Supreme Court upholds biological protections of women’s sports
This morning, in a predictable ideological split, the Supreme Court’s six more-or-less conservative justices upheld the right of women to have sports teams free from men playing dress-up. The three liberal justices dissented, in part. Justice Brett Kavanaugh delivered the decision for the majority, upholding the Title IX provision that allows schools to segregate sports by biological sex, ignoring “self-identification.” He felt compelled to add, “No student-athlete on either side of the issue, whether a biological female or transgender, deserves to be ostracized or vilified.” Justice Clarence Thomas agreed with the majority in full but wrote a concurrence hitting the main point: “Men and boys with gender dysphoria are not women or girls, even if they believe that they are.”

E. Jean Carroll verdict stands
On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected an appeal by President Donald Trump over a jury verdict that found him liable for sexually abusing and defaming author E. Jean Carroll and awarded her $5 million. The justices gave no explanation. Carroll filed a civil defamation case against Trump after he denied claims she made of him sexually assaulting her in the 1990s in a book she published in 2019. Trump appealed the ruling to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, which upheld the New York City jury’s decision. A second defamation case related to the first, in which a Manhattan court found Trump liable for defaming Carroll regarding the first case and awarded her $83.3 million, is currently working its way through a lower appeals court.

Geofence surveillance needs a warrant
The Supreme Court pointed to Fourth Amendment rights in a Monday decision that requires law enforcement to obtain a warrant for geofence data. The three leftist justices sided with John Roberts, Brett Kavanaugh, and Neil Gorsuch in a 6-3 ruling that smartphone location data is protected against unreasonable search and seizure. The Court failed to address the actual situation of Chatrie v. United States, since a geofence warrant was obtained before police used that information to arrest Okello Chatrie for robbing a bank. In his dissent, Justice Samuel Alito chided the Court for grandstanding while refusing to rule on the actual case; he added that this overturns longstanding Fourth Amendment doctrine.

Iran says it’s not going to peace talks in Qatar
Yesterday, President Trump announced that the U.S. and Iran are scheduled for another round of peace talks in Doha, Qatar, today despite the U.S. engaging in a number of retaliatory strikes after Iran fired on and struck a ship in the Strait of Hormuz. However, Esmaeil Baqaei, a spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, said that the regime had no plan to attend. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt stated, “As far as we’re concerned, we’re holding up our end of the ceasefire. Violence will be met with violence.” She added, “The president obviously wants to see the peace process play out.” The U.S. and Iran are in the midst of a 60-day negotiation period aimed at establishing an agreement to permanently end Iran’s nuclear weapons program.

Trump keeps pushing on gas prices
President Trump is unhappy that gas prices, which spiked with Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz, have not yet dropped back to prewar levels. Ergo, Trump has launched a pressure campaign against gasoline retailers, insisting they drop prices further, aiming for the $2.50 mark. Americans likely agree with Trump; getting gas well below $3 a gallon sounds great, but markets don’t behave according to presidential whims. Trump has highlighted the price of crude, which has plummeted to around $68 a barrel, and says the $3.85 national average price is approaching price gouging. American Petroleum Institute spokeswoman Bethany Williams defended the industry, proclaiming, “Gasoline prices don’t move in lockstep with crude oil,” which is true; they decline much more slowly. But they sure seem to rise in lockstep with crude.

Trump nominates Sonderling for Labor
President Trump has announced that he will formally nominate Keith Sonderling to lead the Department of Labor. Acting Secretary Sonderling has been leading the department since former Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer left the position in April following increasing scrutiny over possibly illicit behavior. Trump said that Sonderling has “proven his dedication to delivering strong results for the Hardworking People of our Country.” The Senate will need to confirm the nomination, but Sonderling was already confirmed as deputy secretary by a 53-46 vote last year.

Swalwell’s pal dodges ethics complaint
In April, Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna filed an ethics complaint against Senator Ruben Gallego, who was a friend of the recently resigned and disgraced Congressman Eric Swalwell. Luna’s complaint against Gallego alleged campaign finance violations and sexual misconduct involving four different women, which Gallego dismissed as “right-wing conspiracies.” The Senate Ethics Committee dismissed the allegations, citing that the panel “did not find evidence” that his actions violated “federal law, Senate rules, or related standards of conduct.” Following the release of the Ethics Committee letter, Gallego taunted Luna, saying she owes him an apology. However, Luna shot back, calling him a “gross example of representation,” saying that people are aware of his “antics” and that he will need his legal defense fund because everyone in DC talks. The committee added that it retains the right to reopen the investigation should further evidence come to light.

DNC tries to ignore the Nazi
The Democrat Party is clearly embarrassed by a certain candidate it is quietly supporting, only insofar as it advances the Democrats’ possibility of retaking majority control of the Senate. That Democrat is Maine’s Graham Platner, whose deeply problematic history goes well beyond his Nazi tattoo. Recently, the Democratic National Committee released a fundraising ad highlighting its top competitive Senate candidates, which include Roy Cooper (NC), Jon Ossoff (GA), James Talarico (TX), Sherrod Brown (OH), and Mary Peltola (AK). Platner was glaringly absent, despite running for one of the GOP seats Democrats are most hopeful of flipping. The DNC claims the decision not to include Platner was simply a matter of lack of ad space. In reality, it seems the DNC doesn’t want Platner to be the face of the party’s midterm election efforts.

Alaska’s challenge of two Dans
The Alaska Supreme Court has overturned a state court’s decision blocking a candidate named Daniel J. Sullivan from appearing on the ballot for the state’s Senate primary in August. At issue is that Alaska’s current sitting Republican senator is Daniel S. Sullivan. State officials had ruled Daniel J. Sullivan ineligible over allegations that he was not running in good faith and was seeking to confuse voters. Despite running as a Republican challenger to Senator Sullivan, Daniel J. Sullivan, who is a retired teacher and former U.S. Forest Service worker, has no previous affiliation with the GOP. Alaska Division of Elections Director Carol Beecher noted that his website “appears to be deliberate[ly]” similar to the senator’s, and he worked with a Democrat political consultant. Nevertheless, the state’s high court will allow Daniel J. Sullivan to appear on the ballot with his party affiliation listed as “nonpartisan.”

Headlines

• U.S. House passes youth online safety legislation (Reuters)

• Trump signs order to give consumers more options to fix their cars (Washington Times)

• More than one million people without Social Security numbers enrolled in ObamaCare (Daily Caller)

• Shockingly, very few people want to buy Jill Biden’s book (National Review)

The Executive News Summary is compiled daily by Jordan Candler, Thomas Gallatin, Sterling Henry, and Sophie Starkova. For the archive, click here.