Election Shocks, Media Cuts, and "Jim Crow 2.0" Spark Firestorm

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer faced criticism after comparing Republican-backed voter ID legislation to "Jim Crow 2.0," as debate intensified over the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act. The SAVE America Act, currently under consideration in Congress, would mandate that individuals provide proof of citizenship in person when registering to vote in federal elections and implement photo ID requirements for voting, according to CBS News.

Republicans argued the bill aims to prevent noncitizens from voting, while Democrats warned it could disenfranchise millions of eligible voters. Schumer acknowledged facing widespread backlash for his strong opposition to the measure, Fox News reported. He has pushed back multiple times on the Republican plan to add the SAVE Act to the spending package being debated in Congress.

Critics of the SAVE America Act contended that many Americans lack easy access to documents like passports or birth certificates, or may have changed their names, potentially creating barriers to voting. CBS News noted that experts have raised concerns about the bill's implications for individuals without readily available documentation.

Meanwhile, in New Jersey's 11th Congressional District, a Democratic primary race saw progressive organizer Analilia Mejia, backed by Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, in a close contest against former Democratic Rep. Tom Malinowski. According to Fox News, Mejia held a slight lead of 486 votes out of more than 61,000 counted.

In other news from The Washington Post, race-based journalist Emmanuel Felton was among the hundreds of staffers laid off. Felton, who described himself on X as the "first and last race and ethnicity reporter" at the Post, claimed his ouster "wasn't a financial decision," despite the paper announcing mass layoffs and eliminating its sports department, Fox News reported. Felton posted, "This comes six months after hearing in a national meeting that race coverage drives subscriptions."

Separately, authorities continued to investigate the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, with the FBI offering a $50,000 reward for information. Fox News reported that Guthrie's son sent a message to her captors following an alleged ransom note deadline. In international news, Iran seized two oil tankers in the Persian Gulf before planned US-Iran talks in Oman.