Politics
Trump admin defends White House ballroom as national security matter
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The Trump administration argued in a court filing on Monday that pausing construction on the new White House ballroom would undermine national security, citing a Secret Service declaration warning that halting work would leave the site unable to meet “safety and security requirements” needed to protect the president.
The declaration says the White House’s East Wing, demolished in October and now undergoing below-grade work, cannot be left unfinished without compromising essential security measures.
“Accordingly, any pause in construction, even temporarily, would leave the contractor’s obligation unfulfilled in this regard and consequently hamper the Secret Service’s ability to meet its statutory obligations and protective mission,” reads the filing in part.
The government’s memorandum was in response to a lawsuit filed last week in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, a nonprofit that says it advocates for preserving historic sites of national importance and protecting the public’s role in that process.
WALZ REPEATS DEBUNKED CLAIM THAT TRUMP CONSIDERS WHITE HOUSE BALLROOM ‘TOP PRIORITY’
An excavator works to clear rubble after the East Wing of the White House was demolished on October 23, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Eric Lee/Getty Images)
The National Trust lawsuit targets key government officials responsible for overseeing the White House grounds and the agencies managing the construction project, including the National Park Service and the Department of the Interior.
It argues that pausing the Trump administration’s ballroom project is essential to prevent irreversible changes while the required oversight and public involvement procedures are carried out.
“Submitting the project to the National Capital Planning Commission for review protects the iconic historic features of the White House campus as it evolves. Inviting comments from the American people signals respect and helps ensure a lasting legacy that befits a government of the people, by the people, for the people,” said Carol Quillen, the president and CEO of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
TRUMP UNVEILS VISION FOR EISENHOWER EXECUTIVE OFFICE BUILDING MAKEOVER
A McCrery Architects rendering provided by the White House of the exterior of the new ballroom. (White House)
The White House announced President Donald Trump’s plans in July to move forward with a 90,000-square-foot state ballroom that would cost an estimated $200 million. That figure has now risen to at least $300 million, and while the project is backed by some private donors, Trump has also insisted it will be funded “100% by me and some friends of mine.”
In its filing, the administration emphasized that key regulatory reviews are forthcoming, saying it plans to submit draft architectural drawings and materials to the National Capital Planning Commission and the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts in the coming weeks.
The government argued the lawsuit is premature because above-grade construction is not scheduled to begin until April 2026.
A McCrery Architects rendering provided by the White House of the new ballroom. (The White House)
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The National Trust, however, counters that the scale of the project makes early intervention necessary. In its lawsuit, the group argues that the 90,000-square-foot addition would dwarf the Executive Residence and permanently upset the classical balance of the White House’s design.
The complaint also cites an October statement from the Society of Architectural Historians, which warned that the proposed ballroom would represent the most significant exterior change to the building in more than 80 years.
Politics
Delayed Louisiana Primaries Stoke Confusion at Ballot Box
The signs were stark, in bold, capital letters at early voting sites in Louisiana on Saturday: “ATTENTION! NOTICE OF CANCELLATION.”
The normally scheduled House primaries had been scrapped, the bulletins said, and any votes cast for those races would not be counted. It was an unusual message directed at Louisianians who showed up for the first day of early voting, and a reflection of the dizzying scramble that is playing out after the Supreme Court struck down the state’s congressional map.
The court’s ruling prompted Gov. Jeff Landry, a Republican, to delay House primaries, but to allow other contests to move ahead on May 16. The governor’s directive faces legal challenges and mounting concern about voter confusion.
Some early glimpses of bewilderment came into focus on Saturday. Outside of Baton Rouge City Hall, Linda Thomas felt compelled to double check with a poll worker that she would be able to have her vote counted.
“That was my biggest concern,” said Ms. Thomas, who voted along with her daughter and great-granddaughter. “Would my vote count?”
The Supreme Court’s decision, which said that Louisiana’s map was an illegal racial gerrymander, could have major national implications that extend well beyond this year’s elections. But some of the most immediate effects are in the state at the center of the case, where both parties are now bracing for a turbulent election season.
“It’s a huge mess,” said Lionel Rainey III, a Republican strategist in Louisiana. “It’s a nightmare scenario for election officials, and there is going to be unquestionably mass confusion at the polls.”
Some political organizations, such as the Democratic National Committee, have scrambled to set up efforts to educate voters on the shifting timelines.
“People keep calling us — I mean, voters think that the election has been canceled,” said Ashley Shelton, the president of the Power Coalition for Equity and Justice, a local civil rights organization in Louisiana.
Republicans are also taking to social media to encourage their constituents to vote. The campaign of one Senate candidate, John Fleming, Louisiana’s state treasurer, was sending out texts and emails to try to inform voters that the Senate primary was moving forward on schedule.
“Some people think that all races are delayed,” he said in an interview on Saturday, warning that some confused voters “could end up just saying: To heck with it.”
David Becker, the executive director of the Center for Election Innovation and Research, a nonpartisan group that advises election officials, warned that “radical change like this results in voter confusion.”
“And voter confusion, often if not almost always, results in lower turnout,” he added.
The upheaval in Louisiana is the latest turn in a lengthy fight over congressional boundaries.
With Republicans defending a narrow House majority, voters across the country had already been caught in a partisan redistricting battle started by President Trump and Republican lawmakers in Texas that has extended to Democratic-led states.
The Supreme Court ruling on Wednesday raised the standard for what can be considered an intentional dilution of minority voter power, opening the possibility for another wave of redistricting in Southern states with significant numbers of Black voters.
Two Republican-led Southern states, Alabama and Tennessee, are convening special legislative sessions ahead of their primary elections to consider new maps that would likely dilute at least one majority-Black district in each state. That could upend existing primary campaigns and send voters into new districts, paired with different communities and unfamiliar representatives.
Louisiana has been mired in litigation over its maps for years since it first redrew them following the 2020 census. But the state’s primary was already ripe for confusion because of a separate change. While Louisiana had long held open primaries that advance the top two candidates, regardless of party affiliation, it shifted to closed party primaries long before the Supreme Court ruling.
“That was going to be confusing in and of itself” for some voters, said Cameron Henry, the president of the Louisiana State Senate, and a Republican. As the Republican majority considered how to handle the aftermath of the ruling, he added, “anything we can do to reduce the amount of confusion that’s already surrounded this election cycle would be beneficial for everybody.”
The Louisiana secretary of state’s office did not respond to requests for comment about voter education plans in the state. But in her statement announcing the primary change, Secretary of State Nancy Landry (who is not related to the governor) said notices would be placed at early voting locations and shared a similar message online.
Mr. Landry and other state officials have argued that it would be unconstitutional to operate another House election under a map rejected by the nation’s highest court. “Louisiana is following the law,” he wrote on social media on Friday.
Critics see politics as an overarching factor: A new Louisiana map is likely to help Republicans win control of at least one additional district. Because Black voters in the South have largely backed Democrats in recent years, splitting up or diluting majority-Black districts is likely to hand Republicans an advantage.
Changing the timing and mechanics of the election so late in process is a massive logistical undertaking, according to former election officials. Voter logs need to be updated and new ballots printed, among other tasks.
“People have this perception that there’s two days a year that elections happen, but they have no idea of all the things that go into elections,” said Kathy Boockvar, the former top elections official in Pennsylvania and a Democrat. She said that, in her experience in Pennsylvania, work for a May primary began in December.
Adding another full primary election, Ms. Boockvar said, would also further tax the “thinly stretched, underfunded, understaffed and overworked” election officials, require more poll worker recruitment and likely add a significant new cost to the state.
While special elections for resigning or deceased candidates can sometimes lead to a bifurcated primary calendar, splitting up ongoing elections in Congress has little precedent in modern American elections. Those challenging the legality of the delayed House primaries have pointed to absentee ballots that have already been completed for the primary.
The change has rattled the closely-watched G.O.P. Senate primary in which Senator Bill Cassidy, a second-term incumbent who voted to convict Mr. Trump in his impeachment trial after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, is laboring to hold off challenges from Mr. Fleming and Representative Julia Letlow, who has the endorsement of both Mr. Landry and Mr. Trump.
“The way that the election has transpired — that has almost treated the voters with disrespect,” Mr. Cassidy told reporters on Saturday after casting his ballot early. “You’ve got to be really focused to understand that there’s an election that starts today.”
Danny Bosch, 32, a Baton Rouge lawyer who voted on Saturday, said he understood that the House contests were being delayed, but that he made a selection for that office anyway, because “it was there” as he cast his ballot.
“I’m sure a lot of people are confused about it,” he said of the primary election.
Politics
Abortion pill fight heads to Supreme Court as manufacturer warns of ‘chaos’ after ruling
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The legal battle over abortion pills escalated to the Supreme Court on Saturday, as two manufacturers of mifepristone filed an emergency request warning a lower court ruling is already causing “immediate confusion and upheaval” across the country.
Danco Laboratories is asking the high court to quickly block a 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision that blocked mail-order access and reinstated in-person requirements for the drug, arguing the ruling is disrupting access and creating nationwide uncertainty about legality.
A second manufacturer, GenBioPro, which produces a generic version of mifepristone, also filed an emergency request Saturday with the Supreme Court raising similar concerns.
The ruling directly affects the distribution of mifepristone, Danco’s primary product. Mifepristone is one of two drugs commonly used in medication abortions.
The application was directed to Justice Samuel Alito, who handles emergency matters from the 5th Circuit and can either act on his own or refer the request to the full court. The Supreme Court could act at any time.
ABORTION PILL MIFEPRISTONE SPARKS NEW PRO-LIFE DEBATE AS SOME DOCTORS STRESS SAFETY CONCERNS
Boxes of mifepristone, a pill used for medical abortions. (Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters, File)
In its filing, Danco warned the appeals court’s order is already creating “chaos” in real-world medical settings.
“The panel’s ruling injects immediate confusion and upheaval into highly time-sensitive medical decisions,” the company wrote, adding it is forcing “providers, patients, and pharmacies all to guess at what is allowed and what is not.”
The filing raises immediate questions, including what happens to existing abortion pill prescriptions, pharmacy dispensing and access to in-person visits.
GenBioPro similarly warned the ruling would disrupt access nationwide, arguing in its filing that the order “eliminates nationwide access to mifepristone from certified pharmacies and by mail,” and upends a system that providers and pharmacies have relied on for years.
PRO-LIFE GROUP FINDS BIDEN-ERA FDA POLICY IS DRIVING 500 ABORTIONS PER DAY, SAYS TRUMP HAS POWER TO END IT
Pro-life demonstrators hold a banner in front of the U.S. Supreme Court building during the annual March for Life rally in Washington, D.C. (Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters, File)
“What happens when patients arrive for scheduled appointments this weekend… or walk into pharmacies… to obtain [the drug] that was prescribed… yesterday?” the filing states.
Danco is asking the court to immediately pause the ruling through an administrative stay, then block it for a longer term while litigation continues. The company also suggested the justices could take up the case on an expedited schedule before the end of the term, a move that could reshape the court’s already packed 2026 docket.
GenBioPro is also seeking a stay of the decision, asking the justices to pause the ruling while the case continues through the courts.
The emergency appeal comes just one day after the 5th Circuit issued its ruling, which blocked the mailing of mifepristone and effectively barred pharmacy distribution under the challenged FDA rules, requiring women to obtain the drug in-person from a medical provider.
PRO-LIFE MOVEMENT CONFRONTS HIGH ABORTION RATES THREE YEARS AFTER DOBBS
An advertisement promoting the abortion pills mifepristone and misoprostol in Florida. (40 Days for Life)
“Of course they filed an emergency petition. Big Pharma has gotten extremely rich after the unprecedented and radical deregulation of these dangerous abortion pills,” 40 Days for Life President Shawn Carney told Fox News Digital.
“No abortion advocate or anyone from Big Pharma was pushing to send these drugs through the mail just a few years ago, and now they act as if they’re entitled to do so with zero regulation and zero oversight,” Carney added. “This is more evidence the FDA needs to reevaluate how these drugs were approved after years of ER visits from women who take them.”
Abortion-rights advocates said the ruling has “upended” access to care nationwide, particularly for patients relying on telemedicine, while legal groups warned it is creating confusion for providers trying to comply with rapidly changing rules.
New York Attorney General Letitia James said the decision is “yet another cruel attack on abortion access,” adding that “mifepristone is safe, effective, and essential.”
Mifepristone tablets at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Iowa. (Charlie Neibergall/AP)
The underlying case is still ongoing in lower courts, but the emergency filing now places the dispute squarely before the Supreme Court in what could become the next major legal showdown over abortion policy.
The justices could choose to pause the ruling immediately, allowing the current system to remain in place while the case proceeds, or let the restrictions take effect nationwide.
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“The Supreme Court must reject this unfounded and baseless attack on an essential medication,” said GenBioPro CEO Evan Masingill in a statement provided to Fox News Digital. “GenBioPro firmly believes all people have a right to access safe, affordable, evidence-based health care, and we remain concerned that anti-abortion special interests are attempting to undermine the US Food and Drug Administration’s regulatory authority. This is why we are bringing our fight to the Supreme Court.”
Danco Laboratories did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Politics
Your guide to the L.A. City Council District 5 race: Katy Yaroslavsky faces two challengers
Katy Young Yaroslavsky is running for L.A. City Council District 5.
(Campaign of Katy Young Yaroslavsky for City Council)
Yaroslavsky, 45, was named the council’s budget committee chair at the beginning of last year, a job that carries immense influence over city spending and that requires her to balance lofty political expectations with fiscal reality.
Yaroslavsky began her career as a land use attorney and lobbyist and later worked as a top aide to former Los Angeles County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl for more than six years. She is the daughter-in-law of former Fifth District City Councilmember Zev Yaroslavsky, who later served on the county board of supervisors.
“We need people in office who are interested in problem solving, not focused on gotcha politics. Who are not super ideological but are just really there to solve problems. And that’s what I’m there for,” Yaroslavsky said.
Henry Mantel is running for L.A. City Council District 5.
(Handout from Matt Mantel)
Mantel, 33, has worked on a handful of political campaigns, according to his campaign website, including Carolyn Ramsay’s unsuccessful campaign for the 4th District council seat in 2015. Mantel graduated from the McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento in 2020. As a lawyer, he says he has represented tenants in disputes with landlords, including contesting evictions.
“The extent of the crisis really weighed on me, and watching the City Council continue to refuse to do nothing was just unbearable,” Mantel said.
Morgan Oyler is running for L.A. City Council District 5.
( Cory Aycock)
Oyler, 42, is a longtime accountant for Haus of Portraiture, a fine art portrait studio in Santa Monica. He was born and raised in L.A., attending high school in Santa Monica, and returned to live in Westwood about a decade ago. He sought election to the Washington statehouse in 2010 and 2012, running as a Republican and losing both times. He says he became a Democrat a decade ago, after becoming uneasy with President Trump’s influence on the GOP.
Oyler felt compelled to run because he sees Yaroslavsky’s policies as a barrier to sustainable housing growth.
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