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USDA headquarters. Trump officials delayed the department's farm trade report to hide deficit projections that contradicted tariff messaging.

What Happened Today – June 4

by
June 4, 2025
GovBrief Intensity Score 192 🔥
Extreme. News volume is off the charts.
This is an indexed score based on news activity.
100 = our permanent historical baseline.
Today is 92% above normal.
Recent trend: 41% above the long-term baseline.
Previous 5 Days 144 | 144 | 80 | 64 | 128
7 Day Trending Story Categories: Courts, Federal Personnel, Criminal Justice
7 Day Trending Topics: DHS, ICE, Tariffs

Yesterday’s Most Popular Story

Musk calls Trump’s agenda bill a “disgusting abomination” days after leaving his government role, surprising officials who expected private disagreement to remain quiet.

🌊 Elon Musk called Trump’s signature bill a “disgusting abomination” on Tuesday. By Wednesday, the White House had unleashed travel bans, Harvard sanctions, Putin threats, Biden investigations, mass firings, and a dozen other crises to bury the story.

The classic authoritarian playbook: overwhelm everyone with noise until they forget what they were originally angry about.

Meanwhile, don’t rely on the algorithm. Let me send this free and private summary to you every night so that you never miss what’s going on. Add your email on the homepage.

#GovBriefToday #Resist

ArtsFighting Back

National Portrait Gallery director Kim Sajet defies Trump’s firing order and continues working as Smithsonian Board of Regents prepares to meet Monday to address presidential overreach.

June 4, 2025
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CongressFederal PersonnelMedia

Congressional letter reveals Trump appointee Kari Lake plans to slash Voice of America from over 1,000 employees to just 81 as administration dismantles decades-old news organization.

June 4, 2025
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CourtsEconomy

PA Gov. Shapiro sues USDA over cancellation of food program that paid 180 state farms $13 million to provide fresh produce to food banks.

June 4, 2025
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DataFederal Personnel

Former HHS employees sue over 10,000 job cuts claiming department used “error-ridden” personnel data with wrong performance ratings and office locations to make termination decisions.

June 4, 2025
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CourtsEducationFederal Personnel

Federal appeals court upholds judge’s order blocking Trump from dismantling Education Dept and requiring reinstatement of 1,300 employees after Justice Dept sought swift ruling to rush case to Supreme Court.

June 4, 2025
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CourtsCriminal JusticeImmigration

Judge blocks private prison company CoreCivic from housing ICE detainees at shuttered 1,033-bed Leavenworth facility after city sued over company’s refusal to get required permits.

June 4, 2025
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CourtsHuman RightsImmigration

Federal judge blocks deportation of Boulder antisemitic attack suspect’s wife and five children after immigration officials detained the family despite their pending asylum case.

June 4, 2025
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CourtsCriminal JusticeForeign RelationsHuman RightsImmigration

Federal judge orders Trump administration to allow migrants sent to El Salvador mega-prison under Alien Enemies Act to challenge their removal after significant evidence emerged many have no gang connections.

June 4, 2025
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CourtsHuman Rights

Guatemalan man wrongly deported to Mexico without due process finally returns to U.S. more than a week after federal judge ordered Trump administration to fly him back.

June 4, 2025
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Criminal Justice

Political consultant goes on trial for AI-generated robocalls mimicking Biden that told New Hampshire voters to skip primary and “save your vote for November.”

June 4, 2025
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Justice Dept

Trump orders White House counsel to investigate Biden’s alleged “cognitive decline” and who made presidential decisions despite autopens being legally used by presidents for decades.

June 4, 2025
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Criminal JusticeImmigration

ICE quietly removes requirement that agents respect state and local laws during courthouse raids as Trump administration expands deportation operations targeting immigrants at routine hearings.

June 4, 2025
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Federal PersonnelIntelligenceMilitary

Trump puts 22-year-old college graduate with no national security experience in charge of government’s main terrorism prevention office overseeing $18 million in anti-extremism grants.

June 4, 2025
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Foreign RelationsWar

U.S. is only nation to veto UN Security Council resolution demanding immediate Gaza ceasefire as all 14 other members vote in favor of measure that doesn’t condemn Hamas.

June 4, 2025
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CongressMilitary

Army leaders defend $45 million parade for service’s 250th birthday as House Armed Services Committee questions spending money on pageantry while cutting $1 billion from base housing and barracks plagued by mold and sewage.

June 4, 2025
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HealthScience

CDC official overseeing COVID-19 vaccine recommendations resigns after RFK Jr. bypassed scientific committee to impose guidance excluding pregnant women from vaccination recommendations.

June 4, 2025
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CongressEconomy

Trump calls for scrapping debt limit entirely after Congressional Budget Office projects his policies would add $2.4 trillion to deficits and require $4 trillion debt ceiling increase.

June 4, 2025
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DataEconomyFederal Personnel

Trump’s government hiring freeze forces Labor Department to reduce inflation data collection as economists warn the cuts could make inflation measurements less accurate.

June 4, 2025
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DataEconomy

Trump officials delayed and redacted Agriculture Department farm trade report because it projected a record $49.5 billion deficit this year that contradicted administration messaging on tariffs reducing trade imbalances.

June 4, 2025
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Economy

Independent Congressional Budget Office says Trump’s tariffs would shrink the economy and add to inflation while reducing deficits by $2.8 trillion through taxes paid by American consumers and companies on imported goods.

June 4, 2025
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CongressEconomy

Independent Congressional Budget Office says Trump’s tax bill would add $2.4 trillion to federal deficits over 10 years as Elon Musk escalates attacks and GOP senators join opposition.

June 4, 2025
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Foreign RelationsWar

Trump warns Putin will seek revenge for Ukraine’s ‘Spider Web’ drone attack on Russian airbases after phone call where Russian leader called Ukrainian government a terrorist organization.”

June 4, 2025
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EducationForeign Relations

Trump bans international students from entering U.S. to attend Harvard citing national security concerns after the university refused to comply with Homeland Security requests for information about foreign students

June 4, 2025
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Foreign RelationsHuman Rights

Trump bans travel from 12 countries and restricts it from 7 others while citing Boulder antisemitic attack by Egyptian man as justification despite Egypt not being on either list.

June 4, 2025
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