The Dictatorship
Ask Jordan: Could the Supreme Court overturn birthright citizenship?
“Can you explain what SCOTUS can do about birthright citizenship when it’s in the Constitution? How are they able to overturn the 14th Amendment?”
— Peggy Giegucz, Pittsburgh
Hi Peggy,
The Supreme Court can’t overturn a constitutional amendment. But it can interpret the Constitution to make it seem like it’s overturning or at least contorting it. In other words, when the court hears an appeal involving the Constitution, it analyzes how it applies in a given case — whether that’s what the First Amendment means for speech, the Second Amendment means for guns, and so on. Throughout the court’s history, dissenting justices have accused majorities of construing constitutional provisions contrary to their meaning and purpose.
When it comes to birthright citizenshipwe might soon learn what the justices have to say about that provision of the 14th Amendment: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.” Cases on the subject are making their way through the nation’s courts. So far, judges have roundly rejected the Trump administration. Just this week, a three-judge panel of the Boston-based federal appeals court handed the government its latest lossafter appellate panels based in San Francisco and Richmond likewise declined to lift trial court rulings against the administration while it appeals.
On Thursday, Trump asked the justices to halt the nationwide scope of those trial court rulings, which are keeping his policy on hold nationwide. To be sure, the justices could resolve this pending appeal without weighing in on the ultimate question of what they think the 14th Amendment protects. But how they address Trump’s procedural challenge could provide clues about how they would decide the underlying merits of his executive order.
If the Supreme Court eventually rules — contrary to longstanding precedent and historical evidence — that the Constitution doesn’t protect birthright citizenship, then whether the court would be literally overturning the 14th Amendment as opposed to gutting, betraying or undermining it could be a semantic argument, given how difficult it is to further amend the Constitution.
In theory, of course, the people and their elected representatives can vote to amend the Constitution in response to an unpopular Supreme Court ruling. In fact, the 14th Amendment did just that, effectively overturning the infamous Dred Scott ruling that affirmed slavery. But even if Americans somehow passed a new constitutional amendment making birthright citizenship clearer than it already isthe Supreme Court could attempt to undermine it through a creative interpretation.
Have any questions or comments for me? I’d love to hear from you! Please emaildeadlinelegal@nbcuni.comfor a chance to be featured in a future newsletter.
Jordan Rubin is the Deadline: Legal Blog writer. He was a prosecutor for the New York County District Attorney’s Office in Manhattan and is the author of “Bizarro,” a book about the secret war on synthetic drugs. Before he joined BLN, he was a legal reporter for Bloomberg Law.
PARK CITY, Utah (AP) — A man was arrested Friday night at a party during the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, for allegedly assaulting a Florida congressman.
Democratic U.S. Rep. Maxwell Frost wrote on X on Saturday that he was punched in the face by a man who told Frost that President Donald Trump was going to deport him. The altercation occurred at a private party hosted by talent agency CAA at the High West Distillery, a popular venue for festival-adjacent events.
“He was heard screaming racist remarks as he drunkenly ran off,” Frost wrote. “The individual was arrested and I am okay.”
Frost, the first Gen Z member of Congress, thanked the venue security and the Park City Police Department for their help. A Park City Police Department representative said officers arrived on the scene just after midnight.
Christian Joel Young, 28, was arrested on charges of aggravated burglary, assaulting an elected official and assault and transported to Summit County Jail, according to court records.
Young appeared to have crashed the party by jumping a fence and had a Sundance Film Festival pass that was not issued in his name, according to the police affidavit.
It was unclear if Young had an attorney who could speak on his behalf. The Associated Press left messages with the Summit County Sheriff’s office and Utah courts in an attempt to request comment from Young or a lawyer.
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The Sundance Film Festival representatives released a statement saying that they “strongly condemn” the incident, noting that while it occurred at a non-affiliated event that the behavior is “against our values of upholding a welcoming and inspiring environment for all our attendees.”
“The safety and security of our festival attendees is always our chief concern, and our thoughts are with Congressman Frost and his continued well-being,” the statement read. “We encourage anyone with additional information on this matter to contact the Park City Police Department.”
County Judge Richard Mrazik ordered Young held without bail, on the grounds that he would constitute, “a substantial danger to any other individual or to the community, or is likely to flee the jurisdiction of the court if released on bail.” Young has a prior misdemeanor conviction, according to court records.
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, a Republican, denounced the alleged attack and said he won’t let tensions over immigration enforcement in places like Minneapolis spill into Utah.
“Political or racially charged violence of any kind is unacceptable in Utah,” Cox said in a statement. “I’m grateful to local law enforcement for swiftly apprehending the assailant and pursuing justice for Rep. Maxwell Frost.”
Federal immigration enforcement efforts are “welcome and necessary,” he added.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries wrote on X that he was horrified by what had happened and that “the perpetrator must be aggressively prosecuted.”
“Hate and political violence has no place in our country,” Jeffries continued.
Messages seeking comment were left for representatives for CAA.
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Associated Press writer Hannah Schoenbaum contributed.
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For more coverage of the 2026 Sundance Film Festival, visit: https://apnews.com/hub/sundance-film-festival
Amanda Gorman shared a powerful poem on Instagram that she wrote in honor of Alex Pretti, the 37-year-old ICU nurse and U.S. citizen killed by a federal immigration officers in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Saturday.
The poem, “For Alex Jeffrey Pretti,” characterizes Pretti’s killing as a “betrayal” and an “execution.”
Gorman, earlier this month, also paid tribute to Renee Nicole Good, another U.S. citizen killed by a federal immigration officer in Minneapolis on Jan. 7. In a caption accompanying another poem shared on Instagram, Gorman said she was “horrified by the ongoing violence that ICE wages upon our community. Across our country, we are witnessing discrimination and brutality on an unconscionable scale.”
Her poem says, in part: “You could believe departed to be the dawn/ When the blank night has so long stood./ But our bright-fled angels will never be fully gone,/ When they forever are so fiercely Good.”
The 27-year-old writer and activist famously recited her poem, “Blue Light News We Climb,” at Joe Biden’s presidential inauguration in 2021. Gorman has also written poems in the wake of other tragedies in the country, including “Hymn for the Hurting,” about the Robb Elementary mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas in 2022. She also performed a poem she wrote about reproductive rights and the Roe V. Wade Supreme Court case in a NowThis video in 2019.
Erum Salam is a breaking news reporter and producer for MS NOW. She previously was a breaking news reporter for The Guardian.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, in recordings obtained by Axiosseems to have a bone to pick with Vice President JD Vance and sometimes, President Donald Trump.
In his remarks, which lasted about 10 minutes and were reportedly made in a private meeting with donors sometime last year, Cruz portrays himself as an economically-minded, pro-interventionist who has the president’s ear.
The Texas senator is also heard criticizing former Fox News personality, Tucker Carlson, and his relationship with the vice president. “Tucker created JD. JD is Tucker’s protégé, and they are one and the same,” Cruz told donors.
Cruz, who has clashed with Carlson in the past over foreign intervention policies, bashed the administration’s appointment of Israel critic Daniel Davis to a top national intelligence position. A vocal supporter of Israel himself, Cruz called Davis “a guy who viciously hates Israel,” and credited himself with removing Davis from the job.
The Republican senator also blamed Vance and Carlson for ousting former national security adviser Mike Waltz over similar anti-interventionist sentiments related to Iran.
“[Waltz] supported being vigorous against Iran and bombing Iran — and Tucker and JD took Mike out,” Cruz said.
Cruz also said he has been trying to get the White House to accept a trade agreement with India, but claimed White House economic adviser Peter Navarro, Vance and “sometimes” Trump, are resistant.
Domestically, Cruz cautioned donors about Trump’s tariffs, which he said could result in severe economic and political consequences. Cruz is reportedly heard telling donors that he told the president “if we get to November of [2026] and people’s 401(k)s are down 30% and prices are up 10–20% at the supermarket, we’re going to go into Election Day, face a bloodbath.”
Cruz said a conversation he had with Trump about tariffs “did not go well,” and that Trump was “yelling” and “cursing.” Cruz said Trump told him: “F*** you, Ted.”
“Trump was in a bad mood,” Cruz said. “I’ve been in conversations where he was very happy. This was not one of them.”
In a statement about the recordings, a spokesperson for Cruz said he is “the president’s greatest ally in the Senate and battles every day in the trenches to advance his agenda. Those battles include fights over staffers who try to enter the administration despite disagreeing with the president and seeking to undermine his foreign policy” and that “these attempts at sowing division are pathetic and getting boring.”
In an email responding to MS NOW’s request for comment on Cruz’s reported statements, the White House did not address Cruz’s statements.
Erum Salam is a breaking news reporter and producer for MS NOW. She previously was a breaking news reporter for The Guardian.
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