BORN ON THE 4^TH OF JULY: A federal judge in New Hampshire blocked the Trump administration from enforcing the President’s executive order ending birthright citizenship after certifying a class-action lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union, thereby doing an end run around the Supreme Court decision limiting the power of a single federal judge to challenge  a presidential action.

  The Supreme Court had ruled that an exception could be made in the case of a class action. The administration was given a week to appeal. 

  Trump’s executive order attempts to end the right of anyone born in the US to be a citizen as specified in the 14^th amendment. He’s trying to stop illegal immigrants from having US citizen children. 

THE WHISTLE BLOWS: A former Justice Department lawyer who filed a whistleblower complaint against the DOJ told The NY Times that the Trump administration is “thumbing its nose at the courts,” and that his former colleagues were being forced to choose between the president’s agenda and their ethical obligations as lawyers.

  The lawyer, Erez Reuveni, told the Times he was willing to testify to Congress or in court about intentional efforts by the administration to ignore judges and the due process rights of hundreds of migrants.

  Reuveni spoke specifically about the deportation of 238 migrants including Kilmar Abrego Garcia to the harsh CECOT prison in El Salvador. “If they can do this sort of thing to Abrego Garcia, to 238 people that nobody knows, and send them to CECOT forever with no due process, they can do that to anyone,” Reuveni said. “It should be deeply, deeply worrisome to anyone who cares about their safety and their liberty, that the government can, without showing evidence to anyone of anything, spirit you away on a plane to wherever, forever.”

BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE:

— The FBI is administering lie detector tests to smoke out disloyal employees, The NY Times reports. The number of people asked to take the polygraph is in the dozens, the Times reports.

  Among the questions asked are about who leaked stories to the news and whether employees have said anything disparaging about the bureau’s director, Kash Patel.

  Amidst the loyalty tests and fear of retaliation for having taken part in investigations of Donald Trump, top agents in about 40 percent of the field offices have either retired, been pushed out, or reassigned. 

— The Justice Department issued subpoenas demanding confidential patient records from more than 20 doctors and hospitals that provide gender-related treatments to minors, The NY Times reports.

  It’s another step in the Trump administration’s efforts to bring a political halt to a medical matter, pediatric gender care. They’re treating it like it’s a dangerous fad for children. 

  The Times says, “Officials briefed on the investigation described the action as a fact-finding mission, an effort to determine whether any laws have been broken and a spur to kick-start negotiations with the providers over transgender treatment policy.”

— Following a Supreme Court decision clearing the way for mass firings in the federal government, the State Department notified employees that layoffs would begin “soon” as part of a major reorganization. 

— The President announced that he will subject imports from Canada to a 35 percent tariff starting August 1st.

— The Trump administration announced plans to cut off undocumented immigrants from more than a dozen health and education programs, including Head Start, the early education program for low-income children.

REMAINS OF THE DAY: President Trump and the First Lady are visiting the Texas flood disaster today as the search goes on for victims buried in the rubble. At least 120 people are dead and 160 still missing. A live person has not been rescued since the day of the flood.

THE WAR ROOM: Israeli Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu left Washington this week with no breakthrough on a peace deal in Gaza, so the killing goes on.

  Fifteen Palestinians including eight children were killed yesterday lining up for nutritional supplements outside a clinic in central Gaza. The  Israeli military said it had struck a “Hamas terrorist” and regretted any harm to civilians.

  Another 37 people were reportedly killed in Israeli strikes in other parts of Gaza as Israel and Hamas continue talks on a ceasefire deal, although there is no indication that the two sides are close to a breakthrough.

— In Ukraine, a senior intelligence officer was gunned down leaving his apartment building in Kyiv. The government blames Russia.

—  Secretary of State Marco Rubio met yesterday with Russia’s foreign minister repeating President Trump’s disappointment  that Vladimir Putin is escalating his war on Ukraine rather than negotiating a peace deal. Trump and his lieutenants don’t seem to understand that talk means nothing to Putin.

— President Trump is campaigning for Congress to defund the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. He posted on his Truth Social: “DEFUND THE CORPORATION FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING (PBS and NPR), which is worse than CNN & MSDNC put together. Any Republican that votes to allow this monstrosity to continue broadcasting will not have my support or Endorsement. Thank you for your attention to this matter! “

THE SPIN RACK:  The Secret Service suspended six agents responsible for securing the site of the campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where a gunman tried to assassinate Donald Trump last summer. The suspensions range from 10 to 42 days without pay. — The artificial intelligence chip maker Nvidia became the first company valued at $4 trillion. Its value jumped $3 trillion in the last two years. 

BELOW THE FOLD: Texas State Sen. Angela Paxton has filed for divorce from her far right wing husband, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, “on Biblical Grounds.” Paxton, who is trying to unseat Sen. John Cornyn, violated one of the “coveting” prohibitions.

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