Congress cannot sit by and hope for AI to fix the deficit.
A federal judge presiding over an election integrity lawsuit in Georgia has recused herself over "perceived support of [District Attorney Fani] Willis's position on election integrity" and the doubt created regarding the judge's impartiality. The post Disgraced Federal Judge in Georgia Recuses Herself From DOJ’s Voter Roll Lawsuit appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
In Trump v. Slaughter — a case that went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court — President Donald Trump is defending his right to fire Rebecca Slaughter, a former commissioner for the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The case is pending, and according to Reason's Damon Root, he may have the late Justice Antonin Scalia to thank if Trump v. Slaughter goes his way."Sometime in the next two or three weeks," Root explains in the libertarian Reason, "the U.S. Supreme Court will decide a case about the president's authority to fire independent federal agency heads 'at will,' rather than 'for cause,' as federal law currently requires. If President Donald Trump wins the case, as many legal observers think he probably will, a 1988 dissenting opinion by a famous conservative justice is likely to play a key supporting role."The 1988 dissent by Scalia was in the case Morrison v. Olson.In that ruling 38 years ago, Chief Justice William Rehnquist and eight other justices examined a president's ability to remove officers of the U.S. from office. Scalia was the lone dissenter, disagreeing with two fellow Ronald Reagan appointees — Justices Anthony Kennedy and Sandra Day O'Connor — as well as Rehnquist and Justices Thurgood Marshall, Byron White, Harry Blackmun, John Paul Stevens and William Brennan Jr."According to the Federal Trade Commission Act," Root notes, "FTC commissioners may only 'be removed by the President for inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office.' Trump, however, purported to fire Slaughter for purely political reasons, which the statute, as written, does not allow. The question now before the Supreme Court is whether that statutory requirement amounts to an unlawful restriction on executive power. A majority of the Supreme Court seems inclined to view the law in that unforgiving light and rule in Trump's favor."Root continues, "If the Court does so, among the legal authorities it is likely to cite is a solo dissent written by the late Justice Antonin Scalia in a case called Morrison v. Olson (1988)…. At issue in Morrison v. Olson was whether the existence of the independent counsel violated the constitutional separation of powers because it placed certain executive authorities beyond the immediate reach of the chief executive."Morrison v. Olson, like Trump v. Slaughter 38 years later, is grappling with how much executive power a president enjoys under the Constitution. "Writing for the majority, Chief Justice William Rehnquist, a judicial conservative who was first appointed to SCOTUS by none other than (President Richard) Nixon, readily affirmed the independent counsel law…. Writing alone in dissent, Scalia offered a very different view of the matter," according to Root. "The Constitution placed the executive power in the hands of the president alone, Scalia argued, and 'this does not mean some of the executive power, but all of the executive power'…. If Trump does prevail in his efforts to fire Slaughter from the FTC, don't be surprised when the long shadow cast by Scalia's nearly 40-year-old dissent is visible in the Court's decision."
Gas prices and other goods could remain elevated for months, adding to the political challenge facing the White House in the midterm elections.
Iran’s national soccer team is dealing with unnecessary hardship during the World Cup thanks to the Trump administration, with acquiescence from FIFA, international soccer’s governing body.The team was forced to leave the U.S. immediately after its World Cup match with New Zealand Monday night in Los Angeles, which ended in a hard-fought 2–2 draw, and head back to their Tijuana, Mexico, base camp.“After the game today they said to us, ‘You have to leave immediately,’” coach Amir Ghalenoi told the press after the match. “Whereas today it’s very important for us to have recovery.“We’ve been asked to get on a plane and return to our camp in Tijuana, and we are really troubled by that. They are forcing us to go back early. They are making the situation more and more difficult, more hurdles, but we’re not going to let that stop us from doing our best.”Iran wasn’t even supposed to have its tournament base camp in Mexico. They were forced to abandon their original plans for a base camp in Tucson, Arizona, thanks to the Trump administration, which isn’t letting them stay overnight in the U.S. despite their group stage games taking place in Los Angeles and Seattle. Their fan base is also being punished: Iran’s entire ticket allocation was taken away last week, although it’s not clear if that was a U.S. or FIFA decision.Before their match, the team had to go through five hours of travel and security checks on Sunday, despite the distance between Tijuana and Los Angeles only being 140 miles. “We don’t know why they’re returning us, to be honest. I think it’s very strange. It seems like others are doing the planning for us.… We were supposed to arrive two nights before the game, but they didn’t permit [it],” Ghalenoi said. “We were supposed to stay here tonight to recover and return tomorrow lunchtime.“I think our team is the most oppressed one in the whole World Cup. Our federation isn’t here, our media isn’t here, our management isn’t here.”The U.S. government initially denied visas to 15 of the Iranian team’s support staff, later reducing that number to 11 after some visas were approved. Those excluded from the U.S. include both of the team’s media officers, analysts, and Iranian Football Federation President Mehdi Taj. Inexplicably, winger Mehdi Torabi’s visa has also expired, as he was only granted a single entry visa to the U.S., Iranian state media reported. The Iranian federation is scrambling to get Torabi a new one that lets him take part in the remaining matches.“I think it’s not good for the football,” team captain Mehdi Taremi said of the team’s situation. “In [the] World Cup, you have to prepare good for the next game, which is a lot of stress for the players and the staff and everyone. But we don’t have that support, and I think FIFA have to help us more than this. Let’s see what’s going to happen in the future.” 🚨🇮🇷 BREAKING — World Cup “Disaster”Mohammad Mohebi and Mehri Taremi Say:“Not to Make Excuses but This Is Not a Fair Competition.”Iranian Players argued they should arrive 2 days before matches instead of traveling, training, and playing while exhausted by 5 hours in… pic.twitter.com/Z0ViTFEoRO— Pamphlets (@PamphletsY) June 16, 2026
Trump declares Iran deal signed, but most Republican senators say they lack details and want a congressional vote to make any final agreement permanent.
As President Donald Trump takes victory laps after having secured a tentative peace deal with Iran, he’s also reached what Punchbowl News described Tuesday as “perhaps the most critical moment of his presidency” – a “potential pivot point” that could ultimately save – or sink the GOP this November, the outlet reported.“This may be the last chance for Trump and Republicans to change the subject back to the issue driving every race – the state of the U.S. economy,” Punchbowl News reported Tuesday. “The big question hanging over Washington now is what Trump will do next. GOP congressional leaders are desperate for Trump to not only wind down the Iran conflict but also begin focusing on the affordability issues that are driving a backlash to Republicans nationwide.”The deeply unpopular U.S. war against Iran has sparked a historic spike in prices – notably energy – in the United States, helping to send Trump’s favorability among Americans plummeting to career lows. As such, Republicans are hoping that the U.S.-Iran peace deal sticks, though a key issue in the conflict still persists, one that could reignite the conflict at any moment.That issue, as noted by Zeteo in an analysis published on Monday, is Israel’s continued occupation and bombardment of Lebanon, which Iran has explicitly demanded be halted as a condition for ending hostilities. While Trump has demanded Israel halt its bombardment of its northern neighbor on several occasions, Israel has remained defiant, signaling continued defiance at the announcement of the U.S.-Iran deal on Sunday.Even so, Republican leaders have placed their electoral hopes on the U.S.-Iran deal holding, with Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) explicitly saying as much to Punchbowl News.“Part of that is tied to getting a deal on Iran,” Thune said. “For example, fuel prices, et cetera, come back to the Strait of Hormuz. So if [Trump] can land a deal there that gets things moving again, it’ll have a very positive impact on the economic situation in the country. That obviously will translate into the political situation.”
Despite President Trump's Iran war peace deal, suspiciously announced on the weekend of his birthday, Republican campaign consultants and candidates are still bracing for a GOP midterm disaster, convinced that voter economic anxiety has hardened beyond repair before voters head to the polls.GOP insiders close to the White House openly acknowledge that even if gas prices drop, the damage is already done. Voter perceptions of economic hardship are "baked in and irreversible," according to Republicans interviewed for Politico reporting.According to the report, the political math is shaping up to be devastating for Republicans. Trump and the GOP were already grappling with affordability concerns before the Iran war began at the end of February. Merely returning to pre-war economic conditions won't be enough to shift voter sentiment, GOP strategists argue—particularly given that economic anxiety is the primary driver of midterm voting behavior."Economically, I don't think there's time. I think it's too late, essentially, to really change a voter's mood," confided one Republican to Politico. "But I mean, hey, I'll take it. We'll take whatever we get, right?"The White House strategy is now damage control: laser-focused messaging that Trump improved the economy in his first term and can do it again—and that now the war is over, economic recovery can resume."The argument is: Trump improved the economy in the first term, he can do it again, he knows how to do it, and now the war is over, we're going to get back to it," said a White House insider. "The economic trend pre-war was actually pretty decent. Could we get back to it fast enough? I don't think so, but let's try."However, as Politico is reporting, the Iran deal's durability is uncertain. While the U.S. and Iran have digitally signed a framework agreement to end the war, neither side has published the text, leaving critical questions unanswered about tolls for strait transiting and Iran's nuclear commitments. Israel's stated plan to remain "indefinitely" in Lebanon further threatens the agreement's viability.A senior U.S. official acknowledged that Hormuz would be "open toll-free for 60 days," with permanent reopening remaining one of many ongoing negotiation points. Oil tanker owners remain hesitant to transit the strait due to mines and attack risks, the official conceded."I think we'll get a very long way there over the next couple of weeks, but it's going to take a little time because you have some crews that are extremely risk averse," the official told Politico. Gas price relief faces a ceiling regardless. Global oil inventories have been thoroughly drained to multi-decade lows—the market is missing more than a billion gallons of crude oil supply. If the deal holds, prices could dip below $4 a gallon, according to Bob McNally, head of energy consulting firm Rapidan Energy and a former George W. Bush administration energy adviser. But low inventories will eventually reverse that trend.If negotiations fracture, prices could spike above $5 a gallon. Either way, volatility will likely persist beyond summer as new oil supply reaches markets.For Republicans facing midterm voters already convinced the economy is broken, even temporary gas price relief may come "too little, too late," Politico's Megan Messerly and Scott Waldman wrote.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe and others within the Trump administration don’t think Iran is being serious about its promise not to develop or attain nuclear weapons, according to anonymous sources from Axios. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, and Ratcliffe each voiced their doubts regarding Iran’s commitment to the memorandum of understanding announced on Sunday, as each detailed “intel” that led them to doubt Iran’s side of the MOU agreement. “The intelligence reflects that the Iranian intentions are not in line with their commitments under the deal,” one source told Axios.While the full text of the deal has yet to be released, it is understood that the MOU requires that Iran reopen the Strait of Hormuz for 60 days and refuse to develop nuclear weapons, while the U.S. must end its blockade of Iranian ships in the strait and Israel must withdraw from Lebanon. It’s important to note that the strait was already open before the war, and this commitment to no nukes from Iran was already in the original deal from 2015—a deal that Trump canceled in 2018. It’s also not clear just how seriously Trump will take this “intel” from Rubio, Ratcliffe, and Hegseth, as his son-in-law Jared Kushner and envoy Steve Witkoff are supportive of the MOU.