Midwest primaries drive increase in absentee, early voting

 

Lansing election officials prepared 22,000 absentee ballots weeks before the August primary as volunteers and clerks processed mail ballots and drop-box logistics. This week Michigan jurisdictions, including Detroit, began mailing absentee ballots — Detroit expects about 99,000 — while local offices activated early-voting options expanded by 2018 and 2022 reforms. Monona...

Supreme Court Voids GSIS Rule on Survivorship Benefits

 

Manila — The Supreme Court this week struck down a Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) rule that barred secondary beneficiaries from survivorship benefits for members who had rendered at least three but less than 15 years of service. Associate Justice Henri Jean Paul B. Inting of the SC Third Division...

Multiple U.S. Cities Temporarily Halt Data Center Development

 

Geary County, Kansas: Local authorities enacted temporary moratoria this month on new data center and related energy storage developments, with Geary County approving a one-year hold at its June 22 meeting. Other municipalities, including Peosta, Fort Payne, and Carbondale, similarly placed six-month or one-year pauses to allow study before permitting...

Washington court approves nationwide fast-track deportations expansion

 

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit has lifted a nationwide injunction and allowed the Trump administration to expand expedited deportations across the United States. In a 2–1 decision issued Tuesday, the court reversed an August 2025 ruling by U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb,...

Washington Pentagon seeks $80 billion for Iran war

 

The Pentagon has formally notified U.S. senators that it is seeking roughly $80 billion in emergency funding to cover the escalating costs of the ongoing U.S. military conflict with Iran, according to a notification described in the article. Most of the money would support operations and replenish rapidly shrinking munitions...

United States judge blocks SNAP soda, candy ban

 

Washington, United States – A federal judge has blocked a Trump administration plan that would have barred Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients in five states from using their benefits to buy candy and sugary drinks. The halted policy sought to prevent millions of low-income Americans from purchasing products that...

Primaries Decide Key Races In Maryland, Colorado, Utah

 

Maryland: Voters cast ballots this week in state primaries across Maryland, New York and Utah while Colorado's primary is scheduled for June 30; mail ballots were distributed in early June and drop boxes and polling places were operational. Adrian Boafo won the Democratic primary in Maryland's 5th District on Tuesday,...

Washington Senate to vote on Iran war powers resolution

 

The United States Senate is scheduled to vote on Tuesday, June 23, 2026, on House Concurrent Resolution 86, a measure directing President Donald J. Trump to withdraw U.S. forces from hostilities with Iran. The vote, set for 2:15 p.m. Eastern, follows a June 18 agreement allocating up to six hours...

Washington sets 2031 deadline for post-quantum security migration

 

WASHINGTON — President Donald J. Trump on Monday, June 22, 2026, signed two executive orders to speed U.S. quantum computing development and mandate a government-wide transition to post-quantum cryptography. Executive Order 14409, “Securing the Nation Against Advanced Cryptographic Attacks,” sets the first enforceable federal deadlines for upgrading encryption. All federal...

South Carolina GOP runoff features Trump dual endorsement

 

Columbia, South Carolina. Voters returned to the polls Tuesday for a Republican gubernatorial runoff between Lieutenant Governor Pamela Evette and Attorney General Alan Wilson after no candidate secured a majority in the June 9 primary; President Donald Trump had initially endorsed Evette and then announced on Friday he would endorse...