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The Administration Makes Plans as the Justices’ Silence Continues

This morning dispatch seeks to round up some of the things we’re following coming into the day. But for weeks, there’s something we’ve been following about which there hasn’t been much new to write: the Supreme Court’s pending decision on a Trump executive order that seeks to restrict mail-in ballots in elections.

Trump’s various efforts to interfere with how America votes have not been terribly successful. Attempts by allies and conspiracy theorists to dredge up new allegations to undermine Americans’ faith in elections have amounted to little; the SAVE Act never had a real chance in the Senate. That’s why the fate of this executive order is so important. The order seeks to force states to submit their voter lists to the federal government, and for the postal service to only send ballots to voters on a list maintained by the Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration. If the Supreme Court allows it to go forward, it would be a sweeping seizure of federal power over elections — the kind long understood to be unconstitutional — and a clearcut win for Trump on this topic, with drastic implications for future elections. This case may not decide that issue fully — all that is immediately before the Court right now is the question of whether a district court injunction on the order is appropriate. But the Court has been silent on that narrow question for far longer than experts expected it to be.

Over the weekend, there was a flurry of developments in this fight from outside the Court. The U.S. Postal Service published to the federal register a draft rule that it says will go into effect if the Supreme Court clears the way: The rule, true to the EO, would block the postal service from sending mail ballots to voters “unless compliance with the rule’s new standards has been verified.” Plaintiffs in one of the suits challenging the rule over the weekend asked the district court judge to block the postal service from finalizing its draft, arguing that drafting the rule violated her preliminary injunction, which the Supreme Court is still considering.

Legal back and forth aside, the bottom line is that this is a case that contemplates whether the administration will be able to assert control over how and who states mail ballots to — assert control, in other words, over how and whether specific individuals vote. The Supreme Court has been mulling it for a curiously long time, leading experts to speculate that a justice or multiple justices are writing a lengthy dissent. Of course, which justices find themselves in a place to dissent — and which justices are in the majority — is the question we’re all asking.

Mike Collins’ White Nationalism-Posting Son-in-Law Continues to Cause Trouble

Even as Georgia Senate candidate and member of Congress Mike Collins (R-GA) has sought to dodge questions about his daughter’s husband’s extreme internet activity, his son-in-law continues said activity, dogging Collins’ campaign against Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA).

• The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported on Friday that David Alan Scheer II said in a recent online exchange that he “absolutely” believes that there should only be one vote per household and that women should not be allowed to vote.
• CNN reported in July that Scheer had a history of supporting the group white nationalist Patriot Front and of making pro-white, antisemitic and anti-Muslim statements online.
• The story hit hard because Collins has had a series of these kinds of issues: Just a week before the CNN story, Collins replaced a chief of staff who Slate had reported was in a group chat with white nationalists in which he promised to help get a Holocaust denier released from prison. An earlier chief of staff had a history of violent threats, and came under House Ethics Committee investigation for misusing funds. Collins himself likes to make jokes about his political enemies that nod to far-right, extrajudicial murders in South America.
• Collins has avoided talking about Scheer, even though some of his videos appear to be shot on a property Collins owns. At one point, Collins scrambled to end a press conference after being asked about the topic.

Tabs

• Natalie Harp posted extensively on January 6 — more than 150 times — in many cases urging support for Trump, CNN reports.
• The Washington Post has been ordered by an arbitrator to rehire Karen Attiah, who was fired in September after posts about Charlie Kirk.

Woman of the Hour

It’s Susan Collins, who, amid a tough fight for reelection in Maine, has been strongly, publicly concerned with greater frequency. The latest example came over the weekend, when she put out a statement on flailing U.S.-Canada trade relations that garnered her some attention, urging  “both sides” to continue negotiating. “The Administration must consider the negative impact tariffs would have on Maine businesses,” it read.

Are We at War?

Trade war!

The Senate confirmed Todd Blanche as attorney general early Saturday morning, narrowly elevating President Donald Trump‘s former personal lawyer to lead the Justice Department after Republicans rushed his nomination through before leaving Washington for their August recess.

Blanche was confirmed 50-49 during an overnight Senate session that stretched into the predawn hours Saturday. Every Democrat opposed the nomination, joined by Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who has been absent from the Senate while dealing with health issues, was the only senator who did not vote.

The razor-thin margin capped a confirmation process that remained uncertain until its final hours.

Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., announced Friday that he would support Blanche, effectively giving Republicans the final vote they needed. Cassidy had previously raised concerns about Blanche’s leadership at the Justice Department, including his involvement in a controversial $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” compensation fund and an agreement providing broad protections from IRS audits for Trump and members of his family.

Cassidy ultimately argued that the choice was between Blanche and whoever Trump might install as acting attorney general if Blanche failed.

Collins and Murkowski went the other direction. Both had supported Blanche when the Senate confirmed him as deputy attorney general in March 2025, but broke with their party this time amid concerns about the politicization of the Justice Department and Blanche’s conduct while serving as acting attorney general.

Two other Republicans who had threatened Blanche’s nomination, Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, ultimately voted to confirm him after extracting concessions. Blanche terminated the anti-weaponization fund and narrowed the scope of the tax agreement before his nomination advanced from the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The Senate approved Blanche as lawmakers raced through a roughly 20-hour session before departing Washington for their summer recess.

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Blanche, who defended Trump in his New York criminal trial and federal criminal cases before joining the administration, has served as acting attorney general since Trump fired Pam Bondi in April.

He now takes the job permanently — with essentially no margin to spare.

The post Senate rushes through Blanche confirmation overnight appeared first on Salon.com.

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) said he will support Todd Blanche’s nomination for Attorney General in a Senate floor speech Friday morning, effectively guaranteeing Blanche’s confirmation. 

“Mr. Blanche is not perfect, and he will tell you this,” Cassidy said. “But the choice is not between perfection and Mr. Blanche. It is between Mr. Blanche and another acting attorney general who may not run the department effectively under President Trump and who indeed may not be as good as Mr. Blanche. This puts at risk the progress made fighting violent crime, human and drug trafficking and fraud, and this does not serve the American people well.”

Chuck Edwards Gets Out, Max Miller Stays In

Two Republican representatives under scrutiny for allegations against them have made different decisions over the last 24 hours.

Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-NC) is dropping his bid for reelection. The congressman was accused of sexual harassment, and an investigation by the House Ethics Committee found he made repeated, aggressive and cringe-inducing advances toward two subordinates, including sending one more than 30 cartons of ice cream on one occasion. In another case, Kate Riga wrote, he printed out his text messages with one of the women and drew hearts on them.

After much prayer and reflection, I’ve decided to withdraw from my re-election campaign. I will complete my current term. Serving Western North Carolina has been the honor of my life. Thank you for your trust, prayers, and support. God bless WNC and America.

— Congressman Chuck Edwards (@RepChuckEdwards) August 5, 2026

Edwards is a staunch Trump supporter and gave the president a “French Fries Certification” pin as he toured damage from Hurricane Helene, seemingly a reference to Edwards’ past as a McDonalds executive. Edwards also got into a confrontation with a constituent in a bizarre incident covered by TPM last year.

Ohio congressman Max Miller is a different story. Facing a deadline today to drop out, he has seemingly been trying to shore up voters’ and/or Trump’s faith in him, demanding the House Ethics Committee investigate allegations of domestic abuse and violence lodged against him and going on CNN last night in an attempt to rebut various allegations. (He claimed, for example, he had not used illegal drugs in “several years,” and that needles seen by his bed were for testosterone replacement therapy, something he noted Pete Hegseth approves of for “our entire military who are males.”) Nicole Lafond covered that bizarre cable appearance here.

Both are in tight races. Election prognosticators had in recent days given Democrats a better chance in Edwards’ NC-11, the district covering most of Western North Carolina. His exit may give Republicans time to replace him on the ballot with a stronger opponent to face Democrat Jamie Ager, a farmer.

Republicans have the opposite problem in Miller’s district, OH-7. Though Trump won it by 11, a June poll showed him leading Democrat Brian Poindexter, an iron worker, by just one point.

Right-Wing Ballot Measures Flame Out

While we don’t yet have results in the most closely-watched race of the evening — the Michigan Democratic primary — an important theme emerged far down the ballot on Tuesday: Voters in red states rejecting ballot measures designed to give conservatives more control.

• In Kansas, voters opposed by a healthy margin a push by conservative activists, including the state’s notorious attorney general Kris Kobach, to switch the state to electing judges.
• As Kate Riga writes, this was the latest sneaky attempt by Republicans to overturn a 2019 ruling protecting abortion rights in the state. They continue to fail.
• In Missouri, meanwhile, voters resoundingly rejected two ballot measures: one designed to make amending the state constitution through a voter initiative virtually impossible, and one that would have done away with the state’s income tax.

The final margins on those two GOP amendments in Missouri are really wild. Better than 4 to 1 against for both!

— The Downballot (@the-downballot.com) 2026-08-05T04:42:28.823Z

Tabs

• The Missouri secretary of state waited until the last minute to reject an effort by hundreds of people in the state to put Republicans new, 7-1 gerrymander of the state’s congressional map up for a voter referendum. The decision — which, Kate writes, “seemed to mostly rest on the fact that the ability to challenge a map is not explicitly written into the state constitution” — was immediately challenged in court. TPM obtained the lawsuit, which you can read here.
• Texas Governor Greg Abbott has a Stop the Steal-promoting “election integrity” advisor who is engaged in spiritual battle against demons, Texas Monthly writes.

Woman of the Hour

It’s Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), who has concerns about Todd Blanche and will not be voting for him. Blanche needs one of two still-undecided Republicans — Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) — in order to have enough votes for confirmation. The whole thing with Collins is that she usually only votes “no” on Trump administration priorities when there are enough “yes” votes that hers isn’t needed. We’ll see if, in this tough election year, anything is different this time around.

Are We at War?

Yes, as we run out of defensive weapons.

Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) and a handful of women’s rights and reproductive freedom groups are sounding the alarm over recent reporting that acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has vowed to use the Justice Department to roll back abortion access nationwide — a break with both President Trump’s own campaign promises that places him much further out on a limb on abortion than other Trump admin officials have been willing to go.