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Army Gen. Mark Milley, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, says he was wrong to have accompanied President Trump on his controversial walk to St. John’s Church last week, ahead of which Lafayette Square was forcefully cleared of peaceful protesters. Milley’s apology was especially poignant for having come during a graduation address to the National Defense University, with senior military and government leaders present. Good for Gen. Milley for modeling true leadership. Real leaders aren’t perfect, but they admit their errors, apologize unequivocally, and course correct. —Mindy Finn
Top Ten

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1. Milley regrets walk of shame ([link removed])

Army Gen. Mark Milley, the nation's top military officer, said today he was wrong to accompany President Trump on a walk through Lafayette Square that ended in a photo op at a church last week. He said his presence in uniform amid protests over racial injustice "created a perception of the military involved in domestic politics." In remarks to a National Defense University commencement ceremony, he said, "As a commissioned uniformed officer, it was a mistake that I have learned from, and I sincerely hope we all can learn from it." Unfortunately, not everyone is on board with learning during this time of social growth... —Associated Press ([link removed])
* — POTUS won't budge. In a series of tweets yesterday, Trump said his administration will "not even consider" the renaming of Army bases honoring Confederate soldiers, who took up arms against the U.S. during the Civil War. Army Sec. Ryan McCarthy had said on Monday that he is open to the idea. Meanwhile, the rest of the country is taking action of its own... —Defense One ([link removed])
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* — Jefferson Davis falls again. In Richmond, Va., yesterday, protesters pulled down a century-old statue of the Confederate president, which had been installed by a Confederate heritage group in 1907 during the Jim Crow era. The protesters tied ropes around its legs and toppled it from its stone pedestal as a crowd cheered and the statue was towed away. —AP ([link removed])
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* — NASCAR bans the rebel flag. The auto racing association yesterday banned the display of the Confederate flag at all of its events and properties, and removed its rule mandating that racing team members stand for the national anthem. Bubba Wallace, the only full-time black driver on the NASCAR circuit, said, "No one should feel uncomfortable when they come to a NASCAR race. So it starts with Confederate flags. Get them out of here. They have no place for them." —CNBC ([link removed])
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* — Amazon cuts off cops. Amazon is implementing a one-year moratorium on police use of its artificial intelligence software Rekognition. Amazon has been criticized recently for hypocrisy, as the company made a statement supporting the Black Lives Matter movement but sells its facial recognition software to police forces. —The Guardian ([link removed])

More: Louisville police release the Breonna Taylor incident report. It's nearly blank (USA Today) ([link removed])

2. Postrel: Lockdowns end, but pandemic hasn't "Letting businesses and their patrons decide for themselves what risks to take may be justified, even necessary. But it doesn't make the risks disappear. We are about to see what happens when hundreds of millions of people suddenly exit quarantine. The good news is that hospitals are more prepared now, and clinicians have learned more about effective treatment. But the virus still makes people sick, some grievously so. And it still kills. Nature doesn't care about public opinion." —USA Today ([link removed])

More: Quarantine fatigue: Governors reject new lockdowns as virus cases spike (Politico) ([link removed])

3. Trump Admin goes after asylum again The Trump Administration is proposing new asylum rules that would make it harder for asylum-seekers to win humanitarian protection in the U.S. The proposed rules also would make it easier to deport asylum-seekers from the U.S. border, as they would not be entitled to a full court proceeding to address their claims. ([link removed])
* — Current rules allow those who claim asylum to work and live in the U.S. until their case is heard in court. With a limited number of judges and a growing number of asylum-seekers, it can take years before a case makes it to court. There is currently a backlog of more than one million cases in U.S. immigration courts. ([link removed])
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* — The new rules would give lower-level asylum officers the power to deem asylum applications "frivolous" and permanently bar applicants from winning protections within the U.S. Such powers are currently only granted to immigration judges or the Justice Department's Board of Immigration Appeals. ([link removed])
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* — DOJ and Homeland Security officials say the new rules "would eliminate removal delays…that serve no purpose, and eliminate the waste of adjudicatory resources currently expended in vain." Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, policy counsel at the American Immigration Council, disagrees, saying that the "new rules are a 'heads I win, tails you lose' system for asylum. If you're not outright banned, you're going to be denied anyway." —The Wall Street Journal ([link removed])

4. NYT Ed Board: Don't back down, Grassley ([link removed])

"[Sen. Chuck] Grassley has taken a small but concrete step in reasserting Congress' oversight authority. His effort should be encouraged and supported by his colleagues. Of the president's firing decisions, Grassley warned, in an official statement for the Senate record: 'Without sufficient explanation, the American people will be left speculating whether political or self-interests are to blame.' Lawmakers unwilling to stand up to Trump and his escalating attacks on accountability should be increasingly concerned that the American people are wondering the same about them." —The New York Times ([link removed])

5. Republican National Convention contention For once, Republicans didn't give Donald Trump his way. At least not completely. Defying the president, the Republican National Committee voted to keep its convention in Charlotte, N.C. The committee also voted to limit the number of delegates that will be present at the convention from 2,550 to 336. ([link removed])
* — While the committee intends on holding all official convention business in Charlotte, members recognized that Trump may wish to hold his acceptance of the nomination at a different location. Jacksonville, Fla., currently leads the pack as a possible site. ([link removed])
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* — "The RNC's Executive Committee has unanimously approved procedures that allow for official convention business to continue in Charlotte. Many cities are eager to host the president's acceptance of the nomination, and talks are continuing with several of them to host that celebration. A final decision will be made soon," an RNC spokesperson said. ([link removed])
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— The coronavirus pandemic caused North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper to be concerned about hosting a large gathering in the state. Cooper rejected the RNC's plan for a full convention and requested a scaled-down version of the event. —Newsweek ([link removed])

More: GOP votes for stripped-down convention in Charlotte and moving Trump acceptance speech (The Charlotte Observer) ([link removed])
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6. Anderson & Wittes: We sued for war powers report ([link removed])

"For more than three months, President Trump has been sitting on an important report outlining his views about when and where he has the legal authority to use military force. He was obligated to provide it to Congress on March 1. He didn't. He was supposed to provide the unclassified portion to the public. He hasn't done that either. And while members of Congress have repeatedly complained, the White House hasn't even tried to justify the Trump Administration's refusal to file the document, let alone explain how it is consistent with the law." —Lawfare ([link removed])

Ed. Note: Scott Anderson is a fellow in Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution and a Senior Fellow in the National Security Law Program at Columbia Law School. He previously served as an attorney-adviser at the State Department. Benjamin Wittes is a Senior Fellow in Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution.

More: Trump taps retired general and Fox News regular as Pentagon policy chief (Politico) ([link removed])

7. North Korea threatens US election On Tuesday, the State Department said it was "disappointed" in North Korea for suspending communication with South Korea, to which North Korea said the U.S. has no standing to comment on inter-Korean affairs. Staying out of it "would be good not only for the U.S. interests but also for the easy holding of [the] upcoming presidential election," warned Kwon Jong Gun, director-general for U.S. affairs at North Korea's Foreign Ministry. Say what? ([link removed])
* — Kwon said the U.S. should "hold its tongue" and address its own domestic problems unless it wants to "experience a hair-raiser" that could potentially affect the presidential election. ([link removed])
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* — It is unclear what North Korea would do to disrupt the election, and the country is well-known for its empty threats. ([link removed])
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* — However, Pyongyang's frustration with Washington's critiques and its refusal to ease sanctions means the U.S. should remain vigilant, particularly since the North has not dismantled its nuclear weapons program. —Reuters ([link removed])

8. Maine taking notes from Georgia voting debacle Voting advocates in Maine want the state to take additional precautions to protect voter access in the upcoming July 14 primary in order to avoid the issues that have plagued multiple states, including Georgia. A local coalition of pro-democracy groups is asking the state to provide online options to assist voter registration, to mail absentee voting materials to every eligible voter, to notify voters if their ballot has been rejected, and to allow them to remedy the mistake, if needed. —Maine Beacon ([link removed])
* — California. Yesterday, a San Diego City Council committee considered a ranked-choice voting measure that would allow voters to rank their top four choices for a public office to produce a "higher quality" election outcome. If approved by the council, the plan would be presented to voters this November in the form of a ballot measure. —Times of San Diego ([link removed])
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* — Pennsylvania. In a drive-by protest on Tuesday, the nonpartisan group Fair Districts PA sought to make sure state legislative officials don't forget about proposed changes to Pennsylvania redistricting laws, which have sat idle for months awaiting a vote. Pennsylvania is ranked one of the most gerrymandered states. The proposed legislation would put an end to the practice in the state. —Centre Daily Times ([link removed])

More: AJC Ed Board: Georgia deserves much better on elections (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution) ([link removed])

9. Green: Let's cultivate democracy at home ([link removed])

"We should meet the challenges of our times here at home, as we have encouraged those around the world to do. Demand our rights, take action, hold leaders accountable, speak up and speak out, and vote. These are some of the critical values that form the foundation of all democracies and are often missing from those that merely claim to support it. The freedoms democracy enables separate free people from those living under oppressive regimes that do not cherish the values of democracy and seek to squash protest, silence opposing views, hide failure, and cherish control over freedom. Democracy continues to be the best hope for mankind. Imperfect though it may be, it's our quest for its perfection, shining a light on the unjust and ugly, when it is often at its best. It is only through this process that we create a more perfect union with a government of the people, by the people, for the people. Around the world, people continue to believe in this promise. We should not lose sight of it here
at home as we struggle to meet the challenges of today." —The Hill ([link removed])

Ed. Note: Former Ambassador Mark Green serves as executive director of the McCain Institute for International Leadership. A former four-term congressman, he previously served as administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, president of the International Republican Institute, and U.S. ambassador to Tanzania.

More: Levinson: America's unrest in international context: Taking democracy for granted no more (The Hill) ([link removed])

10. An American Story: Reunited and it feels so good It had been nearly three months since Marcie Abramson could visit her 89-year-old mother, Cynthia, at the Hebrew Rehabilitation Center in Boston due to the coronavirus pandemic. The pandemic limited all visits to nursing homes since mid-March in order to protect those most vulnerable to the virus, but yesterday, in-person visits resumed with plenty of tears and laughter. ([link removed])
* — "Oh, Ma! I love you so much! I really, really missed you," Marcie gushed, choking back tears. "The day finally came. The day is here. I get to visit you." ([link removed])
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* — Nationally, more than 35,500 people have died from coronavirus outbreaks at nursing homes and long-term care facilities, about a third of the national toll. ([link removed])
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* — Under strict Massachusetts guidelines, visits must be scheduled ahead and take place in outdoor areas; visitors must have their temperature taken and be screened for symptoms; and of course, everyone must wear a mask. For Marcie, Cynthia, and thousands of other families, it's well worth it. —Associated Press ([link removed])

Ed. Note: We are spotlighting ways that Americans are helping each other through the coronavirus crisis and recent unrest. Would you like to suggest an "American Story" from your local news? If so, please forward a link to the story to [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) . Thank you!
What's Your Take?

Thanks for featuring Philonise Floyd at the top of the newsletter on Wednesday. Just about 16 days after his brother George was killed by police, Philonise appeared before the House Judiciary Committee to testify about policing practices and racial profiling. Just the day before, he was attending his brother's funeral services. I admire Philonise's courage and the entire Floyd family's strength and drive to make a difference during this time. George's murder, one of many that have been committed by police against unarmed black people, calls for law enforcement accountability and reform. This being said, I hope the Floyd family is taking time to grieve their loss and are remaining safe during this difficult time. —Lauren A., New Jersey

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