01 / The courts
Courts blocked the mail-ballot rule
twice in one day.
The Supreme Court left the Postal Service's mail-ballot rule blocked in an apparent 7-2 order — hours after a federal judge's 24-page ruling found no law grants its powers. Ballots are already going out in Alabama, North Carolina and Wisconsin, 50 days before the Nov. 3 midterms.
The rule would have run state voter lists through a Postal Service portal and refused nonconforming ballot mail. It was the administration's third trip to the emergency docket on the same issue.
September 15, 2026 · Five stories, illustrated
- The rule
USPS requires state voter lists uploaded to a Postal Service portal; nonconforming ballot mail refused.
- First block
Judge Indira Talwani in Boston blocks the rule; the 1st Circuit leaves her block standing days later.
- 3-0
The 1st Circuit keeps the rule blocked; seven Republican officials opposed a pre-November start.
- 24 pages
Judge Carl Nichols, a Trump appointee, finds no law grants the rule's powers.
- 7-2
Hours later the Supreme Court leaves the block in place; Alito and Thomas dissent.
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Three days later, the Houthis
took two more islands.
After Mokha and Perim fell Sept. 11, Houthi forces seized Greater and Lesser Hanish on Monday — 160 km north of a strait that carries roughly a tenth of global trade. A drone strike has the Saudi bypass pipeline down three to five weeks.
The Hanish sit 160 km north of the strait the lane threads. The Saudi bypass — built to move 7 million barrels a day around Hormuz — is down three to five weeks, and about 4 million barrels a day are being rerouted. Coastlines: Natural Earth 1:10m; points: Wikidata.
- First landing
Houthi forces take Mokha and Perim Island, at the strait's mouth.
- The Hanish
Two more islands seized — Greater and Lesser Hanish, 100 miles north of the strait.
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The 10-year touched 5% —
a line unseen since 2023.
The yield printed 5.014% on Monday, Sept. 14, then settled at 4.961% — the second close above 5% in 19 years. War oil is repricing the whole curve days before the Fed meets Wednesday.
$2,261 a month — the payment on a median $417,700 home at the 7.17% mortgage rate that followed the yield
That is $195 more a month than a year ago, when the mortgage rate was 6.29%.
Washington is refinancing $37.6 trillion — about 122% of GDP, $110,000 a person — at these rates.
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DHS officers were told
to swear they were the voter.
A whistleblower report to two Democratic senators says hundreds of fraud officers were ordered onto state voter portals that require the user to swear he is the voter — with under two hours of training and 12 minutes a check. DHS set a Sept. 21 deadline for the searches.
- Georgia · Oct. 2024 · a Republican-run audit20
noncitizens among 8.2 million registrants — 9 had ever voted
- Ohio · Nov. 2025 · referred by the Republican secretary of state167
apparent noncitizen ballots out of 27.5 million cast since 2018 — 1,084 cases referred
- Utah · 2025 · run through SAVE, the federal verification system27
confirmed noncitizens after 5,600 initial flags in 71,000 records
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Ten Trump names, or closure —
the board votes today.
At 12:30 pm the Kennedy Center board takes up two resolutions: rename the building from a list of 10 options, or close the main building immediately as unsafe. Internal papers warn of fiscal collapse within weeks without a new name.
- AThe namePick one of 10 naming options
Every option puts a Trump name on the building. Internal papers say the name may be the only way to avoid bankruptcy.
- BThe doorsClose the main building now
The second resolution would close the building immediately as unsafe. Rep. Joyce Beatty says that misstates the consultants' findings.
A judge ruled the takeover and renaming illegal in May and ordered the name off the facade. The board voted 23-3 last month to close for two years. The renovation is $285 million — $257 million already appropriated by Congress; the board says Trump would raise $100 million more.