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英美烟草推AI降本计划 裁员5500人另转移3500岗位

2026年6月29日 21:47 / 联合早报

英美烟草宣布推进降本重组，合计影响9000个岗位。图为英美烟草公司位于伦敦的总部。 （路透社档案照片）

英美烟草公司宣布，计划通过裁员和岗位转移，将员工规模减少约20%。这家烟草巨头正继续推进一项由人工智能（AI）驱动的转型计划，以削减成本、提高利润，同时应对监管挑战和新品上市延迟。

路透社报道，英美烟草（British American Tobacco）星期一（6月29日）说，公司将裁减5500个岗位，并把另外3500个岗位转移给包括埃森哲（Accenture）在内的第三方公司，合计影响9000名员工。此次重组不包括英美烟草最大市场美国。

英美烟草生产好彩（Lucky Strike）和登喜路（Dunhill）等香烟品牌。公司预计，这项降本计划到2028年每年可新增节省6亿英镑（约10亿新元）；此前公司已设定到2027年节省5亿英镑的目标。

在英美烟草最大市场美国，新型尼古丁产品上市受到监管要求限制。包括Vuse电子烟和Velo尼古丁袋在内的新产品，须先取得监管机构许可才能销售，审批过程漫长，导致产品上市推迟，也限制了销售增长。

英美烟草今年2月曾说，新的生产力提升计划可能导致裁员。公司星期一说，多数岗位调整已向员工确认，其余协商工作将按照当地规定进行。

英美烟草推AI降本计划 裁员5500人另转移3500岗位

2026年6月29日 21:47 / 联合早报

英美烟草宣布推进降本重组，合计影响9000个岗位。图为英美烟草公司位于伦敦的总部。 （路透社档案照片）

英美烟草公司宣布，计划通过裁员和岗位转移，将员工规模减少约20%。这家烟草巨头正继续推进一项由人工智能（AI）驱动的转型计划，以削减成本、提高利润，同时应对监管挑战和新品上市延迟。

路透社报道，英美烟草（British American Tobacco）星期一（6月29日）说，公司将裁减5500个岗位，并把另外3500个岗位转移给包括埃森哲（Accenture）在内的第三方公司，合计影响9000名员工。此次重组不包括英美烟草最大市场美国。

英美烟草生产好彩（Lucky Strike）和登喜路（Dunhill）等香烟品牌。公司预计，这项降本计划到2028年每年可新增节省6亿英镑（约10亿新元）；此前公司已设定到2027年节省5亿英镑的目标。

在英美烟草最大市场美国，新型尼古丁产品上市受到监管要求限制。包括Vuse电子烟和Velo尼古丁袋在内的新产品，须先取得监管机构许可才能销售，审批过程漫长，导致产品上市推迟，也限制了销售增长。

英美烟草今年2月曾说，新的生产力提升计划可能导致裁员。公司星期一说，多数岗位调整已向员工确认，其余协商工作将按照当地规定进行。

What to know about the Newsom-linked charities reportedly caught in DOJ’s sights

2026-06-29T10:01:57-04:00 / Fox News

Both charities accepted donations from entities with business before California, including Kaiser Permanente and PG&E

By Robert Schmad Fox News

Published June 29, 2026 10:01am EDT

Newsom and wife under DOJ investigation, blames Trump

California Governor Gavin Newsom reveals he and his wife are under Department of Justice investigation, alleging political motivation by President Donald Trump.

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Federal investigators are probing nonprofits linked to California first lady Jennifer Siebel Newsom, putting renewed scrutiny on two organizations that conservative watchdogs and media reports have criticized over alleged conflicts of interest tied to their proximity to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s political orbit.

Newsom has accused President Donald Trump’s Justice Department of launching a politically motivated “fishing expedition” against him and his wife, but the DOJ has not publicly confirmed any probe. The reported inquiries have revived questions about The Representation Project and California Partners Project, two nonprofits connected to Siebel Newsom that have received donations from corporations, tribes and other entities with interests before California state government.

While Newsom has cast the purported investigation as a political witch hunt, the DOJ has yet to publicly confirm that a probe is even taking place, though internal sources speaking to media outlets have confirmed as much. Most recently, a source speaking to the California Post claimed that the FBI was looking into Siebel Newsom’s taxes.

“The sheer amount of cash, combined with the nature and timing of government activity, is eye-catching — especially when unexpected windfalls are benefiting the contributors,” Americans for Public Trust executive director Caitlin Sutherland told the Washington Free Beacon in July 2025, around the time sources claim the probe into Newsom’s wife began. “It’s past time for this cash flow to fall under intense scrutiny.”

FEDERAL PROSECUTOR CALLS NEWSOM ‘KING OF FRAUD’ AS TRUMP LAUNCHES CALIFORNIA CORRUPTION PROBE

Jennifer Siebel Newsom, award-winning filmmaker and co-founder of California Partners Project, speaks on stage during the 2024 California Conference for Women at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, Calif., on Feb. 29, 2024.(Marla Aufmuth/Getty Images)

Siebel Newsom’s finances first came under major scrutiny in 2021 when the Sacramento Bee reported that TRP had received more than $800,000 from a dozen corporations that frequently lobby the state of California for policy concessions. The outlet also found that many of the companies that donated to TRP later received favorable treatment from Newsom.

Data analyzed by the Sacramento Bee showed that Siebel Newsom’s charity saw its revenue spike whenever her husband’s political career advanced between 2011 and 2019.

FORMER SAN FRANCISCO HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION LEADER ACCUSED OF ‘SELF-DEALING,’ PUBLIC CORRUPTION

California Gov. Gavin Newsom and first partner Jennifer Siebel-Newsom embrace during a campaign event supporting Proposition 50 in San Francisco on Nov. 3, 2025.(Gabrielle Lurie/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)

Siebel Newsom pays herself directly from TRP, pulling a salary of over $160,000 a year.

TRP also cuts six-figure checks to a media production company owned by Siebel Newsom each year, tax documents show.

Newsom claims federal investigators have questioned people connected to his wife, including those affiliated with her nonprofits, as part of an inquiry involving their finances.

The California governor has called the investigation a politically motivated “fishing expedition” by President Donald Trump’s Justice Department and said he and his wife have “nothing to hide.” He said the inquiry is aimed at him because he is considering running for president and that “to get me, he’s coming after my wife.”

The Justice Department has not publicly confirmed the investigation and has declined to comment. Sources speaking to CNN on the condition of anonymity insist that the investigation was not requested by DOJ leadership in D.C. but was instigated by local officials after they received whistleblower reports.

NEWSOM’S FREE-PHONE GIVEAWAY TO STATE BUSINESS LEADERS PAID FOR BY NONPROFIT RUN BY EX-STAFFERS

Jennifer Siebel Newsom speaks at a Planned Parenthood funding bill signing ceremony.(Screenshot/Gavin Newsom’s YouTube Page)

Years after the Sacramento Bee report, the Washington Free Beacon released a follow-up investigation in 2025 that reportedly uncovered a similar pattern.

California has a unique system through which politicians can “behest,” basically request, that a given individual or organization make a contribution to a charity. Through this system, Newsom routed roughly $4.3 million to TCPP between February 2020 and March 2026.

Cross-referencing California state records and nonprofit tax documents shows that behests made by Newsom accounted for over 80% of the TCPP revenue between 2020 and 2024.

NEW EXPOSÉ CLAIMS CALIFORNIA LOST AT LEAST $180B TO FRAUD UNDER GAVIN NEWSOM

Jennifer Siebel Newsom, California’s first partner, speaks during a Gender Equity Summit in Sacramento, California, on Nov. 19, 2025.(David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Critics have pointed to several donors to Siebel Newsom-linked nonprofits that later benefited from actions by Newsom’s administration, though Newsom has denied any connection between the donations and state decisions.

Newsom made headlines in 2024 for opposing the construction of a casino project north of San Francisco, writing a letter to the Biden administration urging it to block the project, then suing the federal government when development was allowed to continue.

Just months before Newsom sent his letter to the Biden administration, however, he requested that an American Indian tribe give $500,000 to TCPP. He asked for another half a million dollars just before suing the federal government in April 2025. The American Indian tribe agreed to both requests.

EX-NONPROFIT BOSS ALLEGEDLY SWIPED $1.2M MEANT FOR HOMELESS PROGRAMS TO FUND LAVISH LIFESTYLE, DA SAYS

California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks about the “Election Rigging Response Act” at a press conference at the Democracy Center, Japanese American National Museum, in Los Angeles on Aug. 14, 2025. Newsom discussed a possible California referendum on redistricting to counter efforts to add five Republican House seats in Texas.(Mario Tama/Getty Images)

The payments are significant because the proposed casino project would have competed directly with a casino run by the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria just 15 miles away.

Entities that have donated to Newsom’s family charities typically deny that their contribution had political strings attached, stating instead that they cut the checks because they genuinely believed in feminist mission statements of the groups. Multiple conservative media outlets, however, have characterized the arrangement as a “pay for play” scheme.

While, unlike TRP, Newsom’s wife doesn’t draw a salary from TCPP, the funds transferred to it at the request of her husband nonetheless provide her with resources to spend on activist causes she cares about.

JOURNALIST WHO EXPOSED ALLEGED MINNESOTA FRAUD SAYS NEWSOM, CALIFORNIA ARE HIS NEXT TARGETS

Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom is facing GOP criticism for failing to repay a pandemic-era loan that has forced the state’s employers to pay higher taxes to help service the debt.(Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu)

The Newsoms have also been hit with allegations of self-dealing. Many of the films produced by Siebel Newsom’s enterprise are shown in California public schools, generating revenue for California’s first family by routing tax dollars to their personal enterprises.

Following the public scrutiny, Siebel Newsom’s charity appears to have become less transparent.

A TRP spokeswoman told the Sacramento Bee in 2021 that the charity discloses all donors over $5,000 on its website; however, as of publishing, no such webpage exists.

COMER TELLS NEWSOM TO ‘LAWYER UP’ AS HOUSE OVERSIGHT LAUNCHES CALIFORNIA FRAUD PROBE

California Gov. Gavin Newsom and his partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom watch as Chinese President Xi Jinping arrives at San Francisco International Airport on Nov. 14, 2023, ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders’ week.(Frederic J. Brown/AFP)

Newsom has separately faced scrutiny over whether donors received state benefits after contributions.

After donating to Newsom, wealthy contributors have secured multimillion-dollar public contracts, access to large tax credits, favorable executive action and appointments to prestigious public posts, a 2025 Washington Examiner investigation found.

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Newsom has denied any conflict of interest or quid pro quo involving donations to his wife’s nonprofits, saying of the donations in 2021, that “there’s no correlation, period, full stop. Absolutely none,” explaining that his decisions were made on the basis of policy judgement.

TRP, TCPP, Newsom’s office and the DOJ did not respond to requests for comment when reached by Fox News Digital.

Supreme Court rejects legal battle over New York’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for healthcare workers

June 29, 2026 / 11:19 AM EDT / CBS News

Washington — The Supreme Court on Monday turned away a legal battle involving New York’s now-repealed mandate for healthcare workers to receive the COVID-19 vaccine during the pandemic.

The dispute arose after the New York Department of Health issued an emergency rule in 2021 that required all licensed healthcare workers to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 to address the spread of the virus in medical facilities and nursing homes. State officials said the rule allowed healthcare employers to accommodate religious exemptions in certain ways, but did not permit blanket exemptions from the vaccine mandate.

The vaccine requirement was repealed as of October 2023 after the Biden administration ended the federal COVID-19 public health emergency.

A group of employees at New York healthcare facilities sought religious exemptions from the vaccine mandate, arguing that their sincerely held religious beliefs prevented them from receiving the COVID-19 shots. But their employers rejected the workers’ requests for religious accommodations and fired them.

They then filed a lawsuit against Gov. Kathy Hochul and other state officials, as well as their employers — New York-Presbyterian Healthcare System, Trinity Health and Westchester Medical Center Advanced Physician Services.

The workers, who are unnamed in court papers, argued that their employers’ refusal to grant exemptions violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits workplace discrimination because of religion and requires employers to make religious accommodations unless doing so would impose an undue hardship on their business.

They also said that Title VII trumps the state’s vaccination mandate.

A federal district court tossed out the case, and an appeals court upheld that decision.

The workers appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing that the ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit allows state rules to supersede Title VII’s requirements that employers provide religious accommodations.

“State laws that are contrary to federal nondiscrimination laws must yield to the demands of federal law,” they wrote in a filing with the Supreme Court.

The former healthcare workers argued New York’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate sanctioned the “blanket rejection” of all requests for religious accommodations under Title VII regarding the shots, regardless of whether they were reasonable or whether the accommodations could be provided without undue hardship.

The 2nd Circuit, they said, “permitted compliance with contrary state laws to excuse noncompliance with Title VII. This cannot be the law, and the Nation’s Charter demands a different outcome.”

But the healthcare facilities argued that state law did not forbid employers from providing any religious accommodation, only “complete exemptions” on religious grounds.

The rule “did not prohibit the healthcare respondents from granting any accommodation whatsoever to petitioners. It merely prohibited the particular accommodation on which petitioners insisted: namely, a complete exemption,” they wrote in a Supreme Court filing.

Hochul and other state officials, meanwhile, told the high court that the state’s vaccine rule doesn’t prohibit all religious accommodations. Instead, it allowed employers to offer options that moved unvaccinated workers into roles that wouldn’t expose personnel, patients or nursing home residents to COVID-19 if they were infected.

“The rule thus allowed religious accommodations, albeit not petitioners’ preferred accommodation, in accordance with Title VII,” they argued in a filing. “When the rule’s scope is properly understood, this case does not present any question about the validity of a state law that, unlike the rule here, prohibits employers from providing any religious accommodations whatsoever.”

Housing bill that Trump refuses to sign heads to his desk

June 29, 2026 at 11:13 a.m. EDT / The Washington Post

House Speaker Mike Johnson is set to send a bipartisan housing bill to President Donald Trump’s desk Monday, but it is unclear whether he will sign it into law.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) speaks to the media June 11 on Capitol Hill. (Ken Cedeno/Reuters)

By Jarrell Dillard

House Speaker Mike Johnson is set to send a major housing bill to President Donald Trump’s desk Monday, starting a 10-day window during which he will have to decide either to sign or veto it.

If Trump does not take action within 10 days after the White House receives the bill, it will automatically become law, as long as Congress is in session.

The bill, aimed at boosting housing supply and lowering costs, passed both chambers of Congress with overwhelming bipartisan support. But Trump said last week that he would not sign it until lawmakers take up a measure to impose new elections rules, which does not currently have enough support to pass the Senate.

Johnson said on Fox News’s “Sunday Morning Futures” that he wants Trump to sign the bill once he sends it Monday, but the president has not publicly committed to doing so.

Trump’s boycott has complicated getting a measure into law that could bolster both Republicans’ and Democrats’ midterm messages as they seek to show voters they are addressing affordability concerns.

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日本推出新机制扩大对外资审核力度 强化经济安全

2026年6月29日 22:14 / 联合早报 符祝慧 东京特派员

日本首相高市早苗政府星期一（6月29日）正式启动“日本版外国投资委员会”（CFIUS），以负责有关的审查工作。 （路透社档案照片）

以强化“经济安全”为由，日本政府正在扩大对外来投资的审查力度，推出与美国投资委员会（CFIUS）同类的新机制。日本当局表明，成立新机制的宗旨在于妥善处理可能危害国家安全的投资项目。

新框架将扩大预审范围，涵盖了间接收购案例。在此同时，对于外国政府和国有企业等高风险投资者，当局的审查权限也将扩大。

日本参议院上月底修正了《外汇及外贸法》，旨在加强对外国公司和投资者在日本的直接投资审查，以便防止与国家安全相关的关键技术和重要基础设施外流。

日本首相高市早苗政府星期一（6月29日）正式启动“日本版外国投资委员会”（CFIUS），以负责有关的审查工作。此前，财政部和各相关部委独立开展审查工作。新体系则重视跨部门，参与审查的包括财政部、国安局、外交部、经济产业部及国防部。

内阁秘书长木原稔解释说：“随着国家安全范围迅速扩大至经济领域，我们将加强对外国直接投资的审查，这是为了妥善处理可能危害国家安全的投资项目。”

日媒报道，日本之所以要加强监管，是因为日本已日益成为“外国势力”的间谍活动与非法活动目标。近期发生的外国间谍窃取日本工业机密、晶片走私，以及贩毒团伙将芬太尼经由日本运出事件，都暴露了日本在经济安全问题上存在漏洞。

另一方面，鉴于日本当局正在推进军民两用技术的研发，加强监控日企的资本来源也是为了给日本相关企业把关。

今年4月，日本建议一家正在寻求收购大型机床制造商牧野铣床株式会社的亚洲投资基金停止收购，理由是牧野铣床的机床被日本国内国防装备制造商广泛使用。

高市上台后，政府建立“经济安全”体系是重要方针之一。高市早前担任经济安全部长期间，就一直参与保护供应链、关键基础设施和技术免受全球风险影响的立法工作。

2024年，她出版《日本经济安全：保护国家和人民的黄金法则》一书，内容谈及强化供应链韧性和提升信息安全。其内容指出，不能忽视中国的存在，它是日本最大进口国，对日本以及许多国家的供应链都具有强大影响力。

有分析指出，美国外国投资委员会主要负责应对与中国相关的安全威胁。日本仿效美国，不排除有意协同美国发挥同等作用。

《朝日新闻》指出，为了保护对国家安全至关重要的技术和信息，政府有必要在一定程度上介入投资过程。

然而，如果安全问题成为唯一考量因素，导致其他国家将日本视为一个缺乏可预测性且难以投资的国家，那么即使是完全合理的投资也可能受到阻碍。因此，必须确保高度透明，避免审查被误解为日本“不开放”。

该报认为，日本政府将吸引外资作为其经济增长方针，目标是2030年投资盈余达到120万亿日元（约959亿新元）。对外来投资扩大管控，也可能影响这一经济政策。

【图集】余震再袭委内瑞拉 搜救进入关键时刻

2026年6月29日 22:40 / 联合早报

救援人员6月28日从倒塌建筑废墟中救出一名生还者。获救者满身尘土，被小心抬上救护车。 （法新社）

委内瑞拉强震后的搜救工作进入关键阶段。

路透社报道，上周三（6月24日）两次强震已造成近1500人死亡，数百栋建筑倒塌，重灾区拉瓜伊拉仍是搜救重点。

美国地质调查局说，首都加拉加斯以北星期一（29日）清晨又发生4.6级余震，暂未传出新增损坏。

委内瑞拉当局称，国际社会已向当地派出超过2700名救援和支援人员、约86支搜救犬队，并运送逾500公吨物资；各国救援队连夜搜寻幸存者，仍有失踪者家属守候消息。

以下照片带你直击强震后的委内瑞拉灾区现场。

一栋公寓楼在强震后严重受损：楼体中间一层几乎被震成镂空，橙色客厅墙、餐桌和家具暴露在外，一名居民站在残破屋内查看灾后情况。（路透社）

一名男子在地震遇难者葬礼上哀悼。他俯身将双手按在棺木上，神情哀伤，送别现场一片沉重。（路透社）

夜幕降临后，墨西哥军方救援人员6月28日仍在强震灾区连夜搜救，并从废墟中救出一名9岁男童。（法新社）

6月27日，一名13岁少年被救援人员从废墟中救出，守候多时的亲友们相拥而泣，有人掩面落泪。（路透社）

连日昼夜搜救后，许多救援人员疲惫地躺在混凝土残骸上，短暂休整。（法新社）

日本推出新机制扩大对外资审核力度 强化经济安全

2026年6月29日 22:14 / 联合早报 符祝慧 东京特派员

日本首相高市早苗政府星期一（6月29日）正式启动“日本版外国投资委员会”（CFIUS），以负责有关的审查工作。 （路透社档案照片）

以强化“经济安全”为由，日本政府正在扩大对外来投资的审查力度，推出与美国投资委员会（CFIUS）同类的新机制。日本当局表明，成立新机制的宗旨在于妥善处理可能危害国家安全的投资项目。

新框架将扩大预审范围，涵盖了间接收购案例。在此同时，对于外国政府和国有企业等高风险投资者，当局的审查权限也将扩大。

日本参议院上月底修正了《外汇及外贸法》，旨在加强对外国公司和投资者在日本的直接投资审查，以便防止与国家安全相关的关键技术和重要基础设施外流。

日本首相高市早苗政府星期一（6月29日）正式启动“日本版外国投资委员会”（CFIUS），以负责有关的审查工作。此前，财政部和各相关部委独立开展审查工作。新体系则重视跨部门，参与审查的包括财政部、国安局、外交部、经济产业部及国防部。

内阁秘书长木原稔解释说：“随着国家安全范围迅速扩大至经济领域，我们将加强对外国直接投资的审查，这是为了妥善处理可能危害国家安全的投资项目。”

日媒报道，日本之所以要加强监管，是因为日本已日益成为“外国势力”的间谍活动与非法活动目标。近期发生的外国间谍窃取日本工业机密、晶片走私，以及贩毒团伙将芬太尼经由日本运出事件，都暴露了日本在经济安全问题上存在漏洞。

另一方面，鉴于日本当局正在推进军民两用技术的研发，加强监控日企的资本来源也是为了给日本相关企业把关。

今年4月，日本建议一家正在寻求收购大型机床制造商牧野铣床株式会社的亚洲投资基金停止收购，理由是牧野铣床的机床被日本国内国防装备制造商广泛使用。

高市上台后，政府建立“经济安全”体系是重要方针之一。高市早前担任经济安全部长期间，就一直参与保护供应链、关键基础设施和技术免受全球风险影响的立法工作。

2024年，她出版《日本经济安全：保护国家和人民的黄金法则》一书，内容谈及强化供应链韧性和提升信息安全。其内容指出，不能忽视中国的存在，它是日本最大进口国，对日本以及许多国家的供应链都具有强大影响力。

有分析指出，美国外国投资委员会主要负责应对与中国相关的安全威胁。日本仿效美国，不排除有意协同美国发挥同等作用。

《朝日新闻》指出，为了保护对国家安全至关重要的技术和信息，政府有必要在一定程度上介入投资过程。

然而，如果安全问题成为唯一考量因素，导致其他国家将日本视为一个缺乏可预测性且难以投资的国家，那么即使是完全合理的投资也可能受到阻碍。因此，必须确保高度透明，避免审查被误解为日本“不开放”。

该报认为，日本政府将吸引外资作为其经济增长方针，目标是2030年投资盈余达到120万亿日元（约959亿新元）。对外来投资扩大管控，也可能影响这一经济政策。

Supreme Court says states can count mail ballots that arrive after Election Day

2026-06-29T10:04:00-0400 / CBS News

By

Updated on: June 29, 2026 / 11:59 AM EDT / CBS News

Washington — The Supreme Court on Monday ruled that states can count mail ballots that are cast by Election Day but arrive later, rejecting a GOP challenge to Mississippi law’s for late-arriving ballots.

In the closely watched election dispute known as Watson v. Republican National Committee, the high court split 5 to 4 in finding that Mississippi’s measure does not conflict with federal statutes that set Election Day as the Tuesday after the first Monday in November in certain years.

Justice Amy Coney Barrett authored the majority opinion, joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and the three liberal justices to uphold Mississippi’s law.

“The Framers recognized the difficulty of crafting election laws ‘applicable to every probable change in the situation of the country.’ So instead of constitutionalizing election law, they decided that ‘a discretionary power over elections’ needed to be lodged ‘somewhere,’” Barrett wrote. “Suffice it to say, that power was not lodged in this Court. The election-day statutes say nothing about ballot receipt, and we cannot add to the words Congress chose.”

With the November midterm elections just months away, the case threatened to upend similar laws in more than a dozen states that allow ballots that are postmarked by, but arrive after, Election Day to be tallied.

Barrett wrote for the majority that federal election laws require voters to make their choice on Election Day, which happens as long as that is the deadline for voting, like it is in Mississippi.

“But the election-day statutes do not set a deadline for ballot receipt, so they do not prevent Mississippi from counting ballots postmarked before election day yet received afterward,” she said.

President Trump frequently criticizes mail voting, claiming without evidence that it leads to election fraud, and he has attempted to unilaterally curtail the practice. His administration backed the challenge to Mississippi’s law brought by the RNC, arguing that Election Day is the day the ballot box closes, and when election officials must have all ballots.

In response to the Supreme Court’s decision, Mr. Trump urged Congress to pass legislation called the SAVE America Act. The bill would impose stringent voting rules, including eliminating mail ballots, with some exceptions, and set voter ID and proof-of-citizenship requirements.

“There is no excuse for a politician, or otherwise, to be against the above three requirements,” he wrote in a Truth Social post.

Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch, a Republican, urged state lawmakers to eliminate the post-Election Day deadline for mail ballots.

“With the bedrock constitutional principle of federalism now affirmed, I am hopeful that the Mississippi Legislature will take this opportunity to amend the law and require absentee ballots be received on the same day ballots are cast at the polling place,” she said in a statement. “President Trump is right to prioritize improving public trust in our elections.”

All 50 states require ballots to be marked and submitted by the day of the election. But in 14 states and the District of Columbia, election officials will accept and count mail ballots that are postmarked by Election Day but received after that day. Twenty-nine states and D.C. allow at least some military and overseas ballots to be received after Election Day.

Under the Mississippi law at issue in the case, ballots received up to five days after the election are tallied so long as they were postmarked by Election Day.

The case is one of four involving elections that the Supreme Court heard in its current term. In January, the court revived a Republican congressman’s lawsuit that challenged Illinois’ law for counting late-arriving ballots, though its decision was procedural. The Supreme Court’s conservative majority also weakened a key provision of the Voting Rights Act, setting off a redistricting scramble in some Southern states just as primary season got underway.

The high court is also weighing a significant campaign finance case involving the legality of federal caps on the amount of money a political committee can spend in coordination with a candidate.

The dispute over Mississippi’s law dates back to 2024, when the Republican National Committee and Mississippi’s Libertarian Party filed lawsuits challenging the ballot-receipt deadline. The parties argued that federal statutes enacted in the 1800s, which set a uniform day for the election for president and Congress, require ballots to be received by the day. Mississippi’s grace period, they said, was in conflict with those laws.

A U.S. district court upheld Mississippi’s five-day deadline for late-arriving ballots, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit found that federal law preempts the state’s law. The Supreme Court’s ruling Monday reversed that decision.

Explained: How Lisa Cook’s three home loans became central to Trump’s fight over her Federal Reserve seat

June 29, 2026 11:30am EDT / Fox News

Bill Pulte referred the matter to the DOJ, which opened a criminal probe into mortgage application fraud allegations

By Amanda Macias Fox News

‘The Big Weekend Show’ weighs on the alleged mortgage fraud accusations against Lisa Cook and Democrat Rep. Maxine Waters’ call to invoke the 25th Amendment against President Donald Trump.

Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook’s legal battle against President Donald Trump centered, in part, on a trio of mortgages she obtained before joining the nation’s central bank.

The loans, tied to properties in Michigan, Georgia and Massachusetts, drew scrutiny regarding whether Cook misrepresented how the homes would be used — as primary residences or otherwise. Trump cited those allegations in his effort to boot her from the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, arguing they constituted cause for her removal.

The Supreme Court ultimately ruled 5-4 that Cook can remain on as a Fed governor while her separate lawsuit challenging her firing proceeds.

WHO IS LISA COOK? THE FED GOVERNOR AT THE CENTER OF TRUMP’S SUPREME COURT FIGHT

Lisa Cook, governor of the Federal Reserve, stands outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 21, 2026, following oral arguments related to her case.(Al Drago/Bloomberg/Getty Images)

Cook challenged Trump’s attempt to oust her in federal court, arguing that the move was unlawful and threatened the Federal Reserve’s independence. Her lawsuit, filed Aug. 28, did not address allegations that she listed two homes as a primary residence on mortgage documents.

The allegations originated with Bill Pulte, a Trump appointee who oversees the federal agency that regulates Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Pulte, who is now acting Director of National Intelligence, linked Cook to the trio of properties in referrals sent to the Justice Department, which later confirmed it had opened a criminal investigation into allegations of mortgage application fraud.

The mortgages cited in the Justice Department probe were issued in 2021, before former President Joe Biden nominated Cook to the Federal Reserve Board.

At issue were the preferential terms that come with primary-residence loans, which lenders typically view as lower risk than mortgages for vacation homes or rental properties.

Cook disclosed all three mortgages in a financial filing with the U.S. Office of Government Ethics in June 2025, listing them alongside her income, retirement accounts and investments.

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT OPENS CRIMINAL PROBE INTO FED’S LISA COOK

Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook’s three mortgages listed on her June 2025 financial disclosure report.(U.S. Office of Government Ethics/Fox News Digital)

The filing also showed that Cook earned more than $50,000 a year in rental income from her Cambridge, Massachusetts, condominium. Pulte alleged in his DOJ referral that Cook represented the Cambridge condominium as a second home rather than an investment property, despite reporting rental income from the unit.

Cook bought the condo in 2002 when she was a professor at Harvard University. For this property, she obtained a 15-year loan for $361,000 at a rate of 2.5% in April 2021.

Two months later, Cook secured a mortgage for a three-bedroom home in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The 15-year loan for $203,000 at a 2.87% rate through the University of Michigan Credit Union covered the 1,800-square-foot property. At the time, she taught economics and international relations at Michigan State University, roughly an hour’s drive away.

She also obtained a $540,000, 30-year mortgage for a luxury condo above the Four Seasons Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia.

The loan, issued by the Bank Fund Staff Federal Credit Union, carried a 3.25% interest rate.

A RARE FILING IN THE LISA COOK–TRUMP CASE COULD SWAY SUPREME COURT JUSTICES

A Google Map view of the Four Seasons hotel and condominiums in Atlanta, Georgia.(Google Earth)

In that loan agreement, Cook “affirmed that this property would serve as her primary residence within 60 days of the execution of the mortgage and would serve as her primary residence for a full year,” according to Pulte’s referral letter to the Justice Department.

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Cook has not publicly explained why both the Michigan and Georgia properties were designated as her primary residence.

Her attorney, Abbe Lowell, denied the allegations in a Sept. 2 filing, writing that Cook “did not ever commit mortgage fraud.”

Amanda Macias covers the intersection of business, economics and politics, with a focus on how policy decisions shape markets, businesses and American workers.