🌊 Big Beautiful Passage

RIP to June 2025, a truly insane month of news.

This month’s news cycle was so insane that it had us rolling on the ground like Walter White after Skylar gave their meth money to Ted Beneke. In just the last 30 days, we’ve seen the outbreak to a potential WW3, a nasty breakup between the President and world’s richest man, headlines about a new Measles outbreak, mass No Kings/ICE protests across the country, a head-spinning mayoral primary in NYC, and much more. It’s no wonder that we’re all binging Love Island in search of hope (and Huda) in a desolate world.

Here’s to a better July. Hope you had a great weekend.

–Max and Max

KEY STORY

Big Beautiful Bill Advances

The Senate voted 51–49 to advance the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” clearing a legislative hurdle

• The bill is a centerpiece of President Trump’s second-term agenda, seeking to extend tax cuts, cut benefit spending, eliminate taxes on tips, and increase immigration enforcement funding

• While the bill passed the House in May, Senate Republicans remain divided between those pushing for deeper cuts and those wary of its deficit impact

• The Senate voted to advance the bill, meaning it’s closer to passage but still must undergo final debate

Dig Deeper

• The updated version of the bill includes adjustments designed to appease GOP dissent, including changes to rural Medicaid provisions, food stamp benefits, and deductions for state and local taxes (SALT)

• Republicans have set a self-imposed deadline of July 4 to send the legislation to Trump’s desk. If the Senate passes it, the bill returns to the House for final approval before becoming law

• All Senate Democrats and two Republicans – Senators Rand Paul (R-KY) and Thom Tillis (R-NC) – voted against the bill. Tillis, who has said he won’t seek reelection, cited concerns over cuts to social programs

• Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) criticized the bill saying, “Senate Republicans are scrambling to pass a radical bill, released to the public in the dead of night, praying the American people don't realize what's in it”

KEY STORY

UVA President Resigns

The University of Virginia’s President James Ryan resigned under pressure from the Justice Department amid a civil rights investigation into the university’s DEI practices

• The DoJ warned that UVA’s programs may violate civil rights laws and threatened to pull funding and student visa access unless changes were made

• Ryan, who had overseen diversity initiatives since 2018, was broadly popular at the school. He said he was unwilling to risk the university’s funding and stability by fighting the gov’t to keep his position

• The decision drew mixed reactions: student-led protests in support of Ryan erupted on campus, while conservative groups praised the move as a step away from “ideological overreach”

Dig Deeper

• In a letter to UVA’s board, Ryan said he had intended to finish his term through the next academic year but decided to expedite his departure

• Under Ryan, UVA increased enrollment of first-generation students, expanded outreach to underrepresented communities, and promoted public service as part of its mission to be “great and good”

• The Justice Department informed UVA of multiple complaints alleging race-based treatment and concluded that race factored into admissions, scholarships, housing, and hiring – practices it said were “widespread throughout every component and facet of the institution”

• DoJ officials warned that failure to address these concerns could jeopardize hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding and international student visa programs

• They also claimed Ryan had misrepresented the university’s steps toward compliance and had not adequately dismantled its DEI infrastructure

QUOTE OF THE DAY

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KEY STORY

Supreme Court Limits Injunctions

The Supreme Court ruled 6–3 that lower courts generally lack authority to block federal policies nationwide

• The case stemmed from an injunction — an order to stop a policy — issued by a lower court that blocked Trump’s order ending birthright citizenship for children of illegal immigrants and visa holders

• Liberal justices said the ruling risks inconsistent legal protections, while conservatives hailed it as a win for executive power and judicial restraint

• Justice Coney Barrett wrote the majority opinion, arguing that universal injunctions give one region’s courts too much power

Dig Deeper 

• “Federal courts do not exercise general oversight of the Executive Branch,” read the opinion, which was joined by all the conservative justices

• Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, writing for the dissenting liberal justices, wrote, “When the Government says ‘do not allow lower courts to enjoin executive action universally...’ what it is actually saying is…please allow this”

• Justice Coney Barrett responded to Justice Jackson Jackson with a fiery response that went viral: “We will not dwell on Justice Jackson’s argument, which is at odds with more than two centuries' worth of precedent, not to mention the Constitution itself. We observe only this: Justice Jackson decries an imperial Executive while embracing an imperial Judiciary.”

• The ruling could reshape how future challenges to federal policies are litigated

• Legal analysts predict that district judges must now tailor injunctions specifically to named plaintiffs unless broader relief is the only way to protect their rights

• The ruling marks a major procedural win for the Trump Administration, which saw multiple policies blocked by nationwide injunctions

KEY STORY

US Brokers DRC-Rwanda Peace Deal

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Rwanda signed a US-brokered peace deal focused on troop withdrawal and economic integration

• The two nations had been in a deadly proxy war since 2022 culminating in M23, a Rwanda-backed rebel group, seizing major cities in the DRC

• The agreement links peace to reforms in critical mineral supply chains, including cobalt and lithium – resources vital to electric vehicles and electronics

• The US hopes the new deal will enable stable, Western-friendly supply chains to counter China’s dominance in exports of strategic minerals

Dig Deeper 

• Some critics have called the deal controversial, questioning whether the focus is purely on economic interests. “I don’t think the Americans should be trusted 100%,” said one activist from the DRC

• DRC’s foreign minister said, “By signing this agreement, we reaffirm a simple truth. Peace is a choice, but also a responsibility to respect international law, to uphold human rights and to protect sovereignty of states”

• “We are discussing how to build new regional economic value chains that link our countries, including with American private sector investment,” said Rwanda’s foreign minister

RUNDOWN
Some Quick Stories for the Office

🇩🇪 German authorities have charged a Syrian national with supporting a terrorist plot to attack a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna last August

💰 On Friday, President Trump suspended trade talks with Canada over its new tax targeting US tech companies. On Sunday, Canada revoked the tax and restarted negotiations

🇺🇸 New US Customs and Border Protection data showed a 90%+ decline in illegal border crossings

☢️ The UN’s nuclear watchdog warned that Iran could resume uranium enrichment within months

🏳️‍🌈 Thousands gathered for a Pride event in Budapest, Hungary, defying a nationwide ban

What does Roca Nation think?

🇺🇸 Today’s Question: What is one thing Europe does better than America?

Reply to this email with your response!

POPCORN
Some Quick Stories for Happy Hour

💻 RIP, Screen of Death: Microsoft is phasing out its infamous Blue Screen of Death, replacing it with a sleeker black version in future Windows updates

👩‍🚀 New Flags in Orbit: For the first time in over 40 years, astronauts from India, Poland, and Hungary have arrived at the International Space Station

🙍‍♀️ Sign of the Times: Officials discovered a woman living inside a grocery store sign in Midland, Michigan

🤖 Soccer Bots: Humanoid robot teams faced off in a fully autonomous soccer tournament on Saturday in Beijing, China

🎴 Stacking the Deck: Tian Rui, known as the “Card Architect,” has broken four stacking-related Guinness World Records, including stacking over 900 Jenga blocks on a single Jenga block standing vertically

ROCA WRAP
Bad Weekend

Pakistan

This country suffered one tragedy after another this weekend.

In recent years, Pakistan has faced near perpetual political and economic instability. The country is also vulnerable to natural disasters, including earthquakes and floods. This weekend, the tragic stars aligned for a trio of disasters.

On Friday, a flash flood swept away a family that was picnicking near a scenic river in northern Pakistan. At least nine people, all from one extended family, were confirmed dead.

On Saturday, a day later, a 5.5-magnitude earthquake struck central Pakistan. While the damage wasn’t immediately confirmed, similar earthquakes have caused significant property damage and fatalities. That same day, a suicide bomber crashed his explosive-laden car into a Pakistani military convoy.

The attack, in a restive region near the Afghan border, killed at least 13 soldiers. It came as Pakistan experiences an uptick of political instability and terrorism this year. Taken together, the stories indicate Pakistan’s unique vulnerability to both violence and natural disasters.

Many countries would record one of the headlines over a weekend; few would record all three.

EDITOR’S NOTE
Final Thoughts

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend. Max F spent his in Evansville, IN, while Max T spent his in NYC, covering the Pride Parade (wild video incoming) among other things (not sure what those other things are but he insists they exist).

We now bid adieu to the hectic month of June and look forward to starting July off fresh!

–Max and Max