Democrats used America's 250th birthday to float stacking the Supreme Court and killing the Senate filibuster. Today: Al Green revives impeachment, China frees a pastor after Trump pressure, and the election integrity fight moves back to court.

Frederick Douglass delivered "What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?" on July 5, 1852, in Rochester, New York. He forced America to face the gap between its founding promise and its conduct.

Liberty survives when citizens tell the truth and demand better.

The chairs of the Congressional Black, Hispanic, and Progressive caucuses floated a 2026 agenda item to expand the Supreme Court beyond nine seats and eliminate the Senate filibuster. The Gateway Pundit reports the plan came the same week Al Green renewed his impeachment push and other Democrats used Independence Day to needle the administration. President Trump fired back immediately, calling the court-expansion idea a direct attack on the separation of powers. No bill text exists yet, and Senate Democrats are nowhere near the votes needed even if they retake the majority in 2026.

Talk is cheap until it isn't. Court packing turns nine justices into a political scoreboard that gets reset every time power changes hands. Killing the filibuster does the same thing to the Senate. It removes the one structural brake that forces a narrow majority to negotiate instead of jamming through judges, election law, gun rules, and spending bills on a party-line vote. The people floating this are the same caucus chairs who call any Republican structural reform a threat to democracy.

What to watch next: whether Schumer or Jeffries embrace this publicly, or let the caucus chairs carry the message so party leadership keeps deniability.

The Gateway Pundit reports Elaine Chao flew to Beijing on June 17, 2026, and met Han Zheng, China's vice president. The outlet says the trip came three days after Sen. Mitch McConnell was hospitalized after a reported cardiac arrest. Chao was Trump's Transportation secretary from 2017 to 2021, but the report cites no current U.S. government role. Beijing knows old power still carries weight, especially when it is tied to Senate power and global shipping.

President Trump said Benjamin Netanyahu requested a White House meeting after Trump returns from next week's NATO summit. Breitbart reports the two leaders have split over Iran diplomacy and Israel's continued operations in Lebanon. Trump's White House meeting message was blunt: Israel is an ally, not a free agent for U.S. policy. The Iran and Lebanon files can drag America into a wider fight fast if discipline breaks down.

The Gateway Pundit says Elon Musk ripped New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani after a divisive Independence Day address. The outlet claims Mamdani used the holiday to lecture Americans and surrounded himself with foreign nationals during the morning event. Musk's public response turned a city story into a national fight over patriotism. Big city leaders keep testing whether July 4 can be turned into grievance theater.

Voters keep saying no.

Joe Biden posted a Fourth of July message that critics called divisive and anti-American. The Gateway Pundit reported massive blowback across social media, with conservatives accusing Biden of scolding the country on its birthday. Supporters defended him, but the contrast with Trump's pro-America holiday message drove the story. National holidays reveal what leaders think America is.

Biden's camp still talks like patriotism needs an apology.

Daily Caller's Harold Hutchison reports Republicans are shifting election integrity fights into courtrooms, roll audits, and federal legislation. RNC counsel Christina Bobb, attorney Jason Snead, and Sen. Dan Sullivan are key names in the piece. The fight centers on voter roll cleanup, tighter ID rules, ballot harvesting limits, and the SAVE America Act for citizenship checks. California remains the warning sign.

Loose systems do not fail on Election Day. They fail months earlier when nobody is watching.

Yahoo Sports cites Craig Hope reporting that Manchester United has long-standing interest in Freiburg midfielder Johan Manzambi. Manzambi's play for Switzerland at the 2026 World Cup has raised his profile and likely his price. United's long-standing interest is scouting, not a confirmed bid. The club's problem is familiar.

If United waits too long, it pays the late tax while faster clubs move first.

Pope Leo XIV traveled to Lampedusa, Italy, a main landing point for illegal migrant boat arrivals across the Mediterranean. Breitbart says the pope used July 4 to pray at Europe's illegal migrant hotspot. The visit follows public friction between Leo XIV and Trump over immigration enforcement. Lampedusa is where slogans meet reality.

Local services buckle first, while global voices pressure governments to treat enforcement as cruelty.

China released Pastor Ezra Jin Mingri weeks after President Trump requested his freedom. The New York Post reports Mingri arrived in Los Angeles and reunited with his family after leaving Chinese custody. This is a rare win in U.S. China human rights diplomacy, and it came after Trump put a name on the prisoner. Beijing uses detentions as pressure tools.

Trump's direct request helped change the cost calculation.

I keep coming back to one theme today: control. Democrats want control of the courts. Beijing wants control through elite access. The migration lobby wants control of the moral language around borders.

Trump's best moments come when he names the pressure point and forces the other side to answer in public.

I'll keep tracking the power plays hiding inside patriotic speeches and policy fights. Hit reply with what's on your radar.

Stay free,

Brett Lee
Editor, Project Liberty
projectlibertyus.com

Follow: @projectlibertyus | @real_brett_lee