NPR News: 09-14-2026 11PM EDT
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How did the Supreme Court rule on President Trump's mail‑in voting restrictions?
Live from MPR News, I'm Giles Snyder. The Supreme Court has rejected President Trump's push for new mail in voting restrictions for the midterm elections. MPR's Hansi Lomong reports.
Postal Service is expected to continue delivering ballots as usual for the midterm general election. At issue was whether the Postal Service has the authority to refuse to deliver mail and ballots to voters in states where election officials do not turn over voter lists to the mailing agency and do not have certain barcodes on their ballot envelopes.
USPS has no authority to impose them on states. Now the Supreme Court has decided to keep the judge's ruling in place. Voting by mail has already started in some states, including Alabama, North Carolina, and Wisconsin, and more states are set to use USPS to mail their ballots as planned.
A homeland security whistleblower says federal agents may have broken state laws to pursue President Trump's voter fraud priorities, and Pierre's Miles Parks reports that the whistleblower's account was made public today by Democratic senators.
What did the DHS whistleblower reveal about the federal search for voter fraud?
The Department of Homeland Security has been ramping up its search for voter fraud in recent weeks. That's meant combing state voter rolls the department acquired and checking them against other federal data sources that track citizenship. But the whistleblower report says it's been a rushed process that has not taken state law into account. Investigators are supposed to review dozens of cases per day. And the whistleblower says those investigators were instructed to make false claims on state government websites in order to access data. That is only supposed to be accessed by the voter themselves. The report was made public by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senator Alex Padilla of California.
Miles Park said.
NPR News, Washington.
Why is Senator Mitch McConnell’s recent return to the Senate significant?
Kentucky Republican Senator Mitch McConnell is pledging to do his best to be present for tough votes. After a three-month-long absence, McConnell returned to the Senate Monday. His absence following a fall in his home raised questions about his ability to serve in Congress. A nationwide study finds that military veterans have hired levels of what are known as forever chemicals in their blood. The chemicals are linked to cancer and liver failure, as MPR's Quill Lawrence reports.
The study published in Environmental Health Perspectives found that fifty-eight percent of veterans have elevated levels of PFAS in their blood. That's associated with illnesses like kidney or testis cancer, liver or cardiovascular disease. The lead author of the study, Christian Hoover at Brown University, says young veterans in particular had levels 18% higher than their civilian counterparts.
If you are a veteran that is between twenty and thirty-nine, but I really strongly advise that they get tested and that they consult with their physicians.
What are the health risks of PFAS “forever chemicals” for military veterans?
But PFAS blood testing isn't covered by VA health insurance or offered at VA medical centers. VA is currently, quote, reevaluating blood testing in accordance with new federal research. Quill Lawrence, NPR News.
Asian chairs are mixed in Tuesday trading. You're listening to NPR News. The environmental protection agency is rolling back Biden era rules on carbon emissions from coal and gas fired power plants. The agency's repeal of a rule aimed at limiting planet warming emissions was first proposed last year, the EPA also moving to prevent future administrations from regulating climate pollution from power plants. An annual survey on the global state of democracy shows key indicators of U.S. democracy have fallen to their lowest levels in fifty years.
How is the EPA rolling back carbon‑emission rules and what does the global democracy survey show?
And Piers Rob Schmidt's reports.
The survey is conducted by the Stockholm-based International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance. Its global state of democracy report shows that nearly half of the 30 indicators used to measure U.S. democracy. Things like press freedom, judicial independence, and freedom of expression are at their lowest levels since the global survey began 50 years ago. Fifty-seven percent of the countries surveyed showed declines in at least one key indicator of democratic performance between 2020 and 2025.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
How did the Supreme Court rule on President Trump's mail‑in voting restrictions?
0:00–1:09
2
What did the DHS whistleblower reveal about the federal search for voter fraud?
1:09–1:44
3
Why is Senator Mitch McConnell’s recent return to the Senate significant?
1:44–2:42
4
What are the health risks of PFAS “forever chemicals” for military veterans?
2:42–3:29
5
How is the EPA rolling back carbon‑emission rules and what does the global democracy survey show?
3:29–4:16
6
Which historic wins were celebrated at the Emmy Awards and what’s new on Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me?
4:16–5:03