The Daily Brief — July 14, 2026
ICE changes course, Trump shrinks Utah monuments, daylight or standard time?
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ICE to Pause Traffic-Stop Arrests
ICE has told its officers to stop attempting arrests during most traffic stops, according to multiple media reports, after its agents fatally shot two immigrants in the span of a week. The Trump administration has not confirmed the directive.
The man killed Monday morning in Biddeford, ME, has been identified as 26-year-old Joan Sebastián Guerrero, a Colombian national with authorization to work in the US, according to immigrant-rights groups. He lived with his partner and three-year-old daughter and was driving to his job when he was stopped.
The DHS initially said he “weaponized” his vehicle against agents but then changed its account, saying the agents were watching a home tied to someone they believed was living in the US illegally with a final deportation order. When a vehicle left the home, agents tried to stop it. DHS said the vehicle attempted to flee and that the officer, “fearing for public safety,” opened fire and killed Guerrero. DHS hasn’t explained why the officer believed the vehicle posed a threat.
Maine Gov. Janet Mills and the state’s two senators, King and Susan Collins, a Republican, have demanded a full and impartial investigation.
Utah Monuments Reduced in Size
President Trump signed proclamations shrinking two Utah national monuments by roughly 90% each, saying the move was intended to restore local control over the land.
Grand Staircase-Escalante was designated by President Clinton in 1996; Bears Ears was designated by President Obama in 2016.
The proclamations say the smaller boundaries will “better align” with US economic and national security interests, citing deposits of uranium and other ores in the area. Both Obama and Biden designated the monuments under the Antiquities Act, a 1906 law that lets presidents protect federal land containing historic or scientific sites. The same law gives presidents authority to redraw those boundaries later.
Native American tribes and conservation groups condemned the cuts. The Wilderness Society, a nonprofit promoting conservation, said it would challenge the reduction in court, and tribal leaders said they weren’t consulted before the decision.
Paramount–WBD Merger
A coalition of 12 states sued to block Paramount Skydance’s $110 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery.
In the lawsuit, filed in federal court in California yesterday, the states argued the merger would “extinguish competition” in Hollywood. They say this would lead to higher prices, fewer movies and TV shows, and lower-quality content.
Paramount criticized the lawsuit, saying it will protect the interests of big streaming companies like Netflix instead of promoting competition. The merger, Paramount said, actually creates a “stronger competitor against dominant streaming and technology platforms.” (Antitrust law is generally meant to ensure that competition is possible.)
Paramount Skydance is controlled by the Ellison family, including billionaire Larry Ellison, a longtime Trump ally. The Justice Department approved the merger last month. If completed, the combined company would own Paramount Pictures, Paramount+, CBS News, Warner Bros. Studios, CNN, and HBO.
International Criminal Court
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has launched a campaign to dismantle the International Criminal Court, arguing the panel threatens US sovereignty by interfering with American military and law enforcement operations.
The ICC, based in The Hague, Netherlands, began operating in 2002. More than 120 countries have joined the treaty establishing it, but not the US. The court was created to prosecute the world’s gravest crimes — including genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes — when national courts are unwilling or unable to do so.
The State Department said it would work to “systematically disable the ICC’s ability to operate, target American servicemen or officials, or otherwise threaten American sovereignty.”
In a Wall Street Journal op-ed, Rubio argued that the ICC had grown from a “narrow” court meant to prosecute the world’s gravest crimes into a “world tribunal with near-unlimited reach” to “override the courts and constitutions of the U.S. and other sovereign states” that never agreed to its authority. Rubio cited a 2020 ICC investigation of alleged war crimes by US troops in Afghanistan as an example when the ICC overstepped.
The State Department also said it would pressure other countries to reject the court’s authority over US personnel and that officials from countries supporting the ICC could face possible visa revocations, travel bans, and sanctions.
The European Union criticized the US move and affirmed its own commitment to international criminal justice.
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News Break
War Notification to Congress
President Trump has formally notified Congress that the United States has resumed military action against Iran. In a letter dated last Friday, he said the new US strikes began on July 7. The notification starts a 60-day clock under the War Powers Resolution, after which the president must seek authorization from Congress for continued military action.
The US and Iran have continued exchanging strikes in recent days, effectively ending the interim peace agreement the two sides signed on June 17. The US military said it would reinstate its naval blockade of Iranian ports this week.
Trump also reversed his plan, announced yesterday, to impose a 20% toll on commercial ships using the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for US protection. Today he said the fee was no longer necessary because Gulf states had agreed to make “trade and investment deals” in the United States.
SCOTUS Budget
Justices Elena Kagan and Amy Coney Barrett testified in front of Congress today to defend the new Supreme Court budget, which is seeking an increase for security spending.
This is the first time sitting justices have testified before lawmakers since 2019.
The Court is asking for an increase of $20 million over this year’s budget. It would be used to hire additional Supreme Court police officers and expand protection at justices’ homes.
Barrett told a House panel that “the threat level is really high,” citing a wave of threats against judges nationwide, including a swatting call at her home in May. She recalled a time when her 12-year-old son saw her bulletproof vest and asked what it was and why she needed it. “I didn’t know how to respond because maybe I lack imagination, but I didn’t expect that performing this service was going to put me in the position of explaining to my children what a bulletproof vest was and why I had to wear one,” Barrett said.
Inflation
Inflation dropped to an annual rate of 3.5% last month, down from 4.2% in May. Prices fell 0.4% for the month — the largest one-month drop since April 2020 — after rising 0.5% in May.
The drop was due to lower energy prices, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The relief may be short-lived, though. Oil prices have begun to rise again as the US and Iran have resumed fighting.
Daylight Saving Time
The House passed a bill that aims to end twice-yearly clock changes and make daylight saving time permanent. The bill, pushed by President Trump, now heads to the Senate, where it faces an unknown future.
The legislation, called the Sunshine Protection Act, would keep the country on daylight saving time year-round while letting states opt to stay on year-round standard time instead. But any states doing that would not be able to switch clocks as they do now.
Supporters of permanent daylight saving time say it would mean more evening light and less energy use.