President Trump learned yesterday that his unilateral ability to fire people on The Celebrity Apprentice doesn’t apply to his job as leader of the free world—but it’s getting close. The court issued a pair of decisions on the issue: One said he can’t jettison Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook (for now) to preserve the central bank’s independence, while the other expanded his power to fire officials at other regulatory agencies.

The court ruled 5–4 that President Trump denied Cook due process when he attempted to fire her over allegations of mortgage fraud—a charge she denies and that critics say is a pretext to appoint someone who will vote for his desired interest rate cuts. The decision means Cook can keep her job while she challenges the firing, but it also left the door open for Trump to ultimately oust her if he can show it’s “for cause” as the law requires.

The court also highlighted the importance of the Fed being free from Oval Office pressure:

• The majority opinion written by Chief Justice John Roberts stated: “Not only the fact of independence but also the appearance of independence is key to the Federal Reserve’s design.”
• Therefore, giving a president the ability to fire a Fed governor at will as if they were Stephen Baldwin in 2008 would inhibit the central bank’s ability to set policy without influence, Roberts wrote (except for the Baldwin brother part).

That independence is crucial to investors’ faith in the bond market and the strength of the US dollar.

But otherwise, Trump gained more executive power

A separate 6–3 ruling, also written by Roberts, upheld Trump’s firing of FTC Commissioner Rebecca Slaughter. That decision granted Trump the power to give anyone a pink slip at the other independent agencies.

The court will finish the term today with major rulings on: Trump’s bid to end birthright citizenship, states attempting to block transgender athletes from girls’ and women’s sports, and whether spending restrictions on political parties coordinating with candidates violate the First Amendment.—DL

States can count late mail-in ballots, SCOTUS rules. If you leave things until the last minute, the Supreme Court is on your side: The court ruled 5–4 yesterday that states can count ballots received after Election Day, as long as they’re postmarked by then. Federal laws set Election Day as the final day for citizens to cast votes, but they “do not set a deadline for ballot receipt,” Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote for a majority that also included Chief Justice John Roberts and the court’s liberal wing. That’s a setback for President Trump, who used the loss to push for the passage of the SAVE Act, which would tighten voting restrictions. The specific case addressed the Republican National Committee’s challenge to a Mississippi law that gives a five-day grace period, but, according to the AP, more than half the states count at least some late-arriving ballots.

Rocket Lab buys Iridium for $8 billion to challenge SpaceX. The space industry is consolidating with the cash-and-stock deal Rocket Lab struck to acquire the satellite communications provider. The company is seeking vertical integration so it can better compete, since it can use its rockets to launch Iridium’s satellites. It’s hoping that leads to growth: “[W]e have the capability to unlock entirely new markets,” Rocket Lab’s CEO said. The deal, expected to close next year, comes as investors have their attention trained on the space sector following SpaceX’s blockbuster IPO.

Ford rehires human engineers after AI falls short. The company that revolutionized manufacturing with the assembly line just found out that the latest business innovation might not actually maximize efficiency. After AI quality control systems didn’t cut it, Ford hired 350 of what it calls “gray beard” engineers, aka experienced human workers, to train both younger staff and AI tools, Bloomberg reports. Ford’s CEO said the new and improved human system is cutting down on costs like warranty coverage and recalls, helping it save hundreds of millions of dollars.—AR

Comcast realized what Liz Lemon from 30 Rock always knew: Content companies and their corporate overlords are better off separate. The telecommunications giant announced yesterday that it plans to spin off its entertainment and news division, NBCUniversal.

The split undoes Comcast’s 2011 takeover of the media company—which owns iconic IP like Shrek, SNL, and The Office—from General Electric. Coming months after Comcast spun out its ailing cable channels, it mimics moves from rivals Verizon and AT&T, which also shed media assets in recent years.

NBCUniversal will become a separate publicly traded company:

• It will include the streaming service Peacock, Universal film studios and theme parks, NBC News, broadcast networks NBC and Telemundo, as well as the European broadcaster Sky.
• Comcast will keep its cable, broadband, and growing mobile wireless business.

Investors welcomed Comcast’s re-focus on its core enterprise, and the company’s beleaguered stock rose 4.5% yesterday.

Parts greater than the sum

Many analysts think Comcast is cutting NBCUniversal loose to set it up for acquisition by an entertainment giant like Netflix or Apple, while positioning itself to buy another internet provider like Charter. But Comcast co-CEO Brian Roberts denied this, saying the move is merely designed to make the two companies more agile and entrepreneurial.

Big picture: Comcast is dealing with increased competition from internet providers, including SpaceX’s Starlink. Meanwhile, Paramount’s pending purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery would create an entertainment behemoth far bigger than NBCUniversal.—SK

Shout out to all the older siblings who are currently fielding more “Can I wear your shirt?” texts than usual. Major retailers are almost sold out of US men’s national team (USMNT) jerseys, The Athletic recently reported.

Nike, the kit’s manufacturer, may have underestimated demand. According to The Athletic:

• As of Friday, adult USMNT home and away jerseys were either cleared out or only available in limited sizes at Nike, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Fanatics, Soccer.com, and the official US Soccer store.
• The US Soccer store alone has sold twice as many jerseys online as it did through the same portion of the 2022 World Cup.
• Retailers could run out of USMNT jerseys any day now, an anonymous retail executive said.

But…a Nike spokesperson also told The Athletic that Nike, Fanatics, and US Soccer will release more jerseys tomorrow, the same day the US enters the 32-team knockout stage with a matchup against Bosnia and Herzegovina.

This might’ve happened even if the US weren’t playing well. That’s because soccer jerseys are today’s band t-shirts—they’ve become fashion pieces as much as they are fan pieces. Before the World Cup began, Adidas sold out of Curaçao’s pastel yellow away jersey, which the team didn’t get to wear before its elimination.—ML

On Tuesdays, the Brew’s Matty Merritt brings you the news you need to make life a little easier during your 9-5, 5-9, or OOO.

Y’all are never going to believe this, but the suit plastering their face in every company-wide communication might have ulterior motives for banning WFH. A new study from Wharton organizational psychologist Adam Grant, Marissa Shandell, and Courtney Elliott found that CEOs who exhibit signs of narcissism also oppose remote work.

How do you measure the boss’s narcissism? Over six years, the study collected factors like pay-package size and the size of an exec’s headshot on company reports, creating a narcissism index.

The leaders who scored higher on that index…were also the most anti-WFH, likely because the admiration or respect they crave is harder to receive over Slack.—MM