National News at a Glance

Trump Giving a Fresh Look to Hardiman for Supreme Court

President Donald Trump is expressing fresh interest in Judge Thomas Hardiman, the runner-up for last year’s Supreme Court vacancy, before he announces his decision on a replacement for Justice Anthony M. Kennedy on Monday night, three people close to the process said. All cautioned that Trump could go a different way before he reveals his choice. He has said positive things to associates about Judge Amy Coney Barrett, a staunch social conservative, the people familiar with the process said, and he has not ruled out Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh, a former staff secretary to George W. Bush.

The House Returns to Deep Uncertainty Over Both Parties’ Leadership

The House returns from its Fourth of July recess this week in a state of uncertainty, with both Democrats and Republicans facing open questions about their leaders’ futures. For Democrats, the loss in a primary last month of a popular lawmaker seen as a potential House speaker has injected uncertainty into a struggle over control of the caucus, as frustration with Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has given way to public calls for the passing of the baton to a younger generation. With the retirement of Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., at the end of the year, Republicans face their own fight.

Battle Is Underway to Get N.Y. Police Department to Turn Over Its Disciplinary Records

The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office is locked in a battle with the New York Police Department over electronic access to disciplinary records of officers and investigative reports that prosecutors contend they need to catch bad arrests earlier in criminal proceedings. The level of access to police records that prosecutors are seeking would fundamentally change the flow of information between the police and prosecutors in New York City. The district attorney’s push to obtain disciplinary reports for officers is the latest front in an effort to break through the wall of secrecy surrounding police discipline in New York City.

New York’s Emergency Food Program Gets More Funding, but Will It Be Enough?

At $24.7 million, the funding for the Food Bank for New York City, a nonprofit that supplies food pantries and soup kitchens that are part of the emergency food network, represents a fraction of New York City’s $89 billion budget. But for many of the more than 500 food pantries and soup kitchens that rely on the anti-hunger program, the money is a lifeline. In 2017, 40 percent of the food pantries and soup kitchens in the network said they did not have enough food to meet demand, forcing them to turn people away or reduce the amount given out.

Town Grieves for a Father and His Four Daughters

The seats in the last pew at the Church of St. Anastasia in Teaneck, New Jersey, were empty during Sunday Mass. Two bouquets of flowers, five votive candles and two photos lined the bench where the Trinidad family usually sat, a memorial to Audie Trinidad, 61, and his daughters Kaitlyn, 20, Danna, 17, and 14-year-old twins Allison and Melissa, who died in a car crash in Delaware on Friday while returning from a vacation in Maryland. Mary Rose, the girls’ mother, remained in the hospital in serious condition Sunday. Delaware State Police are still investigating the crash.

Pruitt, Fallen EPA Chief, May Rise Again in Oklahoma

Scott Pruitt’s brief, tumultuous tenure as head of the Environmental Protection Agency has left him disgraced in the eyes of many. But it may not have done him much harm in his home state. Though a comeback for Pruitt is far from assured, some liberals and conservatives in Oklahoma agree he could engineer one in this oil- and gas-dependent state where he used to be attorney general. His hard-line anti-regulatory message remains popular here, and many of his supporters consider the spreading plume of scandal from his time at the EPA the product of unfair liberal persecution.