5 Big News Stories Overnight - Tuesday, June 30, 2026

Supreme Court Expands Trumps Powers

Bloomberg reports: 

Along with two chyron-ready Supreme Court decisions allowing some mail-in ballots to be received after election day and staying (at least temporarily) Donald Trump’s attempt to fire Fed Governor Lisa Cook, Chief Justice John Roberts penned a third ruling of historic proportions, one that was decades in the making.

The majorities in the first two cases cut across party lines. The third one did not. Writing for the Republican-appointed supermajority, Roberts moved the nation closer to a so-called unitary executive theory of power. It’s a previously fringe idea, one thrust into the spotlight by the second Trump administration, which seeks to centralize power in the presidency at the expense of the legislative branch.

Today’s ruling overturns a landmark 1935 case that laid the legal groundwork for the modern administrative state. It specifically empowers Trump to dismiss Democratic Federal Trade Commission member Rebecca Kelly Slaughter despite an act of Congress that says commissioners can be removed only for specified reasons.

More broadly, Trump is now free to fire any of the heads or members of what were once considered independent agencies and regulators, as he has repeatedly sought to do. (The court did say it was carving out an exception for the Federal Reserve.)

 

Supreme Court Lets $5 Million Sex Abuse Verdict Against Trump Stand

The New York Times reports:

The Supreme Court on Monday declined a request by President Trump to review a $5 million civil judgment against him after a jury found in 2023 that he sexually abused and defamed the writer E. Jean Carroll.

The announcement by the justices did not include any reasoning, and no public dissents were noted.

A second case that arose out of Ms. Carroll’s allegations also could be headed to the Supreme Court. In January 2024, a separate jury ordered Mr. Trump to pay Ms. Carroll $83.3 million in damages for defaming her in 2019 after she accused him of a decades-old rape.

Lawyers for Mr. Trump have said they plan to ask that the justices also hear that case.

Still, Monday’s decision is a major blow to Mr. Trump and is most likely the end of his legal efforts to contest the jury verdict finding that he assaulted Ms. Carroll in the mid-1990s in a department store dressing room.

New Student Loan Rules Are Poised to Amp Up Pressure on Colleges

The WSJ reports:

The Trump administration has finalized a new set of lending requirements that will redefine the nearly 70-year-old relationship that determines which college programs are eligible for federal student loans.

The rules, to be formalized July 1, place new responsibilities on schools to show that they are graduating students who have the skills to earn more money than before they began their studies. Programs that don’t meet earnings thresholds will lose access to the federal student loan program.

The broad strokes of the regulations were laid out in President Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” last year, but policymakers have been hammering out the details—including some wiggle room for certain types of schools.

“The Trump administration is hitting the hard reset button on higher education and implementing common-sense reforms that will drive down the cost of higher education,” said Under Secretary of Education Nicholas Kent. “If a program cannot show that it leaves its graduates financially better off than if they had never enrolled, it should not be underwritten by federal taxpayers.”

Germany dumped out by Paraguay in seismic World Cup shock

France 24 reports:

It marks the first time that Germany have ever lost a penalty shootout at a World Cup.

Julio Enciso headed Paraguay into a shock lead before half-time, but Kai Havertz levelled for Germany on 54 minutes with his third goal of the tournament.

Jonathan Tah saw a goal disallowed after a VAR review in extra time, before Paraguay held on to shock Germany in a wild, nerve-jangling shootout as the momentum swung back and forth.

Paraguay goalkeeper Orlando Gill saved from Havertz and Nick Woltemade, but his teammates blew two chances to win it before Jose Canale blasted in the winning spot-kick after Tah had blazed his effort over the bar.

Iran Says Trump's Statement Is False

Al Jazeera reports:

United States President Donald Trump claims Iran has “requested a meeting” following the exchange of strikes last week, and says it will take place in Qatar today.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry denies any planned meeting with the US but says it will send an expert delegation to Doha to follow up on the release of frozen Iranian funds.

Tehran also rejects France’s de-mining plans for the Strait of Hormuz, warning Paris against “provocations” in a “sensitive and complex situation”.