SUPREME COURT SIDES WITH GOP MAP
The U.S. Supreme Court yesterday ruled in favor of South Carolina’s redrawn congressional map, reversing a lower court decision.
Specifically, the contention related to South Carolina’s 1st congressional district, which is currently occupied by Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), and was redrawn in the wake of the 2020 census in a way that critics said amounted to racially motivated gerrymandering.
The new map was first used in 2022.
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) brought a challenge to the map, contending that legislators committed “intentional racial discrimination” when drawing the map.
A panel of federal judges in 2023 said that “race predominated over all other factors” when legislators redrew the district, a finding based in part on the movement of more than 30,000 black voters to Rep. Jim Clyburn’s (D-S.C.) predominantly black 6th congressional district.
In their decision yesterday, SCOTUS ruled against claims that the redistricting was racially motivated.
The judges who handed down the earlier ruling “clearly erred” because the challengers did not provide adequate proof of racial motivations, Justice Samuel Alito, writing for the majority, said.
“[The challengers] provided no direct evidence of a racial gerrymander, and their circumstantial evidence is very weak,” he wrote. “Instead, the challengers relied on deeply flawed expert reports.”
Alito was joined by Chief Justice John Roberts, and Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett.
Justice Clarence Thomas wrote an opinion concurring in part.
Meanwhile, the court’s three liberals—Justices Elena Kagan, Sonya Sotomayer, and Ketanji Brown Jackson—filed a dissenting opinion.
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster praised the decision.
“We’re always going to have concerns about elections, but I think the Supreme Court was clear. They examined the question and they followed the law,” McMaster told reporters.
—Zack Stieber and Joseph Lord
People pass by the U.S. Capitol in Washington on May 16, 2024. Allison Bailey/Middle East Images via AFP via Getty Images
BORDER BILL FAILS AGAIN
The Senate yesterday again rejected a proposed border bill as the issue continues to dominate voters’ concerns ahead of the 2024 election. The bill was previously blocked by Republicans in February when it was rolled into a broader foreign aid package.
Republicans have criticized Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (D-N.Y.) decision to bring the bill back up for a vote, saying it was a political move aimed at bolstering Democrat messaging ahead of the 2024 elections.
The legislation, dubbed the Border Act of 2024, was rejected in a 50–43 vote that included more opposition from members of both parties than the previous vote in February.
The bill includes $20 billion in funding for border security and a mechanism to shut down the border after seven consecutive days of an average of 5,000 illegal immigrants encountered per day or if more than 8,500 illegal aliens are encountered in a single day.
Proponents of the bill say it would grant President Joe Biden additional authority to close the border and that it would alleviate the situation by providing new funding that could help stop the flow of fentanyl over the border.
“It’s a chance to show we’re serious about fixing the border,” Schumer said ahead of the vote.
Opponents contend that the bill might only make the situation worse—particularly through a clause that could effectively codify allowing 5,000 illegal aliens into the country per day.
Following the vote, Biden condemned the bill’s rejection.
“Congressional Republicans do not care about securing the border or fixing America’s broken immigration system. If they did, they would have voted for the toughest border enforcement in history,” Biden said in a statement. “Instead, today, they put partisan politics ahead of our country’s national security.”
Several Democrats, including Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who caucuses with Democrats, voted against the measure, tying their opposition to its lack of protection for “Dreamers.”
Sens. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) and John Lankford (R-Okla.), key negotiators for the initial package, also defected to vote against the measure.
No Republicans supported the measure during its second round, with many saying the vote itself was a political ploy by Democrats that would only worsen the situation at the southern border.
Republicans say the whole package is unnecessary because President Biden already has the authority he needs to close down the border.
“The fact of the matter is that President Trump had the authority to secure the border. He did. Biden used that exact same authority to open it back up,” Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) told The Epoch Times.
Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) told The Epoch Times that the bill “seems like it’s a Schumer lifeline to guys like Tester,” a reference to Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), who’s facing a tough reelection bid in ruby-red Montana.
“Biden could fix the border tomorrow if he wanted to—Trump fixed the border without additional authority,” Sullivan said. “So my message to President Biden? Fix the border the way Trump did.”
The sentiment was repeated by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who called the second push on the bill “completely a political stunt.”
After this second defeat by larger margins than its first vote, it seems unlikely that the bill will be taken up in the Senate again; on the other side of the Capitol complex, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has vowed that he wouldn’t even bring it to the floor.
—Joseph Lord and Stacy Robinson
BOOKMARKS
Trump vowed to work with New York’s Democrat officials to solve the state’s problems at a rally in deep blue South Bronx yesterday.
Governors from 24 states have joined together to speak out against ongoing negotiations to ratify a “pandemic treaty” currently being conducted by the Biden administration, The Epoch Times’ Mark Tapscott reported. The proposed treaty, they wrote, “would purport to grant” the World Health Organisation “unprecedented and unconstitutional powers over the United States and its people.”
A longtime adviser to Dr. Anthony Fauci disclosed new details about the doctor during a congressional hearing on May 22, The Epoch Times’ Zack Stieber reported. The testimony came after documents emerged suggesting that the adviser may have cooperated with Fauci to hide information about COVID-19 and its origins under the Freedom of Information Act.
Israel is pushing deeper into Rafah despite mounting international pressure, The New York Times reported. Israel says its forces have pushed into the heart of the densely-populated city, even as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces an international arrest warrant for war crimes.
A Democratic operative is facing an indictment in New Hampshire for illegally impersonating Biden through the use of AI technology, The Washington Post reported. The defendant, who worked for longshot presidential candidate Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.), is accused of attempting to suppress the vote through the call, potentially in a bid to prop up Phillips’ campaign. Phillips denied any involvement.
