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President Donald Trump remarked on the recent departure of over 10,000 federal lawyers, stating it is “very good” for the administration. He referred to a New York Times report highlighting that many lawyers are moving to Democratic state attorneys general and nonprofits opposing his policies. Trump criticized the media portrayal of this exodus, claiming: “The people that are leaving are Radical Left Deep State Lunatics.” He expressed support for those leaving, wishing them “bigger, better, and brighter” opportunities. The report noted a 17% reduction in federal lawyers since 2024, with significant losses in the Department of Education and HUD. Former HUD lawyer Erik Heins emphasized that the lack of lawyers hampers the administration's ability to function effectively. White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson stated the administration is committed to hiring qualified individuals dedicated to public service.

 

The Hill

Infrastructure Face Off: On-Premises vs. Cloud

A concise comparison of on-premises and cloud infrastructure options for organizations running SAP workloads.

This infographic outlines the operational and financial case for migrating SAP environments to the cloud, covering cost predictability, security, compliance, and scalability. It draws on NTT DATA's experience as an SAP-certified partner and positions Microsoft Azure's global infrastructure as the underlying platform for organizations looking to reduce the burden on internal IT teams while maintaining reliability.

The resource addresses how a single consolidated fee structure — covering infrastructure, support, backups, and upgrades — can free IT resources to focus on higher-value work.

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The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has said it is to reassign virtually all staff nationwide to its Washington headquarters later this year. The move to relocate roughly 450 employees stationed near the watchdog's former regional offices in San Francisco, Atlanta, Chicago and New York and end remote work arrangements is likely ​to accelerate the recent pace of resignations, Reuters reports, as the Trump administration seeks to ‌minimize if not eliminate the agency. Beginning on August 31, "staff whose duty stations are greater than 50 miles from headquarters, staff associated with former regional offices" and all field employees will report to the new headquarters, an email said. The CFPB will cover relocation costs for "eligible" staff members in accordance with current ​rules, according to a ​memo also seen by ⁠Reuters.

 

Reuters

Nearly 1,000 workers at American Axle’s Three Rivers, Michigan plant are set to strike after contract talks stalled, threatening production of key axle parts for GM’s Chevrolet Silverado, GMC Sierra, Colorado and Canyon trucks. Workers say wages have not recovered since 2008, when pay was halved to help keep the plant open, despite American Axle benefiting from strong GM truck sales. UAW president Shawn Fain said members had taken “wage cuts, benefit cuts” while building company profits, and vowed the strike would continue until workers were treated with “dignity and respect”. The walkout comes as GM tries to lift heavy-duty pickup output and capitalise on Ford’s production limits. Workers also want higher pay and restrictions on forced weekend overtime.

 

Wall Street Journal

Amazon has shut down an internal leaderboard that tracked employees’ use of AI tools after workers tried to boost their scores with unnecessary activity that increased the company’s computing costs.

 

Financial Times

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is attempting to overturn long-standing rules aimed at combating workplace discrimination, claiming they have led to increased bias against white individuals. Established by the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the EEOC has historically collected EEO-1 data to identify hiring disparities affecting people of color and women. Andrea Lucas, the EEOC chair appointed by President Donald Trump, stated: "Regardless of what has happened before, the way to stop discriminating based on race is to stop discriminating based on race." The proposed changes would eliminate annual data collection and rescind a 1979 regulation that allowed employers to take proactive measures to address racial and gender imbalances. Critics argue that this shift could hinder efforts to combat discrimination, as the absence of demographic data would complicate enforcement actions against discriminatory practices.

 

NPR / National Public Radio

Amazon is facing a lawsuit from a married couple who claim the company misled customers into joining its Subscribe & Save program. The lawsuit alleges that after initially attracting customers with low prices, Amazon raised prices significantly on recurring orders. Plaintiffs Aaron and Leah Herman reported that their Lavazza Ground Espresso Coffee subscription price increased from $16.60 to $28.69 within months. Andrew Ackley, their attorney, said: "When you sign up for something that is called ‘Subscribe & Save,' you'd expect that you're saving by subscribing." The lawsuit seeks class-action status, potentially affecting millions of customers.

 

The Oregonian

The U.S. merchandise-trade deficit narrowed in April as exports rose faster than imports, supported by stronger shipments of capital goods, consumer products, and industrial supplies such as crude oil and petroleum products. The Commerce Department said the goods-trade shortfall fell 3.4% from the prior month to $82.4bn, below economists’ expectations for an $87bn deficit. Exports increased 4%, while imports rose 1.9%, including a record 40.1% year-over-year jump in capital goods imports as companies continued investing in AI-related equipment and building inventories against supply-chain risks. Retail inventories rose 0.7%, wholesale stockpiles increased 0.5%, and US energy exports hit a record of more than 6.4m barrels a day amid disruptions to Middle East oil trade.

 

Bloomberg

Reuters

Business activity in the Chicago region surged in May, with the Chicago Business Barometer climbing to 62.7 from 49.2 in April, marking its strongest reading since January 2022 and far exceeding economists’ expectations of 50.8. The sharp improvement signaled a return to expansion and was driven by significant gains in new orders, production, order backlogs, and supplier deliveries. New orders rose to their highest level since January 2022, while production reached its strongest level since July 2021 and remained in expansion territory for a fifth consecutive month. Employment declined modestly, partially offsetting the broader gains. Meanwhile, the prices paid index increased to its highest level since May 2022, with businesses citing higher oil prices and transportation fuel surcharges as key cost pressures.

 

RTT News

Wall Street Journal

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) has proposed new taxes on artificial intelligence companies and data centers, arguing that the economic gains from AI should “benefit all Americans” rather than a small group of wealthy technology executives and investors. In an op-ed published in Time magazine, she calls for a redesign of the U.S. tax system to address AI-driven wealth creation, rising energy demands, and job displacement. Warren proposes an excise tax tied to the electricity consumption of AI data centers, saying the revenue could help offset rising utility costs for households. She argues that current tax policies favor automation over hiring workers by effectively giving companies tax advantages for investing in equipment and AI systems instead of human labor. Warren also suggests broader future taxes on AI companies, although she did not provide additional details.

 

The Hill

Billionaire Tilman Fertitta has agreed to acquire Caesars Entertainment in a $5.7bn deal, while also assuming more than $11bn of debt, marking a major bet on the long-term prospects of Las Vegas and the casino industry. The transaction combines Caesars’ portfolio of more than 50 resorts with Fertitta’s Golden Nugget casinos, restaurants, and hospitality businesses. The deal comes as Las Vegas faces slowing visitor numbers, rising costs that have deterred some travelers, and growing competition from online gambling platforms such as DraftKings, FanDuel, and emerging prediction markets. Fertitta’s team said its private ownership structure and long-term investment approach could help revive Caesars, whose shares have fallen 70% over the past five years. Caesars’ current management is expected to remain in place, while the company enters a go-shop period to consider any competing bids

 

USA Today

Wall Street Journal

Yum Brands is in exclusive discussions to sell Pizza Hut to private equity firm LongRange Capital, according to Reuters. The talks come as Pizza Hut continues to underperform compared with Yum's other brands, with U.S. comparable sales declining for 10 consecutive quarters. The wider restaurant sector is facing weaker consumer demand, higher costs and changing eating habits. While no agreement has been reached, a deal could be completed within weeks. Pizza Hut accounted for around 12% of Yum's revenue in 2025.

 

Reuters

Wix, the Israeli firm which helps small businesses build and operate websites, will lay off 20% of its workforce due to financial challenges stemming from the shekel's strength against the dollar. Chief executive Avishai Abrahami said the company's costs are in shekels while revenues are in dollars, creating unsustainable operational pressures. Additionally, the rise of artificial intelligence has rendered some positions redundant. Abrahami noted that new roles, such as "Xengineer and Creators," will be introduced, and these have been "designed from the ground up around AI-native ways of working." Abrahami explained: "We are moving to a structure with fewer levels between any member of our leadership and the most junior person on the team. Fewer layers means faster decisions, clearer ownership, and less distance between the people setting direction and the people building the product - but it also means a smaller number of people." 

 

The Jerusalem Post

Kimberly-Clark, J.C. Penney-parent Catalyst Brands, and Target India are among the global firms that are using AI at their Indian hubs to bring more creative work in-house as the technology's ability to expedite and scale campaign creation enables them to rein in marketing costs. Two years ago, content creation took 24 days but now it "only takes two hours" due to AI, Kimberly-Clark ​India head Deena Dayalan told a Reuters summit in Bengaluru. Some analysts nevertheless have faith in the existing marketing model. "If mediocre is all you need, ​then absolutely you can do it yourself," observed Brian Wieser, CEO of advisory firm Madison and Wall.

 

Reuters

Temu has been fined €200m by the European Commission for failing to adequately address the risk of illegal products being sold on its platform, making it only the second company to be penalised under the E.U.’s Digital Services Act (DSA). Brussels said the Chinese ecommerce marketplace had not done enough to mitigate the “systemic risks” posed by illegal goods, despite DSA requirements for large online platforms to assess and manage such risks. Temu is also facing a separate E.U. investigation into whether illegal products, including items that may not meet E.U. safety standards, have been sold on its marketplace. The company has until the end of August to submit an action plan detailing how it will improve its risk assessment and compliance processes. Under the DSA, fines can reach up to 6% of annual global revenue for non-compliance.

 

Financial Times

Reuters

Andrew Yates, chief executive of KPMG Australia, has resigned after the accounting firm said investigations into a whistleblower’s claims had fallen short of its standards. It was alleged that KPMG improperly used confidential information from its client Lendlease to win audit work with Westpac and Dexus, and that it had repeatedly failed to act on the whistleblower’s complaint. “The initial internal investigation, that did not substantiate the allegations raised by the whistleblower, was in hindsight not conducted with the necessary rigour required,” the firm said in a statement, adding that an external investigation into the whistleblower’s complaints by law firm Allens would continue “with new evidence and an expanded scope.” KPMG said it was “continuing to challenge the conclusions reached in prior investigations.”

 

Australian Financial Review

Financial Times

The Guardian