The Patriot Post® · Thursday Top News Executive Summary

• CITIZENSHIP QUESTION ANNULLED: “The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that the Trump administration’s explanation for asking about citizenship on the 2020 census didn’t hold water, sending the matter back to the Commerce Department to try again. But the timing of the ruling — just days before the department must finalize the questionnaire for the 2020 count — likely means the administration won’t be able to ask.” (The Washington Times)

• GERRYMANDERING VERDICT: “The Supreme Court’s conservatives decided Thursday that federal courts do not have a role to play in deciding whether partisan gerrymandering goes too far. The 5 to 4 decision was written by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and joined by the court’s other conservatives.” (The Washington Post)

• ‘AUER DEFERENCE’ UPHELD: “The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to overturn a precedent that strengthens the power of government regulators in a closely watched case that could have broad ramifications for federal agencies. The precedent is known as ‘Auer deference,’ after the 1997 case Auer v. Robbins. Since Auer, the Supreme Court has held that courts should defer to agencies’ interpretations of their own rules if those rules are ambiguous. Though the top court retained the precedent, it did so while imposing limitations.” (CNBC)

• THE GREATEST MOST BORING SHOW ON EARTH: “At the first debate of the Democratic presidential primary, Sen. Elizabeth Warren and the other nine candidates on stage Wednesday charged that the ‘rigged’ economy under President Donald Trump is benefiting only the rich, while they disagreed over the border crisis, military power and how to improve the nation’s health care system,” NBC News reports. President Donald Trump summed up the debate succinctly: “BORING!”

• PELOSI’S PARTISAN PLOY: “House Democrats cannot accept the bipartisan border crisis compromise bill the Senate passed Wednesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said, and will demand changes to limit how long children can be held in some facilities.” (The Washington Times)

• TERRORISTS EYE THE BORDER: “Law enforcement officials in Nicaragua have arrested four ISIS terror suspects — two from Iraq and two from Egypt — who reportedly entered the country with Costa Rican travel documents as part of a migrant group that U.S. officials say was headed north to the U.S.-Mexico border.” (The Daily Wire)

• FRAUDULENT FAMILIES: “The Department of Homeland Security revealed just how common ‘fraudulent families’ are among the thousands of illegal immigrants reaching the U.S.-Mexico border every month. … [Homeland Security Investigations] agents have uncovered a massive amount of fraud in the short time they’ve been deployed. To date … agents have uncovered 316 fraudulent families, 599 bogus documents, and [DSI] has presented 629 different people to the Justice Department for various criminal violations.” (The Daily Caller)


• G-20 UNDERWAY: “Trade and geopolitical tensions, and the looming threat of climate change, are on the agenda as the presidents of the United States and China and other world leaders gather in Osaka, Japan, for a summit of the Group of 20 major economies.” (The Associated Press)

• NOKO SUMMIT #3: “North Korean and U.S. officials are holding ‘behind-the-scenes talks’ to arrange a third summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on the fate of the North’s expanding nuclear arsenal, South Korea’s president said, four months after a second meeting between the leaders in Vietnam collapsed without any agreement.” (ABC News)

• CHRIS COX OUT: According to ABC News, “Chris Cox has stepped down from his post as the NRA’s chief lobbyist and principal political strategist for the Institute for Legislative Action — the lobbying arm for the NRA, according to Andrew Arulanandum, the NRA’s managing director for public affairs.” Be sure to read Mark Alexander’s warning concerning the NRA’s fratricidal fire.

• MORE PARKLAND FALLOUT: “Over a year after the deadly school shooting in Parkland, Fla., two more Broward County sheriff’s deputies have been fired for failing to act to stop the massacre. Deputies Edward Eason and Josh Stambaugh were terminated Tuesday after an internal investigation of the department’s response to the shooting showed they’d failed to act, Broward County sheriff Gregory Tony said.” (National Review)

• POLICY: Sure, cancel student debt. Then cancel college. Higher education has been massively devalued over the past decade. (Spectator)

• POLICY: Why college costs are out of control (The Heritage Foundation)

• HUMOR: In emergency bill, House dems vote to send more fake tears to address border crisis (The Babylon Bee)

For more of today’s editors’ choice headlines, visit In Our Sights.

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