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Today, four astronauts strapped into a rocket and did something no human has done in more than fifty years: left for the moon. They won’t land. But they will fly around the far side — losing contact with NASA for an hour — and return home. It is an extraordinary thing.
The mission is piloted by Victor Glover, a Californian and the first African American on a lunar mission. He said he hopes his presence inspires young kids who look up and think, “he looks like me.” But he was quick to add: “I also hope we are pushing the other direction — that one day we don’t have to talk about these firsts. It’s about human history. Not Black history, not women’s history, but human history.”
That’s the thing about space. It has a way of making our differences down here feel exactly as small as they are.
Sometimes I hear concerns that it costs too much money. The space program also produced MRI machines, memory foam, water filtration, and scratch-resistant lenses — among roughly two thousand other inventions. The case for it tends to make itself.
(If you haven’t watched Project Hail Mary — consider this your assignment.)
In today’s newsletter: Trump toys with Iran expectations. The White House wants to control mail-in voting. The Supreme Court didn’t sound sold on ending birthright citizenship. Johnson caves on DHS. NASA returns to deep space. And Kristi Noem’s anti-queer record just collided with an inconvenient tabloid.
Total Confusion: Trumpon Wednesday claimedIran’s “New Regime President” asked for a “CEASEFIRE.” Iransaid that’s“false and baseless.” (Iran’s presidenthas been in officesince 2024.) Trump alsosaid the US would considerthe supposed request when the Strait of Hormuz is “open, free, and clear.” “Until then,” Trump wrote, “we are blasting Iran into oblivion, or, as they say, back to the Stone Ages.” On the other hand, Trumpalso saidthe US is “going to be out” of Iran “pretty quickly,” with the military returning “to do spot hits” as needed. The US continuesstrikesacross Iran. Traffic in the Strait of Hormuz remains essentially halted. And crucially, athird US aircraft carrier groupwith over 6,000 troops is headed to the region.Negotiations: Is Trump trying to deescalate, bluffing in the hopes it will bring Iran to the negotiating table? Or is it all a head fake to buy time before a major US ground assault? Trump will be addressing the nation about the war in Iran tonight at 9:30 pm ET / 6:30 pm PT so perhaps we will learn more then. His latest deadline for escalation is Monday.Not Great Friends: This week Trumpagain attacked US alliesfor refusing to join the US in the war on Iran and telling European nations that it’s up to them to get their own oil out of the Strait of Hormuz. In his words, “just TAKE IT.”
Friend in Need: Trump on Wednesdaytold a British newspaperthat the US is determined to leave NATO; or in his words, the decision is “beyond reconsideration.” Heagain complained thatUS allies, especially the UK, refused to join the war with Iran. Secretary of State Marco Rubiosimilarly said on Tuesdaythe US will “reexamine the value of NATO” for the US after the war, because allies are “denying us basing rights when we need them.” That is not how NATO works; the alliance does not obligate members to offer basing rights for a separate US war.Vanished: Award-winning American journalist Shelly Kittlesonwas kidnapped on Tuesdayin Baghdad, Iraq. US officialssaid an Iranian-backed militiawas involved. Authorities are investigating and have arrested at least one person.Brazen: Israel’s military hassuspended an entire reserve battalionafter soldiers assaulted and detained a team of CNN journalists, an incident the army’s commander called a “serious ethical and professional failure.”According to CNN, the team was reporting on an attack by Israeli settlers near an outpost in the West Bank when a group of soldiers approached them. One troop pointed a rifle at the journalists, and another put a photojournalist in a “chokehold,” damaging his camera. The journalists were detained and released.
End In Sight: House Speaker Mike Johnson blinked. On Wednesday heagreed to advance a Senate dealto end the DHS shutdown, reversing his prior opposition. Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune announced they will push through the bill to fund all of DHS except ICE and parts of CBP, then separately try to approve funding for ICE and CBP through a procedure that requires only a majority vote. Other Republicans, including Lindsey Graham (R-SC), haveimplied they will try to attach fundingfor Iran and parts of the Save America Act to the measure funding ICE and CBP. Congress remains on recess, butcould approve the shutdown-ending dealduring a ceremonial session on Thursday.Fragile Mail Ego: Trump, who weeks ago voted by mail, on Tuesday signed an unprecedented executive order to compile a national list of eligible voters. Hecalled it“foolproof.” Legal experts say it’s unconstitutional,practically impossible to implementbefore the midterms, and almost certain to be struck down in court — just like his previous executive order on voting. At leastsix statesand multiple voting rights groups have pledged to sue. Here’s the breakdown.Listing: The order directs DHS to work with the Social Security Administration tocompile a national listof citizens. That list would be sent to states, which would then have to submit their own lists of confirmed mail-in voters to USPS at least 60 days before an election. USPS would thenapprove that listandonlydeliver ballots —placed in“secure ballot envelopes”with“Intelligent Mail” barcodes — to those voters on it. Voters wouldstill have to registeras normal (because apparently this isn’t complicated enough). The federal government would withhold funding to states and cities that refuse to comply, and the order directs the DOJ toprioritize investigating and prosecutingofficials who distribute ballots to those not on the list. The ordercites federal voting statutesand a clause in the Constitution that says the government must guarantee each state a “Republican” form of government. But that authoritylies with Congress, not the president.Some Problems: Many election offices, and the USPS itself, are underfunded and would struggle to implement such radical changes. There’s evidence officials reviewing voter rollshave already mistakenly flaggedeligible voters for removal. Many states allow voters to request ballots far closer to the election than the 60-day deadline outlined in the order. The chief programs officer at the Election Centerwarned the order could disenfranchise“tens of thousands” of people who don’t act until closer to an election. And that’s before we get to the part about this being unconstitutional.Laughable: The Constitutionmakes it clearthat states, not the president, have the authority to oversee elections. It also gives Congress, not the president, the power to set national election standards. This orderattempts an end run around those limitsby focusing on the USPS rather than elections themselves. A former DOJ lawyer noted that Trump “has no power to tell [the USPS board] what mail it can and cannot deliver.” And critics say the order is still an unconstitutional attempt to subvert elections. Maine’s secretary of statecalled it“laughably unconstitutional” and said her state won’t comply. Nevada’s secretary of statesaid the order“doesn’t benefit anybody in this country except [Trump] himself.” Experts project confidence the order will fail in court. For example, theBrennan Center saysTrump “has no lawful authority to write the rules that govern our elections. He tried a year ago; we sued him; we won. A year later, he has tried again. He can expect the same result.”Fact Check: While signing the order, Trump repeated his widely debunked claims about voting fraud. “The cheating on mail-in voting is legendary,”he said. “This will help a lot with elections.” In reality, one2025 study of electionsbetween 2016 and 2022 found just four cases of fraud for every tenmillionmail-in votes. One-third of Americansvoted by mail in 2024. It’s particularly popular among rural, white, older, and military voters — a key part of Trump’s base.**History Lesson:**It’s unclear how overriding the states’ constitutional right to oversee elections helps preserve their “Republican form of government.” James Madisonwrote that a Republican government wasone that “derives all its powers directly or indirectly from the great body of the people … not from an inconsiderable proportion, or a favored class of it.”Worth Noting: Trump’s DOJhas already suedmore than two dozen states for access to sensitive voter information. Last week the agencyadmitted it plans to sharethat data with DHS to check for noncitizens.
Birth of a New Nation: The Supreme Court on Wednesday seemed skeptical of the Trump administration’s attempt to end birthright citizenship. Trump attended the hearing, thefirst sitting president to do so; he abruptly left when the ACLU’s lawyerbegan her argumentsin defense of birthright citizenship. Here’s what we know.The Background: Birthright citizenship is enshrined in the 14th Amendment. It was confirmed in a landmark Supreme Court decision in 1898 and a 1952 law, which held that anyone born in the US is a US citizen. As recently as the 1990s, a majority of Americansactually opposedbirthright citizenship — but today the idea iswidely supported, with Democratic votersalmost universally in favor.The Trump Team’s Arguments: The Trump administration argued that the 14th Amendment was intended only for formerly enslaved people and their descendants. Itclaimed“we’re in a new world” from the one that passed that Amendment. ChiefJustice John Roberts jumped in, saying, “It’s a new world,” but “it’s the same Constitution.” Trump’s lawyers argued that the landmark 1898 Supreme Court case involved a child of “domiciled” immigrants, therefore does not automatically settle this issue for everyone born here. Their point is that the child in that case was born to immigrant parents who were living in the US as their home, not just passing through. Even conservative justices sounded skeptical about that. The DOJ also claimed birthright citizenshippromotes illegal immigration and repeatedly warnedabout “birth tourism,” which refers to people traveling to the US to have children who become citizens. Federal regulationsprohibit thisand a 2020 study[estimated that “birth tourism](https://www.nytimes.com/live/2026/04…
