Lead Stories

The bond market is flashing a signal not seen since before the 2008 crisis

Troubling developments unfolded in the U.S. bond market on Thursday that had some investors drawing comparisons with the run-up to the 2008 financial crisis. The current problems start with rising oil prices as a result of the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran, which is raising the risk of stagflation and the prospect of a 2026 interest-rate hike by the Federal Reserve. Brent crude the global oil benchmark, briefly blew past $119 a barrel on Thursday as attacks escalated on oil-and-gas infrastructure in the Persian Gulf. West Texas Intermediate crude-oil futures briefly crossed $100 a barrel. But even as oil prices have spiked and stock prices come down, Treasurys, often seen as a haven during times of market unease, haven’t rallied on a continual basis.

Instead, fears that the war in the Middle East could morph into a full-blown energy crisis pushed the policy-sensitive 2-year Treasury yield above the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate target on Thursday. Bond yields move inversely with prices and rise during selloffs. Thursday’s bond-market selloff caused the Treasury yield curve to exhibit what traders describe as a “bear-flattening” pattern. This actually began back in early February. Typically, the pattern emerges when bond traders are bracing for a difficult economic environment ahead. The confluence of these three developments — oil above $100 a barrel, a 2-year yield above the fed funds rate, and a bear-steepening dynamic in the bond market — is making some investors nervous. The last time all three things unfolded simultaneously was in the late spring of 2008, according to Bloomberg data. About four or five months later, Lehman Brothers collapsed, ushering in the most acute phase of the 2008 financial crisis. The S&P 500 declined 38.5% that year. Widespread mortgage defaults also resulted in many Americans losing their homes. The current environment includes both similarities and differences to that troubling time. Whereas the 2008 crisis was triggered by the bursting of a housing bubble and the subsequent collapse of the subprime mortgage market, investors are currently focused on the continued war with Iran, which began on Feb. 28, as well as signs of increasing stress in the private-credit industry. Already, investors have been impacted by twin declines in stocks and bonds, which amount to a double-whammy for anybody holding their retirement savings in a 60-40 portfolio.

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‘Rage turnout’ ahead? Democrats are hopeful their primary bump fuels midterms

A turnout surge in the 2026 Democratic primaries continued this week in Illinois, as the party’s voters again cast ballots in far greater numbers than they did in the last midterm election. It’s a boomlet already reshaping the Democrats’ many intense primary contests — and boosting confidence among party strategists that Democrats could benefit from a big turnout wave in November’s general election. “Nobody shows up to a parade for losers,” said Caitlin Legacki, a Democratic strategist. “And the enthusiasm we’re seeing in Dem primaries vs. the lack of enthusiasm we’re seeing in Republican primaries is a pretty strong signal.” Parties traditionally enjoy a turnout boost in midterm years after they lose a presidential election. But Democratic operatives say they’ve been pleasantly surprised with the level of engagement in this year’s primaries, especially when the party’s image is at historic lows.

In Tuesday’s Illinois primary, the Senate race saw a nearly 50% increase in participation compared to the last midterm election in 2022, jumping from 860,000 votes to a projected 1.28 million votes when all ballots are counted. The increase was even larger in some House races. Illinois’ 8th Congressional District saw a 63% increase relative to 2022, from 43,000 votes to a projected 70,000 votes. The 9th district saw a 71% hike, increasing from 77,000 in 2022 to 132,000 this week. Democrats offer a lot of explanations for why turnout has so significantly increased this year. But at the center of it, most of them say, is a visceral anger at President Donald Trump, motivating even voters who normally avoid politics to become involved. “I think there’s a strong likelihood of a rage turnout this year,” said Aviva Bowen, an Illinois-based Democratic strategist who worked on some of the contested House primaries in Chicago this week. The comparisons aren’t perfect. The Illinois Senate race in 2022 was an uncontested romp for Sen. Tammy Duckworth, for example, while this year’s contest featured three prominent candidates in a tight battle for the nomination.

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Irving-based Nexstar closes $6.2 billion acquisition of TEGNA

The FCC and DOJ approved the $6.2 billion acquisition of broadcaster TEGNA by fellow television operator Nexstar Media Group. A release issued Thursday by Nexstar states in part: "Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: NXST), today announced that it has closed its acquisition of TEGNA Inc." That announcement came after the approval of the transaction by the federal agencies. The proposed acquisition was announced in August 2025. “The FCC has been focused on empowering broadcast TV stations to serve their local communities, consistent with their public interest obligations. Today’s agency decision does exactly that as both the record and Nexstar’s enforceable commitments demonstrate," FCC chairman Brendan Carr said in a statement. "For too long, the FCC stood by while newspapers closed by the dozen in communities all across the country. Those trusted sources of local news and information shuttered while the FCC dithered. If you care about local news, you should care about the future of local broadcast TV stations."

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ICE raids adding to falling enrollment at RGV school districts

Ongoing ICE raids are impacting Rio Grande Valley school districts, forcing hundreds of U.S.-born students out of the country while straining tight budgets. Across the Valley, educators struggling to curb years of falling enrollment are pointing to months of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids as a growing factor behind dropping student numbers. As part of a formula, the Texas Education Agency is paying Valley school districts about $6,200 a year for each student in classrooms. In Weslaco, the school district’s enrollment’s dropped from 16,305 to 16,028 during the last year, Superintendent Richard Rivera said, blaming much of the loss of 277 students to what he describes as “the immigration scare.”

“I have been a superintendent for about 30 years and this is the most I’ve ever seen a district losing for this reason,” he said in an interview. Of the students leaving the country, many were born in the United States, Rivera said. “It affects them deeply,” he said. “They were born here. They’ve adjusted here. Most are elementary kids. Most of them have been successful. They‘ve learned the language and were doing well in school. All of a sudden life is shattered. Now they are starting a new life. It’s going to impact their life.” For school districts, the students’ losses are eating into strained budgets reeling from years of falling enrollment amid the federal government’s cuts in Elementary and Secondary Emergency Relief Funds, or ESSER funds, aimed at helping school districts through the coronavirus pandemic. “It affects the district — the budget,” Rivera said of the latest factor behind dropping enrollment. “We’re overstaffed with these students gone. Now, as people resign or retire, we don’t fill the positions.”

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State Stories

Williamson County GOP votes to return to countywide voting for May runoff

The Williamson County Republican Party has voted to return to countywide voting for the primary runoff set for May 26, a representative for the county confirmed. The party must amend their election contract with the county before the change can be finalized. Connie Odom, the communications director for Williamson County, said a meeting for that purpose is set for March 24. During the initial primary elections in early March, Williamson County voters had to visit assigned precincts to cast their ballots on Election Day, a change from previous elections when voters could stop by any polling place in the county.

The change led to confusion on Election Day. Some voters faced long lines and two- to three hour long waits. A judge ordered two polling places to stay open for three extra hours, and election officials did not finish counting votes until the next day. Both Democrats and Republicans must agree for countywide polling places to be available during primaries. The shift to assigned voting locations came at the request of the Williamson County Republican Party. The GOP in Dallas County also chose to make the shift. State Democrats said they anticipated issues ahead of the election. "For more than two months, Democratic Party leadership has been warning Republican leadership every step of the way that a disaster was impending, but they refused to listen," the Texas Democratic Party said in a statement on Election Day. "Now, voters all across Dallas and Williamson Counties are being denied ballot access, being turned away at the polls, and facing outrageous wait times at their polling locations."

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Harris County commissioners table resolution seeking to condemn Lina Hidalgo after rodeo dispute

Harris County commissioners punted a proposed resolution on Thursday that would have condemned Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo’s recent actions at the Houston rodeo and called for her resignation. Republican Commissioner Tom Ramsey’s resolution would have recognized the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo’s accomplishments and condemned Hidalgo for an incident in which she was removed by security from a rodeo concert last week at NRG Stadium. The delay comes after a rule change in February that moves resolutions from Harris County Commissioners Court’s regular bi-weekly meetings to business court meetings. Commissioner Rodney Ellis, a Democrat who directed the regular court meeting on Thursday because of Hidalgo’s absence, said Ramsey would have to make a motion to suspend the recent rule change in order to read the resolution.

No other commissioner seconded Ramsey’s motion to temporarily suspend the rule change — which kicked the item to the next business court meeting on March 31. Ellis also suggested pausing the discussion until Hidalgo, who is in Europe on a trade mission, returned to commissioners court. “Just from the timing of it all, I think reading it here, and we can certainly talk about it again when she returns, her having missed the last three meetings, I’m not sure when she’s coming,” Ramsey said. The dispute between Hidalgo and security personnel at the rodeo happened after she and four other guests attempted to access the chute area — a premium seating area in NRG Stadium closest to the concert stage — without proper credentials. Hidalgo claimed she was threatened with arrest, shoved by security personnel and escorted out of a rodeo concert. Rodeo officials disputed her claims and said they were “very disappointed” in Hidalgo’s actions. The event’s board of directors also voted to strip Hidalgo of her role on the board, which was tied to her elected position as county judge.

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Escobar denies ICE claims that staffer posed as detainee's attorney at Camp East Montana

U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar of El Paso is pushing back against allegations from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement involving a member of her staff. According to a report by Fox News, Benito Torres, a senior caseworker on Escobar's staff, allegedly lied at least 11 times about being an attorney for detainees at Camp East Montana in Fort Bliss and brought cellphones into the facility. The acting ICE director, Todd Lyons, said he informed Escobar about the staffer in a letter dated Thursday. Escobar, however, denied the claims. “I have every reason to believe these allegations are unfounded,” Escobar said. “I stand proudly by the members of my team who have demonstrated nothing but dedication and integrity to serving our nation and our community.”

In his letter to Escobar, Lyons wrote, "The available evidence demonstrates your staffer... misrepresented himself as counsel for detainees in ICE custody, violated clear detention standards and security protocols prohibiting the use of cellphones inside ICE facilities, improperly met with multiple detainees, and falsely claimed to ICE personnel such use had been approved by the agency." Fox News' report features an image of a sign-in log that shows the staffer allegedly claiming to be a "lawyer" visiting a "client." The letter also states that during that visit, the staffer admitted he was not an attorney after he was confronted by a facility staff member after they became aware of someone passing a phone to multiple detainees.

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Sen. John Cornyn: Force members of Congress to wait in TSA lines

Sen. John Cornyn wants to make sure members of Congress wait in the same airport security lines as everyone else. As a weekslong stalemate leaves Transportation Security Administration agents working without pay, Cornyn has introduced a bill to outlaw preferential screening treatment for members of Congress. Cornyn said the change would put lawmakers on equal footing with travelers and restore “democracy” to airport security lines. “Nobody should be above the rules and regulations imposed on the American people, and a member pin on your lapel should not give you carte blanche to skip airport screening lines while everyday Americans are forced to patiently wait their turn,” Cornyn said.

The bill includes exceptions for programs such as TSA PreCheck and in cases of security concerns, he said. The proposal, which would have to clear both chambers, a slow process, comes as security lines have been growing at airports nationwide. That’s been blamed on a partisan impasse over Homeland Security funding that includes TSA, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other agencies. Sen. Ted Cruz, Cornyn’s home state Republican colleague, offered a proposal in 2024 that would have made it easier for rank-and-file members of Congress to get airport escorts. Supporters said that proposal would only have applied to federal lawmakers facing credible security threats, which have spiked in recent years, but the idea was blocked after opponents said it could be abused. Public criticism at the time focused in part on Cruz’s widely derided decision to take his family to Cancun during a deadly February 2021 winter storm.

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Proposed policy would enable Harris County employees to advocate for higher wages through a labor organization

Harris County could soon become one of the first major jurisdictions in Texas to establish a policy enabling labor organizations to advocate for higher wages and improved working conditions for government employees. The worker consultations policy — proposed by Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis — is set to be discussed and considered during a commissioners court meeting on Thursday. Though Texas law prohibits public employees from collective bargaining, the local program could make it easier for county workers to file grievances related to pay, workplace conditions and terminations.

Under the policy, nonsupervisory employees in certain county departments could also file group grievances and request representation by labor organizations to lodge complaints. Harris County’s five-member commissioners court, which currently includes four Democrats, would retain final authority over personnel policies and recommendations. “This policy that we have creates a consultation process between county workers and county leadership,” Ellis said. “It gives workers a seat at the table to raise workplace concerns about wages, hours, promotions and working conditions. It creates a clear process so workers can make their case when problems arise. “ If the proposal receives approval by commissioners on Thursday, interested county workers could select a labor organization to represent them. An organization would be established as an agent when it receives support from 20% of eligible employees. If multiple organizations qualify for the title, employees would vote in an election to select one sole representative, according to the proposed policy.

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Chuck Norris, 86, rushed to the hospital in Hawaii after medical emergency

Chuck Norris was reportedly rushed to a hospital in Hawaii after suffering a medical emergency. The “Walker, Texas Ranger” alum, 86, was on the island of Kauai when the incident occurred, TMZ reported Thursday. However, the nature of the incident remains unclear. Norris bounced back immediately as insiders told the outlet that he is in good spirits. A rep for Norris wasn’t immediately available to Page Six for comment. The martial artist proved he’s still in great shape as he celebrated his birthday on March 10 with a private outdoor boxing lesson. “I don’t age. I level up,” he said in a video shared via Instagram. “I’m 86 today! Nothing like some playful action on a sunny day to make you feel young.”

“I’m grateful for another year, good health and the chance to keep doing what I love,” Norris continued. The actor expressed his gratitude to the “best fans in the world,” concluding, “Your support through the years has meant more to me than you’ll ever know.” The “Way of the Dragon” star often shares his workouts online, and recently posted a photo of himself flexing his bicep while hitting the gym in November. “Here’s a photo I took several months ago,” he captioned the snap. “Progress isn’t measured by perfection, but by the courage to keep going.” Norris reassured his 2.8 million followers that he was “still setting goals, pushing forward and choosing discipline over comfort.” “No matter your age, keep striving for the best version of yourself,” he added. The “Invasion U.S.A.” star also posts footage of himself horseback riding, hiking and weight lifting.

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Northside ISD has nearly $200 million in 2022 bond project 'on hold'

Nine school improvement projects totaling nearly $200 million from Northside Independent School District’s2022 bond issue are “on hold” with no indication of when the projects will be built. Just four years after its nearly $1 billion bond election,San Antonio’s largest school district intends to seek voter approval in November on a bond package for security upgrades and other improvements. Northside’s Building Committee got an update Wednesday on the $198.47 million in projects that were approved nearly four years ago but have not since been executed. Superintendent John Craft told a panel of trustees he wants to “be careful in not putting millions and millions of dollars into these facilities and then having to come back in a very short amount of time (and saying), 'Well, we really need more science labs.'

The delayed projects were slated for elementary campuses across the district and meant to replace outdated school facilities and upgrade HVAC and ventilator systems. “I will still stand fast in saying by holding just a little bit until we have really clear visioning as to what needs to happen at the campuses, we’re going to be better off in the end,” Craft told board trustees who will soon nominate community members to serve on a Citizen Bond Committee. This committee will help shape the district’s ask to voters in an anticipated November election.The district is considering whether to ask voters Nov. 3 for a 3-cent increase to its tax rate, which is currently at $1.0049 per $100 valuation of property. Northside officials arealso studying the potential for a $400 million bond issue to target priorities in a facilities wish list that exceeds$2 billion in value. Craft emphasized that the nine schools with projects on hold are not “on the fringe” or at risk of closure. As Northside ISD grapples with a looming budget deficit and declining enrollment now at about 97,600 students, district officials have emphasized the need to “optimize” operations, something that may eventually result in campus closures.

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San Antonio, Medina County continue to attract data centers

The San Antonio area, and a booming Medina County to the west of the Alamo City, continue to attract Amazon and Microsoft Data Centers. Recent filings with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation show Microsoft plans to construct two additional data centers at its location on County Road 381 in the community of Rio Medina at a cost of $52 million. Work on both additions starts this spring and should be completed within a couple of years. Combined, they will cover nearly half-a-million square feet.

Meanwhile, similar filings find Amazon is expanding its data center presence in the San Antonio area with two of the facilities, both each well over 100,000 square feet. One will be built on the Southeast Side on Donop Road at a cost of $65 million and the other is planned on the West Side on Northwest Crossroads at a cost of $25 million. Their completion dates fall within the next two or three years. The demands such centers place on water for cooling and on electricity for power have become concerns for local residents, especially the demand on water in a time of drought. They are also known to be noisy to live around. The San Antonio City Council may formally address local policy for the industry this year. San Antonio Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones told Texas Public Radio in February that such data centers are not going unnoticed at city hall. "We know these things are coming," she said. "That doesn't mean they can show up wherever they want to. We certainly have some say in that. And we want to make sure we are thinking about impact on utilities. And we're also thinking about what makes the best place in terms of location in the city."

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Texas judge issues restraining order against utility district involved with Islamic development

The acting board of directors for a North Texas utility district has been stopped in their tracks by a judge after the state accused them of illegally acting in support of a controversial Islamic development. The temporary restraining order issued Thursday follows a lawsuit from the attorney general's office, accusing the utility district of helping East Plano Islamic Center developers duck state regulation.

The TRO was issued by a district court in North Texas on Thursday, enjoining the Double R Municipal Utility District No. 2A of Hunt and Collin Counties ("Double R MUD") from taking actions in their board meeting scheduled for Friday, March 20. The defendants in the TRO, referred to as the "purported directs," are now barred from taking up or deciding on most of the agenda items they had planned. Those defendants, named as Yaneli Molina, Hatim Mahmoud Yusuf, Nadeem Ashraf Khan, Asim Hussain Khan, and Faisal Abbas, are accused of breaking portions of the Texas Water Code. The order says they "did not own taxable property within Double R MUD’s geographic boundaries as they existed prior to the purported annexation of lands on September 12, 2025." According to a previous state lawsuit, the MUD was inactive until September 2025, when developers involved in the Meadow, previously EPIC City, allegedly "engineered the takeover" of the district rather than creating a new one for the development. Paxton claimed this was to avoid state regulation, calling the actions "highly unusual."

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Anderson County lands $16 billion gas power project in White House, Japan deal

President Donald Trump and Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Thursday announced the building of a $16 billion natural gas generator to be located in Anderson County. This announcement was made during Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s visit to the White House and is one of three new energy infrastructures in a $550 billion investment package pledged by Japan in October.

This natural gas-fired power generation hub operated by NextERA Energy Resources, is to have a capacity of up to 5.2 gigawatts of natural gas-fired generation, capable of serving up to 5 GW of large-load demand. In a statement on social media, Rep. Cody Harris, (R-Palestine) who was in Washington,D.C. for the meeting, said this project would bring 3,000 long-term, high paying jobs to the community and enable local taxing entities to slash property taxes. “This will be a massive investment in House District 8 which will have a multi-generational impact,” he stated. “Very exciting day for our area.” According to County Judge Carey McKinney, the Anderson County Commissioners Court had their first meeting with NextERA energy Tuesday and received preliminary information about the project. “We are still in the development stages, and we are going to have some more meetings and get more information, and talk about what this will do for the county,” McKinney said. The project is located in Precinct 2 Commissioner Rashad Mims portion of the Bethel Community which is split between Precinct 2 and Precinct 4.

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UNT cuts and consolidates 85 degree programs, certifications amid $45 million deficit

The university will begin eliminating and consolidating 85 degree programs and certificates in response to its current $45 million deficit. University President Harrison Keller and Provost Michael McPherson sent an official notice to students via email on March 19 stating the majors, minors and certificates that will be phased out or merged with others. “As the university addresses financial challenges, the difficult decision was made to begin the process of closing or consolidating a selection of academic programs,” said Melisa Brown, senior director of university relations, in an email to the North Texas Daily. “Programs were selected after a thorough evaluation of many factors, including student demand and enrollment trends, time to value, resource efficiency, and alignment with our university’s mission.”

Linked in the notice was the university’s Academic Programs Update that listed every upcoming degree program elimination or consolidation. It states “the most substantial change” is the Department of Linguistics merging with the Department of World Languages. With the merger of the two departments alongside other cuts, the College of Information recorded 15 total degree program changes. That is the second most among the university’s impacted colleges behind the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, which saw 34 changes. Linguistics senior Sage Smith said they learned of their department being phased out in the email sent to all university students. Smith said when they opened the email, they were not expecting to see that their program will not exist in three years. “It just makes me really sad and disappointed,” Smith said. “So, just seeing that a program that means so much to me and to my friends, peers and my professors is just really upsetting. The university added the M.S. in Linguistics in the 2024-25 school year and it has since been removed in the recent department merger. Smith said they had planned to get their graduate degree at the university as it was one of the few universities in the state to offer the M.S. in Linguistics rather than only an M.A. The impacted programs will no longer accept new enrollments, though currently enrolled students will be able to complete their degrees. As for eliminations, there are 25 undergraduate minors and 21 graduate and 21 undergraduate certificates, three master's degree programs and the undergraduate Latino and Latin American Studies major.

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Rep. Julie Johnson demands answers in death of her constituent in ICE custody

Rep. Julie Johnson visited ICE’s Dallas field office on Monday, March 16, to demand answers regarding the death of Mohammed Nazeer Paktiawal, 41, who lived in her district. Paktiawal was an Afghan immigrant who worked with U.S. forces since 2006 in Afghanistan. He and his family were evacuated when the U.S. pulled out of the country. He died at Parkland Hospital a day after ICE had taken him into custody. “Paktiawal has a known criminal history including an arrest by local authorities for SNAP fraud, a felony, on Sept. 16, 2025,” ICE wrote in a press release. “He was arrested a second time for theft on Nov. 1, 2025.” Paktiawal lived in Richardson and was the father of six.

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At 40, The Wittliff Collections remains a true Texas treasure

In the heart of Texas State University’s campus, on the seventh floor of the Alkek Library, resides a Texas-size treasure known as The Wittliff Collections. Stepping off the elevator, a polished sea of saltillo tile leads visitors through a labyrinth of exhibitions, where vestiges of the state’s artistic history and heritage shine like crowned jewels. Spanning literature, photography, music, and film, The Wittliff has become a world-renowned research archive, library, and rotating gallery space dedicated to preserving and sharing the cultural and creative legacy of Texas, as well as Mexico and the American Southwest. Despite this international reputation, however, many Texans remain unaware of the creative riches safeguarded in this San Marcos institution. “I think everyone should know about The Wittliff, yet I’m always surprised not everybody does,” says Carrie Fountain, The Wittliff’s literary curator and the 2019 State Poet Laureate. “We don’t want to be the best kept secret in Texas.”

Now, thanks to a monumental exhibition commemorating the 40th anniversary of The Wittliff, a new generation of Texans and travelers can come to know this revered site. The Spirit of The Wittliff in 40 Objects—on view through 2026—reveals 40 of the archive’s most unique and captivating objects that embody the collections’ storied soul, which originated from its founder and namesake, Bill Wittliff. Forty years ago, the late writer, photographer, and celebrated screenwriter of Lonesome Dove founded the Southwestern Writers Collection with his wife, Sally, after acquiring the literary estate of writer and folklorist J. Frank Dobie, including boxes of his personal papers, diaries, correspondence, and memorabilia, like his desk. Since donating their Southwestern literary manuscripts to the university in 1986, the archives have expandedto include the Southwestern and Mexican Photography Collection and the Texas Music Collection. Today, it comprises more than 500 collections, with writers like Sandra Cisneros, Larry McMurtry, Taylor Sheridan, Elizabeth Crook, and Stephen Harrigan, and musicians Jerry Jeff Walker and Willie Nelson among the many to have their works contained here.

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National Stories

US weighs military reinforcements as Iran war enters possible new phase

President Donald Trump's administration is considering deploying thousands of U.S. troops to reinforce its operation in the Middle East, as the U.S. military prepares for possible next steps in its campaign against Iran, said a U.S. official and three people familiar with the matter. The deployments could help provide Trump with ?additional options as he weighs expanding U.S. operations, with the Iran war well into its third week. Those options include securing safe passage for oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, a mission that would ?be accomplished primarily through air and naval forces, the sources said. But securing the Strait could also mean deploying U.S. troops to Iran's shoreline, said four sources, including two U.S. officials.

Reuters granted the sources anonymity to speak about military planning. The Trump administration has also discussed options to send ?ground forces to Iran's Kharg Island, the hub for 90% of Iran's oil exports, the three people familiar with the matter and three U.S. officials said. One of the officials said such an operation would be very risky. Iran has the ability to reach the island with missiles and drones. The United States carried out strikes against military targets on the island on March 13 and Trump has threatened to also strike its critical oil infrastructure. However, given its vital role in Iran's economy, controlling the island would likely be viewed as a better option than destroying it, military experts say. Any use of U.S. ground troops - even for a limited mission - could pose significant political risks for Trump, given low support among the American public ?for the Iran campaign and Trump's own campaign promises to avoid entangling the ?U.S. in new Middle East conflicts.

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Trump invokes Pearl Harbor in front of Japanese prime minister to defend Iran attack secrecy

In an apparent awkward moment at the Oval Office on Thursday stateside, U.S. President Donald Trump referenced Pearl Harbor in his first meeting with Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi after her landslide electoral victory. When asked by a Japanese reporter on why the U.S. did not inform allies such as Japan before carrying out the attacks against Iran on Feb. 28, the U.S. president said it was to maintain the element of surprise. "Who knows better about surprise than Japan ... Why didn't you tell me about Pearl Harbor?" Trump was referencing the surprise Japanese attack on the U.S. Pacific Fleet in 1941, which saw the deaths of over 2,400 personnel and drew the U.S. into World War II. Takaichi appeared to draw a deep breath and lean back in her seat with an uneasy expression.

Trump said that the surprise attack on Iran had helped the U.S., adding that it "knocked out 50% of what we anticipated" in the country within the first two days. During the meeting, Trump praised Japan for "stepping up" to assist in efforts to secure the Strait of Hormuz, "unlike NATO." Before the meeting, Japan, as well as Britain, France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands had released a joint statement expressing their readiness to "contribute to appropriate efforts to ensure safe passage through the Strait." Trump had called on Japan and other countries to help secure the Strait of Hormuz, but Takaichi had reportedly said Monday that there were no plans to dispatch naval vessels to escort boats in the Middle East. Her office also said in a post on X that there was "no specific request from the United States to Japan for the dispatch of vessels." Japan's prime minister on Tuesday said that the government was considering what could be done within the framework of the country's law. Japan's Self-Defense Forces are governed by its pacifist constitution, that renounces war and the threat or use of force for settling international disputes. Trump had taken aim at NATO allies earlier this week, saying that the alliance was "making a very foolish mistake" by not getting involved in the war. In response, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius reportedly said on Monday that "This is not our war, we have not started it," a stance that was also adopted by French President Emmanuel Macron. Subsequently, Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Thursday that "we have declared that as long as the war continues, we will not participate in ensuring freedom of navigation in the Strait ?of Hormuz, for example, by military means," according to Reuters.

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Woman charged with murder after allegedly taking abortion pills, going to hospital

A Georgia woman has been charged with murder after going to the emergency room with severe pain she experienced after allegedly taking abortion pills at home. Alexia Moore delivered a 22- to 24-week-old fetus “with cardiac activity” in December, according to an arrest warrant, which cited Moore’s medical records. The newborn, a girl, died within an hour. Police questioned Moore, 31, in the hospital and charged her this month with felony murder — the first such charging, abortion advocates said, since Georgia instated a six-week abortion ban after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. In the arrest warrant, police alleged that Moore’s pregnancy was “well beyond six weeks.” Other states have charged women who have abortions with murder or attempted murder since Roe’s fall in 2022, but few of those prosecutions have advanced far. In a similar case in Georgia, prosecutors in 2015 dropped a murder charge against a woman who took abortion pills.

“This is just yet another attempt to criminalize abortion by avoiding the actual limits of the law,” said Karen Thompson, legal director of the abortion rights advocacy group Pregnancy Justice. Moore is being held in jail in Camden County, Georgia, according to jail records. The Georgia Public Defender Council’s Brunswick Judicial Circuit office, which is representing Moore, declined to comment. Moore was transported to the Southeast Georgia Health System Camden Campus in late December after complaining of abdominal pain, according to an arrest warrant. She told medical staff that she was pregnant and took misoprostol pills to terminate her pregnancy, the warrant alleges. She also allegedly took oxycodone, a painkiller. A hospital security guard allegedly told officers from the Kingsland Police Department details of Moore’s pregnancy and abortion, according to a police report. In addition to murder, police also charged Moore with possession of a Schedule II controlled substance and possession of dangerous drugs.

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Father of service member killed in Iran war said he never told Pete Hegseth to 'finish' the job

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth met privately Wednesday with the families of six service members who died in the Iran war and, in a press briefing the next morning, said the message he got was consistent and supportive. “What I heard through tears, through hugs, through strength and through unbreakable resolve was the same from family after family. They said, ‘Finish this. Honor their sacrifice. Do not waver. Do not stop until the job is done,’” Hegseth said. One of the people he met at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware was Charles Simmons. His 28-year-old son, Tech. Sgt. Tyler H. Simmons, was among the six crew members killed when their refueling plane crashed in Iraq last week. Simmons recalled his exchange differently. “I can’t speak for the other families. When he spoke to me, that was not something we talked about,” he told NBC News in an interview Thursday.

Simmons said he spoke separately to Hegseth and President Donald Trump at Dover and was grateful for the warmth that both men showed him. He and Hegseth spoke mostly about Tyler, his impressive service record and the speed with which he had advanced in the military, Simmons recalled. He said he told the defense secretary, “I understand there’s a lot of peril that goes into making decisions like this, and I just certainly hope the decisions being made are necessary.” Asked if he said anything to Hegseth or Trump about the need to keep fighting the war, Simmons said, “No, I didn’t say anything along those lines.” A 60-year-old music teacher in Columbus, Ohio, Simmons told NBC News that he has “questions” about the war and isn’t able to draw “definitive conclusions when I don’t have all the data.”

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From Bush to Obama to Trump, White House faith office persists at 25 years

Influenced by a prominent pastor and a layman who led a prison ministry, George W. Bush in his first presidential administration embarked on an ambitious goal: to partner the federal government with faith-based groups. The concept already existed during the Clinton administration through a federal welfare reform provision known as “charitable choice” that permitted religious organizations to receive government funding if they allowed their beneficiaries to receive social services without religious coercion. But Bush codified it with what was initially called the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives in the White House that included 11 Cabinet-level departments. “Government can hand out money, but it cannot put hope in a person’s heart or a sense of purpose in a person’s life,” became a Bush mantra.

In his 2010 memoir “Decision Points,” the former president credited Tony Evans, then the pastor of a predominantly Black church in Dallas, and Chuck Colson, Watergate felon-turned-evangelical advocate for prisoners, with helping him see the value of faith-based programs receiving government support. Now, 25 years later, all the Democratic and Republican presidential administrations that have followed included some form of the so-called White House faith-based office. Though some critiqued the office as inappropriate mixing of church and state, Bush argued in his memoir that “government need not fear religion” even as it “should never impose religion.” The Republican president aimed to create a nonpartisan initiative, choosing Democrats as the first two leaders appointed to direct the office: John DiIulio, a University of Pennsylvania professor, and Jim Towey, a former lawyer for Mother Teresa.

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Judge rules that R.F.K. Jr. overstepped on transgender care

A federal judge in Oregon ruled on Thursday that Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. overstepped his legal authority when he declared last December that providers of gender-transition medical treatments for minors “do not meet professionally recognized standards.” The decision, a setback for the Trump administration, gives temporary relief to hospitals, clinics and health professionals who provide such treatments. In the weeks after Mr. Kennedy issued his written declaration, the Department of Health and Human Services indicated that it would investigate institutions that continued to prescribe medication to minors for gender transitions and would potentially bar them from receiving federal Medicare and Medicaid funds. Twenty-one states, all led by Democrats, had filed a lawsuit over Mr. Kennedy’s issuing of the 12-page declaration, claiming that the statement interfered with the power of states to regulate the practice of medicine within their borders.

The declaration states that it “supersedes” statewide or national standards of care and that “sex-rejecting procedures for children and adolescents are neither safe nor effective as a treatment modality for gender dysphoria, gender incongruence, or other related disorders in minors.” The states asserted that the federal government had attempted to unilaterally establish a national medical standard, violating the Administrative Procedure Act, which requires federal agencies to act within the bounds of authority delegated to them by Congress. The federal government countered that the states had failed to show they were harmed by Mr. Kennedy’s declaration, because no individual providers of gender-transition care have been barred from receiving Medicare and Medicaid at this point. In court documents, the federal government’s lawyers characterized Mr. Kennedy’s declaration as a “non-binding policy position” and likened it to an opinion piece in a publication: “Secretary Kennedy, just like anyone else, is entitled to articulate his opinion on the safety and efficacy of emerging and controversial medical practices,” the lawyers wrote. Gender transition treatments have been banned in 27 Republican-led states, but they are legal in the states bringing the lawsuit, which include Oregon, California, Michigan, Pennsylvania and New York. In some of those states, health care institutions that fail to offer the treatments may run afoul of state anti-discrimination laws.

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Inside JB Pritzker’s power play in Illinois’ Senate primary – and what it means for a 2028 run

The Illinois state troopers’ code name for Juliana Stratton, the lieutenant governor and the new Democratic nominee for US Senate, is Sprinter. Their code name for JB Pritzker, the governor who put his political capital and upward of $10 million behind getting her there, is Believer. There was Believer outside a school on the corner of 24th Street and South Millard on a Tuesday morning that had warmed up to 19 degrees. Carefully standing on the legal side of the blue cone that marked the boundary for electioneering, Pritzker talked up his candidate to each voter who passed or the preschool teachers who popped out to ask for selfies, even after Stratton had already headed back to the car. There were many doubters of Stratton’s chances, people who cited her seeming discomfort on the campaign trail, the huge campaign donations collected by Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi and the candidacy of Rep. Robin Kelly potentially splitting the Black vote.

“A lot of people have suggested that this election tonight was personal to me,” Pritzker, his voice hoarse from the final stretch, said as he introduced Stratton. “And I’m here to tell you all: They’re right, it was.” What played out in Tuesday’s Senate primary was more complicated than Stratton’s win being good news for Pritzker, though he can walk onto a future presidential debate stage and say he stood by the person who’d supported him for years, now on track to be only the sixth Black woman in the Senate ever. With many assuming Pritzker is at most a year away from launching a 2028 presidential campaign, this race was an early demonstration of what kind of larger operation he might run, with even eager “Pritzker for President” boosters worried he and his inner circle need to sharpen up ahead of a campaign when he won’t be the front-runner on his home turf. Pritzker and his aides push back on over-indexing on the Stratton campaign, but they argue it shows what he might carry forward into a presidential campaign: loyalty to those loyal to him among fellow politicians and operatives, a willingness from a hotel fortune heir to put his money to use, strength among less reliably blue voters and success despite early chatter about underperforming.

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Lead Stories

Texas GOP lawmakers head to Washington for White House meeting

Close to 100Texas Republican state senators and representatives are scheduled to visit the White House Thursday for a meeting with members of President Donald Trump's cabinet. Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows, of Lubbock, and state Rep. Jared Patterson, of Frisco, who chairs the House Local & Consent Calendars Committee, are among the lawmakers set to attend the meeting. “It is an honor for the Texas Republican delegation to be invited to the White House to engage directly on the priorities shaping our state and nation under President Trump’s leadership," Burrows said in a statement. "Texas continues to lead with policies that expand freedom, strengthen opportunity, and drive prosperity—playing a defining role in America’s success."

The lawmakers are set to meet with are Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner and Small Business Administrator Kelly Loeffler. The White House has not said what they are planning to discuss with theTexas legislators. But a White House spokesperson said such meetings are not unusual as the administration looks at how states are "advancing President Trump’s policies." Article continues below this ad The visit comes as the Trump administration is trying to find ways to reduce costs on American families ahead of a midterm election where Republicans are defending slim majorities in the House and Senate. In the aftermath of the U.S. attack on Iran earlier this month, oil prices have jumped more than 30%, driving upnot only fuel prices but the cost of everything from food to air travel. Also among those expected to attend the White House meeting Thursday is state Sen. Bryan Hughes, of Tyler, who visited the White House in December for a summit on "stopping illegal immigration, deregulating energy, making our streets safe, ending woke extremist policies like DEI, and growing our economy," he wrote in a post on X at the time. "Texas is leading the nation on most of these issues, and this event provided some great ideas that we’ll get started on as soon as we get home to Texas," he wrote.

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Two Islamic schools approved for Texas school choice program after judge's order

The Texas Comptroller's Office has approved two Islamic private schools from North Texas to take part in the state's taxpayer-funded school choice program. The move comes one day after Houston federal judge Alfred Bennett ordered the state to consider the schools' applications – a step the schools say Texas had previously refused to take. Records from the comptroller's office, which oversees the Texas Education Freedom Accounts program, show Excellence Academy, a private Islamic school in McKinney, has now been approved to participate. By Wednesday afternoon, the school appeared on the state's website of participating schools. Ehsan Sayed, a board member and graduate of Brighter Horizons Academy in Garland, told CBS News Texas on Wednesday afternoon that they had just learned the state had also approved their school.

"It's a big relief," Sayed said. "We were excited about the vouchers program when it was first even mentioned, years ago, by the governor, because it would really give our parents and families an opportunity to help with their private education." Sayed said his school has been around since 1989 and now has 1,200 students in its K-12 program. "It's a typical private school with all the subjects, all the wonderful recreational and after-school activities, with the addition of the religious curriculum and classes. And so, as you mentioned, we've been around for over 30 years, graduated hundreds. I want to say almost 800 alumni from the school to date. Just normal and everyday Texans." Sayed and other schools and parents sued the Texas Comptroller's Office. Their attorney, Maha Ghyas, told CBS News Texas that as many as 30 Islamic schools in Texas were blocked from taking part in the application process, which she said violated the Constitution and freedom of religion. "We believe it was on the basis of the Islamic faith that the school teaches."

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Resignation of top intelligence official exposes bitter MAGA-influencer divide

When Joe Kent resigned his post this week as the White House’s chief counterterrorism officer over his opposition to President Trump’s Iran war he appeared to be out of touch with MAGA world. But Kent’s antipathy for Trump’s Iran strikes—for which he blamed Israel and its lobbyists—has chimed with one vital constituency: an isolationist faction of leading influencers and stars of the conservative podcast arena where so much MAGA discourse transpires. Chief among them is Tucker Carlson, who hailed Kent on a live podcast on Wednesday evening, saying he hoped his resignation would be the “beginning of the long overdue truth telling.” Carlson also echoed Kent’s assertion that Israel was driving U.S. foreign policy. The White House has maintained that the war has widespread backing.

For a president who has enjoyed the adulation of conservative podcasters and celebrated their electoral influence, the criticism might prove uncomfortable. Nor is Carlson the only one now clashing with the administration over the war and the U.S.’s once-sacrosanct relationship with Israel. Megyn Kelly, the onetime Fox News personality who now has her own online platform, has also questioned whether the war is “good for America”—as has Candace Owens, another popular influencer who supported Trump in 2024 and has become a vociferous critic of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “I don’t know how he cannot see how his base, his actual base, is reacting right now,” Owens said of the president during an interview on Wednesday. Kelly and Owens are among the many dissenting podcasters who invoke the late Charlie Kirk, the conservative activist who was close to Trump and credited with bringing a younger generation into the MAGA fold. Kirk argued against going to war with Iran before he was assassinated last September. Their criticism has prompted aggressive pushback by a band of pro-Israel MAGA rivals.

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Federal Reserve maintains rates and watches risks from Iran war

The Federal Reserve held rates steady for a second straight meeting, but Jerome H. Powell, the central bank’s chair, leaned into the uncertainty of the moment with the Iran war dragging on, energy prices surging and the labor market sending mixed signals. He repeatedly said it was too early to tell how the conflict would affect inflation and unemployment, although he acknowledged that the U.S. economy was still on relatively solid footing. According to projections released alongside the rate decision on Wednesday, most officials still expect at least one quarter-point cut this year even though they forecast a bumpier path to 2 percent inflation. Mr. Powell, downplaying how informative these forecasts are at the moment, noted that several policymakers said that if there were ever a meeting to skip releasing economic projections, “this would be a good one, because we just don’t know.”

The high degree of uncertainty from the war only adds to the complicated situation the Fed finds itself in as it contends with its goals of low, stable inflation and a healthy labor market now in tension with one another. “We are balancing these two goals in a situation where the risks to the labor market are to the downside, which would call for lower rates, and the risks to inflation are to the upside, which would call for higher rates, or not cutting anyway,” he said. Mr. Powell acknowledged that no policy action was off the table, and suggested there was still a path to cut so long as some progress was made on reducing inflation. “If we don’t see that progress, then you won’t see the rate cut,” he said. Mr. Powell, whose term as chair ends on May 15, provided some details about his future at the Fed. If no chair is confirmed before then, he said he would stay in the top job on a temporary basis. Though he can technically stay on as a governor until 2028, Mr. Powell said he would not leave the central bank so long as the Justice Department’s criminal investigation into renovations of the Fed’s headquarters continued. Mr. Powell declined to stay whether he would stay if the investigation was dropped.

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State Stories

Texas-led Congressional ‘Sharia Free America’ caucus membership is surging

Republicans in Congress are engaging in increasingly extreme anti-Muslim rhetoric, with little pushback from their own leadership. If anything, more lawmakers are seeking to join the chorus. But some in the party are beginning to wonder, is a renewed crusade against “Sharia law” actually what Republican voters are demanding? Since its founding in December, the Sharia Free America Caucus has ballooned in size from its two co-founders to 55 members as of this week. More are expected to join. The membership includes Rep. Andy Ogles, who recently said Muslims “don’t belong in American society.” Rep. Randy Fine, who said he’d choose dogs over Muslims, is a member, too. The caucus drew early support from Sen. Tommy Tuberville, who recently shared a photo of New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani alongside one of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and wrote that “the enemy is inside the gates.”

Membership has grown in recent months to include more mainstream Republican lawmakers like Reps. Monica De La Cruz, who is in a vulnerable seat this midterm cycle, and Mike Kennedy, who isn’t known for having a loud online presence. The founders of the caucus said the group is dedicated “to counter the alarming rise of Sharia in the United States.” “A lot of people have a heightened awareness that, look, those that are that radicalized, that’s problematic,” Rep. Randy Weber of Texas, who told NOTUS he’s joining the caucus in the coming days, said. “We’re trying to make sure we’re drawing attention to it, and we’re trying to prevent it.” “Actually, maybe there’s a third thing that we’re gonna do: Punish those who perpetrate that kind of evil on us. Those three things,” Weber continued. “No Sharia law. ’Cause I don’t know how much you know about Sharia law, but they can be pretty rough on the ladies.” Some lawmakers focused on Sharia law, however, admit their attention is outpacing their constituents’ concern, framing the movement as being more about “prevention” than any issue at hand. While multiple lawmakers told NOTUS they do hear from constituents about it, few were able to point to a specific situation driving that outreach.

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Police: Former judge Baird crashed car, showed signs of intoxication

Veteran Austin defense attorney and former judge Charlie Baird was arrested Tuesday night on a charge of driving while intoxicated after allegedly causing a crash in South Austin, according to a police affidavit. Baird, 71, was booked into the Travis County Jail at 12:59 a.m. Wednesday and later released on a $3,000 bond, jail records show. According to the affidavit, Austin police pulled Baird over around 10:30 p.m. after he crashed his vehicle into another car while attempting to turn left onto Menchaca Road from Slaughter Lane. Investigators allege Baird failed to yield to a driver crossing Menchaca, causing the collision.

Before the crash, a 911 caller reported that a driver matching Baird’s description was traveling on the wrong side of the road, ran a red light and struck curbs, the affidavit states. The arresting officer wrote that Baird showed multiple signs of intoxication, including a strong odor of alcohol, watery and glassy eyes and difficulty standing without assistance. The officer also noted that Baird “had no recollection of being involved in a collision,” according to the affidavit. “I just had too much to drink at my crawfish eatery,” Baird said. “Everyone’s safe, no one got hurt and we’re just going to go through the process from here.” Baird said he had been at Crawfish ATX in South Austin before being pulled over. He said he declined to provide a breath sample and that officers obtained a blood sample to test his blood alcohol level. He said he has not received the results. Baird declined to comment on the affidavit’s allegations and said he has not decided whether he will represent himself. Baird is a longtime figure in Texas criminal law. He served on the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals from 1991 to 1999 and later as judge of the 299th Criminal District Court in Travis County from 2006 to 2010. Since leaving the bench, he has worked as a criminal defense attorney in Austin and has frequently appeared in local media as a legal analyst. As a trial judge, he was known for emphasizing rehabilitation and alternative sentencing and presided over proceedings that led to the posthumous exoneration of Tim Cole.

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Texas Education Agency asks judge to dismiss suit alleging violation of educators’ free speech rights

Attorneys for the Texas Education Agency asked a federal judge Monday to dismiss a lawsuit accusing the agency – and its top leader – of weaponizing their investigative authority to silence educators’ protected speech. The lawsuit was filed earlier this year by the Texas branch of the American Federation of Teachers, after the TEA launched investigations into hundreds of complaints accusing educators of making “inappropriate” social media posts about the shooting death of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk. In the latest filing, attorneys for the agency said a letter Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath sent to every superintendent in the state two days after Kirk’s death, instructing them to report educators who made “inappropriate” comments about Kirk, was taken out of context by the teachers’ union.

Morath said in the letter that the agency was made aware of some educators posting and sharing “reprehensible and inappropriate” content about Kirk, and told superintendents that any additional instances of “inappropriate content” should be reported to the agency. Morath later added educators found to have incited violence with their comments could face losing their teaching certification. Texas AFT said in its lawsuit that the investigations into educators were unlawful and that Morath’s letter had a “chilling effect” on its members’ political speech and presented a First Amendment concern. “[Morath] simply asked for referrals for investigation of anything the superintendents believed was not within the ethical boundaries for a public-school teacher of Texas’s children to publish to the world. Nothing more, nothing less,” Morath’s attorneys wrote in the filing. KXAN reached out to TEA for additional comments on the motion. A TEA spokesperson said “it can’t comment on pending litigation.”

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The fight to stay home: How a Texas lawsuit could upend disability care

In his homeschool curriculum, 12-year-old Luke Lunday is learning about Section 504, a cornerstone of disability rights. Championed by disability rights activist Judy Heumann, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act is responsible for what’s known as the integration mandate, which requires that people with disabilities have access to services in their homes and communities, rather than an institution. It enables Luke, who has a rare genetic disorder and requires the daily aid of a nurse, to live at his Trophy Club home with his parents. A lawsuit filed by the state of Texas is challenging this cornerstone of disability rights; advocates say it could eliminate the kinds of services that people like Luke rely on for basic needs.

The end result of the suit, disability advocates say, is that people with disabilities could be at greater risk of being institutionalized, and might lose the right to receive services in their homes and communities. In its lawsuit, Texas v. Kennedy, Texas argues that updated rules for Section 504 are unconstitutional, and that the integration mandate “exceeds statutory authority and conflicts with federal law.” The state argues that the updated rule “creates a regime that is impossible for any State to fully comply with.” Disability rights groups throughout the country have voiced their opposition to the lawsuit. The Arc of Texas, which advocates for Texans with intellectual and developmental disabilities, sent a letter to Attorney General Ken Paxton in February asking him to withdraw from the suit. The Attorney General’s Office did not respond to a request for comment. “We have expectations about [people with disabilities] living in the community, being part of the community, having supports,” said Claudia Center, the legal director for the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund. “This is an attack on that whole foundational understanding.”

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Texas officials are watching hotel demand closely as the World Cup kickoff approaches in three months.

Officials from the Arlington Convention and Visitors Bureau confirmed Wednesday that FIFA has dropped some rooms from its reserved hotel blocks ahead of the 2026 World Cup. Brent DeRaad, President & CEO of Arlington CVB, told NBC 5 he is still optimistic that the city's hotels "will fare well with FIFA groups and individual travelers." “Group room blocks are preferable due to a longer length of stay, but our hotels will adjust as needed to fill their rooms with FIFA fans," DeRaad said in a statement. Arlington is not the only host city seeing FIFA return room inventory.

Hoteliers in the San Francisco area reported "very lackluster" demand for reserved room blocks, according to Forbes. Demand for hotel room space is one of several indicators tourism officials in North Texas say they are tracking closely. Officials with Visit Dallas say they are seeing "encouraging demand" for hotels so far, with the average daily rate for rooms in June and July up 46% and 47%, respectively, compared to the same time in 2025. Additionally, international bookings into DFW International and Dallas Love Field are up more than 100%, officials say, reflecting that travelers are starting to plan for the World Cup. "We expect Dallas hotel performance to grow as the tournament approaches, as the majority of bookings will likely occur much closer to the event once teams, match-ups and ticket allocations are finalized," a spokesperson said. Arlington hosts its first of nine matches on June 14 at AT&T Stadium, renamed Dallas Stadium during the World Cup due to corporate sponsorship considerations. Tourism officials in Frisco say they are tracking demand closely too. A spokesperson for Visit Frisco said the officials there said two additional World Cup ticket allotments are still to come, and the city will learn which team will call FC Dallas stadium home as Team Base Camp on March 31. "We are optimistic that this will induce increased room demand," Kelly Walker with Visit Frisco said.

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Was Texas key to the Live Nation-Ticketmaster illegal monopoly settlement?

The criticism began immediately after the Justice Department announced terms of the settlement it had reached with with entertainment behemoth Live Nation and its Ticketmaster subsidiary, which it had accused of illegally monopolizing the live entertainment market. From Democratic senators to industry insiders, detractors came down hard on the deal. The federal government since 2024 had been seeking the breakup of what it calls a monopoly but came up short. Instead, the agreement would make Live Nation divest its assets in 13 amphitheaters — including the Germania Insurance Amphitheater in Austin. It would allow any ticketing company to operate and ticket at those 13 venues, create a $281 million settlement fund for states and, most importantly, force the end of exclusive ticketing deals with hundreds of other venues.

But while the federal government may be satisfied, many states’ attorneys general are not and the nearly two-year-old trial resumed Monday in a Manhattan courtroom. About 30 states are continuing the fight on their own to break up the company from Ticketmaster, which controls 80% of major concert venues’ primary ticketing. Texas isn’t among them. Though it joined the Justice Department suit in 2024, it now is among a handful of states that have reportedly expressed concerns about the agreement but are assessing options. Ironically, Texas may have been where the DOJ sought to leverage its power to flip a key witness — and where things fell apart. For now, though, if federal Judge Arun Subramanian approves the deal with the Justice Department, it will enter into a consent decree that the court will enforce. At that point, Live Nation will have 30 days to divest its interests in the 13 amphitheaters and end exclusive deals for Ticketmaster for the hundreds of other venues nationwide. It would be the third time since 2010 that antitrust enforcers have entered into a deal with Live Nation over its conduct in the live events market.

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United Methodist Church and SMU resolve legal dispute

United Methodist leaders and Southern Methodist University announced an agreement March 18 that ends their long-simmering legal dispute over the university’s ties to the denomination. Under the agreement, SMU has filed amended and restated articles of incorporation that provide clarity around its governance — and most critically, preserve its historic and ongoing relationship with the denomination’s South Central Jurisdictional Conference. Both institutions also affirm their shared commitment to the university’s mission and jointly agree to dismiss pending litigation.

“The board of trustees, the university, and I are pleased we have reconciled with the SCJC, and we very much look forward to a collaborative and enhanced relationship into the future,” Jay C. Hartzell, SMU’s president, said in a joint statement with the jurisdictional conference. He began his tenure at SMU last year when the lawsuit was already pending. The Rev. Derrek Belase, chair of the South Central Jurisdictional Conference’s Mission Council, offered a similar sentiment. The Mission Council — consisting of bishops, other clergy and lay people — makes decisions about the operations of the jurisdiction between conference meetings. “I am grateful for the spirit of collaboration shown throughout this process, and especially for the thoughtful engagement of President (Jay) Hartzell and Provost Rachel Davis Mersey as we worked toward this agreement,” Belase said. “These conversations have not only helped us address important matters but have allowed us to begin imagining what the future of this relationship can look like.”

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Texas can begin enforcing drag ban amid ongoing lawsuit

A Texas law banning some drag performances in public spaces goes into effect today, though a lawsuit challenging it is ongoing. State lawmakers passed Senate Bill 12 in 2023, restricting “sexually oriented performances” in public spaces or in front of children. A federal court declared the law unconstitutional, but after a lengthy court battle an appeals court last month ruled the state can enforce it. Brian Klosterboer, an attorney with the ACLU of Texas, which brought the lawsuit, said the law's wording is confusing. “That is still unconstitutionally vague and problematic because what is considered sexual or erotic is often in the eye of the beholder,” he said. According to Klosterboer, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled family-friendly drag shows such as the Woodlands Pride and Abilene Pride Alliance – the two plaintiffs in the case – are not affected by SB12.

SB12 is not limited to drag performance but any performance that someone can deem sexual, he said. “From a Shakespeare play to the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders, this could have a dramatic and chilling effect on the performing arts all across Texas,” Klosterboer said. The penalties for an individual performer can be a year of jail time with a fine up to $2,000. Venues that host these shows can face a fine up to $10,000. According to the ACLU of Texas, “criminal penalties also do not apply on public property if the performance is “at a time, in a place, and in a manner that could [not] reasonably be expected to be viewed by a child.” Klosterboer said many businesses are already canceling performances because of fear of inadvertently violating the law and that the fines could be catastrophic. Supporters of SB12, including Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, have said it’s a “major victory for Texas kids.” Critics say it portrays all drag performances as sexual or obscene. Klosterboer said the ACLU will continue the case in court. “We’re hopeful that we can get future court decisions that’ll protect even more types of drag shows,” Klosterboer said. “All of those very family-friendly, PG drag shows can still go forward.”

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Little news about Dallas Mavs, Stars in City Hall emails

Widespread speculation has tied Dallas City Hall’s future to new arena plans for the Dallas Mavericks, but a trove of city emails over the past year shows virtually no discussion linking the downtown site to the Mavericks or Stars. Instead, more than 5,000 pages of messages reviewed by The Dallas Morning News largely reflect routine outreach, event invites and one pointed warning from City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert to the Stars hockey team over lease disputes. City leaders are weighing whether to repair, relocate or redevelop the aging I.M. Pei–designed City Hall, a decision with long-term implications for downtown. Consultants estimate $329 million in near-term repairs and more than $1 billion over 20 years to fully modernize the building. At the same time, the Mavericks are exploring sites for a new arena ahead of their 2031 lease expiration at the American Airlines Center, including downtown. That overlap has stirred talk that City Hall could become part of a larger redevelopment deal.

By signing up, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. The emails contain no detailed exchanges about arena negotiations, no plans tying a new venue to the City Hall site and no evidence of internal talks about demolishing the building for that purpose. Representatives for Tolbert didn’t respond to a request for comment. The Mavs, in a statement, said the team has been “exploring a long-term arena solution in Dallas” and has met with the city manager’s office to “evaluate opportunities and gather information.” A Stars spokesman on Wednesday declined to comment. Sparse contact with the Mavericks: The only direct touchpoints between City Hall leadership and the Mavericks appear in two undated calendar-style emails referencing a meeting and a lunch between Tolbert and Mavericks CEO Rick Welts. Neither includes an agenda or follow-up. The meeting invite also was also sent to Mark Boekenheide, senior vice president of global real estate development for Las Vegas Sands Corp. The company is owned by the same family that owns the Dallas Mavericks. Another email from a Mavericks official to Tolbert last year says the city manager and Welts had a meeting set for May 8. But it’s unclear if that meeting happened or is one of the ones referenced in the email invites.

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Dallas Mavericks CEO seeking 50 acres downtown for arena, but ‘time is not on our side’

Mavericks CEO Rick Welts says the team still wants a downtown arena, but with no land, no talks with City Hall and no design, the project remains in its earliest stages. The updates came during an interview with former Mayor Tom Leppert and Kyle Waldrep on the Intersections podcast released online this week. Among the highlights: Welts said the team needs roughly 50 acres, and “right now there aren’t 50 acres available downtown,” a limitation that effectively narrows the field for any urban site.

While he reiterated that downtown would be ideal, he emphasized it “is not the only place in Dallas we can build,” keeping options outside the core in play. The team previously has identified the former Valley View Mall site as a possibility. The Mavs lease on their current home, American Airlines Center, runs through 2031. For all the attention on a potential City Hall redevelopment, Welts said the Mavericks have not even begun substantive talks with the city. “We haven’t even been able to talk to the city about what that deal would look like,” he said, adding that the arena itself has not yet been designed, another sign the effort is still conceptual. Welts described a broader mixed-use vision for any 50-acre site, anchored by a new arena, team headquarters and a practice facility. Beyond that, he pointed to other elements tied to the development, including a training complex that “probably would include a medical facility run by a medical company you’re very familiar with.” He also cited interest from Live Nation in building a 4,000- to 5,000-seat venue and in having a four-star hotel connected to the arena so performers and players could move between the two without leaving the building. Welts said dense, urban locations deliver the greatest payoff, saying such projects “are incredibly successful in a dense environment” and can serve as a catalyst for surrounding development. But he also signaled urgency, noting “time is not on our side.” He said that while a downtown site like City Hall is “a very viable option,” the team has no control over it and cannot negotiate unless it becomes available.

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Gov. Abbott says Texas will stop observing César Chávez Day amid abuse allegations

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott says the state will no longer observe César Chávez Day, citing newly surfaced allegations of sexual abuse against the late labor leader. In a social media post on Wednesday, Abbott said he has directed state agency heads to stop observing the March 31 holiday, which honors the civil rights leader’s role in organizing farmworkers and advocating for labor protections. The holiday is recognized as a federal commemorative holiday and is observed in several states, including Texas. Abbott said he plans to work with lawmakers to remove it from state law “altogether” during the Texas Legislature’s next session in 2027.

“Reports of the horrific and widely acknowledged sexual assault allegations against Cesar Chavez rightfully dismantle the myth of this progressive hero and undermine the narrative that elevated Chavez as a figure worthy of official state celebration,” Abbott said Wednesday. The move follows recent reporting by The New York Times that outlined years of alleged sexual harassment and abuse tied to Chávez, including allegations involving two minors. The allegations have already sparked backlash across Texas, with organizers canceling César Chávez Day events in cities like Houston, San Antonio and Austin. Some advocates and officials have also raised the possibility of renaming streets across the state that bear his name.

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FEMA awards $65 million to Houston for public safety ahead of FIFA World Cup

Three weeks after the city's host committee for the FIFA World Cup signed onto a letter expressing concern about possible delays in funding, Houston was awarded $65 million in federal dollars this week to cover public safety initiatives tied to the massive sporting event. Mayor John Whitmire's office confirmed the award to Houston Public Media on Wednesday, when the Federal Emergency Management Agency announced $625 million in public safety grants for the 11 host cities across the U.S. A spokesperson for Whitmire said the approximately $65 million for Houston will be used for overtime, personnel, technology and equipment for the police and fire departments, as well as "regional law enforcement agencies working for the FIFA World Cup."

In late February, Politico reported host cities penned a letter to the White House's FIFA task force emphasizing "the importance of finalizing and resolving any administrative concerns regarding the distribution of FIFA World Cup security grants" amid the ongoing partial government shutdown. A spokesperson for Houston's host committee confirmed local officials signed onto the letter but otherwise did not immediately comment on the situation. A spokesperson for the White House FIFA task force said, in a statement to Houston Public Media, "Host cities have received guidance and are receiving support from FEMA throughout the reimbursement process." In a press release, FEMA senior official Karen Evans said, "The 2026 FIFA World Cup is expected to be the largest sporting event in history, so it must also be the most secure." According to Governor Greg Abbott's office — which will oversee the grant program — the state is slated to receive $116 million from FEMA, on top of a previously awarded $30 million to address threats posed by drones. The first match in Houston between Germany and Curaçao kicks off on June 14. On the same day, the Netherlands and Japan will face off in Dallas. The Houston Police Department expects about half a million people from the Netherlands, Germany, Portugal, Curaçao, Uzbekistan, Cabo Verde, Saudi Arabia and other countries to flood the city in June and July.

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The present danger of foster care in North Texas

After observing foster-kid caseworkers—often inadequately trained, overwhelmed, and tardy to proceedings—during about 40 court hearings in Dallas County this month, it was no surprise the state acknowledged in a court filing Monday that children are in peril. Since the nonprofit Empower won the contract in February 2023 to provide case management services for nine local counties, including Dallas and Collin, its systemic failures have created what the legal filing calls “an imminent danger to the children under conservatorship.” The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services cites the deaths of two children and hospitalization of a third as among the reasons for a court to appoint an outside receiver to oversee Empower’s work on behalf of kids living in foster care in those counties. According to the filing, the children who died were three weeks old and two months old; the age of the hospitalized juvenile was not disclosed, nor were the counties where the incidents occurred.

No cases of the magnitude detailed by the state came to light during my time in a Dallas County courtroom. But in at least half of the proceedings I watched, Empower fell short of meeting educational, medical, or therapeutic needs and of offering appropriate services to the children’s caregivers, whether that be a foster home or kinship placement. Small but pernicious problems emerged each day I sat in Judge Delia Gonzales’ Child Protection and Permanency Courtat the George Allen Courts Building in downtown Dallas. Gonzales’ questions to caseworkers revealed months-long gaps without action on vital items such as securing birth certificates or foster-home licenses. Her queries about the status of crucial paperwork led to prolonged silences as caseworkers and their supervisors searched their phones for records. Hearings often turned into tutorials delivered by the judge to Empower employees on how to process forms or where to secure benefits. Other times Gonzales and her staff tried to troubleshoot problems that should have been resolved before the court date. When all else failed, the judge issued formal orders to ensure a caseworker provided options for basic services that families had repeatedly asked the contractor to help with. She ruled several times that “no reasonable effort” had been made on a case, which can delay Empower’s access to federal funds.

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National Stories

Mullin's testimony is giving new life to DHS shutdown talks

Sen. Markwayne Mullin, President Donald Trump’s nominee to head the Department of Homeland Security, pledged at his confirmation hearing on Wednesday that DHS would revert to the practice of requiring judicial warrants for Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to enter homes and businesses under his leadership. That’s a change from outgoing DHS Secretary Kristi Noem’s tenure and fulfills a key demand from Democrats, who remain in talks with the White House to reopen DHS. The shutdown entered a second month with little sign of movement. Democrats continue to insist that reforms of ICE and Customs and Border Patrol be included in any funding bill to reopen the agency. “I have made it very clear to the staff,” Mullin said, “that a judicial warrant will be used to go into houses or to place of businesses unless we are pursuing someone who enters into that place. I have not minced words with that and I haven’t changed my opinion on that.”

But Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal, who asked Mullin for his stance on the use of warrants during the hearing, told NOTUS that change isn’t likely to be enough to convince his party to shift their position on the shutdown. Mullin and the White House would have to fulfill the rest of the Democrats’ demands, which include prohibiting ICE officers from wearing masks and an end to roving patrols, for Blumenthal to vote to fund the agency, he said. He added that he expected the rest of the caucus to agree. Any DHS funding bill needs 60 votes, mandating some bipartisan support. “It’s one of the reforms that we’re seeking but by no means all of the basic changes in policy and practices that are necessary for this agency to be lawful,” Blumenthal said, adding he “doesn’t know” if Mullin will help negotiations proceed at a faster pace. A senior White House official said that Mullin’s stance on judicial warrants is proof that he will lead the department differently than Noem, and the shift on the issue was blessed by the White House itself.

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Are College Republicans OK?

Over the past few weeks, a growing contingent of far-right campus Republicans have encountered pushback to their extremist views—including from other conservative students. Earlier this month, The Miami Herald exposed hundreds of racist, homophobic, sexist and antisemitic messages written by some college Republicans at Florida International University in a group chat they referred to as “Nazi Heaven.” The Florida Federation of College Republicans (FFCR)—a moderate organization affiliated with the National Federation of College Republicans—condemned the messages as “sickening, abhorrent and completely unacceptable” and said “such rhetoric does not reflect the values of the party.”

Last week, a group called the Georgetown University College Republicans wrote in a now-deleted post on X that “Muslims have no place in American society. Their religion is incompatible with our Christian Nation.” The university is investigating; leaders of the group said the post was made without their permission and “was inconsistent with the values of our organization.” And last Saturday, the University of Florida announced plans to deactivate the UF College Republicans at the request of the FFCR, which alerted university officials to a 2025 picture of a UF College Republicans member making a Nazi salute. In a statement, the university said it “emphatically supported its Jewish community and remains committed to preventing and addressing antisemitism and other forms of discrimination.” But the UF College Republicans wrote on X that because they’re not affiliated with the FFCR—they are instead a member of the separate College Republicans of America—the state organization doesn’t have the authority to deactivate the group, and they accused the entity of a pattern of lying “to silence christian [sic] conservative groups on campus.” On Monday, the UF College Republicans filed a lawsuit against the university, alleging that it violated the club’s First Amendment rights and engaged in “viewpoint discrimination” when it deactivated the club “to silence” and “chill its future speech.”

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Intel chief Gabbard declines to say if Iran posed an 'imminent threat' to U.S.

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard declined to say if Iran’s nuclear program presented an “imminent threat,” deflecting questions from lawmakers about whether U.S. intelligence backed up White House statements on the rationale for starting the war. Gabbard’s congressional testimony Wednesday at an annual hearing on worldwide threats came a day after a top deputy, Joe Kent, resigned in protest over the Iran war, saying that the Tehran regime posed no imminent threat and the joint U.S.-Israeli air campaign was unnecessary. Kent and Gabbard, both military veterans, had found political common ground over their opposition to foreign military interventions and “regime change” wars like Iraq and Afghanistan. Gabbard has not publicly endorsed the decision to go to war, staying mostly silent on the U.S.-Israeli air campaign that began on Feb. 28.

Her appearance before the Senate Intelligence Committee took place as the war entered its third week, with no clear end in sight. The White House has offered shifting rationales for launching the offensive, and Iran has retaliated, essentially shutting down a critical passageway for commercial shipping. The conflict has triggered a spike in gas prices, creating political problems for President Donald Trump at home ahead of the congressional midterm elections in November. Gabbard's reluctance to offer a full-throated endorsement of the president’s decision to wage war on Iran, unlike other Cabinet officials, raised fresh questions about her standing in the administration. In her opening statement, Gabbard omitted language included in her written remarks saying that Iran had not tried to rebuild its uranium enrichment capability after U.S. air strikes in June. “Iran’s nuclear enrichment program was obliterated. There has been no efforts since then to try to rebuild their enrichment capability,” her prepared remarks read, according to her written statement posted on the Senate Intelligence Committee’s website. That assessment appeared to contradict Trump, who has said Iran was working to rebuild its nuclear program.

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FBI investigating Kent over allegedly leaking classified information

The FBI is investigating Joe Kent, the former director of the National Counterterrorism Center, who resigned earlier this week over opposition to the U.S. ongoing war with Iran, over allegedly leaking classified information, The Hill’s sister network confirmed on Wednesday. The agency’s probe was underway before Kent, a top aide to Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, announced his resignation from the post on Tuesday, arguing that Iran did not pose an imminent threat to the U.S. and urging President Trump to change course regarding the Middle East conflict, a source told NewsNation. The FBI declined to comment when reached by The Hill.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt denounced Kent’s comments around the decision to launch strikes against Iran on Feb. 28 as “insulting and laughable.” “I always thought he was a nice guy, but I always thought he was weak on security, very weak,” Trump told reporters on Tuesday. “When I read his statement I realized it’s a good thing that he’s out, because he said Iran is not a threat.” Semafor first reported on the existence of the probe into Kent, who on Wednesday sat for an interview with right-wing pundit Tucker Carlson, who similarly has voiced opposition to the U.S.’s war against Iran. “The Israelis drove the decision to take this action,” Kent told Carlson. “Which we knew would set off a series of events, meaning the Iranians would retaliate.” The president, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other top U.S. officials have argued that hitting Iran was necessary because Tehran posed an imminent threat to American national security. “That just simply did not exist,” Kent told Carlson during the wide-ranging interview.

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Detained pregnant people are entitled to full medical care. They say it’s not happening.

Amanda Isabel Fanego Cardoso was about 11 weeks pregnant when she was detained last September, then transferred between five immigration facilities over several months. Because her medical care was so limited, she said, it was only after her release this February that she learned she had developed potentially life threatening pregnancy-related conditions. Cecil Elvir-Quinonez was about eight weeks pregnant and still breastfeeding her 5-month-old when she was detained in January. She received emergency room care on January 6 after experiencing heavy bleeding and cramps in federal custody. The next day, she was transferred to a detention facility in Louisiana, where, though her bleeding continued, she received no follow-up medical attention or prenatal visits, according to her family. A pregnant woman in Minnesota was pulled over by immigration officials on her way to work in January. While detained, she developed abdominal pain, according to her lawyer. She, her husband and two children were sent to a Texas detention facility that did not have an OBGYN on staff.

Government detention standards say that when pregnant people are detained, they should receive comprehensive health care, including routine prenatal visits, specialized follow-ups if needed, prenatal vitamins and proper nutrition and exercise. But court documents and interviews with pregnant detainees and immigration attorneys across the country paint a different picture: Pregnant people in detention facilities say they are receiving sporadic medical visits and slow or limited medical care even when they experience bleeding, pain and other complications that could threaten their pregnancies. Some who have received medical visits say they were not given test results. Allegations of improper medical care for pregnant people are piling up. The 19th has spoken to two women who were pregnant while detained and four attorneys whose clients were pregnant while detained, and reviewed court records related to another similar case from last summer. A new report suggests that lack of medical care is endangering pregnant immigrants, who suffer complications in detention and do not receive timely treatment. For a report published Wednesday from two advocacy groups, the Women’s Refugee Commission and Physicians for Human Rights, researchers traveled to Honduras to spend a week interviewing recently deported people, including three women who were “visibly pregnant” and four who said they were recently postpartum.

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After Trump’s Interior Secretary transferred thousands of staff to his office, chaos followed, former workers say

One year into President Donald Trump’s second term, the Department of the Interior is in turmoil, hobbling many of the agencies overseeing the country’s public lands and waters. Not only has Interior lost some 11,000 employees, or more than 17 percent of its workforce, it is also reeling from a drastic centralization of personnel: Last May, almost 5,500 staff from the department’s component agencies were moved into the office of the Interior secretary, Doug Burgum. That shift has created a hostile work culture, made staff less efficient and broken important lines of communication, former Interior employees say. According to an Inside Climate News analysis of federal workforce data released by the Office of Personnel Management, almost 1,800 workers have left Burgum’s office since the reorganization—the vast majority opting to retire or quit.

As a whole, the federal workforce shrank by about 12 percent in the first year of the second Trump administration. Some parts of the government, such as the Environmental Protection Agency, which shed 24 percent of its employees, have suffered bigger losses. But Burgum’s reorganization is unique, with wide ripple effects. Under an order signed on April 17, Burgum confirmed plans to absorb administrative staff from Interior’s component agencies, including workers responsible for human resources, training, information technology, contracting and communications. The Inside Climate News analysis shows sudden staff losses in the next month at agencies including the Bureau of Reclamation; the U.S. Geological Survey; the Bureau of Land Management; the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement; and the Fish and Wildlife Service that correspond to the swelling of Burgum’s own staff. The stated goal was efficiency. “This unification effort will accelerate technology advancements and enhance the Department’s ability to deliver on our core mission,” Burgum’s order said. But Interior staff reorganized into Burgum’s office who later left say they encountered a hostile, inefficient work culture designed to push people out. Russell Vought, the powerful director of the federal Office of Management and Budget, said in a private speech between Trump’s two terms that “we want the bureaucrats to be traumatically affected” by going to work, ProPublica reported in 2024.

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Lead Stories

No Trump endorsement for Cornyn or Paxton in Texas Senate race as deadline passes

President Trump let a key filing deadline pass on Tuesday without endorsing a candidate in Texas’ Senate race, locking in a high-stakes Republican runoff between the incumbent, John Cornyn, and the state’s attorney general, Ken Paxton. Mr. Trump could still offer an endorsement at any time, but his decision not to before the deadline for candidates to formally drop out of the race means both Mr. Cornyn and Mr. Paxton will be on the next ballot even if one of them withdraws at a later date. It also means both will continue to duke it out in what has already been a highly personal, historically expensive Senate race. Who the president endorses, and when he makes that announcement, may now depend on the fate of the SAVE America Act, the sweeping voter ID bill being considered by the Senate. Mr. Trump is not expected to make a call in the race before debate on the bill is over.

The runoff election is May 26. The deadline for Republican candidates to remove their names from the runoff ballot was Tuesday at 5 p.m. Central time. As of Tuesday evening, both Mr. Cornyn and Mr. Paxton remained on the ballot, their campaigns said. After neither secured a majority in the primary election on March 3, Mr. Cornyn and Mr. Paxton vied for the president’s approval. The day after the primary election, the president pledged to endorse in the race “soon.” News reports surfaced that he was likely to throw his support to Mr. Cornyn, but so far nothing has swayed Mr. Trump to back either man officially. Mr. Trump spent Tuesday railing against NATO allies and calling for the passage of the SAVE America Act on social media. At the White House, he participated in St. Patrick’s Day celebrations. He did not weigh in publicly on the Senate race.

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Brendan Carr’s ‘equal time’ curveball crashes the midterms

The midterm elections that could upend the final years of Donald Trump’s presidency face a new complication — his Federal Communications Commission chair. Brendan Carr’s attempt to resurrect enforcement of the FCC’s nearly century-old “equal time” rule has already set off a chain reaction that kept Stephen Colbert’s interview with Texas Democrat James Talarico off the air in February. But the rule’s impact on elections could be even more sweeping, media law experts and campaign veterans of both parties told POLITICO, after Carr warned of potential penalties for television stations that fail to be even-handed in offering airtime to political candidates. One result, some fear, could be the virtual banishing of candidate interviews from broadcast TV talk shows.

Democrats said they expect their candidates to take the immediate brunt if the FCC’s pressure causes TV programs to avoid interviews that could cause trouble. Some Republicans, meanwhile, worry that a future Democratic-led FCC will turn the same rules against one of the GOP’s longtime media bastions: conservative talk radio. For Democrats, concerns about Carr’s tactics are heightened by his openly combative pro-Trump persona, history of launching investigations of liberal-leaning programs and repeated threats to pull the licenses of outlets he accuses of “distorting” the news — a threat he revived over the weekend while reposting Trump’s complaints about news coverage of the war in Iran. Carr’s efforts have gotten praise from Trump, who wrote Sunday night that he was “thrilled” to see his FCC chair “looking at the licenses of some of these Corrupt and Highly Unpatriotic ‘News’ Organizations.” While Carr’s remarks on war coverage were driving headlines last weekend, his efforts to reimpose enforcement of the commission’s equal time rules threaten to have a more tangible effect on the interviews that millions of viewers see during the midterm campaign.

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New NRCC report: The Latino vote could crush Republicans, and a House win goes through Texas.

House Republicans are very aware that the same Latino voters who propelled the GOP to the majority in 2024 could desert them this fall. Swing districts with large Latino populations in Texas, Florida, Arizona and California will determine control of the House. Republicans made serious inroads last cycle with these voters, especially among Hispanic men. GOP candidates were buoyed by cost-of-living concerns and the appeal of President Donald Trump on the ballot. But the Latino voting bloc swings widely between the two parties, and the 2024 election feels like a lifetime ago. Trump is implementing mass deportations targeting many Hispanic communities, prices remain stubbornly high and the job market is showing weakness.

Now, some in the GOP are growing nervous that these same voters could revert back to Democrats — or just stay home. Recent elections have given Democrats hope, too. In November, Democratic candidates won the New Jersey and Virginia gubernatorial elections, two states with significant Latino populations. “Our Hispanic voters didn’t show up,” NRCC Chair Richard Hudson acknowledged in an interview during the House GOP retreat last week. Speaker Mike Johnson was even more blunt: “We got a little hiccup with some of the Hispanic, Latino voters because some of the immigration enforcement was viewed to be overzealous.” Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar (R-Fla.) has been loudly sounding the alarm that Trump’s deportation regime is unpopular among her majority-Latino Miami-area seat. Plus, Democrats flipped the Miami mayor’s seat for the first time since 1997. More recently, robust turnout from Latinos in the Texas Senate Democratic primary and a special election upset excited Democrats. Those Texas results even led House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries to brag that Republicans went too far and ended up drawing a “dummymander” in the Lone Star State. Republicans take notice. At a House GOP Conference meeting on Tuesday, Hudson presented polling with a concerning message — Hispanic voters weren’t aware of the One Big Beautiful Bill, Republicans’ most important legislative achievement.

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State Stories

Federal judge extends school voucher application window for Texas families

Texas parents have an additional two weeks to apply for the state’s new school voucher program after a federal judge in Houston extended the application deadline on Tuesday just hours before the window was set to close. The extension comes after no Islamic schools in Texas were approved for the program while thousands of others schools have been. U.S. District Judge Alfred Bennett called that fact “troubling” before issuing a temporary restraining order to extend the window. The new deadline to apply for the state voucher program is March 31. Several Islamic schools in Texas are suing Comptroller Kelly Hancock, claiming the state blocked Islamic schools from the $1 billion private school voucher program because of their religion.

Eric Hudson, an attorney for those suing the state, said Tuesday that the goal of his clients was to ensure the appliction window did not block parents from the Texas Education Freedom Accounts as a lottery system decides which families receive a school voucher. Texas lawmakers started the voucher program last year to assist families in paying for private and religious education. Households can receive up to $2,000 for a homeschooled student, $10,500 for private school, and $30,000 for students who have a disability. More than 200,000 Texas families have applied for the vouchers, as of Tuesday. The lottery system will decide how to spread the funds, but will prioritize families who classify as low income. Earlier this year, the Council on American-Islamic Relations’ Texas chapter sent a letter to the Comptroller and called on the community to urge Attorney General Ken Paxton to end the exclusion of Muslim families in the school voucher program. On Tuesday, CAIR-Texas issued a statement welcoming Bennett’s decision to extend the deadline by two weeks, saying there is serious concern about the exlusion of Islamic schools. “We welcome the court’s decision to extend the application deadline and recognize the serious concerns raised about the exlusion of Islamic schools from Texas’ voucher program,” the statement reads. “All families, regardless of their faith, deserve equal access to educational opportunities supported by public programs.”

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Groups reckon with sex abuse allegations against labor icon César Chávez

The family of the late César Chávez, a farmworker organizer who became a national civil rights icon, is at the center of a mounting crisis involving allegations that he engaged in sexual relationships with women and at least one minor, according to statements and interviews with a former United Farm Workers insider and a historian who has written about the movement. The fallout has already led to the cancellation of public marches across the country and raised new questions about his public record. On Tuesday, two organizations connected to his legacy — the César Chávez Foundation and the United Farm Workers — both released statements acknowledging allegations involving women and minors.

The César Chávez Foundation said it has become aware of “disturbing allegations” that Chávez engaged in inappropriate sexual behavior with women and minors during his time leading the United Farm Workers. “We are deeply shocked and saddened by what we are hearing,” the foundation said in the statement. In a separate statement, the United Farm Workers said it had learned of “deeply troubling allegations” involving its co-founder, including claims of abuse of women and minors. The union said it has no firsthand knowledge of the allegations but called them “serious enough” to take “urgent steps” to learn more and to create a confidential, independent channel for potential victims to come forward. “Allegations that very young women or girls may have been victimized are crushing,” the statement said.

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U.S. House hopeful Brandon Herrera backs out of San Antonio radio show at last minute

Brandon Herrera, a Republican running for a San Antonio U.S. House district, pulled out of a live interview on Texas Public Radio on Monday, leaving host David Martin Davies high and dry. In a clip tweeted out moments before the Davies’ radio show The Source was set to begin, the host informed listeners that Herrera’s campaign manager said the candidate was unavailable due to a scheduling conflict. The last-minute cancelation comes just three days after media outlets including MeidasTouch News and Courier Texas reported on an old clip of Herrera, a YouTube gun influencer known to fans as the “AK Guy,” promoting a Confederate heritage group. “His campaign manager said something came up and they had to drop out,” Davies said in his online announcement about the cancelation. “We will try to reschedule and see if they will work with us on that.”

Herrera’s campaign didn’t immediately respond to the Current’s request for comment about the withdrawal. In the resurfaced promotional clip that began circling over the weekend, a young Herrera talks up the Confederate heritage group Fayetteville Arsenal Camp 168, a chapter of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, a hereditary group set up to honor Confederate soldiers and preserve Confederate memorials. “Once a year, we actually have what we call our ‘Annual Yankee Shoot,’ where we go out back with black powder rifles — some that were actually in the war — and we go out and shoot up posters of our favorite Yankees,” Herrera, who’s wearing a white polo shirt emblazoned with an emblem of the Confederate battle flag, says in the decades-old clip. Democrat Katy Padilla Stout, an attorney and former school teacher running against Herrera to represent Texas’ 23rd Congressional District, slammed her rival on social media over the video. She and Herrera are vying to represent a district that includes a western part of San Antonio and a long stretch of the Texas-Mexico border. “Honoring those who fought to preserve slavery is just another example of why Brandon Herrera has no business in the U.S. Congress,” Stout tweeted. “These are not the values of the people of TX23.”

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Meteorologist Elliot Wilson no longer employed at KSAT-TV after assault charge

San Antonio’s KSAT-TV has parted ways with a staff meteorologist charged with assault, according to details the station’s website. Elliot Wilson — whom KSAT describes in a news story about his arrest as a “former” meteorologist at the station — was picked up Thursday after Bexar County Sheriff’s deputies said he was involved in an altercation with a woman. Deputies responded to a call from a home Thursday, where the woman told deputies that Wilson struck her when he was driving her to a medical appointment, KSAT reports, citing information from the sheriff’s office. The two were reportedly in a vehicle on Loop 410 when they got into an argument.

The woman was taken to a hospital, where she was diagnosed with a broken nose, according the station. Deputies arrested Wilson the same day, KSAT reports. He now faces a charge of assault — bodily injury to a family member, according to the story, again citing the sheriff’s office. The case remains under investigation. In its report, KSAT didn’t specify whether Wilson quit or was fired. However, the story was updated Saturday to reflect that he’s no longer employed there. Wilson joined KSAT late last year. He worked as a meteorologist in Texas and Oklahoma TV markets, including Waco, before landing in San Antonio, according to a story the station did on his arrival.

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Judge grants indigency motion for Arredondo in Uvalde case

A judge has granted a motion of indigency for former Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District police chief Pete Arredondo in his criminal case tied to the Robb Elementary School shooting. The order allows Arredondo to use public funds to support his legal defense. Court records show his monthly income exceeds expenses by a few hundred dollars, meeting local indigency guidelines. Arredondo faces 10 counts of abandoning or endangering a child in connection with the May 2022 shooting that left 19 children and two teachers dead. He has denied wrongdoing. More than 300 officers from multiple agencies responded to the scene, but waited more than an hour before confronting the gunman. The response has been widely scrutinized in investigations and public reports.

Arredondo is now the only officer still facing criminal charges related to the law enforcement response. Former Uvalde police officer Adrian Gonzales, who was also charged, was acquitted by a Nueces County jury in January. The indigency order was issued by presiding Judge Sid Harle. In a separate order, Harle has paused Arredondo’s case while a federal legal dispute plays out over whether U.S. Border Patrol agents who responded to the shooting can be required to testify. That dispute centers on questions of federal authority and whether those agents can be compelled to appear in a state criminal case. No trial date has been set.

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'All of a sudden it's a $4,000 bill': Magnolia homeowners hit with skyrocketing gas bills; gas company explains why

Residents in a Montgomery County neighborhood say their natural gas bills have surged to unusually high levels this winter, leaving many frustrated and searching for answers. One Magnolia family reported being billed nearly $4,700 in February -- a charge they say is about 15 times higher than what they typically pay. “Last month, we received our bill, and it was for $4,669.48, and that is when I said absolutely not,” said Abbe Roberts, a homeowner who contacted KHOU 11 for help. Roberts said her household usually pays between $90 and $300 per month. She believes the spike was caused by a faulty meter that has since been replaced, but said the bill has not yet been adjusted. “Something didn’t alert them in their system,” she said. “All of a sudden, it’s a $4,000 bill. Maybe we should look into that. Nothing.”

Other residents in the area report similar increases. One family said their bill rose from about $50 in November to $618 this month. Another homeowner, Linda Schmidt, said her typical $40 bill climbed to $180. “We’re just seeking answers,” Schmidt said. “What’s going on? Why is our bill so outrageous?” The neighborhood is served by Pines Gas, which residents say is their only provider. In a statement, the company attributed the higher bills to a winter storm in late January that drove up natural gas prices. The company said those costs were reflected in February and March billing cycles and are expected to return to normal. Residents say that the explanation does not fully account for the size of the increases. Several have filed complaints with the Railroad Commission of Texas, which oversees natural gas utilities in the state. “They just want to ignore it and hope that we go away,” Roberts said. “That’s not what’s happening.” As bills remain unresolved, some residents say they are weighing difficult decisions. “I’m even thinking, am I going to have to move?” Schmidt said.

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Prosecutors rest their money laundering case against Fort Bend County Judge KP George

After more than three days of presenting their case, prosecutors rested their felony money laundering case against Fort Bend County Judge KP George. On Monday, special prosecutor Brian Wice told ABC13 that prosecutors planned to call one more witness. That person was District Attorney Fraud Examiner Betty Chi. When Chi finished testifying, prosecutors said they had one more witness to call on Tuesday before resting their case, but didn't reveal who it was. On Tuesday morning, they told the judge they planned to call an officer to translate a video. Before jurors were brought into the courtroom, prosecutors said George posted a video to social media where he spoke in Malayalam, his native language from India. In the video, prosecutors told Judge Maggie Jaramillo that George talked about campaign money he loaned himself.

Prosecutors said the amount he said in the video was $46,500. That's important, they said, because they argue that George stole $46,500 from his campaign in 2019. Prosecutors said they couldn't find a court reporter in the Richmond area to translate the video. They found an officer, who they said spoke Malayalam and could translate the video to the jury. Defense attorneys immediately asked the judge to block the witness. George's team told the judge that they weren't aware of this video or the witness until Tuesday. "It's a complete surprise," defense attorney David Medina shouted. "It's a complete ambush." Jaramillo grew frustrated with both sides, told them to stop fighting, and left the courtroom. When Jaramillo returned, she said the witness couldn't be called, and if prosecutors could find a court translator, they could be called as a rebuttal witness. With that, prosecutors rested their case.

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Microsoft is pouring $52M into tiny Texas Hill Country town

On March 9, Microsoft registered two new filings with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR) to build additional data center sites on County Road 381 in Rio Medina, TX 78253. The company will spend $26 million on each new site. Though all TDLR filing details are subject to change, construction on the Microsoft SAT93 and Microsoft SAT94 data sites will begin within one month of each other between March and April of 2027, respectively.

Data centers are popping up all over Texas, especially around the Hill Country and San Antonio areas. A recent report analyzing the North American industry sector's growth in 2025 claims that data center projects, like Microsoft's in Medina County, are preparing the Lone Star State to outpace its competitors. In fact, the report suggests that Texas is on track to become the world’s largest data center market by 2030. The report from JLL, a leading global commercial real estate and investment management company, states that the growth is "driven by hyperscale and AI demand" and that Texas, though outside of traditional markets, is building more data centers. More For YouLayoffs feared as TX tech giant secures $2.1B for restructuringThe company is ramping up spending on artificial intelligence tools and data center infrastructure.Start of SXSW has TX hospitality workers feeling like 'The Bear'Some folks forgot the annual festival was even happening.Possible massive Meta layoffs could slam Texas tech workersThis wouldn't be the first time Meta layoffs hit Texas.Texans wait 3 hours in line to shop at new $62M CostcoHundreds of eager residents lined up early Wednesday morning to shop.New details revealed on $300B refinery planned for Texas coastAs the Strait of Hormuz shuts down amid war in Iran, President Trump announces America's first new oil refinery in decades.

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Gov. Abbott launches Texas Jobs Council to address skilled worker shortage

Texas is launching a new effort to strengthen the state's workforce pipeline and prepare workers to fill highly skilled jobs. Governor Greg Abbott announced the launch of the Texas Jobs Council at an event at the Governor's mansion on Monday afternoon. Abbott was joined by Plumbers Local Union 68 Business Manager Wayne Lord, Texas Association of Business Interim President Megan Mauro and other business and labor leaders. “For us to fulfill our destiny, for us to maintain our dominance,” Abbott said. “Business and labor are working together to meet the high demand for high-skilled labor positions like electricians, pipefitters, welders, plumbers, truckers, and a whole lot more.”

Earlier this month, Abbott celebrated Texas winning Site Selection magazine's Governor's Cup as the nation’s top-performing state in attracting jobs, businesses, and expansion projects for the 14th year in a row. According to the Governor’s Office, Texas attracted more than 1,400 business location and expansion projects in 2025, representing more than $75 billion in capital investment and creating more than 42,000 new jobs. “Texas right now is the hottest state in America for business and labor opportunity, as we're ranked number one for the most new jobs, whether it be over the past year or since COVID or since I was elected Governor,” Abbott said. “We're ranked number one for business expansion and capital investment. The number one business climate, number one for things like exports, technology and semiconductor.” Abbott spoke about the need to fill trade jobs and how meeting the growing need has become a growing challenge statewide. Texas has a shortage of workers in construction, manufacturing and other skilled trades.

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Crews remain on the scene Tuesday morning after massive fire in Downtown Gatesville

Dozens of fire crews battled a major fire on the west side of the Square in downtown Gatesville on Monday night, according to the Gatesville Police Department. As of Tuesday evening, U.S. Highway 84 was reopened and traffic returned to normal. Three minor injuries have been reported in firefighters due to smoke inhalation, according to Gatesville City Manager Brad Hunt.

Hunt confirmed officials received the call at 6:50 p.m. on Monday. The Gatesville Volunteer Fire Department responded immediately and called for additional assistance after the fire broke out at the Freedom Bail Bonds building, Hunt said. “They’ve done an amazing job to keep people safe,” Hunt said. Gatesville Police Chief Jeff Clark said U.S. Route 84, also known as Main Street, would be closed through downtown and had been expected to remain closed overnight Monday and potentially into the following day due to the instability of buildings along the route. Clark said the road would reopen once the buildings are safe enough for traffic to pass through. Traffic was being diverted at Lutterloh on the east side and Levita Road on the west side, according to the Gatesville Police Department. Drivers and residents were urged to avoid the downtown area. Four businesses have allegedly been affected: Gatesville Messenger, Freedom Bail Bonds, Davidson Chiropractic and Leaird’s Furniture. The structures involved are believed to date to around 1900.

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National Stories

Joe Kent, a top counterterrorism official for the Trump Administration, resigns, citing Iran War

One of the United States’ top counterterrorism officials resigned on Tuesday, citing his opposition to the war in Iran and what he said was Israel’s influence over the Trump administration’s policies, a sign of emerging divisions in the Republican coalition. The official, Joe Kent, is the first senior member of the administration to quit over the war. The seemingly open-ended nature of the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran has created strong divisions among Mr. Trump’s supporters. An anti-interventionist wing of the coalition, which supported President Trump because of his criticism of long overseas conflicts, has quickly become uneasy with the war, which has lasted 18 days with no immediate sign of ending.

“I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran,” Mr. Kent, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, wrote in a letter to Mr. Trump. “Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby.” Mr. Kent’s resignation came as a surprise. The top ranks of Mr. Trump’s administration have been remarkably stable, and no senior leader has quit while laying out a sharp policy difference with the president. Unsurprisingly, Mr. Kent’s stance earned a sharp rebuke from Mr. Trump. “I always thought he was a nice guy, but I always thought he was weak on security,” Mr. Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Tuesday. “It’s a good thing that he’s out because he said Iran was not a threat.” Mr. Kent’s resignation and Mr. Trump’s comments put Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence and Mr. Kent’s boss, in an awkward position. She backed the president, but with a carefully worded statement posted on social media that did not mention Mr. Kent or directly rebuff his comments.

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Some small US airports may have to shut due to TSA absences, official says

Some small U.S. airports may have to shut due to a shortage of ?security screeners if a government funding impasse continues, a senior Trump administration ?official said on Tuesday.The Department of Homeland Security said overall absences among Transportation Security Administration airport security officers was 10.2% on Monday, close to the 10.1% who failed to show up for ?duty on Sunday. But the absenteeism rate was much higher at some major ?airports on Monday including 30% at New York's JFK, 37% ?at Atlanta, 35% at Houston Hobby and 39% at New Orleans, DHS ?said.

50,000 TSA officers have been forced to work without pay for the ?last month due to the budget standoff."As the weeks continue, if this continues, it's not hyperbole to suggest that we may have to quite literally shut down airports - particularly smaller ?ones if callout rates go up," Acting Deputy TSA Administrator Adam Stahl ?told Fox News's "Fox and Friends."Large airports may be able to continue security operations by closing ?all ?but a few checkpoints, but small airports with a single checkpoint could be unable to staff it with absenteeism at the same rates. House Speaker Mike Johnson on Tuesday said airports "are reaching a breaking point." Typically, under 2% of TSA workers ?call in sick ?or do not ?report to work, DHS said. DHS said 366 TSA officers have quit their jobs.Last fall, a 43-day government shutdown led to ?widespread flight disruptions, and the FAA ordered a 10% flight cut ?at major ?airports. Airlines, which expect a record-breaking spring travel season, have criticized the impasse, and airline CEOs complained on Sunday that air travel was again a "political football."DHS funding lapsed on February ?13 after ?Congress failed to reach a deal on immigration ?enforcement reforms demanded by Democrats. Senators from both parties failed Thursday in competing efforts to fund the ?TSA.

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GOP tempers flare over how to pass SAVE America Act

Tempers are starting to boil within the Senate Republican Conference as disagreements arise over how to handle President Trump’s No. 1 legislative priority, the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE America) Act, which Trump wants to push through the Senate despite staunch Democratic opposition. Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), a leading proponent of the bill, angered some colleagues this week by suggesting on social media that Republican senators who don’t want to force Democrats to wage a “talking filibuster” to oppose the legislation should be ousted from the Senate. “If your senators don’t support using the talking filibuster to pass the SAVE America Act, you might need to replace them,” Lee posted on the social platform X. That ticked off some Republican senators, according to Senate GOP sources.

One Republican senator said the response to Lee’s post was “not very favorable.” The squabble reflects rising tensions over how to handle the bill amid intense pressure from Trump to add language to ban no-excuse mail-in voting and to ram it through the chamber even though no Democrats support it. The Senate voted 51-48 to advance the measure, despite the opposition of Sen. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), the only Republican to vote “no.” Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), who said last week he would vote against proceeding with the bill because he didn’t see a viable endgame for passing the legislation, missed Tuesday’s vote because of a travel delay. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) voted to begin debate on the legislation even though he has told GOP colleagues privately that he doesn’t support the measure. He voted to start the debate as a courtesy to the Senate GOP leadership. Republicans mainly agree on the core elements of the House-passed bill, such as the requirements that people registering to vote need to show documented proof of citizenship to register and that people need to show proper identification to vote.

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U.S.P.S. Postmaster says service will be ‘out of cash’ in under a year

David Steiner, the postmaster general, said at a hearing in Washington on Tuesday that the U.S. Postal Service would be “out of cash in less than 12 months” unless Congress allows it to borrow more and charge more for postage. While lawmakers from both parties vowed to resolve the Postal Service’s budgetary bind, they appeared to be at odds with Mr. Steiner about how best to do so. “In about a year from now, the Postal Service would be unable to deliver the mail if we continue the status quo,” Mr. Steiner told lawmakers at the hearing before the Oversight Subcommittee on Government Operations, which oversees the independent service. In fiscal years 2024 and 2025, the agency incurred net losses of $9.5 billion and $9 billion. From Oct. 1 to Dec. 31, 2025 — the first quarter of fiscal year 2026 — it lost nearly $1.3 billion.

Mr. Steiner, a former FedEx board member who took over as head of the Postal Service last year, asked lawmakers to loosen regulations so the agency could charge more for postage, and for the ability to borrow more money. After successive years with net losses, the Postal Service, which is meant to be self-sufficient, is up against a federally mandated borrowing limit. “One easy action, increasing our borrowing authority, buys us time,” he said. “Time that we can use to best determine what the Postal Service should do to best serve the American public.” Several of the lawmakers, meanwhile, focused their questions on waste and inefficiencies, asserting that the service bore responsibility for turning around its financial situation. “I am very concerned with the caliber of service that we are getting and with the fact that the post office continues to come to us for more money,” said Representative Virginia Foxx, Republican of North Carolina.

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Juliana Stratton ppsets Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi to win Illinois Senate primary

Illinois Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton is projected to be the Democratic nominee for Senate in Illinois after defeating Reps. Raja Krishnamoorthi and Robin Kelly, among others, on Tuesday night. Stratton prevailed in a rare open primary in the state after Sen. Dick Durbin, the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate, announced his retirement following nearly 30 years in the upper chamber. A Republican hasn’t won statewide in Illinois in 12 years, priming Stratton to take the spot after November’s general election. “We did it. We showed what’s possible when you listen to the people and give the people what they want,” Stratton told supporters after her victory. “What’s possible when you stay true to your values, fight for what you believe in, and never take anything for granted.” Stratton also pledged to support all Illinoisans — including those who did not vote for her — in Washington.

“I’d like to thank each and every Illinoisan who showed up to participate in this election and refused to be silenced no matter who you cast your ballot for,” she continued. “Tonight’s message is clear. We’re ready to take our democracy back into our own hands.” Stratton’s victory was a major upset, demonstrating that endorsements and statewide name ID could overpower Krishnamoorthi’s massive war chest. He raised $30 million for his bid (including $20 million transferred from his U.S. House account). Krishnamoorthi had emerged early as the frontrunner, opening with early polling advantages and airing television ads months before his competitors. “Now we must come together as Democrats and as Americans to make sure that we return to the principles that made us a beacon of freedom and opportunity for the world,” Krishnamoorthi said after conceding the race to Stratton on Tuesday. “I will have almost a year remaining in the best job I’ve ever had representing the good people of Illinois’ 8th Congressional District, and I pledge to you tonight that I will continue to do that job to the best of my ability to fight for the kind of country we all still believe in,” he continued.

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Jason Bordoff and Spencer Dale: Making the U.S. more resilient to oil price shocks

(By Jason Bordoff, a columnist at Foreign Policy and the founding director of the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, and Spencer Dale, a visiting professor in practice at the London School of Economics and Political Science and a nonresident fellow at the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs.) The oil shock triggered by the crisis in the Persian Gulf has pushed crude above $100 per barrel, reviving familiar fears of economic turmoil in the United States driven by surging gasoline and diesel prices. Political leaders have long lamented high oil prices, yet President Donald Trump celebrated the price spike last week, arguing that the “United States is the largest oil producer in the world, by far, so when oil prices go up, we make a lot of money.” His embrace of higher oil prices marks a sharp departure from his past pledges to lower costs at the pump. Trump has long decried high oil prices, and Energy Secretary Chris Wright has argued that elevated prices may benefit a few oil companies but not the “99 percent of Americans” who consume these energy products.

To neutralize the macroeconomic impact of higher oil prices—not to mention the burden on the “99 percent” of Americans that Wright referenced—there needs to be a mechanism to redistribute income from oil producers to consumers, mitigating any reduction in near-term spending. Most major oil-producing countries have such systems, which is why they welcome price spikes. In Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states, for example, the national oil company is state-owned, and most profits accrue directly to the government. In Russia, the fiscal framework links taxation directly to oil prices: As prices rise, so does the marginal tax rate. No comparable mechanism exists in the United States. As a result, even though the country is now a major net oil exporter, it is less able to withstand the short-term recessionary effects of price spikes than many of its fellow petrostates. Policymakers therefore continue to focus on lowering oil prices in response to shocks—for example, by releasing barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve or easing sanctions on major producers such as Russia. Some countries have attempted to address this issue through windfall profits taxes, transferring extraordinary crisis-driven gains from oil companies back to households. Yet such taxes have proved to be difficult to design and implement effectively. They take time to enact, limiting their usefulness in addressing immediate economic shocks, and often remain in place long after the immediate crisis has passed, as the United Kingdom’s recent experience illustrates. Poorly designed levies create fiscal uncertainty and risk discouraging production precisely when additional supply is needed. A better approach would make the U.S. economy more structurally resilient to oil price shocks, not just today but also in the future. The most effective way to do this involves hardwiring policy mechanisms to redistribute “excess” gains—as well as losses—borne by oil producers to oil consumers.

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Judge questions Trump aides’ ‘brazen’ claims on White House ballroom

A federal judge on Tuesday grilled Trump administration lawyers on the legal justification for the president’s $400 million White House ballroom plan, accusing the Justice Department of “shifting” arguments as historic preservationists urged him to halt the controversial project. U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon said he hoped to issue a ruling by the end of March. The White House has said that it plans to begin aboveground construction of the ballroom in April. The project is a top priority of President Donald Trump. Leon repeatedly questioned the administration’s insistence that the president does not need congressional approval for the project. The White House has countered that Congress set aside several million dollars for alteration and maintenance of the president’s residence — a characterization that Leon said was “brazen,” given the scope of the planned 90,000-square-foot project.

“I’m struggling to see this as an ‘alteration,’” Leon said later. The judge also grew frustrated after a Justice Department lawyer defended the project — which involved demolishing the White House’s East Wing last year — by citing past projects at national parks, with Leon saying there was no comparison. The White House “is a special place,” he said. “This is an iconic symbol of this nation.” The judge added that Trump was a “steward” of the White House, not its owner. The National Trust for Historic Preservation, a nonprofit charged by Congress with preserving historic buildings, has argued that Trump exceeded his authority by demolishing the East Wing and soliciting private donations to build a ballroom in its place. They have asked Leon to issue a temporary injunction and pause the project until the administration receives congressional approval. The Justice Department has defended the project as within the president’s authority, citing construction efforts overseen by past presidents, such as a pool built by President Gerald Ford. They also have said that any pause to the ballroom project could pose a threat to national security, although they have declined to publicly specify the risks. A presidential emergency bunker has been located for decades under the former East Wing site.

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Lead Stories

Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo attends Europe trade mission amid calls for her resignation over rodeo dustup

In the aftermath of her dustup at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, which has prompted some to call for her resignation, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo is on a trade mission to Europe with the Greater Houston Partnership, according to the economic development organization. The trip is meant to promote business opportunities in Harris County ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup as Houston is hosting seven matches in June and July. The trade mission has stops in the Netherlands, Germany and Portugal — which are among the countries whose soccer teams will compete in Houston — according to Brina Morales, a spokesperson for the Greater Houston Partnership. She said The Netherlands is Houston’s closest trading partner. Morales and a spokesperson for Hidalgo on Monday confirmed her attendance on the trade mission along with the partnership.

“The Greater Houston Partnership organized the trip in collaboration with other organizations in our region, company leaders, and other representatives of state and local government entities,” Morales said in a statement. “These leaders will work to showcase Houston internationally, with Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo participating in the mission.” The trip comes as Hidalgo is facing calls for her resignation after a dispute with security officials during a sold-out Megan Moroney concert at the rodeo last Tuesday. Hidalgo and her guests attempted to access the chute — a premium area in NRG Stadium closest to the concert stage — without proper credentials. Hidalgo claimed she was threatened with arrest, shoved by security personnel and escorted out of a rodeo concert, subsequently posting several videos and an audio clip to her social media account detailing the incident. The board of directors for the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo revoked Hidalgo's leadership role on the board after disputing her claims that she was “manhandled” during the encounter. In a social media post on Monday, Harris County Commissioner Tom Ramsey called for Hidalgo’s resignation in response to the rodeo incident.

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NRCC chair to show new Hispanic voter data

NRCC Chair Richard Hudson will present the results of a new internal poll of Hispanic voters this morning, one of the largest research projects House Republicans has ever undertaken. The NRCC conducted regional polls and focus groups among Hispanic voters in 15 battleground seats across the country. The project cost “well into the six figures,” according to a party official, and was aimed at figuring out what messages resonated with Hispanic voters in 2024 and what could bring the group to the ballot box in 2026. This is a major challenge for the GOP this year.

After months of ICE raids and restrictive immigration policies, President Donald Trump is firmly under water with Hispanic voters, a far cry from 2024. Hill Republicans have publicly backed Trump amid expansive nationwide ICE raids and a wave of deportations. So you have to use that backdrop in any analysis of the GOP’s 2026 prospects. But toplines that were notable to us: Republicans believe the best messages for Hispanic voters include economic opportunity, public safety and “standing up for working families.” The GOP believes they have an “education gap” on the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and its tax cuts. This is problematic for Republicans since they have banked their entire majority on the tax bill bringing voters of all stripes to the ballot box for their party. And Hudson will urge Republicans to communicate “consistently” with constituents in English and Spanish.

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Australian gambler The Joker confirms he bankrolled 2023 Texas Lottery operation

In the first public acknowledgement of his role in the 2023 scheme in which professional gamblers engineered a guaranteed Lotto Texas jackpot win, an enigmatic Australian gambler known as “The Joker” –— said to wager billions of dollars a year –— confirmed he was the main investor in the enterprise, which netted an estimated $20 million payday. “I was involved in the funding of the Texas lottery play,” Zeljko Ranogajec told the Sydney Morning Herald in a lengthy article published recently describing the operation. He stressed that the big buy had the full support of the Texas Lottery Commission, the agency charged with regulating the games. “It would not have been possible to operate at this scale without full cooperation,“ Ranogajec said.

The article also provided more granular details about the colorful team of high-stakes gamblers behind the lottery play, which was the subject of an ongoing Houston Chronicle series that last year resulted in two pending investigations and the dissolution of the Texas Lottery Commission. With the Lotto jackpot at $95 million, on April 22, 2023, a single buyer purchased virtually all of the possible 25.8 million number combinations, guaranteeing that one of its tickets would be the winner. No other player guessed the correct six numbers, and two months later the State of Texas handed an entity called Rook TX a $57.8 million check. The operation was carried out at four licensed retailers –— in Round Rock; Spicewood, outside of Austin; Waco and Colleyville –— which processed millions of tickets over the 72 hours between Lotto draws. Yet it also was abetted by state lottery officials. Not only did the lottery agency provide dozens of extra official terminals and pallets of paper to process the tickets with no questions asked – including to three retailers that had sold barely any tickets in the months prior. Lottery officials also turned a blind eye to several apparent rules violations that made the scheme possible.

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Flying in America is about to get more expensive and less fun

Major airlines and millions of travelers across the United States face a rare convergence of challenges this spring that together are making it both costlier and less convenient to fly. The Department of Homeland Security’s partial shutdown has created staffing shortages at domestic airport security checkpoints. Meanwhile, the Iran war has driven up jet fuel costs and forced many global carriers to reroute or suspend flights over the Middle East. In America, the busiest spring break week of the year kicked off Sunday, just days after tens of thousands of Transportation Security Administration workers who conduct airport screenings missed their first full paychecks of the DHS shutdown — with no end in sight for the funding lapse. Federal airport security workers are considered “essential employees” during government shutdowns, so they are required to report to work even if they’re not being paid.

More than 300 TSA workers have quit since the partial government shutdown began Feb. 14, the agency announced. At the same time, the number of employees calling out sick has more than doubled at several major airports, a senior TSA official confirmed. As a result, travelers are experiencing hourslong security lines at airports nationwide, and social media is flooded with videos of TSA screening lines that fill up entire terminals. Meanwhile, the Iran war and the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz off Iran are driving up the price of oil worldwide and causing a surge in the cost of jet fuel. On Friday, the spot price of a gallon of jet fuel was $3.99, roughly double the price at this time last year, according to the Argus U.S. Jet Fuel Index. A Boeing 747 burns about 60 gallons of fuel per minute, or roughly 10,000 gallons for a three-hour flight, according to the aviation news site Simple Flying. The fuel price spike is testing the ability of airlines around the world to absorb financial shock and respond quickly to rapidly evolving situations.

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State Stories

Court ruling settles Texas-Oklahoma border fight over Red River property rights

Texas has secured a court order to protect Texas land after an Oklahoma property owner attempted to claim a portion of Texas’s Red River property. The Oklahoman argued that the Texas-Oklahoma border had shifted. In August 2025, an Oklahoma property owner filed a lawsuit in Oklahoma state court seeking to "quiet title" and obtain a ruling declaring that the owner’s property included land belonging to Texas based on "alleged changes" to the lower bank of the Red River. The lawsuit named several Texas landowners, including the State of Texas. The Motion to Dismiss was granted on March 8, 2026, and the State of Texas was removed from the lawsuit.

The case was dismissed on sovereign immunity grounds, arguing that the Oklahoma property owner could not sue Texas in Oklahoma state court, or anywhere else, without Texas’s consent. Dig deeper: The lawsuit relied on a 1923 U.S. Supreme Court opinion that identified the Texas-Oklahoma border as the lower bank of the Red River. However, the Texas Attorney General's Office states that the boundary between Texas and Oklahoma was determined by the 1999 Red River Boundary Compact between Texas and Oklahoma, which was approved by Congress in 2000. In a news release made by the Attorney General’s Office, Ken Paxton worked alongside the Texas Department of Transportation, which also utilized outside counsel to assist in filing out-of-state pleadings. "The full force of the law will come crashing down on anyone trying to seize Texas land. I will always defend our state’s sovereignty and will not allow erroneous theories to undermine Texas’s land ownership," said Attorney General Paxton. "The Red River Rivalry may be famous on the football field, but I won’t allow that term to extend to Oklahoma property owners unlawfully seizing Texas land in the courtroom."

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Gooden is transferring $100,000 to the NRCC

Texas GOP Rep. Lance Gooden is transferring $100,000 to the NRCC. Gooden will announce the transfer at the closed House Republican political meeting this morning.

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'A legal legend': Roy Barrera Sr., first Hispanic man to serve as Texas Secretary of State, dies at 99

Roy Barrera Sr., a former Texas secretary of state, the first Hispanic president of the San Antonio Bar Association and the beloved patriarch of a family of noted San Antonio attorneys, has died. He was 99. Barrera practiced law for nearly seven decades and remained active in the courtroom until the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, when he was in his early 90s. Lawyers and judges across San Antonio remembered him as a formidable trial lawyer, mentor and public servant whose influence shaped generations of attorneys. He died peacefully in his sleep Saturday, his family said.

U.S. District Judge Fred Biery said Barrera's influence spanned generations of lawyers. “Truly a legendary and heroic life. I had the pleasure of knowing and admiring him from my early childhood, when my father would take me to the courthouse,” said Biery, 79. “In adulthood, for the last 48 years, it was always a pleasure and learning experience to have him appear before me, though somewhat surreal to have him call me ‘Your Honor,’ remembering that in his eyes and mine I was still that little kid," Biery recalled. "We will do our best to carry on his traditions at the Bar and for the rule of law and the Constitution.” Charles A. Gonzalez, a San Antonio attorney, former Democratic congressman and former state district court judge, said Barrera was a towering figure in the legal community. In 1968, Gov. John Connally appointed Barrera Texas secretary of state. He was the first Hispanic man to hold the position. Henry Cisneros, a former San Antonio mayor who went on to serve as U.S. secretary of housing and urban development, said Barrera was part of the first generation of Mexican American leaders to gain prominence in the city. “In San Antonio of the 1950s and ’60s, when the Hispanic community was just coming into its own politically and publicly, Roy Barrera was one of the very first,” Cisneros said.

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As North Texas school districts turn to virtual options, some hope it will bring back students

School districts across North Texas are rolling out full-time virtual and hybrid learning programs for high school students this fall. Frisco, Granbury, Denton and Argyle ISDs are among districts that have announced plans to offer new virtual options after a 2025 state law expanded pathways for students to attend school. Senate Bill 569 “gives us a little bit more freedom and how we meet the needs of our students,” said Frisco ISD Associate Deputy Superintendent Wes Cunningham. The district will start its Frisco Flex program this fall. After the pandemic, Frisco ISD was allowed by the state to teach through a modified online instruction for certain students in 2022. Now, the program is available for all high school students, including those outside the district, who apply.

Frisco ISD is working with teachers to build courses from the ground up to align with the curriculum, Cunningham said. “We're trying to build in week to two-week chunks of learning has to be done within this timeline,” Cunningham said. “And the teachers will have check-ins with students on a fairly regular basis.” Cunningham said the program could help keep students within the district and bring back students who have left to go to other districts. Frisco ISD, once the fastest-growing district in the state, has lost hundreds of students in recent years as enrollment shifts across the region. “We’re trying to bring them back home; come back to the family,” Cunningham said. We want to increase those numbers over time, but these things take a little bit of time.” Like Frisco, Granbury ISD leaders hope their BridgeED virtual-hybrid program for high schoolers will keep student enrollment rates up. Superintendent Courtney Morawski told school board members earlier this year there’s a “sense of urgency” as enrollment dips. “We're down a hundred students and so I don't think this board, it would be smart for us to create a system where we are giving an opportunity for other students to leave our district,” Morawski said. “We need to be creating systems where students are staying or even being attracted into our school.”

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How 2 judges’ exit from an ages-old Bexar County court system is sowing discord

It’s been somewhat of a bumpy transition for two judges who pulled out of Bexar County’s more than six-decades-old Presiding Court system this month. Ahead of their March 1 exits, civil district Judges Christine Hortick and Nadine Nieto issued orders to District Clerk Gloria Martinez directing her to send certain cases to their courts. Hortick ordered the clerk to send her Department of Family and Protective cases that seek to remove a child from a home, while Nieto sought civil cases other than “family law cases and other matters.” Angelica Jimenez, the local administrative judge, though, challenged the orders. She argued they conflict with the Texas Government Code — the state’s rule book on how major areas of government, including the judicial branch, operate.

Jimenez asked Sid Harle, the senior district judge who presides over the multicounty 4th Judicial Administrative Judicial Region, to rule on the dispute. On Thursday, Harle held a noon hearing in Jimenez’s courtroom before deciding that the orders should be held in “abeyance.” Harle ruled that “implementation of those standing orders would be unfair and unduly burdensome.” But he didn’t like the idea of leaving it up to the clerk’s office to decide what cases should be assigned to a judge. “I frankly am very concerned about the district clerk making these determinations,” Harle said at the conclusion of the hearing that lasted over an hour. “They’re not lawyers. When something is on the cusp of civil versus family, for instance, I don’t want them to be forced to make that decision. It puts them in a very bad position.”

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Casar, Cornyn debate Homeland Security funding outside Austin’s airport

The debate over how to fund the Department of Homeland Security spilled into the passenger drop-off area of the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS) when Democratic Congressman Greg Casar and Republican Senator John Cornyn publicly argued over different proposals. Cornyn was scheduled to speak with reporters Monday morning after he delivered Whataburger to Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents at Austin’s airport. TSA agents have been working without pay for a month because the federal government partially shutdown after Congress failed to pass funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees the TSA.

As reporters waited for Cornyn to pull up to the airport in the passenger drop-off area, Congressman Greg Casar, D-Texas, walked up to the cameras and began delivering remarks about the partial shutdown. “I’m confused as to why Senator Cornyn would be here having a press conference at the airport about funding TSA, when it is him that has blocked the funding,” Casar said. As Cornyn’s truck pulled up to the impromptu press conference, Casar said, “Senator Cornyn should put his money where his mouth is.” Cornyn got out of the passenger side of the car and walked straight to Casar. “Why don’t you tell your Democrats to vote to pay these poor people,” Conryn asked Casar. “Let’s do it,” Casar responded. “No, you do it,” Cornyn said back.

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Residents join together to question data center proposal in west Fort Worth

A meeting room at the Benbrook United Methodist Church was filled with dozens of both Benbrook and Fort Worth residents on March 16 as they discussed a data center development aimed at the far southwest edge of Fort Worth. Across town, residents in southeast Fort Worth and the nearby city of Forest Hill have been protesting the development of another $10 billion data center that has raised questions about how nearby cities benefit when a data center comes to town, and about the potential health and environmental risks associated with data centers.

Many of those same questions were asked Monday night as the group of Benbrook and Fort Worth residents — an autonomous group, loosely organized until something more formal is decided — discussed how to voice their concerns about a proposed $1.1 billion data center. In June 2025, the Fort Worth City Council approved the rezoning of 186 acres owned by PMB Capital Investments in the Veale Ranch development, near the intersection of Interstate 20 and Chapin School Road. Fort Worth is now considering a tax break for Edged Data Centers, a subsidiary of sustainable infrastructure company Endeavor, for a data center to be developed on that land. Council members discussed the proposal at the March 3 work session, and it is expected to be on the agenda at the council’s March 31 meeting. The data center would be in the city of Fort Worth, in District 3, near Benbrook’s southern edge.

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Caldwell County feels overwhelmed by data center developers

The Austin metro's most rural yet fastest-growing county is also one of the most targeted for data center development. That's prompted leadership there to join a growing chorus calling on the state to give them more regulatory authority to handle them. The Caldwell County Commissioners Court on March 12 held an 80-minute workshop to discuss the scope of their regulatory authority with residents expressing concern about the boom in data center development and its impact on water and power, the environment and ultimately their way of life. Caldwell County, southeast of Austin with a population of 52,400 people, is the most rural county in its five-county MSA. Yet it is home to proposed large-scale data center campuses from Tract, Prime Data Centers LLC and Edged Energy.

Caldwell County Judge Hoppy Haden gave a presentation to the small crowd about their limited regulatory authority. Counties in Texas don't have the same control as cities, and in some ways are the Wild West for development with no zoning. They also don't operate water and wastewater or electric utilities or even environmental standards. Like Hays County, which floated a temporary moratorium on large water users like data centers, he said that any sort of development moratorium would result in a lawsuit "15 minutes later," he said, adding that they have to issue development permits within 30 days if they check off all the boxes. “They appear on our doorstep and we have to deal with them," Haden said. He ultimately encouraged neighbors to lobby their state legislators and to start now ahead of the 2027 legislature to allow for more regulation on these types of developments. But he did simultaneously lay out some creative steps that the county is taking to ensure sensible development and said that the county can recoup much of the tax generation.

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Texas based ICON announces its Titan 3D-printing construction system for builders

Texas-based 3D-printed construction and architecture pioneer ICON announced the commercial rollout of new machines, described as a “multi-story robotic construction system.” The Titan is designed to build at “lower cost and with greater speed and quality.” Builders and construction companies can reserve a machine with a deposit of $5,000 and purchase one for a lean $899,000.

Since ICON’s 2018 debut, the novel printing technology has seen major contracts with US Army and Martian application development with NASA. However, their aspirations with Titan seem to be much more far-reaching, and its deployment democratized. CEO Jason Ballard said in a statement on the release of the machine, “After nearly a decade of research, development, and field operations, we believe it’s time to put these technologies directly into the hands of other builders.” Titan precedes ICON’s previous 3D construction machine, the Vulcan. As previously reported by AN, the Vulcan printer was used to build 3D-printed homes in Austin and an expansive single-story barracks structure in Bastrop, Texas. The Titan, however, marks a jump in speed and efficiency: at 27 feet tall, it requires only two operators to maintain a single 2,500-square-foot printing area. Using ICON’s proprietary printing material, Reinforced Formcrete, the machine can print a home in under seven days. In 2022, the Vulcan I took three weeks to print something of a similar size, utilizing lavacrete as its material.

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Closure of UNT art show points to larger climate of fear on college campuses

The University of North Texas recently made national headlines for closing an art exhibition on campus days after it opened. But it’s not an isolated incident. It’s just one example of a growing climate of fear and censorship, and it’s happening at colleges across the country. “We're in a really chilling atmosphere at this very moment,” said Chloe Kempf, a lawyer for the ACLU of Texas. “But I would say, in general, over the course of our history, this is a very uncommon action.” The recent action isn’t the first art-related controversy on campus. Last year, five North Texas lawmakers sent a letter to UNT asking for the removal of an exhibit where “The murder of a people = genocide” was written in Hebrew. The lawmakers described the pro-Palestinian artwork as antisemitic and warned that the work might run afoul of a federal antidiscrimination law and an executive order from Gov. Greg Abbott. In that instance, two students — not the university — removed one piece of their exhibition early. The gallery in that incident is managed by the student union instead of the art school.

Victor Quiñonez, also known as Marka27, is the artist whose show was abruptly shut down by UNT in February. Quiñonez was born in Mexico and raised in Dallas. His exhibition, “Ni de Aquí Ni de Allá (Not From Here, Not From There), explored the tension of living at the intersection of two cultures. The show included work from his I.C.E. Scream series. In it, a reworked seal for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement instead reads as “U.S. Inhumane and Cruelty Enforcement.” The seal appears on a pushcart for frozen treats - and the words are repeated on the popsicle sticks that poke out from colorful paleta sculptures. Some of the paletas also have handcuffs, guns and laser-etched images of border crossings inside. “I've always had experience with positive and negative feedback. But never in my 30-plus year career have I had an exhibition canceled or a large work of art censored,” Quiñonez said in a conversation with KERA News. Spokespeople for UNT did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

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Texas rare-earth project aims to curb US reliance on China, strengthen national security

Efforts to develop domestic rare-earth resources are gaining momentum in Texas as policymakers and industry leaders push to reduce U.S. reliance on China for minerals critical to defense and advanced-technology supply chains. Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham joined FOX Business' Maria Bartiromo on "Mornings with Maria," Monday to discuss how development of the Round Top rare-earth deposit could help strengthen U.S. national security while generating billions of dollars in revenue for Texas public schools.

Round Top, located in West Texas, is considered one of the richest known deposits of heavy rare-earth minerals in North America. These materials are essential for defense systems, semiconductors and advanced manufacturing. The project has drawn increasing attention as the U.S. looks to challenge China’s long-standing dominance of the global rare-earth supply chain. Buckingham said the state's mineral resources could play a key role in reshaping that balance while delivering economic benefits in Texas. "There are 17 rare-earth minerals. We have 15... We're heavy in the heavies. Those are the really important ones," Buckingham said, "It's going to be billions of dollars into public education... We're breaking China's stronghold on this market. We are making Texas safer." As exploration expands across the region, officials are also focusing on the infrastructure needed to process the minerals domestically. "We have lots of rare-earth minerals all over the region. We are looking at those deposits right now," Buckingham said, "It's going to be billions of dollars to the schoolchildren of Texas, and it's going to make the United States and the whole world safer."

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Historic Congress Avenue building approved for demolition near Texas Capitol

809 Congress Avenue, a slender two-story building a stone’s throw away from the Texas Capitol, could soon be demolished to clear the way for future redevelopment. While a demolition plan for the building that is 3,082 square feet and was built in 1925, according to Travis Central Appraisal District, it is still awaiting approval from the city of Austin, Austin’s Historic Landmark Commission approved the demolition on March 4 meeting. Property owner Haidar 1919 LLC’s hasn't publicized plans for the property post-demo, but an approved redevelopment site plan from 2022 could hold clues as to what redevelopment could look like. The identity of Haidar 1919, which purchased the property from Wukasch Properties Ltd. LLP late last year, could not be verified through property records.

Nelsen Partners, an architecture firm and the applicant listed on the demolition request, did not respond to a request for comment. 809 Congress has been a beauty shop, saloon, millinery, cafeteria and Subway fast food restaurant during its existence, and its most notable tenant was Stelfox Jewelers, according to the landmark commission meeting agenda. Wukasch Properties and other entities bearing the Wukasch name owned the property since 1994, and Haidar purchased it in December. While under Wukasch Properties’ ownership, a site plan application for redevelopment of 809 Congress was submitted in 2021 and approved in 2022. Those plans would have seen the property redeveloped into a four-story office and restaurant building totaling about 13,000 square feet. It is not clear if the new owner would follow the previously approved redevelopment plans, but the plans do serve as an example of what could be redeveloped at the slender site, with the first floor being a 3,195-square-foot restaurant, and the upper three floors being 3,264-square-foot offices. A few blocks south, another Congress Avenue property is facing a demolition and rebuild. Karlin Real Estate's 422 Congress Ave., the site of Shiner's Saloon, is working its way toward approval for demolition and redevelopment as well. That property is now under contract to be sold, per the website of JLL, the broker.

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National Stories

Fed officials huddle under pressure from Iran war, Trump’s rage

The Federal Reserve will hold its March policy meeting under intense political pressure from President Trump and the economic blowback of the war with Iran. After keeping borrowing costs steady in January, members of the Fed’s rate-setting committee are set to meet Tuesday and Wednesday while facing a far more tumultuous economy and political climate. Prices for crude oil, gasoline, natural gas and fertilizer have skyrocketed since the U.S. and Israel began their bombardment of Iran more than two weeks ago, which could both slow the economy and push inflation higher. “The most important developments since the last FOMC meeting are the start of the war in Iran and the spike in oil prices,” wrote David Mericle, chief U.S. economist at Goldman Sachs global investment research, in an analysis.

“For the Fed, the war increases both the risk that earlier rate cuts will be needed to address labor market softening and the risk that a higher inflation path will delay cuts.” At the same time, the Trump administration is ramping up its criminal investigation into the Fed — and its rage against Chair Jerome Powell — after suffering a key defeat last week. The swirling political and economic storms are unlikely to influence the Fed’s upcoming interest rate decision. The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) was expected to keep rates steady again this month, and the odds of a cut dropped sharply as oil prices rose, according to futures markets. But those dual threats are raising tough questions for the Fed as it navigates the road ahead, along with growing uncertainty about who will be behind the wheel: Powell, or Trump’s nominee to replace him, former Fed board member Kevin Warsh.

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A $50 million push hopes to make child care a top issue in the midterm elections

An advocacy group hoping to expand support for child and elder care plans to spend $50 million to back Democrats in congressional races, tying the costs of caregiving to the nation’s affordability debate. The Campaign for a Family Friendly Economy, created a decade ago, aims to make caregiver issues more salient in elections. The announcement comes as the cost of child care continues to rise and as waiting lists for federal child care subsidies, which support working families in poverty, continue to grow. Sondra Goldschein, executive director of the campaign and its political action committee, said child care and elder care are important to the affordability conversation, especially as child care costs exceed what families pay for housing.

Then there is the pressure on the “sandwich generation,” composed of middle-aged people who are caring simultaneously for their own children and parents. “When child care can cost more than your rent or a mortgage, or you have to sacrifice a paycheck in order to be able to take care of a loved one,” that can motivate how people vote, said Goldschein. “Each election cycle, we see candidates recognizing that more and more.” She hopes the message will resonate as families face a slew of rising costs, including climbing gas prices driven by a war in the Middle East that is unpopular with many voters. The campaign plans to pour support for Democrats into Senate races in North Carolina, Georgia, Michigan, Maine and Ohio and into House races in Iowa and Pennsylvania. It is also slated to dispatch volunteers to talk with voters about caregiving. The National Republican Congressional Committee did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Republicans have begun to back child care as an issue crucial to growing the workforce, but their proposals tend to be less dramatic than those offered by Democrats. Last year, through President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill, Republicans made an estimated 4 million more families eligible for a child care tax credit. The law also increased child care aid for military families and tax credits for employers who provide child care to their workers.

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SEC prepares proposal to eliminate quarterly reporting requirement

The Securities and Exchange Commission is preparing a proposal to eliminate the requirement to report earnings quarterly and instead give companies the option to share results twice a year, according to people familiar with the matter. The regulator could publish the proposal as soon as next month, the people said. In preparation for the proposal, regulators have been talking to officials at the major exchanges to discuss how they may need to adjust their rules. Once the proposal is published, it will be subject to a public comment period. After that period, which typically lasts at least 30 days, the SEC will vote on it. There are no guarantees it will ultimately happen. The rule is expected to make quarterly reporting optional, not eliminate quarterly reports altogether.

The push for semiannual reporting gained steam late last year. The Long-Term Stock Exchange petitioned the SEC to eliminate the quarterly earnings report requirement, The Wall Street Journal reported in September. Within days, President Trump and SEC Chairman Paul Atkins both said they supported the idea. Publicly traded companies in the U.S. have reported results every three months for the past 50-plus years. Trump briefly explored the idea of moving to semiannual earnings reports during his first term, but the effort went nowhere. Those in favor of less-frequent reporting requirements believe a switch could help boost the shrinking number of public companies in the U.S. Among the reasons companies cite as to why they remain private is the time-consuming and costly clerical work required to list and maintain publicly traded shares. Any change is likely to face opposition from investors who rely on the transparency of regular disclosures. Publicly listed European companies are no longer required to report quarterly financial results after a 2013 rule change. The U.K. also ended quarterly reporting requirements about a decade ago, though many companies still report quarterly.

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CEOs want to be like Warren Buffett, right down to his shareholder letter

Warren Buffett’s advice on investing and business reached tens of millions of people during his long run at Berkshire Hathaway. But it is Buffett’s success in making shareholder letters sing that might have left the biggest mark on a particular cohort of his fans: fellow CEOs. Buffett retired as Berkshire’s CEO in December, handing off his role as top executive (and shareholder-letter writer) to Greg Abel. Executives say Buffett, who infused his letters with his wit and personal anecdotes that often veered from the requisite review of Berkshire’s operations, elevated a dreary convention of corporate America and set a new standard. For those willing to step up their own letter-writing game, it can mean a lot more work. “It’s hard,” said Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase and the writer of more than 20 shareholder letters. “I’m happy when it’s birthed.”

Dimon read investors Benjamin Graham and David Dodd’s book “Security Analysis” as a young man, which featured a foreword written by Buffett. Later, he discovered the letters Buffett wrote annually to shareholders of Berkshire and the investing partnership he ran before he took over the company. What always struck him about Buffett’s writing, Dimon said, was his talent for explaining complex financial concepts in plain English. “I write it for people like my sisters,” Buffett told the Journal in 2016. “They’re smart, they read a lot, they have a lot invested in the company. They don’t know all the financial jargon, but they don’t want to be treated like 5-year-olds.” “I’ve always tried to emulate that,” Dimon said. Buffett’s letters could continue for more than a dozen pages, and their readership extended beyond Berkshire shareholders. Indeed, many of the Oracle of Omaha’s oft-quoted aphorisms found in past annual letters are applicable to investors in just about anything. His wise words included, “We simply attempt to be fearful when others are greedy and to be greedy only when others are fearful,” and “never bet against America,” among others.

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Man charged with planting bombs near the Capitol claims he’s covered by Trump pardon

The man charged with planting pipe bombs at Democratic and Republican party headquarters on the eve of Jan. 6, 2021, says he’s protected from prosecution by the sweeping clemency President Donald Trump decreed for participants in the attack on the Capitol. Lawyers for Brian Cole Jr. filed the provocative motion Monday arguing that the felony charges he faces of transporting and maliciously using explosives should be dismissed because Trump granted clemency to anyone convicted of or charged with crimes “related to events that occurred at or near the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021.”

“Applying governing law to the plain, unambiguous language of the President Trump’s Pardon demonstrates that the Pardon applies to Mr. Cole because his alleged conduct is inextricably tethered to the events at or near the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021,” Cole’s attorneys, Mario Williams and John Shoreman, wrote. While the wording of the proclamation Trump issued on his first day in office last year is extremely broad, it refers to cases that are pending and to people already convicted. It’s not clear from its face if it fends off future charges. Trump has said he intended his pardon to apply to people he says were treated unfairly when charged with committing crimes on Jan. 6 ranging from trespassing to committing grievous assaults on police officers. But Cole’s attorneys say the pardon “unequivocally” covers their client, as well.

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Kennedy Center board approves two-year closure for $250 million renovation

The Trump-appointed board of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts voted unanimously Monday to shutter the arts mecca for two years for renovations. “Major renovations are required to keep the facility functional, and that will start right after July 4,” the center's vice president of public relations, Roma Daravi, said in a statement. “This project will transform the Center into a world-class destination worthy of the nation’s legacy and future — a landmark where every American is welcome to experience artistic excellence and premiere entertainment,” Daravi said. The board also voted to name Matt Floca as the center's chief operating officer and executive director, replacing interim head Richard Grenell, who President Donald Trump announced was stepping down last week.

Trump touted the planned renovations on Truth Social ahead of the vote, saying the renovations will transform the center into "the finest performing arts facility" in the world. He said that “the fastest way to bring the Trump Kennedy Center to the highest level of success, beauty and grandeur is to cease the entertainment operations for a two-year period of time as we complete high quality, really high quality construction.” Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, an ex-officio board member who sued to ensure she could attend the meeting, confirmed that the vote was unanimous. A judge ruled Saturday that she be allowed to attend but not necessarily permitted to vote. She was not allowed to vote Monday. Trump fired the center's board and named himself chairman in February 2025. Near the end of last year, the board voted to add his name to the center, which led some artists to cancel their performances.

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Native Americans could be among the hardest hit by SAVE America Act

The voting bill that President Donald Trump wants Republicans to pass would make it harder for Native Americans who live on tribal land to vote, advocates and lawmakers say. The SAVE America Act, which is expected to get a vote in the Senate sometime this week, would have sweeping ramifications for many eligible voters if it becomes law. Native Americans, who often live hundreds of miles away from the closest polling place and have lower rates of passport ownership, could be among the hardest hit. “Tribes hate this. But you know, the truth is, everybody hates this. This is not voter ID. This is going to remove tens of millions of people from the voter rolls without even informing them, and without even giving them a chance to remedy it,” Democratic Sen. Brian Schatz, the vice chair of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, told NOTUS. “We’re a hard no, and I don’t think they will succeed.”

Republicans say the SAVE America Act, which does not currently have the votes to pass in the Senate, is necessary to prevent noncitizens from voting in U.S. elections, despite the fact that data shows this rarely happens. In crafting their legislation, Republicans included provisions that would require voters to show proof of citizenship in person to register to vote and to cast mail-in ballots. Advocates are worried that the bill’s in-person requirement would disenfranchise many people who lack easy access to election centers. “All of those things are harder in Indian Country,” said Jacqueline De León, a senior staff attorney for the Native American Rights Fund, a legal assistance nonprofit. “Election services are too far, sometimes located at county seats that can be hundreds of miles away. On reservation, opportunities are extremely limited if they exist at all.” The bill contains language that says tribal IDs can be used as proof of citizenship, but must show “that the applicant’s place of birth was in the United States.”

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Illinois voters pick a new generation of Democrats for House, Senate after near-record retirements

Illinois voters are deciding primaries Tuesday for six open U.S. House and Senate seats that will spur a new generation of leadership in the state’s heavily Democratic congressional delegation. The retirement of longtime Sen. Dick Durbin, a Democrat, has triggered a competitive campaign, drawing as candidates two sitting House members and the lieutenant governor, among others. Sharp elbows and furious fundraising have marked the race, which also is a test of the influence of Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker, a billionaire whose name is floated as a 2028 presidential contender. A spate of House retirements has led to open seats with crowded contests across the Chicago area. The stakes are high, with most primary winners in the Democratic stronghold expected to win in November.

Ten Democrats and six Republicans are running after Durbin, the Senate’s No. 2 Democrat, announced his retirement after five terms. Three top Democrats have emerged: Chicago-area U.S. Reps. Raja Krishnamoorthi and Robin Kelly and Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton. Krishnamoorthi has dominated fundraising and the airwaves and was the first on television with ads in July. He started 2026 with over $15 million on hand after spending more than $6 million and raising more than $3.5 million in the final three months of last year, according to campaign finance records. By comparison, Stratton started the year with $1 million after raising about the same amount and spending just under $1 million in the last three months of 2025. But last month Pritzker put $5 million in a super PAC largely aimed at helping get her elected.

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Lead Stories

Senate prepares for marathon SAVE America Act debate

President Trump’s allies are planning to take over the Senate floor this week in a bid to pass the SAVE America Act, setting up a major test for Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) who is under pressure from Trump and the MAGA base to extend the debate over voting reform for as long as possible. GOP senators are playing their cards close to the vest ahead of this week’s marathon debate over the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act, which would require people registering to vote to show documented proof of citizenship. But they’re bracing for long hours and possible late nights in a bid to build momentum for the bill, which already has broad public support. A recent Harvard CAPS/Harris poll of 1,999 registered voters found that 71 percent support the SAVE America Act.

“They faced a 32-vote cloture deficit at the time it came over from the House in March of 64,” Lee said. “They were able to close a 32-vote cloture deficit. It took them 60 days but they got there.” “Debating a bill that continues to get more popular even as people are trying to slow it down and stop it and obstruct it sometimes sharpens the minds of individual lawmakers and makes them more amenable in the end to negotiation,” Lee added. “That’s what we’re looking at here.” Lee, a close Trump ally, suggested that the president will closely watch this week’s Senate debate. Trump has put intense pressure on Thune to get the bill through the upper chamber and last week said he would not sign any legislation until the SAVE America Act hits his desk. “The extent of his satisfaction with the process will depend on whether in his view we gave it everything we have,” he said. Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.) said Republicans are still “working through” their floor strategy but are preparing for a battle.

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Trump administration turns to migrant workers to help farm labor shortage

For years, the agricultural sector has faced a tight labor market as farmworkers age and fewer new immigrants and younger Americans are willing to toil in the fields. Top Trump administration officials vowed that mass deportations would help, leading to “higher wages with better benefits” and a “100 percent American work force.” But the administration has quietly acknowledged in recent months that its immigration raids and crackdown on the border have aggravated the issue. So it has instead turned to an alternative source, making it cheaper for farmers to hire immigrant farmworkers on temporary visas. Many farmers have celebrated those changes, made to an increasingly popular visa program known as H-2A, noting the difficulty in hiring American workers and tough economic conditions for the industry.

But immigration hawks and labor unions alike are opposed, arguing the move will only increase the share of foreign workers and hurt native workers and suppress their wages. The simmering debate underscores how some of the administration’s top goals of reducing immigration, keeping food prices low and helping American workers may inevitably conflict. The competing interests at play also show the spillover effects of Mr. Trump’s hard-line approach to legal and illegal immigration. Brooke L. Rollins, the agriculture secretary, said in a statement that the administration was enacting “real reforms to ease regulatory burdens and lower labor costs.” “The farm economy is in a difficult situation, and President Trump is utilizing all the tools available to ensure farmers have what they need to be successful,” she said. Only 0.4 percent of farmers in California reported losing workers directly to farm raids, according to a new survey by the California Farm Bureau and Michigan State University. But more than 14 percent said the raids and general anxiety surrounding enhanced immigration enforcement caused worker shortages. Among labor-intensive crops like fruit and vegetables, that number was nearly 20 percent.

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Ted Cruz was ‘blindsided’ by the Pentagon in effort to avoid repeat of DC plane crash

In the months after a U.S. Army helicopter collided with an American Airlines passenger jet over Washington’s Potomac River last year, killing 67 people, U.S. Sen Ted Cruz set about making sure it would never happen again. The Republican chair of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee spent months meeting with victims’ families, Democrats, military officials and air safety experts. Cruz has long had a reputation as a partisan firebrand, but in this instance he crafted a bipartisan bill to put into law a longstanding recommendation by federal safety experts that aircraft use digital maps showing the location of nearby aircraft — instead of relying on radio chatter that can be cut off or difficult to follow — when navigating congested airspace like that over Washington.

To Cruz, it seemed like an obvious and easy fix. And it appeared most of Congress was in agreement. The bill easily cleared the Senate, seemingly well on its way to becoming law. But Cruz, as he put it, was soon “blindsided” by opposition from the Pentagon, along with a small but powerful segment of the aviation industry represented by U.S. Rep. Sam Graves, a lifelong pilot who flies old fighter planes in his spare time and chairs the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. Cruz — long an opponent of big government — faced pushback for trying to force more red tape on pilots. Fellow Republicans accused him of trying to let federal bureaucrats control military planes. The bill failed in the House and the fix that once seemed like a no-brainer remains in doubt. On the day House Republicans voted down the bill last month, Doug Lane, who lost his wife and 16-year-old son in the crash, was up in the gallery overlooking the House floor with other victims’ families when Cruz walked up. “He just kind of gave us assurances he was going to keep fighting and he said to keep the faith and keep fighting and don’t let this discourage us,” said Lane, a tech consultant in Rhode Island. “The reason we had a vote at all was because of his political capital and ability to convince Speaker (Mike) Johnson to bring it to the floor.” The Rotor Act, led by Cruz and Sen. Maria Cantwell, a Democrat from Washington state, was built on an almost 20-year-old recommendation from the National Transportation Safety Board that planes be required to adopt surveillance technology known as ADS-B In to allow them to better track each other in the air.

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Oil industry warns Trump administration that fuel crunch will likely worsen

American oil executives delivered a bleak message to Trump officials in recent days: The energy crisis the Iran war has unleashed is likely to get worse. In a series of White House meetings Wednesday and recent conversations with Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, the CEOs of Exxon Mobil, Chevron and ConocoPhillips warned that the disruption to energy flows out of the vital Strait of Hormuz waterway would continue to create volatility in global energy markets, according to people familiar with the matter. In response to questions from the officials, Exxon CEO Darren Woods said that oil prices could rise past current elevated levels if speculators unexpectedly bid up prices and that markets could see a supply crunch of refined products.

Chevron CEO Mike Wirth and ConocoPhillips CEO Ryan Lance also conveyed their concerns about the scale of the disruption, these people said. President Trump didn’t attend the Wednesday meetings. U.S. oil prices have climbed from $87 a barrel that day to $99 a barrel Friday. The White House has implemented or is considering several measures it hopes will lower oil prices—including further easing sanctions on Russian oil, a massive release of emergency energy reserves and possibly waiving a statute that limits crude flows between U.S. ports. Administration officials have also told oil chief executives that they are hoping to increase the flow of oil between Venezuela and the U.S., a White House official said. Burgum said the administration has been “working around the clock” with energy companies to stabilize global energy markets. Wright and the Trump administration will continue to take action to minimize disruptions to energy supplies, Energy Department spokesman Ben Dietderich said.

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State Stories

Why industry experts are skeptical of $300B Texas refinery touted by Trump

Brownsville may be getting a long-promised crude refinery, the nation’s first new oil refinery in almost 50 years. President Donald Trump announced the $300 billion project, to be funded by Reliance Industries, an Indian refining company owned by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, on Truth Social this week. But because of the more than decade-long attempt to get a light crude refinery built in Brownsville and the financial risk associated with such a project, the announcement has been met with some skepticism. The refinery, if built, would defy the decline that has affected the U.S. refining industry in recent years as increasingly fuel-efficient vehicles cut into fuel demand. Houston’s own oldest refinery shuttered its doors just last year.

“It doesn’t seem to me that the U.S. Gulf Coast really needs another refinery, especially down in Brownsville,” said Andy Lipow, head of consulting firm Lipow Oil Associates. The project is the latest iteration of a nearly decadelong attempt by multiple companies to launch a 160,000 barrel-a-day refinery in Brownsville. Companies have for years failed to get the necessary funding or struggled to obtain and maintain the necessary permits from entities such as the Environmental Protection Agency and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Not only does a project of this magnitude require serious financial backing but it would also mean needing to build a pipeline to get crude to the Brownsville site — another hurdle bound by red tape. The project’s price tag would be a steep climb, but “project announcements are cheap,” Lipow said. Compounding economic skepticism is a lack of acknowledgement from Reliance Industries, which is the company footing the massive bill, according to Trump’s announcement. It’s odd, Lipow said. “I just don’t even know what to make of it, because there’s no statement out of Reliance.”

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US energy secretary directs oil company to restore operations off California

U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright directed a Texas-based oil and gas company Friday to restore operations in waters off southern California that were damaged by a 2015 oil spill, invoking the Defense Production Act. Restoring Sable Offshore Corp.’s Santa Ynez unit and pipeline off Santa Barbara aims to address supply disruption risks, according to a department news release. The unit includes three rigs in federal waters, offshore and onshore pipelines, and the Las Flores Canyon Processing Facility. The facility can produce about 50,000 barrels of oil per day and would replace nearly 1.5 million barrels of foreign crude each month, officials said. “The Trump Administration remains committed to putting all Americans and their energy security first,” Wright said in a statement.

“Unfortunately, some state leaders have not adhered to those same principles, with potentially disastrous consequences not just for their residents, but also our national security. Today’s order will strengthen America’s oil supply and restore a pipeline system vital to our national security and defense, ensuring that West Coast military installations have the reliable energy critical to military readiness.” On the first day of his second term, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to reverse former President Joe Biden’s ban on future offshore oil drilling on the East and West coasts. A federal court later struck down Biden’s order to withdraw 625 million acres of federal waters from oil development. “This is an attempt to illegally restart a pipeline whose operators are facing criminal charges and prohibited by multiple court orders from restarting,” Newsom said in a statement. “California will not stand by while the Trump administration attempts to sacrifice our coastal communities, our environment, and our $51 billion coastal economy. The Trump administration and Sable are defying multiple court orders, and we will see them back in court.” In January, California sued the federal government for approving Houston-based Sable’s plans to restart pipelines along the coast. Democratic state Attorney General Rob Bonta said at the time that the state oversees the pipelines through Santa Barbara and Kern counties and the federal government “has no right to usurp California’s regulatory authority.”

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Afghan father, former U.S. military ally, dies in ICE custody in North Texas

An Afghan father who served with U.S. forces died in ICE custody less than a day after being arrested in North Texas. Mohammed Nazeer Paktiawal's family says he was in the country legally after serving alongside the U.S. military in Afghanistan and evacuating to the U.S. in 2021. According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the 41-year-old had a criminal history and his temporary legal status had expired.

Mohammed Nazeer Paktiawal's brother, Naseer Paktiawal, said that on Friday, while dropping off his kids at school, Nazeer Paktiawal was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents near his home in Richardson, Texas and taken into custody. "He was arrested in front of these kids while taking them to school at 7 in the morning. Some people surrounded him, put him in the car, and drove him away while they were screaming, asking for help," Naseer Paktiawal said. Less than 24 hours later, Naseer Paktiawal received a call that his brother was dead. When he arrived in the U.S. in 2021, according to ICE, Mohammed Nazeer Paktiawal "was paroled into the U.S. by an immigration officer," or given temporary permission to enter and remain in the U.S. under the Biden administration's Operation Allies Refuge. The agency said he provided no record of his military service. ICE said the duration of his parole expired on Aug. 20, 2025. Naseer Paktiawal said his brother, a husband and father of six, had a pending immigration case. According to his brother, before emigrating, Mohammed Nazeer Paktiawal was hired by the U.S. government as an Afghan special force and worked alongside them for over a decade.

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Gulfton, Houston's 'Ellis Island,' is hurting under ICE fears, residents say

When Elmer Romero walks into his Gulfton office lately, the lobby is mostly empty — a sharp change from the crowds that once waited there for help with immigration cases. When he and his coworkers go to a nearby Salvadoran restaurant for lunch, they’re often the only customers. And when he drives around the neighborhood on weekends, he sees fewer families celebrating birthdays in neighborhood parks. This is life in Gulfton, known as the Ellis Island of Houston, under the second administration of President Donald Trump. More than half of the neighborhood’s residents were born outside the United States, according to Rice University’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research, making Gulfton the largest immigrant community in Houston.

As the Trump administration continues its mass deportation campaign across Texas and the U.S., the fear of immigration enforcement has indelibly changed day-to-day life in the southwest Houston neighborhood — and not just for immigrants without legal status. Businesses are struggling and the cultural fabric of the neighborhood is beginning to fray, according to some locals, presenting Gulfton with an existential challenge unlike any it has faced in recent memory. “When the pandemic happened, it greatly affected us, but the neighborhood recovered, and little by little life returned here,” said Romero, an organizer at the neighborhood nonprofit CRECEN, in Spanish. “Today, I don’t know if we’ll recover because the political situation is so uncertain.” Gulfton was first developed in the mid-20th century to provide cheap housing for thousands of people who were flocking to Houston for jobs in the booming oil and gas industry, according to University of Houston architecture professor Susan Rogers.

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Kelley Shannon: Want to cut government fraud, waste? Support these transparency laws

(Kelley Shannon is executive director of the Austin-based nonprofit Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas.) As we watch over our government, it’s often about the money. Are taxpayer dollars being spent wisely on social programs, road projects and employee pay? Can we view government contracts with outside organizations? What are the details of bond proposals on the election ballot? Long-established state open-government laws — the Texas Public Information Act and the Texas Open Meetings Act — help us answer these questions and root out malfeasance. As we celebrate national Sunshine Week March 15-21, let’s recognize our transparency laws and learn how to keep them strong.

Beyond detecting financial waste and fraud, journalists and vigilant citizens are using these laws to retrieve videos related to suspected crimes against kids, to identify finalists for top jobs in cities and school districts, and to review the emergency response after the tragic Hill Country floods. The Texas Public Information Act and the Open Meetings Act are more than 50 years old and continue to be adapted to modern times and troubles. Open-government advocates worked with legislators last year to establish stricter requirements for public officials responding to records requests. There are now more consequences when a government ignores a request. Another new law requires public meeting notices to be posted at least three business days, rather than 72 hours, before the meeting. That prevents a notice from getting overlooked if it is first posted on a weekend. This common-sense law also specifies that if a budget is to be considered at the meeting, a copy of that proposed budget must be posted for public view in advance.

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He came to Austin for a new chapter. After death in shooting, loved ones mourn his 'bright spirit'

In a city of transplants, Jorge Pederson was one of Austin’s newest arrivals. He came from Minneapolis in mid-February, drawn by a new job, warmer weather and the city’s live comedy scene. On March 1, Pederson was meeting a new coworker at Buford’s on West Sixth Street when a gunman opened fire. He was one of three people in the crowd that were killed. He was 30 years old. Now, friends in Austin and Minneapolis are confronting a terrible loss, and sharing stories of a man they say was always “unapologetically himself.” “[He] loved deeply, and protected the ones around him fiercely,” Kit Ingersoll, his best friend since childhood, told KUT News by phone as he drove Pederson’s belongings back to Minneapolis from Austin. “Jorge and I started a moving company together, so it's kind of fitting that I'm the one to handle the move back."

In business and life, Pederson was the “hardest worker," Ingersoll said. "Very disciplined, determined to do whatever it was that he wanted." It was a decisiveness on full display the day he agreed to quit a previous job to start the moving business with his friend. “He just said, ‘I'd absolutely love to be your partner. I'll put my two weeks in right now,’” Ingersoll said. Minutes later, Pederson sent a follow-up text with a screenshot of him submitting his notice. “That's how committed he was to doing what he wanted to do,” Ingersoll said. Among those mourning Pederson’s death is the mixed martial arts community in Minnesota. Pederson wrestled and studied Muay Thai. But, over the last five years, he had prioritized MMA, often training six days a week. He was planning to participate in his first professional match in May. ”He was very welcoming as a martial artist,” MMA fighter Brody Oothoudt said. “He was the one who invited me to come start training in the first place.” Friends and fellow students said he was attracted to the sport for the skill and discipline it requires. They said he had no patience for fighters who needlessly injure or hurt their opponents. “Jorge was vocally against that, because that is against the spirit of what martial arts is,” said Oothoudt, who helped organize an online fundraiser to pay for his friend's funeral. “He was a good guy, working to make a positive impact.” At 6-foot-4 and 185 pounds, Pederson was a “bigger guy,” who would sometimes spar against smaller partners.

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Lawsuit over Bexar County Immigration legal fund now in 3 courts

A lawsuit filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton challenging Bexar County’s immigration legal services program is now unfolding simultaneously in three courts — a local district court, the Austin-based 15th Court of Appeals and the Texas Supreme Court — as state and county attorneys fight over whether the case will survive long enough for any judge to rule on its constitutionality. The dispute centers on more than $556,000 in county funding for legal representation for immigrants facing deportation hearings through the nonprofit American Gateways. While the lawsuit originally focused on whether the program violates the Texas Constitution’s “Gift Clause,” the immediate legal fight has shifted to a narrower question: whether courts should intervene before the program’s funding expires, potentially making the case moot.

Paxton filed the lawsuit at the beginning of February seeking to temporarily block the release of funding for the county’s Immigration Legal Services Fund, which contracts with the nonprofit American Gateways to provide legal assistance to low-income residents facing federal deportation proceedings. The program had been in operation since 2024 and was set to expire on Feb 28. The state argued the program violates the Texas Constitution’s Gift Clause, which prohibits governments from giving public money to private parties unless the spending serves a clear public purpose and remains under government control. County officials have defended the program as a lawful use of public funds, saying it helps residents navigate complex immigration proceedings and serves a broader public benefit. Officials cited a decision in a November separate lawsuit where the 15th Court of Appeals ruled against Paxton in favor of Harris County over its immigration legal service fund, which had been in operation since 2020. In the ruling, the 15th Court of Appeals declined to block a nearly identical immigrant legal services program in Harris County, writing that Texas courts have long recognized providing legal counsel to indigent people as a public service. The court found the state had not shown evidence that the program harmed residents or violated the Texas Constitution’s Gift Clause.

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Carnival area at RodeoHouston shuts down early Saturday night as a precaution, officials say

The carnival area at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo closed early Saturday night after fights broke out, prompting some guests to run and causing confusion. That's according to a new statement released by rodeo officials Sunday afternoon. They said the situation prompted others nearby to begin running as well. Law enforcement and on-site security responded immediately, according to a statement released Sunday. Out of an abundance of caution, organizers decided to close the carnival area for the rest of the night. Officials said they are not aware of any injuries. “The safety and security of our guests remains the top priority for the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo,” the statement said.

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California billionaire and tech CEO announces move to Texas

Texas is continuing to attract some of the nation's wealthiest business leaders, as another California billionaire and tech CEO announced he recently relocated to the Lone Star State. Travis Kalanick, cofounder and former CEO of Uber, said in an interview with hosts John Coogan and Jordi Hays on the tech podcast TBPN he had made the move to the Austin area. "On December 18th, I moved to Texas," Kalanick said. "So, I'm a primary resident of Texas." While his transition is finally official, Kalanick said he has owned a place on Lake Austin for nearly five years now, located just 20 minutes outside of the city. However, Kalanick didn't share details on what inspired his move.

Kalanick was born and raised in Los Angeles and co-founded Uber in San Francisco in 2009. He resigned as CEO in 2017 after mounting pressure from major investors amid allegations of a toxic workplace culture that included claims of gender discrimination and sexual harassment, as reported by the New York Times. Now, Kalanick is CEO of Atoms, a robotics company catered to the food, mining and transportation industries. "There's a lot of room for specialized robots that do things in an efficient sort of industrial-scale kind of way, which is sort of where we play," Kalanick said of the company. As of March, Kalanick has an estimated net worth of roughly $3.6 billion, according to Forbes. The 49-year-old's relocation to Austin comes amid a broader influx of tech billionaires to the Lone Star State, alongside a surge of technology companies expanding operations across Texas. In perhaps one of the most high-profile moves, Elon Musk moved from California to Texas in December 2020. Musk now primarily lives in Starbase near the SpaceX launch site.

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Flying taxis to connect Texas cities under new federal program

Electric flying taxis could start testing routes between Texas’ largest cities within the next three years, state transportation officials say. A state plan to connect San Antonio, Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston with “regional test flights” of the futuristic aircraft was recently accepted into a federal program designed to develop the use of the technology across the nation. Collectively known as Electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing, or eVTOL, the aircraft resemble giant drones and are designed to be self-flying. Several types are in testing and awaiting certification by the Federal Aviation Administration.

They’re part of a larger discussion over the concept of Advanced Air Mobility which is reimagining the nation’s air network to integrate the new types of aircraft, work out how best to use them and develop the infrastructure needed to operate them safely. U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and the FAA announced this week they had selected a plan developed by the Texas Department of Transportation into the federal eVTOL Integration Pilot Program, along with seven other projects that span 25 states. “This is a first of its kind effort to safely integrate electric aircraft into U.S. airspace and puts Texas squarely in the center of the next generation of aviation,” Sergio Roman, director of office within TxDOT that works with emerging aviation technologies, said in a statement.

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Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson defends exploring City Hall relocation

Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson pushed back Sunday against friction over City Hall’s future as “silly games” meant to “muddy the waters,” saying exploring relocation options is routine due diligence, not a backroom scheme. In his weekly newsletter, Johnson outlined his most detailed case yet for studying whether Dallas should move City Hall, saying speculation and sensational coverage have distorted the debate. “Those who are more interested in muddying the waters than dealing in facts are working overtime, trying to make normal stuff sound nefarious,” Johnson said. The mayor said the core issue is simple: the I.M. Pei-designed City Hall is aging, expensive to maintain and ill-suited for modern government operations.

“Dallas City Hall isn’t in good shape,” Johnson said. “It doesn’t meet the needs of a modern big-city government — or, really, of any modern workplace.” He said the building’s design anchors a government district that leaves a large stretch of downtown inactive after business hours. Broader changes in Dallas’ urban core make it the right moment to reconsider the city’s headquarters, Johnson said, pointing to: Redevelopment of the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center. The rise of the city’s financial district, dubbed “Y’all Street.” The expected departure of AT&T’s downtown headquarters in the coming years. “This city is at an inflection point,” Johnson wrote. “It’s the right time to ask what kind of urban core Dallas wants to have in the coming decades and then start building it.” He said that’s why he sided with the majority of the City Council in a recent 9-6 vote directing city staff to explore options, including repairing the building or relocating City Hall. Johnson said that is a common step to gather information before any major decision is made. Consultants estimate fully modernizing the current building could cost more than $1 billion over 20 years. Less expensive repairs alone may not produce a more effective workplace, he said. “You can’t consider the viability of any one option in a vacuum without knowing what your other options are,” he said.

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National Stories

Rising prices and high interest rates are making car ownership feel impossible

An $830-a-month car payment. Auto insurance for $280 each month. Thousands more for tire and maintenance repairs. For almost three years, those bills have followed Davine Greene, a nursing student who hasn’t missed or been late on a payment since buying her Kia K5 GT in November 2023. But keeping up with the payments has driven up her debt to more than $80,000, not including student loans. Last week, she filed for bankruptcy to escape the burden, she said. “This car is the bane of my existence,” said Ms. Greene, 24, who lives in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. “Probably the worst decision I’ve ever made, like, financially speaking.” As car prices, auto loan interest rates and insurance and maintenance costs continue to rise, owning or buying a car is becoming harder to afford.

The war in Iran have pushed gas prices up, adding to greater affordability concerns. President Trump said in a recent interview with Reuters that he was willing to tolerate higher prices for strategic priorities. Vehicle prices climbed during the pandemic as supply chain disruptions slowed production and manufacturers focused on building more profitable vehicles. In the years since, rising interest rates have made the situation even tougher on households. The average interest rate on a 60-month new car loan from banks was 7.22 percent in November, according to the Federal Reserve. Higher rates have pushed monthly payments further. The average monthly new-car payment reached $774 in January, up from $588 in January 2021, according to Edmunds, an auto research firm. A growing share of buyers are taking on even larger loans: More than 20 percent of new-car borrowers agreed to pay over $1,000 a month at the end of last year, which was a record, Edmunds reported. But loan payments are only part of the strain. When insurance, gas, repairs and maintenance are included, the total cost of owning a vehicle has risen more than 40 percent since January 2020, according to an index from Navy Federal Credit Union.

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Oscars TV review: Hollywood finally reinvents its big night

“Patience, resilience and that rarest of qualities today, optimism.” That may have been Oscar host Conan O’Brien’s serious wish tonight for the film industry and the world, but it ended up being a pretty good epitaph for Hollywood’s Biggest Night this year. Let’s get it out of the way that patience, resilience and optimism were required for a show that was over 3 hours and 40 minutes long. Sinners star Michael B. Jordan’s Best Actor speech tapped into the same trio of elements in a very different way as he listed off “the people that came before me: Sidney Poitier, Denzel Washington, Halle Berry, Jamie Foxx, Forest Whitaker, Will Smith.” Maybe it was the fact that YouTube will be replacing ABC as the home of the Oscars in 2029, but someone somewhere in the Movie Academy and Disney finally dragged the lumbering show deep into the 21st century.

Making the Oscars watchable from start to finish, and reducing the cringe, has been no easy task. Many a producing team, director and AMPAS board had been defeated trying, or at least pretending to try. A changing culture, fractured viewing habits and sliding ratings during the past 15 years only has exacerbated the hardship as the movies’ big night seemed to get smaller and smaller and far less relevant. Sunday night wasn’t perfect, but it sure was something worth watching with some drama, some surprises and a lot of fun. Big and bold-ish, the 98th Academy Awards had eagles, a pope, crowns, Josh Groban and a “hasasmallpenis” Donald Trump dig. The Raj Kapoor/Katy Mullan-produced show also had best use of a Beastie Boys tune in an Oscars opening skit ever, a passable new Leonardo DiCaprio meme. some YouTube pearl clutching, a couple of big wins for Netflix’s KPop Demon Hunters, and a “Thank you, Canada,” all in its first 30 minutes.

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Appointee wants to replace White House columns with the ones Trump prefers

For nearly two centuries, the White House’s main entrance — framed by a row of graceful Ionic columns — has been a signature image of the seat of American power. Now the Trump-appointed head of a federal arts commission is proposing to replace them with a more ornate style favored by President Donald Trump. Those more decorative columns, a style known as Corinthian, are considered the most luxurious in classical architecture and appear on buildings such as the U.S. Capitol and the Supreme Court. They have long been deployed on Trump’s properties, and the president has handpicked them for his planned White House ballroom, too. “Corinthian is the highest order [of column], and that’s what our other two branches of government have,” Rodney Mims Cook Jr., the Trump appointee who chairs the Commission of Fine Arts, a federal panel charged with advising the president on design matters, said in an interview last week.

“Why the White House didn’t originally use them, at least on the north front, which is considered the front door, is beyond me.” A White House spokesperson told The Washington Post that while Trump prefers Corinthian columns in new construction, there are no plans to change the existing Ionic columns outside the White House. Cook said he had yet to discuss the idea directly with the president. But Cook’s proposal to overhaul the front entrance to the White House, known as the North Portico, reflects a common dynamic in Trump’s Washington, where the president’s deputies and allies often anticipate and implement his desires — and frequently upend decades of tradition and norms in the process. Some of Cook’s allies have cheered his idea. “Historic buildings, as important as the White House is, nevertheless they change through time,” said Richard Cameron, a longtime colleague who has pushed to redesign New York’s Penn Station. Many other architects and designers say they’re baffled or even horrified by Cook’s proposal.

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UF disbands College Republican chapter, citing antisemitic activity

The University of Florida deactivated its College Republicans chapter after the Florida Federation of College Republicans alerted the university to a photo showing a student leader performing a Nazi salute. UF wrote that the gesture violated its policies in a March 14 statement on X. The photo, circulated on X by North Carolina–based journalist Sloan Rachmuth, was a screenshot showing two students performing a Nazi salute in a Guilded chatroom. The group chat platform was designed for gaming communities and was shut down in December 2025. The Florida Federation of College Republicans requested UF disband the chapter while it looked to reorganize the club after it engaged in "a pattern of conduct that violated [FFCR's] rules and values," but it's unclear what authority the FFCR has over UFCR.

The UF club says it's not affiliated with FFCR and instead is part of the College Republicans of America. Both of those organizations accused the FFCR of lying to UF to get the club disbanded. “They cited the FFCR, an organization that we are not a part of that has no authority over our chapter. We are proud members of a different organization, @uscollegegop,” the club wrote on X. “We look forward to the University reinstating our club and correcting this statement. We have retained counsel and have received information that this is not the first time that FFCR has lied to silence christian conservative groups on campus.” FFCR did not immediately reply to the Sun's request for comment on its relationship with the UF club. UFCR's deactivation comes three days after the club hosted gubernatorial candidate James Fishback on campus. The New York Times reported that Fishback, an America First Republican, has openly criticized the U.S.’s ties to Israel and has been praised for his rhetoric by far-right commentator Nick Fuentes, who is often associated with antisemitic views.

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Tucker Carlson claims DOJ will charge him for violating foreign agent law: CIA ‘read my texts’ on Iran war

Tucker Carlson on Saturday night said the Justice Department is preparing to charge him for being an unregistered foreign agent, which Carlson said the CIA recommended after reading his text messages leading up to the war on Iran. He suggested “some” CIA workers could be targeting him because of his “views about Israel.” Carlson explained the situation from his view in a 5 minute video posted to X. “The CIA is preparing some kind of criminal referral against me, a crime report to the Department of Justice, on the basis of a supposed crime I committed,” Carlson said. “What’s that crime? Well, talking to people in Iran before the war. They read my texts.”

Carlson said he is “apparently” being charged under the “Foreign Agent Act” – likely referring to the Foreign Agents Registration Act; the 1938 legislation requires people who are paid by foreign governments for lobbying or political advocacy to register with the Justice Department. The ex-Fox News star said he does not “expect this to go anywhere” for several reasons. “I’m not an agent of a foreign power,” Carlson said was the first reason. “Unlike a lot of people commenting on U.S. politics and global affairs, I have only one loyalty and that’s the United States and have never acted against it.” He said another reason he is not worried is because he has “never taken money” from a foreign power. “Don’t need it, don’t want it,” he said. Carlson also said he is an American and can speak to anyone he wants — which is yet another reason he believes the potential charges are bogus. “Legally, I think, the case is ludicrous, and I doubt it’ll even become a case,” Carlson said.

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The National Park Service race to rewrite history becomes a slog

The Trump administration’s campaign to remove National Park Service exhibits that “inappropriately disparage” historical figures is bogged down more than nine months after Interior Secretary Doug Burgum set it in motion. The sheer volume of park signs, panels and museum exhibits flagged by park rangers because they mentioned topics like slavery, climate change or violence against Native Americans overwhelmed the Trump administration from the beginning, said three people familiar with the process used to evaluate potential changes, granted anonymity because they feared retribution. “They bit off way more than they could chew,” one of those people said.

But even as parks rushed to meet Interior deadlines, NPS last year dissolved in just a few months a team of experts created to decide if the material flagged by parks had violated President Donald Trump’s prohibition on excessively “negative” portrayals of U.S. history, said two of the people familiar with the process. Many park personnel on the ground now are unsure if NPS will soon demand changes at many parks or leave things as they are, said a park superintendent, who was granted anonymity because they are not allowed to speak to the media. The effort has reached a “nebulous” phase, the superintendent said, with some parks moving forward with edits and others still waiting for changes to be approved. While some exhibits have been altered or removed — most dramatically when NPS in January abruptly took down an exhibit about former President George Washington’s slaves at a Philadelphia site — the vast majority of parks have blown past several Interior Department deadlines to remove material or put up new content, said the superintendent and one of the people familiar with the internal NPS process.

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Lead Stories

Trump says Cornyn and Paxton are both electable as he mulls endorsement in Texas Senate race

President Donald Trump told NBC News on Saturday that he’s still mulling a potential endorsement in the competitive Republican primary for a Senate seat in Texas. Sen. John Cornyn is facing Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in a May 26 runoff after a close contest on the first ballot. “I’ll let you know that over the next week or so,” Trump said in a phone interview when asked if he’s going to endorse Cornyn. “I like him. I always liked him.” He said he thinks he’ll make a decision in the next week. “A lot has to do with the SAVE America Act. A lot is going to determine — Republicans have to get that passed, because that will secure voting in this country,” Trump said. Both candidates are vying for Trump’s endorsement. Paxton has championed abolition of the legislative filibuster to pass the Trump-backed election bill.

Earlier this week Cornyn abandoned his long-standing support for the Senate filibuster, the 60-vote rule to pass most bills, saying he’ll support “whatever changes to Senate rules that may prove necessary” to pass the SAVE America Act. “I very much appreciate that he is” in favor of nixing the filibuster, Trump said of Cornyn. When asked if Cornyn’s move had won him over, he said, “I don’t know, but we have to get it passed.” Trump also said he’s not convinced Cornyn is the GOP’s best chance to hold the Senate seat. “I’ve heard that. I don’t know. I mean, I don’t know. I don’t know that to be a fact,” Trump said. “But I like him. I’ve always liked him. I like both candidates very much.” He said he isn’t worried about Paxton being unelectable. “No, I think they both win,” Trump said, while calling Democratic nominee James Talarico “so weak.”

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The biggest change to voting in Republican election bill could become a burden for many US voters

Joshua Bogdan was born and raised in the United States. The only time the New Hampshire resident has left the country was for a day and a half in seventh grade, when he went to Canada to see Niagara Falls. Even so, that did not mean proving his U.S. citizenship in last fall’s local elections was easy. The 31-year-old arrived at his voting place in Portsmouth and handed the poll worker his driver’s license, just as he had done in other towns when arriving to vote. She said that would no longer do. The poll worker said that under the state’s new proof-of-citizenship law, which took effect for the first time during town elections in 2025, Bogdan would need a passport or his birth certificate because he had moved and needed to reregister at his new address. A scramble ensued, turning the voting process that he had always found fun and invigorating into a nerve-wracking game of beat the clock.

“I didn’t know that anything had officially changed walking in there,” he said. “And then being told that I had to provide a passport that I’ve never had or a birth certificate that’s usually tucked away somewhere safe just to cast my vote — which I’ve done before — it was frustrating.” Bogdan’s experience in New Hampshire is a glimpse into the future for potentially millions of voters across the country. That is if Republican voting legislation being pushed aggressively by President Donald Trump passes Congress and a “show your papers” law is put in place in time for the November elections. The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility, or SAVE America Act, cleared the U.S. House last month on a mostly party-line basis. Republicans say it would improve election integrity. Trump has called its safeguards common sense. The bill is scheduled to come up in the U.S. Senate next week for voting and debate.

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He was Chevron’s man in Venezuela—and a CIA informant

In the months before President Trump moved to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, the Central Intelligence Agency turned to an old friend for advice on who should replace the autocratic leftist. Former Chevron executive Ali Moshiri told the agency that if the U.S. government tried to oust the entire Maduro regime and install the democratic opposition led by María Corina Machado it would have another quagmire like Iraq on its hands, according to people familiar with the matter. She didn’t have the support of the country’s security services or control of its oil infrastructure, Moshiri argued. His recommendation: Stick for now with another autocratic leftist, Maduro’s longtime deputy and economic manager Delcy Rodríguez. The option was later presented to Trump in a secret CIA assessment.

Hours after American commandos dragged Maduro out of his fortified compound, Trump echoed the sentiment. It would be “very tough” for Machado to take over, he said. “She doesn’t have the support within or the respect within the country.” Moshiri’s hidden hand in Washington spycraft, revealed here for the first time, offers a window into how Trump embraced the energy industry’s unsentimental playbook for dealing with autocratic regimes. And it marks a dramatic turnaround for Chevron’s prospects in Venezuela, where the company’s decision to stay invested during decades of political upheaval now leaves it with a strategic advantage as the oil begins to gush again. In a statement, Chevron said that “between spring of 2025 and the removal of Maduro, Chevron did not authorize anyone working for, or on behalf of, the company to engage with the CIA related to Venezuela’s leadership, including assessments of government officials or opposition leaders.” It added that the company had no advance knowledge of Maduro’s ouster, and didn’t coordinate or advocate for it. Chevron added that it “does not have a business relationship with Ali Moshiri—formal or informal.”

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Trump knew the risk of Iran blocking the Strait of Hormuz. He still went to war.

Before the U.S. went to war, Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told President Trump that an American attack could prompt Iran to close the Strait of Hormuz. Caine said in several briefings that U.S. officials had long believed Iran would deploy mines, drones and missiles to close the world’s most vital shipping lane, according to people with knowledge of the discussions. Trump acknowledged the risk, these people said, but moved forward with the most consequential foreign-policy decision of his two presidencies. He told his team that Tehran would likely capitulate before closing the strait—and even if Iran tried, the U.S. military could handle it. Now, two weeks into the war, Iran’s leaders have refused to back down, and the Strait of Hormuz has emerged as Tehran’s most potent leverage point.

Iran has blocked tankers from the strait and struck cargo ships, triggering a surge in oil prices and an energy shock rippling around the world. U.S. forces are targeting Iran’s mine-laying ships and factories, trying to prevent the country from lining the waterway with explosives. The joint U.S.-Israel military operation has killed Iran’s supreme leader, targeted military headquarters and damaged or destroyed more than 90 Iranian vessels. Yet, the price has been steep. At least 13 Americans have been killed, including six in a crash Thursday of an Air Force refueling plane, making the war in Iran the deadliest military operation of Trump’s two terms. At least 140 Americans have been wounded in the conflict. Roughly 175 people, mostly children, were killed in a strike on a girls’ school in Iran, which a preliminary U.S. investigation found was likely launched by U.S. forces.

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Behind plans to save DART: How the transit agency reversed its fate

Randall Bryant had been chair of Dallas Area Rapid Transit for less than a day when suburban cities started calling. They wanted out. The night before, Walt Humann, widely regarded as the father of DART, had sworn in the 38-year-old, who wore his signature custom-made bowtie. Bryant pledged to tackle simmering concerns over governance and funding. He had no idea those disputes were about to boil over. City leaders told him they were considering exit elections that could fracture the region’s transit system. Bryant didn’t even have some of their phone numbers saved yet. Suddenly, the youngest board chair in the agency’s history had roughly 120 days to stop a political revolt before cities locked in ballots asking voters whether to abandon DART altogether. “My biggest goal was to ensure that DART presented something to the cities that was a reasonable offer,” Bryant said.

The stakes were enormous. If multiple cities pulled out, it could gut DART’s funding and threaten rail and bus service across North Texas. For frustrated suburbs, it was leverage in a long-running fight over whether the system is controlled too much by and spends too much in Dallas — and too little back home. What followed was a frantic stretch of negotiations. Bryant and other leaders scrambled to assemble governance changes and financial concessions. By late February, half of the six cities that called exit elections had backed down. The fight exposed how fragile the 40-year-old transit partnership had become and how quickly it could splinter in one of the nation’s fastest-growing regions. Todd Little, executive director of the North Central Texas Council of Governments, a regional planning group, said Bryant’s efforts helped keep the system intact. “It has not only saved DART, it has saved regional transportation,” Little said. Bryant comes from politics. His grandmother, Kathy Nealy, served in the administration of President Bill Clinton on his advance team and built a long career as a political consultant. Growing up in Hamilton Park, a historically Black neighborhood in North Dallas, Bryant knocked on doors at age 7 on behalf of Ron Kirk’s campaign, helping elect Dallas’ first Black mayor. By 10, he was taking the Red Line from Park Lane to Oak Cliff to visit his grandmother and watch campaigns up close. Today, Bryant runs his own government affairs, public relations and political consulting firm. His appointment to DART marks the fifth board or commission on which he has represented the city of Dallas, beginning in his 20s on the South Dallas/Fair Park Trust Fund Board.

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State Stories

How a San Antonio lawyer helped U.S. House members take down Tony Gonzales

As U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales struggled to survive a scandal over sexting and an affair with a subordinate, members of Congress who wanted him sidelined went looking for additional damaging text messages the Republican congressman may have sent. A San Antonio lawyer named Robert J. "Bobby" Barrera was in a position to help. Barrera represents Adrian Aviles, whose late wife, Regina Ann Santos-Aviles, ran Gonzales' regional district office in Uvalde. She and the married congressman had an affair in the spring of 2024. A year and a half later, Santos-Aviles took her own life by setting herself on fire.

For months afterward, rumors circulated about her relationship with Gonzales, who dodged questions about it. Then, on Feb. 17, the San Antonio Express-News reported the first documentary evidence of a liaison: a text in which Santos-Aviles told a then-colleague on Gonzales' staff, "I had (sic) affair with our boss." That and subsequent disclosures rocked the Republican primary campaign in which Gonzales, a Navy veteran and father of six, was seeking a fourth term. Some House Republicans demanded he resign or at least abandon his re-election bid. Gonzales refused. Last week, several members of Congress, intent on breaking the stalemate, reached out to Barrera. He's a respected criminal defense attorney who has expertise in family law and who represents Aviles pro bono. Barrera had been exploring a possible civil action against Gonzales for alleged harassment of Santos-Aviles. He believed there might be an avenue for Aviles to pursue monetary damages on his wife's behalf, and he tried to negotiate an out-of-court settlement with Gonzales. But the House members who contacted Barrera weren't interested in any of that. By his account, they wanted to get ahold of compromising messages between Gonzales and Santos-Aviles, and they thought he might have some. They were after previously undisclosed material that went beyond what had already been published by the Express-News and later by other news organizations.

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Is this the beginning of the end for South by Southwest?

In the days and weeks before the City of Austin pulled the plug on South by Southwest in 2020, the event’s leaders cycled through the five Kübler-Ross stages of grief. Most of that time was devoted to the first: denial. To be fair, most of the country was doing likewise during the earliest days of the COVID-19 pandemic. President Donald Trump seemed unconcerned. Severe lockdowns had begun in China and Italy, and some international events had been canceled, but American institutions were mostly still humming along. And SXSW had very much become an important institution, one with a global reputation. Each year it brought together attendees from all corners of the world for conference sessions, concerts, and film screenings.

Hugh Forrest, then SXSW’s chief programming officer, was better aware than many Americans of what was happening overseas, as the novel coronavirus and attendant lockdowns spread. His wife, who is from China, had traveled there to visit family in mid-January and ended up stuck, unable to get a flight out. Yet even he couldn’t fathom the possibility that one of the nation’s premier annual cultural events might be called off. “We had been meeting with Austin Public Health,” he recalls. “They were saying, ‘You’ll be fine. Just have lots of hand sanitizer.’?” Even as the news worsened, with the first confirmed U.S. cases and deaths, Forrest and his colleagues inside SXSW Center, the company’s newly built downtown-Austin office tower, had incentives to remain in denial. If they believed their own economic-impact reports, the event was worth hundreds of millions of dollars to Austin each year. If they called it off, would they be responsible for returning the tens of millions of dollars that attendees had paid for badges? And millions more to sponsors? Would their insurance policy cover such costs? Alongside denial came the second stage of grief: anger, expressed through defensiveness. A senior SXSW staffer told me that organizers were receiving daily calls from reporters asking whether it was wise to gather hundreds of thousands of international visitors, and would push back. Forrest remembers being particularly annoyed by a conversation with one author and entrepreneur, who was among the future-facing speakers who had helped build SXSW’s reputation. “He had been talking to his doctor friends, and [they were saying] this was much worse than anything else,” Forrest told me. “On the one hand, I like him a lot. On the other hand, he’s kind of a know-it-all.”

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Prairieland shooter convicted of attempted murder, others on lesser charges in 'antifa' trial

In an unprecedented trial seeking to tie alleged “antifa” members to domestic terrorism, a federal jury returned a mixed verdict for nine people accused in a nonfatal July 4 shooting of a police officer outside the Prairieland immigration detention center — including a conviction on one count of attempted murder for shooter Benjamin Song. Song, Autumn Hill, Zachary Evetts, Savanna Batten, Meagan Morris, Maricela Rueda, Elizabeth Soto and Ines Soto were convicted of rioting, providing material support to terrorists, conspiracy to use and carry an explosive, and use and carry of an explosive — the explosive being fireworks. Daniel Sanchez Estrada was convicted of corruptly concealing a document or record. He and his wife, Rueda, were also convicted of conspiracy to conceal documents.

Song was also convicted on three counts of discharging a firearm. Hill, Evetts, Morris and Rueda were acquitted of the attempted murder and discharging a firearm charges, which they faced for allegedly aiding and abetting Song. All nine were accused of playing a role in the nonfatal shooting of Alvarado Police Lt. Thomas Gross outside the ICE facility. Prosecutors argued the group was a "North Texas antifa cell" that shared anti-ICE and anti-government beliefs. The defendants argued the protest was supposed to be a peaceful noise demonstration in support of the immigrants inside the detention center, and that they never intended for things to get violent. At least two jurors were visibly distraught before Judge Mark Pittman read the verdict. Families and friends of the defendants let out muffled sobs as the decision came down.

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On anniversary of ICE detention, Texas judge orders Palestinian woman released on bond

After a year in immigration detention, a Muslim Palestinian woman from New Jersey could be released from ICE custody after an immigration judge ordered her release for a third time. The federal judge on Friday granted Leqaa Kordia a $100,00 bond -- higher than the $20,000 Kordia had previously been granted, prompting the Department of Homeland Security to file an automatic stay to keep her in custody. The $100,000 bond is expected to be paid immediately unless DHS cancels the payment and invokes the automatic stay a third time, according to a statement released by Kordia’s legal team at the Texas Civil Rights Project. In the statement, Kordia said she was “deeply grateful for all the people who attended today’s bond hearing on theone yearmark of my detention.

“All I want is for the government to finally release me now so I can go home to my family,” Kordia said. “Until then, I’ll continue speaking up for the basic rights and freedom of all people, from Texas to Palestine." Judge Tara Naselow-Nahas said the previous $20,000 was more than enough – but said she had “her hands tied.” She said she hoped the government would agree that $100,000 was enough and “not turn around and issue an automatic stay.” She called the government’s arguments “disingenuous” and noted the hundreds of documents submitted by Kordia’s lawyers. DHS attorney Stacy Norcross said during Friday's brief hearing that “no amount of bond” would guarantee Kordia's appearance in court. Kordia was arrested last March for allegedly overstaying her visa. Before that, she had been arrested during a 2024 protest at Columbia University against Israel’s war in Gaza. Kordia, 33, lives in New Jersey. She was born in the West Bank and came to the U.S. on a tourist visa in 2016.

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Corpus Christi cancels César Chávez march amid rumors; Dolores Huerta drops out

The annual César Chávez march in Corpus Christi has been canceled after rumors about the late labor leader’s legacy spread and civil rights icon Dolores Huerta withdrew from the event, the Express-News has learned. The move mirrors a similar cancellation in San Antonio, where organizers earlier this month called off the city’s César E. Chávez March for Justice, citing a “sensitive matter” involving Chávez without providing further details. The César Chávez Foundation and the Dolores Huerta Foundation have not responded to requests for comment.

The march in Corpus Christi would have marked the 25th anniversary of the event in the Coastal Bend city, honoring Chávez, the civil rights leader who co-founded the United Farm Workers with Huerta and became one of the most influential labor organizers in the United States. Founded in 1997, San Antonio’s César E. Chávez March for Justice has drawn thousands each year and would have marked its 30th anniversary this spring. In both San Antonio and Corpus Christi, march organizers said they acted after hearing rumors circulating within labor and activist networks that damaging information about Chávez could soon surface. A memo sent to San Antonio City Council members and obtained by the Express-News said the cancellation involved a “sensitive matter,” but did not elaborate. A source with firsthand knowledge of the discussions told the Express-News that leaders of the California-based César Chávez Foundation warned city officials that negative information about Chávez’s past could soon be reported in a national news outlet.

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SNAP beneficiaries sue USDA over food restrictions like those in Texas

Recipients of federal food assistance sued the U.S. Department of Agriculture this week to stop the agency from restricting the types of SNAP purchases that will soon be outlawed in Texas. Residents in five states alleged in a federal lawsuit Wednesday that new restrictions for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program beneficiaries deprive some recipients of food they need “to maintain their health and employment,” the lawsuit states. The USDA issued a series of waivers for 22 states that prevent the purchase of junk food, sodas, candy and other food items. The USDA issued Texas a waiver last year. It takes effect in April and continues for two years and specifically restricts the purchase of sweetened drinks and candy. The lawsuit was filed by the National Center for Law and Economic Justice, a nonprofit that advocates for low-income families.

The plaintiffs are SNAP recipients who live in Colorado, Iowa, Nebraska, Tennessee and West Virginia. It names the USDA and U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins as defendants. It's not clear if the lawsuit would have any effect on the Texas restrictions. The Chronicle was unable to reach the National Center for Law and Economic Justice on Saturday. The lawsuit alleges the USDA redefined food “haphazardly” and did so without authority and without seeking input from the public, specifically from “people or businesses directly affected.” The restrictions are part of the Trump administration’s “Make America Healthy Again” movement championed by U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr, and Rollins, a native Texan and Trump loyalist who previously led the conservative Texas Public Policy Foundation. Rollins wrote in an opinion piece published in December that reform is overdue and that the restrictions ensure “taxpayer dollars provide nutritious options to Americans in need.”? “The chronic disease epidemic does not respect partisan boundaries, and never before has it presented such an enormous threat to our national welfare,” Rollins wrote. “The urgency of the crisis is abundantly clear.”

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'Just mean': New Texas rule requiring proof of legal status threatens workers

Iris Yanez spent 12 months and $13,000 working toward a Texas hairdresser’s license. By the time she finished the requirements in early February, a quiet policy change by the state had already made her ineligible. “I’m going to have two credentials that I’m not going to be able to use,” Yanez, who also has a state license for eyelash extensions, told the American-Statesman in Spanish. The 45-year-old was caught in a sudden shift by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation that now requires applicants to provide proof of legal authorization to be in the United States.

Yanez is one of potentially thousands of hairdressers, barbers, electricians and HVAC professionals across Texas who are ineligible to obtain or renew professional licenses after the state agency added the requirement in late January. The department’s commissioners could vote to make the policy final as early as March 24. The agency says the change is meant to comply with a 1996 federal law signed by President Bill Clinton that bars states from providing public benefits to people without legal status unless a state legislature explicitly authorizes it — a law Texas largely did not enforce for decades. Approximately 18,000 licenses — about 2% — are not attached to a Social Security number, according to TDLR data provided to the Statesman by state Sen. Judith Zaffirini’s office. Agency spokeswoman Caroline Espinosa told the Statesman the change was an attempt “to combat fraud, human trafficking and labor exploitation.” She declined to offer further explanation.

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PFLAG must turn over records in Texas probe tied to transgender youth care ban, court rules

The Texas Supreme Court ruled Friday that the Texas Attorney General’s Office can require LGBTQ advocacy group PFLAG to turn over documents related to an investigation into medical care for transgender minors. The court overturned a previous district court decision that had largely blocked the AG’s office from seeking certain records. The dispute stems from a civil investigative demand issued in 2024 by Texas AG Ken Paxton. His office is investigating whether medical providers may have violated state law by misleading insurers about treatments provided to transgender minors.

The Attorney General’s office began seeking records after PFLAG submitted an affidavit in an ill-fated lawsuit challenging the state’s 2023 law banning certain gender-affirming medical treatments for minors, including puberty blockers and hormone therapy. In that filing, the group’s executive director said families with transgender adolescents were discussing “contingency plans” and “alternative avenues to maintain care in Texas.” State investigators argued those comments suggested the group might have information about doctors continuing to provide treatments banned under Texas law and requested related records from PFLAG. PFLAG sued to block the request in February 2024. A Travis County judge initially sided with the group and limited what records PFLAG had to provide. The attorney general’s office appealed directly to the state’s highest civil court. In Friday’s ruling, the Texas Supreme Court said the lower court improperly interfered with the state’s investigation, emphasizing that under state law, the AG doesn’t have to prove someone has relevant documents before requesting them.

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Southwest Airlines to end flights at Chicago O'Hare and Washington Dulles

Dallas-based Southwest Airlines is discontinuing flights at two major airports in what it calls ongoing efforts to "refine its network." The airline said in a written statement to KERA that service to Chicago O'Hare (ORD) and Washington Dulles (IAD) will end effective June 4. Southwest's spokesperson said the airline will continue to serve both cities at other airports. "These changes do not represent any significant changes in flight availability for these cities, as we will continue our robust service at Chicago Midway (MDW), Baltimore Washington International (BWI), and Washington Reagan National (DCA)," said a spokesperson for Southwest Airlines.

The airline's website says flights booked before June 3 to the two airports will still be valid. Customers holding reservations for travel to ORD or IAD on or after June 4, 2026, can rebook or get on a travel standby list. They are also eligible for a refund. The Southwest spokesperson noted operating at O'Hare has been "challenging." The Federal Aviation Administration last month proposed capping flights at the airport this summer after its two main carriers — United and American — announced additional flights. "We are confident we can serve Chicagoland from our long-standing base at Midway where we will continue to offer service to more than 80 destinations, including the 15 markets we serve from O’Hare," the spokesperson said. "We will offer up to a combined 271 departures to 79 nonstop destinations from DCA and BWI." They added that all affected frontline employees will have the opportunity to bid for open positions across the network, including at BWI, DCA and MDW.

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San Antonio district is creating a virtual school. What we know

For years, public schools pointed to private school vouchers and the charter school boom, saying they siphon students and state funding – drivers of sweeping school closures in San Antonio. A new Texas law allows districts to open virtual learning academies. San Antonio’s largest school district is moving forward. In speaking with experts, it’s clear that any launching virtual learning program will take some adjusting. As Northside Independent School District, which educates nearly 100,000 students, begins its first effort, it’s limiting virtual enrollment to students living in the NISD boundaries. Though, district decision makers have already brought up the concept of expanding those parameters.

“What’s required to run a virtual school with high academic expectations, there’s a lot of infrastructure that has to be there,” Digital Academy of Texas Executive Director Erica Kouros told MySA. She’s a leader at DATX, which operates with K12 and educates 2,700 students across Texas, including San Antonio. Kouros noted her company consists of multiple teams ensuring students are swept into classes, properly enrolled, that courses are available and keeping the whole operation running. “If you think about what we do … everything that happens in a brick-and-mortar school … and classroom happens virtually.” Senate Bill 569 allowed public schools to create virtual learning programs, letting kids who need more flexibility in their schedule to work from the comfort of their home. This could give public schools, like NISD, the chance to retain students who can’t operate within the confines of a traditional in-person school day – a serious leg up amid dwindling enrollment numbers.

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Carl R. Trueman: James Talarico represents Christianity’s past, not its future

(Carl R. Trueman is the Busch Family Visiting Fellow at the Center for Citizenship and Constitutional Government at the University of Notre Dame and the author of “The Desecration of Man.”) James Talarico’s ability to quote the Bible in support of progressive causes has helped propel him to fame as a fresh young face of the Democratic Party. The Presbyterian seminarian has the strait-laced appearance of a small-town preacher. But as a member of the Texas House of Representatives he has argued in favor of biological males competing in women’s sports by saying, “God is nonbinary.” However novel this may seem, it reflects one of the oldest habits of the liberal Protestant tradition to which Talarico belongs: championing progressive social causes just as they are losing favor with the public. Talarico is not a sign of where America is heading but where it has been.

Nowhere is this clearer than in Talarico’s views on transgenderism. In 2024, Britain’s only youth gender clinic was closed. A government report published that year found “remarkably weak” evidence for using treatments such as puberty blockers on children. In the United States, Donald Trump won the 2024 presidential election while campaigning against men competing in women’s sports and has threatened to remove federal funding for schools that allow them to do so. Talarico, however, is unmoved. He stands by a record of statements that includes a 2021 claim that “there are many more than two biological sexes, in fact there are six.” This is a misreading of the great works of gender theory that stand behind progressive understandings of sexuality. Worse, it damages the Christian, specifically Presbyterian, religious tradition to which Talarico and I both belong. Christianity makes certain claims about what it means to be human. We are created in God’s image and made as man and woman, distinguished by the sexual characteristics and complementarity of our bodies. Our bodies are, in a deep sense, who we are. I am not a soul that dwells in a body as an astronaut exists in a spacesuit. I am a body-soul unity.

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Dallas ISD looks to roll out free pre-K for all students

Officials in the Dallas Independent School District are floating a plan to offer tuition-free pre-K to all 3- and 4-year-olds. Dallas ISD currently offers free pre-K to students who qualify under certain federal, state and district guidelines, and provides tuition-based classes to all other students. At a meeting Thursday, district officials brought school board members a proposal to drop its tuition to $0. Researchers and education advocates say high-quality pre-K can help close gaps between disadvantaged students and their peers. New research in Dallas ISD and other Texas districts suggests that students are seeing the benefits of the investments in early learning that the state has made over the last several years.

School districts in Texas offer tuition-free pre-K to students who fall into any of several categories, including students who are homeless, those who can’t speak or understand English and children who qualify for free or reduced-price lunches. Under Dallas ISD’s new plan, those students would still be first in line for seats, as required by state law. But Superintendent Stephanie Elizalde told board members that the district’s projections indicate there will be enough seats for every student who applies. For students who don’t qualify for free tuition, the district’s current pre-K tuition rate is $5,000 a year for full-day classes for 3- and 4-year-old, and $2,500 a year for half-day classes for 3-year-olds. About 267 families are paying tuition for pre-K classes this year. Elizalde told The Dallas Morning News that the tuition those families pay doesn’t cover the full cost of their child’s pre-K education, meaning the district already subsidizes all its pre-K students at some level. District leaders expect the move to have a minimal financial impact on the district, she said. It costs the district more to manage tuition payments than those payments bring in, she said, and the district has enough open seats in its pre-K classes each year that officials don’t expect to need more teachers. School districts across Texas stand to lose large numbers of pre-K students in coming years. According to numbers released Monday by the Texas Comptroller’s Office, pre-K students made up the biggest share of applicants for Texas Education Freedom Accounts, the state’s new education savings account program. Across all grades, 5,267 students who are zoned for Dallas ISD schools applied for education savings accounts by March 8.

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GOP says James Talarico’s faith-heavy Senate campaign is too liberal

State Rep. James Talarico quotes Scripture while advocating for public policies like welcoming immigrants, protecting abortion access and respecting transgender rights. Republicans say that mix of progressive politics and biblical rhetoric shows the Austin lawmaker is out of step with the more conservative religious views of many Texans and unfit to represent them in the Senate. As the race moves ahead, Talarico, a Presbyterian seminarian, has made his faith central to his campaign, and Republicans have seized on it as a line of attack. It began shortly after Talarico defeated U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Dallas in the March 3 Democratic Senate primary. Republicans flooded social media with clips of his past remarks, focusing on moments in which he invokes Bible passages to deliver political messages.

That’s included an abortion-related discussion in which he referenced the story of an angel talking to Mary about carrying the son of God. “That is an affirmation in one of our most central stories that creation has to be done with consent,” Talarico said. “You cannot force someone to create.” Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Flower Mound, replied to that clip by comparing Talarico to a demon prince of hell. “If Beelzebub were a politician, he would talk like this,” Gill said. Talarico said the Republican attacks are to distract people from the Iran war and high cost of living. “They’re hoping Americans care more about culture wars than actual wars. More about pronouns than prices,” Talarico said on X. “We’re not falling for it.” The GOP assault comes as the Republican Senate contest is still unresolved. Incumbent Sen. John Cornyn faces a May 26 runoff against Attorney General Ken Paxton. Paxton has sharply criticized Cornyn as a Republican in name only who has been disloyal to President Donald Trump. Cornyn has rejected that and recently announced a faith advisory council of prominent evangelical pastors. He has stepped up character jabs against Paxton, including a new TV ad accusing his rival of violating some of the Ten Commandments.

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National Stories

Hegseth gutted offices that would have probed Iran school strike

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has gutted the Pentagon oversight offices that would have investigated the recent strike on an Iranian girls’ school — a move that has degraded America’s ability to protect civilians amid its largest air campaign in decades. The Pentagon chief last year slashed offices that didn’t contribute to his goal of “lethality,” including the group that assists in limiting risk to civilians, known as the Civilian Protection Center of Excellence. Around 200 employees who worked on the issue, including at that office, have been reduced by about 90 percent, according to two current and former officials and a person familiar with the effort. The team that handles civilian casualties at Central Command, which oversees the Middle East, has dropped from 10 to one. Hegseth can’t close the offices because they are approved by Congress.

But he has managed to make them nearly inoperable, according to the people, as the Pentagon investigates its responsibility in what could be the worst U.S.-led killing of civilians since 2003. Iranian state media said the strike killed about 170 children and 14 teachers. “The fact that our secretary of Defense, that our Central Command commander, cannot actually tell us whether or not they dropped a bomb in this location, that is so unbelievably unacceptable,” said Wes Bryant, the Pentagon’s former chief of civilian harm assessments until last year. “It just points even more to recklessness in this, in the entire planning and execution of this campaign, the fact that they don’t have any idea.” Hegseth has said no other country takes as many precautions to ensure the U.S. is not targeting civilians. But the Pentagon chief, who has long derided the use of laws in war, this week called military rules of engagement “stupid.” “We untie the hands of our warfighters to intimidate, demoralize, hunt and kill the enemies of our country,” he said at a Tuesday press conference on the U.S.-Israeli military operation. “No more politically correct and overbearing rules of engagement, just common sense, maximum lethality and authority for warfighters.”

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Pentagon names 6 military members killed in Iraq tanker crash

The Pentagon on Saturday identified the six United States service members who died this week when a refueling aircraft crashed in Iraq. The service members were Maj. John A. Klinner, 33, of Auburn, Ala.; Capt. Ariana G. Savino, 31, of Covington, Wash.; Tech. Sgt. Ashley B. Pruitt, 34, of Bardstown, Ky.; Capt. Seth R. Koval, 38, of Mooresville, Ind.; Capt. Curtis J. Angst, 30, of Wilmington, Ohio; and Tech. Sgt. Tyler H. Simmons, 28, of Columbus, Ohio. U.S. Central Command had stated that the aircraft crashed after an incident involving another plane, which landed safely. The crash, which happened Thursday in western Iraq, was not a result of hostile or friendly fire, the Central Command said. The plane that went down was a KC-135, which is used by the Air Force to refuel a wide range of aircraft while in flight. A U.S. official previously said that the other plane involved was also a KC-135.

Three of the service members — Major Klinner, Captain Savino and Sergeant Pruitt — were assigned to the Sixth Air Refueling Wing at the MacDill Air Force Base. Major Klinner was a husband and father to 7 month-old-twins, a boy and a girl, and a 2-year-old son, according to Mr. Klinner’s brother-in-law, James Harrill. Mr. Harrill said Mr. Klinner had been deployed to the Middle East for less than a week before his death and was nearing the end of his military career. “You could just hear the excitement in his voice about the possibilities of what was next,” Mr. Harrill said on Saturday night. In a statement, Col. Ed Szczepanik, the Sixth Air Refueling Wing Commander, mourned the loss of the squadron’s members. “To lose a member of the Air Force family is excruciatingly painful, especially to those who know them as son, daughter, brother, sister, spouse, mom, or dad,” the colonel said. “To lose them at the same time is unimaginable.” All three had been stationed in Alabama before deployment. The other three — Captain Koval, Captain Angst and Sergeant Simmons — were assigned to the 121st Air Refueling Wing at Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base in Ohio, the Pentagon said. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine offered his condolences on Saturday and had earlier ordered flags to be flown at half-staff in their honor. The six deaths brought the total number of American service members killed in the war with Iran to at least 13 as it stretched into its third week.

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Richard Grenell’s scorched-earth term at Trump’s Kennedy Center

It didn’t take Richard Grenell long to transform the Kennedy Center. The fiery former ambassador took the institution’s top post in February 2025 with a clear mandate from his boss. President Donald Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that the country’s center for arts and culture, home of the National Symphony and Washington National Opera, was “not going to be woke.” And within days of Grenell’s arrival, he set in motion the changes that would recast a nonprofit known for presenting classical music, opera and ballet as a key player in the administration’s culture wars.

The Kennedy Center that Grenell leaves (Trump named his replacement on Friday) is vastly different from the one he entered. Not only has it split with the Washington National Opera, the center has experienced reams of cancellations from artists and been abandoned by audience members disturbed by its direction. Those performances that still take place often play to semi-empty houses. And last month, Trump abruptly announced the center will close in July for a two-year renovation project. “This has been hard to watch, how quickly he’s run it into the ground,” said one former high-ranking employee who was fired during the first week of Grenell’s tenure and, like others interviewed for this article, spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear of retribution. Sharp-elbowed and sharp-tongued, Grenell has often carried himself as Trump’s attack dog — lambasting media members, Democrats and anyone else he perceived as insufficiently aligned with the president’s agenda. In response to a Saturday post criticizing his tenure from Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode Island), Grenell shot back, “Your buffoonery knows no limits. You sat silent while the place went into total disrepair.”

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FCC chief threatens broadcasters as Trump criticizes coverage of Iran war

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr issued a stern warning to broadcasters Saturday, threatening to revoke government-issued licenses if they run what the federal agency deems “fake news.” The warning, alongside which Carr included a screenshot of a post by President Donald Trump inveighing against legacy media coverage of the Iran war, was just the latest salvo from an official who since becoming FCC chairman at the outset of Trump’s second term has relished the role of media enforcer. “Broadcasters that are running hoaxes and news distortions — also known as the fake news — have a chance now to correct course before their license renewals come up,” Carr wrote in a post on X. “The law is clear. Broadcasters must operate in the public interest, and they will lose their licenses if they do not.”

Carr said “changing course” would be a savvy business decision for broadcasters — though he did not mention any by name — given “trust in legacy media has now fallen to an all time low of just 9% and are ratings disasters.” It’s unclear what trust metrics Carr is citing, but Gallup found in 2020 that 9 percent of Americans have “a great deal” of trust in mass media, though another 31 percent said they had “a fair amount” of trust. “When a political candidate is able to win a landslide election victory after in the face of hoaxes and distortions, there is something very wrong,” Carr said, presumably talking about President Donald Trump, who received 312 electoral votes and 49.9 percent of the national vote in the 2024 presidential election. “It means the public has lost faith and confidence in the media. And we can’t allow that to happen. Time for change!” Carr’s post elicited backlash from Democratic politicians and press freedom advocates, who have long criticized the administration’s frequent insistence that adversarial or unflattering coverage is “fake.” “If Trump doesn’t like your coverage of the war, his FCC will pull your broadcast license. That is flagrantly unconstitutional,” Gavin Newsom, the Democratic governor of California, responded on X.

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In South Carolina, measles shows how far apart neighbors can be on vaccines

When Kate Morrow gave birth to twins eight years ago, they were very premature, with compromised immune systems. "We counted on the community to keep our children safe," Morrow says. She trusted that her neighbors were vaccinating their children to protect other vulnerable people in her community — including her twins. But that's no longer the case. Morrow and her family moved to Spartanburg County, S.C., in 2019. The area is the epicenter of the biggest measles outbreak in the U.S. in more than three decades, with nearly 1,000 confirmed cases. Measles — one of the world's most contagious diseases — was declared eliminated in the U.S. in 2000, thanks to widespread vaccination and school vaccine requirements. But with the current resurgence of measles, the country is at risk of losing that elimination status.

In Spartanburg County, school vaccination rates have fallen to just under 89% — well below the 95% threshold needed to prevent community outbreaks. And it's not just Spartanburg. There are places around the country where vaccination rates have sunk to levels low enough to allow outbreaks to flare, says Michael Osterholm, director of the University of Minnesota's Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy. "There are a lot more South Carolinas waiting to happen," he says. Morrow says it's hard for her to understand why so many parents in her community are turning against vaccines. "How did we get here?" she asks. "How did we get to a place where we don't trust our doctors to do the very best thing for our children? How did we get to a place where vaccinations have become political?" The answer is a mix of widespread misinformation, lingering resentment over COVID mandates, and politicians at the local and national level who are sowing mistrust of vaccines.

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House GOP leadership silent as more members post anti-Muslim statements

Several Republican lawmakers are ramping up anti-Muslim comments and facing little to no response from their leadership. "Muslims don't belong in American society," Rep. Andy Ogles posted on Monday. "Pluralism is a lie." The Tennessee Republican, whose seat is in a safe red district, has previously expressed support for banning immigration from Muslim-majority countries and said in a speech last year that "America is and must always be a Christian nation." The United States was not established as a Christian nation. "He didn't start this this week," said Sabina Mohyuddin, executive director of the American Muslim Advisory Council in Tennessee. "This has been building up." Mohyuddin estimates Ogles has tens of thousands of Muslim constituents in his district.

"We know this kind of rhetoric leads to more bullying in school, discrimination in the workplace, hate crimes and vandalism against mosques," Mohyuddin said. "But it is an election year and these politicians believe if they spew this hateful rhetoric, they are going to get more votes." House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., was asked about Ogles' rhetoric during a press conference at the House GOP's annual retreat this week. "Look, there's a lot of energy in the country and a lot of popular sentiment that the demand to impose Sharia law in America is a serious problem — that's what animates this," Johnson said Tuesday, adding, "It is not about people as Muslims." Johnson's comments echo a growing chorus among Republican lawmakers, who've been increasingly vocal about denouncing Sharia law and raising questions about Muslims immigrating to the U.S. and those already in the country. There are now 50 Republicans in the "Sharia-Free America" caucus. Republicans have also spent more than $10 million on political TV ads that mention "Sharia" or "Islam" in a negative way, most of it in Texas ahead of its primaries, according to the ad-tracking firm AdImpact. That's about 10 times what had been spent in each of the last four election cycles. Sharia law — a religious framework — does not have standing over the U.S. Constitution. "Because people don't really know or have any idea what Sharia law is, it's the boogeyman. You just throw the word out there and people get scared," Mohyuddin said. "This is how we practice our religion. And last I heard, the Constitution still protects the freedom of religion." A handful of Congressional Republicans have denounced Ogles' comments. "I have many Muslim constituents, neighbors and friends who have contributed greatly to our community and country. Freedom of religion is a pillar of our nation and broad brush statements like this are offensive and completely inappropriate," Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., said in a statement to NPR.

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Lead Stories

Oil prices rise despite Trump’s decision to lift Russia sanctions

The worldwide price of oil rose slightly on Friday, continuing to trade at around $100 a barrel on heightened fears about the economic impact of a sustained blockage of Middle East energy. The latest move by President Trump to signal relief to markets slowed but did not reverse the increase in prices. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced on Thursday night that the U.S. government had temporarily removed sanctions on Russian oil currently at sea to add oil to global markets. Stock markets in Asia fell again on Friday, a day after the S&P 500, the U.S. stock benchmark, slumped to its worst single-day performance since the war began.

The price of Brent crude, the global benchmark for oil, was trading at about $100 a barrel on Friday in London. It settled at $100.46 a barrel on Thursday, up 10.1 percent, the highest settlement level since August 2022. West Texas Intermediate crude, the U.S. benchmark, was around $95 a barrel. It settled at $96.40 a barrel, up 10.5 percent, on Thursday. Oil markets have been on a convulsive path since the United States and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28. The price of Brent spiked to nearly $120 a barrel on Monday as traders feared long-lasting cuts in supplies. Prices have pulled back since then, but remain sharply higher than before the war. Investors and analysts across the world are focused on the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway between Iran and Oman that is a vital trading route for oil and natural gas, which normally carries as much as one-fifth of the world’s oil supply. Shipping traffic exiting the Persian Gulf through the strait has been effectively halted and tankers are stranded because of the risk that vessels could be attacked.

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Houston rodeo revokes Lina Hidalgo's ex officio title after show access dispute

Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo was told ahead of time she would not be allowed to enter the sold-out premium viewing area during Tuesday’s concert at NRG Stadium, rodeo leadership said in a Thursday statement. The county judge was escorted from the rodeo grounds Tuesday evening after being denied entry to the premium area with her guests. The judge said in a since-deleted Facebook post after the incident that she was "manhandled" by security. Hidalgo said the rodeo also informed her Thursday that its executive committee has voted to revoke her status as an ex-officio director of the event.

The rodeo's Thursday statement was signed by rodeo board Chairwoman Pat Mann Phillips and President and CEO Chris Boleman. The pair said Hidalgo was the only Houston or Harris County elected official to request "tickets at any level" this year, let alone the premium $425 "chute" tickets that allow access to the dirt floor of the arena near the concert stage. Hidalgo and her guests were given 21 chute tickets across three earlier performances, the rodeo statement said -- a combined value of roughly $9,000-- but not to Tuesday's sold-out show. The judge acknowledged her office was not given the wristbands typically distributed to holders of chute tickets on Tuesday, but said she had not been asked to wear one at previous performances and said no one told her she was not allowed to enter the dirt area that night. Phillips and Boleman also calledHidalgo's implication that her treatment Tuesday was motivated by her race or gender "false and insulting."

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ERCOT takes aim at ‘doom loop’ for big power users seeking to join Texas’ grid

When the Electric Reliability Council of Texas designed its process for connecting big industrial users to the statewide grid, it envisioned receiving from eight to 15 such requests every three months. Now, with the state at ground zeroof the data center boom, it’s getting as many as 100 requests in that same time period. So, for the past 18 months, the grid operator has been discussing how to handle the rapid influx of demand. It’s looking for a way to keep data centers and other big requests from getting stuck in what’s been nicknamed the “doom loop.” “We quickly came to the conclusion with the market participants that something had to change,” President and CEO Pablo Vegas said.

The solution? A new process — called batch study — that allows for requests to be evaluated as a group based on the amount of electricity that can be reliably served over a six-year period instead of looking at each request individually. ERCOT presented the framework for the batch study to the Public Utility Commission on Feb. 20 but still needs to determine who will be included in the “batch zero” group — the first to be evaluated using transitional guidelines. The goal is to have that criteria worked out by June, then the grid operator can start working on evaluating the group’s power requests. The new evaluation process is a result of Senate Bill 6, legislation requiring new rules for interconnection, operation and cost of service for large load customers. Large loads — like data centers for artificial intelligence and oil and gas electrification — are flooding into Texas, drawn by the state’s booming business landscape, plentiful land and affordable utilities. ERCOT now has projects seeking about 230 gigawatts of electricity at various stages of the existing process. Soon, they will need to be transitioned into the new batch study process.

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Austin City Council changes lobbying rules for reporting interactions

Austin City Council approved changes to the city's lobbying rules, shifting the reporting of lobbyists' interactions with city officials away from departments to the lobbyists themselves — a move some council members warn could make it harder for the public to track influence at City Hall. The updated rules now require lobbyists to report all interactions with city officials rather than only scheduled meetings. The changes also eliminate a requirement that city departments provide a reporting method, shifting that responsibility to the lobbyists. They also cut a requirement for lobbyists to disclose their meetings — and whether they receive or expect to receive compensation — in writing to the department. Council members Vanessa Fuentes and Ryan Alter voted against the changes, raising concerns about transparency.

“Austin has long held itself to a higher standard of transparency than the State of Texas, but this ordinance would only move us closer to the state's weaker lobbying requirements,” Fuentes said in a statement. “At a time when trust in government is already fragile, scaling back transparency is the wrong choice. Our focus should be on strengthening public trust, not eroding it.” Alter said in a statement: "The public should know how lobbyists are interacting with their representatives. I'm concerned this change could reduce that transparency." Council Member Natasha Harper-Madison, however, said that shifting reporting responsibility from council offices to lobbyists would free up time and cut down on inefficiency. “I'm happy to see any item that comes forward that helps us be more efficient with the use of the time and spend more of it working on constituent issues,” she said during the council meeting. The changes come after the Austin city auditor noted issues with transparency and accessibility in lobbyist compliance and recommended changes to the city's lobbying rules in September. The office noted that "current city code lobbying provisions limit reporting and make transparency hard to achieve.” The auditor’s office noted in September that Austin’s peer cities such as Dallas, El Paso, San Antonio and Houston define who in city government is subject to lobbying more narrowly than Austin does. The updated Austin lobbyist rules now include a narrower definition of “city official” that focuses on decision-makers.

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State Stories

ICE family detentions put Texas Republicans on defensive with Latino voters

In 2024, a historic number of South Texans turned out to vote for President Donald Trump, driven in part by his promise to reverse President Joe Biden’s “disastrous open-border” policies. But now, ahead of the 2026 midterms, the Trump administration’s sweeping deportation crackdown is proving deeply unpopular with those same Latino voters, and threatening to turn what was once the party’s strongest issue into one of its biggest liabilities. Nowhere was that shift on clearer display than in McAllen this week, where the administration detained a pair of nationally acclaimed mariachi-playing teens, then released them amid intense public backlash.

U.S. Rep. Monica De La Cruz, one of South Texas’ few Republican members of Congress who won on a border security platform, called the brothers’ detention “troubling” and took pains to highlight her role in securing their release. “We can have safe communities, and we can also have common-sense enforcement policies,” she said. Democrats were quick to criticize her for her prior positions on border security, and for not intervening sooner. State Rep. Terry Canales, an Edinburg Democrat whose district overlaps with De La Cruz’s, compared the move to “setting your house on fire, calling the fire department and pretending your not the arsonist (sic)” in a social media post. Republicans in South Texas worry the immigration issue could erode the gains they’ve made in what has historically been a Democratic stronghold. The implications in November could be huge because the state’s Republicans redrew the area’s congressional districts last year to favor the GOP under the assumption Latino voters who backed Trump would stick with the party.

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Paxton’s pastor joins faith team for Cornyn

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s pastor has joined the Faith Advisory Council of his opponent, Sen. John Cornyn. After a tough primary campaign that will be settled by a runoff election in May, the Cornyn campaign announced formation of the faith team, which includes Jack Graham, pastor of Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas. Paxton says he is a member of that megachurch. While Paxton has his supporters among the hard right of Texas Republicans, Cornyn is portrayed as the more moral of the candidates. Paxton has faced numerous ethics accusations, including a long-running lawsuit about securities fraud.

He also was impeached by the Republican-led House of Representatives last year but not convicted by the Senate after intervention by President Donald Trump. The longtime executive pastor at Prestonwood was among those allegedly swindled in the securities fraud. Last year, Paxton’s wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton, filed for divorce on “biblical grounds.” Graham is a former Southern Baptist Convention president who has close ties to Trump, who has yet to endorse either Cornyn or Paxton. Graham is one of five men named to the council. The others are author and pastor Max Lucado of Oak Hills Church in San Antonio; Phil Schubert, president of Abilene Christian University; Robert Jeffress, senior pastor at First Baptist Church of Dallas; and Gus Reyes, a board member with National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference. That’s three Southern Baptists on Cornyn’s faith team: Graham, Jeffress and Reyes. Cornyn attends a Churches of Christ congregation. Although lesser known nationally, Reyes has a long history with the Baptist General Convention of Texas, where he twice worked with its Christian Life Commission. He also is the brother of Albert Reyes, president of Buckner International, a Dallas-based nonprofit with historical ties to the BGCT. Gus Reyes also works as director of Hispanic Partnerships with Dallas Baptist University, a BGCT-affiliated school. “As our state and nation are in turbulent times, we need leaders who serve with principle, wisdom and integrity,” the Cornyn campaign said in a statement announcing the group. “A key element to principled leadership is who a leader consults when confronting complex problems.”

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Karl Rove: Don’t bank on a Texas blue wave

Count on Democrats to be all over any political happening in Texas that casts them in a positive light. Such is the case after last week’s Lone Star State balloting, in which 2.3 million Texans voted in the Democratic primary and 2.2 million in the Republican primary. The “higher turnout on the Democratic side,” the Texas Tribune wrote, “has helped fuel Democrats’ hopes that backlash to President Donald Trump’s policies could propel them to their first statewide win since 1994.” A Southern Methodist University political science professor suggested that while Democrats weren’t “generally” thought to have that “great of a chance to win statewide office,” that may not be true “this time.”

An NBC News analyst argued “Democrats have matched their hype with real numbers at the polls.” Turning out more of them in the primary than Republicans did “left no doubt that Democrats have the will to win Texas.” Hold your horses. Primary turnout isn’t a reliable predictor of general-election outcomes. In 2020, more Texas Democrats voted than Republicans in the presidential primary, 2.1 million to two million. That fall, Donald Trump beat Joe Biden in the state 52% to 47%, while Republican Sen. John Cornyn was re-elected with 54% of the vote. The rest of the GOP statewide ticket received between 53% and 55% of the vote. In 2008, 2.9 million Texans voted in the Democratic primary, more than double the Republican 1.4 million. Yet that November, Sen. John McCain carried Texas with 56% of the vote compared with Barack Obama’s 44%. Mr. Cornyn won his first re-election, 55% to 43%. In 2004, more than 800,000 Texans participated in the Democratic primary. Fewer than 700,000 came out for the Republican primary. Still, President George W. Bush carried the state, 61% to 38%. The rest of the GOP statewide ticket against Democratic opponents received between 55% and 59%.

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Lithium was found deep underground in northeast Texas. Now, there’s a race for who gets it

Inside his office just off Mt. Vernon’s town square, attorney B.F. Hicks lays a map out on his desk. At speed, he points at different tracts of land, reciting who lives there, what size their property is and which companies he’s heard have sent landmen to knock on their door to negotiate lithium leases. What happens in northeast Texas could shape America's energy future. The region has emerged as a key player in the domestic race for lithium — the mineral essential to the batteries in electric vehicles, cellphones, and renewable energy storage — as the U.S. scrambles to secure its own supply. For a few years now, the infiltration of companies into this rural region of Texas searching for lithium – a critical ingredient for storing solar energy and powering electric vehicle batteries – has become a topic of conversation over dinner at the local chophouse or in catching up at the historical society meeting.

Sometimes, it’s behind closed doors as friends, family and neighbors gossip about who’s getting the best offers for their mineral rights. Being an energy frontier for other parts of Texas isn’t new to residents in Franklin and surrounding counties, as some of their backyards have started to fill with solar panel farms and battery energy storage systems, all fuel powering the “green economy.” But now, they’re learning that deep beneath their feet is salty water that could become a key resource in the United States’ global fight for full energy independence. The Smackover Formation, which broadly sweeps from East Texas to Florida and once gushed with oil, is now being hailed as containing some of the purest lithium brine in the world. Hicks, one of the most vocal local leaders with opposition to industrial-scale solar projects, actually welcomes the potential lithium can bring to the community. The historian and longtime attorney has signed a lithium lease for a portion of his pristine Daphne Prairie; he’s now helping others do the same. He’s hoping to get the best deal for his clients – and perhaps most important, make sure the surface land is as protected and preserved as possible. “I want to call myself an environmentalist,” Hicks said, bringing his freckled hands to his face as he looked down at the map. “But this is going to bring a lot of money into our community.”

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Dallas officials feared WFAA-TV might leave downtown

Dallas officials feared WFAA-TV (Channel 8) might leave downtown after the city sought to take the station’s parking lot for the expansion of the nearby convention center, according to internal city emails. Messages from last fall and this year reviewed by The Dallas Morning News show officials worried that losing the parking lot could cause the longtime broadcaster to relocate from its Young Street newsroom, and potentially out of the city. A spokesperson for WFAA did not respond to a phone call or emailed questions this week about the station’s parking plans and whether it will remain at its Young Street location. WFAA general manager Carolyn Mungo could not be immediately reached for comment. The Young Street studios house one of the last major television newsrooms still in downtown Dallas, a presence the city has long viewed as important to the area’s civic and business core.

In September, city attorneys sued Charter DMN Holdings, owned by developer Ray Washburne, as they aimed to use eminent domain to seize his roughly 36,000 square feet of land around Young and Houston streets for the overhaul of the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center. The parcel included Channel 8’s parking lot. The station was also named as a defendant in the case. The city wrote in its lawsuit that its previous offers to buy the land had been rejected. Washburne had indicated he’d be open to a sale, but told The News the property was tied to an existing ground lease with Channel 8. Amid the legal wrangling, city officials were scrambling to keep the station downtown, according to the emails reviewed by The News. Linda McMahon, CEO of the city-affiliated Economic Development Corp., wrote city officials Sept. 12, saying the eminent domain case “could effectively push WFAA out of the city.” The message was sent to City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert; Tolbert’s chief of staff, Ahmad Goree; and assistant city manager Robin Bentley.

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Ballots cast by Dallas County Democrats during extended voting hours March 3 won’t count

Nearly 2,000 ballots cast by Dallas County Democrats who got in line after voting hours were extended on March 3 due to mass confusion at the polls will not be counted in final primary results after the county party dropped its litigation of the matter. District Judge Staci Williams granted the party’s request on election day to extend voting by two hours — to 9 p.m. — after hundreds of voters were rerouted amid the precinct-based system forced by the Republican Party. The Texas Supreme Court blocked the extension that evening after the office of Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a petition challenging the decision.

This week the county Dallas County Democratic Party declined to challenge the matter further, stating “the Texas Supreme Court is no longer a viable forum for seeking a fair and independent application of the law regarding this issue.” There were 1,756 provisional ballots cast by Democrats who got in line after 7 p.m. that will not be included in final results, according to elections department spokesperson Nic Solorzano. No race appears to have a margin small enough to be affected, according to unofficial results. Democratic Party Chair Kardal Coleman said in a statement the group will continue organizing and supporting voter protection efforts to overcome roadblocks he said were placed by the GOP. “The Texas GOP has held a thirty year stranglehold on this state — and in that time they have weaponized Texas law to disenfranchise millions of Texans — because they know if every eligible voter has access to the polls, they lose,” Coleman said. “Continuing to pursue this case in a hostile forum would incur massive legal costs, resources that are better spent on the ground protecting our voters.” Last year, the Dallas County Republican Party decided to hold a separate March 3 primary from Democrats and revert to precinct-based voting on election day. It was a change from the countywide voting system in place since 2019 that allowed residents to cast a ballot at any vote center regardless of their address. Because county officials control early voting in Texas, the universal system remained in place for that 10-day period.

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How a culture warrior forced a runoff in the race for Texas oil regulator

Last summer, Republicans across Texas were trying to force Bo French out of a party leadership position after he made disparaging online comments about Muslims and Jews. Now he’s vying to become one of the most important U.S. energy regulators. The longtime GOP activist made it into a primary runoff for a spot on the Railroad Commission of Texas. In May, he will face incumbent Commissioner Jim Wright, who was endorsed by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott. The winner will have a high-profile pulpit to discuss energy policy in an important state — and real authority to oversee polices that affect oil and gas production, emissions and development. The Railroad Commission isn’t focused on cultural issues, but French spent the primary playing up his opposition to Islam and to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. He also vowed to end what he described as Chinese Communist influence in the oil industry and said the commission should create a “pro-family credentialing program for Texas oil and gas producers.”

“This is a very powerful statewide position, so obviously I’m going to continue talking about the things that our voters care about to help drive the narrative in Texas on these issues,” French said this week in an interview. The Railroad Commission no longer oversees railroads, though efforts to change its name have failed over the years. Instead, it regulates the oil, gas, pipeline and mining industries in Texas, which gives it sway over roughly 40 percent of U.S. oil production and 29 percent of gas production. The three commissioners are elected statewide — often with campaign funding from the companies they oversee — and the job is frequently viewed as a stepping stone to other political offices in Texas. Each seat has a six-year term, with elections staggered. “French’s profile as a candidate aligns with the more militant wing of the MAGA wing of the Texas GOP, and he benefits from the publicity around his more controversial comments,” Jim Henson, director of the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin, said in an email. Henson said French was “helped by the fact that, despite the importance of the Railroad Commission in governance and the economy, most voters typically don’t pay much attention to the race and tend to know very little about the candidates.”

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Manchin rips Cornyn over filibuster shift: ‘Deeply disappointing’

Former Sen. Joe Manchin (I-W.Va.) on Thursday criticized Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) for backing a change to the filibuster rules to pass a GOP-backed voting reform bill. In a lengthy post on the social platform X, Manchin said “there was not another person more committed to keeping the filibuster” than Cornyn during his time in the upper chamber from 2010 until last year. “It’s deeply disappointing to see that Senator Cornyn is now willing to scrap the very rule he once praised and personally thanked me for defending,” the retired lawmaker added. “These extreme election-year politics that put party power over everything else are why Americans are sick and tired of the duopoly of the two-party system of Democrats and Republicans.”

Cornyn, who is in the middle of a heated GOP runoff race against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, said Wednesday he supports changing the Senate filibuster rule to advance the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE America) Act. Last week, Paxton said he would consider exiting the race if Senate leadership bypassed the filibuster to pass the bill, which proposes requiring Americans to show proof of citizenship to register to vote. “After careful consideration, I support whatever changes to Senate rules that may prove necessary for us to get the SAVE America Act and homeland security funding past the Democrats’ obstruction, through the Senate, and on the president’s desk for his signature,” Cornyn wrote in an op-ed published by the New York Post. Cornyn noted that the GOP could force Democrats to use a talking filibuster to pass the SAVE America Act, a strategy that would allow the majority to push the legislation through via a simple 51-person majority once the Democrats finish speaking on the floor.

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Elon Musk's Boring Company names Dallas development finalist for mile-long tunnel project

A major development in Southern Dallas has been named one of 16 finalists in a nationwide competition hosted by Elon Musk's Boring Company in which the winner will have a mile-long tunnel built within its infrastructure for free. University Hills, a 280-acre, $1 billion mixed-use project by developer Hoque Global, was named on of the contest's finalists after being one of 487 entities to submit a proposal for the tunnel. According to a statement released by the City of Dallas, the proposed tunnel would connect the neighborhood to the University of North Texas Dallas DART Station nearby.

The competition, known as the “Tunnel Vision Challenge,” was announced in January by The Boring Company, the tunneling enterprise founded by Elon Musk. It encouraged companies to pitch tunnel concepts up to one mile long and 12 feet in diameter that would demonstrate innovative transportation or infrastructure solutions. The Boring Company is expected to announce the winning proposal on Monday, March 23. The selected winner will see its project constructed at no cost to the host city, per the contest's rules. University Hills is being designed as a walkable, urban neighborhood featuring 580 homes, phased mixed-use construction and a town center. Homebuilding is expected to begin in early 2027. The project has drawn both momentum and scrutiny in recent months. Dallas officials gathered in May for a ceremonial groundbreaking after the city committed nearly $35 million in economic incentives to its construction. City Manager Kimberly Tolbert has indicated that additional support could follow, saying “so much more is needed.” Still, some city council members have raised concerns about the project’s execution and past delays in meeting city deadlines. Council Member Adam Bazaldua questioned whether the city should continue incentivizing developers who fail to meet progress benchmarks, while Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Tennell Atkins, whose district includes the site, defended the project as key to Southern Dallas’ long-term growth. Hoque Global is also behind Newpark, a separate mixed-use development planned for downtown Dallas near City Hall, which is backed by roughly $100 million in pledged city subsidies.

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Sen. John Cornyn ad invokes Ten Commandments to blast AG Ken Paxton

Sen. John Cornyn is turning the Ten Commandments into a campaign weapon. In his first TV ad in the GOP runoff against Attorney General Ken Paxton, Cornyn’s campaign invokes scripture and church imagery to accuse his rival of violating the core moral rules of Christianity. The ad, released Wednesday, opens with a narrator asking what a burner phone, an expensive pen and a cash machine have in common. “They are symbols of Ken Paxton’s depravity,” the narrator says. “Paxton used the burner phone and an alias to hide his affair from the mother of his children. Now his wife’s divorcing him on biblical grounds.”

As images of church pews and a cross appear on screen, a separate, deep voice intones a commandment: “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” The narrator then cites an incident from more than a decade ago in which Paxton picked up a $1,000 pen left at a security checkpoint by another lawyer. Paxton returned the pen after law enforcement identified him through security footage. At the time, a Paxton aide described the incident as a misunderstanding. But the ad’s narrator calls it theft. The church scene returns and the same deep voice declares: “Thou shalt not steal.” The narrator also says Paxton’s net worth has shot up while in office and cites allegations he listed multiple properties as his principal residence to secure lower mortgage rates. “Thou shalt not bear false witness,” the deep voice says. The TV spot marks a further escalation in an already bruising runoff that has become the most expensive Senate primary in U.S. history. The Paxton campaign did not respond to an email requesting comment on the ad. He previously has denied allegations of wrongdoing in his personal life and public career. Paxton was impeached by the Republican-led Texas House before the state Senate acquitted him. The Cornyn ad closes with the narrator warning “Judgment Day” comes for everyone eventually and that Paxton now faces Texas voters. The deep voice chimes in with a final commandment: “Defeat the crook.”

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Fort Bend County Judge KP George maintains innocence as money laundering trial begins

Attorneys for Fort Bend County Judge KP George argued during opening statements on Thursday that the criminal case against him is politically motivated. Prosecutors, meanwhile, argued why the embattled public official should be convicted on felony charges of money laundering. "Why are you going through all of his campaign records looking for a crime?" George's attorney, Jared Woodfill, told the jury seated in the 458th District Court in Richmond. The Fort Bend County judge was arrested on two counts of money laundering last year. Prosecutors allege he used more than $46,000 in campaign funds to make a down payment on a house and to pay his property taxes.

If convicted of the third-degree felony, George would be removed from office and could face up to 10 years in prison, with fines up to $10,000. George is already on his way out as the top elected official for a diverse, fast-growing county southwest of Houston. The county judge was first elected as a Democrat in 2018 and reelected in 2022. Following his indictment, George switched parties and joined the GOP this summer, but failed to secure the Republican nomination for his seat in last week’s primary election. George received 8.4% of the vote to place last in a five-candidate race. George's attorneys characterized their client as a "gentleman" from "a small, little village" in southeast India who eventually sought the American dream and went on to serve as a public official in his community.

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Dallas leaders urge passage of 'transformative' school bond package

Dallas school and city leaders say a historic bond on the May 2 ballot can be “transformative” for the district. The $6.2 billion package is the largest bond proposal in Texas history. It would go toward nearly two dozen new buildings, tech and safety upgrades and hundreds of permanent classroom spaces to replace portable classrooms. Speaking at a news conference Thursday, former Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings, who served from 2011 to 2019, praised improvements he’s seen in Dallas ISD since he was mayor, including a B rating for the district and more than 70% of campuses earning A or B grades. He urged voters to approve this package — to maintain the progress.

“This world is moving fast in technology, in capital, in how things are done,” Rawlings said. “And we know if you're not getting better faster than the next guy, you're getting worse. It's a competitive world out there. Dallas has got to come to the polls and say ‘this is the easiest vote we've ever made.’" Rawlings was joined by some school board trustees as well as Senior Pastor Richie Butler, with St. Luke Community United Methodist Church and Commit Partnership president Miguel Solis to tout the benefits of the bond package. The May bond election is broken into four propositions. The largest, Prop A, accounts for nearly $6 billion of the $6.2 billion total. It would fund new buildings and renovations, including 26 replacement campuses as well as enough new classroom capacity to eliminate portables districtwide. Officials say the average age of Dallas ISD schools fell to about 43 years, from 52 years, thanks to the 2020 bond approval. If passed, proposition A would further reduce the age of Dallas ISD’s facilities to around 33 years. The national average is 49. Proposition B would fund $145 million for technology upgrades. Proposition C would enable the district to refinance debt at a cost of $143 million. And Proposition D would service swimming pools and natatoriums across Dallas ISD for $26 million. Dallas

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New legal network aims to help families navigate CPS investigates

Across Texas, fewer than 1 in 4 child abuse and neglect investigations conducted in fiscal year 2025 by Child Protective Services result in findings of abuse or neglect, according to the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, which oversees CPS. With more than 136,000 cases reported statewide in FY 2025, legal advocates say thousands of Texas families face intrusive DFPS investigations each year — often triggered by conditions tied to poverty rather than abuse. But even when investigations ultimately find no abuse or neglect, families can still face high-stakes decisions during the investigation period when CPS first knocks on their door. The average CPS investigation lasts 45 days, according to DFPS. During that time, parents may be asked to remove children from their homes, allow investigators inside or share private records — often without fully understanding their legal rights or speaking with a lawyer.

A new statewide legal initiative launched earlier this month aims to change that. The Family Early Defense Network, funded through a $14 million grant from the Texas Access to Justice Foundation, is designed to connect low-income families with attorneys at the earliest stages of a child welfare investigation — often before a case ever reaches court. Under Texas Family Code, courts must appoint an attorney for parents when the state files a case seeking to terminate parental rights or obtain custody — known legally as conservatorship of a child. But because most investigations never reach that point, Leila Blatt, an attorney and special project director for Texas RioGrande Legal Aid — the lead partner in the network — said many families must make decisions with long-term consequences early in the process, often without legal guidance. “CPS often uniformly uses safety plans and so folks are agreeing to have their kids away from them for a month, and perhaps having to renew that safety plan for several months without ever speaking to a lawyer,” Blatt said. “ Some of those decisions can have lasting effects for who ultimately cares for those kids and have consequences on who has the ability to get support to get a court order for a child when a parent otherwise is going about their life wanting to do the caretaking. “

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National Stories

4 killed in crash of U.S. refueling plane in Iraq, military says

Four of six crew members died after a U.S. military KC-135 refueling aircraft that was part of the American war against Iran crashed in neighboring Iraq, United States Central Command said on Friday. In a statement, it said that rescue efforts were continuing and that the circumstances of the crash were under investigation, but added that “the loss of the aircraft was not due to hostile fire or friendly fire.” The deaths brought the number of U.S. service members killed in operations related to the Iran conflict to at least 11. Central Command did not immediately identify the four crew members who were killed, pending notification to their families. It said on Thursday that an incident involving two aircraft had “occurred in friendly airspace,” and one aircraft went down, while the other landed safely.

The last American tanker crash occurred in 2013. In that incident, a K-135, taking part in refueling missions over Afghanistan, crashed soon after departure from the Manas airport in the Central Asian state of Kyrgyzstan. Three airmen died in the incident. The KC-135s are among the most heavily used aircraft in the Air Force’s arsenal, and among its oldest airframes. The planes are used to refuel all kinds of aircraft to include fighter jets, surveillance planes and cargo aircraft. A U.S. official said that the other plane involved in the collision was also a KC-135, which landed safely. Air-to-air refueling missions are performed regularly by Air Force pilots and mishaps are rare. But the maneuver is still challenging, especially in bad weather or high winds. Investigators suspect a midair collision may have caused the crash, but details are still murky, Air Force officials said. The inquiry is still going on along with a search and rescue effort to locate the downed crew.

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Violent attacks at Michigan synagogue and Virginia university rattle sense of safety in American communities

A pair of attacks over 700 miles apart on Thursday struck at the heart of community safe havens, leaving shocked Americans with an uneasy sense of security. First, a deadly shooting being investigated as terrorism devastated a Virginia university in a military town. Hours later, a targeted vehicle-ramming attack on a Michigan synagogue left congregants shaken to their core. The shooting at Virginia’s Old Dominion University was committed by a veteran who was a convicted ISIS supporter. The attacker was able to kill one person and injure two others before a classroom of ROTC students subdued and killed him, the FBI said.

Then, a vehicle rammed into the Temple Israel synagogue in West Bloomfield Township in an attack the FBI said targeted the Jewish community, carried out by a US citizen who was born in Lebanon, the Department of Homeland Security said. The synagogue had been on high alert for potential violence in the weeks before the building became engulfed in flames after the suspect drove through it with a rifle and a large number of explosives, officials said. Though the motive in the attack is still unknown, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said there is a clear “nexus” between the Iran war and the attack, adding it’s no coincidence the suspect targeted a synagogue named Temple Israel. The attacks are among four acts of violence that have rattled Americans’ collective consciousness in recent weeks. The two attacks on Thursday came just days after two terror suspects were accused of tossing makeshift bombs at a protest outside the New York City mayor’s home Saturday in what authorities have described as an ISIS-inspired attack Less than two weeks earlier in Austin, Texas, a shooter wearing a hoodie emblazoned with the Iranian flag killed three people and injured over a dozen others in the city’s bustling entertainment district. Though the motive is still under investigation, authorities are investigating whether the shooter was inspired in part by US and Israeli strikes on Iran that weekend, multiple law enforcement officials briefed on the case said.

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The most popular MAGA influencer you've never heard of is an AI foot fetish model

Do you know who Jessica Foster is? Neither did I until last week, which is surprising because (1) she has amassed 1 million followers on Instagram after starting her account just a few months ago, (2) she is a U.S. Army soldier with a look as wholesome and American as apple pie, and (3) she is a huge Trump supporter. With that trifecta, you could assume she would be a star on Fox News, Newsmax, or The Joe Rogan Experience. But no, she is nowhere to be found on those platforms—or any major U.S. media outlet, for that matter. And that’s because she is a computer-generated mirage designed by an anonymous operator to funnel conservative men toward an OnlyFans page where “she” sells foot fetish pics.

I came across Foster while reading the Spanish sports media, which covered the AI character after her account posted fake images of her attending a White House reception for the MLS championship-winning Inter Miami soccer team, alongside Donald Trump and Lionel Messi. (She also has appeared in the Oval Office alongside Cristiano Ronaldo.) The stunt triggered a massive wave of coverage across sports outlets in “fútbol”-obsessed Spain and Latin America, which then expanded to TV, other online publications, and national newspapers with huge readerships like 20 Minutos. The Instagram profile @jessicaa.foster went live on December 14, 2025. In just three months, the account has more than a million followers. The recipe for this success was fairly simple: The puppet master behind the screen pumped out a constant stream of content around this fictitious, Trump-loving female soldier and built an entire digital lore by letting followers peek into her daily life. We see Jessica posing in army bunks, frolicking with female soldiers, shoeless at the office, and behind an F-22 Raptor fighter jet. The feed is packed with high-resolution, completely forged photos of her posing with Trump and politicians like Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy; in one, she’s speaking at the Board of Peace Conference—Donald Trump’s international body created to mediate the Gaza conflict. She even invaded Greenland, because of course, all it takes to conquer a country is a Colgate smile.

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Much of the government’s technology isn’t accessible, internal report finds

Nearly 30 years after Congress put accessibility requirements for government technology into law, much of the federal government’s technology still isn’t fully meeting accessibility standards. Less than 40% of the government’s most-viewed public webpages are fully accessible, according to a new report by the General Services Administration. Overall, the federal government’s technology, including internal webpages, hardware, software, videos and electronic documents, scores only a 1.96 average across a 5-point scale, although accessibility varies widely across agencies. The congressionally-mandated report is focused on how agencies are doing in their implementation of Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, which requires government tech to be accessible for people with disabilities — over 70 million Americans.

Fewer than half of the government’s most-viewed technologies are fully accessible. Inside the government, funding constraints, staffing shortages and workforce turnover are all decreasing the capacity to improve accessibility, the GSA report states. Over 386,800 federal employees left the federal government last year, according to data from the Office of Personnel Management. The report is based on responses from 60 agencies, although not all submitted data for each section of the report. Forty-three agencies didn’t respond to GSA’s ask at all, and more than half of responding agencies cited resource limitations, according to GSA. Approximately half of agencies reported that they do not routinely test their technology for accessibility. Usability testing with people who have disabilities is “rare,” the report says, as is mandatory digital accessibility training for relevant employees. Despite overall low ratings, some agencies scored very well on their technology’s accessibility. The Social Security Administration, for example, reported that 100% of its top-viewed tech conforms with accessibility guidance.

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The Republican who wants to banish his own constituents

The Islamic Center of Columbia, Tennessee—a small city about 45 miles south of Nashville—had been around for only a few years when white supremacists burned it down. On a Saturday in early 2008, three young men went to the mosque armed with spray paint and Molotov cocktails. According to a federal indictment, they first defaced the exterior walls with swastikas and phrases including White Power. Then they broke into the building and set it aflame. “Everything on the inside was charred,” a former member of the Islamic Center told me. “The roof had come down, and they had to demolish the building afterwards.” The mosque, which had a few dozen members, had been the first in Columbia and was, for a time, the only Muslim house of worship between Nashville and Huntsville, Alabama. After the fire, its leaders bought an empty church building nearby and converted it into a new mosque, though they initially kept their plans for the space a secret to avoid a community backlash.

The former member who related this to me asked that I not publish his name, because nearly two decades later, the Muslim community in middle Tennessee is again on edge. The membership of the rebuilt Islamic Center of Columbia is smaller but still active. Its mosque sits less than a mile from the district office of the area’s U.S. House member, Andy Ogles. But Representative Ogles, a Republican in his second term, doesn’t seem to want Muslims to reside in his district. And he doesn’t want them anywhere else in the country, for that matter. “Muslims don’t belong in American society,” Ogles posted on X on Monday. “Pluralism is a lie.” Ogles is a Trump loyalist who has proposed amending the Constitution to allow the president a third term. Ogles has long denigrated Muslims; he’s pushed for New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani (who was born in Uganda and with whom Trump has lately been chummy) to be denaturalized and deported, and just last week, he called for a ban on immigration from several majority-Muslim countries. His comments on Monday were more sweeping, and a more direct attack on America’s constitutional values. They also imply an outright rejection of thousands of Ogles’s own constituents. Tennessee’s Fifth Congressional District includes parts of Nashville and several counties to the south. For 20 years, its House representative was a centrist Democrat, Jim Cooper, who had welcomed a Muslim community in Nashville that grew over the years to more than 40,000 people. It comprises significant Kurdish and Somali populations that arrived as a result of refugee-resettlement programs, as well as a sizable number of Palestinians. In Columbia, as in other parts of the region, Muslim physicians who had been recruited to the area because of a need for more doctors brought along their families.

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Senate passes bipartisan housing bill targeting large investors and easing regulations

The Senate has passed the largest housing bill in decades — bipartisan legislation designed to improve housing affordability and availability through deregulation, expanding old programs and banning institutional investors from buying single-family homes, with few exceptions. The bill passed 89 to 10. "It's Democrats. It's Republicans. It's pieces they built out together," said Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., a co-sponsor of the bill, in an interview with NPR. "That is the strength of this bill." "It's not a Republican issue or a Democrat Issue," said Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., the bill's other sponsor, speaking in advance of the vote on the Senate floor. "It's an issue about helping moms like the one who raised me, the amazing woman that she was, become homeowners."

Many of the bill's provisions are meant to boost the United States' housing supply. The typical home sold in the U.S. — priced around $400,000 — is well above what the median family can afford. The housing shortage is responsible for much of that cost, since limited supply increases prices. One estimate from Realtor.com puts the shortfall between available units and demand at 4 million. "If we want to bring down the cost of housing, we've got to build a lot more," said Warren. "And what I love about this bill is that it has more than 40 different provisions in it, all of which aim in the same direction, which is to give a push toward building more housing." Much of the bill mirrors one passed by the House last month, with 84% of the provisions from the latter making their way into the Senate version. The major difference between the two bills is the Senate's introduction of a ban that would prevent any investor that owns at least 350 homes from buying more.

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How The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints found itself in the battle over Big Tech

On Nov. 5, in a harshly lit conference room at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ main administrative hub in Salt Lake City, Elder Gerrit Gong delivered an impassioned speech about the future of AI. “Man can create AI, but AI cannot create God,” he told the assembled audience. Gong was speaking at a conference put together by Organized Intelligence, an initiative not directly associated with the church but one that advances Latter-day Saint perspectives on AI, namely that these tools are safe, properly regulated and don’t impede or replace users’ relationship with morality or God. Gong, who is one of the 12 Apostles of the church, has spent much of the last year thinking and speaking about this rapidly evolving technology.

A former State Department official and Oxford-trained Rhodes Scholar, he is able to discuss AI at a technical level or a more abstracted one. And he is the public face of a concerted Latter-day Saint effort to begin to take seriously the risks associated with AI development. Over the course of two days at the Organized Intelligence conference, Latter-day Saint leaders weren’t the only ones taking the stage. The speakers included officials from the Future of Life Institute, which works to reduce existential risk from advanced AI, historians from around the country and the executive director of Utah’s Department of Commerce. As quickly became apparent, there is a fast-growing collection of people and interests in Utah who are deeply focused on the future of AI. Top officials in the state have also shown no hesitation when it comes to going up against the agenda of Big Tech — or the industry’s allies in the Trump administration.

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Copyright March 20, 2026, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved