The Latest: Civil rights groups want court vote postponed Source: AP

Various civil rights groups are backing calls from Democratic lawmakers to hold off on a vote to confirm Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy's replacement until after the November elections. Vanita Gupta, head of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, says senators need to put country over party and use every tool to stop what she calls President Donald Trump's plan "to take over the Supreme Court for the next 40 years."

Energy 202: White House seeking more clean energy cuts despite…

The Trump administration is preparing to ask for even deeper funding cuts to clean energy research at the Energy Department - just months after Congress rejected proposed cuts to those offices. The White House's Office of Management and Budget on Friday directed the department to submit a budget request that would reduce funding for all nondefense offices by 5 percent from what the administration sent to Congress for fiscal 2019.

The Question GOP Candidates Fear Most In 2018

Alan Baron, who was a wise and witty man of politics, used to tell this true story to remind those who worked in politics like he did that in some election years, the outcome is determined by events and forces completely beyond any candidate's or her campaign's control. As a 21-year-old, Baron was managing in his heavily Republican hometown of Sioux City, Iowa, a long-shot congressional campaign for an underfunded Democrat when Vincent Burke, the frankly sacrificial Democratic nominee for a solidly Republican state Senate seat, approached him with a request for $300.

Federal judge blocks Kentucky’s Medicaid work requirements

A federal judge says Kentucky can't require poor people to get a job to keep their Medicaid benefits, chastising President Donald Trump's administration for rubber-stamping the new rules without considering how many people would lose their health coverage. The decision is a setback for the Trump administration, which has been encouraging states to impose work requirements and other changes on Medicaid, the joint state and federal health insurance program for the poor and disabled.

The Latest: Few visa applicants granted travel ban waivers

The Trump administration has granted waivers to less than 2 percent of visa applicants exempting them from President Donald Trump's travel ban on several mostly Muslim countries. Visitors depart the Supreme Court early Monday, June 25, 2018.

Americans Evaluate Trump’s Character Across 13 Dimensions

A review of Americans' ratings of President Donald Trump across a series of personal dimensions shows that at least half consider him intelligent, strong and decisive, and able to bring about change. However, much smaller proportions deem him honest, likable or admirable, or say he has appointed good advisers or works well with both parties.

‘Ready, fire, aim’ – critics see pattern to Trump’s approach

Maybe it's not so easy after all. President Donald Trump's struggles to push immigration legislation through Congress and his about-face on breaking up immigrant families are putting a spotlight on his competence in carrying out his policies.

John Derbyshire: GOP Base Unmoved By MSM’s Big Lie On The Border. Build The Wall

If you followed the recent hysteria about our cruelty to illegal alien children on non -Main Stream Media, you'll be familiar with the depth of nonsense and dishonesty behind it all. You'll know that the policy causing all the shrieking and fainting has been in place for years, long before Donald Trump showed up.

Fact check: President Trump’s Duluth rally speech

President Donald Trump gives a thumbs up as he shares the stage with Pete Stauber, right, a Republican congressional candidate running in a traditionally Democratic district, and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of Calif., left, during a rally at Amsoil Arena in Duluth, Wednesday, June 20. President Donald Trump gives a thumbs up as he shares ... (more)

David Harsanyi: Zero tolerance for immigration answers

As soon as the Trump administration adopted a "zero-tolerance" policy requiring law enforcement to prosecute all immigrants who crossed the border illegally, it became clear that officials weren't prepared to deal with the crush of kids who would find themselves under their supervision.

Democrats Have Zero Tolerance for Solutions to Illegal Immigration

Nor were they able to implement the policy in a humane way. Family separation is callous and ineffective, but its existence doesn't excuse the ginned-up moral panic, the pious grandstanding, or the historically illiterate associations to Nazi death camps unleashed by its critics.

Americans’ Certainty About Voting This Year Starting Off Low

Fifty-six percent of U.S. adults are currently "absolutely certain" they will vote in the November elections for Congress. That's on the low side in Gallup's trend of final pre-election midterm polls since 1954 and is similar to the 58% recorded just before the 2014 midterms, which had the lowest turnout rate since 1942.

Charles Krauthammer, conservative columnist and pundit, dies

Charles Krauthammer, the Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist and pundit who helped shape and occasionally dissented from the conservative movement as he evolved from "Great Society" Democrat to Iraq War cheerleader to denouncer of Donald Trump, has died at age 68. His death was announced Thursday by two longtime employers, Fox News Channel and The Washington Post. Krauthammer had said publicly a year ago he was being treated for a cancerous tumor in his abdomen and earlier this month revealed that he likely had just weeks to live.