Congo and Rwanda Sign U.S.-Brokered Peace Deal With Trump in DC
Congo and Rwanda Sign U.S.-Brokered Peace Deal With Trump in DC
The Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda signed a peace agreement aiming to end the conflict and open a shared stretch of East African mineral wealth to U.S. investment. Photo:
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Business Insider
37 minutes ago
- Business Insider
Trump's Big Law executive orders go 0-4 after judge slaps down order against Susman Godfrey
President Donald Trump faced another legal loss on Friday after a District Court judge slapped down his executive order against the Big Law firm Susman Godfrey. In her ruling, Judge Loren AliKhan wrote that the order against Susman Godfrey "was one in a series attacking firms that had taken positions with which President Trump disagreed." "In the ensuing months, every court to have considered a challenge to one of these orders has found grave constitutional violations and permanently enjoined enforcement of the order in full," AliKhan wrote. "Today, this court follows suit, concluding that the order targeting Susman violates the US Constitution and must be permanently enjoined." Three other federal judges have already found similar executive orders against Perkins Coie, Jenner & Block, and WilmerHale unconstitutional. AliKhan's ruling in the Susman Godfrey case marks a 0-4 record for the Trump administration in legal challenges regarding his executive orders targeting Big Law firms. Susman Godfrey said in a statement that the court's ruling "is a resounding victory for the rule of law and the right of every American to be represented by legal counsel without fear of retaliation." "We applaud the Court for declaring the administration's order unconstitutional," the firm's statement continued. "Our firm is committed to the rule of law and to protecting the rights of our clients without regard to their political or other beliefs. Susman Godfrey's lawyers and staff live these values every day." Harrison Fields, principal White House deputy press secretary, told Business Insider in a statement that the White House opposes Judge AliKhan's ruling. "The decision to grant any individual access to this nation's secrets is a sensitive judgment call entrusted to the President," Fields said. "Weighing these factors and implementing such decisions are core executive powers, and reviewing the President's clearance decisions falls well outside the judiciary's authority." The federal government can appeal AliKhan's ruling, in which case the proceedings will be heard in the court of appeals. Any subsequent appeal would be heard by the Supreme Court. Fields did not immediately respond to Business Insider when asked if the government would appeal Judge AliKhan's decision. Judge AliKhan's ruling represents a major legal victory for the firms that have challenged the president's executive orders in court. While some other Big Law firms chose instead to strike deals with the administration to avoid or reverse punitive executive actions against them — drawing sharp criticism from industry insiders and a spate of resignations among associates and some partners — Business Insider previously reported that Susman Godfrey's decision to fight back in court took just two hours. In the original April 9 executive order against Susman Godfrey, the Trump administration accused the firm of "efforts to weaponize the American legal system and degrade the quality of American elections." Judge AliKahn had granted the firm a temporary restraining order on April 15, preventing enforcement of the order against Susman Godfrey pending further proceedings. In issuing her order granting the TRO, the judge said she believed "the framers of our constitution would see this as a shocking abuse of power," according to The American Lawyer. Susman Godfrey represented Dominion Voting Systems in its suit against Fox News after the 2020 election, which resulted in a $787.5 million settlement, and The New York Times in the publication's copyright suit against OpenAI and Microsoft, which has not yet reached a conclusion.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
New housing directive could quietly change who qualifies for loans
New housing directive could quietly change who qualifies for loans originally appeared on TheStreet. President Donald Trump has vowed to turn the U.S. into the "crypto capital of the world." He has pursued an aggressive pro-crypto policy during his second term, such as signing executive orders to establish a strategic Bitcoin reserve and pursuing crypto regulatory bills. Now, the Trump administration has taken another step in the direction of crypto adoption. On June 25, William Pulte, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), issued an order that directs the Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA) and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (FMCC) — popularly called Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — to consider cryptocurrency as an asset as part of mortgage requests. Join the discussion with Scott Melker on. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are government-backed enterprises that purchase mortgages on the secondary market, issue them as mortgage-backed securities (MBSs), and guarantee payments to investors. While the enterprises don't issue mortgages, they issue guidelines around them. Pulte's directive asks these enterprises to formulate proposals to consider crypto assets for reserves in single-family mortgage loan risk assessments. Unlike earlier, the newly proposed process doesn't require the conversion of virtual assets into U.S. dollar as the loan closes. The latest move by the federal housing regulator is reflective of the broader shift toward institutional recognition of crypto as legitimate assets in the U.S. Nonetheless, the order is careful enough to caution Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac against considering cryptocurrencies not stored on U.S.-regulated, centralized trading exchanges. Join the discussion with CryptoWendyO on. Michael Saylor, the billionaire entrepreneur who leads the world's largest public Bitcoin treasury company MicroStrategy (Nasdaq: MSTR), congratulated Pulte on the move. One X user, however, was disappointed with the FHFA's decision to prefer assets held on centralized crypto exchanges over those held in self-custody. New housing directive could quietly change who qualifies for loans first appeared on TheStreet on Jun 26, 2025 This story was originally reported by TheStreet on Jun 26, 2025, where it first appeared. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Business Insider
an hour ago
- Business Insider
Stock Market News Review: SPY, QQQ Resilient as U.S.-Canada Trade Talks End, Inflation Rises
Both the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) and the Nasdaq 100 ETF (QQQ) secured new intraday all-time highs on Friday, although some of the gains were erased after President Trump said that the U.S. had terminated its trade talks with Canada. Confident Investing Starts Here: Following Canada's decision to proceed with its digital services tax on U.S. technology companies, Trump announced a halt to all U.S.-Canada trade discussions. The tax charges a 3% fee on all U.S. tech revenue above C$20 million, or about $14.6 million, collected from Canadian users. 'We will let Canada know the Tariff that they will be paying to do business with the United States of America within the next seven day period,' said Trump on Truth Social. Trump also said that the U.S. would no longer consider removing sanctions on Iran following a speech from Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Khamenei downplayed the damage of the U.S. strikes on three of Iran's nuclear sites and said that the country had delivered a 'slap to America's face.' Meanwhile, the core personal consumption expenditures (PCE) index, the Fed's preferred gauge of inflation, showed a monthly rise of 0.2% and a yearly rise of 2.7%. Economists were expecting growth of 0.1% and 2.6%, respectively. Furthermore, April's core PCE was revised upward to 2.6% from 2.5%. Core PCE excludes food and energy prices from the regular PCE index given their volatility. Shifting gears to more optimistic news, Trump is preparing executive orders to support AI development, according to Reuters. The orders could include green-lighting the construction of AI data centers on federal land and easier grid access for new energy projects, said sources close to the matter. What's more, consumer sentiment could be in the early stages of a recovery. The June Index of Consumer Sentiment rose by 16% month-over-month to 60.7, reversing six consecutive months of declines. Economists were expecting 60.5, with a higher figure representing a more positive economic outlook. At the same time, fears over tariff-driven inflation and economic uncertainty still persist. 'Despite June's gains, however, sentiment remains about 18% below December 2024, right after the election; consumer views are still broadly consistent with an economic slowdown and an increase in inflation to come,' said Survey of Consumers Director Joanne Hsu.
