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Senate Democrats’ delay tactic has finally come to a close, but Senate Republicans are still a ways out from voting on President Donald Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill.’

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., forced clerks on the Senate floor to read aloud the entirety of the Senate GOP’s version of Trump’s megabill on Saturday. In all, reading the 940-page legislative behemoth bled well into Sunday and took nearly 16 hours.

Schumer announced that he would be forcing the clerks to read the bill ahead of the ultimately successful, albeit drama-filled, procedural vote. And after forcing the reading of the bill, he said on X, ‘Republicans are squirming.’

‘I know damn well they haven’t read the bill, so we’re going to make them,’ he said.

It’s an oft-unused strategy Schumer and Senate Democrats deployed as part of the pain campaign against Republicans, who have iced them out from having input on the president’s agenda.

The last time Senate clerks were forced to read the entirety of a bill on the floor was in 2021, when Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., similarly objected and demanded that former President Joe Biden’s American Rescue Act be read aloud.

Now with the reading dispensed, lawmakers will trudge onward with 20 hours of debate evenly divided between both Democrats and Republicans. Senate Democrats are expected to squeeze every second from their allotted time, while Senate Republicans will likely only use a couple of hours at most.

That time on the GOP side will be used by those already critical of the bill, like Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky. While his support for final passage is unlikely, he is not the only headache that Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., may have to worry about.

Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., is unlikely to change his mind and vote for final passage – despite Trump bashing him on social media and threatening a primary challenger – unless substantial changes are made to the Medicaid adjustments in the bill.

Tillis further steeled his resolve against the bill when he announced his retirement from Washington at the end of his term, opting against a likely grueling primary battle. 

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, who supported the legislation through the first test, also wants to see real changes to the Medicaid provider tax rate.

Then there are the fiscal hawks who held the vote hostage on Saturday night as they negotiated with Thune, with the help of Vice President JD Vance, to get an amendment to make changes to the federal medical assistance percentage (FMAP), which is the amount that the federal government pays for Medicaid to each state.

Changes to FMAP are not popular among most Senate Republicans, save for fiscal hawks looking for steeper cuts in the colossal bill. 

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Senate Republicans and Democrats remain divided on the Medicaid issue hours after President Donald Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ passed a key Senate vote Saturday night.

Sen. Jim Banks, R-Ind., and Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., both appeared on ‘Fox News Sunday’ to discuss Trump’s legislation in the wake of the 51-49 vote.

Banks argued that the Medicaid reforms would only affect certain people.

‘The Medicaid reforms would affect able-bodied Americans, those who are sitting at home who can work, who don’t work, who don’t have a sick kid or a sick mom, they shouldn’t receive Medicaid without working,’ he said. ‘And on top of that, the bill would take Medicaid away from illegal immigrants.’

Coons conceded there are states that are using their state funding to provide healthcare ‘for people who are undocumented,’ though argued that Trump’s $900 billion cuts to the program ‘are not about throwing people off of Medicaid who are not here legally.’

‘They are about imposing more and more requirements on the beneficiaries of Medicaid,’ the Democrat said.

Banks argued that taxes for everyday Americans will go up if the bill doesn’t get passed.

‘If we don’t pass this bill, everyone’s taxes on average will go up $2,000 a household, and that’s not fair to the regular Americans who work hard every day,’ he said.

Lingering concerns in both chambers about Medicaid — specifically the Medicaid provider tax rate and the effect of direct payments to states — energy tax credits, the state and local tax (SALT) deduction and others proved to be pain points that threatened the bill’s survival.

Coons, however, said that Americans who don’t believe the Democrats’ standpoint should listen to Sen. Tom Tillis, R-N.C., who, along with Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., voted against the bill.

‘Don’t believe me. Listen to Senator Tom Tillis,’ Coons said. ‘He’s been saying loudly this bill is a bad deal for the middle class. It’ll raise healthcare costs and throw millions off of needed health care.’

On Sunday morning, Trump slammed both Tillis and Paul on social media. 

Hours later, Tillis announced he would not seek reelection.

Sen. Tillis announces he will not seek re-election

Following the vote, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., demanded that the text of the behemoth bill be read aloud before debates begin. After 14 hours, Senate clerks were still about 120 pages short of finishing reading aloud the 940-page text.

Once the reading is finished, the two parties will each get about 10 hours to debate on the bill. 

The timeline puts a likely Senate vote-a-rama on the bill in the early morning hours of Monday. A final passage vote could happen between late morning and late Monday night.

Fox News Digital’s Alex Miller and Fox News’ Tyler Olson contributed to this report.

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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said “many opportunities have opened up” following Israel’s military operations in Iran, including the possibility of bringing home the remaining hostages held in Gaza.

Speaking at a Shin Bet security agency facility in southern Israel on Sunday, Netanyahu said, “As you probably know, many opportunities have opened up now following this victory. Firstly, to rescue the hostages. Of course, we will also need to solve the Gaza issue, defeat Hamas, but I believe we will accomplish both missions.”

Netanyahu’s comments mark one of the first times he has clearly prioritized the return of the hostages over the defeat of Hamas.

For months, Netanyahu has prioritized the defeat of Hamas in Gaza and talked about a “total victory.” At the beginning of May, he called defeating Hamas the “supreme objective,” not freeing the hostages.

His comments Sunday mark a potentially significant change in how he has talked about Israel’s goals in the war. He has repeatedly faced criticism from the families of hostages, opposition politicians and large segments of the Israeli public for not clearly placing the return of the hostages as Israel’s primary goal.

Reacting to his comments Sunday, the Hostages Families Forum Headquarters called for a single comprehensive deal to bring back all 50 hostages and end the fighting in Gaza.

“What is needed is release, not rescue. This difference of one word could mean the difference between salvation and loss for the hostages,” the forum said in a statement.

Elsewhere in his speech, Netanyahu also said “wider regional opportunities are opening up,” an apparent reference to efforts to expand the Abraham Accords that saw Israel normalize relations with several Gulf states.

Pressure builds for ceasefire

The comments by Netanyahu come amid increasing pressure on Israel from US President Donald Trump to make a ceasefire deal. Since the end of the conflict with Iran, negotiators have been pushing to restart stalled negotiations with Hamas in Gaza.

Netanyahu held a high-level meeting on Gaza Sunday evening, according to two Israeli sources, meeting with some of his closest advisers, including Minister for Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer, Defense Minister Israel Katz and others, to discuss the latest on Israel’s military operation in the Palestinian enclave.

Dermer is scheduled to hold meetings with the Trump administration in Washington, DC, on Monday.

Trump has made clear his desire to secure a ceasefire deal to end the war in Gaza and bring home the 50 hostages held by Hamas, at least 20 of whom are still alive.

In a post on social media early Sunday morning, Trump pushed Israel to “MAKE THE DEAL IN GAZA. GET THE HOSTAGES BACK!!!”

Trump had earlier thrown his support behind Netanyahu, calling his ongoing trial on corruption charges a “POLITICAL WITCH HUNT” – the second time the president had called for an end to the prosecution of the long-time Israeli leader.

With the conclusion of the operation in Iran – and Trump’s sudden foray into Israel’s legal system – Netanyahu has requested to postpone his upcoming trial sessions this week.

After twice rejecting the requests, the court granted the delay following a confidential session in which the judge said there had been a change to the “evidentiary structure” compared to the previous requests.

A proposal for peace, but killings continue

The latest proposal from US envoy Steve Witkoff calls for a 60-day ceasefire and the release of 10 living hostages and 18 deceased hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.

During this period, the two sides would enter negotiations for a comprehensive ceasefire agreement that would end the war, which is a key demand from Hamas as part of any deal.

Hamas has sought stronger guarantees around a permanent ceasefire. Until now, Israel had refused to agree to a permanent end to the conflict as it pursued its war goals of destroying Hamas’ ability to govern and the disarmament of Gaza. But Israel’s success in its military operations against Iran have potentially created a new window to pursue negotiations, an opportunity on which negotiators are trying to capitalize.

More than 56,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes and military operations since the beginning of the war, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, which does not differentiate between militants and civilians. That number includes more than 17,000 children, the ministry said.

On Sunday, Israeli strikes on Jabalya al-Balad and Jabalya Al-Nazaleh killed at least 15 people, according to emergency workers in Gaza.

One of the houses that was hit was “full of displaced Palestinians, the majority of which were children,” Afana said.

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Hong Kong pro-democracy political party League of Social Democrats announced on Sunday it had disbanded due to immense political pressure, the latest casualty in a years-long crackdown that has already quieted much of the city’s once-vocal opposition.

Following massive anti-government protests in 2019, many leading activists were prosecuted or jailed under a 2020 national security law imposed by Beijing. Dozens of civil society groups dissolved. Media outlets critical of the government shuttered.

The League of Social Democrats was the only pro-democracy party that still staged small street protests from time to time and held street booth activities to carry on its advocacy despite the risks.

Its chairperson, Chan Po-ying, said the disbandment decision was made after careful deliberation, especially taking into account the consequences to its members and comrades. Chan refused to elaborate on the pressure but said she was proud to say that the party had still contributed to the city’s pro-democracy movement in these few years.

“We have stayed true to our original aspirations and haven’t let down to the trust placed in us by those who went to prison,” she said. “While we are now forced to disband and feel an ache in our conscience, we have no other choice,” she said.

Protests became rare under Beijing’s grip

Hong Kong, a former British colony, will mark the 28th anniversary of returning to Chinese rule on July 1. The city used to hold annual pro-democracy protests that day and other various demonstrations demanding better policies.

But those were ceased after most organizing groups were disbanded and the leading activists were jailed. Critics say the drastic political changes under the security law reflect that the freedoms Beijing promised to keep intact in 1997 are shrinking.

The Beijing and Hong Kong governments insist the law is necessary for the city’s stability. A Chinese official overseeing Hong Kong affairs in 2023 said protests are not the only way for people to express their views, signaling Beijing’s stance toward demonstrations in the city.

In April, Hong Kong’s biggest pro-democracy party, the Democratic Party, also voted to give its leadership the mandate to move toward a potential disbandment. Party veterans told The Associated Press that some members were warned of consequences if the party didn’t shut down. A final vote is expected at a later date.

Chan said she believed the “one country, two systems” principle, which Beijing uses to govern Hong Kong, has already ended, pointing to the Chinese government’s imposition of the security law and introducing the idea of “soft resistance,” a term officials use to refer to underlying security risks.

“One country, two systems has already (become) one country, one system,” she said.

A party known for confrontational tactics

Founded in 2006, the League of Social Democrats was a left-wing political party that opposed what it called collusion between government and business, upheld the principle that people have a say and was firmly committed to the interests of underprivileged residents.

It was widely known for its more aggressive tactics when fighting for change. Its members have thrown bananas, eggs and luncheon meat at officials or pro-Beijing lawmakers as a protest gesture. Its party platform said the group advocated non-violent resistance but would not avoid physical confrontations – a stance that set it apart from older, traditional pro-democracy groups.

It once had three lawmakers in office. Its longest-serving lawmaker, Leung Kwok-hung – Chan’s husband – was disqualified from the legislature due to his manner of taking his oath in office in 2017.

Members arrested and jailed over activism

On the streets, the group’s activism led to the arrests and jailing of its members from time to time.

Last year, Leung and prominent LGBTQ+ activist Jimmy Sham, a former party leader, were sentenced to nearly seven years and more than four years over their roles in an unofficial primary election under the sweeping security law. Sham was freed from prison last month.

In recent years, the party has had limited political influence, no longer holding any seats in the legislature or local district councils. Even a bank ceased to provide bank account services to the group.

But it continued to stage small protests from time to time, despite sometimes those activities leading to arrests. On June 12, Chan and other members were fined after being found guilty over their street booth activities.

Undeterred by their convictions, they kept pressing on and protested against the ruling outside the court.

Chan wiped away tears during Sunday’s press conference and chanted slogans with other members at the end.

She said she doesn’t believe that democracy will come in the near future.

“Moving forward is not at all easy,” she said. “I hope everyone can become like an ember, a flying spark – still carrying light, keeping that light alive, no matter how small it may be.”

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Turkish police detained at least 30 people in central Istanbul on Sunday as they tried to take part in a Pride March, which authorities had banned as part of a years-long clampdown on LGBTQ+ events, an opposition politician said.

Footage obtained by Reuters showed police scuffling with a group of activists holding rainbow flags in the city center before rounding them up and loading them into police vans.

Kezban Konukcu, a lawmaker from the pro-Kurdish DEM Party who attended the march, told Reuters that at least 30 people had been taken into custody.

Police did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Istanbul governor’s office had earlier deemed the march unlawful and said groups promoting the event were operating “illegally.”

Authorities have banned Pride marches in Turkey’s largest city since 2015, citing public safety and security concerns.

President Tayyip Erdogan’s Islamist-rooted AK Party has adopted increasingly harsh rhetoric against the LGBTQ+ community over the past decade.

In January, Erdogan declared 2025 the “Year of the Family,” describing Turkey’s declining birth rate as an existential threat and accusing the LGBTQ+ movement of undermining traditional values.

“The primary goal of the gender neutralization policies, in which LGBT is used as a battering ram, is the family and the sanctity of the family institution,” Erdogan said in January.

Rights groups have condemned Turkey’s stance. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have warned that government rhetoric and actions are fueling a hostile environment for LGBTQ+ people, contributing to rising discrimination and violence.

Despite the bans, small groups of activists continue to mark Pride Week each year. Organizers say the increasingly aggressive police response reflects broader crackdowns on dissent and freedom of assembly in Turkey.

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Major heat waves across southern Europe have pushed temperatures above 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius) in countries including Italy, Spain and Greece, as local authorities issued fresh warnings against the risk of wildfires.

Experts link the rising frequency and intensity of these heatwaves to climate change, warning that such extreme weather events are becoming increasingly common across Europe’s southern region.

Severe heat waves were recorded in Italy, Greece, Spain and Portugal before the weekend, with locals and tourists alike taking shelter from the sweltering conditions.

Two-thirds of Portugal were on high alert on Sunday for extreme heat and wildfires, with temperatures expected to top 107 Fahrenheit (42 Celsius) in Lisbon.

In Italy, a few regions – Lazio, Tuscany, Calabria, Puglia and Umbria – were planning to ban some outdoor work activities during the hottest hours of the day in response to the record-high temperatures. Italian trade unions pushed the government to expand such measures at a national level.

On Sunday, the Italian Health Ministry placed 21 out of 27 monitored cities under its highest heat alert, including top holiday destinations like Rome, Milan and Naples.

In Rome, tourists tried to seek shade near popular spots like the Colosseum and the Trevi Fountain, using umbrellas and drinking from public water fountains to stay cool.

Similar scenes were reported in Milan and Naples, where street vendors sold lemonade to tourists and residents to offer some refreshment from the heat.

Greece was again on high wildfire alert because of extreme weather, with the first summer heat wave expected to continue throughout the weekend.

A large wildfire broke out south of Athens on Thursday, forcing evacuations and road closures near the ancient Temple of Poseidon. Strong winds spread the flames, damaging homes and sending smoke across the sky.

Greek authorities deployed 130 firefighters, 12 planes and 12 helicopters to battle the blaze, while police evacuated 40 people, with five areas under evacuation orders.

In Spain, locals and tourists were desperately trying to keep cool this weekend, as the country sizzled in temperatures as high as 107 Fahrenheit (42 Celsius) in the southern city of Seville along with other locations in southern and central parts of the country.

Southern regions of Spain recorded temperatures above seasonal averages, prompting health alerts and safety recommendations from authorities. The country’s national meteorological service Aemet has said that June is set to break yet another record, becoming the hottest such month since records started.

Experts warned that intense heat can affect daily life, especially for vulnerable populations such as the elderly and children.

Local authorities advised against physical activity during the hottest hours of the day, and recommended drinking plenty of fluids.

A Lancet Public Health study published last year highlighted the increasing risk of heat-related deaths because of climate change. The study predicted that heat-related deaths could more than quadruple by mid-century under current climate policies.

While more people die from cold than heat, the study stressed that rising temperatures will offset the benefits of milder winters, leading to a significant net increase in heat-related mortality.

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Nearly all the universal injunctions blocking President Donald Trump’s agenda were issued by just five of the nation’s 94 federal district courts, a statistic that the administration said lays bare the Left’s strategy of lawfare.

Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi spoke at a news conference Friday just after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a 6-3 decision that district judges, the lowest-level jurists in the federal system, cannot impose nationwide injunctions. Bondi noted that out of 40 nationwide injunctions issued since Trump retook the White House, 35 came out of five districts perceived as liberal.

‘Active liberal… judges have used these injunctions to block virtually all of President Trump’s policies,’ Bondi said. ‘No longer. No longer.’

Nationwide injunctions are court orders that prevent the federal government from implementing a policy or law. They have a cascading effect impacting the entire country, not just the parties involved in the court case, and have been used against the Trump administration at a vastly higher rate than previous administrations. 

Trump’s first administration faced 64 injunctions out of the total 127 nationwide injunctions issued since 1963, Fox News Digital previously reported. There were 32 injunctions issued against the Bush, Obama and Biden administrations collectively since 2001, meaning the first Trump administration was on the receiving end of double the amount of nationwide injunctions than his two predecessors and successor combined, according to an April 2024 edition of the Harvard Law Review. 

Bondi pointed to the five district courts – Maryland, Washington, D.C., Massachusetts, California and Washington state – calling it ‘crazy’ that such an overwhelming number of nationwide injunctions originated in those jurisdictions. Conservatives have accused the Left of bringing their cases in liberal judicial districts stocked with Democratic-appointed judges.

Fox News Digital looked at the five district courts and how judges in them have issued sweeping injunctions that have hampered Trump’s federal policies. 

U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland

The Supreme Court agreed this year to take up three consolidated cases involving nationwide injunctions handed down by federal district judges in Maryland, Massachusetts and Washington state related to Trump’s birthright citizenship executive order. 

The U.S. District Court for Maryland was one of the courts nationwide that issued an injunction against Trump’s January executive order to end the practice of granting birthright citizenship to the children of illegal immigrants. Maryland U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman issued the injunction in February following a lawsuit brought by five pregnant illegal immigrant women in the state, which was followed by other district judges in Washington state and Massachusetts ordering injunctions of their own. 

The Maryland district court also issued a separate preliminary injunction against the Trump administration’s executive orders ending federal support for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs in February. 

The court recently came under fire from the Trump administration when the Department of Justice filed lawsuits against each of the 15 federal judges on the Maryland federal bench earlier this month for automatically issuing injunctions for certain immigration cases. The injunctions have prevented the Department of Homeland Security from deporting or changing the legal status of the immigrant in question for two business days.

‘President Trump’s executive authority has been undermined since the first hours of his presidency by an endless barrage of injunctions designed to halt his agenda,’ Bondi said in a press release of the state’s automatic injunction practices.  ‘The American people elected President Trump to carry out his policy agenda: this pattern of judicial overreach undermines the democratic process and cannot be allowed to stand.’

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California

Judges on the bench for the Northern District of California have issued at least six significant injunctions hampering policies put forth by the Trump administration this year. The Northern California district court includes counties such as San Francisco, Sonoma and Santa Clara. 

Back in March, Judge William Alsup, for example, granted a preliminary injunction ordering federal agencies to reinstate probationary employees fired under the Trump administration’s efforts to slim down the size of the federal government. Judge Susan Illston granted a temporary pause in May to the Trump administration’s federal reductions in force initiatives, and Judge William Orrick granted a separate injunction in April that prevented the Trump administration from withholding federal funds from areas deemed sanctuaries for illegal immigrants. 

Federal judges on the Northern California bench also issued injunctions to block the enforcement of Trump administration polices related to organizations that promote DEI and LGBTQ programs and to prevent the administration from terminating the legal visa status of international students. 

U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia

The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia has issued at least six signigicant injunctions against the Trump administration this year, including Judge James Boasberg’s March injunction preventing the Trump administration from deporting violent illegal immigrant gang members under the Alien Enemies Act – which received widespread backlash among conservatives.  

‘People are shocked by what is going on with the Court System. I was elected for many reasons, but a principal one was LAW AND ORDER, a big part of which is QUICKLY removing a vast Criminal Network of individuals, who came into our Country through the Crooked Joe Biden Open Borders Policy! These are dangerous and violent people, who kill, maim and, in many other ways, harm the people of our Country,’ Trump posted to Truth Social in March following Boasberg extending his restraining order against the use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport illegal immigrants with alleged ties to gangs, such as Venezuelan criminal organization Tren de Aragua (TdA).

Federal Judge Loren AliKhan issued a preliminary injunction in January barring the Trump administration’s freeze on federal grant disbursements through various federal agencies; Judge Paul Friedman blocked the Trump administration from targeting foreign service workers’ collective bargaining rights in May; and Judge Ana Reyes granted a nationwide injunction in March barring the Pentagon from enforcing Trump’s executive order banning transgender individuals from serving in the U.S. military. 

Judges on the court have also issued injunctions targeting the Trump administration’s plans to dismantle the federally-funded state media network Voice of America, and another that blocked the Bureau of Prisons from implementing a Trump executive order restricting transgender healthcare and accommodations for federal inmates. 

U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts

The U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts has issued at least four significant injunctions against the Trump administration this year, including the nationwide preliminary injunction barring Trump’s executive order ending the practice of granting birthright citizenship to the children of illegal immigrants. 

Other injunctions issued this year include Judge Julia Kobick this month blocked Trump’s presidential action requiring passports to reflect a person’s biological sex and not their gender identity, and another that involved the Trump administration’s efforts to end a Biden-era parole program for hundreds of thousands of migrants from Afghanistan, Latin America and Ukraine.

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington

Ahead of the Supreme Court’s ruling limiting the scope of nationwide injunctions, judges on the District Court for the Western District of Washington issued a handful of injunctions targeting Trump policies, including joining courts in Maryland and Massachusetts earlier this year blocking Trump’s executive order ending birthright citizenship for children of illegal immigrants. 

Judge Jamal Whitehead issued a preliminary injunction in February halting Trump’s January executive order suspending the U.S. Refugee Assistance Program. While another federal judge on the bench in March granted a nationwide preliminary injunction blocking Trump’s executive order barring transgender individuals from serving in the military.

The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington includes counties such as King – home to Seattle – Snohomish and Clark. The two courts for the Western District of Washington and the Northern District of California are both in the 9th Circuit. 

Trump celebrated the Supreme Court’s ruling restricting the scope of federal judges’ powers to grant nationwide injunctions as ‘a monumental victory for the Constitution.’

‘The Supreme Court has delivered a monumental victory for the Constitution, the separation of powers, and the rule of law in striking down the excessive use of nationwide injunctions… I was elected on a historic mandate, but in recent months, we’ve seen a handful of radical left judges effectively try to overrule the rightful powers of the president to stop the American people from getting the policies that they voted for in record numbers. It was a grave threat to democracy,’ Trump said on Friday. 

SCOTUS’ ruling followed the Trump administration filing an emergency appeal with the highest court in March, when the then-acting solicitor general, Sarah Harris, sounded the alarm that nationwide injunctions had hit ‘epidemic proportions’ under the second Trump administration. She noted that the federal government faced 14 universal injunctions in the first three years of the Biden administration, compared to 15 leveled against the Trump admin in one month alone. 

SCOTUS limits nationwide injunctions with

Universal injunctions were also a sticking point for officials in the first Trump administration, who railed against the flow of injunctions ordered against the 45th president’s policies and laws, including the former chiefs of the Department of Justice. 

‘Courts issued an average of only 1.5 nationwide injunctions per year against the Reagan, Clinton and George W. Bush administrations, and 2.5 per year against the Obama administration,’ former Assistant Attorney General Beth Williams said in February 2019.  

‘In President Trump’s first year in office, however, judges issued a whopping 20 nationwide injunctions – an eight-fold increase. This matches the entire eight-year total of such injunctions issued against President Obama during his two terms. We are now at 30, matching the total number of injunctions issued against the first 42 presidents combined.’

Fox News Digital’s Andrew Mark Miller, Breanne Deppisch and Ashley Oliver contributed to this report. 

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Sen. Thom Tillis, one of the two Republicans to vote against advancing President Donald Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill,’ plans to retire from the Senate at the end of his term.

The North Carolina Republican announced on Sunday that he would not seek reelection in the 2026 cycle. Tillis would have been among the most vulnerable Republicans running next year and faced threats from Trump to face a challenger after his vote against the president’s agenda Saturday night.

The lawmaker voted against advancing the bill and is likely to vote against final passage, because deep Medicaid cuts inside the colossal bill brought on changes to the Medicaid provider tax rate.

Tillis railed against the slow death of bipartisanship in Washington in a statement.

‘In Washington over the last few years, it’s become increasingly evident that leaders who are willing to embrace bipartisanship, compromise, and demonstrate independent thinking are becoming an endangered species,’ he said.

Tillis gave a shout-out to former Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema for their unwillingness to not ‘cave to their party bosses to nuke the filibuster for the sake of political expediency.’

‘They ultimately retired, and their presence in the Senate chamber has been sorely missed every day since,’ he said.

‘It underscores the greatest form of hypocrisy in American politics. When people see independent thinking on the other side, they cheer,’ he continued. ‘But when those very same people see independent thinking coming from their side, they scorn, ostracize, and even censure them.’

He said that the choice broke down to spending time with his family, or spending another six years in Washington navigating ‘the political theater and partisan gridlock.’

‘It’s not a hard choice, and I will not be seeking re-election,’ he said.

However, Tillis did give himself wiggle room to rebuke Trump over the next 18 months, as he did earlier this year when he refused to support Ed Martin, the president’s pick to serve as the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia. The decision scuttled Martin’s nomination. 

‘I look forward to having the pure freedom to call the balls and strikes as I see fit,’ he said. 

His decision to retire tees up what will likely be a competitive race in North Carolina, and one that Democrats will look to pounce on quickly.

Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee spokesperson Maeve Coyle said in a statement shortly after Tillis’ decision that his choice ‘not to run for re-election is another blow to Republicans’ chances as they face a midterm backlash that puts their majority at risk.’ 

‘Even Tillis admits the GOP plan to slash Medicaid and spike costs for families is toxic – and in 2026, Democrats will flip North Carolina’s Senate seat,’ she said.  

However, National Republican Senatorial Committee Chair Tim Scott, R-S.C., contended that Trump would remain a huge factor in the upcoming midterm cycle given that he has won North Carolina three times and that the state has been represented by two Republican senators for over a decade. 

‘That streak will continue in 2026 when North Carolinians elect a conservative leader committed to advancing an agenda of opportunity, prosperity, and security,’ he said. 

It also comes after Trump spent much of Saturday evening blasting Tillis as a ‘grandstander’ and vowing to interview potential primary challengers, while Vice President JD Vance, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and his leadership team worked over holdout fiscal hawks.

‘Numerous people have come forward wanting to run in the Primary against ‘Senator Thom’ Tillis,’ Trump said on Truth Social. ‘I will be meeting with them over the coming weeks, looking for someone who will properly represent the Great People of North Carolina and, so importantly, the United States of America. Thank you for your attention to this matter!’

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For months the talk in Kyiv was of a much-anticipated Russian offensive that would aim to gobble up more of the Ukraine’s eastern regions. So far, it’s been underwhelming – but the Russians have made some gains and vastly reinforced their troop numbers in some areas.

Russian President Vladimir Putin continues to pursue territorial gains as ceasefire talks take a back seat. Last week he restated what has long been one of his key ways of justifying his unprovoked invasion.

“I consider the Russian and Ukrainian peoples to be one people,” he said. “In this sense, all of Ukraine is ours.”

Even so, the Ukrainians have launched counterattacks in some areas and are rapidly developing a domestic weapons industry. And Russia’s wartime economy is facing stronger headwinds.

Russian troops are trying to advance in multiple areas of the 1,200-kilometer (746-mile) frontline. Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said this week there are now 111,000 Russian troops in one part of the frontline alone – near the flashpoint city of Pokrovsk in Donetsk, where there are at least 50 clashes every day. That compares to about 70,000 Russian troops in the area last December, according to the Ukrainian General Staff.

Syrskyi also claimed that the Russian infiltration of the northern region of Sumy had been halted. The Institute for the Study of War – a Washington-based think-tank, says Ukrainian forces have regained some territory in Sumy and the pace of Russian advances there has slowed.

“We can say that the wave of attempts at a ‘summer offensive’ launched by the enemy from Russian territory is fizzling out,” Syrskyi claimed.

But it’s a mixed picture. In recent days Russian infantry assaults have gained ground on the border of Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk regions. The Russian defense ministry claimed on Saturday that another village, Zirka, had been taken.

DeepState, a Ukrainian open-source analyst, asserted that Ukrainian “defenses continue to collapse rapidly, and the enemy is making significant advances … with constant assaults” in that area.

The Kremlin has long insisted its campaign will continue until it holds all of the eastern Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions. (It already occupies all but a sliver of Luhansk).

At the current rate of progress that would take many years. But with the Trump administration apparently less committed to driving ceasefire negotiations, the conflict seems likely to drag on through the end of the year and into 2026.

The three-dimensional battlefield is now an unlikely combination of ingenious drone-led special operations and very basic infantry assaults.

At one end of the spectrum, Ukraine’s audacious attacks at the beginning of June on Russian strategic bombers used drones operated from trucks deep inside Russian territory – a mission that took out about a dozen aircraft used to launch missiles against Ukraine.

Ukraine’s Security Service reported another drone attack Saturday that it clamed had caused extensive damage to a Russian airbase in Crimea.

By contrast, Russian soldiers on foot and motorbikes – sometimes in groups of a dozen or less – push into abandoned villages in eastern Ukraine, with drones for cover but no armor in site. It’s an approach that is forcing a change in Ukrainian tactics: to smaller fortified positions. Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said last week that defenses were being camouflaged to match the terrain and made smaller to avoid detection.

The Drone War

While infantry defend or take territory, drones continue to play a greater role in shaping the conflict. The Russians are churning out cheap, mass-produced drones designed to overwhelm air defenses and allow some of their missiles to get through. The Russians have increasingly used this tactic to hit Ukrainian cities, especially Kyiv, which has sustained considerable damage and higher civilian casualties in recent weeks.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday that overnight “477 drones were in our skies, most of them Russian-Iranian Shaheds, along with 60 missiles of various types. The Russians were targeting everything that sustains life.”

The Russians use “up to 500 (Iranian designed) Shaheds per night, combining them with ballistic and cruise missiles — aiming to exhaust our air defenses,” says Umerov.

Zelensky has reiterated pleas for more Patriot missile batteries and other western systems, which Trump said last week that the US “should consider” because of large-scale attacks on Ukrainian cities.

Zelensky has said Ukraine is prepared to buy Patriots directly or through the fund established by the US-Ukrainian minerals deal.

Both sides are producing drones of all types at an astonishing rate. Ukraine’s Security Service reckons Russia is producing nearly 200 Iranian-designed Shahed drones every day, and has an inventory of some 6,000, in addition to about 6,000 decoy drones. Over the last week, the Russians have used more than 23,000 small “kamikaze” drones on the frontlines, according to the Ukrainian military’s General Staff.

It’s a never-ending race in design and production. Syrskyi said recently that Russia had developed an edge in fiber-optic-controlled drones, which are more difficult to track and intercept.

Drone warfare is a “constant intellectual struggle — the enemy regularly changed algorithms, and Ukraine adapted tactics in response,” Umerov said. “Solutions that showed high effectiveness at the beginning of the war have lost it over time as the enemy changed tactics.”

For its part, Ukraine is stepping up production of the long-range drones it has used to attack Russian infrastructure, such as airfields, refineries and transport. Umerov said “tens of thousands” would be produced, in addition to more than four million battlefield drones this year.

The longer term

Both sides continue to build defense industries that allow them to keep fighting – even if the scale of Russian production far outstrips that of Ukraine. Russia’s huge military conglomerate Rostec is producing an estimated 80% of the equipment used against Ukraine.

Its CEO Sergey Chemezov claimed at a meeting with Putin this month that Rostec’s production has grown tenfold since 2021, and its revenues rose last year to an eye-watering $46 billion.

But there are darkening clouds on the horizon. Russia’s military budget is some 40% of its total public spending – more than 6% of its GDP. That’s stoked inflation, and Putin acknowledged last week that growth this year would be “much more modest” to combat rising prices. He even suggested that defense spending would decline next year.

One senior Russian official, Maksim Reshetnikov, who is Economic Development minister, said that “based on current business sentiment, it seems to me we are on the brink of transitioning into recession.”

The head of Russia’s Central Bank, Elvira Nabiullina, disagreed with Reshetnikov but warned that financial buffers like the national reserve fund are nearly depleted.

“We must understand that many of these resources have been used up,” she told the St. Petersburg International Forum.

Putin himself acknowledged the risk, saying that while some experts predicted stagnation, it should “not be allowed under any circumstances.”

While the longer-term prognosis for Russia may be gloomy – economically and demographically – it can continue in the short-term to fund an army of more than half-a-million men that’s in Ukraine or close to its border, taking a few kilometers here and there. Despite hundreds of thousands of casualties, the Russian military can still generate forces far greater than Ukraine.

His eye still very much on the prize, Putin said last week: “We have a saying … where the foot of a Russian soldier steps, that is ours.”

This post appeared first on cnn.com

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has directed staff to slash budgets ahead of the 2026 budgetary vote as part of a wider reform effort through his UN80 Initiative. 

Much of the belt-tightening comes at a time when the Trump administration has looked to save money with the help of DOGE. In March, Guterres warned about cuts to U.S. spending at the U.N., stating that ‘going through with recent funding cuts will make the world less healthy, less safe, and less prosperous.’ The U.S., as the top funder to the world body, has given billions over the last few years, while paying around a third of its budget.

However, organizational belt-tightening does not appear to have hit senior-level U.N. staff. 

‘The American people don’t even see this,’ a diplomatic source told Fox News Digital. ‘These people that are appointed to care for the poor of the world, get better perks than any investment banks out there.’

The diplomatic insider told Fox News Digital that the current ‘zero-growth’ budget for 2026 still includes ‘a lot of perks’ for professional- and director-level U.N. staff along with assistant-secretaries, under-secretaries and the secretary-general. 

Fox News Digital recently reported that Guterres earned $418,348, which is a higher base salary than President Donald Trump receives. And that doesn’t include some of the perks the U.N. chief gets, including a plush Manhattan residence and chauffeur-driven car.

Additionally, though U.N. documents say senior-level U.N. staff are ‘going to be the first thing to be reduced,’ the source says that ‘in the budget of 2026, none of that is touched.’ 

Here is a list of perks:

Salary and Multiplier

U.N. professional staff, including Guterres, are paid a general salary as well as an additional multiplier of their salary based on their post. Multipliers are meant to ‘preserve equivalent purchasing power for all duty stations’ and can range from 16% in Eswatini, Africa, to 86.8% in Switzerland, according to data provided to Fox News Digital by a U.N. source.

The U.N. pay scale has been set to compare with ‘equivalently graded jobs in the comparator civil service in Washington, D.C.,’ with compensation about ’10 to 20% ahead of the comparator service’ to ‘attract and retain staff from all countries, including the comparator.’

Housing Allowance and Tax Exemption

Other expenses that may be compensated for include taxes paid and housing costs.

U.N. staff’s rent may be subsidized by up to 40% if it ‘exceeds a so-called rent threshold’ based on an employee’s income. 

Many member states exempt U.N. employees from paying taxes, but employees of the organization who must pay taxes at their duty station are reimbursed for the cost.

Dependent Costs

There are substantial benefits for staff with dependents.

Staff receive an allowance of 6% of their net income if their spouses earn less than an entry-level general service U.N. salary. 

Staff who are parents receive a flat allowance of $2,929 for children under 18, or who are under 21 and in secondary schooling. A second child allowance for staff without spouses is set at $1,025. 

U.N. employees may receive grants to cover a portion of the education costs for dependent children through up to four years of post-secondary education. Reimbursements are calculated on a sliding scale. In a sample calculation, the U.N. explains that it would reimburse $34,845 of a $47,000 tuition. 

Boarding fees may also be reimbursed up to $5,300 during primary and secondary education.

Pension Fund, Healthcare Fees

U.N. staff have access to the U.N. joint staff pension fund, which allows employees to contribute 23.7% of ‘pensionable remuneration, with two-thirds paid by the organization and one-third by the staff member.’

Travel Fees

The U.N. pays travel expenses for staff ‘on initial appointment, on change of duty station, on separation from service, for travel on official business, for home leave travel, and on travel to visit family members.’ In some instances, the U.N. also pays for eligible spouses and dependent children to travel. 

Travel expenses include a ‘daily subsistence allowance (DSA)’ meant to cover ‘the average cost of lodging and other expenses.’ Eligible family members receive half the DSA, while director-level staff and above receive an additional DSA supplement.

Hardship, Relocation, Mobility and Other Incentives

For staff who change assignments at certain duty stations, U.N. mobility incentives begin at $6,700 and can grow to more than $15,075.

If changing stations for an assignment lasting more than a year, settling-in benefitscomprise30 days’ DSA for staff and half-DSA for eligible families, as well as one month of net pay and one month of post adjustment at the assignment duty station. Moving expenses may include the full or partial removal and transport of household goods, or the storage of those items.

Hardship allowances of between $5,930 and $23,720 may be granted for non-local staff in certain duty stations. The U.N. issues allowances of $19,800 for staff with dependents and $7,500 for staff without dependents stationed at non-family duty stations ‘to recognize the increased level of financial and psychological hardship incurred by involuntary separation.’ Danger pay of $1,645 may also be allocated to staff whose association or employment may make them ‘clearly, persistently, and directly targeted,’ or in duty stations where there is a ‘high risk of becoming collateral damage in a war or active armed conflict.’ 

Terminated Employees

Terminated employees are also allowed separation payments, typically constituting several months’ pay if their appointment has been terminated due to ‘abolition of post or reduction of staff; poor health or incapacitation for further service; unsatisfactory service; agreed termination.’ Those terminated for unsatisfactory service or misconduct may receive half the typical separation payment. 

A repatriation grant may additionally be paid to staff who have been in expatriate service for at least five years, unless staff were ‘summarily dismissed.’

Future Cuts to Senior Pay?

In response to questions about Fox News Digital’s source’s statements about U.N. employee compensation being on par with that of an investment banker, Guterres’ spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said the assertion was ‘ludicrous’ and ‘demonstrates an ignorance of both the United Nations and the investment banking worlds.’

Dujarric did not deny that the 2026 budget proposal includes no cutting of senior personnel or benefits. ‘The budget proposal for 2026 was prepared before the launch of the UN80 initiative,’ he said. ‘We are currently working on identifying efficiencies, including reductions in post, and a revised proposal will be submitted to the General Assembly in the Fall for its deliberations, which usually take place between October and December.’ 

Dujarric added that the International Civil Service Commission, an independent group of 15 expert appointees which creates the system of salaries, benefits and allowances for the U.N., is ‘undertaking a comprehensive review of the compensation package for the international Professional and higher category of staff,’ with the results due for presentation in 2026. 

‘The secretary-general has no authority of the decisions of the ICSC or the appointment of its members,’ he said.

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