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Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up GOVERNMENT Advertisement 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 Advertisement 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 Advertisement 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 Advertisement 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 Advertisement 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