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Bessent spars with Dem in fiery Trump tax showdown until claim crosses the line: ‘Slanderous’

June 4, 2026 2:55pm EDT / Fox News

The exchange grew combative as Sánchez questioned who in Trump’s family is shielded from IRS audits

By Robert Schmad, Fox News

Rep Linda Sánchez questions Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent over President Trump’s taxes in a House Ways and Means Committee hearing on Thursday.

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Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Rep. Linda Sánchez, D-Calif., traded barbs during a Thursday congressional hearing after she pressed him over a DOJ settlement requiring the IRS to end any existing tax audits of President Donald Trump, with Sánchez ultimately accusing him of overseeing the “most corrupt Treasury Department” in U.S. history.

“I hope that you’re proud of your performance today, Mr. Secretary,” Sánchez told Bessent as he testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on Thursday.

“I hope you get some social media clips,” he shot back.

The tense exchange came as Sánchez cited a settlement reached between the Department of Justice and the Trump family in May that forced the IRS, which is overseen by the Treasury Department, to end any existing tax audits of Trump, his family and their business interests. By the end of the back and forth, both parties had become incensed, with the congresswoman accusing Bessent of running the “most corrupt Treasury Department.”

TRUMP FILES $10B LAWSUIT AGAINST IRS OVER ALLEGED TAX RETURN LEAKS TO MAJOR NEWS OUTLETS

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaks to members of the media outside the White House in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 5, 2025.(Eric Lee/Bloomberg)

“Why are you allowing President Trump and his family to have complete immunity from being audited?” Sánchez asked Bessent as he testified before the House Ways and Means Committee.

“Again, since you are a lawyer, you will understand that the U.S. Treasury and the IRS are represented by the Justice Department and the acting attorney general,” Bessent responded.

The clash highlighted a broader fight over how far executive power should extend when it intersects with federal agencies, personal finances and politically charged investigations. It also provided a familiar dynamic: Democrats warning of special treatment for Trump, and the administration framing the issue as another example of combating institutional overreach against him.

It is unclear whether Trump is currently facing any audits, a detail pressed by Bessent, eliciting indignation from Sánchez.

“Do you have specific knowledge of an audit of President Trump?” he asked Sánchez.

DEMOCRAT CONGRESSWOMAN DRAWS BOOS OVER ‘SHAMEFUL’ SEXISM REMARK IN COMMITTEE HEARING WITH TREASURY SECRETARY

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent testifies during the House Financial Services Committee hearing titled “The Annual Report of the Financial Stability Oversight Council” in the Rayburn Building on Feb. 4, 2026.(Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc)

“Excuse me? It’s my time. You’re not here to ask me questions. I’m here to ask you questions. And hopefully you’re here to try to answer some of them,” she responded. “I’m curious to know who counts as Trump’s family for the purposes of this immunity. Is it his children, his in-laws, his grandchildren, his second or third cousin? His great-great-grandchildren? Do you know the answer to that question, Mr. Secretary?”

“Again, I imagine you have the Justice Department phone number. I suggest you call them,” the secretary responded.

The exchange only heightened from that point.

“Safe to say that this is probably the most corrupt Treasury Department in our nation’s history,” Sánchez said as her time speaking expired.

“And I am going to have to take exception with that,” Bessent hit back, waving away her claim as “slanderous.”

“The congresswoman is slanderous,” Bessent continued. “She has nothing … the unsubstantiated opinions. And I will not stand for that. There is nothing corrupt. We move at the highest levels.”

ACTING AG BLANCHE REVEALS FATE OF TRUMP’S ‘ANTI-WEAPONIZATION FUND’ UNDER PRESSURE FROM HOUSE LAWMAKERS

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent adjusts his glasses during a meeting with President Donald Trump and Argentine President Javier Milei in the Cabinet Room at the White House on Oct. 14, 2025.(Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Critics have questioned whether the DOJ has authority to bind the IRS and accused Trump, who was in 2024 reportedly facing a tax investigation that could have cost him up to $100 million, of pressuring the government for personal gain. Supporters, meanwhile, argue that the immunity is an appropriate response to alleged government weaponization.

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The state of the Trump family’s immunity is currently uncertain, especially after a federal judge blocked the president’s proposed $1.8 billion compensation fund. Bessent has declined to comment on whether the immunity deal is still in place, citing pending litigation.

Fmr Defense Secretary Panetta: the war in Iran ‘is very much turning into Trump’s Vietnam’

2:36 PM EDT, Thu June 4, 2026 / By Margaret Given, CNN

Fmr Defense Secretary Panetta: the war in Iran “is very much turning into Trump’s Vietnam”

https://www.cnn.com/2026/06/04/politics/video/cncpm-panetta-iran-turning-into-trumps-vietnam

Leon Panetta, Former Defense Secretary and CIA Director under Obama, tells CNN’s Brianna Keilar that the war in Iran “is very much turning into Trump’s Vietnam.” He explains his thinking.

3:50 • Source: CNN

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英法据悉敲定战后霍尔木兹海峡扫雷计划 15国承诺支持

2026年6月5日 00:00 / 联合早报

6月3日，从阿曼穆桑达姆港所见的滞留霍尔木兹海峡的船只。 （路透社）

据知情人士透露，英国和法国已敲定计划，准备在美国和伊朗就重开霍尔木兹海峡达成协议后的数日内，牵头在这一水道展开一项多国扫雷任务。

本周稍早，美国与伊朗在波斯湾发生冲突。在各方艰难推动达成一项临时协议、以恢复战前海上交通水平之际，这条全球最关键的贸易通道之一的航运仍几乎陷于停摆。

彭博社引述五名知情人士说，多国军事规划人员就参与清除霍尔木兹海峡水雷的行动进入深入筹备阶段。这些水雷先前由伊朗伊斯兰革命卫队布设。

其中三名知情人士称，这项扫雷任务将涉及由15个国家组成的联盟，这些国家已承诺提供军事人员和装备。他们补充说，这些国家可能会在任务启动数周后加入行动，为商业船只提供安全保障。尽管规划工作基本完成，但有关方面仍在寻求补充一些设备，尤其是支援船只。

知情人士指出，在美国与伊朗达成协议、恢复完整且不受阻碍的商业航行权，并为军事资产在海峡内活动提供可接受环境之前，相关部署不会启动。由于涉及尚未公开的敏感行动事项，这些知情人士要求匿名。

经合组织：若中东战事拖至明年 全球增长恐跌至2.1% 中东冲突升级 科威特巴林再遭伊朗袭击 美军反击伊朗岛屿

知情人士称，这项由英国和法国牵头的任务将就行动事务与德黑兰开通沟通渠道。知情人士补充说，尽管伊朗已表示希望自行清除霍尔木兹海峡的水雷，但英国和法国认为伊朗不具备完成这项任务的能力，因此更倾向于自行主导扫雷行动。

英法据悉敲定战后霍尔木兹海峡扫雷计划 15国承诺支持

2026年6月5日 00:00 / 联合早报

6月3日，从阿曼穆桑达姆港所见的滞留霍尔木兹海峡的船只。 （路透社）

据知情人士透露，英国和法国已敲定计划，准备在美国和伊朗就重开霍尔木兹海峡达成协议后的数日内，牵头在这一水道展开一项多国扫雷任务。

本周稍早，美国与伊朗在波斯湾发生冲突。在各方艰难推动达成一项临时协议、以恢复战前海上交通水平之际，这条全球最关键的贸易通道之一的航运仍几乎陷于停摆。

彭博社引述五名知情人士说，多国军事规划人员就参与清除霍尔木兹海峡水雷的行动进入深入筹备阶段。这些水雷先前由伊朗伊斯兰革命卫队布设。

其中三名知情人士称，这项扫雷任务将涉及由15个国家组成的联盟，这些国家已承诺提供军事人员和装备。他们补充说，这些国家可能会在任务启动数周后加入行动，为商业船只提供安全保障。尽管规划工作基本完成，但有关方面仍在寻求补充一些设备，尤其是支援船只。

知情人士指出，在美国与伊朗达成协议、恢复完整且不受阻碍的商业航行权，并为军事资产在海峡内活动提供可接受环境之前，相关部署不会启动。由于涉及尚未公开的敏感行动事项，这些知情人士要求匿名。

知情人士称，这项由英国和法国牵头的任务将就行动事务与德黑兰开通沟通渠道。知情人士补充说，尽管伊朗已表示希望自行清除霍尔木兹海峡的水雷，但英国和法国认为伊朗不具备完成这项任务的能力，因此更倾向于自行主导扫雷行动。

Trump’s name must come off the Kennedy Center by June 12

2026-06-04T14:02:00-0400 / CBS News

By
Ed O’Keefe Senior White House and Political Correspondent
Ed O’Keefe is CBS News’ senior White House and political correspondent reporting for all CBS News platforms. He’s part of the team covering President Trump and covered all four years of Joe Biden’s presidency. From the White House to the campaign trail, O’Keefe’s reports stretch from the politics of the moment to how policy enacted in Washington affects the nation and the world.

Read Full Bio

Updated on: June 4, 2026 / 2:52 PM EDT / CBS News

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Lawyers for what is currently called the Trump Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts are instructing staff to immediately begin switching the name of the facility back to its original title.

The instructions, laid out in a memo sent Thursday by the center’s general counsel and obtained by CBS News, are the first official signal the national arts hub is complying with a federal court order to drop President Trump’s name and reconsider plans to close for two years of renovations.

U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper last week ruled in favor of Democratic Rep. Joyce Beatty of Ohio, a member of the Kennedy Center’s Board of Trustees, who filed a lawsuit challenging the institution’s name change and plans to close for two years for extensive repairs beginning this summer.

Cooper found the board had overstepped its authority and ordered the president’s name to be removed from “the institution’s title, as represented on the façade of the Center, any other physical or digital signage, and official materials.”

The memo to staff Thursday said staff “must immediately change email signatures, letterhead, and other documents to reflect the name as ‘The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts,’ or ‘Kennedy Center.”‘

Changes to interior and exterior signage and any furniture carrying the current name must be switched back by next Friday, according to the memo.

The Kennedy Center didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

The memo also says center officials still are “considering their options and will provide further guidance shortly” on whether the center will remain open after July 5, when extensive renovations costing $257 million are set to begin.

In his order, Cooper agreed renovations to the arts center are “sorely needed,” but he wrote his preliminary injunction does not “categorically” bar the board from closing the Kennedy Center, “should it come to this decision anew after independently balancing its multiple obligations to the Center in a prudent fashion.”

“By way of this opinion, the Court does not purport to dictate how the Center should be run, nor does it prescribe any particular plan for the institution — construction, closure, or otherwise — moving forward,” he wrote. “It simply holds the Kennedy Center Board to certain minimum requirements imposed by law. Beyond that, the Court will let the parties play on.”

In the early weeks of his second term, Mr. Trump replaced several members of the center’s Board of Trustees with senior members of his administration and close allies, who then elected him as chair.

In December, the Kennedy Center’s board voted to change the performing arts institution’s name to The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts. Within hours, the Kennedy Center’s website was updated to read “The Trump Kennedy Center” and crews went to work adding Mr. Trump’s name to the building’s facade. But lawmakers and legal scholars said such a change required congressional action.

Several artists who were set to perform at the institution canceled performances and the executive director of the National Symphony Orchestra, which performs at the Kennedy Center, left for a new job.

US Supreme Court backs SEC in fight over ‘disgorgement’ power

2026-06-04T14:12:49.048Z / https://www.reuters.com/world/us-supreme-court-backs-sec-fight-over-disgorgement-power-2026-06-04/

The seal of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is seen at their headquarters in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 12, 2021. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

• Summary

• Case tested key Securities and Exchange Commission power
• SEC can seek surrender of profits from illegal activities
• Trump administration defended the SEC in the case

WASHINGTON, June 4 (Reuters) – The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday rejected a challenge to the Securities ​and Exchange Commission’s broad authority to recover illegal profits using a financial remedy called disgorgement, buttressing one of ‌the Wall Street watchdog agency’s key powers.

The justices, in a 9-0 ruling, upheld a lower court’s decision that had endorsed a wide use of the SEC’s disgorgement authority. President Donald Trump’s administration had defended the SEC in the case.

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The challenge to the SEC’s disgorgement power was brought by a defendant named Ongkaruck ​Sripetch. At the agency’s request, a court in California ordered Sripetch to repay more than $3 million in ill-gotten gains and ​interest related to a financial fraud case.

The SEC’s general power to pursue disgorgement was not in dispute ⁠in the case. Courts have long recognized this authority and Congress enshrined it in federal law. At issue was whether the agency ​must show that victims suffered economic harm before it can seek the surrender of illegal profits.

Justice Department lawyers during arguments before the justices ​in April said the SEC was not required to show that fraud inflicted financial, or “pecuniary,” harm before pursuing repayment through the courts.

Conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch, writing for the unanimous court, concluded that “a showing of pecuniary loss is not required before an investor may qualify as a victim of an offender’s wrongdoing ​entitled to compensation.”

Under Trump, the SEC used the remedy to obtain around $1.4 billion in fiscal 2025, according to an agency tally that ​excluded certain sums. The prior year under Democratic President Joe Biden, the SEC obtained $6.1 billion through disgorgement, almost three-fourths of its total financial penalties.

The SEC ‌in ⁠2020 sought disgorgement for illicit proceeds that it said Sripetch reaped through fraudulent means, including a so-called pump-and-dump scheme that involved artificially inflating the price of penny stocks before selling off his shares at a profit.

Sripetch admitted violating securities law, and in a related criminal case was sentenced to 21 months in prison. Sripetch challenged the lower court’s disgorgement order on the grounds that the SEC failed to ​prove his actions caused stock ​prices to drop or otherwise ⁠financially harmed investors.

A California-based federal judge sided with the SEC’s broader interpretation of its disgorgement power in a ruling that was upheld last year by the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The ​SEC’s $1.4 billion disgorgement figure for fiscal 2025 excludes certain repayments secured by other federal agencies and ​an $8 billion payment ⁠made in January 2025, during the second week of Trump’s return to the White House, stemming from long-running SEC litigation concerning a Ponzi scheme. Beyond disgorgement, the SEC can also pursue fines, sanctions and other punishment.

The Supreme Court in a 2024 ruling also involving the SEC rejected ⁠the agency’s in-house ​enforcement of laws protecting investors against securities fraud. The court ruled that agency ​proceedings seeking penalties for fraud that are handled by the SEC itself instead of in federal court violate the U.S. Constitution’s Seventh Amendment right to a jury trial.

Reporting by John Kruzel; additional reporting by Andrew Chung; Editing by Will Dunham

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US Supreme Court backs generic drugmaker in ‘skinny label’ patent case

2026-06-04T14:07:34.914Z / Reuters

A general view of the U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 28, 2026. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/File Photo

WASHINGTON, June 4 (Reuters) – Drugmaker Hikma’s
generic version of Amarin Pharma’s
cardiovascular medication Vascepa did not infringe ​Amarin’s patents, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Thursday in a decision that may make generic drugmakers less vulnerable to patent ‌lawsuits involving so-called “skinny labels.”

The 9-0 ruling, authored by liberal Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, overturned a lower court’s decision in favor of Amarin. Generic drugmakers had argued that a ruling in favor of Amarin in the case would have discouraged them from making and selling their lower-cost drugs and increased U.S. drug prices.

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President Donald Trump’s administration supported Hikma’s ​Supreme Court appeal.

Sam Park, Hikma’s general counsel, said the company is grateful that the Supreme Court “unanimously upheld Hikma’s right to continue ​providing millions of American patients with safe, affordable, high-quality generic medicines.”

Amarin did not immediately respond to a request for ⁠comment.

Pharmaceuticals can be protected by patents covering both the drug’s active ingredient and specific methods of using it.

“Skinny labels,” meant to encourage generic ​competition, are intended to allow generic drugmakers to avoid patent lawsuits if the label of their generic omits infringing uses of the brand-name drug it ​replicates.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved London-based Hikma’s generic Vascepa solely to treat severe hypertriglyceridemia, and required it to include a skinny label that omitted the drug’s use to treat non-severe hypertriglyceridemia, which was still covered by Amarin patents.

The FDA approved Vascepa, derived from fish oil, in 2012 to treat severe hypertriglyceridemia, a condition involving ​an excess of fats in the blood, and reduce the risk of heart issues, and in 2019 approved it for less-severe hypertriglyceridemia.

It is currently ​Irish-American biopharmaceutical company Amarin’s only product. Amarin earned $213.6 million in revenue from Vascepa sales in 2025, according to a company filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange ‌Commission.

Amarin ⁠sued Hikma in Delaware federal court in 2020. Amarin argued that Hikma’s label, combined with statements in press releases and on its website, encouraged doctors to prescribe it for the less-severe condition.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit overturned the Delaware court’s decision to dismiss the case. The Federal Circuit said Hikma publicly referred to its drug as “generic Vascepa” without clarifying that it was approved only for one specific use, which could ​have encouraged doctors to prescribe it ​for infringing uses.

In the court’s ruling ⁠reversing the Federal Circuit’s decision, Jackson wrote that Amarin failed to show “more than a sheer possibility” that Hikma’s statements induced infringement of its patents.

“The central question is whether Amarin plausibly alleged that Hikma actively encouraged infringing ​uses, not merely whether doctors could plausibly read the alleged statements as instructions to infringe,” Jackson said.

Jackson also ​said that it ⁠was normal industry practice for generic drugmakers to describe their products as equivalent to brand-name competitors.

“We decline to put generic manufacturers between a rock and a hard place by turning adherence to the law and industry standards into building blocks for illegal conduct,” Jackson said.

Hikma told the Supreme Court in a brief ⁠that generic ​drugs have saved patients and insurance payers an estimated $2.9 trillion in the past decade. ​The company and the Trump administration both argued that allowing lawsuits like Amarin’s could disincentivize generic drugmakers and lead to increased drug prices.

Amarin told the justices that Hikma’s alleged infringement ​was atypical, noting that it had not sued seven other companies that also make generic Vascepa.

Reporting by Blake Brittain in Washington; Editing by Will Dunham

Blake Brittain reports on intellectual property law, including patents, trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets, for Reuters Legal. He has previously written for Bloomberg Law and Thomson Reuters Practical Law and practiced as an attorney.

Trump cuts off funds to Hawaii Medicaid fraud unit over lack of cases

2026-06-04 13:04:22 UTC / Reuters

By Jody Godoy

June 4, 2026 1:04 PM UTC Updated 3 hours ago

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at the Oval Office of the White House, in Washington, D.C., June 3, 2026. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

June 4 (Reuters) – Hawaii’s attorney general stands to lose around $3 million in federal funding to fight Medicaid fraud after failing to consistently bring criminal cases, the Trump administration ​said on Thursday, in an escalation of Vice President JD Vance’s ‌campaign against healthcare fraud.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Inspector General March Bell sent a letter to Hawaii Attorney General Anne Lopez informing her that her state’s Medicaid Fraud ​Control Unit, a body that investigates and prosecutes fraud by healthcare providers, has ​been denied federal certification. HHS will no longer fund the unit, ⁠which has been receiving around $3 million annually, Bell wrote.

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Without a federally certified Medicaid fraud ​unit, the state’s broader Medicaid funding could be in jeopardy.

Hawaii’s unit obtained no ​criminal indictments or convictions for Medicaid fraud or patient abuse and neglect between 2022 and 2025, despite increased enrollment in the program, Bell wrote. The state can ask for reconsideration, according ​to the letter.

The move is part of a broader Trump administration push ​on Medicaid fraud enforcement. Vance accused Hawaii last month of giving fraudsters “free rein,” and warned of ‌consequences ⁠for states failing to effectively police the program. “If we continue to find problems, we can turn off other resources within their state Medicaid programs as well. Our goal here is not to do that,” he said at the time.

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More than ​360,000 Hawaii residents ​are enrolled in ⁠Medicaid, the health program for low-income Americans. Hawaii received $2.2 billion in federal Medicaid funds in 2024, according to the agency ​that advises Congress on healthcare spending. Nationwide, Medicaid fraud units ​were responsible ⁠for more than 4,800 criminal convictions of people and businesses between 2022 and 2025, according to the same agency.

Attorney General Lopez has pushed back against the Trump ⁠administration’s characterization. She ​has previously said the state has not ignored ​Medicaid fraud, pointing to $14 million recovered in civil cases since 2021. The state also charged two people ​with criminal healthcare fraud earlier this year.

blob:https://www.reuters.com/5be65b37-1d6f-460a-8768-53d155d6da6d

Reporting by Jody Godoy; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani

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涉用巴士走私漏税香烟 马来西亚籍司机被捕

2026年6月4日 23:13 / 联合早报

涉将超过940条漏税香烟藏在巴士底盘企图走私进入我国，驾驶巴士的43岁马来西亚籍男司机当场被捕。

移民与关卡局在脸书发文说，驻守在兀兰关卡的移民局人员于5月26日发现一辆入境的马来西亚注册车牌巴士扫描图有异，于是指示巴士接受进一步检查。当局撬开巴士底盘后，发现里头藏有超过940条漏税香烟。 （移民与关卡局脸书视频截图）

移民与关卡局星期四（6月4日）在脸书发文说，驻守在兀兰关卡的移民局人员于5月26日发现一辆入境的马来西亚注册车牌巴士扫描图有异，于是指示巴士接受进一步检查。

经过搜查，当局撬开巴士底盘后，发现里头藏有超过940条漏税香烟。

驾驶巴士的43岁马来西亚籍男子当场被捕，案件过后转交给新加坡关税局进一步调查。

移民局强调，会在确保旅客和货物顺畅通关的同时，继续加强边境执法，维护我国安全。

US Supreme Court backs FCC in clash with wireless carriers over fines

2026-06-04T14:19:14.502Z / https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/us-supreme-court-sides-with-fcc-clash-with-wireless-carriers-over-fines-2026-06-04/

United States Federal Communications Commission logo and U.S. flag are seen in this illustration taken April 23, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

• Summary
• Companies

• FCC fined carriers for sharing customer location data
• At issue was whether agency exceeded its authority
• Chief Justice John Roberts authors 8-1 ruling

WASHINGTON, June 4 (Reuters) – The U.S. Supreme Court backed the Federal Communications Commission’s system for levying fines, ruling on Thursday ​against wireless carriers AT&T

(T.N), opens new tab
and Verizon

(VZ.N), opens new tab
in their challenge to the agency and handing a win to President Donald Trump’s administration.

The ‌ruling was 8-1. At issue in the legal dispute was whether the agency’s in-house proceedings for imposing the penalties deprived the companies of their right to a jury trial under the U.S. Constitution. Trump’s administration defended the FCC’s system for assessing financial penalties, known as forfeiture orders.

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Conservative Chief Justice John Roberts authored with ruling. Conservative Justice ​Clarence Thomas was the court’s lone dissenter.

The court embraced the Trump administration’s argument that the FCC’s in-house system does not stop ​parties from bringing legal challenges to the agency’s assessments.

“Forfeiture orders issued (by the FCC) do not definitively resolve the parties’ ⁠legal obligations,” Roberts wrote.

“And the commission’s factual findings are not conclusive,” Roberts said. “It thus does not offend the Constitution for the commission to ​issue forfeiture orders without the involvement of a jury.”

The legal dispute marked the latest case to test whether a federal agency’s internal enforcement arrangement violates ​the constitutional right to a jury trial after the Supreme Court in 2024 curbed the power of in-house proceedings at the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The FCC fined AT&T $57 million and Verizon nearly $47 million after the agency concluded that the companies had unlawfully sold access to customer location data to third parties without securing the consent of users.

In ​all, the FCC imposed nearly $200 million in fines on carriers that it said failed to safeguard customer data. It fined T-Mobile

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$80 million and Sprint, ​which T-Mobile acquired in 2020, $12 million.

Verizon and AT&T paid the fines they were assessed, but also filed legal challenges that eventually led to a split among regional ‌U.S. ⁠appellate courts over the lawfulness of the FCC’s in-house procedure for imposing the penalties.

In Verizon’s case, the New York-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the fine. The Constitution permits the FCC to provide an initial penalty assessment as long as an accused party can challenge the government’s collection efforts in court, the 2nd Circuit ruled, prompting Verizon’s appeal to the Supreme Court.

In AT&T’s case, the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of ​Appeals ruled that the FCC’s initial ​assessment of wrongdoing and a fine ⁠deprived the company of its constitutional right to a jury trial. That ruling prompted the FCC to appeal to the Supreme Court.

In the government’s defense of the FCC’s in-house system, Justice Department lawyers had argued that ​the agency’s assessments are not binding. If the government were to bring an enforcement action in court, it ​would allow the ⁠companies to make their case before a jury, the lawyers argued.

The companies, for their part, said that the FCC’s system impermissibly uses in-house proceedings for a process that belongs in court, depriving them of their right to a jury trial. The FCC’s initial assessments, they added, inflict reputational harm before the accused ⁠have had ​their day in court.

The Supreme Court in 2025 also issued an important ruling involving the ​FCC, endorsing the way the agency funds its multi-billion-dollar program to expand phone and broadband internet access to low-income and rural Americans and other beneficiaries.

Reporting by John Kruzel; Editing by Will Dunham

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