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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm KORVA COLEMAN. The U.S. supreme Court is hearing oral arguments over birthright citizenship. President Trump is challenging the constitutional right. He signed an executive order trying to deny it to children born in the US to migrants who are illegally or temporarily in the country. Trump was immediately challenged, citing the 14th Amendment. President Trump is seated now in the courtroom listening to the arguments. Chief Justice John Roberts began questioning. He asked Solicitor General John Sauer about the administration's argument that people from other countries are flying to the US to give birth, a practice described as birth tourism. Sauer says the framers of the 14th Constitutional Amendment could not have foreseen this.
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Their interpretation has these implications that could not possibly have been approved by the 19th century framers of this amendment. I think that shows that they've made a mess. Their interpretation has made a mess of the provision.
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Well, it certainly wasn't a problem in the 19th century.
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No. But of course, we're in a new world now, as Justice Alito pointed out, to where 8 billion people are one plane ride away from having a, a child who's a U.S. citizen.
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Well, it's a new world. It's the same constitution.
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A decision from the US Supreme Court is expected by late June. President Trump is scheduled to address the nation tonight about the war in Iran. This morning, he wrote online, Iran's new leadership has asked the US For a ceasefire. He says he'll consider it if Iran stops blocking oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian leaders released a statement saying Trump's statements are false and baseless. Iran's Revolutionary Guard says it won't reopen the strait based on Trump's ridiculous displays. Meanwhile, in an interview published today by the British newspaper the Telegraph, Trump says he is considering pulling the US out of NATO. He described the Western military alliance that the US Helped create as a, quote, paper tiger. Trump later reiterated the comments to Reuters news Service. President Trump has signed an executive order that calls for restricting voting by mail. Oregon and Arizona are already pledging to challenge this. NPR's Hansi Lo Wang has more.
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According to the Constitution, rules for voting by mail are set by state lawmakers and Congress. But President Trump's new executive order is testing the limits of his power and it's signing. Trump and his aides said it calls for his administration to create a list of U.S. citizens eligible to vote in each state and for states to send and the U.S. postal Service to deliver mail in ballots only to the people on that list. It's not clear whether and how Trump's order would be carried out. Voting rights groups have been preparing to file lawsuits to challenge this order. Article 1 of the Constitution gives state legislatures, not the president, the power to regulate the times, places and manner of holding federal elections. And Congress can alter those election rules. A Trump backed bill that would overhaul voting is currently stuck in the Senate. Hansi Luang, NPR News, Washington.
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You're listening to NPR News. A federal appeals court has upheld the Justice Department's decision to draw up a criminal case against aircraft maker Boeing. It stems from two fatal plane crashes that killed 346 people. The federal government previously accused Boeing of misleading regulators about the safety of a vital plane part, but later, the government reached a deal with Boeing letting the aircraft maker avoid prosecution on a criminal charge. Washington state has enacted its first income tax. It applies to high earners and is backed by Governor Bob Ferguson. From member station KUOW, Sarah Mizes Tan
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explains the new law levies a 9.9% tax on all incomes over a million dollars and is expected to generate about $3 billion annually. But before the ink was even dry, opponents have promised lawsuits. Government Governor Ferguson says he's expecting challenges, but believes the tax will prevail.
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When Washingtonians hear the benefits that flow to working families, to businesses large and small, to kids in schools with those free meals or childcare services for thousands of Washington families, it's going to make a huge, huge difference.
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Opponents say any income tax, even if it's just on the wealthy, is against the state's constitution. Washington is one of just nine states in the country without one. For NPR News, I'm Sarah Mizes Tan.
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In Olympia, the Jewish holiday of Passover begins tonight. It commemorates the exodus of ancient Israelites from slavery in Egypt. Jewish families observe the holiday with the Seder meal and at banquets where the story of their liberation is shared. This is NPR.