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In a high-stakes decision with far-reaching implications for November’s congressional midterm elections, the U.S. Supreme Court has delivered a major defeat to the Trump administration and Republican efforts to restrict mail-in voting, upholding a state law that allows counting postal ballots received after Election Day. The narrow 5-4 ruling maintains the legality of Mississippi’s policy, which permits mail-in ballots postmarked by Election Day but arriving up to five days later to be included in final vote totals. The outcome of the case had been widely watched because it could have forced changes to voting deadlines in more than a dozen key swing states that could ultimately determine which party takes control of the U.S. Congress after the 2022 midterms. While most of the states that offer this post-Election Day grace period for mail-in ballots lean Democratic, a small number of Republican-led jurisdictions also allow the practice, underscoring the broad policy implications of the court’s decision. Writing for the court’s majority, Justice Amy Coney Barrett—who was appointed by former President Donald Trump—was joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and the court’s three liberal justices in the decision. In her majority opinion, Barrett emphasized that the ruling does not contradict existing federal law, which sets the “Tuesday next after the 1st Monday in November” as the official national election day. “The election-day statutes say nothing about ballot receipt, and we cannot add to the words Congress chose,” Barrett wrote in the opinion. The legal challenge brought by Republican allies, backed by the Trump administration, centered on an 1845 congressional law that formally defines federal Election Day. Republicans argued that the statute requires all mail-in ballots to be both postmarked and received by Election Day, claiming that late-arriving ballots open the door to widespread voting irregularities and erode public trust in election outcomes. In a legal brief submitted to the court, the Trump administration argued that “Election-day receipt promotes election integrity and voter confidence as much today as it did when Congress passed that law.” The ruling marks one of the most significant political setbacks for Trump, who has spent years repeating unsubstantiated claims that widespread mail-in voting is rife with fraud and falsely insists that systemic voter fraud cost him victory in the 2020 presidential election against Joe Biden. In March, the former president’s personal attorney appeared before the Supreme Court to argue in favor of the Republican National Committee-led lawsuit targeting Mississippi’s mail ballot deadline rule. Election analysts note that the decision preserves current voting rules for upcoming competitive elections, leaving intact grace periods that millions of voters could rely on to cast their ballots in November’s high-stakes midterm contests.

In a development that closes one chapter of the long-running legal battle facing former president Donald Trump, the US Supreme Court has declined to hear his appeal seeking to overturn a lower court verdict that found him liable for sexual abuse and defamation against writer E. Jean Carroll. The ruling marks the end of Trump’s last attempt to undo the 2023 jury verdict, and requires him to pay the $5 million in damages awarded to Carroll nearly two years ago.

The case dates back to the mid-1990s, when Carroll, a now 81-year-old former magazine columnist, alleged that Trump sexually assaulted her inside a Manhattan department store dressing room. Decades after the alleged incident, Carroll brought a civil claim against Trump, after he publicly denied her accusation in a 2022 post on his Truth Social platform, labeling the allegation a lie. In 2023, a jury in New York found Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation, though it rejected Carroll’s claim of rape under New York state penal law. The jury awarded Carroll $5 million in compensatory and punitive damages. A separate defamation case later resulted in an additional $83 million in damages being ordered against Trump, an appeal for which he already lost last September.

Following the 2023 initial verdict, Trump repeatedly pushed to have the ruling thrown out, arguing that the trial judge had improperly allowed damaging evidence that skewed the jury’s perception of him. Specifically, his legal team objected to the admission of the 2005 *Access Hollywood* tape, in which Trump was recorded making lewd comments about grabbing and kissing women without consent. Trump’s appeal was rejected by a federal appeals court in 2024, which upheld the jury’s verdict and ruled that a new trial was not justified. That rejection led Trump to turn to the nation’s highest court as his final option to overturn the ruling. As is its standard practice, the Supreme Court released no explanation for its decision to decline the case.

Reaction to the ruling split sharply along the lines of the original case. Carroll’s lead attorney, Roberta Kaplan, released a statement saying the Supreme Court’s decision permanently validates the jury’s unanimous finding against Trump. “His multiple efforts to appeal that verdict have all failed and today’s ruling ends his quest to avoid accountability for his actions,” Kaplan added. Prior to the Supreme Court announcement, Carroll’s legal team had not made any public comment on Trump’s appeal.

For Trump’s legal team, however, the ruling is nothing more than another step in what they frame as a partisan political attack. Speaking to CBS News, a spokesman for Trump’s legal team said, “The American People stand with President Trump as they demand an immediate end to all of the Witch Hunts, including the Democrat-funded travesty of the Carroll Hoaxes.” The statement added, “President Trump will keep winning against Liberal Lawfare, as he continues to focus on his mission to Make America Great Again.”

The resolution of this appeal comes as Trump navigates a sprawling array of legal challenges even as he campaigns for a second term in the 2024 presidential election, cementing the outcome of one high-profile case that has shadowed his political and personal life for years.

In a landmark 5-4 ruling that reinforces long-standing protections for the US central bank’s institutional autonomy, the US Supreme Court has blocked the Trump administration’s attempt to oust Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook from her post over unproven fraud allegations. The nation’s highest court found that the White House failed to grant Cook adequate due process to challenge her proposed removal, sending the entire case back to lower courts for further proceedings. If the administration intends to move forward with firing Cook, it will now need to formally present and prove its claims that she committed mortgage fraud, and Cook will be given full opportunity to contest these accusations in court. Cook has repeatedly and vehemently denied all allegations against her, with supporters of Federal Reserve independence arguing the charges are merely a pretext designed to let former President Donald Trump exert greater political control over the independent central bank.

Under existing US federal law, the sitting president is only permitted to remove members of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors “for cause” – a requirement intentionally written into law to insulate the central bank from partisan political pressure. This guardrail is designed to ensure the Fed sets monetary policy based on long-term national economic goals, rather than short-term political interests that could destabilize the economy.

The case stems from an announcement Trump made on social media last August, where he first outlined his plan to remove Cook, citing claims that she improperly listed two separate primary residences on concurrent mortgage application forms. Because financial institutions typically extend lower mortgage interest rates to borrowers purchasing primary residences, misrepresentation of a home’s status is the core of the administration’s allegations. During oral arguments held before the Supreme Court in January, Cook’s defense attorney, prominent conservative lawyer Paul Clement, argued that the administration’s handling of the attempted removal would effectively render the statutory protections for Fed independence “kind of a joke” if left unchallenged.

Representing the White House before the court, Solicitor General John Sauer contended that Trump’s public social media announcement satisfied the legal requirement for sufficient notice and gave Cook a reasonable opportunity to respond to the claims. Sauer further argued that even if the error was unintended, it amounted to negligence that could erode public confidence in the Federal Reserve, and that courts should defer to the president’s judgment when determining whether cause for removal exists.

A tense chapter in American political rivalry took center stage Wednesday at a Washington, D.C. fundraising gala, where former President Joe Biden launched a sharp public critique of his successor, current President Donald Trump. In remarks that underscored the deep partisan divide ahead of upcoming political cycles, Biden did not hold back, labeling Trump a ‘loser’ while taking aim at what he characterized as self-serving policy initiatives pursued by the current administration. The event, held to draw financial support for Democratic political causes, became a platform for Biden to voice sharp disapproval of the Trump White House’s policy priorities, which he framed as ‘vanity projects’ designed more to boost Trump’s personal brand than to deliver meaningful progress for the American public. The public rebuke marks one of the most direct and blunt criticisms Biden has leveled at Trump in a public setting, reigniting speculation about the future of Democratic political strategy and the ongoing friction between the two former and current heads of the executive branch. Attendees at the closed gala reported that the remark drew loud applause from the gathered crowd of donors and Democratic supporters, capping off a speech that focused heavily on contrasting Biden’s past policy record with what he framed as the failures of the current administration.

In a sharp, uncharacteristically blunt rebuke of current President Donald Trump, former U.S. President Joe Biden launched a sweeping attack at a weekend Democratic Party fundraising gala in Hanover, Maryland, calling his successor “a loser” over a series of controversial self-focused projects in Washington D.C.

Biden’s 10-minute speech marked one of the harshest public critiques Trump has received from his predecessor since taking office in 2025, with Biden calling out multiple high-profile, polarizing initiatives Trump has advanced in the nation’s capital. Among the targets of Biden’s criticism were Trump’s plan to build a presidential ballroom by demolishing part of the White House East Wing, the failed attempt to add Trump’s name to the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, a self-named honorary arch project, and Trump’s appointment of a personal associate to oversee renovations to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.

“Woah! What a loser,” Biden added after listing out the projects, leaning into a fiery tone that resonated with the Democratic donor audience.

Biden’s jabs about the Kennedy Center name change reference a 2024 Trump administration order that was later blocked by federal courts, which ruled the unauthorized addition violated historic preservation rules. For the proposed $400 million ballroom project, Trump has repeatedly defended the construction, framing it as a critical upgrade for national security protocols and to accommodate high-profile state visits and international events. The Reflecting Pool renovation, which cost taxpayers $14.7 million, also sparked public controversy after the project was completed: the iconic landmark quickly suffered from persistent algae blooms and infrastructure failures. Trump and the U.S. National Parks Service have pinned the blame for the ongoing issues on widespread vandalism, rather than flaws in the renovation work.

Beyond the vanity projects, Biden also targeted Trump’s handling of the 2021 U.S. Capitol insurrection, specifically criticizing the administration’s recent push to provide taxpayer compensation to rioters who claim they were wrongfully investigated or charged by federal authorities. “What makes me angry is that Trump wants to give taxpayers’ money, your money, to the January 6th insurrectionists,” Biden said. That compensation plan was ultimately withdrawn and blocked by a federal judge earlier this year.

As of Sunday, the White House had not issued an official response to Biden’s remarks, and the BBC’s request for comment remained unanswered. Trump has not directly addressed the latest critique, though he has a long history of attacking Biden on his Truth Social platform. Last month, he labeled Biden a “crooked politician,” and on Monday, he revived his well-known “sleepy Joe Biden” nickname in a post about an unrelated political issue.

The Saturday fundraiser speech came with a notable historical footnote: it fell exactly two years after Biden’s widely panned 2024 presidential debate performance against Trump. That poor showing triggered a wave of pressure from senior Democratic Party leaders for Biden to drop out of the race, leading then-Vice President Kamala Harris to step in as the party’s nominee. Harris ultimately lost the general election to Trump, clearing the way for his return to the White House.

The back-and-forth between the two former and current presidents underscores the deepening partisan divide in U.S. politics, as both sides continue to trade jabs ahead of upcoming congressional elections and future presidential contests.