Monday, June 27

• President Joe Biden signed a national security memorandum to fight illegal fishing as part of the United States’ efforts in an international effort to crack down on fishing violations. The memo directs the Defense Department, Labor Department and Coast Guard to work towards “ending human trafficking, including forced labor … while promoting safe, sustainable use of the ocean.” An official claimed China was one of the largest fishing violators.
• The Supreme Court’s conservative majority ruled in favor of a public high school football coach who sought to kneel and pray on the field after games. The justices said the coach’s prayer was protected by the First Amendment. “The Constitution and the best of our traditions counsel mutual respect and tolerance, not censorship and suppression, for religious and nonreligious views alike,” Justice Neil Gorsuch said.

Tuesday, June 28

• The House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the Capitol held its fourth hearing. It leaned heavily on the testimony of Cassidy Hutchinson, aide to former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, who gave a firsthand account of former President Donald Trump’s behavior on, leading up to, and after Jan. 6, 2021. Hutchinson’s testimony was not announced in advance. Among other revelations, she claimed Trump asked that the magnetic weapons detectors to be removed from the building; that Trump wanted to join his supporters at the Capitol; and that Trump was hesitant to call on his supporters to end the riot.
• Biden responded to an incident in San Antonio, Texas, that resulted in the deaths of at least 51 migrants trapped inside an abandoned tractor-trailer in sweltering heat, one of the deadliest migration incidents along the U.S.-Mexico border in recent history. Biden said it was “horrifying and heartbreaking” and that “Exploiting vulnerable individuals for profit is shameful,” then vowed to crack down on migrant smuggling operations.
• U.S. Central Command said it carried out a raid in Syria that targeted and killed Abu Hamzah al Yemeni, a senior leader of an al-Qaeda-aligned group called Hurras al-Din.

Wednesday, June 29

• Biden announced that the U.S. will deploy military reinforcements across Europe to counter Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The announcement came as part of a meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in Madrid, Spain, at the opening of the alliance’s annual leadership summit.
• The Supreme Court ruled 4-5 that Oklahoma can prosecute non-Native Americans for crimes committed on tribal land when the victim is Native American. The decision backtracks its 2020 ruling that a large chunk of eastern Oklahoma remains under Native sovereignty.

Thursday, June 30

• The Supreme Court’s conservative majority ruled that that the Clean Air Act does not give the Environmental Protection Agency broad authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from power plants that contribute to global warming, thus limiting federal power to control carbon dioxide emissions.
• The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that the Biden administration properly ended Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” policy, which forced some asylum seekers to wait in Mexico for their immigration hearings.
• Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was sworn in to start her lifetime appointment as the first Black woman on the country’s top court. She replaced retiring Justice Stephen Breyer.

Friday, July 1

• The Pentagon pledged to Ukraine a weapons package costing about $820 million and comprised of two surface-to-air missile systems, four counter-artillery radars, and about 150,000 rounds of artillery ammunition to assist the fight against Russia.

Saturday, July 2

• No news to report.

Sunday, July 3

• Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Cali.) said on NBC’s “Meet The Press” that she is not surprised Hutchinson’s Jan. 6 testimony has come under attack from Trump and his allies. “We always expected Trump world to try and discredit her, and they are not disappointing us in that regard,” Lofgren said. “I thought her testimony was credible. She has nothing to gain by stepping forward and telling the truth. And Trump world has everything to lose by the truth. So they are doing their best to try and attack her, to discredit her.”