June 30, 2026 01:23 PM UTC

SCOTUS' Last Day: This Is What A Mixed Bag Looks Like

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• by: Colorado Pols

Today, the conservative-leaning U.S. Supreme Court handed down its final decisions of the current term, and as Politico reports, they saved what could be the biggest defeat for President Donald Trump for the end, while padding their narrow but historic rebuke with consolation prizes:

The Supreme Court has upheld the constitutional guarantee of birthright citizenship, rejecting President Donald Trump’s attempt to upend more than a century of legal consensus that virtually everyone born on American soil is a U.S. citizen…

The ruling Tuesday is the second major blow the conservative-leaning high court has dealt this year against a pillar of Trump’s policy agenda. In February, the justices knocked out the centerpiece of his trade policy by overturning sweeping tariffs Trump imposed on imports from around the globe.

Five justices — Roberts, Justice Amy Coney Barrett and the three liberals — agreed that the Constitution guarantees birthright citizenship. Justice Brett Kavanaugh disagreed with that conclusion but said Trump’s executive order is invalid because it violates a federal statute.

From there, as the Washington Post reports, liberals were given less to cheer about:

The Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld bans in Idaho and West Virginia on transgender athletes playing on girls’ and women’s sports teams, the latest in a string of legal setbacks for the LGBTQ+ community before the high court.

In a decision led by the court’s six conservatives — but joined in parts by its three liberals — the justices found that states can separate teams based on “biological sex” without offending the Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection and Title IX, a landmark 1972 antidiscrimination law involving education…

This is just the latest in a string of decisions by the 6-3 Court rolling back LGBTQ+ rights, which included their decision in March striking down Colorado’s ban on so-called “conversion therapy.” This decision could energize proponents of a ballot measure on the subject that has been approved for a statewide vote in Colorado this November. And the Court wasn’t done handing conservatives long-sought victories, substantially weakening federal campaign finance laws:

In a 6-3 decision, the majority found that limits on how much political parties can spend in coordination with candidates violated parties’ free-speech rights. The decision is the latest in recent years to strike down provisions meant to restrict money in politics.

In the near term, the ruling could favor Republicans, who have stockpiled over $125 million more than Democrats in their party committees ahead of the November midterms, The Washington Post has reported. The top Republican committees ended May with $256 million in the bank, with no debt. Top Democratic committees ended the month with $127 million in the bank, with $18 million in debt.

If you thought the ads were oppressive during this year’s primary election, you ain’t seen nothing yet!

Parties can now funnel money into campaigns, which are legally entitled to lower rates for TV and radio ads.

To summarize, kids born on American soil are Americans. That’s a big one. After that, though, things could get weird for those kids if they look too butch for the girl’s team–and don’t even turn on the TV during campaign season. These decisions end a term that dramatically checked Donald Trump’s tariff powers, but handed him wins on executive authority to fire federal employees and deport people in the country on temporary status. MAHA took a hit after the court ruled against safety warnings for the pesticide Roundup. They also threw out a Trump-led attack on states who accept postmarked ballots after Election Day, which Colorado doesn’t–but a decision that could indicate how the court will handle imminent future election law challenges.

Like we say every May when the state legislature adjourns, you may now exhale until the next gavel falls in October.