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June 24, 2026

9 entries on this date.

Interior Department proposed eliminating 90% of public comment windows for oil and gas leasing on federal lands

On June 24, 2026, the Interior Department published a proposed rule in the Federal Register that would eliminate the 30-day pre-leasing public comment period and the 30-day NEPA environmental review comment period for oil and gas leasing on Bureau of Land Management federal lands, while cutting the protest period from 30 to 10 days — reducing total public input windows from 90 days to 10. The proposal would also lower cleanup bonds by more than 90% and eliminate BLM's requirement to assess resource conflicts before leasing. Environmental advocates said the changes violate the National Environmental Policy Act and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, which require public participation in federal land management by statute.

FEMA conditioned disaster preparedness grants on states adopting paper ballots, auditing voting systems, and cooperating with immigration enforcement

The Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Department of Homeland Security announced in June 2026 that emergency preparedness and counterterrorism grants would be conditioned on states transitioning to paper-ballot systems, auditing their voting infrastructure, and cooperating with federal immigration enforcement, including DHS authority to revoke grants without cause. On July 23, 2026, a coalition of 26 states filed suit in Rhode Island federal court, arguing the conditions violated the Administrative Procedure Act and the Constitution's spending clause. Attorneys general leading the suit noted federal courts had twice previously blocked similar FEMA funding conditions as unconstitutional.

HHS canceled Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program grants, redirected $67M to 'parental rights' and 'body literacy' competitions

The Department of Health and Human Services canceled most active grants under the congressionally funded Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program on June 24, 2026, and simultaneously published $71.7 million in new grant competitions requiring content aligned with "parental rights" and "body literacy" and explicitly excluding programs that "promote or advance gender ideology." An HHS official confirmed the reclaimed TPPP funds would be redirected to the new competitions. A federal court had previously vacated similar HHS guidance stripping gender-identity content from existing TPPP grantees; HHS achieved the same result by terminating and recompeting the grants.

Hegseth forced out Gen. Donahue, last U.S. soldier to leave Afghanistan, amid Pentagon leadership purge

On June 24, 2026, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth forced out Gen. Christopher Donahue, commander of U.S. Army Europe and Africa and the last U.S. service member to board the final flight out of Afghanistan in 2021. The Pentagon announced Donahue would relinquish command on July 2, 2026, after just 18 months of a typical three-year tour, without providing a reason for the abrupt change. Donahue's removal is the latest in a series of senior military leadership purges under Hegseth, who has removed more than a dozen top generals and admirals since taking office.

Trump directed the Justice Department to investigate oil companies for alleged gas-price gouging

In a Truth Social post shortly after midnight on June 24, 2026, President Trump announced that he had instructed the Justice Department to "immediately start looking into" oil companies for "gouging" consumers, alleging they had failed to lower pump prices in line with falling crude prices amid U.S.-Iran de-escalation. Trump named no companies and cited no evidence, and the American Petroleum Institute noted that gasoline prices do not move in lockstep with crude during supply disruptions. A DOJ spokesperson affirmed a commitment to fuel affordability but announced no formal probe.

DHS agents entered Syracuse polling place, threatened election worker over Instagram post naming officer who fatally shot protester Renée Good

On June 24, 2026, two DHS/ICE agents arrived at Syracuse Central Library — an active polling place during the city's primary election — and confronted elections inspector Paigelynne Gonyea over a January 2026 Instagram post in which she named the ICE officer who fatally shot anti-ICE protester Renée Good. Agents handed Gonyea a form letter warning her she "may be in violation of federal law" for the post, which was based on a published Minneapolis Star Tribune investigation, and pressured her to delete it. Gonyea refused.

Postmaster General Steiner announced USPS will refuse mail ballot delivery in states withholding voter data under Trump elections order

On June 24, 2026, U.S. Postmaster General David Steiner announced that the Postal Service would refuse to deliver mailed ballots in states that declined to submit voter lists and associated ballot barcodes to the federal government, as demanded by a proposed rule implementing President Trump's Executive Order 14399. The announcement came as all 47 Democratic senators wrote to USPS warning that such voter lists would be "ripe for abuse" and likely to contain inaccuracies that would prevent eligible voters from casting ballots. The coercive policy was announced on the same day a federal court blocked separate provisions of EO 14399 requiring documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote.

Wilmington, Delaware police officer fatally shot 19-year-old Kadir Skinner during foot pursuit, disputed by body-camera footage

On June 24, 2026, a Wilmington, Delaware police officer fatally shot 19-year-old Kadir Skinner during a foot pursuit in a northeast Wilmington neighborhood. Police said Skinner pointed a gun at a crowd before fleeing, but body-camera footage released by the Delaware Department of Justice in July showed him running from the officer when shot, with no gun visible in his hands or recovered from his possession on camera. Skinner died at Wilmington Hospital; the Delaware DOJ has opened a civil rights investigation into the shooting.

Texas broadband director's sworn testimony revealed Gov. Abbott's office directed a BEAD rule change favoring Starlink with upfront grant payments

Texas Broadband Development Office director Bryant Clayton testified under oath at a June 24, 2026 Texas Senate Business & Commerce Committee hearing that Gov. Greg Abbott's office directed a change to the state's BEAD broadband-grant disbursement rules, letting low-Earth-orbit satellite providers -- chiefly Starlink, Texas's largest such provider -- front-load far more of their grant payments than the 10%-upfront cap other awardees faced. Clayton later said the change was made one or two days before the final grant awards were announced, but no public source establishes the exact date the underlying rule change took effect.