NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL

Nasdaq plunges 4%, Dow and S&P 500 sink as AI trade halts on Fed hike bets: US stocks fell sharply on Friday, with tech leading the way down after May's jobs report blew past expectations, while a rotation out of tech stocks and chipmakers continued. Can the job numbers be believed? Who knows. YAHOO FINANCE

White House Flips Out Over Newest Video of Trump Asleep in a Meeting: While Trump was awake in the meeting long enough to announce his “Trump Promenade,” a concrete patio extending from the back of the Lincoln Memorial to the Potomac River, a video clearly shows the president falling asleep. It’s only the latest example of Trump “resting his eyes” in public view during his second term in office, as it now seems to happen anytime he’s at an event or meeting where other people talk for a few minutes. TNR

Oil industry warns Trump administration of price spikes within weeks: The oil industry is warning the Trump administration that a Hormuz-sized hole in the world’s petroleum market is steadily draining inventories to levels that are likely to send global energy prices surging in the next several weeks, according to four executives. POLITICO

Ceasefire faces further strain as US and Iran launch new strikes: The exchange of fire places further strain on a fragile ceasefire between Washington and Tehran. A top Iranian official told CNN peace talks are deadlocked over $24 billion in frozen Iranian assets, and warned of the potential for a wider war. CNN

Supreme Court lets Alabama use House map that favors GOP in midterms: The Supreme Court on Tuesday cleared the way for Alabama to use a congressional map that is more favorable to Republicans in this year's midterm elections, despite a lower court finding that the plan intentionally discriminated against Black voters. CBS

Experts sound alarm over Elon Musk's 'coup' that's 'about to rob your 401k': In a move that one of the United States’ largest unions warned “defies financial logic,” private index providers – the companies that decide what stocks go into major market indexes – have fast tracked SpaceX to be added to indexes like the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq-100, indexes that millions of Americans buy into via their retirement accounts. RAW STORY

WORST ADMINISTRATION EVER?

The Administration Attempts to Erase Memory of Jan. 6 by Purging Thousands of Pages from Government Website: Last week, the Justice Department began systematically removing material from its web sites regarding the many indictments and convictions related to the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. UNPOPULIST

Trump Hands the Keys to National Intelligence to a Real Estate Loyalist With Zero Qualifications Except Digging Up Dirt on Trump’s Enemies: President Donald Trump has tapped Bill Pulte, head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, to serve as acting director of national intelligence — elevating a real estate scion with no clear national security credentials to a key post as the U.S. remains at war with Iran. Pulte’s main claim to fame is that he feverishly rummaged through the mortgage records of Trump’s political enemies so that the administration could target them. AP UNPOPULIST

The U.S. Took Over Venezuela’s Oil Industry. Where Has All the Money Gone?: The American and Venezuelan people remain in the dark about how the Trump administration is controlling billions of dollars of Venezuelan oil revenue. Without accountability mechanisms or a clear democratic roadmap, the United States risks entrenching a corrupt successor regime. CFR

Pentagon bars journalists from its press office, saying it has become a ‘classified space’: In another of a series of moves restricting media access at the Pentagon, the Defense Department has declared that its press office is now a classified space inaccessible to journalists. AP

“No One Is Watching”: How Trump Reversed Biden’s Crackdown on Gun Trafficking: The ATF referred 30% fewer gun-trafficking charges during Trump’s first year than the year prior. The number of referrals prosecutors declined also rose. Large numbers of ATF agents have been shifted from enforcing gun laws to helping ICE in its campaigns against undocumented immigrants. Trump has reversed a Biden-era crackdown on gun stores that violate the law. There has been a 69% reduction in the number of dealers losing their licenses.PRO PUBLICA 

Pentagon appoints convicted January 6 rioter to sensitive counter-terrorism role: The Pentagon has appointed a rioter convicted for his role in 6 January 2021 insurrection to a sensitive national security role dealing with counter-terrorism, overriding insiders’ concerns about his past record. Elias Irizarry, who pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge in connection with the storming of the US Capitol, has been appointed to a position in the US Department of Defense’s special operations and low intensity conflict office which manages highly classified military operations, causing alarm among Pentagon officials. THE GUARDIAN

Hegseth Strikes Female and Black Navy Officers From Promotion List: The defense secretary’s decision to block the officers’ promotions appears driven by his anti-diversity stance rather than based on merit. NYT

Congress quietly moves to integrate US and Israeli militaries: At a time when the American public is expressing unprecedented levels of distrust in the Israeli government, Congress just proposed tying the U.S. to the Israeli military more than ever before. Buried in the House's version of the 2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) released on Tuesday, is section 224 that lays the groundwork for bilateral research and development, co-production of weapons, joint ventures, licensing agreements, and seemingly every manner of U.S.-Israeli military-industrial complex cooperation. The U.S. and Israel already work together heavily on missile defense, but this provision would greatly expand coordination to seemingly every area of defense tech, including AI, quantum, autonomous systems, directed energy, cyber, biotech, and many more. It also proposes “network integration” and “data fusion.” In other words, the U.S. military’s data could soon be the Israeli military’s data. RESPONSIBLE STATECRAFT

DESI NEWS

Senate Republicans pass $70B immigration bill after rejecting efforts to permanently ban Trump’s settlement fund: Senators voted 52-47 to pass the $70 billion legislation to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol for the next three years, through the end of Trump’s term, after Democrats blocked the money for months. The bill will now head to the House, which is expected to take it up next week. AP

After Backlash, U.S. Clarifies Green Card Applicants Can Remain In Country:After facing public backlash and widespread confusion over a new policy change announced on May 22, U.S. authorities clarified that green card applicants are not required to leave the country while their applications are being processed. The clarification, reported by the New York Times and Newsweek, who spoke to DHS spokespersons, aims to reassure applicants and address concerns sparked by earlier guidance that many feared could disrupt families and legal immigration pathways. INDIA CURRENTS

SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND SAFETY

White House reclassifies federal epidemiologists and other scientists from civil servants to ‘at-will’ hires: On Wednesday the White House moved to strip civil service protections from about 8,000 federal workers, including many working at public health agencies. The executive order effectively transforms these jobs—which include “epidemiologist,” “health scientist” and “toxicologist”—into “at-will” positions, meaning people in such roles can be readily fired without cause. SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN

People with cancer or HIV could lose Medicaid under new work rules, advocates say: Advocates for people with serious illnesses, like cancer and HIV, say the strict Medicaid work rules that the Trump administration released this week are likely to put ongoing treatments in jeopardy. States must put the work requirements into effect by January 1, 2027. NPR

The oceans are in deep trouble. The Trump administration is ditching a vital deep-sea monitoring system: The Trump administration has announced it will dismantle a $368 million deep-ocean monitoring system that provides critical data on the world’s oceans. The decision is sparking alarm among experts that US is taking eyes off the oceans at a dangerous time of record-breaking sea temperatures, an imminent super El Niño and fears a critical system of ocean currents could collapse, ushering in global chaos. CNN

CORRUPTION ALERT

Trump ballroom donors awarded $50B in taxpayer-funded contracts in last six months: watchdog: More than half of the 27 publicly-identified donors to President Donald Trump’s $400 million White House ballroom have been awarded new or expanded federal contracts since construction work began, according to a watchdog’s report. THE INDEPENDENT

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