Supreme Court denies Kim Davis’ petition to overturn same-sex marriage ruling
(Grant Faint/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — The Supreme Court on Monday denied a bid from former Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis to appeal her $100,000 damages suit and get the justices to revisit the landmark 2015 decision in Obergefell v Hodges.
The court did not explain its decision.
Davis gained international attention after she refused to issue a marriage license to a gay couple on religious grounds in open defiance of the high court’s ruling and was subsequently jailed for six days. A jury later awarded the couple $100,000 for emotional damages plus $260,000 for attorneys fees.
In a petition for writ of certiorari filed in August, Davis argued First Amendment protection for free exercise of religion immunizes her from personal liability for the denial of marriage licenses.
She also claimed the court’s decision in Obergefell v Hodges — which rooted marriage rights for LGBTQ couples in the 14th Amendment’s due process protections — was “legal fiction.”
Lower courts had dismissed Davis’ claims and most legal experts considered her bid a long shot.
Davis’ appeal to the Supreme Court comes as conservative opponents of marriage rights for same-sex couples pursue a renewed campaign to reverse legal precedent and allow each state to set its own policy.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(NEW YORK) — Former President Joe Biden is now receiving radiation therapy for his prostate cancer, a spokesperson for the former president confirmed to ABC News.
“As part of a treatment plan for prostate cancer, President Biden is currently undergoing radiation therapy and hormone treatment,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
The former president’s office announced his prostate cancer diagnosis in May, noting that while it was an aggressive form, “the cancer appears to be hormone-sensitive which allows for effective management.”
“It’s all a matter of taking a pill, one particular pill, for the next six weeks and then another one,” the 82-year-old said in May.
“Well, the prognosis is good. You know, we’re working on everything. It’s moving along. So I feel good,” he added.
Back in May, the former president’s office said his diagnosis was “characterized by a Gleason score of 9 (Grade Group 5) with metastasis to the bone.”
A Gleason score of 9 indicates a high-grade, aggressive form of prostate cancer. It further indicates that the cancer cells look very different from normal prostate cells and are likely to grow and spread rapidly.
This places the cancer in the Grade Group 5, the highest-risk category, which is associated with a greater likelihood of metastasis and a more challenging prognosis. Yet despite the cancer’s aggressiveness, its hormone-sensitive nature offers a viable treatment pathway, according to the National Cancer Institute.
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer and the second-leading cause of cancer death among men in the U.S., according to the National Institutes of Health.
An estimated 313,780 new cases of prostate cancer will be diagnosed this year, representing 15.4% of all new cancer cases, according to the NIH. The five-year survival rate from prostate cancer is roughly 98%, the NIH says.
Prostate cancer usually grows very slowly. While finding and treating it before symptoms occur may not improve men’s health or help them live longer, it is generally a more treatable type of cancer, even when it has spread.
The news of Biden’s radiation therapy comes after he had Mohs surgery — a common procedure to treat skin cancer — in September, a Biden spokesperson said.
Biden’s health had been under scrutiny since before he dropped out of the presidential race in 2024, giving way to then-Vice President Kamala Harris to top the Democratic presidential ticket.
Prior to the announcement of his prostate cancer diagnosis, Biden and former first lady Dr. Jill Biden appeared on ABC’s “The View,” where they both pushed back against the slate of new books from reporters claiming that Biden was dealing with cognitive decline at the end of his presidency.
Tennessee State Rep. Justin Pearson listens as Democratic presidential candidate, Vice President Kamala Harris speaks on stage during the final day of the Democratic National Convention, August 22, 2024 in Chicago. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Tennessee state Rep. Justin Pearson, a 30-year-old progressive activist and lawmaker who gained national attention as one of the “Tennessee Three,” is launching a primary challenge against longtime Democratic Rep. Steve Cohen.
Pearson’s campaign, framed around the slogan “It’s About Us,” highlights Memphis’s 22.6% poverty rate — nearly double the state average — and pledges “urgent solutions to persistent crises” in Tennessee’s only Democratic congressional district.
Pearson’s bid is part of a broader wave of intraparty contests pitting younger progressives against long-establishedincumbents.
Cohen, 76, has represented Tennessee’s 9th Congressional District since 2007. Earlier this year, he told Axios he intended to seek reelection.
“My constituents need help from D.C. and I’m effective in bringing home important funding,” he said.
Pearson, expelled from the Tennessee House in 2023 after leading a gun control protest, was later reappointed and won a special election, cementing his status as a rising progressive voice.
In Pearson’s campaign launch video, released Wednesday, he told voters, “I’m proud to be one of us, a Memphian, born and raised who understands how to build bridges across race, identity, ethnicity and generations in order to build the future that we want to live into.”
Tennessee’s 9th District, based in Memphis, is the state’s only Democratic stronghold after redistricting in 2022.
“The same issues that people are facing today in this district, are the same issues that Justin faced as a child, and the same issues that Justin’s parents faced when they were kids,” Usamah Andrabi, communications director for the group, Justice Democrats, told ABC News. “At a certain point, you have to ask yourself, maybe it’s time for new leadership?”
Andrabi said the group is focused on elevating a new generation of leaders, pointing out Pearson was just 8 years old when Cohen first won the seat.The group framed Cohen as a man who has been in office for four decades, calling him an “absentee congressman.”
Cohen remains popular in his home district, winning reelection with more than 70% of the vote in a four-way primary in 2024 and more than 71% of the vote in the general election against a Republican challenger.
Pearson is Justice Democrats’ third endorsement of the cycle, following Angela Gonzales-Torres in California and Michigan state Rep. Donavan McKinney.
Founded in 2017, the group has helped elect several members of the “Squad” — including Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in New York, Ilhan Omar in Minnesota, Ayanna Pressley in Michigan and Rashida Tlaib in Michigan — and unseat five long-serving incumbents.
Pearson’s campaign platform includes labor rights and living wages, affordable housing, Medicare for All, environmental justice, federal investment to combat poverty and gun reform.
“This campaign isn’t about one person,” Pearson said in a statement. “It’s about building a movement our community can see itself in.
Pearson’s campaign is part of a broader pattern.
In Washington, D.C., Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton, a nonvoting member of the House, faces two challengers in next year’s primary, D.C. Council members Robert White Jr. and Brooke Pinto.
In Connecticut, Rep. John Larson is facing primary challengers, including former Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin and state Rep. Jillian Gilchrest.
Bilal Dabir Sekou, a political science professor at the University of Hartford, said the trend shows Democrats are increasingly willing to challenge longstanding members of their party.
“What’s interesting is people are stepping up and primarying people, almost like there’s an insurgency going on within the party,” Sekou said.
He added that Democrats are grappling with a generational shift, citing former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi stepping down from House leadership in 2023.
“A lot of that older leadership wants people who are like them,” he said. “If they step aside, they want to step aside for someone who looks familiar to them, in terms of policy preferences and in terms of style and approach.”
Republicans are also grappling with challenges from within their own party.
For example, in Texas, Sen. John Cornyn, 73, faces primary challenges from state Attorney General Ken Paxton, 62, and Rep. Wesley Hunt, 43.
In addition to the support Pearson has received from Justice Democrats, another group, Leaders We Deserve, a youth-driven political organization founded by gun-violence survivor David Hogg, has pledged $1 million for his race.
“In this moment of crisis, I’m calling on Representative Steve Cohen to pass the torch to Justin J. Pearson — a transformational leader who can inspire a new generation,” Hogg said in a statement. “Memphis deserves a next-generation leader like Justin — a tested fighter who will deliver opportunity, affordability, safety, and justice to his constituents.”
“From his successful work stopping the Byhalia Connection oil pipeline, which threatened the drinking water of more than one million people in the Memphis area, to his fearless stand in the state capitol for stronger gun safety laws after the 2023 Covenant school shooting, Justin J. Pearson has repeatedly shown the kind of backbone needed to confront powerful special interests, from big oil to the gun lobby,” Hogg added.
Charlotte Bergmann is a Republican running for the 9th Congressional District seat.
(WASHINGTON) — Congress is out of town this week, but when lawmakers return on Monday, Sept. 29, they’ll be facing an immediate government funding deadline. If Congress doesn’t act before Wednesday, Oct. 1, there will be a government shutdown.
Right now, congressional leaders are busy blaming one another for the looming shutdown, but no clear path is emerging for how funding might be approved.
Here’s what you need to know with less than a week until a possible government shutdown:
What needs to happen to avert a government shutdown?
The government runs out of funding as the clock strikes midnight from Tuesday, Sept. 30 to Wednesday, Oct. 1. To avoid that shutdown, Congress must pass either a short-term funding bill, called a continuing resolution (or CR), or they must approve 12 separate full-year funding bills.
Congress does not have time to finish work on the full-year funding bills before the deadline, so they’ll need a stopgap bill.
Unlike the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, funding bills need at least 60 votes to pass in the Senate. That means any government funding solution will require at least seven Senate Democrats to pass if every Republican supports the proposal.
In a Washington under total Republican control, government funding is one of few must-pass pieces of legislation that requires Democratic votes.
Current state of play
Democrats and Republicans are currently locked in a staring contest. It’s not clear what, if anything, will be done to stop a shutdown next week.
On Friday, House Republicans (and one Democrat) passed a bill that would have kept the government funded until Nov. 20. But within hours of the House action, Senate Democrats blocked the measure from passing the Senate and instead offered their own funding bill that included a number of health care provisions Democrats say are essential. Republicans blocked that bill from advancing in the Senate.
Since then, no new proposal has been offered. Congress is out of town this week with no plans to return early.
Trump cancels meeting with Democrats
Democrats have alleged that the White House and congressional Republicans have been unwilling to negotiate with them on a path forward on government funding.
After President Donald Trump said he would meet with Democratic leaders Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries at their request, the president reversed course on Tuesday morning.
“After reviewing the details of the unserious and ridiculous demands being made by the Minority Radical Left Democrats in return for their Votes to keep our thriving Country open, I have decided that no meeting with their Congressional Leaders could possibly be productive,” Trump posted on his social media channel.
Democrats have responded by saying that Trump is running away from the negotiation table and will own the shutdown as a result.
What Republicans, Democrats want
Republicans on Capitol Hill want Congress to pass a short-term funding bill without any additional add ons to keep the government funded at FY2024 levels through Nov. 20. Republicans say this will allow more time for Congress to work on the annual appropriations bills that they hope can be enacted before the next funding deadline. The White House has backed this approach.
Passing a short-term funding bill that doesn’t include any sort of major policy riders is pretty par for the course on Capitol Hill. Democrats advanced many of them while former President Joe Biden was in office. Republicans say Democrats are being disingenuous by not supporting this seven-week solution.
“If [Democrats] want to shut down the government, they have the power to do so, but if they think they are going to gain political points from shutting down the government over a clean nonpartisan CR, something they voted for 13 times under the Biden administration, I would strongly urge them to think again,” Majority Leader John Thune said on Friday ahead of the Senate vote to block this short-term funding bill.
Republicans say that other policy priorities should be debated as part of the annual appropriations process, not as part of a short-term funding solution.
Democrats, on the other hand,want to use the funding deadline as leverage to secure health care-related wins and to restore cuts to Medicaid made by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that Republicans passed in July.
There’s a lot of health care provisions that Democrats outlined in their counter proposal that was rejected by the Senate last week – including the expansion of expiring Obamacare tax credits for federally backed health insurance premiums and the reversal of the Medicaid cuts that were signed into law under Trump’s megabil in July.
The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office estimated that the Democrat’s health care proposals would cost $1.4 trillion over 10 years. Democrats have said they’re willing to negotiate with Republicans, so this package should be viewed as an opening offer and not a set of red lines.
Democrats have repeatedly insisted they must secure health care-related wins to approve a funding package, but they have not yet been explicit about what specific wins they must secure in order to keep the government funded.
What’s different this time around?
In March, 10 Senate Democrats voted with Republicans to pass a continuing resolution to hold funding levels constant through the end of the fiscal year on Oct. 1.
But now, what we’re seeing is a role reversal for both parties.
Many times in the past several years it has been Republicans pushing for policy concessions on short-term funding bills while Democrats have repeatedly beat the drum for a clean short-term funding extension.
This time though, it’s Democrats who are saying they must get policy concessions while Republicans challenge them to accept a stopgap funding solution with nothing attached. It bucks the historical trend.
What happens if there is a government shutdown?
If there is a government shutdown, millions of federal employees will go without a paycheck and many — such as airport security officers, air traffic controllers and members of the military — will be told to come to work anyway. ICE agents also go without pay. National parks will close and the Smithsonian museums also typically close within a few days.
Federal contractors are not required to work and are also not guaranteed backpay.
Social Security continues to be distributed, though there can be slow downs.
