Watchdog urges feds to rescind Biden’s Title IX rule

(The Center Square) – Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche dropped a bombshell of data on Thursday describing Trump administration efforts to find hundreds of thousands of missing unaccompanied alien children (UACs). UACs are minors trafficked to the U.S. border and smuggled into the U.S. under the guise of reuniting with family. In reality, many have been trafficked through a complex network run by transnational criminal organizations. 

More than 475,000 UACs were trafficked to the U.S. during the Biden administration. More than 300,000 were unaccounted as of the end of 2024, Blanche said at a press conference in Washington, D.C.

“The way that this happened is criminals trafficked these children to the border usually committing fraud to do so,” he said. “Oftentimes the children were abused, assaulted and certainly exploited.”

Once UACs arrive in the U.S., federal law requires that their oversight and care be administered by the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children and Families. The ORR has historically sent the majority of children to live with so-called sponsors.

Under the Biden administration, ORR often placed UACs with unvetted sponsors, background checks weren’t performed, UACs were released to alleged gang members, human traffickers, non-family members and sent to non-residential addresses, federal inspector general audits and a Florida grand jury found, The Center Square reported.

“In some cases, individuals would sponsor multiple children, which required them to lie to government personnel and on government forms claiming they were close relatives when in fact they were not,” Blanche said. “They would use fake or stolen identities and make other false claims during the application process in order to obtain custody of the children.”

The crimes committed against hundreds of thousands of children are a direct result of the federal government failing “to protect our borders,” Blanche said. As a result, “it is the most vulnerable who suffer.” 

Last fall, the Trump administration launched a welfare check initiative with multiple federal agencies attempting to locate the UACs, The Center Square reported. The Trump administration is also still releasing UACs to sponsors. 

U.S. attorneys nationwide are prosecuting human traffickers and smugglers, including of UACs, as well as those who put UACs into forced labor and sex trafficking schemes.

There are more than 15,500 super-sponsor cases the DOJ has identified along with the Department of Homeland Security, Blanche said. Super-sponsor cases involve individuals who sponsor more than three unrelated UACs. The cases involve sexual assault of children, “the stuff of nightmares,” he said. 

Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin said, “When we started digging into these cases, we started hearing the absolute horrific things that took place under the Biden administration. It was true neglect, at best, and criminal, at worst, to allow 450,000 kids to go missing throughout this country.”

Thanks to Congress fulling funding federal immigration enforcement over the next three years, he said, “We're able to push and go find these kids.” 

So far, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, DHS, the DOJ and other agencies have found 146,000 UACs, Mullin said. “We still have nearly 300,000 missing.” 

“We're investigating reports” in response to children claiming “they've been raped 600 to 700 times,” he said. 

“I don't care who you are. I don't care if you have kids, you don't have kids. I don't care if you're a liberal, you're an Independent, you're a Democrat, you're a Republican. If you can't stand for law enforcement to go find these kids, who are you?”

Mullin also said federal agents have found the majority of UACs in so-called sanctuary cities run by Democrats. He criticized New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who’s opposed ICE operations. “He knows what's happening in the streets. He knows who he's harboring, and at this point, abetting, by saying that we can't go operate,” Mullin said.

“We're going to go find the worst of the worst” in New York City, he said. “We're going to rescue as many kids as we possibly can. We're going to enforce our nation's laws and we're going to right the wrongs that the Biden administration turned a blind eye to.” 

“Four years of a blind eye allowed unvetted sponsors to come pick up 450,000 kids on our borders knowing … it was reported that over a third of the females regardless of age were sexually assaulted before they made it to the border,” he said. The Biden administration “knew it was human traffickers who were trafficking these young kids to the border. Then they didn’t vet the so-called sponsors. There were zero wellness checks.” 

ICE officers are finding the children, “the same individuals that the Democrats want to demonize. Every single day it is our law enforcement out there doing that job,” Mullin said. 

To missing children, he said, “we're going to find you.” 

To their abusers, he said, “we're going to bring you to justice.”

Since the women’s javelin became an event at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in 1982, there have been only six women to win back-to-back titles. On Thursday in Eugene, Oregon, that number remained as such.

Mizzou’s Valentina Barrios placed fourth with a throw of 187 feet, six inches, ending her bid for a title defense. The Colombian product would have been the second Tiger in program history to earn more than one national title, a list that only includes Mizzou legend Karissa Schweizer, who earned five track titles.

At last year’s outdoor championships, Barrios secured the title with a program record throw of 203-5.

Competing alongside Barrios, Mizzou Ph. D. candidate Skylar Ciccolini finished 19th with a throw of 160-2. Though Ciccolini entered ranked fifth nationally, she closed her Missouri career with her fourth appearance on the national stage.

In Wednesday’s action, Mizzou senior Sam Innes finished 23rd in the men’s hammer throw with a throw of 206-8.

The small but mighty throwers contingent wrapped up their contention, concluding the Tigers’ season on the biggest stage.

(The Center Square) – A new U.S.-Eastern Mediterranean energy “3+1 partnership” has launched among the U.S., Greece, Cyprus and Israel to establish energy security, peace and stability in the region. 

The partnership is an outworking of an initiative launched under the first Trump administration when Congress passed the Eastern Mediterranean Security and Energy Partnership Act of 2019. It authorized the Department of State to enter into cooperative energy agreements with Greece, Cypress and Israel, and the Department of Energy to establish a joint U.S.-Eastern Mediterranean Energy Center in the United States. The center will advance cooperation in energy innovation technology, water science, and technology transfer.

On Thursday, U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright announced that center would be housed at the Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice University in Houston: the Eastern Mediterranean Energy Center (EMEC).

He also signed a Declaration of Intent with the Greece Minister of Environment and Energy Stavros Papastavrou, Cyprus Minister of Energy, Commerce, and Industry Michael Damianos, Israeli Ambassador to the United States Dr. Yechiel Leiter, and Rice University President Reginald DesRoches. U.S. Ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle was also in attendance.

The agreement advances President Donald Trump's commitment to strengthening U.S. partnerships with allies in the region where geopolitical turmoil is impacting global energy markets. Under the second Trump administration, as Russia-Ukraine and U.S.-Israel-Iran conflicts continue, the partnership is seen as a way for the U.S. to expand energy development, innovation and investment. 

The goal of the partnership is to promote energy security, strengthen critical infrastructure, support emerging technologies, and advance long-term economic growth throughout the Eastern Mediterranean region to meet global energy demands, officials said. Focuses will be on natural gas development, U.S. LNG infrastructure, energy transportation networks, grid reliability, critical infrastructure resilience, as well as facilitating scientific and technical exchanges, research partnerships, workforce development initiatives, and engagement with industry stakeholders.

“The energy industry is by far the most important industry in the world, because the energy industry is what enables every other industry in the world,” Wright said to a full auditorium at Rice University. “The Eastern Mediterranean region is the birthplace of Western civilization, and an emerging energy powerhouse. The Eastern Mediterranean is an increasingly important region for global energy development, and this agreement strengthens cooperation among key allies while advancing our shared goals of energy abundance, economic prosperity, and regional stability.”

He also said the partnership was important “to use commerce to suppress conflict. That is the way to bring nations together when there is geopolitical tensions between countries.”

While others may look at geopolitical conflict as a zero-sum game with winners and losers, he said, with “commerce it's entirely different. By building energy distribution and infrastructure, you bring countries and people together.” 

The leaders of Greece, Cyprus and Israel “want to develop energy to bring better opportunities to their people … to their neighbors … and suppress and surpass conflict,” he said.  “These are generational investments. They're transforming the energy future of their nations” and the region, he said. The partnership of 3+1 “is just the start. To stitch a region together in commerce, not conflict.”

Greece Minister Papastavrou said the countries were “joining forces in order to deepen our strategic cooperation and strengthen our regional connectivity.” The new EMEC at Rice will “provide the permanent framework for advancing regional stability, energy security and economic cooperation [by bringing] together scientific knowledge, academic excellence, technological innovation and energy expertise at one of the leading academic institutions in the world,” he said. 

EMEC’s launch also “sends an unambiguous message which needs to be heard loud and clear: energy must never be weaponized. Unilateral actions and threats, implicit or explicit, that undermine regional stability, have no place in our shared future,” he emphasized.

“Over the past years, our countries have worked together to transform the region defined not by division but by partnership,” he said. “Through the 3 + 1 framework, we have demonstrated that trusted partners with a common strategic vision can deliver tangible results, advanced research interests, and contribute to a more secure, prosperous, and affordable energy future.”

The partnership is “evolving into a catalyst for the next generation of strategic energy and connectivity projects across our region” that will strengthen Europeans’ energy security and positively benefit the broader region, including India and the Middle East, he said.

As conflict continues with Russia and Iran, he reiterated that “energy should be a source of stability and prosperity, not a tool of intimidation.”

(The Center Square) – A federal agency suspended taxpayer funding to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority on Thursday, effective immediately.

A letter was sent to the city of Los Angeles on Thursday by Andrew D. Hughes, deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Hughes accused the city of abusing hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars on programs that failed to substantially reduce homelessness. The letter also alleged that the city’s main agency to help the homeless, the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, lacked basic safeguards and requirements to ensure money was spent responsibly.

“HUD has evidence that LAHSA’s repeated false statements and its irresponsible actions and failures, including its lack of financial management, internal controls, and safeguards against conflicts of interest pose a threat to HUD, the public and those living on the streets of Los Angeles,” Hughes wrote. His letter was addressed to LAHSA CEO Gita O'Neill.

Hughes told O'Neill that the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority receives more federal taxpayer dollars from his department to aid the homeless than any other city agency in the country – more than $220 million in 2024 and $944 million total since 2021. The letter also details how the agency's former CEO resigned after it was found she committed $2 million of the agency’s money to her husband’s employer. That CEO was Va Lecia Adams Kellum, who Hughes noted also committed federal funds to her former employer.

Both those incidents were just two in a string of examples that established a pattern of misuse of taxpayer funds, Hughes said in his letter.

“HUD cannot ignore LAHSA’s wanton mismanagement of public funds,” Hughes wrote. “HUD’s mission is to reduce the plague of homelessness in America. Turning over billions of dollars from American taxpayers to an organization under investigation and suspected gross misuse of federal funding and ‘obvious fraud’ does nothing to reduce homelessness.”

“Indeed, diverting dollars from worthy programs to LAHSA merely makes the homeless crisis worse," Hughes added.

The Center Square previously reported that the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority was jointly funded by both the city of Los Angeles and Los Angeles County. In April 2025, the county suspended funding to the authority to fund its own homeless services agency after the authority failed two audits.

That followed a federal court finding in March 2025 that the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority could not account for $2.3 billion, The Center Square reported.

Hughes and other officials from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development on Thursday afternoon did not return The Center Square's calls and emails to The Center Square requesting an interview. However, in a press release sent on Thursday afternoon, the department said that homelessness has skyrocketed in Los Angeles on the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority's watch.

“Under President Trump’s leadership, HUD will fund results, not corrupt failure or the homeless industrial complex,” said Secretary Scott Turner in a press release from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. “Year after year, hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars were funneled to LAHSA with little accountability. Meanwhile, homelessness skyrocketed. Taxpayers will no longer bankroll an organization that puts its own self-interests ahead of the Americans it was created to serve.”

City officials, including Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, did not respond to The Center Square's requests for an interview on Thursday.

However, Bass’s office said in a press release sent on Thursday afternoon that she was also concerned about misuse of taxpayer funds by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority.

“Mayor Bass, too, has grave concerns about LAHSA and zero tolerance for mismanagement and negligence, which is why she previously directed the City to evaluate how to move away from the agency,” that statement read. “Threatening federal funds does nothing to house people and jeopardizes the progress Mayor Bass has led to reduce homelessness for two years in a row, after it only went up in Los Angeles for years. We urge HUD to work with the City of Los Angeles to provide the necessary funding to reduce homelessness.”

Officials from the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority did not respond to The Center Square on Thursday.

Susan Shelley, vice president of communications for the Los Angeles-based Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, who has been critical of homelessness funding in Los Angeles, also did not respond to The Center Square.

(The Center Square) – Gov. Josh Shapiro met with Ontario Premier Doug Ford in Toronto on Wednesday to sign an agreement aimed at strengthening the economic relationship between the two jurisdictions.

“Canada, as you heard from the Premier, is Pennsylvania's largest trading partner. We import about $13.5 billion in U.S. dollars, in goods, from Canada each year, and that's critically important,” Shapiro said. “Our imports from Ontario represent nearly half of that total amount.” 

“At the same time, Pennsylvania exports $13.9 billion of goods to Canada each year, roughly an even split,” he continued. “That is balanced trade, and Ontario accounts for 77% of Pennsylvania exports.”

Ford noted that Ontario was Pennsylvania’s number one customer for exports last year. 

On Wednesday, the two signed a Memorandum of Understanding, MOU, which the Shapiro administration said is a step to increasing collaboration, spurring economic growth, and attracting investment to Pennsylvania.

“I see a historic opportunity to expand that relationship, create jobs, and make life more affordable in both our jurisdictions,” Ford said.

The MOU, Shapiro said, will “double down” on areas where they see the greatest opportunity for mutual growth and will create a working group composed of members from both administrations to share ideas and collaborate.

Ford said he was particularly excited about the agreement to explore increased cross-border energy trade. 

The sectors cited by Ford that were critical to both regions' economies also included advanced manufacturing such as steel, automotive, and electric vehicles, critical minerals, life sciences, technology, and AI, agriculture, and forestry.

While Shapiro emphasized the importance of collaboration between Canada and Pennsylvania, he criticized the Trump administration's tariff policy.

“The tariffs that the Trump administration has put in place are a real threat to both of our economies, as a result of that and the unpredictable approach to our allies, including Canada,” Shapiro said. “Our trade with Canada has gone down, has declined, about $500 million. That means fewer goods available for Pennsylvanians to buy, and fewer markets for Pennsylvania businesses to sell to.” 

“All that chaos at the federal level in the United States is making us all worse off,” he added. 

Ford mentioned that he recently was in Washington D.C. to meet with U.S. members of elected office and leaders from critical industries, specifically citing the automotive, aerospace, defense, and agricultural sectors.

“In every conversation, I've made one thing very clear: tariffs and uncertainty hurt workers, businesses, and families in both our great countries,” Ford said. 

Republican elected officials in Pennsylvania have largely backed Trump’s tariff policies, believing that they are aimed at promoting American-made products. 

In February, the U.S. Supreme Court voted 6-3 against Trump’s tariff power.

In addition to Shapiro’s criticism of Trump’s tariff policies, he also blasted the president, seemingly over his comments about making Canada the 51st state. 

“I know that many Canadians, to many of them, the United States does not feel very welcoming right now,” Shapiro said. “I get that, given the reckless and disrespectful rhetoric coming from our President. Hear me on this: I respect Canadian sovereignty. Period.”

Shapiro noted the longtime relationship between the two countries and that there’s only a 29-mile difference between the Port of Erie and Port Dover in Ontario.

Shapiro’s trip north of the border was not his first since he’s taken office. 

In October, Shapiro was elected to serve as chair of the Conference of Great Lakes St. Lawrence Governors & Premiers, (GSGP), during a summit in Québec City.

On Thursday evening, Shapiro is scheduled to speak at the U.S.-Canada Summit, a gathering which is slated to feature business leaders, policymakers, and experts to discuss the future of the U.S.-Canada relationship. 

(The Center Square) – In a move meant to pacify congressional Democrats and unstick Republican policy priorities, President Donald Trump has named U.S. attorney Jay Clayton as the next Director of National Intelligence.

The pick follows Trump’s controversial decision last week to temporarily fill the position of DNI with Federal Housing Finance Agency Director William Pulte, who has no apparent national security or intelligence experience but is staunchly loyal to the president.

While Clayton’s career has focused largely on financial security rather than national security, he still faces far less pushback from lawmakers than Pulte did.

Clayton chaired the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission from 2017 to 2020. He became chairman of private equity firm Apollo Global Management in March 2021 and resigned in 2025 to serve as U.S. Attorney for the southern district of New York.

“Few people anywhere in the Legal Community are respected at the level of Jay. I encourage the United States Senate to confirm Jay as soon as possible,” Trump said in his social media announcement.

But Trump’s olive branch arrived too late to salvage Republican congressional leaders’ last-ditch attempts to prevent Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act from expiring Friday night.

All but seven House Democrats voted against a three-week extension of FISA Section 702. Since 19 privacy-wary House Republicans also opposed the extension, it failed 198-218, and both chambers of Congress left town.

Democrats had warned they would refuse to extend the federal government’s authority to conduct mass electronic surveillance unless Trump removed Pulte from his new position.

Had Trump nominated Clayton as the incoming DNI before the House voted, the outcome could have been different.

Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Mark Warner, D-Va., – who, notably, called Clayton “a capable public servant” – questioned Trump’s timing in a statement released after the House vote.

“[I]f the president intended to nominate Mr. Clayton, why spend the last ten days insisting that the Intelligence Community be led by an acting director who lacks the extensive national security experience required by statute and whose appointment raises serious concerns about the politicization of intelligence?” Warner asked.

“The president could have put forward a qualified nominee from the beginning. Instead, he waited until the House of Representatives went out of town, choosing a path that raises the risk of an entirely avoidable lapse in a critical national security tool.”

A lapse in FISA Section 702 authorization doesn’t necessarily jeopardize national security, since the FISA Court approved a year-long certification in March. Even without congressional reauthorization, intelligence agencies can still legally collect the metadata of foreign nationals without a warrant until March 2027.

But a lapse might cause confusion for communications providers or potentially slow federal surveillance operations, even as millions of international travelers enter the U.S. over the next few days to attend the 2026 World Cup tournament.

Regardless, Warner and Democratic leaders still hold that Pulte’s immediate removal is “non-negotiable” if Republicans want to reauthorize FISA Section 702.

“[L]et me be clear – while I am glad to see the president finally come to his senses, before the Senate can take up a FISA extension there needs to be a clear guarantee that Mr. Pulte will not serve as acting DNI,” Warner stated. “Either Director [Tulsi] Gabbard must remain in place or the administration must designate the Senate-confirmed Principal Deputy DNI as the acting head through any transition.”

The DNI serves as principal advisor to the president on intelligence issues, overseeing the entire 18-agency U.S. Intelligence Community with its $81.9 billion intelligence budget.

Senate Republicans who had remained silent or noncommittal on Pulte’s appointment praised Trump’s selection of Clayton and pledged to swiftly advance his confirmation in the Senate.

Republican Conference Vice Chair Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., called Clayton “a great pick” who is “smart, ethical, experienced in national security, and he has a tenacious work ethic."

“He has handled some of the toughest international cases, and he knows well the threats our nation faces each day,” Lankford said on social media. “His background as the Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission has also given him the executive experience needed to lead an agency in desperate need of reorganization.”

(The Center Square) - Brooke Rollins, secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, on Thursday defended tax policies to support farmers and called for more domestic manufacturing of fertilizer amid the conflict with Iran.

At a hearing of the Senate Agriculture Committee, Rollins estimated more than two million family farms have been saved through the exemption of federal estate taxes. The Working Families Tax Cuts Act doubled the exemption for estate taxes to $15 million for individuals and $30 million for married couples, allowing farms to avoid estate taxes over certain thresholds.

“No one has done more for the American farmer and rural America than President Trump has done these last two years,” Rollins said. “We doubled the death tax exemption.”

Rollins said federal estate taxes, or “death taxes,” have previously crippled American farmers and caused family farms to shut down. She estimated deregulatory efforts have saved $212 billion for farmers since the beginning of the administration.

“We can and we will continue building on the progress that has already been made,” Rollins said.

U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., pushed back on the optimism Rollins projected. She said she is concerned about the effect of deregulation on conservation practices. She criticized the USDA’s efforts to relocate field offices across the country.

“We are asking for transparency and an open dialogue with the shared goal of ensuring the USDA is efficient and effective in its mission,” Klobuchar said.

Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., celebrated the Trump administration tariff and trade policies. He said the policies have improved agricultural yields.

Rollins estimated a 35% increase in corn production; 10% increase in dairy; 100% increase in sorghum; 11% increase in ethanol and soybean production up 129%.

“This is what farmers want. They don’t want to farm for a check from the government,” Rollins said. They want a farm to be able to sell their goods on an open market that is fair.”

Since the conflict in Iran began, research from the University of Illinois estimated fertilizer prices surged from around $800 per ton before the conflict to $1,100 per ton, driven by the global energy crisis and closure of the Strait of Hormuz.  

Rollins called for greater support from Congress for domestic fertilizer production to lower prices. She said the department is working to return phosphate and ammonia manufacturing to the United States.

Klobuchar said Rollins could use the Commodity Credit Corporation, the financial wing of the USDA, to fund the reshoring projects. However, Rollins pushed back and said the loan rate has not been updated for more than 80 years.

She said the CCC is not an adequate tool to rely on for planned investment of domestic fertilizer manufacturing.

“What is left in the CCC right now we’re going to need to meet the obligations of the working families tax cut act,” Rollins said.

Democrats on the committee slammed the Trump administration for rising fertilizer prices. Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., said Trump’s tariff policies and the conflict in Iran have driven up prices.

“I am really concerned about the well-being of agriculture in this country where farmers have to pay more than they're getting paid for the crop that they make,” Welch said.

Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., said policies of the Biden administration first drove the spike in fertilizer prices, before Trump’s tariff policies or the conflict in Iran broke out. He blamed foreign competition for driving up prices in the industry.

“At the end of the day we have got to save the people that make things in this country,” Tuberville said. “Let's tear up the hell out of people that are shipping in stuff that we can't undercut.”

(The Center Square) – Voter concern about inflation and prices has surged to its highest level since The Center Square began tracking the issue.

According to The Center Square Voters' Voice Poll, conducted by Noble Predictive Insights, a nonpartisan public opinion polling firm, 43% of registered voters included inflation or price increases among their top three concerns in June, up from 37% in March.

The shift comes as the conflict with Iran has disrupted global oil markets and driven up gas and fuel prices. The Strait of Hormuz, a critical oil shipping route, closed on Feb. 28, 2026, when Operation Epic Fury began, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

U.S. regular gasoline averaged $2.94 per gallon that week, according to EIA data. As of June 11, the national average had climbed to $4.13 per gallon, according to AAA.

"Cost of living just still dominates," said Mike Noble, founder of Noble Predictive Insights, which conducted the poll. "Inflation is still the top issue."

Inflation and price increases topped the list of voter concerns, with 20% ranking it as their top issue, up from 15% in March. Government corruption (27%), economy and jobs (27%), healthcare (26%) and illegal immigration (19%) rounded out the top five concerns among registered voters.

Throughout the 2024 presidential campaign, then-candidate Donald Trump repeatedly promised to bring prices down after taking office.

"When I win, I will immediately bring prices down," he said at an Aug. 15, 2024 press conference in Bedminster, N.J.

Because of the rise in gas costs, other prices continue to climb. Ground beef has risen 22%, from $5.55 to $6.75 per pound since January 2025, while ground coffee has jumped 35%, from $7.02 to $9.51 per pound, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics average price data. Overall consumer prices rose 4.2% over the past year, with energy costs up 23.5%, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics May 2026 Consumer Price Index report.

Karlyn Bowman, a distinguished senior fellow emeritus at the American Enterprise Institute, a Washington-based public policy research organization where Bowman has tracked public opinion trends for decades, said the findings align with broader national trends.

"When inflation is included as a category, it is the top problem in almost every poll these days and concern about it has been rising," Bowman told The Center Square.

The inflation anxiety is playing out against a backdrop of growing pessimism. Sixty percent of voters say the country is headed in the wrong direction, up from 53% in March, while the generic congressional ballot has shifted from a one-point Democratic advantage to a six-point Democratic advantage over the same period.

Among true independents – those who declined to lean toward either major party, whose subsample carries a larger margin of error than the overall poll – Trump's net approval is -51 points and nearly seven in 10 say the country is on the wrong track.

"Republicans got a problem on their hands if these economic pain points continue or get worse," Noble told The Center Square.

True independents are even more pessimistic about the electoral landscape. Nearly half remain uncommitted on the congressional ballot despite their deep dissatisfaction with the current political environment.

"If they're feeling all this economic pain, I don't think they're going to stick with them when it comes time that they have to make a decision," Noble told The Center Square.

Kyle Kondik, managing editor of Sabato's Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics, said the Iran conflict has compounded existing Republican vulnerabilities.

"The fallout from the war in Iran, namely on gas prices, has very likely contributed to the Republicans' preexisting political problems," Kondik told The Center Square. "I think that helps explain a lot of what you found."

On true independents, Kondik offered a cautionary note.

"Independents are not very keyed into elections, and a great deal of them may not even vote," he said. "So it doesn't necessarily surprise me that they are both very upset but also somewhat disengaged from the vote choice. But these are people Republicans should likely be worried about if they do in fact vote."

Alan Abramowitz, a political scientist at Emory University in Atlanta who specializes in elections and voting behavior, said the poll results are consistent with a political environment that historically produces wave elections, in which one party makes large, broad gains across many races.

"At this stage in 2018, the last time we had a midterm wave election, Democrats picked up 40 seats in the House, and going into the 2018 midterm elections, the generic ballot had Democrats at about plus seven, plus eight – similar to where it is now," Abramowitz told The Center Square.

"It's shaping up to be a big wave. Democrats only need to pick up three seats," he said.

Republicans hold a 218-212 majority in the House, according to the House Press Gallery.

The Republican National Committee did not respond to requests for comment.

A Democratic House majority would control the chamber's floor agenda, all committee and subcommittee chairmanships, and the origination of revenue legislation – giving Democrats influence over the trillions of dollars in federal spending, according to the Congressional Research Service.

Bowman noted the dissatisfaction is bipartisan.

"Americans aren't happy with the administration, or with the Democrats and Republicans in Congress," Bowman told The Center Square.

White House spokesman Kush Desai said the administration expects prices to fall once the Iran conflict is resolved.

"President Trump has always been clear about the fact that oil and gas prices – and thus overall inflation – will rapidly drop as soon as the Iran situation is resolved," he told The Center Square. "Prior to the start of Operation Epic Fury, American workers had recovered almost half of the real wage losses they experienced under Joe Biden thanks to this Administration's commonsense agenda of deregulation, tax cuts, and energy abundance – an agenda that the Administration continues to implement to deliver more economic relief for the American people."

However, Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows real average hourly earnings stood at $11.24 in May 2026 – unchanged from when Trump took office in January 2025 and below the $11.43 recorded when Biden took office in January 2021.

The Center Square Voters' Voice Poll was conducted by Noble Predictive Insights, a nonpartisan public opinion polling firm, from June 1-4, 2026 and surveyed registered voters nationally via opt-in online panel and text-to-web cell phone messages. The sample included 2,585 respondents comprised of 915 Republicans, 1,013 Democrats, and 297 True Independents. The margin of error is +/- 1.93%. The margin of error for the 297-person True Independents subsample is larger than the overall survey margin of error.

(The Center Square) – The price of Brent crude oil continued a steady decline Thursday, a day after President Donald Trump announced that a secret U.S. military mission has been escorting commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz.

Brent crude closed Wednesday at $93.10 per barrel and $92.86 on Thursday, continuing a decline that has followed a four-year intraday high of $126.41 per barrel in April. The easing began in earnest in late May, when prices dropped from over $110 per barrel into the 90s.

On Thursday, the president posted to social media that over the past month, a secret U.S. military mission had successfully shepherded over 200 commercial ships carrying more than 100 million barrels of oil through the strait. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth later revealed that the “secret” mission was actually Project Freedom, which began on May 4 but Trump had said was paused because the U.S. was nearing a deal with Iran.

Trump called the mission “wildly successful,” even though prior to the start Operation Epic Fury – which the administration said concluded with a ceasefire – roughly 110 to 150 ships traversed the strait per day, according to the United Nations Trade and Development.

Hegseth echoed the president’s sentiments in comments to the media, saying that U.S. controls the strait, describing the American blockade there as “ironclad.”

“Our blockade has stopped almost 140 ships attempting to navigate in or out to Iranian ports. So, if our blockade is ironclad, which it is, and we were able to move commercial shipping in and out of the Strait of Hormuz, who controls the Strait of Hormuz? President Trump said it, and he's right,” Hegseth said.

Though Trump also expressed frustration Wednesday that Iran was taking “too long to negotiate a deal,” he called off some American strikes Thursday, saying that a final deal was pending.

“Discussions and final points have been, in both concept and great detail, approved by all parties involved, including the United States, Israel, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Turkey, Pakistan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan, Egypt, and others,” the president wrote on social media. “The Naval Blockade will remain in full force and effect until this Transaction is finalized – Time and place of the signing to be announced shortly.”

Americans have felt the conflict’s cost at the pump, with prices surging to a national average of $4.52 in May and falling over the last month to $4.13 on Thursday.

Head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy Patrick De Haan warned in a June 8 blog post that if the strait remains “effectively closed,” the welcome reprieve may not last.

“Average gasoline prices declined in virtually every state over the last week as oil prices continued to fall, with crude approaching $90 per barrel and refiners ramping up output following seasonal maintenance,” De Haan said. “However, the future of prices remains murky. With the Strait of Hormuz remaining effectively closed, global oil supplies continue to tighten, and any further deterioration in the situation could send prices sharply higher.”

Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said Tuesday that it would likely be “many months” before the world fully recovers from events in the strait.

“Ships have been redirected, some supply chains have shifted,” he said at the 10th annual Global Energy Forum in Washington, D.C., according to the Atlantic Council. “So I think it’s many months to get back to normal flows of energy.”

(The Center Square) – The Washington State Supreme Court has ruled that individuals convicted of two driving under the influence offenses within seven years will be stripped of their Second Amendment rights, which the dissenting opinion blasted as a blatant violation of the U.S. Constitution.

In a split 5-4 decision filed Thursday in Geoffrey G. McLellan and Jackson W. Holloway v. Nicholas W. Brown, the court reversed a lower court ruling and held that the Washington Legislature acted within its constitutional authority by categorically disarming repeat drunk drivers in the interest of public safety.

Under Thursday's ruling, Washingtonians convicted of a second DUI or related crime within seven years cannot own or possess a firearm under a 2023 state statute.

Firearm rights can only be restored after a petition is filed following five consecutive years of "law-abiding behavior in the community."

Respondents Geoffrey McLellan and Jackson Holloway challenged the law after their applications for concealed carry permits were denied following multiple DUI convictions.

They argued that a blanket, categorical ban on their fundamental right to self-defense, absent any history of weapon misuse or physical violence, violated the Second Amendment.

A Spokane County Superior Court judge initially allowed their case to move forward, citing the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark United States v. Rahimi precedent. The trial court ruled that factual development was necessary to determine whether these specific men posed a "credible threat to public safety."

The state appealed, arguing that because the limitation follows criminal convictions, the state does not need to prove individualized dangerousness.

Writing for the majority, Justice Steven González ruled that under the historical framework established by the U.S. Supreme Court in N.Y. State Rifle & Pistol Ass'n v. Bruen, the state met its burden to prove the restriction aligns with America’s "historical tradition of firearm regulation."

Because modern regulations do not require a perfect "historical twin" to pass constitutional muster, the majority pointed to three enduring historical principles: the tradition of disarming groups deemed dangerous by legislatures, the tradition of restricting firearm possession for serious crimes, and founding-era regulations restricting firearm use by presently intoxicated individuals.

González concluded that taken together, the Legislature was within its rights to address a "uniquely modern problem" by linking chronic alcohol abuse behind the wheel with a statistical risk of future violence.

"Consequently, when the State proves beyond a reasonable doubt that a person has driven under the influence, twice within seven years, our legislature may temporarily disarm them to prevent future violent behavior," González wrote.

Joining González in the majority ruling were Justices Debra Stephens, Barbara Madsen, Colleen Melody and Raquel Montoya-Lewis. Madsen retired in April and was replaced by Theodore Angelis.

Dissent blasts overstep

The ruling provoked a sharp dissent from Justice G. Helen Whitener, who warned that the majority had overreached by using speculative statistical correlations to strip citizens of fundamental liberties.

Whitener emphasized that individual self-defense is the "central component" of the Second Amendment, and under federal precedent, disarmament requires a clear threat of physical violence.

Because a DUI lacks an intent requirement to cause physical harm, she argued it cannot be categorically defined as a crime of violence.

"The State is depriving individuals of their Second Amendment constitutional right to bear arms before they commit a violent crime on the assumption that one day they might," Whitener wrote, calling the 2023 state law an unconstitutional "outlier."

“It violates the respondents’ constitutional rights under the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution,” she wrote.

Joining Whitener in the dissenting opinion were Justices Charles Johnson, Sheryl Gordon McCloud and Salvador Mungia.