Read · November 9, 2026

The Supreme Court lets Trump resume border wall construction in Texas' Big Bend region, over Justice Jackson's dissent

• From the LeftNBC News: NBC sets the government's 89,000 detentions against challengers who cite the lowest apprehension rates.

  NBC sets the government's 89,000 detentions against challengers who cite the lowest apprehension rates.

  Grade: C (79/100). Lehrer score 79/100 (starts at 85; +4 named, on-record sources (2+): Solicitor General D. John Sauer and the challengers' lawyers quoted; +3 primary document linked or cited (filing, ruling, data release, statement): the court's "five-page unsigned decision" quoted; +4 other side quoted or given its response: challengers say construction would "result in the permanent alteration of an irreplaceable landscape"; +2 key numbers sourced: "the Trump administration saying that 89,000 people have been detained"; +2 context: background or what came before: "U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone on Oct. 2 invalidated Noem's waivers"; −12 factual error or claim the piece can't support (cite the correct fact) (rule 3): quotes the court as saying the administration was "extremely likely to prevail"; the per curiam order says "exceedingly likely to prevail"; −4 loaded word or phrase in the outlet's own voice (rule 2/7/13): waivers "that allowed the government to evade environmental and conservation laws" in its own voice; −5 unnamed source on a side point, or a figure with no stated source (rule 11): "Officials have warned" with no official named). Fixed scale: 90+ A, 80s B, 70s C, 60s D, under 60 F → C.

• CenterNewsweek: Newsweek walks through the 1996 waiver law, the lower court ruling and CBP's $500,000 a day cost claim.

  Newsweek walks through the 1996 waiver law, the lower court ruling and CBP's $500,000 a day cost claim.

  Grade: A (98/100). Lehrer score 98/100 (starts at 85; +2 one named, on-record source: a U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesperson quoted; +3 primary document linked or cited (filing, ruling, data release, statement): the order quoted: "JUSTICE JACKSON would deny the application for stay"; +4 other side quoted or given its response: challengers argued Mullin "exceeded congressional authority"; the government called it a "baseless injunction"; +2 key numbers sourced: "According to a CBP declaration, the injunction was costing nearly $500,000 per day"; +2 context: background or what came before: "In August, bulldozers were seen at the Big Bend National Park clearing land"). Fixed scale: 90+ A, 80s B, 70s C, 60s D, under 60 F → A.

• From the RightWashington Examiner: The Examiner quotes Solicitor General Sauer on cartels and calls the ruling a key win for Trump.

  The Examiner quotes Solicitor General Sauer on cartels and calls the ruling a key win for Trump.

  Grade: B (82/100). Lehrer score 82/100 (starts at 85; +4 named, on-record sources (2+): Solicitor General D. John Sauer and the per curiam ruling quoted; +3 primary document linked or cited (filing, ruling, data release, statement): "the unsigned per curiam ruling said" quoted at length; +2 context: background or what came before: Judge Kathleen Cardone, "an appointee of former President George W. Bush"; −6 leaves out a fact or voice the other two pieces report / one side only (rule 5/13): gives no voice to the challengers, whose arguments NBC News and Newsweek both report; −6 unlabeled claim, analysis or opinion in the outlet's own voice (rule 2/10): "adding to the administration's overwhelmingly positive record there" in its own voice). Fixed scale: 90+ A, 80s B, 70s C, 60s D, under 60 F → B.

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