The Supreme Court Was One Vote Away From Constitutional Chaos

SCOTUS gutted limits on party spending, the White House secretly awarded a $500 million no-bid contract for Trump's ballroom, and 146 deported Venezuelans were deported into an earthquake

Good afternoon. I’m Ryan Rose, and this is AlterNet America.

The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that the Constitution guarantees birthright citizenship to virtually all children born on U.S. soil. The same court struck down limits on coordinated spending between candidates and parties, handing wealthy donors and the GOP a midterm windfall. White House officials secretly awarded a no-bid contract worth up to $500 million for Trump’s East Wing ballroom. And 146 Venezuelans were deported from the U.S. on Wednesday, only to be killed or buried hours later when twin earthquakes flattened the building where they were processed.

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Now, let’s dive in.

Trump Loses: Supreme Court Upholds Birthright Citizenship

Breaking: the Constitution still means what it said in 1868, despite repeated attempts to ignore it.

In a 6-3 opinion written by Chief Justice John Roberts, the Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution guarantees automatic birthright citizenship to virtually all children born in the United States. The decision firmly rejected the executive order Trump signed on the first day of his second term.

That order tried to bar citizenship for babies born to parents who entered illegally or who are here legally on temporary visas. It never took effect, because every lower-court judge who looked at it reached the same conclusion. One called it “blatantly unconstitutional.”

Roberts pointed to the 1898 case of Wong Kim Ark, born in San Francisco in 1873 to Chinese immigrants who ran a business there. He was denied re-entry to the country of his birth, sued, and won. The court has not budged since.

The principle held even when the country wanted it not to. During World War II, when Japanese citizens were held as enemy aliens in U.S. detention camps, their newborn children were automatically granted American citizenship because they were born on American soil.

Justices Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, and Samuel Alito dissented, with Thomas penning 91 pages in response. The 14th Amendment is one sentence.

GOP Wins: Supreme Court Lifts Limits on Party Spending

The same day the Supreme Court told Trump the Constitution means what it says, it told the rest of us that money is speech, and there is no limit on how loudly the rich can talk.

In a 6-3 decision split along the usual ideological lines, the court struck down limits on coordinated spending between candidates and their political parties. The majority held that the caps violate the First Amendment.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh, writing for the majority, called the limits a “severe infringement on First Amendment-protected political speech.” He warned that keeping them would leave parties at “second-tier status” and that “weakened political parties distort the political system.”

The case was brought in 2022 by the National Republican Senatorial Committee, alongside the Senate campaign of a man named J.D. Vance. Trump’s Justice Department declined to defend the law. Democratic groups had to step in to do it instead.

The math favors the people who write the biggest checks. National party committees can accept $44,300 a year from a single donor. Candidates can take $3,500. Removing the cap on coordination hands candidates effective control over the larger pile.

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Trump Hands Out $500 Million No-Bid Contract for White House Ballroom

If you want to spend half a billion dollars without anyone asking questions, file it under “furniture.”

That is roughly what happened. White House officials secretly awarded a no-bid contract worth up to $500 million for Trump’s East Wing ballroom, routing it through the Executive Residence. The office is exempt from the rules requiring competitive bids and public disclosure.

The Executive Residence usually handles routine repairs, entertainment expenses, and the purchase of art and furniture. A 2024 White House memorandum says structural work on the East Wing is supposed to go to the GSA or the National Park Service. Experts agreed those agencies were better equipped to bid out a project this size.

Trump once told the New York Times that Clark Construction offered to build it for free. Clark’s internal projections show the firm expects $65 million in combined profit, overhead and staffing.

Trump promised private donors would cover the cost. The estimated price has tripled since last July, and half is now expected to come from taxpayers.

The official paperwork explains the no-bid arrangement by stating that disclosing the project “would compromise the national security.” The chandelier budget is classified.

146 Venezuelan Immigrants Dead or Missing After Deportation

Angelo Mejía Meléndez had a job at a Miami pier, a boss who liked him, and a Jet Ski named after him. His family identified his body by a distinctive pizza tattoo on his arm.

Mejía Meléndez was one of 146 Venezuelan nationals deported from the U.S. on Wednesday, landing in Caracas before being bused to a guarded hotel in La Guaira for processing. While they were inside, twin earthquakes struck. The building collapsed.

The plane carried women and children. The Venezuelan agency in charge of the deportees declined to tell NPR how many survived, claiming families had been informed of their loved ones’ status — a claim several families flatly dispute.

Víctor Guanipa Toyo, 32, lived in Pecos, Texas, where he worked construction by day and drove rideshare at night. He had no criminal record and was in the country legally. He was detained at a nightclub on June 12. He is missing.

Daniel Núñez had been in Jacksonville for nearly five years. His mother spoke to him for four minutes after he landed, while he was being processed. He told her they would live in Venezuela together. The earthquakes struck thirty minutes later.

The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to a request for comment on whether the deportations will continue. It can organize the flight but not a response.

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