DOJ wants Supreme Court to greenlight Trump’s anti-mail voting order

• The DOJ today asked the Supreme Court to allow Trump’s sweeping attack on mail voting to go into effect before the upcoming midterms.
  
  
• The move comes after the U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals denied the Trump administration’s request to pause a lower court order that blocked USPS from implementing the order in 23 blue states and Washington, D.C.
  
  
• Today’s emergency appeal marks the first time that the Trump DOJ has asked the Supreme Court to weigh in on one of the president’s anti-voting executive orders.

➤ The latest on Trump’s attack on mail voting

Trump desperately calls for an end to the filibuster to pass SAVE America Act

• In a rambling paragraph posted to social media today, Trump demanded that U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) get rid of the filibuster for a “full and deep throated SAVE AMERICA ACT.”
  
  
• Trump said Thune should not let senators “leave town” for legislative recess before passing the bill, an idea that was floated by Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) over the weekend.
  
  
• In response to the president’s remarks, Thune didn’t seem to think the bill had much of a chance to pass, rebuffing Trump’s demands. He told reporters: “We could stay here until Christmas … The Democrats aren’t voting for this, I’m just telling you. And Republicans are not getting rid of the legislative filibuster.”

➤ The SAVE America Act’s actual chance forward

James Comey asks judge to 86 Trump DOJ’s seashell case

• The former FBI director asked a federal judge to throw out the felony charges against him over a social media post featuring seashells that the DOJ unbelievably says were a threat against Trump.
  
  
• In a filing, Comey argued the DOJ was targeting “protected speech at the heart of the First Amendment.”

➤ Comey argues the charges “suppress core political speech”

Trump’s EAC firings threaten access for voters with disabilities

• Elections experts are worried about the future of one of the most prominent voting methods for voters with disabilities — ballot-marking devices — as Trump ramps up his anti-voting-machine rhetoric amid the Election Assistance Commission’s (EAC) restructuring.

➤ Here’s what you need to know

Introducing ‘Election Watch,’ a new podcast series from Marc

• In the first episode of a brand new weekly series, "Election Watch: Countdown to the 2026 Midterms," Marc lays out Trump's three-part strategy to subvert the election.
  
  
• You can catch it every Monday; we’ll make sure to include the link here.

➤ Watch the first video

Energy Department admits canceling federal clean energy grants in blue states

• In yet another blow to democracy, decisions to cancel more than $7.5 billion in federal clean energy grants were “based solely on the political identity of the grant recipient’s state,” Energy Department officials stated in a recently publicized court document.

➤ More on the damning court document

California rejects nearly 150,000 mail ballots despite voter safeguards

• The number of mail-in ballots rejected in California’s June primary exposes how votes can still go uncounted even in a state with some of the nation’s strongest voter protections.

➤ The latest in California

Here we share noteworthy briefs on all things voting rights and democracy. Have a footnote for us? Send it to newsletters@democracydocket.com.

• Strap in, this is a weird one. The White House posted a bizarre (likely AI-generated) video that — and I can’t believe I’m typing this — includes cartoon versions of Trump and Vice President JD Vance piloting a flying saucer, a winged dragon with laser eyes and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D) revealing he’s a robot. It may have something to do with recent remarks by Dan Harmon, the creator of the show Rick and Morty. All I’ll say is we’re living in the darkest timeline. (Fans of Harmon’s other show Community will get that reference).
  
  
• Just a bit more on the strange video: Even former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene criticized it: “People can’t afford gas, groceries, rent, and healthcare and this is the weird embarrassing crap the official White House account is putting out.”
  
  
• If you missed Trump’s speech during the re-run of the White House Correspondents Dinner, this is one of the low-lights. Trump thought this joke was funny; apparently no one else did. It’s pretty cringey.
  
  
• During a speech today in Michigan, Trump declared to the crowd, “I've done more for you than your parents, okay?” I’ll fact-check this one — No.