Thursday, July 10, 2025
All civic learning topics for this day
Today's Topics
Senate Majority Leader sets Impoundment Control Act vote for July 15
On July 10, 2025, Senate Majority Leader John Thune announced the chamber will vote next week—likely Tuesday, July 15—on President Trump’s request to rescind $9.4 billion in foreign aid and public broadcasting funds. The package, which passed the House 214-212 in June, expires on July 18 if the Senate takes no action.
FEMA Administrator Richardson absent as Stafford Act response fails Texas
Acting FEMA Administrator David Richardson hasn’t visited central Texas since deadly flooding struck in early July 2025, prompting concerns that DHS Secretary Kristi Noem is running the response and slowing critical aid to survivors.
Appropriations Committee debates rescinding Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative funds
Senators voted July 10 on a plan to rescind $7.8 billion in military aid Donald Trump held back to push for a border wall and to cut funding for public TV and radio before Friday’s budget deadline. Mitch McConnell led Republicans pushing the plan, Chuck Schumer led Democrats opposing it.
ERCOT data contradicts presidential claims about renewable grid failures
On July 8, Donald Trump told reporters at his Philadelphia rally that wind and solar energy ‘crash the grid’ and warned they’ll cause nationwide blackouts. He blamed renewables for Texas’ 2021 freeze-off, but the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) filings tell a different story. In March 2025, wind and solar delivered up to 75% of the state’s electricity for hours without a single outage. ERCOT reported zero grid failures, while battery storage covered evening peaks.
DOJ Deputy Attorney General Bove orders prosecutors to ignore federal court rulings
Emails and texts from inside the Justice Department show Emil Bove told colleagues on March 3 he’d defy federal judges whose rulings undercut Trump’s agenda. A DOJ lawyer flagged the messages and sent them to senators on the Judiciary Committee. Senators have stalled Bove’s confirmation vote and demanded internal documents on White House–DOJ coordination. The fight over Bove’s nomination exposes how the executive branch, DOJ insiders, and Senate oversight collide to decide who sits on the bench.
State Department sanctions include presidential waiver bypassing Congress
President Trump asked Congress this week to approve fresh sanctions on Russia, then slipped in a waiver that lets him dump those penalties whenever he wants. By insisting on that clause, Trump cut lawmakers out of the loop and grabbed extra foreign-policy power for himself.
U.S. District Court blocks birthright citizenship executive order on Fourteenth Amendment grounds
Judge Beryl A. Howell stopped President Trump’s July 4 order that would strip U.S. birthright citizenship from children born here to undocumented parents. She issued an injunction on July 10 after immigrant families filed a class-action suit backed by the ACLU. The ruling blocks the administration from enforcing the policy while courts sort out whether the president can rewrite the 14th Amendment on his own.
Eleventh Circuit blocks Florida S.B. 1718 on Fourth Amendment grounds
Governor Ron DeSantis signed a law on June 30 that let Florida troopers detain anyone they suspect of crossing the border without papers. On July 9, Chief Justice John Roberts and a majority of the Supreme Court blocked it. They cited the Constitution’s supremacy clause to remind Florida that only Congress and federal agencies set immigration policy. You’ll learn how judicial review and federalism work together to stop states from rewriting national rules.
ACLU v. DHS lawsuit challenges ICE raids as L.A. City Attorney joins resistance
Los Angeles City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto joined ACLU lawyers, led by Omar Jadwat, on July 9 to sue the Department of Homeland Security. They want courts to stop ICE from carrying out Trump’s planned sweeps that target up to 1,500 immigrants in the LA area. This showdown shows how a city can use lawsuits to push back when federal agents overstep and protect residents’ civil rights.
Supreme Court enables mass federal layoffs as Justice Jackson dissents alone
On July 8, 2025, the Supreme Court ruled 8-1 (Justice Jackson dissenting) to allow Trump's federal workforce cuts to proceed after blocking lower court orders that had frozen the layoffs. As of August 26, 2025, nearly 200,000 federal workers have left their jobs through layoffs, buyouts, and forced resignations, with Trump targeting 107,000 additional cuts in fiscal year 2026. The Partnership for Public Service confirms this represents the largest federal workforce reduction since civil service professionalization, affecting agencies from Agriculture to Veterans Affairs while stripping job protections that existed for over a century.
DNI Gabbard bypasses CIA to feed raw intelligence directly to Oval Office
Tulsi Gabbard’s team asked the Office of the Director of National Intelligence’s secret unit for raw spy data and threat assessments to back Donald Trump’s policy goals. They tried to skip the usual vetting by analysts at the CIA and FBI, aiming to pull intelligence findings straight into Trump’s playbook. This move shines a light on how easily a president’s circle can twist independent spy work to score political points — and how weak current checks are at stopping it.
Court strikes down Florida law targeting immigrant employers
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis rolled out new state rules to punish businesses that hire undocumented workers—slapping them with hefty fines and threatening to yank licenses. DeSantis pitched it as fixing federal inaction, but here’s the real play: he was trying to grab immigration power that the Constitution gives only to Congress and the president. Yesterday the Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice John Roberts, said “nope”—states can’t rewrite immigration law.
Education Department threatens Harvard accreditation over State Department visa concerns
On July 9, 2025, the Trump administration subpoenaed Harvard for detailed records on foreign students and warned it could pull the university’s accreditation. This move shows how the executive branch can weaponize regulatory authority—skipping Congress and using accreditation and subpoena power to pressure independent institutions and shape policy in secret.