The American job market continues to show surprising strength, shrugging off the high costs of the Iran war.
Employers added 172,000 jobs in May — roughly double what forecasters had expected — and the unemployment rate remained at a low 4.3%. The Labor Department reported Friday that job growth was down slightly last month from a revised 179,000 in April. The unemployment rate stayed at a low 4.3%.
Also, the Senate passed legislation to fund President Donald Trump's immigration enforcement agencies early Friday morning, after weeks of delays and fierce backlash to an unrelated $1.776 billion settlement fund that threatened to derail the bill.
Here's the latest:
Rubio meets top Philippine diplomat over the South China Sea and other issues
Secretary of State Marco Rubio affirmed the strength of the two countries’ alliance to Philippine Foreign Minister Theresa Lazaro during Friday’s meeting in Washington.
A State Department statement said their discussion included economic priorities and the South China Sea, where Beijing has been aggressive in its territorial claims over disputed islands and atolls.
The South China Sea is a vital global trade route with rich undersea deposits of gas and oil.
In particular, Beijing and Manila have clashed over Scarborough Shoal, which China prefers to call Huangyan Dao.
On Sunday, the Chinese naval and air forces conducted “readiness patrols” near the shoal, after Philippine and U.S. forces conducted a five-day drill in the same waters.
Treasury warns banks of ‘red flags’ tied to customers in the US illegally
The Treasury Department’s financial crimes arm wants banks to help identify payroll schemes tied to people living in the country illegally, as part of the Trump administration’s latest measure to clamp down on immigration.
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network — also known as FinCEN — issued an advisory Friday to banks that tells them to watch out for identity theft, payroll tax fraud, and money laundering schemes tied to hiring unauthorized workers.
This comes after President Trump in May signed an executive order that requires banks to take a closer look at the citizenship of their customers.
The order directs bank regulators and government departments to look for signs that people without legal status are opening accounts or obtaining loans or credit cards. However, the order is less aggressive than banks had previously expected, as earlier reports suggested the White House was drafting an order that would make collecting customers' citizenship information mandatory.
Democratic Wisconsin senator says Trump’s stop in the swing state shows he’s nervous
Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin says President Trump’s visit to a rural swing district in Wisconsin shows he knows Republicans are in trouble in the midterms.
The stop on Friday for a farmer-focused round table in Chippewa Falls marks the first time Trump has visited Wisconsin in his second term. It comes just four days after Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. toured a dairy farm in the congressional district held by Republican Rep. Derrick Van Orden.
“They know they’re in trouble,” Baldwin said of Republicans. “They know across the country they’re in trouble.”
Baldwin says Trump’s visit is “not going to do the job in convincing our farmers they are doing better than they’re doing. They know the reality.”
Trump is scheduled to be joined by Van Orden, one of his most vocal supporters. Democrats have targeted that district this year.
US boards an oil tanker linked to Iran in the Indian Ocean
American forces have boarded a sanctioned oil tanker linked to Iran in the Indian Ocean, the U.S. military said Friday as the U.S. pushes to prevent the Islamic Republic from profiting off its oil and other goods.
U.S. Indo-Pacific Command posted on X that the U.S. forces boarded the MT Davina. The post lacked further details, but U.S. forces around the world have been directed to stop ships tied to Tehran or those suspected of carrying supplies that could help its government.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Navy is enforcing a blockade of Iran’s ports as part of an effort to force Tehran to open the Strait of Hormuz and accept a deal to extend a tenuous ceasefire in the war.
US set to hold latest oil and gas lease sale for Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
The Trump administration's push to expand oil and gas development in Alaska faces a new test Friday, with the latest lease sale set for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Opponents of drilling in the refuge's coastal plain have pointed to a lack of industry interest in the prior two sales held there and ongoing changes in Alaska's Arctic region due to climate change as proof the region should be off-limits to drilling. But supporters of drilling see the coastal plain, which is roughly the size of Delaware, as a potential untapped resource that could boost U.S. oil production and generate new revenue and jobs.
A coalition of conservation groups this spring sent a letter to leaders of 11 petroleum companies including major ConocoPhillips and Hilcorp, both major players in Alaska, urging them to not participate in the sale. The letter cited ongoing litigation over the leasing program, dating to President Trump’s first term, and warned of “financial, operational and reputational risks.”
Trump looms large over upcoming primary elections in Washington, DC
The last time Washington, D.C., residents chose a new delegate to Congress and a new mayor in the same election, gas was $1.33 a gallon and George H.W. Bush was president.
This fall they’ll do it again — under starkly different circumstances.
As the city heads toward pivotal primaries this month to pick candidates for those roles, President Trump's influence on the nation's capital is shaping up as a major campaign issue. The fresh slate of candidates is weighing how best to approach Trump's Republican administration and congressional control over the heavily Democratic city's affairs.
“It’s going to be a big sea change in city politics, no matter how the elections shake out,” said Amanda Huron, a professor at the University of the District of Columbia who teaches courses on D.C. history and politics. But Washington’s lack of full autonomy brings “all sorts of peculiarities around the city’s governance.”
Trump says he will attend NBA Finals game in New York to root for his hometown Knicks
Trump, a longtime New York Knicks fan, said he plans to attend an NBA Finals game at Madison Square Garden next week at the invitation of the team's owner.
Describing himself as a “big fan” of the team and owner James Dolan, Trump said Thursday that he will be in the arena for at least one game next week. The NBA believes it would make him the first sitting president to attend an NBA Finals game.
“The answer is yes — he’s invited me, I’m going,” Trump said of Dolan’s invitation. Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump said he was eyeing Game 3 on Monday but didn’t rule out Game 4 on Wednesday. “Maybe I’ll do both.”
Trump, who is simultaneously contending with a war in Iran, strife in Congress and looming midterm elections, said he made sure to catch some of Game 1 on Wednesday as the Knicks beat the San Antonio Spurs and took a 1-0 lead in the series.
Water begins refilling Reflecting Pool after Trump’s renovation to repaint it ‘American flag blue’
Water began refilling the recently renovated Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on Thursday, Trump announced from the Oval Office.
Trump showed a video during an unrelated event with water bubbling into the freshly painted basin at the foot of the Lincoln Memorial.
“That’s clean, beautiful water,” the president said.
Live video showed water accumulating in the center of the basin, with workers and trucks still inside the pool.
Trump noted the work to paint the shallow basin a deep shade, which he calls "American flag blue," was completed Wednesday. The administration said in a court filing that it was set to be filled with water no later than Sunday.
Trump also announced a plan to build a “promenade” that would allow pedestrians to walk from the back of the Lincoln Memorial to the Potomac River.
Trump says Pulte won’t be his nominee for director of national intelligence
Trump said Thursday that federal housing finance regulator Bill Pulte, his pick for acting director of national intelligence, would not be his "permanent" choice for the critical security post.
The Republican president’s disclosure that he was ruling out installing Pulte in the position full-time came after bipartisan pushback on Capitol Hill in recent days over Pulte’s lack of national security experience. The position requires Senate confirmation, something that lawmakers indicated was unlikely if Pulte were the nominee.
"He's not going to be permanent because, you know, I don't think he'd want to be permanent," Trump said while taking questions in the Oval Office after an event on coal. He called Pulte a "very smart guy" and said he may look at past elections that Trump claims, without credible evidence, were "rigged" against him.
Senate OKs $70B immigration bill after rejecting efforts to permanently ban Trump’s settlement fund
The Senate passed legislation to fund Trump's immigration enforcement agencies early Friday, after weeks of delays and fierce backlash to an unrelated $1.776 billion settlement fund that threatened to derail the bill.
Senators voted 52-47 to pass the $70 billion legislation to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol for the next three years, through the end of Trump's term, after Democrats had blocked the money for months. The bill will now head to the House, which is expected to take it up next week.
The final vote came just before 5 a.m., after Republicans narrowly defeated multiple attempts by members of both parties to add language to the bill that would permanently ban Trump's settlement fund for allies who believe they've been politically persecuted.
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