Academics push Congress to restore independent agency quorums after Supreme Court ruling

More than 50 academics sent a letter Monday to the top four congressional leaders urging legislation to restore the operational independence of federal regulatory agencies, following last month's Supreme Court ruling in Trump v. Slaughter. That decision gave President Trump authority to remove commissioners of independent agencies without cause, leaving the Consumer Product Safety Commission, Federal Election Commission, Merit Systems Protection Board, and National Labor Relations Board struggling to maintain the quorums needed to conduct official business or issue rules.

The academics warned the vulnerability is structural, not partisan. 'Strategic vacancies are a tool available to any administration, of either party, and the vulnerabilities will outlast this President,' they wrote. They cited the National Credit Union Administration, which after losing two of its three members in April declared that a single remaining member constitutes a quorum.

For business, the immediate stakes are real: regulated industries from labor to consumer products face regulatory paralysis or single-member agency control. Watch whether bipartisan concern about institutional dysfunction — rather than partisan politics — is enough to move legislation in a Senate with a packed pre-recess calendar.

Oil prices fell roughly 1% Tuesday after President Trump said the U.S. was having 'good talks' with Iran and that a resolution was possible, raising market expectations of a diplomatic off-ramp and a return to normal energy flows through the Strait of Hormuz. Brent crude was down $0.54 at $87.82 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate slipped $0.66 to $81.95. Iran shut the strait after U.S. and Israeli strikes in late February, cutting crude and refined product exports through the chokepoint by 50% week-over-week, according to Barclays. IG analyst Tony Sycamore cautioned that 'the situation remains highly fluid,' with Trump warning strikes would resume if talks collapse and Iran issuing parallel threats. Energy markets, freight costs, and inflation outlooks all hang on whether a durable diplomatic agreement materializes.

The Conference Board's consumer confidence index fell to 90.8 in July from 92.2 in June, as Iran's closure of the Strait of Hormuz — through which about one-fifth of the world's oil travels — drove gas prices higher and accelerated inflation, eroding real incomes. Inflation has risen to 3.5% from 3% at Trump's inauguration and jumped sharply after the Iran conflict began Feb. 28. Ground beef hit $6.82 per pound in June, up 79% since early 2019. With midterm elections fewer than 100 days away, weakening household sentiment poses a direct political risk for Republicans.

River Wealth Advisors CEO Ed O'Gorman weighed in on the major questions facing investors ahead of the Federal Reserve's upcoming interest rate decision. With inflation still above the Fed's 2% target and geopolitical pressures affecting energy prices, the central bank's next move carries significant implications for borrowing costs, equity valuations, and fixed-income markets. O'Gorman's commentary highlights the uncertainty businesses and investors face in calibrating strategy around monetary policy at a moment of elevated macroeconomic risk.

Boeing added $280 million in charges last quarter to speed up delivery of two presidential 747-8 jets, pushing total cost overruns on the Air Force One program past $3.1 billion. CEO Kelly Ortberg told employees the company is committing 'significant resources' to hit a 2028 delivery target. The original fixed-price contract signed in 2018 capped taxpayer cost at $3.9 billion; subsequent modifications have raised that figure to roughly $4.5 billion. Boeing is absorbing the overruns, adding further strain to a balance sheet already under pressure from other troubled programs.

Senate Republicans are racing to hold a procedural vote before the end of next week on the Clarity Act, a landmark digital-asset bill designed to integrate crypto into mainstream U.S. finance. The outcome depends largely on a bloc of moderate Senate Democrats who have spent months negotiating but face left-flank pressure from Sen. Elizabeth Warren and others who argue the bill enriches President Trump's family and risks financial stability. A shrinking legislative calendar and GOP skeptics compound the uncertainty, making the next eight days decisive for the crypto industry's top legislative priority.

A federal judge granted a preliminary injunction Monday halting Minnesota's law that would have made it a felony for most prediction markets to operate or advertise in the state. Judge Kate M. Menendez sided with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Kalshi, and Polymarket, who argued federal law preempts state regulation of the platforms. The ruling keeps Minnesota's ban on hold pending a final decision, and signals that the CFTC's claim of exclusive federal jurisdiction over prediction markets will be tested in court as more than a dozen states seek to apply their own gambling laws to the fast-growing industry.

Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti is making AI data centers a centerpiece of her challenge to freshman Republican Rep. Rob Bresnahan in a swing Pennsylvania district, airing a TV ad that frames data center developers as exploitative outsiders who 'take what they want and leave us with their mess.' Cognetti's ad attacks the secrecy surrounding projects, developer tax breaks, and rising electric bills driven by data center energy demand. The race is considered one of Democrats' best pickup opportunities heading into November, and the ad marks a significant escalation of local anti-data-center sentiment into high-stakes federal electoral politics — a dynamic that could shape how candidates nationally address Big Tech's infrastructure expansion.

The Center for Biological Diversity and the Sierra Club on Monday jointly filed a petition to halt construction of a data center on federal land in Boulder City, Nevada, warning it could become 'the blueprint for data centers across public lands in the West.' Boulder City's attorney filed a separate stay request. The dispute has already prompted Rep. Rashida Tlaib to introduce the No AI Data Centers on Federal Lands Act, H.R. 9939, seeking a nationwide ban on such projects on federally owned property.

Cherry Hill's township council unanimously passed an ordinance Monday designating large-scale data centers as a non-permitted land use, joining a growing list of South Jersey municipalities taking preemptive action against AI and cloud-storage facilities. Mayor David Fleisher said the township did not want to be 'a guinea pig' while the technology evolves. The ordinance distinguishes between banned large-scale facilities and small server rooms used by individual businesses, which remain permitted. The move reflects mounting local resistance to data center development across the U.S. driven by concerns over land use, water consumption, and rising energy costs.

A South African municipal tribunal has approved Equinix's plan to build two data centers in Cape Town's King Air Industria area requiring approximately 170 megawatts of power capacity, making it one of South Africa's largest proposed data center developments. Activist groups Housing Assembly and Foxglove, represented by the Legal Resources Centre, opposed the project citing insufficient disclosure of environmental and resource impacts. The approval advances Equinix's African expansion as regional demand for data center infrastructure grows, though opponents signaled the legal fight is not over.

The Energy Department signed memorandums of agreement with Utah, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Idaho to explore nuclear waste storage, chosen from 28 applications submitted by 26 states. Energy Secretary Chris Wright described the initiative, called Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campuses, as crucial to an 'American nuclear renaissance.' The Trump administration hopes to have initial facilities online by 2027 and aims to quadruple U.S. nuclear energy capacity by 2050. Resolving the decades-old nuclear waste storage impasse is critical to unlocking the broader expansion of nuclear power that both parties have increasingly embraced.

Mayor Daniel Lurie endorsed federal legislation Tuesday that would require autonomous vehicle companies to improve emergency communication with first responders and establish a 24-hour public official hotline and digital geofencing authority with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The bill, authored by Rep. Kevin Mullin, follows a July 4 incident in which stalled Waymo vehicles blocked San Francisco streets during a major fireworks event. The move signals that even one of the nation's most AV-friendly cities is now pushing for binding regulatory standards on the industry.

The Justice Department asked the Supreme Court on Monday to stay lower court rulings that have blocked President Trump's executive order restructuring mail-in voting in nearly half the country. The order directs federal agencies to create a citizenship-verified voter list and instructs the U.S. Postal Service to deliver mail ballots only to people on that list. Democratic officials from 23 states and the District of Columbia sued, arguing the Constitution reserves election rule-making authority to states and Congress. A Massachusetts federal judge and a divided First Circuit panel have blocked the order; if the Supreme Court acts, it could reshape ballot access for November's midterms, which are now fewer than 100 days away.

The Senate on Monday cleared the final major procedural vote ahead of Jay Clayton's confirmation as director of national intelligence, setting up a confirmation vote in the chamber's final days before August recess. Clayton, the former SEC chair, is also at the center of a separate controversy: Senate Democrats are scrutinizing his role as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York in issuing subpoenas to New York Times reporters covering the Qatar-gifted Air Force One jet, a move critics call politically motivated press intimidation.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune publicly questioned President Trump's push to cancel the August recess, telling reporters Monday 'show me how this ends' before keeping the chamber in session indefinitely. Sen. John Cornyn warned that failing to deliver on promises to voters 99 days before midterm elections 'strikes me as a bad idea.' Trump wants the Senate to adopt a budget blueprint for the SAVE America Act election bill before leaving, but the measure currently lacks the 50 Republican votes needed. Sens. Mike Lee and Rick Scott have threatened to force procedural votes against adjournment, adding pressure to an already strained pre-recess schedule.

Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats led by Sen. Adam Schiff sent a letter to the Justice Department this week demanding information about subpoenas issued to New York Times reporters covering the Qatar-gifted Air Force One aircraft. The subpoenas reportedly sought communications records of reporters and in some cases their spouses and family members. The Times called the action 'a bad faith effort to harass, intimidate, and retaliate against members of the press.' The DOJ said reporters were not the investigative target but declined to identify what it was seeking, intensifying a confrontation over press freedom and prosecutorial independence.

Six members of Congress purchased SpaceX shares following the company's initial public offering, raising conflict-of-interest questions given that several sit on committees with oversight over NASA and the Defense Department — SpaceX's largest customers. The disclosures highlight ongoing concerns about lawmakers trading stocks in companies whose fortunes are directly tied to federal contracts and regulatory decisions they help shape, a tension that ethics watchdogs and some legislators have sought to address through proposed trading restrictions that have repeatedly stalled in Congress.

Two days of memorial services for the late Sen. Lindsey Graham begin Tuesday with a Capitol Rotunda ceremony, followed by services at the Washington National Cathedral attended by President Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Graham's allies intend to use the occasion to press for continuity in assertive U.S. foreign policy within an increasingly anti-interventionist Republican Party. Zelenskyy will separately lobby senators to advance the bipartisan Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia legislation, one of Graham's signature legislative priorities, with a first Senate vote on the measure scheduled for Tuesday evening.