The briefing for Wednesday, July 1.

The Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that the 14th Amendment guarantees citizenship to all children born in the United States, rejecting President Trump's executive order that sought to end the 150-year-old policy. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the 6-3 majority that children born to parents "unlawfully or temporarily present" are "citizens at birth" under the Constitution. The decision is a major setback for Trump's immigration agenda.

The ruling exposed sharp divisions among the justices over citizenship and Reconstruction history. Justice Clarence Thomas wrote in dissent that the 14th Amendment was "enacted for freed slaves such as Dred Scott" and should not extend to children whose parents lack domicile in the U.S. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson directly rebutted Thomas, arguing he fundamentally misunderstands the Reconstruction Amendments as "an anti-caste, anti-subordination reset for the Nation, not a mere spot treatment for the dark stain of slavery."

Trump called the decision "too bad" on Truth Social and vowed to pursue legislation ending birthright citizenship, claiming "no long and unwieldy constitutional amendment is necessary." Civil rights groups welcomed the ruling, with Democratic House Leader Hakeem Jeffries saying the court "finally affirmed that all persons born in the United States are American citizens." The case drew historic attention when Trump made a rare appearance at oral arguments in April.

The Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that states can prohibit transgender women from competing on female school and college sports teams, deciding that bans in Idaho and West Virginia do not violate the Constitution or federal civil rights law. Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote that "states may maintain women's and girls' sports for biological females," and all nine justices agreed the bans don't violate Title IX's prohibition on sex discrimination in education.

The court split 6-3 along ideological lines on whether the bans violate the Constitution's equal protection clause. The conservative majority found no constitutional violation, while Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in partial dissent that the majority applied "a diminished view of equal protection" to sports. More than two dozen Republican-led states have enacted similar bans since Idaho passed the first one in 2020.

The decision affects students like Becky Pepper-Jackson, a 16-year-old West Virginia sophomore who has been on puberty blockers and publicly identified as female since age 8. West Virginia Attorney General JB McCuskey called the ruling a victory for "fairness and safety for female athletes," while the Human Rights Campaign said it was "heartbreaking for transgender student athletes who are being forced to sit on the sidelines." President Trump celebrated the decision as a "BIG WIN" on social media.

The Supreme Court struck down Tuesday more than 50 years of federal limits on how much political parties can spend in coordination with congressional and presidential candidates. The conservative majority sided with a Republican-led lawsuit that included Vice President JD Vance, who filed the challenge when he was an Ohio senator. The decision extends the court's expansion of money in politics that began with its 2010 Citizens United ruling.

The limits dated to the 1970s and were designed to prevent large donors from circumventing individual contribution caps by funneling unlimited money through parties to specific candidates. The Supreme Court had previously upheld these restrictions in 2001. After Trump took office for his second term, the Federal Election Commission dropped its defense of the law and joined Republicans in urging the court to overturn it.

The ruling allows political parties to coordinate unlimited spending with candidates, fundamentally changing how campaigns can be funded. Democrats had called on the Trump administration to continue defending the law, but the FEC's reversal cleared the path for the successful challenge. The decision marks another significant shift in campaign finance law following a series of Supreme Court rulings that have steadily weakened spending restrictions.

The Society of St. Pius X defied Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday by consecrating four bishops without papal approval at its seminary in Econe, Switzerland, triggering automatic excommunication and raising the specter of formal schism. Despite a personal plea from the American pope calling the move "a sin of extreme gravity," thousands of faithful attended the Latin Mass ceremony as bells tolled through the Swiss mountain valley.

Pope Leo had begged the group's leader, Rev. Davide Pagliarani, to "turn back" in a letter published Tuesday, warning the consecrations would harm the faithful by depriving them of valid sacraments. The society's media manager responded with "great sadness to not be understood by our leader" but said they were "changing absolutely nothing in our plans." The group cites a "state of necessity" to minister to its followers and believes it alone upholds true Catholic tradition against what it calls the errors of Vatican II reforms.

The consecrations occurred exactly 38 years after founder Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre performed similar unauthorized consecrations that led to excommunication in 1988. The SSPX has continued to grow despite having no legal status in the church, now counting 751 priests, 264 seminarians, and presence in 50 countries. The crisis marks the first major test for Pope Leo XIV, who has prioritized church unity and worked to heal tensions with traditionalists that worsened during Pope Francis's pontificate.

More than 50 Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian oil refineries since late March have created an unprecedented fuel crisis in one of the world's largest energy producers, with long lines at gas stations and fuel rationing spreading across the country. Russia's crude oil processing fell 25% in June to 3.95 million barrels per day, the lowest level in over two decades, according to Energy Intelligence analyst Gary Peach. About a third of Russia's refining capacity is now offline.

The strikes have hit critical infrastructure repeatedly, including the Moscow Oil Refinery on June 18 and an oil terminal in St. Petersburg days before Putin's economic forum. Fuel rationing has been introduced in over half of Russia's regions, with some areas experiencing hourslong queues and portable toilets brought in to accommodate waiting drivers. President Putin acknowledged that "problems persist for both motorists and businesses" but insisted shortages are "not critical" and "temporary."

Ukrainian officials describe the campaign as an effort to undermine Russian military logistics and pressure Moscow to end the war, now in its fifth year. The timing is particularly problematic for Russia as the agriculture harvest season increases fuel demand. In Moscow, motorists expressed skepticism about Putin's assurances, with one driver telling the AP: "They say one thing on television, and in reality it's another." Crimea has been especially hard hit, with civilian fuel sales halted entirely for several weeks before limited sales resumed.

The Justice Department and 17 states reached settlements with Cal-Maine Foods, Versova, and Hickman's Egg Ranch to resolve allegations that the companies illegally coordinated to inflate egg prices between June 2022 and March 2025. According to the complaint filed Monday in Iowa, the producers colluded on bids submitted to Urner Barry Publications, which runs an index that determines wholesale egg prices paid by grocery stores and restaurants nationwide.

Under the settlements, which require court approval, the three companies will collectively pay $3.3 million and donate 53 million eggs to food banks and nonprofits without admitting wrongdoing. The Justice Department will also require the companies to adopt antitrust compliance programs and ban communication with competitors on pricing strategies. New York Attorney General Letitia James, who helped lead the investigation, said the collusion meant "higher prices for eggs sold to consumers."

Average U.S. egg prices hit a record $6.23 per dozen in March 2025 amid a bird flu outbreak that forced farmers to slaughter millions of chickens. The complaint notes that price quotations "dropped significantly" after the companies learned of the investigation in March 2025, with consumer prices later falling to under $2.20 per dozen by May 2026. Cal-Maine called the allegations "baseless" but said the settlement allows the company to focus on "delivering affordable, high-quality eggs" to consumers.