Key Events (10)
The Office of Special Counsel launched an investigation into former special counsel Jack Smith for alleged violations of the Hatch Act, which restricts partisan activities by federal employees. The inquiry was initiated after a GOP senator requested an investigation over Smith's prosecution of Donald Trump.
Trump fired the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics following the release of July employment data showing a significant slowdown in job creation. Trump claimed the figures were 'rigged' to make him look bad, a position criticized by Republicans and his own former statistics chief as 'groundless' and 'dangerous'.
Trump intensified attacks on the Federal Reserve's independence, calling on top Fed officials to seize control from Chair Jerome Powell if he fails to cut interest rates. The president has been critical of the Fed's monetary policy decisions.
Trump ordered the movement of nuclear submarines after ex-Russian President Dmitry Medvedev made a menacing tweet calling Trump's threat to sanction Russia over Ukraine a 'step towards war'. The move escalated tensions over the ongoing conflict.
Growing signs indicate that Trump's tariffs are filtering through to consumer prices as companies exhaust options for keeping prices stable. This marks an acceleration in the visible impact of trade policy on everyday Americans.
Indian officials stated that India will continue to purchase oil from Russia despite Trump's threats of tariffs or other economic pressure. Indian oil firms base their decisions on price, crude grade, logistics, and economic factors rather than U.S. political pressure.
Declassified documents from the Durham investigation concluded that Russian spies were behind key 2016 emails, undermining claims by Trump's Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard about a plot against Trump during that election cycle.
A federal appeals court allowed a Trump administration order that eliminates union protections for federal workers, authorizing a key component of his effort to assert greater control over the federal bureaucracy.
Trump said that Sean 'Diddy' Combs' past comments criticizing him and calling for him to be 'banished' make pardoning the music mogul 'more difficult', despite the two having previously partied together and called each other friends.
A professor's $2.4 million grant to study Black maternal health was cancelled following the Trump administration's cuts to the National Institutes of Health. The researcher described the cancellation as 'heartbreaking'.