Politics and views in the United States

President Donald Trump signs an executive order restricting mail-in voting. SCOTUS decides to end Colorado's LGBTQ conversion therapy ban. And the Iran War reaches a turning point.

Transcript

Welcome to 2026 Talks, where we're following our democracy in historic times.

I think this will help a lot with elections.

We'd like to have voter ID.

We'd like to have proof of citizenship, and that'll be another subject for another time.

As his strict nationwide voter ID bill fails in the Senate, President Donald Trump is signing an executive order restricting mail-in voting.

It tells Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration to list U.S. citizens verified to vote in each state, threatens states that don't follow the lists with losing federal funds and calls for the Postal Service to send absentee ballots only to those voters.

Courts have ruled it's unconstitutional and illegal for the federal government to try to dictate how elections are run.

Watchdogs are vowing to sue.

Trump has long argued falsely that mail-in voting is rife with fraud and voter ID is necessary because of non-citizen voting, which almost never happens.

The Save America Act he supports would make mail-in ballots much harder to get, even though they're popular and problem-free in Republican-led states like Utah and Arizona.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court says a Colorado ban on LGBTQ conversion therapy is unconstitutional, agreeing with the Christian youth therapists bringing the suit that the law restricts free speech.

Half of states have similar bans that could end up being overturned.

Angela Dallara with GLAAD says no one even argued that conversion therapy works.

Conversion practices are proven to be dangerous and have been discredited for decades, not only because they're ineffective, but because those who undergo it suffer devastating harm to their relationships with family and with their faith communities.

With the Iran war in its fifth week, the administration may be set to send in ground troops even as Trump publicly says he's ready to end the conflict.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Cain says Iran should look for a diplomatic solution because the U.S. is ready to escalate.

The range of military options those forces can offer are extensive, not just limited to what you mentioned in terms of forces on the ground.

Several media outlets report the White House is considering giving up trying to reopen the vital Strait of Hormuz, even while Iran continues to attack shipping and its Gulf Arab neighbors.

TSA agents are getting paid with funds already appropriated to the Department of Homeland Security.

The legality of that has not been tested.

The Senate did pass an agency budget funding everything but immigration enforcement, but Speaker of the House Mike Johnson countered with a clean eight-week extension.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries says if Johnson had allowed a vote on the Senate bill, it would have passed overwhelmingly.

To end the Trump-Republican shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security.

Make sure TSA agents are paid.

Stand up for FEMA, for the Coast Guard, and for our cybersecurity professionals.

And stop inconveniencing Americans.

A federal judge has blocked further construction of Trump's White House ballroom without congressional approval.

That's unlikely given Democratic opposition.

A different federal judge also blocked an executive order repealing funding from National Public Radio and the public broadcasting system.

That will have little effect since Congress blocked their money in last year's budget mega bill.

I'm Edwin J. Viera for Pacifica Network and Public News Service.

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