Good morning. The Senate made a big decision overnight. We have that first. Then we cover cases at the Supreme Court, the Jeffrey Epstein saga and President Trump’s feelings about the Fed chair. Plus, we have stories on death and K beauty. A Senate voteEarly this morning, the Senate approved a White House request to cancel about $8 billion in funding for foreign aid and $1 billion for public broadcasting. Congress had previously authorized the spending. This matters to the aid programs and local news outlets that rely on that money. But it also matters because the Constitution gives Congress the “power of the purse” — the power to decide what the government spends. By bowing to Trump’s request, Republicans made the rare choice to cede that power. The Senate voted 51 to 48. Two Republican senators objected: Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. The House is expected to give final approval to the package later this week and send it to Trump to sign.
The Supreme Court docket
Why has the Supreme Court sided with the Trump administration so often? In many cases, it won’t say. My colleague Adam Liptak has a new story about a curious type of Supreme Court case. These aren’t the lawsuits about big constitutional questions. Those wind their way upward slowly through district and circuit courts. They yield rulings, reversals and reams of briefings along the way. At the end, justices interrogate lawyers during oral arguments and then exchange drafts of their views. The result, Adam writes, “is often a comprehensive set of opinions that can be as long as a short novel.” The cases Adam writes about now are something else — emergency applications. These require a snap decision about whether a policy can go ahead or must wait while lower judges argue over its legality. Critics call this the “shadow docket,” and the court usually rules on the urgent cases within weeks. Trump has won almost all 18 of these petitions. And unlike normal rulings, justices often don’t explain their rationale. Some recent examples:
Fast thinking, fast workNone of these emergency decisions are final. In each, lawyers can fight the policy in lower courts. Perhaps the Supreme Court will eventually decide that the government can’t deport migrants from around the world to Sudan or unmake a federal agency without the say-so of Congress. But by then, critics of the shadow docket say, the work will already be done. The justices themselves have battled over the propriety of emergency rulings. In a 2021 dissent, Elana Kagan rued a midnight ruling that effectively overturned Roe v. Wade in Texas. A month later, Samuel Alito returned fire in a speech: The catchy and sinister term ‘shadow docket’ has been used to portray the court as having been captured by a dangerous cabal that resorts to sneaky and improper methods to get its ways. … You can’t expect the E.M.T.s and the emergency rooms to do the same thing that a team of physicians and nurses will do when they are handling a matter when time is not of the essence in the same way. Some law professors have built a new database tracking the rise of the emergency docket. The first half of 2025 represented a record high, with 15 emergency applications accepted as of June 18. The next highest peak was 11, from the final year of the previous Trump administration.
Epstein Files
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Trump has a draft of a letter firing Jerome Powell, the chairman of the Fed. He has considered sending it, and he waved a copy of it in the Oval Office in front of House Republicans. But Powell’s term doesn’t end until 2026, and he says he’ll stay until then. A president can fire the head of the central bank only for cause, like fraud. Now Trump’s allies are talking about accusations of misconduct. Colby Smith and Tony Romm explain. Trump wants Powell gone. The president believes the economy would soar — and his political standing alongside it — if only the Fed would lower the cost of borrowing. But Powell has held interest rates in place to forestall inflation, which may creep up as Trump’s tariffs take hold. The president says this makes Powell a “very stupid person.” The claims: Republicans say that Powell has mismanaged a revamp of the Federal Reserve that cost billions. The project is running around $700 million over budget. What next? Legal and economic experts say that this is little more than a pretext to ax Powell, and that it’s unlikely prosecutors could ever prove a case against him. If the administration cites misconduct or fraud in firing him, Powell will get to defend himself in court. And a judge may stop the dismissal if it looks like Powell might fight the charges and win. “The Daily” today is on their fight. The show calls it “the most toxic relationship in Washington.” More on the economy
Students thrive in liberal arts programs. Universities should fund them accordingly, Jennifer Frey writes. Here’s a column by Lydia Polgreen on Trump’s antagonistic diplomacy. Everything The Times offers. All in one subscription. Morning readers: Save on unlimited access to The Times with this introductory offer.
Let’s talk about death: From end-of-life care to burials and beyond, we answer your questions on mortality. K beauty: Fearing imminent tariffs, Americans are buying Korean beauty products in bulk. Heat pumps: Should you get one? Take our two-question quiz. Your pick: Yesterday’s most-clicked link in The Morning was a video about Trump’s pivot to supporting Ukraine.
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