Big news this morning: I’m going live at 12 PM EST with former Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg! You’ll get a notification when we kick off, and for about 20 minutes we’ll cover it all—from Pete’s upbringing and personal story to his take on the current state of our nation. I’ll be answering as many of your questions as possible, giving priority to those from paid subscribers, so drop yours in the comments now and don’t miss this conversation!
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With that, here’s the news:
Donald Trump and Rupert Murdoch reached a deal to postpone Murdoch’s deposition in a $20 billion libel case over the Epstein letter until after the Wall Street Journal’s upcoming motion to dismiss, meaning—barring health issues—neither will be deposed for months.
Interim NASA Administrator and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy will announce accelerated plans to build a 100-kilowatt nuclear reactor on the moon by 2030—part of a push to “win the second space race” amid budget cuts—while also directing faster replacement of the International Space Station with commercial stations, aligning with the Trump administration’s focus on crewed spaceflight and competition with China and Russia.
Attorney General Pam Bondi ordered a grand jury investigation into whether Obama administration officials committed federal crimes in reviewing Russia’s actions during the 2016 election—an effort Democrats call a political stunt to distract from the Jeffrey Epstein case—despite multiple past bipartisan and Republican-led probes finding no such crimes.
In a dramatic showdown over voting power, Texas Democrats fled the state to deny Republicans the quorum needed to pass a Donald Trump–backed redistricting plan that they argue would severely dilute Democratic representation; Governor Greg Abbott responded by ordering their arrest, but with lawmakers sheltering in Democratic-led states beyond Texas jurisdiction, the standoff has stalled legislative business, spotlighting deep partisan rifts and raising the stakes over both state and national political control.
California Democrats are advancing plans for a November special election ballot measure to bypass the state’s independent redistricting commission and redraw congressional maps to flip five GOP-held seats—targeting Reps. David Valadao, Kevin Kiley, Darrell Issa, Doug LaMalfa, and Ken Calvert—in a bid to counter Texas Republicans’ own redistricting push ahead of the 2026 midterms.
Brazil’s Supreme Court ordered former President Jair Bolsonaro to house arrest for allegedly leading a criminal plot to overturn his 2022 election loss—including plans to kill President Lula and a Supreme Court justice—after he violated prior court restrictions, a move that has drawn massive street protests and criticism from ally Donald Trump, who tied steep U.S. tariffs on Brazilian goods to Bolsonaro’s case.
The Trump administration filed paperwork seeking to block veterans from obtaining abortions at Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals, even in cases of rape, incest, or serious health risks to the pregnant veteran.
Donald Trump announced that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is no longer being considered to replace Jerome Powell as Federal Reserve Chair, saying Bessent wants to remain in his current role, and is now weighing candidates including former Fed governor Kevin Warsh and White House economist Kevin Hassett for a short-term Fed governor appointment that could lead to the Fed chair role when Powell’s term ends next year.
Following a federal appeals court ruling that limited Donald Trump’s asylum ban, CBS News reported that US border agents were instructed to halt deportations under the ban and instead process migrants under existing immigration law; the move comes after a lower court found Trump exceeded his authority, in a case brought by the ACLU and advocacy groups arguing the ban violated US and international law.
The U.S. and Rwanda have agreed for Rwanda to accept up to 250 migrants deported from the U.S., with Kigali vetting each case and promising housing, healthcare, and job training to help resettle them.
Something many people have asked is to highlight groups involved in active litigation against the Administration. This morning, I wanted to spotlight Earthjustice, a nonprofit environmental law organization that has been fighting for our Earth since 1971! Their lawyers have been taking on this work pro bono (because justice shouldn’t have a price tag) and are leading the way for environmental litigation. They have fought and won some of the biggest battles to protect our environment and public health. If you want to support their work you can visit here and donate. Here are some of the recent headlines from cases they are working on:Reckless Detention Center in the Everglades: Late last month, Friends of the Everglades (represented by Earthjustice) and the Center for Biological Diversity, filed a lawsuit against federal and Florida agencies to protect the Everglades from the massive immigration detention center at the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport — a site that is 96% wetlands, critical to endangered species like the Florida panther, and part of the Everglades ecosystem that both state and federal taxpayers have spent billions to protect. This detention center is not only cruel, it threatens the Everglades ecosystem that state and federal taxpayers have spent billions to protect.Protecting Farmworkers and Rural Communities: Represented by Earthjustice, allied public health and farmworker groups filed a lawsuit against the EPA for failing to act on a 2021 petition to ban organophosphates—neurotoxic pesticides derived from WWII nerve agents—despite overwhelming scientific evidence linking them to developmental harm in children and acute poisonings in farmworkers and rural communities; the suit demands urgent action to safeguard human health and environmental justice.Earthjustice’s First Class Action Lawsuit Takes on Trump Administration to Get Communities the Funding They’re Owed: On behalf of nonprofits, Tribes, and local governments, Earthjustice is suing the Trump administration for unlawfully terminating $3 billion in EPA grant programs designed to fund public health and community resilience initiatives in all 50 states.Corporations Emailed. Then 68 Power Plants Got a Pass to Pollute: Using a loophole, the Trump administration exempted these coal power plants from mercury and arsenic limits, polluting the air we breathe.Earthjustice filed a lawsuit after 68 coal plants were unlawfully exempted—via email—from mercury and arsenic limits under the 2024 Clean Air Act rules, endangering public health in already-polluted communities.This “permission slip” allows power plants to release not only more mercury, arsenic, but also other heavy metals known to damage children’s brain development, trigger asthma attacks, and cause cancer.
Reckless Detention Center in the Everglades: Late last month, Friends of the Everglades (represented by Earthjustice) and the Center for Biological Diversity, filed a lawsuit against federal and Florida agencies to protect the Everglades from the massive immigration detention center at the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport — a site that is 96% wetlands, critical to endangered species like the Florida panther, and part of the Everglades ecosystem that both state and federal taxpayers have spent billions to protect. This detention center is not only cruel, it threatens the Everglades ecosystem that state and federal taxpayers have spent billions to protect.
Protecting Farmworkers and Rural Communities: Represented by Earthjustice, allied public health and farmworker groups filed a lawsuit against the EPA for failing to act on a 2021 petition to ban organophosphates—neurotoxic pesticides derived from WWII nerve agents—despite overwhelming scientific evidence linking them to developmental harm in children and acute poisonings in farmworkers and rural communities; the suit demands urgent action to safeguard human health and environmental justice.
Earthjustice’s First Class Action Lawsuit Takes on Trump Administration to Get Communities the Funding They’re Owed: On behalf of nonprofits, Tribes, and local governments, Earthjustice is suing the Trump administration for unlawfully terminating $3 billion in EPA grant programs designed to fund public health and community resilience initiatives in all 50 states.
Corporations Emailed. Then 68 Power Plants Got a Pass to Pollute: Using a loophole, the Trump administration exempted these coal power plants from mercury and arsenic limits, polluting the air we breathe.Earthjustice filed a lawsuit after 68 coal plants were unlawfully exempted—via email—from mercury and arsenic limits under the 2024 Clean Air Act rules, endangering public health in already-polluted communities.This “permission slip” allows power plants to release not only more mercury, arsenic, but also other heavy metals known to damage children’s brain development, trigger asthma attacks, and cause cancer.
Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter is heading to Washington to negotiate lower U.S. tariffs on Swiss exports after President Trump unexpectedly imposed a rate higher than 31%, threatening key industries like luxury goods, machinery, and pharmaceuticals.
According to The Guardian, Vladimir Putin is unlikely to accept Donald Trump’s ceasefire ultimatum, despite the threat of new sanctions and 100% tariffs on Russian oil buyers, prioritizing his goal of fully capturing four Ukrainian regions before considering peace talks.
Tennessee plans to execute Byron Black, a 69-year-old inmate with severe health issues, despite concerns his implanted defibrillator could shock his heart during the lethal injection, after courts overturned an order to deactivate the device.
Former Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) commissioners, non-partisan economic groups, and organizations such as the Association of Public Data Users, the National Association for Business Economics, and the American Economic Association strongly criticized Donald Trump’s firing of BLS commissioner Erika McEntarfer—prompted by Trump’s unsubstantiated claims that she “faked” jobs data to aid Kamala Harris—calling the move politically motivated, baseless, damaging to the credibility of federal economic statistics, and urging Congress to investigate and protect the nonpartisan integrity of the role.
A coalition of nonprofits, tribes, and local governments has filed a first-of-its-kind class action lawsuit to force the EPA to reinstate a $3bn climate justice grant program terminated by the Trump administration, arguing the move defied Congress, violated the Constitution, and was “arbitrary and capricious.”
Covid-19 cases are rising across much of the US as schools reopen, with experts warning that new Trump administration restrictions on booster eligibility could worsen the wave by limiting access to updated vaccines.
Over 40 protesters with the Jewish-American group IfNotNow were arrested outside Trump International Hotel in New York, demanding the U.S. pressure Israel to end the Gaza war and allow more humanitarian aid, condemning the blockade as “ethnic cleansing” through starvation.
Spirit Airlines removed pilot Dominic Cipolla from duty after he was arrested at New Orleans airport on Kansas stalking charges involving two minors, with court proceedings set to begin later this month.
See you at noon!
— Aaron
