Good morning, it's Saturday, Oct. 24. The Justice Department wants a judge to hold off on certifying Alaska's Senate race if the Republican loses, and President Trump says he ordered it.

Also in today's issue: Tariff relief for Maine, Ex-FBI officials charged, A ceasefire for one city, Omar's name questioned, Nurses for nursing homes.

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If you vote in Alaska, a lawsuit filed this week could decide whether your Senate vote becomes official on time. And the way Alaskans fill out their ballots may already answer the government's main worry.

The Justice Department sued Alaska's election officials late Thursday. It asks a federal judge to stop them from certifying the Nov. 3 Senate result if Republican Sen. Dan S. Sullivan loses. Certifying is the formal step that makes a winner official. The block would last until an investigation into whether a second candidate confused voters. That candidate is Dan J. Sullivan of Petersburg. On Friday, President Trump told reporters he ordered the lawsuit.

Why should anyone outside Alaska care? Republicans hold the Senate 53 to 47. Democrat Mary Peltola narrowly leads in recent polls. This one race could help decide which party runs the chamber.

The government calls Dan J. Sullivan's campaign "frivolous." It says he's running only to pull votes from the senator. Its legal hook is the opening of the National Voter Registration Act, a 1993 law about signing people up to vote. That opening mentions protecting "the integrity of the electoral process." Derek Muller, an election law professor at Notre Dame, said it was one of the worst legal arguments he had ever seen. Under the Constitution, states run their own elections.

Alaska's courts have already weighed this question. In June, state officials removed Dan J. Sullivan from the ballot, saying he meant to mislead voters. A judge found no solid evidence for that, and the Alaska Supreme Court agreed. On the ballot, the senator is listed as "Dan S. (Registered Republican) Incumbent." The other appears as "Daniel J. Jr."

Now the detail that speaks to confusion. Alaska uses ranked-choice voting, where you number the candidates in order of preference. If no one tops 50%, the last-place finisher is dropped. Those ballots then move to each voter's next choice. So a confused voter who ranked Dan J. first and Dan S. second would still end up helping the senator.

The senator's campaign says he didn't ask for the suit and was surprised by it. Peltola's campaign called it a "despicable political threat" and may join the case. Supporters of the lawsuit argue that two candidates with the same name is a real problem. Checking before the count, they say, beats fighting after it.

Here's a step most people miss. Even if a court says no, the Constitution makes each chamber of Congress the judge of its own members' elections. A disputed Alaska result could still land before the Senate itself.

Watch Judge Sharon Gleason, who has the case. If she tosses it quickly, Alaska counts as usual. If she lets it move forward, a close race could sit in limbo after Election Day.

The White House is lifting 50% tariffs on 22 Canadian products while adding 100 new ones, starting Oct. 30. Items losing the tariff include packing crates, farm machinery and seaweed. New ones include shampoo, paint and cocoa powder. Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, tied with Democrat Troy Jackson in a recent poll, said she won the relief for blueberry, potato and apple growers. Her office pointed to blueberry farmers who need special Canadian harvesting boxes. Jackson said Collins helped create the problem she now wants credit for easing. Separately, Canadian jet maker Bombardier announced a $270 million U.S. expansion with 800 jobs. It came days after Trump dropped threats to ban the company. That matters in Kansas, where Bombardier employs 1,500 people and Sen. Roger Marshall faces a close race (Reuters).

Two former senior FBI officials were charged Friday with lying to Congress about the Hunter Biden laptop investigations. Nikki Floris, 46, and Bradley Benavides, 56, led the bureau's Foreign Influence Task Force, which watched for foreign meddling in elections. Prosecutors say both told House investigators in 2023 that their team wasn't involved. One claimed he learned of the case from Wikipedia. Attorney General Todd Blanche said officials cannot lie to Congress and get away with it. But prosecutors skipped a grand jury, the citizen panel that usually approves charges. A magistrate judge called charging such old conduct this way unusual. Floris's lawyers called the charges "nonsense" and questioned the timing so close to an election. A hearing is set for Tuesday.

First lady Melania Trump brokered a ceasefire for one Ukrainian city, the White House said Friday. Starting Oct. 29, Russia and Ukraine are to pause fighting in Oleshky, a Russian-occupied city on the Dnipro River. The goal is to let aid in and let civilians leave. About 1,700 to 2,000 people remain, mostly elderly, along with roughly 50 children. Before the war, about 24,000 lived there. The city has gone without electricity, heat or running water, and the roads out are mined. Neither government immediately confirmed the agreement. Russia's human rights official said she had discussed it with her Ukrainian counterpart. Residents will choose whether to go to Russia or Ukraine, according to the White House statement.

President Trump called for Rep. Ilhan Omar to resign after a Justice Department filing listed her under another name. The filing is part of a fight over releasing records from the Oct. 12 search of her Washington home. It calls the Minnesota Democrat "Ilhan Nur Said Elmi, a/k/a Ilhan Abdullahi Omar." It doesn't explain the names or claim fraud, and she hasn't been charged. The investigation reportedly concerns whether false information went on her family's immigration papers when they arrived in 1995, when she was a child. On Friday, Omar said her name has always been Ilhan Omar. Supporters of the probe say immigration fraud deserves scrutiny no matter who is involved. Critics note the timing, since department policy discourages steps that could sway an election.

At a rally in Fort Myers, Florida, President Trump announced $250 million to hire at least 5,000 new nurses for elder care facilities nationwide. He said Florida in particular would benefit. No agency, funding source or timeline was announced. Staffing is one of the biggest factors in nursing home care, so those details will matter to families. The pledge is the latest in a string of announcements at campaign stops. Hours earlier, an Agriculture Department official said the $8 billion in diesel aid Trump announced Monday for farmers will arrive after the Nov. 3 election. The official guessed it would come near the end of the year (Reuters).

That's the share of Alaska's August primary vote won by Dan J. Sullivan, the candidate the Justice Department says confused voters. Most of his votes came from Democratic-leaning districts, not from Republicans who mixed up the names.

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