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Retail sales rebound in June despite tariff concerns

Summary

  • rose 0.6% in June after a 0.9% drop in May
  • April sales also declined slightly, down 0.1%
  • showed resilience despite tariff fears
  • Auto sales rebounded after March buying surge ahead of 25% tariff
  • Excluding autos, sales increased 0.5%

WASHINGTON (AP) — After an earlier pullback, consumers picked up their spending in June despite anxiety over  and the state of the U.S. .

Retail sales rose a better-than-expected 0.6% in June after declining 0.9% in May, the Commerce Department said Thursday. Sales in April fell 0.1%, pulled down by a steep drop in auto sales, after Americans ramped up their car-buying in March to get ahead of Donald ‘s 25% duty on imported cars and car parts.

Excluding autos and automotive parts, sales rose 0.5%, according to the Commerce Department.

There was broad-based strength across the board. Clothing and accessories sales rose 0.9%, while health and personal care sales saw a 0.5% bump. Restaurants sales rose 0.6% , while online retailers recorded a 0.4% gain. Autos and automotive parts dealers rebounded with a 1.2% increase.

There were a few weak spots like electronics and appliance retailers and department stores, both of which had sales declines.

Heather Long, the chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union, noted that layoffs remain low and consumers are still confident enough that the economy is chugging along.

“Don’t count the American consumer out yet,” said Long in a statement. “There’s still a lot of trepidation about tariffs and likely price hikes, but consumers are willing to buy if they feel they can get a good deal. The word of the summer for the economy is resilient.”

The retail sales report arrives amid a whipsaw frenzy of on and off again tariffs have that jolted businesses and households. For businesses, that has made it harder to manage supply and inventories. Americans are focusing more on necessities, when they do shop.

The latest government report showed that inflation rose last month to its highest level since February as Trump’s sweeping tariffs push up the costs of everything from groceries and clothes to furniture and appliances.

Consumer prices rose 2.7% in June from a year earlier, the Labor Department said Tuesday, up from an annual increase of 2.4% in May. On a monthly basis, prices climbed 0.3% from May to June, after rising just 0.1% the previous month.

Trump insists that the U.S. effectively has no inflation as he has attempted to pressure  Chair into reducing short-term .

Yet the new inflation numbers make it more likely that the central bank will leave rates where they are. Powell has said that he wants to measure the economic impact of Trump’s tariffs before reducing borrowing costs.

Americans have continued to spend, which is what the Fed had hoped to curtail a little bit with rate hikes.

One big litmus test was Amazon’s four-day Prime event along with competing retail sales from the likes of Walmart and Target that kicked off last week. Adobe Digital Insights, which tracks online sales, reported that the sales events drove $24.1 billion in online spending, a 30.3% increase compared with the same period last year.

Still, those that were buying prioritized essentials like dish soap and paper products over big-ticket purchases, according to consumer data provider Numerator, based on its analysis of Amazon Prime orders.

Deborah Weinswig, founder and of Coresight Research, said she’s becoming more optimistic about the financial health of the consumer after the Amazon Prime events. She said inventories are at a healthy level, and she didn’t see big fire sales.

”People aren’t buying things that they don’t need,” she said. “I think it’s a healthier retail environment.”

Retailers are now turning their attention to the back-to-school shopping season, which is the second largest consumer rush after the winter holidays. Coresight Research estimates that total U.S. back-to-school spending will increase by 3.3% year compared with the year-ago period, to $33.3 billion. And it predicts that shoppers will do a big chunk of their shopping before August to get ahead of tariffs.

Economists will also dissect quarterly financial reports next month from major retailers like Walmart, Target and Macy’s, both for consumer behavior and to gauge how businesses are navigating a chaotic period of global trade due to fluid U.S. policies.

Levi Strauss & Co. said last week that it was cutting back on making styles that aren’t selling and making targeted price increases as it moves production away from China due to tariffs.

Jobless claims fall to 3-month low, defying tariff fears

Summary

  • fell by 7,000 to 221,000 last week
  • Lowest level of initial claims since mid-April
  • Fifth straight weekly decline in filings
  • Total continuing claims rose slightly to 1.96 million
  • shows resilience despite tariff worries

WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits fell last week to the lowest level in three months, a sign that the U.S. labor market remains sturdy despite fears over the impact of widespread U.S. .

The reported Thursday that jobless claims for the week ending July 12 fell by 7,000 to 221,000, the fifth straight weekly decline and the fewest since mid-April. Last week’s number was also lower than the 232,000 that analysts forecast. Applications for unemployment aid are viewed as representative of .

Earlier this month, the Labor Department reported that U.S. employers added a surprising 147,000 jobs in June, adding to evidence that the American labor market continues to show resilience despite uncertainty over Donald ‘s economic policies. The job gains were much bigger than expected and the unemployment rate ticked down 4.1% from 4.2% in May. Analysts were expecting the unemployment to rise to 4.3%.

Though the job market is broadly healthy by historical standards, some weakness has surfaced as employers contend with fallout from Trump’s policies, especially his aggressive tariffs, which raise prices for businesses and consumers. Most economists believe the import duties make the less efficient by reducing competition. They also invite retaliatory tariffs from other countries, hurting U.S. exporters and potentially driving businesses to freeze hiring or cut staff.

The deadline on most of Trump’s stiff proposed taxes on imports were extended again until Aug. 1. Unless Trump reaches deals with other countries to lower the tariffs, economists fear they could act as a drag on the economy and trigger another bout of inflation.

Companies that have announced job cuts this year include Procter & Gamble, Workday, Dow, CNN, Starbucks, Southwest Airlines, Microsoft,  and Facebook parent company Meta.

The Labor Department’s report Thursday said that the four-week average of claims, which smooths out some of the weekly ups and downs, fell by 6,250 to 229,500.

The total number of Americans collecting unemployment benefits for the week of July 5 remained stable, ticking up by just 2,000 to 1.96 million.

Wall Street ticks toward a record as PepsiCo and tech stocks rally

Summary

  • Trump eases off threat to fire Fed Chair
  • futures flat, Dow futures dip, Nasdaq slightly up
  • PepsiCo rises on strong Q2 sales and profits
  • TSMC stock jumps 3.4% after massive beat
  • earnings due after market close

EW YORK (AP) — Wall Street is ticking toward a record on Thursday following some better-than-expected updates on the economy and a mixed set of profit reports from big U.S. companies.

The S&P 500 was up 0.5% in afternoon trading and on track to top its all-time high set a week ago. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 252 points, or 0.6%, as of 2:24 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was adding 0.8% to its record set the day before.

Trading was calmer than Wednesday’s, when Donald Trump jolted financial markets by saying he had discussed the “concept” of firing the chair of the  but was unlikely to do so. Such a move could help Wall Street get the lower interest rates it loves but would also risk a weakened Fed unable to make the unpopular moves needed to keep inflation under control.

A strong profit report from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. helped drive tech stocks, and its net income soared nearly 61% in the last quarter from a year earlier. The chip maker said it’s seeing strong demand from artificial-intelligence and other customers, and its stock that trades in the United States rose 4.1%.

Other stocks involved in also climbed, and a 1.2% gain for Nvidia was one of the strongest forces pushing upward on the S&P 500.

PepsiCo jumped 7% after delivering revenue and profit that topped Wall Street’s expectations. The drink and snack giant also stood by its financial forecasts given in April, which projected lower full-year profit than previous forecasts due to increased costs from tariffs and a pullback in .

United Airlines flew 3.8% higher after reporting a stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. It also said it’s seen an acceleration in demand from customers that began in early July, and it’s expecting less uncertainty about the economy to hurt its business in the second half of this year.

Lucid Group’s stock surged 37.1% after it said Uber is aiming to use 20,000 or more of its vehicles over six years in a robotaxi program. Using an autonomy system by Nuro, it expects to launch “later next year in a major US city.”

Uber, which plans to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in Lucid and Nuro, saw its stock edge down by 0.2%.

On the losing side of Wall Street was Abbott Laboratories, which fell 8% despite delivering results for the latest quarter that edged past analysts’ expectations. The health care company cut the top end of its forecasted range for revenue growth over 2025.

Elevance Health dropped 12% after reporting a weaker profit than analysts expected. It cut its forecast for profit in 2025 because of rising medical cost trends in its Affordable Care Act business, along with other factors.

Also falling were shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland and Ingredion, makers of high fructose corn syrup. Trump said Wednesday that Coca-Cola has agreed to use real cane sugar in its flagship soft drink in the United States at his suggestion, though the company has yet to confirm that.

Ingredion dropped 0.8%, and Archer-Daniels-Midland fell 1%.

In the bond market, Treasury yields held relatively steady following several better-than-expected reports on the economy.

One said that shoppers upped their spending at U.S. retailers by more last month than economists expected. Such spending, along with a relatively solid jobs market, has helped keep the U.S. economy out of a recession.

A separate report said that fewer U.S. workers applied for benefits last week, which could be a signal of limited . A third suggested unexpectedly strong growth in manufacturing in the mid-Atlantic region.

Such solid data could keep the Federal Reserve on pause when it comes to interest rates. The Fed has been keeping rates steady this year, after cutting them at the end of last year. The Fed’s chair, Jerome Powell, has been insisting that he wants to wait for more data about how Trump’s tariffs will affect the economy and inflation before the Fed makes its next move.

That’s because while lower interest rates could goose the economy and prices for investments, they would also give inflation more fuel. And prices may already be starting to feel the upward effects of tariffs.

Thursday’s strong economic helped push the two-year Treasury yield, which closely tracks expectations for the Fed, up to 3.92% from 3.88% late Wednesday.

Longer-term Treasury yields were mostly steady, though, and the 10-year yield remained at 4.46% from late Wednesday. The Fed has less influence over these yields, where investors in the bond market carry more sway.

Bond investors had briefly driven longer-term yields higher on Wednesday, when fears were high that Trump may fire Powell. The president has been angrily calling for Powell to cut interest rates, and a less independent Fed may end up keeping short-term rates low in the near term. That, in turn, could allow inflation to run higher in future years.

Longer-term yields then relaxed after Trump said he was unlikely to fire Powell.

In stock markets abroad, indexes rose across much of Europe and Asia.

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Trump comments on Fed chair jolt stock market swings

Summary

  • says he discussed firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell
  • , Dow, Nasdaq all ended the day with gains
  • Markets swung sharply before rebounding
  • Investors weigh rate-cut hopes vs. risks

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump sent the U.S. on a jagged round trip Wednesday after saying he had “talked about the concept of firing” the head of the . Such a move could help Wall Street get the lower it loves but would also risk a weakened Fed unable to make the unpopular moves needed to keep inflation under control.

The S&P 500 rose 0.3% after whipping through an earlier drop and subsequent recovery.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 231 points, or 0.5%, and the Nasdaq composite added 0.3% to its record set the day before.

Stocks had been rising modestly in the morning, before news reports saying that Trump was likely to fire Fed Chair Jerome Powell quickly sent the S&P 500 down by 0.7%.

When later asked directly if he was planning to fire Powell, Trump said, “I don’t rule out anything, but I think it’s highly unlikely.” That helped calm the market, and stocks erased their losses, though Trump added that he could still fire Powell if “he has to leave for fraud.” Trump has been criticizing a $2.5 billion renovation project underway of the Fed’s headquarters.

Trump’s main problem with Powell has been how the Fed has not cut interest rates this year, a move that would have made it easier for U.S. households and businesses to get loans to buy houses, build factories and otherwise boost the . Lower interest rates could also help the U.S. government, which is set to borrow and add a lot more to its debt after approving a wide range of tax cuts.

Powell, meanwhile, has been insisting that he wants to wait for more data about how Trump’s stiff proposed will affect the economy and inflation before the Fed makes its next move.

The Fed has two main jobs: keeping the job market strong while keeping inflation under control. Lowering interest rates would help boost the economy but would also give inflation more fuel when tariffs may be set to push prices for U.S. households higher.

A report on Wednesday said inflation at the wholesale level slowed to 2.3% last month, which was better than economists expected. It’s an encouraging signal, but it came a day after another report suggested that Trump’s tariffs are pushing up the prices U.S. shoppers are paying for toys, apparel and other imported products.

Trump’s tariffs are making their weight felt across financial markets. ASML, the world’s leading supplier of chipmaking gear, warned that it can’t guarantee growth next year, after delivering an expected 15% growth in sales for 2025.

Conditions still look strong for ASML’s customers in the artificial-intelligence business, but Christophe Fouquet said in a video that “the level of uncertainty is increasing, mostly due to macroeconomic and geopolitical consideration. And that includes, of course, tariffs.”

Shares that trade in the United States of ASML, which is based in the Netherlands, fell 8.3%.

Stocks of several U.S. companies reporting stronger profits for the latest quarter than analysts expected helped offset that.

Johnson & Johnson jumped 6.2% after the drug and medical device giant beat analysts’ sales and profit targets and raised its full-year forecasts for both. CEO Joaquin Duato said it expects “game-changing approvals and submissions” in the second half of 2025 on an array of products, including for lung and bladder cancer.

PNC Financial Services Group added 0.9% following its better-than-expected quarterly report, thanks in part to loan growth despite what CEO Bill Demchak called “an uncertain macro environment.”

GrabAGun, an online retailer of firearms and ammunition, swung sharply after combining with Colombier Acquisition Corp. II and taking its spot on the stock market under the ticker symbol “PEW.” Donald Trump Jr., the son of President Trump, is joining the company’s board.

The stock quickly went from an early gain of 19% to a drop of 31% before finishing with a loss of 23.9%, with several halts in trading along the way.

All told, the S&P 500 rose 19.94 points to 6,263.70. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 231.49 to 44,254.78, and the Nasdaq composite gained 52.69 to 20,730.49.

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury fell to 4.45% from 4.50% late Tuesday. It had been as low as 4.44% earlier in the day, but it climbed following the reports that Trump was likely to fire Powell.

A new Fed chair friendlier to Trump could mean lower short-term interest rates but also the opposite effect on longer-term yields. That’s because a less independent Fed would raise worries that it may also let inflation run higher in the future by being slow to raise interest rates.

In stock markets abroad, indexes mostly fell amid relatively modest movements.

Stocks rose 0.7% in Jakarta after Trump said Tuesday that he plans to charge imports from Indonesia a tariff of 19%, instead of the 32% that he had threatened earlier, after reaching a trade deal.

Indonesia’s central bank also cut its key interest rate by 0.25 percentage points on Wednesday, to 5.25%.

“We have calculated everything and discussed everything. The most important thing for me is my people, as I must protect the interests of our workers,” Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto told reporters, adding that “this is our offer, and we are not able to give more (to the United States).”

Leadership Metro Richmond names new CEO

Leadership development organization Metro announced Monday that Chris Edwards will be its new and , effective Aug. 11.

Edwards is succeeding Myra Goodman Smith, who served in the role for 15 years and will retire July 31.

LMR was founded in 1980 by Richmond’s to improve racial, gender and socio-economic divides in the community. The organization connects leaders and partners with organizations to create community engagement opportunities. LMR has six staff members.

More than 2,000 leaders have participated in the organization’s 10-month leadership development program, Leadership Quest.

Edwards most recently served as director of mission advancement at SupportWorks (formerly Supportive Housing), where he guided strategic operations, helped secure $1.2 million in annual philanthropy and led a rebranding and renaming initiative across multiple regions.

In his new role, Edwards will help the organization expand its reach and accelerate innovation.

“We are thrilled to welcome Chris to lead our organization into its next era,” Jeff Conley, chair of LMR’s board of directors, said in a statement. His strategic insight, deep commitment to inclusive leadership and proven track record in developing high-performing teams make him the right leader for this transformative chapter.”

Edwards has a bachelor’s degree from Washington and Lee University and a master’s from Portland State University. He is a native of Birmingham, Alabama, but has called Richmond home for most of his adult life.

Richmond Realtors assoc. survey: Housing affordability tops Richmond voters’ concerns

SUMMARY:

  • affordability is top concern for voters; 74% see it as significant issue
  • Strong support exists for more housing options
  • Racial and economic disparities persist, as Black residents and lower-income groups report lower quality of life

Housing affordability and availability are the most pressing concerns for Richmond voters, according to a new citywide commissioned by the .

The study, which was conducted by American Strategies from April 28 to May 2 and released last week, shows that 74% of residents said that housing affordability is a “very” or “fairly” significant problem. The survey had a representative sample of 654 registered voters.

Nearly 4 in 10 voters, or 38%, cited housing costs and access as the top issue for city to address, far outpacing concerns about water and sewer infrastructure (20%) or crime (18%).

“This report affirms what many of us have been hearing from our community for years: Richmond families are struggling to find housing that fits their budgets and meets their needs,” Richmond Association of Realtors Laura Lafayette said in a statement. “This survey is a clear call to action to advance smart, equitable housing solutions.”

Key findings

One of the major findings in the report is disparities in housing experiences by race, income and geography remain.

For example, it says white voters are more upbeat about the quality of life than Black voters, with 88% of white people reporting their quality of life as either good or excellent, compared to 56% of Black people saying the same. Less than half of Black women and Black people under age 50 rate the quality of life as excellent or good.

The survey shows that 46% of respondents said the quality of life in Richmond has remained the same over the past three years, and 24% feel that the quality of life has improved. However, nearly one-third (28%) feel it has gotten worse, with Black women, lower-income households, renters and residents in Districts 5, 8 and 9 being the most likely to report a quality of life decline. Richmond District 5 begins downtown and stretches south of the river, while districts 8 and 9 are both fully south of the river.

About 72% of Richmond residents surveyed said they need more in their neighborhoods. Sixty-six percent said there needs to be more housing options, and 59% said they support changing local zoning codes or regulations to allow more homes to be built in their neighborhoods.

However, of those who supported changing zoning codes, only 26% “strongly agreed,” whereas 20% somewhat disagreed with changing codes and 20% strongly disagreed.

The city is currently undergoing an effort to rewrite and update its zoning code, developing new zoning categories and descriptions, and then mapping those categories to every parcel in the city. Richmond’s city government is in the process of soliciting feedback from the public and has already held several open houses to discuss the effort.

A call for change

The survey found that renters, lower-income and younger voters were most open to new housing construction in their neighborhoods.

“The housing ladder is broken — people can’t move up, down, or across because there’s nowhere to go,” Lafayette said in a statement. “The survey confirms that residents not only recognize this, but are feeling its impact on affordability firsthand. The city of Richmond has a once-in-a-generation opportunity, through the zoning code refresh, to modernize its zoning code and allow for a greater diversity of housing types, so that people can continue to call the city home at every stage of life.”

The association states that has reviewed the survey’s findings and aims to make Richmond a more equitable place to live. The association says he pledged to find solutions that “promote greater housing opportunities across the city.”

Virginia, Google partner to launch AI training courses

SUMMARY:

  • launched online platform to offer free and low-cost training, certifications
  • stressed AI’s growing role across all industries, highlighting the need for broad workforce readiness
  • Virginia has experienced a surge in AI-related job postings

With worming its way into almost every job sector, employees are increasingly finding themselves needing to know how to use the emerging technology to avoid being left behind.

To address this, Virginia is launching an online platform that will provide job seekers free and low-cost artificial intelligence certification courses.

Gov. Glenn on Tuesday, while speaking at ‘s office, announced the launch of VirginiaHasJobs.com/AI, which he described as an “AI career launch pad.”

Developed by in partnership with the Grow with Google program, the website is designed to help working-age Virginians gain experience in using AI and prepare for its growing role across industries. According to Secretary of Labor Bryan Slater, Virginia has experienced a surge in AI-related job postings, with approximately 31,000 listings.

The new website includes free and low-cost courses and learning opportunities. These range from beginner courses on AI fundamentals and practical workplace applications of AI to certification training, bootcamps and degree programs offered by Virginia community colleges and universities.

According to a news release from the governor’s office, Virginia Works will provide career certificate scholarships, giving Virginians free access to high-demand career and AI training. The governor’s office says that any Virginian can visit the website, sign up for a scholarship, enroll in eligible programs and develop AI knowledge and skills.

During the press conference in Reston, Youngkin said, “Artificial intelligence is being incorporated in just about every single job in America.” For example, he said that in the manufacturing industry, AI drives much of the processes, but technicians are still needed to optimize it and improve it. In marketing jobs, he said AI capabilities help customize messaging.

“So what we’re seeing is that AI is becoming a critical component of a broad set of employer needs and employee capabilities,” Youngkin said. “And therefore it doesn’t matter whether you have a college degree or not, it doesn’t matter whether you had deep experience or not, because artificial intelligence skill sets are at the cutting edge.”

Youngkin’s office says Virginians can apply for scholarships to two types of programs — Google AI essentials courses that teach foundational AI skills and best practices and Google career certificates, which offer in-depth, job-ready training in high-demand fields such as cybersecurity, data analytics and project management.

“The site was developed with people in mind that are looking, that are searching,” Youngkin said. “And so they can come find the job opportunities that they think are interesting. They can find the course sequence that gets them there. And guess what? They can find jobs.”

Grow with Google Head of Partnerships Bronagh Friel said in a statement that the website “will help equip more Virginians with the in-demand skills to secure great jobs, advance their earning potential and drive a prosperous future for the state.”

The governor’s office says that globally, 86% of graduates say the AI skills taught in the AI Essentials course will improve their productivity and efficiency at work. Additionally, 70% of Google’s career certificate graduates report experiencing a positive on their careers — such as a raise, new job or promotion — within six months of completion.

Trump administration fires 17 immigration judges in 10 states, including Virginia

WASHINGTON (AP) — Seventeen immigration court judges have been fired in recent days, according to the union that represents them, as the pushes forward with its mass deportations of immigrants in the country.

The International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, which represents immigration court judges as well as other professionals, said in a news release that 15 judges were fired “without cause” on Friday and another two on Monday. The union said they were working in courts in 10 different states across the country — California, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Texas, Utah and .

“It’s outrageous and against the public interest that at the same time Congress has authorized 800 immigration judges, we are firing large numbers of immigration judges without cause,” said the union’s Matt Biggs. “This is nonsensical. The answer is to stop firing and start hiring.”

Firings come with courts at the center of administration efforts

The firings come as the courts have been increasingly at the center of the administration’s hardline immigration enforcement efforts with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arresting immigrants as they appear at court for proceedings.

A spokeswoman for the Executive Office of Immigration Review, which is the part of the Justice Department that oversees the courts, said in an email that the office would not comment on the firings.

The large-scale arrests began in May and have unleashed fear among asylum-seekers and immigrants appearing in court. In what has become a familiar scene, a judge will grant a government lawyer’s request to dismiss deportation proceedings against an immigrant. Meanwhile, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers are waiting in the hallway to arrest the person and put them on a fast track to deportation as soon as he or she leaves the courtroom.

Immigration court judges are also dealing with a massive backlog of roughly 3.5 million cases that ballooned in recent years. Cases can take years to weave their way to a final determination, with judges and lawyers frequently scheduling final hearings on the merits of a case over a year out. Unlike criminal courts, the government isn’t required to provide lawyers to everyone going through ; immigrants can hire their own lawyer but if they can’t afford one they represent themselves — often using an interpreter to make their case.

Senator alleges one firing is punishment

Democratic U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois alleged that one of the judges fired was essentially being punished for talking to him during a visit the senator made a few weeks ago to the Chicago Immigration Court.

In a news release Tuesday, Durbin said the judge “took time to show me the court and explain its functions.” He said after the visit, the judge received an email from the Justice Department telling her that all communications with congressional offices should be routed through headquarters and that immigration judges shouldn’t be talking directly with members of Congress.

“Her abrupt termination is an abuse of power by the Administration to punish a non-political judge simply for doing her job,” said Durbin, who’s the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Courts are getting a cash infusion

Under recently passed legislation that will use $170 billion to supercharge immigration enforcement, the courts are set to get an infusion of $3.3 billion. That will go toward raising the number of judges to 800 and hiring more staff to support them.

But the union said that since the Trump administration took office over 103 judges have either been fired or voluntarily left after taking what was dubbed the “Fork in the Road” offers at the beginning of the administration. The union said that rather than speeding up the immigration court process, the Justice Department’s firings would actually make the backlogs worse. The union said that it can take as long as a year to recruit, hire and train new immigration court judges.

There are currently about 600 judges, according to the union figures. Immigration courts fall under the Justice Department.

Maryland Supreme Court disbars Virginia lawyer for abusing courts, financial misconduct

Summary

  •  found -based attorney violated several  rules in dispute over family trust
  • High court found he had filed meritless lawsuits against his sister in multiple courts
  • Also found to have misused trust funds for personal expenses and legal fee

A Virginia-based attorney has been disbarred in Maryland for abusing the judicial process and engaging in financial misconduct in his role as the legal representative and fiduciary of his mother’s trust, the Maryland Supreme Court held.

In an opinion filed Monday written by Justice Peter Killough, the state’s highest court explained its reasoning for the court’s March per curiam order disbarring Gary Pisner from the practice of law in Maryland.

The justices agreed with a hearing judge’s findings that Pisner violated a handful of ethics rules, including rules relating to competence, safekeeping property and bringing meritorious claims.

Specifically, the high court wrote, Pisner failed to maintain adequate transactions records of a revocable trust he and his sister became the beneficiaries and co-trustees of in January 2009 following the death of their mother and refused to produced documentation when ordered by the court. According to the high court, Pisner “actively concealed” trust records to avoid disclosing them during his  proceedings and failed to produce sufficient documentation to permit an accounting of the trust.

In 2009, Pisner distributed approximately $1.19 million to himself while his sister received $1.06 million, and in 2010, he received $136,410.93 despite a lack of supporting source documentation, while his sister received $54,894.78. Many of the unauthorized distributions were used for Pisner’s personal expenses, the high court wrote, including legal fees, credit card payments and educational costs.

Among other ethical violations, the justices found Pisner also “repeatedly misused the judicial system” by initiating a number of lawsuits with legal theories that lacked merit.

According to the high court, Pisner, in identifying himself as an attorney of his mother’s trust, filed a lawsuit against his sister in Circuit Court alleging the trust had “ceased to function” in accordance with its terms. Pisner also filed a separate lawsuit against his sister in the Superior Court for the District of Columbia while the trust litigation remained pending, as well as a second lawsuit against his sister in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland with “nearly identical” allegations.

“[Pisner] pursued identical claims in multiple forums without curing a plainly fatal legal defect, indicating an absence of any good faith basis for relief and no effort to seek a legitimate change in the law,” Killough wrote. “These violations were not without consequence. The Hearing Judge found that Respondent’s frivolous filings caused actual harm to others.”

Those harms, the high court wrote, included those against whom Pisner filed lawsuits incurring substantial legal expenses and experiencing increased liability insurance premiums, in addition to the expense of judicial resources in multiple jurisdictions.

Pisner disputed the sufficiency of the disciplinary petition, alleged investigatory and discovery misconduct, and contested the credibility of witnesses; the high court found he offered no evidence to support those claims. Though Pisner had no prior history of , the justices found is warranted.

Pisner did not immediately respond to requests for comment, and bar counsel for the Maryland declined to comment.

Pisner was admitted to the in 1989. He remains in good standing in Virginia and the District of Columbia (where his membership is inactive), and is listed as retired from the Pennsylvania Bar, according to those jurisdictions’ attorney directories.

U.Va. medical school dean set to leave for new job

SUMMARY:

  • U.Va. medical school and chief health affairs officer is finalist for UTHealth Houston presidency
  • has been at U.Va. since 2021
  • She and former Health Dr. Craig Kent were subject of letter of no confidence in 2024

Dr. Melina Kibbe, the ‘s medical school dean and chief health affairs officer at , is the sole finalist for the presidency of the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, UTHealth announced this week.

Kibbe has been at U.Va. since 2021. Her tenure at U.Va. has been challenging, as both she and Dr. K. Craig Kent were subject of a vote of “no confidence” by 128 physicians in 2024, who called for their resignations. Kent resigned as CEO of UVA Health in February, following a closed-session meeting of the U.Va. Board of Visitors.

Kibbe remained in place, although a false letter of resignation made the rounds around the same period, forcing UVA Health head Dr. Mitch Rosner to state publicly that it was a hoax.

In response to UTHealth’s announcement Monday, Rosner released this statement: “During her tenure as dean of the University of School of Medicine and chief health affairs officer for UVA Health, Dr. Melina R. Kibbe has played a vital role in crafting and advancing UVA Health’s 10-year strategic plan, which seeks to expand UVA Health’s biomedical research enterprise and make U.Va. the nation’s top public academic health system.

“We are excited that Dean Kibbe has been named the sole finalist for the presidency of The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, and we wish her well as the hiring process moves forward.”

A vascular surgeon who researches novel therapies for vascular disease, Kibbe said in a statement provided by UTHealth, “It’s an extraordinary honor to be named as sole finalist for the presidency at UTHealth Houston, an institution that stands at the forefront of health education, research and patient care. UTHealth Houston is uniquely positioned to shape the future of in Texas and beyond.”

She remains the sole finalist during a state-required 21-day waiting period before officially being named .

In the 128 faculty members’ letter to the U.Va. board, Kent and Kibbe were accused of creating a “culture of fear and retaliation” that “compromised patient safety.” The letter also accused the UVA Health leaders of “excessive spending on C-suite executives and support” and “failure to be forthcoming on significant financial matters.”

Then-President Jim Ryan and members of the UVA Health board defended Kibbe and Kent, but the university hired a law firm to perform a third-party investigation into the letter’s allegations. Following the investigation, Kent resigned. In April, a group of 21 doctors released a letter saying that some current and former board members “advanced a false narrative” that the 128 physicians who called for Kent and Kibbe to resign in 2023 were “motivated by greed.”

U.Va. did not yet disclose who will serve in Kibbe’s position when she leaves, nor what the timeline will be for a search for her replacement. Currently, U.Va.’s president, UVA Health’s CEO and U.Va.’s provost posts are all filled on an interim basis, following Ryan’s resignation in June and former Provost Ian Baucom’s departure to become president of Middlebury College.

Jennifer “J.J.” Wagner Davis, the university’s executive vice president and chief operating officer, is U.Va.’s acting president, until the board of visitors names a longer-term interim president to serve until a permanent replacement for Ryan is in place. On Tuesday, the board announced it is seeking suggestions from university community members for the interim president, in a portal that will remain open until July 25.