An overview of today’s supreme court rulings
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The supreme court ruled that Donald Trump’s firing of Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook was unconstitutional, in a landmark ruling that limits a president’s authority over the central bank. In its opinion, the court said that Trump does not have the constitutional authority to fire a Fed governor without cause. The ruling is a major win for the central bank, which has spent the last year under attack from the White House.
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But, in a separate case, the justices ruled that Trump can fire leaders of independent agencies or commissions, ending 90 years of court precedent that curbs executive power. That case centered on Rebecca Slaughter, whom Trump fired as Federal Trade Commission member in March last year over email, telling her that keeping her as a commissioner would be “inconsistent with [the] administration’s priorities”.
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The court handed Trump another loss, refusing to hear his bid to overturn a $5m verdict in favor of E Jean Carroll in a case in which a jury found him liable for sexually abusing the former magazine columnist and then defaming her. The 2023 jury verdict and a $5m civil judgment remain in place. The high court declined to take up the case in a brief, unexplained order. There were no noted dissents.
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The supreme court sided against national Republicans and the Trump administration to allow mail-in ballots that arrive after election day to be counted, upholding the law in more than a dozen states. The Republican National Committee had challenged a Mississippi state law allowing mailed ballots to be counted if they arrive within five business days of election day, so long as they were postmarked by election day. The court’s liberal justices pointed to federal laws that allow for grace periods, while noting that a ruling here could also implicate early voting, another common practice.
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The court also refused to revive a $300m defamation lawsuit filed against CNN over its coverage of a prominent attorney’s remarks made while defending Trump during his 2020 impeachment. Alan Dershowitz said CNN aired only a portion of the comment made during his defense of the president, distorting his meaning to make him look like he’d “lost his mind”. The network said that multiple outlets had interpreted his remarks in a similar way, and Dershowitz couldn’t show CNN was trying to mischaracterize what he said. The court’s majority declined to take up the case in a brief, unexplained order.
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And finally, the supreme court threw out a judicial decision involving a Virginia man’s challenge to a “geofence” warrant used by police to access cellphone location data near a crime scene leading to his conviction for armed robbery. The justices threw out a lower court’s ruling against defendant Okello Chatrie, who had argued he was subjected to an illegal search and that evidence in his case should be excluded. The court agreed that a search had occurred, but sent the case back to a lower court to conduct further analysis.
Key events
Reflecting pool is fully operational, Trump says; attacks on DC monuments face up to 10 years in jail
In a post on Truth Social, Donald Trump said that the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool has been “in full operation” for the past two days after it was damaged by “sharp knives and muscle”.
“After July 4th, we will release the water, fix the damage done to the very expensive waterproof matting, with the use of sharp knives and muscle, including the 350 foot gash along its right side, and have it looking as good as it was two weeks ago, when it was absolutely PERFECT!”, he wrote on Monday.
He said that about 70 renovated monuments, statues and fountains in Washington DC are under security surveillance.
“If anyone attacks any of them, they get as much as 10 years in jail,” Trump wrote.
Michael Watson, the Mississippi secretary of state whom the supreme court sided with today regarding the state’s policy of counting mail-in ballots received after election day, said that he deeply values “the rights of states to govern themselves”.
“While I oppose the practice of counting ballots received after Election Day, the principle of federalism is a core tenet of my conservatism,” Watson said in a statement. “I deeply value the rights of states to govern themselves, including the administration of elections, so long as they do not conflict with federal law”.
He said the supreme court ruling confirms election policy is a “decision to be made by Congress or, in its absence, state legislatures”.
Watson added: “Elected officials and voters alike should continue demanding stronger election integrity laws across the country.”
Amid a series of wins for the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) party during the primaries, Donald Trump called the party “a big threat to our nation” after he was asked whether he was worried.
“I think it’s the biggest threat to our nation there is, maybe since our founding,” he said. “That includes World War I, World War II, September 11th,” he said. “It includes the Pearl Harbor attack.”
“There’s never been anything so dangerous,” he added.
Trump refuses to commit to signing landmark bipartisan housing bill, calling it a ‘big yawn’
Donald Trump also said he doesn’t know what he’s going to do yet about the major bipartisan housing bill. Asked about his plans for the bill, he replied:
I don’t know … I think it’s so unimportant compared to the SAVE America Act … when I look at the bill, it’s a bill. When I look at the SAVE America Act, it’s about saving America.
Trump then went on to acknowledge that “it probably won’t happen” because there are several GOP senators who will not vote for the Save Act (he knew this already, for the record, and delayed signing the housing bill anyway).
Trump was also asked if he was going to sign it, to which he replied that it hadn’t been sent to him yet (last week it was reported that House speaker Mike Johnson would be transmitting it to the White House today), but still didn’t commit to it. He told reporters:
It hasn’t been sent to me yet, it’s coming I understand, then I’ll make [a decision].
Compared with the Save America Act, though, he added, the housing bill was “a big yawn”.
His party, as well as the Democratic party, had been very keen to capitalize on the housing bill as a major affordability win ahead of November’s midterms before Trump took it hostage last week to try to pressure Congress to pass his restrictive voting bill.
The economy is looming large for voters and both parties are hyper-aware of this, unlike the president, apparently, who exacerbated many of the country’s economic problems with his unpopular war on Iran and now repeatedly dismisses it as a concern. See also: “I love the inflation” and “I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation, I don’t think about anybody”.
Asked if we should expect more firings from him after the supreme court’s ruling allowing him to fire the heads of independent agencies, Trump said: “No, no.”
He added that it was “a very great honor” to have this decision during his term “after almost 100 years of waiting for this”.
Donald Trump has just signed a presidential memorandum which aims to improve Americans’ ability to repair their own vehicles in the Oval Office and is now taking questions from reporters. I’ll bring you the key remarks here.
Trump hails supreme court Slaughter ruling as ‘greatest increase in presidential power in 100 years’
Donald Trump has also hailed the supreme court’s Slaughter decision, which significantly expands the president’s power over executive branch agencies, writing on Truth Social:
Today’s Historic Slaughter Decision by the Supreme Court is the Greatest Increase in Presidential Power in the last 100 years. Such a Monumental Ruling at such an important time!
Supreme court to weigh Trump-backed Republican appeal to enforce Arizona voting laws
Also today, the supreme court said it will consider a Republican push to enforce strict Arizona voting laws passed in the swing state after the 2020 election.
The court has allowed some similar rules to take effect as lawsuits play out, including Arizona’s proof-of-citizenship requirement for state and local elections and a Virginia purge of voter rolls that the state said was aimed at keeping non-citizens from voting.
The appeal was filed by the Republican National Committee after lower courts found the measures violated federal voting laws, and it was joined by the Trump administration.
“The RNC is proud to lead this effort, and we will keep fighting nationwide to defend election integrity and ensure only eligible citizens cast a ballot,” said chair Joe Gruters.
The supreme court is expected to hear arguments in the fall and likely hand down an opinion after the midterm elections.
With the Associated Press.
Michael Sainato
Speaking during a press call earlier today, Rebecca Slaughter said of the supreme court’s ruling that Trump firing her last year was lawful:
I think it’s safe to say we’re profoundly disappointed about today’s decision. I think it’s a really sad moment for the FTC, specifically an institution that I love dearly, but really institutions of government more generally, and the rule of law. What we have seen is a massive expansion of executive power at the expense of Congress, who designed these agencies to work on behalf of the people and not the powerful. And it’s at the expense of those people who deserve a government that fights for them without fear or favor, and doesn’t just reward the president’s allies and punish his perceived enemies, and instead makes markets more free and more fair, and that is what we lose.
“I think by our best count, there are about two dozen agencies with a similar structure to the FTC, multi-member bipartisan board or commission with some form of implicit or explicit removal protection, and a common thread among them is that they all have some important authority in protecting market integrity, making sure economic decisions are being made without fear or favor, and I think they are all at risk,” Slaughter added, noting the Federal Reserve is exempted from the lack of removal protections.
Slaughter also noted it was “very difficult for me to reconcile Cook and Slaughter decisions in that somehow Wall Street is special and gets special treatment”.
Trump claims Iran has agreed to hold peace talks in Doha after recent clashes
Andrew Roth
Donald Trump has claimed that Iran has agreed to hold talks in Doha after the US and Iran traded fire in the strait of Hormuz over the weekend, threatening the collapse of a ceasefire meant to keep the strait open and pave the way for peace talks.
In a terse post on Truth Social, the US president claimed the meetings would take place in the Qatari capital, as US media reported that the two sides had agreed to halt strikes following tit-for-tat attacks that once again cut off shipping through the crucial waterway.
“IRAN HAS REQUESTED A MEETING. IT WILL TAKE PLACE TOMORROW IN DOHA! President DJT,” Trump wrote.
The announcement came after Iran on Saturday targeted a cargo ship in the strait in a drone attack, leading US Central Command (Centcom) to launch retaliatory strikes against Iranian “military surveillance infrastructure, communication systems, air defense sites, drone storage facilities and minelayer capabilities”.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) then said on Sunday it had launched a joint missile and drone operation targeting eight US military sites in Kuwait and Bahrain.
With the deal faltering, the White House stepped in to seek an off-ramp from the resuming hostilities, even as the specifics of who will hold control over the strait and whether Iran can charge fees for passage in the future remains unclear.
White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, told Fox News that a US delegation to Doha would include Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner. Iranian negotiators are expected to meet them there.
Axios also reported that the talks would include “technical teams” meant to discuss Iran’s nuclear programme, indicating that pre-planned negotiations may now focus on how to prevent a return to open conflict between the US and Iran.
Here’s my colleague Sanya Mansoor’s story on today’s supreme court ruling that law enforcement’s use of sprawling warrants that sweep up smartphone location data requires privacy protections under the fourth amendment.
Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer has issued this statement condemning the supreme court ruling allowing Trump to fire leaders of independent agencies or commissions:
Trump’s MAGA Supreme Court just gave him a permission slip to turn independent federal agencies into members-only clubs for his golf buddies and cronies.
When Trump fired Rebecca Kelly Slaughter – my former Chief Counsel – from the FTC for no reason other than she was doing too good of a job protecting consumers, Trump sent an open invitation to bad actors to game the system. Instead of preserving independence intended to keep markets fair and protect consumers, Trump’s instead catering to fraudsters and monopolists. And the Supreme Court is giving him a green light to do it.
As Americans are crying out for relief from sky-high prices, we should be strengthening consumer protections—not tilting the playing field further for billionaires, monopolists, and special interests.
With its ruling in Trump v Slaughter, the supreme court has opened the door for Donald Trump and the presidents who succeed him to fire heads of agencies created by Congress to operate independently.
The non-profit Partnership for Public Service warns that could have far-reaching implications across the US government.
“Congress created bodies like the Federal Trade Commission, National Labor Relations Board and the US Consumer Product Safety Commission to function through deliberation: multi-member bodies representing different political parties and often appointed by different presidents so that no single political actor could dictate their decisions,” the group’s president and CEO Max Stier said in a statement.
“A consumer safety commission should pull a dangerous product from shelves because it is dangerous. A labor board should protect workers’ rights because the law requires it. Without the guarantee of independence, boards and commission members will now make decisions under the constant threat of politically motivated removal. That is compliance, not independence, and the American people will pay the price.”
Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the House judiciary committee, said the Slaughter decision took a “wrecking ball to a 90-year pillar of American law” and “invites presidential domination of the independent agencies Congress created to protect the people against corporate fraud, financial corruption, attacks on workers’ rights, and other abuses of concentrated economic and political power.”
The congressman went on to argue that the ruling was inconsistent with the court’s separate decision today preventing Trump from firing Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook:
Central bank independence matters immensely to the American economy and to every family paying a mortgage, using a credit card or trying to keep up with prices. But Congress’s constitutional judgments about the necessity of institutional independence should matter just as much at the FTC, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the National Labor Relations Board, the Federal Communications Commission and the many other important independent agencies Congress has created to serve the interests of the American people.
Lisa Cook says Trump tried to fire her for refusal ‘to bow to political pressure’
In a statement after the supreme court rejected Donald Trump’s attempt to fire her, Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook accused the president of seeking to retaliate against her over her views on interest rates.
“This was never about mortgage documents signed years before I became a Federal Reserve governor,” Cook said, referring to the Trump administration’s rationale the she was removed from her post last year over allegations of mortgage fraud.
“It was an attempt to remove me on a manufactured pretext because I refused to bow to political pressure and continued to set interest rates based only on what would best serve the American people. That is the most fundamental obligation of a Federal Reserve governor.”
Trump has publicly called on the Fed to cut interest rates, but at its most recent meeting under the new chair Kevin Warsh, it held rates steady. Cook participated in that meeting, and the central bank said that the rate decision was unanimous.
“Today’s ruling affirms a principle that has underpinned sound economic stewardship for generations: that the Federal Reserve must make all its policy decisions guided by evidence and independent judgment, free from political interference. This bedrock principle has guided the Federal Reserve since its founding,” Cook added.
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