Weekly US politics news and updates thread - week of December 22

Heritage staffers walk out amid latest strife at conservative institution

More than a dozen employees of the Heritage Foundation walked away from their jobs over the weekend as the right-wing think tank struggles with allegations of antisemitism and as the conservative movement grapples with its post-Trump future.

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Heritage has been wrapped in controversy for more than a month after Roberts defended former Fox News host Tucker Carlson’s interview with Nick Fuentes, a white supremacist who routinely espouses antisemitic views.

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Three board members, including two last week, have also resigned in protest over what they saw as an insufficient response to combating antisemitism concerns at Heritage.

It’s unclear how many staffers left the organization over the weekend. Thirteen former employees, including three in leadership posts, were hired at Advancing American Freedom, a competing policy and advocacy group founded by former vice president Mike Pence. The group said it raised more than $10 million to fund the hires.

Pence’s group defines its ideological tenets as free markets, limited government and the rule of law — staking out a claim to ground that the Heritage Foundation once occupied.

State Attorney Generals combine forces to sue Vought over efforts to deprive the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau of funds to operate

Supreme Court blocks National Guard deployment to Chicago in defeat for Trump

The Supreme Court said Tuesday it would not allow President Donald Trump to deploy the National Guard in the Chicago area for now, a significant setback for his campaign to push troops into cities across the country over the objections of local and state leaders.

The president’s ability to federalize the National Guard likely only applies in “exceptional” circumstances, the court’s unsigned order said.

Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas and Neil M. Gorsuch dissented from the court’s unsigned order. Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh filed a separate concurrence.

The Chicago case is the first time the Supreme Court has weighed in on one of Trump’s attempted deployments of National Guard forces. While temporary, the order could have far-reaching effects by repudiating Trump’s claim of virtually unchecked authority to mobilize and deploy troops he says are necessary to fight crime and protect immigration enforcement officers.