Tag: joe-biden

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Folks, thank you for your patience while I juggle being lifed in the face – we’re going with a sort of roundup lite this week, because I don’t want to delay indefinitely but nor am I up to full speed. Please feel free to reach out if you have questions about the abbreviated stories in this roundup! It’s my hope that I’ll be able to keep more balls in the air moving forward by the next cycle; in the meantime, the news sure does just keep going.

Standard standing reminders still apply: we may be into my eighth year of journalism, but I summarize news within my areas of expertise. NNR summaries often contain some detailed analysis that’s outside my expertise–I’m a lawyer, not a convention!–but all offroad adventures are marked with an asterisk. And, of course, for the things that are within my lane, I’m offering context that shouldn’t be considered legal advice. Okay, I think that’s about it for the disclaimers.  Onward to the news!     

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Cleanup in Aisle 45:

By far, the biggest news stories this cycle are in the Election Et Cetera section. Here are the main highlights (and lowlights) to know:

• Election O-Rama.  The Democratic National Convention was held last week, and featured a broad array of speakers and shakers – in addition to the actual candidates and many currently-serving officials, everyone from the Obamas to Lil Jon got a turn at the podium.  The convention seemed to energize Harris’s base, and Harris did share some campaign priorities, though we didn’t learn as much about planned policy as I might have hoped.  In the convention aftermath, there are some rumblings that Trump may be pulling out of the scheduled September 10 debate – apparently because Harris doesn’t want the muted mikes that were used in the first debate back in June. And speaking of Trump and pulling out (ew), Robert F. Kennedy finally pulled out of the election and endorsed Trump in exchange for a likely cabinet position.  (Apparently Kennedy approached the Harris camp first, but they didn’t want anything to do with him.)  Trump’s campaign also sprung a leak, though no outlets published any of its contents.

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Meanwhile, we did have a few Capitol Hill Dales stories too. Here’s what I have for you:

• Capitol Potpourri.  Though most eyes are on elections, we did have a few other stories from Capitol Hill.  The House report on Biden’s impeachment was released this cycle, and features about as much specific content as you might expect.  Meanwhile, special counsel on the Trump classified document case has appealed the case’s dismissal with the 11th Circuit.

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Your Regularly-Scheduled “Normal”:

• Contagion Corner. As you may already be aware, we are currently experiencing another COVID spike–apparently, the largest summer surge we’ve seen yet, though it still isn’t as bad as a winter wave. Against this backdrop, the FDA has approved new vaccines targeting the latest variants, which will be made available in the very near future. If you haven’t had COVID in the last few months, now is a great time to get a booster!

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The Bad:

• FTC Enjoined from Noncompete Ban.  The Federal Trade Commission decision that banned noncompete clauses was enjoined by a federal judge in Texas this cycle.  The rule was scheduled to go into effect next month, and it is likely that the FTC will appeal the decision.

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The Good:

• Recent Health Resilience. A new form of cervical cancer screening was announced this cycle, and it’s supposed to be less painful than the traditional PAP smear. I don’t believe the tests are available just yet, but it’s good news on the horizon for people who have a cervix!

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So that’s what I have for you, and I’m sorry, there are still no news refunds.
For making it through, you deserve this grooving owl and a more functional government.  I’ll be back next time with more and improved news, and I hope you will be back as well–but in the meantime, feel free to ping the National News Roundup ask box, which is there for your constructive comments.  Send me questions! Send me feedback! Send me fewer life items in my face!

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Rumors of a return to the traditional NNR format this month were apparently greatly exaggerated, because everything stayed way too off-the-wall to summarize normally. This has been a fast-paced and impressively rough news cycle for national news, but I’m feeling a bit more centered and a bit less dire as I type this. How is everyone else doing?

Standard standing reminders still apply: we may be into my eighth year of journalism, but I summarize news within my areas of expertise. NNR summaries often contain some detailed analysis that’s outside my expertise–I’m a lawyer, not an electoral candidate!–but all offroad adventures are marked with an asterisk. And, of course, for the things that are within my lane, I’m offering context that shouldn’t be considered legal advice. Okay, I think that’s about it for the disclaimers.  Onward to the news!     

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Cleanup in Aisle 45:

We continued to have a wild ride in the Election Et Cetera section this cycle for both electoral camps. Here’s what has happened since last time:

• Attempted Assassination and the Real Nasty Convention. It’s hard to believe this was the same cycle, so you would be forgiven for thinking this was old news – but as I’m sure most folks already know, a shooter opened fire at Donald Trump at a political rally in Butler, PA last Saturday. The shooter was killed on the scene. While 45 sustained a minor ear injury but was otherwise unharmed, one bystander was fatally shot while protecting others and two more were seriously injured. For much of the past week, we’ve had more questions than answers about exactly how and why this happened – particularly as the shooter was a registered Republican and his rooftop was a known security risk.  But whatever the motives, it’s clear that it turbo-boosted Trump’s campaign, as he didn’t hesitate to play the martyr before adoring fans at the Republican National Convention later that week. (Fun fact: His 90-minute acceptance speech beats his own previous records as the longest in history.) While he was there, he also picked Ohio nightmare J. D. Vance as his running mate–presumably because he is young, rich, and controllable.  All told, the RNC was probably riding pretty high as the convention concluded on Saturday.  It’s truly so tragic that they got to scramble with the rest of us a day later.

• Done Biden His Time.    You may remember that last cycle, House Democrats increasingly began calling for Biden to step aside almost immediately – a call that grew more and more as the weeks went on. As if to punctuate this point, Biden then got COVID at the top of this news cycle, forcing him to stop campaign travel while Trump rode the martyr wave to his RNC nomination. Despite all of this, it really felt like Biden would never actually conclude his campaign – he had been refusing loudly and often for weeks at that point.  So I think it’s fair to say that most of us were pretty stunned when Biden announced that he was ending his Presidential campaign yesterday afternoon. At that point, it looked like a deeply fractured Democratic party was going to have a free-for-all for the next month – outlets were speculating wildly about who might speed run in the ensuing void.  But somehow, miraculously, that didn’t happen – and didn’t happen so thoroughly, in fact, that one wonders if all of this had been pre-planned. Biden was quick to endorse Vice President Harris on the heels of his announcement, and in the past twenty-four hours or so, nearly the entire Democratic party has followed suit. At the time that I type this, every single other viable candidate–as well as more than enough electoral delegates–have already rallied behind her, and Uncle Dem has raised an incredible $81M with her overnight.  While technically anything could happen, it’s pretty clear that Harris is inheriting Biden’s whole electoral apparatus ahead of the virtual roll call that will likely be her next step for nomination.

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Your Regularly-Scheduled “Normal”:

• Other Than That, Mrs. Lincoln, How Was The News? We did have other things happen over the past two weeks, though much of the news has been obviated by Biden’s surprise news yesterday. There were some rumblings in the House about impeachment of Justices Thomas and Alito, which also led to some stories about Biden considering SCOTUS reform. As if proving the overall point, around the same time Aileen Cannon finally fully dismissed Trump’s classified documents case, claiming that there was an issue with the special counsel’s appointment. (Unsurprisingly, said special counsel is appealing.) There was also a massive global IT outage on Friday that airlines are still reeling from as I type this. And as Biden’s diagnosis would suggest, we’re also in the middle of another COVID wave.
  

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Looking Ahead:

• So What Happens Next? Obviously, this is a very unsettling time for much of the country, and a lot of folks I know were pretty shaken by the news this cycle. Against that backdrop, I think it’s helpful to talk a bit more about what we can expect from here, and what next steps make sense.  As I mentioned above, I think it’s fair at this point to say that Harris is the presumptive nominee for the Democratic Party–although that won’t be finalized until after a virtual roll call and/or the Democratic National Convention itself, which will likely both be in August. The GOP is threatening to challenge a Harris ticket as illegal, but that has no real basis in legal reality and most state judges still know it. They’re also already calling for Biden to step down, claiming that if he can’t run he also can’t be President–but I think we’re unlikely to see real traction on that under these circumstances either. Nonetheless, the mere idea of a three-month Presidential campaign is wild, to put it politely, and we’re far from out of the woods on all the procedural and legal uncertainties; it will be deeply important to coalition-build and remain coordinated and cooperative.  (As I mentioned yesterday, now is also a good time to be supportive of the people around you who are retraumatized and anxious in the face of all of this.)  That said, the fact that the Democratic Party has stopped eating itself long enough to near-unilaterally endorse Harris, as well as the huge amounts she’s already fundraised, are signs I consider deeply encouraging. It’s possible that we do have the tools we need to successfully pivot here.

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So that’s what I have for you, and I think we can agree that it was more than enough. For making it through, you deserve this Dumpling romp and a more functional government.  I’ll be back next time with more restructured and improved news, and I hope you will be back as well–but in the meantime, feel free to ping the National News Roundup ask box, which is there for your constructive comments.  Send me questions! Send me feedback! Send me more hours in the day!

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Folks, I won’t sugarcoat it: This is a deeply disturbing time to work in public policy. However, since I do in fact work in public policy, I want to spend this cycle giving more details and context for the many policy twists and turns of the last few weeks. We’ll return to our traditional format later this month. In the meantime, if you have questions about the material I’m covering today, or news in general, my ask box remains open.

Standard standing reminders still apply: we may be into my eighth year of journalism, but I summarize news within my areas of expertise. NNR summaries often contain some detailed analysis that’s outside my expertise–I’m a lawyer, not a SCOTUS case!–but all offroad adventures are marked with an asterisk. And, of course, for the things that are within my lane, I’m offering context that shouldn’t be considered legal advice. Okay, I think that’s about it for the disclaimers.  Onward to the news!     

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Cleanup in Aisle 45:

Things took a wild turn in the Election Et Cetera section this cycle, as Biden’s abysmal debate performance basically threw the party into disarray and Trump’s immunity case caused chaos as well. Here’s some explanation of those two fronts:

• The Post-Debate Debate.  Things were pretty calm ahead of Biden and Trump’s first debate reprisal–or at least, as calm as this election cycle ever gets.  During the debate itself, Trump lied like usual, perpetuating the party’s false claims that Democrats kill live babies and claiming that Nancy Pelosi refused protection on January 6.  But many outlets were more focused on President Biden’s presentation during the debate, where he came across as discombobulated and enfeebled.  Though Biden’s fundraising campaign went into overdrive, several House Democrats began calling for him to step aside almost immediately – and those numbers kept growing. This in turn prompted a flurry of scrutiny and speculation that continues as I type this, particularly as Biden made it clear that he has no plans to conclude his campaign.  These stark divides within the Democratic party are deeply concerning, particularly given the threat presented by a second Trump presidency backed by Project 2025.  Suffice to say, the Democratic party needs to get on the same page as quickly as possible.

• Immutable Presidential Immunity. Most folks reading this have probably heard by now that the Supreme Court issued a decision regarding Trump’s claim to Presidential immunity last week, and it… wasn’t great.  It may be less clear, however, what exactly the ruling means, and how it will impact the election and landscape moving forward.  The holding was not comprehensive, but the court did find that Trump has absolute immunity for “core” powers of the office, meaning that he can’t be prosecuted for things he does that are firmly within the constitutional purview of the Presidency to do (such as, for example, pardoning people and commanding the army).  The court also found that a former President has presumptive immunity for all ‘official’ acts, but that “there is no immunity for unofficial acts.”  The court then sent the whole thing back down so that someone could decide what on January 6 was an “official” act and what was “unofficial” (and thus could be prosecuted).  President Biden issued remarks (cogently, I might add) almost immediately, noting that Trump will be “emboldened” by the decision and that the decision undermines the rule of law.  He also reiterated the dissenting justices’ point that this ruling encourages an imperial Presidency with dangerously few checks and balances, and correctly observed that this decision virtually guarantees no consequences for January 6 before the election. For his part, Trump immediately celebrated his “BIG WIN” and set out to prove Biden correct. He got the hush money sentencing postponed by arguing that he now has Presidential immunity after the Supreme Court decision–despite the hush money conviction centering on events that happened before he was even President.  He also successfully delayed the classified documents case on the same basis, though that case had already slowed to a snail’s pace thanks to the judge presiding over it.  As I write this, Senate Democrats are considering legislation that will officially classify his January 6 actions as “unofficial actions” in an effort to get the insurrection case back on track, but it’s unclear whether that will go anywhere ahead of the election.

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Unpacking the SCOTUS Barrage:

• Unabashed Administrative Agency Attacks. These cases are the biggest deal that you may or may not have heard about. I urge everyone reading this to think of Loper Bright (and to a lesser extent, Corner Post and SEC v. Jarkesy) as occupying the same role that the Dobbs decision played regarding abortion in 2022 and Students for Fair Admissions played vis-à-vis affirmative action in 2023 – the Supreme Court undid a long-standing and extremely established doctrine yet again with these cases. The Chevron doctrine, in essence, required courts to give deference to administrative agencies regarding those agencies’ interpretation of laws that they have to enforce. The general logic is that these agencies have strong expertise in their areas of practice; expertise that, as Justice Kagan notes in her dissent, courts don’t necessarily have. Now that Chevron is repealed, courts… don’t have to do that, and can just reject agency judgment and substitute their own. In Corner Post, the court compounded this mess by expanding authority to sue federal regulators for decisions they make. In SEC v. Jarkesy, the court removed the SEC’s authority to hold tribunals in many financial fraud proceedings. The dissenting justices in these three cases are absolutely right that these decisions will have all kinds of implications for federal regulations, and the decisions benefit large corporations that don’t want to be regulated much more than anyone else. Expect all kinds of messes as conservatives and corporations all test the boundaries of their newfound lack of accountability. The Washington Post has put together a handy-dandy list of likely train wrecks, but it’s by no means exhaustive.
  
  
• Abortion Case Aborted. Though it didn’t receive as much bruhaha as the immunity case or Chevron mess (for understandable reason), the emergency medical care abortion case had implications for our ongoing reproductive health battles and I want to cover it as well. This case started out with an accidental (perhaps “accidental?”) leaked opinion, much like happened with the Dobbs decision two years ago. A few days later, this was followed with an actual opinion along the same lines that simply dismissed the whole thing. (You may recall that something similar happened with the mifepristone case only a week or two before this.) What this means as a practical matter is that Idaho again has to pause its abortion restriction law while the whole thing goes through the ordinary avenues of the lower courts–essentially, SCOTUS punted this question, which in this case is probably a good thing. As a result, the question of whether federal emergency treatment laws preempt state laws that prohibit life-saving abortions is still a live issue, and we will likely see it come up again.
  
  
• Other Cases to Know.  The Supreme Court also issued a potpourri of (mostly garbage) cases over the last few weeks that may be falling through the cracks right now, simply because there was such a Gish gallop of awful going on.  Among the other cases to note: 1) Snyder v. U.S., which held that bribery is cool as long as the payment comes after the corrupt act; 2) the Grants Pass case, which held that criminalizing homelessness is not cruel or unusual punishment; 3) the Harrington case, which voided a massive Purdue opioid settlement and bankruptcy plan; and 4) Murthy v. Missouri, which held that conservative rando conspiracy theorists did not have the standing to sue Biden over content moderation policies.
  

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Looking Ahead:

• Coming Down the Pike.  I also want to draw attention to a few cases that SCOTUS agreed to hear next session that I think might be impacted by the stuff I wrote about above.  SCOTUS plans to hear the Tennessee ban on gender affirming care for minors gender affirming care in the fall, which is an Equal Protection case but may be impacted by some of the Chevron mess (because the court may opine on definitions of ‘sex discrimination’ that are rooted in law and regulation).  I also think the Chevron repeal, in conjunction with the SEC case, may impact the FDA e-cigarette decision case they agreed to hear – though I do have colleagues who disagree with me on that one, because the 2008 Tobacco Control Act provides explicit authority to the FDA. (Frankly, I just don’t think we can trust this court to stay on the rails for basically anything.) Obviously, the Corner Post case paves the way for all kinds of frivolous forced birth lawsuits – we might see something work its way up to SCOTUS extra quickly, the way we saw with Idaho v. United States and EMTALA preemption this year.  And of course, though I can’t predict what exactly Trump is likely to wave under their noses between now and January 1, I wouldn’t bet against him filing something regarding one of his billion cases.

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So that’s what I have for you, and I’m sorry, there are no news refunds even when we’re doing election and SCOTUS deep dives. For making it through, you deserve this duck grooming video and a more functional government.  I’ll be back next time with your regular news structure, and I hope you will be back as well–but in the meantime, feel free to ping the National News Roundup ask box, which is there for your constructive comments.  Send me questions! Send me feedback! Send me a better Supreme Court!

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Much like last cycle, this news cycle is marked by a great number of significant court cases. Thankfully, fewer of them involve day-glo despots this time – but there’s still a lot to know.

Standard standing reminders still apply: we may be into my eighth year of journalism, but I summarize news within my areas of expertise. NNR summaries often contain some detailed analysis that’s outside my expertise–I’m a lawyer, not a SCOTUS case!–but all offroad adventures are marked with an asterisk. And, of course, for the things that are within my lane, I’m offering context that shouldn’t be considered legal advice. Okay, I think that’s about it for the disclaimers.  Onward to the news!     

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Cleanup in Aisle 45:

After a brief moment of schadenfreude, we’re back to your regularly-scheduled horrorshow in the Election Et Cetera section. Here’s what has happened since last time:

• Using His Johnson. Unsurprisingly, given the past cycle’s conviction, Trump was in the news this cycle for telling Speaker of the House Mike Johnson to fix his conviction.  In apparent deference to the demand, Johnson announced “a three-prong approach” to tanking the justice system. As a first step, the House held Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt by a narrow vote because he refused to turn over tapes of Biden’s special counsel interview.  (For those of you playing the home game, I’ll remind you that Trump currently has a live SCOTUS case where he’s arguing that he has full immunity from criminal prosecution because he’s a former President, despite pressuring Merrick to ignore his literal job requirement to respect Presidential privilege once it’s invoked by the current President.)  And in the return summer hit nobody one asked for, Trump once again signaled that he plans to jail political opponents upon return to the White House.

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Meanwhile, Capitol Hill Dales stories were more international. Here’s what I have for you: 

• The Rest of the Capitol News.  Probably the biggest federal news this week is that the U.N Security Council passed a U.S.-drafted ceasefire resolution, which the U.S. says Israel authorizes.  The news comes as Netanyahu’s cabinet member and political rival Benny Ganz resigns from both the cabinet and his coalition in protest of how Netanyahu is handling the war efforts.  In more domestic news, Hunter Biden was also found guilty of gun-related federal charges this cycle, and the ACLU is suing the Biden administration over its new (and probably illegal) asylum restrictions.

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Your New Normal:

• Health News Mini-Roundup. This cycle was a bit of a mixed bag for health news. The Southern Baptist convention announced this cycle that they want us all to be pro-life, but not like that, as they formally opposed in-vitro fertilization. In said announcement, they recommended that infertile people in their church should adopt frozen embryos instead of using it. (Folks, I seriously cannot make this stuff up.) The Senate GOP apparently agreed, as they tanked a bill protecting IVF, and the House similarly tanked a federal bill that would protect access to contraceptives. Meanwhile, the FDA reversed its 2022 ban on Juul products, which it wasn’t enforcing anyway. And health advisories are being issued in many places as most of the U.S. fields a dangerous heat wave this week and next.
  

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The Bad:

• SCOTUS Scandals. Since we’re experiencing the fresh hell that is the end of this this Supreme Court session, I have some updates for you on that front. The mifepristone case went surprisingly well, so it will be covered below – but the bump stock gun law case decision came out on Friday, and it went as poorly as expected. (Since this case was one of the cases undercutting administrative agencies, it’s not a great sign for what’s to come.) And just like last cycle, we have even more scandals from the justices writing these opinions. This time, it was Thomas having more of his nazi buddy boat trips, some of which were as recent as 2021. Meanwhile, Alito unknowingly recorded hot takes on returning America to “godliness” and bashed ProPublica for writing more about Thomas’s special bond with Harlan Crow.

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The Good:

• Recent Court Resilience. We had two positive health cases come out this cycle. In Florida, a federal judge struck down DeSantis’s ban on gender affirming care, and similarly tossed a provision that required adults to be treated by a physician. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court unanimously tossed out a case that challenged the FDA’s rules on medication abortion, finding that the plaintiffs lacked standing to bring the case in the first place. Because this was a procedural decision, the court didn’t actually touch the substantive issue of the case, and we could see a reprise of this type of lawsuit next term. But the majority opinion also included some encouraging dicta – particularly Kavanaugh’s comment that “federal courts are the wrong forum for addressing the plaintiffs’ concerns about FDA’s actions.”  For now, we’ll take it.

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So that’s what I have for you, and I’m sorry, there are no news refunds. For making it through, you deserve this successful doggo rehab and a more functional government.  I’ll be back next time with more restructured and improved news, and I hope you will be back as well–but in the meantime, feel free to ping the National News Roundup ask box, which is there for your constructive comments.  Send me questions! Send me feedback! Send me a better heat tolerance!

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Friends, I’m sure most of you have probably already heard the biggest story of this cycle by now – but we can go through all of it again anyway. Have a little schadenfreude, as a treat.

Standard standing reminders still apply: I may be starting my eighth year of journalism, but I summarize news within my areas of expertise. NNR summaries often contain some detailed analysis that’s outside my expertise–I’m a lawyer, not a criminal trial!–but all offroad adventures are marked with an asterisk. And, of course, for the things that are within my lane, I’m offering context that shouldn’t be considered legal advice. Okay, I think that’s about it for the disclaimers.  Onward to the news!   

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Cleanup in Aisle 45:

We do have both Trump Court Cases and Trump’s Horrifying Stumping stories in the Election Et Cetera column this cycle, though of course his conviction looms the largest. Here’s what has happened since last time:

• All 34 Counts. Trump was already having something of an eventful cycle by the time last Thursday rolled around, between his pet judge refusing to issue a gag order in the Florida case and getting booed out of a libertarian convention.  But things took a sharp turn on Thursday, when the New York criminal trial ended with the jury finding him guilty on all 34 counts of falsifying records.  Trump celebrated being the first convicted former President in U.S. history by holding some impressively disturbing press conferences and then fundraising off of the verdict.  (Though in fairness to the cheeto, the Biden administration did stage a press conference at the courthouse, so his claims that Biden is behind the verdict are slightly less deranged than they might be otherwise.)  The Internet, naturally, celebrated by having an entire field day. When the dust settles, Trump will almost certainly appeal, and when his sentence comes down, he’s also extremely unlikely to face jail time.  That said, the sentence date is four days before the Republican National Convention, so have fun with that GOP.

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In contrast, the Capitol Hill Dales stories were relatively minor. Here’s what I have for you: 

• The Rest of the Capitol Hill News. Of course nothing feels quite as dramatic as the above, but things do continue onward on Capitol Hill.  In the least stunning political announcement of 2024, Joe Manchin announced that he’s not a Democrat (but like, for really real from now on).  Joe Biden continues to walk a fine line with the war in Gaza, proposing a ceasefire which has Israeli popular support after an airstrike on Rafah killed two dozen people last weekend.  And in other Biden news, Hunter Biden’s gun trial will begin tomorrow, as a jury was empaneled today.

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Your New Normal:

• My Wife Likes Flags. This cycle saw yet another Supreme Court ethics scandal, this time centering around Justice Alito flying not one, but two different insurrectionist flags on his properties over multiple years. Alito then refused to recuse himself from the Jan 6 cases currently before SCOTUS, responding to Democrats’ demands with an obnoxious letter that basically boiled down to “My wife likes flags, and anyway you can’t make me.” (Ethics experts had some good commentary on the letter; on X, a New York University Law professor rightfully describes said letter as “trolling us.”) Then Chief Justice Roberts, not to be outdone, refused to meet with Democrats about the very real ethics problems he has with several justices on his bench. Folks, I don’t think most outlets reporting on this are really capturing just how bad it is, so I want to take a few minutes to unpack it. Alito himself mentions in his letter that the standard here is whether impartiality might be reasonably questioned. This is because modern judicial conduct codes are designed to capture even activity that gives off an appearance of impropriety, whether or not impropriety is actually occurring. In other words, the point isn’t whether he has an opinion about insurrection (although yeah, he probably does support it), because it’s a problem if anyone even thinks he has an opinion about insurrection. And Alito is out here arguing that yeah, he was pulled over with an open handle of vodka sitting next to him in the cup holder, and yeah, he was captured on camera going 80 down the highway, but it was his wife’s cupholder, and she has the right to drink vodka while he goes 80 down the highway, so how dare anybody question his driving and he’s definitely not going to stop doing it.
  

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The Bad:

• Bad Health Law Blues. This was a rough cycle for health law news. In a disturbing expansion of the forced birth playbook, this cycle Tennessee became the first state to create a right to sue adults who help minors receive gender-affirming care. Meanwhile, last cycle’s Louisiana bill to make abortifacients a scheduled substance with possession a criminal felony is somehow already signed into law, making it through the entire legislative process in two weeks. And in Texas, the Texas Supreme Court reversed a decision which clarified abortion law exemptions, saying that the law was clear enough on its face and, in effect, it’s not the law’s fault that the plaintiffs were denied abortions when they had life-threatening conditions.
  

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The Good:

• Wu Tang World Premier. The world’s most expensive album — sold to Martin Shkreli in 2015 for $2M, seized by the U.S. government in his trial, and eventually sold off as an NFT for $4M — has been loaned out to the Museum of Old and New Art in Australia. The museum plans to play it for the public twice daily for nine straight days, from June 15 to 24. This will be the first time this album, called “Once Upon a Time in Shaolin,” has ever been played in public at all. It’s a fascinating development in what is a fascinating piece of musical history in its own right.

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So that’s what I have for you, and let’s all be glad it’s not worse. For still reading these roundups, you deserve this doggo pool exit and a more functional government.  I’ll be back next time with more restructured and improved news, and I hope you will be back as well–but in the meantime, feel free to ping the National News Roundup ask box, which is there for your constructive comments.  Send me questions! Send me feedback! Send me more hours in the day!