March 23, 2026 — SCOTUS AM (March Madness Day 1)

The DOD had been blocking journalists who didn't conform to the administration's views from its press briefings. A D.C. district judge ruled that the policy violated the First Amendment — particularly as the country approaches an election, when access to information from multiple perspectives matters most. A prior appeals court ruling had given the executive some discretion over limited press-room space, but this judge found that the Pentagon's viewpoint-based exclusion went too far. The order may be appealed.

Mississippi allows mail-in ballots to be counted if postmarked by Election Day and received within five days after. The RNC sued, arguing a federal law sets a bright-line Election Day deadline that bars counting anything received after that date. The case asks who controls this — Congress or the states — and what Congress actually meant when it set "Election Day." Bryan flags three embedded questions: who's in charge; what does "Election Day" mean as a deadline; and whether cutting off the count actually produces the stability the RNC says it does. He's skeptical — Bush v. Gore gave us chaos without finality; the same argument doesn't hold water just because the rules changed. Justice Thomas's prior states'-rights election-law stance may be tested.