Welcome to Markets Desk, your midday read on the stories moving the needle.
Lucid Motors took a hard turn Monday, cutting eighteen percent of its workforce and eliminating the chief operating officer role entirely. The electric vehicle maker says the restructuring clears a path toward profitability and positive cash flow, though the timing raises questions about the viability of its robotaxi ambitions with Uber and Nuro.
Shifting to the courts, a federal judge has struck down Justice Department subpoenas targeting Minnesota state officials, ruling the subpoenas were issued not to investigate but to, quote, harass, coerce, and retaliate. The decision represents a significant check on the administration's use of federal legal tools against state governments and will likely face appeal.
And on the civil rights front, the Justice Department has opened a probe into Poetica Coffee after the New York chain publicly banned Congressman Daniel Goldman from its locations over his ties to AIPAC. Goldman, who has received over one hundred ninety thousand dollars in AIPAC support ahead of the two thousand twenty six cycle, is already navigating a heated primary, and this episode adds a civil rights dimension to what began as a political statement by a small business.
That's the tape. Markets Desk, signing off the floor.
