OpenAI now answers to President Trump's Justice Department over how it sponsors foreign workers for green cards. I'll show you why American applicants may have been boxed out. We also have a major Second Amendment ruling, record ICE arrests, and new questions about the FBI's Russia probe.

President Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act on August 6, 1965. The law prohibited racial discrimination in voting and gave Washington new enforcement authority over elections.

Self-government starts with lawful access to the ballot.

Question: Which amendment reserves undelegated federal powers to the states or the people?

Answer at the very end of today's briefing.

President Trump's Justice Department secured oversight of OpenAI's employment-based green-card sponsorship process after examining how the company recruited workers. DOJ alleged OpenAI failed to make a meaningful effort to recruit American citizens before supporting permanent residency for employees already holding visas. The Civil Rights Division's immigration-related worker protections unit led the action.

OpenAI agreed to compliance measures that give federal officials visibility into future sponsorship decisions. The agreement arrives while the company expands its workforce and competes for engineers, researchers, and other highly sought-after AI employees.

The missed angle is who pays when recruitment becomes paperwork theater. American workers face fewer openings and weaker bargaining power when a wealthy technology company favors visa holders already tied to an employer. Foreign workers can also become dependent on corporate sponsorship, giving management more control over their careers. Federal law cannot become one set of rules for ordinary businesses and another for politically connected technology companies.

OpenAI has money, influence, and direct access to Washington. None of that gives it permission to treat American recruitment as a box to check before sponsoring its preferred workers. DOJ's action also puts every major technology company on notice. Their records, job advertisements, interview practices, and sponsorship decisions could be next.

Watch whether DOJ expands similar reviews across Silicon Valley and publishes measurable recruitment standards.

Eddie Smith Jr. spent 58 years working up to 100 hours a week to rescue Grady-White Boats from bankruptcy and build it into a nine-figure company. He has now given the company to a charitable foundation, turning a lifetime of work into a lasting gift.

For more stories like this, follow @feelgoodnewsusa — real good news, no partisan spin.

U.S. District Judge James Hendrix blocked NFA provisions from being enforced against the parties before him. Hendrix, a Trump appointee, ruled that Congress lost its constitutional tax-power basis after eliminating the tax on covered items. The ruling involves suppressors and certain short-barreled firearms. DOJ will likely appeal to the Fifth Circuit, where the fight could affect federal gun rules far beyond this Texas case.

The Federalist reports that the FBI used Comey's firing to justify another Russia-related investigative step. The report alleges bureau officials relied on information they already knew was discredited. A president has constitutional authority to fire an FBI director. Treating that lawful decision as a basis for continued investigation would let unelected officials place any administration under permanent suspicion.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton says America First begins with what border communities endured during the Biden years. He points to illegal crossings, fentanyl trafficking, strained hospitals, crowded schools, and pressure on local budgets. Paxton wants the 2026 elections treated as a referendum on keeping Trump's border policies funded. Congress controls the money, oversight, and statutes needed to defend those policies from lawsuits and bureaucratic resistance.

Hadrian secured new funding at a nearly $8 billion valuation, according to CNBC. The company uses AI-driven manufacturing to produce defense and aerospace parts faster. Investors are betting that factories, machine tools, and production speed will decide whether America can rebuild military stockpiles. The Pentagon now has a choice: buy faster from new manufacturers or keep accepting long schedules and rising bills from established contractors.

Gov. Kathy Hochul signed S9005C on May 27, creating what critics call a major state barrier to federal immigration enforcement. The law restricts cooperation as President Trump expands arrests and removals. National immigration law cannot function if states create separate enforcement zones. Congress should define required cooperation, attach conditions to federal funding, and preempt state rules that interfere with lawful ICE operations.

ICE awarded CoreCivic a contract to reopen the Prairie facility in Appleton, Minnesota. The shuttered prison will become an immigration detention center. Republican gubernatorial candidate Mike Lindell praised the decision as a public-safety win. Detention capacity determines whether ICE can hold removable immigrants while cases proceed instead of releasing them into communities. Expect fierce opposition from Minnesota Democrats as operations begin.

SpaceX's first quarterly earnings statement as a public company shows launch revenue below $1 billion, according to The Verge. That represented a little more than 10 percent of quarterly revenue. Starlink telecommunications and rented computing capacity now drive the business. That shift will pull SpaceX deeper into fights over spectrum, broadband funding, data centers, national-security controls, and federal contracts.

The Trump administration plans vehicle barriers along the Rio Grande in Val Verde County. Rancher Patrick Zuberbueler says the proposed barrier line reaches a steep cliff and could trap brush during high water. That could push flood damage onto his family's ranch, livestock, fences, and roads. The answer is terrain-specific engineering, not abandoning border barriers. A bad design only creates lawsuits, delays, and new openings for bureaucratic obstruction.

ICE made roughly 51,000 arrests in July, setting a monthly record, according to DHS. The department also reported one million immigration enforcement actions this year as of August 4. President Trump's pressure on field offices is producing measurable results. More detention and interior enforcement weaken the incentive for illegal entry because removal is once again a real consequence.

I watch results, not speeches. DOJ oversight at OpenAI and 51,000 ICE arrests show what happens when federal agencies receive direct orders and measurable targets. The next test is consistency. Powerful technology companies, blue-state governors, and entrenched bureaucrats must face the same law as everyone else.

Today's trivia: Which amendment reserves undelegated powers?
Answer: The Tenth Amendment reserves those powers to the states or the people.

Stay alert and demand receipts. Forward this to one person who needs to read it.

Stay free,

Brett Lee
Editor, Project Liberty
projectlibertyus.com

Follow: @projectlibertyus | @real_brett_lee