Trump Ordered

• A USPS whistleblower warned Sen. Richard Blumenthal that a "secretive" and "error-riddled" online portal for states could derail mail-in voting during the upcoming midterm elections. • The tool was reportedly developed in just three months to comply with an executive order from President Donald Trump aimed at limiting mail-in voting. • The complaint alleges that "slapdash" development and a strict "zero percent failure" verification requirement could prevent millions of Americans from receiving their ballots on time.

• A whistleblower has warned that a complex system designed by the U.S. Postal Service to vet mail ballots is flawed and remains untested. • The system was developed following an executive order from Donald Trump, though the order is currently being contested and stymied in the courts. • This development is critical as it raises concerns over the reliability and security of mail-in voting processes during a high-stakes election period.

Residents and farmers say contractors have tapped border aquifers that threaten water supply for those nearbyConstruction crews building a border wall in New Mexico were ordered to stop drilling new wells after ranchers said that pumping groundwater to produce concrete could threaten their livestock amid a severe drought.The order comes as crews across the southern border race to complete one of Donald Trump’s highest domestic priorities – barriers that span four states and received over $46bn in federal funding. Controversies have sprouted up in Texas and California, and border-town residents and environmentalists have reported a wide variety of issues with construction. Continue reading...

Trump says he instructed justice department to investigate oil firms over high gas prices amid Middle East conflictDonald Trump said Wednesday that he had instructed the US Department of Justice to investigate oil companies for alleged price gouging, accusing them of not lowering gas prices enough amid conflict in the Middle East.“The big oil companies are not dropping their price at the pump commensurate with the sharply lower prices they are paying for oil. Those prices are dropping like a rock! In other words, customers are being ‘gouged.’ I have instructed the DOJ to immediately start looking into this,” Trump wrote in a social media post late Tuesday night. “Gasoline prices better start going down a lot faster than what I’m seeing!” Continue reading...

The National Capital Planning Commission had previously delayed the vote after thousands of negative public commentsHello and welcome to the US politics live blog.The National Capital Planning Commission will meet this afternoon to decide on Donald Trump’s White House $400m ballroom project, after a federal judge halted construction earlier this week.House Republicans announced that they will pass a bill, advanced by the Senate last week, to end the record-breaking partial Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shutdown after previously rejecting the measure.Democrats quickly celebrated the win with Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer saying “House Republicans caved” after previously “[derailing] a bipartisan agreement, making American families pay the price for their dysfunction”.Nasa’s lunar rocket successfully launched and the astronauts on the first crewed lunar rocket in more than 50 years received praise from across the US.Attorney general Pam Bondi’s job with the Trump administration is reportedly at risk. The president is said to be unhappy with Bondi’s performance as the head of the justice department and the controversy surrounding the Epstein files, according to a New York Times report.Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida signed legislation on Wednesday to require documented proof of citizenship to register to vote and to begin a process that will eventually unenroll voters who have not provided citizenship documentation.Supreme court justices appeared skeptical of the Trump administration’s argument to restrict birthright citizenship for hundreds of thousands of children born to undocumented immigrants of temporary foreign nationals. Trump himself attended the hearing, widely considered to be the first time a sitting president has attended arguments at the supreme court. Continue reading...