“Grocery Price Emergency” & Crypto’s Tough 2026 6/30/26

**Andrew Ross Sorkin** (0:01)
Bring in show music, please.

**Katie Kramer** (0:04)
Hi, I'm CNBC producer Katie Kramer. Today on Squawk Pod, the Supreme Court taking on the president's executive powers in the waning hours of its term, who can be fired, who can stay.

**Andrew Ross Sorkin** (0:17)
We've talked to people over the years about the benefit of having people on both sides.

**Becky Quick** (0:21)
From a business perspective, you want some consistency.

**Katie Kramer** (0:24)
And what it all means for consumers and how people feel about the economy is the president delays signing a bi-partisan housing bill.

**Andrew Ross Sorkin** (0:32)
The big yawn.

**Katie Kramer** (0:34)
And a volatile first half of 26 for crypto investing. Coinbase's head of institutional strategy, John D'Agostino, has hope, yet.

**John D'Agostino** (0:43)
Really, for the past 15 years, we've gone through about six of these cycles now, during each of which Bitcoin has achieved a new higher low.

**Katie Kramer** (0:52)
Plus, a Biden-era regulator, the former director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Rohit Chopra, has declared a grocery price emergency in America.

**Rohit Chopra** (1:02)
The average family, say, of four people, even one making a very decent income, they no longer have the cushion that they had just two years ago.

**Katie Kramer** (1:13)
It's Tuesday, June 30th, halfway through 2026 Squawk Pod begins right now.

**Andrew Ross Sorkin** (1:21)
Stand Becky by in three, two, one, cue the please.

**Becky Quick** (1:26)
Good morning, everybody. Welcome to Squawk Box, right here on CNBC. We are live from the NASDAQ market site in Times Square. I'm Becky Quick, along with Joe Kernen and Andrew Ross Sorkin.

**Andrew Ross Sorkin** (1:37)
Meantime, the US. Supreme Court ruling that President Trump had the authority to fire FTC Commissioner Rebecca Slaughter, that 6-3 ruling giving President Trump and future presidents power to remove members of independent federal agencies that carry out functions under the executive branch of the government, Justice Neil Gorsuch, writing that independent agencies are not so independent after all. President Trump posted on Truth Social, calling it a big win. Now, on the other end, separately the Supreme Court ruled that President Trump does not have the authority to fire Fed Governor Lisa Cook from the central bank, and that's for now, but it left open the possibility of firing her in the future, that the court could rule that Trump's attempt failed, or I should say the court ruled that it failed because Cook was not given the due process that she was owed under federal law, but it seems to give the sense that the Fed is in a different category than some of these other agencies. And the court upheld a Mississippi law allowing mail-in ballots to be received up to five days after election day, Justice Amy Coney Barrett writing for the majority that the choice of a candidate made when voting is complete, not when ballots are received. Now, President Trump slammed the court for that, telling reporters that the decision gives people more time to vote illegally without citing evidence. Today is the final day of the Supreme Court's term. There are several major cases left, including Trump administration's challenge to birthright citizenship, also a ruling on laws that ban trans girls and women from participating in women's sports at public schools and also a GOP-back challenge to campaign finance limits. But I think for the purposes of the business community, the decision around this idea of independent agencies, FTC, this relates the SEC, relates to so many different agencies that historically have had some independent members.
We've talked to the people over the years about the benefit of having people on both sides of a situation so that everyone doesn't, it's not all like minded, but apparently that's not where the Supreme Court has...

**Becky Quick** (3:45)
Also, so you get a little consistency from a business perspective. You want some consistency. You don't want things to rotate every four years if you have a new administration that comes in because it just makes it hard to follow the rules to figure out what's happening.

**Joe Kernen** (3:55)
It spans executive powers, no doubt.

**Becky Quick** (3:57)
It does.

**Joe Kernen** (3:58)
But the agencies are under the executive branch.

**Rohit Chopra** (4:01)
Right.

**Andrew Ross Sorkin** (4:04)
Will you sign that housing bill?

**Rohit Chopra** (4:06)
I have not yet.

**John D'Agostino** (4:07)
It hasn't been sent to me yet.

**Katie Kramer** (4:08)
It's coming, I understand.

**Joe Kernen** (4:10)
And then I'll make it.

**Rohit Chopra** (4:12)
Here's what I would like to sign.

**Andrew Ross Sorkin** (4:14)
Much more than a bill, a big deal.

**John D'Agostino** (4:16)
It's a yawn.

**Rohit Chopra** (4:18)