Missouri supreme court blocks congressional maps backed by Trump for midterms – US politics live

The decision marks a setback for Republicans in a national redistricting battleSign up for US Breaking News emailsHello and welcome to the US politics live blog.The Missouri supreme court blocked a Republican-drawn new congressional map ⁠from being used in November’s midterm ⁠elections, a blow to the party’s ​odds for maintaining its narrow US House majority.The Trump administration filed an emergency request asking the US supreme court to lift order blocking USPS from implementing mail-in voting restrictions. Chuck Schumer said the president was “[attempting] to destroy the integrity of our elections” with the move.Excavation work on Donald Trump’s “Great Triumphal Arch” project in Washington is set to begin in the coming weeks, interior secretary Doug Burgum said. Congressman Don Beyer, whose district includes Arlington National Cemetery, described the arch project as “illegal, gridlock-increasing [and] narcissistic”.Maryland’s supreme court has decided that a Democrat-backed congressional redistricting amendment can go before voters in the state in November in a win for Democrats.Donald Trump announced an interim replacement for army secretary, Dan Driscoll, who suddenly resigned earlier this week amid reports of tension between him and defense secretary Pete Hegseth.Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass has been asked to testify before a congressional subcommittee as part of an investigation into the “potential misallocation” of federal funds by the region’s Homeless Services Authority. Congressman Robert Garcia described the move as “another attempt by Donald Trump and House Republicans to launch a witch-hunt against Mayor Karen Bass and Los Angeles.” Continue reading...