Wednesday, September 16, 2026 Today, the House Oversight Committee has voted to hold Epstein associate Leon Black in contempt for failing to appear pursuant to a subpoena; Trump lashes out at the Supreme Court after they shut down the USPS mail ballot portal scheme; a deal has been reached to sell Chicago’s parking meters to an outside firm but only after they sell the ICE deportation fleet Omni Air; Senate Democrats block a cryptocurrency bill because it lacked safeguards against Trump enriching himself while in office; Trump is lashing out after a judge rules his name can’t be put back on the Kennedy Center; Bari Weiss’ 60 Minutes debut episode clocks the show’s lowest ratings; plus Allison and Dana deliver your Good News.
Wednesday, September 16, 2026
Today, the House Oversight Committee has voted to hold Epstein associate Leon Black in contempt for failing to appear pursuant to a subpoena; Trump lashes out at the Supreme Court after they shut down the USPS mail ballot portal scheme; a deal has been reached to sell Chicago’s parking meters to an outside firm but only after they sell the ICE deportation fleet Omni Air; Senate Democrats block a cryptocurrency bill because it lacked safeguards against Trump enriching himself while in office; Trump is lashing out after a judge rules his name can’t be put back on the Kennedy Center; Bari Weiss’ 60 Minutes debut episode clocks the show’s lowest ratings; plus Allison and Dana deliver your Good News.
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Msw media. Hello and welcome to the Daily beans for Wednesday, September 16, 2026. Today, the House Oversight Committee has voted to hold Epstein associate Le Black in contempt for failing to appear pursuant to a subpoena. Trump lashes out at the Supreme Court after they shut down the USPS mail ballot portal scheme. A deal has been reached to sell Chicago's parking meters to an outside firm, but only after the company had to sell the ICE deportation fleet Omni Air. Senate Democrats have blocked a cryptocurrency bill because it lacked safeguards against Trump enriching himself while in office. Donald Trump is lashing out after a judge ruled his name can't be put back on the Kennedy center. And Bari Weiss's 60 Minutes debut episode clocks the show's lowest ratings this century. I'm Alison Gill.
And I'm Dana Goldberg.
Hey, everybody, it's Wednesday. It's hump day. It's the taint of the week.
We are going forward, not back. Everyone, you know that.
Clean to dirty, clean to dirty, Forward, not back. Always from the taint. And don't get one of those weird pharmaceutically caused, perineum, what are they? Like flesh eating virus, Like a flesh eating parasite or something fast. When I watch, like when I watch sports on network television, all of the commercials are about drugs. And it seems like the side effect is all that you could get, like a parasite in your taint. And I don't understand how that happens
and why worry about that. And you can get that shit from eating lettuce, so why even go through the pharmaceuticals?
I think right now, if you want, I, I think that the FDA will just give you the flesh eating parasite, like just straight from, just straight from. For RFK Jr. To you, to your, to your taint. Anyway, welcome, welcome. If this is the first time you've ever listened to the Daily Beats and you're still here. Welcome, welcome.
You're our people. If you, if that's the first time you ever turned on our podcast and you are still here, you are our people.
Now, yesterday I actually, we recorded the thing. And remember at the end of that story, I was like, let me check the feed to see if the Supreme Court has ruled. No, they haven't. And then we finished, we hung up, and then bam. the Supreme Court ruled and I had to do a little breaking news, breaking breaking news thing for the show. And I had said at the time, when I did that, when I recorded that, that we would go into more detail today. And I'm very, very proud to announce that the detail we're going into today includes our guest Kristin Clark. She's a former Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division at the Justice Department. She's a current general counsel for the naacp. So we're going to talk to her about this Supreme Court ruling.
Fantastic.
And by the way, breaking news, we had to add this last second. NBC News is reporting the House Oversight Committee voted Tuesday to recommend the full House find billionaire Leon Black in contempt of Congress over his refusal to comply with subpoenas related to its probe into Jeffrey Epstein. And Leon Black, you know, gave $150 million to Jeffrey Epstein and said it's for financial advice.
Yeah. Which he had no fucking experience in whatsoever.
Right. These are totally blackmail payments. But whatever. The bipartisan vote, by the way, it was unanimous.
That never happens these days. That doesn't mean anything good for them. Now, the numbers are also in for 60 minutes debut episode. This was the first one under Bari Weiss. Justin Barro at ZDO News says that 60 Minutes Premiere averaged 7.7 million viewers and 1.5 million in the 25 to 54 demo. That's down 19% and 33%. Those are massive percentages in viewership respectively. And that's compared to last season's debut. Now this marks the lowest rated premiere this century.
My God. Wow.
That's interesting. Also, you know, we found out today, and this is more tea than news, but Fetterman attended a retreat with Fox News executives traveling to Montana this past July at the invitation of the Murdaughs.
Oh, wow.
And he traveled there to speak on a social media focused panel with Katie Britt.
What?
So like, I don't know what's going on with him.
I mean, we knew this guy was, you know, I don't want to say a traitor, but a traitor. And I think we're really seeing like this, this guy at who he really is. Unless this was all. I don't know. Unless this was all, you know, what happened with his stroke? I have no idea. Yeah, I don't even know idea what happened to him. But this is not the guy that Pennsylvania voted for.
Yeah.
and then now he's lashing out like, I'm not going to turn into a Republican. God, stop saying that. Why don't you just wait until after the midterms and then if I do, you can call me a liar like, oh, so it sounds like you've thought about it.
Yeah, no kidding. Not wait till.
Anyway, sort of out of nowhere.
Good news from the Emmys. Last night I know we've been talking already, but there was good news from the Emmys. If you watch the Emmys, there's some mixed opinions about how that show went. But what is not a mixed opinion is Colbert won. Colbert won. And it was a beautiful speech.
Yeah. And that's an, odd thing in a normal year because John Oliver wins it every year for the last decade. Like, John Oliver always walks away with this award. So I think it was a, specific nod to Colbert. And when he got up on stage, of course, he did the same thing he did before when he's won awards. He said, everybody, this is my crew. Hire them. They are the best people in the business. You know, And I just thought that was just lovely. What a lovely moment.
Agreed. Agreed. All right, all right.
We got a ton of news to get to. let's hit the hot notes. Hot notes. All right, everybody. First up from Politico. President Donald Trump attacked the Supreme Court today over its decision to block his mail in ballot plan on Tuesday, sharply targeting his three nominees on the bench and saying, these are not the people I interviewed to serve on the United States Supreme Court. Did you sit them down and ask them if you could interfere in elections? And they said yes. Like, what are you talking about? In the ruling Monday night, none of Trump's three picks for the court from his first term, Kavanaugh, Gorsuch, or Barrett, indicated support for his attempt to implement mail in voting limits during the midterms. Though we actually don't know if Gorsuch or Coney Barrett voted with Trump and just didn't put their names on the Alito and Thomas dissent. The only thing we know for sure is that six justices Kavanaugh didn't. Right. Plus five others, because the other five are the majority. Right. So there's one that could be hanging out there that could go either way. It could either be 6, 3, or 5, 4, or a, full 7, 2. You know, you never know. No, it can't be 5, 4, because Kavanaugh was talking to the other five justices in his concurrence. So it has to be 6, 3, or 7, 2. Quote, the justices are merely a shell of their original selves. A court that is costing the United States trillions of dollars with shockingly bad rulings. Okay. That's what Trump said in a truth social post, citing other recent high profile losses on tariffs and birthright citizenship. He added, it's not easy for me to write this criticism. That's why I'm having Natalie Harp do it for me.
No, serious.
It's not easy. It's not easy for me to write this criticism of the United States Supreme Court. It will likely cost me dearly for years to come. Cost you what? Cost you what? You don't get to go in the luxury motor coach on the next trip m to the Nazi Collector House for Hunting.
Nazi come. Nazi Collector.
What is it costing you, bro?
I'm telling you, it's called Nazi Collector House for Hunting. Yeah.
What's his name? Harlan Crow. That's his name.
There you go.
I forget people's names and I always give people nicknames like, we'll be watching House of Dragons and I'll lean over to my friend Joelle and I'll be like, eye Patch and Dick Neck are still at large or whatever, you know, because I can't remember the names of any of the dragons or the people. Anyway, back to Politico here. Monday night's mail ballot order preserves a lower court ruling that blocks the U.S. postal Service from implementing the new requirements in the weeks before the election. But the ruling may not necessarily be the final word on the directive should the Trump administration pursue implementation in future elections. I think it will be because, like I said, five justices said that this wouldn't win on the merits. Kavanaugh branched off and said, I think that the Postal Service might have this authority, but he was talking to five other justices. So as it stands, the majority of the Supreme Court doesn't think the USPS has this. The authority to do this anyway.
Good.
Or at least no. Yeah, all five of them sat on the merits anyway. Election officials said in the weeks before the decision that the proposed changes threatened to disenfranchise millions of voters by not having their ballots delivered and were not feasible. Trump signed the executive order to control Mail in voting in March, claiming he needed to combat widespread election fraud that doesn't exist. In August, the USPS released a final rule which would require states to provide lists of eligible voters and adhere to approved and envelope styles. In that brief concurring opinion, Kavanaugh said, in his view, state and local election officials do not have sufficient time to reasonably implement the rule before the election. But at least five justices disagree with Kavanaugh, As I said, which is good news because Kavanaugh thinks the post office might have the authority. As I said, and as you said, Dana could resurrect this in the 2028 election. But Steve Vladic wrote about that in his 1 1st substack. He said to me, the more significant math point here is there's no way. It was 5, 4. And so, despite Justice Kavanaugh's surprising support for the USPS authority here, my own read of the cryptic order is that five other justices publicly signaled that they do not believe the government will ultimately succeed in challenging Judge Talwani's injunction.
Okay.
And again, I'm going to talk more about this with Kristen Clark later in the show. As I said, Alito and Thomas dissented. Quote, republicans just got another bad decision from the United States Supreme Court, one that the court system took forever to give, and then blamed in part, on no time left to implement the solution of our totally corrupt and out of control mail in voting disaster, which is what Alito's dissent was. So I feel like they talked to each other. Yeah.
all right, more stuff. This is from, the Times. A federal judge ruled on Tuesday that the John F. Kennedy center for the Performing Arts could not honor President Trump with an inscription on the institution's exterior, blocking an effort by the center's board to restore the president's name to the building. Now, after the decision, Trump, who has been chairman of the center since early in his second term, posted a really stark ultimatum to social media. His platform if an appeals court does not agree to allow his name back on the building. He said he would block a $257 million renovation of the center that he has been championing for more than a year. And I quote, if the ruling is a negative one, which it should not be and is not overTurned by the US Supreme Court, the reconstruction and the renovation of, the Kennedy center will not take place. Now, Donald declared his position shortly after the center's board voted for the third time, M, by the way, to close the building for renovation, citing conditions that it deemed, and I quote, hazardous. In a social media post, Donald said that the building would close immediately. And a, ah, statement that was at odds, by the way, with the court order blocking the closure. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did they do that later. and in this order, by the way, on Tuesday that barred the proposed inscription, Judge Christopher R. Cooper of the Federal District Court in Washington wrote that such an addition would violate his previous order that blocked the board from renaming the center after Donald. And I quote, simply put, defendants cannot install memorials for President Trump or anyone or anything else at the Kennedy center without Congress's blessing. That's what Judge Cooper wrote. And I quote, the board resolution bucks a federal court order and a statute Congress enacted. For weeks, Donald's allies running the Kennedy center have suggested that the president's continued, commitment to the institution was contingent on some conspicuous recognition on the building's campus. Most recently, a draft resolution submitted to board members said that the center was at risk of bankruptcy. Really, like, we covered this yesterday. Shocking. But could be saved. Of course, it could be saved by fundraising by Donald if he were to receive appropriate recognition. Donald's latest social media post made that quid pro quo even more clear. He said that the 17 million that was raised that he put in that little fund by the president has been put into the center's account to keep it afloat. Now, the Post followed a day of rage directed at those blocking his agenda for the Kennedy Center. Shortly before the judge's ruling was publicly released, Donald turned to social media to declare that the center was in a virtual state of collapse. The Post called Judge Cooper very. Excuse me, the Post, not the. Like the Washington Post. Donald Trump's post called Judge Cooper very hostile and conflicted and went on to predict that the building was destined to doom unless it was allowed to close. He continued those arguments during a virtual board meeting on Tuesday afternoon, where he got into a bitter argument with Representative Joyce Beatty. That's a Democrat ex official board member. Whose lawsuit prompted the judge's ruling. That's according to two people familiar with the meeting. They said that Donald and Ms. Beatty, who have been at odds in court for months, traded personal attacks. The president saying the congresswoman had, and I quote, never built anything in her life. And Ms. Beatty calling Trump ignorant and blamed him for the center's financial problems.
And I just want to tell everybody, every time we talk about Representative Joyce Beatty and that she's a Democratic. Ex official board member. Ex officia board member means she's a current board member. It's like her title, ex officia board member. Like, it's weird. It makes it sound like she's not a board member, but she is. So I just. Weird.
Oh, yeah. Now, the U.S. court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, they have not yet ruled on whether Donald's name can be restored to the center. That's pending a decision that Trump referenced on social media and could ultimately be appealed up to the Supreme Court. So he's going to destroy this fucking building because you know what's going to happen? He's probably going to start demolition and be like, oh, I wasn't supposed to. The same fucking thing he did to the east wing. I would not be surprised if he destroys this building.
That's what I'm afraid of. And since we just within the last hour or so he has closed. He had security guards come and escort everybody out of the Kennedy Center. Put up big red signs normally where they advertise like future performances and stuff. Emergency closed. He was saying pieces of the building are falling off and almost kill people. He's just making this up. He's just making stuff up. So. Because he can't get his name on the building.
Yeah.
And he would rather close it and demolish it. And he said it's doomed. You doomed it, bro. It was doing fine. It was doing fine. You know how I know? I got a couple of friends that were on the board of the Kennedy center before you took it over and it was doing great. Sold out performances all the time. Anyway, next up. Yeah, he's. He's. He's a liar. Liar. Next up from wttw. This is so cool. But also bad news and good news. A deal has been reached that will allow Chicago's parking meters to be sold to a New York based investment firm that in turn will sell an airline that has been carrying out deportations for the Trump administration. That's what, five elder people? excuse me, alder people. Not elder people. That's what five.
I mean, we don't know who they are. They could be elder people.
This is what our five forefathers announced on Tuesday. Sorry.
A,
Stone Peak Partners first asked the City Council to approve a 2.53 billion dollar sale of the parking meters from Chicago Parking Meters LLC in July, only to run into a brick wall of opposition. Chicago Parking Meters LLC leased the meters for 75 years in 2008. Chicago made a bid, too, but they would have had to spend billions of dollars and taken out a bunch of loans to get their parking meters back.
That's wild.
But the.
But the problem was, and we brought this up, we remember, I think we had a good trouble where we said, call your alderman and tell them not to approve this because why would we sell your parking meters to the company that owns Omni Air? Right, but the new deal requires Stone Peak to sell Omni Air. They have to sell it, which has a contract with the Department of Homeland Security to provide long haul deportation flights. And that's according to city council members. More than a dozen progressive members of the city Council said they will not allow the sale of the city's meters unless the firm sold Omni Air. In addition, Stone Peak has agreed to pay the city 75 million once the sale closes. That's according to the city council members. And those funds will be earmarked for the city's pension funds, according to the City Council members. In addition, Stone peak will pay 5% of its net operating income annually to Chicago, which is expected to yield $376.2 million for the city over the next 57 years. That's according to the agreement, and those funds will also be earmarked for the city's pension funds, according to the Alder People. Now. James Wiper that Stone Peak's senior managing director told a City Council committee that the firm believed the Trump administration's ongoing mass deportation effort was abhorrent and was actively trying to sell Omni Air already. But the sale of Omni Air must be confirmed via certified document following federal approvals. According to the deal, the agreement must be approved by the Chicago City Council. A final vote on the deal by the council's Finance Committee could come as soon as September 21, with a final vote as soon as September 23. Mayor Brandon Johnson told reporters during City hall news conference that he was hopeful that City Council would approve the agreement, calling it a better deal for taxpayers but stopping short of calling for its approval. Johnson once again called the parking meter deal the worst ever approved by a local government in the United states history. In 2008, the firm leased the city's meters for 75 years in return for 1.15 billion, a much loathed deal crafted by former Mayor Richard Daley and rubber stamped by the City Council at the time that continues to roil Chicago politics nearly two decades decades later. The parking meter lease generated 1.97 billion in revenue for the firm between 2009 and 2024. That's approximately $500 million more than was paid to the city nearly 18 years ago. Quote, this is a good deal for the city, this new one for all Chicagoans. That's Alderman Pat Dowell from the 3rd Ward, chair of the City Council's Finance Committee. The completion of this agreement will be a departure from the old deal, which did not think about the people of the City of Chicago and which yielded little benefit for the city. This proposed agreement, on the other hand, offers long term benefits. Government and the taxpayers d praised the Johnson administration for helping negotiate the agreement. Alderman Scott Wagspach, 30, 2nd Ward, who was one of just five Aler people who voted against the original sale original sale of the parking meters and the only one still on the council, said the agreement is actually a breakthrough. Quote, the steel always seemed ironclad and impossible to change, but through these negotiations we're able to break it open and make significant changes. I'm certain that is absolutely the best pathway we could get, and I'm proud to support it. I urge my colleagues to do the same. City officials and representatives at Stone Peak will also examine establishing certain non metered blocks as potential electric vehicle charging stations. And revenue from those charging stations would be split between the firm and the city. Stone Peak also agrees to ensure that at least 50% of its Chicago parking meter workforce will live in Chicago and disclose to the city how much employees live in the south and west sides and where some of Chicago's poorest residents live, according to the agreement. And the agreement, by the way, also prohibits Stone Peak from sharing any information about Chicago drivers who use the system with the federal government. So a lot of great things they got in here. The bad news is Chicago didn't get its meters back, but there's good stuff in here, number one among them. They have to sell on the air.
Yeah. Yep. Thank you so much, Alison. This was from NBC. Senate Democrats on Tuesday blocked legislation to create a new regulatory framework for cryptocurrency, stalling an industry backed effort to place new guardrails around digital assets after demanding more limits on Donald Trump's investments. The 49 to 50 vote on whether to move forward with the legislation was a pivotal election year test for the $2.3 trillion cryptocurrency market as the industry has pushed aggressively for a uniform set of rules. The Senate debate came as cryptocurrency companies have become a major political force and as Trump has amassed significant wealth in crypto while in office. You know that old law. While Democrats are friendly toward the industry and support the idea of regulation, they have been adamant that the bill include strong ethics safeguards to prevent the president specifically and his crotch fruit from enriching themselves while he's in office. The opposite appears to have only solidified two months before the midterm elections, despite significant donations that crypto groups have given to some Democrats in recent years. And I quote, let's make sure that we do not pass a crypto bill that will let Donald Trump continue to rake in billions of dollars in crypto profits while working families across the country struggle to deal with higher prices in an economy that gets worse by the day. Because you know who doesn't own cryptocurrency, Allison? Most of the fucking people in the United States. Me. Yeah, me. By the way, that statement was from no one other than Senator Elizabeth Warren. She is the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee. As Democrats made clear that they would block the bill, Trump agrees to some concessions on ethics, including new restrictions on federal elected officials from issuing digital assets like the presidential meme coins he and his wife Melania launched before he took office for his second term. He agreed to new concessions Sunday, such as additional powers for state attorneys general that Democrats had sought to enforce the crypto measures. Those concessions, they were not enough for Democrats, who said that the latest Republican proposal does not have enough enforcement. They also want a requirement for Trump or any future president to divest if holdings reach a certain value. Democrats sent a counteroffer late Monday that would have expanded the ethics provision, but they were not able to strike a final deal. Republicans needed Democratic support to win the 60 votes necessary to move forward on the bill. In the 53 to 47 Senate, North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis, as we know, a Republican who worked with Gallego to strengthen the ethics provision, said before the vote that he was pleased with Trump's latest concessions. Give me a fucking break, he said. We're so close. It's just a shame to not take this opportunity.
Thom Tellis doesn't understand what concessions are. He doesn't remember when he insisted that he wouldn't vote for Todd Blanche to be Attorney General unless he rescinded Trump's tax immunity on the slush fund.
Yes.
And all he got was this, filled with loopholes, rescission of a secondary order and not the underlying settlement agreement. Plus a big, giant paragraph whining about all the lawsuits, including mine. I'm named in that rescission, by the way. That's. That's my, going down in history moment there, but just left the tax immunity right there until us was like,
oh, it's good enough.
We're so close. Like you. Yeah, it's not. It's, it's not even close. It's not. It's one or the other. Anyway, glad. I'm glad the Democrats. I'm glad the Democrats blocked this stupid bill.
Yeah. I think we could need some good news after this.
We sure could. and we're going to have the good news. But first, I'm going to talk to former assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Division. Back when the DOJ was like, was doing justice.
Yes.
Kristen Clark, she's now general counsel for the naacp. She's got a lawsuit. They're out there, still going against the mail ballot rule, as do many other folks. But we're going to talk about the Supreme Court ruling, what a big win it is and what we think about it right after this break. Stick around. We'll Be right back after these messages.
We'll be right back.
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Hi. Thank you for having me.
Honored truly to speak with you today. And you know, yesterday we barely got the news in on time because it came so late in the day about the Supreme Court's ruling at this point was the USPS v. California because they were trying to get an emergency stay from the Supreme Court and they denied that. But the naacp, where your general counsel, you also have a case against the USPS in the D.C. district court. But the NAACP's case is a little unique in the fact that it argues that the new USPS rule to put up this postal ballot portal and scanning barcodes and all that. You know, the multiple step thing that, that whistleblower said was just chaos, which I think is a feature and not a bug. But that it actually violates a previous settlement that you came that the NAACP got from a 2020 lawsuit against the Postal Service. Right?
Yeah, that's right. well first of all, what a big win for democracy. What a huge win for democracy. we, we need to and demand that our institutions abide by the Constitution and do right by Americans. And I'm glad that the Supreme Court did the right thing here, and blocked this Postal Service rule from taking effect. It absolutely would have unleashed, chaos in every corner of the country. the NAACP had kind of a two pronged attack here. As you note, there was a suit brought in 2020 along with our partners at LDF, challenging the delays that we saw in mail delivery towards the tail end of the pandemic. And part of the relief secured in that case required that the Postal Service agree to timely delivery of mail, including mail ballots going forward. And that provided one lever to bring pressure to bear on the Postal Service. But then we had another suit that we filed, this time challenging the second Trump administration's executive order which sought to weaponize the Postal Service. and, and you know, put in place this new portal system, put in place new requirements for the envelopes used to transfer mail ballots. All a very ill conceived, error prone scheme that you know, both violated the Constitution and violated the federal law. that case was pending, before Trump appointed judge who, you know, we weren't sure what Judge Nichols was going to do in this case, but ultimately he issued a nationwide injunction finding that the Postal Service, rule was inappropriate, finding that there was no evidence that there was fraud in our elections. And so, you know, I think the lesson of the story here is that we need multi pronged attacks in the courts right now to you know, really hold this administration accountable and the postal. The kind of battle here is one where we saw lots of different civil rights organizations, not just the naacp, you know, really bringing a multi pronged strategy to hold this administration to account.
Yeah, and I mean we're doing that like I have a lawsuit against the slush fund for violations of the, apa, where the other people have it for different issues. Right. So when you have that multi pronged attack, I think that works better and it works in everyone's favor. And what's interesting about Judge Nichols ruling is it differs from Judge Talwani's in that Judge Talwani said that USPS cannot make this mandatory. And Judge Nichols said you can't do it at all. Yeah, it can't even be voluntary. I think that's important. An important distinction.
Yeah. I mean, Judge Talwani moved very swiftly, which was important here because we are barreling towards election day. But I think it's fair to say that her opinion and approach was more cautious. As you noted, she essentially said that you can't make, make these things mandatory. There are some parts, if states so choose, to voluntarily comply, they can do so. But, we're not going to make this thing mandatory. Judge Nichols just said the whole thing. You know, he issued a nationwide injunction against the entire rule. it didn't matter. You know, he didn't slice and dice the provisions. In the end, his approach was more bullish and aggressive and, and appropriate given, how unlawful and unconstitutional this scheme was.
Yeah. And I think the underpinning concept in both cases is states run their own elections. The feds don't have any, don't have any say in that. And, you know, it's interesting when we talk about what the Supreme Court decided. I was always kind of feeling that, because I remember this is a totally different case. But Mark Meadows was trying to get his Fulton county indictment into federal court, out of state court. And Judge Pryor, who's the chief Judge on the 11th Circuit, very conservative, best friend of Clarence Thomas, said, you have no role in elections, sir. No, we're not going to move your stuff to federal court. Neither does the President. And I was like, okay, well, whew. I think hopefully this kind of thing stands. But, what was interesting in the Supreme Court ruling is that Kavanaugh wrote a concurrence to purportedly at least five other justices who are in the majority, who wrote the first paragraph, and a concurrence with a disagreement, saying he thinks that the USPS might actually have this power, but not so close to an election. And he avoids Purcell by saying it's an APA issue. it's a procedural issue. But what brings me relief is that he's talking to at least five other justices.
Yeah, yeah. I, you know, in many cases, it almost feels like, Justice Kavanaugh's kind of Walking on eggshells. M. You know, very fearful of inviting the ire of, President Trump, and that's how I read his short concurrence here. yeah, you know, I know this thing is bad, but, let me not come at it with a sledgehammer, and suggest that if we only had more time, maybe we could have figured this thing out. ultimately, once this is blocked through the midterm election and the litigation will continue, on the other side of election. And I think that we will prevail. I think that, we'll prevail, in our lawsuit, that the states will prevail in theirs, and that the League of Women Voters will also ultimately prevail on the merits, in their case in Massachusetts.
And I agree, because like I said, Kavanaugh, I think, was talking to at least five other justices there in the majority who said both on the merits and on the balance of equities, which is to sell. And it was only Kavanaugh who had to come out as the sixth justice and say same, but for different reasons. Right, I concur, and won't put this stay into effect. So the fact that there are five justices who think that this sucks on the merit and sucks on the balance of equities brings me relief for, like, for all the future of all these
other cases, like you said, indeed, we just need a court willing to do its job, just, apply the law to the facts, be a fair arbiter of the Constitution and this issue. There is nothing partisan about this except for the fact that President Trump is trying to put his thumb on the scales for this midterm election cycle. But at the end of the day, everyone in our, our country votes by mail. Democrats, Republicans, independents, people in cities, people in rural areas, military. Yeah. Old, older people, our college students, folks in the military. This dates back to the Civil War. Like, what are we talking about? Vote by mail is such an integral part of our electoral system, and that Trump is trying to turn it on its head is, just so outrageous. I think ultimately this prevails, and I hope that the administration, frankly, will wisen up and really just abandon this half, you know, hatched scheme on the other side of the election.
Yeah, I hope. I hope so, too, because who knows what else they have up their sleeves. I know our Secretaries of state and in both red and blue states are doing their best to prepare for what could possibly happen on election day. What did you think of Alito and Thomas's dissent? Specifically Alito Hoochin just keeps just getting facts wrong, it seems. It's, it's kind of, I don't know, blatantly just wrong.
Yeah, you know, there, there were some of us kind of sweating bullets. Right. Like, we are just a few weeks out from the November election. Frankly, every day that the Supreme Court was taking, to kind of resolve this, we were seeing and feeling an increasing level of anxiety and chaos. Us, we, really needed the court to bring, this, bring us some clarity. But some of us were theorizing that this is probably getting pushed because Justice Alito and Thomas are penning some long, angry dissent. And that's exactly what happened.
This is always the case.
I think it's why it is hard to have conversations about where we are when it comes to democracy without talking about the need for Supreme Court reform. we have Justice Thomas, who is now the second longest serving justice. we have Justice Alito. looming heavy is the question of whether he will soon retire. He has a new book coming out in October. But those two justices in particular, I think, just feel so off the rails, so politicized in the way that they handle the matters that come before them, so 100% predictable in terms of the outcome, that they deliver that it really, I think, just underscores the need for us to be talking about term limits and ethics reforms and reforms that will help to restore public confidence and trust in the Court as an institution.
Yeah, and I think we're seeing that. I think we're seeing a rise in the popularity of those talking points I never thought of. I would see Jim Clyburn, for example, go on national television and say, we need to add justices to the Supreme Court. My jaw was on. I was agog at that. Like Jim Clyburn, kingmaker through South Carolina guy who you have to get your POTUS platform through in 2028, is for this. But, you know, I think court reform, because of these kinds of things, because of the real impact that voters, people and, Americans, families are feeling from what the Supreme Court has done. Yeah, because we're feeling that impact. I think that that is what is making court reform far more likely to be on every single candidate's platform come, come 2028.
And look at, Trump's reaction today to the Court's decision, to block this attempt to hijack vote by mail. He says, hey, these guys are not the people I interview. we really need to figure out how, we can have justices on the court who can do their job, with Independence and without the weight and pressure of a president kind of being a big bully, watching their every rule and hovering over every decision that they issue.
Yeah. I'm not sure what made Kavanaugh think that if he just went by the procedures and not Purcell or equities and disagreed and said the USPS might actually have this authority. I don't what made him think that, that he still wouldn't draw the ire of, of Donald Trump. In fact, now his name is on a separate thing, agreeing with the majority. I, you know, I'm not sure, what he, what he was thinking when he. Other than trying to just have to avoid touching Purcell. Because he uses it, you know, in.
Selectively.
Yeah, he uses select. Anyway, thank you so much. This is such a huge win, as you said, for democracy. I appreciate you spending the time speaking with us today. Where can people find and follow the work, help support the NAACP and the good work that you do?
Yeah, NAACP, uh.org you can visit our website, find information about how you can safeguard your right to vote this election cycle. We're encouraging people to go to 866 our vote if they encounter issues. And we're lifting up national voter registration week, encouraging people to check your voter registration status. make a plan to vote this election season, whether it's by mail, early vote, in person, on election day. Know that ballot, up and down. But this midterm election cycle, there's so much, you know, kind of riding on this moment and we need everyone, to turn out and m make sure their voices are heard this election season.
And well, thank you for helping make that a reality for make giving people more access to the ballot there at the naacp. Appreciate it all your work and your time. Kristin Clark, thank you very much.
Thanks for having me.
Everybody, stick around. We'll be right back with the good news. Everybody, welcome back. It's time for the good news, everyone.
Then.
Good news, everyone. All right, Midweek good news. Send it all to us. It can be big good news or little good news. If you just want to write in and say hi, you can do that. Maybe you're doing a travel. Send us your travelog stuff, couple of photos. That would be amazing. you can send shout outs to loved ones or nonprofits or small businesses that could use a boost or a self shout out or a government program that's helped you or a loved one. Maybe a great candidate you want us to know about that's running in your area. good trouble suggestions. Send it all to us, please. Dailybeanspod.com Click on Contact. And all you got to do to get your stuff on the air is pay your pod pet tariff, which means attach a photo. And it can. It can be anything. Like, you can send a funny meme or a picture of what you're making or creating, or a nice sunset or a cute animal from the Internet. Or your family pictures, baby pictures, your pet. Right. The original thing that was. The whole thing was pot. That was.
That's.
That's where it started. But really, any picture will do. Send it to us dailymeanspot.com click on Contact. First up is your good Trouble. Good Trouble today from a listener on the ground in Tennessee. Hi, beanie babes. You'll recall Tennessee redistricted 48 hours after the Calais decision this summer. Our state legislature doesn't waste time when they're obstructing fair maps. Well, your unofficial Tennessee correspondent is reporting with the good news that we have an amazing slate of candidates for these congressional races. I want to tell everyone just a tiny bit about why they're amazing, how different they are, and why your listeners should pick one or more of their favorites to support for some good trouble. These candidates are blue dots at their best and would be amazing reps for their districts. Except maybe we should, you know, stop saying they're dots since they're surging in the polls. Tennessee is more purple with each election cycle. Okay, here we go with some of the most competitive, interesting races in our state from east to west, according to me. District one, do it for Dolly. Christy Burke is an artist, mom, community organizer running to represent Dolly's hometown and its surrounding counties. She's running against Diana Harshbarger. Wow, that's quite a name. Whose town hall she was removed from for simply trying to ask about Medicaid cuts. I remember that since she couldn't question her elected, rep, she decided to become one. Talk about pouring a cup of ambition. Nice. District two. I'm personally proud to support Michaela Barnett, who is running in my district. She's a civil Engineer with a PhD, a small business owner and former Congressional Science policy fellow. She's running against Tim Burchette, one of the most MAGA members of Congress and certified Trump bootlicker. Please support M. Michaela because she's smart and awesome and because I would love the chance not to be embarrassed by my congressional rep. It must feel amazing. It is pretty nice. It is pretty nice. In District 5, Chaz Mulder is the mayor of Columbia, serving in a city inside a very Republican county. His opponent is Charlie Hatchet, who just beat the Trump endorsed incumbent, Andy Ogles. Oh yeah, Andy Ogles lost. That's right. In the Republican primary hearing. How amazing would it be that we not only get rid of Andy, but we also have a Dem to succeed him? That would be amazing. District 7 Darden Copeland faces Matt Van Epps, who has only been in Congress since barely winning a special election against Rep. Afton Bain in December 2025. Remember how close that race was and how it drew national attention? Pepperidge Farm remembers. And lots more fuckery has happened since then. I love this person. District 9. This was the district that caused the legislature to shuffle the entire western half of the state state just to try to break Memphis's political power. Justin Pearson is a Memphis organizer, state representative, and one of the Tennessee 3. He faces Republican State Senator Brent Taylor in the newly reconstructed district in the race. As truly amazing as Pearson is, his opponent is repulsive. Example, back in January, he appeared on camera taunting protesters by holding up an ice cube and sucking on it in a Cor Civic sponsored gala. The choice could not be starker. And guess what? Pearson's only four points behind in the polls at the moment. He's within striking distance in a district they created just to keep him out. Do one of these candidates strike your fancy? Please consider supporting them this cycle. They're up against huge machines designed to silence them. Here I'll include a picture of myself and the fabulous Justin Pearson, who I was honored to hear speak in Nashville recently. I'm on the right and as a bonus, I'm wearing my Michaela Barnett shirt in the photo. Put hope to work. We're going to have links to all of these in the show notes for you. Look at that. Put hope to work. Great.
Amazing.
Thank you. Our on the ground reporter from Tennessee.
This is awesome. Absolutely awesome. Thank you. This is, from Anonymous. Pronouncing him help with pronunciation. Sinn Fein.
Ah.
mm, obviously I wouldn't miss this one. and then we've got plaid Cymrun.
That's not what that looks like. Plaid, I get. But cy. How is Cymru Comrude? I mean, I guess it's like how my friend Siobhan is S I O B a n. So I guess, I guess that's possible.
By the way, this person says impossible to decipher unless you grew up with them. So there's some grace there. All right, next up from Catherine, Pronouns, she and her, hail. All being masters of time, space and beings. Welcome back, Dana. Thank you Katherine Ag. Your comment about the EPA becoming the Environmental Destruction Agency yesterday made me laugh and I wanted to share a funny thing my mom said while visiting her over Labor Day weekend. Weekend as usual, I just lay it out there with a smooth so how about this administration, huh? Huh? Immediately she starts with somebody needs to take that asshole's chainsaw away. She's the best. She raised me right. The POD Tax is a candid photo of my mom and I. Strikingly similar and one of my favorite response memes. Love you ladies. Thanks for all your hard work. This is a very great picture.
It is lovely and I'm sorry your propaganda has been declined. Very nice.
Awesome.
Thank you for that. All right, next up from Anonymous she her hello wonderful women. I'm writing to make a suggestion for all of us. Let's change focusing on it as Election Day and call it election season and include all the early voting dates. I'm going to serve as a poll worker this year again to do my part to facilitate voting. So thanks for all you do. The photo I've included is a baby blanket I have completed for my neighbors son and wife. All who are expecting a little boy and March. Look at this quill.
This is so sweet.
I love it so much. The colors. I think that's adorable. Now that's a very good point. And I always try to say Election Day is the last day. Election Day is the end of the election season. That's the last day to vote, right?
Yep.
We got to vote early and we got to vote and we got to vote often. No, just once. Thanks.
Just once. Just once. Just once. all right, next up from Kathy Pronounce she and her hello Magnificent bean queen. Welcome back Dana. Thank you again Kathy. Allison, you did an amazing one woman show while DG was away. I have two small pieces of good news. One, I was finally able to use my Ice Block app that I downloaded long ago when you all first informed us about it. So happy I did. Saw ah, a DHS SUV near the curbside pickup area of my local grocery store and promptly fired up the app and reported the sighting. Second thing, I was telling a coworker about checking her voting status just in case and she discovered she was off the rolls. Apparently she had an address change she hadn't reported. She's now ready to go for the midterms for my tax tariff. Here are a couple of sunset pics from vacation to Northern Minnesota this past summer. It was in the 70s almost every day. Glorious. Can you guess the birds in the
second photo Oh, I want to live in Minnesota. Can I guess the loons?
But I don't know.
I don't know. They kind of look like loons. Let's see. Common loons.
There you go.
I didn't get the common. I didn't know there were, you know.
That's okay. You got loons. And I feel like teaching all the points for that.
Well, it's just because it's Minnesota and it's a lake. So I'm like, that's, typical to find loons up in the north. North up on lakes like that. I would love to live there. So what lake is that? Does she say, I want to live there? Oh, northern Minnesota. That's all it says. That's so cool about the ice block apps. Not available on Apple anymore. Right. Remember, Josh was suing them, about that. But, so they had to take the app down. But if you'd already downloaded it, it's still functional and you can still use it. So that's pretty cool. And I love this, by the way, if at work, if you work in an office, a bullpen, you got co workers at work. Walk around and just. Just stand over your co workers shoulders and have them check their voter registration.
Do it. Do it.
Like, just do it. Takes, a minute. Vote.org all right. Mel from North Carolina pronouns she and her hi, AG and DG. Back in 22, Allison was saying, we only need to work in our own corner. Kinda. I realized my corner was writing. So on February 24, 2022, as a show of solidarity, I decided to write a poem for each day of the Russian invasion of Ukra. Oh, wow. For the first hundred days, I wrote a poem. My good news is yesterday my poem video of a soldier's dog was nominated for a Pushcart Prize by the Reedy Branch Review. Oh, my goodness. It was such a surprise, Mel. Amazing. It's great having Dana back. So I attached a canvassing photo for her. It's from last Saturday and shows my husband and me on the far left about to go door to door for North Carolina House of Representatives candidate Claire Kemper for Allison and my Podpet Tack. this photo shows Scampi as a space kitty after she got spayed. She has no shame. Thank you for the daily dose of good news. I love hearing of what the beans listeners do across the country. You two are the best. Congratulations on that. Look at the kitty.
I know the baby.
And about working in your corner, basically I said that trying to stop fascism is like walking into an episode of hoarders. Like, it's just everything's awful everywhere. You don't know where to start. So I said just pick a corner and start.
That's a great analogy.
That's kind of where, just pick a corner and start cleaning. That's amazing that you're doing this and that you wrote those poems and that now you're nominated for a Pushcart prize.
Congrats. That's awesome. All right, next up from Rebecca Peacock, pronoun. She and her. That's what they call Rebecca Peacock. Good morning you fabulous women. I have a clarification for you. I'm an elections employee in the Texas blue dot and elections parlance, suspense does not mean suspended. Okay. It's only a question about your address. Election mail cannot be forwarded. So when your post office screws up and we get mail back, we have to verify your address. All a suspended voter has to do is verify their address when they vote and sign a half page forward. If they were taken off the rolls, it should say canceled. A voter is only canceled when repeated attempts to contact them fail and they have not voted in several years. So yes, please do verify your voter status, but don't panic at the word suspense. If you are canceled, you have until October 5th to re register. Most public libraries have the voter registration form or you can get it online and we're going to have a link in the show notes to make it easier for you here. Thank you for spreading the truth. For Podpet tax, a photo of my peacock hair and another of my friends Patric and the fabulous drag queen, Aria Rae.
Okay. Amazing hair. The vibrancy of those colors. I'm wondering, do you bleach first and then look? Oh my.
I know. Aria is gorgeous. That dress. My God, I love drag queens.
They're. They're the best. They're absolutely the best. Thank you so much for that and that picture. Both of these pictures bring me joy. All right, next up from Daniel. Pronouns, he and him. Good news from Lawrence, South Carolina. Our Republican dominated county council passed a one year data center moratorium with the eldest member saying the only people for these things are millionaires and billionaires. And they didn't get that rich by being honest. That felt like a direct shot at my neighbor, one of the biggest donors to the local Republican party. The neighbor was the only person to speak against the moratorium. They also passed a first reading on a solar farm ordinance that has my hackles up. So I'll be speaking against it during public comment next month. I love that you're involved like this. The work continues in Lauren's. I'm hosting weekly phone bank training with my favorite candidate, Michana Tate, and knocking on doors for the slate of Dems. Due to my fancy new government job, I can't run as a Dem anymore. But there's always the nonpartisan school board in a few years. Pet tax, newest additions that got dropped on our road this summer. First pick is Jasmine. The day we found her and her dad Stubbs, they were emaciated, and I tried to find a rescue that would take them. Second pick is both of them trying to love me. After a healthy breakfast, my wife wanted to name them Crockett and Stubbs.
Oh, my God.
Stubbs was perfect, but I said the baby girl need to be named Jasmine from my favorite Texas rep. These babies found their place, and I'm happy to keep them. Now I just need to get them to stop pooping all over the back porch. Yeah. You're not gonna.
Yeah.
Yeah. Good luck with that. Good luck. Oh, my God.
Look at the little nose.
I know. They're so cute.
Look at the little marks on the nose.
the babies.
I'm so glad you rescued them. Everybody, thank you so much for your good news. Please send it all to us dailybeanspod.com click on contact. Dana, do you have any final thoughts before we get out of here today?
No final thoughts today.
All right, everybody, we'll be back tomorrow. Until then, please take care of yourselves, take care of each other, take care of the planet, take care of your mental health, and take care of your friends. I've been ag.
I've been Gigi.
And them's the beans. The Daily Beans is written and executive produced by Alison Gill with additional research and reporting by Dana Goldberg. Sound design and editing is by Desiree McFarlane with art and web design by Joelle Reader with Moxie Design Studios. Music for the Daily Beans is written and performed by they Might Be Giants and the show is a proud member of the MSW Media Media Network, a collection of creator owned podcasts dedicated to news, politics and justice. For more information, please visit msw media.
Com.
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