U.S. and world news for June 24

Israel and Iran attack each other despite ceasefire

Israel and Iran continued to fire missiles at each other despite the ceasefire that had been announced by Donald Trump that either country seemed to know about. Earlier today, Israel accused Iran of an “utter violation” of the ceasefire for launching a “barrage of missiles.” Iran denied violating the ceasefire and said that Israel had engaged in multiple strikes on Tehran before the ceasefire went into effect. Speaking to reporters at the White House this morning before departing for the NATO summit in the Netherlands, President Trump said both Iran and Israel violated the terms of the ceasefire. “Israel, as soon as we made the deal they came out and they dropped a load of bombs, the likes of which I’ve never seen before,” he said, adding, ”I’m not happy with Israel.”

Supreme Court hands Trump a victory on immigration

The Supreme Court on Monday granted President Trump’s emergency request to resume deporting migrants to countries other than their homeland, including war-torn South Sudan, with minimal notice. The court’s three liberal justices – Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson – dissented. Trina Realmuto, executive director of the National Immigration Litigation Alliance, which represents several of the migrants in the case, described the court’s order as “horrifying.” The Trump administration hailed the ruling on social media. “Fire up the deportation planes,” a Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman wrote on social media.

Republicans continue working on Trump’s spending bill

As Congress closes in on the July 4th recess, Republican senators remain at odds over several issues in President Trump’s sweeping budget bill. Key sticking points include: concerns about rural hospitals amid changes to Medicaid, state and local tax deductions and the fate of green energy tax credits. When asked if a vote would take place this week, Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana said, “Right now, the bill is held together with happy thoughts and spit. I think we’ll eventually pass something, I just can’t tell you when.”

Election day in NYC’s Democratic primary for mayor

Although 11 candidates are running in the New York City Democratic Primary for mayor’, two are leading the polls. One is Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist and three-term state assemblyman. Vying for a comeback is former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. He needs to overcome the fact that he resigned as New York’s governor in 2021 amid a sexual harassment scandal. Although incumbent Mayor Eric Adams is seeking reelection as an independent, his administration has also been mired in scandal.

Trump Administration tries to undo what Musk and company did

CNN reports that the Trump Administration is quietly backtracking from the firings and voluntary retirements that were forced on federal agencies by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency. Some observers suggest rapid rehirings are a warning sign that the government has lost capacity and expertise. “There are time bombs all over the place in the federal government because of this,” said Elaine Kamarck, the director of the Center for Effective Public Management at the Brookings Institution. “They’ve wreaked havoc across nearly every agency.” Some firings of government employees were halted by courts. But other moves to reinstate federal workers come as the Trump Administration faces pressure from lawmakers, industries and groups they serve.

Heat wave continues with new records set

The heat wave continues after yesterday resulted in heat alerts that affected about 150 million people according to the National Weather Service. In many locations temperatures rose 15 to 20 degrees above normal. The heat is expected to be a factor through at least Thursday, stretching from the Midwest to the Mid-Atlantic and including some parts of the Northeast. New York’s Central Park tied a record high of 96 degrees for the date Monday, which was set in 1888. In Baltimore, a malfunctioning Amtrak train left riders temporarily stranded without air conditioning in a tunnel for more than an hour yesterday. More than 250 daily temperature records could be broken before the end of the week.