June 29–July 5, 2026 · October Term 2025 · final gavel
6–3
Trump v. Slaughter · No. 25-332
On the term's penultimate Monday, Chief Justice John Roberts held 6-3 that Congress cannot shield Federal Trade Commission commissioners from at-will presidential removal — explicitly overruling Humphrey's Executor v. United States after 91 years and granting the president sweeping new authority over roughly two dozen independent agencies exercising executive power.
Sources: SCOTUSblog — Trump v. Slaughter · LII — No. 25-332
Monday, June 29 · Removal power
6–3
Roberts wrote that FTC commissioners exercise "the very essence" of executive power — rulemaking, in-house adjudication, and civil enforcement — and therefore must be removable at the president's pleasure. The decision permits President Trump's firing of Commissioner Rebecca Slaughter and threatens for-cause protections at the NLRB, CPSC, NRC, FERC, and Merit Systems Protection Board.
Source: SCOTUSblog — Slaughter
Monday, June 29 · The exception
5–4
The same morning, Roberts held 5-4 that Governor Lisa Cook may remain on the Federal Reserve Board while her challenge proceeds — the Fed's 111-year tradition of central-bank independence carved out an exception to the Slaughter framework. The Court left open whether Trump may yet fire Cook with proper pre-termination process.
Source: SCOTUSblog — Cook
Roberts, C.J. · Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, Barrett, JJ. · Sotomayor, J., dissenting (Kagan & Jackson, JJ.)
Justice Sonia Sotomayor's dissent warned the decision "dismantles the independent-agency structure Congress has built over nearly a century." Justice Neil Gorsuch concurred separately to argue courts should more aggressively police Congress's delegation of legislative and judicial powers to agencies — a nondelegation argument the majority did not reach.
The ruling is the culmination of a years-long erosion of New Deal-era removal protections, following Seila Law v. CFPB (2020) and Collins v. Yellen (2021).
Sources: Bloomberg Law — regulatory impact · Sidley — Humphrey's analysis
"If anything more is left of Humphrey's, we overrule it."
Chief Justice John Roberts · Trump v. Slaughter · slip op.
Source: SCOTUSblog — Slaughter opinion
111
Years of Fed independence
Cook was the first Federal Reserve governor ever fired. Roberts held the president failed to afford her the statutory and due-process protections required before termination — she received notice only via a Truth Social post, with no opportunity to contest the mortgage-fraud allegations before removal.
The narrow ruling distinguished the Fed's unique historical role from multi-member commissions like the FTC. Roberts noted in a footnote that nothing forbids Trump from "trying again" to remove Cook with proper process — leaving the ultimate "for cause" question unresolved.
Sources: AP News — Cook ruling · CNBC — Fed independence
Tuesday, June 30 · Final opinion day
Jun 30 · Kavanaugh, J.
6–3 EPC · 9–0 Title IX
States may restrict women's and girls' school sports teams to biological females. All nine justices agreed Title IX permits sex-separated teams; six held the Equal Protection Clause does not forbid the policy.
Jun 30 · Kavanaugh, J.
6–3 · FECA · No. 24-621
Federal limits on coordinated party expenditures violate the First Amendment — overruling Colorado II (2001). Political parties may now spend unlimited sums in coordination with preferred candidates.
Jun 30 · Roberts, C.J.
6–3 · 14th Am. · No. 25-365
Children born in the United States to parents unlawfully or temporarily present are citizens at birth. The Court struck down Executive Order 14160 and reaffirmed Wong Kim Ark (1898).
∞
Coordinated party expenditure cap · eliminated
Kavanaugh wrote for six justices that 52 U.S.C. § 30116(d) limits on coordinated expenditures by national and state party committees are an unconstitutional restriction on political speech. The decision overrules FEC v. Colorado Republican Federal Campaign Committee (2001) and removes a key anti-circumvention tool Congress used to prevent donors from evading individual contribution caps.
Justice Elena Kagan dissented for the liberal bloc, arguing coordinated spending caps "pass that test with flying colors" as narrowly tailored anti-corruption measures. The case originated from then-Senate candidate J.D. Vance's challenge to FECA limits.
Sources: National Law Journal — NRSC v. FEC · SCOTUSblog — No. 24-621
Consolidated with Little v. Hecox · Nos. 24-43, 24-56
9–0
Title IX
All nine justices agreed that Title IX permits schools to designate sports teams by biological sex. West Virginia's Save Women's Sports Act and Idaho's similar law do not violate the federal civil rights statute.
6–3
Equal Protection
Kavanaugh's majority applied intermediate scrutiny and held sex-based athletic eligibility rules are substantially related to safety and competitive-fairness interests — even for transgender athletes who have taken puberty-blocking medication.
Sources: SCOTUSblog — B.P.J. · AP News — trans sports ruling
Dissent spotlight · Trump v. Slaughter
"Today's decision returns us to a world in which independent judgment at the nation's regulatory agencies exists only at the pleasure of the President."
Justice Sonia Sotomayor, dissenting · joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson
Source: SCOTUSblog — Sotomayor dissent
Concurrence spotlight
In Trump v. Slaughter, Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote separately to argue the president has accumulated "vast legislative and judicial powers" through congressional delegation — and that courts should more robustly police those delegations. The concurrence signals future challenges to the administrative state's structural foundations, even as the majority rested on removal power alone.
Since Congress sent the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act to the President last week, Trump canceled a planned signing ceremony on June 24 — demanding passage of the SAVE America Act's voter-ID provisions first. The enrolled bill was formally presented June 29; it may still become law without his signature if Congress remains in session and the 10-day window (excluding Sundays) expires without a veto.
Senate passes final text 85–5.
House concurs 358–32 under suspension of the rules.
Enrolled bill presented to the President.
Pocket-signature deadline if Congress stays in session and no veto is returned.
Sources: Congress.gov — H.R. 6644 actions · TIME — signing delay
E.D.N.Y. · FCPA & securities fraud · Rule 48(a)
The Trump administration seeks to drop the Biden-era indictment against Gautam Adani and seven co-defendants over alleged $250 million in bribes to Indian officials and misleading U.S. investors.
Judge Nicholas Garaufis declined to immediately approve dismissal, calling the government's initial motion "terse, bland, and conclusory" and directing prosecutors to supply factual support for each basis by July 13.
Principal Associate Deputy AG R. Trent McCotter argued the case "should never have been brought" — citing jurisdictional flaws, absent investor losses, and FCPA enforcement priorities under the May 2025 memorandum limiting foreign-bribery prosecutions lacking U.S. nexus.
Sources: The Wire — Garaufis order · Outlook Business — DOJ filing
0
Days since §702 lapsed · June 12, 2026
Congress has not reauthorized the foreign-surveillance authority since its statutory expiration — the first lapse in the program's 18-year history. Bipartisan negotiations remain stalled over President Trump's appointment of Bill Pulte as acting Director of National Intelligence. Existing FISC certifications approved in March may permit continued collection through early 2027, but the government cannot issue new targeting directives during the lapse.
Sources: Nextgov — 702 lapse · EFF — expiration analysis
July 1, 2026 · Administrative term begins
After issuing its final three opinions on June 30, the Supreme Court rose for summer recess. The 2026–27 adjudicative term will resume after September 1. The justices remain available for emergency applications, disciplinary matters, and the shadow docket — but the opinion days that defined this week are over until October.
State highlight
The B.P.J. ruling leaves unresolved challenges to state laws in California and Connecticut that permit transgender girls to compete on girls' teams — creating immediate tension between the Supreme Court's green light for exclusionary statutes and progressive state policies. California Attorney General Rob Bonta indicated his office is reviewing whether existing state anti-discrimination protections can coexist with the federal ruling's Title IX framework.
Paperwork Reduction Act comment period closes on EO 14398 federal-contractor reporting requirements — 91 Fed. Reg. 24544.
Tenth calendar day (excluding Sundays) since presentment — housing bill may become law without presidential signature if Congress remains in session.
House Intelligence Committee staff continue assessing surveillance authority workarounds as Jay Clayton's DNI nomination proceeds through the Senate.
Follow-up conference in Fund for an Open Government v. Trump after Judge Leonie Brinkema ordered discovery into the anti-weaponization fund's operations.
DOJ's detailed factual filing on the motion to dismiss the Gautam Adani FCPA indictment is due in E.D.N.Y. under Judge Garaufis's June 26 order.
Federal Circuit en banc briefing opens in the fired-immigration-judge CSRA removal dispute granted en banc June 17.
Justice Department responsive pleading deadline in the Virginia anti-weaponization fund challenge.