THE WHITE HOUSE ON THURSDAY raged against two federal courts that blocked most of President Trump’s tariffs, urging the Supreme Court to intervene and promising to overturn a decision the administration described as “judicial overreach.”
Press secretary Karoline Leavitt read from a lengthy opening statement at her press briefing, saying the courts had “brazenly abused their judicial power to usurp the authority” of the president.
“These judges failed to acknowledge that the president of the United States has core foreign affairs powers given to him by Congress to protect the U.S. economy and national security,” Leavitt said.
“The courts should have no role here,” she added.
It’s been a whirlwind 24 hours for Trump’s tariffs in the courts.
Late Wednesday, three judges on the U.S. Court of International Trade — including a Trump appointee — unanimously blocked most of Trump’s announced tariffs dating back to February.
Shortly before Leavitt took the podium Thursday, a second federal court followed suit, ruling that the president cannot claim unilateral authority to impose tariffs by declaring emergencies over trade deficits and fentanyl.
On Thursday afternoon, a federal appeals court lifted the first of the two rulings blocking the tariffs, handing Trump a temporary win.
However, most of the tariffs remain blocked under the ruling by the federal judge in Washington, D.C.
Leavitt argued the executive branch has the authority to levy tariffs for national emergencies, which she says includes national security concerns stemming from trade imbalances.
“America cannot function safely long-term if we are unable to scale domestic manufacturing capacity, have our own secure industrial supply chains, and if our own defense industrial base is dependent on foreign adversaries,” she said.
The U.S. Constitution says “the Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises.”
Constitutional scholar Jonathan Turley, who has criticized the courts for overreach on some Trump actions, called the trade court’s ruling a “well-reasoned and good-faith decision,” but said it should have issued a stay pending appeal.
“These are difficult issues, and we need to tamp down the rhetoric,” Turley wrote. “These judges are not the enemy. Neither is Trump. Trump is trying to use every possible law to achieve historic reforms. These judges are trying to guarantee that such priorities do not take precedence over the rule of law.”
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The Trump administration filed emergency appeals and is hoping the high court steps in.
“The Supreme Court must put an end to this for the sake of our Constitution and our country,” Leavitt said.
Leavitt said the U.S. would continue to negotiate new trade deals.
“As far as we’re concerned, our trade agenda is moving forward and we’ve already heard from countries around the world today who will continue to negotiate in good faith,” she said.
Not all of Trump’s tariffs have been blocked. Here’s a rundown of those that remain in place.
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Trump met with Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell at the White House on Thursday afternoon amid longstanding tensions between the two.
The president has called Powell a “fool” and pressured the central bank chief to lower interest rates. Powell has steadfastly refused, citing concerns the trade war would lead to runaway inflation.
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Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Thursday he’s notified Congress of his intent to reorganize the State Department, saying he’d be streamlining the department to make it “more agile.”
“Since my first day as Secretary, I have said that this Department must move at the speed of relevancy,” Rubio said in a statement.
“The reorganization plan will result in a more agile Department, better equipped to promote America’s interests and keep Americans safe across the world.”
Fox News reported that Rubio intends will cut or consolidate more than 300 offices and 3,400 jobs.
The Hill’s Julia Mueller writes:
“The proposed organizational chart reflects the Trump administration’s gutting of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), of which Rubio was made acting administrator as changes were implemented, as well as plans to eliminate the State Department’s bureau focused on democracy and human rights, replacing it with an Office of the Coordinator for Foreign Assistance and Humanitarian Affairs.”
Rubio also announced the U.S. would “aggressively revoke visas” from Chinese students, including “those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields.”
The State Department and Department of Homeland Security will also “revise visa criteria to enhance scrutiny of all future visa applications from the People’s Republic of China and Hong Kong,” Rubio said.
Separately, a federal judge in Boston issued a preliminary injunction to block the Trump administration’s directive to strip Harvard University of its ability to admit international students.
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💡Perspectives:
• The Hill: Trump’s tariff house of cards collapses.
• The Economist: Pausing foreign applications to universities is terrible.
• Vox: What happens when Harvard can’t be Harvard.
• The Hill: Time is not on Russia’s side in Ukraine.
• CNN: Trump’s Russia-Ukraine deal is always two weeks away.
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The Trump administration submitted a ceasefire proposal supported by Israel to Hamas in the hopes of reaching a ceasefire in Gaza.
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The Department of Health and Human Services is canceling hundreds of millions of dollars in funding pledged to Moderna to help the company develop, test and license mRNA-based vaccines to combat pandemic flu viruses, including bird flu in humans.
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FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino says he’ll release a video showing that no one else was around when convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein died by suicide in a prison cell in 2019.
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Musk exits DOGE, vents about GOP’s spending
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Elon Musk marked the end of his status as a special government employee Thursday by thanking President Trump for the opportunity and venting frustration at Congress for not doing more to address government spending.
“I would like to thank President @realDonaldTrump for the opportunity to reduce wasteful spending,” Musk posted on X. “The @DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government.”
However, in a snippet from an interview set to air this weekend on “CBS Sunday Morning,” Musk said he was “disappointed” with the House GOP’s spending bill, which he said “increases the deficit” and “undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing.”
Musk took another swing at the bill Thursday, saying it moves too quickly to phase out Biden-era low-carbon energy tax credits.
Musk’s remarks capture some of the discontent among fiscal hawks in Washington, who believe the House-passed “big, beautiful bill” will explode the deficit over the next decade.
“This bill isn’t a done deal yet,” Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) posted on X. “There’s still time to fix it. The Senate version will be more aggressive. It can, it must, and it will be or it won’t pass.”
The White House doesn’t want to hear it. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Thursday demanded Senate Republicans “maintain the momentum and quickly pass” the bill. She denied it would add to the deficit, saying forecasts from the Congressional Budget Office can’t be trusted because they fail to account for the economic growth she says the bill will spur.
“Senate Republicans must get this bill passed,” Leavitt said. “Failure is not an option. The American people are counting on us, on Republicans to deliver.”
As the face of the administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Musk set out to find $1 trillion in waste, fraud and abuse.
DOGE’s website claims to have saved taxpayers $175 billion so far, although their work will continue without Musk.
The White House is sending Congress a package to claw back $9.4 billion next week, which will take aim at funding for NPR, PBS and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
DOGE dismantled several agencies, including USAID, but many of their actions have been blocked by the courts.
And Musk’s businesses took a hit over his polarizing political activity, punctuated by incidents of vandalism targeting Tesla vehicles and dealerships.
Musk says he’s finished spending money on politics for now. He’s cut a lower profile in recent weeks, a stark departure from his early antics, such as when he wielded a chainsaw while wearing sunglasses indoors at the Conservative Political Action Conference.
Conservatives celebrated Musk’s disruption of the government and thanked him for his work.
“I think the American people ought to be saying to Elon, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. He came and spent four months working for the American people free of charge,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) told Fox News’s Sean Hannity. “Didn’t collect a salary, made nothing. He rooted out massive waste, fraud and abuse, and he did so at enormous cost to himself.”
The Hill’s Brett Samuels recaps seven memorable moments from Musk’s tenure at the White House.
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💡Perspectives:
• The Hill: America has a billionaire problem and needs a wealth tax.
• Financial Times: Finance is ready for a blockchain reset.
• UnHerd: Peter Thiel’s visions of apocalypse.
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Democratic generational battle takes shape
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Frustrations over aging leadership and electoral outcomes has some Democrats advocating for a new generation of leaders.
Is there evidence of a youth movement starting to taking shape?
Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), 85, has pulled a primary challenger who is making age the centerpiece of his campaign.
Volunteer firefighter and former “Jeopardy!” contestant Harry Jarin, 35, will challenge Hoyer, the former House majority leader.
In a statement, Jarin said Hoyer “represents a bygone era of politics that isn’t working” and that congressional seats should not be treated as “lifetime appointments.”
“I’ve seen from the inside how the Democratic Party has totally lost touch with working people,” Jarin said. “We didn’t present a vision of the future or politicians that people could relate to, and that’s what opened the door for Trump and extremist Republicans to take power.”
“Politicians in their late 80s like Steny Hoyer simply don’t know how to communicate in the era of social media,” he continued. “Democrats have to recognize how badly we’ve failed and change course if we want to win.”
Hoyer, who was first elected in 1981, has not said whether he’ll seek reelection next year.
MEANWHILE…
Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), 47, will run to be the next ranking member on the powerful House Oversight Committee, seeking to replace former Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), who died of cancer last week at the age of 75.
“I’m ready to help lead that fight … [and] to ensure we hold those in power accountable and protect democracy for the next generation,” Garcia told Axios.
Connolly, who is the third House Democrat to die this year, defeated Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) to be the top Democrat on Oversight earlier this year.
Reps. Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.), 70, Kweisi Mfume (D-Md.), 77, and Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas), 44, have also expressed interest in the leadership position.
ELSEWHERE…
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) says he has a simple solution to Democratic woes with male voters amid reports the party will spend $20 million to study their failings with men.
“While men were struggling — losing jobs and self-respect — too many politicians made it seem like being a man was easy,” Khanna posted on X. “We ignored their challenges and made them fear being ‘canceled’ for saying the wrong thing. I don’t need a $20 million study to know that’s wrong.”
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