Good morning and welcome back. We hope you enjoyed your not-really-a-holiday holiday on Monday. Before we dive into the exciting world of, well, the world, we’ve got some good news and some bad news:

• Good news for everyone who desperately wishes they could blow money at Walmart directly in ChatGPT. Your wish is their command.

• Bad news for all the Trader Hoes. Smuckers is suing, alleging TJ's crustless PB&Js are too similar to Uncrustables.

LAW

🗺️ Supreme Court hears case on race-based redistricting

The Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Wednesday in a case that could decide control of Congress next year. It’s a stretch, but some Democrats fear this could net Republicans 19 new seats in the House.

The case? Louisiana v. Callais.

The gist? Section 2 of the VRA — that is, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 — basically requires states to, where possible, draw congressional districts with populations that are majority Black or Hispanic.

• Proponents of the rule say it prevents racial discrimination. And Section 2 says drawing seats this way allows racial minorities to “elect representatives of their choice."

• Louisiana doesn’t see it that way. Instead, the state claims the rule violates the Constitution's Equal Protection Clause (that’s in the 14th Amendment) by treating voters differently based on race.

The real issue? Around 90% of Black Americans vote Democratic. So the VRA basically guarantees Democrats congressional seats in Republican-led states with high Black populations (ahem, The South). States like Louisiana want to play gerrymandering hardball, but aren’t legally able.

• This affects the way districts are drawn in Democratic states, too. But the partisan effect is less obvious there.

The future: Cameras aren’t allowed in the courtroom, but audio of the two-and-a-half-hour court debate is available here. Nerds who actually listened to that seem to think justices are inclined to rule in favor of Louisiana.

GOVERNMENT

⚖️ A Washington state law forcing Catholic priests to report child abuse or neglect they learn about during confession is out. Three bishops filed a lawsuit and won backing from the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division. The DOJ argued the law violated freedom of religion by forcing priests to break the Catholic Church's sacred Seal of Confession. The state agreed last week not to enforce it. And a federal judge finished the job on Tuesday by making that permanent. Priests are still mandatory reporters, but not if they learned of the crime during confession. The Civil Rights Division, led by an assistant attorney general, enforces federal antidiscrimination laws and is one of the DOJ's most politically notable divisions.

📦️ Everyone who’s seen “The Princess Bride” knows better than to “get involved in a land war in Asia.” But no one ever said anything about a trade war. Days after President Trump threatened to hit China with 100% tariffs for curbing its export of rare-earth minerals, which he called “sinister and hostile,” he took a more relaxed approach. Trump on Monday reassured panicking business leaders that the U.S. "wants to help China." European businesses, in particular, expressed fears about losing access to the critical rare earth minerals that are vital to modern electronics. China controls ~60% of the world's production.

✈️ Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's plane made an emergency landing in the United Kingdom after the windshield cracked mid-flight. Hegseth was on his way home from a NATO meeting in Brussels, Belgium. He was flying aboard the Boeing 757 that’s often reserved for the Vice President and known as Air Force Two. Back at the Pentagon, journalists are giving up their access to the building after refusing to go along with Hegseth's new rules restricting some of their activity while inside the complex.

POLITICS

🔒️ Yes, the government is still shut down

Welcome to Day 16. The federal government has been shut down for more than two weeks due to a budget impasse, and there’s no end in sight. How long will it last? In the eyes of Sen. John Kennedy — no, not that one — “I think it’s going to be the longest shutdown in the history of ever.”

The Senate failed for the ninth time on Wednesday to pass a Republican-backed short-term budget that would reopen the government. Democrats oppose those funding levels and want to add an extension to soon-to-expire Covid-era health insurance subsidies.

• Time and time again, three Democrats vote for the Republican budget, while one Republican votes against it.

• To end the shutdown, an additional eight Ds or 12 Rs will need to switch sides.

Things are even getting political at airports. Many are refusing to play a Homeland Security video that notes TSA agents are working without pay and blames Democrats for the shutdown.

Layoffs: The Trump administration has begun permanent layoffs at some federal agencies, with programs favored by Democrats being the primary target of cuts. Around 4,000 people had already been canned.

• White House budget director Russ Vought estimated on Wednesday that more than 10,000 people would lose their jobs as a result of the shutdown.

• Shortly thereafter, a federal judge in California ruled the layoffs illegal and ordered them to stop. Expect the Trump administration to appeal ASAP.

Good news for anyone who does get fired, though: They might realize they goofed and un-fire you the next day.

Elsewhere in American politics…

1. At least one organizer of anti-Trump "No Kings" protests expects this weekend's events to be bigger than the ones in June were.

2. Some Democrats are getting frustrated that House Speaker Mike Johnson hasn't sworn in a newly elected Democrat from Arizona.

3. President Trump refused to take a question from ABC News after the network ended its interview with JD Vance during the middle of Vance’s sentence.

TRIVIA

No, this doesn’t involve escaped zoo animals. We’re talking actual Madagascar today. Madagascar’s president fled the country on Sunday aboard a French military plane, saying he feared for his life amid a Gen Z-driven protest movement. By Tuesday, the military had taken power in a coup.

Coups aside, Madagascar’s a weird place. The big island off the east coast of Africa is home to almost all of the world’s orchid species, the nano-chameleon, the ring-tailed lemur, and trees that look like they were drawn by kindergarteners. What percent of Madagascar’s plants and animals are native to the island?

Hint: If you’re thinking 75%, you’re too low. Think bigger.

DIPLOMACY

🕊️ Is there finally peace in the Middle East?

If this works out as planned, President Trump may have more reason than just America’s 250th birthday to build his triumphal arc in Washington, D.C. Last weekend, he traveled to the Middle East for the signing of his 20-point peace plan for Gaza after Hamas and Israel both broadly agreed to the terms.

• Trump gave a speech to Israel's parliament, the Knesset, before flying to Egypt to attend a peace summit alongside around 30 other world leaders.

Refresher: Current hostilities began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas forces spilled into Israel from the (Palestinian) Gaza Strip. They killed ~1,200 people and captured 251.

The deal: Hamas has already freed the remaining 20 living hostages, and Israel has begun freeing ~2,000 Palestinian prisoners and pulling its forces out of Gaza. If all goes according to plan, humanitarian aid will flow in, Hamas will hand over power to an international coalition, and the rebuilding of Gaza will begin.

• Trump has won near-unanimous acclaim for shepherding this deal through, including praise from Hillary Clinton, Kamala Harris, and Joe Biden.

• Also getting some positive attention for their roles? Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, and presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner.

The future: This is the Middle East we’re talking about, so peace is never guaranteed. Trump trusts Israel to uphold its half of the bargain. But if Hamas bails? The war is back on “as soon as I say the word.”

Will he win the Nobel Peace Prize? A Venezuelan activist just won the 2025 edition on Friday. But voting took place before Trump’s peace deal was signed, and many people — including this year’s winner — think Trump deserves the prize. Maybe next year.

Related: Trump is far from the first American president to attempt a legacy-defining Middle East peace deal. The BBC takes a quick look at five others and their varying degrees of success.

BRIEFS

● President Trump posthumously awarded Charlie Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America’s highest civilian honor. During a ceremony in the Rose Garden on what would've been Kirk's 32nd birthday, Trump called Kirk “a true American hero.”

● The U.S. State Department on Tuesday revoked at least six visas from foreigners who made incendiary remarks about Charlie Kirk's assassination. According to its statement, the U.S. “has no obligation to host foreigners who wish death on Americans."

● The U.S. military carried out yet another strike on an alleged drug boat off the coast of Venezuela, killing what it said were six "narcoterrorists." This is the fifth deadly strike since Trump designated drug cartels as “foreign terrorist organizations.”

● Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is continuing its heavy presence in Chicago despite constant run-ins with protestors and a legal fight over the National Guard’s deployment there. Elsewhere, 20 migrants have been sent to Guantanamo Bay.

● Days after the first $20 billion, the White House is making plans to provide cash-strapped Argentina, led by a strong Trump ally, with a second $20 billion in financial assistance. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called it a "private-sector solution."

QUOTE

ANSWER

According to the University of Oxford, around 90 percent of life on Madagascar is endemic to the island. The World Wildlife Fund breaks it down even further: "Approximately 95 percent of Madagascar’s reptiles, 89 percent of its plant life, and 92 percent of its mammals exist nowhere else on Earth.”