Supreme Court Upends Midterms & DHS Funded, Mostly | 5.1.26

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Morning Wire – “Supreme Court Upends Midterms & DHS Funded, Mostly”

Date: May 1, 2026
Hosts: John Bickley & Georgia Howe
Featured Guests: Steve Robinson (Mainwire Editor-in-Chief), Cabot Phillips (Wired in Live Host), Harmeet Dhillon (U.S. Assistant Attorney General, Civil Rights Division)

Episode Overview

This episode of Morning Wire centers on three pivotal political developments impacting the 2026 election landscape:

1. The shakeup in Maine’s crucial Senate race following Governor Janet Mills’ abrupt withdrawal.
2. The end of the historic Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shutdown and the political maneuvering around its funding.
3. The Supreme Court’s landmark ruling on congressional redistricting and its sweeping implications for future elections.

The hosts and their experts analyze these events, discuss the stakes, and highlight the ongoing tension shaping the 2026 midterm environment.

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1. Maine Senate Race Shakeup

Segment starts: 02:51

Key Points

• Gov. Janet Mills exits the race, citing lack of campaign funds.
• Mills’ support in Maine was weak, and her policies—especially on transgender sports participation—were out of step even with a liberal electorate (03:34).
• Graham Platner assumes front-runner status despite significant controversies, including a Nazi tattoo, inflammatory online comments, and a carefully crafted but potentially misleading working-class image.
• Steve Robinson contends Mills’ exit makes the race tougher for Republican incumbent Susan Collins, as Platner’s scandals seem not to deter progressive activists.

Notable Quotes

• Steve Robinson (03:34):
  “...Her support was always very weak. And... the only message that she had during her brief primary campaign was that she... picked a fight with President Trump over keeping boys and girls sports. Even in Maine, as far left and wacky as we are, that's like a 60-40 issue, a 70-30 issue. A bipartisan majority of voters disagree with the governor on that policy.”
• On Platner's background (05:37):
  “…he was like a, you know, a punk, Internet communist type guy. But they saw a vision of a masculine guy who had military service and lived on the coast of Maine...”
  “He's projected this image that he's like a crusty barnacle on the coast of Maine, working class guy, just like, you know, everybody else. But he's a child of privilege...”
• On the progressive base (07:56):
  “What we're seeing is a, you know, a fringe minority of rabid progressives... who relocated to the coast of Maine during COVID... Those are the people who form Graham Platner's base.”

Segment Takeaway

• The race now pits Collins against a highly controversial but energetic opposition, reflecting shifting political dynamics brought by demographic and cultural changes in Maine.

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2. DHS Shutdown Ends—But Not for All

Segment starts: 09:59

Key Points

• The longest DHS shutdown in history ends after 75 days; most of the department is funded until September, but immigration enforcement (ICE and parts of CBP) is excluded.
• Emergency measures had been propping up payrolls; the White House warned Congress these funds were nearly exhausted (10:27).
• The funding bill, originally passed by the Senate, was delayed in the House due to political wrangling over ICE and border security funding.
• Republicans ultimately relented, opting to revisit ICE and CBP funding via a future budget reconciliation process—which avoids needing Democratic votes in the Senate but comes with its own procedural obstacles (11:15–12:03).
• The measure passed by voice vote, shielding both parties from explicit accountability ahead of the midterms.

Notable Quotes

• Cabot Phillips (10:27):
  “DHS was on its last legs, funding wise. And the White House sent an internal memo... warning that DHS personnel, including Secret Service agents, Coast Guard TSA officers, and FEMA staff were going to start missing paychecks...”
• On political risk (12:10):
  “Some on the right are concerned that this entire saga sets the precedent that Democrats can simply pick and choose which parts of the department they want to fund in future budget fights.”
• Democrats' perspective (13:32):
  “House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said that the bill funds DHS, ‘in its entirety, with the exception of ICE and the violent Republican mass deportation machine.’”

Segment Takeaway

• Both parties claim victory, but underlying compromises and procedural battles foreshadow continued partisan strife over border and immigration policy funding heading into the heart of the midterm cycle.

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3. Supreme Court Redistricting Ruling

Segment starts: 14:19

Key Points

• The Supreme Court’s decision significantly alters how congressional districts are drawn, particularly concerning the use of race under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.
• The ruling strikes down the long-standing practice of creating “safe” majority-minority districts, arguing for more constitutionally neutral, competitive maps.
• Impacts will especially be felt in Southern states but could ripple nationwide, redrawing the political map by 2028 or 2030 (14:46–16:16).
• Mapmakers, lawyers, and demographers now face “years” of redistricting work.

Notable Quotes

• Harmeet Dhillon (14:46):
  “...for decades, Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act has been interpreted to require states to draw their lines for congressional districts incorporating race in circumstances where there has been discrimination in the past... so effectively, for decades, there have been safe districts drawn for mainly black, some Hispanic members of Congress from the Democrat Party... This is a sea change...”
• On future implications (16:16):
  “You’re going to see really a stronger position for competitive districts throughout these states.”

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4. Election Integrity Investigations

Segment starts: 16:16

Key Points

• Ongoing DOJ investigations in Georgia and Michigan into alleged voter irregularities and ballot access.
• Criminal investigations, especially in Fulton County, Georgia, now supersede civil cases.
• Objective: establish a regular, verifiable, and auditable process to restore American confidence in election outcomes and comply with federal law.

Notable Quotes

• Harmeet Dhillon (16:28):
  “The goal here is to make sure we've had a lot of elections on both sides... what we're looking for is for all Americans to accept the outcome of our elections. And for that, we need to have a regular, a verifiable and auditable process that's also required by federal law.”

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Memorable Moments & Tone

• Steve Robinson’s sardonic commentary on Platner’s “oyster man” label:
  “That's a joke. Here in Maine, there's no such thing as an oyster man.” (05:57)
• The hosts’ skeptical tone regarding both parties’ attempts to claim victory from the DHS funding deal, and their focus on the pragmatic and political consequences over simple partisan victories.
• The episode closes on the theme of systemic flux: political norms are shifting, legal precedents are being upended, and old certainties—like safe seats or uninterrupted federal funding—are now constantly in question.

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Timestamps

• Maine Senate Race discussion: 02:51 – 09:00
• DHS Shutdown / Funding: 09:59 – 14:17
• Supreme Court Redistricting Ruling: 14:19 – 16:16
• Election Integrity and Investigations: 16:16 – 17:37

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Summary Takeaway

This episode of Morning Wire captures a moment of transformation: old guard figures are ousted, institutional funding traditions are tested, and the nation’s electoral architecture is being redrawn in real time. The conversation is marked by skepticism, a note of urgency, and a recognition that the political landscape in 2026 is more volatile—and consequential—than ever.

Transcript

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[John Bickley]

A major shakeup in Maine's Senate race. Governor Janet Mills drops out, reshaping a high stakes battle that could determine control of the Senate.

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The contrast between what common sense Mainers want and what the Democrat Party is offering consistently and completely out of step with Maine.

[John Bickley]

I'm Daily Wire Executive Editor John Bickley with Georgia Howe. It's Friday, May 1st. This is Morning Wire.

[News Narrator]

After weeks of disruption, the homeland security shutdown is largely resolved, but funding for key border agencies remains uncertain.

[John Bickley]

Democrats that are setting the precedent for taking out ICE and Border Patrol out of the Homeland Security funding. And by the way, two can play at that game. So they're setting a precedent for how this is going to play out from now on. And a major Supreme Court decision is already reshaping the political map.

[Cabot Phillips]

The Supreme Court said that in Louisiana's

[Steve Robinson]

case it was blatantly unconstitutional and I

[John Bickley]

think that principle applies probably in other states as well.

[Steve Robinson]

We want constitutional maps.

[News Narrator]

Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know.

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[News Narrator]

Control of the Senate is on the line, and the GOP's precarious hold on the chamber may come down to a crucial race in Maine. That race has just narrowed after Democrat Gov. Janet Mills pulled out, putting a controversial upstart Graham Platner Squ, squarely in the driver's seat for the Democrat nomination.

[John Bickley]

Joining us now to discuss the state of the Senate race now in Maine is Steve Robinson, editor in chief of mainwire. First of all, thank you so much for coming on.

[Steve Robinson]

Well, thank you very much for having me.

[John Bickley]

So we just had this big development in your state. Governor Mills has withdrawn. She would have appeared to be the big player for the Democrats to try to give Republican Susan Collins a real run. Now she's out. She says she's actually out of campaign money. What happened with Janet Mills?

[Steve Robinson]

Well, I think that was the the DC Conventional thinking was that she was the best candidate and that she was going to be the strongest person to take on Senator Collins. But here in Maine, I was always very skeptical of the idea that she was going to run in the first place. In fact, I think I lost a lobster dinner to a D.C. politico when she did declare her support was always very weak. And really the only message that she had during her brief primary campaign was that she, you know, was a brat at a White House D dinner and picked a fight with President Trump over keeping boys and girls sports. And even even in Maine as far left and wacky as we are, that's like a 6040 issue, a 7030 issue. A bipartisan majority of voters disagree with the governor on that policy. So I never thought that she was going to be a very strong Senate contender. So I had always predicted that Governor Mills was going to drop out as soon as the legislature was done with its business. That happens here in Main on veto day, which took place on Wednesday. And I don't think that this is a good sign for Senator Collins. I think that Governor Mills would have been much more beatable. The fact that she never caught fire in the Democratic primary shows how soft support always was for her. And Graham Platner despite all of the controversies swirling around him, his Nazi tattoo, his history of making racist, lewd, homophobic, anti Semitic comments on Reddit, his temper, very, very volatile personality. Democrats seem to be sticking with him almost as the anti Trump, a reaction against Trump. And so I think Senator Collins is going to be in for the toughest reelection she's had in her entire career.

[John Bickley]

Yeah, so you mentioned some of the controversy surrounding Platner for our audience. We haven't talked much about him, frankly, in the past. What are some of the key controversies and why are voters attracted to him at all? Does he have charisma? What is it about him?

[Steve Robinson]

Well, so I think the first thing to know about Graham Platner is that he ended up as a candidate because he was an amateur actor in an aquaculture commercial. Some progressive political consultants saw it and flew up to Maine and convinced him to run as a candidate. So he was tabula Rasta. You know, he, he was like a, you know, a punk, Internet communist type guy. But they saw a vision of a masculine guy who had military service and lived on the coast of Maine and they figured they use the same kind of political consulting that gave us Mayor Mamdani and Senator Fetterman. They are describing him as an oyster man. That's a joke. Here in Maine, there's no such thing as an oyster man. There's a gq, there's a GQ profile that was written about him that is just dripping with homoeroticism. It's the craziest thing I've ever read. But they call him an oyster man. And it's just, it's not, it's not a thing. There's oyster farming. But then the other thing is that his oyster business is not even a business, it's a hobby. So he has a hobby where he occasionally grows oysters, which he sells to his mother's restaurant. And he lives off his disability payments. And also his father is a lawyer and his grandfather is a famous architect. So he's projected this image that he's like a crusty barnacle on the coast of Maine, working class guy, just like, you know, everybody else. But he's a child of privilege, comes from an elite family, doesn't really work or have a business. And to the extent that he has military service, he's totally rejected that. In an interview a couple of weeks ago, he said that all of the nasty things that he's ever done in his life are written on Reddit. He blamed that on the military. So he's running based on military experience that will appeal to Maine voters. Maine has one of the highest rates of veterans per capita of any state. But at the same time, he's trying to, you know, take the advantages of that. He's also saying the Marine Corps turned him into, you know, a racist buffoon.

[John Bickley]

Well, now you mentioned his Nazi tattoo that he's now partly covered up. Are you surprised that Maine voters aren't more turned off by that?

[Steve Robinson]

Well, I, I think we haven't yet. We haven't seen yet whether main voters will be turned off by Nazi. What we're seeing is a, you know, a fringe minority of rabid progressives. Many, many who moved to this state during COVID relocating here. There was about 25,000 or 30,000 Massachusetts, New York, Connecticut residents who fled cities, relocated to the coast of Maine during COVID brought their politics with them. It was a very sharp, very distinct change in the politics of the state. And they've become very active political activists. So those are the people who form Graham Platner's base. And I think that the more moderate voters who aren't even paying attention to politics politics yet really haven't had an opportunity to reject him.

[John Bickley]

Regardless, though, you do think he does have a shot, as you said, I

[Steve Robinson]

do think that he has a shot because the Democrats in Maine, it's machine politics. It really is. It's a patronage system and a well oiled machine.

[John Bickley]

Well, it's going to be fascinating to watch all of this unfold. Steve, thank you so much for joining us.

[Steve Robinson]

Thank you.

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[News Narrator]

days, Congress has voted to reopen the majority of the Department of Homeland Security. The House passed a Senate bill Thursday afternoon to restore funding to most of the department, though the bill did notably leave immigration enforcement out in the cold.

[John Bickley]

Joining us now is Cabot Phillips, host of Wired in Live. Hello, Cabot. So we just had the longest shutdown in DHS history end. In fact, the longest shutdown of any agency over two months. What changed to get this passed?

[Cabot Phillips]

So it really came down to two things. Agencies were running out of money and members of Congress were running out of patience. DHS was on its last legs, funding wise. And the White House sent an internal memo to members of Congress this week warning them that DHS personnel, including Secret Service agents, Coast Guard TSA officers, and FEMA staff were going to start missing paychecks starting this month. Remember, for the past six weeks, the White House has been scraping together emergency funds from other agencies to cover back pay for DHS staff. But according to this memo, even that well was running dry. And as I said, members of Congress, especially moderate Republicans, started to run out of patience with party leadership, and a few refused to leave for recess until this Senate bill was put to a vote.

[John Bickley]

All right, so the Senate first passed this bill. Now the House finally passed it yesterday. What exactly is in this bill?

[Cabot Phillips]

Yeah, as you said, the bill was passed by the Senate over a month ago and had been sitting on Speaker Mike Johnson's desk while negotiations between both sides stalled out. This bill funds every element of DHS through September except for ICE and also parts of Customs and Border Protection, or cbp. This funding for ICE and CBP had previously been a hard line for the White House. They said it has to be in there, which is why any movement on this Senate bill was shot down by Speaker Johnson. But evidently the GOP position did soften a bit in recent days, and House leaders decided to just cut their losses and fund ICE and CBP later on with a reconciliation bill down the road. Reconciliation would, of course, allow Senate Republicans to bypass the 60 vote threshold, but it does come with strict rules about what is and isn't allowed to be included. So we'll keep a close eye because that's going to be a whole new battle down the road.

[John Bickley]

Yeah, indeed. Now, this sounds like a lot of compromise from the Republican side. Were they effectively forced by Democrats to pass this bill?

[Cabot Phillips]

Yeah. Afterwards, after it passed, GOP leader Mike Johnson came out and told the Press. They were thrilled with the progress made. But some on the right are concerned that this entire saga sets the president that Democrats can simply pick and choose which parts of the department they want to fund in future budget fights. And it is worth noting this measure was ultimately passed by a voice vote. That literally means members shouted yay or nay on the floor. And that allows them to avoid going on the record, which gives an idea of how both sides feel about this bill. They were concerned about how it would play with their constituents ahead of the midterms. Most Americans say they want compromise in politics, but compromise is not always popular in practice, especially when it comes to winning a primary.

[John Bickley]

So how did Johnson ultimately get his conference to pass this?

[Cabot Phillips]

Well, if everything goes according to plan, the GOP would still get everything they want. On paper. They're securing funding for the vast majority of DHS right before it completely runs out of money for services like TSA and fema, as I mentioned earlier. And by funding ICE and CBP through separate later budget reconciliation, the GOP can avoid having to compromise with Democrats at all. Johnson has already teed up a reconciliation vote. The House passed a budget resolution earlier this week that paves the way to fund ICE and CBP through that process to the tune of roughly $70 billion. That would go on for the next few years until Trump's term expires.

[John Bickley]

So what about on the other side of the aisle? What has been the Democrats response to this?

[Cabot Phillips]

Well, Democrats, like Republicans, are also considering this a major win, or at least that's the message they're telling their voters. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said that the bill funds dhs, quote, in its entirety, with the exception of ICE and the violent Republican mass deportation machine. He pointed out the Democrats began this shutdown 75 days ago in order to avoid funding immigration enforcement after the death of Renee Good and Alex Preddy up in Minneapolis. So ultimately, he's saying they got the outcome they were looking for, at least for now. Mike Johnson expressed confidence, though, in the budget reconciliation process for funding immigration enforcement moving forward, but we'll have to see how that develops. Ultimately, though, last night President Trump did sign this bill into law. So the DHS shutdown has ended, a

[John Bickley]

lengthy saga finally coming to an end. Captain, thanks for reporting.

[Cabot Phillips]

Absolutely.

[John Bickley]

In the wake of the Supreme Court's ruling this week redefining requirements for congressional districts, the ripple effects for the mid midterm elections are already taking shape.

[News Narrator]

Joining us now to discuss the ruling and how it will affect the House map is Assistant Attorney General for The Civil Rights Division. Harmeet Dhillon. Harmeet, thanks for coming on.

[Harmeet Dhillon]

Yes, thanks for having me today.

[News Narrator]

So we had a huge ruling this week from the Supreme Court related to gerrymandering, tons of downstream effects. Who is this going to affect the most?

[Harmeet Dhillon]

Well, first of all, this is a huge ruling and huge victory for equal protection and equal rights in the United States. And I was proud to co author the brief of the United States in this case that our solicitor Generals office did such a great job arguing this is actually going to impact all voters in the United States in the following way. For decades, Section 2 of the Voting Rights act has been interpreted to require states to draw their lines for congressional districts incorporating race in circumstances where there has been discrimination in the past. And basically this assumes all of the Southern states and some other states as well. And so effectively, for decades, there have been safe districts drawn for mainly black, some Hispanic members of Congress from the Democrat Party. And in order to accomplish that, they basically had to make the districts gerrymandered. So in any state that has this type of protected section 2 majority minority district, those lines are going to change in coming years. So this is a sea change and it's going to really impact almost all of the Southern states. Pennsylvania has a Section 2 district as and you know, the map makers and demographers and lawyers are going to be busy for coming years. This should all shake out by the time of the 2028, 2030 election. And, you know, you're going to see really a stronger position for competitive districts throughout these states.

[News Narrator]

Now you've also been involved with some election integrity investigations. Both Georgia and Michigan, for different reasons, have been in headlines for some voter irregularities. What can you tell us about the work you're doing there?

[Harmeet Dhillon]

So I was investigating and asking for ballots from Fulton County, Georgia, but then one of my colleagues at the Department of Justice has opened up a criminal investigation. And so criminal work typically takes precedence over the civil work that I initiated. So I'm not part of that lane. I may eventually pick it up again if appropriate. But for now, that's being handled on the criminal side. In the Michigan side, we keyed our investigation there in demand for ballots in Wayne County, Michigan, off of the fact that several people had actually been prosecuted for illegally voting in that county. We also saw some irregularities in the 2020 election as to how they administered that election. The goal here is to make sure we've had a lot of elections on both sides, sometimes one side, sometimes the other side. Stacey Abrams, Hillary Clinton have complained of election irregularities. Supporters of President Trump complained about that for 2020. So what we're looking for is for all Americans to accept the outcome of our elections. And for that, we need to have a regular, a verifiable and auditable process that's also required by federal law. But we're seeing a lot of problems with that. So we want to get rid of those problems before the next elections. Right.

[News Narrator]

Well, Harmeet, thank you so much for making time for us today.

[Harmeet Dhillon]

Thanks for having me.

[John Bickley]

Thanks for waking up with us. And for those listening to the show, you can also now watch the show free on Daily Wire. Plus, we'll be back this evening.

[Steve Robinson]

More news you need to know.

[Harmeet Dhillon]

Foreign.

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