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A New Federal Regulation Says Some U.S.-Born Children Are Not Citizens. It Took Effect Before Anyone Could Comment.
On September 4, 2026 the Department of Homeland Security filed an interim final rule rewriting 8 CFR 101.3 to state that a child born in the United States to a foreign government employee is not a citizen under the Fourteenth Amendment unless one parent is. It took effect the same day on public inspection, skipped notice and comment under the foreign affairs and good cause exceptions, and prints in the Federal Register on September 9. DHS says it cannot estimate how many children are affected, and that it will not apply the rule to the class covered by the September 2 injunction. We read the rule in full.
The Second Birthright Citizenship Order Is Blocked for One Group of Children. What the September 2 Ruling Reaches.
On September 2, 2026 Judge Deborah L. Boardman granted a preliminary injunction against Executive Order 14418 as applied to a certified class of children born after February 19, 2025. The 35-page opinion does not strike the order down, does not block Section 2(d), does not stop agencies from publishing implementation guidance under Section 3(b), and does not enjoin the President. Five days earlier the same judge refused the same relief on procedure, not merits. Government lawyers said the order applies only going forward but filed no sworn statement saying so. We read the opinion and the executive order in full.
Medicaid and CHIP: The New Rules on Proving You Are a Citizen
CMS issued guidance on September 4, 2026 changing which documents prove citizenship for Medicaid and CHIP — one day inside the 30-day deadline Executive Order 14418 set. A parent can no longer qualify with a green card or an asylum stamp; this year’s list is citizenship only, with a signed attestation as the alternative. A Social Security number is no longer proof by itself. A passport may count differently depending on when you were born, because it depends on a step of the order that carries no date. The territory list is now four named jurisdictions, and American Samoa is not among them. We read the new guidance and the July 25, 2025 version it replaces in full, side by side.
The Mail-Ballot Rule Is Blocked Through November 3. What the September 4 Order Says.
On September 4, 2026 Judge Indira Talwani blocked seven mandatory provisions of the Postal Service’s Ballot Mail for Federal Elections rule for every election on or before November 3. The 49-page order gives three reasons the rule is likely unlawful, dissolves the August 27 restraining order it replaces, and denies the government’s request to pause it pending appeal. It rests on sworn declarations from election officials in half the states — California’s 23 million ballots, Vermont’s 494 envelope styles, Wisconsin’s 1,850 clerks — and on a Postal Service declaration saying the required portal was not yet operational. We read all 49 pages from two independent copies. Both sides appealed within three hours.
A Judge Ordered a Redaction Log by July 2. What Was Published August 27 Is a Letter Dated February 14.
On June 25, 2026 Judge Emmet G. Sullivan ordered the Attorney General to publish the redaction log required by section 2(c)(2) of the Epstein Files Transparency Act, or show cause why he could not. On August 27 the Justice Department published a notice in the Federal Register and told the court no further action was needed. The document inside that notice is a six-page letter dated February 14, 2026 whose own subject line calls it a Section 3 report — a different provision of the same law. On September 2 the plaintiff replied that a summary is not a per-redaction justification. We read the statute, the notice and all six letter pages at the source, and reproduce no name from the list they contain. The court has not ruled.
The Price Went Back to 2018. The Cost of Growing the Crop Did Not.
Corn sold for $3.93 a bushel at harvest in 2025 — a 2018 price. Growing that acre cost $885.43, against $685.11 in 2018: about $200 more for the same crop at the same price. Costs jumped in 2022 and never came back, and USDA forecasts another rise for 2026. Both corn and soybeans finished below total cost in 2024 and 2025, the deepest run of losses in a thirty-year record — though measured against cash costs alone, both years were positive. Read from USDA’s own cost-and-return accounts, the WASDE, and the June 24 supplemental request.
The Judge Would Not Pause Her Own Order. What the August 31 Ruling Says.
On August 31, 2026 Judge Indira Talwani denied both motions to stay her August 27 mail-ballot order while it is appealed. The ruling is an electronic order — the docket text is the order — and it gives five reasons: a fourteen-day restraining order is not appealable, the rule likely exceeds the Postal Service’s authority, the plaintiff states face disenfranchisement, the order was narrowly written to leave voluntary participation open, and the public needs settled rules two months out. We checked her three key citations against the originals. The August 27 order remains in force; the hearing is September 3.
The Defense Bill the House Passed in July Contains a Voting Law. It Starts on Page 2,555.
The House passed the FY2027 defense authorization on July 22, 2026, 216–212. Under the rule governing that vote, the Clerk added the text of a separate bill — the SAVE America Act — to the end of the engrossed copy sent to the Senate. It sits there as Division E, sections 4801 through 4803, and would require documentary proof of citizenship to register and photo identification to vote. Two Rules Committee motions to strip the instruction failed, and an earlier rule carrying the same instruction failed on the House floor before a second one passed by three votes. The Senate has taken no action. The SAVE Act is not law.
The Bank of America Epstein Settlement Is Final. What the Judge Approved on August 28.
A federal judge in New York signed the order ending the class action brought against Bank of America by Jeffrey Epstein’s victims. The judgment records that $72,500,000 has already been paid into a court-supervised fund, certifies the class for settlement purposes only, awards class counsel 30% of the settlement amount in a separate order, and dismisses the case with prejudice — except for the four women who opted out. The bank admitted no liability, fault or wrongdoing.
Both Sides Appealed the Mail-Ballot Order. What Was Filed on August 28.
The day after a judge stayed seven parts of the Postal Service’s mail-ballot rule, the federal government and twelve intervenor states each appealed to the First Circuit — three appeals, Nos. 26-1987, 26-1988 and 26-1989 — and each asked the same judge to pause her own order while the appeal runs. The government also filed the notice the order required, setting out which parts of the rule it believes it may still carry out, and the Postal Service read a mandatory stand-up talk to every employee. As of August 29 the judge had not ruled on either stay motion and no appellate court had acted. The order remains in force.
The Beef Import Order: What Was Announced, and What Was Signed Five Days Later
On August 26, 2026 the President signed a proclamation adding 300,000 metric tons of lean beef trimmings to the U.S. import quota through November 30 — allocated entirely to countries other than Argentina, which received its own separate 80,000-ton allocation in February. No tariff rate was lowered: the Annex creates a new tariff line and lists its duty rates as “No change.” The 25 percent discount at the centre of the announcement is measured against three different baselines in three different documents, and the signed order names no one as having made the commitment. Four farm and livestock organizations wrote the same day asking the President to reverse course. USDA data on the herd, on production and on cattle prices, read at source.
A Judge Blocked the Postal Service’s Mail-Ballot Rule for Fourteen Days
On August 27, 2026 a federal judge granted an emergency fourteen-day stay of seven parts of the Postal Service’s mail-ballot rule, for elections on or before November 3. The rule requires states to build ballot envelopes to federal specification, submit the designs to the Postal Service, and enter every mail voter into a new federal portal — or the mail is refused. The court held the challenges are ripe now a final rule exists, found no delegation from Congress letting the Postal Service regulate election mail, and noted the government had told it two weeks earlier that a challenge could be brought quickly. The preliminary-injunction motions are still under advisement, with a hearing set for September 3.
The Senate Farm Bill Did Not Advance: The August 6, 2026 Markup and the Rule That Decided It
The Senate Agriculture Committee marked up the Agricultural Act of 2026 on August 6 and did not report it. Thirteen amendments failed 11–12; one passed 17–6. The bill itself failed 10–11. That is 23 votes on the amendments and 21 on the bill. Committee Rule 6.2 allows proxy voting when a quorum is present; Rule 5.3 requires a majority of members physically present to report a bill. The meeting then recessed rather than adjourned, which leaves the bill retrievable. The sticking point was whether to delay the SNAP cost shift by one year or two.
The Mail-Ballot Executive Order: Every Court Ruling and Agency Action, March 31 to August 26, 2026
Executive Order 14399, signed March 31, 2026, told the Postal Service to write a rule governing mail-in ballots. Eight organizations sued April 2; twenty-three states and D.C. sued April 3. Since then: a June 25 judgment against the order, a July 25 First Circuit stay denial, an August 11 nationwide injunction, an August 21 final rule issued anyway, an August 24 Supreme Court stay on standing grounds, an August 25 finding that the government violated the injunction, and an August 26 order vacating that injunction. The dated record, read from the orders and the rule.
The Iran War Powers Resolution: What Congress Passed, How It Reached the Floor, and What Followed
The House agreed to H.Con.Res.86 on June 3, 2026, 215–208. The Senate agreed on June 23, 50–48 — the first time in this war a war powers resolution cleared both chambers. It is a concurrent resolution: never presented to the President, no force of law. Foreign Affairs never marked it up; it reached the floor by unanimous consent of the chairman who voted against it, after a voice vote the noes won. Neither chamber came within 16 votes of veto-proof. Strikes were reported to Congress on June 29 and July 10. The July 10 letter does not mention the resolution.
SNAP and the Cost of Groceries: What the Numbers Actually Say
Nearly 42 million Americans relied on SNAP in FY2025, at an average of $6.17 per person per day. Congress cut almost $187 billion from the program — the deepest cut in its history — and SNAP participation has already fallen by more than 4.5 million people. (USDA, BLS, CBO.)
A Note in a Pending VA Rule Would Count What Your Medication Fixes
VA’s pending rewrite of the mental-health rating criteria (RIN 2900-AQ82, 87 FR 8498) carries a note directing that the ameliorating effects of medication be counted. VA’s own preamble says the note is there because of Jones v. Shinseki. The current criteria mention medication only at the 10 and 0 percent levels. Four years on, the rule is still not final — and the government’s calendar projects it this month.
Congress Ordered Every Agency to Hand Over Its UAP Records. Here's What Each One Sent
A 2023 law requires copies of all federal unidentified anomalous phenomena records at the National Archives — "regardless of age or date of creation." Seven agencies have transferred. The National Security Agency sent records back to 1955; the Office of the Secretary of Defense sent nothing created before 2023, and the Director of National Intelligence sent four documents already on its own website. Every figure comes from the Archives' public catalog.
Can the VA Lower Your Disability Rating Just Because You Take Medication? What Happened, and What Could Come Back
In early 2026 the VA tried to base disability ratings on how you function with your medication — which could mean lower ratings and smaller checks. Veterans forced the rule back in ten days, but the VA never conceded the fight — and the same policy can return in a new form.
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