U.s. Budget Deficit Returns To Prerecession Levels

“The Supreme Court has been moving at a sluggish pace in issuing decisions this term, entering the second half of June with more than 20 left to go. That is not terribly different from the last two terms, when the pace at which the court issued decisions started to slow,” the New York Times reports.

“The State Department on Friday designated the largest neo-Nazi group in Sweden and its leaders as terrorists, only the second time it has applied the label to a white supremacist group known for a long history of violence,” the New York Times reports. “The decision comes as the group, the Nordic Resistance Movement, foments violence online and forges connections with like-minded organizations and people in the United States, officials said.

Rep. Garret Graves (R-LA) said “he will not run for reelection — ending months of questions about his political future after redistricting scrambled Louisiana’s congressional map,” Politico reports. “The decision comes as Graves, a close ally of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, was staring down two difficult choices: He could either have run in his radically redrawn district, which now favors President Joe Biden by 20 points, or run against one of his fellow incumbent House Republicans in a state whose delegation is stacked with members of leadership.”

“Rishi Sunak said he would stay on as a member of Parliament for five years, the typical full-length term of a UK government, even if his Conservative Party is ousted from power in next month’s general election,” Bloomberg reports.

“Donald Trump failed to impress everyone in a room full of top CEOs Thursday at the Business Roundtable’s quarterly meeting,” CNBC reports. Said one CEO: “Trump doesn’t know what he’s talking about.” Several CEOs said that Trump “was remarkably meandering, could not keep a straight thought and was all over the map.”

“The Justice Department said Friday that it would not act on the House’s contempt referral of Attorney General Merrick Garland,” CNN reports. “In a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson, DOJ pointed to its ‘longstanding’ position of not prosecuting executive branch officials who withhold information subject to executive privilege from from Congress.”