Monday, June 22

· The Supreme Court, in an 8-1 ruling, placed limits on the Securities and Exchange Commission's practice of forcing defendants to surrender profits obtained through fraud. “Today's decision allows us to continue to strip wrongdoers of their ill-gotten gains and return money to its rightful owners,” an SEC spokesperson said.

· Interior Department Inspector General Mark Lee Greenblatt agreed to investigate the Park Police’s beating, clubbing and deployment of chemical agents against peaceful protestors in Lafayette Square in Washington, D.C. during a June 1 demonstration over the police killing of George Floyd.

· Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said President Donald Trump was speaking “in jest” when he told rally goers Saturday that he had ordered a coronavirus testing slowdown. Trump directly contradicted this the following day by saying “I don’t kid” when asked to verify McEnany’s statement. Trump then contradicted himself on Thursday and aligned with McEnany when he said he did, in fact, mean the comment sarcastically.

· A federal appeals court blocked California from requiring cancer warnings on Roundup, a glyphosate-based weed killer. The World Health Organization’s cancer research team determined Roundup to be a “probable carcinogen” in 2015, though many regulators determined the herbicide to be safe. Its manufacturer Bayer AG later agreed to pay about $11 billion to settle thousands of lawsuits claiming that Roundup caused cancer.

Tuesday, June 23

· Dr. Anthony Fauci warned a House committee that the next few weeks will be critical in handling coronavirus hot spots nationwide and suggested there could be a COVID-19 vaccine later this year or early in 2021.

· Trump suggested John Bolton, the president’s former national security advisor, should be jailed for publishing his White House memoir because Trump claimed it contains allegations of presidential misconduct and classified government information.

· The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened an investigation into 63,000 Tesla Model S cars following reports of failures in the essential use of their touchscreens.

· Trump threated to stamp out the establishment of an autonomous zone, or a police-free enclave, in the District of Columbia. “If they try they will be met with serious force!” Trump tweeted. The tweet was later flagged by Twitter for violating rules on abusive behavior for threatening harm against “an identifiable group.”

· A federal appeals court panel overturned an injunction that blocked the Trump administration’s efforts to increase the number of immigrants eligible to be deported under an “expedited removal” process.

· Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sens. Kamala Harris and Cory Booker sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell demanding “meaningful legislation” on police reform and argued that the current GOP plan is “not salvageable.”

Wednesday, June 24

· The federal government announced it would end its support for the remaining 13 coronavirus testing sites it still maintains on June 30, and urged states to take over operations. The decision prompted widespread criticism due to the dramatic spikes in cases throughout the country. “The federally supported testing sites remain critically needed, and in some place like Houston and Harris County, TX, and in other hotspots, are needed now more than ever,” said Scott Becker, CEO of the Association of Public Health Laboratories.

· Tomas Philipson, head of the White House Council of Economic Advisors, announced his decision to depart the Trump administration at the end of June.

· The White House imposed sanctions on five Iranian ship captains who delivered about 1.5 million barrels of oil to the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

· Hundreds of unarmed National Guard troops were activated in Washington, D.C. to protect historical monuments after protesters tried to tear down a statue of Andrew Jackson, the United States president responsible for the Trail of Tears and other acts of genocide and subjugation of minorities.

· Aaron Zelinsky, one of four prosecutors who quit the Roger Stone case after Justice Department leaders intervened to recommend a lighter sentence, said he intends to testify to Congress that he and his colleagues were pressured to cut Stone “a break” due to his relationship with Trump. Zelinsky also named the senior Justice Department officials he alleged interfered in the Stone case.

· The Senate confirmed Cory Wilson to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, its 200th federal judge confirmed under Trump. Sen. Susan Collins was the sole Republican to vote against the nomination.

· Senate Democrats blocked a key procedural vote on the Republicans’ police reform plan in a 55-45 vote.

· Reuters revealed an internal Trump administration document showing how the U.S. determined top Chinese telecom and surveillance firms are owned or controlled by the Chinese military.

Thursday, June 25

· A complaint made to a federal watchdog against Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar alleged that Azar is illegally retaliating against the whistleblower, federal scientist Rick Bright, by disrupting Bright’s work at the National Institutes of Health. Bright claims Azar directed HHS staff not to collaborate with him in his research on coronavirus diagnostics.

· White House aides insisted there would be no change in the federal government’s pandemic response strategy, meaning no additional money or new resources despite severe new coronavirus spikes in about half the states in the country.

· Trump made an ambiguous threat of “retribution” against nationwide protesters who tore down statues of Confederate or slave-holding U.S. historical figures and said of demonstrators in Wisconsin, “These people are vandals, but they’re agitators, but they're really terrorists, in a sense.”

· The House passed a police reform bill drafted by the Congressional Black Caucus with the support of every Democrat and three moderate Republicans. The bill attempts to restrict excessive police force and ban chokeholds, establish national transparency standards and develop a national database to track offenses to emphasize accountability for officer misconduct. The bill does not meet the demands of Black Lives Matter, which calls for defunding or abolishing police rather than reform.

· The Senate passed a sanctions bill targeting China’s violations of Hong Kong’s independence. The bill imposes mandatory sanctions on any individual or agency that enables China’s encroachment on Hong Kong’s sovereignty.

· The U.S. blacklisted four companies in Iran's metal industry along with one German and three Emirati subsidiaries of Iran's largest steelmaker, Mobarakeh Steel Company. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin explained: “The Iranian regime continues to use profits from metals manufacturers and foreign sales agents to fund destabilizing behavior around the world.”

· The Trump administration petitioned the Supreme Court to invalidate Obamacare, arguing that it became invalid after the previous, Republican-led Congress removed the individual mandate.

· Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos ordered school districts to set aside a portion of their coronavirus relief funds for private schools using a formula based on the number of private school students in the district.

Friday, June 26

· A federal appeals court ruled against the White House’s transfer of $2.5 billion from military construction projects to the U.S. border wall with Mexico because the diversion of funds illegally sidestepped Congress.

· A letter obtained by Politico revealed Rep. Steve Cohen is urging Democrats to consider impeaching Attorney General William Barr because, Cohen said, Barr has, among other allegations of misconduct, “continually tried to delegitimize the investigation into foreign interference in the 2016 election.”

· The House voted, for the first time in history, to establish Washington, D.C., as the nation’s 51st state. The bill would allow D.C. to elect one member to the House and two to the Senate. Republicans unanimously oppose the bill.

Saturday, June 27

· District Judge Dolly Gee ordered the release of children held in Immigration and Customers Enforcement detention centers in Texas and Pennsylvania for more than 20 days with their parents, denouncing the Trump administration's prolonged detention of families during the coronavirus pandemic.

Sunday, June 28

· Trump, in a now-deleted tweet, promoted a video of pro-Trump Florida seniors parading in golf carts in which one supporter yelled “white power!” twice. Trump referred to the video participants as “great people.”