Trump Nominates Ex-clerk To Kavanaugh, Scalia To Become Appellate Judge

Summary:

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he is nominating a federal prosecutor who testified in 2018 in support of her former boss Brett Kavanaugh being confirmed to a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court to become a life-tenured judge herself.

Trumpin a post on his social media platform Truth Social said he was nominating Assistant U.S. Attorney Rebecca Taibleson in Wisconsin to fill a vacancy on the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The Republican president said she had "learned from some of the BEST and most HIGHLY RESPECTED Legal Minds in the Country," after serving as a law clerk to former conservative U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who died in 2016, and Kavanaugh when he was on an intermediate appeals court.

She is Trump's sixth nominee of his second term to serve on one of the nation's 13 appeals courts that sit below the Supreme Court. Trump has announced 22 judicial nominations overall since returning to office in January as he seeks to add to the 234 judicial appointments he made in his first term.

Taibleson clerked for Kavanaugh from 2010 to 2011 when he was a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for District of Columbia Circuit and testified in 2018 in support of Trump's decision in his first term to pick him for a seat on the Supreme Court.

The Republican-led Senate confirmed Kavanaugh 50-48 after a grueling confirmation battle in which he faced allegations that became public that he sexually assaulted a woman while in high school, which he denied.

Those allegations became public after Taibleson had appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee. In her testimony, she highlighted how a majority of the law clerks Kavanaugh hired had been women and, upon hiring them, "goes to bat for us."

After clerking for Kavanaugh, she then clerked for Scalia and then worked at the law firm Kirkland & Ellis before joining the U.S. Department of Justice.

She served from 2019 to 2022 in the U.S. Office of the Solicitor General and today works in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, according to her LinkedIn profile.

Source: Reuters

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Olivia Brooks

Political

Middle East Situation

European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Thursday that an Israeli settlement plan is not in line with international law, and she called on Israeli authorities not to move ahead with it.

Israel's far-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, has announced that work would start on a long-delayed settlement that would divide the West Bank and cut it off from East Jerusalem.

"The decision of Israeli authorities to advance the E1 settlement plan further undermines the two-state solution while being a breach of international law," Kallas said in a statement. "The EU reiterates its call on Israel to halt settlement construction," she added.

Source: Reuters

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Olivia Brooks

Cryptocurrency

Key Points:

●Bessent's statement halts direct Bitcoin market purchases.

●Market sees BTC fall below $119,000.

●U.S. reserves depend on seized Bitcoin only.

Scott Bessent, U.S. Treasury Secretary, announced that the Trump administration will not purchase additional Bitcoin and will instead rely on confiscated assets to build reserves.

The policy clarification led to a significant drop in Bitcoin's price, influencing market sentiment and raising questions about America's approach to cryptocurrency reserves.

Scott Bessent, U.S. Treasury Secretary, declared the Trump administration will not purchase additional Bitcoin. The policy focuses on building reserves through confiscated assets, leading to an immediate market reaction with BTC prices dropping by over $5,000. Scott Bessent shared insights on market trends here:

Bessent's announcement involved key figures like Senator Cynthia Lummis, who supports budget-neutral methods. The decision marks a significant shift, emphasizing the use of seized Bitcoin to maintain the U.S. reserve.

The statement created turmoil in the Bitcoin market, sharply affecting BTC prices. Investors reacted swiftly after the announcement, causing the market to dip below $119,000, highlighting the direct impact of governmental policies. On the legislative side, Senator Lummis pointed out:

“The United States government cannot solve its $37 trillion debt crisis through direct Bitcoin purchases.”

This approach shifts a longstanding practice of auctioning seized assets, ushering in new policy ramifications.

As the U.S. steers clear of direct purchases, the policy emphasizes economic adjustments through existing assets. This marks an unprecedented move, focusing on a seizure-centric policy for building strategic reserves. Insights from industry experts suggest potential long-term effects on Bitcoin's perceived value and government's crypto handling approach. David Sacks, White House AI and Crypto Czar, discusses impactful tech developments and their implications on the governmental approach to cryptocurrency here:

Technologically, this decision could alter future regulatory frameworks within the crypto space.

Source: CryptoSlate

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Manuel

Stocks

Central Bank

Wall Street's main indexes were mixed on Thursday with S&P 500 edging up to a closing high, while the Dow Jones and Nasdaq were flat, after a hotter-than-expected producer prices report dampened expectations of potential interest-rate cuts.

A Labor Department report showed producer prices increased the most in three years in July due to a surge in the costs of goods and services, suggesting a broad pickup in inflation was imminent.Traders trimmed their Fed rate-cut expectations for the rest of the year to about 56.7 basis points, according to data compiled by LSEG, compared with around 63 bps before the report.

But they are still fully pricing in a quarter-percentage-point cut in September.

"The implication is that the Fed is going to offer a 25-(basis point) cut in September. But it will be a hawkish cut. It's way too early still for the Fed to wish to guide the market towards an extended easing cycle," said Thierry Wizman, global FX and rates strategist at Macquarie Group.

"The next important thing will be the Expenditures Price Index later this month. If there are signals that there's inflation broadly in services, the market will take that adversely."A separate report on Thursday showed the number of Americans filing new applications for jobless benefits fell last week.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) closed 11.01 points, or 0.02%, down to 44,911.26, the S&P 500 (.SPX) gained 1.96 points, or 0.03%, to 6,468.54 - a new closing high - and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) lost 2.47 points, or 0.01%, to 21,710.67.

On Thursday, seven of the 11 S&P 500 sectors declined.

Recent data reflecting labor market weakness and a moderate rise in consumer prices had strengthened expectations that the central bank will potentially lower interest rates next month.

However, Thursday's report fanned concerns that U.S. tariffs on imports could start to impact prices in the coming months and dampen a rally in U.S. stocks that had helped the benchmark S&P 500 (.SPX) and tech-heavy Nasdaq (.IXIC) log record highs over the past two sessions."U.S. stocks are pricy," said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist CFRA Research.

The S&P 500 index is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 23 based on forward estimates, or a near-40% premium to its 20-year average, he said.

The hotter-than-expected PPI report now has investors pulling petals from a daisy saying "They (the Fed) will cut rates, they won’t cut rates," he added.

St. Louis Fed President Alberto Musalem, a voting member on the Federal Open Market Committee this year, said a half-point rate cut at the Fed's September meeting is not warranted, a day after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said it was possible.

Intel Corp (INTC.O) rose 7.4% as Bloomberg News reported the Trump administration is in talks with Intel to have the U.S. government potentially take a stake in the chipmaker, the news organization reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the plan.

Cisco Systems (CSCO.O) declined 1.6% after the network equipment manufacturer's broadly in-line forecast did little to encourage investors.

Deere & Co (DE.N) fell 6.8% after the farm-equipment maker reported a lower quarterly profit and tightened its annual profit forecast, while Tapestry (TPR.N) plunged 15.7% after the Coach handbag maker forecast annual profit below estimates.

Both companies warned of tariffs impacting their businesses.

In geopolitics, focus will be on President Donald Trump's upcoming meeting with Russia's President Vladimir Putin as he seeks to achieve a halt to the Ukraine conflict.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 2.29-to-1 ratio on the NYSE.

On the Nasdaq, declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 2.14-to-1 ratio.

The S&P 500 posted 15 new 52-week highs and one new low while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 78 new highs and 78 new lows.

Volume on U.S. exchanges was relatively light, with 16.3 billion shares traded, compared to an average of 18.3 billion shares over the previous 20 sessions.

Source: Reuters

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Manuel

Cryptocurrency

Political

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirmed the government may still expand its Bitcoin (BTC) holdings on Aug. 14, backtracking remarks made a few hours earlier.

Bessent had told reporters during a television interview in the morning that the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve would remain at its current level.

He said the reserve would consist of approximately $15 billion to $20 billion in Bitcoin that the government already controls, most of which was seized in criminal cases.

Bessent also indicated that there were no active plans to purchase more Bitcoin for the reserve.

However, later in the day, he posted on social media that the Treasury remained “committed to exploring budget-neutral pathways” to add to the reserve, reaffirming the government’s previously known stance toward accumulation.

Bessent did not clarify what a budget-neutral strategy might look like. In fiscal policy, that typically means finding ways to fund purchases without increasing the federal deficit, such as liquidating other assets, reallocating existing appropriations, or creating revenue streams to offset the cost.

The Strategic Bitcoin Reserve was established in March through an executive order signed by President Donald Trump. It is part of a broader White House effort to integrate digital assets into U.S. financial strategy.

Supporters see it as a way to diversify national reserves, provide a hedge against inflation, and strengthen the country’s position in global currency competition. The program currently relies on Bitcoin confiscated by law enforcement as its base supply.

The change in tone came during a volatile trading session. Bitcoin reached a new record high above $124,000 overnight before falling back to about $117,000 later in the day.

The drop followed stronger-than-expected wholesale inflation data, which reduced market expectations that the Federal Reserve could cut interest rates in September.

Bessent’s comments also come amid leadership changes in the administration’s digital asset policy team. Earlier this month, Bo Hines, who led the White House Council of Advisors on Digital Assets and helped design the reserve framework, left his position.

His exit has prompted speculation about potential adjustments to the program’s scope and timing.

Source: Cryptoslate

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Manuel

Central Bank

Economic

One major question will be front and center for Federal Reserve policymakers as they prepare for an annual conference in Jackson, Wyoming next week and a crucial policy meeting in September: Which is a bigger problem for the economy right now, stubborn inflation or slower hiring?

Weak job gains since April have pushed some officials toward supporting a cut in the Fed’s key rate as soon as next month, but speeches and comments by other Fed policymakers show that inflation is still a concern.

That could make the Fed's ultimate move at its September 16-17 meeting a close call. There will be another jobs report and another inflation report before then, and both will likely heavily influence the decision of whether to cut or not. The uncertainty also means that Fed Chair Jerome Powell's speech next Friday in Jackson will be closely watched for any clues about next steps.

If Fed officials worry more that unemployment will start to rise and the economy falter, they are more likely to reduce their rate in order lower borrowing costs and spur borrowing and spending. Yet if their concerns grow that inflation will stay high or worsen as tariffs ripple across global supply chains, they will lean more towards keeping borrowing costs high to cool the economy and lower prices. The rate currently stands at 4.3%.

Wall Street investors are pretty certain — for now — that the central bank will reduce rates in September, with futures prices putting the odds of a cut at 93%, according to CME Fedwatch.

Those odds jumped after the monthly jobs report Aug. 1 showed that hiring was sluggish in July and was much lower than previously estimated in May and June. Average job gains over those three months fell to just 35,000, down from 123,000 a year ago.

And Tuesday's inflation report, which showed only a mild pickup in inflation at the consumer level and limited signs that tariffs were pushing goods prices higher, underscored the view of some officials that they could put inflation concerns aside and focus on shoring up the job market instead.

“With underlying inflation on a sustained trajectory toward 2%, softness in aggregate demand, and signs of fragility in the labor market, I think that we should focus on risks to our employment mandate,” Michelle Bowman, a member of the Fed's governing board, said last week.

Yet Austan Goolsbee, president of the Federal Reserve's Chicago branch, downplayed the weakness in hiring in remarks to reporters Wednesday. The slowdown in job gains could partly reflect the drop in immigration stemming from President Donald Trump's border crackdown, Goolsbee said, rather than a weaker economy. He also pointed to the still-low unemployment rate of 4.2% as evidence that the job market is solid.

This week's inflation report included some warning signs, Goolsbee added: Prices of many services that aren't affected by tariffs, such as dental care and air fares, jumped, a sign that inflation may not be in check.

“That was the most concerning thing in the inflation report, and if that persisted, we would have a hard time getting back to 2%,” Goolsbee said, referring to the central bank's inflation goal. "I am still hopeful that will not be a lasting problem.”

Fed officials also disagree on how tariffs will affect inflation going forward. Many increasingly believe the duties will result in simply a one-time boost to prices that will quickly fade and not lead to ongoing inflation.

“Tariffs will boost inflation in the near term, but likely not in a persistent way” that would require the Fed to keep rates elevated, Mary Daly, president of the Fed's San Francisco branch, said in a recent speech.

Daly also said the labor market has “softened" and suggested the Fed “will likely need to adjust policy in the coming months.”

However, Raphael Bostic, president of the Fed's Atlanta branch, said Wednesday that the tariffs could lead to longer-term inflation if they cause more manufacturers to shift output from lower-cost locations overseas back to the United States, or to other countries with higher wages. Such a change would be more than just a one-time shift.

“You’re going to see fundamental structural changes if this is successful," Bostic said in remarks in Red Bay, Alabama. “It is actually a different economy.”

In that scenario, Bostic said, he would prefer to wait “until we have a little more clarity." And he added that with unemployment low, “we have the luxury to do that.”

Thursday's July wholesale price report, which showed a sharp jump in goods and services prices before they reach the consumer, did make one move less likely: A half-point cut in September, as suggested by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

Alberto Musalem, president of the Fed's St. Louis branch, who votes on Fed policy this year, said that a reduction of that size is “unsupported by the current state of the economy, and the outlook for the economy," in an interview on CNBC.

Tim Duy, an economist at SGH Macro, said Thursday that the Fed may have to raise its inflation forecast at its September meeting when it provides its latest set of quarterly economic projections. The central bank's policymakers currently expect inflation, excluding volatile food and energy, to reach 3.1% by the end of this year, yet inflation is already near that level.

Cutting rates at the September meeting would be hard for the Fed if it is also forecasting higher inflation, Duy said.

Source: AP

To stay updated on all economic events of today, please check out our Economic calendar

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Manuel

Political

The Panama Canal will soon begin consultations with companies about launching a competitive tender in the first quarter of next year offering two new ports for construction and operation within its zone, a source involved in the preparations said on Thursday.

The ports are part of a broad expansion plan being organized by the waterway's administration. It aims to increase services related to cargo handling, including trans shipment, storage and gas transportation, and to secure fresh water for operations.

"There is a large demand for facilities and terminals," said Ricaurte Vasquez, head of the waterway, at a conference on Thursday, without elaborating on details.

The Panama Canal Authority did not immediately reply to a request for comment. Its top executives have previously said the waterway plans to invest some $8.5 billion in the next five years to update and expand its infrastructure.

A key project included in the planning, the construction of a large dam to contain the Indio river and create a new water reservoir, will be discussed at Panama's Supreme Court after affected communities filed a lawsuit against it last month.

Another tender to offer a project to build a liquefied petroleum gas pipeline within the canal zone also is in preparation and could be launched next year, the source added.

U.S. President Donald Trump this year threatened to take over the Panama Canal amid criticism of what his government has called the increasing influence of China over the Central American country.

Meanwhile, Panama's President Jose Mulino has moved to end a 25-year concession to Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison for the operation of two key separate ports outside of the canal zone amid criticism of the contract's terms.

CK Hutchison said on Thursday that a $22.8 billion deal with a group led by BlackRock and shipping firm MSC to sell most of its global port business, including the two ports in Panama, had a "reasonable chance" of going through.