| | |  | BY CATHERINE KIM | | 
A woman walks through an exhibit on voting rights at the International African American Museum on June 27, 2023 in Charleston, South Carolina. | Sean Rayford/Getty Images | UNDER SIEGE — A federal appeals court recently dealt a blow to the Voting Rights Act by ruling on what at first glance might seem a small technicality: Who, exactly, is allowed to sue when voting practices discriminate on the basis of race? But the issue in Arkansas State Conference NAACP v. Arkansas Board of Apportionment is anything but minor. The court’s ruling that there is no “private right of action” under Section 2 of the law — which prohibits voting practices that discriminate on the basis of race — would limit the scope of its protections and roll back enforcement of the landmark civil rights law. It’s a decision that stands to have a wide-ranging impact in the future, including prominently in House races — as recently as June, for example, a Section 2 case ended up altering the Alabama congressional map for 2024. The ruling overturns a standard practice of four decades in which outside groups like the ACLU and NAACP could litigate Section 2 challenges. The decision from the 8th Circuit holds that only the federal government should carry such power. Here’s why that matters: Out of at least 182 successful Section 2 lawsuits filed over the last 40 years, only 15 “were brought solely” by the attorney general. Private groups have filed Section 2 cases and won time and time again — including in Allen v. Mulligan, the Alabama case in which the Supreme Court affirmed a lower court ruling that the state likely violated the law by diluting the power of Black voters when it drew its congressional map after the 2020 census. Ultimately fewer lawsuits will be filed because of the Eighth Circuit’s decision — not because the issues have been remedied, but because they aren’t being acted on at the federal level. Major organizations like the NAACP and ACLU have resources and personnel dedicated to ensure equal access to voting rights . The Justice Department simply doesn’t have the same level of oversight as local grassroots organizations do due to limited resources, which means it is likely issues will fall through the cracks, according to Alejandra Campos, who is an assistant professor of political science at the University of Arkansas. “At the very least, I think it signals to people that they don’t have the right to bring up any grievances that they have about electoral procedures, or what they might perceive as something that is disproportionately affecting their community,” Campos said. “They signal that, ‘We decide what is a bridging your vote or not, and you don’t have that voice anymore.’” There’s also concern about the further politicization of these cases. Because the Justice Department will have complete discretion on whether or not to file a suit, who’s in the White House and has staffed the agency will become more important than ever. The court’s decision in Arkansas was used to dismiss a redistricting case filed by advocacy groups that claimed a new map would dilute the voting power of Black people. These private groups’ right to file Section 2 lawsuits rested on “flimsy footing” to begin with, according to the 8th Circuit judges. Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin, whose office had been defending the map, applauded the decision , saying that enforcement of the Voting Rights Act should be handled by “politically accountable officials and not by outside special interest groups.” Yet by eliminating private groups’ right to sue entirely — and setting up the federal government to be the sole protector of voting rights — the decision will undermine “the Voting Rights Act’s promise of equal participation in the democratic process for all Americans,” according to Holly Dickson , executive director of ACLU of Arkansas. In recognition of such limitations, Chief Circuit Judge Lavenski Smith, an appointee of former President George W. Bush, wrote in his dissent, “Rights so foundational to self-government and citizenship should not depend solely on the discretion or availability of the government’s agents for protection.” Ultimately, this decision fits into a trend of blows to the Voting Rights Act over the last 10 years. In 2013, the Supreme Court gutted Section 5 of the VRA, which required the Department of Justice or a federal district court to vet any voting procedure changes proposed by states and local municipalities with a history of discrimination. Since then, 11 states that had been subject to preclearance — the process of seeking DOJ approval for all changes related to voting — have passed at least 29 laws that add voting restrictions . The legal fight will likely head to the Supreme Court, and two conservative justices — Neil Gorsuch and Clarence Thomas — have already shown their hand. In a 2021 Voting Rights Act case, Gorsuch wrote in his concurring opinion, joined by Thomas, that the matter of who can bring forth Section 2 cases is an “open question.” Welcome to POLITICO Nightly. Reach out with news, tips and ideas at nightly@politico.com . Or contact tonight’s author at ckim@politico.com or on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @ck_525 .
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| | Enter the “room where it happens”, where global power players shape policy and politics, with Power Play. POLITICO’s brand-new podcast will host conversations with the leaders and power players shaping the biggest ideas and driving the global conversations, moderated by award-winning journalist Anne McElvoy. Sign up today to be notified of new episodes – click here . | | | | | | | — Tuberville drops most military holds despite no change in Pentagon abortion policy: Tommy Tuberville announced today he’s dropping most of his months-long holds on military officer nominations in the Senate , backing down from his vow to block them until the Pentagon changes an internal abortion policy. The Alabama Republican plans to continue his holds on four-star nominees, he told reporters, but will release the rest effective immediately. Tuberville’s surprising white flag follows months of pressure and growing frustration from his GOP colleagues, as the amount of held military promotions ballooned over 400. — McHenry announces he will pass on reelection: Rep. Patrick McHenry announced today that he won’t be seeking reelection , one of the most high-profile congressional GOP retirements of the year. The North Carolina Republican, first elected in 2004, progressed over the course of his time in the House from conservative rabble-rouser to a well-liked lieutenant of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy. McHenry, 48, later served as acting speaker during the frenetic three-week search for a replacement following McCarthy’s ouster. — Giuliani’s no-show prevents courtroom confrontation with Georgia election workers: Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, two Georgia election workers who have been tormented by harassment and threats since 2020, were prepared today to confront the man they view as the chief instigator of their suffering: Rudy Giuliani. But Giuliani was a no-show at a federal court hearing in the duo’s defamation lawsuit , prompting a lashing for his attorney by U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell, who had ordered Giuliani to be present. “How could you have missed that?” Howell asked Giuliani’s attorney, Joe Sibley, incredulously, when he took the blame for Giuliani’s absence.
| | CHENEY FLOATS BID — Former GOP Rep. Liz Cheney is mulling a third-party run for president and will decide in the next few months, she said in interviews published today while promoting her new book. “I think that the situation that we’re in is so grave, and the politics of the moment require independents and Republicans and Democrats coming together in a way that can help form a new coalition, so that may well be a third-party option,” Cheney told USA TODAY. SUPER PAC SHAKE-UP — Ron DeSantis is giving his closest allies greater control over the daily operations of his presidential run , another shakeup in the Florida governor’s 2024 bid just weeks before the first Republican nominating contest, reports Bloomberg. Scott Wagner, one of DeSantis’ oldest friends from their time at Yale and an attorney in Miami, assumed leadership last weekend of the allied super political action committee, Never Back Down. That group has been effectively running DeSantis’ operation in Iowa…The governor has privately acknowledged to friends and allies that Trump holds so much sway over the Republican voter base that it leaves little room for alternative candidates. The timing may not have been right for DeSantis to run, according to allies. NH GOP BUCKS RNC — As the Republican National Committee decides whether to stop hosting presidential debates, the New Hampshire Republican Party is preparing its own backup plan to host a debate before the first-in-the-nation primary on Jan. 23, reports the Messenger. “You don’t have the first-in-the-nation primary and then not do a debate,” said Chris Ager, chair of the New Hampshire Republican Party. “That’s counter to the entire ethos of the first-in-the-nation primary.” Under pressure from former President Donald Trump’s campaign, the RNC is considering a proposal to back out of the business of sponsoring debates. The move – if approved – would also open the door to the candidates and others to host their own debates, just without the imprimatur of the GOP. UNQUALIFIED — Arkansas election officials on Monday said online news personality Cenk Uygur, who was born in Turkey, can’t appear on the state’s Democratic presidential primary ballot next year, the Associated Press reports. The determination comes weeks after Uygur proclaimed that he had become the first naturalized citizen on a presidential ballot after filing paperwork with the state and the Arkansas Democratic Party. HALEY’S NEW DONOR — When Jamie Dimon, the chief executive of JPMorgan Chase, urged Democratic donors last week to rally behind Nikki Haley to provide Republican voters an alternative to former President Donald J. Trump, it seemed a far-fetched plea. But at least one of the Democratic Party’s biggest financiers has already done exactly that, reports the New York Times. Reid Hoffman, the billionaire co-founder of LinkedIn and a major Democratic donor, recently gave $250,000 to a super PAC supporting Haley , the former South Carolina governor who has gained momentum in recent weeks in the 2024 Republican primary race.
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An elderly woman walks along a street against a background of graffiti depicting General Valery Zaluzhny, head of Ukraine's armed forces, in Bakhmut, Ukraine. | Andriy Andriyenko/AP | TENSION AT THE TOP — More than 21 months after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the mood is turning grim in Kyiv — with tensions between President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his top general, Valery Zaluzhny, spilling into the open , POLITICO EU reports. Last year’s successes, as Ukraine first blunted Russia’s attacks on its capital and then recaptured swaths of territory, have faded into a stalemate along hundreds of kilometers of frontlines as entrenched Ukrainian and Russian soldiers fight bloody battles for advances and retreats measured in meters. That’s led to political infighting in Kyiv as officials search for ways to outlast Russia during a long war in which Moscow has more men, more weapons and a bigger economy. The mood in Kyiv is further soured by recent wobbles in foreign support for continued military aid. An essay by Zaluzhny for the Economist offered some cold realism in contrast to the optimism that permeates official Kyiv messaging. He made it clear that Russia was far from beaten, and warned: “A positional war is a prolonged one that carries enormous risks to Ukraine’s armed forces and to its state.” People close to Zelenskyy say the column left him scrambling to reassure partners that the war is not a dead end, and that it’s still worth helping Ukraine. Now the president wants his army to come up with a strategy to keep the aid flowing. And the infighting in Kyiv is causing public dismay. “I understand why Russia wants to split the military-political leadership into ‘military’ and ‘political’ and make them fight each other,” said Alina Mykhailova, a Ukrainian army officer and a member of the Kyiv city council, in a Facebook post. “This is the only way for the enemy to decisively defeat Ukraine. But I do not understand and refuse to understand why we give them what they want.”
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| | | INTO THE WILD — In Europe’s northernmost county — on a peninsula called Čorgašnjárga by its native people and Nordkinn by Norwegians — there are around 100 people who work on 19 concessions where they herd reindeer . Sometimes called Europe’s last wilderness, the county is part of Norway’s second-largest herding district. It’s also a place that Norway has landmarked for potential wind power projects, which would disrupt herding patterns and drastically change the wilderness, while also providing a much-needed renewable energy source. For The Dial Magazine, Ben Mauk wrote an in depth essay about the potential project, accompanied by photos of the remarkable landscape from Carleen Coulter .
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On this date in 1933: The prohibition repeal was ratified. The day of, wholesale houses delivered alcohol to anxious consumers, pictured here in New York, with a shipment from the historic winery Mouquin in Brooklyn. | AP | Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here . | |
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