Good evening. I'm Jeff Bennett.

And I'm Amna Navaz on the news hour tonight. A Supreme Court decision weakens the Voting Rights Act.

How striking down a Louisiana map could lead to the elimination of black and Latino majority districts nationwide.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegset and other Pentagon officials face congressional scrutiny

for the first time since the start of the Iran War.

And Judy Woodruff examines how Americans are celebrating the nation's 250th anniversary in their

own local communities. Right now with everything happening, I think it's very important for a community to celebrate

what the country was based on, which is immigrants, which is diversity.

Welcome. Welcome to the News Hour. The U.S. Supreme Court today struck down one of Louisiana's majority black congressional

districts, a decision that weakens key protections under the Voting Rights Act.

In a six to three ruling, the court's conservative

majority found that Louisiana's sixth district, which links black communities across the state,

relied too heavily on race in its design. Writing for the majority, Justice Samuel Alito

called the map an unconstitutional gerrymander. The decision could open the door to broader legal challenges

over majority black and Latino districts across the country

and give state's new latitude to redraw maps

in ways that could shift the balance of political power.

Louisiana Democratic Congressman Troy Carter said the impact of the ruling

will extend far beyond his state.

This is about our democracy.

And I implore everyone who's out there to recognize that if you care about justice, freedom, and fair elections, you should be as upset as we are.

We are joined now by Amy Howe, NewsHour Supreme Court analyst and co-founder of SCOTUS blog,

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