The Daily Brief — August 7, 2026
Court halts Trump’s ballroom, Meta ordered to pay $942M, Blanche’s path cleared
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Appeals Court Halts Trump Ballroom Construction
An appeals court has ruled that President Trump must get Congress’s approval to build his White House ballroom and has ordered construction to stop.
After Trump had the East Wing demolished to build the 90,000-square-foot ballroom, the National Trust for Historic Preservation sued in federal district court to stop construction of the ballroom. It argues that the administration began the construction without congressional authorization, without filing construction plans with the National Capital Planning Commission — the agency Congress set up to review federal construction in Washington — and without conducting a required environmental review.
The federal district judge twice blocked above-ground construction while allowing underground work, including a bunker, to continue. The Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit upheld the preliminary injunction in a 2–1 ruling. It also put the ruling on hold for 14 days so the administration could appeal to the Supreme Court. Trump said his administration will do so.
The ballroom’s price tag has climbed from Trump’s original $200 million estimate, which he said would come entirely from private donors, to $600 million. More than half the cost is now expected to come from taxpayers rather than donations.
Meta Ordered to Pay $942M to New Mexico
Yesterday, a New Mexico judge ordered Meta Platforms — which owns Facebook and Instagram — to pay $567 million to the state of New Mexico and limit the time adolescents in the state can spend on its social media apps. The money will be used for mental-health screening, prevention programs, and treatment for minors who have been negatively affected by social media use. That amount is in addition to the $375 million in civil penalties that a New Mexico jury ordered Meta to pay after finding that the company violated state consumer protection laws and misled users about the safety of its platforms, ultimately harming children’s mental health and making them vulnerable to sexual exploitation.
Meta said it will appeal the decision, adding that it has been working to identify and remove harmful content from its platforms.
The case stems from a 2023 lawsuit filed by New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez after an undercover operation using a fake social media profile of a 13-year-old girl. Torrez said the account “was simply inundated with images and targeted solicitations” from child abusers.
Chief District Court Judge Bryan Biedscheid also ordered Meta to implement a number of safety measures, including age verification, deleting the accounts of children under 13, barring messages to minors from adults they aren’t already connected with on the platform (i.e., not mutual friends or followers), prohibiting the exchange of nude images, and continuing to send alerts warning minors about potentially suspicious accounts. The judge is also requiring several changes aimed at protecting mental health for users under 18, including hiding “like” counts by default and capping combined Facebook and Instagram use at 90 hours per month.
Blanche’s Nomination Secure
Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana said today he will vote to confirm Todd Blanche as attorney general, clearing the way for President Trump’s former personal lawyer to lead the Justice Department. Blanche has served as acting attorney general since Pam Bondi’s ouster in April.
The Senate could vote on the nomination as soon as today.
Cassidy, who lost his Senate primary in May after Trump backed a rival candidate, said on the floor that while he’s concerned the Justice Department is targeting Trump’s political enemies, he concluded Blanche is better positioned to push back against Trump’s demands than any alternative. However, shortly after Blanche took over as the acting attorney general, the DOJ indicted former FBI director James Comey, against whom Trump holds a longstanding grudge.
Blanche’s nomination had looked doubtful earlier today after Sen. Lisa Murkowski said she would oppose him, citing his handling of the Epstein files and the tax audit immunity protections given to Trump and his family. She joined fellow Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine in opposing the nomination.
With Sen. Mitch McConnell still recovering from a fall that’s kept him out of the Senate since June, Blanche needed Cassidy’s vote, since all 47 Democrats are opposed.
Newsbreak
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US Loses 23,000 Jobs in July
The US economy lost 23,000 jobs in July, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported this morning. Economists had expected a gain of roughly 83,000 to 100,000 jobs. The unemployment rate dropped to 4.1%, down 0.1% from June. Employment continued to trend upward in health care, while local government, education, and retail trade lost jobs.
The Labor Department also revised down its estimates for May and June, finding that 103,000 fewer jobs were created during those months than previously reported.
Labor Union Asks Judge to Scrap Trump Tax Immunity
The labor union representing Treasury Department and IRS workers asked a judge to block a sweeping tax audit immunity agreement for President Trump, his sons, and the Trump Organization, arguing that forcing IRS employees to drop audits of the president and his businesses gives him an unconstitutional financial benefit from the government — an “emolument,” according to the suit — and that applying the law differently to Trump undermines the equal enforcement of tax laws.
The immunity deal is part of the settlement that resolved Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS over the disclosure of his tax returns. The other part of that settlement created a $1.776 billion “anti-weaponization” fund to compensate people who say they were targeted for political reasons under the Biden administration.
The National Treasury Employees Union joined a lawsuit that legal advocacy group Democracy Forward filed in May seeking to block the fund, which has since been updated to target the tax audit immunity.
FCC Removes Cap on Media Ownership
The Federal Communications Commission voted 2–1 to eliminate a long-standing limit on how much of the US television audience a single company can reach, a move that could lead to more media consolidation.
Since 2004, companies have generally been barred from owning TV stations reaching more than 39% of US households. The FCC will now replace that rule with a case-by-case review of proposed acquisitions.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, a Republican appointed by President Trump, called the cap outdated, arguing it prevents local broadcasters from competing with larger media and technology companies.
The decision is likely to face legal challenges. A progressive consumer group, Free Press, plans to sue, arguing that Congress wrote the 39% cap into law in 2004 and only Congress — not the FCC — can change it. Carr has said the FCC has the authority under the Communications Act to adjust ownership limits.
Another Trump-endorsed Candidate Loses Primary
President Trump’s endorsed candidate in Tennessee lost his Republican congressional primary yesterday. Rep. Andy Ogles was defeated by former state agriculture commissioner Charlie Hatcher in the 5th congressional district.
Ogles, a staunch Trump ally, is known for his controversial views. In June, he posted that “homosexuality has no place in America,” though he later blamed the post on his staff after an outcry from Republican colleagues. In March, he wrote that “Muslims don’t belong in American society.” In 2024, the FBI seized Ogles’s phone as part of an investigation of his campaign finance filings, which began after a watchdog group filed an ethics complaint.
Ogles’s defeat was the second primary loss for a Trump-endorsed candidate this week. Two days earlier, his endorsed candidate in a Michigan congressional primary lost to a candidate who had already dropped out of the race.