Justice department threatens California over alleged noncitizen voters
The justice department has threatened California over alleged noncitizen voters.
In a letter addressed to the California secretary of state, Shirley Weber, on Tuesday, the acting deputy attorney general, Trent McCotter, said the justice department gave Los Angeles county officials a “password-protected thumb drive” with names of people that the federal government “believes are likely noncitzens”, Reuters first reported.
The letter, which gives state officials 48 hours to review the list, demands California withhold mail-in ballots from the listed people until their citizenship is confirmed, adding that ballots mailed back should be “segregated” and that those already returned should not be counted “until citizenship has been determined”.
The justice department added that if California officials do not comply, it “will have no choice but to seek emergency relief”.
“Allowing noncitizens to vote cancels citizen votes,” McCotter wrote in the letter.
The justice department’s latest threat comes as the Trump administration seeks evidence to support unverified claims of voter fraud ahead of next month’s midterm elections.
Key events
Top Senate Democrats Super Pac pours millions more in Michigan and Maine races
The top Super Pac for Senate Democrats has poured more than $7m into two marquee races this cycle: Michigan and Maine.
The Senate Majority Pac has reserved $3.7m for its campaign in Michigan, to support the Democratic nominee in the Senate race – Dr Abdul El-Sayed – in his race against the Trump-backed Republican – Mike Rogers. The group is also investing $3m in Maine, to boost Democrat Troy Jackson’s chances against Susan Collins – the five-term moderate GOP incumbent, who Democrats see as increasingly vulnerable in a cycle where anti-Trump sentiment has colored so many races.
This comes after reports that the Senate Majority Pac has also paused ad spending in North Carolina and Georgia. Semafor was first to report on the updated spend.
Ken Paxton says Greg Abbott is ‘struggling’ in Texas gubernatorial race in leaked audio – report
In leaked audio obtained by Rolling Stone, Ken Paxton – the Republican nominee for US Senate in Texas – said that Greg Abbott – the incumbent GOP governor – was “struggling” in his re-election bid against Democratic state legislator Gina Hinojosa.
“Yes, Abbott is struggling, but he has a lot of money. [Hinojosa] has none,” Paxton told attenders at a private donor event in Washington DC, according to Rolling Stone. Paxton said that even though Hinojosa has “no name ID” the race is “still close”.
He added: “[Abbott] didn’t have any primary, like I did, that was brutal with all the negative ads.”
This is the latest audio leak from the 24 September event, where Paxton appears to have justified his extremely competitive race, in which he’s trailing in the polls against his Democratic opponent, James Talarico.
Earlier this month, Axios reported Paxton admitted privately that rising fuel prices as a result of Donald Trump’s Iran war were hurting Republicans ahead of the midterms, in a recording from the same fundraiser.
Anna Betts
A US federal judge has temporarily blocked the Trump administration from placing sanctions on two US-based human rights groups for working to help the international criminal court’s (ICC) investigations into war crimes in Gaza.
In a 30-page order issued on Tuesday, Jesse M Furman, a judge at the US district court for the southern district of New York, granted a preliminary injunction to the two groups, Democracy for the Arab World Now (Dawn) and Taxpayer Alliance Against Genocide (Taag).
The two organizations sued the Trump administration this summer, challenging an executive order issued in February 2025 that imposed sanctions against the ICC.
The order warned the US government would “impose tangible and significant consequences” on people involved in investigations that Washington said threatened the national security of the US or its allies, including Israel.
The order came after the ICC issued arrest warrants for the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and his former defense minister Yoav Gallant, accusing them of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza. Both men have rejected accusations against them, and the US government also opposed the court’s decision to issue the warrants.
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said that it is “painful” for Donald Trump to choose a different side, following Trump’s comments that Zelenskyy should be replaced.
Speaking to Piers Morgan on Wednesday, the Ukrainian president said: “It’s painful when President Trump chooses one side, not our side.”
He went on to add: “If you are in the middle, you have to stay in the middle.”
Over the weekend, Trump called for Zelenskyy to be replaced after announcing a new deal with Russia to buy large amounts of Russian diesel – which Zelenskyy sharply criticized.
“I suggest they get a new leader who can make a deal because he could have made many deals and for some reason he never does,” Trump said.
Justice department threatens California over alleged noncitizen voters
The justice department has threatened California over alleged noncitizen voters.
In a letter addressed to the California secretary of state, Shirley Weber, on Tuesday, the acting deputy attorney general, Trent McCotter, said the justice department gave Los Angeles county officials a “password-protected thumb drive” with names of people that the federal government “believes are likely noncitzens”, Reuters first reported.
The letter, which gives state officials 48 hours to review the list, demands California withhold mail-in ballots from the listed people until their citizenship is confirmed, adding that ballots mailed back should be “segregated” and that those already returned should not be counted “until citizenship has been determined”.
The justice department added that if California officials do not comply, it “will have no choice but to seek emergency relief”.
“Allowing noncitizens to vote cancels citizen votes,” McCotter wrote in the letter.
The justice department’s latest threat comes as the Trump administration seeks evidence to support unverified claims of voter fraud ahead of next month’s midterm elections.
Ariana Baio
Several of Donald Trump’s second-term policies will be tested at the supreme court in the coming months: it is being asked to rule on challenges to the administration’s harsh immigration and deportation policies, along with a climate change lawsuit against energy companies and an attempt to loosen restrictions on assault-style rifles.
The Roberts court is often split in favor of conservative issues 6-3, but it has also diverged from Trump on some key cases, leading the president at times to rage against some of the justices he nominated for the bench.
Decisions are expected in or before June 2027.
Here are some of the major supreme court cases in the 2026-27 term:
Melody Schreiber
Ken Paxton, the attorney general of Texas and the Republican candidate for the US Senate, is aligning himself with the Make America Healthy Again (Maha) movement by investigating pediatricians for giving vaccines – actions that could further restrict access to vaccines as deadly outbreaks unfold.
Paxton announced he would investigate an alleged conspiracy between pediatricians, vaccine makers and insurance companies in January, and at least one Texas pediatrician now says she is under investigation. Paxton linked his efforts to a campaign against vaccines from Donald Trump and Robert F Kennedy Jr, the secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and directly referenced the Maha movement in his announcement. The president endorsed Paxton’s Senate run in May.
Pointing to a sweeping collusion that “illegally incentivized” doctors to administer vaccines, Paxton alleges that the pharmaceutical and insurance industries were attempting to “bribe” medical providers.
He also launched an investigation into the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), accusing them in August of potentially recommending vaccines for financial gain – referencing a lawsuit the AAP filed earlier this year to halt sweeping changes to the childhood immunization schedule and once again invoking Trump and Kennedy’s moves on vaccines.
A new law in Taxes makes it easier for parents to request school vaccine exemptions, as the rate of measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccination falls in the state. Only 93.3% of kindergarteners in Texas are now fully vaccinated against measles.
Pediatricians are one of the lowest-paid medical specialties and “barely break even” on vaccines, said Marjan Linnell, a pediatrician and president-elect of the Texas Pediatric Society.
But Kennedy has made millions suing vaccine makers. He has made at least $2.5m in referrals for lawsuits related to vaccine side-effects to the law firm Wisner Baum. He had a 10% contingency stake in a Gardasil vaccine lawsuit that reportedly settled for about $50m in June.
Now that there are fewer than three weeks until the midterm elections, my colleagues have put together a video explainer about the four key issues driving voters to the polls ahead of November.
Kamala Harris to travel across country to rally for Democrats in final midterm sprint
Kamala Harris, the former vice-president and 2024 presidential nominee, will travel across the country in support of several Democrats facing competitive races in the final two weeks ahead of the November midterms, according to her office.
Harris will kick off her campaigning sprint on 21 October, when she heads to Nevada to campaign with Democratic gubernatorial candidate Aaron Ford. She’ll then spend the rest of the week making stops in Mississippi to stump with Scott Colom, the Democratic nominee facing an uphill battle in the US Senate race; New Hampshire to campaign with congressman Chris Pappas – who is vying for the open Senate seat in the state; and Wisconsin to drum support for gubernatorial candidate David Crowley.
Harris will cap off her tour with a campaign event with Senator Jon Ossoff in Georgia at the end of the month.
Georgia sets new record for first-day early midterm voting
A record number of Georgians cast ballots in the first day of early voting this midterm cycle.
According to the Brad Raffensperger, Georgia’s secretary of state, there were 188,600 votes cast on Tuesday – an increase of more than 53,000 voters over the 2022 midterm election, which saw 134,962 early in-person votes.
“This record-breaking turnout proves that voters have confidence in the integrity of our elections,” said Raffensperger.
In response to the latest inflation numbers, Elizabeth Warren, the top Democrat on the Senate banking committee, said that the “data confirms that households paid more for gas and housing in September, core inflation increased, and wages still aren’t keeping up,” and slammed Trump’s promise to “lower costs on ‘day one’”.
“Real wages have now failed to keep pace with inflation for six straight months, and are down 1.3% since Trump’s war began,” she added in a statement.
Inflation hits 3.7% in final report before midterms
Gaya Gupta
US price increases reached an annual rate of 3.7% in September, according to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, up from 3.4% in August.
This final inflation report before the pivotal midterm elections comes amid polls showing widespread dissatisfaction with the Trump administration over the cost of living.
Price increases are the highest they have been since the annual inflation rate reached a three-year peak of 4.2% in May. Gasoline accounted for over half of overall price increases, up 34% from last year. Fuel oil, which is used to heat homes, increased by 74% from last year, a worrying sign for households heading into the winter. Air travel, which many Americans rely on during the holidays, also increased by 22.4%.
Overall, consumer prices went up 0.6% from August. Core inflation, which strips out volatile energy and food prices, also ticked up by 0.3% in September to 2.6% annually.
Price increases this year have largely driven by the US-Israel war with Iran, which has caused energy prices to soar. Average gas prices remain over a dollar per gallon more than last year, according to data from AAA. Meanwhile diesel, which powers domestic supply chains, reached a record-high last month.
Here’s the full report:
Also today, while Trump traverses the sun belt, vice-president JD Vance will head to Atlanta, Georgia to rally for both Mike Collins, the Republican nominee facing Jon Ossoff in the US Senate race, and Rick Jackson – the GOP contender in the gubernatorial race – who is up against Keisha Lance Bottoms, the former Democratic mayor of Atlanta.
