Justices Extended Block on Deportations Under Wartime Law
The Trump administration will not be allowed to deport a group of Venezuelan migrants accused of being members of a violent gang under a centuries-old wartime law while the matter is litigated in the courts, the Supreme Court announced this afternoon.
The ruling suggested that a majority of the justices were skeptical of whether the migrants had been afforded enough due process protections. Two of the court's most conservative justices, Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas, dissented.
The justices sent the case back to an appeals court, which they directed to examine claims by the migrants that they could not be legally deported under the Alien Enemies Act. The justices also called for the lower court to consider how much notice the government should be required to provide migrants so they have an opportunity to challenge their deportations.
Republicans' megabill was blocked by party's right flank
Five Republicans on the House Budget Committee voted today to block their own party's major domestic policy bill. Most of the holdouts were conservative hard-liners who insisted on deeper budget cuts in the legislation, which was designed to enact President Trump's policy agenda.
The failed vote underscored the treacherous balancing act that Speaker Mike Johnson is trying to pull off with a narrow majority: Changes to win the backing of conservatives could alienate the more moderate Republicans.
The legislation as currently written would cut taxes, while providing the biggest savings to the wealthy, and steer more money to the military and immigration enforcement, while cutting health, nutrition and education to pay for it.
In other news from Washington:
Transit strike in New Jersey left commuters scrambling
New Jersey Transit's rail network, which ferries tens of thousands of riders into and back out of New York City every weekday, shut down this morning after locomotive engineers walked off their jobs. Some commuters showed up to their train stations unaware of the shutdown; others rushed to find different modes of transportation.
It was the first statewide transit strike in more than 40 years, and it began after contract negotiations between the union and the transit agency broke down last night. The union said that its members were pushing for parity in wages with their counterparts who work for other local railroads.
For those stuck in the chaos: Our New York City transportation reporter has tips for getting around.
Russia and Ukraine agreed to a prisoner swap
Ukrainian and Russian negotiators met today in Istanbul for their first direct peace talks since the war started more than three years ago. As expected, the two sides failed to agree on a cease-fire, which Ukraine had demanded as a precondition for negotiations.
Moscow said that if Kyiv wanted a cease-fire, it should withdraw entirely from the four regions in eastern Ukraine that Moscow annexed in late 2022. But Ukraine and Russia did agree to exchange 1,000 prisoners each in the near future — the largest swap of the war so far.
For more: Latvia's authorities advised residents on how to spot Russian spies.
More top news
What to expect at Eurovision
This year's Eurovision Song Contest — the world's biggest, buzziest and most extravagant live music show — concludes tomorrow in Basel, Switzerland. You can watch the finale from pretty much anywhere.
We asked Alex Marshall, our culture reporter in London, about who the favorites are.
'The bookmakers always think Sweden is going to win Eurovision. This year's entry is KAJ, with a song about saunas. It's fun and catchy, but the field's quite open,' Alex said. 'I'm hoping someone this year has something just so bonkers it makes the entirety of Europe, and much of the rest of the world, go, 'Oh my god, what the hell was that?''
For more: Alex wrote about the seven easy steps to win the Eurovision contest. One tip: Set something on fire. Just not the piano.
The W.N.B.A. is back and bigger than before
The 29th W.N.B.A. season begins tonight. This year, coming off a record-breaking season and an explosion into the national consciousness, the league decided to add a new team for the first time since 2008. Check out our viewing guide for the opening weekend.
Here's what to watch for: The New York Liberty are still the team to beat; Paige Bueckers, the former University of Connecticut guard now on the Dallas Wings, is expected to be a breakout star; and Caitlin Clark is aiming for nothing less than a championship.
Dinner table topics
Cook: It's surprisingly easy to make colorful, candied tanghulu at home.
Watch: Here are the movies are critics are talking about.
Read: 'How to Be Well' is one of the best new books to check out.
Decorate: Finding high-end furniture can feel like a treasure hunt. We have advice.
Relax: These are Wirecutter's favorite sandals to enjoy the warm weather in.
Learn: Nurses shared insider tips for your next hospital visit.
Compete: Take this week's news quiz.
Play: Here are today's Spelling Bee, Wordle and Mini Crossword. Find all our games here.
Meet China's first police corgi
Fu Zai doesn't look like other police dogs: He's a corgi with adorably short legs. But a police bureau in the Chinese city of Weifang nevertheless enrolled Fu Zai as a sniffer dog last year because of his most recognizable personality trait: He will do anything for food.
Fu Zai's drive for treats helped him quickly learn how to detect explosives. And his tiny legs meant it was easier for him to fit in tight spaces. Sometimes, however, food has proved too irresistible: Fu Zai was caught on camera recently grabbing a bite of a sausage in a child's hand during a street patrol.
Have a cute weekend.
Thanks for reading. I'll be back on Monday. — Matthew
Sean Kawasaki-Culligan was our photo editor.
We welcome your feedback. Write to us at evening@nytimes.com.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Associated Press
44 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Trump's big gamble in Iran is a risky moment after his pledges to keep US out of ‘stupid wars'
Follow AP's live updates on the Israel-Iran war. WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump expressed certainty his big gamble to directly assist the Israelis delivered a knockout blow to Iran's nuclear program — even as many supporters and detractors alike were warning that U.S. military action could draw the United States into an expansive regional conflict. Trump, in brief remarks to the nation on Saturday evening from the White House, said the U.S. strikes 'obliterated' three critical Iranian enrichment facilities and 'the bully of the Middle East must now make peace.' But it's a risky moment for Trump, who has belittled his predecessors for tying up America in 'stupid wars' and has repeatedly said he was determined to keep the U.S. and the Middle East from another expansive conflict. 'There will either be peace or there will be tragedy for Iran,' Trump said. He added, 'If peace does not come quickly, we will go after those other targets with precision, speed and skill.' The U.S. has struggled for decades to deal with the threat posed by Iran and its proxies. Iran-backed groups carried out the 1983 U.S. Embassy bombing in Beirut, the Beirut barracks bombing that same year and the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing. And Iranian-backed militias were responsible for hundreds of Americans killed during the U.S. war in Iraq. Trump took note of the long history of animus, and took credit for taking action. 'For 40 years, Iran has been saying death to America. Death to Israel. They have been killing our people, blowing off their arms, blowing off their legs with roadside bombs. That was their specialty,' Trump said. 'I decided a long time ago that I would not let this happen. It will not continue.' The possibility of U.S. involvement had been building for days. Still, the strikes, which were carried out early Sunday morning in Iran, carried an element of surprise. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Thursday had said that Trump would decide whether to move forward with U.S. strikes on Iran within two weeks. But on Saturday afternoon, commercial flight trackers identified multiple U.S. aerial refueling tankers on a path suggesting that they were accompanying aircraft from the Midwest to the Pacific, raising speculation that something was afoot. Those aircraft may have been a decoy — they were not part of the mission. Trump returned from his New Jersey golf club just after 6 p.m., and had a previously scheduled evening meeting with his national security team. Less than two hours later, the president announced the strikes had been completed. The White House posted photos of Trump in the White House Situation Room with top advisers as he monitored the strikes, wearing a red 'Make America Great Again' hat. The action by Trump immediately raised some concerns among U.S. lawmakers that the president had exceeded his authority. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., quickly posted on the social media site X: 'This is not Constitutional.' Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., said on social media that Trump hit Iran without congressional authorization and lawmakers should pass a resolution he's sponsoring with Massie 'to prevent America from being dragged into another endless Middle East war.' The decision to directly involve the U.S. comes after more than a week of strikes by Israel on Iran that have moved to systematically eradicate the country's air defenses and offensive missile capabilities, while damaging its nuclear enrichment facilities. The U.S. military used 30,000-pound bunker busters on Fordo, while U.S. submarines also participated in the attacks, launching about 30 Tomahawk land attack missiles, according to a U.S. official who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned the United States in advance that strikes targeting the Islamic Republic would 'result in irreparable damage for them.' And Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei declared 'any American intervention would be a recipe for an all-out war in the region.' Trump had initially hoped that the threat of force would motivate the country's leaders to give up their nuclear program peacefully. Ultimately, Trump made the calculation — at the prodding of Israeli officials and many Republican lawmakers — that Israel's operation had softened the ground and presented a perhaps unparalleled opportunity to set back Iran's nuclear program, perhaps permanently. The Israelis have said their offensive had already crippled Iran's air defenses, allowing them already significantly to degrade multiple Iranian nuclear sites. Trump went forward with the strikes even as there is some murkiness about the U.S. intelligence community's assessment on how close Iran was to building a nuclear weapon. In March, Tulsi Gabbard, the national intelligence director, told lawmakers that it was not building a nuclear weapon and its supreme leader had not reauthorized the dormant program even though it had enriched uranium to higher levels. Trump earlier this week dismissed the assessment, saying Gabbard was 'wrong.' 'I don't care what she said,' Trump told reporters. It's unclear if the U.S. has developed fresh intelligence since Gabbard's March testimony, but she insisted following the public pushback from Trump that the two of them were on the same page about Iran. Trump's decision for direct U.S. military intervention comes after his administration made an unsuccessful two-month push — including with high-level, direct negotiations with the Iranians — aimed at persuading Tehran to curb its nuclear program. For months, Trump said he was dedicated to a diplomatic push to persuade Iran to give up its nuclear ambitions. And he twice — in April and again in late May — persuaded Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to hold off on military action against Iran and give diplomacy more time. The U.S. in recent days has been shifting military aircraft and warships into and around the Middle East to protect Israel and U.S. bases from Iranian attacks. All the while, Trump has gone from publicly expressing hope that the moment could be a 'second chance' for Iran to make a deal to delivering explicit threats on Khamenei and making calls for Tehran's unconditional surrender. 'We know exactly where the so-called 'Supreme Leader' is hiding,' Trump said in a social media posting. 'He is an easy target, but is safe there - We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now.' The military showdown comes seven years after Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Obama administration-brokered agreement with Iran, calling it the 'worst deal ever.' The 2015 deal, signed by Iran, the U.S. and other world powers, created a long-term, comprehensive nuclear agreement that limited Tehran's enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions. Trump decried the deal as giving Iran too much in return for too little, because the agreement did not cover Iran's non-nuclear malign behavior.
Bloomberg
an hour ago
- Bloomberg
Hegseth Says Attack on Iran was US-Led
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says the US has worked closely with Israel but this air strike on Iran was US-operated and US-led. "We made sure we were not in the same piece of airspace and sky. Aside from that, that was the extent of it,' said General Dan Caine, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff. They spoke at the Pentagon. (Source: Bloomberg)
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Switch to mail ballots will boost Kalispell turnout
Jun. 22—Voters in Kalispell municipal elections will now receive their ballots exclusively by mail. In a split vote last week, Council made the decision to transition away from polling-place elections. It's a move that could save taxpayer funding and help increase voter turnout. Still, Mayor Mark Johnson and Councilor Sid Daoud dissented, both expressing a distaste for letting go of the traditional in-person option. Daoud — who is running for mayor in the next election — even espoused mail-in voting as "un-American." Rhetoric aside, voting from afar is nothing new in this country and there's nothing unpatriotic about it. In fact, the practice dates to the Civil War when soldiers were allowed to cast ballots from the battlefield for elections in their hometowns, according to MIT's Election Lab. Absentee ballot laws for civilians, meanwhile, can be traced back to the 1800s, well before Montana was even a state. Today, eight states allow all elections — federal, state and local — to be conducted exclusively by mail. Meanwhile, Montana is among nine states that allows all mail ballots for small elections, such as municipal and school district elections. While data is mixed, it generally points to increased voter participation in elections conducted by mail, particularly local elections. One study in Colorado revealed an 8% uptick in voter participation during mail elections. Given that Kalispell's most recent election in 2023 saw just 263 poll voters, a dismal 4% of eligible poll voters, any increase would be a welcome change. While Mayor Johnson decries losing the tradition of going to the polls on Election Day, the convenience factor of voting by mail shouldn't be underestimated as a way to ensure everyone gets to vote. "You're reaching out to every single active eligible voter and providing them the opportunity to vote without having to narrow it down to one day in a specific time window." Flathead County Election Manager Paula Buff told the Council. It's important to note that the new system does not eliminate the option to fill out or return a ballot in person. People can still go to the election office where there will be poll booths set up. Increased voter participation and lower taxpayer costs? There's nothing unpatriotic about that.
