Wednesday, July 1st, 2026 - SCOTUS Saves Birthright Citizenship, Trump’s Crypto Grift Pays Off, Pardons For $2M, Where’s Mitch?

Today's Headlines: The Supreme Court ended its term with three rulings: birthright citizenship was technically upheld 6-3, but the fine print is alarming — the actual split on birthright citizenship itself was 5-4, Kavanaugh wrote a wink-wink concurrence suggesting Congress could legislate it away, and Thomas wrote a 91-page dissent about an explicit constitutional sentence, so Trump immediately announced he wants Congress to start ending it today. The Court also ruled 6-3 to uphold state bans on transgender female athletes in women's sports, setting precedent for 25 other states, and lifted federal limits on coordinated party spending in elections, which is a major practical win for Republicans who spend more through super PACs. Meanwhile, NPR briefly reported that Samuel Alito was retiring, retracted it ten minutes later, and veteran Supreme Court reporter Nina Totenberg — who has covered the court for four decades — had to personally apologize to Alito, which is an institutional mistake of historic proportions. On the corruption beat, Trump reportedly made at least $1.4 billion in 2025 from crypto and memecoins alone — $600 million from World Liberty Financial, $600 million from memecoins — bringing his Bloomberg net worth to $7.6 billion, which is a remarkable glow-up for someone who needed help posting bond for a court verdict last year. The New York Times reported that the Trump administration convinced Kazakhstan to give a US mining company — in which Trump's sons and Howard Lutnick's sons have stakes — access to tungsten reserves, then gave that company $1.6 billion in federal funding to mine it, and that Trump and Lutnick family businesses have financial ties to at least 14 companies receiving or under consideration for nearly $9 billion in federal minerals funding. The Atlantic reported that Trump's 250 pardons are actively in motion, with a former official describing the volume of requests as "batshit crazy," $2 million apparently being the going rate, and foreign nationals from India, Greece, Turkey, and France reportedly told their cases are under consideration. Congress left for July 4th recess early after the SAVE Act failed again, won't be back until July 13th, and Mitch McConnell has now been missing for nearly 20 days — with the suspicion that his office is running out the clock to August 4th, when Kentucky's Democratic governor can no longer appoint his replacement if something were to happen. Resources/Articles mentioned:  NYT: Supreme Court Rejects Trump's Efforts to End Birthright Citizenship: Live Updates NYT: Supreme Court Allows States to Bar Transgender Athletes From Girls’ Sports NYT: Supreme Court Lifts Spending Limits on Political Parties and Candidates CNN: ‘I am so, so sorry’: NPR reporter explains SCOTUS retirement error The Atlantic: The White House Considers Granting 250 Pardons for the Nation’s Birthday Bloomberg: Trump Reports at Least $1.4 Billion in 2025 Crypto Earnings NYT: Trump Cut a Billion-Dollar Mining Deal. His Sons Stand to Profit.  WaPo: GOP rebellion over Trump’s elections overhaul leads House to recess for July Fourth early WaPo: Congressman says depression diagnosis caused months-long absence Yahoo: Few details known on Mitch McConnell’s health 2 weeks after hospitalization Subscribe to the Betches News Room and join the Morning Announcements group chat. Go to: betchesnews.substack.com Morning Announcements is produced by Sami Sage and edited by Grace Hernandez-Johnson Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices