Congress, Now More Than Ever, Our Nation Needs Your Cowardice

Take solace knowing you are not alone in this endeavor. Over the grand expanse of American history, there have been countless lawmakers who managed to summon up their complete lack of backbone and do the easy thing. Think of the members of Congress who turned a blind eye to Japanese American internment, McCarthyism, or the horrors of the Holocaust, all because doing something seemed a little too hard, a little too inconvenient. These men should be your inspiration. Never forget: You stand on the shoulders of spineless giants.

The Onion

No matter what Trump says, the US has gone to war – and there will be profound and lasting consequences

Trump has fallen slap bang into the trap laid for him by Netanyahu. His reckless gamble makes a nuclear weapon for Iran more, not less, likely

The Guardian

After Trump attacks Iran, what experts and officials fear for the American homeland

“Given sustained bilateral U.S.-Iran tensions, the occurrence of such a catalyst could prompt Shia HVE [homegrown violent extremist] activity relatively quickly, underscoring the benefits of early engagement with Shia communities about indicators of HVE radicalization. Potential triggering events for such Shia HVE violence include U.S. military action against Iran.”

ABC News

Trans and LGBTQ+ community take to streets to protest gender-affirming care ban ruling

“We need to show up for our youth,” said Asher McMaher, executive director of Trans Up Front Illinois and one of the protest’s organizers. “Because they deserve to be the incredible human beings that they’re meant to be, and we need every single one of them to grow up.”

Chicago Tribune

What Remains of U.S.A.I.D.?

The few hundred programs that survived DOGE’s purge reveal the future of foreign aid.

The New York Times (Gift)

87-year-old disabled vet arrested protesting outside Capitol night before Army parade

An 87-year-old Army and Air Force veteran who traveled to the nation’s capital from an assisted-living facility in Florida to protest the Army’s 250th anniversary celebration was arrested and held overnight by authorities after he crossed a police barricade.

John Spitzberg — whose service spanned the Army, Air Force and Air National Guard — was among 62 demonstrators detained by authorities on June 13, the night before a major parade in downtown Washington, according to U.S. Capitol Police.

Stars and Stripes

ICE Raids Scare Off Workers and Baffle Businesses

Farmers, cattle ranchers and hotel and restaurant managers breathed a sigh of relief last week when President Donald Trump ordered a pause to immigration raids that were disrupting those industries and scaring foreign-born workers off the job.

“There was finally a sense of calm,” said Rebecca Shi, CEO of the American Business Immigration Coalition.

That respite didn’t last long.

On Wednesday, Assistant Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Tricia McLaughlin declared, “There will be no safe spaces for industries who harbor violent criminals or purposely try to undermine (immigration enforcement) efforts. Worksite enforcement remains a cornerstone of our efforts to safeguard public safety, national security and economic stability.”

Mississippi Free Press

Pride Month marches on, despite frustration and worry from LGBTQ community over government actions

The high court decision upholding Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for trans minors may grease the wheels for court approval of similar laws already enacted in two dozen other states. And it comes with concern for a community used to a summer of celebration.

CNN

Hegseth claims US ‘obliterated’ Iranian nuclear sites despite lack of assessment

US defense secretary praises Trump at first news briefing but Pentagon says it is too early for full damage assessment

The Guardian

Newlywed bride’s honeymoon ends with months of ICE detention and the prospect of deportation

Sakeik, whose family is from Gaza but is legally stateless, has lived in the U.S. since she was 8, when her family travelled to the U.S. on a tourist visa and applied for asylum, according to her husband. While she was issued a deportation order more than a decade ago, Sakeik was permitted to stay in the U.S. under what’s known as an “order of supervision,” in which she regularly checked in with federal immigration authorities and is permitted work authorization, according to her lawyer and husband.

At the St. Thomas Airport, as the couple prepared to return home on Feb. 11, Sakeik was detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection — and has been held in custody in the months since.

ABC News

GOP senator co-sponsors bill to end anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination in federal jury selection

Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins (ME) on Wednesday joined her Democratic colleague Jeanne Shaheen (NH) as a co-sponsor of now-bipartisan legislation to prevent discrimination against LGBTQ+ Americans during the federal jury selection process.

LGBTQ Nation

This trans passport news should be a good thing — but there’s one problem

Recently, a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction in the Orr v. Trump case, which is the ACLU lawsuit brought against the State Department for issuing passports to transgender people with invalid gender markers representing their supposed “sex at birth” rather than their gender identity. Back in April, the judge issued a preliminary injunction in which the State Department would have to issue valid passports to the plaintiffs in the lawsuit. Now, the judge overseeing this case has upgraded it to a class action, which means the preliminary injunction now applies to trans people in general who were issued improper passports.

It is uncertain how long this injunction will last — it could overruled tomorrow or even a year from now — but it does provide trans people a window of opportunity to obtain proper documentation.

Into

In Plain Sight, Donald Trump Continues His Takeover Of The U.S. Military

American democracy may depend on career military officers willing to tell the commander in chief “no.”

Huffpost

Bees are collapsing in the U.S. A key to their secrets might vanish.

The top federal lab on native bees is set to close under President Trump’s budget.

The Washington Post (Gift)

Employees Terrified of ICE Raids Are Failing to Show Up at Work

High-profile immigration raids are scaring off workers and leaving employers unsure of how they’ll manage without them.

Bloomberg (Gift)

Latinos Vote Differently Under Threat

Voters who care most about economic issues will still coalesce as an ethnic bloc if their community is attacked.

The Atlantic

‘I Feel Like I’ve Been Lied To’: When a Measles Outbreak Hits Home

From a lone clinic in Texas to an entire school district in North Dakota, the virus is upending daily life and revealing a deeper crisis of belief.

The New York Times (Gift)

Japan pulls out of talks with Trump administration after ‘being ordered to spend more on defence’

US secretary of state Marco Rubio and defence secretary Pete Hegseth were set to meet the Japanese defence minister Gen Nakatani and foreign minister Takeshi Iwaya in Washington on 1 July for annual “2+2” security talks, a reference to the two senior ministers involved on each side.

However, Japan cancelled the meeting after the US demanded Japan increase its defence spending to 3.5% of GDP, an increase on an earlier request of 3 per cent, according to a report on Friday by the Financial Times. This new demand was made the third-most senior official at the Pentagon Elbridge Colby, the paper added.

Independent

Israelis emerge from shelters to devastation after Iran attacks

First responders fanned out across Israel Sunday following fresh waves of Iranian missile strikes that left pockets of devastation in their wake — as the Islamic republic hit back after a US attack on its nuclear sites.

Al-Monitor

Iran Delivers Furious Warning, Speaks of ‘Unprecedented Level of Danger and Chaos’ After ‘Heinous’ U.S. Strikes

“The warmongering and lawless Administration in Washington is solely and fully responsible for the dangerous consequences and far-reaching implications of its act of aggression,” Araghchi said. “The U.S. military aggression against the territorial integrity and national sovereignty of a U.N. member state—carried out in collusion with the genocidal Israeli regime—once again laid bare the depth of depravity that governs American foreign policy and revealed the extent of hostility harbored by the U.S. ruling establishment against the peace-seeking and independence-loving people of Iran.”

Time

The Iranian Voices Missing From the “Regime Change” Debate

Perhaps the most popular lie is that Iran is on the brink of having a nuclear weapon, a talking point that can be traced back to at least 1992 and one that U.S. intelligence and the International Atomic Energy Agency alike have both dismissed. But the most nefarious lie is this: The Iranian people want bombs falling on their heads because the bombs will free them from the terrible regime that has ruled the country since the 1979 revolution.

The New Republic

‘Everybody Knows Khamenei’s Days Are Numbered’

A well-placed group of Iranian insiders considers a future without the supreme leader.

The Atlantic