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GMU Faculty Senate targeted in DOJ letter

SUMMARY:

The head of the U.S. Department of Justice’s division sent a letter Friday requesting that George Mason University’s rector provide “all written communications” regarding a resolution its faculty senate passed last week in support of President Gregory Washington.

Dated July 25, the letter signed by Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon says that the department was informed of the resolution commending “Washington’s efforts to ensure ‘faculty and staff demographics … mirror student demographics’ at GMU,” according to her letter. George Mason is Virginia’s largest public university and its most racially and ethnically diverse, with 39,763 students enrolled in fall 2024, and 66.3% of all students are listed as nonwhite.

“This statement is concerning as it indicates the GMU Faculty Senate is praising President Washington for engaging in race- or sex-motivated hiring decisions to achieve specific demographic outcomes among faculty and staff,” Dhillon writes. “According to Justice [Ketanji Brown] Jackson and all eight of her colleagues on the United States Supreme Court, such hiring practices violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.”

Dhillon cites multiple legal cases in the letter, including the 2023 Harvard case that eventually led to the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling to overturn affirmative action in college admissions.

Dhillon writes that although her division intends to submit a “detailed information request” this week, the DOJ would like to review the faculty senate resolution, as well as any drafts and “all written communications,” including emails, texts, voice mails and other forms of electronic communications, between members of the faculty senate, or between the president and his office staff and faculty senate members.

“Please immediately take the necessary steps to preserve all such documents and to notify both the members of the faculty senate and President Washington’s office of the obligation to preserve these documents and electronic communications,” Dhillon concludes. A Department of Justice spokesperson said it had no comment beyond the letter Monday.

Dhillon opened two investigations into the university in July, in addition to two probes launched by the U.S. Department of Education since July 1. The letter, which has not yet been made public by the DOJ, is the first apparent federal inquiry about GMU faculty members’ resolution to support Washington, whose actions to enhance diversity, equity and inclusion at the university have been criticized by the and conservative members of George Mason’s board of visitors.

Multiple groups, including federal and state Democratic lawmakers, George Mason’s American Association of University Professors chapter and regional business organizations, have taken measures to support Washington, the university’s first Black president and its leader since July 2020. Some say that the Trump administration is using the DOJ and the DOE to drive out Washington, and that George Mason’s board of visitors, which has firing power over the university’s president, has not done enough to support him.

The DOJ’s July 25 letter, like others regarding the university, was addressed to Rector Charles “Cully” Stimson and Mike Fragoso, a Torridon Law attorney hired to represent the university in the DOJ matters. Stimson and Fragoso did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the letter Monday.

Professor Solon Simmons, president of the George Mason Faculty Senate, said Monday that he has seen the letter and has been advised by multiple people that he should hire an attorney. He said in a written statement that Dhillon’s letter is “inaccurate.”

The faculty senate “did not commend President Gregory Washington’s efforts to ensure ‘faculty and staff demographics . . . mirror student demographics’ at GMU. The language we used is simply a direct quote from page 31 of a five-year strategic document adopted by the board of visitors,” Simmons wrote. “An outcome the board committed to was to, ‘faculty and staff demographics that mirror student demographics.’ It is not our language; it is theirs.”

The five-year strategic document was released in 2023 after the board approved it in December 2022. It lists goals for the university that include expanding opportunities for students, integrating “inclusive principles and practices,” and expanding research at George Mason. In a section titled, “Exemplify a university culture of access and inclusion,” the university includes “faculty and staff demographics that mirror student demographics” under outcomes it aims to achieve.

The faculty senate resolution, which was approved July 24, refers to the four federal investigations launched since July 1, declares its confidence in Washington’s leadership and calls for the board of visitors to “affirm its commitment to a fair, independent, transparent and comprehensive annual review” of Washington’s job performance.

The resolution also calls for the board to “provide the strongest possible of President Washington and the university’s leadership during these investigations” and to “not give in to political pressures to issue penalties before due process and proper investigations have been completed.”

On Aug. 1, the board is set to discuss in closed session Washington’s work performance, according to its agenda released last Friday. Meanwhile, this week a Fairfax County judge is set to rule on a requested injunction motion filed by nine state Senate that would prevent the boards of George Mason, the and from seating eight gubernatorial appointees who were rejected by a Senate committee in June.

U.S., China begin new trade talks in Sweden

Summary:

  • U.S. and China hold in Sweden to ease tariff tensions
  • Officials aim to extend a 90-day pause on new
  • Talks could pave way for Trump-Xi summit later this year
  • U.S. seeks to reduce $300B trade deficit with China

STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) — Top trade officials from China and the United States launched a new round of talks on Monday in a bid to ease tensions over tariffs between the world’s two biggest national economies.

U.S. Treasury Secretary and Chinese Vice Premier were meeting at the offices of Sweden’s prime minister for two days of talks that Bessent has said will likely lead to an extension of current tariff levels. But other possible outcomes will be scrutinized.

Analysts say the talks could set the stage for a possible meeting between U.S. President  and Chinese President Xi Jinping later this year.

The talks are the third this year, nearly four months after Trump upended global trade with his sweeping tariff proposals, including an import tax that shot up to 145% on Chinese goods. China retaliated with tariffs reaching 125% against U.S. goods, sending global financial markets into a temporary tailspin.

Extending a 90-day pause

The Stockholm meeting, following similar talks in Geneva and London, is set to extend a 90-day pause on those tariffs. During the pause, U.S. tariffs have been lowered to 30% on Chinese goods, and China set a 10% tariff on U.S. products.

The , fresh off a deal on tariffs with the European Union, wants to reduce a trade deficit of $904 billion overall last year, including a nearly $300 billion trade deficit with China.

China’s Commerce Ministry said last week that the “consultations” would raise shared concerns through the principles of “mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation.”

The talks with the Chinese are part of a flurry of U.S. set off by Trump’s arm-twisting “Liberation Day” tariffs against dozens of countries. Since then, some talks have borne fruit in reaching deals. Others have not.

Without an extension by Aug. 12, the tit-for-tat U.S.-China tariffs could snap back to the triple-digit levels seen before the 90-day pause reached in Geneva. Many other countries — including some developing ones that depend on exports to the U.S. — face a Friday deadline, as the Trump administration has said letters will go out beforehand with set rates.

Critics say Trump’s tariffs penalize Americans by forcing U.S. importers to shoulder the costs or pass them to consumers through higher prices.

A suggestion of stability

On Friday, Trump told reporters “we have the confines of a deal with China” — just two days after Bessent told MSNBC that a “status quo” had been reached between the two sides.

While the Chinese side has offered little guidance about the specifics of its aims in Stockholm, Bessent has suggested that the situation has stabilized to the point that China and the U.S. can start looking toward longer-term balance between their economies.

For years, since China vaulted into the global trading system about two decades ago, the United States has sought to press leaders in Beijing to encourage more consumption in China and wrest greater market access to foreign-made — including American — goods.

Other sticking points in the relationship include overcapacity in China — by far the world’s largest manufacturer — and concerns about whether Beijing is doing enough to control chemicals used to make fentanyl, analysts say.

In Stockholm, the Chinese will likely demand the removal of a 20% fentanyl-related tariff that Trump imposed earlier this year, said Sun Yun, director of the China program at the Washington-based Stimson Center.

Looking long-term

Experts say long-term progress in the U.S.-China trade relationship will hinge on structural changes. Those include increased manufacturing in the United States, which is part of Trump’s ambition. On the Chinese side, that could involve a reduction of excess Chinese production in many industries, including electric vehicles and steel, and increased Chinese consumer spending to ease imbalances in China’s export-driven economy.

Sean Stein, president of the U.S.-China Business Council, said Stockholm could be the first real opportunity for the two governments to address structural reform issues, including market access in China for U.S. companies.

Businesses will read how the two sides characterize the outcome in Stockholm and look for clues about a possible Trump-Xi summit, because any real deal will depend on the two presidents meeting, Stein said.

Bessent has also said the Stockholm talks could address Chinese purchases of Russian and Iranian oil.

Hampton logistics company closes, laying off 63

Hampton-based delivery company Rochambeau went out of business last week with the intention to file for , laying off 63 employees in the process.

Rochambeau, which had been in operation for little more than a year, provided delivery services for and served the areas of Newport News, Yorktown and parts of Williamsburg and Gloucester County, according to General Manager Jeff Aldridge, who added that all of its laid-off employees have been able to find new jobs.

Rochambeau notified the state of the on July 22, in compliance with the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act. A letter written by the company president, Alex Chang, stated that, due to “unforeseeable business circumstances,” the company had decided to cease operations as of July 25. The letter states that the company does not plan to reopen but intends to file for bankruptcy proceedings.

The company’s work was performed at a FedEx site at 61 Floyd Thompson Drive in . Due to the closure, all employees were notified on July 21 that their jobs would end on July 25. With the exception of the general manager, assistant managers and administrators, all other persons were delivery drivers.

“Anything anybody is ordering from companies that’s getting shipped through FedEx, FedEx would load our trucks, and then our drivers would go out and make the deliveries,” Aldridge said.

According to Aldridge, Chang informed him on the night of July 21 that he was filing bankruptcy for all three of his contracts with FedEx and that all employees would be laid off after the close of business on Friday of last week. He said he wasn’t provided with many more details.

“I don’t believe FedEx canceled his contract,” Aldridge said. “They can do that if you’re failing service or … not meeting contractual requirements, but I don’t believe that was the case here. I believe what was happening was one of his other companies that he owned in Georgia was failing. … His financial advisers advised him that the only way to … come out unscathed … would be to file bankruptcy.”

Fortunately, Aldridge says that every employee who was laid off was able to secure a job with other logistics contractors working at the FedEx building.

“They’ve picked up every single driver as an employee starting Saturday,” he said last week.

U.S., EU agree to 15% tariff in new trade framework

 

Summary

  • U.S. and EU agree to 15% tariff on most traded goods
  • Deal avoids steeper import taxes, easing global trade fears
  • Strategic products will see zero under the pact
  • EU to boost U.S. energy purchases and investment flows

EDINBURGH, Scotland (AP) — The United States and the European Union agreed on Sunday to a trade framework setting a 15% tariff on most goods, staving off — at least for now — far higher import duties on both sides that might have sent shock waves through economies around the globe.

The sweeping announcement came after President  and European Commission chief met briefly at Trump’s Turnberry golf course in Scotland. Their private sit-down culminated months of bargaining, with the White House deadline Friday nearing for imposing punishing tariffs on the EU’s 27 member countries.

“It was a very interesting negotiation. I think it’s going to be great for both parties,” Trump said. The agreement, he said, was “a good deal for everybody” and “a giant deal with lots of countries.”

Von der Leyen said the deal “will bring stability, it will bring predictability, that’s very important for our businesses on both sides of the Atlantic.”

Many facets will require more work

As with other, recent tariff agreements that Trump announced with countries including Japan and the United Kingdom, some major details remain pending in this one.

Trump said the EU had agreed to buy some $750 billion worth of U.S. energy and invest $600 billion more than it already is in America — as well as make a major military equipment purchase. He said tariffs “for automobiles and everything else will be a straight across tariff of 15%” and meant that U.S. exporters ”have the opening up of all of the European countries.”

Von der Leyen said the 15% tariffs were “across the board, all inclusive” and that “indeed, basically the European market is open.”

At a later news conference away from Turnberry, she said the $750 billion in additional U.S. energy purchases was actually over the next three years — and would help ease the dependence on natural gas from Russia among the bloc’s countries.

“When the European Union and the United States work together as partners, the benefits are tangible,” Von der Leyen said, noting that the agreement “stabilized on a single, 15% tariff rate for the vast majority of EU exports” including cars, semiconductors and pharmaceuticals.

“15% is a clear ceiling,” she said.

But von der Leyen also clarified that such a rate wouldn’t apply to everything, saying that both sides agreed on “zero for zero tariffs on a number of strategic products,” like all aircraft and component parts, certain chemicals, certain generic drugs, semiconductor equipment, some agricultural products, natural resources and critical raw materials.

It is unclear if alcohol will be included in that list.

“And we will keep working to add more products to this list,” she said, while also stressing that the “framework means the figures we have just explained to the public, but, of course, details have to be sorted out. And that will happen over the next weeks.”

Further EU approval needed

In the meantime, there will be work to do on other fronts. Von der Leyen had a mandate to negotiate because the European Commission handles trade for member countries. But the Commission must now present the deal to member states and EU lawmakers, who will ultimately decide whether or not to approve it.

Before their meeting began, Trump pledged to change what he characterized as “a very one-sided transaction, very unfair to the United States.”

“I think both sides want to see fairness,” the Republican president told reporters.

Von der Leyen said the U.S. and EU combined have the world’s largest trade volume, encompassing hundreds of millions of people and trillions of dollars and added that Trump was “known as a tough negotiator and dealmaker.”

“But fair,” Trump said.

Trump has spent months threatening most of the world with large tariffs in hopes of shrinking major U.S. trade deficits with many key trading partners. More recently, he had hinted that any deal with the EU would have to “buy down” a tariff rate of 30% that had been set to take effect.

But during his comments before the agreement was announced, the president was asked if he’d be willing to accept tariff rates lower than 15%, and he said “no.”

First golf, then trade talk

Their meeting came after Trump played golf for the second straight day at Turnberry, this time with a group that included sons Eric and Donald Jr. In addition to negotiating deals, Trump’s five-day visit to Scotland is built around golf and promoting properties bearing his name.

A small group of demonstrators at the course waved American flags and raised a sign criticizing British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who plans his own Turnberry meeting with Trump on Monday.

Other voices could be heard cheering and chanting “Trump! Trump!” as he played nearby.

On Tuesday, Trump will be in Aberdeen, in northeastern Scotland, where his family has another golf course and is opening a third next month. The president and his sons plan to help cut the ribbon on the new course.

The U.S. and EU seemed close to a deal earlier this month, but Trump instead threatened the 30% tariff rate. The deadline for the to begin imposing tariffs has shifted in recent weeks but is now firm and coming Friday, the administration insists.

“No extensions, no more grace periods. Aug. 1, the tariffs are set, they’ll go into place, Customs will start collecting the money and off we go,” U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told “Fox News Sunday” before the EU deal was announced. He added, however, that even after that “people can still talk to President Trump. I mean, he’s always willing to listen.”

Without an agreement, the EU said it was prepared to retaliate with tariffs on hundreds of American products, ranging from beef and auto parts to beer and Boeing airplanes.

If Trump eventually followed through on his threat of tariffs against Europe, meanwhile, it could have made everything from French cheese and Italian leather goods to German electronics and Spanish pharmaceuticals more expensive in the United States.

“I think it’s great that we made a deal today, instead of playing games and maybe not making a deal at all,” Trump said. “I think it’s the biggest deal ever made.”

30-year mortgage rate dips slightly to 6.74%

Summary

  • 30-year mortgage rate fell to 6.74% from 6.75% last week
  • Rates remain nearly unchanged from a year ago (6.78%)
  • Home prices stay near record highs, limiting affordability
  • U.S. remains sluggish since 2022 rate hikes

The average rate on a 30-year U.S. mortgage eased this week, offering little relief for prospective facing record-high home prices.

The long-term rate slipped to 6.74% from 6.75% last week, mortgage buyer said Thursday. A year ago, the rate averaged 6.78%.

Borrowing costs on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, popular with homeowners refinancing their home loans, also eased. The average rate dropped to 5.87% from 5.92% last week. A year ago, it was 6.07%, Freddie Mac said.

Elevated have been weighing on the U.S. housing market, which has been in a sales slump going back to 2022, when rates started to climb from the rock-bottom lows they reached during the pandemic.

Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes, which sank to their lowest level in nearly 30 years in 2024, have remained sluggish this year and slid last month to the slowest pace since last September. Sales of new single-family homes edged up 0.6% last month, but the sales pace for June and May have been the slowest since last October.

While there are more homes on the market than a year ago, rising home prices and stubbornly high mortgage rates have made homeownership financially untenable for many Americans. Elevated mortgage rates are also discouraging many homeowners from selling because they locked in mortgage rates when they were much lower.

“The persistent risk of tariff-driven inflation, combined with a rising U.S. fiscal debt —- expected to grow further following the passage of the Big Beautiful Bill Act —- has helped establish a relatively high floor for , at least for now,” said Jiayi Xu, an economist at Realtor.com.

Mortgage rates are influenced by several factors, from the Federal Reserve’s interest rate policy decisions to bond market investors’ expectations for the economy and inflation.

The main barometer is the 10-year Treasury yield, which lenders use as a guide to pricing home loans. The yield was at 4.41% at midday Thursday, down from 4.40% late Wednesday, following the latest signals that the U.S. economy seems to be holding up OK despite all the pressures on it from and elsewhere.

Yields have moved higher for most of this month as traders bet that the Fed will hold its key short-term interest rate steady at its upcoming meeting next week, despite President demanding that the Fed to lower rates.

A less independent Fed could mean lower short-term rates, which influence the interest consumers pay on credit cards and auto loans, but it could have the opposite effect on the longer-term bond yields that influence the rates on home loans.

The average rate on a 30-year mortgage has remained relatively close to its high so far this year of just above 7%, set in mid-January. The 30-year rate’s low point this year was in early April when it briefly dipped to 6.62%.

Economists generally expect the average rate on a 30-year mortgage to remain above 6% this year. Recent forecasts by Realtor.com and Fannie Mae project the average rate easing to around 6.4% by the end of this year.

Parry Labs names chief growth officer

Alexandria-based announced Thursday that Amber Walker has been appointed .

In the role, she will lead enterprise growth across all defense sectors, drive market expansion and form strategic partnerships. She will report directly to CEO JD Parkes.

“The future of defense depends on rapid, reliable and integrated capabilities,” said Walker in a statement. “Parry Labs is delivering the digital infrastructure our warfighters need — and I’m honored to help lead that mission at scale.”

Walker was most recently the company’s senior vice president of ground, maritime and C2 systems. Parry Labs says she helped deliver strong business performance across multiple portfolios and positioned the company for accelerated growth in 2026.

“Amber has been a force behind some of Parry’s most important momentum this year,” said JD Parkes, CEO of Parry Labs. “Her vision, discipline, and mission-first mindset make her the ideal leader to drive Parry’s next chapter of growth.”

Walker has held several government and industry roles in the defense sector, focusing on advanced development and business growth. She previously was a senior technical director at Anduril Industries and a deputy business unit lead at . She also led autonomy efforts at Raytheon BBN. Before Raytheon, Walker was a program manager at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s Tactical Technology Office.

Walker currently serves as a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves and is an active member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. She has a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the United States Military Academy at West Point and a Ph.D. in aerospace, aeronautical and astronautical engineering from the University of Oklahoma.

Parry Labs was co-founded in 2015 by Parkes, a defense sector veteran-turned-entrepreneur who previously worked as airborne mission lead in the ‘s Office of Strategic Capabilities.

The company’s software and digital systems infrastructure aid the government and defense organizations in adapting to modern warfare.

Last year, the defense contracting startup raised $80 million in its first institutional funding round, led by Capitol Meridian Partners.

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Judge to rule soon on Virginia Senate’s rejection of college board appointees

Summary

  • Nine state senators are suing three university rectors to keep them from recognizing rejected board appointees
  • Fairfax County Circuit judge set to rule just before George Mason meets next week to discuss embattled president’s job performance
  • Ruling comes down to legislature’s power to reject governor’s appointments to boards

Judge Jonathan Frieden expects to rule by Tuesday night, July 29, on an injunction that would prevent three state university boards from recognizing eight gubernatorial appointees rejected by a state Senate committee, just as ‘s is scheduled to discuss ‘s performance next Friday.

Nine Virginia Senate sued the three rectors of the , and George Mason to prevent them from seating the eight rejected board appointees named by Republican over the past five months. The appointees include former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, former state Secretary of Commerce and Trade Caren Merrick and others with significant conservative political and business connections.

Meanwhile, George Mason’s president remains under heavy federal scrutiny as the has launched four federal probes into the university over the past four weeks. Two investigations are led by the U.S. Department of Education and the other two by the U.S. Department of Justice. Critics, including state and federal legislators and faculty members, say that the investigations into alleged sex and race bias in hiring and promotions that discriminate against white and male candidates, as well as alleged failure to protect Jewish students and staff from antisemitism on campus, are politically motivated and targeted to try to drive out Washington.

Friday’s hearing was focused on technical legal arguments rather than explosive political conjecture, but the gist of the hearing comes down to whether the state Senate’s Privileges & Elections Committee has the right to reject gubernatorial appointees on its own during a special session, or if the entire has to be called to vote on the matter.

The plaintiffs’ attorney said there is no precedent for calling the entire House and Senate to vote on each appointee outside of regular session, and the rectors, represented by Christopher Michel, an attorney with Quinn Emanuel who stepped in for the state attorney general’s office, argued that the status quo — in other words, board members serving until they are rejected by legislature’s vote — should hold until the entire General Assembly is able to vote on the matter.

Frieden said he expected to rule on the injunction by Tuesday evening, and he expected the losing side to send arguments to stay the motion on Wednesday morning, with the winning side responding by Wednesday evening, and that the judge would issue a second ruling by the morning of Aug. 1 — when the George Mason board plans to meet at 9 a.m. On its agenda released Friday, the board plans to discuss Washington’s performance in closed session at 11 a.m.

Virginia Sen. Scott Surovell, the Senate’s Democratic majority leader, was at court Friday and said afterward to reporters that GMU Rector Charles “Cully” Stimson, an official at the conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation, had taken “aggressive” steps to include the disputed four board members on committee assignments, including the powerful executive committee, and that the rejected appointees had also been involved in discussions this summer of Washington’s performance.

“The rector of the Mason board seems to think the law doesn’t apply to him,” Surovell said after the hearing Friday. Asked if there is any recourse if Stimson recognized the four rejected appointees in violation of the judge’s ruling if it is in the senators’ favor, Surovell said, “If you don’t honor a judge’s injunction, you typically go to jail.”

Meanwhile, U.Va.’s board released Friday a list of the members of a committee that will evaluate candidates to replace former U.Va. President Jim Ryan, who resigned in June under pressure from the federal government. The Trump administration accused Ryan of slow-walking the dismantling of the university’s diversity, equity and inclusion office and programs after the university’s board directed him to do so in a March vote.

On Thursday, House of Delegates Speaker Don Scott said during a news conference that U.Va.’s board “probably should put a freeze on any hiring, because we will not support whatever it is that they do,” calling the board “illegitimate,” and adding that the gubernatorial appointees have “been told that they will not be appointed permanently.”

US stocks coast toward the finish of a record-setting week

Summary

  • S&P 500 and Nasdaq notch new records; Dow rises 189 points
  • Deckers jumps 11.8% on strong overseas revenue growth
  • rises 4.1% after upbeat outlook
  • Intel falls 9.8% after posting quarterly loss, job cuts

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are ticking toward more records on Friday and coasting toward the close of another winning week.

The S&P 500 was 0.4% higher in afternoon trading, coming off its latest all-time high, and is on track to finish its fourth winning week in the last five. The Industrial Average was up 189 points, or 0.4%, as of 2:02 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was adding 0.4% to its record set the day before.

Deckers, the company behind Ugg boots and Hoka shoes, jumped 11.8% after reporting stronger profit and revenue for the spring than analysts expected. Its growth was particularly strong outside the United States, where revenue soared nearly 50%.

Edwards Lifesciences rose 4.1% after likewise topping Wall Street’s expectations for profit in the latest quarter. It said it saw strength across all its product groups, and it expects profit for the full year to come in at the high end of the forecasted range it had given earlier.

They helped offset a drop of 9.8% for Intel, which fell after reporting a loss for the latest quarter, when analysts were looking for a profit. The struggling chipmaker also said it would cut thousands of jobs and eliminate other expenses as it tries to turn around its fortunes. Intel, which helped launch Silicon Valley as the U.S. technology hub, has fallen behind rivals like Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices while demand for chips soars.

The pressure is on companies to deliver solid growth in profits in order to justify the rallies in their stock prices to record after record in recent weeks. Wall Street has zoomed higher on hopes that President will reach trade deals with other countries that will lower his stiff proposed , along with the risk that they could cause a recession and drive up inflation. Trump has recently announced deals with Japan and the Philippines, and the next big deadline is looming on Friday, Aug. 1.

Besides potential , next week will also feature a meeting by the Federal Reserve on . Trump again on Thursday lobbied the Fed to cut rates, which he has implied could save the U.S. government money on its debt repayments.

Fed Chair , though, has continued to insist he wants to wait for more data about how Trump’s tariffs affect the economy and inflation before the Fed makes its next move. Lower interest rates can help goose the economy, but they can also give inflation more fuel.

Lower rates also may not lower the U.S. government’s costs to borrow money, if the bond market feels they could send inflation higher in the future. In that case, lower short-term rates brought by the Fed could actually have the opposite effect and raise the interest rates that Washington must pay to borrow money over the long term.

The widespread expectation on Wall Street is that the Fed will wait until September to resume cutting interest rates.

In the bond market, held relatively steady following Trump’s latest attempt to push Powell to cut interest rates. Trump also seemed to back off on threats to fire the Fed’s chair.

“To do that is a big move, and I don’t think that’s necessary,” Trump said. “I just want to see one thing happen, very simple: Interest rates come down.”

If Trump fired Powell, he’d risk freaking out financial markets by raising the possibility of a less independent Fed, one unable to make unpopular choices necessary to keep the economy healthy.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury eased to 4.38% from 4.43% late Thursday. The two-year Treasury yield, which more closely tracks expectations for what the Fed will do, remained at at 3.91% from late Thursday.

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

Stocks fell 1.1% in Hong Kong and 0.3% in Shanghai. U.S. Treasury Secretary has said he will meet with Chinese officials in Sweden next week to work toward a trade deal with Beijing ahead of an Aug. 12 deadline. Trump has said a China trip “is not too distant” as trade tensions ease.

Empower AI taps new chief growth officer

Reston-based Empower announced Thursday that it has appointed former executive Juan Toves as its .

In the role, Toves will lead business development and growth strategy. He succeeds Paul Harrington, who is departing the company to return to his consulting practice. However, Harrington will remain a member of ‘s advisory board.

“I’m honored to join a team so deeply committed to the mission,” said Toves in a statement. “This is an exciting opportunity to build on a strong foundation and expand our impact across the federal market. We are driving the shift from AI experimentation to mission-aligned, scalable adoption. Our focus is on turning AI strategy into measurable impact and fueling innovation, growth and long-term mission success. I look forward to collaborating with our leadership, customers and partners to deliver meaningful results.”

Toves has more than two decades of experience in government contracting. He was most recently vice president of business development at Peraton. Before that, he held leadership roles at Akima, CSRA and SAIC. He currently serves on AFCEA International Board of Directors.

According to his LinkedIn profile, he has an MBA from the University of Texas at San Antonio.

“Juan is a strong addition to our leadership team,” said Empower AI CEO Jeff Bohling in a statement. “He brings deep market understanding, a strategic mindset and a clear focus on mission and customer success. We are excited to have him leading our growth strategy.”

Founded in 1989 and formerly known as NCI Information Systems, Empower AI specializes in helping federal agencies with modernized infrastructure, technologies, engineering services and IT support. The company has more than 800 employees.