Supreme Court backs state transgender athlete bans

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court backed state laws banning transgender girls from participating in scholastic girls’ sports in a decision issued Tuesday, upholding a legal argument used by the Trump administration in seeking to ban transgender athletes nationwide.

Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh, in a majority opinion that turned aside challenges to West Virginia and Idaho laws, wrote that states could bar transgender girls from participating in women’s and girls’ sports under the Constitution and Title IX, which governs civil rights in schools.

“The question is whether Title IX permits schools to maintain women’s and girls’ sports for biological females. The answer is yes,” Kavanaugh wrote.

Kavanaugh’s decision pointed to “inherent physical differences” between girls and boys and pointed to potential safety and competitiveness concerns that justified the separation. Kavanaugh wrote those concerns were justified even when a potential athlete had taken puberty blockers or hormones to transition.

—CQ-Roll Call

Maryland will receive more than 2 million eggs. Here’s why

BALTIMORE — Maryland will receive more than 2 million eggs for food banks and community organizations as part of a multistate settlement accusing three major egg producers of illegally coordinating to drive up prices, Attorney General Anthony G. Brown announced Tuesday.

The settlement, reached by Brown and a bipartisan coalition of state attorneys general with the U.S. Department of Justice, also requires Cal-Maine Foods, Versova/Centrum and Hickman’s Egg Ranch to pay a combined $3.3 million and implement measures aimed at preventing future antitrust violations. Maryland will receive more than $120,000 tied to the alleged conduct.

The investigation found the companies coordinated from June 2022 through March 2025 to influence daily egg price quotes published by Urner Barry, a benchmark pricing service used in egg supply contracts, according to officials.

The companies allegedly communicated about bidding strategies and submitted higher bids, which affected the pricing index used by retailers and ultimately consumers.

—The Baltimore Sun

After bold pledge, EPA shelves microplastics testing in US drinking water

LOS ANGELES — For the next five years, the Environmental Protection Agency has indicated it will not require public water utilities to test for microplastics or pharmaceuticals in drinking water, according to a proposed rule published in the Federal Register.

On Friday, the EPA submitted a list of chemicals it plans to test for under the Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule, a mandatory testing program used to collect information about concerning chemicals in drinking water that could be harming human health. It did not include microplastics or pharmaceuticals.

The omissions come after announcements by EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin earlier this year that his agency was designating microplastics and pharmaceuticals priority contaminants for testing.

"This is a direct response to the concern of millions of Americans who have long demanded answers about what they and their families are drinking every day," he said at an April news conference with Health and Human Secretary Robert F. Kennedy at EPA headquarters.

—Los Angeles Times

Lebanon-Israel pact fragile after Hezbollah’s vow of disruption

Israel and Lebanon’s latest peace deal faces an uncertain future after Hezbollah, Iran’s most powerful proxy militant group, this week vowed to derail its implementation.

The framework agreement — signed in Washington — lays out a plan for the gradual withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon, pending “the verified disarmament of non-state armed groups,” referring to Hezbollah. The Lebanese army is meant to move into areas vacated by Israel to assert control.

The U.S.-brokered accord is the first such deal between Israel and Lebanon since 1983, though that pact collapsed due to opposition from various groups in Lebanon, a nation deeply divided along political and religious lines.

U.S. Central Command Admiral Brad Cooper is in Lebanon and has already met with President Joseph Aoun and Lebanese army commander Rodolphe Haykal to discuss the execution of the plan. The deal is closely tied to the U.S.-Iran peace agreement, as Tehran has said Israel must stop attacking Hezbollah before a final deal can be reached.

—Bloomberg News