Good evening. I’m British Chris, and this is Raw America.
Retired federal judges are banding together to push back on what they’re calling lawless conduct by the Trump administration. Two 60 Minutes legends may be about to join Scott Pelley’s revolt against CBS. Marco Rubio got caught lying to Congress about Trump falling asleep in Cabinet meetings. And Texas’ outgoing Republican senator is now pumping the brakes on his plans to rename a highway after Donald Trump.
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Retired Federal Judges Unite Against Trump
Scores of retired federal judges are now waging war against Trump in the courts, filing briefs challenging his administration. And they’re not pulling any punches.
In Florida, a federal judge took a motion from 35 former federal judges so seriously that she ordered the Trump administration to respond to their request to reopen the case used to create a $1.8 billion slush fund for MAGA loyalists that also shields Trump from the IRS. The former judges called it collusion and fraud.
More than 175 former judges filed a brief at the Supreme Court arguing that emergency orders without written reasoning shouldn’t bind lower courts. And in Boston, more than 100 former judges filed briefs urging a federal appeals court to address what they described as a pattern of abuse by ICE, including moving detained immigrants around the country specifically to dodge court challenges.
Yale Law professor Harold Koh was expecting maybe 20 judges to sign onto that Boston case. He got 135. Yale law professor Harold Koh said it’s no longer about ICE versus immigrants, but rather ICE versus the courts.
The most prominent name on all three briefs is J. Michael Luttig, a George H.W. Bush appointee who served on the federal bench for 15 years and was considered for the Supreme Court by George W. Bush. He’s now saying out loud that the rule of law itself is under threat.
The White House response? Spokeswoman Abigail Jackson used the question as an opportunity to attack sitting judges and accuse them of pushing “policy schemes.”
That tells you everything you need to know.
60 Minutes Veterans May Join Scott Pelley’s Crusade
Scott Pelley is out at 60 Minutes, and two longtime correspondents may soon follow him out the door.
Bari Weiss, who was installed by CBS’ billionaire owners as editor in chief earlier this year, brought in Nick Bilton as executive editor of the program. After Pelley questioned Bilton’s credentials at a staff meeting, Bilton fired him that same night in a letter, though Pelley fired back in a statement of his own, saying Weiss killed 60 Minutes “to curry favor with the Trump administration.” He also called out his new bosses’ “incompetence and unprofessionalism.”
Now, everyone is watching to see what Lesley Stahl and Bill Whitaker do next.
Stahl has been at CBS News since 1971 and at 60 Minutes since 1991. Whitaker has been there since 1984. Both are journalism elders in the truest sense of the word. And according to people familiar with the show, they’re wrestling with a painful question: if they leave, is there anything left?
Stahl and Whitaker have more leverage right now than they’ve ever had. Whether they use it, or whether they stay and try to protect what’s left of the program from the inside, is a decision only they can make.
But make no mistake: what’s happening at CBS News is corporate capitulation. And the people paying the price are some of the finest journalists in the business.
Rubio Embarrassed with Video of Trump Asleep at Cabinet Meeting
Secretary of State Marco Rubio was testifying before Congress Wednesday when Democratic Congressman Ted Lieu asked him a straightforward question: had he been to “more than one meeting where President Trump has fallen asleep?”
Rubio didn’t hesitate, saying, “That’s false. I’ve never seen him fall asleep. The guy doesn’t sleep.”
Lieu responded: “I’m going to show you in a moment a video that shows you just lied to Congress.”
The committee then watched footage from a Cabinet meeting last month showing Trump with his eyes closed for an extended period while Rubio was right next to him, giving a speech about the war in Iran.
Lieu pointed out that while Rubio was “talking about issues of war and peace,” the president was “sleeping right next to you.”
Rubio called the whole thing “a joke” and tried to redirect the conversation.
Trump turns 80 in less than two weeks. He’s the oldest president ever inaugurated. He spent years ridiculing Joe Biden’s health. And now the questions about his own condition have become a daily feature of the news cycle.
Trump hasn’t had a scheduled public appearance since May 27. He visited Walter Reed for a checkup, and the White House released a medical report that doctors publicly criticized as incomplete and missing crucial details. He hasn’t been seen in nearly a week, though he’s been posting on Truth Social at all hours of the night.
The White House insists everything is fine. But the videos don’t lie.
Cornyn Says Renaming Texas Highway After Trump No Longer a Priority
John Cornyn spent the better part of this election cycle trying to get Trump’s blessing. He pushed legislation to rename a Texas highway after the president and even posted photos of himself reading “The Art of the Deal.”
Trump endorsed Ken Paxton anyway, and Cornyn lost.
Now, one week after that defeat, Cornyn is suddenly comfortable saying what he apparently always thought: His bill to rename a highway after Trump is not at the top of his priorities list.
He’s also questioning Trump’s nominee to lead the Director of National Intelligence, saying he’s “yet to see any evidence” the pick meets the legal requirement of having extensive national security experience.
Cornyn insists he’s not joining what he called the “Wounded Bear Caucus” of Republican lame duck senators who lost primaries to Trump-endorsed candidates, and he’s still supportive of the Iran war. But a senator who was posting Art of the Deal selfies months ago is now openly disagreeing with Trump.
When the flattery’s no longer useful, it apparently evaporates pretty fast.
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Thanks for watching. I’m British Chris, with Raw America. We’ll see you tomorrow.
STORIES YOU MAY HAVE MISSED:
House Passes Resolution to End Trump’s War in Iran. The Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a resolution limiting President Donald Trump’s ability to wage war in Iran by a 215-208 margin. Republicans Tom Barrett of Michigan, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Warren Davidson of Ohio voted with Democrats to pass the resolution. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said it was “very dangerous” for a resolution taking away the president’s war powers to pass as negotiations with Iran continue.
Media Reporter Says Entire Staff of ‘60 Minutes’ Could Leave in ‘Weeks, if Not Days.’ Dylan Byers — a reporter with Puck News — recently told MS NOW host Ana Cabrera that after the departure of Scott Pelley from CBS News’ “60 Minutes,” the show could see a total exodus of all remaining on-air talent. According to Byers, the three remaining correspondents could decide “in weeks, if not days” to leave the show entirely.
Trump Removes Job Protections from Thousands of Federal Workers. President Trump on Wednesday issued an executive order that turned roughly 8,000 federal workers into “at-will” employees, who can now be fired without any reason. Almost all of the affected workers have a GS-15 classification, which is the highest level of the federal civil service. This includes leaders of policy-making offices, their chiefs of staff, workers overseeing spending and grants and senior public relations officers, among others.
New York Democrats Reveal Proposal to Flip up to 4 Republican House Seats in 2028. Democratic lawmakers in New York are now rolling out a plan for a 2027 ballot referendum that would allow the legislature to redraw congressional districts to eliminate as many as four Republican-held seats. Democrats say the move is necessary in order to correct the imbalance from Republican legislatures across the Deep South eliminating majority-Black congressional districts in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana and elsewhere.
Trump Suggests UFC Octagon Outside White House May Remain in Place Permanently. In a post to his official TikTok account, President Trump on Wednesday posted a video of the UFC octagon on the South Lawn of the White House with the caption: “MAYBE WE’LL NEVER TAKE IT DOWN.” He compared the octagon to Paris’ Eiffel Tower, in that it was originally intended to be temporary but ended up being a permanent fixture. The octagon is in place for a scheduled day of mixed martial arts fights on June 14, which is also Trump’s 80th birthday.
