June 9

OMB targets NIH with an $18B cut while NSF loses half its budget

The Office of Management and Budget released reconciliation instructions targeting the National Institutes of Health with an $18 billion funding reduction and the National Science Foundation with a 50 percent budget cut, eliminating thousands of active research grants. NIH Director Jayanta Bhattacharya announced the cuts would terminate approximately 3,400 ongoing studies. Scientific organizations warned the cuts would end American leadership in biomedical and basic science research.

SpaceX Starlink military contracts raise new congressional oversight questions

Congressional investigators revealed that SpaceX held over $15 billion in active military and intelligence contracts for Starlink satellite services, rocket launches, and surveillance capabilities, making Elon Musk's company the single largest defense contractor by some revenue measures without the standard oversight requirements applied to traditional defense prime contractors. The contracts contained unusual provisions limiting government audit rights and granting SpaceX operational control over service parameters.

State Department travel ban strands 19,000 international students

The State Department expanded Presidential Proclamation 10014 travel restrictions to cover additional countries, stranding approximately 19,000 international students who had been admitted to US universities but could not obtain visas to travel. University administrators reported students in STEM programs were disproportionately affected. The expansion was challenged in federal court by the American Council on Education and 47 universities.

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Kennedy fires all 17 members of the CDC vaccine advisory committee

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. dismissed all 17 sitting members of the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, citing alleged conflicts of interest without producing evidence. The fired members included pediatricians and epidemiologists who set the federal childhood vaccine schedule. Kennedy replaced them with eight handpicked members, several with documented vaccine-skeptic affiliations. Senator Bill Cassidy, who voted to confirm Kennedy after extracting a written pledge that ACIP would stay "without changes," said the new panel "lacks experience" and asked it not to meet.

House Ethics probes Chairman Mark Green over a concealed security firm job

House Ethics Committee investigators revealed that Representative Mark Green, chair of the Homeland Security Committee, had concealed a paid employment arrangement with a private security firm while chairing oversight of DHS contracts awarded to the same sector. Green had failed to disclose the position on required financial disclosure forms for two consecutive years. The committee opened a formal investigation into whether Green had used his chairmanship to benefit employers with interests before the committee.

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Special Counsel Smith indicts Trump on 37 counts for Mar-a-Lago classified documents

Special Counsel Jack Smith indicts former President Donald Trump on 37 federal counts related to his retention of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago and alleged obstruction of the government's efforts to recover them. The indictment charges that Trump retained sensitive military and national security documents including information about nuclear weapons programs and U.S. vulnerabilities to attack, showed classified information to visitors, and directed his aide Walt Nauta to move boxes to conceal them from investigators. Trump pleads not guilty. The case, combined with his August 2023 indictment on January 6-related charges, makes Trump the most indicted presidential candidate in U.S. history.

Attorney General Garland indicates prior Westfall Act certification has been "overtaken by events," Biden DOJ withdraws support

Attorney General Merrick Garland informs the court that the prior Westfall Act certification under the Trump administration has been "overtaken by events." The Biden DOJ withdraws its support for substituting the United States as defendant, stating it no longer believes Trump's comments were job-related.

Iran enriches uranium to 60% purity

Iran announces it is now enriching uranium to 60% purity, dangerously close to the 90% weapons-grade threshold. IAEA confirms the enrichment milestone. Iranian officials state the decision is a response to IAEA pressure and Western sanctions. At this level, Iran has accumulated material that, with further processing, could produce multiple nuclear weapons within weeks.

Jan. 6 committee holds first primetime hearing with Capitol police testimony and Ivanka Trump clip

The House Select Committee investigating January 6 holds its first primetime televised hearing, broadcast on every major network except Fox News. The hearing opens with never-before-seen footage of the Capitol attack and features testimony from Capitol Police Officer Caroline Edwards, who was injured on the front line. The committee shows a videotaped deposition of Ivanka Trump saying she accepted Attorney General Bill Barr's conclusion that there was no widespread fraud in the 2020 election. Committee chair Bennie Thompson and vice chair Liz Cheney deliver opening statements framing the hearings as documenting Trump's "attempted coup." An estimated 20 million people watch.

January 6 Committee holds first public hearing

The House January 6 Committee holds its first prime-time public hearing, presenting evidence of Trump's seven-part plan to overturn the 2020 election. The committee shows video testimony from former Attorney General Bill Barr, Ivanka Trump, and others. Committee Vice Chair Liz Cheney states that Trump "summoned the mob, assembled the mob, and lit the flame of this attack." The hearing draws millions of viewers.

Senate Republicans filibuster For the People Act, blocking sweeping voting rights expansion

Senate Republicans filibuster S.1, the For the People Act, on a 50-50 vote that falls 10 short of the 60 needed to break a filibuster. The bill would have created automatic voter registration, established independent redistricting commissions in all states, set new standards for campaign finance disclosure, and restored voting rights to people who have completed their sentences. Manchin and Sinema also oppose eliminating the filibuster to pass voting rights legislation, leaving the bill dead. The failure is a major defeat for Biden and voting rights advocates who had rallied around the legislation as a response to Republican state-level restrictions post-Shelby County.

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Supreme Court upholds the Fairness Doctrine in Red Lion v. FCC

The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously upholds the FCC Fairness Doctrine in Red Lion Broadcasting Co. v. FCC. Justice Byron White writes that broadcasters'' First Amendment rights are not absolute because they use the public spectrum — a finite resource — under government license. The Court rules the FCC can require balanced coverage as a condition of holding a broadcast license. This ruling gives the Fairness Doctrine constitutional standing and signals to future administrations that license-based content pressure survives First Amendment challenges. The scarcity rationale — that the government owns the airwaves and can attach conditions to their use — becomes the precedent invoked whenever officials threaten to revoke broadcast licenses over editorial decisions.