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[Rush Lindell] So here's what's going on.

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[Rush Lindell] The Supreme Court is in a full sprint right now.

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[Rush Lindell] Twenty plus opinions sitting in that building,

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[Rush Lindell] zero advance notice on when any of them drop,

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[Rush Lindell] and a term that ends in late June.

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[Reagan] Wow.

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[Rush Lindell] Every single morning this week could be the morning.

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[Reagan] And it's not a light docket.

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[Reagan] NPR counted 23 cases still pending out of 58 argued this term:

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[Reagan] birthright citizenship,

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[Reagan] transgender athletes,

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[Reagan] gun rights,

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[Reagan] campaign finance.

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[Reagan] Finance?

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[Reagan] Independent agencies?

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[Rush Lindell] All of it at once.

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[Rush Lindell] No big deal.

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[Reagan] Completely normal news cycle.

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[Rush Lindell] Right.

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[Rush Lindell] So what we're doing today-and this is the whole point of this episode-is giving you the cheat sheet before the rulings hit,

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[Rush Lindell] not after when the cable news hyperventilate starts.

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[Rush Lindell] Before.

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[Reagan] That's the only way to actually follow this,

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[Reagan] if you don't know what the cases are asking-

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[Reagan] Being a headline telling you who won is almost useless.

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[Rush Lindell] You know what nobody wants to say?

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[Rush Lindell] Most people will hear the birthright citizenship ruling get handed a take by their preferred anchor and have no idea what the court actually decided on nationwide injunctions,

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[Rush Lindell] which,

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[Rush Lindell] Reagan,

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[Rush Lindell] I think you're going to argue,

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[Rush Lindell] is the sleeper issue of the whole term.

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[Reagan] It might reshape federal litigation for decades more than the citizenship question itself.

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[Reagan] in itself.

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[Rush Lindell] We've also got two Second Amendment cases that nobody's talking about-and wait until you hear the Hunter Biden connection on one of them.

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[Reagan] The media will find a way to under-report both.

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[Rush Lindell] Shocking, I know.

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[Rush Lindell] Plus,

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[Rush Lindell] election law,

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[Rush Lindell] mail ballots,

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[Rush Lindell] campaign spending limits,

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[Rush Lindell] all of it landing right in the middle of midterm season.

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[Rush Lindell] The timing alone should get your attention.

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[Reagan] We'll walk through every major case category,

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[Reagan] the legal question,

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[Reagan] what's actually at stake,

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[Reagan] and where the court is looking like it's headed.

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[Rush Lindell] Start with the biggest constitutional fight on the docket.

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[Rush Lindell] Birthright citizenship is up first.

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[Rush Lindell] Before we get into it, a quick reminder.

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[Rush Lindell] We love hearing from you.

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[Rush Lindell] If you have questions or topics you'd like us to cover,

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[Rush Lindell] head to the link in the description and submit your question.

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[Rush Lindell] We read every single one.

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[Rush Lindell] Nine justices,

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[Rush Lindell] roughly twenty opinions still sitting on the shelf,

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[Rush Lindell] and no warning on which day they land.

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[Reagan] Wow.

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[Rush Lindell] That's where we are right now.

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[Reagan] And the term ends late June,

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[Reagan] early July at latest.

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[Reagan] The clock is not their friend.

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[Rush Lindell] The clock is not anybody's friend; not the White House,

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[Rush Lindell] not Congress,

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[Rush Lindell] not anyone who thought the big fights were already over.

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[Rush Lindell] CBS News put it plainly:

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[Rush Lindell] "The court already struck down Trump's tariffs,

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[Rush Lindell] already gutted the Voting Rights Act in the Callais decision.

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[Rush Lindell] position,

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[Rush Lindell] and what's left is arguably the heavier batch.

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[Reagan] That's the part people keep underestimating.

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[Reagan] Louisiana versus Callais dropped April twenty ninth,

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[Reagan] a six-three ruling that rewrote how states can use race in redistricting.

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[Reagan] That was consequential, and the court still has Birthright citizenship,

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[Reagan] Campaign finance,

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[Reagan] Transgender athletes,

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[Reagan] Second Amendment,

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[Reagan] all of it.

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[Rush Lindell] Still on the shelf:

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[Rush Lindell] Totally normal June.

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[Reagan] Not remotely.

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[Rush Lindell] You know what nobody wants to say.

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[Rush Lindell] Say,

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[Rush Lindell] most people are going to find out these rulings happened because their phone buzzed while they were eating lunch.

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[Rush Lindell] No context,

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[Rush Lindell] no framework,

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[Rush Lindell] just a push notification and a headline that sounds insane.

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[Reagan] Which is exactly the wrong way to absorb decisions that are going to shape federal law for the next decade.

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[Rush Lindell] That's why we're here.

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[Rush Lindell] We're building the Cheat Sheet before the chaos hits,

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[Rush Lindell] so when the opinion drops,

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[Rush Lindell] you already know what's at stake and why it matters.

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[Reagan] Uh huh.

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[Speaker 3] Huh?

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[Reagan] US news flagged eight major cases still pending (eight!), and the court gives zero advance notice on which ruling comes which day.

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[Rush Lindell] Very convenient for everyone trying to prepare.

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[Reagan] Models of Transparency

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[Rush Lindell] So let's start where the temperature is highest; there is one case that rewrites what it means to be born in this country,

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[Rush Lindell] and the justices who heard it did not sound like they were buying the administration's argument.

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[Rush Lindell] What happens if they rule against the White House on that one?

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[Speaker 4] Yeah.

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[Rush Lindell] So let's talk about the main event:

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[Rush Lindell] Trump v.

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[Rush Lindell] Bruen,

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[Rush Lindell] the birthright citizenship case,

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[Rush Lindell] day one executive order.

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[Rush Lindell] I've been calling it the citizenship erasure since January 2025.

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[Rush Lindell] The idea?

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[Rush Lindell] If your parents are here illegally or on a temporary visa,

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[Rush Lindell] you don't get automatic citizenship at birth.

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[Reagan] And courts have blocked it every single time, every court that's reviewed it.

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[Rush Lindell] Every single one.

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[Rush Lindell] Then Trump did something no sitting president has ever done:

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[Rush Lindell] he showed up to watch oral arguments in April,

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[Rush Lindell] first time in American history.

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[Reagan] Which tells you everything about how confident the White House was going in.

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[Rush Lindell] And then walked out and posted on Truth Social that America is (and I'm quoting here)

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[Rush Lindell] "the only country stupid enough to allow birthright citizenship," caps-locks, STUPID,

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[Rush Lindell] after his own appointed justices grilled his Solicitor General.

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[Rush Lindell] Chief Justice Roberts literally told the administration,

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[Rush Lindell] quote,

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[Rush Lindell] it's the same Constitution.

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[Reagan] Barrett and Gorsuch,

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[Reagan] both Trump appointees,

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[Reagan] pressed the administration hard,

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[Reagan] too.

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[Reagan] two.

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[Reagan] This order is probably going to lose on the merits:

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[Reagan] the Fourteenth Amendment's Citizenship Clause has meant automatic birthright citizenship since the eighteen ninety-eight Wong Kim Ark ruling over a century of settled law.

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[Rush Lindell] Right,

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[Rush Lindell] right,

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[Rush Lindell] but here's what I think the media keeps sleeping on.

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[Reagan] The nationwide injunction question.

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[Rush Lindell] Yes,

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[Rush Lindell] tell them!

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[Reagan] The court already ruled in Trump v. Casa last June.

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[Reagan] six three that district courts can't just issue sweeping nationwide injunctions blocking federal policy for everyone,

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[Reagan] everywhere.

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[Reagan] That ruling outlasts the birthright case.

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[Reagan] Wow.

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[Rush Lindell] Wow.

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[Reagan] Future administrations,

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[Reagan] future policies,

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[Reagan] that's the precedent that actually reshapes how courts can stop executive power.

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[Rush Lindell] So Trump may lose the citizenship fight but walk away with a power he can use on the next 20 executive orders.

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[Rush Lindell] CBS News flagged this one: The term ends before July,

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[Rush Lindell] and this ruling is coming with it.

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[Reagan] And speaking of the 14th Amendment,

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[Reagan] we're not done with it.

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[Reagan] The Equal Protection Clause is about to get its own moment in the spotlight.

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[Rush Lindell] Same 14th Amendment we were just talking about,

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[Rush Lindell] now applied to a very different fight.

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[Rush Lindell] Reagan, CBS News flagged this one.

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[Rush Lindell] West Virginia.

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[Rush Lindell] Virginia versus BPJ and Little versus Hecox, two transgender athlete cases,

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[Rush Lindell] 27 states have laws like these.

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[Rush Lindell] Whatever the court says sets the national standard.

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[Reagan] Arguments were January 13th.

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[Reagan] The legal question is whether those state bans violate Title IX or the Equal Protection Clause,

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[Reagan] and after watching the arguments,

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[Reagan] court observers broadly expected the conservative majority to uphold the bans.

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[Rush Lindell] Which means cable news is about to lose its mind.

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[Rush Lindell] I'm telling you right now, the second this ruling drops,

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[Rush Lindell] every chyron in America reads,

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[Rush Lindell] Supreme Court Attacks Trans Kids.

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[Rush Lindell] But what does the ruling actually say?

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[Reagan] That's the key distinction.

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[Reagan] Upholding a state ban on transgender athletes in school sports is not a sweeping ruling on trans rights broadly.

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[Reagan] The court is deciding a narrow question.

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[Reagan] Can states draw a biological sex line for athletic competition under Title IX and the Fourteenth Amendment?

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[Rush Lindell] You will not see that nuance on prime time.

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[Reagan] No; but here's something worth flagging:

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[Reagan] the Idaho case has a wrinkle:

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[Reagan] the original plaintiff,

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[Reagan] Lindsey Hecox,

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[Reagan] voluntarily dropped her claims.

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[Reagan] That raises a mootness question.

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[Rush Lindell] Wait,

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[Rush Lindell] so Idaho might not even produce a substantive ruling?

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[Reagan] Possibly,

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[Reagan] which is why West Virginia v. B.P.J. (Becky Pepper-Jackson's case)

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[Reagan] is most likely the vehicle the court uses to actually write the opinion that matters.

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[Rush Lindell] Twenty-seven states waiting on one ruling-that's the weight of this thing.

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[Reagan] And whatever the court writes on the equal protection framework could reach well beyond just sports,

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[Reagan] that's what the advocates on both sides are watching for.

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[Rush Lindell] So when the coverage tells you this is simple-

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[Rush Lindell] It's not the holding is narrow,

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[Rush Lindell] the downstream implications are not. Remember that when your phone starts buzzing.

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[Reagan] Right.

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[Rush Lindell] Now, shifting gears,

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[Rush Lindell] two Second Amendment cases the media will almost certainly ignore.

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[Rush Lindell] That's a problem because the gun rights questions coming out of this term might outlast everything else we've talked about today.

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[Rush Lindell] OK,

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[Rush Lindell] so the media is going to completely sleep on these next two.

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[Rush Lindell] No culture war hook,

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[Rush Lindell] no viral moment,

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[Rush Lindell] just two Second Amendment cases that could quietly rewrite the rules for every gun owner in America.

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[Reagan] And both run straight through the Bruen framework.

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[Reagan] That 2022 decision said gun regulations need a historical analog from the founding era to survive.

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[Reagan] Lower courts have been scrambling ever since.

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[Rush Lindell] Scrambling is generous.

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[Rush Lindell] It's been chaos.

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[Rush Lindell] So case one,

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[Rush Lindell] Wolford versus Lopez.

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[Rush Lindell] Hawaii said if you've got a concealed carry permit,

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[Rush Lindell] you still need the property owner's express permission before carrying on private property open to the public.

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[Rush Lindell] Beaches,

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[Rush Lindell] restaurants,

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[Rush Lindell] gas stations, you need a permission slip.

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[Reagan] The Ninth Circuit upheld it,

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[Reagan] but the Third,

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[Reagan] Fifth,

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[Reagan] and Seventh Circuits struck down similar bans post-Bruen.

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[Reagan] That's a clean circuit split.

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[Reagan] Which is exactly why the court took it.

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[Rush Lindell] Hawaii is asking licensed gun owners to beg before entering a Starbucks and nobody can find a founding era analog for that.

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[Reagan] That's the test; if there's no historical precedent for it,

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[Reagan] Bruen says,

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[Reagan] it doesn't survive.

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[Reagan] The question the court's actually answering is whether private property open to the public functions like a sensitive place.

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[Rush Lindell] Now the second one-Hemani-federal law makes it a felony to possess a firearm if

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[Rush Lindell] if you're an unlawful drug user.

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[Rush Lindell] That statute is 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(3). Sound familiar?

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[Rush Lindell] That's the same type of law Hunter Biden was convicted under.

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[Reagan] Right.

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[Reagan] And SCOTUSblog noted the justices were skeptical at oral argument in March.

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[Reagan] The government's argument is there's a historical analog in laws disarming habitual drunkards.

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[Reagan] Hemani's lawyers say that's a stretch,

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[Reagan] a categorical ban on.

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[Reagan] And on any drug user,

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[Reagan] regardless of whether they were even intoxicated.

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[Rush Lindell] And here's what gets me:

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[Rush Lindell] if Bruen kills that statute,

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[Rush Lindell] you're talking about federal gun prohibitions unraveling across the country.

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[Rush Lindell] That's not a narrow ruling.

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[Reagan] It could be narrow or broad depending on how they write it.

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[Reagan] That's the real question:

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[Reagan] does the court rule as applied to Hemani specifically,

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[Reagan] or do they knock the whole statute down?

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[Rush Lindell] Either way,

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[Rush Lindell] nobody on cable news is talking about

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[Reagan] Uh

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[Rush Lindell] it.

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[Reagan] -huh.

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[Rush Lindell] And then...

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[Rush Lindell] And then we've got election law cases coming – mail-in ballots,

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[Rush Lindell] campaign finance – where the downstream consequences arrive before November.

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[Reagan] Those hit even faster.

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[Rush Lindell] Much faster.

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[Rush Lindell] Let's get there.

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[Rush Lindell] Now,

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[Rush Lindell] Election Law; two cases,

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[Rush Lindell] both dropping before November; I'm calling this the Double Barrel Segment:

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[Reagan] And both barrels are loaded.

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[Rush Lindell] Watson versus RNC first; fourteen states-California,

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[Rush Lindell] New York,

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[Rush Lindell] Texas,

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[Rush Lindell] Oregon,

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[Rush Lindell] among others-currently count mail ballots that arrive after election day,

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[Rush Lindell] as long as they're postmarked by election day. The RNC says federal law-

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[Rush Lindell] which defines election day as a "specific Tuesday"

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[Rush Lindell] wipes out those state rules.

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[Reagan] The CBS News flagged this one specifically as a case that could upend election procedures before November.

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[Reagan] The ruling forces those fourteen states to rewrite their ballot intake rules potentially in weeks.

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[Rush Lindell] Mississippi's law allows ballots received up to five business days after election day to be counted.

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[Reagan] Wow.

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[Rush Lindell] The RNC says that's a preemption problem.

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[Rush Lindell] And the conservative majority at oral arguments signaled their with the RNC.

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[Reagan] That's the politically immediate one; but NRSC versus FEC is the one I'd watch for structural consequences.

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[Rush Lindell] Walk me through it.

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[Reagan] The Republican Senate Committee—JD Vance was a Senate candidate when he Coplintoned—is challenging fifty year old caps on coordinated spending between political parties and their own candidates.

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[Reagan] Right now,

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[Reagan] parties can spend unlimited money independently.

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[Reagan] Instantly the moment they coordinated with a campaign,

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[Reagan] there are hard limits.

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[Rush Lindell] And if those limits fall—

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[Reagan] Parties can funnel essentially unlimited money directly into competitive Senate races,

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[Reagan] in coordination with the actual campaigns.

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[Reagan] That's a different animal than a Super PAC operating independently.

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[Rush Lindell] So the party and the candidate just work together,

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[Rush Lindell] openly,

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[Rush Lindell] with no cap.

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[Reagan] That's a fair read.

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[Reagan] Now,

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[Reagan] I'll say the First Amendment argument here is more legally-

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[Reagan] Legally solid,

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[Reagan] then critics admit,

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[Reagan] parties exist to elect candidates.

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[Reagan] There's a real speech interest,

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[Reagan] but the downstream effect on competitive Senate races is enormous,

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[Reagan] and it lands right in the middle of the cycle.

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[Rush Lindell] Two rulings,

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[Rush Lindell] votes and money,

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[Rush Lindell] both before November-the double barrel fires at the same time.

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[Reagan] And after we figure out who controls the ballot,

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[Reagan] we get the

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[Rush Lindell] the question of who controls the executive branch itself.

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[Reagan] That's actually where this gets messier:

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[Reagan] presidential power over the agencies that run the whole regulatory apparatus.

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[Reagan] Shifting gears,

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[Reagan] this one gets zero cable news minutes,

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[Reagan] and it might be the most consequential case in the bunch.

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[Speaker 3] Trump versus Slaughter.

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[Reagan] Rebecca Slaughter,

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[Reagan] FTC Commissioner,

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[Reagan] Biden appointee,

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[Reagan] term runs through 2029.

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[Reagan] Trump fires her by email,

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[Speaker 3] Wow.

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[Reagan] and I mean that literally,

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[Reagan] an email saying her continued service is,

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[Reagan] quote, inconsistent with my administration's priorities.

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[Rush Lindell] No cause stated-just vibes.

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[Reagan] Just vibes; and the statute,

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[Reagan] the nineteen fourteen law that created the FTC says you can only remove a commissioner for inefficiency,

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[Reagan] neglect of duty,

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[Reagan] or malfeasance.

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[Reagan] She didn't do any of those things; she just disagreed with the president.

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[Rush Lindell] So the real question before the court is whether Humphreys Executor-the nineteen thirty five precedent that said for cause protections are constitutional-gets overruled.

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[Rush Lindell] And that's not a slam dunk for either side.

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[Reagan] How so?

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[Rush Lindell] Ninety years of settled practice,

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[Rush Lindell] Congress has built the FTC,

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[Rush Lindell] the FEC,

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[Rush Lindell] the NLRB,

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[Rush Lindell] more than fifty independent agencies,

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[Rush Lindell] on the assumption that those protections hold.

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[Rush Lindell] The historical argument against overruling is real.

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[Rush Lindell] That said,

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[Rush Lindell] oral arguments in December had several conservative justices openly questioning whether Humphreys still fits the modern administrative state.

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[Rush Lindell] State of State.

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[Reagan] SCOTUSblog's read after arguments—the Court seems likely to side with Trump." Chief Justice Roberts signaled the precedent may no longer fit.

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[Rush Lindell] And if they do side with Trump,

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[Rush Lindell] any president—this one,

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[Rush Lindell] the next one—controls every one of those agencies directly—the FTC,

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[Rush Lindell] the FEC,

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[Rush Lindell] the Fed.

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[Reagan] That's the administrative state losing its insulation from whoever just won an election.

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[Reagan] And here's my problem with the coverage, or lack of it: Cable news won't spend four minutes on Commissioner Slaughter because she doesn't have a nickname people recognize.

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[Rush Lindell] She does now.

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[Reagan] Just vibes,

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[Reagan] Rebecca.

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[Reagan] Doesn't quite roll off the tongue.

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[Reagan] But the ruling?

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[Reagan] Massive. Every regulatory agency you've ever heard of, and 50 you haven't, hangs on this decision.

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[Rush Lindell] That's exactly the pattern across everything we've covered today.

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[Rush Lindell] Today, every single case is someone asking,

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[Rush Lindell] where does this authority actually begin and end?

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[Reagan] Birthright citizenship,

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[Reagan] gun rights,

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[Reagan] election law,

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[Reagan] and now,

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[Reagan] who runs the agencies?

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[Reagan] Different cases,

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[Reagan] same fight.

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[Reagan] So,

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[Reagan] the verdict's quick and clean.

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[Rush Lindell] Let's do it.

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[Reagan] Most likely to reshape the midterms.

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[Reagan] That's Watson and NRSC—and it's not close.

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[Reagan] Mail ballots and party cash,

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[Reagan] both landing before November.

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[Reagan] Those two cases are the ones that actually move votes and money.

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[Rush Lindell] And the justices at oral arguments in Watson signaled they're ready to overturn those late arriving ballots.

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[Rush Lindell] Ballot grace periods." SCOTUSblog noted the justices seem ready to side with the RNC on that one,

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[Rush Lindell] so watch for it.

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[Reagan] Most likely to generate wall to wall cable hysteria wildly disproportionate to the actual ruling:

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[Reagan] trans athletes.

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[Reagan] The ruling's almost certainly going to be narrow-one state,

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[Reagan] one statute-and cable news will frame it like a constitutional amendment.

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[Rush Lindell] The legal scope and the media scope of that ruling will have basically nothing

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[Speaker 5] to do with each other.

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[Rush Lindell] nothing to do with each other.

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[Reagan] They never do.

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[Rush Lindell] And the ones most likely to be ignored despite serious downstream consequences,

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[Reagan] Hemani and Wolford,

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[Reagan] the Second Amendment cases,

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[Reagan] zero cable coverage,

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[Reagan] potentially massive impact on every gun statute in the country that uses a drug user or similar categorical ban.

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[Rush Lindell] If Hemani goes broad,

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[Rush Lindell] you're looking at constitutional questions that stretch well past Hunter Biden.

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[Rush Lindell] And prosecutors across the country will be dealing with the fallout.

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[Reagan] And here's what it all adds up to.

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[Rush Lindell] Uh-huh.

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[Reagan] You just spent an hour on these cases. When the rulings drop and CBS News says they're all expected before July,

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[Reagan] you won't need cable news to tell you how to feel.

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[Reagan] You'll already know what happened and why.

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[Rush Lindell] That's the whole point.

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[Rush Lindell] Preparation beats reaction.

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[Rush Lindell] The people watching the chyron's tonight are going to be confused.

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[Rush Lindell] Just you won't be.

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[Reagan] The rulings are coming; you know what they mean.

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[Reagan] We'll see you when they land.

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[Reagan] All right—that's our full SCOTUS cheat sheet—nine justices,

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[Reagan] roughly twenty opinions,

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[Reagan] and the clock is almost out.

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[Rush Lindell] In everything we cover today—the citizenship eraser,

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[Rush Lindell] the nationwide injunction sleeper,

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[Rush Lindell] the Second Amendment cases nobody's talking about—all of it lands before the midterms.

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[Reagan] That's the whole point of today—when the opinion drops,

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[Reagan] you already know what's at stake.

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[Reagan] No scrambling,

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[Reagan] no waiting for a cable news chyron to tell

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[Speaker 5] you what's going on.

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[Reagan] ...and to tell you what to think.

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[Speaker 4] I'd flag Watson and NRSC as the ones with the most direct midterm impact-mail ballots and coordinated spending both on the table simultaneously.

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[Reagan] And the media will spend all week on the trans-athlete case-guaranteed.

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[Speaker 4] Probably.

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[Reagan] Preparation beats reaction.

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[Reagan] That's the show.

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[Speaker 4] Thank you for walking through all of it.

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[Reagan] Thank you for keeping me honest.

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[Reagan] And thank you for listening.

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[Reagan] Subscribe!

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[Reagan] Leave a five-star review,

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[Reagan] tell a friend.

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[Reagan] New episodes every weekday.

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[Reagan] We'll see you tomorrow.