Day 1693: "Fully depreciated."

1/ The Supreme Court agreed to fast-track Trump’s appeal over his global tariffs, keeping the duties in place while setting arguments for early November. Two lower courts have already struck down most of the tariffs, finding that the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA, doesn’t give presidents “unlimited authority” to impose global duties. While IEEPA has been used to sanction foreign adversaries, it’s never been used to levy tariffs, which is a power the Constitution assigns to Congress. The administration, meanwhile, warned the justices that without Trump’s tariffs, it would bring the U.S. to the “brink of economic catastrophe.” (Axios / Associated Press / Washington Post / NPR / CBS News / NBC News)

2/ U.S. employers added 911,000 fewer jobs than first estimated in the year ending in March, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said. It was the largest preliminary revision on record, cutting average monthly growth to about 70,000 from 149,000. Economists expected a downward adjustment, but said the scale showed the labor market entered this year weaker than believed, which suggests more recent job gains are likely also overstated. The record revision came weeks after Trump fired BLS commissioner Erika McEntarfer, accusing her of “rigged” jobs reports to make him look bad. The White House said the revision proved “Biden’s economy was a disaster and the BLS is broken,” while Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer said it gave Americans “even more reason to doubt the integrity of data being published by BLS.” The Census Bureau, meanwhile, reported that inflation has wiped out income gains in 2024, leaving median household income roughly unchanged since 2019 at $83,730. (CNN / Bloomberg / New York Times / NBC News / CNBC / Washington Post / Wall Street Journal / Associated Press / Axios / Politico / NPR / Wall Street Journal / CNN)

3/ A Michigan judge dismissed criminal charges against 15 Republicans who signed false certificates claiming to be Trump electors in 2020, ruling that prosecutors failed to prove they intended to defraud voters. “I don’t believe that there’s evidence sufficient to prove intent,” Judge Kristen D. Simmons said, adding, “I believe they were executing their constitutional right to seek redress.” Attorney General Dana Nessel called the ruling “disappointing” and “very wrong,” arguing, “They knew they were not electors […] They knew Donald Trump lost, but then they lied anyway. And that is a crime.” (New York Times / Associated Press / Politico / Reuters / NBC News / Washington Post / CNN)

4/ The Missouri House approved a new congressional map designed to erase a Democratic seat. The 90-65 votes carves up Kansas City to give Republicans control of 7 of 8 U.S. House seats. The plan now heads to the state Senate, with Gov. Mike Kehoe backing the Trump-driven midcycle redistricting effort. Democrats called the move “one of the ugliest moments,” saying Republicans were “doing the bidding of a wannabe dictator.” (Washington Post / CNN / New York Times / Missouri Independent)

5/ The Justice Department is seeking to build a national voter roll database and share it with Homeland Security Investigations for criminal and immigration probes. The DOJ requested full voter files from more than 30 states, including birth dates and the last four digits of Social Security numbers, citing the National Voter Registration Act, Help America Vote Act, and the Civil Rights Act. The department claims the effort would ensure “clean voter rolls containing only eligible voters,” but states have pushed back with a South Carolina judge blocking one handover, and Maine’s secretary of state telling the Trump Justice Department to “Go jump in the Gulf of Maine.” Experts called the plan unlawful, “wildly illegal,” and unprecedented. (New York Times / Democracy Docket / Reuters)

6/ Trump dismissed the release of his 2003 birthday letter to Jeffrey Epstein as a “dead issue” while a bipartisan House petition to force the release of Epstein files moved toward likely passage. The petition currently has 216 signatures, with Democrats expected to add two more votes after special elections by the end of September to reach 218. The White House, meanwhile, accused Democrats of “desperately trying to concoct a hoax to smear the president,” adding that Trump “did not write this letter. He did not sign this letter.” And when asked if he believed Trump wrote the letter, Speaker Mike Johnson replied, “I don’t. They say it’s not,” while Oversight Chair James Comer said the committee hadn’t used handwriting experts. (NBC News / New York Times / Axios / Bloomberg / Politico / Washington Post)

7/ Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released a photo from Jeffrey Epstein’s 2003 “birthday book” showing Epstein holding a novelty check selling a “fully depreciated” woman to Trump for $22,500. The check was signed “DJ Trump” and the caption read: “Jeffrey showing early talents with money + women! Sells ‘fully depreciated’ [redacted] to Donald Trump for $22,500.” It continued, “Even though I handled the deal I didn’t get any of the money on the girl!” The photo also showed Epstein with Joel Pashcow, a longtime member of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, and a third redacted figure identified as the woman. (The Guardian / Axios / New York Times)

8/ Trump dismissed domestic violence as “a little fight with the wife” and said crimes that “take place in the home” shouldn’t be counted in crime statistics. (New York Times / HuffPost)

⏭️ Notably Next: Congress has 21 days to pass a funding measure to prevent a government shutdown; and the 2026 midterms are in 420 days.

✏️ Notables.

• Israel bombed a meeting in Doha where Hamas leaders were discussing a ceasefire deal Trump had demanded they accept on a short deadline. Hamas said its top leadership survived, but confirmed five deaths, including the son of negotiator Khalil al-Hayya and a Qatari security officer. U.S. officials said they were notified only as the strike began and said hitting Qatar, a U.S. ally, “does not advance Israel or America’s goals.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, meanwhile, claimed it was “a wholly independent Israeli operation.” (NBC News / The Guardian / NPR / Reuters / Axios / Bloomberg / Wall Street Journal / Politico)

• Trump asked the Supreme Court to let him block $4 billion in Congressionally appropriated foreign aid. Last week, U.S. District Judge Amir Ali ruled that the administration must spend the money unless Congress votes otherwise, saying Trump’s “pocket rescission” has no legal basis. Solicitor General D. John Sauer claimed the order posed “a grave and urgent threat to the separation of powers,” while aid groups said Trump is “attempting to unlawfully accumulate power” while food and medicine sit in warehouses.

• Chief Justice John Roberts temporarily allowed Trump to withhold $4 billion in foreign aid approved by Congress. The one-page order paused a lower court’s ruling that required the administration to allocate the funds by Sept. 30, when the fiscal year ends. Roberts noted that Trump’s proposed cut is “currently pending before Congress.” The Justice Department told the Court the lower ruling posed “a grave and urgent threat to the separation of powers.” (Politico / NBC News / Washington Post / New York Times)

• Chief Justice John Roberts granted Trump’s emergency appeal to remove Democratic FTC commissioner Rebecca Slaughter. Lower courts had ruled Trump dismissed her “without cause,” despite the FTC Act allowing removal only for inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance. The Trump administration is using the case to push the Supreme Court to overturn Humphrey’s Executor, the 1935 precedent that prevents presidents from firing independent agency officials at will, which would then give Trump far greater control to reshape or gut those agencies. (Politico / CNN / Washington Post / Associated Press / Bloomberg / NBC News)

• A federal judge blocked the Trump administration from ending Temporary Protected Status for Venezuelans and Haitians, calling the move “unlawful” and rushed. Judge Edward Chen said Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem acted without authority when she tried to revoke protections for more than 1 million migrants. The Department of Homeland Security called TPS “a de facto amnesty program” and vowed Noem would “use every legal option” to end it. (Politico / CBS News / The Hill)

• House Democrats opened an investigation into Trump housing regulator Bill Pulte after he used the housing agency “to target people on President Trump’s political enemies list.” Pulte has referred mortgage fraud allegations against Sen. Adam Schiff, New York Attorney General Letitia James, and Federal Reserve Board of Governors member Lisa Cook to the Justice Department. (Axios / The Hill)

• The Trump administration released its official “Make America Healthy Again” strategy, a 20-page document with no regulations, timelines, or funding. The report offered little new, instead repeating earlier proposals that closely tracked a leaked draft. Despite earlier promises to crack down on pesticides and processed food, the report instead called for more studies on vaccine injuries, autism, and children’s psychiatric drug use, while directing agencies to define “ultra-processed food,” restrict petroleum-based food dyes, modernize infant formula standards, and promote fertility campaigns and “MAHA boxes” of produce for food stamp recipients. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s own allies in the MAHA movement called it a “major missed opportunity” and proof that “Big Ag, Bayer, and the pesticide industry are firmly embedded in the White House.” Kennedy, meanwhile, called it “the most sweeping reform agenda in modern history.” (Wall Street Journal / New York Times / Bloomberg / Politico / Associated Press / Axios)