Saturday, June 27 — the crack in the shield

0:00 Today, a Supreme Court ruling just erased the last real defense for more than three hundred fifty thousand people living legally in this country — and a federal review threatens to turn an abortion pill that works into a political bargaining chip.

0:16 Let's walk through it. Let's start with the big one: the Supreme Court. On Thursday, in a case called Mullin v.

0:25 Doe, a 6-3 majority ruled that temporary protected status holders — people from Haiti and Syria who fled disaster and war — can no longer challenge the government's decision to end their protection. Not on the facts.

0:41 Not on the law. Just on narrow constitutional claims that are almost impossible to win. That means roughly 350,000 Haitians and 6,000 Syrians now have no real recourse.

0:56 In Little Haiti, stories are already surfacing of people pulling kids from school, not showing up to work.

1:04 The ruling doesn't just end a legal fight — it transforms a humanitarian promise into a one-shot, no-appeal decision by the Secretary of Homeland Security.

1:16 Meanwhile, the Department of Justice released a draft report from President Trump's Religious Liberty Commission — and it's a blueprint to tear down the wall between church and state.

1:27 The report recommends reinterpreting the Constitution's Establishment Clause to let the government promote religion.

1:35 It wants to kill the Johnson Amendment — the rule that keeps tax-exempt houses of worship from endorsing political candidates.

1:44 It would expand religious exemptions across federal law, so people could refuse to serve same-sex couples or provide contraceptive coverage, and call it conscience.

1:56 The report is out for public comment, but the administration has already signaled this is what's coming. On the environment, the AI boom is turning out to be a fossil-fuel buildout in disguise.

2:09 GE Vernova's gas turbine factory in South Carolina is churning out machines for data centers that will burn gas for twenty to thirty years.

2:20 A single one of those turbines, running in combined-cycle mode, will pump out as much carbon dioxide each year as adding 280,000 to 350,000 cars to the road. Amazon, Google, and a Chevron partnership are buying them.

2:38 The technology is supposed to be clean — but the math says otherwise. Then there's this: the FDA is reportedly set to finish a safety review of mifepristone, the abortion pill used in more than six out of ten U.S.

2:53 abortions, by September. The review comes despite the FDA's own data showing no new safety risks.

3:01 The Daily Signal reported the timeline from a member of Congress, and Bloomberg has hinted the commissioner might be slow-walking it to delay any action past the midterms.

3:13 The in-person dispensing requirement was already dropped in 2023. This review could reimpose restrictions that the Supreme Court dismissed just two years ago.

3:25 Closer to home, New York City approved its first rent freeze in decades — a vote that would save rent-stabilized tenants between twelve hundred and twenty-four hundred dollars a year per household.

3:38 But landlord groups have already signaled a lawsuit. They're not attacking the freeze itself — they're attacking the process, arguing the board's vote was a predetermined outcome.

3:51 The suit hasn't been filed yet, but if it succeeds, it could upend rent regulation across the state. And out West, NOAA just announced a formal review of California's coastal authority.

4:06 The administration says it's checking whether the state is hurting the 'national interest.' The real target?

4:14 California's ability to block offshore oil drilling — especially Sable Offshore's troubled pipelines near Santa Barbara.

4:23 The Department of Energy already tried to force those pipelines restarted using the Defense Production Act. California's attorney general sued.

4:32 Now the review gives the administration a procedural tool to strip the state of its veto power. Public meetings are set for August 10 through 12. This isn't just a day's news.

4:45 We're tracking the whole arc of Project 2025 implementation — 147 of its specific actions have been read and logged so far, with 991 distinct moves mapped across the government. The watch is constant.

5:01 We document, we report, we do not pretend any single one of these fights is over.

5:07 Next week, on Tuesday, the Colorado primary in the 1st District — incumbent Diana DeGette faces two challengers, Melat Kiros and Wanda James. The Religious Liberty Commission draft report is open for public comment.

5:23 The NOAA review of California's coastal authority has an in-person public meeting on August 10 and virtual meetings on August 11 and 12, with written comments due by August 22.

5:37 And the FDA's mifepristone review is expected to wrap up by September — though some inside the agency say it could slip past the midterms. That's where we stand. A lot of moves across a lot of boards.

5:53 We'll keep watching. I'm Gus Calloway. Thank you for listening.