July 11

FCC chair Carr conditions merger approvals on telecoms ending DEI programs

FCC Chair Brendan Carr conditioned merger and spectrum license approvals on telecom companies agreeing to eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. AT&T, Comcast, and Charter Communications each received communications linking regulatory approval to DEI policy changes. First Amendment and administrative law scholars warned the practice constituted unconstitutional conditions doctrine violations.

Trump guts State Department human rights office and fires 1,353 staff

The Trump administration eliminated the State Department's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, firing 1,353 staff, while asylum adjudications that relied on the bureau's country conditions reports continued without updated data. Marco Rubio signed the reorganization order directing the cuts. Human rights organizations warned the move would cause wrongful deportations and asylum denials.

State Department fires 1,353 employees as Rubio's reorganization takes effect

Three days after the Supreme Court stay, the State Department fired 1,353 Washington-based employees, 1,107 civil servants and 246 Foreign Service officers, the first stage of a reorganization targeting about 3,000 jobs. Staff applauded fired colleagues leaving the Foggy Bottom headquarters.

Trump calls Germany 'captive to Russia' at NATO Brussels summit, demands 4% defense spending

President Donald Trump arrives at the NATO summit in Brussels on July 11, 2018, and attacks Germany before Allied leaders, saying it is "captive to Russia" because it pays billions for Russian natural gas through the Nord Stream pipeline while relying on U.S. military protection. Trump demands NATO members raise defense spending to 4% of GDP, double the existing 2% target. Chancellor Angela Merkel defends Germany's sovereignty and rejects Trump's framing. The confrontation strains alliance unity and raises questions in Berlin about U.S. reliability as a security partner — a concern that resurfaces with each subsequent Trump-era drawdown.

Caroline County sheriff arrests Richard and Mildred Loving in their bedroom at 2 a.m. under Virginia's anti-miscegenation law

Acting on a tip, Caroline County Sheriff Garnett Brooks and two deputies entered Richard and Mildred Loving's bedroom at approximately 2 a.m. on July 11, 1958, and arrested them under Virginia's Racial Integrity Act. When Richard pointed to their Washington D.C. marriage certificate, Brooks told him: "That's no good here." Both were jailed; Richard was released on bail the next morning, but Mildred spent several nights in jail because no bail was initially offered to her. Virginia prosecutors intended the arrest as a test case for enforcing the anti-miscegenation ban against couples who married legally in other jurisdictions.