The Paper Trail: June 20, 2025

Delivered Tuesdays and Fridays, The Paper Trail is a curated collection of the government news you need to know. Sign up to get this newsletter delivered to your inbox.

The Paper Trail

Top stories for June 20, 2025

Trump can keep National Guard in Los Angeles, appeals court rules: The three-judge 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel unanimously ruled that President Trump likely acted within his legal authority when he federalized the National Guard. (Zach Schonfeld, Washington Post)

🔎 See Also: The history of presidents activating U.S. troops on American soil (Claire Barrett, Military Times)

Social Security fund could run dry ahead of earlier forecast, trustees say: If Congress does not overhaul financing, automatic cuts will slash Social Security benefits by 23 percent and Medicare hospital benefits by 11 percent in 2033. (Julie Zauzmer Weil, Washington Post)

New York gears up for fight to count 1.8 million noncitizens in Census: City leaders see threats from the Trump administration and Republican officials that could lead to undercounting immigrants and minority groups ahead of the next census in 2030. (Winnie Hu, New York Times)

SAMHSA has fought drug and mental health crises. Now it’s in crisis: Staff and budget cuts at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, small federal agency tasked with easing the nation’s profound struggles with mental illness and drug addiction will result in fewer services for people fighting mental illness and addiction, including Narcan distribution. (Elana Gordon and David Ovalle, Washington Post)

Trump watchdog nominees draw congressional scrutiny for political histories: Labor inspector general nominee and former Rep. Anthony D’Esposito (R-NY), praised President Donald Trump during his confirmation hearing, while Veterans Affairs IG nominee Cheryl Mason, who was a senior advisor to VA Secretary Doug Collins, said she wasn’t involved in any decisions at the department. (Sean Michael Newhouse, Government Executive)

EEOC nominee would likely lead ‘real retreat’ from agency’s civil rights mission: Andrea Lucas appeared before a Senate panel on Wednesday and is expected to be confirmed as EEOC chair. The Trump nominee wants to revisit agency guidance related to pregnancy and gender identity. (Amanda Becker, Government Executive)

National monument honoring Emmett Till at risk of removal due to Trump’s anti-DEI initiatives, budget cuts: There are 138 National Monuments across the U.S., but for the first time in nearly 100 years, they’re eligible to be sold for parts. (Kati Weis, CBS News)

Other Los Angeles Military Deployment News:

→ A veteran was detained by Marines. It highlights concerns over the military’s growing ties to law enforcement

→ National Guard troops deployed to crime-plagued Albuquerque are unarmed and not in military uniforms

Reproductive Freedom

Texas district judge overturns Biden rule on expanded abortion privacy protections: A federal judge struck down a rule aimed at shielding reproductive and gender-affirming care records from prosecutors. (Nathaniel Weixel, The Hill)  

Police Misconduct

Opinion: Police violence is growing in rural America. A safer path exists: In 2024, law enforcement killed 1,365 people — the most on record. That milestone is striking on its own, but these deaths are increasingly happening in rural areas. (Thaddeus L. Johnson, Washington Post)

Defense and Veterans Affairs

VA changes discrimination policy for health care staff, denies doctors could withhold treatment: The Department of Veterans Affairs changed the bylaws on discrimination for its doctors and other health care staff but has denied a report that it could allow providers to deny care to some patients. (Patricia Kime, Military.com)

Two soldiers die in non-combat incidents in Middle East: The Pentagon is investigating the deaths of two soldiers deployed to Iraq and Kuwait as part of Operation Inherent Resolve. (Beth Sullivan, Military Times)

Business and Finance

Airlines and Trump Administration backpedal on protections for travelers with wheelchairs: A landmark rule to expand the rights of disabled air travelers has been hamstrung by a lawsuit from major airlines and delayed enforcement by the Transportation Department. (Christine Chung, New York Times)

The U.S. invested in EV battery plants. Now they may be stranded: Despite tens of billions invested in EV production, manufacturers now face excess capacity and weak demand. (Shannon Osaka, Washington Post)

Tuition hikes and layoffs are coming to a broad set of universities: Schools say the Trump administration’s cuts to higher education are forcing them to consider extreme cost-cutting measures, even as more students than ever are heading to college this year. (Alan Blinder, New York Times)

Tech

Trump grants TikTok another 90-day extension in enforcement of sale-or-ban law: The deadline for TikTok’s parent company ByteDance to hand over control of the social media company’s U.S. operations is now September 17. (Clare Duffy and Samantha Waldenberg, CNN)

Infrastructure

Trump team’s reworking delays billions in broadband build-out: A Trump administration reworking of a $42 billion broadband expansion program will trigger delays as millions of rural Americans wait for promised connections and the telehealth services they bring. (Sarah Jane Tribble, KFF Health News)

Health Care

HIV prevention drug hailed as a ‘breakthrough’ gets FDA approval: Clinical trial data from last year suggest just two injections a year provide near-complete protection against an HIV infection. However, the cost of roughly $28,000 a year — could price out many from accessing the drug. (Jonathan Lambert, NPR)

Trump administration removing 988 hotline service tailored to LGBTQ+ youth in July: The 988 National Suicide & Crisis Lifeline will stop providing tailored support options to LGBTQ+ youth and young adults on July 17. (Devi Shastri, Associated Press)

🔎 See Also: Supreme Court upholds Tennessee ban on transgender youth medical care (Lawrence Hurley, NBC News)

How weight-loss drugs blew out the U.S. trade deficit: The shipments have vaulted Ireland, a country of only five million people, into the second-largest goods-trade imbalance with the U.S., trailing only China. (Chelsey Dulaney and Jared S. Hopkins, Wall Street Journal)

Kids’ cough syrup recalled nationwide due to microbial contamination: A children’s cough syrup from brand Little Remedies is being recalled due to the presence of Bacillus cereus, which can cause two types of food-borne illnesses, and loss of shelf-stability. (Sara Moniuszko, CBS News)

Opinion: How we plan to cut FDA drug approval time by months: The FDA announced a pilot program to reduce red tape and slash the agency’s drug review time from up to a year to just two months in an attempt to spur innovation. (Marty Makary, Washington Post)

ICYMI

Immigration and Border Security:

→ Judge rejects ‘Duffy Directive’ tying DOT grants to immigration cooperation

→ Trump’s deportation efforts could impact these industries and states that rely on undocumented workers

→ Pregnant U.S. citizen detained by Border Patrol agents: ‘We didn’t do anything wrong’

→ ICE raids and their uncertainty scare off workers and baffle businesses

→ L.A. Dodgers block federal agents from setting up in stadium parking lots, team says

→ Florida attorney general pitches ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ to hold migrants

Other News:

→ NYPD investigating car bomb threat against mayoral candidate Mamdani

→ Juneteenth goes uncelebrated at White House as Trump complains about ‘too many’ holidays

Because It’s Friday

Tax law might be coming for your free office snacks: A change in tax law may make companies rethink a popular workplace perk: food and drink. (Julie Zauzmer Weil, Washington Post)

Upcoming Events

📌 Closing the Feedback Loop Through Casework. POPVOX Foundation. Tuesday, June 24, 12pm.

Nominations & Appointments

Nominations

• Riley Barnes - Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
• Alan Boehme - Assistant Secretary of Veterans Affairs (Information and Technology)
• Karen Brazell - Under Secretary for Benefits of the Department of Veterans Affairs
• Jeremy Carl - Assistant Secretary of State (International Organizations)
• Theodore Cooke - Commissioner of Reclamation
• Jeremy Ellis - Inspector General, Department of Housing and Urban Development
• Michael Graham - Member of the National Transportation Safety Board (Reappointment)
• Stella Herrell - Assistant Secretary of Agriculture
• Paul Ingrassia - Special Counsel, Office of Special Counse
• Yehuda Kaploun - Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism
• John LaValle - Governor of the United States Postal Service
• Morvared Namdarkhan - Assistant Secretary of State (Consular Affairs)
• Bernardo Navarro - Ambassador to Peru
• Darryl Nirenberg - Ambassador to Romania
• Jeanine Pirro - United States Attorney for the District of Columbia
• Katherine Scarlett - Member of the Council on Environmental Quality
• Alexander Velez-Green - Deputy Under Secretary of Defense
• Bradley Walker - Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom
• Todd Wilcox - Assistant Secretary of State (Diplomatic Security)
• David Wright - Member of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (Reappointment)
• Edward L. Artau - United States District Judge for the Southern District of Florida
• Emil J. Bove III - United States Circuit Judge for the Third Circuit
• Kyle Christopher Dudek - United States District Judge for the Middle District of Florida
• John M. Guard - United States District Judge for the Middle District of Florida
• Anne-Leigh Gaylord Moe - United States District Judge for the Middle District of Florida
• Jordan Emery Pratt - United States District Judge for the Middle District of Florida