Source: Los Angeles Times
by Erwin Chemerinsky
“In a stunning expansion of presidential powers, the Supreme Court on Monday overruled a 90-year-old precedent and held that Congress cannot limit the president’s removal of federal agency heads. The ruling in Trump vs. Slaughter is a major diminishing of checks and balances and again shows the six conservative justices’ disregard for even long-standing precedents.” (06/30/26)
Source: NBC News
“The FBI in Connecticut said it arrested four men accused of stealing tens of thousands at a time from ATMs at rest stops along I-95 from Darien to New Haven. … Law enforcement officials alleged they used hardware and malware to get the machines to churn out endless streams of cash. At a northbound rest stop in Fairfield, prosecutors said, the men made off with $136,000 in one haul.” (06/29/26)
Source: Free the People
“School Choice is the Antidote to Cynicism | Jaime Manfra.” (06/29/26)
Source: Independent Institute
by Samuel R Staley
“The U.S. Senate version of the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, now going the U.S. House of Representatives for approval, is a mixed brew of a few good ideas and a potentially dangerous regulatory drag for local governments. Sprawling through 100 sections and 9 major titles over 381 pages of legislation, the legislation’s core intent is laudable: Fix America’s housing affordability crisis by increasing supply. But, like most federal (and state-level) initiatives, the legislation fails to grasp the localized and fundamentally decentralized nature of the solution. Policymakers have created square pegs for a playbook full of round holes.” (06/29/26)
Source: New York Post
by Jonathan Turley
“On Monday, Donald Trump sealed one of the most lasting parts of his legacy. In Trump v. Slaughter, the Court reaffirmed and reinforced the authority of presidents to determine who will carry out the functions of the Executive Branch. In so doing, the Court overruled one of the long-standing limits of presidential power in Humphrey’s Executor v. United States. Humphrey’s Executor is hardly a household name. Yet the demise of the 1935 case represents a seismic shift in the balance of power within our constitutional system. In this case, the court decided that President Trump had the right to fire Rebecca Slaughter, a commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission. For decades, scholars and jurists have questioned where the Court found the authority for Congress to create a hybrid creature like the FTC — part legislative and part executive, with officials protected from removal by a president.” (06/29/26)
Source: BBC News [UK State Media]
“Thousands of people have marched in South Africa’s main cities to demand that all undocumented migrants leave the country. Police officers – backed by private security guards – have been deployed because of fears that protests could turn violent. Anti-migrant groups had set Tuesday as the deadline for undocumented migrants to leave. Many foreigners have already fled to escape violence and intimidation. South African police say 25,000 have been repatriated so far. Most are from other African countries. One undocumented Malawian told the BBC he was ‘happy to be going back’ but ‘heartbroken’ to be leaving behind four young children. The Ministry of Police said the protests have largely been peaceful across the country, with isolated incidents of looting and attempted looting. In Johannesburg, the financial capital, shops in the city centre were closed, while police visibility is high on major streets.” (06/30/26)
Source: National Public Radio [US state media]
“Supreme Court gives Trump broad power to fire agency heads.” (06/29/26)
Source: The Bulwark
by Nicole Penn
“When the revolutionaries enshrined ‘life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness’ as unalienable rights, they created the conditions for a remarkable array of political and civic institutions to emerge that gave specific meaning and shape to these freedoms. But freedom is always wont to seep out of its various containers. The world the Revolution created was certainly one of state and federal constitutions, organized religion, voluntary associations, and material progress, but it was also one of miracles, syncretic beliefs, conspiratorial thinking, and the magic of crowds. The Revolution was, in a word, weird.” (06/30/26)
https://www.thebulwark.com/p/the-american-revolution-was-so-much-weirder-than-you-think-250
Source: The UnPopulist
by Alexander Kaffka
“In fact, voters handed a mandate to the man who lost territory.” (06/29/26)
https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/armenia-rejects-populism-and-chooses
Source: France 24 [French state media]
“French senators on Monday passed a revised anti-fast-fashion bill targeting e-commerce platforms including Shein, Temu and AliExpress, after years of debate over how to bring the measure in line with EU regulations. Easy to order and replace, fast fashion items contribute to pollution from the textile industry, which accounts for nearly 10 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. The Senate passed the bill Monday after the lower house National Assembly did last week. It imposes a per-item fee for producing textile en masse that will increase over time, and a ban on advertising for ultra-fast fashion brands, including by social media influencers.” (06/29/26)