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What Happened Today – June 11, 2026

Postal Service leaders proposed a rule letting them refuse to deliver your ballot if your state won’t give Trump its voter rolls.

States would enroll their mail voters in a new federal portal, and ballot envelopes that don’t match the government’s list get returned to sender. The ballot your county mails to you never arrives. Letter carriers’ union leaders are concerned, and their president says the draft means the Postal Service would simply refuse a noncompliant state’s election mail.

Trump spent Thursday in the Oval Office threatening to take back Washington and run it federally if voters in Tuesday’s primary nominate a mayoral candidate he doesn’t like. The postal rule and his threat make the same demand: your elections run on his approval. The Constitution requires states to run elections. It gives the president no role at all.

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🔴 GovBrief Intensity Score 136
High Intensity. They're flooding the zone.
Volume: Normal (20)
Severity: Moderate (1.7)
Defining Moments: 0
Previous 5 Days
🟢84|🟠116|🚨218|🟢61|🟢61
100 = normal day. Volume is headline count. Stories weighted by significance. Defining Moments are the ones history remembers.
Today's Quote
It should almost go without saying — but the Court will say it anyway ... court orders vacating and setting aside agency policies have immediate effect once they are issued. There is no excuse this time… In any event, the outcome here is the same: USCIS’s Challenged Policies are no longer in effect.
Judge John J. McConnell, Jr., writing in his ruling about the government’s failure to obey his June 5, 2026 order.
Yesterday's Most Read

New York health inspectors cite Trump's Hudson Valley golf club for serving food that is spoiled, adulterated, and from an unapproved source.

Today’s GovBrief News


Dissent 1 of 20

A giant 86 47 message surfaces in dead grass on the National Mall days before Trump's 80th birthday UFC event fills the area with crowds and cameras.

Comey faces October trial over seashells message

Source: NOTUS

June 11, 2026

War 2 of 20

Trump calls off strikes and claims an Iran war settlement hours after vowing bigger bombing, but Tehran denies approving any deal.

38 deal announcements in two months

Source: CBS News

June 11, 2026

Health 3 of 20

Alabama's attorney general threatens to prosecute six abortion pill providers, citing a disputed think tank study, and the deputy who signed faces a runoff for his job next week.

Advocate calls it "enormous commercial"

Source: The Alabama Reflector

June 11, 2026

Health 4 of 20

Planned Parenthood sues to overturn Alaska's ban on telehealth abortion services, arguing it violates state constitutional privacy rights in a state where many live off the road system.

Won same argument at trial level

Source: The Alaska Beacon

June 11, 2026

Environment 5 of 20

Federal judge rules the EPA illegally killed a $2.8 billion environmental justice grant program but declines to order its restart.

Arbitrary, capricious and unlawful, judge wrote

Source: NOTUS

June 11, 2026

Science 6 of 20

National Science Foundation decommissions a $368 million deep-ocean monitoring network as Alaska's fisheries face salmon crashes, crab collapses and repeated marine heatwaves.

$5.3 billion industry, 42,000 jobs

Source: Ars Technica

June 11, 2026

Voting Rights 7 of 20

Ohio Republicans place a constitutional amendment requiring photo voter ID on November's ballot, enshrining a requirement already in state law since 2023.

Critics call it turnout bait

Source: The Ohio Capital Journal

June 11, 2026

Voting Rights 8 of 20

Postal Service proposes refusing to deliver mail ballots in states that withhold voter rolls, with postal workers screening ballots against state-compiled voter lists.

It'll guarantee the midterms, Trump said

Source: The New York Times [gift link]

June 11, 2026

Voting Rights 9 of 20

Trump threatens to take back Washington and run it on a federal basis if Democratic socialist Janeese Lewis George wins Tuesday's mayoral primary.

Trump: "won't put up with it"

Source: WUSA Washington

June 11, 2026

Intelligence 10 of 20

Outgoing intelligence director Gabbard rescinds two reports that doubted foreign involvement in Havana Syndrome, reviving the adversary weapon theory a decade after symptoms emerged.

1,500 government employees affected worldwide

Source: The Wall Street Journal

June 11, 2026

Intelligence 11 of 20

Trump picks Manhattan U.S. attorney Jay Clayton for intelligence chief as his interim choice of housing regulator Bill Pulte sinks surveillance law renewal.

Pulte referred president's foes for mortgage fraud

Source: Roll Call

June 11, 2026

Courts 12 of 20

Federal judge blocks Texas Attorney General Paxton from pursuing his ActBlue lawsuit, ruling it retaliation for fundraising that benefits his Senate opponent.

Probe launched day after Talarico raised millions

Source: The Hill

June 11, 2026

Courts 13 of 20

New Mexico judge throws out a Republican lawsuit against Governor Lujan Grisham's universal childcare program, ruling the legislature already endorsed it.

Saves families $12,000 per child yearly

Source: Source New Mexico

June 11, 2026

Courts 14 of 20

Supreme Court refuses to let Alabama execute Jeffery Lee by nitrogen gas, ending the state's push to proceed days after lower courts called the method unconstitutional.

Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch would have allowed

Source: SCOTUS blog

June 11, 2026

Criminal Justice 15 of 20

Vance Boelter pleads guilty to murdering former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband and shooting state Senator John Hoffman, avoiding the death penalty.

2 life sentences + 40 years

Source: KSTP St. Paul

June 11, 2026

Immigration 16 of 20

Federal judge tells Trump officials there is no excuse for ignoring his order to restart asylum processing frozen for 39 countries, demanding a compliance report within 24 hours.

Lives on hold six months, judge wrote

Source: The Washington Post [gift link]

June 11, 2026

Oversight 17 of 20

HUD suspends federal funding for Los Angeles's homeless services agency, citing fraud findings, as the mayor warns people will lose their lives.

$1 billion over five years

Source: KNBC Los Angeles

June 11, 2026

Congress 18 of 20

Trump and allies push Congress to expunge his two impeachments, a power legal scholars say the Constitution does not give lawmakers.

Rep. Bacon: "gave up on majority"

Source: The Wall Street Journal [gift link]

June 11, 2026

Culture 19 of 20

Trump appeals one day before a court deadline to remove his name from the Kennedy Center, after his board directed the move.

Statute honors Kennedy alone, judge ruled

Source: USA Today

June 11, 2026

Fighting Back 20 of 20

Federal magistrate acquits former New York City comptroller Brad Lander of obstruction from his arrest while trying to inspect ICE holding rooms, finding his testimony credible.

Fought a no-jail violation at trial

Source: Courthouse News Service

June 11, 2026

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