Independent agencies, Lisa Cook

The court allowed Trump to remove a member of the Federal Trade Commission, Rebecca Kelly Slaughter, overturning a key 1935 Supreme Court ruling called Humphrey’s Executor v. United States, which upheld restrictions on the president’s power to fire FTC members.

The Monday ruling gives Trump “sweeping new authority over approximately two dozen multi-member agencies that Congress intended to be independent,” says Amy Howe of SCOTUSblog.

In the Cook case, the court rejected the Trump administration’s contention that the president’s firing of Cook for cause — over allegations of mortgage fraud, which she denies — couldn’t be reviewed in court and that she could not stay in office while contesting the decision.

“The court in effect created a Federal Reserve exception to its general view — long favored by conservatives suspicious of what some term a federal bureaucratic deep state — that restrictions on the president’s power to fire members of federal agencies imposed by Congress were an unconstitutional restriction of executive authority,” says longtime reporter on the court Lawrence Hurley, of NBC News.

“Monday’s decision was a major victory for proponents of the “unitary executive” theory – the idea that the president should have complete control over the executive branch. Under this theory, the president should be able to fire any member of the executive branch, and laws – like the one that the court struck down – that restrict his ability to do so violate the separation of powers, says SCOTUSblog.

The “unitary executive” is “a theory the right wing has pushed since the 1980s, when it began to distrust the will of voters as they expressed it through Congress and thus tried to find ways to assert the power of the president and reduce the power of Congress,” says Heather Cox Richardson.

The court divided differently in each case, says NBC News. In Cook, the vote was 5-4 with the court’s liberals joining the majority, and they dissented in Slaughter, which was 6-3 on ideological lines.

Mail-in ballots

“President Trump’s wide-reaching campaign to change election laws suffered another setback on Monday, when the Supreme Court blocked a crucial pathway to restricting mail-in voting practices that he has long blamed, without evidence, as central to his defeat in 2020,” says The New York Times.

The court’s ruling upheld a Mississippi state law allowing mail ballots to be received up to five days after Election Day. It follows a federal court’s decision last week striking down key parts of a Trump executive order that sought in part to empower the U.S. Postal Service to regulate mail voting.

While the Supreme Court ruling frustrated the president, election administrators breathed a sigh of relief in the 18 states and territories across the country that currently allow for late-arriving ballots postmarked by Election Day, says the Times.

Trump appeal of E. Jean Carroll case

The Supreme Court announced on Monday that it won’t hear an appeal by Trump seeking review of the $5 million jury verdict entered against him in the sexual abuse and defamation case filed by journalist E. Jean Carroll, SCOTUSblog reports.

Warrant required for cellphone location data

In a ruling applying individual constitutional protections to new technology, the Supreme Court ruled on Monday that sweeping use of cellphone location data requires a warrant, NBC News reports.

Also in the news

Robert Reich: ‘What to do about Israel?’

Trump nominates acting Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling to be the agency’s permanent chief

Children's online safety legislation passes House on 267-117 vote, draws warnings from digital rights and tech groups

Nancy Pelosi to launch institute focused on protecting democracy at University of California, Berkeley

Colorado Supreme Court rejects November ballot initiatives aimed at redrawing congressional districts

Self-exiled Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui sentenced to 30 years in U.S. prison for fraud

WSJ: Student loans increasingly are following Americans into their 60s and rewriting their retirement years

AP: The way recycling actually works

WhatsApp to allow users to go by usernames instead of phone numbers, closing a privacy blind spot

Democrats in 25 states and D.C. sue Trump administration over Medicaid work rules

NYTimes: Law to end surprise medical billing has led to large paydays for some surgical assistants, who can earn more than the doctors they help

WSJ: Experts say chatbots shouldn’t take the place of therapy

You can call the Capitol switchboard, (202) 224-3121, and be connected to the offices of your representative and senators. To email your House member and your two senators, you can connect to their websites at Congress.gov. Most lawmakers seem to only accept emails from their constituents, but these leaders accept emails from Americans nationwide, at:

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer

Senate Majority Leader John Thune

The 6-3 decision overturns lower court orders and allows the Department of Homeland Security to speedily end temporary protected status, a program that protects about 1.3 million people from 17 countries.

Amy Howe of SCOTUSblog says: “The court ruled that the federal law creating the TPS program generally bars courts from reviewing the determinations by then-Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem to end the TPS designations for Haiti and Syria. The court also ruled that the Haitian TPS holders are likely to lose on the claim that Noem ended TPS status for Haiti because the country’s citizens are overwhelmingly Black and therefore violated the Constitution’s guarantee of equal treatment.”

Yet longtime reporter on the court Linda Greenhouse had written in an April New York Times opinion article that the Trump administration would lose this case: “Decades of writing about the Supreme Court have taught me that it’s foolish to predict the outcome of cases, and I have rarely done so. My prediction here rests on one word: procedure.

“The records in both the Haitian and Syrian cases reveal a brazen violation of procedural requirements on the part of Ms. Noem. The 1990 law that established the Temporary Protected Status program requires consultation ‘with appropriate agencies’ about conditions in a country before terminating protected status for the country’s nationals. But Ms. Noem ‘did not consult other agencies at all,’ Judge Ana Reyes of Federal District Court in Washington, D.C., found in her opinion in the Haitian case in February.

“Judge Katherine Polk Failla, in an order she read from the bench, made a similar finding on Ms. Noem’s termination of protection for immigrants from Syria without the required fact-finding.

“Both judges concluded that the secretary’s termination of protection was most likely ‘arbitrary and capricious’ within the meaning of the Administrative Procedure Act.

“Procedure mattered to two federal district judges. Why do I think it will matter to the Supreme Court? Because there is strong evidence that it does,” Greenhouse said.

Kate Shaw, a Times opinion writer and professor of law at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, writes:

In the TPS case, the court has permitted the administration to terminate the immigrants’ protected status in the face of considerable evidence that it flouted statutory requirements for doing so and that key decision makers — including the president — were motivated by unconstitutional racial bias.”

“In ruling that President Trump could deport some 350,000 Haitians, the Supreme Court’s conservative majority first had to determine whether race had played a role in his decision to remove the humanitarian protections that had shielded them. If discrimination was ‘a motivating factor’ in Mr. Trump’s determination, the leading precedent said, it would violate the Constitution’s equal protection clause,” says Adam Liptak of the Times in a separate article.

But Justice Samuel Alito, who wrote for the majority, concluded that Trump’s many statements about Haitians weren’t “overtly racial,” and that it was unlikely that race had been a motivating factor in the administration’s decision to end the protections, Liptak says.

Justice Elena Kagan wrote in dissent for the minority: “The statements fairly shout, in their racial undertones and overtones alike, that race entered into the president’s resolve to remove Haitians from this country.”

Kagan listed these comments from Trump: Haitians in Ohio were “eating the pets” of their neighbors. Haitians “probably have AIDS.” Haiti is a “shithole country,” which is “filthy, dirty, disgusting.” Haitian immigration is “like a death wish for our country.” Haitians are “poisoning the blood” of the nation.

What does the ruling actually mean for the Haitians and Syrians?

To put it in the mildest terms, these people who are forced to return home will be at great risk.

The State Department considers Haiti a “do not travel country,” as it does Syria.

Here is the assessment about Haiti of the human rights group Amnesty International.

And here is AI’s assessment of Syria.

What we American citizens can do

The Miami Herald says: In March, the House of Representatives passed a bill to require the Department of Homeland Security to keep and extend Haiti’s Temporary Protected Status. Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass, forced the House vote with a discharge petition.

Last week, legislation backed by more than a dozen Democratic senators was introduced to designate Haiti for TPS. It faces an uphill battle in the Senate.

And on Friday, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., announced that she would introduce legislation known as the TPS Review Act. The bill would amend the federal TPS law to make a broader scope of judicial review possible. It also would allow Congress to reverse TPS terminations with a vote and create a documented process for executive agencies to evaluate TPS designations.

We citizens are being urged to contact our lawmakers, asking them to back these measures.

Also in the news

Iran attacks Bahrain and Kuwait after U.S. strikes and threatens to halt talks

AP: Lebanon deal with Israel requires Hezbollah to disarm — which Hezbollah rejects

NYTimes: Trump cut a billion-dollar mining deal with Kazakhstan; his sons stand to profit

Meet 3 members of Albania’s ‘Flamingo Revolution’ trying to torpedo Kushner-linked development

Supreme Court rules that people can’t claim asylum if they present themselves to U.S. officials while still standing on Mexican soil

Trump says he's nominating former Oklahoma state trooper Lance Schroyer to be ICE director

WPost: Trump Pentagon appointee Elbridge Colby has divided top Republicans

NYTimes analysis: Trump keeps undercutting GOP message, squandering his House and Senate majorities

Three potential fates for the stalled housing bill

Federal judge halts Trump election executive order seeking to create federal voter list

Judge blocks Trump plan to limit graduate student loans in nursing, other fields

NYTimes: White House secretly swayed Merit Systems Protection Board that was meant to stop civil service politicization

WPost: Trump’s vision for Lafayette Square, across the street from the White House, includes 47 trees to mark his presidency

U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow, endorsed by Trump, wins GOP primary for Senate in Louisiana

Supreme Court strikes down Hawaii gun restriction; ruling also affects California, Maryland, New York, New Jersey

California voters to consider billionaire tax in November, after labor union backing it goes ahead despite pressure from critics

Vermont is first state to ban paraquat, citing possible link between the weed killer and Parkinson’s disease

Heather Cox Richardson: James Talarico is one of the voices shaping a new political language to move the Democratic Party

Trump administration to relaunch 988 LGBTQ+ hotline, but the group that helped start it may be excluded

AP: As Pride Month ends, photos of parades around the world

Key inflation gauge hits 3-year high, mortgage rate climbs

WPost: Four takeaways on African American unemployment in Trump economy

WSJ: Investors’ trillion-dollar borrowing binge is lifting the stock market to risky heights

WSJ: Ending up with the right amount of money in retirement is less about the stock market and more about you

AP: ‘At the Great American State Fair, you can find a dinosaur’s rib cage. Unity is another matter’

Supreme Court blocks thousands of lawsuits against maker of Roundup weedkiller, a win for Trump administration that stokes MAHA outrage

NYTimes: Inside the CDC's mad scramble to meet RFK Jr.’s demands

States seek to cut drug prices by targeting pharmacy benefit managers

Federal data: About 3 million fewer Americans had Obamacare health insurance plans in February compared with last year

KFF: If you're having trouble getting weight loss drugs covered by insurance, here’s what to know

You can call the Capitol switchboard, (202) 224-3121, and be connected to the offices of your representative and senators. To email your House member and your two senators, you can connect to their websites at Congress.gov. Most lawmakers seem to only accept emails from their constituents, but these leaders accept emails from Americans nationwide, at:

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer

Senate Majority Leader John Thune

Note to readers
I need to take Friday off; D.C. has reached my block in its replacement of old lead pipes leading from the water main into our homes. See you Monday!

Good news on freedom, health, energy, much more

Let’s not miss our good news post to end the week. Here is Fix the News.

Also in the news

Astronomers find super-puff planets the size of Jupiter that are lighter than cotton candy

Trump-endorsed outsider Abelardo de la Espriella declared winner of Colombia presidential runoff election

Dispute over nuclear inspections shows how U.S., Iran are negotiating in public

Congress welcomes Taiwan parliamentary leader to Washington, affirms support for the island

Top Army general who was the last American soldier to leave Afghanistan is suddenly leaving his post

Trump is seeking more than $67 billion for the Pentagon and $11 billion for farm assistance in emergency supplemental bill

Pentagon restores mandatory flu shots for all recruits as boot camp outbreak sickens nearly 300 people

Federal judge permanently bars Trump from implementing proof of citizenship requirement to vote

Postmaster general tells senators Postal Service would restrict delivery of mail-in ballots in states that don’t hand over list of eligible voters

WPost: Interior Department orders staff not to reveal deaths in national parks

Trump is frustrated gasoline prices don’t mirror oil’s decline, but experts say it’s not that simple

Trump launches America’s 250th birthday celebration on Washington’s National Mall, in photos

New York sweep by Israel critics shines light on a difficult issue for Democrats

Appeals court upholds dismissal of Trump demand for Michigan voter rolls

Judge tosses Justice Department lawsuit against 4 New Jersey ‘sanctuary cities’

ProPublica: Missouri GOP Gov. Mike Kehoe is opposed to out-of-state funding — but not for his own ballot measure

Politico: White House helped Mark Zuckerberg and Google CEO Sundar Pichai dodge a Senate hearing on child safety practices

Politico interview: Former FDIC Chair Sheila Bair says Trump financial deregulation is ‘hugely troubling’

WSJ: RAISE US, a bipartisan coalition of employers, state governments is developing a strategy to help workers respond to AI

Reuters: About 11 percent of SNAP recipients lose benefits under Trump cuts; Arizona is the state hit hardest

You can call the Capitol switchboard, (202) 224-3121, and be connected to the offices of your representative and senators. To email your House member and your two senators, you can connect to their websites at Congress.gov. Most lawmakers seem to only accept emails from their constituents, but these leaders accept emails from Americans nationwide, at:

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer

Senate Majority Leader John Thune

He showed the strength of his progressive coalition in the state, using his political muscle to elevate three like-minded candidates to victories in Democratic House primary races — including two that ousted incumbents, says The New York Times.

Brad Lander, the former city comptroller, ousted Rep. Dan Goldman. Democratic Socialist Darializa Avila Chevalier beat Adriano Espaillat, a powerful incumbent, “in a stunning upset,” says the Times. And another Democratic Socialist, Claire Valdez, is poised to succeed Rep. Nydia Velázquez, who’s retiring.

In a race in which Mamdani didn’t make an endorsement, Micah Lasher, a state assemblyman, emerged from a field including Jack Schlossberg, the grandson of John F. Kennedy, and is expected to succeed retiring Rep. Jerrold Nadler in the safely Democratic district.

Elsewhere in the state, Anthony Constantino, the sticker magnate who erected a 12-foot “Vote for Trump” sign atop his company’s headquarters, won the Republican nomination to replace Rep. Elise Stefanik. New York Democrats nominated their state comptroller of two decades, Thomas DiNapoli.

In Maryland, state Del. Adrian Boafo won the Democratic primary to replace retiring Rep. Steny Hoyer in the 5th District, aided by $11 million from pro-crypto and pro-Israel groups. Boafo was Hoyer’s former campaign manager and his preferred successor. “The primary was marked by intraparty divisions over heavy outside spending and what may be the last intraparty fight between Hoyer and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who endorsed a rival in the race,” says Politico.

Rep. April McClain Delaney won her “bitter and expensive” Democratic primary for Maryland’s 6th District, denying her predecessor, former Rep. David Trone, from making a comeback, a separate Politico article says. McClain Delaney, who’s serving her first term in Congress, had the backing of the rest of the state’s Democratic congressional delegation, along with Gov. Wes Moore.

In South Carolina’s runoffs, Democrat Nancy Lacore, a vice admiral and chief of the Navy Reserve who was fired by Pete Hegseth, and Republican Jenny Costa Honeycutt, a Charleston County councilwoman, won their races and will face off for the 1st District in November, reports the South Carolina Daily Gazette. The primary election two weeks ago narrowed a field of 10 Republicans and seven Democrats vying to replace Rep. Nancy Mace, who unsuccessfully ran for governor.

Alan Wilson, South Carolina’s longtime attorney general, won his runoff in the Republican primary for governor, defeating Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette. President Trump had endorsed both candidates. Wilson will face State Rep. Jermaine Johnson in November. South Carolina hasn’t elected a Democratic governor since 1998, says the Times.

In Utah, court-ordered redistricting led to the creation of a blue congressional district in Salt Lake City, meaning the state is likely to elect a Democrat to Congress this fall for the first time since 2018, says the Times. Ben McAdams, a moderate former congressman who won that 2018 race, won the Democratic primary on Tuesday, defeating three progressive challengers, including Nate Blouin, a state senator backed by Sen. Bernie Sanders, D-Vt.

Also in the news

Afghan Taliban hold first, closed-door talks with EU on ‘dignified returns’ of Afghans to their home country

UN report says Israel targeted Gaza children, resulting in genocide

BBC: Ten years after Brexit vote, its economic impact on Britain is becoming clearer

The rapid turnover of Britain prime ministers in the past 10 years is a first in the country's modern political history

Forty mayors from around the world endorse a pact to shape data center development

New Pew 36-nation survey finds negative views of Trump in regions around the world

NATO ‘Trump whisperer’ Mark Rutte heads to White House to soothe the president ahead of next month’s summit

Reuters: U.S., Iran at odds on nuclear inspections, frozen assets in peace deal

WSJ: Trump social media is rattling Iran diplomats, who are consulting psychologists and ‘The Art of the Deal’ for tips to respond

Senate votes 50-48 to adopt House-approved war powers resolution on Iran

House gives final approval to bipartisan housing bill, on 358-32 vote

Supreme Court sides with government in dispute over rights of green-card holders accused of committing a crime

Supreme Court rules former Louisiana inmate can't sue prison officials in religious dispute over long hair

Federal appeals court allows Trump administration to resume speedy deportations throughout U.S., not just near the border

Judge bars immigration arrests at U.S. courthouses

Trump administration announces $17.5 billion in loans for 10 new large nuclear reactors to meet power demand from data centers

Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool gets new scrutiny over vandalism claims and duck deaths

Anthropic’s Mythos model identifies vulnerabilities in classified U.S. government systems, official says

Eight people convicted in Texas immigration center shooting and protest are sentenced to decades in prison

Former NOAA employees revive climate website shut by Trump administration

WSJ: Life insurers aren’t just investors in private credit, they’re also major lenders

Justice Department announces criminal charges against 455 people as part of healthcare fraud crackdown

WSJ: CDC to end hantavirus response as U.S. outbreak risk decreases

Study on COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness that was blocked from CDC journal is published elsewhere

You can call the Capitol switchboard, (202) 224-3121, and be connected to the offices of your representative and senators. To email your House member and your two senators, you can connect to their websites at Congress.gov. Most lawmakers seem to only accept emails from their constituents, but these leaders accept emails from Americans nationwide, at:

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer

Senate Majority Leader John Thune

Also in the news

How Keir Starmer went from British Labor Party hero to calling it quits in 2 years

NYTimes: ‘As Vance leads Iran negotiations, Trump creates disruptions in his path’

Pentagon seeking $80 billion from Congress for Iran war

Federal judge blocks Trump attempt to create searchable national citizenship database as threat to voting rights

Federal judge halts Trump administration effort to subpoena Walz, other Minnesota officials, in immigration enforcement probe

WPost: New photos show that Trump’s name is indeed off the Kennedy Center

Supreme Court reimposes conviction of man found to have killed New York City boy Etan Patz

In New York primaries Tuesday, progressives face the establishment and a Kennedy scion seeks office

Maryland Democrats on Tuesday choose nominees for U.S. House, including a successor for longtime Rep. Steny Hoyer

South Carolina voters choose Tuesday between 2 Trump-backed governor candidates in GOP runoff

Redrawn U.S. House map in Utah sets up heated Democratic primary Tuesday in Salt Lake-area district

AP investigation: Staggering amounts of fentanyl hit New Mexico streets from 2023 to 2025 as DEA watched and took no action

Tucker Carlson says he’ll no longer support GOP

New investigation of deadly Surfside condo collapse finds it started weeks before but was vulnerable from the start

Susan Page in USA Today: ‘America is in a mood on the cusp of our 250th birthday’

Judge scraps SNAP junk food rules, dealing blow to MAHA

Robert Reich ‘eulogy’ on the death of former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan: ‘You were charming, thoughtful, powerful, and wrong’

You can call the Capitol switchboard, (202) 224-3121, and be connected to the offices of your representative and senators. To email your House member and your two senators, you can connect to their websites at Congress.gov. Most lawmakers seem to only accept emails from their constituents, but these leaders accept emails from Americans nationwide, at:

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer

Senate Majority Leader John Thune

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2026/06/22/world/iran-us-trump-lebanon

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwy0q41v1lzo

https://apnews.com/article/united-states-iran-war-nuclear-negotiations-4bbde727c7095c4ad9da0285ca79f1e1

https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/war-in-lebanon-casts-shadow-over-renewed-iran-u-s-nuclear-talks-f457c7e9?mod=hp_lead_pos3

Note to readers

Over the weekend, I tested the ability to embed links, and it worked fine. So my apologies (again) that it isn’t working now.

Also in the news

Trump-backed right-wing lawyer Abelardo De la Espriella appears to win Colombia presidential election
https://abcnews.com/International/trump-backed-wing-lawyer-appears-win-colombias-presidential/story?id=134082409

BBC Live: Keir Starmer announces his resignation as Britain prime minister and leader of Labor Party
https://www.bbc.com/news/live/ckger03mrl0t

Asylum seekers deported by U.S. to Sierra Leone risk return to home countries where they fear persecution, despite prior court orders
https://apnews.com/article/sierra-leone-deportations-trump-administration-5797dd733519f0e5dc0eb39e1c741570

Bill Pulte starts work as acting director of national intelligence by ordering list of people to fire from National Counterterrorism Center
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/06/19/pulte-seeks-major-cuts-in-first-day-as-intel-chief-00968831

ICE spent $700 million on 7 warehouses, but now it wants to get rid of them
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/18/us/politics/ice-warehouses-immigration.html?campaign_id=57&emc=edit_ne_20260618&instance_id=177455&nl=the-evening&regi_id=65738215&segment_id=221754&user_id=8bf80cec6366581717e3c84ad0a87386

ProPublica: ‘Trump is defying Congress on foreign aid’
https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-defying-congress-foreign-aid-usaid-vought-rubio-constitutional-crisis

ProPublica: U.S.’ demands to access Africans’ data as a condition of aid raises privacy, sovereignty concerns
https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-state-department-africa-uganda-aid-medical-data-privacy

National Science Foundation reverses decision to dismantle ocean-monitoring network after outcry
https://apnews.com/article/climate-change-ocean-nsf-trump-7e00d19c0af8b15400d7621dcbaa2013

Trump administration says it's cutting student loan interest; here are some facts and context
https://apnews.com/article/student-loan-interest-rate-education-department-05d2b35d1be3393788b89e9589b601f4

Trump unveils new Air Force One that was donated by Qatar
https://apnews.com/article/trump-air-force-one-qatar-5d6997dba287d70749b736067c8a337b

Supreme Court rules government can't restrict gun rights for casual drug use, on 9-0 vote
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/supreme-court-backs-marijuana-users-challenge-restriction-gun-ownershi-rcna266931

Missouri judge finds that state laws restricting abortion violate voter-approved constitutional amendment
https://apnews.com/article/missouri-abortion-court-ruling-medication-46212c0b44939d042e6a242aeb75fc83

Maine State Auditor Matt Dunlap wins Democratic primary for battleground 2nd congressional district
https://rollcall.com/2026/06/19/matt-dunlap-wins-democratic-primary-for-battleground-maine-seat/

Court orders restoration of Ohio restrictions on kids’ use of social media
https://apnews.com/article/social-media-parental-consent-ohio-eef2f173956e37183a39f13790bca96b

What the Bible passages in Texas’ proposed student reading list reveal
https://www.texastribune.org/2026/06/19/texas-religious-reading-list-sboe-bible-public-schools/

Democratic socialists surge in mayoral races across the nation as anti-Trump fervor increases
https://apnews.com/article/democratic-socialist-mayors-lewis-george-mamdani-5c32504d1506a392b6eb1a64460f7966

As Juneteenth is celebrated across U.S., Obama’s presidential center opens in Chicago
https://apnews.com/article/juneteenth-june-19-holiday-celebration-obama-center-52dcbf757afbf9e43ee71296c440e35f

Trump administration can replace slavery exhibit at George Washington’s home in Philadelphia, appeals court says
https://apnews.com/article/philadelphia-national-parks-washington-slavery-exhibit-appeal-6996253ba77a2a3ac1a5f6732576980b

Judge denies Biden effort to block release of transcripts linked to special counsel inquiry
https://apnews.com/article/biden-special-counsel-heritage-foundation-ghostwriter-transcripts-6a23a9069bc65f9631074287afd6f567

WPost: 'Tulsi Gabbard, her guru and the mysterious messages that helped shape her political career’
https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2026/06/21/tulsi-gabbard-her-guru-mysterious-messages-that-helped-shape-her-political-career/

NYTimes: As 150th anniversary of Battle of the Little Bighorn nears, heirs of Custer and Sitting Bull protect their legacies
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/21/arts/for-heirs-of-custer-and-sitting-bull-a-150-year-old-battle-is-personal.html?campaign_id=2&emc=edit_th_20260622&instance_id=177574&nl=today%27s-headlines&regi_id=9996294&segment_id=221888&user_id=c76f39fab82f6732016e6d6931e31afc

NYTimes investigation: Pickups and SUVS with taller hoods, bigger blind zones are a factor in increased pedestrian deaths
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/06/21/us/trucks-suv-pedestrian-crashes.html?campaign_id=2&emc=edit_th_20260622&instance_id=177574&nl=today%27s-headlines&regi_id=9996294&segment_id=221888&user_id=c76f39fab82f6732016e6d6931e31afc

FDA advisory panel backs first-of-its-kind flu vaccine using mRNA technology
https://apnews.com/article/moderna-flu-vaccine-mrna-fda-advisers-mflusiva-488c68fe39244ca5ebad441a815b4ba2

You can call the Capitol switchboard, (202) 224-3121, and be connected to the offices of your representative and senators. To email your House member and your two senators, you can connect to their websites at Congress.gov. Most lawmakers seem to only accept emails from their constituents, but these leaders accept emails from Americans nationwide, at:

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer

Senate Majority Leader John Thune

— African cities are using nature to combat floods and climate change, says a World Resource Institute report.

As they absorb a growing share of the world’s urban population, African cities’ development pathways have global implications. Integrating nature into urban planning is a growth model more adaptive to uncertainty, WRI says.

— Up to 90 percent of ocean species still are undiscovered. The Ocean Census Alliance is on a mission to change that and says it’s discovered 1,121 species in the past year.

Why do we care?

“With many species at risk of disappearing before they are even documented, we are in a race against time to understand and protect ocean life. By accelerating discovery and sharing data globally, we are not just finding new life, but generating the evidence needed to drive global science and policy at a critical moment,” says Michelle Taylor, head of science at the Ocean Census.

The Ocean Census is a project of national and philanthropic marine institutes, museums, and universities, backed by governments, philanthropy, business and civil society partners.

— Might the lifespans of house cats soon double?

Most mammals have a blood protein, AIM, that works like a cleanup crew. When kidney cells die and clog the tubules, AIM flags the debris so other cells clear it, says Fix the News. But a cat’s AIM doesn’t do this, which is part of the reason kidney disease affects about a third of cats over the age of 10.

In recent years, Japanese researcher Toru Miyazaki and others have been working to double cat lifespans, making lab-grown AIM to supply what cats lack. A small exploratory trial reported earlier this year found that cats with advanced kidney disease treated with it far outlived untreated ones. A larger trial across 26 Japanese veterinary hospitals now is underway.

https://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/focus/en/features/z1304_00039.html

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1090023326000018

Note to readers:

Because of the Juneteenth federal holiday on Friday, I’ll be posting next on Monday, June 22. Also, my apologies that the links in this post are funky for the second day.

Also in the news

Fifteen countries from Africa, Asia, Europe, Caribbean, Pacific adopt declaration to combat illegal fishing
https://apnews.com/article/kenya-our-oceans-summit-mombasa-declaration-f6ea7eacb08bbb6c4d45985ca5543f6b

The Guardian: G7 leaders, mediator Pakistan hail Iran deal, views not widely shared in Israel and among U.S. Republicans
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jun/18/donald-trump-iran-deal-reactions-anger-relief-incredulity

Fox News: 'Iran deal faces backlash from conservative allies'
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-renege-iran-deal-faces-backlash-conservative-allies

Text of the memorandum of understanding between U.S., Iran
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/text-iran-us-memorandum-understanding-rcna350582

All detainees from immigration facility ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ have been transferred to other facilities, DHS says
https://apnews.com/article/alligator-alcatraz-emptied-a790f04ae0791d17ce72f8c96b66e7b4

Trump administration to buy back another energy firm’s offshore wind leases for 4 more projects, as it seeks to promote fossil fuels
https://apnews.com/article/trump-offshore-wind-energy-climate-interior-invenergy-2809c57fa04b59a21927631b91b4b69f

Federal Reserve holds interest rates steady, hints at rate hike later this year
https://www.npr.org/2026/06/17/nx-s1-5860084/fed-chief-warsh-first-fomc-meeting

Trump kills plan to quickly confirm new intelligence chief, paving way for Bill Pulte to become acting chief on Friday
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/06/17/trump-delay-jay-clayton-dni-senate-hearing-00964723

Bernie Sanders unveils plan to give the public direct ownership of AI firms
https://apnews.com/article/bernie-sanders-ai-public-ownership-57b9f20d96490083e2749adba0f13977

California billionaire tax qualifies for November ballot
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/06/17/california-wealth-tax-qualifies-ballot-00906966

Georgia GOP legislative leaders reject governor’s call for 2028 redistricting
https://apnews.com/article/redistricting-georgia-trump-gerrymander-31f6b532e057174e68be183a9d850ec5

WPost financial columnist: 'Why mailing a paper check has become so risky’
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2026/06/17/how-protect-yourself-check-washing-widespread-form-fraud/

ProPublica: More than 770,000 children no longer receiving SNAP benefits after Trump changes federal food program
https://www.propublica.org/article/snap-benefits-children-food-stamps

FTC and 4 states sue leading transgender health group
https://apnews.com/article/gender-affirming-care-transgender-health-wpath-ftc-91825f64800a6aadfa4f2da989742124

KFF: Arrests of immigrant parents creating mental health crisis for their children
https://kffhealthnews.org/mental-health/immigrant-parents-ice-detention-deportation-children-mental-health-california/

You can call the Capitol switchboard, (202) 224-3121, and be connected to the offices of your representative and senators. To email your House member and your two senators, you can connect to their websites at Congress.gov. Most lawmakers seem to only accept emails from their constituents, but these leaders accept emails from Americans nationwide, at:

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer

Senate Majority Leader John Thune

And while there are people taking great pains to measure and understand what it means, others hope to exploit it — or contribute to it.

The Reuters Institute’s 2026 Digital News Report documents a worldwide decline in trust of news media:

Within the news ecosystem, an apparent paradox emerges between behavior and attitudes. There is continued change in news consumption in favor of social media, video networks and, more recently, AI. At the same time, concerns about trust in news, about misinformation, and about the wider impact of these platforms are all increasing.

The decline in trust has been joined by a decline in interest:

Since 2021, the proportion of people saying they are ‘extremely’ or ‘very’ interested in the news has fallen by an average of 13 [percentage points] across the markets we survey. A quarter (25%) of respondents are now casual or passive news users who typically only consume news once a week and say they have little to no interest in it, up from 16% in 2021.

As the Nieman Lab succinctly put it: “News sites are rapidly becoming the newspapers of the digital age. And you know what happened to newspapers.”

Yet the paradox: As trust in news declines, people appear to be consuming more of their news on platforms they trust less than established news sources.

To further add to the confusion, journalist Richard J. Tofel points out it’s not entirely clear what news consumption looks like:

When we think about sources of news, we tend to imagine people making choices: Do they subscribe to particular newspapers, magazines, newsletters or podcasts? Do they listen to particular radio shows or stations, or watch television news or YouTube? Do they get news from social media, or, more recently, perhaps from AI agents? These are our competitors for their attention, we often think, and it’s quite a noisy jumble.

But what if that’s not how it works anymore? I was moved to return to this question by a survey, passed along by a Montana publisher, that was commissioned last winter by the Greater Montana Foundation and released late last month. It found that about two thirds of Montanans were consuming news that was just delivered to them, rather than actively sought by them.

Before you reject that as a thin reed on which to base a big claim, here’s a larger national study of 12,000 people last year that found that 40% of registered voters said that “news comes to me,” as opposed to “I actively seek out news.”

As goes trust in news, so goes democracy. According to Pew:

Around seven-in-ten U.S. adults (69%) say they are dissatisfied with the way democracy is working in their country. This share is higher than in most other high-income countries surveyed by Pew Research Center this spring.

A large majority of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents (86%) are dissatisfied with how American democracy is working. Around half of Republicans and GOP leaners (51%) say the same.

While many factors contribute to the decline in trust, Donald Trump is inarguably an active agent. A recent survey of almost 300 scientists found “dramatic, mostly negative, effects of federal policy changes on researchers, the research system and American competitiveness.”

Meanwhile, the New York Times reports on Trump’s complaints about the results of the Los Angeles mayoral primary — a Republican held second place for a period of time while the votes were being counted — in which two Democrats advanced in that overwhelmingly Democratic city:

Such fleeting Republican leads are common enough to have a name — the “red mirage” — yet Mr. Trump, as he did in his own 2020 loss, cast the slow count as proof of theft. By baselessly framing Ms. Raman’s rise as a Democratic scam, Mr. Trump extended his long-running project to erode public faith in elections — and gave an unusually clear preview of how he could greet any disappointing results for his party in November, when control of Congress is at stake.

There’s no obvious or easy fix to the loss of faith in the news media or in democracy itself. While the Times called out bad faith arguments in this case, it too often gives Trump an undeserved platform. I mean, how many peace “deals” have we had to read about?

Amid all this uncertainty and tumult, Margaret Sullivan wants to emphasize the good news — or at least good goals:

Let’s talk about an American comeback. I’m shocked almost every day at how distressing things are right now as Donald Trump’s unrestrained second term acts as a wrecking ball on our democracy, our global reputation, and our values.

But let’s say America can come back. Let’s say America does what Hungary has done, what the Knicks have done, and in literature, what Odysseus and Gandalf did. What happens after falling into the abyss? What can happen?

If America is to come back, reassert its democratic goals, and overcome this awful time, we must “do something about it.”

Sullivan sees rebuilding local journalism as her “something.” And she invites her readers to offer theirs.

I think she’s on to something.

If the Knicks can do it, surely the country can.

(Credit where credit is due: a free childcare program for “New York's Cutest” and an NBA championship in his first year? Mayor Zohran Mamdani really knows how to deliver the goods.)

Also in the news

My apologies, readers: Substack isn’t letting me embed the links in this section:

UN chief visits Haiti, where new international force will be deployed to help fight gangs
https://apnews.com/article/haiti-un-secretary-general-guterres-gangs-d118ce2bd8bcb2bb86f3bc91d27825f6

Surging China exports threaten Europe's economy, raising concern at G7 summit
https://apnews.com/article/china-trade-exports-tariffs-trump-germany-edd7a75a090afca912b4650bcceb562d

G7 pledges to support Ukraine and sanction Russia in joint resolution
https://www.politico.eu/article/g7-promises-ukraine-support-sanctions-russia-joint-declaration/

Trump offers Ukraine an olive branch at G7 — for a price
https://www.politico.eu/article/g7-donald-trump-volodymyr-zelenskyy-offers-ukraine-olive-branch-with-a-price-tag/

Senate fails to advance war powers resolution to halt U.S. action against Iran, on 47- 48 vote
https://apnews.com/article/war-powers-resolution-senate-iran-war-f50dcbe654c1e02292c0d3541f8e2ab2

Trump moves oversight of special education and civil rights from Education Department to other agencies
https://apnews.com/article/trump-civil-rights-special-education-3483478a51ea8001fcc70e8a77d08d9a

Authorities say they disrupted planned drone, gun attack on White House UFC cage-fighting show
https://apnews.com/article/fbi-trump-ufc-white-house-b6a41e2e8fc7feb84440581c2535b000?__vfz=medium%3Dstandalone_top_pages

WPost: Trump said no taxpayer money would be spent on ballroom; contractor’s invoices show otherwise
https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2026/06/16/records-reveal-600m-estimate-trumps-ballroom-project-with-half-taxpayers/

NYTimes: The nation’s capital has been carefully planned for 2 centuries; now Trump is ‘developer-in-chief’
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/06/15/upshot/trump-lenfant-dc.html?campaign_id=57&emc=edit_ne_20260616&instance_id=177301&nl=the-evening&regi_id=65738215&segment_id=221627&user_id=8bf80cec6366581717e3c84ad0a87386

Trump-backed Rep. Barry Moore wins GOP runoff for U.S. Senate in Alabama
https://apnews.com/article/alabama-senate-primary-moore-hudson-tuberville-ca2f49f1bb35afb20eab4f673e56ac99

Billionaire Rick Jackson defeats Trump-backed Burt Jones in race for Georgia governor
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/06/16/jackson-wins-georgia-governor-runoff-00964631

Mike Collins wins Georgia GOP Senate runoff, setting up clash with Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/06/16/collins-ossoff-georgia-senate-race-00964625

Robert White Jr. wins Democratic primary for D.C.’s delegate to Congress
https://apnews.com/article/washington-dc-primaries-bowser-norton-trump-8d4aa81d46e089de5c2c83c718d7fe07

Complete AP results in Tuesday’s primaries, runoffs in Georgia, Alabama, D.C., Oklahoma, California
https://apnews.com/projects/elections-2026/

Federal prosecutors charge 15 people with impeding agents during Minnesota immigration crackdown
https://apnews.com/article/minnesota-trump-ice-98e30301d67d3a368efbd8fafa72bf17

Judge upholds conviction of former Wisconsin judge Hannah Dugan for helping immigrant evade ICE
https://apnews.com/article/hannah-dugan-judge-trump-immigration-ice-f7b658ea094b975add2559990f655748

Federal government seeks to halt first U.S. reparations program for Black people, in Evanston, Illinois
https://apnews.com/article/illinois-reparations-trump-department-of-justice-race-814515b5c67c176f0fa7bda09e172245

GOP Gov. Mike DeWine wants Ohio to abolish the death penalty, saying it isn’t a deterrent
https://apnews.com/article/death-penalty-ohio-dewine-6210d7fbcecde9fe88657a76521e90fe

NYTimes Magazine: ‘The fullest examination yet of Epstein’s death’
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/06/16/magazine/jeffrey-epstein-death-final-days.html?campaign_id=57&emc=edit_ne_20260616&instance_id=177301&nl=the-evening&regi_id=65738215&segment_id=221627&user_id=8bf80cec6366581717e3c84ad0a87386

Pizza Hut, overtaken by the arrival of delivery culture, to be sold for $2.7 billion to private equity firm
https://apnews.com/article/yum-brands-pizza-hut-348bb9ea9f68e559aba6663f2b9e45ac

KFF: Senate Democrats seeking to overturn Trump rule say it will make it harder to enroll in ACA health plans
https://kffhealthnews.org/insurance/aca-payment-parameters-rule-congressional-review-act-resolutions-democrats/

U.S. infant mortality rate fell to an all-time low in 2025, though it still trails other similar nations
https://apnews.com/article/infant-mortality-cdc-d0da666b52330ba91acccf25e0c62c22

You can call the Capitol switchboard, (202) 224-3121, and be connected to the offices of your representative and senators. To email your House member and your two senators, you can connect to their websites at Congress.gov. Most lawmakers seem to only accept emails from their constituents, but these leaders accept emails from Americans nationwide, at:

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer

Senate Majority Leader John Thune

SpaceX set its valuation way above the 40-to-one price-to-sales ratio, meaning it would take 40 years of sales to equal the market value at that share price.

Stocks valued above that level rarely have made money over the next three years, Sommer says. Because the Anthropic and OpenAI public offerings still are at a preliminary stage, there’s less information about them — “but their valuations imply richly priced shares, too,” he says.

“For investors to accept these prices — as well as those of many other big tech stocks — is, in itself, troubling. It suggests that the stock market has entered perilous territory. If this isn’t already a full-blown bubble, it could easily become one,” Sommer says.

“I’m not getting out of the stock market entirely, because stocks have been great for the long term, and because I can’t forecast market movements with any accuracy,” he says. “But some times are riskier than others for stock market investors — and this may be one of those times.”

Sommer says he isn’t too worried, for now, about the direct effects of these IPOs on retirement investments. Either they won’t be represented for a long time in broad, diversified index funds like the S&P 500 or they’ll make up a tiny proportion of assets held by investors.

“My concern is that stock offerings of this remarkable size are coming to market only because AI stock prices have already risen through the roof,” he says.

“Instead of jumping onto the IPO bandwagon at this point, it might be wiser to assess whether you are already excessively exposed to AI through funds that hold big tech stocks. Perhaps this is a good time to rebalance, by reducing your U.S. megacap stock allocations, shifting some holdings into bonds and cash and diversifying globally, using low-cost index funds.

Also in the news

Britain to ban people under 16 from social media

NYTimes: U.S., Iran sign preliminary peace deal, but its terms remain secret

AP live: Trump, other world leaders discuss Iran, Ukraine wars at G7 summit

Interim U.S.-Iran peace deal sparks anger among Israelis across the political spectrum, who lash out at Netanyahu

Lawmakers try to stop Trump administration dismantling of $386 million ocean observatory project

ProPublica: Trump plans to protect methane-leaking stripper wells. Billionaire donor Jeffery Hildebrand will benefit.

California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom says Trump Justice Department is investigating him and his wife

Trump picks James McDonald to replace Jay Clayton as U.S. Attorney for Southern District of New York

Trump announces July 4 ’Trump Rally’ on National Mall, sidestepping federally funded America 250 planning group

Lincoln Memorial is green from algae again, days after completion of Trump renovation

D.C. preservation and cultural heritage groups sue over Trump’s planned ‘Garden of American Heroes’

Heather Cox Richardson on ‘Trump’s focus on cheating the system’

What to watch in Tuesday’s primaries and runoffs in Alabama, California, D.C., Georgia, Oklahoma

For first time in a generation, D.C. residents vote Tuesday for a new mayor and delegate in same election

KFF: Backed by threat of clawbacks, federal officials have tight grip on $50 billion rural health fund

KFF: Long-awaited rule aims to increase Affordable Care Act choices while embracing higher deductibles

How parents can talk to their children about vaping as FDA authorizes some flavored e-cigarettes

You can call the Capitol switchboard, (202) 224-3121, and be connected to the offices of your representative and senators. To email your House member and your two senators, you can connect to their websites at Congress.gov. Most lawmakers seem to only accept emails from their constituents, but these leaders accept emails from Americans nationwide, at:

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer

Senate Majority Leader John Thune

Longtime readers of this blog are familiar with Homeboy Industries and its founder, Gregory Boyle, a Jesuit priest. Here is my most recent post. And here is local news coverage about Homeboy after Boyle was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom — the highest civilian honor — by President Biden in 2024.

Boyle has been working for 40 years to help former gang members in Los Angeles, and he founded Homeboy to hire the least employable.

At the summit, eight homeboys and homegirls described their often horrific childhood and gang experiences.

And now, these same people are executives of Homeboy’s various enterprises (cafes, bakeries, catering, pet grooming, electronic recycling and more), with $47 million in revenue in 2024, according to ProPublica’s Nonprofit Explorer.

How has this happened?

Boyle is a gifted lover of others, visionary and humorist, as readers of his books can attest. He came to the conclusion that “a healed gang member will not re-offend.”

Homeboy’s core values are:

— Unconditional love. “Recognition and acceptance that healing is not a linear path and cherishing the sojourner through it.”

— Whole person healing. “Trauma-sensitive support acknowledging the breadth of care clients may need.”

— Radical kinship. “A familial bond between staff and clients.”

Homeboy provides mental health, employment, housing, educational, legal, tattoo removal, and other services.

The Homeboy model has attracted widespread attention, and the Global Homeboy Network, formed in 2014, now includes 600 organizations that also are working to “provide people with the tools they need to change their lives.”

Also in the news

Underground detector in China unveils its first major findings about ghost particles

Atlantic Council: Economic issues framing the G7 summit opening Monday in France with Trump in attendance

UN nuclear watchdog board demands urgent Iran cooperation, access to nuclear sites

Iran-U.S. mediator Pakistan says initial peace deal to be signed Friday

FBI seizes 13 websites that officials say were used by China to target, recruit U.S. workers

What to know about Jay Clayton, Trump pick for director of national intelligence

Trump says he won't back FISA renewal without passage of his SAVE America Act voting bill

Bill Gates testifies about his ties to Epstein, calls meetings ‘grave error in judgment’

Justice Department approves Paramount acquisition of Warner Bros.

AP: UFC brings its trademark mayhem to White House as Trump celebrates 80th birthday

Judge orders Trump officials to re-install signs, exhibits at national parks on topics like slavery and climate change

Trump ‘anti-weaponization fund’ indefinitely blocked by federal judge

Axios: White House officials believe NYTimes reporters obtained audio recordings of Situation Room meetings for forthcoming book

Florida Supreme Court allows use of new U.S. House districts drawn by Republicans for midterm elections

Georgia vote-counting method soon will be banned; lawmakers try to find a fix this week

FBI searches office of Ohio Organizing Collaborative, which supports voter registration efforts

First-of-its-kind New York law could require 3D printers to come with tech blocking them from making guns

You can ignore SpaceX, but your 401(k) won’t

Paul Krugman: 'Elon Musk is basically a human Ponzi scheme’

Robert Reich: ‘Musk's galactic ripoff’

Anthropic suspends its new AI model after U.S. authorities raise security concerns days after its public release

KFF: ‘Trump bought tobacco stocks and raked in industry donations as FDA eased standards’

KFF: Final rules on Medicaid work requirements are out; here’s what you need to know

OB-GYN group makes vaccine recommendations for first time

You can call the Capitol switchboard, (202) 224-3121, and be connected to the offices of your representative and senators. To email your House member and your two senators, you can connect to their websites at Congress.gov. Most lawmakers seem to only accept emails from their constituents, but these leaders accept emails from Americans nationwide, at:

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer

Senate Majority Leader John Thune

Note to readers

I’m going to take Thursday and Friday off for some social justice and shared humanity activities. See you on Monday, June 15.

Also in the news

UN investigation: Palestinian civilians are caught between 'mass atrocities' of Israeli forces, settlers and Hamas’ brutal rule

Drones straying into neighboring countries as Russia, Ukraine battle

Global billionaires’ combined wealth totals $20.1 trillion — equivalent to nearly a fifth of entire world’s total yearly output

ProPublica: India billionaire was targeted by Trump; then he invested in startup secretly backed by Donald Trump Jr.

Iran targets U.S. bases in Jordan and Gulf after Trump orders strikes near Strait of Hormuz

How a drone boat rescued the crew of a downed U.S. helicopter near the Strait of Hormuz

Largest ICE detention facility wasted millions and put detainees at risk, Government Accountability Office report finds

House passes and sends to Trump $70 billion bill to fund immigration enforcement for 3 years, on 214-212 vote

Twenty House Republicans cross party lines to help pass pro-union bill

ProPublica: Montana GOP Sen. Tim Sheehy pushed to cut firefighting aircraft inspections the same month his former firm failed one

NYTimes: Todd Blanche was once seen as tempering Trump’s tactics; now he’s all in

Heather Cox Richardson: The Todd Blanche confirmation process 'is a very big deal indeed’

Robert Reich: Senate shouldn’t confirm Todd Blanche

Trump order asked national park visitors to flag ‘negative’ historical information; most people criticized the effort itself instead

Reuters special report: Under Trump crypto playbook, family always wins, investors don’t

Democrat Xavier Becerra and Republican Steve Hilton to face off in California governor’s race

Progressive Nithya Raman advances to vie against Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass

Social Security retirement trust fund facing a funding shortfall a year earlier than expected

Kalshi to start collecting customer employment information for trading in markets at heightened risk of insider trading

Trump administration tells over 500 hospitals to provide more price information to the public or face fines

Government-commissioned study found drinking risks; Trump guidelines didn’t feature its findings after industry, congressional pushback

KFF: Utah measles outbreak shows a new era in U.S. health, in which vaccine-preventable diseases become common again

FDA okays first new sunscreen ingredient in more than 25 years, giving Americans access to chemical long used in Europe

Cancer vaccines based on mRNA are advancing, despite U.S. cuts

You can call the Capitol switchboard, (202) 224-3121, and be connected to the offices of your representative and senators. To email your House member and your two senators, you can connect to their websites at Congress.gov. Most lawmakers seem to only accept emails from their constituents, but these leaders accept emails from Americans nationwide, at:

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer

Senate Majority Leader John Thune

Instead, he’s single-mindedly focused on his top priorities, including food recommendations and pesticide exposures, and hunting for evidence to support his long-held beliefs that vaccines are harmful, multiple colleagues tell the Times.

“Deeply mistrustful” of career civil officials, Kennedy has surrounded himself with a close circle of handpicked advisers and stacked agencies with political appointees aligned with his views, the Times says. While major jobs have sat vacant and a wave of veteran health experts and scientists has left, Kennedy has remained isolated from much of the department’s top staff.

Kennedy rarely engages with members of Congress, his colleagues say, unless he’s asked to testify. He’s made just one known visit to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, after a gunman opened fire on its headquarters and killed a police officer last August.

Critics say one of the most urgent problems is Kennedy’s failure to address a leadership vacuum. There’s no surgeon general. About half of the 27 institutes and centers at the National Institutes of Health are run by acting directors. The acting chief of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases was recently fired, and so was the nation’s top drug regulator. The head of the Food and Drug Administration quit last month after pressure over tobacco policy.

Kennedy has left the department’s response to Ebola to Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, a health economist with no prior experience in public health even though he’s leading the CDC.

The Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response, which is responsible for pandemic preparedness and for field hospitals and quarantine facilities in Kenya, is being run on an acting basis by John Knox, a former Los Angeles firefighter who founded the group Firefighters4Freedom during the pandemic to fight vaccine mandates.

Kennedy, who usually arrives at about 10 a.m. and leaves by 4 p.m., has delegated broad authority to Stefanie Spear, a longtime adviser who’s been with him since his days as an environmental lawyer and functions as his protector and defender, the Times says.

Kennedy is on his third top spokesman; the first two quit in frustration, the Times reports. Kennedy also has gone through two chiefs of staff.

There’s “no question” that Kennedy is changing the national conversation around health in America, especially healthy eating, says the Times. While his vaccine agenda so far has been stymied by court decisions, he’s scored “wins,” as he calls them, by flipping the food pyramid, persuading medical schools to revamp nutrition education and convincing some food makers to abandon artificial dyes.

Meanwhile, doctors around the country say they’re seeing more cases of serious, sometimes life-threatening illnesses that vaccines long have long kept at bay, including whooping cough and bacterial infections that can cause pneumonia or meningitis, says a separate Times article.

Also in the news

Europe is pouring money into ocean research as Trump guts science funding

Netanyahu, Trump at odds over the war they started together

New Treasury Department inspector general report flags security risks in IRS-ICE taxpayer data-sharing deal

How Trump allies turned the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau into a political weapon

Judge strikes down Trump's $100,000 fee on new H-1B visas for high-skilled workers

House votes to take over librarian of Congress appointment power, in effort to prevent future executive branch interference

ProPublica: Trump administration killed criminal investigation of West Virginia GOP Sen. Jim Justice's coal companies

What to watch in Tuesday’s primaries in Maine, Nevada, South Carolina, North Dakota

NYTimes: Trump is previewing fall strategy with baseless claims of California vote fraud

Progressive city council member Nithya Raman advances to November runoff against Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass

AP: The rise and fall of ‘The Hills’ star Spencer Pratt’s improbable bid for Los Angeles mayor

Democratic group American Bridge 21st Century launches ad campaign to help flip control of Congress in midterm elections

Heather Cox Richardson on the First Amendment and Hegseth’s list of recognized religious faiths, Mormon lawmaker’s objection

U.S. airlines spent $6.5 billion on fuel in April, up 78 percent from a year earlier

What to know about the New World screwworm fly and its reappearance in U.S.

KFF: Could your child benefit from psychotherapy? Experts offer 3 questions to help you decide

You can call the Capitol switchboard, (202) 224-3121, and be connected to the offices of your representative and senators. To email your House member and your two senators, you can connect to their websites at Congress.gov. Most lawmakers seem to only accept emails from their constituents, but these leaders accept emails from Americans nationwide, at:

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer

Senate Majority Leader John Thune

Detainees say they didn’t get medications on time, or at all, for conditions including high blood pressure, diabetes, depression, epilepsy, Parkinson’s, HIV, cancer and infections.

KFF and AP say there isn’t a comprehensive, publicly available dataset of medical complaints by those in ICE custody. So they analyzed thousands of court cases filed since President Trump’s second inauguration that use a legal route known as habeas corpus to argue that people are being held illegally by ICE. In those documents, detained people sometimes describe the way ICE is handling their medical needs. Reporters also interviewed more than 50 detainees, their family members and lawyers.

The more than 300 medical neglect claims found in the investigation represent a fraction of the problem, say KFF and AP. The details of habeas corpus cases often are hidden because of a federal rule barring the public from viewing such documents online. KFF and AP obtained some documents directly and received records on 4,400 cases from Habeas Dockets, a project of the nonprofit Immigration Justice Transparency Initiative. But tens of thousands more are largely inaccessible, KFF and AP say.

Some judges have written that the habeas corpus process isn’t the way to raise allegations of medical neglect and have declined to release detainees over those claims. Not every detainee who believes they’ve experienced medical neglect files a habeas petition or cites their medical issues if they do.

The administration’s mass deportation effort has swept up hundreds of thousands of people during routine immigration check-ins, at traffic stops, at their homes, in hospitals.

More than 75,000 immigrants were being detained by ICE as of mid-January, up from around 40,000 a year earlier.

About 70 percent of the detainees have no criminal conviction, and their immigration proceedings are civil, not criminal.

ICE custody is deadlier than it’s been in two decades, researchers wrote in the Journal of the American Medical Association in April. The Department of Homeland Security reported that 51 people had died in detention since the start of Trump’s second administration, with suicides spiking to an unprecedented number.

Dora Schriro, who worked for ICE and now is a special adviser to the American Bar Association, says case law requires the government to treat people in immigration detention with the same care as those in traditional jails awaiting trial. But administrators have discretion and medical care standards vary.

KFF and AP say they asked DHS to respond to the findings six days before publication, but it didn’t provide comment. The department’s acting chief medical officer, Sean Conley, previously said “it is both policy and longstanding practice for aliens to receive timely and appropriate medical care from the moment they enter ICE custody” and that DHS recruits healthcare professionals to maintain high standards. “This is better, more responsive healthcare than many aliens have ever received in their entire lives.”

Here is more on the methodology of the investigation.

Also in the news

Ukraine drones target St Petersburg in attack Russia says is unprecedented, a day after Putin says there’s no point in meeting Zelensky

AP live: Israel, Iran exchange strikes in most serious escalation since April ceasefire

Pete Hegseth attacks Europe on immigration at D-Day event in Normandy, days after Vance comments

Some Latin Americans deported from U.S. to Congo are back in their native countries, where they likely face persecution

Federal judge strikes down Trump administration immigration policy affecting 39 countries

Treasury Department's financial crimes arm wants banks to help identify payroll schemes linked to people living in U.S. illegally

Trump says he asked Bill Pulte to cut staffing at Office of the Director of National Intelligence

Some female Navy officers say they fear a career cap after Hegseth cuts women from promotions list

Lawsuit seeks to stop UFC fight on White House South Lawn for Trump’s birthday

House to debate Senate-passed $70 billion reconciliation bill that doesn’t include bar on creation of $1.8 billion ‘anti-weaponization’ fund

Trump issues pardon to former Indiana GOP Rep. Stephen Buyer, who was convicted of insider trading

Judge halts Trump administration effort to force states to comply with range of conditions to get SNAP funding

Divisions are evident among MAGA women at Turning Point USA's Women's Leadership Summit

Heather Cox Richardson on Trump walking out of Meet the Press interview, Pelley describing ‘political influence’ at 60 Minutes

Heather Cox Richardson on Senate GOP passage of $70 billion immigration enforcement bill, more

WPost personal finance columnist: The misconception that an excellent credit score requires carrying a balance

WPost: If you’re fed up with airline runarounds over delays, choose a European carrier

By September, nearly a third of Americans will live in states where medical aid in dying is legal

KFF: MAHA treatments for autism include camel’s milk, stem cell injections — and spelling therapy

You can call the Capitol switchboard, (202) 224-3121, and be connected to the offices of your representative and senators. To email your House member and your two senators, you can connect to their websites at Congress.gov. Most lawmakers seem to only accept emails from their constituents, but these leaders accept emails from Americans nationwide, at:

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer

Senate Majority Leader John Thune

The weekly newsletter remains the same: half is free to read and half requires a subscription.

Here are highlights from the subscriber-only section of this edition:

— A chopped-down rainforest can mostly regenerate within 30 years, researchers report in the journal Nature.

— Scientists who were trying to create a strain of algae that would produce aviation fuel discovered that engineered algae can vacuum up microplastic, Nebraska Public Media reports.

The scientists’ engineered algae and the tiny pieces of plastic are hydrophobic, meaning they repel water and attract each other. By changing the genetic code of the algae, the scientists can increase its stickiness, removing more than 90 percent of microplastics in a water sample within an hour.

The engineered algae grab the microplastics and sink to the bottom of the water. The plastic-algae sediment then can be collected and even potentially turned into a recycled product of its own, the scientists say.

— New rules in California give plastic producers until 2032 to make all their packaging recyclable or compostable. It’s the most ambitious deadline in the nation, says CalMatters.

Also in the news

KFF: In Congo, travel bans and conflict have disrupted supply chains, leaving health workers without Ebola tests, protective gear

U.S. sanctions Cuba President Miguel Díaz-Canel in latest move to pressure its leadership

Zelensky writes open letter to Putin calling for face-to-face negotiations in a neutral country

Ukraine aid package passes House, in bipartisan blow to GOP leaders and Trump

Senate passes $70 billion immigration enforcement bill without limits on Trump $1.776 billion settlement fund, on 52-47 vote

Senate blocks extending Section 702 of Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act after backlash over Trump pick of Pulte

Four Senate Republicans again unite with Democrats to block Trump's SAVE America Act voting bill

Trump announces plan to spend nearly $700 million to support coal power plants, exports

Trump announces plan to build promenade at Lincoln Memorial

Kennedy Center beginning to erase Trump references after judge said they were illegally added

Former Trump adviser John Bolton to plead guilty to retaining national security information and pay fine, possibly get jail time

Amid reports about his history with women, Graham Platner to hold Maine rally with Rep. Ro Khanna

Some GOP governors are rebranding June with conservative alternatives to Pride

Heather Cox Richardson on Trump effort to destroy U.S. liberal consensus government

Robert Reich on why gasoline prices are higher in California

Anthropic urges global pause in AI development, saying models are near ability to improve without human intervention

Internal documents show how social media companies hooked teens at school

Supreme Court rules 8-1 against cell service providers over right to jury trial in FCC proceedings

Prosecutors lose appeal in Arizona fake elector case and vow to present it again to a grand jury

Preview of Obama Presidential Center in Chicago

Scientists precisely edit human embryo genes for first time, possibly opening way to engineer babies with particular traits

You can call the Capitol switchboard, (202) 224-3121, and be connected to the offices of your representative and senators. To email your House member and your two senators, you can connect to their websites at Congress.gov. Most lawmakers seem to only accept emails from their constituents, but these leaders accept emails from Americans nationwide, at:

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer

Senate Majority Leader John Thune

As chatter about a peace agreement between Donald Trump and Iran continues, media critic Dan Froomkin would like a word with, well, the media. He wrote last week:

Trump posted a typically undependable statement on Saturday afternoon, full of weasel words. “An Agreement has been largely negotiated, subject to finalization,” he wrote. “Final aspects and details of the Deal are currently being discussed, and will be announced shortly,” he wrote, adding: “the Strait of Hormuz will be opened.”

What did our top journalist do? Did they respond with skepticism? Did they push back? Did they demand evidence? Did they warn their readers that Trump has zero credibility on this issue? (To be clear: The man has been saying the war would be over “very soon” for going on two months now.

No. This is what they did:

• NYT: “Trump Says Peace Deal Is Near”

• WaPo: “Trump says Iran ceasefire deal in final stages, to be ‘announced shortly’”

• CNN: “Trump says agreement with Iran has ‘been largely negotiated’ and Strait of Hormuz will be opened”

• AP: “Trump says a deal with Iran and opening of Strait of Hormuz are ‘largely negotiated’”

Where was anything remotely like a warning to readers that he might be full of it? I found them in places like the 14th paragraph, the 18th paragraph, and the fifth paragraph. It was entirely missing from the Post story.

This week, Trump told CNBC he thought the negotiations “started to get very boring.”

Froomkin proposed coverage that focuses on the fragility and unreliability of Trump’s claims. I sympathize with his view, but I wonder, rather, why focus at all on oft-repeated, oft-contradictory statements? Trump has been issuing regular peace-is-at-hand declarations since nearly the start of the war.

The glib answer from journalists is that Trump is president; what he says is news. But I’d say when you are regurgitating unreliable information it is very much a you problem.

I started my journalism career in the suburbs of Boston, first in radio, then in weekly newspapers. It was invaluable training. The papers were read in 80 to 90 percent of the towns’ households. The public officials I met with and wrote about lived in town, sent their kids to the town’s schools. They — and their neighbors — read what we wrote.

That experience taught me to take care with a community in which my writing had immediate and real impact. To take care with people’s lives. It was an exercise in learning to write news truthfully, and fairly.

It also was an experience in community feedback — sometimes as a letter to the editor, but more often a phone call or, yes, a visit to the newsroom.

I got yelled at more than once, sometimes fairly.

What I did not learn — what I did not have to learn — was how to deal with routine lying. I covered towns with a lot of high-quality local officials. Fabrication is not a plausible strategy when reality looms in every conversation on the street, every committee session, every Town Meeting.

After that experience, I spent the bulk of my newsroom years covering federal legislation and policy — news aimed at an audience with a professional need for that information. Our sources didn’t lie, that I recall. They could be withholding or one-sided — they could be factually wrong — but that didn’t spill over into actual lies. After all, they were also readers, and dependent on accurate information.

So, no, I’ve don’t have experience covering officials who make it all up. But public trust in the media — in almost all public institutions — has been sliding for years. Whatever else, serving as a conduit for a daily stream of nonsense is not likely to change that.

Also in the news

Intelligence agencies of Britain, U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand issue warning of LinkedIn recruitment by Chinese intelligence

Albania protests grow over Jared Kushner-backed luxury resort

House approves war powers resolution to halt military action against Iran, in rebuke of Trump

House votes to take up bill to impose new sanctions on Russia, provide additional aid to Ukraine

Senate starts debate on ICE funding without ballroom money; some GOP senators want amendments to clarify $1.8 billion fund is dead

NYTimes analysis: Congressional Republicans begin to test limits of Trump’s power by flexing their own

Homeland Security secretary says ICE will increase new officer training starting next month

Trump administration seeking new path forward with tariffs after first attempt hit legal roadblocks

Trump says he'll nominate Todd Blanche to serve as attorney general

Trump signs executive order eliminating civil service protections for about 8,000 senior-level positions across government

How Trump’s Education Department is backing away from addressing civil rights for Black students

Report: Energy, water use and pollution of AI and data centers rival the usage of most countries

America’s 250th birthday celebration alternatives emerging in D.C.

Revolutionary War’s chief villain George III is being rehabilitated

KFF: RFK Jr. pursuing federal government access to most Americans’ medical records, to research link between vaccines, autism

You can call the Capitol switchboard, (202) 224-3121, and be connected to the offices of your representative and senators. To email your House member and your two senators, you can connect to their websites at Congress.gov. Most lawmakers seem to only accept emails from their constituents, but these leaders accept emails from Americans nationwide, at:

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer

Senate Majority Leader John Thune

California

The state is “notoriously slow” in producing results, as ballots are valid if they’re postmarked by Election Day and arrive at county election offices within seven days of the election, explains Cal Matters.

In another twist, all candidates appear on a single ballot and the top two finishers advance to the November general election, regardless of their party, explains The Associated Press.

As of 6 a.m. Wednesday, Republican Steve Hilton led the field (of 60 candidates!), and Democrat Xavier Becerra was second in the race for governor, according to AP.

And in another key race, for Los Angeles mayor, Democratic incumbent Karen Bass was polling first, and Republican Spencer Pratt was second.

Iowa

Rep. Randy Feenstra lost the Republican primary for governor to Zach Lann, in a “shocking” upset after Feenstra earned President Trump’s last-minute endorsement, says Politico. Most of Trump’s candidates this cycle have won.

Iowa state Rep. Josh Turek won his Senate primary, a victory for national Democrats who helped boost him as they seek to flip the critical seat, says a separate Politico article.

Montana and South Dakota

If Democrats hope to compete in red-state Senate contests this fall, they may have to abandon their party’s nominees and back independents, says AP.

That’s one of the takeaways after voters on Tuesday finalized the general election matchups in Montana and South Dakota, where little-known Democrats got their party’s nominations. In both states, higher-profile independent candidates also qualified for the general election ballot.

New Jersey

Rebecca Bennett, a former Navy helicopter pilot, won the Democratic primary in a battleground congressional district to take on Republican Rep. Tom Kean Jr., who’s been absent with an unspecified illness for nearly three months.

A New York Times article Tuesday described the paper’s extensive but unsuccessful efforts to locate Kean, who’s in a race considered one of the most competitive in the country.

New Mexico

The stage is set for Democrat Deb Haaland to make history this fall. She was President Biden’s Interior secretary, the first Native American to serve as a presidential cabinet secretary. And in November, the citizen of Laguna Pueblo could become the first Native American woman elected governor of any U.S. state.

Here are complete results for the six states, from AP.

Also in the news

NYTimes: What Ireland, Germany can teach us about birthright citizenship

Under Paris’ Notre Dame cathedral, a ‘dig of the century’ is unearthing 1,700 years of history

Iran, U.S. trade strikes in Persian Gulf, further testing ceasefire

Pentagon hires Elias Irizarry, a convicted Jan. 6 rioter, for sensitive counterterrorism job

WSJ: Why the president tapped ‘Little Trump’ Bill Pulte to be acting director of national intelligence

Trump signs executive order on vetting of top AI models for national security risks; AI developers’ participation will be voluntary

Blanche tells lawmakers ‘anti-weaponization’ fund isn't moving forward — but order barring IRS from Trump probes remains

WSJ: 'Inside Trump’s takeover of the American regulatory machine’

Trump administration issues plan to limit housing aid for homeless and push treatment for mental illness, addiction

AP: ‘Some key ways Trump has reaped rewards for himself, his children and allies in his second term’

Supreme Court allows Alabama to use congressional map that eliminates majority-Black district

Anthropic races toward Wall Street debut with confidential SEC filing

Scientists find way to use AI to supercharge dangerous computer ‘worms’

Meta is expanding safety features to limit harmful content for teens

‘60 Minutes’ correspondent Scott Pelley fired after confrontation with his new boss

Justice Department is investigating former New York GOP Rep. George Santos for insider trading on Kalshi

WSJ: ‘$3.6 million an hour — and other ways to measure Elon Musk’s fortune’

Five ways to reduce your everyday exposure to ‘forever chemicals’

You can call the Capitol switchboard, (202) 224-3121, and be connected to the offices of your representative and senators. To email your House member and your two senators, you can connect to their websites at Congress.gov. Most lawmakers seem to only accept emails from their constituents, but these leaders accept emails from Americans nationwide, at:

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer

Senate Majority Leader John Thune

Weissmann’s new book, “Liar’s Kingdom: How to Stop Trump’s Deceit and Save America,” was published two weeks ago and is number one on the New York Times’ best-seller list for nonfiction.

Here are the video and transcript of Weissman discussing the book with Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Carol Leonnig at D.C.’s Politics and Prose bookstore.

Also in the news

EU moves forward with migration deal for more deportations and detention centers abroad

NYTimes: Chinese firm Geedge Networks trying to develop AI-powered tech to enable authoritarians to potentially predict who could become a dissident

Pete Hegseth blocks promotions of Navy officers who are female and Black

Pentagon bars journalists from its press office, saying it's become a ‘classified space’

Divided appeals court panel protects some transgender people already in military

NYTimes: Losing trust in Justice Department, judges are calling out its lawyers’ behavior

Trump backs off ‘anti-weaponization’ fund after backlash from GOP lawmakers

Trump administration to dismantle $368 million ocean monitoring system that’s been critical to climate and ocean research

Trump facing a new inflation warning from the bond market

What to watch in Tuesday’s primaries in California, Iowa, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, South Dakota

Florida sues OpenAI and Sam Altman over AI risks, in first such action by a state

Heather Cox Richardson on 'Iran and its role in the president’s deteriorating mental condition’

Robert Reich: 'How do we deal with the inevitable loss of good jobs to AI?’

’60 Minutes’ correspondent Scott Pelley accuses CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss of ‘murdering’ the program

KFF: Telehealth is booming as demand for GLP-1s for weight loss surges and questions increase about safety, oversight

You can call the Capitol switchboard, (202) 224-3121, and be connected to the offices of your representative and senators. To email your House member and your two senators, you can connect to their websites at Congress.gov. Most lawmakers seem to only accept emails from their constituents, but these leaders accept emails from Americans nationwide, at:

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer

Senate Majority Leader John Thune

And to the people of the Twin Cities of Minnesota “for risking their lives to protect their neighbors and immigrant community members from an unprecedented federal law enforcement operation, peacefully defending the human rights and values that serve as the foundation of our Constitutional democracy,” the foundation said.

In his acceptance remarks, Powell called universities, courts, Congress and the central bank “the foundation and the embodiment of our democracy” and said the Fed’s independence is a “priceless asset” that must be protected.

After stepping down as chairman, Powell took the unusual step of keeping his seat on the Fed governing board, which he has until January 2028. In doing so, he’s deprived the Trump administration of an opportunity to appoint another member of the board, notes The Associated Press.

The Kennedy Library Foundation said the four people chosen to accept the award on behalf of Twin Cities residents reflect the coalition of faith leaders, educators, advocates and community members that mobilized during the operation: Imam Yusuf Abdulle, co-founder of the Somali American Leadership Table and executive director of the Islamic Association of North America; Natalie Ehret, founder of Haven Watch; Carolina Ortiz, associate executive director of Communities Organizing Latino Power and Action; and Zena Stenvik, superintendent of the Columbia Heights Public Schools.

Renee Nicole Good’s father, Tim Ganger; brother, Brent; and sister, Anna, were in attendance at the ceremony.

Here is the video of the ceremony.

Also in the news

Presidential election in Colombia heads to runoff between leftist senator and pro-Trump rival

WHO chief visits epicenter of Ebola outbreak in eastern Congo as cases outpace response

U.S. bombs Iran military sites, Kuwait is hit by drone and missile fire

NYTimes: Inside the Lloyds of London room where war insurance is bought and sold

Some Israeli soldiers tell AP the Gaza ceasefire isn’t one

New DHS directive says most immigrants won’t need to leave U.S. to obtain green card

White House moves to give political appointees more power over federal grants, in most sweeping change in years

ProPublica: How Trump reversed Biden crackdown on gun trafficking

NYTimes: Inside the deal to drop Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS

Judge Brinkema temporarily blocks payouts from Trump $1.8 billion 'anti-weaponization' settlement fund

Judge Williams to review Trump $1.8 billion ‘anti-weaponization’ fund after former federal judges question its legitimacy

AP: Capitol rioters clamoring for payouts from Trump’s new ‘anti-weaponization’ fund, despite backlash

Judge rules Trump name must come off Kennedy Center, temporarily blocks its closure for 2-year renovation

In closed-door interview with House lawmakers, Pam Bondi shifts responsibility for Epstein files’ release to Todd Blanche

Louisiana enacts new congressional map eliminating 1 of the state’s 2 majority-Black districts

New York governor signs legislation to ban ICE agents from wearing masks and keep agents out of schools, churches

After 18-years, D.C.’s Capital Weather Gang spins off from Washington Post

Robert Reich on how America’s 250th birthday festivities are being planned and paid for

Robert Reich: ‘It's still capital vs. labor, stupid’

Heather Cox Richardson on capital vs. labor, on the anniversary of the Johnstown Flood

Heather Cox Richardson on Maine Sen. Margaret Chase Smith, who on June 1, 1950, stood up against fellow GOP Sen. Joe McCarthy of Wisconsin

Trump issues executive order directing agencies to align with HHS study calling for narrower childhood vaccine recommendations

ProPublica: More than $100 million was billed for medically questionable vascular procedures, agency watchdog finds

Experimental hepatitis B drug may offer a ‘functional cure’ for some patients

You can call the Capitol switchboard, (202) 224-3121, and be connected to the offices of your representative and senators. To email your House member and your two senators, you can connect to their websites at Congress.gov. Most lawmakers seem to only accept emails from their constituents, but these leaders accept emails from Americans nationwide, at:

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer

Senate Majority Leader John Thune

— Since 2017, the World Bank has provided grants to low-income countries hosting significant refugee populations. The goal is to move beyond short-term humanitarian aid toward development solutions that integrate refugees into labor markets and national services while supporting host communities.

The Center for Global Development, a non-profit U.S. think tank, says the effort has helped drive significant reforms, including new refugee laws in Ethiopia, Chad and Kenya.

— The EU has enacted its first rules to protect dogs and cats, including mandatory microchipping and a ban on breeding with exaggerated physical traits that may lead to significant health risks, the European Parliament reports.

— Stanford University researchers have built a chip that could exploit “sparsity” to curb AI’s energy needs, says Fix the News, citing the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. (I tried and failed to find an easily understandable definition of sparsity for us non-tech types.)

Also in the news

NATO condemns Russia ‘recklessness’ after drone hits Romania apartment building

Netanyahu directs Israel forces to expand control of Gaza to 70 percent of the territory

World Health Organization identifies Ebola treatments, vaccines to be tested in trials amid outbreak

Kenya high court suspends plan for U.S. Ebola quarantine facility in the country until a case challenging the deal is heard

Dell gets $9.7 billion Pentagon contract after Trump acquires stock

Treasury Department preparing $250 bill with Trump's face on it

Supreme Court sides with death row inmate in challenge to racial discrimination in selection of jury

Judge lets Trump executive order limiting mail-in voting stand, for now

This is how close U.S. households are to the financial edge

‘Trump accounts’ app launches to manage $1,000 federal investment per child born during Trump presidency

Next No Kings event set for June 14, as Trump celebrates his birthday with Ultimate Fighting Championship bout on White House lawn

New American Cancer Society guidelines on colon cancer screening options include blood test for first time

You can call the Capitol switchboard, (202) 224-3121, and be connected to the offices of your representative and senators. To email your House member and your two senators, you can connect to their websites at Congress.gov. Most lawmakers seem to only accept emails from their constituents, but these leaders accept emails from Americans nationwide, at:

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer

Senate Majority Leader John Thune

Also in the news

Iran, U.S. exchange new strikes

U.S. will need years to replenish stockpiles of advanced weapons it used in Iran war, report says

Politico: Pentagon has put troops and weapons in place for Cuba invasion

U.S. plans to send Americans exposed to Ebola to facility in Kenya, in departure from previous outbreaks

Thirty-five former judges ask court to investigate whether Trump settlement with IRS was an act of fraud

Justice Department has launched criminal investigation of E. Jean Carroll, sources say

ProPublica: White House intervened to get $620 million deal for a company linked to Donald Trump Jr.

Newsom signs legislation seeking to shield California elections from federal interference before Tuesday primary

Alabama asks Supreme Court to allow the use in this year’s elections of new congressional map favoring GOP

Millions of people have been put in new voting districts; here’s where the redistricting stands

Supreme Court rejects Meta appeal in Vermont social media addiction case

Supreme Court settles long water dispute over management of Rio Grande water

WSJ: Stablecoins are private money, and that’s why they’re a threat to the economy

Median pay for CEOs increased nearly 6 percent in 2025, but some compensation packages were eye-popping

Independent bookstores are multiplying, though many people still think they’re dying out

KFF founding president Drew Altman to retire

Scientists create wearable ultrasound patch to continuously monitor babies in womb

You can call the Capitol switchboard, (202) 224-3121, and be connected to the offices of your representative and senators. To email your House member and your two senators, you can connect to their websites at Congress.gov. Most lawmakers seem to only accept emails from their constituents, but these leaders accept emails from Americans nationwide, at:

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer

Senate Majority Leader John Thune