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Jane Costen
It's Thursday, April 30th. I'm Jane Costen, and this is what a day the show watching Arizona Republican Representative Abraham Hamade give Secretary of War Pete Hegseth a remarkably bad idea. I would love for President Trump's Truth
Abraham Hamade
Social post to be leafleted all over Iran. To be honest with you, I think that would encourage them to actually take to the streets.
Jane Costen
I have to assume he doesn't mean the A whole civilization will die tonight post. On today's show, Hegseth gets grilled over how poorly his war with Iran is going. And Jerome Powell stands up to the Trump administration again. But let's start with the Supreme Court of the United States, which is rarely a good sign. On Wednesday, the Supreme Court struck down a 2024 Louisiana map that created a second majority Black voting district. The map was drawn after black voters challenged the state's existing districts, which only included one majority black voting district, despite the fact that black Louisianans make up one third of the state. But in a 6 to 3 decision, the court found that Section 2 of the Voting Rights act did not give states the ability to create voting districts specifically based on race, in effect turning past understanding of Section two on its head. So it comes as no surprise that President Donald Trump was locked in on the historic ruling when asked about it in the Oval Office on Wednesday. Locked in.
Abraham Hamade
Mr. President, in light of today's Supreme
Greg Walters
Court ruling on the Voting Rights act,
Abraham Hamade
do you want Republican states in the south to look at redrawing congressional districts
Donald Trump
before you have to tell me when did the ruling come out? I've been with the astronauts, I've been with contractors, because we're trying to get the ballroom built ahead of schedule. It's right on schedule. It's ahead of schedule. Now. I want to keep it that way.
Leah Littman
We came up today and I was
Donald Trump
also with commissioning some people, but one of you know David Warrington's son. I don't. You know David. Everybody knows David. He's got this incredible son. So he was just sworn in. So we had other things. Tell me about the what happened.
Jane Costen
Well, David Warrington is White House counsel, FYI, because I'm sure you were wondering. So Wednesday's ruling did not outright overturn section 2 of the Voting Rights act, but Justice Elena Kagan argued that it had done so in all but deed. Under the court's new view of Section two, a state can, without legal consequence, systematically dilute minority citizens voting power. I am not an attorney, but I am a voter and the grandchild of a black woman born in the rural south before the Voting Rights act, when black voters were required to take literacy tests or oral examinations before being permitted to register. So I want to know, what does this mean for future black voters for Asian, Hispanic, and other minority voters, for redistricting for America? No pressure to find out. I spoke to Leah Littman. She's a professor at the University of Michigan and co host of Crooked Media Strict Scrutiny. Leah, welcome back to what a Day.
Leah Littman
Thanks for having me.
Jane Costen
The Supreme Court dealt a major blow to the Voting Rights act, but it's claiming the VRA is still in place and that everything's fine. There's a major discrepancy in reading the opinions between what Sam Alito says and what Elena Kagan says. Can you explain the court's decision?
Leah Littman
Sure. So just on that, who are you going to believe? Sam Alito, your lion eyes? I choose, you know, obviously, my lying eyes. So the court basically today dismantled what remains of the Voting Rights act, nullifying the Voting Rights Act's protections against racial discrimination. In districting, it made it all but impossible to establish a violation of the Voting Rights act, at least in a world where there is racially polarized voting, which, of course, is our world.
Jane Costen
Can you tell us a little bit like, where does the Voting Rights act come from? What is it supposed to do, and who is it intended to protect?
Leah Littman
The Voting Rights act was passed in 1965 in the wake of Bloody Sunday, you know, the march, the demonstration in Selma, when voting rights protesters and demonstrators were met with vicious violence from segregationists in the South. And the act, as initially passed, had two key components. One was the preclearance process, which required certain states with especially egregious histories of racial discrimination in voting to get the federal government's permission before changing their voting laws or policies. And the other was Section two, which is the nationwide ban on racial discrimination in voting. Congress has repeatedly reauthorized and expanded the Voting Rights act, including most recently in 2006, with broad bipartisan support. And on Section 2, specifically, the ban on discrimination in voting. Congress amended and expanded the Voting Rights act to prohibit not just intentional discrimination, but also laws or policies that have the effect of disadvantaging voters based on their race. So the Voting Rights act was supposed to, and did, for a time, turn the country into a multiracial democracy. It was designed to ensure states did not create laws or policies that locked voters of color out of power.
Jane Costen
So something that gets me about the majority opinion in this case is that Samuel Alito essentially argues like, no no, no, no. This isn't about race. This is about politics. This is. You know, it just so happens that most white people in Louisiana want to vote for Republicans and most black people in Louisiana want to vote for Democrats. Now, how that could have anything to do with racial discrimination is left to the imagination. But is that something that we're seeing more of where the argument is being made that this is not about racial discrimination, but some sort of political sorting?
Leah Littman
We are increasingly seeing that argument in part because the Supreme Court has embraced and indulged that argument. Basically, what the Supreme Court has said is so long as state legislatures come forward and say, oh, we drew these districts in order to secure partisan advantage, in order to advantage the Republican Party, then who cares if the districts have the effect of locking black voters out of power? Basically, they are excusing racial gerrymandering in a world where there is racially polarized voting, so long as race correlates with party. Justice Alito and the other Republican appointees have said it's totally fine. Complies with the Voting Rights act. If you write a set of rules that dilute the voting power of racial minorities and they've reached this anti Democratic result on the basis of their previous anti Democratic decision, which said federal courts can't do anything to fix those partisan gerrymanders, where legislatures are drawing districts in order to advantage one political party and disadvantage the other. So the Supreme Court has really exacerbated and accelerated the partisan gerrymander wars and has basically allowed partisan gerrymandering to cannibalize the protections against racial discrimination in voting.
Jane Costen
We're going to talk more about gerrymandering in just a second. But I'm reminded of how before the Voting Rights act, you had states across the south where technically black voters could vote if their grandfathers could vote or if they could pass a test like answering how many windows are in the governor's mansion, tests that technically a white person could also fail, but just so happened to be made so that typically African Americans were pushed out of the ballot box. It's interesting to see that correlation now, where it's not technically about race, but it's about race. And we know it is. But to discuss redistricting, there are redistricting efforts going on across the country. Washington, Florida, California, you name it. And in the hours after this decision came down, we saw Tennessee Republican Representative Marsha Blackburn ask state lawmakers to redraw Tennessee map and add another Republican seat in the House, which would take away the only blue House seat in the state. So moving forward, how will this ruling affect these redistricting fights that are in limbo right now?
Leah Littman
So in the short term, it's not entirely clear how many they will affect because it would require states to draw new districts potentially that are supposed to go into effect before the 2026 midterms. And in a lot of places, you know, candidates have declared their candidacy and so might be partially underway in a way that doesn't allow the state to write a new set of rules right now. But going forward, it's extremely likely that this decision will allow states to engage in additional rounds of redistricting and draw a new set of maps that erases the districts where minority voters, where voters of color actually had political opportunities, where they had the political power to select representatives. The precise estimate as far as how many districts this might affect, a little unclear. The lawyer for the Trump administration, which of course was arguing in support of eviscerating the Voting Rights act, suggested maybe this could eliminate Voting Rights act protections for, like 15 or so districts in Congress. A professor at Harvard Law School estimated no, the number is actually closer to 70. And that doesn't even count the number of state and local political offices that were protected by the Voting Rights Act. So, you know, on the slightly longer horizon, you know, this decision is going to have sweeping and substantial effects as far as what our multiracial democracy looks like, whether it is a multiracial democracy and who gets to have political power.
Jane Costen
I mean, I want to be blunt, who does this impact most?
Leah Littman
It allows white Republican voters to essentially write a set of rules that lock themselves in power to and it allows them to lock out of power black voters, Hispanic voters, other voters of color, and disadvantage the Democratic Party because basically what the opinion says is, oh, racial minorities, you can have your voting rights. You can have your Voting Rights act districts as long as you vote Republican. Like that is the upshot of this decision.
Jane Costen
Leah, as always, thank you so much for joining me.
Leah Littman
And no thanks to Sam Alito.
Jane Costen
Never thanks to Samuel Alito. That was my conversation with Leah Littman, professor at the University of Michigan and co host of Crooked Media's Strict Scrutiny. There's still more news to come and mercifully, Clarence Thomas isn't involved. If you like the show, make sure to subscribe. Leave a five star review on Spotify and Apple podcasts. Watch us on YouTube and share with your friends. More to come after some ads. Waterday is brought to you by Deleteme. Deleteme makes it easy, quick and safe to remove your personal data online. At a time when surveillance and data breaches are common enough to make everyone vulnerable, it's easier than ever to find personal information about people online. Having your address, phone number and family members names hanging out on the Internet can have actual consequences in the real world and makes everyone vulnerable. With Deleteme, you can protect your personal privacy or the privacy of your business from doxing attacks before sensitive information can be exploited. I'm very online and privacy matters a lot to me. I want to keep myself and my family safe from doxing and identity theft. That's why delete me is so important. Take control of your data and keep your private life private by signing up for Deleteme now at a special discount for our listeners. Get 20% off your DeleteMe plan when you go to JoinDeleteMe.com wad and use promo code WAD at checkout. The only way to get 20% off is to go to JoinDeleteMe.com WAD and enter code WAD at checkout. That's JoinDeleteMe.com WAD code WAD this podcast is brought to you by WISE, the app for international people using money around the globe. When it comes to sending money abroad, many providers claim to offer free fees and competitive rates. But don't be fooled, this can be code for inflated exchange rates. With a WISE account, you can send, spend and receive money in over 40 currencies without ever having to worry about hidden fees. Sending pounds across the pond. Most transfers arrive in 20 seconds or less. Spending reals in Rio the WISE travel card gives you the mid market rate on every purchase. No costly markups on your bill. Getting paid in dollars for your side gig. Avoid hidden fees and get the real exchange rate every time. With 24. 7 access to life support, your international transactions with WISE are quick, transparent and safe. Plus, WISE runs over 7 million daily checks to catch and prevent fraud. 15 million people already trust WISE to manage their money internationally. Be Smart, Get Wise. My husband and I use WISE when we travel and it couldn't be easier. Download the Wise app today or visit wise.com terms and conditions apply.
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Jane Costen
Here's what else we're following today. Head of Lines Joining me is Crooked's news editor Greg Walters to talk about the big stories. Hey, Greg.
Greg Walters
Hello, Jane.
Jane Costen
Greg. The war in Iran is not going great. We've gone from the goal of regime change when the war began to Trump saying on Wednesday that Iran has to say, quote, we give up. Also on Wednesday, Secretary of War little boy Pete Higseth spent the morning yelling at members of the House Armed Services Committee as they asked him basic questions.
Pete Hegseth
Do you know how much it will cost Americans in terms of their increased cost in gas and food over the next year because of the Iran war? I would simply ask you what the cost is of an Iranian nuclear bomb. I'm gonna give you that opportunity. I would simply ask you what the plain gotcha questions about domestic things. I'm you're asking. You're saying it's a gotcha question to ask what it's going to be in terms of the increased. Why won't you answer what it costs to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear bomb?
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How many more months, just order of magnitude do you think that you're going to need to be able to conclude operations successfully? And how many more billions of dollars do you think you're going to ask this body for
Pete Hegseth
as you know and as the president has stated, you would never tell your adversary, especially once you
Hume Health Sponsor
realize that is the line that you
Pete Hegseth
always especially once you give me an order of decimated their military and you control their trade.
Abraham Hamade
How much has Iran profited from your Administration lifting the sanctions on Iran. When you started this war, I can
Pete Hegseth
tell you Iran is financially devastated right now. 14 billion operational economic fury. They're at a point where, between the blockade and what we've done to them militarily, remember, they don't have a navy. They can't contest the blockade. Okay, between what we've done to the militarily, they're at a place of $15 billion. They have very few options.
Abraham Hamade
How many Chinese missiles can they buy from? $14 billion? Does that sound like winning?
Pete Hegseth
They're not. We're ensuring. And they're not buying Chinese missiles.
Greg Walters
Okay, Jane, that appearance went about as well as this war has been going. The Pentagon is now saying that this conflict has cost $25 billion so far, which is the entire annual budget of NASA for this year, or more than the entire annual economic output of Jamaica. And don't get me started on what we could do with that money if we spent it on child care, health care, the homeless, hospitals. Like, we're now about nine weeks into Trump's four to six week war. And oil prices keep rising while the vital Strait of Hormuz shipping lane remains shut. And there's even a new joke about this on Wall Street, Jane.
Jane Costen
Oh, yeah, I love a good finance joke, as long as it doesn't involve math. I would love to hear it.
Greg Walters
Okay, so you've heard of Taco, right?
Jane Costen
Sure. It stands for Trump Always Chickens Out. Which means investors can bet that Trump won't follow through on his dumbest ideas. Which is unnerving, but for different reasons.
Greg Walters
Well, they've got a new one. Nacho. Not a chance. Hormuz opens.
Jane Costen
See, Greg, that's funny, because earlier this month, a Fox News host tried to start a new pro Trump Mexican themed food acronym, also nacho, but it stands for Never Avoids Confronting Hard Obstacles. Looks like that didn't take.
Greg Walters
You know, at this rate, Jane, we're going to be sitting here in 2028 trying to think of acronyms for guacamole and chilaquiles to describe all the dumb stuff Trump wants to do. It's like an entire menu, each with, like, an idiotic Trump policy.
Jane Costen
Speaking of spicy and idiotic news, Jerome Powell is not backing down in his feud with Trump. Today, Powell said he's going to stay on at the Federal Reserve as governor once his tenure as chair ends in the middle of May.
Abraham Hamade
You know, my concern is really about the series of legal attacks on the Fed, which threaten our ability to conduct monetary policy without considering political factors. But these legal actions by the administration are unprecedented in our 113 year history, and there are ongoing threats of additional such actions. I worry that these attacks are battering the institution. After my term as Chair ends on May 15, I will continue to serve as a governor for a period of time to be determined. I plan to keep a low profile as a governor.
Jane Costen
It seems like the more pressure Trump puts on Powell, the more he piles on the flimsy investigations and brazen lawsuits and keeps yelling about how Powell is too late, the harder Powell is digging in. Which makes sense to me because that's what I would do.
Pete Hegseth
Right?
Greg Walters
I wasn't used to thinking of the Federal Reserve as like a bastion of anti authoritarian resistance, but here we are.
Jane Costen
Federal Reserve fight the power.
Greg Walters
It's worth remembering what's at stake here. Trump wants to jam down interest rates in order to juice near term economic growth and stock prices. And one reason you don't do that is because it could unleash inflation. Powell kept rates steady today and Trump hates that because it's responsible and boring.
Jane Costen
Yeah, Trump would rather be like, fuck it, let's ball with really low interest rates. As long as I benefit personally.
Greg Walters
Exactly. I mean, this is the hold my beer presidency or the like, let me into the cockpit to show you how to fly this thing presidency. And then the next thing you know, the passengers and crew are all stuck to the ceiling while we hit Mach 2, headed straight for the Grand Tetons.
Jane Costen
Actually, I'm glad you brought up planes, even though that metaphor scares me, because we need to talk about the robots at Japanese airports.
Abraham Hamade
Japan Airlines testing humanoid robots at an airport in Tokyo starting next month. The bots are designed to move baggage and cargo. These robots can operate for a few hours before needing a recharge. Humans will still handle the critical safety jobs, but these humanoids will do the heavy lifting, at least when it comes to your checked item.
Jane Costen
For those who can't see the video on YouTube, we've got people shaped robots putting bags into planes and I have questions.
Greg Walters
Yeah, I can't decide if this is Star wars or the Jetsons. Like, am I nervous about this or amused?
Jane Costen
Yeah, like there's a thin line to me between C3PO and the Terminator. I don't like it. As you know, I do not like humanoid robots because they will probably turn against us. But you'll never turn against me, Greg.
Greg Walters
Not until I'm programmed to Jane.
Jane Costen
Comforting. And that's the news. Before we go, check out the new episode of Runaway country where Alex Wagner digs into what, eroding, press freedom actually looks like in the US and why it matters when the people in power start treating journalists like the enemy. The episode features Clayton Weimers of Reporters Without Borders and more voices breaking it all down. Tune into Runaway country now and listen wherever you get your podcasts. That's all for today. If you like the show, make sure you subscribe, leave a review, enjoy Elon Musk's incredibly uncomfortable time in the witness box in his trial against OpenAI, and tell your friends to listen. And if you're into reading and not just about how the trial pits Musk against OpenAI CEO Sam Altman in a battle between two remarkably unlikable people with too much money like me, what a Day is also a nightly newsletter. Check it out and subscribe@crooked.com subscribe I'm Jane Coston and just to give you a taste of how truly weird this trial is on Tuesday, when Musk was first asked who Shivan Zillis was, Musk identified her as his chief of staff. On Wednesday, Musk clarified she is also his partner and mother of four of his 14 children. Normal. Water Day is a production of Crooked Media. Our show is produced by Caitlin Plummer, Emily Foer, Erica Morrison and Adrienne Hill. Our team includes Hayley Jones, Greg Walters, Matt Berg, Joseph Dutra, Johanna Case and Desmond Taylor. Our music is by Kyle Murdoch and Jordan Kanter. We had help today from the Associated Press. Our production staff is proudly unionized with the Writers Guild of America East.
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Date: April 30, 2026
Host: Jane Costen
Guest: Leah Littman (Professor, University of Michigan; Co-host, Strict Scrutiny)
Notable Contributors: Greg Walters (News Editor), Abraham Hamade, Pete Hegseth
This episode focuses on the Supreme Court's landmark decision undermining key protections of the Voting Rights Act, specifically in the context of gerrymandering and minority voting rights. Host Jane Costen and guest legal scholar Leah Littman dissect the implications of the Court's recent ruling on Louisiana's congressional maps, explore its likely ripple effects across the nation, and examine the shifting legal and political landscape for minority voters in the U.S. The episode also touches on updates in the ongoing Iran war, tension between Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and the Trump administration, and lighter takes on humanoid robots in Japan.
[00:23–03:26]
[03:58–05:25]
[05:25–07:29]
[07:29–10:07]
[10:07–10:38]
[15:04–18:29]
[18:29–19:59]
[20:22–21:21]
| Segment | Timestamp | Key Point / Quote | |-------------------------------------------------|-------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------| | SCOTUS decision explained | 00:23–01:54 | “Systematically dilute minority citizens voting power.” – Jane Costen | | History of Voting Rights Act | 03:07–04:06 | “Turn the country into a multiracial democracy.” – Leah Littman | | Political gerrymandering rationale | 05:25–07:29 | “Excusing racial gerrymandering… if race correlates with party.” | | Redistricting implications | 08:34–10:07 | “Sweeping and substantial effects…” – Leah Littman | | Most impacted by decision | 10:07–10:38 | “White Republican voters… lock themselves in power…” – Leah Littman | | Iran war costs & commentary | 15:04–18:29 | “NACHO: Not A Chance Hormuz Opens.” – Greg Walters | | Powell v Trump/Federal Reserve independence | 18:29–19:59 | “These legal actions… are unprecedented...” – Jerome Powell | | Humanoid robots at airports | 20:22–21:21 | “C3PO and the Terminator… probably turn against us.” – Jane Costen |
For More:
Final Word:
“Never thanks to Samuel Alito.” — Jane Costen [10:44]