What to know today
- The Supreme Court granted an emergency application allowing DOGE staff members to have access to Social Security Administration data.
- Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland man whose deportation to El Salvador became the face of a legal battle over due process rights, has been returned to the U.S. to face human smuggling charges.
- The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to allow it to carry out layoffs at the Department of Education that, combined with workers who've accepted buyouts, would reduce its workforce by about half.
- President Donald Trump said tonight that he has no plans to speak with Elon Musk as the pair continue to feud.
13 House Republicans urge Senate to scale back clean energy cuts in bill they voted for
Reporting from Washington
Thirteen House Republicans who voted for Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” sent a letter today urging Senate GOP leaders to scale back some of its clean energy cuts, sparking pushback from conservative hard-liners.
The unusual criticism of their own bill indicates a modicum of regret by the GOP lawmakers, whose votes were critical to the bill passing the House by a narrow margin last month.
“While we were proud to have worked to ensure that the bill did not include a full repeal of the clean energy tax credits, we remain deeply concerned by several provisions,” said the Republicans in the letter, led by Rep. Jen Kiggans, R-Va.
They cited provisions that “abruptly terminate several credits just 60 days after enactment for projects that have not yet begun construction,” and “restrictions to transferability.”
Trump calls Abrego Garcia a 'bad guy' following return to U.S.
Trump said this evening that he could see the Justice Department arranging for Kilmar Abrego Garcia's return to the United States after he was mistakenly deported to an El Salvador prison, saying upon his return prosecutors would "show everybody how horrible this guy is."
"I think their [the DOJ] decisions are very, very good," Trump said when asked by a reporter about Abrego Garcia's return to the United States today. "The man has a horrible past and I can see a decision being made: Bring him back, show everybody how horrible this guy is."
Attorney General Pam Bondi announced earlier today that Abrego Garcia has been returned to the U.S., and was indicted by a grand jury on two charges, including alien smuggling and conspiracy to commit alien smuggling.
Trump also repeated his attack on judges who have ruled against his administration on immigration policy.
"Frankly, we have to do something, because the judges are trying to take the place of a president. It’s not supposed to be the way it is," Trump said. "So I can see bringing him back. He’s a bad guy."
The Justice Department previously contended that the Trump administration lacked the ability to have Abrego Garcia released from El Salvador even as Trump told ABC News in an interview in April that he “could” have Abrego Garcia brought back to the U.S. with a single phone call.
“I’m not the one making this decision,” Trump said then. “We have lawyers that don’t want to do this.”
Supreme Court leaves in place District of Columbia’s gun restriction on large magazines
Reporting from Washington
The Supreme Court today left in place a longstanding gun restriction in the District of Columbia that bans magazines that hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition, opting once again to avoid taking up a new gun rights case.
The court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority that generally favors gun rights, turned away a challenge to the Washington, D.C., law just a few days after rejecting an appeal over a similar law in Rhode Island.
Then, the court also left in place Maryland’s ban on assault-style weapons including the AR-15 semiautomatic rifle.
The court expanded gun rights in a major 2022 ruling that found for the first time that the right to bear arms under the Constitution’s Second Amendment extends outside the home. But the court has since frustrated gun owners by declining to take up cases that would expand upon that ruling.
Five charts that show how many people President Trump’s travel ban will affect
Trump’s proclamation Wednesday restricting entry into the United States for nationals from a patchwork of 19 countries revives one of his most controversial policies from his first term and targets many of the same countries.
Beginning Monday, the directive bans entry for nationals from 12 countries: Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. It also institutes partial bans and visa restrictions for Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.
DOJ urges judge to dismiss Abrego Garcia wrongful removal case
The Justice Department is asking the judge who was presiding over Abrego Garcia's mistaken deportation action to dismiss the case in light of his return to the U.S.
"On April 4, 2025, this Court ordered Defendants to 'facilitate … the return of Plaintiff Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia to the United States[.]' Defendants hereby provide notice that they have complied with the Court’s order, and indeed have successfully facilitated Abrego Garcia’s return," the DOJ filing says.
"Considering this development, the Court’s preliminary injunction should be dissolved, and the underlying case should be dismissed as moot," it argues.
The judge presiding over the case, U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis, has said she was weighing contempt proceedings against the government for failing to comply with her orders.
Supreme Court allows DOGE to access Social Security data
Reporting from Washington
The Supreme Court today allowed members of the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency to access Social Security Administration data.
The conservative-majority court, with its three liberal justices objecting, granted an emergency application filed by the Trump administration asking the justices to lift an injunction issued by a federal judge in Maryland.
The unsigned order said that members of the DOGE team assigned to the Social Security Administration should have “access to the agency records in question in order for those members to do their work.”
Liberal Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote a dissenting opinion questioning the need for the court to intervene on an emergency basis.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen says Abrego Garcia indictment 'has never been about the man'
Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., who visited El Salvador in April and met with Abrego Garcia, who is a resident of his state, commented on his return to the United States in a statement that chastised the Trump administration for defying court orders.
"For months the Trump Administration flouted the Supreme Court and our Constitution, Today, they appear to have finally relented to our demands for compliance with court orders and with the due process rights afforded to everyone in the United States," Van Hollen said.
"As I have repeatedly said, this is not about the man, it’s about his constitutional rights — and the rights of all. The Administration will now have to make its case in the court of law, as it should have all along," he added.
The Supreme Court ruled in April that the Trump administration was required to “facilitate” Abrego Garcia's return to the United States.
Trump signs executive orders on flying cars, supersonic flights
The president signed three executive orders at the White House today, including one aimed at spurring production of flying cars.
That order "establishes an electric 'Vertical Takeoff and Landing' integration pilot program to accelerate the deployment of safe and lawful vertical operations in the United States, selecting at least five pilot projects to advance applications like cargo transport and medical response," a White House fact sheet on the order says.
Michael Kratsios, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, told reporters in a call that the pilot program "will lead to public-private partnerships across the country this year."
"Flying cars are not just for the Jetsons, they are also for the American people," Kratsios said.
The orders also direct the FAA to repeal a prohibition on overland supersonic flight and "other regulations that hinder supersonic flight," according to another fact sheet.
The orders also streamline regulations for drones to spur "commercial and public safety missions," and encourage their production in the U.S. The third directs the FAA to "establish a process to restrict drone flights over critical infrastructure and other public facilities," the fact sheet says.
Attorney general says Kilmar Abrego Garcia has landed back in the U.S.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said during a news conference this afternoon that Kilmar Abrego Garcia has landed in the United States after he was deported to an El Salvador prison in March.
Bondi said that a grand jury in the Middle District of Tennessee had returned a two-count indictment charging Abrego Garcia with alien smuggling and conspiracy to commit alien smuggling.
"Upon completion of his sentence, we anticipate he will be returned to his home country of El Salvador," Bondi said.
The Trump administration had been defiant in the face of orders to facilitate Garcia's return in the months following his deportation on March 15 after Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act.
Trump says China trade talks will resume Monday
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will meet Monday in London with Chinese officials, Trump said on Truth Social.
Yesterday, Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke on the phone for over an hour in a bid to jumpstart stalled trade talks between the two economic powers. The two sides had agreed to a truce in May after similar high-level negotiations in Geneva, each country agreeing to significantly lower high tariffs on the other's goods.
The Chinese Embassy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Linda McMahon says there’s been ‘progress’ from Harvard and Columbia amid Trump’s attacks
Education Secretary Linda McMahon today defended President Donald Trump’s attacks on elite universities like Harvard and Columbia, while saying that she is seeing “progress” from the institutions on the administration’s demands.
“I have seen progress. And you know why I think we’re seeing progress? Because we are putting these measures in place, and we’re saying we’re putting teeth behind what we’re looking at,” McMahon said in an interview with NBC News at her office in Washington.
Still, McMahon said Harvard still needs to do more to combat antisemitism on campus and vet international students.
“It’s very important that we are making sure that the students who are coming in and being on these campuses aren’t activists, that they’re not causing these activities,” the education secretary said.
Trump demands full-percentage-point rate cut from Fed
Trump is back to pressuring Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell for an interest rate cut. This time, he's being even more specific, demanding an extraordinary cut of one full percentage point from the Federal Reserve.
"He is costing our Country a fortune. Borrowing costs should be MUCH LOWER!!!" Trump wrote, again hurling the "Too Late" insult at Powell, whom Trump appointed during his first term in office. "Go for a full point, Rocket Fuel!" he wrote in another post.
Powell and the Fed have held their key interest rate steady at 4.25%-4.5% since December. Inflation has slowly cooled toward the central bank's preferred rate of 2%, and the labor market has been steady, so Powell has stressed caution on the pace of interest rate cuts. A dramatic cut like the one Trump is calling for could reignite inflation. Typically, too, the Fed adjusts rates in quarter-point increments unless there are extreme economic circumstances, such as the historically high inflation period of 2022 and the Covid shock.
Powell, whose term is up next year, has steadfastly defended the Fed's independence against Trump's pressure both in public and in a recent private meeting with Trump. The Fed's rate-setting board is not expected to cut rates when it make its next decision on June 18.
Trump administration asks Supreme Court to allow Education Department firings
The Trump administration today asked the Supreme Court to allow the Education Department to carry out broad layoffs that were blocked by a federal judge.
In an emergency filing, Solicitor General D. John Sauer said the May 22 ruling by Massachusetts-based U.S. District Judge Myong Joun should be put on hold because it encroaches on the president's authority to operate federal agencies.
He also argued that the plaintiffs challenging the move, including school districts and employee unions, did not have legal standing to bring their claims.
Sauer said the "reduction in force" plan involves 1,378 employees, adding that the government has been "crystal clear" that it is not part of an effort to eliminate the department altogether, as some Republicans want.
Only Congress can do that, Sauer acknowledged.
In his ruling, Joun wrote that the evidence "reveals that the defendants' true intention is to effectively dismantle the department without an authorizing statute."
U.S. is ending protected status for migrants from Nepal
The Trump administration said it was ending deportation protections for thousands of people from Nepal who have been in the U.S. since a devastating earthquake struck the South Asian nation in 2015.
The Temporary Protected Status program, or TPS, allows people to live and work in the U.S. temporarily if their home countries are considered unsafe due to natural disasters, armed conflict or other extraordinary events.
In a notice yesterday, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said a review had found Nepal to have largely recovered from the disaster.
There are about 12,700 Nepalese in the U.S. under TPS, around 5,500 of whom have lawful permanent residence, Reuters reported, citing department estimates. Those who do not have until Aug. 5 to either leave the country or change their immigration status, the notice said, after which they could face deportation.
Rep. Elise Stefanik officially added back to the House Intelligence Committee
Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., was added back to the House Intelligence Committee today after she had stepped down when Trump had nominated her to be the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
To accommodate Stefanik, whose nomination was pulled by Trump in March, the House voted to increase the size of the Intelligence Committee by two members. Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., was also added to the panel.
Stefanik will retain her seniority, essentially making her the second-ranking Republican on the influential committee.
In addition to the highly coveted seat, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., also pledged to to bring Stefanik back into the House GOP leadership fold. Johnson appointed her to the newly created position of chair of House Republican Leadership.
Johnson faced the choice of either removing a current member of the Intelligence Committee or expanding the size of the panel.
Stefanik is also considering a run for governor of New York in 2026.
Trump is considering selling or giving away his Tesla amid Musk feud
Trump is considering selling or giving away the red Tesla that he purchased back in March, according to a senior White House official, amid his growing spat with Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
The president is still weighing his options and has not made a final decision, the official added.
The vehicle is currently parked on West Executive Avenue, a long driveway that sits between the White House and the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.
Trump purchased the car after five Tesla vehicles were set up outside the White House in March for him to check out as he determined which model to buy.
Trump aide Margo Martin posted a photo on X last week showing her and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt riding in Trump's car.
Speaker Johnson says Musk's X posts were 'surprising and disappointing'
Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., called Elon Musk's X posts yesterday "surprising and disappointing" during an appearance on CNBC this morning.
In reaction to Musk’s criticism of the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act," Johnson said, “I don’t argue with him about how to build rockets, and I wish he wouldn’t argue with me about how to craft legislation and pass it.”
Johnson also said that there was plenty of time for Musk to review the bill before the House vote, adding, “I’m sure Elon knew what was in it as well.”
Johnson said he was with Trump yesterday when some of this was unfolding and that the president was “disappointed.”
Additionally, Johnson rebuked Musk’s claims that he is responsible for the Republican Party's victories in the November election.
“Elon was a big contributor in the last election, but this was a whole team effort,” Johnson said. “I mean, President Trump is the most consequential political figure of his generation, of modern American history. He is the one responsible for that. But we all worked hard. We delivered the House majority.”
7 senators to watch as Republicans make changes to Trump’s big bill
Reporting from Washington
As Senate Republican leaders push to a massive bill for Trump’s agenda by July 4, they are juggling a host of competing demands.
Some senators are genuine threats to vote against the legislation, while others are expected to support it in the end after using their demands to shape it. Several of them have complicated political considerations. The Republicans who are speaking out most loudly point to a variety of ways the House-passed bill may change in the Senate, as party leaders seek to ease enough of their concerns.
With all Democrats expected to vote against the package, Republicans will need at least 50 votes to pass it, as Vice President JD Vance could break a tie.
White House declines to confirm reports of a Trump-Musk call today
Could there be peace on the horizon? Politico reported last night that Trump was due to call Elon Musk today in an attempt to halt the spiraling fallout and "broker a peace."
But when NBC News asked Trump’s chief of staff, Susie Wiles, about this, she said, "There are no plans for that today."
A senior White House official told NBC News that Trump is “not interested in Elon call."
An administration official added, “There could be anything — I’d like to de-escalate a very unfortunate situation. But there are no calls on the books, at least not now.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said of Trump, “The president is focused on the OBBB," referring to the GOP bill containing much of Trump's policy agenda. "That’s the mindset he left the Oval Office in yesterday.”
Senate Republicans open the door to cutting Medicare ‘waste’ in Trump agenda bill
Looking at new ways to pay for their sprawling bill for Trump’s domestic agenda, Republicans are exploring ideas to slash “waste, fraud and abuse” in Medicare, several senators said yesterday.
And Trump has blessed the pursuit, they said.
“I think anything that can be — that’s waste, fraud and abuse are open to, obviously, discussions,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters.
Judge temporarily blocks Trump effort to deny visas to Harvard students
A federal judge temporarily blocked Trump’s efforts to deny visas for foreign students planning to attend Harvard, after the Ivy League college filed a legal challenge.
U.S. District Court Judge Allison D. Burroughs granted a temporary restraining order yesterday that enjoins anyone from “implementing, instituting, maintaining, enforcing, or giving force or effect to the Presidential Proclamation” that Trump issued Wednesday.
Nervous Republicans flee Trump-Elon Musk blast radius
The bromance may be dead, but Republicans worry that an escalating feud between Trump and Musk could live on, leaving collateral damage in its wake for weeks, months or even years.
The proximate cause is the centerpiece of Trump’s agenda, the “big, beautiful bill,” which Musk is trashing publicly and privately. To try to kill the legislation, he has said he will spend money to oust Republican lawmakers who vote for it.