The briefing for Thursday, June 4.

President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that he will nominate Todd Blanche to serve as attorney general, tapping his former personal lawyer who has led the Justice Department in an acting role since April. Trump said at a White House dinner that he plans to make the nomination official Thursday. Blanche was elevated after Pam Bondi's firing and has aggressively pursued Trump's agenda while insisting he wasn't auditioning for the permanent position.

Blanche's tenure has been marked by splashy moves that critics say demonstrate he's still acting as Trump's personal lawyer. The Justice Department under his watch indicted former FBI Director James Comey over a social media photo and appointed an 81-year-old prosecutor to investigate whether former officials conspired to undermine Trump. Most controversially, Blanche announced a $1.776 billion 'Anti-Weaponization Fund' to compensate Trump allies for alleged political persecution, creating bipartisan backlash.

The proposed fund prompted pushback from both Democrats and Senate Republicans whose support Blanche will need for confirmation. After the political firestorm stalled legislation to fund Trump's immigration agencies, Blanche told lawmakers Tuesday the Justice Department would scrap the plan entirely. A former federal prosecutor in New York, Blanche came to prominence defending Trump in his hush money trial and other cases, giving him what he calls a firsthand look at weaponization of the justice system.

Dozens of children previously separated at the border under Trump's first-term policy have been re-separated from their families during the administration's interior immigration enforcement, according to an Associated Press investigation. The separations violate a landmark legal settlement meant to keep these families together until December 2031. Ederson Galicia Alva, now 11, was taken from his mother in 2018 at age 3 and reunited after lawyers intervened. Last June, he and his mother were separated again, spending 11 months apart before a federal judge ordered their return last week.

Immigration officials conducting interior arrests have deported people despite discovering they were legally off limits for removal, according to emails obtained by AP. Some parents have been locked in detention facilities for months while others have been deported to their home countries. Under Trump's mass deportation push, parents arrested or deported are being made to choose whether to leave their children behind in the United States. The Brookings Institution says the parents of tens of thousands of children have now been detained.

The ACLU's Lee Gelernt, lead counsel in the lawsuit that ended the original separation policy, said the government has refused to acknowledge the horror of the initial separations and is now re-traumatizing the same families. A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said the agency complies with all court orders but added that enforcing immigration law is 'not optional' and helps 'restore order and reinforce the rule of law.' Government attorneys have argued there are no legal restrictions on their authority to execute removal orders.

The House of Representatives voted 215-208 Wednesday to approve a war powers resolution halting U.S. military action against Iran, in a rare bipartisan rebuke of President Trump. Four Republicans—Thomas Massie, Brian Fitzpatrick, Tom Barrett, and Warren Davidson—joined Democrats in passing the measure. Democrat Jared Golden of Maine, who had previously opposed similar efforts, also backed the resolution. It marks the fourth attempt by the House to curb the U.S. war against Iran, with vote tallies inching higher each time as political unease grows.

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries called the three-month conflict 'a reckless and costly war of choice' that has cost taxpayers over $100 billion and left the country in a weaker position relative to Iran. Speaker Mike Johnson had tried to prevent the vote two weeks ago by abruptly shutting down floor action, but displeasure has only grown as the conflict drags on and Trump struggles to negotiate a quick resolution. The Senate advanced its own war powers resolution last month when GOP senators broke ranks with the president.

The resolution must now go to the Republican-controlled Senate for approval. Even if successful there, the measure is unlikely to fully curb military action—Trump could veto it, requiring a two-thirds majority in both chambers to override. Since the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran on February 28, Americans have seen gas prices spike, adding inflationary pressure. A ceasefire was declared in April but remains uneasy, and military strikes between the U.S. and Iran continue to flare. Trump maintains negotiations to end the war are going 'very well.'

The Trump administration announced new tariffs of 10-12.5% on 60 countries Wednesday, accounting for almost all U.S. imports, over concerns they are not doing enough to tackle forced labor. It's the second time the administration has announced new import taxes since the Supreme Court struck down many previous duties in February. The 60 trading partners include the UK, EU, Canada, India, Japan, and China. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said the tariffs address an 'unlevel playing field' where American workers are forced to compete globally against goods made with forced labor.

The tariffs have not yet been enforced and the administration will need to go through a process to implement them. A U.S. Trade Department investigation concluded that 54 countries failed to impose legal prohibitions on importing goods produced with forced labor and to effectively enforce such prohibitions. Six others—Canada, the EU, Ecuador, Indonesia, Mexico, and Pakistan—failed to effectively enforce existing forced labor import prohibitions. The department will impose 10% tariffs on 15 countries including Canada, the EU, and UK, while the remaining 45 countries including China and India would face 12.5% duties.

The UK said it is tackling forced labor in supply chains and continues to engage with the U.S. administration in negotiations. China denied allegations of forced labor, calling them 'political manipulation.' The EU said the tariffs were 'unjustified' but remained committed to the trade deal agreed last year. Human rights groups say forced labor does exist in China and that countries need to do more on supply chains, but questioned the effectiveness of tariffs as a way of dealing with the problem. The UK's Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner says UK law doesn't go far enough, with the UK importing around £20 billion of goods annually that may be linked to forced labor.

Israeli strikes killed at least nine people in southern Lebanon Wednesday as Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel, testing a partial ceasefire agreed Monday. Lebanon's health ministry said the dead included two paramedics whose ambulance was struck in the Chehour area. A Lebanese soldier was also killed when his motorbike was targeted by a drone. Israel's military said it intercepted a drone and two projectiles that crossed the border, while Hezbollah said it targeted Israeli troops.

The incidents threaten the U.S.-brokered agreement where Israel would refrain from bombing Beirut in exchange for Hezbollah not attacking Israel. Israeli and Lebanese diplomats held a second day of talks in Washington Wednesday to discuss ways to shore up the deal. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he hoped the talks would produce 'an action plan on a track for security in Lebanon, independent from Hezbollah.' The U.S. State Department said progress was made during the first day of talks Tuesday.

Lebanon was drawn into the U.S.-Israel-Iran war on March 2 when Hezbollah launched rockets into Israel in retaliation for an Israeli strike that killed Iran's supreme leader. At least 3,516 people have been killed in Lebanon since the war began, according to the country's health ministry. More than one million people have registered as displaced, with Israeli evacuation orders covering more than an eighth of the country. Israel says 26 soldiers and four civilians have been killed on both sides of the border. Last week, Prime Minister Netanyahu ordered the military to intensify strikes and advance deeper into Lebanon after continued Hezbollah attacks.

SpaceX announced Wednesday it plans to raise up to $75 billion in an initial public offering that would be the largest stock market debut in history. The company will sell 555.6 million shares at $135 each, easily topping the $26 billion raised by Saudi Aramco in 2019. The offering would give SpaceX a market value of $1.77 trillion, making it more valuable than all but six companies in the S&P 500. Nvidia currently tops the index at $5.2 trillion.

CEO Elon Musk will maintain tight control through ownership of 5.22 billion Class B shares, which give 10 votes per share. According to the filing, Musk would have 82.4% of voting power in the company. Forbes currently values Musk's net worth at $826 billion with his SpaceX stake at $542 billion based on a previous $1.25 trillion company valuation. The new $1.77 trillion valuation would boost Musk's net worth by $223 billion, making him the world's first trillionaire—though much of his worth remains in stock he hasn't cashed in.

Despite positioning for a blockbuster debut, SpaceX is currently losing billions annually. The company lost $2.6 billion from operations last year on $18.7 billion in revenue, with losses continuing into this year. The IPO document details ambitious plans to use proceeds to help establish a permanent human colony on Mars with at least one million inhabitants, citing existential threats that could give humanity 'the same fate as the dinosaurs.' The company sees potential AI revenue of up to $26.5 trillion, though this depends on putting data centers in space—technology that doesn't currently exist.