Weekly US politics news and updates thread - week of July 7

WaPo reporting that an anonymous person is calling Government officials as a deepfaked impersonation of Marco Rubio.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/07/08/marco-rubio-ai-imposter-signal/

Schools brace for wave of parents seeking opt-outs after Supreme Court ruling

When public school teachers return to classrooms this fall, they will confront a new legal landscape that has given parents expanded veto power over certain aspects of a child's education.

A sweeping constitutional interpretation issued last month from the U.S. Supreme Court recognizes a fundamental right under the First Amendment to opt-out from classroom lessons that may pose what it called a "very real threat of undermining" sincerely held religious beliefs.

It has school districts and their attorneys nationwide scrambling to review curriculum for possible conflicts and fine tune protocols for when and how students can be excused from certain material.

EPA puts on leave 139 employees who spoke out against policies under Trump

Employees were notified that they had been placed in a “temporary, non-duty, paid status” for the next two weeks, pending an “administrative investigation,” according to a copy of the email obtained by The Associated Press. “It is important that you understand that this is not a disciplinary action,” the email read.

Either this is a disciplinary action, or all the cops placed on “administrative leave” aren’t receiving disciplinary action. You can’t have both.

Lottery Winner Has Dizzying Criminal Record

On April 28, Farthing claimed a $167.3 million jackpot, the largest in Kentucky Lottery history. He had purchased the winning $2 ticket at a convenience store in Georgetown, a city where he shares an address with Linda Grizzle, his 77-year-old mother.

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Farthing has been categorized as a “persistent felony offender” by Kentucky law enforcement officials. He has a 16-page rap sheet and a dizzying criminal record that spans 35 years and includes convictions in at least nine counties and from every corner of Kentucky’s penal code.

According to court records, Farthing strangled a girlfriend; sold cocaine to an undercover police informant; escaped from a prison work detail; bribed a corrections officer to deliver Xanax and Oxycodone into a state facility; possessed stolen firearms; and even involved his mother in a marijuana smuggling plot for which they were both indicted.

Farthing has been locked up in at least 25 different correctional institutions, where he has spent, in aggregate, nearly 30 years in custody. During that time, Farthing continued to commit crimes while incarcerated and compiled a prison disciplinary record rife with assaults, narcotics possession, loansharking, gambling, drug smuggling, and positive tests for alcohol, cocaine, marijuana, and depressants. He was also cited for an improper relationship with a female canteen staffer, charging inmates for the return of their stolen items, and “sending large amounts of money to people Internal Affairs cannot connect to him.”

Netanyahu nominates Trump for the Nobel peace prize

I have no words.

Axios reporting that DOJ, FBI conclude Epstein had no "client list," died by suicide.

https://www.axios.com/2025/07/07/jeffrey-epstein-suicide-client-list-trump-administration

Supreme Court refuses to allow Florida to enforce new immigration law

The Supreme Court’s brief order bars Florida from enforcing the law while litigation over whether it is constitutional continues in lower courts. As is typical in emergency orders, the justices did not explain their reasoning or provide a vote count. There were no noted dissents.

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Last year, the Supreme Court’s conservative majority allowed a similar Texas law to take effect while litigation continued. But the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit quickly blocked enforcement of the law.

Also in 2024, a divided Supreme Court allowed the Biden administration to remove razor wire that Texas had installed along the U.S.-Mexico border, until the courts determine whether it is legal for the state to erect its own barriers.