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-Written by Elaine Godfrey (@elainejgodfrey) Today in 5 Lines Embattled Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt resigned. The White House announced that Bill Shine, the former co-president of Fox News and Fox Business Network, will serve as an assistant to President Trump and deputy chief of staff for communications. He’s expected to announce his pick on Monday. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said that as many as 3,000 migrant children separated from their parents at the U.S. border are still in government custody. The agency is in the process of reuniting families to meet deadlines imposed by a court order last week. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo left for North Korea to discuss plans for denuclearization. Today on The Atlantic A Fork in the Road: Democrats are divided over which voters to prioritize in 2018. (Jack Schneider) Not Special: Both parties have abandoned American exceptionalism, argues Peter Beinart: “Democrats don’t think America lives up to liberal democratic ideals. Republicans don’t think Americans need to.” Snapshot What We’re Reading Pretty Please? : Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer reportedly urged Trump in a phone call to nominate federal Judge Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court.

-Written by Elaine Godfrey (@elainejgodfrey) Programming note: We will not publish on July 4, but we’ll be back in your inboxes on Thursday. Today in 5 Lines The Trump administration is rescinding Obama-era guidance that encouraged schools to consider race in the admissions process to promote diversity. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt reportedly urged President Trump this spring to fire Attorney General Jeff Sessions and let him run the Department of Justice instead. Former Ohio State wrestlers are accusing Ohio Representative Jim Jordan, the team’s former assistant coach, of “failing to stop the team doctor from molesting them and other students” during his time at the university. Jordan has denied knowing about the abuse. President Trump said on Twitter that negotiations are “going well” with North Korea and that if not for him, the U.S. would be at war with the country. The Republican-led Senate Intelligence Committee released an unclassified summary upholding the intelligence community’s conclusion that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election. Today on The Atlantic From the Mountains to the Prairies: President Trump’s nativism is transforming America’s physical landscape. (Jedediah Purdy) When the Fourth of July Was a Black Holiday: After the end of the Civil War, African Americans in the South embraced Independence Day and transformed it into a celebration of black freedom. (Ethan J. Kytle and Blain Roberts) Does Trump Know What ICE Does?

-Written by Elaine Godfrey (@elainejgodfrey) Today in 5 Lines Michael Cohen, President Trump’s longtime personal lawyer, signaled that he’s willing to cooperate with the special counsel, telling ABC’s George Stephanopoulos that he plans to “put family and country first.” Trump said he’s interviewed four candidates to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy and plans to meet with at least two more. Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. announced that the disgraced movie producer Harvey Weinstein has been charged with allegedly sexually assaulting a third woman in 2006. The FBI arrested a man for allegedly plotting a terror attack on a Fourth of July parade in Cleveland. The White House announced that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will leave for North Korea on July 5 to continue talks about denuclearization. Today on The Atlantic ‘His Brother’s Keeper’: As the chief spokesman for the Baltimore Police Department, it’s T.J. Smith’s job to announce each new homicide. On July 2, 2017, he informed the city about homicide victim 173: his younger brother. (Luke Mullins) ‘I Am Not a Villain of This Story’: In an interview with ABC, former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen said he plans to “put family and country first.” Will he turn on Trump? (David A. Graham) A Court Without Kennedy: There’s still a great deal of uncertainty about what the future of abortion rights will look like, writes Mary Ziegler. Populism South of the Border: Mexico’s new president-elect, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, has promised to take the country in a new direction. It can go one of two ways.

-Written by Lena Felton (@lenakfelton) and Taylor Hosking (@Taylor__Hosking) Today in 5 Lines Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy announced his retirement, giving President Trump another slot to fill on the bench. The House rejected the GOP’s compromise immigration bill in a 121-301 vote. In a blow to labor unions, the Supreme Court ruled that public-sector workers who are represented by unions cannot be required to pay fees. The Justice Department said that a judge’s order to reunite families separated at the border within 30 days “makes it even more imperative that Congress” pass legislation “to give federal law enforcement the ability to simultaneously enforce the law and keep families together.” National-Security Adviser John Bolton confirmed that the White House has agreed on a time and a place for a summit between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, and said that the subject of election interference is likely to come up at the meeting. Today on The Atlantic A Shocking Insurgent Victory in New York: Meet Bronx-born Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the 28-year-old Democratic Socialist who ran for New York’s 14th congressional district and beat Joe Crowley, one of the most powerful Democrats in the House, on Tuesday night. (The Washington Post) What Will America Look Like Without Anthony Kennedy? (Dylan Matthews, Vox) Against the Odds: The Black Women’s Congressional Alliance is trying to promote diverse voices in Congress, where minorities are underrepresented. (Reena Flores, Politico) After Charlottesville: James A. (American Greatness) Visualized Kennedy’s Voting Record: In his final term, Justice Anthony Kennedy sided with conservatives in close votes. Take a look at how he voted in major cases this session.

Today in 5 Lines At least five people were killed and several others injured after a gunman opened fire in the Capital Gazette newsroom in Annapolis, Maryland, local authorities said. A suspect is in custody. President Trump said on Twitter that he was briefed on the shooting, adding, “My thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families.” At a hearing, Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee grilled Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and FBI Director Chris Wray over the Justice Department’s handling of congressional document requests. First lady Melania Trump made a second trip to the U.S.-Mexico border to visit a facility holding undocumented immigrants. U.S. Capitol Police arrested more than 500 people protesting the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” immigration policy in the Hart Senate Office Building. Trump is reportedly considering Senator Mike Lee as a possible candidate to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy. Lee was included in a list of potential Supreme Court nominees that was released during Trump’s presidential campaign. Today on The Atlantic What Kennedy’s Retirement Means for Abortion: Now that Justice Anthony Kennedy has announced his retirement, pro-life advocates see an opportunity to overturn Roe v. Wade. Here’s how they plan to act on it. (Reihan Salam) The Supreme Court Aligns With Trump: The Supreme Court’s recent decisions on voting rights, redistricting, and the travel ban show that it is unlikely to dissent from a “Trump-era GOP agenda,” writes Ronald Brownstein.

In a statement, Trump called the ruling a “profound vindication.” In a win for the pro-life movement, the Court also struck down a California law that requires crisis-pregnancy centers to provide information about state-sponsored abortion services. Trump threatened that Harley-Davidson will be “taxed like never before” following the company’s announcement that it will move some of its operations outside the U.S. to avoid European tariffs. House Republican leaders plan to file a narrow legislation Tuesday night that addresses the family-separation crisis. The White House is reportedly preparing for a potential July 15 meeting between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, Finland. The Races We’re Watching Voters in Colorado, Maryland, New York, Oklahoma, and Utah will select nominees in their primary elections. In Maryland, six candidates in the Democratic gubernatorial primary are angling to unseat Larry Hogan, the popular Republican governor. If he wins, Ben Jealous, the former NAACP chief and a veteran of Bernie Sanders’s presidential campaign, could go on to become the state’s first black governor. Today on The Atlantic Nine Days of Agony: A Honduran father detained in Texas spent more than a week trying to locate his 7-year-old son. “Don’t think I abandoned you,” he wrote in a letter to his son. (Jeremy Raff) A New Dawn: The post-Millennial generation has shown a willingness to break with their parents’ party in favor of more progressive policies—which could change the political landscape as soon as November.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters that his Republican colleagues support legislation to end the practice of separating families at the border, adding that a bill “would need to be a narrow agreement to fix the problem we all agree needs to be fixed.” Joe Hagin, the White House deputy chief of staff for operations who led the planning for Trump’s meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, has resigned. UN Ambassador Nikki Haley announced that the U.S. will withdraw from the UN Human Rights Council. Voters in the nation’s capital are heading to the polls for the D.C. primary election, where the mayor, attorney general, and several lawmakers are up for reelection. Polls close at 8 p.m. Today on The Atlantic A Troll Succeeds: Reports about children being separated from their parents at the border have prompted online outrage and even protests. That’s exactly what Stephen Miller wants. (McKay Coppins) How Did the GOP Get Here? The Happiness Gap: A new mental-health study found that as rich Americans have gotten happier since the 1990s, low-income Americans saw decreases in positive feelings and life satisfaction. (Russell Berman) Snapshot What We’re Reading What Are the Facts? : The president and top administration officials say that U.S. laws require them to separate immigrant families illegally crossing the border.

-Written by Lena Felton (@lenakfelton) and Elaine Godfrey (@elainejgodfrey) Today in 5 Lines President Trump signed an executive order he said would end his administration’s policy of separating families at the border, but it could face court challenges over portions that direct the Department of Homeland Security to hold families indefinitely. Republican lawmakers still plan to vote on two immigration bills tomorrow. Michael Cohen, Trump’s longtime personal lawyer, resigned from his post as deputy finance chair of the Republican National Committee’s Finance Committee, citing Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s ongoing investigation. Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has reportedly approved a plan to spend $80 million to boost Democratic candidates in the 2018 midterm elections. Trump will hold a rally in Duluth, Minnesota, starting at 7:30 p.m. ET to support Republican congressional candidate Pete Stauber, who is running in a highly contested district. (Adam Serwer) Enforce the Border, Humanely: David Frum argues that while Trump’s policies and rhetoric are brutish, his opponents’ reactionary extremism is also standing in the way of rational, lawful immigration control. An Exceptional Cruelty: Many staffers at immigrant shelters are prohibited or prevented from hugging or touching the children there. Here’s why those rules could be harmful. (Ashley Fetters) Snapshot What We’re Reading Have Questions About the Family-Separation Policy?

-Written by Elaine Godfrey (@elainejgodfrey) Today in 5 Lines During a meeting of the National Space Council, President Trump ordered the Pentagon to create a “space force,” which would be the sixth branch of the U.S. military. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen defended the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” immigration policy amid mounting pressure from Democrats and Republicans to stop the separation of families at the U.S.-Mexico border. Trump also chimed in, again blaming Democrats for the unfolding crisis. All 49 Democratic senators signed onto a bill prohibiting the separation of children from their families at the border, except in specific instances. California Senator Kamala Harris also went a step further—calling on Nielsen to resign. During a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz defended his review of the FBI investigation into Hillary Clinton’s private email server, saying there was no “documentary evidence” of political bias. The Supreme Court avoided ruling on two major cases dealing with partisan gerrymandering in Wisconsin and Maryland, allowing the current district maps to be used in November’s midterm elections. Today on The Atlantic Should Your Child Get Hormone Therapy? : The growing awareness of gender-identity issues has made life easier for many young Americans, but, Jesse Singal writes in our July/August cover story, how should parents know when physical interventions are necessary? ‘The Sessions Doctrine’: Attorney General Jeff Sessions’s agenda is the culmination of a long legal tradition of undermining minority civil rights.

Washington, D.C. (June 14, 2018)—The Atlantic has hired top newsroom editor Vernon Loeb to be its Politics Editor, editor in chief Jeffrey Goldberg and TheAtlantic.com editor Adrienne LaFrance announced today. “We have ambitious goals for our politics and national security coverage leading up to 2020,” said Goldberg. “An editor of Vernon’s skill, experience and proven leadership abilities will help us achieve our goals.” Under the leadership of Goldberg, LaFrance, and Loeb, The Atlantic will continue to expand its distinctive and highly-sought-after reporting on the White House, federal agencies, national security, Congress, and the culture of the capital. Loeb’s first priorities will be to build up reporting teams covering Congress and the midterm elections, and reporters covering the White House and national security. Loeb has spent his career as a reporter and editor at The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and the Houston Chronicle. As a foreign correspondent at The Inquirer, he covered Tiananmen Square, the eruption of Mount Pinatubo, and the first Gulf War. Loeb succeeds Yoni Appelbaum, who has been tapped to oversee The Atlantic’s forthcoming Ideas section. Appelbaum guided The Atlantic’s urgent and sophisticated coverage of the 2016 election and the first year of the Trump presidency. Politics is a key focus in The Atlantic’s expansion this year—which, already underway, will see the company add 100 new staff and investments across its divisions and platforms. In the newsroom, The Atlantic also recently announced the opening of a San Francisco bureau and in March debuted a new Family section.