling that state lawmakers intentionally ​discriminated against Black voters in reconfiguring the boundaries.

At Trump’s urging, Republicans in several Southern states have rushed to implement new maps following a U.S. Supreme Court decision in April that ​weakened protections for U.S. House districts with significant Black or Latino populations.

Tennessee already has approved a new map that broke up a majority-Black, Democratic-held ⁠district based in Memphis, while Louisiana is advancing a plan to eliminate one of two districts with sizable Black populations in that state.

Black voters typically support Democrats.

Democrats and civil rights advocates ​have called the Republican efforts racially discriminatory. Republican backers have said they are focused on partisan advantage, not race.

Republicans are seeking to retain their narrow U.S. House majority in the midterms at a ​time when Trump is registering low approval ratings in public opinion polls, thanks in part to the unpopular Iran war and the higher gasoline prices it has caused.

SOUTH CAROLINA MAP FAILS

The proposed map in South Carolina would have positioned Republicans to sweep all seven U.S. House districts in the state after taking apart the seat held by Clyburn, 85, a Democratic power broker.

Tuesday’s vote was the second time that the effort stalled in the ​state Senate. Five Republicans joined Democrats earlier in the month to deny the two-thirds majority needed to advance the plan during a regular session of the chamber.

Republican South Carolina Governor Henry ​McMaster, who had previously had rejected White House pressure to call a special session, reversed course and brought lawmakers back to consider the map.

Early voting began in the state on Tuesday in party primaries. Some Republican ‌senators said ⁠they could not support changing the map and postponing the primaries once ballots had already been cast.

“As far as I can tell, there is no historical precedent for a legislature to change the date of an election and redraw the maps once voting has begun,” Senator Richard Cash said during floor debate.

Cash noted that tens of thousands of votes had been recorded by midday.

ALABAMA MAP DEEMED ILLEGAL

In Alabama, a three-judge panel decided that a Republican-backed map intentionally discriminated against Black voters and could not be used for the 2026 elections. Instead, the court said, Alabama must continue to ​use a map that has two districts with ​sizable Black populations, not just one.

Republican officials ⁠in Alabama immediately said they would appeal to the conservative-majority U.S. Supreme Court.

Republican Alabama Governor Kay Ivey previously postponed until August the party primaries for four U.S. House districts that were redrawn as part of the disputed map, which was first approved in 2023.

The map breaks up a district ​in which Black people comprise just shy of 50% of the population. White people make up about 40% of the district, with other ​minorities including Asian and Hispanic ⁠people filling out the balance. Black people make up about a quarter of Alabama’s population. The district is currently represented by congressman Shomari Figures, who is Black.

The same panel of judges found the map discriminatory in 2023 and blocked it. Two weeks ago, the Supreme Court granted Alabama’s request to lift that block, and directed the judges to reconsider their findings in light of its April decision that ⁠raised the bar ​for challenging electoral maps on the basis of race.

But the panel reached the same conclusion: that the map purposefully ​and unlawfully targeted Black voters.

“Ultimately, we cannot see our way clear to requiring Alabamians to cast their votes in the 2026 elections under a districting plan tainted by intentional race-based discrimination,” wrote the panel, which includes two judges appointed ​by Trump and one appointed by Democratic former President Bill Clinton.

Democrats hold Alabama’s two districts with sizeable Black populations. Republicans control the state’s other five districts.

Reporting by Joseph Ax; editing by Paul Thomasch

Kevin Warsh is now leading the Fed. His main challenge is a doozy.

May 26, 2026 / 3:38 PM EDT / CBS News

New Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh could face a rude awakening this week with the release of key inflation data that economists expect to show consumer prices continuing to surge in April.

Another hot month for inflation would make it harder for the Fed to deliver the interest rate cuts policymakers were projecting earlier this year and that President Trump aggressively demanded from former Fed chief Jerome Powell.

On Thursday, the personal consumption expenditures price index, or PCE, is expected to show April inflation rose at an annual rate of 3.9%, according to economists surveyed by FactSet. That would mark the highest level for the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge since May 2023 as oil prices tied to the Iran war push up gasoline prices.

After being sworn in Friday as Fed chair, Warsh’s most pressing order of business will be to rein in rising inflation. Complicating that challenge is Mr. Trump’s eagerness for the central bank to ease borrowing costs, which would boost economic growth. At the same time, Warsh has also signaled he wants to significantly reshape how the central bank operates and communicates with financial markets.

“Warsh faces a challenging backdrop as steady labor market conditions alongside rising inflation risks increase the odds of a rate hike as the next policy move,” EY-Parthenon chief economist Gregory Daco said in a report.

Daco also said that the Federal Open Market Committee — the Fed panel that sets its benchmark interest rate — could acknowledge at its June 17-18 meeting that it may have to hike rates if inflation remains above the central bank’s 2% annual target.

With inflation at its highest levelin nearly three years, some economists on Wall Street now predict the Fed will hold rates steady throughout 2026. A rate hike is seen as more likely as the year progresses, with a 40% probability that the Federal Reserve will hike rates at its December meeting, up from 3% at its June meeting, according to CME FedWatch, which bases its predictions on 30-Day Fed funds futures prices.

Fed reforms on tap?

During his swearing-in ceremony last week, Warsh pledged to lead a “reform-oriented Federal Reserve, learning from past successes and mistakes both, escaping static frameworks and models, and upholding clear standards of integrity and performance.”

Yet he also backed the Fed’s traditional dual mandate of keeping both inflation and unemployment rates low, saying that achieving those goals means that “inflation can be lower, growth stronger, real take-home pay higher and America can be more prosperous.”

Warsh’s views on reforming the Fed, which he outlined during his Senate Banking Committee confirmation hearing on April 22, include criticisms of the central bank’s practice of issuing economic projections, arguing that it locks policymakers into positions longer than warranted, potentially compounding policy mistakes.

Warsh, who once had a reputation as a Fed hawk — someone who generally favors higher interest rates to keep a lid on inflation — last year came out in favor of lower rates. He has argued that artificial intelligence will curb inflation by boosting the nation’s economic productivity, giving the Fed more room to ease borrowing costs.

“Just do your own thing”

Given Mr. Trump’s push for lower rates, rising inflation and Warsh’s reformist goals, economists told CBS News the new Fed chair already faces competing pressures. Monetary policy decisions aremade by a committeeof 12 FOMC members, and while the chair usually has considerable sway, Warsh would need to persuade panel members of the immediate need for rate cuts.

“Kevin Warsh will have a hard time convincing anyone to cut rates any time soon,” said Heather Long, chief economist at the Navy Federal Credit Union, in an email. “Warsh is going to have to show he has the will to do whatever it takes on inflation, even if that upsets President Trump.”

Another challenge for Warsh will be to maintain the Fed’s independence and reassure investors that the central bank will remain free of political influence, according to economists. Powell, the former Fed chair, sought to fend off Mr. Trump’s legal threats and intense pressure to cut rates, arguing that anindependent Fed is essential for economic prosperity.

During his Senate hearing, Warsh testified that the central bank will remain “strictly independent” in setting monetary policy.

During Warsh’s swearing-in, Mr. Trump said he wants the new Fed chair to be “totally independent …. don’t look at me, don’t look at anybody. Just do your own thing, and do a great job.”

Edited by Alain Sherter

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Expert: Warsh has “difficult job in front of him”
https://www.cbsnews.com/video/new-fed-chair-kevin-warsh-difficult-job-expert/

霹雳州陆交局长莫哈末尤索夫星期一（5月25日）晚间在怡保检查长途巴士乘客是否系好安全带。 （马新社）

马来西亚各族佳节或公共假期往往也是车祸高发期。马国多个执法机构因此在本周哈芝节长周末来临前，派出2000多名人员在全国高速公路、巴士总站及重点路段，联合取缔违规者并宣导交通安全，提醒民众慎防车祸。

据《星洲日报》报道，交通部长陆兆福星期二（5月26日）告诉记者，当局这么做是希望对驾驶者形成心理威慑，并降低交通事故发生率。

他说，这项长年执行的措施，每逢佳节车流高峰期间都会强化，并将执法重点放在高风险路段及车祸黑区。

他强调：“我们的目标是让驾驶者更谨慎，尤其是在事故高发区。我们希望驾驶者自律守规，从而减少车祸。”他指出，政府的执法重点并非开罚单，而是以预防为导向以确保道路安全。

陆兆福说，交通部属下陆路交通局人员也将在巴士出发前，在车厂及巴士总站展开检查，包括检查驾驶执照、路税、保险、营运准证以及司机与车辆状况。

他说，当局也将要求运输公司承担监管责任。“如果公司未能确保司机与车辆符合标准，当局也将采取行动，包括吊销执照。”