The Supreme Court’s Gamble With Democracy Veers Away From Extremism—For Now
Good morning from the Hive newsroom! After the Supreme Court’s oral arguments in Moore v. Harper Wednesday, Cristian Farias observes the court’s conservative wing backing away from the “independent state legislature” theory, a fringe doctrine that could allow Republicans to supercharge their election challenges. Still, Farias writes, “a softer, less pernicious version could well guide our elections moving forward—perhaps a version that allows federal judges to review state rulings that are truly lawless.”
On the media front, Charlotte Klein dispatches her latest from just outside the New York Times building, where hundreds of Times Guild members organized a historic walkout on Thursday after negotiations broke down at the bargaining table earlier this week. “We are not happy to be here, but we are here,” Bill Baker, the unit chair of the Guild, addressed a crowd of union members at the scene. “We are here nonetheless in solidarity—that is the sweet of the bittersweet.”
Meanwhile, Eric Lutz reports on WNBA star Brittney Griner’s release from a Russian detention camp as part of a prisoner exchange brokered by President Joe Biden. Caleb Ecarma catches Anthony Fauci’s thoughts on becoming the House GOP’s top “punching bag” in the New Year. Plus, after an anticlimactic 2024 campaign announcement, Bess Levin notes that Donald Trump has hardly left the grounds of Mar-a-Lago in nearly a month. Thanks for reading!
