President Donald Trump and former President Barack Obama spent the final week of the US midterm campaign in the same battlegrounds, offering voters competing accounts of the economy. Trump held two rallies in Texas on Tuesday, his fourth trip there since Labor Day, campaigning for Senate candidate Ken Paxton. About 210 million registered voters will decide the full House and a third of the Senate on November 3. Polling averages put Trump's approval in the high 30s, and cost of living is the top voter concern. Democrats are favoured to take the House while the Senate remains close, with Michigan, Texas and Alaska the tightest races.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to restore an immigration rule that allowed judges to suspend some deportation cases. In an unsigned order with no noted dissents, the justices refused a request from Baltimore, New Haven, Columbus and a legal services group to pause an agreement between Texas and the Justice Department. The rule, adopted in 2024, permitted administrative closure so crime victims or witnesses could pursue relief. Texas sued in June, the Justice Department joined, and a single-judge courthouse in Wichita Falls granted a final judgment the same day. The court acted four days after briefing closed, and judges are now expected to decide cases rather than shelve them.
The US Justice Department sued Alaska's election officials on Thursday, asking a federal court to block certification of the Senate result if Republican incumbent Dan S. Sullivan does not win. The suit argues that a second candidate named Dan Sullivan on the ballot could confuse voters. Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., a retired schoolteacher, was ruled eligible by a state judge and the Alaska Supreme Court. The filing was signed by Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward; Attorney General Todd Blanche had said hours earlier that interfering with certification was never the department's intention. On Friday President Donald Trump said: 'I'm the one who said do it.' Democrats have asked the judge to dismiss the case.
The US Justice Department has sued to stop Alaska from certifying its Senate election unless Republican Senator Dan S. Sullivan wins, arguing that votes cast for a little-known candidate with the same name could change the outcome. The suit was filed on Thursday, and Attorney General Todd Blanche defended it on Sunday. Alaska's Supreme Court ruled earlier that both Dan Sullivans could appear on the ballot. President Donald Trump said on Friday that he ordered the lawsuit. The state uses ranked-choice voting, and the election is on 3 November. Legal experts questioned how the department could determine voter intent. The department is asking a federal judge to act before the state certifies its results.
Kimberly Guilfoyle has left her post as US ambassador to Greece after a report that she asked a donor to President Donald Trump for $100,000 to clear credit card debt shortly before her confirmation hearing. Trump had told reporters he was looking at firing her, and the White House moved quickly to close the issue rather than defend her. The departure removes a public distraction for Republicans weeks before the midterm elections, in which prices, the Iran war and candidate quality are already shaping races. Guilfoyle, a former Fox News host and longtime figure in Trump's orbit, has not given a detailed public account of the allegation.
The Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation into Corey Lewandowski, the longtime Trump adviser who acted as de facto chief of staff at the Department of Homeland Security under Kristi Noem. Two people familiar with the matter said the inquiry follows a criminal referral from the DHS inspector general, Joseph Cuffari, whose office spent months reviewing how the agency awarded contracts. Investigators are examining whether Lewandowski used his unpaid position for personal financial gain. He has not been charged and denies wrongdoing. His lawyer says the Justice Department has not contacted him. The inquiry is an unusual case of federal prosecutors examining a member of the president's inner circle.
The Supreme Court declined to let the Trump administration immediately enforce new restrictions on medical care for transgender federal prisoners, leaving a lower court's block in place. Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas said they would have allowed the policy. The rules, adopted after an executive order, would stop surgeries, taper hormone treatment and end social accommodations such as makeup and wigs, while keeping mental health services. A Reagan-appointed judge had ordered care to continue, noting that untreated gender dysphoria can cause depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts. About 600 inmates were receiving hormone therapy in 2025.
FEMA administrator Cameron Hamilton told state emergency officials in Little Rock, Arkansas that they must build larger financial reserves and stronger response teams to handle most disasters without federal help, with changes possibly starting within six months. He described national mutual aid between states and asked for waivers of some federal environmental and historic reviews. A FEMA report released last week found state agencies are typically understaffed and underfunded. Former local emergency directors said many states have tiny budgets and could not replace federal recovery money without raising taxes. FEMA did not comment on the remarks.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll that closed on Monday put President Donald Trump's approval rating at 31%, the lowest of either of his terms, with 68% of respondents disapproving of his handling of the economy. On the generic congressional ballot, Democrats lead Republicans 47% to 35%, a 12-point gap that is the widest of the election cycle and up from seven points two weeks earlier. The survey lands two weeks before the November 3 midterms, with all 435 House seats and 33 Senate seats on the ballot.
Federal agents arrested more than two dozen people in California on Monday in a push against noncitizen voting, with the Guardian reporting that 28 green card holders were charged. Homeland Security Investigations officers carried out the operation in Commerce, southeast of Los Angeles, as part of what the Justice Department calls Operation Protect the Vote. The arrests came as the administration asks a federal court to block California from counting mail ballots from about 20,000 voters it calls likely noncitizens before the November 3 midterms. State officials call the lawsuit interference in a state election.