The C-Note Monday, June 30 Edition
Millions could lose healthcare coverage, a class-action lawsuit over Trump's birthright citizenship order and finding purpose under dark skies.
“I’m not afraid of storms, for I’m learning how to sail my ship.” - Louisa May Alcott
Morning! I hope your day is off to a great start. One thing before we jump into the news: I will be taking some time in July to continue writing my book (🤞🏾 I will have a draft finished by September, at least) and I won’t be reporting as much. But don’t worry! I will still be keeping you informed.
The “C-Note”

A “vote-a-rama” on amendments to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act” is underway in the Senate as lawmakers race to pass the package by President Trump’s July 4 deadline. In the Senate’s version of the bill, 11.8 million people could lose health insurance by 2034, including an estimated 1.4 million people “without verified citizenship, nationality, or satisfactory immigration status who would no longer be covered in state-only funded programs,” according to an analysis by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). The nonpartisan agency released the assessment over the weekend. And more than $1 trillion in federal spending on Medicare, Medicaid and Affordable Care Act coverage would be cut. (*Screenshot this for later: Trump and the White House have repeatedly promised that Medicare and Medicaid won’t be touched.*)
Civil rights leaders have been sounding the alarm on how the cuts and provisions in the bill will impact not just marginalized communities but everyone. Marc Morial, president and CEO of the National Urban League, said during a press conference that the damage would be “widespread” beyond healthcare, stretching from housing support programs to cuts to financial aid.
I asked several of the leaders who met with Democratic and Independent Senators to discuss the bill (they said Republicans did not meet with them) about the ramifications. Janai Nelson, president and director-counsel of the Legal Defense Fund, told me there are provisions in the bill that she is concerned will harm government checks and balances.
“One is that there's an effort to make people who want to sue the government have to pay money upfront before they can do that. That's never been done before. That is completely contrary to having the courts be open to all and to have everyone have access to justice,” Nelson said. “We're opposing any effort to say that courts can't hold wrongdoers in contempt of courts when they violate court orders. Every one of us has to submit to a court order. Every one of us has to listen when a judge says you must do something, but this government wants to make themselves above the law and beyond the law and in violation of the law with no consequences.”
A measure that would prevent state and local laws from regulating AI for 10 years is also a concern, Damon Hewitt, president and executive director of Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, told me.
“People use it. People benefit from it…But the truth is, if you use the toaster to make breakfast this morning, that toaster is more regulated than artificial intelligence,” Hewitt said. “There's absolutely no regulation in this country. And so the small efforts that states are making shouldn't be quashed.”
Eight civil rights organizations asked Senate leadership to reject the provisions and others in a letter on Thursday. If the amended bill passes, it will go back to the House for a vote and that vote could happen on Wednesday.
The Supreme Court ended the term on Friday with decisions on key cases that have either made Americans happy or pissed Americans off. The White House took a victory lap on Friday as the conservative-leaning majority gave the administration heavy wins.
In a potential blow to the fight to protect birthright citizenship, the high court limited judges’ ability to delay Trump’s executive orders from going into effect.
The 6-3 decision, a few weeks after thousands took to the streets across the country for the “No Kings” protests, is the latest turn in the showdown over birthright citizenship for those born to immigrants who are undocumented. In a dissent from the more liberal-leaning minority, Justice Sonia Sotomayor WENT OFF and said the decision would “cause chaos for the families of all affected children.”
“The Order will cause chaos for the families of all affected children too, as expecting parents scramble to understand whether the Order will apply to them and what ramifications it will have,” she wrote. “If allowed to take effect, the Order may even wrench newborns from the arms of parents lawfully in the United States, for it purports to strip citizenship from the children of parents legally present on a temporary basis.”
Sotomayor also wrote, “No right is safe in the new legal regime the Court creates. Today, the threat is to birthright citizenship. Tomorrow, a different administration may try to seize firearms from lawabiding citizens or prevent people of certain faiths from gathering to worship.”
The high court’s decision did not delve into the merits of the Trump administration’s legally questionable quest to end birthright citizenship, which was established by the 14th Amendment in a reversal of the Dred Scott decision, a ruling that barred Black people from obtaining citizenship.
With a stroke of his pen, Trump in January issued an executive order that challenges the entitlement to citizenship of all those born within our nation’s borders, without favor or prejudice. Multiple federal, lower court judges ruled that Trump’s order violated the Constitution.
Several groups filed a class-action lawsuit against Trump’s birthright citizenship order after the Supreme Court’s ruling. More of my reporting for The Emancipator here.
Here is what else to know…
Iran could restart enriching uranium “in a matter of months,” Mariano Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said.
Monica and Brandy are going on tour.
Congratulations to Mark Sears and the Sears family, my church family and friends from back home in Alabama! Mark signed a two-way deal with the Milwaukee Bucks last week.
Encouragement for the week:
I sat at the lake this weekend and while there, I watched an elderly man paint under a tree as a storm was coming in. He didn’t flinch; he just kept creating. And in that moment, I learned: Peace isn’t found in perfect weather. It’s found in doing what you love, even when the winds rise. Storms will come, but purpose will anchor you. Purpose doesn’t wait for calm skies. It creates peace in the middle of the rain.
More soon and safe travels during this holiday week,
Chandelis