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July 9, 2026

9 entries on this date.

Trump removed the remaining members of the bipartisan Election Assistance Commission, leaving it unable to act before the 2026 midterms

On July 9, 2026, President Trump terminated the two remaining Democratic members of the independent, bipartisan Election Assistance Commission — chair Thomas Hicks and Benjamin Hovland — who were notified by email from the White House Presidential Personnel Office, while the sole remaining Republican, Christy McCormick, resigned. The removals left the four-member commission with no commissioners and therefore unable to take official action just months before the 2026 midterm elections. The EAC maintains the national mail voter registration form, certifies voting systems, and provides guidance to state and local election officials.

Justice Department sued Maryland to strike down the Community Trust Act limiting state cooperation with federal immigration enforcement

On July 9, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a federal lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Baltimore seeking to strike down Maryland's Community Trust Act, a 2026 law that limits state and local cooperation with federal immigration enforcement by barring the honoring of ICE detainers and jail transfers to ICE custody. The suit alleges Maryland is engaged in an "active and deliberate effort" to obstruct immigration enforcement in violation of the Constitution's Supremacy Clause. It is one in a series of DOJ suits pressuring states to abandon laws that constrain federal immigration operations.

EPA proposed heavy-duty truck rule weakening 2027 emissions durability standards, again declining to monetize health benefits

On July 9, 2026, the EPA under Administrator Lee Zeldin proposed amendments to model year 2027 and later heavy-duty truck emissions compliance rules -- shortening warranty periods, easing "useful life" requirements, and replacing an automatic engine power-derate for malfunctioning emissions controls with a driver alert -- changes EPA's own analysis said would raise ozone-forming nitrogen oxide pollution by 4.2% by 2030 and 11.6% by 2055. As it had in a January rule for stationary combustion turbines and a May light- and medium-duty vehicle tailpipe proposal, EPA's cost-benefit analysis for the truck rule quantified projected industry savings of $4,130 to $6,152 per engine but did not monetize the resulting health costs. The rule was not yet finalized as of this filing, with public comments due August 29, 2026.

Trump administration appointed climate-science critic Matthew Wielicki to head reconstituted U.S. Global Change Research Program

On July 9, 2026, the Trump administration reconstituted the U.S. Global Change Research Program — the interagency body that produces the congressionally mandated National Climate Assessment — and placed it under Matthew Wielicki, a former University of Alabama geochemist who describes himself as a "professor in exile" and routinely disputes mainstream climate science. The program's office had been closed and its website taken dark in mid-2025; Wielicki will now oversee the coordination of federal climate research across more than a dozen agencies.

MS NOW investigation reveals DOJ appointees overruling career antitrust lawyers to clear corporate mergers

MS NOW reported on July 9, 2026 that Trump administration political appointees at the Justice Department's Antitrust Division have been overruling career staff attorneys who proposed lawsuits or deeper merger reviews, moving instead to clear pending deals without standard scrutiny. Two sources named Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward as the primary driver of the non-enforcement push, reporting corroborated the following day by Bloomberg's separate account of DOJ leadership stalling a challenge to an aerospace-industry merger.

DOT directed FHWA staff to strip bike lane safety data from federal websites

On July 9, 2026, Federal Highway Administration staff received an internal email directing them to remove bike lane references and related safety materials from FHWA websites, following Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy's July 7 public statement branding Biden-era bike lane funding as "DEI." The directive led to the removal of bike lanes and speed cameras from FHWA's "Proven Safety Countermeasures" list and the takedown of the Pedestrian and Bicycle Crash Analysis Tool (PBCAT), eliminating resources used by safety engineers to reduce crash fatalities on U.S. roads.

Florida renamed Palm Beach International Airport for President Trump under a law giving his company perpetual free use of the name

On July 9, 2026, Palm Beach International Airport in West Palm Beach, Florida — a county-owned public airport serving more than 8 million passengers a year, minutes from Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate — officially became President Donald J. Trump International Airport, the first U.S. airport renamed for a sitting president. The renaming was carried out under a Florida law that Gov. Ron DeSantis signed in March 2026, which requires an agreement granting Trump and his organization "perpetual and unrestricted" use of the name at no cost. Trump's trademark-licensing company, DTTM Operations, had filed multiple applications on the new name in February 2026, before the enabling bill became law.

Milwaukee detective assigned to investigate Flock camera misuse misused the same system to track two people, prosecutors alleged

Milwaukee Police Department Internal Affairs Detective Tehrangi Chapman, who had been assigned to investigate officer Josue Ayala for misusing the department's Flock automated license-plate-reader system, was himself charged on July 9, 2026, with felony misconduct in public office and misdemeanor misuse of a GPS device. Prosecutors allege Chapman ran unauthorized Flock searches on two individuals roughly 17 to 20 times between January 2024 and January 2025, logging the searches as "training" or "test," and secretly installed a physical GPS tracker on one victim's car without a warrant or consent. Chapman, a 22-year MPD veteran who was suspended with pay in March 2026, admitted in charging documents to using the database and tracker for personal reasons.

Wisconsin Elections Commission adopted guidance barring voters from voiding returned absentee ballots

On July 9, 2026, the Wisconsin Elections Commission adopted guidance for local clerks stating that voters cannot void a returned absentee ballot and request a new one — even if their chosen candidate has since dropped out of the race or weeks remain before Election Day. The guidance reversed the commission's prior legal position and was issued after ballots for the August 11 primary had already been mailed and multiple gubernatorial candidates had withdrawn. Three Dane County voters and the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin separately sued to block the guidance within days of its publication.