US election 2024 live updates: New poll shows trouble for Trump in Sun Belt states as Vance named most unpopular vice president

Twenty-six states are allowed to maintain their blockade of the Biden administration's new Title IX rules designed to protect transgender students from discrimination, the Supreme Court ruled on Friday.

In an emergency order, all nine justices affirmed a ruling by lower courts in Louisiana and Kentucky allowing the states to temporarily suspend the new rules while litigation on the matter continues.

With new regulations introduced by the Biden administration in 2021, Title IX redefined the term “sex discrimination” to include “sex stereotypes, sex characteristics, pregnancy or related conditions, sexual orientation, and gender identity.”

The judges said the states were entitled to a temporary injunction while a court case determines whether the central provision of the new rules, which redefines gender discrimination, is constitutional.

“The new definition of gender discrimination is interrelated with and impacts many other provisions of the new rule,” the judges said, adding that it will be difficult for schools to implement the new rules by August 1.

Donald Trump returns to Pennsylvania today. It is his second visit to the state since the assassination attempt on him in July.

The former president will campaign in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, today and hold a rally at the Mohegan Sun Arena. The rally is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m.

Vice President Kamala Harris is in Washington, DC today and has no public appearances scheduled, but vice presidential candidate Tim Walz will be campaigning in Omaha, Nebraska.

Family is at the heart of Kamala Harris's presidential campaign, and she speaks frequently and fondly of her late mother's influence – but rarely mentions her father. Donald J. Harris, a “Marxist” economics professor who left Jamaica for UC Berkeley, has said little about his daughter during her meteoric rise – other than to berate her.

According to poll averages compiled by FiveThirtyEight, JD Vance is currently the most unpopular vice presidential candidate in modern history – behind even Sarah Palin.

Donald Trump's Republican running mate has a net approval rating of -9 percent, with 33 percent of voters viewing him positively and 42 percent viewing him negatively.

This is even lower than that of the 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate, Sarah Palin, whose popularity fell to -2 percent.

Vice President Kamala Harris is ahead of Donald Trump in two key states and is narrowing the gap in two other Sun Belt states, according to new polls from The New York Times and Sienna College.

The latest poll shows Harris ahead of Trump in Arizona by 50 percent to 45 percent and in North Carolina by 49 percent to 47 percent.

In Nevada, Harris and Trump are neck and neck, 47 percent to 48 percent.

In Georgia, Harris has now narrowed the gap. In all four states, the two candidates are tied at 48 percent.

The new findings show the positive impact Harris' campaign is having compared to President Joe Biden.

Economic policy is at the heart of her appeal to these voters. This week, the vice president unveiled her plan to lower costs for American families, which includes child tax credits, price control measures and housing subsidies. Many of the proposals are not necessarily new, but build on the efforts of President Joe Biden.

Here's a look at Trump and Harris' economic plans.

The vice president's plan focuses on economic initiatives that would benefit the middle class, including tax cuts that she said would affect 100 million Americans, a federal ban on price gouging, lower drug prices and building millions of additional homes. Harris compared every aspect of her agenda to Trump's, promising a bright future in contrast to the former president's grim vision of the past.

Kelly Rissman And Andrew Feinberg Report.

The number of arrests for illegal border crossings from Mexico fell by 33 percent in July to the lowest level since September 2020, due to the temporary suspension of asylum law, authorities said on Friday.

According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, border patrol made 56,408 arrests last month, a decrease from 83,536 arrests in June.

On June 5, asylum approvals at the border were suspended because the number of arrests for illegal border crossings exceeded 2,500 per day. But because there are no deportation flights, authorities cannot turn everyone away. According to U.S. authorities, arrests fell 55 percent after the measure. That drop followed a sharp decline earlier in the year that was largely attributed to increased surveillance by Mexican authorities inside the borders.