Politics A.M.: Alito defends letting Texas abortion law take effect, says Supreme Court critics want to intimidate justices

Federal judge takes up Biden administration request to block Texas abortion law; House Democrats delay planned vote on $1 trillion infrastructure bill amid dispute between party moderates and liberals; South Korea to Biden administration: North Korea is 'strengthening' its missile program; Appeals court appears reluctant to say Guantánamo detainees have due process rights; A big problem for Democrats is they need more Joe Manchins, not fewer; South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem severs ties with longtime Trump aide after harassment allegations; Biden signs government funding bill hours before midnight deadline to avert shutdown; Supreme Court will hear Ted Cruz's challenge of campaign contribution limit; The Trailer: So long, swing seats: Gerrymandering is already shrinking the midterm map ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

Introductory offer: Get one year of digital access for just $40.  Sign up for this newsletter Read online The most important politics stories today.     (Michael Caterina/AP) Alito defends letting Texas abortion law take effect, says Supreme Court critics want to intimidate justices In a speech Thursday at the University of Notre Dame, the veteran conservative justice assailed use of the term "shadow docket" to describe the emergency applications that come before the court, and sought to rebut criticism that he and other members of the court had effectively overturned the constitutional protection of abortion in Texas. By Robert Barnes and Mike Berardino ●  Read more »   Federal judge takes up Biden administration request to block Texas abortion law The Justice Department's lawsuit against the state of Texas is one of several legal proceedings involving the nation's most restrictive abortion law By Ann E. Marimow ●  Read more »   House Democrats delay planned vote on $1 trillion infrastructure bill amid dispute between party moderates and liberals The source of the Democratic stalemate was a second, roughly $3.5 trillion package that proposes to expand Medicare, combat climate change and boost federal safety-net programs, all financed through tax increases on wealthy Americans and corporations. By Tony Romm, Marianna Sotomayor, Mike DeBonis and Seung Min Kim ●  Read more »   South Korea to Biden administration: North Korea is 'strengthening' its missile program Chung Eui-yong said the United States should do more to get North Korea to the negotiating table. By John Hudson ●  Read more »   ADVERTISEMENT   Appeals court appears reluctant to say Guantánamo detainees have due process rights The influential U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on Thursday reviewed the case of Abdulsalam al-Hela, who has been held at the military detention facility without charge or trial since 2004. By Ann E. Marimow and Missy Ryan ●  Read more »   A big problem for Democrats is they need more Joe Manchins, not fewer Unless the party figures out how to win in Republican states, it has a problem. Analysis ●  By Philip Bump ●  Read more »   South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem severs ties with longtime Trump aide after harassment allegations Corey Lewandowski, Trump's former campaign manager, is accused of sexually harassing a donor at a Las Vegas dinner. By Michael Scherer and Josh Dawsey ●  Read more »   ADVERTISEMENT   Biden signs government funding bill hours before midnight deadline to avert shutdown The votes in the House and Senate avert a shutdown, but big decisions remain in October related to the debt ceiling. By Tony Romm ●  Read more »   Supreme Court will hear Ted Cruz's challenge of campaign contribution limit The Texas Republican created a test case on limits to post-election contributions to repay a candidate's loans to a campaign. By Robert Barnes ●  Read more »   The Trailer: So long, swing seats: Gerrymandering is already shrinking the midterm map The slow death of the swing seat, debate echoes in New Jersey and Virginia, and a boom market in anti-Kyrsten Sinema PACs. Analysis ●  By David Weigel ●  Read more »     We think you'll like this newsletter Check out Coronavirus Updates for news to help you stay safe and informed during the pandemic. Access to all stories in the newsletter is free. Sign up »

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