Supreme Court is only way to end Trump’s control of midterms

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What if Trump tries to overturn election results while ignoring court orders? ‘I have such a hard time believing that would happen,’ one judge said. ‘But I think you have to consider the possibility.’

North Carolina will start sending out the first general election mail ballots on Sept. 4 for the Nov. 3 midterms. Whether the voters who use those types of ballots in that state and across the country get disenfranchised will likely soon be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.

President Donald Trump and his administration have been battling in federal court with voter rights groups and 24 states that are trying to prevent him from what clearly seems to be an unconstitutional federalization of our elections.

Trump, in an executive order in March, directed the Department of Homeland Security to compile state-by-state lists of eligible voters and then have the U.S. Postal Service develop rules about who can vote using mail ballots.

As always with Trump overreach, this has become a mess in every kind of way.

Trump is fighting a legal battle for control over mail-in voting

A federal whistleblower involved in the development of those rules has warned that they could cause “major disruptions” in voting and that the Trump administration seemed intent on hiding that, according to a letter to the Postal Service from U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat.

And there is also a major legal problem with Trump’s executive order: The U.S. Constitution says states run elections, not the president. Trump can’t just decide he has a new power and then act on it.

That prompts three very serious questions. Will the conservative-heavy Supreme Court stop Trump? Will Trump follow judicial orders? And will the Republican-controlled House and Senate force Trump to obey the courts?

To sort out where this goes next, I spoke to three former federal judges from the Article III Coalition, a good-government effort from Keep Our Republic to preserve an independent judiciary.

Will the Supreme Court eventually stop Trump’s election antics?

Former Judge John E. Jones III, who was chief judge for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, predicted a swift return to the Supreme Court for Trump’s executive order.

Procedural issues prompted a majority of the Supreme Court justices on Aug. 24 to block a federal judge in Boston from temporarily pausing Trump’s executive order. But by week’s end, that judge’s temporary restraining order was back in place – and Trump’s administration was appealing it.

Jones told me he expects the federal courts at every level to find Trump’s executive order unconstitutional.

“I struggle to find a scenario where the Supreme Court does anything other than find that this is a violation of Article I, Section 4 of the Constitution, in that these are executive agencies, and absent lawmaking by the Congress, the executive branch simply doesn’t have the authority to do this,” Jones said.

Retired Judge Liam O’Grady, who served in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, told me the Supreme Court might take control of the case directly, skipping over the appellate court, because the subject already reached the high court once and the midterms are looming.

“They may look at 60 days before an election and say, we now should decide this issue,” O’Grady said. “You would hope they would, because the states need direction.”

Former Judge Jeremy Fogel, who served in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, was leery of handicapping the Supreme Court on this because the justices could have put an end to the executive order the first time it reached them.

“I think they’re sending ambiguous signals,” Fogel told me. “That may be just because you’ve got justices in a lot of different places.”

Trump has spent years fighting the US voting system

Jones, who was still a judge when Trump tried to overturn the 2020 election in more than 60 court cases, said the federal judiciary had prepared back then for the potential wave of legal filings and will be ready again. And he pointed to recent controversies – aggressive federal agents demanding to inspect Wyoming’s primary election in August, the FBI’s seizure of 2020 ballots in Georgia’s Fulton County earlier this year – as potential harbingers for future cases.

“I think past is prologue, and given the administration’s repeated attempts to, in effect, federalize election administration, almost anything goes from this point on,” Jones said, adding that Trump is trying to drive a narrative that “elections are inherently fraudulent.”

O’Grady noted that the federal judge in Boston, while pausing Trump’s executive order with an Aug. 27 temporary restraining order, pointed out “that the government didn’t put in any evidence of fraud occurring in mail-in voting to substantiate the need to act so quickly.”

Fogel sees a Trump-led public influence campaign to question election integrity as a “coordinated effort to suppress the vote,” recalling how judge after judge in 2020 threw out Trump’s legal challenges for lack of evidence. He expects more of the same in November.

“I think it’s likely they’re going to use all of the levers available to prevent losing control of Congress,” Fogel said.

My last question for the judges worried Fogel: What if Trump tries to overturn the results of the midterm elections while ignoring court orders meant to stop that?

“I have such a hard time believing that would happen,” Fogel said. “But I think you have to consider the possibility that it might.”

Fogel and Jones saw two off-ramps for that kind of chaos.

For Fogel, it depends on “how much integrity” Trump’s Republican allies in Congress will show if he tries to defy court orders. Will Congress step in? “That’s the big question,” he said.

For Jones, he recalls the consequences that Trump’s attorneys faced for their actions in 2020. One big example: Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who led Trump’s 2020 legal challenges, was disbarred in 2024 for actions he took in that effort.

“Lawyers are going to have to think hard about whether they want to jeopardize, as we call in the trade, their ticket to practice law,” Jones warned. “I think lawyers are likely to be much more circumspect about diving into some of these potentially ill-considered cases because of the experiences in past elections.”

Follow USA TODAY columnist Chris Brennan on Bluesky, @bychrisbrennan.bsky.social, and on X, @ByChrisBrennan. Sign up for his weekly newsletter, Translating Politics, here.

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Tornado warning canceled in Burlington County, New Jersey, as severe storms hit Philadelphia region

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A tornado warning in Burlington County, New Jersey, was canceled Tuesday night as severe storms hit the Philadelphia region.

A severe thunderstorm watch for the Philadelphia region expired, but some severe thunderstorm warnings remain in effect for parts of the Delaware Valley.

Some of those storms will have heavy rainfall, gusty winds and frequent lightning. Heavy rain, damaging winds, hail, lightning, and even an isolated tornado are possible.

We are not yet at the point where you can shut down the air conditioning. In fact, it will likely be running quite a bit in the coming days.

NEXT big weather changes

The heat and storm chances will continue Wednesday and Thursday.

Storms will form each day and generally move from the northwest to the southeast as they ride around a large ridge of high pressure to the south.

Atmospheric conditions will be in place for severe storms at some point each day, but mainly through the afternoon and evening time frame.

All weather threats are possible across most of the region each day.

The ridge will slowly sink southward. By Thursday, a strong cold front will be able to cross the area and looks to start to push the threat for severe weather to the south, but it still includes Philadelphia and areas south.

The NEXT Weather team will be monitoring atmospheric conditions, and we’ll keep you updated with timing and impact throughout the week.

The good news is that the unsettled pattern looks to begin breaking down by Friday to make way for a relatively nice first weekend of September with highs near 80 degrees under partly cloudy skies and lower humidity levels.

Here’s your 7-day forecast:

Tuesday: NEXT Weather Alert for storms/heat. High 92

Wednesday: NEXT Weather Alert for storms. High 84, Low 73

Thursday: NEXT Weather Alert for storms/heat. High 90, Low 72

Friday: Showers south. High 87, Low 73

Saturday: Partly cloudy. High 82, Low 68

Sunday: Mostly sunny. High 79, Low 65

Monday: Mostly sunny. High 80, Low 61

NEXT Weather Radars

Hourly Forecast

Get the latest weather info on the CBS News Philadelphia app.

In:

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‘Wheel of Fortune’ Announcer Jim Thornton Suspended

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‘Wheel of Fortune’
Announcer Jim Thornton Suspended

Published
September 1, 2026
2:05 PM PDT
|
Updated
September 1, 2026
4:08 PM PDT

Jim Thornton — the longtime “Wheel of Fortune” announcer — has been suspended by Sony Pictures Television Studios … TMZ has learned.

The studio tells TMZ … “We have recently been made aware of allegations concerning Jim Thornton. He has been suspended from Wheel of Fortune and we are recasting while we conduct a thorough investigation.”

Sony Pictures Television did not provide a reason for his suspension from the show.

However, we’ve learned the alleged incident arose while Thornton was on a commercial flight back in May, and a passenger complained to a flight attendant about Thornton.

Sources with direct knowledge tell us the pilot called ahead to have law enforcement meet Thornton when they arrived at the gate.

We’re told officers questioned Thornton — who was wearing a ‘Wheel’ jacket at the time — but he was eventually released.

American Airlines tells us, “On May 14, American Airlines Flight 1276 was met by law enforcement upon arrival at Los Angeles International Airport following concerns reported by a customer onboard.”

Thornton joined ‘WoF’ in 2011 after the death of longtime announcer Charlie O’Donnell — who was with the show from 1975 to 1980 and 1989 to 2010.

While mostly heard and not seen on the program, Thornton did host one segment of a 2023 program when one of the contestants — a woman named Sarah Ward — wanted to meet him. Pat Sajak, then the host of the show, served as an announcer for the round.

Thornton also served as an announcer briefly on “The Price Is Right,” “The Soup,” and “The Cleveland Show.” He also lent his voice to Pixar for the classic animated movie “Monsters, Inc.” … serving as a commercial announcer in the flick.

We’ve reached out to Thornton … so far, no word back.

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A Letter to NBA GMs by Victor Oladipo

Oladipo TITLE TW 97a7516928f06803f1707bd44152d41e

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Dear NBA GMs,

I want to tell you about two dreams.

The first dream is my mom’s, and she had it way back when she was pregnant with me and my twin sister, in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, in 1992. In this dream, she saw Hakeem Olajuwon, the greatest Nigerian hooper who’s ever lived. He was giving her an autographed basketball. And … that’s it! That’s the full dream. But that’s all my mom needed. We’re a very spiritual family. We love God. And she took this as a message from a higher power, that one of her kids was supposed to grow up to play the game of basketball.

You have to understand: My parents aren’t athletes by any means. They’re Nigerian immigrants through and through. And like many Nigerian immigrants, they believed that our opportunities in this country would come from educating ourselves, and using our minds. We weren’t part of a culture where it was normal for someone to make the NBA … or at least we didn’t see it that often, you know? So my mom wasn’t trying to impress anyone with this. But still. She told me from day one, she had this dream.

So when I fell in love with the game at an early age, just from sitting in the bleachers watching my older sister play … and from staying up late watching those Bulls and Lakers teams in the Finals … and from imitating my three GOATs (MJ, Kobe, my sister) on my uncle’s hoop in his driveway after church on Sundays…… and then I started to show signs of having some actual ability??? Man, I have to be honest with you. It felt like destiny.

Then move ahead to 2013 … it’s Draft Night. I’m 21. Been on an amazing journey just to get to this moment. My agent turns to me and he says, “Hey Vic, it’s gonna be you at #2 to Orlando.” But there’s TV cameras on us so I’m trying not to act too excited. Don’t want to give it away. And I’m just sitting there for a minute, in between him saying that and the pick coming in … and it’s like my whole journey is flashing before my eyes.

I’m thinking about how my dad worked three jobs, and my mom went to nursing school, just so my sisters and I could have the best education possible. I’m thinking about how people clowned on my offensive game at first, since it was slower to develop, because I didn’t have the resources a lot of other kids had (so I did things like build my own hoop, and then accidentally made it nine feet tall … smh). I’m thinking about how Coach Crean asked a reporter in private once if they thought I could be a pro, and they were like, Nah come on. He’s just an athlete. What’s he doing that 200 other athletes can’t do? I’m thinking about ALL of that.

But then it’s David Stern at the podium, “…..with the second pick in the 2013 NBA Draft, the Orlando Magic select Victor Oladipo, of Indiana University.” And then it’s me up there shaking his hand. And then it’s a whirlwind of media. And then it’s…… man, it’s the craziest thing that happened.

I finish up my media, and I’m walking backstage toward the green room to meet my family. But before I can get there, I see them about halfway down the hall. And my mom, she’s standing there with this strange expression on her face. Almost frantic. I’m kind of worried for a second. I motion over to my twin sister, and I’m like, “Hey, is she OK?!? What’s going on?!?” And my sister is like, “No….. Victor. LOOK.” And she points to my right, past my mom. It’s Hakeem Olajuwon. He was there because this was David Stern’s last draft as commissioner, and Hakeem was the first pick that Stern ever announced — so they brought him back to help celebrate. And my mom had just run into him, backstage, on her way to meet me after I got picked. And of course she told Hakeem about her dream. And he autographed a basketball for her, just like she dreamt he did.

That was my first night in the NBA.

A lot has happened since then.

Victor Oladipo | A Letter to NBA GMs | The Players' Tribune

Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images

Those first few years in the league, I was still finding myself. I had been a 4-man in high school, and only moved to the guard spot in college … but even at Indiana, I never really played point guard. So when the Magic put me at the point, right out the gate as I was starting my NBA career … that was almost like an adjustment on top of an adjustment, you know?

I also think it was a tough situation for us in general, where we were losing a lot … went through multiple head coaches … I actually think if the play-in had existed back then, maybe we’d have gotten some playoff reps, and the energy could’ve been different. But it just felt like we never quite got that arrow pointed up…… and then suddenly I’m getting traded to OKC. Then the next summer, just like that, I’m getting traded out of OKC. Whew!!! It was a lot. To tell you the truth, I still look at that whole chapter so positively, though. Being a young player in this league….. It’s just an exciting thing. And I think a lot of my so-called failures from those years, they ended up being building blocks for me down the road.

Then that first season with the Pacers…… what can I even say??? It was perfect. It was like they had a job opening, where there’s a lot of responsibility but it’s this great opportunity, and I was the exact right candidate with the exact right experience for it. Those turnovers that I made too many of in Orlando, while trying to learn point guard? I feel like each one of them taught me something. How to become a better ball handler, a better passer … how to find my spots on the floor … how to change speeds with purpose. I also learned a lot from getting to play with Russ during his MVP year. Dude is such a special player and human. The way that he willed us into being a winning program….. honestly, for me, it was so profound. So when I got to Indy, and the message was Vic, it’s your team. High usage, ball in your hands, keys to the car … I was like, say less.

And the fact that it was Indiana just made it that much sweeter. I’m an emotional player, which is something I take a lot of pride in. I feed off connection, I feed off energy. And Indy showing me love, and treating me like their own, I think it played a real part in the heights I was able to reach there. I remember our playoff series against the Cavs, in 2018, we were down 3–2 and it’s Game 6 at home. So the night before, I went to the movies. And a Cavs fan spotted me at the theater, and was like, “HEY BRO. Y’ALL ARE GOING HOME TOMORROW NIGHT.” Of course my first thought was, Wait. Does this guy know he’s not in Cleveland right now? But I just shouted back to him, at the top of my lungs, “NO WE AIN’T!!!!! NO WE AIN’T!!!!!” And honestly….. It really was like that, my first year in Indiana. I felt an amazing connection with that city, that state, those fans. Then I went out there in Game 6 and had probably the game of my life, putting up a triple double, going bucket for bucket with maybe the greatest of all time, defending our home court, and forcing a Game 7. Man, no lie……… I thought the roof was going to come off the building that night. I wish that feeling could have lasted forever.

Victor Oladipo | The Players' Tribune | A Letter to NBA GMs

Ron Hoskins/NBAE via Getty Images

Unfortunately, it couldn’t last forever.

When I ruptured my quad tendon, it was a tough thing to accept. I was coming off the best year of my career: made my first All Star, got MVP votes, won Most Improved … and we were also having team success. Fifth in the East, then took the Cavs to the limit. And in my mind? My NBA greatness, it still felt like destiny. But then I was having a little knee trouble early on during my second Pacers season. And although it was “one in a million” to rupture my quad tendon from playing through it … I guess I was that one in that million.

So I got surgery, I rehabbed like crazy, and I came back a year later … right before the pandemic. Then I played in the Bubble, because I just wanted to get out there so badly. But in the Bubble it’s like I was on one leg. Any force on my knee, it felt like knives going through. And yet at the same time, it was sounding like everything should be OK. Which really messed with my head. I started to doubt myself, then I started to blame myself. And I think by my fourth season with the Pacers, where I STILL wasn’t feeling right??? Man. By that point I was so low. And when they traded me in January 2021, almost two years from the day I got injured….…. I didn’t have nothing left to do but cry.

Then in 2023, with Miami, I tore my patellar tendon. And to be honest, I actually think that injury was a blessing in disguise. Because from the moment my injuries first started, it’s like I’d been on this chase. I’d been chasing the idea of what we were so close to achieving as a team in Indy, and who I was so close to becoming as a player in the league. And it’s like ever since then … I’d just been trying so hard to get BACK there, you know?? So hard that I think I was rushing the process, and trying to make up for lost time. But my patella injury changed all that. Like to me that was God’s way of saying, Victor. You need to slow down, and get right, and stop chasing the ghost of what could have been. Then you need to build yourself back up into something that’s real.

And for the last three years, that’s what I’ve been doing. It’s taken a LOT of work. In my rehab … in the gym … and yeah, I’ll keep it a million with you: in therapy as well. I think as NBA players, we’re taught to put so much love into this game. And of course that’s a beautiful thing. But it can also make it hard to cope, or to find peace, if the game ever stops loving you back. And the game definitely broke my heart there for a while. Honestly, there’s times when I think about these past almost eight years … and my heart still aches. But I know there’s no reward at the end of regret. And I know I’m one of God’s angels. And I KNOW I’m still my mother’s son.

So I figure it’s time to play basketball again.

Jessica Foley for The Players’ Tribune

Now I want to tell you about the second dream.

This dream…….. it’s mine, and I had it about my daughter. Actually, I have it about my daughter — pretty much every day. Her name is Naomi, but I call her Nomi. She’s four and a half. And this dream isn’t about what she’s supposed to do, or what she’s destined to accomplish.

It’s about what type of person I want her to feel like she can be in this world.

And when I think about the version of me that’s most going to set that example for her?? Well … it ain’t the version that you last saw on an NBA court, at 30: a guy who was at war with his own body and mind, and struggling to understand why these bad things kept happening to him. But I’ll tell you something else……. It also ain’t the version that you saw walking to that podium, with his whole career in front of him, after shaking David Stern’s hand at 21. Or the version that you saw climbing toward the mountain top, after going toe to toe with LeBron in the playoffs at 25. Nah.

It’s this version, right now, that I want Nomi to see.

Me, in this moment of my life, at 34 years old. The version of her dad that got kicked all the way down the mountain, then spent years trying to climb back up, only to get kicked back down, again and again … but never once quit trying to climb. The version of her dad that, let’s be real, is probably getting counted out by a lot of people, and is probably getting laughed at by a few of them … but has managed to keep his faith, and keep his purpose. The version of her dad that’s finally found the perspective, and the humility, to write a letter like this one. To say to any GM who’s willing to listen: I believe my body is finally right. I believe I still have GREAT (and more importantly, WINNING) basketball in front of me. I believe I can be a valuable contributor to an NBA locker room. And what I’m asking for right now is an opportunity to prove it.

Nomi, man…… she’s still so young. But as she grows up, and if she’s ever in a place where she wants to take lessons from my life, or bookmark pages from my story … I really just hope that this is the one she comes back to the most. I hope that this is the page she can turn to when it’s tough times. And I hope that when she does turn to it, she realizes she’s strong like her dad … but also that she’s allowed to show weakness like her dad. Because if it’s coming from a feeling that’s true, it’s all strength. And I’m already so proud of her.

I hope she’s proud of me, too.

So that’s where I’m at with everything. I don’t know how my journey here is going to end……. Maybe a team out there will give me a chance. Maybe no team will. That’s really up to you all. But if you’re in an NBA front office, and you took the time to read this: Thank you from the bottom of my heart. And I can promise you one thing, always, about my basketball story … from the first page to the last.

It’s a love story.

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