By LINDSAY WHITEHURST

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court preserved a key part of the Affordable Care Act’s preventive health care coverage requirements on Friday, rejecting a challenge from Christian employers to the provision that affects some 150 million Americans.

The 6-3 ruling comes in a lawsuit over how the government decides which health care medications and services must be fully covered by private insurance under former President Barack Obama’s signature law, often referred to as Obamacare.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote for the court’s majority. Justice Clarence Thomas dissented, joined by Justices Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch.

The plaintiffs said the process is unconstitutional because a volunteer board of medical experts tasked with recommending which services are covered is not Senate approved.

President Donald Trump’s administration defended the mandate before the court, though the Republican president has been a critic of his Democratic predecessor’s law. The Justice Department said board members don’t need Senate approval because they can be removed by the health and human services secretary.

Medications and services that could have been affected include statins to lower cholesterol, lung cancer screenings, HIV-prevention drugs and medication to lower the chance of breast cancer for women.

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The case came before the Supreme Court after an appeals court struck down some preventive care coverage requirements. The U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals sided with the Christian employers and Texas residents who argued they can’t be forced to provide full insurance coverage for things like medication to prevent HIV and some cancer screenings.

Well-known conservative attorney Jonathan Mitchell, who represented Trump before the high court in a dispute about whether he could appear on the 2024 ballot, argued the case.

The appeals court found that coverage requirements were unconstitutional because they came from a body — the United States Preventive Services Task Force — whose members were not nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate.

A 2023 analysis prepared by the nonprofit KFF found that ruling would still allow full-coverage requirements for some services, including mammography and cervical cancer screening.

Follow the AP’s coverage of the U.S. Supreme Court at https://apnews.com/hub/us-supreme-court.

By MARK SHERMAN

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Friday upheld the fee that is added to phone bills to provide billions of dollars a year in subsidized phone and internet services in schools, libraries and rural areas.

The justices, by a 6-3 vote, reversed an appeals court ruling that had struck down as unconstitutional the Universal Service Fund, the charge that has been added to phone bills for nearly 30 years.

At arguments in March, liberal and conservative justices alike expressed concerns about the potentially devastating consequences of eliminating the fund, which has benefited tens of millions of Americans.

The Federal Communications Commission collects the money from telecommunications providers, which pass the cost on to their customers.

A Virginia-based conservative advocacy group, Consumers’ Research, had challenged the practice. The justices had previously denied two appeals from Consumers’ Research after federal appeals courts upheld the program. But the full 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, among the nation’s most conservative, ruled 9-7 that the method of funding is unconstitutional.

The 5th Circuit held that Congress had given too much authority to the FCC and the agency in turn had ceded too much power to a private entity, or administrator.

The last time the Supreme Court invoked what is known as the nondelegation doctrine to strike down a federal law was in 1935. But several conservative justices have suggested they are open to breathing new life into the legal doctrine.

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The conservative-led court also has reined in federal agencies in high-profile rulings in recent years. Last year, the court reversed a 40-year-old case that had been used thousands of times to uphold federal regulations. In 2022, the court ruled Congress has to act with specificity before agencies can address “major questions,” in a ruling that limited the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to combat climate change.

But the phone fee case turned out not to be the right one for finding yet another way to restrict federal regulators.

President Donald Trump’s Republican administration, which has moved aggressively to curtail administrative agencies in other areas, defended the FCC program. The appeal was initially filed by President Joe Biden’s Democratic administration.

Follow the AP’s coverage of the U.S. Supreme Court at https://apnews.com/hub/us-supreme-court.

By MICHAEL R. SISAK and LARRY NEUMEISTER

NEW YORK (AP) — Sean “Diddy” Combs was portrayed in his lawyer’s closing argument on Friday as the victim of an overzealous prosecution that tried to turn the recreational use of drugs and a swinger lifestyle into a racketeering conspiracy that could put the music mogul behind bars for life.

Attorney Marc Angifilo mocked the government’s case against Combs and belittled the agents who seized hundreds of bottles of Astroglide lubricant and baby oil at his properties as he began a presentation expected to last several hours.

“Way to go, fellas,” he said of the agents.

He said prosecutors had “badly exaggerated” evidence of the swinger lifestyle and threesomes to combine it with recreational drug use and call it a racketeering conspiracy.

“He did not do the things he’s charged with. He didn’t do racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking,” the lawyer said.

Agnifilo also called Combs’ prosecution a “fake trial” and ridiculed the notion that he engaged in racketeering. “Are you kidding me? Are you kidding me?” Agnifilo asked. “Did any witness get on that witness stand and say yes, I was part of a racketeering enterprise — I engaged in racketeering?” No, Agnifilo argued, telling jurors that those accusations were a figment of the prosecution’s imagination.

Combs’ family, including six of his children and his mother, were in the audience for the closing.

All his life Combs has taken care of people, Agnifilo said, including the ex-girlfriend who testified under the pseudonym Jane, whose rent he’s paying.

“I don’t know what Jane is doing today,” Agnifilo said. “But she’s doing it in a house he’s paying for.”

Referring to lawsuits filed by Combs’ accusers, he said: “This isn’t about crime. It’s about money. This is about money.”

He noted that Combs’ girlfriend of nearly 11 years — Casandra “Cassie” Ventura — sued him in a lawsuit that was settled for $20 million in a day in November 2023, triggering a federal probe the following day.

“If you had to pick a winner in this whole thing, it’s hard not to pick Cassie,” Agnifilo said.

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Cassie and Jane both testified during the trial that they were coerced repeatedly by Combs to perform in drug-fueled dayslong sex marathons with male sex workers while Combs watched, directed, masturbated and sometimes filmed the encounters.

If convicted, Combs could face a mandatory minimum of 15 years in prison and a maximum of life.

He did not testify during the trial that is in its seventh week.

After Agnifilo completes his closing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Maurene Comey was expected to deliver a rebuttal summation before the judge reads the law to the jury, which is not expected to begin deliberations until Monday.

By DAMIAN J. TROISE, AP Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks rose in morning trading Friday and put Wall Street on track to close a strong week at an all-time high.

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The S&P 500 rose 0.5% early Friday and is on track to surpass its record set in February. The Nasdaq composite rose 0.5% and is also on track for a record. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.6%, or 273 points, to 43,657 as of 9:58 a.m. Eastern.

A record for the S&P 500 would mark a sharp turnaround from just three months ago, when the key measure of Wall Street’s health fell nearly 20% from the February high on fears that President Donald Trump’s trade policy could harm the economy.

The gains on Friday were broad, with nearly every sector within the S&P 500 rising. Nike soared 15.3% for the biggest gain on the market, despite warning of a steep hit from tariffs.

The broader market has seemingly shaken off fears about the Israel-Iran war disrupting the global supply of crude oil and sending oil prices higher. A ceasefire between the two nations is still in place.

The price of crude oil in the U.S. rose 1%, but has broadly fallen back since last week to levels in place before the conflict began.

Investors are also monitoring potential progress on trade conflicts between the U.S. and the world, specifically with China. Trump said the U.S. and China have signed a trade deal without providing details.

China’s Commerce Ministry also said that the two sides had “further confirmed the details of the framework” for their trade talks. But its statement did not explicitly mention an agreement to ensure U.S. access to rare earths, materials used in high-tech applications that have been at the center of negotiations.

An update on inflation Friday showed prices ticked higher in May, though the rate mostly matched economists’ projections.

Bond yields rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.28% from 4.24% late Thursday. The two-year Treasury yield, which more closely tracks expectations for what the Federal Reserve will do, rose to 3.75% from 3.72% late Thursday.

Stocks in Europe were mostly higher, while stocks in Asia finished mixed.