US news | The Guardian
· collected 2026-08-26 · by Robert Mackey, Shrai Popat, Lucy Campbell and Tom Ambrose
Democratic states sue to block postal service from carrying out Trump's mail-in voting order
Two dozen states and the District of Columbia filed a fresh lawsuit on Wednesday to block Donald Trump’s executive order restricting mail voting in this year’s midterm elections.
asserted
states → sue → elections
The challenge comes days after the supreme court’s conservative majority lifted one injunction from a federal judge blocking parts of the president’s order.
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majority → come → order
In their new filing against the US Postal Service (USPS), the states point to concrete steps the administration has taken to carry out Trump’s directive – including a final USPS rule on ballot delivery posted Friday night.
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administration → point → delivery
The states said that the USPS policy is part of “a broader effort” by the Trump administration “to rewrite federal election law and usurp the authority of the states and Congress”.
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policy → say → states
And a reminder, that the constitution confers control over elections to states and Congress, not the executive.
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constitution → confer → states
On Monday, the supreme court did not rule on the legality of Trump’s order, but said that the states’ litigation was premature, effectively making room for further legal challenges.
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litigation → rule → challenges
A reminder that there is also a second nationwide injunction that still prevents the postal service from enforcing the order, though the justice department has argued that block should now be lifted in light of the supreme court’s ruling.
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block → be → ruling
This concludes our live coverage of the second Trump administration for the day.
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This → conclude → day
Two dozen mainly Democratic‑led states filed a fresh lawsuit to block Donald Trump’s executive order restricting mail voting in this year’s midterm elections.
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states → file → elections
Lawyers for Lisa Cook wrote to the White House on Wednesday, rejecting a new attempt to force the Federal Reserve governor to resign for allegedly listing two properties as her primary residence on mortgage applications.
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Lawyers → write → applications
The letter goes on to detail the numerous other individuals who have made the same mistake on mortgage forms, starting with Trump.
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who → go → Trump
The chief spokesperson for the US Secret Service and two other communications staffers are under investigation for “potential misconduct” and have been suspended, according to the agency and media reports.
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spokesperson → suspend → agency
A geography professor alleges in a lawsuit filed this week in federal court in Manhattan that he was fired from his tenured position at the US Military Academy at West Point “because he taught that humans influenced climate change”.
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humans → allege → change
The US army announced on Wednesday that it has awarded to $2.2bn to five contractors “to own, construct and operate nuclear microreactors on military installations” in five states.
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it → announce → states
West Point geography professor says he was fired for resisting order to stop teaching climate change to future army officers
A geography professor alleges in a lawsuit filed this week in federal court in Manhattan that he was fired from his tenured position at the US Military Academy at West Point “because he taught that humans influenced climate change” and then protested an order “that this not be mentioned in his classes” as unethical.
As first reported by Stars and Stripes, a US government-funded news outlet that cover the US military, the geographer, Adam Kalkstein, says in the suit that he was rated as an “outstanding” professor during his 17 years as a civilian employee teaching climatology to future army officers.
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he → say → officers
According to the complaint, Kalkstein says he was called into on 11 September 2025 by Joel Radunzel, a lieutenant colonel who directs the geography program at West Point.
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who → accord → Point
Radunzel, the complaint says, “relayed a verbal order that professors could no longer teach about anthropogenic (human-caused) climate change and that professors must remove all mention of human causes of climate change from their courses.”
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professors → say → courses
During the same meeting, Radunzel also issued “a clear threat” that if anyone in the department went to the media or politicians over the ban, “the entire department would likely be dissolved.”
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department → issue → ban
“At the time, plaintiff was teaching two sections of Climatology in which he taught that humans were responsible for much of the current planetary warming trend and presented the scientific evidence, consequences, and military impacts,” the complaint explained.
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complaint → teach → evidence
“Learning how humans affect the atmosphere was a fundamental component of his course which he had been teaching for many years, and the concept that humans can alter Earth’s climate is a plainly established scientific fact.”
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humans → learn → climate
Two months later, Kalkstein said he confronted the dean of West Point’s academic board over how hard it was to teach in line with the directive.
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it → say → directive
“I just got out of Climatology class and it’s a struggle” he recalled, “because we’re leaving our essential information.
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we → get → information
We’re only telling cadets part of the story.
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We → tell → story
We’re lying to them, deceiving them.
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We → lie → them
It would be like trying to teach the law without being able to even mention the Constitution.
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It → try → Constitution
The guiding principle of any school should be to the truth ...
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principle → guide → truth
I’m supposed to be an educator and a scientist upholding Army values, but sir, right now, I’m a liar and a fraud.
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I → suppose → values
What we’re doing here is wrong.
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doing → do → What
It’s immoral.
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It → ’ → ?
It’s likely illegal”.
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It → ’ → ?
The Dean responded angrily, according to the complaint.
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Dean → respond → complaint
Sailor who jumped from USS Abraham Lincoln charged with being absent without leave - report
A US sailor who jumped overboard from the USS Abraham Lincoln this month amid a protracted deployment at sea has been charged by the navy with harming himself to avoid duty and being absent without leave, according to his wife and charging documents reviewed by the broadcaster MS NOW.
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who → jump → broadcaster
The sailor and his wife are both 19 years old, MS NOW reports, without revealing their identities.
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NOW → report → identities
According to the sailor’s wife, although he jumped off the ship in a suicide attempt, he has now been charged with violating two articles of the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
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he → accord → Justice
The broadcaster reports:
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broadcaster → report → ?
The charging documents, which were reviewed by MS NOW, show that the sailor has been accused of violating Article 83 for “malingering,” which is defined as a service member “intentionally faking an illness or hurting themselves to avoid work, duty or service,” and Article 86 for “absence without leave,” which means a service member failed to be at their required place of duty without proper authority.
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member → review → authority
“I think they’re insane for doing this to people who need mental help,” the wife told MS NOW.
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wife → think → MS
“Instead of giving them help, this is just another huge stressor.”
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this → give → help
Fed governor Lisa Cook's lawyers note that Trump and 'a third of his cabinet' had same mortgage status as her
Lawyers for Lisa Cook wrote to the White House on Wednesday, rejecting a new attempt to force the Federal Reserve governor to resign for allegedly listing two properties as her primary residence on mortgage applications.
“Governor Cook has never committed mortgage fraud or any intentional wrongdoing, and there is no legally cognizable cause for removing her from the Federal Reserve Board,” her lawyer, Abbe Lowell, wrote to in a letter to the White House Counsel, David Warrington.
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lawyer → note → Counsel
Lowell cites the opinion of an expert in mortgage regulation and finance who argues that the Trump administration has failed to establish any intentional wrongdoing by Cook, “or that she benefited from the classification of either property as a ‘primary’ residence.”
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she → cite → residence
…and 135 more, not listed.
