The Trump administration can move forward with plans to slash the federal work force and dismantle federal agencies, the Supreme Court announced this afternoon.
The decision, which was unsigned and did not include a vote count, could result in job losses for tens of thousands of employees at agencies, including the Departments of Housing and Urban Development, State, Treasury and Veterans Affairs. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson issued a dissent.
The case was an important test of the extent of President Trump’s power to reorganize the government without involving Congress. Technically, the court’s ruling is only temporary, while challenges to his plans are heard. But in practice, it means that the administration is free to pursue its restructuring plans.
In other Trump administration news:
Trump’s unpredictable tariff threats have left many countries scrambling to figure out how to proceed.
Someone used A.I. to impersonate Secretary of State Marco Rubio. His department is investigating.
Laura Loomer, the right-wing provocateur, may have few friends in the West Wing, but she has a big fan in the Oval Office.
Trump’s health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is looking to dismantle the F.D.A. Here’s an inside look.
Trump accused Putin of duplicity
The president railed against Vladimir Putin today during a televised cabinet meeting. He said he was “not happy” with the Russian leader, whom he accused of “killing too many people” and misleading the Americans during peace negotiations.
“We get a lot of bullshit thrown at us by Putin,” Trump said. “He’s very nice to us all the time, but it turns out to be meaningless.”
The president’s criticism followed his announcement last night that the U.S. would resume weapons shipments to Ukraine to help them fend off Russia’s invasion. On Friday, Russia attacked Ukraine with its largest single barrage of the war just hours after a phone call between Trump and Putin.
It was a remarkable turnaround for Trump, who has often expressed skepticism of U.S. support for Kyiv and admiration for Putin’s intelligence and strength. Ukrainians reacted with cautious optimism — lawmakers and analysts said they were not expecting a full turnaround on military assistance.
161 missing in Kerr County after Texas floods
In the video above, my colleague Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs described what it’s like in Kerr County, Texas, after catastrophic flooding swept through the region and killed at least 109 people. At least 161 people are still missing in the county, Gov. Greg Abbott said this afternoon, adding, “there could be more added to that list.”
Signs of devastation are everywhere; locals are shaken; and bodies continue to be found in the debris. Here’s the latest.
For more: Here’s a timeline of when federal and local officials issued warnings about the floods.
Israel and Hamas are wrangling over a cease-fire deal
While Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel was in Washington this week for a meeting with Trump, officials from Israel’s government have been holding talks in Qatar over the possibility of a cease-fire in Gaza. There has been no sign of a breakthrough. However, the sustained presence of negotiators from both Hamas and Israel suggested that both sides were serious about a deal.
In related news, Netanyahu was the latest foreign leader to use flattery on Trump: He nominated the American leader for the Nobel Peace Prize.
More top news
Climate: The Energy Department has hired at least three scientists who are well known for their rejection of the overwhelming scientific consensus on climate change.
California: State education officials rejected a federal demand to bar transgender athletes from girls’ and women’s sports.
Travel: The T.S.A. has started to drop the requirement that airport travelers take their shoes off in some airports.
Politics: Dan Osborn, a steamfitter and former union leader, is running as an independent with Democratic support for the Senate seat of Pete Ricketts.
Tech: The American Federation of Teachers said that it would start an A.I. training hub for educators with $23 million in funding from Microsoft, OpenAI and Anthropic.
Health: West Virginia has the highest smoking rate in the country. A 68,000-pound tractor-trailer that can do CT scans traverses the highly rural state, screening for lung cancer.
Britain: Court proceedings revealed a wild Russian plot to kidnap a dissident who owns a Michelin-starred restaurant in London.
Food: Increasingly acidic oceans have threatened oyster farming. Cuts to federal scientific funding put means to address the issue at risk.
TIME TO UNWIND
Superman begins again
Later this week, when “Superman” arrives in theaters, a Kryptonian baby with incredible powers will arrive on Earth. By day he is a journalist, by night a hero.
OK, you know the story. But the reboot impressed Alissa Wilkinson, one of our movie critics, who described herself as superhero-weary. “It’s a sincere but also goofy movie, with a few well-timed twists on the mythology,” she wrote.
Gary Shteyngart writes through the eyes of a tween girl
In “Vera, or Faith,” the novelist Gary Shteyngart tells the story of a precocious Korean American girl who grows up in a privileged Manhattan household while the nation descends into chaos. Slight, dystopian and dark, it “lacks the bounce of Shteyngart’s best fiction,” Dwight Garner wrote, though he added that “no Shteyngart novel is a waste of time.”
It was Shteyngart’s sixth novel, and by now his writing has earned him enough money to live a life of comfort. Over the past few years, he’s made an effort to do exactly that. The writer Alexander Nazaryan talked with him about bespoke suits and high-end watches (and fiction).
Dinner table topics
Art Zoo: A giant T. rex fossil and a huge denim gorilla are just two of the curiosities at a new museum in Amsterdam.
No finger left behind: Women have begun to embrace pinkie rings, which were once reserved for men.
Ask our Well desk: What are the health benefits of sunshine?
Yes, really: The New Jersey Turnpike might actually be amazing, our writer argues.
WHAT TO DO TONIGHT
Cook: Wow your friends or family with these halloumi-stuffed sweet peppers.
Watch: You can experience opera’s most interesting festival from your living room.
Read: Sarah MacLean’s new novel is a gripping inheritance drama with a side of romance.
Plan: Here are several apps that can easily improve your road trip.
Wear: Take inspiration from our fashion photographer’s look of the week.
Lounge: This beach chair has been Wirecutter’s top pick for nine years now.
Test yourself: Take our quiz to see if you can match snarky quotes with their books.
Play: Here are today’s Spelling Bee, Wordle and Mini Crossword. Find all of our games here.
ONE LAST THING
Tiny gardens might be the secret to Sweden’s well-being
Stockholm has all the hustle and bustle of a lively Scandinavian city, but it also has thousands of individually owned public gardens, called koloniträdgårdar. Some are no bigger than a studio apartment; many come with tiny cottages, offering city dwellers a cozy natural escape.
The gardens were established more than a century ago to improve the health of Stockholm’s residents. And research suggests they were onto something: The health benefits of gardening are well established, especially for older people, and can help combat symptoms of age-related mental and physical decline.
Have a peaceful evening.
Thanks for reading. I’ll be back tomorrow. — Matthew
Philip Pacheco was our photo editor.
We welcome your feedback. Write to us at evening@nytimes.com.