Supreme Court allows Trump administration to use citizenship database ahead of midterms
President Donald Trump looks on as New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani speaks to reporters following their meeting at Gracie Mansion on September 21, 2026, in New York City. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — The Supreme Court has given the Trump administration a green light to use a federal citizenship database to verify voters ahead of the midterm elections.
In a 6-3 opinion, the Supreme Court, for now, lifted a lower court order that blocked the Department of Homeland Security from expanding a 40-year-old immigration database — known as the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements system — to help states screen voter records for noncitizens.
The immediate impact of the ruling is unclear, since states are prohibited by law from purging their voter rolls within 90 days of Election Day.
“The District Court’s order thus inhibits the Federal Government’s efforts to assist state and local agencies in the proper administration of the midterm elections. Under these circumstances, the equities weigh in favor of a stay,” the majority wrote.
President Donald Trump has characterized noncitizen voting as a pressing threat to free and fair elections, but audits of voter rolls have suggested that voting by noncitizens is exceedingly rare.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Herd of cows on the field (Kinga Krzeminska/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins confirmed the detection of New World screwworm in a cow in Texas after the U.S. Department of Agriculture warned Wednesday that the parasitic fly may have arrived in the mainland U.S after moving north from countries in Central America and Mexico, which have been dealing with an outbreak in livestock since at least 2022.
Rollins said that the screwworm was detected in a three-week-old bovine in Zavala County, Texas. According to the Department of Agriculture, the larvae were identified in the animal’s umbilical area, and said that, so far, “there have been no further detections” of the screwworm in the U.S.
“USDA and Texas Animal Health officials are taking immediate action to contain and eradicate NWS from the area,” Rollins added. The Department of Agriculture confirmed that they formed a unified Incident Command Team with the Texas Animal Health Commission and is deploying personnel to the area.
New World screwworm (NWS) is a species of parasitic flies that feed on live tissue — typically livestock. Human infections are quite rare and U.S. health officials have previously noted the risk to public health is very low but spread to livestock could decimate the cattle industry.
The name refers to the way in which maggots screw themselves into the tissue of animals with their sharp mouth hooks, causing extensive damage and often leading to death.
In August 2025, the U.S. reported the first human case of NWS in the country in an international traveler. The individual recovered and there was no evidence of further spread.
Screwworm was largely eradicated in livestock for decades in the U.S. through a technique in which male screwworm flies are sterilized and then released into the environment to mate with females until the population dies out. The U.S. officials are currently releasing 100 million sterile flies a week in the U.S. and Mexico.
Since eradication in 1966, the flies have been spotted domestically in isolated outbreaks through the American southwest in the 1970s and the Florida Keys in 2016.
People who travel to outbreak areas, spend time among livestock animals, sleep outdoors and have an open wound are at greater risk of becoming infested with screwworm, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes.
According to a press release from the Department of Agriculture, actions will include a 12.5-mile “infested zone” around the detection area, along with quarantines, movement controls and additional surveillance.
The department also said it would expedite the targeted release of sterile New World screwworm files from the ground, a tactic that was used successfully to stop the 2016 outbreak in the Florida Keys. The department said this would be in addition to the 4 million sterile flies per week currently being released by air in the area.
Earlier on Wednesday, Rollins assured Americans that the “food supply is 100% safe” amid potential disruptions to the U.S. cattle supply due to NWS.
Bryan Kohberger appears at the Ada County Courthouse for his sentencing hearing, July 23, 2025, in Boise, Idaho. (Kyle Green/Pool/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Bryan Kohberger, who pleaded guilty last year to the University of Idaho quadruple murders, has been granted a new hearing in his bid to take back his guilty plea, according to court filings.
His new evidentiary hearing has been set for June 17, 2027.
In 2022, Kohberger was arrested for the stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students — roommates Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen and Xana Kernodle, and Kernodle’s boyfriend, Ethan Chapin — at the girls’ off-campus house.
In July 2025, weeks before his trial was set to start, Kohberger pleaded guilty to all counts. As part of the plea deal, the death penalty was taken off the table. Kohberger was given four consecutive life sentences for four first-degree murder counts as well as 10 years for the burglary count.
Last month, Kohberger reversed course, filing a petition for post-conviction relief. Without offering new evidence, Kohberger — a criminology student at Washington State University at the time of the murders — claimed he was lied to and pressured to falsely confess, and that there was information withheld that could have potentially helped his case.
Undated photo of a bison in Yellowstone National Park. (Yellowstone National Park)
(NEW YORK) — A child visiting Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming was injured by a bison on Friday, according to park officials.
The incident occurred at approximately 9:15 a.m. local time near Mud Volcano, just north of Fishing Bridge.
The 12-year-old visitor was transported by emergency medical personnel to a nearby hospital, according to a release from Yellowstone National Park, which did not detail the extent of the injuries.
No further details on the encounter were released. The incident remains under investigation.
Park officials warned that the wildlife in Yellowstone, including bison, can be dangerous and become aggressive if people “do not respect their space.”
“Bison have injured more people in Yellowstone than any other animal,” the park said. “They are unpredictable, can run three times faster than humans and will defend their space when threatened.”
Last year, park officials reported two separate incidents of a person being gored by a bison in Yellowstone after approaching it too closely.
There were two reported incidents of a person injured by a bison in 2024 and one in 2023, park officials said.
Park goers are advised to stay at least 25 yards away from all large animals — including bison, as well as elk, bighorn sheep, deer, moose and coyotes — and at least 100 yards away from bears, wolves and cougars.
“If wildlife approach you, move away to maintain the required distance,” the park said. “Never approach, touch, feed or crowd wildlife, even if an animal appears calm.”
