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Business Journals
01-07-2025
- Health
- Business Journals
The GLP-1 weight loss debate: Pharmacy benefit leaders weigh in on difficult coverage decisions
Employers are grappling with the ripple effect of an increasingly popular weight loss treatment. Glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists are a favored treatment for type-2 diabetes but have also become incredibly popular for treating obesity. One in eight U.S. adults have taken GLP-1 medication, according to a KFF Health Tracking Poll, with one in three saying they've heard a lot about them. Usage is growing so fast Goldman Sachs estimates the drugs could push the global market for anti-obesity medications to $100 billion in annual sales by 2030. The challenge for employers is the cost. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, GLP-1s have an average annual list price of $12,000. Because patients tend to regain weight when they discontinue treatment, the cost of coverage is high. 'GLP-1s are a topic that comes up in almost every client meeting,' said Shanda Harclerode, a pharmacist and pharmacy consultant for Holmes Murphy's employee benefits group. 'Across the board, we're seeing it in the top three drugs in terms of plan spend.' Among Holmes Murphy's employee benefits clients, spending on GLP-1s increased 36% from 2023 to 2024, Harclerode said. The treatments represented 17% of all pharmaceutical spending in 2024 and 4% of medical and pharmacy spending combined. Understanding the market for obesity treatments The appeal for an injectable treatment for obesity is easy to understand, said Nathan Cassin, employee benefits pharmacy director with Holmes Murphy. 'Obesity affects 42% of American adults and that number is rising and these drugs are revolutionary in terms of managing weight,' Cassin said. You have to go back several decades to find new medication releases with this wide of an impact, Cassin said, pointing to Zoloft's approval for mental health conditions in 1991, Lipitor's approval for lowering cholesterol in 1996 and Nexium's approval for reducing stomach acid in 2001. The broad market for obesity treatments has helped spur interest in GLP-1s from many drug manufacturers. There is a robust pipeline of GLP-1 products undergoing clinical trials for obesity treatment and manufacturers are starting to sell the drugs directly to members through telehealth appointments. However, Harclerode said this increased competition will not reduce employers' expenses anytime soon. 'While we may see some of the pricing of the drugs come down as competition increases with new agents coming to market and more competition between the different manufacturers to get their products on the formulary,' she said, 'anticipated increases in utilization are likely going to offset any pricing relief. GLP-1s and similar molecules are currently being studied for a variety of other applications, including Alzheimer's disease, osteoarthritis, and heart failure, significantly expanding their potential use going forward.' Employee benefit strategies for employers Employers are left with difficult choices. Harclerode recommends business leaders start by assessing how GLP-1s fit the needs of their employees. Ask these questions: What is the prevalence of obesity and related conditions within my population? What can we expect in terms of utilization? How much would that utilization cost? Does that cost fit within our employee benefits budget? What is my employee turnover rate? Given that, will our plan realize the potential future benefits that come with weight loss? How important is offering this coverage to our talent attraction and retention efforts? Employers that decide to offer GLP-1 coverage should make sure to design their program in a way that maximizes its effectiveness, Harclerode said. Some clients require people to participate in wellness programs — such as working with a health coach or dietitian — to be eligible for GLP-1 therapies. 'Since these drugs require long-term use for sustained benefits, we want to ensure that if a member stops their GLP-1 therapy, the appropriate behavioral changes have been adopted to maintain the weight loss that was achieved while on the medication,' she said. Because of their popularity, businesses that opt not to cover GLP-1s may want to be transparent with employees about why and what they're doing to support weight loss instead, Harclerode said. They won't be alone. In a 2024 Business Group on Health survey, 67% of large employers reported covering GLP-1s, while only 28% of Holmes Murphy's clients — including many businesses with less than 10,000 people — provide the coverage. 'I don't think there's a one-size-fits-all approach,' Harclerode said. Are you getting the most out of your employer-sponsored pharmacy benefits? From pricing terms and contracts to understanding clinical programs, Holmes Murphy can help. As one of the largest independent insurance brokerages in the nation, Holmes Murphy believes fully in serving the unique risk and benefits challenges of clients in every industry and of almost every size. For more information, visit or follow the company on X (@holmesmurphyins), Facebook, LinkedIn, or Instagram.
Toronto Sun
24-06-2025
- Business
- Toronto Sun
FedEx founder Fred Smith, who revolutionized package delivery, dies at 80
Memphis-based FedEx averages 17 million shipments per business day Published Jun 24, 2025 • 3 minute read FedEx Corp. founder Fred Smith takes part in a discussion at the National Conference of State Legislatures in Nashville, Tenn. on Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2006. Photo by Mark Humphrey / AP MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Fred Smith, the FedEx Corp. founder who revolutionized the express delivery industry, has died, the company said. He was 80. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account FedEx started operating in 1973, delivering small parcels and documents more quickly than the postal service. Over the next half-century, Smith, a Marine Corps veteran, oversaw the growth of a company that became something of an economic bellwether because so many other companies rely on it. Memphis, Tennessee-based FedEx became a global transportation and logistics company that averages 17 million shipments per business day. Smith stepped down as CEO in 2022 but remained executive chairman. Smith, a 1966 graduate of Yale University, used a business theory he came up with in college to create a delivery system based on coordinated air cargo flights centered on a main hub, a 'hub and spokes' system, as it became known. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The company also played a major role in the shift by American business and industry to a greater use of time-sensitive deliveries and less dependence on large inventories and warehouses. Smith once told The Associated Press that he came up with the name Federal Express because he wanted the company to sound big and important when in fact it was a start-up operation with a future far from assured. At the time, Smith was trying to land a major shipping contract with the Federal Reserve Bank that didn't work out. In the beginning, Federal Express had 14 small aircraft operating out of the Memphis International Airport flying packages to 25 U.S. cities. Smith's father, also named Frederick, built a small fortune in Memphis with a regional bus line and other business ventures. Following college, Smith joined the U.S. Marines and was commissioned a second lieutenant. He left the military as a captain in 1969 after two tours in Vietnam where he was decorated for bravery and wounds received in combat. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. He told The Associated Press in a 2023 interview that everything he did running FedEx came from his experience in the Marines, not what he learned at Yale. Getting Federal Express started was no easy task. Overnight shipments were new to American business and the company had to have a fleet of planes and a system of interconnecting air routes in place from the get-go. Former President George W. Bush released a statement in which he praised Smith as 'one of the finest Americans of our generation' and FedEx as an 'innovative company that helped supercharge our economy.' Smith was a minority owner of the Washington Commanders NFL team until 2021, when owner Daniel Snyder and his family bought out the shares held by Smith, Dwight Schar and Bob Rothman. His son Arthur was a head coach with the Atlanta Falcons for three seasons and is currently the offensive coordinator for the Pittsburgh Steelers. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Though one of Memphis' best-known and most prominent citizens, Smith generally avoided the public spotlight, devoting his energies to work and family. Despite his low profile, Smith made a cameo appearance in the 2000 movie 'Castaway' starring Tom Hanks. The movie was about a FedEx employee stranded on an island. 'Memphis has lost its most important citizen, Fred Smith,' said U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen of Tennessee, citing Smith's support for everything from the University of Memphis to the city's zoo. 'FedEx is the engine of our economy, and Fred Smith was its visionary founder. But more than that, he was a dedicated citizen who cared deeply about our city.' Smith rarely publicized the donations he and his family made, but he agreed to speak with AP in 2023 about a gift to the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation to endow a new scholarship fund for the children of Navy service members pursuing studies in STEM. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'The thing that's interested me are the institutions and the causes not the naming or the recognition,' Smith said at the time. Asked what it means to contribute to the public good, he replied: 'America is the most generous country in the world. It's amazing the charitable contributions that Americans make every year. Everything from the smallest things to these massive health care initiatives and the Gates Foundation and everything in between,' he said. 'I think if you've done well in this country, it's pretty churlish for you not to at least be willing to give a pretty good portion of that back to the public interest. And all this is in the great tradition of American philanthropy.' NHL Toronto & GTA Sunshine Girls Sunshine Girls World
E&E News
17-06-2025
- Business
- E&E News
State lawmakers go big on bills to advance nuclear power
A U.S. 'nuclear renaissance' has been illusory since the term was coined more than two decades ago. But a new force dominating energy markets — surging power demand from AI data centers — has convinced the industry that a revival is, finally, at hand. Nuclear, one of the few electricity generation technologies that's been backed by Democratic and Republican administrations, including President Donald Trump, has quietly gained traction in statehouses from Phoenix to Austin to Indianapolis. Advertisement More than 200 nuclear-related bills were filed in state capitols so far this year, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) database. Dozens have already been signed into law or are awaiting governors' signatures. The stimulus for action by policymakers is no secret. Unlike in the past, when nuclear power was pitched as a carbon-free backfill for aging coal plants, the selling point today is focused squarely on rising power demand, especially for power-thirsty data centers. Industry advocates have for years extolled the technology's benefits: It doesn't spew greenhouse gases and reactors can usually operate year-round except for refueling outages. But since the nuclear boom of the 1970s and '80s, efforts to jump-start development in the U.S. have flopped because of project delays, spiraling costs, accidents at Chernobyl and Fukushima, and scandal. Desperate to bring economic investment and jobs to their states and districts, state legislators of both parties are courting 'hyperscaler' data centers operated by technology titans like Google, Microsoft and Amazon. And lawmakers are keenly aware that power availability is at the top of the list of requirements. Sue Rezin, a Republican state senator from Illinois and co-chair of NCSL's Energy Supply Task Force, has seen the growing interest in nuclear firsthand. 'The conversation around nuclear has changed,' said Rezin, whose northern Illinois district is ringed by three of the state's six Constellation Energy nuclear plants. 'Not so long ago, absolutely no one except for me was speaking about nuclear. It was all about wind, solar and batteries. But now that the economy is changing, which is exciting, because of AI, we've seen this huge need for power.' In Illinois, she said economic development projects looking at her district were looking for 50 to 100 megawatts. 'Now we have companies coming to the area saying that they need up to 1,000 MW.' Leaders with the nuclear industry trade association, the Nuclear Energy Institute, have testified on the bills in legislative hearings, arguing in large part that the tech industry needs reactors. 'They not only need the power, but they have a mandate that it has to be reliable, it has to be clean,' Christine Csizmadia, NEI's director for state governmental affairs and advocacy. 'Nuclear is one of the few (technologies) that can provide those specific attributes.' Nuclear meets AI in Indiana Indiana is one state where lawmakers prioritized legislation to stimulate nuclear development. Lawmakers passed a trio of bills aimed at attracting small modular reactors (SMR), considered by many leaders in the state as a fitting replacement for an aging coal fleet. And Republican Gov. Mike Braun and other state officials see potential for making Indiana a manufacturing hub for the next-generation reactors. In addition to signing the nuclear legislation, Braun issued an executive order to establish a coalition to advance SMRs in the state and attract suppliers. '(Braun) knows the large clean power that can come from nuclear power,' Suzanne Jaworowski, Indiana's secretary of energy and natural resources, said in an interview. 'And he feels that there's no way to achieve emissions goals and really have a balance of clean energy without nuclear being in the mix.' Jaworowski has been a central figure in Indiana's push to embrace nuclear power. And she is no stranger to the industry having served at the Department of Energy during Trump's first term and later as a consultant for SMR developer NuScale Power. She sees the AI race and big tech's growing demand for power as a way to finance a new generation of nuclear reactors that can serve the state for decades to come. She framed the issue to lawmakers by ticking off a list of big electricity users looking to locate in Indiana — semiconductor plants, ethanol refineries, steel manufacturers and data centers, including an $11 billion Amazon project in New Carlisle, Indiana, that needs 2 gigawatts of power. In an interview after the legislation passed, Jaworowski noted that one of the three nuclear bills requires large power loads such as a data center to cover 80 percent of the cost of new development 'rather than putting that on the ratepayers.' One Hoosier State utility already taking tangible steps to pursue a nuclear project is AEP's Indiana Michigan Power (I&M). The company already operates the D.C. Cook nuclear plant to help serve 600,000 customers in northern Indiana and southwest Michigan. I&M is seeking a $50 million federal grant in partnership with the Tennessee Valley Authority and others to support an early site permit for a 300 megawatt SMR at the site of its Rockport coal-fired power plant in far southern Indiana, which is slated for retirement in 2028. Rockport was among former coal plant sites identified as prime candidates for SMRs, according to a Purdue University study prepared for the Indiana Office of Energy Development. I&M's interest in nuclear power is driven by the same factors prompting other utilities to examine nuclear energy. It's planning for fast-growing electricity demand in its service area, notably a $2 billion Google data center in Fort Wayne, Indiana. In all, the utility has contracts with three large data center customers that will more than double I&M's peak power demand by 2030, said I&M President Steve Baker. 'We're seeing an explosion of electrical demand,' Baker told lawmakers during a hearing earlier this year. 'It has taken 120 years to build our current peak electrical demand with our 600,000 customers between both states. Over the next five years we're going to more than double that.' 'Why is grandma footing the bill?' Not everyone in Indiana is embracing the nuclear push. Kerwin Olson, executive director of the Citizens Action Coalition, an Indiana consumer and environmental group, said the group doesn't oppose nuclear technology but is concerned about pushing costs — and risks — onto consumers already struggling with rising energy bills. Olson said one particular provision enacted in Indiana is especially egregious. It allows utilities to track and recover nuclear pre-development costs such as permitting and licensing even before utilities formally seek a permit to build a new reactor. 'They don't have to commit to the project,' Olson said. 'They can collect this stuff just for thinking about it.' While Citizens Action Coalition joined others in a regulatory settlement aimed at requiring large electricity users such as data centers to pay their fair share of new grid infrastructure, that agreement doesn't include potentially hundreds of millions of dollars in costs to assess a potential project, Olson said. The newly enacted nuclear legislation, he said, solely benefits shareholders of utilities such as AEP and their tech giant customers. 'Why is grandma footing the bill for AEP and Google to think about SMRs,' Olson said. Some of the nation's largest utilities, while they believe advanced nuclear and SMRs hold promise for the long term, have stated they don't see it contributing in the near term. Duke Energy in its 2024 long-range energy plan in Indiana noted that SMRs didn't make the cut economically in terms of its 'preferred' energy portfolio over the next 20 years. The nuclear debate in Indiana this spring focused on two competing visions of the future. Proponents envisaged a next-generation reactor, ideally one assembled by Indiana workers, occupying the very piece of land where one of the state's biggest polluters once stood. Opponents focused attention on a former nuclear site two hours away near the small town of Madison, Indiana, a nightmare from decades ago and a sign of what could go wrong. The tale of Indiana's Marble Hill plant is still very much on the mind of some. A headline in The New York Times from January 1984 sums it up: 'Half-Built Indiana Nuclear Plant Abandoned at a $2.5 Billion Cost.' Public Service Co. of Indiana, now a part of Duke Energy, gave up on the plant as costs soared and it ran out of cash to complete construction. It was at the time, according to the Times, the most expensive of 100 canceled nuclear projects nationwide in the wake of the 1979 accident at Three Mile Island. Even if a repeat is unlikely, critics of Indiana's nuclear rush say it would be at least two decades under the best-case scenario before the state could see its first reactor built and producing energy. And the timing mismatch has implications for greenhouse gas emissions — a climate problem that nuclear power is supposed to help address. That's because the surge of electricity demand facing Indiana over the next five years is seen as catalyzing billions of dollars in new natural gas investment and could see existing coal plants continue to operate beyond planned retirement dates. Braun this spring issued an executive order, citing Trump's declaration of a 'national energy emergency,' to evaluate all of Indiana's operating coal plants to see if their operating lives can be extended. Jaworowski said it's part of the governor's 'all of the above' approach to ensuring the state has adequate energy supplies. 'Right now, we need every megawatt we can get on the grid, and so if we have coal plants that are running efficiently and operating in an environmentally safe way, we surely don't want to see those megawatts go off the grid,' Jaworowski said. Olson frames it differently. 'There is an all-out push from the Braun administration to try to move toward SMRs and, meanwhile, keep coal plants open,' he said. 'That's the agenda.' Beyond Indiana, states including Arizona, Arkansas, North Dakota, Utah and Virginia have enacted laws to encourage nuclear power. NEI's Csizmadia said many of the bills heard this spring fit a few broad categories. Some establish task forces or commissions to study the feasibility of nuclear plants. Others define nuclear power as 'clean energy.' Some eliminate nuclear moratoriums established in the 1970s and '80s. The most meaningful of the bills authorize funding or financial incentives, including a $350 million nuclear fund approved by Texas lawmakers. While it's a fraction of the $2 billion initially proposed, it's viewed as a win for the industry. The Texas bill is one of three passed in the Lone Star State to help encourage new nuclear development and make it a larger part of the energy mix. Csizmadia said the industry will need more than just favorable state policies and incentives to jump-start a long-awaited nuclear revival. Federal help and tech company capital is still essential. '[States] can be starters for a lot of these projects,' Csizmadia said. 'They can invest in things like the early permitting, or pre-application costs, or just allow for the companies to have the flexibility to use those funds for whatever costs they incur at the beginning of these projects.' But 'states are not going to be able to complete a nuclear project by themselves,' she added. 'They're going to need help.'
Boston Globe
13-06-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Massachusetts judge blocks Trump's election executive order, siding with Democrats who called it overreach
Judge Denise J. Casper of the U.S. District Court in Massachusetts said in Friday's order that the states had a likelihood of success as to their legal challenges. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up 'The Constitution does not grant the President any specific powers over elections,' Casper wrote. Advertisement Casper also noted that, when it comes to citizenship, 'there is no dispute (nor could there be) that U.S. citizenship is required to vote in federal elections and the federal voter registration forms require attestation of citizenship.' Casper cited arguments made by the states that the requirements would 'burden the States with significant efforts and substantial costs' to update procedures. Messages seeking a response from the White House and Department of Justice were not immediately returned. The ruling is the second legal setback for Trump's election order. A federal judge in Washington, D.C., previously blocked parts of the directive, including the proof-of-citizenship requirement for the federal voter registration form. Advertisement The order is the culmination of Trump's longstanding complaints about elections. After his first win in 2016, Trump falsely claimed his popular vote total would have been much higher if not for 'millions of people who voted illegally.' Since 2020, Trump has made false claims of widespread voter fraud and manipulation of voting machines to explain his loss to Democrat Joe Biden. He has said his executive order secures elections against illegal voting by noncitizens, though multiple studies and investigations in the states have shown that it's rare and typically a mistake. Casting a ballot as a noncitizen is already against the law and can result in fines and deportation if convicted. Also blocked in Friday's ruling was part of the order that sought to require states to exclude any mail-in or absentee ballots received after Election Day. Currently, 18 states and Puerto Rico accept mailed ballots received after Election Day as long they are postmarked on or before that date, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Oregon and Washington, which conduct their elections almost entirely by mail, filed a separate lawsuit over the ballot deadline, saying the executive order could disenfranchise voters in their states. When the lawsuit was filed, Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs noted that more than 300,000 ballots in the state arrived after Election Day in 2024. Trump's order has received praise from the top election officials in some Republican states who say it could inhibit instances of voter fraud and will give them access to federal data to better maintain their voter rolls. But many legal experts say the order exceeds Trump's power because the Constitution gives states the authority to set the 'times, places and manner' of elections, with Congress allowed to set rules for elections to federal office. As Friday's ruling states, the Constitution makes no provision for presidents to set the rules for elections. Advertisement During a hearing earlier this month on the states' request for a preliminary injunction, lawyers for the states and lawyers for the administration argued over the implications of Trump's order, whether the changes could be made in time for next year's midterm elections and how much it would cost the states. Justice Department lawyer Bridget O'Hickey said during the hearing that the order seeks to provide a single set of rules for certain aspects of election operations rather than having a patchwork of state laws and that any harm to the states is speculation. O'Hickey also claimed that mailed ballots received after Election Day might somehow be manipulated, suggesting people could retrieve their ballots and alter their votes based on what they see in early results. But all ballots received after Election Day require a postmark showing they were sent on or before that date, and that any ballot with a postmark after Election Day would not count.
Los Angeles Times
13-06-2025
- Politics
- Los Angeles Times
Judge blocks Trump's election executive order, siding with Democrats who called it overreach
ATLANTA — A federal judge on Friday blocked President Trump's attempt to overhaul elections in the U.S., siding with a group of Democratic state attorneys general who challenged the effort as unconstitutional. The Republican president's March 25 executive order sought to compel officials to require documentary proof of citizenship for everyone registering to vote for federal elections, accept only mailed ballots received by Election Day and condition federal election grant funding on states adhering to the new ballot deadline. The attorneys general said the directive 'usurps the States' constitutional power and seeks to amend election law by fiat.' The White House defended the order as 'standing up for free, fair and honest elections' and called proof of citizenship a 'commonsense' requirement. Judge Denise J. Casper of the U.S. District Court in Massachusetts said in Friday's order that the states had a likelihood of success as to their legal challenges. 'The Constitution does not grant the President any specific powers over elections,' Casper wrote. Casper also noted that, when it comes to citizenship, 'there is no dispute (nor could there be) that U.S. citizenship is required to vote in federal elections and the federal voter registration forms require attestation of citizenship.' Casper cited arguments made by the states that the requirements would 'burden the States with significant efforts and substantial costs' to update procedures. The ruling is the second legal setback for Trump's election order. A federal judge in Washington, D.C., previously blocked parts of the directive, including the proof-of-citizenship requirement for the federal voter registration form. The order is the culmination of Trump's longstanding complaints about elections. After his first win in 2016, Trump falsely claimed his popular vote total would have been much higher if not for 'millions of people who voted illegally.' Since 2020, Trump has made false claims of widespread voter fraud and manipulation of voting machines to explain his loss to Democrat Joe Biden. He has said his executive order secures elections against illegal voting by noncitizens, though multiple studies and investigations in the states have shown that it's rare and typically a mistake. Casting a ballot as a noncitizen is already against the law and can result in fines and deportation if convicted. The order also would require states to exclude any mail-in or absentee ballots received after Election Day and puts states' federal funding at risk if election officials don't comply. Currently, 18 states and Puerto Rico accept mailed ballots received after Election Day as long they are postmarked on or before that date, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Oregon and Washington, which conduct their elections almost entirely by mail, filed a separate lawsuit over the ballot deadline, saying the executive order could disenfranchise voters in their states. When the lawsuit was filed, Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs noted that more than 300,000 ballots in the state arrived after Election Day in 2024. Trump's order has received praise from the top election officials in some Republican states who say it could inhibit instances of voter fraud and will give them access to federal data to better maintain their voter rolls. But many legal experts say the order exceeds Trump's power because the Constitution gives states the authority to set the 'times, places and manner' of elections, with Congress allowed to set rules for elections to federal office. As Friday's ruling states, the Constitution makes no provision for presidents to set the rules for elections. During a hearing earlier this month on the states' request for a preliminary injunction, lawyers for the states and lawyers for the administration argued over the implications of Trump's order, whether the changes could be made in time for next year's midterm elections and how much it would cost the states. Justice Department lawyer Bridget O'Hickey said during the hearing that the order seeks to provide a single set of rules for certain aspects of election operations rather than having a patchwork of state laws and that any harm to the states is speculation. O'Hickey also claimed that mailed ballots received after Election Day might somehow be manipulated, suggesting people could retrieve their ballots and alter their votes based on what they see in early results. But all ballots received after Election Day require a postmark showing they were sent on or before that date, and that any ballot with a postmark after Election Day would not count. Cassidy writes for the Associated Press.
