WSJ What’s News - Why the Supreme Court Upheld Birthright Citizenship

Episode Date: June 30, 2026

P.M. Edition for June 30. In the last day before its summer recess, the Supreme Court rejected President Trump’s effort to upend the longstanding guarantee that virtually everyone born on American soil is a U.S. citizen. We hear from WSJ legal affairs reporter Lydia Wheeler about the legal basis for the justices’ decision, and what it shows about the court’s relationship with President Trump. Plus, voters in Colorado are heading to the polls for today’s primary. The Journal’s Elizabeth Findell joins from Denver to discuss a House race that could signal whether challengers from the left are making inroads in the Democratic Party. And the S&P and the Nasdaq closed out their best quarter since 2020. Markets reporter Hannah Erin Lang explains what drove the gains during a period of intense volatility. Alex Ossola hosts.Sign up for the WSJ's free What's News newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Supreme Court upholds birthright citizenship in a blow to one of President Trump's signature policies. And it's primary day in Colorado, and we're looking at a race between a longtime Democratic congresswoman and her left-wing challenger. The reason this congressional race is getting so much attention all of a sudden is people want to see whether there is a broader trend outside of New York as far as Democratic socialists gaining momentum. Plus, the S&P and the NASDAQ close out their best quarter since 2020. It's Tuesday, June 30th. I'm Alex O'Soula for the Wall Street Journal. This is the PM edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories that move the world today.

We're starting the show today with the Supreme Court. It was the last day of the term, and the justices issued several major opinions. First up, in a 6-3 vote, they rejected President Trump's attempt to curtail birthright citizenship. Trump aimed to cancel. citizenship for people born in the U.S. if their parents were living in the country illegally or if their parents were in the U.S. on temporary visas. It was a signature immigration policy that Trump

issued on the first day of his second term. But the executive order was blocked by lower courts. It never went into effect. And now a majority of the Supreme Court has said it's unconstitutional. For more on the decision and its implications for Trump's immigration agenda, Journal Legal Affairs reporter Lydia Wheeler joins me now from Washington. Lydia, why did the justices strike down this order? So the whole debate centers on the 14th Amendment and exactly what it says, which is all persons born or naturalized in the U.S. and subject to the jurisdiction thereof are citizens. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the court's majority decision, and he said that there was scant evidence that birthright citizenship is limited just to those people who are domiciled in the United States, which is exactly what the Trump administration basically tried to claim. said that if Congress intended basically to limit American citizenship just to children of people

domiciled in the U.S., that they would have conveyed that, right? And that nothing in the text of the 14th Amendment actually says that. He said, nowhere do you see the words, father or lawful, or temporary. But this was a six to three decision. So what did the dissenters say? We saw dissents come in from Justice's Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, and Samuel L. and these are the court's staunchest conservative members. Justice Thomas said that the court's historical analysis was inaccurate. He said that the 14th Amendment was designed and understood to secure equal rights for newly freed black slaves and basically to ensure that they would never again be treated as second-class citizens. And Justice Samuel Alito, he said that the court

basically made a serious mistake with this decision. He said that when the 14th Amendment was adopted, that it was really meant only for children who at birth owe an allegiance to the United States. This decision is the third time this year that the Supreme Court has blocked one of Trump's signature initiatives. The other two were his tariffs and his effort to remove Lisa Cook from the Fed. What does that tell us about how the court sees its relationship with President Trump's policy agenda and also his effort to expand presidential authority. The court gave Trump full reign to fire whoever he wants from whatever agency that he wants, except the Fed.

And, you know, Republicans then won big today with the court's decision to strike down limits on how much political parties can spend in coordination with their preferred political candidate. And so really, the president is walking away here, I think, with a lot to gain and a lot of big wins from the court this term. That was WSJ Legal Affairs reporter, Lydia Wheeler. Thank you, Lydia. Thanks so much. The court also ruled today that states can ban transgender women and girls from playing

on female sports teams. The decision largely divided the justices along ideological lines. It means that the 27 states with those bans can keep them. President Trump today praise the opinion. And two updates on the food industry. The U.S. Agriculture Department is planning financial aid of up to five $500 million for smaller meatpacking companies. These slaughterhouses are struggling with dwindling cattle supplies, which has sent beef prices surging.

The program is for U.S. companies, and it excludes the four largest beef processors in the country. That's Tyson Foods, JBS, Cargill, a national beef. And antitrust officials say that part of the reason eggs were so expensive last year was market manipulation by three large egg companies. Those producers, Cal Main Foods, Hickman's Egg Ranch, and Versova have now agreed to settle the claims by donating more than 50 million eggs to food banks and paying more than $3 million. Calmain and Versova denied wrongdoing, while the former CEO of Hickman's Egg Ranch declined to comment. Separately, the Food and Drug Administration said that Zinn can market its nicotine pouches as less harmful than cigarettes. Zin doesn't contain tobacco and it's the most popular nicotine pouch brand in the U.S.

It's a product of Swedish Match USA, which is owned by Philip Morris International. Coming up, why a music publisher is looking to buy the rights to old books. That story and more after the break. When you're a mid-sized business, you need every competitive advantage you can get. Like an AI solution that works for you, not against you. SAP Grow is built with AI embedded at its core, working across every system. And it's ready to go from day one so you can hit the ground running. Bring it with SAP Grow.

AI Cloud ERP for any size business. Stocks closed out a blockbuster quarter today with another rally. The NASDAQ led today's gains adding 1.5%. For the quarter, the S&P 500 rose 15%. And the NASDAQ jumped 21%. The biggest increases for both since the second quarter of 2020. Journal Markets reporter Hannah Aaron Lang says those gains came during a particularly volatile period. So in spite of these uncertainties looming over markets in the second quarter,

whether that was the war in Iran or a really rapidly shifting outlook on interest rates. We saw double-digit gains for all major U.S. stock indexes across the board. And that was really because of this frenetic chip stock rally, right? Investors were piling into shares of semiconductor companies. This has emerged as the kind of next leg of the AI trade. There are still some key risks hanging over markets. Investors are starting to look around and wonder when we'll start to see these good vibes spread throughout the market. beyond just the tech sector.

The journal has learned that Warren Buffett is skipping his usual mid-year donation to the Gates Foundation for the first time in two decades. He's waiting to see the findings of an outside law firm's review of the foundation's ties to Jeffrey Epstein. Buffett has given roughly $48 billion to the foundation since 2006. Buffett declined to comment. Representatives for the Gates Foundation didn't respond to requests for comment. And Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund holds more than $1 trillion.

and assets, but it's not getting much return on its investments. The fund's annual report out today shows that most of the asset growth is coming from government injections and borrowing. Its portfolio is weighed down by mega projects with unrealistic designs and costs and lackluster tech investments. The performance adds to the list of fiscal challenges in the country, which is expected to face huge bills as a result of the war with Iran. In U.S. politics today, New Jersey Republican Representative Tom Kane, Jr., had his first day back at the Capitol after being absent for four months. In an April social media post, Kane wasn't specific about the health issue that was keeping him away.

Today, in the speech on the House floor, he disclosed that he had been hospitalized and diagnosed with depression. When I said, I hoped to return in a matter of weeks, I believed it. Those were the best estimates that the doctors could provide. But as the over 48 million of my fellow Americans being treated for this illness, have come to discover, there is no timeline for healing. Kane's seat is one that Democrats hope to win back in a competitive race in the midterms. Kane didn't respond today when a reporter asked him whether he planned to continue to run for re-election. And in Colorado, voters are going to the polls for the state's primary election.

And our reporters are keeping an eye on a contested House race. Democrat Diana DeGette, who has been a representative for almost 30 years, is facing a challenge from 29-year-old Democratic socialist Melat Kiroz. Elizabeth Fendell covers politics for the journal and joins me now from Denver. Elizabeth, what are some of the issues on the ballot in this race? You know, it's interesting because Representative DeGette has been a very progressive leader during her time in office, but she's being challenged from the left. Kuros is telling voters that she wants to have Medicaid for all, wants to abolish ICE, wants to stop our. to Israel. The reason this congressional race is getting so much attention all of a sudden is people

want to see whether there is a broader trend outside of New York as far as Democratic Socialists gaining momentum. And it's somewhat of a test case of that. Colorado was a swing state for a long time, arguably even a red state, and became very blue very quickly. It's become a little bit of a laboratory of democratic politics. That was journal reporter Elizabeth Fendell. Thanks, Elizabeth. Thank you. Appreciate it.

The deal boom that took over music may now be coming for books. Primary Wave Music, a music publisher that acquires and markets the catalogs of artists, including Stevie Nix and Prince, is working on a new venture. It's kicked in $100 million to buy the rights to major authors' old books. The company, along with writer and entrepreneur Richard Hurwitz, is betting and unearth new revenue by presenting past titles for the book talk era. For more, I'm joined now by Melissa Korn, Deputy Bureau Chief for the Wall Street Journal's media team. Melissa, the back catalog has existed basically forever. Why is this venture pursuing this now? In part because it's been so

successful on the music side, private equity investors, labels, lots of big enterprises have gotten into the rights business on the music side. So books are just another form of IP. So it's kind of an easy shift over to that. I think the other reason is publishers are often putting even less attention and money into marketing, older books now, frankly, even newer books. So the folks behind this project see a real gap in the market and an opportunity there. Is there really appetite for more books to be out there? I mean, are people reading enough? I mean, I certainly am. The answer is, yes, people are reading a lot. They're not reading every. type of book, but there are certain genres that are doing well and certain authors who can kind of

give some new life to their old works. And every once in a while, especially with social media now, you see some book from 20, 30 years ago really pop up and go viral again. That was the journal's Melissa Korn. Thanks, Melissa. Thanks. And that's what's news for this Tuesday afternoon. Today's show is produced by Anthony Bansy and Alexis Moore with Supervising Producer Tali Arbel. I'm Alex O'Selev for the Wall Street Journal. We'll be back with a new show tomorrow morning. Thanks for listening.