The Supreme Court’s Archaeology of Authority

 
While the Roberts Court’s favorite new legal test promises objective facts, what it actually delivers is unchecked judicial power.

Eric Scarffe
August 6
(Photo illustration by Bill Kuchman/The Bulwark | Photos: Getty, Shutterstock)

WHEN THE SUPREME COURT CLOSED its most recent term, one lesson stood out: The Court’s most consequential decisions increasingly arrive dressed in the language of history. Whether the issue is abortion, administrative power, gun regulation, or substantive due process, the justices present themselves less as constitutional decision-makers than as constitutional archaeologists: excavating answers to questions that history supposedly settled long ago. Yet far from removing values from constitutional adjudication, the use of such history has merely hidden them from view.

Trump signs orders to limit US birthright citizenship, despite Supreme Court ruling

REUTERS
By Kristina Cooke and Andrew Chung
August 6, 2026, 12:50 PM PDT Updated 53 mins ago

Summary

• Trump acts after Supreme Court birthright defeat
• Orders target birth tourism and other exceptions
• White House disputes scope of Constitution's 14th Amendment

Aug 6 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump signed two executive orders on Thursday in a new but narrower attempt to curtail birthright citizenship, renewing his challenge to a provision ​of the U.S. Constitution after the Supreme Court rejected his previous effort.

Meta says its AI model hacked another company, adding to worries about bots going rogue

By BARBARA ORTUTAY
Updated 1:38 PM PDT, August 6, 2026
Meta said Thursday that one of its artificial intelligence models accessed the internet on its own and hacked another company, the latest in a series of disclosures about AI models going rogue. 

In recent weeks OpenAI and Anthropic also have described instances of AI models going beyond humans’ instructions to access the web and find ways around other companies’ digital security.

Mark Ruffalo Calls for John Fetterman to Step Down from Senate After Jon Stewart Humiliation

Source: Daily Beast's Obsessed

August 6, 2026

Actor Mark Ruffalo has urged Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman to resign following a controversial interview Fetterman gave to Jon Stewart. The exchange, which has since gone viral, featured Fetterman stumbling through statements asserting that Democrats who criticize Israel should not be part of the Democratic Party. The senator also expressed his unwavering support for Israel's right to defend itself.

Strait of Hormuz tolls would harm livelihoods worldwide, shipowners warn

AL JAZEERA

Eight leading shipping organisations sign letter opposing fees in critical waterway
By Erin Hale
Published On 6 Aug 2026
Eight of the world’s largest shipping associations have urged the United Nations to oppose tolls in the Strait of Hormuz amid reports that Iran and Oman are nearing a deal to manage the critical waterway. In a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and International Maritime Organization Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez, the group said that allowing authorities to charge vessels to transit the strait would violate international norms and harm the global economy.

Putin Turns the Heat in Ukraine and the Pacific Rim with A Little Help From his Friends

As the conflict in Ukraine escalates on a global scale, Vladimir Putin is ramping up military operations with substantial support from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. This growing collaboration has raised alarms in Japan and throughout the Pacific region.

August 6, 2026

North Korea's involvement in Ukraine is nothing new; on April 26 in Pyongyang, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un opened a memorial museum honoring the tens of hundreds of North Korean troops killed while fighting for Russia in the war against Ukraine. That event, attended by prominent Russian defense officials, is proof of the growing military collaboration between the two nations. Yet, now, North Korea is expected to enhance military support to Russia by supplying additional ballistic missile launchers for its operations. And that's not all. 

Red alert issued for all major Italian cities as blistering heat wave grips Europe, sets Austria record

 

Rose Manister and Ramy Inocencio contributed to this report

Updated on: August 6, 2026 / 8:23 AM EDT /

CBS/AP

Italy placed all of its major cities under the highest heat alert Thursday as a blistering heat wave gripped Europe.

The heat has set a national temperature record in Austria, fueled wildfires in France and disrupted energy and transport systems across the continent. Temperatures have climbed to above 104 degrees Fahrenheit in several countries, prompting health warnings for millions of people.

Senate Homeland Security committee votes to hold Fauci in contempt of Congress

 

POLITICS 

Updated August 6, 2026 9:18 AM ET
Eric McDaniel

Heard on Morning Edition

The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee has voted to hold Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress.

Thursday's vote was along party lines, and came after Fauci refused to answer lawmakers' questions in a hearing last week about the government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, citing his Fifth Amendment right to avoid self-incrimination.

JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon warns of high leverage: ‘Somebody will disrupt the market’

CEOs
Published Wed, Aug 5 202610:02 PM EDT
 Lee Ying Shan
         Key Points

• JPMorgan Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon warned that leverage across financial markets remains elevated.
• “Margin debt is the highest it has ever been,” he said in an interview with CNBC’s Leslie Picker.

JPMorgan Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon has warned that leverage across financial markets remained elevated, adding that investors should be mindful that hidden borrowing could amplify market disruptions.

Euro news: Suspect accused of killing woman found in suitcase in Greece gives statement

Copyright © 2026 ΑΘΗΝΑΙΚΟ-ΜΑΚΕΔΟΝΙΚΟ ΠΡΑΚΤΟΡΕΙΟ ΕΙΔΗΣΕΩΝ
By Ioannis Karagiorgas
Published on 05/08/2026 - 15:11 GMT+2

The 26-year-old, identified in media reports as an Afghan national, confessed to putting the woman in a suitcase, but denied having killed her.

A 26-year-old man accused of the murder of a British woman whose body was found in a suitcase, attended a court in Athens on Wednesday to give his account.

Nearly 80% of interceptors for a key missile defense system depleted, sources say

By Zachary Cohen, Jim Sciutto, Haley Britzky
Updated Aug 4, 2026

In the August 27, 2025 photo, an Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) is displayed in Unterluess, Germany. Annegret Hilse/Reuters

The US military has exhausted nearly 80% of its interceptors for a key missile defense system as senior US military commanders are warning that the Pentagon’s munitions stockpile is “dangerously low,” according to multiple sources familiar with the matter.

A Mystery Object in the Milky Way Is Blasting Out Particles 100 Times More Powerful Than the LHC

SPACE & SPACEFLIGHT

The cosmic accelerator can push protons beyond one quadrillion electric volts
BY PASSANT RABIE

PUBLISHED AUGUST 5, 2026, 2:10 PM ET

READING TIME 3 MINUTES
The source is marked by a solid circle. For comparison, the size of the Moon is indicated by a dashed circle. Adapted from Tsunefumi Mizuno, et al. The Astrophysical Journal

Within the constellation Aquila in the northern skies, a powerful cosmic accelerator has been pumping out fast-moving particles at the some of the highest known energies in our galaxy, far outdoing human-made colliders on Earth.

Trump administration accused of ‘destroying’ Reflecting Pool evidence after lawsuit sheds light on construction damage

The Independent

Foundation suing over Trump’s renovations to the landmark want access to the site before recently revealed damage is ‘lost forever’

Alex Woodward in New York

Wednesday 05 August 2026 17:02 BST

A preservation group suing Donald Trump’s administration over renovations to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool says the government is working to “destroy the very evidence” that proves recent construction caused damage to the landmark.

How Abdul El-Sayed went from political oblivion to progressive breakthrough in Michigan Senate race

By JOEY CAPPELLETTI
Updated 3:57 PM PDT, August 5, 2026

The Associated Press

DETROIT (AP) — Abdul El-Sayed, a former public health official who harnessed Democratic frustration with the party establishment, narrowly defeated Rep. Haley Stevens in Michigan’s U.S. Senate primary, setting up a crucial test for progressives in a key battleground state.

Iran war live: Tehran says it agreed coordinates of Hormuz route with Oman

AL JAZEERA

By Mariem Bah and Stephen Quillen

Published On 5 Aug 2026

Iran’s foreign ministry says a deal with Oman on a route through the Strait of Hormuz is being “finalised”, but the US and Israel still pose a danger to ships in the vital waterway. 

Israel’s military says it has started carrying out attacks on southern Lebanon in response to what it calls a “blatant violation of the ceasefire” by Hezbollah. One person has so far been reported killed and 11 injured in the offensive. Earlier, Israeli media reported that two Israeli soldiers were killed and several others wounded after an IED exploded inside a booby-trapped building in the Lebanese village of Majdal Selm.

After Trump’s Board of Peace Made a Plan for Gaza, the Bombings Grew Worse

President Trump announced a proposal aimed at achieving the disarmament of Hamas and an Israeli withdrawal. Israel ramped up attacks on the Palestinian enclave.

By Isabel Kershner and Adam Rasgon

Isabel Kershner reported from Jerusalem, and Adam Rasgon from Tel Aviv.

Aug. 5, 2026

Updated 8:05 a.m. ET

Soon after President Trump announced a new plan last week to deliver peace and security in Gaza, the Palestinian enclave instead experienced a spike in deadly Israeli bombings, which threatened to undermine hopes for long-awaited progress.

Ships stuck in the Strait of Hormuz pose ‘super-spreader’ biodiversity threat, scientists warn

Biologists say cargo ships stranded in Gulf may carry highly potent invasive species around the world 

as trade resumes

Matthew Pearce

Wed 29 Jul 2026 06.00 BST

The closure of the strait of Hormuz has created conditions for an extreme global biodiversity threat, with scientists warning that thousands of stranded ships could spread invasive marine species across the world’s oceans once they begin sailing again.

Abdul El-Sayed wins Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary, notching a Midwest victory for the left

The former public health official has defeated Rep. Haley Stevens, NBC News projects, despite facing a huge advertising disadvantage.

Aug. 4, 2026, 10:58 PM PDT / Updated Aug. 5, 2026, 1:48 AM PDT

By Henry J. Gomez

Abdul El-Sayed has won Michigan’s slugfest of a Democratic Senate primary, NBC News projects, clinching the nomination in a close race over Rep. Haley Stevens and establishing a Midwest beachhead for a progressive left on the march this midterm cycle.