Month: June 2025

One day after he drew criticism from President Trump for opposing the party’s sweeping domestic policy package, Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., announced Sunday that he would not run for re-election. The decision opens up seat in battleground North Carolina that is expected to be one of the most hotly contested races of the 2026 midterms.

The announcement came just hours after Pres. Trump said he will start fielding primary challengers to run against Tillis following the senator’s vote against advancing Trump’s ‘One Big Beautiful Bill Act’ to a vote in the Senate.

Trump attacked Tillis in a series of social media posts after the Senator voted against advancing the GOP’s massive domestic policy bill Saturday, and threatened to meet with potential primary challengers. Trump said on Truth Social: “Looks like Senator Thom Tillis, as usual, wants to tell the Nation that he’s giving them a 68% Tax Increase, as opposed to the Biggest Tax Cut in American History! Thom Tillis is making a BIG MISTAKE for America, and the Wonderful People of North Carolina! Numerous people have come forward wanting to run in the Primary against “Senator Thom” Tillis. I will be meeting with them over the coming weeks, looking for someone who will properly represent the Great People of North Carolina and, so importantly, the United States of America”

Trump’s criticism came hours after Tillis said in a statement that he “cannot support this bill in its current form,” pointing to expected cuts to Medicaid he said would “result in tens of billions of dollars in lost funding for North Carolina, including our hospitals and rural communities.”

Tillis wrote a lengthy statement announcing his decision, shaing that he has not been enthusiastic about seeking a third six-year term in the Senate: “In Washington over the last few years, it’s become increasingly evident that leaders who are willing to embrace bipartisanship, compromise, and demonstrate independent thinking are becoming an endangered species .. As many of my colleagues have noticed over the last year, and at times even joked about, I haven’t exactly been excited about running for another term. That is true since the choice is between spending another six years navigating the political theatre and partisan gridlock in Washington or spending that time with the love of my life Susan, our two children, three beautiful grandchildren, and the rest of our extended family back home. It’s not a hard choice, and I will not be seeking re-election.”

Republicans will now seek to find a replacement for Tillis, with Reps. Richard Hudson and Pat Harrigan are seen as potential candidates. National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman Tim Scott said the party was confident they would be able to defend the seat without Tillis in the race: “President Trump has won North Carolina three times, and the state’s been represented by two Republican Senators for over a decade. That streak will continue in 2026 when North Carolinians elect a conservative leader committed to advancing an agenda of opportunity, prosperity, and security.”

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Israel has ordered Palestinians to evacuate from parts of northern Gaza ahead of increased military action, with President Trump urging for the two sides to agree to a ceasefire deal that would potentially halt the fighting in the 20-month-long conflict in Gaza.

People in neighbourhoods across Gaza City and Jabalia have been told to move south towards the coastal area of al-Mawasi as Israeli military operations “intensify and expand westward”. The Hamas-run health ministry said that at least 86 people were killed as the result of Israeli attacks in the 24 hours before midday on Sunday. Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman Avichay Adraee said on Sunday that the Israeli military was operating in north Gaza “to eliminate terrorists and terrorist infrastructure”.

Trump had told reporters in the Oval Office last week that there could be a ceasefire agreement within the next week, saying “We’re working on Gaza and trying to get it taken care of.” Over the weekend, Trump again pleaded in a post on Truth Social: “MAKE THE DEAL IN GAZA. GET THE HOSTAGES BACK!!!”

Israeli officials said that a top adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Cabinet Minister Ron Dermer, was set to travel to Washington this week for talks on a ceasefire. Plans are also being made for Netanyahu to travel to Washington in the coming weeks, a sign there may be movement on a new deal.

Reuters reported that military bombardments increased in Gaza in the early hours of Sunday, destroying several houses. Gaza’s Hamas-run civil defence agency told news outlets that at least 23 people had been killed on Sunday alone.

In March, a two-month ceasefire collapsed when Israel launched fresh strikes on Gaza, stating that they wanted to put pressure on Hamas to release its hostages. Israel also imposed a total blockade on humanitarian aid deliveries to Gaza at the start of March, which it partially eased after 11 weeks following pressure from US allies and warnings from global experts that half a million people were facing starvation.

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Five people were killed after a train hit their vehicle when the driver allegedly went around the crossing gate in Gary, Indiana.

The incident took place just after 10 p.m. on Wednesday, near Highway 20 and Utah Street in Gary, Indiana, when a witness told Gary Police that the crossing gate for the oncoming South Shore train was down when the driver of the vehicle went around it to beat the train.   The Gary Police Department confirmed all five people inside the vehicle died. The identities of the victims were not released as of Thursday.

South Shore service was temporarily suspended but was up and running again as of Thursday morning.  The South Shore Line put out a statement regarding the collision:

“On June 25, 2025, shortly after 10 PM, South Shore Line Train #133 was traveling eastbound in Gary, Indiana, approaching the intersection at US 12/20 and 7th Avenue when a southbound vehicle bypassed lowered crossing gates and entered the path of the oncoming train.

Emergency responders were immediately dispatched to the scene. According to the Gary Police Department, the five occupants of the vehicle sustained fatal injuries. No passengers or crew members aboard the train were injured.

Our heartfelt thoughts and prayers are with all those affected by this tragic incident. We remind everyone to never attempt to cross railroad tracks when signals are activated, and to always expect a train on any track from any direction at any time. South Shore Line services were temporarily suspended following the incident, but normal operations have since resumed. We will continue to cooperate fully with local authorities during their ongoing investigation.”

South Shore Line President Mike Noland confirmed that the passengers and crews on the train were not hurt, and added: “putting aside the fact we always want people to be extremely careful around trains and train tracks and to expect a train on a track at any time – there is a tragedy when five human beings are lost and our hearts go out to the family of the loved ones who experienced loss in this accident.”

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On Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of South Carolina’s effort to cut off Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood. The case centered on whether recipients of Medicaid, a joint federal and state health insurance program for low-income people, may sue to enforce a requirement under U.S. law that they may obtain medical assistance from any qualified and willing provider.

In a 6–3 decision, divided along ideological lines with conservative justices in the majority, the Court determined that the federal law in question does not grant Medicaid patients the authority to bring lawsuits against states to enforce their right to provider choice. Justice Neil Gorsuch delivered the opinion for the court, with the three liberal justices, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson, in dissent.

Justice Gorsuch wrote the majority opinion, which also potentially opens the door for other Republican-led states to pursue similar actions. The ruling effectively curtails the ability of Medicaid enrollees to challenge such decisions in court.  Gorsuch wrote: “[t]he decision whether to let private plaintiffs enforce a new statutory right poses delicate questions of public policy. New rights for some mean new duties for others. And private enforcement actions, meritorious or not, can force governments to direct money away from public services and spend it instead on litigation. The job of resolving how best to weigh those competing costs and benefits belongs to the people’s elected representatives, not unelected judges charged with applying the law as they find it .. Congress knows how to give a grantee clear and unambiguous notice that, if it accepts federal funds, it may face private suits asserting an individual right to choose a medical provider,” but “that is not the law we have.”

In 2018, Republican Governor Henry McMaster signed an executive order barring Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, the regional branch of the organization, from offering family planning services through Medicaid. McMaster said in a statement after the ruling: “Seven years ago, we took decisive action to uphold the sanctity of life and assert our state’s values. Today, our stance has been vindicated.” South Carolina received support from 18 other states in the case.

In her dissent, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, joined by the Court’s two other liberal justices, argued that the ruling continues a troubling trend of weakening the 1871 Civil Rights Act. The law was originally passed in the aftermath of the Civil War to give individuals the ability to sue over civil rights violations: “[T]oday’s decision is likely to result in tangible harm to real people. At a minimum, it will deprive Medicaid recipients in South Carolina of their only meaningful way of enforcing a right that Congress has expressly granted to them. And, more concretely, it will strip those South Carolinians — and countless other Medicaid recipients around the country — of a deeply personal freedom: the ‘ability to decide who treats us at our most vulnerable.’ The court today disregards Congress’s express desire to prevent that very outcome .. South Carolina asks us to hollow out that provision so that the state can evade liability for violating the rights of its Medicaid recipients to choose their own doctors. The court abides South Carolina’s request. I would not.”

Planned Parenthood sharply criticized the outcome. Paige Johnson, president of the South Atlantic affiliate, called the decision a “devastating blow that undermines fundamental freedoms and threatens to deepen South Carolina’s growing health care crisis;” and Planned Parenthood Federation of America President Alexis McGill Johnson said in a statement that “today, the Supreme Court once again sided with politicians who believe they know better than you, who want to block you from seeing your trusted health care provider and making your own healthcare decisions.”

This case reached the Supreme Court prior to its 2022 decision overturning Roe v. Wade, which ended the constitutional right to abortion.  South Carolina at that time enacted a law banning most abortions after six weeks, resulting in significantly reduced access; however Planned Parenthood continues to operate clinics in Charleston and Columbia to offer abortion services in compliance with the state’s new law, alongside other medical services like cancer screenings, contraception, and pregnancy testing.

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Prosecutors are streamlining their case and have moved to drop some of the charges against Sean “Diddy” Combs a day before closing arguments are set to commence. Combs, 55, is charged with sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution. Those charges were not affected by the prosecution’s letter, but the jury will now have fewer predicates to consider during deliberations. Combs has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

In a letter to Judge Arun Subramanian filed on the morning of Wednesday, June 25, prosecutors said that they will not instruct the jury to consider attempted kidnapping, attempted arson and aiding and abetting sex trafficking prior to deliberations: “The Government understands the Court’s desire for streamlined instructions. Specifically, the Government has removed instructions from the charge relating to (i) attempted kidnapping under both California and New York law, (ii) attempted arson under California law, and (iii) aiding and abetting sex trafficking. The Government is no longer planning to proceed on these theories of liability so instructions are no longer necessary.”

In addition to dropping parts of their argument of the first count—one count of racketeering conspiracy—the letter sought to clarify Combs’ two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution. The letter notes that it is “imperative” the jury understands that “earlier consent is not determinative” of whether a victim was sex trafficked, adding that the same is true of forced labor, which is part of Combs’ sex trafficking counts. Additionally, the letter requests that “the Court instruct the jury that sex trafficking/labor and payment to the victim for that conduct are not mutually exclusive.”

Prosecutors called 34 witnesses over 29 days of testimony, while Combs’ team rested their defense after only 20 minutes on June 24, having called no witnesses and only introducing a series of text messages into evidence. Combs —who has been in federal custody since his September arrest—also waived his right to testify. In a rare statement addressing the court, he said: “We have discussed it thoroughly, that is my decision. That is totally my decision, I am making it.”  He also expressed gratitude for how Judge Subramanian has handled the case thus far: “I’m doing great, your honor, wanted to tell you thank you, you’re doing an excellent job.”

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