A federal appeals court has stood behind a previous ruling that put a stop to President Trump’s executive order aimed at building a national list of eligible voters and restricting mail ballot delivery only to those on that list.
The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued its decision Saturday, turning away the Trump administration’s attempt to push forward with mail-in voting restrictions across 23 states that had filed lawsuits in anticipation of November’s midterm elections.
The executive order, which Trump signed in March, directed the head of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and the Social Security Administration commissioner to build what it called a “state citizenship list” of voters qualified to cast ballots. It also instructed the U.S. Postal Service to deliver mail ballots exclusively to individuals appearing on that list.
Trump promoted the proposed measures as a way to prevent non-citizens from participating in elections, but state election officials pushed back, warning the changes were vulnerable to misuse and could throw the electoral process into disarray.
In a separate but significant development, the Trump administration has admitted in court filings that it scrapped $7.6 billion in grants for hundreds of clean energy projects “based solely on the political identity of the grant recipient’s state” — specifically targeting 16 states that backed Democrat Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election.
That admission directly contradicts earlier statements from Energy Secretary Chris Wright and other administration officials, who had claimed the projects were cut because they failed to adequately serve the country’s energy needs or represented poor use of taxpayer money.
Democrats and environmental advocates responded swiftly to the court filing, accusing the administration of “weaponizing” federal resources to eliminate jobs and penalize working families based on their political leanings.
Meanwhile, President Trump is planning to highlight his economic record during a visit to suburban Detroit on Monday, defending his sweeping tariff policies in a swing state where those tariffs have taken a toll on many local businesses as midterm campaigning ramps up.
Trump is scheduled to visit a General Motors facility in Milford, which serves as a testing and development ground for new vehicles. Michigan’s August 4th primary is already underway with early voting, featuring heated nomination battles in both major parties.
On the Republican side, Senate candidate Mike Rogers faces no primary opposition, while the race for the GOP gubernatorial nomination has Trump-backed Rep. John James squaring off against Perry Johnson, a businessman-turned-politician who ran unsuccessful campaigns in the past, including a 2024 presidential bid. Johnson has been positioning himself in Trump’s image despite not receiving the president’s endorsement — even organizing a “Trump Tailgate” event outside the president’s GM appearance.
Adding to the week’s developments, four American soldiers killed during recent fighting between the U.S. and Iran have been quietly removed from the Pentagon’s official Iran war casualty count and placed into a newly created separate category.
The Defense Casualty Analysis System — which Pentagon officials have repeatedly cited as the authoritative source on conflict casualties — dropped the four soldiers and dozens of wounded troops from its Iran war totals last week. A new category labeled “Overseas Operations” appeared on the system’s website Sunday, listing the four Army fatalities by name along with 207 wounded. It remained unclear whether all of the wounded listed were injured specifically in the Iran conflict.
The change has prompted questions about how accurately the U.S. military is accounting for the human cost of its escalating campaign against Iran, which has centered on efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. The administration has offered little clarity on how or when it intends to bring the conflict — which polls show is unpopular with many Americans — to a close.
