US Goods and Services Deficit Falls to $73.3 Billion in June

President Donald Trump's legal representation at Sullivan and Cromwell has reduced to a single lead partner ahead of scheduled appeals in his New York cases. Five partners who had clerked for Supreme Court justices or held senior government roles have left the firm since April, according to firm insiders. Some moved to competing practices while others accepted appointments in the administration or on the bench. Robert Giuffra Jr., co-chair of the firm, remains the primary attorney handling the docket.

The firm is set to submit a brief this month in the appeal of the civil fraud judgment obtained by New York Attorney General Letitia James. A separate filing is due in October seeking to overturn the Manhattan criminal conviction. Giuffra and one junior associate signed a July petition asking the Supreme Court to review the $83.3 million defamation award to E. Jean Carroll. Sources at Sullivan and Cromwell told Politico that additional partners will be assigned to the matters within the next two weeks.

Separately, Navy planners are examining whether new aircraft carriers should incorporate World War II-era steam catapults and visual styling at the direction of the White House. A former defense official described the engineering reversal as carrying extraordinary expense and schedule delays. The shift would require redesign of launch systems already selected for the next generation of vessels, pushing total program costs higher without altering combat capability.

Biographer Michael Wolff characterized the emphasis on older technology as a persistent mental preoccupation rather than a calculated policy choice. He contrasted it with routine second thoughts people experience after intense focus on a narrow issue. The discussion followed a Washington Post account of internal Navy briefings on the proposed modifications.

Government procurement records show repeated instances in which changes to established technical specifications have extended timelines and increased taxpayer outlays. Historical Navy data on carrier construction indicate that incremental design alterations frequently compound through multiple subsystems, affecting both initial build and long-term maintenance budgets.

The legal proceedings continue under standard appellate schedules while the carrier review proceeds through the Pentagon budgeting process. Both developments illustrate the intersection of private legal arrangements and public resource allocation under the current administration.