Justice Clarence Thomas declined to immediately hand Alabama Republicans a win Wednesday, but ordered their voting rights challengers to quickly defend a court-drawn congressional map that helped Democrats flip a deep-red state House seat.

Alabama’s Republican Attorney General requested emergency relief, asking the Supreme Court to immediately revive the state’s 2023 legislature-drawn congressional map after a lower court blocked it, ruling that the state must continue using a special-master map approved by the courts that created a second Black-opportunity district and helped elect Democratic Rep. Shomari Figures in 2024. 

On Wednesday, Justice Thomas, who is assigned to the 11th circuit, declined to immediately restore the 2023 congressional map but also ordered the case’s voting rights plaintiffs to provide an explanation by Monday on why that legislature-drawn map should not be used.

Thomas’s ruling is the latest in a years-long redistricting saga that was given new life following an April Supreme Court ruling that narrowed the interpretation of a provision in the Voting Rights Act used by Democrats in their redistricting fights. Prior to the April ruling, the Supreme Court upheld a challenge to the state’s 2020 census-drawn map and a court-approved special-master map preferred by Democrats was implemented, which reshaped the state’s 2nd District and flipped a solidly GOP-held seat that gave Democrats another House seat.

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In its emergency application, Alabama argued an immediate stay was needed because the lower-court ruling «defies Callais, manipulates the Purcell principle, and offends the Constitution’s promise of equal protection for all.»

Alabama is leaning on the Supreme Court’s recent April ruling in Louisiana v. Callais, which gave Republicans a new weapon against maps from left-wing voting rights activists by making it harder for them to force additional primarily minority districts under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.

The decision from the Supreme Court ultimately fueled a wave of fresh redistricting efforts in GOP-led states, including Alabama, which used the Supreme Court’s new Louisiana v. Callais ruling to ask the justices to revisit the lower-court orders blocking the 2023 legislature-drawn map.

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In response to the Louisiana case’s ruling, the Supreme Court ruled earlier this month on May 11 that the lower court’s judgment blocking Alabama’s 2023 map should be vacated and sent back for another look. However, on Tuesday, the three-judge federal district court blocked the 2023 map and ordered the court-approved special master map to continue to be used, leading to Alabama’s request for emergency relief on Wednesday that was ruled on by Justice Thomas.

The Alabama State Capitol sits beneath a blue sky in Montgomery, Alabama. (Joe Sohm/Visions of America/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

The timing of Thomas’ order comes as Alabama officials have already tried to prepare for a rapid switch back to the 2023 map. 

After the Supreme Court’s earlier May 11 order sent the case back to the lower court, Gov. Kay Ivey called Aug. 11 special primaries for the affected 1st, 2nd, 6th and 7th Congressional Districts, saying the state was ready to move forward with its Alabama legislature-drawn map.

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey participates in the homecoming ceremonies at halftime of the game between South Alabama Jaguars and Auburn Tigers at Jordan-Hare Stadium on September 13, 2025 in Auburn, Alabama. (Stew Milne/Getty Images)

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Fox News Digital reached out to Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall and the American Civil Liberties Union, which is acting as counsel for the left-wing voting rights plaintiffs in the case, but did not receive a response from either parties in time for publication.

FIRST ON FOX: The federal agency that oversees more than $126 billion in federal contracts is joining Vice President JD Vance’s anti-fraud task force, expanding the White House crackdown into the federal government’s contracting system.

The General Services Administration (GSA) calls itself the «engine of government» and serves as the federal government’s central contracting and real estate agency, overseeing the buildings, services and goods agencies rely on to operate. By joining the task force, GSA gives one of the Trump administration’s highest-profile accountability efforts access to its procurement data, acquisition expertise and cross-agency reach as the White House seeks to root out fraud in public programs.

«GSA sits at the center of the federal acquisition and contracting ecosystem, making us a critical force in the fight against fraud,» GSA Administrator Edward C. Forst said in a press release obtained by Fox News Digital. 

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«We are proud to join Vice President Vance and this Task Force to aggressively identify abuse, strengthen oversight and protect the integrity of federal procurement. GSA will bring advanced analytical capabilities, investigative support and cross-government coordination to help expose high-risk fraud patterns and stop bad actors from exploiting taxpayer-funded systems,» Frost continued. 

The White House’s task force is a coalition of federal agencies created by President Donald Trump through an executive order to coordinate efforts to reduce fraud, waste and abuse in federal programs. Chaired by Vice President JD Vance, the task force focuses on improving eligibility verification, strengthening payment controls, sharing data across agencies and helping law enforcement disrupt fraud schemes.

Vance says anti-fraud funding will be cut to states that don’t respond to Medicaid letters. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

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The GSA has historically had some problems with improper payments. 

In February, for instance, the agency’s Office of Inspector General released a report finding that «federal customer agencies relying on GSA pricing on schedule contracts are at risk of overpaying» due to failures from government contracting officers or inaccurate information submitted by contractors.

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Vice President JD Vance convened the first meeting of a new anti-fraud task force, criticizing the Biden administration for weakening longstanding protections. The Trump administration originally launched the federal task force led by Vance to investigate and recover fraudulent spending in programs like Medicare and Medicaid. (Photo by Heather Diehl/Getty Images)

The White House fraud task force was established in March, and has racked up a few early wins in the weeks since. Law enforcement, working in conjunction with the task force, arrested eight people in California on suspicion of defrauding public healthcare services out of more than $50 million.

The task force also withheld $1.4 billion in federal funding from home health and hospice providers suspected of defrauding the government.

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«GSA’s participation reinforces a whole-of-government strategy focused on restoring accountability, strengthening operational integrity and ensuring federal programs deliver results for the American people,» the press release reads.

«By combining the Task Force’s investigative mission with GSA’s government-wide infrastructure and procurement expertise, the administration is accelerating efforts to increase transparency, improve efficiency, and reinforce public trust in federal operations.»

El gobierno de Yamandú Orsi en Uruguay prepara la Rendición de Cuentas, un proyecto de ley en el que podrá realizar modificaciones presupuestales a las que incluyó en el Presupuesto Quinquenal. La iniciativa deberá ingresar al Parlamento antes del 30 de junio y llegará en un contexto en el que el Ministerio de Economía corregirá a la baja las proyecciones de crecimiento del país.

Pero, en un contexto económico adverso, los pedidos de recursos por parte de varios ministerios son crecientes. Sin embargo, las prioridades serán las carteras de Desarrollo Social e Interior.

Los detalles del proyecto de Rendición de Cuentas fueron tratados en una reunión del Consejo de Ministros, convocada por el presidente Orsi para este miércoles. Ante el gabinete, el ministro de Economía, Gabriel Oddone, transmitió que, incluso en un escenario de incertidumbre, la economía uruguaya atraviesa “síntomas de buen desempeño”.

El ministro informó que el crecimiento de la economía en 2026 y 2027 tendrá “leves correcciones a la baja”. Para el 2026, el Ministerio de Economía y Finanzas (MEF) había estimado un crecimiento del 2,2% y esa cifra pasará ahora a 1,6%. Para el 2027, en tanto, la corrección será de dos décimas.

“La Rendición de Cuentas lo que va a poner sobre la mesa para los próximos dos años es un crecimiento levemente inferior al que está previsto en la ley de Presupuesto”, expresó Oddone.

“El enfoque que estamos haciendo no es un enfoque de corte flat de gasto sino que lo que estamos haciendo en primer lugar es identificando ministerios que son priorizados, que son los que están a cargo de las políticas que mencioné; en segundo lugar objetos del gasto que son imposibles de tocar por su relevancia y sobre todo lo demás estamos trabajando bilateralmente de manera de encontrar con cada uno de esos ministerios los lugares donde se están generando ahorros”, señaló el secretario de Estado.

Por su parte, el director de la Oficina de Planeamiento y Presupuesto, Rodrigo Arim, expresó en la conferencia de prensa: “Está no es una Rendición de gasto cero. Es una Rendición que lo que preserva es el compromiso con la programación financiera y fiscal que realizó el gobierno en el presupuesto quinquenal, pero que toma la iniciativa política de priorizar áreas centrales para la ciudadanía, para el gobierno, como infancia, situación de calle y seguridad”.

El proyecto de Rendición de Cuentas pondrá foco en cuatro temas: la infancia, la seguridad, el apoyo a las personas que viven en la calle y el empleo. Además, el texto incluirá algunas de las sugerencias surgidas del Diálogo Social, el ámbito creado por el gobierno para reformar el sistema previsional y mejorar el sistema de trasferencias a la infancia.

Según consignó Presidencia, Oddone informó que la unificación de transferencias, primera de las cuatro metas comprometida por el Gobierno y que también se encuentra en el documento final del Diálogo Social, está estimada en 30 millones de dólares para 2027. Para los próximos años, añadió el jerarca, los técnicos continúan con las tareas para proyectar los requerimientos financieros dirigidos a este objetivo.

El ministro Oddone aclaró que las metas fiscales que fijó el gobierno al comienzo del período se mantienen.

Además de los anuncios para la Rendición de Cuentas, el gobierno también presentó tres iniciativas para promover inversiones que se presentarán en las próximas semanas como proyectos de ley: Ley de Competitividad, Innovación y Reducción del Costo de Vida.

Según informó Presidencia, en simultáneo, se está trabajando en medidas vinculadas al riego, y con el Ministerio de Industria, en temas vinculados a los costos energéticos para el fomento de inversiones en el país, y con el Ministerio de Transporte y Obras Públicas, en la reducción de costos logísticos.