Good morning. It is shaping up to be a consequential Monday in Washington and well beyond it. The Supreme Court is expected to hand down the final opinions of its 2025–26 term this morning, with rulings still outstanding on birthright citizenship and the independence of the Federal Reserve. Overnight, the confrontation between the United States and Iran widened, with Tehran launching missiles and drones at U.S. installations in the Gulf. And on Capitol Hill, a landmark housing bill remains unsigned amid a standoff over election legislation. Here is what The Investigative Journal is tracking as the day begins.
Government
Housing bill stalls as Trump presses for the SAVE Act. President Trump has declined to sign the bipartisan 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act — described by lawmakers as the most sweeping federal housing legislation in decades — after abruptly canceling a planned signing ceremony, according to NBC News. The president said he would withhold his signature until Congress also passes the SAVE America Act, an elections measure. Records of the votes show the housing bill cleared the House 358–32 and the Senate 85–5.
The SAVE Act would require documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote in federal elections and would impose nationwide voter-identification requirements; the administration has characterized the measure as addressing what the president called a “National Emergency.” Reporting indicates the bill lacks the 60 Senate votes needed to overcome a filibuster without Democratic support, leaving its near-term path uncertain. Supporters frame it as an election-integrity priority; opponents argue it could complicate voter registration. The dispute, congressional reporting suggests, has slowed other business on the floor.
White House seeks an Iran-war supplemental. The administration has asked Congress for roughly $87.6 billion in supplemental spending tied to the conflict with Iran and to farm aid, according to a request reported last week by CNBC. The figure, if appropriated, would mark a significant expansion of the fiscal commitment to Gulf operations, and lawmakers are expected to weigh it as the security situation evolves.
Letlow wins Louisiana Senate runoff. U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow won the Republican Senate runoff in Louisiana on June 27 with roughly 56.9 percent of the vote, defeating state Treasurer John Fleming, CNN projected. Letlow made President Trump’s endorsement a centerpiece of her campaign. The contest followed the May primary in which two-term Sen. Bill Cassidy was defeated; PBS reported that Cassidy — who had voted to convict Trump in the 2021 impeachment trial — was the only sitting Republican senator the president’s team targeted this cycle. The general election is scheduled for later this year.
Courts
The Supreme Court’s last act. The justices are scheduled to release opinions at 10 a.m. Eastern this morning in what court-watchers expect to be the final opinion day of the term, according to SCOTUSblog. Analysts have counted roughly 19 to 20 argued cases still awaiting decisions, several of them among the term’s most consequential. The Court’s formal orders and opinions are posted on its own website as they are handed down.
Birthright citizenship still pending. Among the most closely watched is Trump v. Barbara, the challenge to the president’s first-day executive order seeking to end birthright citizenship by reinterpreting the Fourteenth Amendment, ABC News reports. Court filings indicate the order has never taken effect, and every federal court to consider it has so far blocked it. After argument in April, SCOTUSblog reported that a majority appeared inclined to rule against the administration, though the Court narrowed a related nationwide injunction on June 27. No final ruling on the merits has issued; the case remains pending.
The Fed-independence question. The Court has also not yet decided the dispute over the president’s attempt to remove Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook. At January arguments, justices across the ideological spectrum questioned the administration’s removal authority, with Justice Brett Kavanaugh warning that the president’s position could “weaken, if not shatter,” the independence of the central bank, according to CNN. The administration has alleged that Cook misrepresented residences on mortgage applications before joining the Fed; Cook has denied the allegations and said she is prepared to refute them in an appropriate forum. Those allegations have not been adjudicated, and the underlying “for cause” removal question is awaiting a ruling.
Immigration and gun decisions already in. Earlier in June, the Court handed the administration a series of immigration victories. In rulings described by CNN, the 6–3 majority held that the president has broad authority to end the Temporary Protected Status program and that federal courts cannot review certain Department of Homeland Security decisions to terminate humanitarian protections for Haitian and Syrian nationals. On firearms, the justices expanded gun rights in two decisions, holding that states cannot require gun owners to obtain a property owner’s advance permission to carry on private land, and limiting prosecution of habitual drug users solely for firearm possession.
International
U.S.–Iran fighting widens into the Gulf. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it launched ballistic missiles and drones at U.S.-linked sites at around 2–3 a.m. on June 28, including the Ali al-Salem air base in Kuwait and U.S. naval facilities in Bahrain, in retaliation for American strikes a day earlier. The U.S. military said its June 27 strikes targeted Iranian air-defense, drone-storage, communications and surveillance sites, in response to an alleged Iranian attack on a commercial ship in the Strait of Hormuz. Bahrain and Kuwait condemned the incoming fire, according to RFE/RL.
Tehran has threatened a “complete halt” to ceasefire negotiations if Washington continues striking, PBS reported. Casualty figures were not clear early Monday, and several of the competing claims could not be independently verified. The exchanges have imperiled efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and to reach a durable ceasefire.
Russia strikes Kyiv; Ukraine hits refineries. Russia launched a barrage of ballistic missiles at Kyiv overnight on June 28, with explosions reported shortly before 2 a.m. local time. At least two people were injured in the city’s Darnytskyi district, where fires were reported near a residential building and a service station, the Kyiv Independent reported, citing Ukrainian officials. Ukraine’s Air Force said it intercepted most of the incoming missiles and the majority of the drones. In response, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukrainian forces struck oil refineries in Russia’s Krasnodar Krai and Yaroslavl Oblast.
Eleven killed in French skydiving-plane crash. In northeastern France, investigators are examining a skydiving-plane crash that killed 11 people — the pilot and 10 parachutists — on Sunday, Fox News reported. Officials said the aircraft suffered a malfunction shortly after takeoff and fell steeply, narrowly missing a populated area. The cause remains under investigation.
Worth Watching
A look at what is on the calendar as Monday unfolds:
- Supreme Court, 10 a.m. ET: The justices may resolve Trump v. Barbara (birthright citizenship) and the Lisa Cook removal case, along with pending matters on campaign-finance limits, mail-in ballots and additional Second Amendment questions. Opinions post to the Court’s website as they are announced.
- Senate, 3:45 p.m. ET: The chamber reconvenes after a pro forma weekend session. Watch whether the housing-bill and SAVE Act impasse shows any movement, and what it means for stalled nominations.
- The Gulf: Any further U.S. or Iranian action, and whether ceasefire talks hold, after the overnight exchanges — alongside Congress’s handling of the proposed $87.6 billion supplemental.
- The American West: The Snyder Fire — formed as the Knowles and Gore fires merged near the Colorado–Utah border — had burned roughly 44 square miles, and the Interior Department has opened an investigation into the burnover that killed three federal firefighters and injured two over the weekend.
- Abroad: Continued fallout from the Kyiv strikes and the broader question of allied support for Ukraine heading into the NATO summit.
This is a developing digest; pending cases and unverified claims are noted as such. The Investigative Journal will update this briefing as events warrant.