Monday, June 15

á           The Supreme Court ruled that protections established in Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which bars job discrimination on the basis of sex, also extends to LGBTQ+ workers, giving these sexual and gender minorities legal recourse against employment discrimination. The court decided this in a 6-3 vote. ÒAn employer who fires an individual for being homosexual or transgender fires that person for traits or actions it would not have questioned in members of a different sex,Ó Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote in the majority opinion. ÒSex plays a necessary and undisguisable role in the decision, exactly what Title VII forbids.Ó Justices Samuel Alito, Brett Kavanaugh and Clarence Thomas dissented.

á           The Washington Post reported that it obtained a letter to House and Senate committees from last week, revealing that federal watchdogs are seeking help from lawmakers after recent White House legal rulings limited their ability to provide oversight on more than $1 trillion in coronavirus relief programs.

Tuesday, June 16

á           Trump signed an executive order with the stated goal of guiding police reforms such as the use of mental health, addiction and homelessness experts as Òco-respondersÓ with police officers in emergency situations and the creation of federal incentives for local police departments to seek higher standards for use of force and de-escalation training. The reforms Trump outlined fall short of changes demanded by protesters.

á           The Trump administration sued former National Security Advisor John Bolton to stop the publication of BoltonÕs tell-all book, which the White House says contains classified information.

á           Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell rejected Speaker Nancy PelosiÕs calls to remove nearly a dozen Confederate statues from the Capitol. ÒWhat I do think is clearly a bridge too far is this nonsense that we need to airbrush the Capitol and scrub out everybody from years ago who had any connection to slavery,Ó McConnell said.

á           The Washington Post reported on an internal CIA report revealing that many of the CIAÕs most sensitive hacking tools were so poorly secured that the agency only realized they had been compromised after WikiLeaks published them online in 2017.

á           The House coronavirus committee sent letters to the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the countryÕs five largest for-profit nursing home companies to demand Òdetails about their structure, executive compensation and preparedness for the coronavirus crisis,Ó Politico reported.

á           The Senate Ethics Committee ended its investigation into Sen. Kelly LoefflerÕs stock trades. Loeffler, along with a handful of other congressional lawmakers, came under scrutiny for selling millions of dollars in stocks after receiving a private briefing on the coronavirus pandemic prior to its widespread outbreak in the United States.

á           Elaine McCusker, senior Pentagon official and acting comptroller since last summer, submitted her resignation effective June 26 following her questioning of the legality of the Trump administrationÕs efforts to freeze military aid to Ukraine.

á           Rep. Stephen Lynch, head of the House Oversight CommitteeÕs national security subpanel, sent a letter to the CIA requesting information about whether Mike Pompeo used an outside advisory board to Òcurry favor for his political ambitionsÓ while leading the agency.

á           The United States, Canada and Mexico agreed to continue to keep their shared borders closed to non-essential travel until at least July 21.

Wednesday, June 17

á           Trump signed legislation calling for sanctions against Chinese officials responsible for the repression of Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang, ChinaÕs western region.

á           The House Judiciary Committee approved a police reform bill along party lines with all Republicans opposed. The plan would ban chokeholds and no-knock warrants, limit officersÕ immunity from prosecution and establish a national database of police misconduct.

á           Senate Republicans announced their own police reform bill. Sen. Tim Scott explained the bill, which focuses on three areas: more reporting of information to the FBI, de-escalation training and transparency of officer misconduct via local information databases. Sen. Chuck Schumer was critical of the bill, saying it Òdoes not rise to the moment.Ó

á           Sen. Susan Collins said she is opposed to TrumpÕs nominee for federal judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C Circuit, Justin Walker, citing Òideological commentsÓ against opponents of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh that Walker made on the day he was formally installed as a federal judge.

á           House Democrats alleged the Small Business Administration is illegally stonewalling the Government Accountability Office from reviewing its handling of the Paycheck Protection Program, a massive coronavirus relief program.

Thursday, June 18

á           The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected TrumpÕs effort to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program, which offers legal protections from deportation for 650,000 young immigrants and authorizes them to work in the U.S.

á           Pelosi ordered the removal of four portraits of former House speakers who were Confederate leaders as a symbolic gesture toward de-platforming pro-slavery sentiment in the Capitol.

á           The Senate confirmed Justin Walker to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in a 51-42 vote, with Sen. Susan Collins the only Republican to break with her party and vote against the confirmation.

Friday, June 19

á           The White House moved forward with a rule to overturn Obama-era sex discrimination protections for transgender people in healthcare.

á           Trump vowed to renew efforts to end the DACA program. ÒThe Supreme Court asked us to resubmit on DACA, nothing was lost or won,Ó he tweeted. ÒThey Ôpunted,Õ much like in a football game É We will be submitting enhanced papers shortly.Ó

á           Trump threatened people attempting to protest or disrupt his Saturday rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma. ÒAny protesters, anarchists, agitators, looters or lowlifes who are going to Oklahoma please understand, you will not be treated like you have been in New York, Seattle, or Minneapolis,Ó Trump wrote on Twitter. ÒIt will be a much different scene!Ó Korean pop music fans and teenagers on the social media platform TikTok claimed they sent in fake ticket requests to significantly inflate TrumpÕs audience expectations, and only about 6,200 actual attendees to show up.

á           The Navy upheld the firing of aircraft carrier captain Brett Crozier, who urged faster action to protect his crew from a coronavirus outbreak aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt.

Saturday, June 20

á           At his rally in Tulsa, Trump said he told his staff to slow down coronavirus testing as a means to artificially reduce the number of reported positive cases in the U.S..

á           Federal judge Royce Lamberth ruled that Bolton can publish his tell-all book despite efforts by the Trump administration to block the release. ÒWhile BoltonÕs unilateral conduct raises grave national security concerns, the government has not established that an injunction is an appropriate remedy,Ó Lamberth said in his ruling.

Sunday, June 21

á           Public health experts across the country contradicted TrumpÕs promise that the coronavirus would Òfade away.Ó