Wednesday morning news: July 9, 2025

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Supreme Court okays Trump federal workforce downsizing, for now » The Supreme Court says President Trump’s downsizing of the federal workforce can go forward for now.

In an 8-to-1 decision, the justices overrode lower court orders temporarily freezing the cuts by DOGE, the Department of Government Efficiency.

The lone dissenting vote came from Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, who warned the decision will lead to mass terminations along with -quote- “the dismantling of much of the Federal Government as Congress has created it.”

The High Court’s decision allows the White House to keep making the cuts while a U.S. district court judge continues hearing a case in which labor unions and nonprofits are suing over the downsizing.

It also comes as Congress works to pass a rescission bill codifying some of the DOGE cuts. The bill’s passed the House, but senators like Maine’s Susan Collins want changes.

COLLINS: I believe it needs some significant changes. For example, I want to strike the rescissions of funds for PEPFAR. I can’t imagine why we would want to terminate that program.

PEPFAR is short for the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. George W. Bush started the program to support AIDS prevention, care, and treatment in developing countries. It’s credited with saving millions of lives.

TX flood update: Abbott visits scene » Texas’s governor says more than 160 people are now believed missing after that horrific July 4th flooding of the Guadalupe River, in the central part of the state.

During a visit to the affected area, Governor Greg Abbott said the number of missing jumped up significantly after authorities set up a hotline for families to call.

The death toll is at least 109, including more than two dozen campers and counselors from Camp Mystic, an all-girls Christian camp, and Abbott says the hearts of Texans are breaking every day.

ABBOTT: Nothing is as heartwrenching as hearing the stories of what the girls around here, especially the girls at Camp Mystic, went through… to see where they lived in one moment, where they disappeared the next moment, and were gone forever.

Search and rescue crews are continuing their work, and Abbott says they won’t stop until every missing person is accounted for.

President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump will visit the area Friday.

Netanyahu, Trump meet again » House Foreign Envoy Steve Witkoff says he’s hopeful there’ll be a Gaza ceasefire deal by the end of the week.

Witkoff’s comments come as President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had their second meeting in as many days, almost exclusively to discuss Gaza, according to the president.

TRUMP: Gaza is a tragic… it’s a tragedy, it’s a tragedy. And he wants to get it solved and I want to get it solved and I think the other side wants to get it solved.

The president’s envoy says negotiators meeting in Qatar have made great progress since Sunday, and he plans to join them later in the week.

The deal under discussion would be a 60-day ceasefire. It would include the release of 10 living hostages still being held by Hamas, along with nine deceased hostages.

WH Council of Economic Advisers: Import prices are down » The White House Council of Economic Advisers says the Trump tariffs aren’t causing a spike in the price of imported goods to the U.S.

During a meeting of President Trump’s Cabinet Tuesday, the Council unveiled a report claiming import prices actually fell slightly from December to May, while overall prices increased slightly.

The White House says it proves tariffs don’t cause inflation -though many economists disagree- and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says the tariffs are bringing in a lot of revenue.

BESSENT: We will have taken in about $100 billion dollars in tariff income thus far this year. And that’s with the major tariff not starting till the second quarter, so we could expect that could be well over $300 billion by the end of the year.

The Fed has been taking a ‘wait and see’ approach on the tariffs’ economic impact before lowering interest rates. They’ll reconsider cutting rates again at the end of this month.

President Trump says Fed Chair Jerome Powell should resign for not lowering rates already.

Imposter uses AI to impersonate Rubio, contact foreign & U.S. officials » Someone using an AI-generated voice contacted three foreign ministers and two U.S. officials last month claiming to be Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Reuters reports the impostor contacted the foreign ministers, a U.S. governor, and a member of Congress over the Signal messaging app, leaving voicemails for at least two of them and sending a text message to another.

State Department Spokesperson Tammy Bruce:

BRUCE: The State Department, of course, is aware of this incident and is currently monitoring and addressing the matter. The Department takes seriously its responsibility to safeguard its information and continuously takes steps to improve the Department's cybersecurity posture to prevent future incidents.

The State Department sent out a cable last week warning partners about fake accounts and impersonations.

IRS: Churches can endorse candidates » The IRS says churches can endorse political candidates from the pulpit. WORLD’s Travis Kircher has more.

TRAVIS KIRCHER: In a joint filing Monday, the Internal Revenue Service and a group of Christian plaintiffs moved to settle a lawsuit brought last year.

Last fall two Baptist churches in Texas, the National Religious Broadcasters organization, and the Intercessors For America last fall challenged a decades-old law that bars tax-exempt nonprofits from engaging in certain political activities.

The Johnson Amendment, enacted in 1954, prohibits organizations from participating in political campaigns, a restriction some say infringes on free speech rights.

In Monday’s filing, the IRS said officials have not historically enforced the ban on houses of worship, and said it would view endorsements of political candidates from the pulpit as private matters.

Meanwhile, the National Council of Nonprofits criticized the move, saying the amendment was installed to keep nonprofit organizations nonpartisan and to ensure they remained focused on their mission.

A 2024 National Association of Evangelicals survey of evangelical leaders found that 98% of respondents believe pastors should not endorse candidates in front of their congregations.

For WORLD, I’m Travis Kircher.

I'm Mark Mellinger.

Straight ahead: preparing to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Plus, how one small airport is making travellers safer.

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