The Brief

The Supreme Court rejected the Trump administration's request to lift a federal judge's block on new U.S. Postal Service rules restricting mail-in ballots ahead of the November midterms.

The decision allows states to keep sending ballots under existing processes used by nearly one-third of voters. President Trump criticized the justices he appointed for ruling against him, saying the decision set the country "back 100 years." Attorney General Todd Blanche said the administration will comply with the ruling, and election officials said the decision gives them added clarity on mail-ballot rules ahead of November.

President Trump dismissed growing calls for AI safety regulation as a 'hoax,' rejecting warnings from industry figures including Anthropic co-founder Jack Clark, who told the BBC a mandatory AI 'kill switch' may be needed. With Trump opposed and Congress divided, new AI safety legislation looks unlikely to pass soon despite mounting pressure from tech CEOs.

The pushback comes as an unusual coalition takes shape: Senator Bernie Sanders and former Trump adviser Steve Bannon held a Washington event calling for AI to remain "humans first," with Sanders saying the technology's potential danger is "probably greater" than that of nuclear weapons. David Sacks, who co-chairs Trump's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, called AI leaders' calls for safeguards "not acceptable."

OpenAI's Sam Altman said the world is "right to be afraid" of AI but should "trust" AI companies to manage the risks, while a top OpenAI executive separately endorsed the Frontier Act, a proposed measure that would require independent audits of AI models.

The U.S. Air Force Secretary confirmed for the first time that the United States has deployed weapons in space, saying they are necessary to defend the country against enemy action.

China warned against turning outer space into a "battlefield" in response to the disclosure, and Russia also reacted to the announcement. The confirmation marks an official acknowledgment of a capability long suspected but not previously confirmed by U.S. officials, and has raised warnings of a potential space arms race.

A first-of-its-kind Pentagon inspector general report acknowledges a U.S. military munitions shortfall stemming from the war against Iran, known as Operation Epic Fury, and details some of the American assets lost so far.

The report says the war has cost the U.S. military at least $33.4 billion, most of it on munitions, not including hundreds of millions more spent by other agencies. The watchdog's findings also point to significant losses, including dozens of aircraft and hundreds of damaged buildings and facilities, at U.S. bases in the region. Separately, the Congressional Budget Office estimated the conflict could cost roughly $2 billion per month going forward, after finding the war had already directly cost the U.S. about $38 billion between Feb. 28 and Aug. 1.

Republican Rep. Thomas Massie introduced articles of impeachment against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on the House floor, arguing Hegseth issued "unlawful orders" by deploying the military against Iran without congressional approval. The White House has continued to back Hegseth amid the fallout.

The Kennedy Center's board voted to close the performing arts center immediately for renovations amid a financial crisis, hours after a federal judge again blocked the Trump-appointed board from adding President Trump's name to the building's facade.

The board had previously warned of "certain fiscal collapse" unless Trump's name was added to the building, a push that has run into repeated legal roadblocks.

The FBI said it thwarted a plot for a "mass casualty attack" allegedly planned by a 21-year-old man in Pennsylvania who was inspired by ISIS. Agents said they tracked the man to a hotel, where he was arrested.

It is the second ISIS-related plot to surface since August, according to CBS News.