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GOVERNMENT
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Federal judge orders US Labor Department to keep Job Corps running during lawsuit
Evan Simpson, who was studying to become a medical assistant at a Job Corps center in Iowa before the Labor Department ordered a shutdown, at home in Chicago on June 16.
AKILAH TOWNSEND/NYT
A federal judge on Wednesday granted a preliminary injunction to stop the US Department of Labor from shutting down Job Corps, a residential program for low-income youth, until a lawsuit against the move is resolved. The injunction bolsters a temporary restraining order US District Judge Andrew Carter issued earlier this month, when he directed the Labor Department to cease removing Job Corps students from housing, terminating jobs, or otherwise suspending the nationwide program without congressional approval. Founded in 1964, Job Corps aims to help teenagers and young adults who struggled to finish traditional high school and find jobs. The program provides tuition-free housing at residential centers, training, meals and health care. 'Once Congress has passed legislation stating that a program like the Job Corps must exist, and set aside funding for that program, the DOL is not free to do as it pleases; it is required to enforce the law as intended by Congress,' Carter wrote in the ruling. Department of Labor spokesperson Aaron Britt said the department was working closely with the Department of Justice to evaluate the injunction. 'We remain confident that our actions are consistent with the law,' Britt wrote in an email to the Associated Press. — ASSOCIATED PRESS
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CELLPHONES
Trump Mobile drops 'Made in USA' smartphone claims from website
In this photo illustration, an iPhone displays the website for The Trump Organization's mobile phone service and a Trump-branded smartphone.
Joe Raedle/Getty
Trump Mobile, the new cellular service venture introduced by the Trump Organization last week, has scrubbed online references that originally promised its first mobile handset, the T1 Phone, would be produced in the United States. As reported by the Verge on Wednesday, the Trump Mobile website quietly removed language stating that the smartphone — due later this year — is 'made in the USA.' Instead, the page now includes less specific wording that says the T1 Phone has been 'designed with American values in mind.' According to the description, the T1 Phone is 'brought to life right here in the USA' and 'with American hands behind every device.' But the website no longer asserts that it will be manufactured domestically. A representative for the Trump Organization didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. In a statement to USA Today, spokesperson Chris Walker rebutted the idea that production plans have changed. 'T1 phones are proudly being made in America,' Walker said, adding that 'speculation to the contrary is simply inaccurate.' — BLOOMBERG NEWS
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ECONOMY
Fed's Collins says July is likely too early for interest-rate cut
Susan Collins, president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.
Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg
Federal Reserve Bank of Boston President Susan Collins said she sees at least one interest-rate cut this year, but indicated July would be too early for such a move. 'We're only going to have really one more month of data before the July meeting,' Collins said Thursday in a phone interview with Bloomberg News. 'I expect to want to see more information than that.' Fed officials kept interest rates steady last week, arguing there's still elevated uncertainty over how the economy will react to a set of policy changes, particularly those around trade. Two Fed governors, Christopher Waller and Michelle Bowman, signaled after that decision they might back lowering rates as early as next month. But most policymakers who spoke this week made clear they aren't seriously considering a move in July. And Collins, who's a voting member of the Federal Open Market Committee in 2025, joined that group. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
OIL
Shell says it has no intention of making an offer for BP
The Shell Oil logo in front of a Shell gas station in Pittsburgh on June 25.
Gene J. Puskar/Associated Press
Shell Plc said it has no intention of making a takeover offer for BP Plc, refuting an earlier report that two of Europe's biggest companies were in active merger talks. The announcement quells speculation that the UK's two oil majors would end up combining, following several years of poor performance from BP and rising pressure from activist shareholder Elliot Investment Management. Shell's statement means it is bound by the UK Takeover Code, largely preventing it from submitting an offer for BP for six months. 'In response to recent media speculation, Shell wishes to clarify that it has not been actively considering making an offer for BP,' it said in a statement on Thursday. The company 'has not made an approach to, and no talks have taken place with, BP with regards to a possible offer.' — BLOOMBERG NEWS
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MEDIA
Trump threatens to sue The Times and CNN over Iran reporting
President Donald Trump spoke with reporters before boarding Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House on Tuesday in Washington.
Evan Vucci/Associated Press
President Trump on Wednesday threatened to sue The New York Times and CNN for publishing articles about a preliminary intelligence report that said the American attack on Iran had set back the country's nuclear program by only a few months. In a letter to the Times, a personal lawyer for the president said the newspaper's article had damaged Trump's reputation and demanded that the news organization 'retract and apologize for' the piece, which the letter described as 'false,' 'defamatory' and 'unpatriotic.' The Times, in a response Thursday, rejected Trump's demands, noting that Trump administration officials had subsequently confirmed the existence of the report, issued by the Defense Intelligence Agency, and its findings. 'No retraction is needed,' the paper's lawyer, David McCraw, wrote in a letter. 'No apology will be forthcoming,' he added. 'We told the truth to the best of our ability. We will continue to do so.' A spokesperson for CNN, which was the first outlet to report elements of the preliminary report, confirmed that the network had responded to a similar legal threat from the president's team. Trump and his allies have sharply criticized the Times and CNN in recent days for publishing articles about the preliminary intelligence report, whose conclusions ran counter to the president's assertion that the American attack had 'obliterated' Iran's nuclear program. — NEW YORK TIMES
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GOVERNMENT
Trump administration to review contracts with consulting firms
The General Services Administration building in Washington.
Jacquelyn Martin/Associated Press
The Trump administration is asking consulting firms to justify their federal contracts as part of far-reaching efforts to reduce waste in federal spending, according to a letter obtained by Bloomberg News. The US General Services Administration said in a letter dated Thursday that it is soliciting information from the firms about their contracts to help 'critically evaluate which engagements deliver genuine value and demonstrable returns to the American taxpayer, and therefore merit external support, and which should be internalized to ensure we are responsible stewards of taxpayer dollars and avoid unnecessary spending.' The agency sent the letters to firms such as AlixPartners LLP, McKinsey & Co. Inc., Ernst & Young LLP, Alvarez & Marsal Inc., Boston Consulting Group Inc., and FTI Consulting Inc., according to a person familiar with the review. The GSA said in the letter its 'baseline presumption is that most, if not all, of these contracted services are not core to agency missions.' The agency asked the firms to provide 'a comprehensive overview of your firm's federal engagements, including spending patterns and pricing structures across all active and historical agreements,' in order to conduct its review. The firms were given a July 11 deadline to submit the information. The Wall Street Journal first reported on the letter. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
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Donald Trump Makes Legal Threat To CNN And The New York Times Over Their Reporting On Iran Intel Assessment
Donald Trump has again threatened news outlets over coverage he dislikes, this time The New York Times and CNN over their reporting on a preliminary intelligence assessment that raised doubts that the U.S. strikes on Iran destroyed their nuclear program. The White House has been on the warpath against journalists over their reporting, even though the press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, has acknowledged the existence of the intelligence assessment. Trump and his allies have go so far as to accuse CNN and the Times of denigrating the members of the military who carried out the strikes, even though their reporting was not critical of how the mission was carried out. More from Deadline Bill Moyers Dies: Influential Public Media Journalist And Commentator And Former White House Press Secretary Was 91 Peter Bart: Barbara Walters Built A Career On Trust In A Bygone Era Far Removed From Today Pete Hegseth Chides Former Fox News Colleague Jennifer Griffin As "About The Worst" During Defense Secretary's Press-Bashing Briefing Trump has insisted that Iran's nuclear capabilities were 'obliterated.' Per the Times, Trump demanded a retraction and an apology, as his attorney, Alejandro Brito, described the reporting as 'false,' 'defamatory' and 'unpatriotic.' David McCraw, senior vice president and deputy general counsel for the Times, 'No retraction is needed. No apology will be forthcoming.' McGraw wrote to Brito, 'While the Trump administration protests that the assessments were only preliminary — which, by the way, was the second word of our article — and that later assessments may come to different conclusions, no one in the administration disputes that the first assessments said exactly what the article said they did: the destruction caused by the raid was not as significant as the president's remarks suggested.' He added that the 'American public has a right to know whether the attack on Iran — funded by the tax dollars and of enormous consequence to every citizen — was a success. We rely on our intelligence services to provide the kind of impartial assessment that we all need in a democracy to judge our country's foreign policy and the quality of our leaders' decisions. It would be irresponsible for a news organization to suppress that information and deny the public the right to hear it. And it would be even more irresponsible for a president to use the threat of libel litigation to try to silence a publication that dared to report that the trained, professional and patriotic intelligence experts employed by the U.S. government thought that the president may have gotten it wrong in his initial remarks to the country.' CNN also received a legal threat. A spokesperson said 'we can confirm we received a letter and responded to it, rejecting the claims in the letter.' Trump has called for reporters on the stories to be fired, but has singled out CNN's Natasha Bertrand. On Thursday, at the press briefing, Leavitt attacked Bertrand's past reporting. The network has said that they stand behind '100% behind' Bertrand and her work. The president's legal threat is not unusual. He has previously sued the Times and CNN, but the various lawsuits were dismissed. He sued CBS over the way that a 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris was edited. The network has said that the lawsuit is meritless, as do a number of legal scholars, but its attorneys are in settlement talks with Trump's team. CBS parent Paramount Global is seeking administration approval for its merger with Skydance Media. Earlier on Thursday, Trump's defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, held a press conference in which he also bashed media outlets for reporting on the intelligence report. 'You cheer against Trump so hard, in your DNA and in your blood, cheer against Trump because you want him not to be successful so bad, you have to cheer against the efficacy of these strikes,' Hegseth said to the journalists at the Pentagon. He said that he was 'urging caution about premising an entire stories on biased leaks to biased publications to make something look bad. How about we take a beat, recognize first the success of our warriors, hold them up, tell their stories, celebrate that, wave an American flag, be proud of what we accomplished.' Best of Deadline 'The Buccaneers' Season 2 Soundtrack: From Griff To Sabrina Carpenter 'The Buccaneers' Season 2 Release Schedule: When Do New Episodes Come Out? 'Nine Perfect Strangers' Season 2 Release Schedule: When Do New Episodes Come Out?
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28 minutes ago
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38 minutes ago
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Trump's passport policy was lifted, but these Americans are still in the dark
It took nearly five months, a federal lawsuit, and the postponement of big international travel plans before Ashton Orr received the news he'd been waiting for: his passport finally arrived in the mail with the accurate gender marker on it. This moment felt like a "huge relief" to the West Virginia resident, who told USA TODAY in early March he wasn't sure he'd ever receive a passport matching his gender identity as a transgender man following the Trump administration's January policy acknowledging just the male and female sexes, assigned at birth. The LGBTQ+ advocate received his passport on June 12 as one of the seven plaintiffs in the American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of Massachusetts, and law firm Covington & Burling LLP's lawsuit Orr v. Trump, which was brought to the courts in February. The suit alleged that the policy violates the right to travel and privacy and discriminates against LGBTQ+ people. Last Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Julia Kobick in Boston expanded the preliminary injunction that blocked the policy, granting passports to the plaintiffs and any impacted Americans. Orr had applied on Jan. 16 to renew his passport with an updated gender marker for an upcoming trip to Ireland for a medical procedure to avoid any issues at airport security, which he'd experienced before since his driver's license still listed him as female. Days later, the U.S. State Department suspended the processing and issuing of all passports seeking a binary gender change or the "X" gender marker under Trump's policy. Thousands of transgender, intersex and nonbinary Americans were left in limbo, unable to travel internationally, and without a critical ID document to secure jobs, housing and other opportunities. To many in the transgender community, the policy also felt like another attack by the current administration to erase them from public spaces and deny their existence. "When your basic right to move freely is denied, it's a message: 'You don't belong here.' It's bigger than bureaucracy. It's systemic erasure," transgender drag artist and RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars 10 contestant Aja previously told USA TODAY. Her passport renewal was rejected despite her current passport and other documents matching her gender identity. While the judge's latest motion offers some relief, the battle is far from over. Many of those affected are still caught in a holding pattern, trying to figure out how to receive their passports, while others have conflicting emotions as the policy's impact went far deeper than just not having a passport. "I think the first time in years, I really felt like the legal system actually saw us, you know, as trans, nonbinary, intersex people as real and as deserving of dignity," Orr said about the judge's action. 'I am exactly who God made': Why travel is a battleground for drag and trans performers Can transgender, intersex and nonbinary Americans get their passports? Legally, yes. As of June 17, the State Department is obligated to process passports requesting the "X" gender marker or a binary change and is taking immediate steps to implement the court order, said a State Department spokesperson. However, many Americans have yet to receive accurate passports and are left in limbo. "We're waiting on the State Department to tell us – and to tell everyone publicly – how they're planning on processing all of these passports that need to be processed," said Aditi Fruitwala, an ACLU senior staff attorney on the lawsuit. The ACLU has received numerous inquiries from people who need to travel internationally urgently but don't know if they need to resubmit a new application or fill out a form for an error correction. "From what we can tell, there are class members who are still unable to update the sex designation on their passport, which indicates that they have not implemented the court order," she said. Although temporary, the judge's ruling is optimistic, according to Fruitwala. "That was sort of exciting to see, that none of (the government's) arguments really carried any water," she said. The State Department told USA TODAY it does not comment on ongoing litigation. Mixed emotions for the trans community Despite the positive direction, the continued reality of not having a passport isn't lost on those impacted. Patrick, who is identified by his first name only out of safety and privacy concerns, is one of those Americans stuck in uncertainty. At the end of 2024, he applied for a passport renewal as a transgender man so he and his wife could go on a long-awaited honeymoon. In March, he received his passport with his gender listed as female on it, rendering it nearly unusable. "That's six months with a passport that I don't know that I'll ever be able to use, and it puts me in danger," he said. Not only does Patrick feel stuck in case he needs to seek asylum, but his home state of Texas recently passed a bill that bans gender marker changes on medical documents unless due to a clerical error, so any accurate ID documents are vital. He also doesn't feel comfortable sending in his medical documents, knowing they can't be replaced if unreturned. He also isn't in a place to pay the fees again. "With Texas doing what Texas is doing, it's making it to where I won't have any accurate IDs," he said. "You know, if Texas reverts my driver's license, will I ever be able to get a passport that reflects my gender identity? Because then it'll say F on there." Knowing so many others in his community are experiencing what Patrick is going through, Orr said he feels conflicted between guilt and gratitude. "I am very eager and just very thankful that I have this privilege to be able to finally leave and get the medical care that I need, when there are still so many that, you know, are navigating the system and this latest order," he said. His trip to Ireland is back on and coming up soon. After everything, Orr admits he's worried about returning to the U.S. borders. "I don't think anybody wants to make a plan for what if I'm detained, what if I'm denied entry into a country where I'm a citizen?" he said. "No one wants to have to make those plans. But again, that is the unfortunate reality of trans travelers right now." Fruitwala said it's a reasonable fear and common question for the transgender, nonbinary, and intersex community since the policy went into effect, even though valid passports are technically usable. Although it would be considered harassment to be denied entry back into the U.S., it's a good idea for travelers to write down the names of civil rights advocates and attorneys, plus to educate themselves on their rights at the border. "Again, I'm refusing to allow this country to continue to dictate my operations," he said. "You know, I am a citizen. I have rights just as everyone else, and I'm going to travel."
