Federal workers lost a court challenge to a government rule banning them from having conversations about opposing President TrumpDonald John TrumpLincoln Project ad dubs Jared Kushner the ‘Secretary of Failure’ Pence: Chief Justice Roberts ‘has been a disappointment to conservatives’ Twitter bans Trump campaign until it deletes tweet with COVID-19 misinformation MORE or impeaching him. 

U.S. District Court Judge Paula Xinis in Maryland ruled this week that the union representing the workers did not sufficiently demonstrate that the rule violated their First Amendment rights.

Xinis, who was appointed by former President Obama, wrote in her ruling that the plaintiffs did not provide “any specific allegation as to how the Advisory Opinion interferes with their First Amendment rights.”

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She added that the plaintiffs argued “simply that their members’ speech is ‘chilled’ if the Advisory Opinion is allowed to stand, but provide little reason as to why.” 

“[T]he Court finds that Plaintiffs have failed both to aver claims fit for judicial review and to convince this Court that the balance of hardships weighs in their favor. Because Plaintiffs’ claims are not ripe, this Court lacks jurisdiction to hear them,” she ruled.

The Office of Special Counsel, an independent federal agency, first warned in 2018 before Trump’s impeachment that it would deem statements on resistance and impeachment to violate a federal law prohibiting federal workers from supporting or opposing political candidates in their official capacities.

The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) had argued that the guidelines expanded beyond the law’s bounds and infringed on its members’ freedom of speech.

“To the extent that the statement relates to resistance to President Donald J Trump, usage of the terms ‘resistance,’ ‘#resist,’ and derivatives thereof is political activity,” the office wrote in a memo.

The Office of Special Counsel celebrated the ruling this week, saying it “preserves” the office’s “important advisory role.”

“This is a good outcome, and I appreciate the Court’s thoughtful opinion,” said Special Counsel Henry Kerner.

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A fourth U.S. service member has died from the coronavirus, the first such case since May, according to the Pentagon.

Data published Monday by the Department of Defense (DOD) listed the death of the individual, who was in the Army Reserve, but no other information.

The service later told The Hill that Spc. Curtis Fort, 61, of Roanoke, passed away on Thursday, July 30, from complications related to COVID-19. He was a radio and communications security repairer that had been assigned to the Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2-319th Cadet Summer Training Battalion in Salem, Va., according to Army Reserve spokesperson Lt. Col. Simon Flake.

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The Pentagon on Friday last updated its COVID-19 data, which includes confirmed cases of the disease, hospitalizations, recoveries, and deaths of DOD personnel, contractors and family members.

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The Army did not immediately respond to a request for more information.

There have now been 68 coronavirus-related deaths within the DOD community, including 43 civilians, 14 contractors and seven dependents, according to the Pentagon data.

The last service member to die of complications related to COVID-19 was 34-year-old Army reservist Sgt. Simon Zamudio, who was not on active orders at the time of his death.

Army Capt. Douglas Linn Hickok, a New Jersey National Guardsman, became the first service member to die of the illness in March. That was followed by the April death of Navy Chief Petty Officer Charles Robert Thacker Jr., a 41-year-old aviation ordnanceman and one of the more than 1,000 sailors from the USS Theodore Roosevelt who contracted the virus.

In total, the Pentagon has reported 41,361 coronavirus cases as of Monday. 

Updated August 5, 11:05 a.m.

White House coronavirus task force coordinator Deborah Birx is warning of an uptick in coronavirus cases in nine U.S. cities.

“Many of the Sun Belt states have made substantial progress with their mitigation efforts,” Birx told state and local officials on Wednesday, according to a copy of the call obtained the Center for Public Integrity, referring to a slew of Southern states that experienced surges earlier this summer. 

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But Birx said that the percentage of coronavirus tests coming back positive is increasing in nine U.S. cities as well as California’s Central Valley. 

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“We are concerned that both Baltimore and Atlanta remain at a very high level. Kansas City, Portland, Omaha, of course what we talked about in the Central Valley,” Birx said. “We are seeing a slow uptick in test positivity in cases in places like Chicago, Boston and Detroit and D.C.”

Birx also said that Nebraska and California have moved into the red category, with more than 10 percent of tests coming back positive. And she noted that while Los Angeles saw improvements, there was significant movement of the virus up California’s Central Valley.

Birx noted that the virus has entered a new phase, “in that it’s in both rural and urban areas.” 

In another call obtained by the Center for Public Integrity last month, Birx warned of an uptick in 12 other U.S. cities, including Miami, New Orleans, Las Vegas, San Jose, St. Louis, Indianapolis, Minneapolis, Cleveland, Nashville, Pittsburgh, Columbus and Baltimore.

Thursday morning, Anthony FauciAnthony FauciCNN’s Burnett presses Navarro on hydroxychloroquine in combative interview: ‘You’re an economist, not a scientist’ Overnight Health Care: Fauci says family has faced threats | Moderna to charge to a dose for its vaccine | NYC adding checkpoints to enforce quarantine Fauci says family has faced threats, harassment amid pandemic MORE, the nation’s leading infectious disease expert and member of the White House coronavirus task force, said that the infection rate is a “pretty good predictor” for potential surges. 

“We’ve seen that in the Southern states as predictors,” Fauci said on CNN.  “This is a predictor of trouble ahead.”

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“You’ve got to get that base line down,” he added. “Everybody on the team of American citizens need to pull together. Because we’re all in this together.”

Voters in deep-red Missouri narrowly approved Medicaid expansion on Tuesday over the objections of Republican state leaders.

The vote makes Missouri the 38th state to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, and the sixth state in three years to pass it by ballot measure, a blow to the Trump administration’s anti-ObamaCare agenda.

The 12 remaining states are nearly all Republican-controlled.

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The ballot measure was backed by progressive activists as well as state business and health groups; hospitals contributed more than $10 million to the campaign. 

The measure will expand the state’s MO HealthNet program to anyone earning less than 133 percent of the poverty level, which is less than $18,000 a year for an individual, and less than $30,000 for a family of three.

The expansion will take effect on July 1, 2021.

The measure was approved 53 percent to 46 percent, with just about 99 percent of precincts reporting.

According to Healthcare for Missouri, one of the groups spearheading the effort, it would mean coverage for more than 200,000 currently uninsured Missourians, and could result in up to $1 billion of savings. 

Missouri has one of the strictest Medicaid programs in the country. As the policy stands currently, adults who do not have disabilities and who do not have minor children living at home cannot qualify for Medicaid coverage, no matter how little money they make. Parents with dependent children can only earn up to 21 percent of the poverty level, which is about $2,700 each.

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Under ObamaCare, the federal government will pay 90 percent of the cost of states that expand Medicaid. Missouri has not yet outlined a plan to pay for its 10 percent share.

The state is solidly conservative, as President TrumpDonald John TrumpMark Kelly clinches Democratic Senate nod in Arizona Trump camp considering White House South Lawn for convention speech: reports Longtime Rep. Lacy Clay defeated in Missouri Democratic primary MORE won 57 percent of the vote there in 2016. Republicans, who have supermajorities in both the state House and Senate, were opposed to the measure, as was Gov. Mike Parson (R) who is up for reelection.

Parson argued the state would not be able to afford the cost of expansion on top of the fiscal strain of the coronavirus pandemic. He and other opponents argued Medicaid expansion would mean less funding for education and other programs.

While Republican leaders in other expansion states were able to slow-walk expansion implementation, the language used in Missouri’s ballot measure ensures that Medicaid expansion is enshrined in the state’s constitution, which would make it extremely difficult for Parson or the legislature to dismantle it in the future or add any conservative policies, like work requirements. 

Missouri is now the second state to expand Medicaid during the pandemic, following Oklahoma’s vote in July.

“Politicians who fail to heed the voters’ message on health care are going to be in trouble this November. Two red states, that Trump won by double digits in 2016, just sent the largest possible rebuke to the President’s attacks on the Affordable Care Act,” said Jonathan Schleifer, executive director of The Fairness Project, the non-profit group that has spearheaded every Medicaid expansion ballot measure to date.

Stakeholders, meanwhile, said that they think the pandemic has helped people realize the benefit of expanded health coverage.

“Before the pandemic and the resultant tanking economy, expansion votes in Missouri and Oklahoma, and the other four states might have had a different outcome,” said Jerry Vitti, the CEO of Healthcare Financial Inc., a company the helps connect low-income people with government-sponsored programs.

“But now people, even those in red states, are very concerned about their physical health and that of their families,” Vitti said. 

Updated at 9:12 a.m.

A federal judge ruled that it is unconstitutional to deny Puerto Ricans access to social welfare programs, The Associated Press reported.

The Monday ruling also granted a two-month administrative stay of the injunction at the federal government’s request, meaning that, for now, the ruling will not apply unilaterally.

U.S. District Judge William G. Young, a Reagan appointee, wrote in a 70-page ruling that denying Puerto Ricans access to federal benefits is a discriminatory policy.

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In the ruling, Young noted that residents of other U.S. territories, such as the Northern Mariana Islands, are eligible for federal benefits. 

The North Mariana Islands have a population of 56,882, compared to the 3.2 million people who live in Puerto Rico, which also has a poverty rate of 43 percent. 

“There is no doubt that the constitutional violations here are systemic,” Young wrote.

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The federal government has argued that it would be too costly to provide the same benefits for the island. 

Legal experts told the AP that the government will likely appeal the ruling given the amount of money that is at stake if they are required to provide Puerto Ricans equal government benefits.

Resident Commissioner Jennifer Gonzalez-Colon (R), the island’s representative in Congress, applauded the court decision, calling the withholding of benefits “repugnant.”

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“The result of this case is a natural extension of what was resolved in the case of Vaello Madero: the exclusion of residents of [Puerto Rico] of federal charitable programs available to other American citizens is repugnant to the basic principles of our Constitution,” she wrote.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has identified some of the mysterious unsolicited packages of seeds apparently sent from China to homes across the U.S. 

Osama El-Lissy, the deputy administrator of the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, said last week that the department confirmed at least 14 of the seeds in a recording published on its website. 

The identified seeds are for mustard, cabbage, morning glories, roses, hibiscus, and herbs such as mint, sage, rosemary and lavender. 

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“This is just a subset of the samples we’ve collected so far,” El-Lissy said. 

The identification of the seeds comes after residents in all 50 states reported receiving unsolicited packages of seeds with Chinese writing on them.

The USDA had advised those who receive seeds not to plant them and to communicate with the appropriate state plant regulatory official. 

Officials in states such as Virginia had previously cautioned the seeds could be for invasive plant species. Even though the identified seeds are for harmless species, plants from around the world could still harm native plants, experts told CBS News. 

The seeds have shown up in white packages with the words “China Post.”

The USDA has suggested the seed campaign could be part of a “brushing scam” where people receive items they didn’t order and the seller posts fake customer reviews to encourage sales. 

“Brushing scams involving seed packets in international mail shipments are not uncommon,” the USDA said in a release. “U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has intercepted similar seed shipments in recent years.”

Sens. Jeff MerkleyJeffrey (Jeff) Alan MerkleyHillicon Valley: NSA warns of new security threats | Teen accused of Twitter hack pleads not guilty | Experts warn of mail-in voting misinformation Merkley, Sanders introduce bill limiting corporate facial recognition Portland protesters clash with law enforcement for first time since federal presence diminished MORE (D-Ore.) and Bernie SandersBernie SandersLongtime Rep. Lacy Clay defeated in Missouri Democratic primary Hillicon Valley: NSA warns of new security threats | Teen accused of Twitter hack pleads not guilty | Experts warn of mail-in voting misinformation Schiff, Khanna call for free masks for all Americans in coronavirus aid package MORE (I-Vt.) introduced legislation Tuesday aimed at limiting the corporate use of facial recognition technology.

The National Biometric Information Privacy Act of 2020 would require private companies to receive written consent from consumers and employees before collecting biometric data such as eye scans or fingerprints.

In cases where consent was not obtained before collecting that personal data, consumers and state attorney generals would be able to sue.

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“We can’t let companies scoop up or profit from people’s faces and fingerprints without their consent,” Merkley said in a statement. “We have to fight against a ‘big brother’ surveillance state that eradicates our privacy and our control of our own information, be it a threat from the government or from private companies.”

“We cannot allow Orwellian facial recognition technology to continue to violate the privacy and civil liberties of the American people,” Sanders added.

Facial recognition has come under renewed scrutiny in recent months amid nationwide protests against police brutality and systemic racism launched by the killing of George Floyd.

The technology has been criticized for replicating existing societal racist and sexist biases.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology, a federal agency within the Commerce Department, released an expansive study in December that found that the majority of facial recognition systems have “demographic differentials” that can worsen their accuracy based on a person’s age, gender or race. 

Tech giants like Amazon, IBM and Microsoft have scaled back their sales of the software to law enforcement in response.

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Lawmakers, including Merkley, have also proposed legislation that would place a moratorium on federal use of facial recognition.

Tuesday’s legislation tackles its use in other arenas.

“Right now in most states in the US, it would be totally legal for a big box store to set up surveillance cameras, scan the faces of everyone entering the store and compare them to a public mugshot database,” Evan Greer, deputy director of digital rights group Fight for the Future, said in a statement. “That would be enormously invasive, and exacerbate existing forms of discrimination.”

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The Senate on Tuesday confirmed Mark Menezes for the No. 2 spot at the Energy Department in a 79-16 vote. 

President TrumpDonald John TrumpMark Kelly clinches Democratic Senate nod in Arizona Trump camp considering White House South Lawn for convention speech: reports Longtime Rep. Lacy Clay defeated in Missouri Democratic primary MORE nominated Menezes to be the department’s deputy secretary in March. He will replace Dan Brouillette, who previously held the role but was later promoted to Energy’s top job after former Secretary Rick PerryRick PerryOVERNIGHT ENERGY: Trump signs major conservation bill into law | Senate votes to confirm Energy’s No. 2 official | Trump Jr. expresses opposition to Pebble Mine project Senate votes to confirm Energy’s No. 2 official 4 Texas GOP congressional primary runoffs to watch MORE resigned. 

Menezes has served as undersecretary of Energy and has advised the department on policy and technology since 2017. Before joining the Trump administration, he lobbied for Berkshire Hathaway Energy, which, through subsidiaries, produces energy from sources including coal, natural gas, wind, solar, nuclear and geothermal. 

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Other former clients include Marathon Oil, ConocoPhillips, Koch Mineral Services and utility company Duke Energy.

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Menezes was a relatively uncontroversial pick, as the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee advanced his nomination by voice vote. Just one senator, Catherine Cortez MastoCatherine Marie Cortez MastoOVERNIGHT ENERGY: Trump signs major conservation bill into law | Senate votes to confirm Energy’s No. 2 official | Trump Jr. expresses opposition to Pebble Mine project Senate votes to confirm Energy’s No. 2 official Major Hispanic group launches support of ‘milestone’ Latina candidates MORE (D-Nev.) expressed opposition to the nomination. She based her opposition on reports that the Trump administration was considering nuclear testing. 

“He has excelled as the undersecretary of Energy,” said Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairwoman Lisa Murkowksi (R-Alaska), referring to Menezes’s prior role, during a floor speech. “He’s helped to set the policy direction of the department. … I’m also confident that Mr. Menezes will be a great second-in-command.”

The U.S. Navy SEALs have reportedly cut ties with an independent Navy SEAL museum after video surfaced over the weekend showing dogs participating in a demonstration in which they attacked a man in a Colin Kaepernick jersey. 

Rear Adm. Collin Green, who heads the Naval Special Warfare Command, said in an email to the forces that the video damaged the unit’s reputation as one that protects “our fellow Americans — ALL Americans,” The Associated Press reported.

“Even the perception that our commitment to serving the men and women of this nation is applied unevenly is destructive,” Green said. “We will revisit our relationship with the Museum when I am convinced that they have made the necessary changes to ensure this type of behavior does not happen again.”

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The announcement came after clips from an event at the National Navy SEAL Museum, a nonprofit organization based in Fort Pierce, Fla., resurfaced on social media over the weekend.

In one of the videos, which was filmed in 2018, four K-9 dogs were ordered to attack a man wearing a San Francisco 49ers Kaepernick jersey on top of his protective equipment. The clip had garnered nearly 7 million views on Twitter as of Tuesday afternoon. 

The Navy SEALs on Monday announced that it was initiating an investigation into the matter, noting that “the inherent message of this video is completely inconsistent with the values and ethos of Naval Special Warfare and the U.S. Navy.”

In his email, Green said that the participants in the demonstration were contracted employees from outside the Defense Department, but held that “in many ways, these facts are irrelevant.”

“We may not have contributed to the misperception in this case, but we suffer from it and will not allow it to continue,” he said, according to the AP.

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The Naval Special Warfare Command and the Navy SEAL Museum did not immediately return requests for comment from The Hill.

The Navy SEAL Museum, which opened in 1985, says on its website that its main objective is to promote the history of the elite forces unit and to honor those who have died. The museum has not commented on the demonstration or who was involved since videos resurfaced online. 

Video of the demonstration was met with intense criticism online considering Kaepernick’s outspoken stance on issues related to police brutality and racial injustice. The former San Francisco 49er became the first professional athlete to take a knee during the national anthem in 2016 to protest against racial inequities in the U.S.

The demonstration quickly became a flashpoint in the country, with people including President TrumpDonald John TrumpMark Kelly clinches Democratic Senate nod in Arizona Trump camp considering White House South Lawn for convention speech: reports Longtime Rep. Lacy Clay defeated in Missouri Democratic primary MORE denouncing Kaepernick and other athletes who took part in the demonstration.

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Kaepernick has not signed with an NFL franchise since the 2016 season.

The protest he launched has garnered renewed attention amid nationwide demonstrations following the death of George Floyd at the hands of the Minneapolis police in May. People taking a knee at protests became a common sight at demonstrations in cities across the U.S.

Dozens of athletes and coaches have also taken a knee during the national anthem since professional sports returned last month.

Senators and other energy sector officials warned Wednesday that foreign adversaries are continuing to target the U.S. electric grid, noting that the COVID-19 pandemic has only underscored the dangers.

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“The threat of cyberattacks by foreign adversaries and other sophisticated entities is real and it’s growing,” Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Lisa MurkowskiLisa Ann MurkowskiHillicon Valley: Facebook removes Trump post | TikTok gets competitor | Lawmakers raise grid safety concerns OVERNIGHT ENERGY: Court cancels shutdown of Dakota Access Pipeline | US could avoid 4.5M early deaths by fighting climate change, study finds | Officials warn of increasing cyber threats to critical infrastructure during pandemic Officials warn of increasing cyber threats to critical infrastructure during pandemic MORE (R-Alaska) said Wednesday during a committee hearing on cyber threats to the grid. “The COVID-19 pandemic has created a unique opportunity for cyber criminals to attack our networks, including critical energy infrastructure.”

Murkowski pointed to concerns over Russian targeting of the Ukrainian power grid in 2015, and to recently announced indictments by the Department of Justice against two Chinese hackers for targeting a wide range of groups including a Department of Energy site. 

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“We all know the stakes here,” Murkowski said. “A successful hack could shut down power, impacting hospitals, banks, gas pumps, military installations and cell phone service. The consequences would be widespread and devastating, and only more so if we are in the midst of a global pandemic.” 

Sen. Joe ManchinJoseph (Joe) ManchinHillicon Valley: Facebook removes Trump post | TikTok gets competitor | Lawmakers raise grid safety concerns OVERNIGHT ENERGY: Court cancels shutdown of Dakota Access Pipeline | US could avoid 4.5M early deaths by fighting climate change, study finds | Officials warn of increasing cyber threats to critical infrastructure during pandemic Officials warn of increasing cyber threats to critical infrastructure during pandemic MORE (D-W.V.), the ranking member of the committee, warned during the same hearing that “threats to federal infrastructure are serious and increasing daily.”

“The COVID-19 crisis has made our nation and the world acutely aware of the consequences of being underprepared for a catastrophic event,” Manchin said. “The pandemic has forced the energy industry to adapt to new challenges and vulnerabilities with more employees working remotely.”

The senators’ concerns came on the heels of the National Security Agency (NSA) and the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) issuing an alert in July warning that foreign hackers were zeroing in on critical infrastructure through targeting internet-connected operational technology (OT) assets.

“Due to the increase in adversary capabilities and activity, the criticality to U.S. national security and way of life, and the vulnerability of OT systems, civilian infrastructure makes attractive targets for foreign powers attempting to do harm to US interests or retaliate for perceived US aggression,” the agencies wrote in the alert. 

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Even before thE alert, foreign cyber threats to the power grid were not new. Former Director of National Intelligence Daniel Coats warned in the 2019 Worldwide Threats Assessment that Russia, China and Iran all had the capabilities to launch cyberattacks that “cause localized, temporary disruptive effects on critical infrastructure.”

The Cyberspace Solarium Commission (CSC) – a congressionally-established group composed of federal officials, members of Congress and industry leaders – put out recommendations earlier this year for defending the U.S. in cyberspace and preventing a crippling nationwide cyberattack, such as one on the energy sector. 

CSC Co-Chair Sen. Angus KingAngus KingOVERNIGHT ENERGY: Court cancels shutdown of Dakota Access Pipeline | US could avoid 4.5M early deaths by fighting climate change, study finds | Officials warn of increasing cyber threats to critical infrastructure during pandemic Officials warn of increasing cyber threats to critical infrastructure during pandemic Congress has a shot at correcting Trump’s central mistake on cybersecurity MORE (I-Maine) testified Wednesday that the pandemic had taught the nation that “the unthinkable can happen.”

“A significant cyberattack is not unthinkable, we know that it is being planned, and we know that it is happening today,” King said. “I spoke recently to a utility sector executive who told me his system is attacked 3 million times a day, now, today, so this is not an abstract issue, this is something that we have to address.”

Steven Connor, the president of Siemens Energy, Inc., which produces energy equipment that supports one third of the nation’s daily energy needs, confirmed the constant targeting, testifying to the committee on Wednesday that “we get attacked thousands of times per day.”

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Siemens recently announced it was partnering with the New York Power Authority to establish a cybersecurity Center of Excellence that is meant to help defend against cyberattacks on critical infrastructure. 

Officials agreed Wednesday that this type of public-private partnership was necessary to respond to the increasing attacks, particularly as foreign actors step up their efforts to target the energy sector. 

Alexander Gates, senior advisor at the Department of Energy’s Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response (CESER), testified Wednesday that “still more action is needed” in this space. 

“Cyber threats to the sector are real and outpacing our collective solutions,” he warned.