Lead Stories

Ken Paxton’s impeachment defense lawyer endorses James Talarico

A Texas lawyer who helped lead Republican Ken Paxton’s defense during his 2023 impeachment trial is endorsing Democrat James Talarico in the state’s critical Senate race this November. Dan Cogdell, a Houston-based defense lawyer who represented the Texas attorney general in both the impeachment trial and a long-running securities fraud case, told NOTUS in a statement that his former client “has lost sight of his core mission, which is to represent the people of Texas.” “And unlike Ken, I believe to my core that James Talarico believes in unity over division and that he knows how to assemble not only Democrats, but Independents and Republicans, and we need that right now,” Cogdell said.

Cogdell has donated a total of $6,500 to Paxton’s campaign last year and then gave $1,000 to Talarico’s campaign in March, according to campaign finance reports. His endorsement of Talarico comes just after the third anniversary of Paxton’s impeachment by the Texas House of Representatives over allegations including bribery. The Paxton campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Despite representing one of President Donald Trump’s most prominent political allies, Cogdell has broken with his party and criticized the president publicly in recent years. The longtime Paxton confidant last year called Trump the “greatest threat to Democracy our country’s ever seen.” Cogdell’s comments were used in a now-deleted attack ad against Paxton released by the National Republican Senatorial Committee in September. The ad called Cogdell “a liberal Trump-hating trial lawyer.” Now Senate Republican leaders have fallen in line with Paxton after he defeated longtime Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) in a primary runoff last month. The Paxton-Cornyn clash split the GOP, with Republican leaders backing Cornyn and Trump allies supporting Paxton. Trump ultimately endorsed Paxton a week before the runoff.

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In Texas cattle country, ranchers question if USDA can contain flesh-eating screwworm

Like many ranchers in South Texas, Susan Storey said nightmarish screwworm outbreaks were among her first childhood memories. Now 62, she still recalls seeing wriggling maggots as they burrowed into living livestock and smelling the burning carcasses of ?calves that were too far gone for her family to treat. The U.S. Department of Agriculture this week confirmed two infestations of New World screwworm in Texas — the state's first cases since the 1970s. However, local residents ?and ranchers remain split over whether to trust the agency's response, with some saying it's too slow or not far-reaching enough.

U.S. cattle ranchers have been bracing for a domestic screwworm case for over a year as the pest has advanced north through Mexico, with experts predicting that a widespread outbreak could cost the state $1.8 billion in economic damage and could be devastating for the state's wildlife. For Storey and other ranchers who lived through the last outbreak, the news has further eroded their trust in the USDA and prompted them to search for their own solutions. “We're fighting for this so our grandchildren can keep what we ?have,” she said as her pickup truck bumped down a dirt road past grazing cattle, sprawling green pastures and migrating butterflies. “I don't want my herd threatened." Screwworms are parasitic flies whose females lay eggs in wounds on any warm-blooded animal. Once ?the eggs hatch, hundreds of larvae use their sharp mouths to eat through living flesh, eventually killing their host if left untreated. They mostly spread through the movement of infested animals and ?pose no threat to food safety and rarely affect humans, experts said. The last time screwworm was endemic in the United States, it took the cattle industry 30 years to recover, according to Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins.

Read this article at Reuters - Subscribers Only

America is already losing the World Cup for hotel bookings

The World Cup starts later this week. U.S. hotels are already in last place. Hotel bookings in Canada and Mexico are outpacing all but one American city ahead of FIFA’s biggest soccer competition, which is unfolding across 16 North American cities starting Thursday. Vancouver and Guadalajara boast the top occupancy rates at 48%, according to CoStar. Toronto, Mexico City and Monterrey are also more than 40%-booked. San Francisco is the only U.S. city to crack that threshold at 44%. The data firm analyzed hotel business in 14 of the 16 host cities ahead of the games. Some U.S. hotel owners say they are getting decent rates. But the foreign host cities hold a number of advantages over their American counterparts, including often more rabid soccer fans and overall affordability.

Tickets to this year’s World Cup games in the U.S. reached record-high prices, with dozens of tickets to the final match already selling for more than $20,000 a seat, according to resale tracker TicketData. Transportation costs also soared. “When it got down to pricing and being able to make those decisions, there were a lot of aspirational travelers who were probably shut out of the marketplace,” said Dave Guenther, president of luxury sports travel company Roadtrips. Visa concerns and the U.S. political climate that many foreigners perceive as unwelcoming also dissuaded some international soccer enthusiasts from traveling to the U.S. The disappointing performance by hotels in U.S. host cities reflects a lost opportunity to boost local economies as much as anticipated. Cities have spent hundreds of millions of dollars related to this once-in-a-generation sporting event. Major investments range from security and stadium upgrades to transit improvements and marketing.

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Banks lay groundwork for mass workforce cuts as AI takes hold

In the hope he’ll land a job in finance, Andre Bonnick spends hours rehearsing what he’s going to say. He’s using key words from job listings, making eye contact — following advice he’s gotten from recruiters. But Bonnick, a student at Warwick University, isn’t preparing to talk to a human hiring manager. He’s tackling initial screening rounds done by artificial intelligence-powered software. With more firms adopting AI, students gunning for a career in banking and finance are preparing to be up against such technology at first interaction. If they get in the door, they’re then faced with the question of whether the jobs will be available to humans in the next few years. Most executives are in agreement: Jobs will be cut as AI is implemented. JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon said in December that the technology “will eliminate jobs.”

Jane Fraser, Citigroup Inc.’s CEO, said some jobs “will no longer be required,” while Goldman Sachs Group Inc. President John Waldron referred to employees as a “human assembly line” ripe for automation. As Standard Chartered Plc CEO Bill Winters put it: “It’s not cost cutting; it’s replacing in some cases lower-value human capital with the financial capital and the investment capital we’re putting in.” (He later apologized for his remarks.) With those recent comments, industry workers have been left dazed about whether their jobs are safe. Even for those in higher levels, the risk that AI could eventually replace their roles has grown. And while executives, including Dimon and Barclays Plc Chief Executive Officer CS Venkatakrishnan, have talked about retraining and reskilling employees to protect some jobs, it’s unclear how that would work in practice, said David Parsons, an employment lawyer at Mishcon de Reya. One investment banker in the United Arab Emirates, who asked not to be identified, joked he may not be needed in the next five to 10 years, after he used Microsoft Corp.’s Copilot to help make a last-minute elevator pitch before a client meeting. “It’s fair to say middle office is vulnerable,” Parsons said. “That’s the difference with this wave of automation, it impacts jobs higher up the chain.”

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State Stories

Could Democrats gain votes from ‘lifelong Republicans’ upset over data centers?

Scout Moseley doesn’t shy away from the challenges of bull riding and “rodeoing,” and he’s now joining the fight against data centers locating in Johnson County. Moseley, 26, who has two children, lives in Cleburne, and he describes himself as being against “big government.” He said he will support candidates, even Democrats, as long as they oppose data centers. He recently created a Facebook page, Joco Citizens Against Data Centers, and also created bumper stickers with the slogan, “Keep Texas green.” “I don’t care if you run and what you run on. As long as you stick to your guns on opposing data centers, I will support you. This is the biggest issue,” he said Moseley is joining a growing number of people throughout Texas and the U.S. who are raising their voices against data centers locating in their communities. According to the Texas Tribune, half of the 248 data centers planned in Texas will be in rural areas where there are few regulations, and counties have little authority to stop them from moving forward.

In Hood County, where an Amazon data center called Project Spectrum was approved on a 3-0 vote on May 26, residents Cheryl Shadden and Craig Jackson also said they will “flip their votes.” Shadden, who helped organize an election to incorporate an area called Mitchell Bend in an attempt to regulate noise and pollution from Mara Digital Holdings, a cryptomining operation near her home, said local and state officials are not protecting the citizens. The vote to incorporate failed, but Shadden is undeterred. “The whole community is behind us. We will absolutely flip our votes,” she said. “We’ve gotten to the point where we feel like we’ve been bulldozed over by Texas politicians. It’s about time now that the politicians listen to their constituents.” Shadden said she has accepted an invitation to speak to the Hood County Democrats. Craig Jackson, who lives in Granbury, is among four residents suing city officials alleging Open Meetings Act violations and that they hid details concerning Project Patriot on approximately 2,000 acres annexed into Granbury during a Jan. 6 meeting despite vehement opposition from residents. The lawsuit described City Council members taking a tour of a Dallas data center days before the annexation vote. In April, the council voted to rezone the annexed land for a data center power plant, operated by Bilateral Energy.

Read this article at Fort Worth Star-Telegram - Subscribers Only

Former Dallas mayors outline how city can stay dominant

Former Dallas mayors Tom Leppert, Mike Rawlings and Laura Miller agree that Dallas can remain the region's dominant city. But each offered a different take on why neighboring cities are gaining ground in landing big companies, investment and major projects. The city faced a tough round of setbacks last week, from the Mavericks' planned move from downtown to North Dallas and the Stars' pursuit of Plano for a new arena to Neiman Marcus' decision to shutter its downtown store. In interviews and a commentary piece, here’s what they said Dallas must do to respond: Tom Leppert, mayor from 2007 to 2011, said Dallas must become more responsive and competitive.

“Dallas has to compete,” he said. “To compete, you've got to perform.” Leppert said businesses and residents increasingly have options across North Texas and will not wait for Dallas to make decisions. He said delays, uncertainty and a lack of follow-through can cost the city opportunities. For Leppert, the solution is straightforward: city leaders must identify priorities, move quickly and deliver results. Mike Rawlings, mayor from 2011 to 2019, said Dallas risks losing confidence among businesses and investors when leaders fail to focus on fundamentals. He called downtown's struggles both an emotional and financial issue, noting it generates about half of the city's property tax value. He also criticized what he sees as excessive attention to small but vocal groups and said elected officials must concentrate on the factors that drive economic growth. “A citizen needs to be voting for somebody that can make things happen,” he said. Laura Miller, mayor from 2002 to 2007 after previously serving on the City Council and, before that, working as a reporter at The Dallas Morning News, said Dallas' challenges stem from the way the city is governed. In a recent D Magazine column, Miller said Dallas' council-manager form doesn’t work. Under that system, the mayor is elected citywide and the council members are elected from 14 districts while the council-hired city manager oversees daily operations. Miller said too much power rests with the city manager and senior staff, while elected officials often struggle to set a unified direction.

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For Mavericks and Stars, why is American Airlines Center obsolete?

The Dallas Mavericks and Dallas Stars haven’t agreed on much in recent months, but they agree on this: American Airlines Center is outdated. The Mavericks have decided on Valley View as the site for a new arena and entertainment district. The Stars have also made their decision, choosing to build their new arena and mixed-use development in Plano. It begs the question: How can an arena become obsolete in just 25 years?

Stadium experts say the answer reflects a larger industry trend and has as much to do with societal changes as it does with business. As tech advancements accelerate and expectations of modern-day sports fans evolve, the life span of many arenas is increasingly shorter. “It seems like the life cycle of a stadium or arena is moving towards 20 to 25 years,” Craig Sloan, the CEO of Playfly Sports, which has worked on numerous stadium projects and mixed-use development districts, told The Dallas Morning News. Franchises are striving to create in-venue fan experiences that rival at-home viewing experiences, which have never been more convenient and sophisticated. Modern-day fans, particularly from the Gen Z demographic, are not merely looking to go watch a game, they are in search of a social experience. And teams are looking to bolster their revenue by tapping into dollars from mixed-use districts, which surround arenas with 365-day-a-year entertainment options. Mark Williams is partner and executive vice president at Dallas-based HKS, which designed prominent stadiums like AT&T Stadium and Los Angeles’ SoFi Stadium, among many others. While times and technology have evolved, the arena remains a coveted destination, one where the transformation of the fan experience requires a transformation of the venue itself.

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Army Corps to shift major Houston Ship Channel dredge disposal offshore, sparing Pleasantville sites

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is scrapping a plan to dump much of the sludge it dredges up from the Houston Ship Channel onto sites near the historically Black Pleasantville neighborhood, opting instead to deposit the waste offshore, according to a letter Port Houston sent local officials this week. The letter, dated June 2, said the Army Corps' own design process led to the revision. For years, the federal agency had planned to pipe the slurry of mud and water it pulled up during Project 11, a billion-dollar project to help the channel fit larger ships, into disposal sites in residential communities. There, the sludge would be held in by levees made of soil. The agency now plans to move the material it dredges from the project's final two segments, between Sims Bayou and Turning Basin, into a disposal site "located in the Gulf, approximately two nautical miles outside the Galveston Entrance Channel," the local port authority said.

The Corps' about-face comes years after community groups assembled the Healthy Port Communities Coalition to push back against the federal government's previous plan to reopen two long-defunct disposal sites called Glendale and Filterbed, among other Project 11 decisions. These sites sit on either side of Houston's historic Pleasantville neighborhood, which was conceived during segregation as the nation's first master-planned community for middle-class Black residents. Glendale is in Pleasantville proper, while Filterbed sits nearby in an area known as Denver Harbor/Port Houston. "I'm really glad for the news we received, but at the same time understand that there's still other communities that will continue to have concerns," said Bridgette Murray, a Pleasantville resident and founder of the group Achieving Community Tasks Successfully. The placement areas, which look like artificial hills against Houston's flat topography, carry traumatic memories for some generational families in the area. In 1957, one of the levees of the Glendale mound collapsed, sending a flood of oil-filled silt and water into "a 40-block area of the addition" and damaging at least 100 homes, according to Houston Chronicle articles from the time. City health officials advised typhoid shots for victims, and homeowners said the sludge was a corrosive substance that left many of their possessions useless.

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Texas’ healthcare workforce has increased 123% in 30 years. State officials say it isn’t enough

Texas’ healthcare and social assistance sector has grown 123% in the past 30 years, adding more than one million jobs – but it hasn’t kept pace with the state’s growing demand. State officials outlined the state of Texas’ healthcare workforce during a House Committee on Public Health hearing last week. Despite being Texas’ largest and fastest growing industry, the healthcare industry’s need for workers continues to “outpace supply” across the state, officials said. Mariana Vega, director of labor market information at the Texas Workforce Commission, said the healthcare sector has grown faster than all other industries combined, driven largely by “population expansion.” “Texas continues to lead the nation in population growth, adding hundreds of thousands of new residents each year,” Vega said. “As a result, demand for healthcare services continues to grow across all regions of the state.”

Texas’ population growth significantly slowed last year, but it still had the largest increase in the county. In North Texas alone, the population is expected to reach nine million people over the next year. In addition to a growing population, Kristen Benton, Texas Board of Nursing’s executive director, said the population is also aging. “As we get older, we have more demand for healthcare,” she said. Nearly 1.4 million Texans are employed in healthcare occupations. But, Vega said in many regions in the state only about 30 to 50% of healthcare employers' needs are being met, while in other regions as little as 25% of the need is met. “Texas is facing a growing imbalance between healthcare workforce supply and demand,” she said. “This gap is clearly reflected in real-time job demand.” Healthcare workforce shortages are seen in both the high skill and “entry level” ends of the industry, affecting dozens of occupations statewide, according to Vega. Registered nursing positions, or RNs, are one of the most in-demand jobs in Texas, accounting for more than 158,000 postings statewide. Home health and personal care aids also ranked among the highest in demand with more than 43,000 job postings. At the same time, Vega said the healthcare and social assistance sector is projected to add more jobs than any other industry in Texas – nearly 294,000 by 2032.

Read this article at KERA - Subscribers Only

Miami's jail reduction model could help Dallas County — but parts aren't legal in Texas

Dallas County officials spent part of last week learning about Miami-Dade County's successful jail diversion program to determine whether modeling it could reduce jail crowding here. Retired Florida judge Steve Leifman, the creator of Miami-Dade diversion program, led a days-long summit in Dallas to explain how it could work here. Leifman and his team were invited to present the successful 26-year old Criminal Mental Health Project model as a less-expensive alternative to sending Dallas County officials and staff to Florida. A key element of the Miami-Dade model is how people experiencing mental health issues are handled by law enforcement, jails and courts. Leifman and other county leaders who implemented the project eventually were able to get Florida laws changed so that people in mental health crisis could be held in deflection centers involuntarily.

That offers time for evaluation, court processing and possibly starting substance use and mental health treatment. In Texas, law enforcement agencies like the Dallas Police Department and DART police must convince a person to go to a deflection center — and stay there — before going to jail. If a detained person is taken to Dallas’s one jail-diversion center, they are free to leave almost immediately. Laws passed in Ohio and Florida changed that. “They set up a situation where for 48 hours, the person's not free to go,” Dallas County Judge Clay Lewis Jenkins said. “Then, within that 48 hours, that person is assessed to see whether they can go or what the next steps would be. That's really not much different except for it's focused on mental health and good outcomes of what happens when we pick up your average person.” Convincing Texas legislators to pass similar laws here would be a key first step to effectively apply the Miami-Dade process to the Dallas County jail and courts system.

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How the Kerrville Folk Festival became a hub for recovery — and hope

The Kerrville Folk Festival is known for its music. But in the aftermath of last year's tragic Fourth of July flooding, it became something else entirely. Deb Rouse runs the Kerrville Folk Festival, an 18-day music festival held at Quiet Valley Ranch, about eight miles southwest of Kerrville. For more than half a century, the festival has helped launch the careers of emerging musicians. But on the morning of the flood, Rouse quickly realized the ranch would serve a very different purpose. “As I was sitting at my desk, my phone started ringing, both my cell phone and my office phone,” Rouse said. “And I can hear every other extension in the office ringing, and it was people from all over the country calling and saying, ‘We're members of the festival community. How can we help? What can we do?’”

These were folk festival supporters who had seen news coverage of the flooding and wanted to help. Rouse initially directed people to organizations such as the Red Cross and Salvation Army, but eventually added a donation button to the Kerrville Folk Festival Foundation website. “I anticipated we might get $10,000 just putting that button on our website. We raised $100,000 in about a two-month period,” she said. But the festival wasn't just raising money. “We also made the decision to open the ranch up to displaced individuals who might need a place to go,” Rouse said. Another call came from a nonprofit looking for a place to set up a kitchen to feed people affected by the flood. “I said, ‘Well, actually, I have a commercial kitchen that's not in use. Would that be helpful?’ And he was like, ‘That would be amazing.’”

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‘San Antonio has a culture like no other’: Spurs’ Finals run creates economic opportunity

It takes one glance to know that Spurs fans have a home at Bakwood BBQ and More. A giant San Antonio Spurs logo adorns the Eastside restaurant’s wall. Vernie Hurd’s family owns the establishment and a Spurs logo adorns his face, too, in the form of a temporary tattoo on his right cheek. He’s a fan, but the Spurs are also good for business. Demand increased by 500% as basketball fans flocked to the restaurant ahead of the San Antonio Spurs clash with the New York Knicks. Hurd prepared five times the barbecue he usually does for the NBA Finals and it was snapped up by fans stopping at Bakwood BBQ, less than three miles from the Frost Bank Center on the corner of Commerce and Hackberry streets. “We notice more people coming out before the game starts,” he said. “We have a lot of Airbnbs here. We have a lot of New Yorkers show up.”

“When the Spurs win, you see traffic out here,” he added. Fans will drive down Commerce Street, honking and waving flags. Hurd said it’s as busy as other big downtown events, like Fiesta or concerts at the Alamodome. It’s one of many businesses that has seen a spike in activity as fans from in and out of town gather to watch the final round of the NBA season. Many business owners are either incredibly busy as fans gather under their roofs, or quickly pivoting to make sure guests have a place to watch games and keep up with the action. It doesn’t matter if you are inside the Frost Bank Center or watching on television — it can be tough to find a seat for the Spurs’ playoff run. San Antonio’s bar owners are happy to be a part of the excitement and to give people spaces to celebrate. But patrons can often wait hours to get a table. Doug Ackerly owns Stout House, The Stetson’s San Antonio and The Hangar bars, all of which have been crowded by fans in recent weeks. Stout House Grayson has hosted popular watch parties and has a 50-75% increase in sales on nights when the Spurs play, he said. The location near Pearl has plenty of TVs and a large outdoor screen. His other bars have had sales jump between 20-40%. “It’s been such a fun team to watch. As a bar owner, I hope we go to Game 7 and win Game 7. As a fan, I hope we sweep the New York Knicks,” he said on Tuesday, before Spurs’ 105-95 loss in Game 1.

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Austin sex trafficking survivor sued hotel giants. Settlements stopped a Texas trial.

When police raided the Days Inn motel room, the woman inside was shocked, but relieved, she recalled years later. For seven months, she had been trafficked for sex at Austin hotels along Interstate 35 and U.S. 183. She was strung out on drugs much of that time. Images posted without her consent by at least three different men on the now-defunct Backpage.com website advertised her availability. She was controlled through physical violence and forced to perform sex acts, she said in a suit filed in federal court. When police burst through the door of that motel room in February 2014, the first words out of the then-26-year-old woman’s mouth were: “I’m pregnant.”

Now nearly 40 and married with children, the woman identified in federal court documents only as H.E.W. wants accountability from the companies she says benefited from her exploitation. The list includes a half-dozen Austin hotels and their parent companies — including some of the nation’s biggest hospitality brands. “Because the hotels would — I feel workers and hotel, you know, front desk people — turned a blind eye to me being trafficked,” she said in a deposition. According to the lawsuit she filed in U.S. District Court in Austin, “She was beaten, drugged, sexually assaulted, and mentally abused” under their noses. It was one of an increasing number of lawsuits filed under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act against the hospitality industry for what plaintiffs describe as a willing blindness to the victims in their hotels. In the legal language of such complaints, they “knew or should have known.” “Defendants have failed, at all levels, to take appropriate action in response to their knowledge of widespread and ongoing human trafficking in their hotels,” H.E.W.’s suit said. “Instead, they have continued financially benefiting.”

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For Texas cities, collecting visual data brings privacy concerns

Cities are turning to visual data and AI-powered technology to better understand dangerous intersections, illegal dumping, weapons monitoring in crowds and other facets of urban life. And while these insights can help improve operations, the technology demands clear governance around data management and access. Brownsville, in south Texas, uses technology from SHI International, a smart city technology provider, to monitor crowds, illegal dumping, vehicle thefts and other events. The technology makes use of AI to analyze visual data for particular incidents. “For example, tell me when somebody dumps trash in a public space. Tell me when there is an animal that is being aggressive, a person with a weapon, a car standing in an unauthorized location … people falling in parks and not getting up, things like that,” Brownsville CIO Jorge Cardenas said in March, explaining how the technology fits in the city’s tech ecosystem.

As a border city, Brownsville is on the watch for stolen cars that may be heading into Mexico. The city’s cameras are able to scan license plates and compare the data to stolen car databases. Illegal dumping has also been a problem, with residents dumping debris in and around waterways and other areas. “Now we have cameras in strategic locations where people will do this a lot of times, and we have caught lot of people dumping mattresses, dumping tires, just trash,” Cardenas said. Similarly, he said, crowd monitoring “helps us to control the crowd, and identify things like weapons detection.” That level of surveillance may be helpful for city operations, but it may also not sit well with the public or digital privacy advocates. The data, Cardenas stressed, “never leaves our city data center, and access is strictly limited to assigned city employees.” “We intentionally chose to keep everything in-house, both to ensure the privacy and security of our community’s information, and to avoid the significant costs associated with external services,” he said in an email.

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In Texas, Muslim voters mobilize against anti-Muslim rhetoric

Mohammed Ayachi was 3 when the 9/11 terrorist attacks occurred. In fifth grade, he was asked by a teacher how many mothers he had. Now an entrepreneur, he says he gets strange looks when he tells his customers his name. Fatima Khan, who wears a hijab, was eating at a pizza restaurant with her family when they were approached by a man cursing and screaming at them. Aftab Siddiqui was called a terrorist and told to “go back home.” He has lived in Texas for 30 years. Muslim Texans say they have felt anti-Muslim hate since 9/11, but that it has risen significantly from politicians running their campaigns from an anti-Muslim viewpoint.

“They just want everybody to get gung ho and go after a witch hunt. This is basically just the Salem witch trials all over again,” Ayachi said. Ali Anwar was at a local Republican Party meeting that featured a speech from Mayes Middleton, the Republican candidate for Texas attorney general. On May 4, Middleton put out an advertisement called “No Sharia in Texas,” where he said that he would outlaw Sharia Law. Sharia Law is a set of religious principles for Muslims to follow. During the meeting, Anwar asked Middleton several specific questions regarding his policies on Sharia Law. “I asked him, ‘Hey, what is this policy about traditional family values?’ He said that we support heterosexual relationships. I asked him about the explicit materials in the library books, and he said that we’re against it. So I kept asking him questions about abortion. He said that we’re against abortion,” Anwar said. “So I said, ‘You know that Sharia — that you are against, and trying to ban — also supports all of these points that you just stated.’” Texas Attorney General and Senate candidate Ken Paxton also ran on an anti-Muslim campaign by filing a lawsuit against the Council of American-Islamic Relations, investigations into the Islamic Tribunal and ran ads accusing his opponent, Sen. John Cornyn, of supporting “Muslim mass immigration.” A study by the Pew Research Center in 2017 showed that about two-thirds of Muslims identified with the Democratic Party. Siddiqui said that political participation in the Muslim community has significantly increased over the years.

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New report makes the case for a unified Valley MSA

A new report commissioned by the Council for South Texas Economic Progress makes the case for a unified Metropolitan Statistical Area for the entire Rio Grande Valley. Currently, the Valley has two MSAs: McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, which incorporates all of Hidalgo County, and Brownsville-Harlingen, which includes all of Cameron County. If the four-county Valley was redefined as one MSA it would rank 42nd nationally, with a population of 1,479,873. The regional Gross Domestic Product (GDP) would be $40.9 billion, the report states. The total civilian labor force would be 657,962. The regional unemployment rate would be 6.5 percent. The average median household income, population-weighted, would be $54,771, and the poverty rate would be 26.6 percent. The report was produced for COSTEP by Allied Consulting Group.

A table from COSTEP's "Rio Grande Valley Regional MSA Economic Report." According to Wikipedia, an MSA is “a geographical region with a relatively high population density at its core and close economic ties throughout the region.” Wikipedia points out that MSAs are defined by the Office of Management and Budget, which is part of the Executive Office of the President. MSAs are used by the U.S. Census Bureau and other federal government agencies for statistical purposes. COSTEP’s new report covers 24 pages. Its executive summary states: “The Rio Grande Valley - comprising Hidalgo, Cameron, Starr and Willacy counties - forms an economically interconnected region. When analyzed as a unified metropolitan area, the region's combined indicators reveal a significant economic engine comparable to recognized MSA across the United States. With a combined population of 1,479,873, the Rio Grande Valley would rank No. 42 among 393 US metropolitan statistical areas, on par with Louisville, Memphis, and Richmond.”

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National Stories

A flesh-eating pest threatens Trump’s beef price hopes

A devastating parasite is threatening to upend President Donald Trump’s efforts to lower beef prices ahead of November’s midterms. The New World screwworm, which often kills untreated livestock, has been discovered in two calves near the Mexican border in south Texas in the past week. The pest’s reemergence in the U.S. is alarming agriculture officials, ranchers and beef industry leaders who have spent months attempting to prepare for its anticipated arrival as ground beef and steaks fetch record-high sums. Administration officials insist the screwworm’s return does not threaten the country’s food supply and is not a hazard to public health. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins told POLITICO it is not clear how the screwworm will affect beef prices, which have already skyrocketed due to high demand and a decades-low cattle herd diminished by severe weather, industry consolidation and high operating costs.

“None of us have a crystal ball, so none of us really understand what this is going to mean for the cattle herd,” Rollins told POLITICO on Thursday after a House Agriculture Committee hearing. “The cases should be isolated,” she said. “We’ll see. We don’t know.” A potential infestation is the latest obstacle clouding Republican goals to rein in consumers’ grocery bills and calm anxiety in farm country. The average price of a pound of ground beef was approaching $7 in April, according to federal data, while a pound of uncooked steak averaged roughly $13. An outbreak of the New World screwworm, a fly that lays eggs in open wounds that hatch into flesh-eating larvae, threatens to cause $1.8 billion in losses to the Texas economy and cost the state’s farmers $732 million per year if it spreads similarly to a 1976 infestation, according to a USDA estimate. “We probably have a lot more cases that are not being reported,” Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller told POLITICO. “If it’s positive, they’ll quarantine you, so no one’s reporting them because no one wants to be quarantined.”

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Platner supporters unfazed by allegations of misconduct

Graham Platner held a town hall Sunday evening where voters could ask him about allegations of past misconduct. No one did. Instead, voters doubled down on their support for the Democrat. At one point, when he went to speak to an overflow crowd outside the building, a man could be heard yelling “Don’t let the bastards get you down.” “We’re not, don’t worry,” Platner responded. “Don’t drop out,” another woman followed. The event was the first where voters would have been able to ask him questions after reports of misconduct, including of abuse by one ex-girlfriend. The woman also disputed Platner’s account that he only recently learned a tattoo he wore on his chest for 18 years was a symbol adopted by the Nazi’s SS paramilitary. Platner has denied the allegations of abuse and continues to say he didn’t know the tattoo’s meaning.

The Wall Street Journal last weekend reported that Platner engaged in sexually explicit texts with other women while married. Platner had sought to tamp down concerns about more allegations of misconduct during a private meeting with some of his biggest Senate backers, The Journal reported last week. Platner, a 41-year-old oyster farmer running as a progressive, has both captivated and terrified some in the Democratic Party. He is on track to win the Democratic nomination in the state’s primary Tuesday and is expected to face off against Republican Sen. Susan Collins, 73, in November. The state is one of Democrats’ best pickup opportunities, but allegations against Platner have worried many Democrats who fear he is putting the seat at risk. But inside his town hall Sunday, Platner didn’t face a single question or acknowledgment about the allegations. Instead, the crowd doubled down on their support of him. At one point during the event, a supporter passed around a poster board that said “We are your Grahamily! and we’ve got your back” to gather messages and signatures. People wrote messages like “Everyone has a past! Keep Going!” and “Stay strong, one day at a time.” After his speech she presented it to Platner, who teared up.

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Donald Trump ends tense 'Meet the Press' interview, walks away from host

President Donald Trump abruptly ended an interview with NBC's "Meet the Press" and walked away after moderator Kristen Welker challenged him about unsubstantiated claims of "cheating" in the California primary elections. The dustup between Trump and Welker arrived during a rain-heavy sit down, full of weather-related interruptions, amid the president's pre-midterms visit to Wisconsin, a crucial swing state for both parties that he won in 2024. After Welker noted that "Republicans are doing well in California" following the June 2 primary contests, Trump said "they're dropping fast because it's a rigged election," which led to a tense back-and-forth in the interview that aired June 7. Republicans have criticized the dayslong, ongoing counting process in California's primary races.

Los Angeles mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt, a conservative, and Trump-endorsed gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton are both in second place standings in their respective contests, but Democratic foes have gained ground. California has what's known as "jungle primaries," in which all candidates regardless of party compete against each other, and the top two hopefuls advance to the general election. As Welker and Trump discussed the California races, including the vote-tallying process, Welker noted "that's how they count the votes in California." Trump responded, asking, "Do you know why they're doing that? Because they're cheating on the election." Welker then asked Trump if he had evidence to support his claims, and the president responded that "all I have to do is look" and "I listen to people." The NBC anchor again asked for evidence of election fraud and repeated that the typical dayslong process is "how they count the votes in California." Trump then questioned if it's appropriate to count votes five days after Election Day, and Welker said California officials are urging a quick vote count but have pointed out that the process is slow.

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Nithya Raman and Spencer Pratt in tight race for Los Angeles mayor runoff

Days after California’s primary, Nithya Raman and Spencer Pratt are still waiting to see who makes the November runoff for Los Angeles mayor against incumbent Karen Bass. The race was still too early to call on Sunday as the vote tally showed Raman moving into second place behind Bass for the first time since Tuesday, when voting ended and the count began. That puts Raman, a progressive city council member, ahead of Pratt, a former reality television personality from “The Hills.” Raman had been running in third, but she has gained more votes than Pratt with every update provided by election officials in Los Angeles since Tuesday.

Vote counting in California is a notoriously slow process because state law practically mandates a drawn-out tally. Ballots are mailed to every eligible voter and they are counted if they are postmarked by Election Day and arrive at an election office within seven days. Los Angeles, like other counties in California, processes and counts mail ballots in roughly the order they are received, so the last ones returned are the last ones counted. On Tuesday night after polls closed, Los Angeles released results from mail ballots that had been returned early and already processed as well as votes cast that day. Since then, the county has been processing and releasing results from mail ballots that arrived later. Election data shows that large numbers of Democrats held onto their mail ballots and returned them in the race’s final days, which helps explain why Bass and Raman have been doing better than Pratt in the votes counted since primary day. The mayor’s race is nonpartisan, so none of the candidates had party identification next to their names on the ballot. Raman and Bass are both Democrats, while Pratt is a Republican.

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As American elections become more tense, officials are turning to local police

When Chris Davis first started working in law enforcement over 30 years ago, elections would come and go relatively unnoticed. "Election Day was something, as a police officer, you may not even realize was happening," he said. "It wouldn't even come up on roll calls." Davis is now chief of police in Green Bay, Wis. And elections have rapidly become a big part of his job, something he plans for year-round. "I think a lot of that is just because we're right in the middle of the Wisconsin battleground," Davis said. "I remember really being struck when I came here at just how, almost, nervous a lot of city staff were about elections." Davis' experience reflects a trend experts have noticed across the country: Since the 2020 election, local law enforcement has increasingly been playing a bigger role in helping local officials secure elections.

"The number of threats that election officials face, that jurisdictions face, that election workers face all mean that law enforcement does have a heightened role to play and a longer-term role to play," said Katie Reisner with the nonpartisan States United Democracy Center. "It's not a matter of just tapping in for Election Day and tapping back out." According to a survey of local election officials conducted earlier this year by the Brennan Center for Justice, 32% of local election officials reported experiencing "threats, harassment, or abuse because of their job." Threats and harassment increased notably for election officials after President Trump's unfounded claims that the 2020 election was rife with fraud. The last few years have also seen historic rates of turnover among voting officials. In Green Bay, Davis said it became clear to him after talking to city officials that the police department needed to take "a more proactive role" during elections.

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Can a social media post nullify your vote? Indiana recount tests obscure law

A Trump-backed state senate candidate is still fighting to win a tight election by making an unusual legal claim that voters' social media posts exposed that they voted illegally under an obscure state law. Republican Paula Copenhaver was one of many primary challengers seeking to defeat Indiana senators who defied U.S. President Donald Trump's demand to redraw Indiana's congressional district boundaries to favor Republicans. She was vying to unseat incumbent state Sen. Spencer Deery of West Lafayette, but lost by three votes in the May 5 primary. In her request for a recount, Copenhaver argues that social media posts and interviews with a journalist prove that several Democratic voters wrongfully crossed over to the Republican primary, swinging the election in Deery's favor. The crossover voting warrants investigation, she claims.

Her argument hinges on a largely unenforced Indiana law that many voters, advocates and experts say they have never heard of. Her method of challenging voters in a recount is likely a first in Indiana and appears to conflict with the state's enforcement interpretation. "It’s unprecedented to challenge voters the way Copenhaver is, even wanting to comb through their social media," said Amy Courtney of voter advocacy group MADVoters in an email. "The real question is whether we want a government spending time and energy monitoring our social media statements and inspecting our private votes." One of the affected voters was Noemi Ybarra, who lives in Tippecanoe County. Copenhaver initially challenged her vote, but suspended the challenge after it became clear that Ybarra lived outside of the senate district. Ybarra said on Facebook that she thought about potentially pulling a Republican Party ballot, but she didn't end up doing so. She only learned her vote was challenged when a local journalist reached out.

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National redistricting battle could come to state legislatures and city councils

After a blitz of congressional redistricting ahead of the midterm elections, a national battle for partisan control is about to enter a new phase that could affect representation on everything from tax rates to social safety net programs, teacher salaries, housing regulations and local road repairs. Georgia’s Republican-led Legislature will convene June 17 for a special session focused on redistricting for the 2028 elections. The agenda includes new voting districts not only for Congress, but also for the state House and Senate — and potentially even the state’s utility regulatory commission. It will mark the first time since a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling weakened minority voting protections that a state legislature will attempt to redraw its own districts. Mississippi Republicans and New York Democrats also could undertake legislative redistricting before their 2027 and 2028 elections, respectively.

It remains to be seen, though, how many legislatures will follow, and whether the outburst of mid-decade redistricting will extend down to county commissions, city councils and school boards that make myriad decisions affecting people’s lives. The impact could be widespread. “The stakes here are not political, they are deeply human,” said Joe Kennedy III, founder of Groundwork Project, a nonprofit that supports local civil rights and democracy organizations. What’s fueling the redistricting movement? Voting district boundaries typically are redrawn once a decade after each U.S. census to account for population changes. But last summer, President Donald Trump urged Texas Republicans to redraw congressional districts to try to win additional seats in the midterm elections. Other states followed with their own partisan gerrymandering. Then a 6-3 Supreme Court ruling in late April jumpstarted even more redistricting. The court struck down a majority-Black congressional district in Louisiana as an illegal racial gerrymander, providing grounds for Republicans in other states to reshape districts with large minority populations that have elected Democrats.

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Lead Stories

Texas oil CEO Josh Cohen arrested, accused of organized crime

Law enforcement officials in Texas and New York arrested Josh Cohen of Vision Oil & Gas on Friday, charging the Texas oilfield executive with theft and engaging in organized crime, Reeves County District Attorney Sarah Stogner said. Stogner, whose West Texas office assisted in the arrest in Nassau County, New York, said her team investigated the case involving more than $1.2 million in stolen services. Investigators accuse Cohen of contracting for services such as oilfield remediation, trucking and equipment rentals “without the intent or ability to pay for them,” pushing some firms to “near financial collapse,” law enforcement documents show. "... the evidence indicates the scheme extends broadly across the State of Texas,” investigators said.

Stogner said she began investigating the case after alleged victims shared their experiences online. “There's a fine line in the boom-or-bust industry … between good faith, ‘got in over your head’, and a con man,” Stogner said. “If you commit crime in my counties and try to defraud my constituents, we will investigate you, and we will go arrest you, no matter where you are, regardless of county lines or state lines.” Cohen lives in New York but operates in the Permian Basin. Cohen is being held in New York and is expected to be extradited to Texas, Stogner said. He is charged with one count of theft of services and one count of engaging in organized criminal activity, according to arrest warrants. Cases like Cohen’s are challenging for law enforcement in small counties, Stogner said, noting the investigation remains ongoing. “For rural prosecutors – where most of the oil and gas operations are – they just don't have the manpower to get into these really forensically challenging ... electronic cases,” Stogner said. “It's very time consuming.” An attorney for Cohen, Lane Haygood, declined to comment. “All our talking is done in court,” he said.

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Paxton’s Senate bid raises the stakes in his war on Latino voting groups

For years, Ken Paxton, the Texas attorney general, has been waging war on Democratic and Latino-led groups over “election integrity,” leaving a trail of ransacked residences, shellshocked volunteers, struggling organizations and indictments behind him. But the stakes of the fight with groups determined to mobilize Texas’ fast-growing Hispanic electorate changed significantly last month when he won the Republican Party’s nomination for Senate. Now it is personal and could help determine his own political future — and which party controls the Senate. “It doesn’t look good for us,” said Gabriel Rosales, the Texas director for the League of United Latin American Citizens, or LULAC, which is one of the nation’s oldest Latino civil rights organizations. “But we are going to keep fighting.” Long a voice amplifying baseless claims that noncitizens are voting in huge numbers, Mr. Paxton went beyond rhetoric in 2024, using a new restrictive voting law to target left-leaning Latino groups and wielding corporate statutes that allow him to target entire organizations, not individual officers or employees.

In the name of election integrity, the Republican-dominated Texas Legislature criminalized what had been fairly routine tools for civic groups, churches and political campaigns, particularly in Latino communities. The new law made it a felony to pay staff or give volunteers benefits — such as stipends or gas money — or to drop by the homes of voters. The measure also made it illegal for volunteers to help fill in ballots for, say, elderly or bilingual voters, and bring them to polling sites or drop boxes. Volunteers are allowed only to read mail-in ballots to those they would assist. Lawsuits and investigations followed, along with raids on home offices and private residences. At least 15 Latino Democratic officials and volunteers were indicted last year in Frio County alone, a place with only about 20,000 people. They include a county judge, two city council members and a former county election administrator, charged with contravening the new Texas voting law by illegally “harvesting” ballots that otherwise would not be cast and with tampering with evidence. “Under my watch, there will be no stolen elections in Texas,” Mr. Paxton said in February. The groups remain defiant. Four prominent Latino civil rights and political organizations formed a strategic alliance in May, seeking to stem the Republican Party’s gains among Hispanic voters. In a separate initiative, seven national and state-led Latino rights and progressive groups announced on Tuesday that they will coordinate canvassing and voter outreach.

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How Dallas lost its grip on North Texas' biggest wins

In February 2025, Dallas business and civic leaders gathered outside Neiman Marcus' downtown flagship to celebrate a temporary reprieve for the iconic retailer and show that downtown could keep moving forward. New housing projects were planned or underway. City leaders promised progress on long-standing challenges. Supporters were hopeful about the future of the city's urban core. Today, the outlook is far less certain.

Neiman Marcus is leaving downtown. The Mavericks plan to move to North Dallas. The Stars have chosen Plano for a new arena. Earlier this year, AT&T announced plans to relocate its headquarters to Collin County and Fifth Third Bank selected a campus on the northern edge of town for its regional headquarters. The decisions are largely unrelated. But together they’ve stirred anxieties about whether Dallas is keeping pace with a region where neighboring cities increasingly are competing for jobs, investment and prestige. “The wolf is not in this room,” Mayor Eric Johnson said at last week’s City Council meeting. “The wolf is up the tollway.” As suburbs gain ground, downtown Dallas continues to struggle with empty offices, changing work patterns and pressure to keep pace. City leaders are scrambling not only to keep major employers and institutions, but also to attract new ones. The latest blows have been jarring, said Walter Bialas, head of research at Goodwin Advisors, a local real estate firm. “There's a shot to the kidneys, and there's one to the midsection. Then there's an uppercut, then there's another one to the midsection,” he said. “Oh my goodness, this is just crazy.”

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Texas drought, shrinking herds reshaping cattle country

For the past five years, Texas ranchers have been struggling against drought. Now, those with cattle to sell are finding a bright spot — but it’s one causing pain for consumers and politicians. It’s not a clear win for ranchers, either. Despite dried-up pastures and shrunken-down herds, ranchers like Lew Thompson, who runs nearly 3,000 head near Pearsall, are reaping what he called “prolific sales.” “Usually when the drought is on, you just keep getting kicked in the teeth on the price,” Thompson said. “We have a very unusual situation.” This time around, ranchers are cashing in cattle for all-time high prices as inventory in the United States has plummeted to 75-year lows. The result is retail prices that have surged more than 18% from a year ago, pushing the average price of a pound of ground beef in American cities to $6.90 in April, the highest on record. A year earlier, it was $5.80, also a record. As recently as early 2021, the price was less than $4.

Prices are projected to keep rising, too, with the U.S. Department of Agriculture forecasting another 10.1% increase by the end of the year. Ranchers aren’t reaping all the price increases in profit, though. Their margins are being squeezed by difficulties spurred by the lingering drought and record-high costs for feed, fuel, fertilizer, equipment and supplies as Trump administration tariffs, war and persistent inflation take their toll. Thompson, for example, said his costs are up about 25% in recent years, wiping out the 12% average increase in cattle sale prices seen across the U.S. in the past year. The steadily rising prices are rattling consumers and, increasingly, elected officials who are beginning to understand the political impact of declining affordability in the U.S. This spring, a group of congressional Democrats introduced a bill designed to break up the heavily consolidated U.S. meat industry, which they blamed for a lack of competition and high prices. Later, the U.S. Justice Department said it was investigating potential antitrust violations in the cattle and beef industry. Then, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said his office was launching its own investigation.

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The great American job-creation machine comes back to life

Economists had written off the great American job-creation machine. Now, it is revving back to life. Hiring has surged this spring, with employers adding more than half a million jobs between March and May. Factories, restaurants and city halls have all shifted into hiring mode, a pivot from last year, when the healthcare industry almost single-handedly propped up job creation. Friday’s May jobs report showed the labor market has now notched its best three-month stretch in more than two years. The momentum is a sea change from last year, when hiring was weak in many sectors. Many companies reported then that the economic outlook was too iffy for them to expand. Meanwhile, the Trump administration was clamping down on immigration in high-profile raids, which sharply curtailed the number of people available to work and added another hurdle to strong hiring.

Now, however, President Trump isn’t making as many rapid changes to tariff policy as he was last year, giving businesses an easier time planning. AI companies are rushing to build data centers, creating a boom in that corner of the construction industry. Though many Americans are gloomy about high gasoline prices and rising inflation, well-heeled consumers continue to spend robustly, supported by a roaring stock market—Friday’s selloff notwithstanding. The resurgence poses a puzzle for economists. Many came to believe that the immigration crackdown had pushed the economy into a new, more sedate equilibrium, where even a trickle of new jobs each month would be enough to employ an American workforce whose growth had slowed substantially. The country, some economists proposed, simply didn’t need to create hundreds of thousands of new jobs a month anymore to keep the economy stable, a trend called a falling break-even rate of job creation. If that downshift were happening, slower job creation wouldn’t lead to more unemployment—but weaker growth and a less dynamic economy would likely follow. More recent data is calling that conclusion into question.

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State Stories

‘The knives are out’ for Dallas as rivals chip away at its regional clout

Can Dallas still compete? That’s the question confronting local leaders after a series of high-profile departures rattled a city whose image has long been built on growth, ambition and swagger. Get the latest political news, analysis and policy decisions shaping Texas and the nation. “The knives are out for our city,” Mayor Eric Johnson said last week. His warning reflects an intensifying scramble in North Texas for prestige and influence. Neighboring cities that once played supporting roles are now winning marquee projects that once seemed destined for Dallas. The Mavericks and Stars put that shift on full display when they announced plans to leave downtown. Now, a larger debate has broken out about whether Dallas is moving quickly enough in a region where it no longer stands alone. The stakes reach from City Hall to downtown and Dallas' place in North Texas.

For some civic leaders and residents, the problem isn't that Dallas lacks resources. It's that it lacks alignment. Sana Syed, a downtown resident and former City Council candidate, told council members Wednesday that Dallas' recent losses were not isolated events. “Downtowns rarely die from a single blow,” she said during the public comment segment. “They fade when vision is replaced by complacency, when short-term politics outweigh long-term stewardship.” Her complaints echoed a frustration that surfaced throughout the meeting: that the council has become too distracted by internal fights and too slow to act as neighboring cities aggressively pursue businesses, investment and major projects. Council members have traded barbs on social media, while supporters packed council chambers wearing shirts urging leaders to “save City Hall” or move employees into a “safe City Hall.” Tensions escalated after a 9-6 council vote in March directing city staff to study relocating government functions from the aging downtown building. At the end of Wednesday's meeting, Johnson urged council members to stop questioning one another's motives and focus on making decisions as suburbs make inroads.

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Dallas mayor supports moving out of City Hall ahead of key vote

Dallas leaders are nearing a pivotal decision on the future of City Hall, with the City Council set to vote next week and Mayor Eric Johnson now publicly backing a move from the aging downtown landmark. Johnson, who made his position clear for the first time on Thursday, said the escalating cost of repairing and modernizing the 50-year-old I.M. Pei-designed building is too high to justify staying. City Council members are expected to receive a briefing Wednesday on relocation costs and financing options before voting on a series of proposals that could authorize negotiations for new office space, redevelopment of the City Hall property and repairs to the existing building.

Consultants told council members this week that repairing and modernizing City Hall would cost between $532 million and $611 million over the next decade. They said the building’s infrastructure and code deficiencies make a limited repair strategy unrealistic, leaving leaders with the choice of investing heavily in the building or pursuing relocation alternatives. “The numbers have now been proven multiple times to be accurate and it would be very costly to stay,” Johnson said in an interview that aired on KTVT-TV (Channel 11). “I would be in favor, for sure, of us saving the taxpayers considerable money by leaving this obsolete building.” Johnson’s comments mark the first time he has publicly said he favors moving out of City Hall. The mayor’s position adds momentum to a debate that has increasingly become intertwined with questions about downtown Dallas’ future. The discussion comes after a week of high-profile announcements, including Neiman Marcus’ plans to close its flagship Main Street store, the Mavericks’ decision to pursue a new arena district in North Dallas and the Stars’ selection of Plano as the leading contender for a future arena.

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Hill County drops data center moratorium after lawsuit, adopts new review requirements

Hill County commissioners reversed course on a controversial moratorium on new data center development Thursday after a developer sued the county, arguing the ban was illegal. During a special meeting, the Hill County Commissioners Court unanimously voted to rescind the one-year moratorium it approved in May. County leaders said the move was intended to protect taxpayers from potential liability stemming from a federal lawsuit filed by developer RCM Hill LLC. The company is planning a large-scale data center project near Hillsboro and argued the county lacked legal authority to impose the temporary ban. According to the lawsuit, RCM Hill spent more than 16 months and invested nearly $1 million pursuing a proposed 1,235-megawatt data center known as Project Aquila.

The company says it secured contracts to purchase more than 800 acres in unincorporated Hill County for more than $80 million and obtained key electrical planning approvals through the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT. The original moratorium was approved on a 3-2 vote and paused new data center, power generation and large battery storage projects in unincorporated areas of the county. Supporters said the pause was needed to study potential impacts on water resources, electrical demand, emergency services and local infrastructure. County Attorney David Holmes warned commissioners during the May meeting that Texas counties may not have the legal authority to enact such moratoriums. RCM Hill later filed suit in federal court, seeking to have the measure declared invalid. In its complaint, RCM Hill alleged county officials were aware of those legal concerns before approving the moratorium. The lawsuit cites comments made during the May 12 meeting in which County Judge Shane Brassell reportedly said the proposal was "illegal," Commissioner Jim Holcomb said it was "against the law," and Holmes advised commissioners that he did not believe the county had authority to enact the moratorium.

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John Moritz: Jane Nelson's political legacy in the Texas Capitol

Jane Nelson was a North Texas school teacher raising five daughters when she won a seat on the State Board of Education. She would later say that her biggest accomplishment on the panel was helping to correct some 5,000 errors in school history books and working to pass higher standards for all textbooks. Not a bad start to a political career for a working mom from the suburbs who was still in her 30s. By the time the present chapter in public service comes to a close next month, when her resignation as Texas secretary of state becomes effective, Nelson can rightfully boast that she's been one of the Texas Capitol's most effective female political figures of her generation, and perhaps even of its history.

Let's review. After two terms on the state board starting after the election of 1988, Nelson won a seat in the Texas Senate. Nelson was a Republican back when the Legislature was dominated by Democrats, as it had been for much of the past century. Hers would be a canary-in-the-coal-mine election, toppling Sen. Bob Glascow, one of the many long-serving Democrats of the era who would be swept away as the Republican tide in Texas was beginning its ascendancy. Nelson would also start her Senate service in the minority when it came to the male-female ratio. She was joined by only three other women in the 31-member chamber, and she was only the 10th woman elected to the state Senate in Texas history. While her party would make great strides in the chamber, holding the majority continuously since 1997, only 14 woman would follow Nelson to the Senate over the next 33 years. But even though she was always outnumbered by men, Nelson was hardly in the Senate as window dressing. As a member of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, including four years as chair, Nelson played leadership roles in overhauling the state's foster care system, expanding access to mental health care, and shepherding more than 30 bills into law to protect victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking.

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Lawmakers protest removing immigrant truckers from roads: 'Texans will be paying more for their goods.'

Governor Greg Abbott and many Republicans argue that cancelling the commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs) held by many immigrant truck drivers in Texas is necessary to make our roads safer. Critics, including state Representative Ramón Romero Jr., D-District 90, say it means Texans will be paying more for their goods. “It’s not just the truck. It’s the 20-plus thousand dollars a year that you’re paying in insurance. And now, if you owned a trucking company that hired several of these drivers, now those trucks are sitting still. If they’re not moving, they’re not moving goods. If they’re not moving goods, they’re not moving our economy. This is going to have a huge impact on our economy,” Romero Jr. said on Inside Texas Politics.

There are around 6,400 fewer truckers on Texas roads since the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) began canceling licenses given to noncitizens who are legally in the United States last December. This includes asylum seekers and DACA recipients. DPS also says it will no longer issue what it calls “nondomiciled CDLs” and it will review nearly 3,500 more after they expire in the near future. In November of 2025, the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles also implemented a new rule requiring stricter photo ID requirements for vehicle registrations and renewals. Rep. Romero says the governor is “legislating through rulemaking” because he couldn’t get lawmakers to pass bills that would have implemented the same requirements, choosing instead to change the rules. And Romero argues it is impacting a long list of people. “These are not unemployed people. This is a part of our economy. He’s figured out a way to make things more expensive for Texans, not less expensive,” argued the Democrat.

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Texas BBQ joints are struggling with sky-high beef prices. But there’s another way.

A gaggle of press armed with cameras and microphones formed outside Smokey Joe’s Bar-B-Que, in South Dallas, this week. Senate candidate James Talarico had invited us there to announce his plans for lowering beef prices to provide relief to Texas barbecue joints. Ending the war in Iran, suspending the federal diesel tax, and fully staffing the USDA were on his list of priorities, but his real reason for being there was the photo op inside. Countering accusations of being vegan from his opponent Ken Paxton, who nicknamed him “Talafreako,” Talarico sat beneath a BBQ Freak sign with Smokey Joe’s owner, Kris Manning, to share an overflowing tray of smoked meat. He cleaned the meat off a spare rib with his teeth and ate brisket slices with his hands. Smoked sausage, brisket boudin, and Texas Twinkies beckoned while Talarico savored a South Dallas specialty called brakes. Sometimes spelled “breaks,” they are usually the end pieces of meat sliced on the chopping block, but at Smokey Joe’s, Manning smokes the raw trimmings from his rib racks and seasons them liberally with lemon pepper. They’re delicious.

Along with the omnivorous overtones, the message from Talarico was that the high price of beef is making the barbecue business unsustainable. (Paxton has his own plans to combat the issue.) His proposed solutions highlighted that everything is too damn expensive. When barbecue joints close, it’s the beef prices—or more specifically, the brisket prices—that are blamed, but grocery, fuel, and utility bills at home are whittling away at the profitability of every restaurant. The National Restaurant Association has collected data on customer traffic and found that operators reported a net decline during fourteen of the last fifteen months. Diners are staying at home more often. Rising beef prices and the threat they represent for struggling barbecue joints has been covered ad nauseam by national media of late. I talked with The Washington Post for a Memorial Day story that built on my reporting from January about some beloved Texas barbecue joints that have called it quits. Other outlets like The Independent, the New York Post, and Men’s Journal echoed that reporting, and the Today show visited Iron Works Barbecue, in Austin, over the weekend to tell a similar story. Evidently, barbecue stories sell when barbecue isn’t selling so well. Brisket prices are a culprit, for sure, due to ridiculously high demand. If all the Texas-style barbecue joints opening across the country haven’t affected supply enough, major chains are getting in on the action too: Panda Express just unveiled its new Cantonese BBQ Brisket entrée. And beef prices are elevated across the board thanks to low cattle-herd counts and the Big Four meat companies—Cargill, JBS Foods, National Beef Packing Company, and Tyson Foods—controlling about 85 percent of the country’s beef supply. To add to the concern, this week brought news of the first detection of New World screwworm in the U.S. beef supply since a 1976 outbreak. There are a whole lot of market forces restaurant owners can’t control, but they can put a dent in demand. But what is Texas barbecue without brisket?

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'It's a free country': TPUSA responds to reported protests outside Women's Summit downtown

Turning Point USA released a statement for their Women's Leadership Summit in downtown San Antonio after protesters reportedly gathered outside the Marriott Rivercenter Hotel. In the video posted on X by Savanah Hernandez and reposted by Turning Point USA, San Antonio police officers can be seen detaining at least one person during an altercation with protestors.

In a statement, TPUSA spokesperson Matt Shupe said, "It's a free country. If a few protestors want to waste their weekend, shouting vile obscenities and making fools of themselves outside of an event with 3,000 young, positive, patriotic women, they can have at it. It's just further proof TPUSA is over the target." The Women's Leadership Summit is being held in downtown San Antonio June 5-7th.

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Ann Killion: Why the 2026 World Cup feels completely different — and not in a good way

(Ann Killion is a sports columnist at the Houston Chronicle.) Gianni Infantino, the president of FIFA, isn’t shy about grand proclamations. He says the upcoming World Cup will be “the greatest event that humanity, that mankind, has ever seen and will ever see.” That this will be the “biggest, most inclusive and greatest” tournament of all time. Yes, it will be the biggest, with 48 teams and 104 matches. It will be the longest, spread over 39 days. It will surely be the greatest, from a fan expense standpoint. It may also be the most absurd and infuriating. But the most inclusive? Many are calling the upcoming tournament the most exclusive, based on exorbitant prices, travel concerns and a primary host — the United States — that isn’t exactly welcoming to the rest of the world.

Here we go again, 32 years later, trying to host a World Cup in a place not exactly built for the event, either in mindset or geography. This time around we have two co-hosts in Canada and Mexico, the latter a soccer-mad country that has hosted two World Cups in the past. We still have the big stadiums we had in 1994, which led to record attendance. We still have the travel barriers because of our enormous size. In a new twist, we’ve added an official position of hostility toward foreigners, a stance that didn’t exist in 1994. The majority of the games will be played in the United States, across 11 host cities, including Houston. And even though soccer has experienced tremendous growth in the U.S. over the past three decades, a recent Pew Research poll found that most Americans don’t seem to care about the “greatest event that mankind will ever see” and a majority (66%) say they are unlikely to watch. Apathy is one emotion surfacing in the run-up to this event. Another is anger. Anger over ticket price-gouging, the financial burden placed on host cities, the unbooked hotel rooms that are double or triple the normal rate, the cost or absence of parking, the lack of transportation. A new development this week: anger over not being allowed to have reusable water bottles inside stadiums.

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Texas hemp companies sued by medical marijuana operator

As Texas lawmakers and regulators grapple with the future of hemp-based products, an operator in the state’s medical marijuana program says several companies are selling illegal drugs under the guise of legal hemp. Austin-based Texas Original Compassionate Cultivation has filed a lawsuit seeking to block several companies from doing business in Texas and recover damages for lost revenue. The case was moved to Texas Business Court last week by one of the defendants. Since 2017, Texas Original has had one of the rare and valuable state licenses to sell low-THC medical marijuana through the state’s Compassionate Use Program. Often referred to as TCUP, it was signed into law in 2015 to help Texans with conditions like intractable epilepsy, cancer and Lou Gehrig’s disease.

But the value of that license has been degraded, the company says, by “wildcat” operators in the hemp space it says are increasing THC levels beyond the legal limit and lying about it. The largely unregulated market is now competing with the highly regulated TCUP market to the detriment of its licensees, Texas Original argues. Under House Bill 1325, passed in 2019, hemp-derived products are legal if they contain less than 0.3% delta-9 THC. The state’s Compassionate Use Program formerly allowed products with up to 1% THC before switching to a 10-milligram-per-dose limit. Texas Original’s lawsuit alleges that 10 companies are selling marijuana products as legal hemp, marketing them deceptively and offering products that may contain contaminants. It also claims many are poaching Compassionate Use customers through false advertising while operating outside the regulatory framework imposed on medical marijuana providers.

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Austin’s communications spending tops $10M. Tracking it is harder.

A new city report describes a sprawling and inconsistent communications system across Austin government, identifying inefficiencies that could become a target as City Hall looks for ways to close a projected $26 million budget shortfall. The report, released this week by Austin Communications and Engagement, found that the city’s public communications work is spread across 28 departments, 176 communications staffers and more than $10.4 million in reported marketing and communications spending over fiscal years 2024 and 2025. It is part of City Manager T.C. Broadnax’s citywide Shared Services Optimization initiative, which is examining whether internal city functions can be delivered more consistently and cost-effectively.

The communications report does not recommend layoffs or attach a dollar figure to potential savings. But it describes a decentralized system where departments set their own marketing budgets, define campaigns differently, use inconsistent performance metrics and often buy and track advertising independently. That structure, staff wrote, creates an opportunity for the city to use its collective purchasing power, reduce administrative work and get more value from advertising dollars. The city’s communications system is currently split across departments with widely varying levels of staffing and funding. Austin Communications and Engagement, known as ACE, leads citywide communications policy and supports the City Manager’s Office and 13 departments that do not have dedicated communications staff. Another 21 departments have one to three communications employees, while nine departments have larger teams that generally include a communications manager, public information staff, community engagement staff and marketing or graphic design employees.

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Red River leaders question Austin enforcement visits that left venues feeling targeted

The Red River Cultural District's executive director questioned visits Friday night by the Austin Fire Department and accompanying agencies to at least 12 venues, saying some businesses received citations. In an email obtained by the American-Statesman, Nicole Klepadlo said Austin Fire Department and code enforcement officials visited venues across Red River and Sixth Street, issued citations and directed operators to make changes as part of what she described as "the city manager's goal to complete an 'audit.'"

City officials say the visits were part of ongoing safety and licensing efforts downtown, but Red River leaders say the approach left venues feeling targeted as businesses navigate one of their slower stretches of the year. Klepadlo asked what the audit was about and reported that businesses had been questioned extensively, asked to move equipment, told they would be cited or shut down if changes were not made, and subjected to what she described as "threatening remarks." "What is this regarding and why is [there] a target on the Cultural District in such a state of vulnerability?" Klepadlo wrote, referring to what she later noted was a slow period for business due to the summer season. Assistant City Manager for Public Safety Ramón Batista told the Statesman that Friday night's activities were "not related to an audit by the city."

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Cruz partners with Democrats to protect military bases like Ellington

One of the oldest military aviation installations in Texas is at risk of losing a powerful tool because of the ongoing war in Iran. That has U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz joining forces with Democrats, to craft legislation that would prevent the Air Force from repositioning MQ-9 Reaper drones and personnel stationed at Air National Guard installations like Ellington Field Joint Reserve Base, just south of Houston. The MQ-9 drones have been called the “most valuable player” during Operation Epic Fury in Iran because of their ability to strike targets without putting pilots at risk. But dozens of the drones have been destroyed in the fighting, depleting the total number of available units.

While the Air Force hasn’t announced any plans to move the MQ-9 drones from Air National Guard Bases, Cruz and others are responding to concerns that it could happen to offset the losses in Iran. While the drones have been critical abroad, they’ve also been MVPs closer to home, Cruz said. “In Texas, they were invaluable after the devastating July 4, 2025, floods, when the Texas Air National Guard’s 147th Attack Wing deployed the MQ-9 to support search, rescue, and recovery operations along the Guadalupe River,” Cruz said about the bill he filed on Wednesday with U.S. Sens. Mark Kelly and Elissa Slotkin as co-sponsors. The 147th Attack Wing, which is estimated to have more than 1,000 soldiers, is based at Ellington. The air base is one of the oldest in Texas, and was established during World War I. Ellington isn’t the only base that could be affected if the drones are moved to Air Force Special Operations Command. Units in California, Arizona, New York on elsewhere could be impacted, which is why Kelly, from Arizona, and Slotkin, from Michigan, have joined on with Cruz’s legislation.

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Trinity Metro gets funding for TEXRail extension to hospital district

Trinity Metro has received the funding it needs to extend the TEXRail line from downtown to the hospital district. Michael Morris, the director of transportation of the North Central Texas Council of Governments, said Thursday that the agency’s Regional Transportation Council has approved $40 million for the $100 million project. Construction is expected to begin within a year. Morris said this expansion would be a “game changer” for the hospital district that, according to him, is growing in restaurants and retail. The TEXRail line runs from downtown to DFW Airport, with stops near the Stockyards, Fort Worth, North Richland Hills and Grapevine.

“Having mobility options creates value, and overnight it would make the hospital district both retail, office, and residential, a terrific new opportunity for Fort Worth,” Morris said. Morris’ announcement came during a press conference as Trinity Metro announced its plans and preparations for the World Cup. “We have buses, we have trains, no need to rent that rental car, just hop right onto the Tex rail and ride downtown,” Rich Andreski, Trinity Metro President and CEO said. Trinity Metro is expanding its services during starting June 14 for the nine World Cup matches at AT&T Stadium through July. New bus stops, extended hours, and 911 capabilities to accommodate all languages are planned, according to Andreski. “Trinity Metro is going to connect all the major destinations, so we’re going to take people off the road. We’re going to make it affordable to get around while you’re here,” Andreski said. Andreski said he is looking at this like a trial run to see if there is “interest and ridership.” If so they would be happy to continue to provide these services if they can find funding. The World Cup services are built into the Trinity Metro budget, but at this time there is no funding to keep the services year round.

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National Stories

How can retail investors buy shares in SpaceX's IPO?

SpaceX's long-awaited initial public offering, expected to fetch a $1.75 trillion valuation, has set off a frenzy among retail investors clamoring for a share of Elon Musk's rocket, satellite and AI empire. It has become one of the biggest FOMO trades of the year, despite SpaceX's lack of profits, ?drawing so much investor demand ahead of the IPO that bankers have already received twice as many orders as available shares. SpaceX has reportedly earmarked ?as much as 30% or $22.5 billion in shares for retail investors, a rare move for a blockbuster IPO that is typically dominated by institutional buyers. Here's what investors need to know about buying shares in the IPO, who may get access and the risks of purchasing the stock once it begins trading.

Trading under the symbol SPCX, SpaceX has picked a ?handful of brokerage firms to distribute shares in the IPO to retail customers in the U.S. Investors typically need to have an eligible brokerage account, meet ?minimum funding requirements and submit an indication of interest before the IPO is priced. Requirements vary by brokerage and there ?is no guarantee your order will be filled. Fidelity lowered its eligibility requirements from holding $500,000 in a Fidelity account to $2,000 just in time for the SpaceX IPO. Fidelity Investments: $2,000 ?account minimum; Robinhood Markets: $0 account minimum; SoFi: $0 account minimum; E*Trade: $0 account minimum; Charles Schwab: $100,000 account minimum. Brokerages warn against "flipping," or selling IPO shares shortly after a stock begins trading. Investors who sell ?their stock within two to four weeks of the offering could be restricted from future IPOs.

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RFK Jr.’s movement was supposed to save the GOP’s majorities. It’s not even in the game.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Make America Healthy Again movement isn’t doing much to help Republicans maintain control of Congress. MAHA Action and MAHA Institute, the movement’s political organizations spreading Kennedy’s message on healthy food and vaccine safety, have largely stayed out of the races that will determine the makeup of Congress. Tony Lyons, the publisher of Kennedy’s books who’s taken a lead role in running the groups, has struggled to turn Kennedy’s appeal into the juggernaut Republicans had hoped would enable them to hold onto their House and Senate majorities. “The majority of those candidates that got that endorsement were going to win anyway,” said John McCarthy, founder of McCarthy Strategic Solutions, a Republican political strategy firm in Kentucky, about elections where MAHA Institute got involved in his state. MAHA groups have endorsed just one Republican, freshman Michigan Rep. Tom Barrett, in a battleground House district so far, ignoring the rest of the competitive races that will determine control of the chamber.

In the Senate, where Republicans need to defend seats in Alaska, Iowa, Maine, North Carolina, Ohio and Texas, MAHA hasn’t backed anyone, much less provided money or grassroots support. Aides to President Donald Trump have credited Kennedy with helping Trump win the popular vote in 2024 and were banking on him helping GOP candidates this year. Lyons has played up the savior role. In February, he declared MAHA a “once in a generation political gift to the GOP” in a memo to the Republican National Committee and the party’s Senate and House campaign arms. His MAHA PAC has committed $100 million to support Republicans in this year’s election, although campaign records show it has less than $400,000 in available cash. Of the 40 candidates MAHA groups have endorsed, only four are running for Congress, Barrett, Rep. Julia Letlow (R-La.), Michael Alfonso, and Brandon Herrera. Alfonso and Herrera are pursuing solidly Republican House seats in Wisconsin and Texas where the incumbent isn’t seeking reelection, while Letlow is running for Senate and expected to win. The rest of MAHA’s endorsees are running for state offices.

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Amid mounting Democratic concern, Platner says his past is being ‘weaponized’

Graham Platner, the presumptive Democratic nominee for Senate in Maine, moved to quell mounting Democratic anxieties about his candidacy on Friday, telling supporters in a defiant speech that his past behavior was being “weaponized” by his political opponents. A day after The New York Times reported that three women — a conservative and two Democrats — who had been romantically involved with Mr. Platner described volatile and “toxic” relationships, Mr. Platner addressed a crowd at a theater in Bar Harbor, expressing confidence that Maine voters would stick by him. “When politically motivated, serious and false accusations are made against me, Maine, you have my back,” Mr. Platner said. “The state of Maine raised me, and the state of Maine saved me, and to all of you out there, Maine, I will always have your back.”

Mr. Platner’s appearance came at a tense moment in one of the year’s premier Senate races. With just days left before Maine’s primary on Tuesday, revelations about Mr. Platner’s personal history have caused escalating discomfort within his party, while drawing intensifying attacks from Republicans. The rally also took place less than a week after The Times and The Wall Street Journal reported that Mr. Platner’s wife, Amy Gertner, had sought to warn his campaign last year that her husband had been exchanging sexual messages with multiple other women. Onstage, Mr. Platner referred to Ms. Gertner by name, drawing chants of “Amy!” It was one of the strongest responses from a supportive but relatively sedate crowd that included attendees who said they were anxious about Mr. Platner’s candidacy and still getting to know the candidate. Mr. Platner said from the stage that he had gone through a period of “darkness” after his military service.

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Lesley Stahl, Bill Whitaker and Jon Wertheim say they’ll stay at ‘60 Minutes’

“60 Minutes” correspondents Lesley Stahl, Bill Whitaker and Jon Wertheim said Friday that they planned to stay on at the newsmagazine, capping days of turmoil for the show. “We have had a hard time deciding whether to stay,” the three wrote in a memo to their colleagues at the program, before adding: “We don’t want to see ‘60 Minutes’ die.” They wrote that they were still “deeply upset by the firings” of executive producer Tanya Simon and high-ranking producer Draggan Mihailovich, whom they called “strong leaders who everyone respected.” Their colleague Scott Pelley was fired earlier this week after he challenged the newsmagazine’s new executive producer over the recent firings. The longtime correspondents said that “as far as we can tell,” those leaders were fired because “they fought for our ‘60 Minutes’ values and stood up to protect our independence and integrity.”

“Newsrooms are not supposed to be run like dictatorships,” they added in the memo, obtained by NBC News. “Collaboration and argument are the way we have always worked at 60.” Stahl, 84, has spent most of her career at CBS News and joined “60 Minutes” in 1991. Whitaker, 74, spent three decades as a CBS reporter before joining the newsmagazine in 2014. Wertheim, 55, joined three years later. The trio’s statement is the latest beat in the turmoil engulfing “60 Minutes,” America’s top-rated and most prestigious newsmagazine, which just ended its 58th season. The upheaval started last week, when several key senior staff members were let go. Tensions between “60 Minutes” staffers and management reached a fever pitch during a Monday meeting to introduce executive producer Nick Bilton, where Pelley openly challenged leadership and accused CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss of “murdering” the storied newsmagazine that debuted in 1968.

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At least 12 people shot at an Ohio street festival and suspects remain at large, police say

At least 12 people were wounded as gunfire erupted Saturday near a busy street festival in Ohio. Some people at the event in Toledo scrambled for cover while others rushed to help the victims. No suspects were in custody hours afterward, Toledo Deputy Police Chief Joe Heffernan said. He said it appeared that at least two people fired weapons and they were “probably shooting at each other.” The shooting happened near the Old West End Festival, an annual two-day celebration in Toledo’s historic district that includes live music, food vendors, home tours and shopping. The remainder of the festival was canceled Sunday. Organizers said “it would not be compassionate, responsible or possible to continue.” “We are heartbroken about those that were injured at the Old West End Festival,” the festival said in a statement.

Two of the victims were in critical condition, Heffernan added. The ages of the victims ranged from 14 to 61, with most of them in their early 20s. “I am deeply concerned about the situation in Toledo tonight,” Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said in a statement. “Summer festivals should be safe spaces for families to spend time together without fear of violence.” Officials urged people who were at the festival to come forward with any photos or videos. Multiple videos posted to social media showed people running amid the sound of gunshots and emergency officials tending to others who appeared wounded. Fire Chief Allison Armstrong said it was difficult to get to the hospital due to closed roads and traffic from people leaving the festival, but emergency responders were able to transport all patients from the scene within an hour. Kevin Berry was sitting in the neighborhood arboretum listening to live music with friends when he heard a handful of gunshots ring out. “Everybody hit the deck,” he said. When Berry looked back up, he saw a gun being tossed to the ground less than 50 feet (15 meters) away from him. Officers who were already on site for the festival responded immediately. Berry, who has medical training and served in the Navy, walked around looking for anyone who might need help and saw at least five people with gunshot wounds. “The folks who were hit were spread out around the arboretum area,” he said. George Kral, the city’s safety director, said the Old West End Festival is one of the most iconic festivals in Toledo. “And it’s a shame that something like this had to ruin it,” Kral said.

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Why ceasefires haven’t stopped deadly strikes in Gaza, Lebanon or the Gulf

Across the Middle East, three separate ceasefire deals are currently in effect. In all three, deadly strikes are still a frequent occurrence. The contradiction has exposed a growing question: What does a ceasefire actually mean when the fighting never fully stops? On Wednesday, President Donald Trump appeared to suggest that promises to stop fighting in the region cannot always be trusted, as he addressed the continued exchanges of fire with Iran in the Gulf. “It’s a different part of the world, you know,” he told reporters. “I’d say in that part of the world a ceasefire is when you’re shooting in a more moderate manner.” The same day Trump made his comments, Israeli strikes in Gaza killed at least nine Palestinians overnight, according to local hospitals in Gaza, where a ceasefire deal has been in place since October as part of a peace plan brokered by Trump.

While the heaviest fighting has subsided, Israeli forces have carried out repeated airstrikes and frequently fired on Palestinians, killing more than 936 since the agreement took effect, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. Both Israel and Hamas have accused the other of breaching the ceasefire and their commitments under the agreement. Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last week that he would like Israel to increase its control over territory in Gaza, despite a stipulation in the peace plan that the Israeli military would initially withdraw to a demarcation line, known as the “yellow line.” Netanyahu said he had directed the military to increase control over Gaza to 70%. “We were at 50. We moved to 60,” he added. Further progress toward peace in Gaza has largely stalled, with no signs of the disarmament of Hamas or the further withdrawal of Israeli troops indicated under Trump’s full 20-point peace proposal. The situation is similarly uncertain in Lebanon, where a ceasefire deal between Israel and the Lebanese government announced in April has not prevented near-daily airstrikes on people and targets Israel says are linked to the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.

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Fetterman vows to ditch hoodie for suit if Graham Platner proves he didn't send 'd--k pics' to minors

Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) pledged to wear a suit “every day” if embattled Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner can prove he didn’t send “d–k pics” to minors. The extraordinary hoodie challenge came during Fetterman’s appearance on Fox News Saturday in America, where he referred to Platner, who admitted he had an active Kik account while newly married, as “P-Hustle” – Platner’s user name. The term drew a head-shake from interviewer Kayleigh McEnany.

“P-Hustle, here’s a great chance. You can just prove that all these people that you’re dropping those d–k pics and saying these things to were over 18. “I will wear a suit every day in the Senate,” said Fetterman, who has become Platner’s foremost critic in Congress. He wore his signature black hoodie during the interview, and regularly wears shorts when working in the Senate. “You can set the record clear and provide all of those texts and all of those conversations that you were having as a newlywed just before you were going to run for the Senate,” Fetterman said. “Transparency,” he added, noting the site has been probed for hosting underage users. Democrats are scrambling to contain the damage after Platner admitted to sexting women “soon” after getting married, then faced a New York Times report where ex girlfriend Lyndsey Fifield accused him of twisting her arm during an argument and locking her in a bedroom and keeping her there until she was “calm.”

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CIA officer who had millions in gold bars accused of creating fake spy program

The former senior CIA official found with more than $40 million worth of gold bars in his house allegedly created a fake, highly classified intelligence program that he used as a conduit to funnel millions of dollars for his personal use, according to people familiar with the criminal investigation. David J. Rush, who was arrested last month and charged with one count of theft of public money, constructed what is known as a “special access program,” a sort of black box for the most secret intelligence operations, the people familiar with the investigation said. Even intelligence personnel with the highest security clearance cannot access an individual SAP, as they are known, without specific authorization. The people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe an ongoing investigation, said the criminal probe found that Rush “read in,” or initiated, two colleagues into the highly secretive sham program, effectively cultivating them as perhaps unwitting accomplices and preventing them from talking to others about it.

He persuaded one of them to transfer millions of dollars to the program via a government contract that was also fraudulent, they said. “He made up a contract,” one of the people said. Rush, who worked in the CIA’s Directorate of Science and Technology, has not pleaded to the charges against him. At a detention hearing in federal court in Alexandria on Friday, a judge ruled that Rush posed a significant flight risk and ordered him to remain detained at the local jail pending trial. The CIA, meanwhile, has put several agency officials on leave as FBI and spy agency investigations continue, two people familiar with the matter said. NBC News first reported that development. The people familiar did not disclose those officials’ names or positions. The science and technology directorate is the arm of the agency that creates technical espionage tools to aid U.S. spies and their agents abroad. The account of those familiar with the criminal probe appears to raise serious questions about secrecy guardrails and vetting at the CIA.

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Lead Stories

Senate passes party-line reconciliation bill, sidesteps attempts to kill ‘anti-weaponization’ fund

The Senate voted mostly along party lines to pass Republicans’ multibillion-dollar immigration enforcement package early Friday morning, after blocking multiple efforts to bar or limit President Donald Trump from establishing an “anti-weaponization” fund. The measure was approved 52-47, with Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) siding with Democrats in opposition after a nearly 18-hour series of votes. The House is expected to take up the bill next week and send it to Trump’s desk, blowing past his June 1 deadline. The bill would provide $70 billion to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection, agencies that were left out of a bipartisan deal to reopen most of the Department of Homeland Security in April following the longest-ever shutdown of a government agency.

Republicans beat back a number of amendments that would have limited or done away with the “anti-weaponization” fund during the “vote-a-rama.” The $1.8 billion fund was announced last month as part of a settlement between President Donald Trump and the Internal Revenue Service over his leaked tax forms. But this week acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said the Justice Department would not move ahead with the fund amid bipartisan blowback. The “voting marathon followed a two-week delay after Senate Republicans abruptly dropped plans to vote on the immigration enforcement spending, expressing grave concerns about the “anti-weaponization” fund. Some senators had hoped to put guardrails or restrictions on it as part of the broader spending bill. However, a push by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to send the immigration enforcement bill back to the Senate Judiciary committee with instructions to nix the fund was open for more than three hours on the Senate floor. It had support from three Republicans up for re-election in 2026 –– Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) and Jon Husted (R-Ohio).

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Has Texas ‘Death Star law’ gone too far? Lawmakers weigh changes

Lawmakers conduct a review of a law designed to establish statewide regulations among local governments. Opponents call it the “Death Star Law”, arguing it strips cities of autonomy and invalidates city laws. Republicans and Democrats are divided over how much power the state should hold over local governments. Thursday, the Texas House of Representatives Committee on Governmental Oversight met to examine how the law is being implemented. The “Death Star law” – formally known as the Texas Regulatory Act– created a set of regulations that prevented local governments from enforcing laws or ordinances that exceed or conflict with state laws in broad areas, such as Business and Commerce, Finance, Insurance and Labor. When advocating for the bill in a Senate committee hearing in April of 2023, former State Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, described the bill as preventing “a patchwork of regulations that are popping up at the local level.” The bill advanced through the House and Senate and was eventually signed into law by Governor Greg Abbott in June 2023.

James Quintero, the Policy Director at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, told lawmakers Thursday that urging states to repeal conflicting local laws has been challenging. “We don’t necessarily see cities and counties executing the law faithfully to rightsize their regulatory framework in the spirit of (the Act),” Quintero claimed while asking lawmakers to “empower the attorney general to ensure that localities are maintaining compliance with state law.” General counsel for the Texas Municipal League, Bill Longley, argues the opposite. “I don’t think cities are ignoring the law; cities call our legal department regularly to ask about how this law might apply to various ordinances that they are considering adopting,” Longley testified. If there is a challenge to a local law, Longley says the only way to know if it conflicts with a state law is to go through the courts. “That’s what the bill set up, if somebody thinks that the state occupies a field, they can notify the city, have three months, and then they can sue the city.”

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Gov. Abbott's office blasts Corpus Christi city council after inner harbor desalination project delay

Less than 12 hours after Corpus Christi City Council voted to delay a decision on the Inner Harbor Seawater Desalination Treatment Plant, Gov. Greg Abbott's chief of staff sharply criticized the council's handling of the project. In an exclusive statement obtained by 3NEWS on Wednesday afternoon, Robert Black, Gov. Abbott's chief of staff, accused council members of failing to address the city's long-term water needs. "The moment for leadership arrived, but the Council met it with a whimper and a complaint," Black said. "For the second time in six months, the Council could have taken meaningful steps to meet the long-term water needs of their citizens. Instead, they chose to bicker, blame, and hide behind excuses and 'studies' rather than take action." The comments come after a marathon Corpus Christi City Council meeting that stretched from Tuesday morning until 2:20 a.m. Wednesday.

After more than 15 hours of discussion, council voted 7-2 to postpone consideration of the Inner Harbor desalination project until Sept. 1. Mayor Paulette Guajardo and At-Large Councilman Roland Barrera were the only members to vote against delaying the item. Guajardo says that postponing the vote could impact state and federal funding for the city's water projects. "The outcome of yesterday's meeting was critical because everyone was watching," Guajardo said. "Credit agencies, state agencies, federal agencies, everyone was watching, and they wanted to see where we were going because it's been said we need to have a strong path forward and move forward." Guajardo says that the project is the only drought-proof option currently on the table, and delaying it again puts state and federal water support at risk. "Every delay creates more uncertainty. State and federal partners want to see commitment. They want to see progress and a clear path forward. So while tabling the item last night did not cancel it, it does slow momentum on a project that is critical to our long term water security and of course our economic future," Guajardo said.

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Potentially explosive gas leaks reported thousands of times in Texas

Excavators in Texas have damaged pipelines more than 4,800 times since the beginning of 2026, frequently causing highly explosive gas leaks. That includes over 1,000 incidents in Dallas, Tarrant, Collin and Denton counties. A KERA analysis of Railroad Commission of Texas “pipeline accident and incident reporting” data also found that many excavators had not contacted a notification center that arranges for the marking of underground utility lines free of charge. Investigations into the cause of Thursday’s explosion at an Oak Cliff apartment complex that killed three are in the preliminary stages, but initial reports point to damage to a natural gas line and a possible leak. Dallas Fire-Rescue Chief Justin Ball has said that a fire engine had arrived within two minutes of a gas leak being reported. As the firefighters were going through standard set up procedures, the building exploded right before they were about to enter.

Atmos Energy told KERA in an email that the fire department had reported that “a construction crew unrelated to Atmos Energy damaged a natural gas pipeline near 409 E. 9th Street in Dallas." And the prospective purchaser of the apartment complex told KERA that her company had contracted with another company, Engineering Consultant Services, to provide a “geotech report,” which typically analyzes soil conditions, bedrock depth and groundwater levels. Reports indicate that a boring rig damaged the pipeline. A damaged truck that appears to be a boring rig could be seen near the apartment complex after the explosion. ECS told KERA in a statement that Texas 811 reported that utility locating was performed at the site before drilling was done. But the company also said its knowledge of the event is limited because none of its workers were there when the explosion happened. Accidental damage to underground pipelines and utilities in Texas frequently can be attributed to one of two factors. It can be difficult to determine the exact location of what may have been buried years — even decades — in the past. Even when excavators have followed the law and underground pipes have been marked, accidental strikes still happen. And in many cases, excavators start digging without taking those precautions.

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State Stories

American journalist and son of Texas politician pleads guilty to acting as unregistered agent for China

An American who worked as an editor and commentator for state-run media in China, Thomas Pauken II, pleaded guilty Thursday to working as an unregistered agent for the Chinese government in the U.S. During a roughly 40-minute hearing in Alexandria, Virginia, Pauken, 51, told U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema he was unaware of the legal requirement to register before acting for a foreign government, but he also said he understood that his lack of knowledge was not a defense to the charge. The hearing shed no light on one of the mysteries of Pauken’s case: the identity of a Trump administration official Pauken helped connect to a Chinese government contact Pauken knew as “Cathy.” That U.S. official, described as “Person 1” in court filings, was still working in the government as of February, according to an affidavit an FBI agent filed in support of the criminal case.

The agent alleged that Pauken gave a cell phone and a laptop to the administration official while believing there was about an 80 percent chance that person would share classified information with “Cathy,” although Pauken told the FBI he discouraged the U.S. official from doing so. As POLITICO first reported, the affidavit suggests Pauken took part in an FBI-monitored sting operation involving the official at a Washington hotel in February, shortly before Pauken’s arrest. Justice Department and intelligence community spokespeople have declined to comment on whether “Person 1” still works for the administration or is facing any consequences. As Pauken stood in a dark green jail jumpsuit and responded to Brinkema’s questions, he referred to one of the documents on the courtroom lectern as a “cooperation agreement.” The judge quickly cut in, saying: “We’ll strike that word.” She later sealed the hearing for about five minutes, ejecting reporters and other observers unconnected to the case.

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Rep. Patterson pushes plan to rename Dallas North Tollway after President Trump

A North Texas State Representative says he wants to rename the Dallas North Tollway after President Donald Trump. In a social media post Thursday, Texas House Rep. Jared Patterson says he intends to introduce a resolution in the next legislative session to rename the 30.2-mile stretch of highway to the "Donald J. Trump Tollway." "Few places in America better represent the success of President Trump's pro-growth, pro-business, and pro-family agenda than the corridor stretching from Dallas through Collin and Denton Counties," Patterson says. "Naming this iconic roadway after President Trump would be a lasting tribute to a President whose leadership helped fuel unprecedented growth and prosperity across our region."

Patterson represents Texas House District 106, which covers eastern Denton County, including Frisco, The Colony, Aubrey, Pilot Point, Sanger and parts of Denton. Earlier this month, Senator John Cornyn introduced new legislation to rename U.S. Highway 287 as "Interstate 47," or "Trump Interstate." The proposed interstate would run from Port Arthur through Texas and north to Montana. The Dallas North Tollway is owned and operated by the North Texas Tollway Authority, a political subdivision of the State of Texas. According to the NTTA's Roadway Naming Policy, its Board of Directors holds ultimate authority when it comes to renaming a roadway under its jurisdiction.

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Jay Dean: Texas small businesses deserve real choice for health coverage

When I was mayor of Longview, we worked hard to make our city one of the best places in America to start and grow a business. That’s why Forbes magazine ranked Longview among the top 10 U.S. cities for cost of doing business while I was at this office. But one cost was always beyond what a city government could touch, and it's the same cost crushing Texas small businesses today: health care. This year, Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows tasked the House Insurance Committee, which I chair, with studying that exact problem. Small employer insurance premiums in Texas are rising 15 to 20% in 2026, far above the national average. Texas is now the fifth most expensive state in the country for health care. Only about 38% of Texas small employers still offer health benefits to their workers.

Behind those numbers is something we've done to ourselves over the past three decades. The Legislature has piled on more state insurance mandates than nearly every other state, far beyond what federal law already requires. And these state mandates only apply to a very small slice of the employer market. The largest employers in Texas operate under federal law, where state mandates don't apply. Four out of five Texas workers with employer coverage are covered by these plans. The benefit coverage is just as comprehensive as what small employers buy, but because of fewer regulations it costs about 19% less. Small businesses can't easily access these plans that are only federally regulated. Instead, they're stuck in the state-regulated market, paying for every Texas mandate in addition to every federal one. This overregulation is crushing. Texas itself as an employer doesn't even pay for these mandates. When the state buys coverage for state employees or for teachers, the state exempts itself and its own plans from most of these mandates. Texas recognizes that mandates drive up costs and makes sure its own coverage is protected.

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CPS Energy announces interim CEO Frank Almaraz after Rudy Garza’s exit

CPS Energy named an interim CEO and started its official search for a new leader. In a short announcement at its Thursday afternoon board meeting, CPS Energy Board Chair Francine Romero thanked outgoing CEO Rudy Garza and named Frank Almaraz as the public utility’s interim head. Garza announced his retirement from CPS Energy on Monday. He will lead the Lower Colorado River Authority, a state-created water and power agency based in Austin. Almaraz has no plans for drastic changes, he said in a CPS Energy press release. “Our team is committed to continuing on the strategic path laid out by the board over the past several years,” he said. Almaraz has served as chief operating officer for five months when he was hired on from the private sector. He’s still a familiar face, though. It’s his second time working at CPS Energy, according to the utility’s website.

Between 2011 and 2021, he served in a variety of leadership roles, focusing on financial and business planning and natural gas and power trades. He left the position of chief power, sustainability and business development officer at the end of 2021. Almaraz was CEO of Braya Renewable Fuels, a company focused on producing diesel from corn and soy oil at its refinery in Canada, until 2025. He then served as interim CEO for Young Brothers, LLC, an inter-island freight company in Hawaii between January 2025 and February 2026, before returning to CPS Energy. “The Personnel Committee has confidence that his background and experience make him the appropriate leader to serve in this interim role. We believe Mr. Almaraz will successfully continue advancing our strategic priorities,” Romero said. Romero said CPS Energy’s board had activated its CEO Search Committee, a part of its Personnel Committee which will head its leadership search. Romero and fellow board member Erika Gonzalez will lead that effort. “We will have a robust process that selects the right candidate to continue moving CPS Energy into the future,” Romero said. Romero praised Garza’s service to the utility, noting his work building CPS Energy’s executive team and crafting strategic plans that look as far out as 2050.

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Constable seeks county-backed patrols for donor Tilman Fertitta’s River Oaks district

Harris County Precinct 1 Constable Alan Rosen wants to assign a sergeant and eight full-time deputies to patrol a ritzy Galleria-area shopping district owned by one of his top donors, billionaire Tilman Fertitta, in a proposal that would be subsidized by all Harris County taxpayers. Rosen first suggested dedicating deputies to the River Oaks District the month after Fertitta bought it in 2024, but commissioners did not approve the contract. Recent legislation Rosen and other elected constables supported, however, stripped commissioners of their authority to regulate patrol contracts.

Policing and political experts said the proposal validated their concerns that the legislation would worsen existing inequities in the county’s long-controversial contract patrol program, granting constables limitless authority to direct public safety resources, including for the benefit of wealthy donors. “I am entirely against this, and always have been, because why should you be able to rent cops because you have money?” said Jay Coons, a Sam Houston State University criminology professor who retired as a captain at the Harris County Sheriff’s Office in 2018. “The whole thing stinks to me.” The patrol contract will appear on the Commissioners Court agenda next week, but court members may have no say on it. None of them responded to requests for comment Thursday. The contract patrol program for decades has let homeowner’s associations and some other groups, such as school districts, pay 70% to 80% – and sometimes 100% – of the salaries of the deputies assigned to their area, with the remainder covered by the county. It has fueled the growth of the constables’ offices, which handle about two-thirds of the contracts; the sheriff’s office runs the other third.

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Waymo robotaxi batteries to help power Texas grid

Some of Waymo's first Texas robotaxis are headed for retirement soon. Their batteries, however, will get a second life on the electric grid. The Alphabet-owned autonomous vehicle company announced a partnership with B2U Storage Solutions, a California-based energy storage company that repurposes old electric vehicle batteries to help power local electricity grids. Waymo, which is taking steps to cut costs and rapidly scale deployment of its driverless vehicle fleet, plans to retire some of its Jaguar I-Pace AVs later this year. The company currently operates more than 450 robotaxis in Texas, including about 300 in the Austin metro area, according to the company’s website.

Those vehicles will be replaced with new Waymo robotaxis, according to a company blog post. Earlier this month, Waymo launched one of its new robotaxi models for select riders in California and Arizona. The minivan-like robotaxis, dubbed Ojai, are essential to the company's cost-cutting and scaling goals. Ojai and Waymo’s previously announced Hyundai Ioniq 5 will begin to replace Waymo’s Jaguar SUV robotaxis over time. The partnership is launching first in Texas and California, with the company saying it expects to “deploy hundreds of megawatts of storage capacity over time.” “Our shared fleet of EVs provide a massive opportunity to support the growth of clean energy on the electricity grid while expanding the circular economy,” Adam Lenz, head of sustainability and environment for Waymo, said. “Through this partnership, we can repurpose our batteries for local grid storage and ensure our batteries continue to provide economic and environmental value to the community long after they’ve retired from the road.” The battery packs from Waymo will plug into the grid and capture excess renewable energy flowing through the grid, B2U said. The batteries will store that energy and dispatch it back into the grid during times of peak demand, which typically occur in mid-to-late afternoon in the summer months.

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How a police security leak turned into a San Antonio City Hall whodunit

The City Council will meet behind closed doors on Wednesday to revisit whether council aides must cooperate with internal investigations — along with a long list of other administrative directives that typically only apply to other types of city employees. Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones made the request last month in response to allegations that a top aide to one of her council rivals, Councilwoman Marina Alderete Gavito (D7), declined to be interviewed about a leak involving the mayor’s personal security detail. Now the council will consider the changes on Wednesday in executive session — the latest chapter in a City Hall whodunit that may never be resolved.

Last fall’s security detail leak revealed that Jones would be receiving more police security than past mayors, at the same time the city was discussing whether to fund more officers in the coming year. The change came after at least one credible threat was made on her life, however, and the leak made public details about police security protocols at Jones’ private residence. First San Antonio Police Chief William McManus blasted television media for publishing the reports, then called for an internal investigation to identify who on his team shared the details with the press. The city’s Internal Affairs Unit interviewed a total of 115 police officers in an effort that didn’t turn up a leak — but led one of them to identify District 7 chief of staff James Branch as having also had access to the information.

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Parkinson’s disease is consistently linked to pesticide exposure. Farmworkers — and nearby communities — are at risk in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley.

When neuroscientist Kelsey Baker hears the low buzz of planes over her home in the Rio Grande Valley, she grabs her dog and hurries indoors. The drone means the crop-dusters are back, spraying pesticides over the citrus, melon and other crops that surround her planned community. Baker is an assistant professor and assistant dean at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. The city of McAllen, where she lives, and neighboring Edinburg, where she works, sit in the middle of one of the state’s most productive agricultural regions, covering more than 4,000 square miles and fed by the Rio Grande. Baker moved here in 2018, expecting to continue her research into stroke and spinal cord injury. But as she sifted through medical records, she was struck by how many people had Parkinson’s disease, a progressive, neurological condition that has been linked to pesticides and other environmental toxins for at least 30 years.

Research shows that more than 80 percent of Parkinson’s cases have no genetic links and are likely explained by environmental factors. Studies have also shown that people exposed to pesticides have a greater risk of the disease. There is no cure for Parkinson’s. As the disease progresses, its most common symptoms — tremor, slow movement, stiffness and unsteadiness — can be accompanied by depression, difficulty concentrating and bowel and urinary problems. The disease is the world’s fastest growing neurological disorder, with more than 25 million people likely to be affected by 2050. A biomedical engineer by training, Baker started poring over maps of the Valley and found something striking. Homes and schools were often boxed in on all sides by crops, something she hadn’t seen in farming areas in other parts of the country where she had lived. Farmworkers are at special risk for Parkinson’s, because the fields where they work are frequently doused with pesticides. But people like Baker, who simply live near farms, are also in danger.

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Austin brewery Hi Sign Brewing files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy

Austin-based Hi Sign Brewing is trying to avoid becoming a victim of the craft beer industry’s continuing struggles, going to court this week to seek protection from creditors. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy but its Shady Lane taproom remains open. Hi Sign's Escondido HSB LLC affiliate also filed for protection. Its struggles mirror those across the craft brewing industry, which suffers closures and bankruptcies in an industry roiled by plunging consumer spending, market saturation and skyrocketing costs.

Production numbers have fallen across the craft beer landscape for the past two years and were down 4% in 2025, according to the Brewers Association, and nearly 3% of breweries called it quits. The number of U.S. brewers now sits at 9,578, with new openings not keeping up with closures. Several of those closures have been in Texas. Round Rock’s 3rd Level Brewing closed April 1, Texas Beer Co. changed ownership due to debts, San Antonio-based Alamo Beer filed bankruptcy well-known Austin brands like Independence Brewing have continued to struggle. Hi Sign, founded in 2017 by Marine Corps veteran Mark Phillippe, moved into its new headquarters in 2022. The 13,000-square-foot warehouse hosted RC Cola in the 1950s. Some of the debt it took on to make the move, which Phillippe said was the best decision the company made as a business, led to the debt servicing problems it faces today.

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Wemby signals his politics as he’s spotted with dystopian novel 1984 at Finals

San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama has sent recent signals about his progressive political views, even if he’s shared some of them in a subtle way. In a move some might see as subtle act of resistance, he entered Game 1 of the finals in a sharp look while carrying a paperback copy of lifelong socialist George Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984. Eagle-eyed fans at the Bibliotech Public Library spotted the banned book in the 7-foot-4 forward’s hand and used the moment to introduce his fans to the classic novel via an Instagram post.

“This book remains relevant despite its publishing in 1949 and continues to be a contested book in libraries across the world,” Bibliotech wrote in the post’s caption. Could Wemby influence his legions of fans to read a work warning about mass surveillance, thought crimes, Newspeak, totalitarianism and other themes that sound eerily familiar in the context of the present day? Who knows, but Wemby’s history of subtle — and not so subtle — political expression suggests that the choice is deliberate. After all, this isn’t Wemby’s first dance when it comes to making a political statement. Last week, the French-born player was spotted in an Arab garment called a thobe in celebration of the Muslim holiday Eid al-Adha, which some interpreted as solidarity with the Muslim community. Earlier this year, Wemby also spoke out against ICE, despite saying he’d received warnings not to from the Spurs’ public relations office. “PR has tried, but I’m not going to sit here and give some politically correct [answer],” he said at a January press conference. “Every day, I wake up and see the news, and I’m horrified.” “It’s crazy that some people make it seem like the murder of civilians is acceptable,” the star player said tactfully but unmistakably, after federal immigration agents killed Minneapolis residents Renee Good and Alex Pretti. Though not as outspoken as his mentor and former coach Gregg Popovich, it’s increasingly clear Wemby finds ways to take a stand. Seems as if the generation hoops talent is pulling off some intricate footwork, and we don’t just mean on the court. Perhaps he already knows that Big Brother is, in fact, always watching.

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RGV sees employment gains in professional and business sector; losses in government, education

Workforce Solutions released their April 2026 Labor Market Information (LMI) Report on Monday, showing a continuing downward trend in unemployment across the Valley. Since January, Hidalgo and Cameron counties have seen a steady decrease in unemployment, with Brownsville still leading at 6.6% (down from 6.8% in March), while McAllen stayed at the bottom at 4.4% (down from 4.5%). Hidalgo, Cameron, Willacy and Starr counties, as a whole, displayed unemployment rates of 5.7%, 6.2%, 6.7% and 8.9%, respectively.

While the decline is positive and was seen across all four counties, the rates remain above the Texas and national unemployment rate of 4.3%. The April 2026 Regional Employment Change Estimates, included in Workforce Solutions’ report, also highlighted major shifts in different industries. The government sector, which encompasses public education and law enforcement, saw the biggest loss at 800 jobs for the McAllen (-600) and Brownsville (-200) Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA). The second-largest loss was 200 jobs in the leisure and hospitality sector reported for the Brownsville MSA. However, 800 jobs were gained in the professional and business service sector for the MSAs, and the McAllen MSA additionally saw 900 jobs added to the private education and health services sector.

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Texas and the Smithsonian are locked in a custody battle over a space shuttle

NASA was winding down its space-shuttle program during the Bush administration when Houston realized it had a problem: None of the four retiring space shuttle orbiters were bound for Texas, even though the Lone Star State was home to Mission Control Center and had safely guided orbiters like Discovery. At the time, Space Center Houston submitted a bid. But NASA decided it didn’t measure up to some of its rival institutions, and in 2011 instead sent Discovery, which traveled 150 million miles during 39 missions to space, to the Smithsonian’s National Air & Space Museum. The rest went to museums in New York, Florida and California. Now, Texas is reviving its campaign for its own shuttle, led by a pair of Texas senators who earmarked $85 million in the federal budget to strong-arm the Nation’s Attic into forking over Discovery, which has long been on view at its auxiliary location in Virginia.

The result is one of the strangest custody battles to ever roil the aerospace and museum industries. “They’re raiding the Smithsonian,” said Joe Stief, a Virginia-based investment firm associate who oversees Keep the Shuttle, a 4,000-member advocacy group opposed to the move. “What’s to stop North Carolina from taking back the Wright Flyer or New York from reclaiming the Hope diamond?” The fight is unprecedented because usually museums like the Smithsonian only forfeit pieces in their collection if they or courts find the art was stolen or unethically acquired. In this case, the U.S. government passed legislation that includes a provision for NASA to move a “NASA flown space vehicle.” Senate appropriations rules prevented federal funding from naming Discovery, nor Texas as its final destination, but Sen. Ted Cruz believes Texas is the ideal spot because of Houston’s ties to space history. To outgoing Sen. John Cornyn, who lost a grueling bid for a fifth term in last month’s Texas Republican primary, it’s also a legacy bid to avenge what locals call the Houston Shuttle Snub. Texas is overdue to “receive the recognition it deserves by bringing the Space Shuttle Discovery home,” Cornyn said.

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National Stories

Several women who dated Graham Platner recall ‘unsettling’ behavior

On Tuesday evening, after a whirlwind day in Washington, Graham Platner, the Democratic candidate for Senate in Maine, rushed home. Rumors were spreading from Portland to the Potomac about Mr. Platner’s messy personal life, after news reports that he had sent sexual messages to women while married. Democratic senators were pressing him about whether more damaging revelations were coming. Journalists were swarming, staking out his hometown. Amid the turmoil, Mr. Platner worked the phones, rolling through calls to ex-girlfriends who might publicly acknowledge that while he may have been a bad boyfriend, he was, in fact, a decent guy. In interviews with The New York Times on Wednesday, several women did just that, describing Mr. Platner as a fun and caring partner, and saying they felt safe with him. Some remain friends with him to this day, years after their relationships ended.

But in extensive conversations over the past two months, three other women who had been romantically involved with Mr. Platner offered a far more complicated assessment, describing volatile and “toxic” relationships that were unsettling and at times emotionally wrenching. Mr. Platner could be charming and charismatic, they recalled in interviews, but also demeaning to women and, in at least one case, even physically threatening. He drank heavily and was regularly unfaithful. Mr. Platner, 41, a combat veteran, has spoken openly about grappling with post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and drinking that he said resulted from his time in the military. As revelations about him have surfaced — including his dismissive remarks online about rape and derogatory comments about women, as well as a tattoo he had that is widely recognized as a Nazi symbol — he has said his past behavior does not reflect who he is today. Mainers, he has urged, should not judge him for “the worst thing I said on the internet on my worst day 14 years ago.” The critical accounts provided by three of the women interviewed by The Times, who were each in romantic relationships with him for years, give a fuller picture of Mr. Platner’s life. They shed light on an earlier era, when he has acknowledged intense struggles, but also raise questions about his more recent years in Maine, which his campaign has presented as a period of healing and personal redemption.

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‘Like two cats circling’: Kamala Harris and Gavin Newsom weigh a 2028 showdown

California Gov. Gavin Newsom and former Vice President Kamala Harris have much in common, fellow Bay Area Democrats who insist they’re friends but don’t always act like it. They drew broad notice in the 2003 San Francisco election, leading an up-and-coming generation of California politicians—Newsom as mayor and Harris as district attorney—by turns bumping elbows over command of the microphone at news conferences. Newsom, 58 years old, and Harris, 61, have shared mentors, staffers, donors, friends and consultants for more than two decades, going neck and neck in the parochial world of Bay Area politics. They have exchanged endorsements and snubs, each wary of the other, according to people close to them. “They’ve been kind of like two cats, circling each other in an alley for years, politically speaking,” said Democratic strategist Garry South, who worked for Newsom.

The conspicuously liberal politicians live in exclusive locales at two ends of the Golden State —Harris in Malibu, Calif., and Newsom in Marin County—and appear on a collision course for the keys to the big white mansion at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. “Their trajectories have been so fast and put them in places of such prominence, there’s only one step up electorally for either of them at this point,” said Brian Brokaw, a Democratic consultant who has worked for both. Newsom, who is wrapping up his second term as California governor, is widely expected to mount a 2028 presidential bid. People close to Harris say she is undecided, still stung by her 2024 loss to President Trump. In April, Harris got a warm reception in New York from Black activists who chanted Run again! Run again! “I might,” she said. “I’m thinking about it.” Most early Democratic primary polls show them holding top slots in the field of potential presidential candidates, in what would be their first head-to-head contest. In recent months, they have been on dueling book tours. Harris, promoting her book, “107 Days,” sold out event spaces around the U.S. more than six months after its publication. Newsom later released his own book, a memoir titled “Young Man in a Hurry.” He, too, made the rounds in a promotional tour that included New York, South Carolina and Georgia.

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‘Unbelievable how accurate’: How paid influencers hype Polymarket’s odds

When far-right influencer Nick Shirley posted a viral video in January alleging fraud at Minnesota daycares, he showed his 1.6 million followers on X something else too: a gray hoodie emblazoned with the Polymarket logo. Polymarket had made other appearances in the 24-year-old’s content, like in a series of man-on-the-street interviews about the “current state of America” posted in December. The first post came after Shirley started to receive money from Polymarket’s chief marketing officer, Matthew Modabber; the second came after he had taken in a total of $3,100 from Modabber, according to records reviewed by POLITICO.

Modabber, who once wrote that the key to growth is “a product people can’t shut up about,” was putting his money where his mouth is. The Polymarket executive used a personal PayPal account to send at least $350,000 to Shirley and other content creators between January 2025 and February 2026, an analysis of the transactions shows. That sum is almost certainly an undercount. Modabber used his personal PayPal account, which is registered to an email for a salad spot he co-founded, to send over $2.5 million to more than 800 people during the 14-month span, the analysis shows. POLITICO independently verified the identities of about two dozen content creators who received money from Modabber by using public records and analyzing their social media accounts. At least 20 of the content creators identified by POLITICO promoted Polymarket on social media after they started receiving money from Modabber, according to the payment records and POLITICO’s analysis of their social media activity.

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Trump's 'big beautiful bill' has a 'double taxation' trap for top earners, tax experts say

The “one big beautiful bill” came with many tax benefits for top earners, despite limiting how much they can deduct. However, lawyers and accountants for the wealthy said they have discovered a surprise buried in the footnotes of a tax law guide released last week by Congress’ policy staff that could amount to double taxation. The deduction cap is imposed on trusts and estates, the experts said, which was unexpected. Even if a trust gave all its income to its beneficiaries, it would have to pay taxes on a portion of that income, according to their interpretation of the document. While the consequences are steeper for trusts and estates of the ultra-wealthy, trusts with as little as $16,000 in income would also be subject to additional taxes, the experts said.

“There is potentially an element of double taxation,” said Dan Griffith, director of wealth strategy at Huntington Bank. “This is something that is going to affect somebody with a $400,000 special-needs trust. It’s not just going to be something that $100 million dynasty trusts suffer with.” Griffith said he is especially concerned about trusts that are obligated to distribute all their income. Trusts will either have to sell assets to pay the taxes, sacrificing future investment returns, or reduce their distributions to beneficiaries, he said. This provision creates a “mathematical nightmare” for tax lawyers and financial advisors, according to Justin Miller, national director of wealth planning at Evercore Wealth Management. Miller gave the example of a wealthy couple wishing to leave their estate to charity. “If I have to pay income taxes, that means I’m giving less money to charity because I’m giving money to the IRS. That means I now have to adjust my deduction even more because less money is going to charity,” he said. “Did Congress really intend to create an algebraic formula?”

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In reversal from first term, DOD officially drops 180 faiths from military's recognized religion list

Military.com has learned that the Department of Defense, for the first time in almost 10 years, has dramatically reduced its number of recognized religious faiths and belief systems by approximately 180. The reforms mark the first time the list has been officially revised since a memo was issued March 27, 2017, decreasing the total number of faiths from roughly 211 to its new number of 31. The changes were iterated in a May 20, 2026, memorandum issued by the Under Secretary of War and signed by Anthony Tata, under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness of the United States, and obtained by Military.com. This latest revision to the faith codes comes at the direction of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, according to the Tata-signed memo, done to “streamline the DoW collection of religious preferences collection for service members to enhance the delivery of targeted religious support from the Chaplaincy.” It calls for the previously instituted faith and belief codes to be revised within a 60-day period from the issuance of the memorandum.

“The new list will provide chaplains with clear, readily available information that will better enable them to anticipate the religious support needs of service members and to provide religious support activities that align with service members’ personal faith and practices,” Tata wrote. He added that members will not be limited to the list of “religious affiliation codes” when selecting information for their dog tags. The revised list, according to documents obtained by Military.com, include Agnostics, Buddhists, Hindus, Islam (Muslims), Judaism, Sikh, and a wide range of Christian-based groups like Baptists, Catholics, Lutherans and Methodists. This restructuring of faith codes, which help identity service members as well as the military in planning for appropriated religious coverage to include them, has now excluded minority faith/worldview groups including Atheists, Asatru, Deists, Druids, Eckankar, Heathens, Humanists, Magick, New Age churches, Pagan, Rosicrucianism, Shaman, Spiritualists, Troth, Unitarian Universalists and various Wiccans.

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Inside the UFC’s $60 million made-for-TV White House gambit

Dana White, the CEO of the MMA promotion, is betting that the unprecedented spectacle, sparked by a suggestion from President Trump, will deliver new fans to the sport and millions of eyeballs to Paramount+. The most audacious media spectacle in recent memory was hatched on the floor of Madison Square Garden, less than two weeks after the 2024 presidential election. On Nov. 16, 2024, President-elect Donald Trump walked into New York’s most famous arena to loud applause from a friendly crowd, as Kid Rock’s “American Bad Ass” played. Trump was there for UFC 309, and he was joined by Rock, Elon Musk and incoming Cabinet secretaries Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard, among other dignitaries. But when he walked out, he did so alongside Dana White, the CEO of UFC.

Amid the fights, Trump took a moment to make a suggestion to White, a longtime personal friend dating back to the early days of UFC. “He leaned over to me and says, ‘We should do a fight at the White House,’” White recalls in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. “I said, ‘Yes, we should.’ I didn’t know what he meant … I was thinking maybe there’s some room that he’s thinking about where we’d have it. He’s like, ‘No, we’re gonna do it outside on the South Lawn.’” “When [White] initially mentioned the idea of putting on a UFC event on the South Lawn of the White House, I truly did not believe him. I thought he was kidding,” says Craig Borsari, the chief content officer of the UFC. “He’s funny, but he’s not a joke around kind of guy,” White says of Trump. “Literally, when he says something, consider it done.” And so that offhand suggestion will become a reality on June 14, when the MMA promotion hosts UFC Freedom 250 in a custom-built arena on the South Lawn of the White House, a made-for-TV (or at least streaming) event, the likes of which has never been seen before, and probably never will be again. A series of literal cage matches, set in front of one of the most famous buildings in the world, for an audience expected to include some of the most powerful people on earth, among them political leaders, celebrities and global CEOs, with UFC parent company TKO Group Holdings (led by CEO Ari Emanuel) betting on “Super Bowl-level” media exposure, and a defining moment for the company’s nascent $7.7 billion deal with Paramount Skydance (led by CEO David Ellison).

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Jan. 6 rioter is hired to work in sensitive Pentagon office

The Pentagon’s Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict office is a sensitive Defense Department branch responsible for uncovering and defending against terrorism plots and asymmetric warfare, and making sure that U.S. commandos have everything they need to carry out their missions. The office now has a new asset: a Jan. 6 rioter who pleaded guilty to climbing through a broken window at the Capitol and to other offenses. Elias Irizarry, who was 19 on Jan. 6, 2021, eventually apologized for his actions. President Trump pardoned Mr. Irizarry on Inauguration Day last year when Mr. Trump began his second term by granting blanket clemency to Jan. 6 rioters.

It was unclear who was responsible for the appointment of Mr. Irizarry, which was reported earlier by The Washington Post. But the Pentagon’s acting press secretary, Joel Valdez, said in a statement that Mr. Irizarry “is a qualified, patriotic young professional, and we are proud to have him as a political appointee.” Political appointees usually are selected by the office of the defense secretary or, in some cases, the White House. But one of the former leaders of the Special Operations office said the move could degrade public trust in the Pentagon. “The office he was hired for works with our most elite military units and on extremely sensitive national security issues,” said Michael Lumpkin, the assistant defense secretary for Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict in the Obama administration. “It used to be that any possible negative perception about a hire like this would prevent it from happening. Today, it seems fealty is often more valued than expertise, sound judgment, or a strong moral compass.” On Jan. 6, 2021, prosecutors said, Mr. Irizarry, a former student at the Citadel, a military college in South Carolina, entered the Capitol through a broken window on the Senate side, and roamed through the building armed with a metal pole. He found his way to a private conference room, where he was videotaped by one of his friends, Elliot Bishai, sitting in an armchair with the pole across his lap.

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Lead Stories

New World screwworm infestation detected in South Texas cattle: USDA

Officials with the Texas Animal Health Commission confirmed that an infestation of the flesh-eating New World screwworm parasite was detected in South Texas cattle, they said Wednesday. Officials explained on a call earlier Wednesday that the case was a ‘presumptive positive,’ which means preliminary tests were positive but that results needed to be confirmed, according to Reuters. A sample taken from two calves on a ranch in La Pryor, Texas, was tested at a federal government laboratory. The New World screwworm is a parasitic fly that feeds on the tissue of warm-blooded animals and people, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The feeding can create large wounds on animals that result in “serious, often deadly” damage.

The fly is typically found in South America and the Caribbean, but the species has been tracking northward through Mexico since 2023, according to the USDA. Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller on Wednesday criticized the USDA for a “slow, bureaucratic, and incomplete response that allowed the pest to advance unchecked through Mexico and reach American soil,” according to a statement from his office. Miller urged President Donald Trump to deploy the Screwworm Adult Suppression System (SWASS) to combat the bug in Texas. The system uses bait and EPA-approved pesticides to cut down on the insect population, and was developed by the USDA. “Mr. President, I am asking you to take direct control of this response,” Miller said. “Cut through the bureaucracy, deploy SWASS immediately, and throw every available federal resource at this threat before it becomes a full-blown agricultural disaster.”

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Texas leads nation in flood insurance cancellations as costs rise ahead of hurricane season

As hurricane season begins, Texas is losing flood insurance coverage faster than any other state in the nation, raising concerns among flood experts and researchers in a state with a long history of devastating floods. Data from the National Flood Insurance Program shows more than 45,000 flood insurance policies were canceled across Texas over the past 12 months, a decline of roughly 7.2%, according to figures reviewed by KPRC 2. Nationwide, flood insurance policies also declined, but at a significantly lower rate. The trend comes despite repeated flood disasters across Texas in recent years and as many homeowners continue to face rising housing, insurance and living costs. “We know it’s raining more. We know it’s raining more intensely and that rain is more unpredictable now than ever,” said Emily Woodell, chief external affairs officer for the Harris County Flood Control District. “That’s why flood insurance is more important now than perhaps ever before.”

Flooding has long been one of Texas’ most persistent natural hazards. Houston alone has experienced numerous major flood events, including Tropical Storm Allison in 2001, the Tax Day Flood of 2016 and Hurricane Harvey in 2017. The region’s extensive network of bayous was designed to move water away from homes and businesses, but flood officials say no system can eliminate flood risk entirely. “If you live in the Houston area, you are at risk of flooding,” Woodell said. She said flood control projects completed since Harvey have significantly reduced risk for many residents. “If that were to happen today, hundreds of thousands of homes would be in a better position than they were then,” Woodell said, referring to Harvey. “However, that risk still exists.” Woodell said periods without major flooding can lead some residents to become less focused on the threat. “Unless you’ve been hit recently, you’re right. You become complacent and it becomes much more of a comfortable issue versus one that you think you need to take action on,” she said. Still, she believes flood insurance remains essential for families across Harris County.

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H-1B crackdown on Indian workers erodes a Texas real estate boom

Zach Schneider points to a room just off the foyer of a $1 million model home north of Dallas. The 40-year-old builder has staged it with shelves and a dark wooden desk, done up like a typical study. But its tall, north-facing windows hint at the use it was designed for — as a puja room, a traditional Hindu prayer space. Down the hall there’s an area that could one day be redolent with turmeric, cumin and cardamom. “A spice kitchen,” he says, highlighting an optional upgrade that could appeal to a buyer from India. For almost a decade, South Asians have been the driving force behind this region’s building boom, one of the biggest in the US during the pandemic. They once accounted for 70% of sales at Schneider’s Tradition Homes. But in the past year they’ve dropped below 30%, leaving his family-owned company with a backlog of 125 luxury properties to sell. Since 2018 the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area has attracted more corporate headquarters relocations than anywhere else in the US, according to real estate company CBRE Group Inc., with manufacturing and tech firms leading the way.

Visa holders flocked to the new subdivisions spreading north through the suburbs of Prosper, Frisco and, most of all, Celina, where the population more than tripled in just five years. That helped make Collin and Denton the fastest-growing US counties among those with a population of at least 1 million, the most recent census data show. Collin also had the biggest percentage jump in Indian residents among large counties, climbing to an average of more than 116,000 in the five years through 2024, from 70,000 in the preceding five years. But the momentum is quickly reversing. Indian buyers are disappearing from the market as federal and state governments tighten H-1B restrictions and many of the tech companies that employed the new arrivals fire workers in favor of artificial intelligence. Prices in the Collin County suburbs north of Dallas in February dropped almost 9% from a year earlier, compared with a decline of 4% in the metro area as a whole, according to data from brokerage Redfin. The shift has knocked down home prices, slowed population expansion and risks eroding the tax base needed to fund schools and roads planned during a five-year growth streak. The changes also take a personal toll on immigrants because many have lived in the US for years and have established families and communities. Those on H-1B visas who lose their jobs not only face financial hardship but also risk having to return to their home countries if they can’t get sponsored for another position within 60 days.

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SpaceX’s IPO is set to be the biggest ever and could make Elon Musk a trillionaire

SpaceX says it plans to raise up to $75 billion when it goes public this month, setting the stage for the largest-ever stock market debut and putting Elon Musk on course to becoming the world’s first trillionaire. The company, formally known as Space Exploration Technologies Corp., said Wednesday it will sell 555.6 million shares at $135 a piece in an initial public offering. The estimated proceeds would easily top the $26 billion raised by oil giant Saudi Aramco in 2019. The offering would also give SpaceX a market value of $1.77 trillion. Only six companies in the S&P 500 are currently worth more, with Nvidia tops at $5.2 trillion. Besides the size of the offering and the expected proceeds, SpaceX’s amended prospectus updates details about how much control of the company Musk will have. As SpaceX’s CEO, chief technical officer and chairman, Musk’s voting power will come primarily through his ownership of 5.22 billion Class B shares, which give the holder 10 votes for every share held. According to the filing, Musk would have 82.4% of the voting power in the company.

Forbes currently values Musk’s net worth at $826 billion and his stake in SpaceX at $542 billion. The estimated value of his SpaceX holdings was based on an overall value for the company of $1.25 trillion. Based on those numbers, a $1.77 trillion valuation for SpaceX would boost Musk’s net worth by $223 billion, making him a trillionaire. However, much of Musk’s worth is in stock that he has yet to cash in. Even as it makes a bid for a blockbuster market debut, SpaceX is currently losing billions of dollars a year. The filing shows that the company lost $2.6 billion from operations last year on $18.7 billion in revenue, and the losses kept piling up at the start of this year, too. Time will tell how SpaceX fares on the market. Musk’s plans for the company are as fantastical as the money he hopes raise in the sale. Colorful, even frightening in parts, the IPO document strikes a contrast with the typically dry, technical prose in IPO documents, detailing plans to use proceeds from the sale to help put men on the moon again and perhaps even Mars. In one section, it talks of a need to build “a permanent human colony” on the red planet with “at least one million inhabitants” as existential threats loom that could consign man to “the same fate as the dinosaurs.” Musk has almost equally ambitious plans for his other publicly traded company, Tesla. His goal is to transform the maker of electric vehicles into a producer of robotaxis and humanoid robots. Dan Ives of Wedbush Securities wrote in a research note that he expects Tesla and SpaceX to merge next year.

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State Stories

After 53 years in Travis County, Margaret Gómez retires with a call to learn from one another

Margaret Gómez, the longest-serving Travis County commissioner in history, is retiring early. She will continue her post overseeing Precinct 4 until June 11, when George Morales, who won the Democratic primary election for the seat last month, will be appointed to take over, Gómez said. Gómez, 81, said she is ready to step down after serving as a Travis County employee for nearly 53 years. Gómez originally planned to retire in December when her term ends, but she said after suddenly losing her ability to walk, it was "time to turn it over to somebody else."

“That was kind of something I couldn't really deal with because my love is to walk door to door,” she said. “If I can't walk anymore, it's just kind of like, well, what am I in this for? Because that was the way I always campaigned.” Gómez said she’s looking forward to listening to music, reading and “learning how to relax.” “Not jumping every time the phone rings, that kind of thing,” she said. Gómez began her career in Travis County in 1973 working for former County Commissioner Richard Moya, who was the first Mexican-American elected to public office in the county. In 1980, she became the county’s first elected female constable after defeating a 14-year incumbent. She was reelected three times, and in her tenure, cleared a backlog of more than 30,000 criminal warrants. Gómez was sworn in as the first female Mexican-American commissioner in 1995 and has held the position since.

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Google announces $10 million Water Impact Fund for Texas projects

Google on Wednesday announced its intentions to invest $10 million into Texas water as part of its broader commitment to manage water resources in the communities where it builds and operates data centers. The company said its Water Impact Fund would support water stewardship and restoration in the state, including protecting already existing water sources and developing or improving infrastructure. “Our goal is to minimize our local impacts so that our growth does not come at the expense of the communities we call home,” the company said in its announcement. The investment is part of Google’s larger announcement of $17 million for seven new projects across the country. Other states receiving funding are Georgia, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri and Nebraska.

Water is critical to developing and operating data centers. As data centers generate heat from the servers and chips, companies will often rely on water to cut back on energy use needed for cooling. Water cooling can reduce data center energy use by about 10% compared with air cooling, according to Google, which said the aggregate water consumption of U.S. data centers is less than 1% of the water that Americans use on their lawns annually. “The science is showing that water can just have this really, really remarkable ability to reduce the energy consumption of data centers, which helps to support grid constraints and energy affordability in the communities where we operate,” Ben Townsend, Google’s head of infrastructure strategy and sustainability told The Dallas Morning News in an interview. “But, we also know that water is a vital resource, and it is plentiful in some areas and very scarce in others, and because of this, we know that water has to be prioritized.” Google’s new water stewardship commitments include replenishing more water than it consumes at its sites by 2030, helping to modernize water and wastewater infrastructure, protecting at-risk watersheds with air-cooled solutions, reporting its annual water use transparently and pursuing alternative and reclaimed solutions to protect water sources.

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Republican candidate for Harris County commissioner escalates effort to remove incumbent from office

A Harris County commissioner candidate has elevated efforts to remove Commissioner Adrian Garcia from office, arguing in a Texas Supreme Court filing that Garcia’s seat should have become vacant when he was appointed to the Gulf Coast Protection District. The filing in the state’s highest court came after the First Court of Appeals denied Republican candidate Richard Vega’s legal effort in April and ruled that Garcia can keep his seat on the Harris County Commissioners Court. Vega, who is facing Garcia in November’s election, is seeking a ruling to vacate Garcia’s position on commissioners court. He said such a vacancy could allow a special election to be called before a vote on the county budget and taxe rate in mid-September — potentially adding another Republican vote to the Democratically-held commissioners court during fiscal year 2027 budget discussions.

“The partisan split on Commissioners’ Court is currently 4-1, but if the election is held, it could again yield a 3-2 split,” according to the recent filing. “This is a choice for the voters to make. But it reflects how important it is for the Court.” According to state law, however, the county judge is charged with appointing a commissioner’s successor if their seat suddenly becomes vacant before the next general election. Similarly, commissioners court is charged with appointing interims when other county officials vacate their seats — including the recent appointment of former Houston City Council member Abbie Kamin to the county attorney's position. Scott Spiegel, a spokesperson for Garcia’s office, called the latest legal filing a last-ditch effort and a waste of taxpayer money. "It should be noted that two courts have already dismissed these baseless and ludicrous claims,” Spiegel said Tuesday. “The relief the plaintiff seeks is not allowable under the Texas Constitution. We will be having no further comment at this time." A spokesperson for the county attorney’s office said there is no provision in state law for filling a commissioners court seat by special election. The county clerk’s office, which manages elections, deferred questions to the county attorney’s office.

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Here is who gave Mayor Jones her playoff tickets to see the Spurs

Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones cheered on the Spurs just a few rows away from the court last week thanks to Tullos Wells, co-chair of the Tobin Endowment and former outside legal counsel for Spurs Sports & Entertainment. A season ticket holder since the 1990s, Wells gave Jones two tickets to the Spurs' Game 6 against the Oklahoma City Thunder last week. He said he couldn’t make the game because he was visiting Boston. He had two tickets behind the Spurs' bench every playoff game, but he said he gave most of his tickets to friends. He said he doesn’t recall giving any to other elected officials during the Spurs' playoff run.

Wells, an attorney, said he has spoken to Jones only a couple of times. Jones reached out to him last month to pick his brain about San Antonio’s business community. They talked for more than an hour in the lobby of a downtown hotel. They didn’t talk about the Spurs or plans for a publicly financed downtown arena for the team. Jones has had a tense relationship with the Spurs organization. She unsuccessfully fought last summer to slow down City Council’s adoption of arena financing agreement with SS&E and Bexar County, and she has argued the team owner should share revenue generated from a new facility — which SS&E has called a non-starter. Wells offered Jones his tickets for Game 6 during their conversation. He recalled telling her that “the mayor needs to show up at a Spurs game and show the flag.” “I think it’s important that the mayor be there and understand better what role the Spurs play in this community,” he added.

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'A lot of concern': Mark Cuban expresses worry over future of Victory Park, downtown Dallas

Mark Cuban's transformative impact on the Dallas-Fort Worth multiplex could be most felt in the area of downtown Dallas known as Victory Park, in which Victory Avenue runs through, tucked snuggly between I-35E and the Woodall Rodgers Freeway. The crown jewel of this once-ascendant mix of business development, upscale entertainment choices, and high-priced retail became the American Airlines Center upon its opening in 2001. One of the people most involved in that stadium's development, and its earned status as the home for major league sports in Dallas, was the former Dallas Mavericks principal owner Cuban, now a minority owner, meaning he's basically in the same position as anyone else who is searching for answers in the wake of the Mavs' decision this week to purchase land at the former site of the Valley View Mall in North Dallas.

In an email exchange with WFAA, Cuban spoke of his concern for the future of what is expected to now be the former site of both the Mavs and the Stars, who right after the Mavs' announcement, made public their plans to develop a new arena in Plano at the former Shops at Willow Bend site. "A lot of concern," Cuban wrote to WFAA about his main reaction to the news. "And (concern) for the people that have businesses down there. Who live down there to be close to games." Even with his reduced influence on the Mavs' future plans, Cuban has remained an endorser of the Mavericks remaining in Dallas, he reaffirmed that belief in 2024 while at the same time stating that the chances of the Mavs staying at the AAC being "less than 50%." As news of the Valley View development choice emerged this week, Cuban told the House of Haymaker podcast that it was a "great choice" and an option he considered before selling his majority share of the team. Overall, Cuban sees the eventual choice made as potentially transformative for another area of Dallas, but he still tells us that he hopes both his team and the Stars retain some connection to the Victory Park area. "I hope both teams do something to help (Victory Park)," Cuban tells WFAA.

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Zapata County landowners say border wall contractors bulldozed property before agreements were signed

Landowners and border wall opponents in Zapata County say contractors bulldozed property near San Ygnacio this week before landowners signed right-of-entry agreements or went through condemnation proceedings, raising new questions about property rights and the pace of border wall construction in South Texas. Elsa Hull, who lives near San Ygnacio and has been involved in opposition to the project, said she went to the riverfront Tuesday after receiving reports of bulldozing near the Rio Grande. "I received a message that border wall contractors were dozing on private property without permission. That came as a big shock to me," Hull said.

Hull said an elderly landowner showed her where contractors had bulldozed through an irrigation line and cleared vegetation on his property. "He has a boat ramp, and he had an irrigation line, and they dozed right through his property, severed his irrigation line," Hull said. "Now he can't get water up there, he can't withdraw water, and they destroyed all these trees, cut a huge swath through his property." Hull said she later observed similar activity on two nearby properties and that two of the three affected landowners had received right-of-entry requests from the federal government but had not signed them. "Neither one of them had signed," Hull said. "No one had been taken to court to condemn the property, and nobody's received compensation." Hull said federal officials asserted that the land being cleared was already government property because it falls within a floodplain along the river. "They come back and they say that anything in the flood plain along the entire length of the river is federal government property," Hull said. Hull said the landowners possess deeds showing their property extends to the Rio Grande and questioned why right-of-entry requests had been sent if the land was already federally owned.

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Bell Textron lays off hundreds of Fort Worth and Texas employees

Bell Textron has laid off approximately 285 employees across its Amarillo, Fort Worth and Wichita sites, according to a letter from Bell Textron CEO Danny Maldonado. Bell Textron is an American helicopter and aerospace manufacturer based in northeast Fort Worth near Hurst. The letter says that these layoffs affect the members working on the MV-75 programs the most. The MV-75 is a tiltrotor aircraft being developed by Bell. The Star-Telegram reached out to Bell about the exact number of employees affected and no one responded immediately. According to Bell’s website, “The MV-75 strengthens every mission soldiers execute — speed and range cut medevac timelines to save lives, deliver long-range assault forces from safer launch points, and bring agility to humanitarian operations in the toughest terrain.”

Maldonado said as the company moves from design to production, it has to make “additional adjustments to align our overall cost structure with current funding and business needs.” Company officials shared that getting clarity from the government on the funding for this fiscal spending year showed them that layoffs were necessary to align with “current funding and budget realities.” The CEO made it clear that these decisions were based on funding and not employee behavior. “These decisions are not a reflection of the value of the team or the importance of the mission,” Maldonado said. “They are about ensuring we stay aligned to the program, protect long-term success, and position ourselves to deliver what matters most.” In addition to layoffs, Bell is entering a four-week furlough period for certain staff on the MV-75 team that begins June 14. Employees affected by the furlough are expected to receive notice within the next few days, according to Maldonado. Maldonado wrote that it’s “incredibly difficult” to watch colleagues leave who have made such an impact. “The first flight of the MV-75 remains paramount, and long-term prospects for 2027 and beyond remain strong. This is not about stopping momentum; it is about responsibly managing our resources to ensure we can deliver on our commitments,” he said.

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Grimes County approves tax break for SpaceX chip facility

Grimes County officials approved a tax break for a SpaceX chipmaking facility on Wednesday, supporting a $55 billion project that could create 1,800 jobs and transform this rural area outside of College Station. More than 100 people attended Wednesday’s public hearing. They largely expressed concerns about their rural way of life, impacts to property values and local businesses, SpaceX’s lack of transparency and potential effects to the environment. A handful of people spoke in support of the project.

After hours of public comments, four of the five county commissioners, including the county judge, voted in favor of providing SpaceX with a tax abatement agreement. The deal waives the company’s property taxes in exchange for SpaceX paying $10 million to the county upfront and then $20 million a year for the 35-year period. The proposed facility, which SpaceX is calling Terafab, is still in its early stages. But Grimes County is poised to become home to a major chipmaking facility. “Texas is where the integrated circuit was born and where the future of the semiconductor industry is being built,” Andrew Mahaleris, press secretary for Gov. Greg Abbott, said in a statement released before Wednesday’s hearing. Chips, also commonly called semiconductors, are found in nearly all electronic devices. Elon Musk’s SpaceX is building Terafab to create chips for its Starlink broadband internet satellites and the data centers it plans to launch into space, according to John Federspiel, who said he’s leading the Terafab project for SpaceX.

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Patrick joins GOP leaders in lining up behind Bo French

Roughly a year after Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said Bo French's inflammatory comments did not reflect Republican values, he is now backing French for the Texas Railroad Commission. French, a hard-right conservative who last week won the GOP runoff for the three-member commission that regulates the state's oil and gas industry, said he spoke with Patrick by phone Monday night. “The takeaway is that Republicans are unified and working together to defeat the slate of radicals the Democrats have offered up,” French, the former Tarrant County GOP chairman, posted Tuesday.

Patrick had backed Railroad Commissioner Jim Wright in the runoff. French narrowly defeated Wright and will face state Rep. Jon Rosenthal, D-Houston, in November. The call is another sign Republicans are rallying behind their nominees after a bruising primary season. French earlier announced endorsements from GOP commissioners Christi Craddick and Wayne Christian, who also supported Wright in the runoff. Despite opposition from much of the Republican establishment in the runoff, French attracted strong support from Texas' MAGA base. His social media posts have often featured anti-Muslim rhetoric, calls for mass deportations and slurs targeting people with disabilities and LGBTQ people. Neither Patrick's campaign nor French responded to requests for comment about the call. Over the weekend, Patrick's campaign issued a statement endorsing the Republican ticket but did not mention French by name. “I said that if voters whose candidates lost the primary refuse to support the winners in November, Texas will turn blue,” Patrick said. “These races were tough on all sides. But we must come together as one party to defeat the crazy left, who are a threat to our great state.” Patrick's history with French is unusual. Last year, he called on French to resign as Tarrant County GOP chair after French posted a poll asking whether Jews or Muslims posed a greater threat to the country. French did not resign but he later deleted the poll and said he regretted posting it.

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Nearly 180 ICE detainees quarantined at Camp East Montana for possible measles exposure

Nearly 180 detainees are under quarantine for possible measles exposure at Camp East Montana, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility on Fort Bliss, city health officials told El Paso Matters on Wednesday. The facility initiated quarantine after 16 detainees were identified as contacts of two confirmed measles cases at a detention facility in Arizona, city officials said. The detainees arrived at Camp East Montana before the Arizona measles cases were confirmed, Dr. Hector Ocaranza, city and county health authority, said in an email statement to El Paso Matters. City, state and federal officials didn’t say when the quarantine began.

But it appears the quarantine started at the detention center several days before state and local health officials were notified of possible measles exposures. A Catholic group was turned away Sunday from a planned Mass and told there was a quarantine to protect against measles spread, said a person familiar with the situation, who asked not to be identified. The chain of communication among federal, state and local authorities raises questions about whether ICE delayed notification on potentially serious public health matters. As of 11 a.m. Wednesday, there were no detainees at Camp East Montana showing symptoms of measles, and no indication of measles spread in the El Paso community linked to these exposures, Ocaranza said. Chris Van Deusen, a spokesperson for the state health department, said a group of detainees were also quarantined for measles exposure at the West Texas Detention Facility in Sierra Blanca. The detention centers are quarantining because of different possible exposures to measles cases in other states, he said in an email.

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David Brockman: ‘Fake’ Christian? or Faithful?

“One of the few openly Christian politicians in the United States who acts like a Christian.” That’s how conservative New York Times columnist David French recently characterized James Talarico and the Texas Democrat’s “faith-forward” campaign for the U.S. Senate. It should come as no surprise that Talarico walks the Christian walk: He’s currently on leave from his training for the ministry at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary (APTS). However, given the MAGA Christian response to the young politician-seminarian, you might think it was the Antichrist running for the Senate. He’s been called “demonic,” a “fake Christian,” and “blasphemous,” with “very, very radical and extreme views.” One Newsmax host accused him of using “fake passages from the Bible, tortured and misrepresented.” Talarico has drawn fire for characterizing God as “nonbinary,” though he later explained he meant God is “beyond gender” (a common theological notion). U.S. Representative Ronny Jackson, an Amarillo Republican, said the statement showed Talarico is “a full-on RADICAL LEFTIST!!”

Such over-the-top rhetoric is a sad fact of life in this age of post-truth hyperbole. But the ferocity of anti-Talarico invective reveals a deep and very public clash between two distinct ways of being Christian. While MAGA Christians insist that the Bible dictates their anti-abortion, anti-LGBTQ+, anti-immigrant Christian nationalism, the Mainline Protestant tradition—of which Talarico’s Presbyterian Church (USA) is a part—has a very different understanding of what it means to follow Jesus, one that leads to a politics precisely opposite from that of MAGA Christians. Within this Mainline tradition, Talarico is quite orthodox. His campaign, then, and the shrill attacks it provokes from right-wing Christians, is a vivid reminder of just how varied Christianity is. And paradoxically, Talarico’s unabashedly biblical politics also underscore the imperative of defending our nation’s venerable, but now vulnerable, tradition of church-state separation. So strongly does Talarico’s campaign foreground his Christian faith that The New Yorker claims his platform is basically the New Testament. That’s a bit of an overstatement.

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Lisa Falkenberg: Mike Miles’ HISD reforms are hurting my daughter’s school: ‘Mom, I don’t even have an English teacher’

Stuck in traffic one morning in October, I tried to make small talk with my 13-year-old daughter in the back seat. “What are you reading these days?” I asked. “Nothing,” she said. Nothing. I felt a thud in my soul. This was the same big-eyed girl, the same consummate straight-A student who, just a few years earlier, had to have her nose physically dislodged from a book several times a day so the family could reacquaint ourselves with her face. In elementary school during the pandemic, she finished “Little Women” in two days. If you had asked her if she loved reading, she might have responded similarly to Scout Finch in “To Kill a Mockingbird”: “I never loved to read. One does not love to breathe.”

“You’re not reading anything?” I prodded the middle-schooler. “Not even in English class?” She paused, giving me a look that said I should know better. “Mom,” she said. “I don’t even have an English teacher.” Ah, yes. I had forgotten. For months, I had written about other schools within Houston ISD, scrutinizing superintendent Mike Miles’ reforms in the state’s takeover, his closure of libraries and sidelining of storybooks, all the while harboring some relief that my own three kids’ campuses had been somewhat insulated from the changes. Until this year, that is, when the district’s instability, fluctuating expectations and teacher exodus hurt my kid, too. Some like to pretend that Miles’ move-fast-and-break-things approach is only affecting students at the poorest-performing schools for whom any change must be better than what they had. That's not true. The Houston Chronicle has reported that aspects of Miles’ controversial curriculum or instructional model have seeped into virtually all of HISD’s 274 campuses. That includes some of the highest-performing schools that never needed academic rehabilitation in the first place. These are schools for which families sweat lottery admissions to gain entry, and some even buy houses or rent apartments just to be zoned to them.

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Policy expert exits Mayor Jones’ office, upping total departures to 8

Policy expert Sophia Alejandro has become the latest staffer in Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones’ office to leave, bringing the total number of staff exits within the past year to eight, Jones’ office confirmed Wednesday. Even so, the mayor’s office declined to discuss the reasons behind the departure by Alejandro, a Baylor University alum with a master’s in public administration from George Washington University. Alejandro joined the office in October to help Jones implement her agenda. Word of Alejandro’s exit comes less than 24 hours after Jones’ office announced the hiring of TikTok realtor MarkAnthony Ball to help with the mayor’s social media presence. The departure also comes after both Jones’ chief of staff, Jenise Carroll, and deputy chief of staff, Pat Wallace, left within a week of one another.

Other staffers who have left Jones’ office within the first year of her four-year term include: Jordan Abelson, who served as chief of staff from June 2025 until July 2025; Anna San Miguel, who served as special assistant from August 2025 until October 2025; Rory Vance, who oversaw event services from June 2025 until September 2025; Gary Cooper, who briefly served as communications director in August 2025; Carlos de Leon, who briefly served as communications director during October 2025 Former staffers have complained about difficult working conditions on the 2nd floor of City Hall. One former staffer, who spoke to the Current on condition of anonymity after leaving the office, said Jones was disrespectful to staff and created a toxic work environment. Meanwhile, an ex-campaign staffer, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity after signing an NDA, maintained Jones was difficult to work with and often ignored her staff’s advice. Separately, a person familiar with City Hall matters recalled an incident in which Jones hastened a staffer’s resignation by publicly dressing the person down for taking a seat at a meeting.

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National Stories

AI data center demand “larger than we’re prepared for” despite “existential investment” - report

Data center demand “could be larger than we’re prepared for,” with vacancy entering record lows of two percent, and global AI usage surging, according to a report from Newmark. Newmark’s 2026 Data Center Market Outlook report showed that, in a scenario where AI usage reaches levels similar to Internet or smartphone adoption, an additional 250GW of capacity would be required, far exceeding currently planned AI-data center capacity. While conceding that this is an “aggressive but still plausible scenario,” the report argued that this prediction doesn’t even account for increases in enterprise workloads, Edge compute, or AI training, which Newmark said is forecast to grow by 3x annually through 2030.

“This scenario leaves the market in a catch-22: the binding constraint on mass AI adoption is new capacity coming online, and the binding constraint on new capacity is power,” the report said, “In the meantime, hyperscalers, developers, and their partners continue to pour capital into the buildout at an accelerating pace, considering it an ‘existential investment.’ As constraints sharpen and demand rises, the goalposts for spending continue to move higher.” Various firms and organizations have tried to put an estimate on the amount of investment required to meet rapidly growing data center demand, with some suggesting staggering sums of up to $3 trillion over the next five years. Last year, data center investment topped $580 billion and beat investment in new oil supply for the first time. And in 2026, hyperscalers alone are expected to spend $700bn to meet their data center commitments. Newmark’s report also examined the boosted demand for core industrial real estate driven by the level of spending on data center construction, termed the “halo effect.” Spending on data center construction is now up by nearly 400 percent since 2020, significantly boosting demand for warehouses, industrial outdoor storage, and manufacturing facilities.

Read this article at Data Center Dynamics - Subscribers Only

The meltdown inside ‘60 Minutes’

Emotions were running high again at CBS News. Longtime “60 Minutes” correspondent Scott Pelley had delivered a rebuke of CBS News Editor in Chief Bari Weiss at a staff meeting Monday, accusing her of “murdering” the storied news show. He also criticized her choice of Nick Bilton as a new executive producer. In the hours after his remarks, Weiss and other senior leaders debated how to proceed, people familiar with the matter said. The executives believed Pelley’s behavior was insubordinate and a fireable offense, but decided to speak with him to discuss his future at the network. David Ellison, CEO of CBS parent Paramount spoke with Weiss about how she would approach that conversation, people familiar with the situation said. The fraught circumstances of Pelley’s departure illustrate a broader moment of crisis within CBS News and its signature show.

So went another wild week at CBS News. In the past six days, “60 Minutes,” its signature show, parted ways with three high-profile correspondents, turned over its top editorial and producing ranks and sparked a staff mutiny. Just three of the show’s correspondents, who introduce themselves to viewers at the start of each episode, remain: Lesley Stahl, Jon Wertheim and Bill Whitaker. Weiss has made significant changes to CBS News’ roster of talent, programming and operations since taking over last October following Paramount’s purchase of her news and opinion platform, the Free Press, for $150 million. In the process, her editorial choices and growing pains as a new TV executive have drawn the ire of many longtime staffers, particularly at “60 Minutes.” Spats between Weiss’s roster of deputies and the show’s stars have morphed into a fight over the future and soul of the program. The most recent season of “60 Minutes” had a 9% increase in viewership from the year prior, according to Nielsen data. Weiss’s supporters see her strategy at CBS as a painful but necessary retrofitting of a stultified news operation to compete in a modern era, one in which waning audience trust and splintering viewership are challenging broadcasters. Her detractors say the decisions are politically motivated and have further eroded the credibility of a long-successful network.

Read this article at Wall Street Journal - Subscribers Only

Senators privately ask Platner whether new allegations will emerge

In a private meeting Tuesday with some Senate Democrats, Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner attempted to quell growing concerns from some in the party that a string of negative revelations about his life had jeopardized his candidacy. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders asked Platner if any additional allegations would emerge against the embattled Democratic candidate, according to people familiar with the discussion. Platner said there weren’t any. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who also attended the meeting, followed up and said there is a big difference between marital issues and allegations of sexual assault, the people said. Platner agreed and denied any credible allegations of assault were forthcoming. “It’s not a secret I’ve had a messy, complicated life,” he told the senators, one of the people said. “The worst of the rumors we’ve all heard are not true.”

The meeting with some of Platner’s biggest supporters in the Senate (Sanders and Warren have both endorsed him), ended with most of the group continuing to express support for the neophyte politician. But the gathering also underscored that Platner’s campaign had entered crisis mode. Over the weekend, The Wall Street Journal reported Platner engaged in sexually explicit texts with other women while married, prompting concerns among Democrats that his personal life could imperil the party’s shot at flipping one of the Senate’s most competitive seats. “I have no idea” if more shoes will drop, Sen. Peter Welch (D., Vt.) said a day after attending the meeting. Asked if Platner had been reassuring, Welch said, “He was very explicit that he accepts the right of Maine voters to ask him questions about his personal life and his responsibility to answer those questions.” Others who attended the meeting said they remained convinced Platner was the right candidate. “I didn’t go in needing assurance and I left feeling confident,” said Sen. Tina Smith (D., Minn.), who described herself as “excited” about Platner’s candidacy.

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Senate GOP leaders’ rough day ahead

President Donald Trump announced late Wednesday night that he’ll formally nominate Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche for the post full-time. This will be a difficult nomination for Senate Republicans. There’s no guarantee that Blanche — Trump’s formal personal lawyer — can even get through the Judiciary Committee, much less get confirmed by the full Senate. More on Blanche and Senate Republicans below. Reconciliation now. It’s going to be a really long day for Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso. The GOP leadership duo is in for a marathon of twisting arms and whipping votes on two pieces of legislation that have little in common except for this: Trump has made passing them much harder than it needed to be. Trump is causing Senate Republicans a ton of heartburn right now. GOP senators really want to wrap up the reconciliation bill funding ICE and Border Patrol, find a long-term solution for FISA Section 702 and move on to other priorities, like the long-stalled bipartisan affordable housing bill.

Vulnerable Republicans are desperate to show they’re trying to address the high cost of living, the top issue for voters. And GOP leaders want to be talking about their economic program — mostly the One Big Beautiful Bill’s tax cuts — amid a Democratic barrage over affordability. Instead, Trump is lobbing problems at Senate Republicans in the middle of crucial legislative fights. Just in the last few weeks, the Trump administration tried to secure $1 billion for White House ballroom security, unveiled the “anti-weaponization” fund as the reconciliation bill was about to pass and tapped Bill Pulte as acting director of national intelligence days before another FISA deadline. All of these moves derailed elements of the GOP’s agenda while heightening tensions between Trump and Senate Republicans. The Pulte standoff is far from solved and could tank FISA reauthorization altogether. Yet Trump isn’t showing any signs he cares much at all about Congress. Now Trump wants to formally confirm Blanche as the nation’s top law-enforcement official. This comes just weeks after a hostile meeting between Blanche and Senate Republicans over the “anti-weaponization” fund that left GOP senators fuming and delayed the reconciliation bill. And for Senate Republicans, Trump’s move on Blanche could pave the way for the president to further erode their power on nominations. Floor action. First up today is the GOP reconciliation bill, which has been stalled for two weeks over the weaponization fund fiasco. Despite assurances from Blanche that the fund won’t move forward, some GOP senators want to codify that promise into law, especially as Trump is still actively defending the fund. Several Republicans have indicated they’d oppose the bill on final passage if it doesn’t include such language. GOP leaders can’t lose more than three votes on final passage. “We need to take action here. It’s creating headwinds that we don’t need,” said Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), who told us it’d be “hard” for him to support the reconciliation bill without language on the fund. “If we’ve got the acting AG saying it’s done, then let’s just stick a fork in it.”

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Trump says he plans to nominate Todd Blanche to serve as attorney general

President Donald Trump said Wednesday he planned to formally nominate acting attorney general Todd Blanche for a full term as the nation’s chief law enforcement officer, signaling confidence in his former personal defense lawyer’s leadership of a department over which the president has sought to exert unprecedented control. Trump announced his intention to move forward Thursday with the nomination during a White House dinner Wednesday evening, according to a video of his remarks posted to social media by deputy White House chief of staff Dan Scavino. “We are going to make him permanent attorney general,” Trump said. Blanche has held the job on a temporary basis since Trump fired former attorney general Pam Bondi earlier this year.

Trump’s decision to back Blanche for a permanent term will kick off a Senate confirmation process that could face tough headwinds. Some Republican senators have already expressed hesitation about supporting Blanche for the job, raising questions about recent comments in which they believed he appeared to excuse violence committed during the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. More recently, Blanche faced open revolt from some portions of the Republican caucus in the Senate, as he unsuccessfully sought to defend a deal struck to settle legal claims Trump had filed against the government with the creation of a $1.8 billion fund to compensate people who believe they have been victims of politicized prosecutions. Facing bipartisan backlash, Blanche returned to Capitol Hill on Tuesday to announce that plans for the fund had been scuttled. Trump has repeatedly expressed approval for Blanche’s performance in his temporary post, including the day after Blanche‘s reversal on the settlement deal. “Todd’s doing a very good job at DOJ,” the president said during an appearance on Wednesday’s episode of the New York Post podcast, Pod Force One. Trump added, “I wanted to see how he’s received. ... We put him as acting, and he’s done a very good job, but I’ve known him a long time.”

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House passes Iran war powers resolution in bipartisan rebuke to Trump

The House on Wednesday voted to direct President Trump to withdraw U.S. forces from the conflict with Iran or win approval from Congress to continue the war, after four Republicans sided with Democrats in a striking sign of growing opposition to a military campaign now in its fourth month. Adoption of the resolution was a remarkable rebuke to Mr. Trump and his handling of the conflict, after he has repeatedly dismissed any effort by Congress to curb his power and as the G.O.P. has largely ceded its prerogatives to do so, deferring to him time and again. Republicans had abruptly postponed the vote two weeks ago, recognizing that they did not have sufficient votes to defeat the measure and wanting to spare themselves and the president the affront. But they made no headway over the ensuing days in winning converts, as the conflict has dragged on and Mr. Trump has made little progress toward ending it.

G.O.P. leaders were unable to delay the vote any longer because Democrats had invoked the War Powers Resolution, which requires consideration of such measures within a limited period of time. The move was also the latest reflection of divisions between Republicans in Congress and the president on a range of issues as their interests diverge in the run-up to the midterm congressional elections. It came after Senate Republicans have in recent days forced Mr. Trump to abandon his request for $1 billion in security funding for his ballroom project and a plan that the Justice Department announced to create a federal fund to pay claimants who accuse the government of having victimized them. The vote was 215 to 208 to adopt the war powers resolution, sending it to the Senate. Even if it were to pass both chambers, the ability of lawmakers to force a president to withdraw troops remains a contested legal question, and Mr. Trump and his senior aides have dismissed any effort by Congress to limit his war powers as unconstitutional.

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New York Democrats give preliminary approval to redistricting amendment

New York Democrats gave preliminary approval Wednesday to a constitutional amendment allowing them to redraw the state’s congressional lines in advance of the 2028 elections. The state Legislature’s vote formally kicks off what’s likely to be several years of bitter partisan feuds over whether blue New York should join the national redistricting wars. “You have Black members of Congress being specifically targeted,” Senate Deputy Leader Mike Gianaris said during the floor debate, referring to new maps that have been drawn in Republican-dominated states. “Of course Republican members of this body will say, ‘No, don’t fight fire with fire, don’t respond.’” The amendment to allow mid-decade changes to the maps can’t be finalized unless the Legislature approves it again next year and voters pass it as a referendum in November 2027.

Republicans and Democrats are expected to pour tens of millions of dollars, if not more, into that vote that could move up to four GOP seats to the Democratic column. And Democrats are doing everything they can to ensure that goes as smoothly as possible — they’re poised to approve a separate bill on Thursday that would give them the power to determine the wording of the referendum. “There is going to be a rigging of the system,” Republican Sen. George Borrello said. “We’re going to say the words just right, pour a ton of money into the propaganda, and try to convince people this is in their best interest.” Democrats decided to take an aggressive approach with the amendment after months of debating how far they should go. Not only would it allow for new lines before the next Census, but it’d permanently remove the state’s restrictions on maps drawn to benefit parties or incumbents. Wednesday’s state Senate debate was largely an argument over history. Republicans repeatedly dusted off quotes from Gianaris and Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins from when they worked with former New York City Mayor Ed Koch 15 years ago to call for more independent redistricting. Lines like “voters choose their elected officials rather than elected officials choose their voters” repeatedly resurfaced.

Read this article at Politico - Subscribers Only

Republicans rocked by Trump’s midterm approach

Republicans hoping to keep control of Congress in a tough election year have been thrown off-balance by President Trump’s focus on foreign policy, pet projects, and statements dismissing the importance of the midterms and cost-of-living issues. To be sure, Trump’s team is putting its shoulder into the midterm operations. The president has helped to catapult fundraising and clamp down on primary infighting that could distract from a unified message. But as Republicans were trying to roll out messaging on tax cuts, Trump’s actions in Iran dominated the headlines and national attention. And Trump in recent weeks has outright said cost of living and keeping control of Congress are not a part of the calculus in his approach to Iran — saying “I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation” and “I don’t care about the midterms.”

That’s left some Republicans scratching their heads. “Of course, that was frustrating,” one GOP operative said. “There is going to be a need to talk about the economy no matter what, because that’s always going to be the top issue.” Trump’s defenders note the president made the comments in the context of U.S. negotiations with Iran, and Republicans publicly insist his team is active in the 2026 fight. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said Wednesday that Trump is “absolutely” focused on the midterms. In a three-hour meeting with the president Monday, Johnson said, “we talked about domestic policy almost the entire time.” “This president is more laser focused and more dialed in on domestic issues here in the homeland than any president in memory,” Johnson said. “He spends more time working on domestic issues in one day than Joe Biden did in four.” The Republican National Committee (RNC) referred to Trump as “the party’s strongest messenger, biggest turnout driver, and the key to Republican success in the midterms.”

Read this article at The Hill - Subscribers Only

Lead Stories

ERCOT votes to streamline process for data centers looking to join the power grid

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) voted Tuesday to streamline its process for data centers looking to connect to the power grid. The vote comes as ERCOT is wading through a massive backlog of data centers and other large energy users — such as cryptocurrency miners and industrial facilities — looking to join the grid. In the past, these so-called "large loads" would go to their local utility company and ask to join the power grid. However, with so many data centers looking to connect, that’s no longer feasible. It’s hard to evaluate whether there’s enough transmission equipment — such as power lines and transformers — to connect a data center to the grid in a given area, when other nearby projects are constantly being proposed.

"That sequential evaluation of projects was growing untenable," said Bryan Clark, a partner at the global energy law firm Bracewell LLP's Dallas office. Now, ERCOT is planning to evaluate data centers in batches, rather than individually. Its board voted to move forward with the first combined study of data centers, known as "Batch Zero," on Tuesday. The new process will now go to the Public Utility Commission of Texas for approval on June 18. "Batch Zero is necessary as ERCOT intends to transition the large load interconnection process from an individual study-based approach to a batch study-based approach that allocates available transmission capacity for studied and committed large loads," ERCOT said in a statement to Houston Public Media. The new process has drawn widespread interest from technology leaders looking to develop in Texas, who have provided hours of public comment to ERCOT.

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$8.4B boost did not shield Texas schools from budget cuts, educators say

Nearly $8.4 billion in new state funding was not enough to save Texas public school districts from budget shortfalls and campus closures, school administrators said June 1. During a nearly 10-hour public hearing at the state Capitol, school district leaders spoke of efforts to stretch their budgets amid high inflationary costs as teachers explained their decisions to leave the classroom due to pay cuts and large class sizes. Last year, Texas lawmakers passed House Bill 2, a sweeping school finance bill designed to increase educator salaries, create a new pot of money for fixed costs, provide more training for teachers and boost special education resources. HB 2 sent approximately $8.4 billion to public schools after six years of largely stagnant state funding.

The measure also included a $55 increase to the base amount of per-student funding schools receive from the state, known as the basic allotment. That increase fell short of what some school leaders requested to keep up with inflation, although many groups lauded the passage of HB 2 as a whole, Community Impact reported. At the time, lawmakers said they hoped HB 2 would help offset growing financial pressures faced by some districts, and help schools recruit and retain experienced educators. Roughly one year later, districts across Community Impact’s coverage areas are cutting staff and closing campuses, citing enrollment declines and budget shortfalls. Austin ISD faces a $181 million shortfall for FY 2026-27 and is closing 10 campuses, while Judson ISD plans to close four schools to reduce its $37 million budget shortfall. Plano ISD recently announced a $44 million shortfall. “We live, figuratively speaking, paycheck to paycheck,” said Alejos Salazar, superintendent of Lasara ISD in South Texas. “We depend on you all to educate our kids.”

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Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson announces resignation after nearly four years in office

Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson announced Tuesday that she is resigning effective July 17, closing a nearly four-year tenure as the state’s top election official. “It has been an honor to serve the people of Texas in this role,” Nelson said in a statement. “My time as Secretary came at an important moment for Texas, and I am proud of what we have been able to accomplish as an agency in under four years.” Elected to the position in 2023, Nelson presided over seven statewide elections totaling 27 million ballots cast and oversaw grants to counties aimed at strengthening election integrity, according to a press release. “It has been my goal to ensure that voting in Texas is secure, accessible and fair,” she said in a statement.

Gov. Greg Abbott praised Nelson’s service and called her a “true champion for the people of Texas” and said, “Texas is better because of it.” A press release also touted record business activity during her tenure, with 3 million active business filers and the launch of Texas Express, an expedited filing service for the state. Prior to serving as Secretary of State, Nelson served three decades in the Texas Senate, where she became the first woman to chair the Senate Finance Committee.

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Texas AG Ken Paxton and Sen. Angela Paxton's divorce trial cancelled, officials say

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton – who is running for U.S. Senator against James Talarico in November – and his wife, State Sen. Angela Paxton, have had their divorce trial canceled and taken off the docket, WFAA has learned. The Paxtons filed for divorce in July 2025 amid allegations of Ken Paxton committing adultery, WFAA previously reported. In a statement posted to X at the time, Angela Paxton (R-McKinney) wrote: "I believe marriage is a sacred covenant and I have earnestly pursued reconciliation. But in light of recent discoveries, I do not believe that it honors God or is loving to myself, my children, or Ken to remain in the marriage."

In December 2025, they unsealed their divorce records, and WFAA reviewed the 50-plus pages of court documents. The divorce documents had little detail about Ken Paxton's infidelity, which played a role in his unsuccessful impeachment trial in Austin in 2023. "Respondent has committed adultery," Angela Paxton's lawyers wrote in her petition for divorce she filed against the AG on July 10. Now, the court has told WFAA that Judge Bob Brotherton had canceled the trial, citing that "the parties are not ready to proceed with trial at this time." In a statement to WFAA, Ken Paxton's lawyers, Laura Roach and Jared Julian, said "the parties have jointly agreed that a trial setting is no longer necessary and the Court has removed the case from the trial docket." "The parties have made substantial progress toward an amicable resolution of all issues and remain engaged in productive discussions. We are optimistic that a final agreement will be reached in the near future," the statement from Ken Paxton's lawyers continued. "Out of respect for the family and the ongoing process, no further comment will be made at this time.” Ken Paxton recently won the Republican primary runoff on May 26 against longtime incumbent John Cornyn. Ken Paxton will square off against Talarico in the November election for Cornyn's U.S. Senate seat. Ken Paxton's term as Texas Attorney General runs until Jan. 1, 2027. Angela Paxton was elected to the Texas State Senate in 2018.

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State Stories

Are Texans ready for Talarico’s kind of Christianity?

On a recent Sunday morning at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Austin, Texas, Jim Rigby asked his congregation to share what came to mind when he mentioned the Apostle Paul, the major Christian figure to whom 13 books in the Bible are attributed. They cheerfully complied: “Villain!” “Homophobic!” “He’s a jerk.” Paul’s attributed writings include passages seen as encouraging wives to submit to their husbands and instructing them to be quiet in church, and others condemning same-sex sexual behavior as sinful. Mr. Rigby acknowledged the trouble. But in a sermon that also cited the Bhagavad Gita and the Buddha, he nudged his congregation to reconsider the apostle, one of the most important in the early Christian church. “Aristotle and Plato, they were creeps, too, in modern times,” Mr. Rigby said. “But do we want to learn from our ancestors or not?”

One longtime member of St. Andrew’s was not there, although he had attended the previous weekend: James Talarico, the Democratic nominee for Senate. Mr. Rigby, who has led St. Andrew’s since the 1980s and is a well-known activist locally, has suddenly become a key to understanding Mr. Talarico, a candidate who aims to be the first Democrat to win statewide office in Texas in a generation. In an interview with The New York Times, Mr. Talarico described Mr. Rigby and St. Andrew’s, along with his grandfather, who was the pastor of several Baptist churches in South Texas in the late 1960s, as “the biggest influences on me as a Christian, as a human being.” Mr. Rigby baptized Mr. Talarico as a toddler, and married his parents. “He is my pastor in every sense of the word,” Mr. Talarico said of Mr. Rigby. “Not that we agree on everything.” He added: “I think every Christian disagrees with their pastor. And the beautiful thing about Dr. Jim is that he welcomes and encourages that.” At 37, Mr. Talarico has become one of the Democratic Party’s fastest-rising stars in part by talking about his identity as a Christian. Unlike some politicians who forge politically strategic relationships with faith leaders deep into their careers, Mr. Talarico has an authentic lifelong relationship with a local pastor, and speaks easily about his personal faith. Mr. Rigby does not use male pronouns for God, for example, because it is a kind of “violence” to imply to a girl that her brother is more like God than she is, he said in an interview after the service. He does not use the word “Lord,” because it conjures a wealthy, European, male God, he said. For that matter, he added, he does not much care for the word “God.” He uses it on occasion, he said, but he tries to use synonyms, because “it’s going to mean something different to everybody.” In his sermon that morning, he had referred to “the creative impulse of the universe,” which “can be called God, but it doesn’t have to be called God.”

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Pressure on Paxton builds after local plea deal

(Editor's note: This piece was originally published online May 16 by The Texas Tribune and has been updated by local editors.) Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is under fire for a plea deal his prosecutors offered in April to a Waco man charged with repeatedly sexually abusing a young boy. The deal in the case, which Paxton’s office took over about three years ago after the McLennan County district attorney recused himself, would have let the man plead guilty to two misdemeanors and serve a total of just one day in jail. Paxton has faced criticism from political opponents who say his office was too lenient toward the man, who admitted that he molested the victim as part of the deal. This comes even as Paxton has built a reputation attacking local district attorneys for being too soft on crime.

Rep. James Talarico, Paxton's Democratic general election opponent in November, said in a May 27 Facebook post that "Ken Paxton just gave an Epstein-style deal to a pedophile." “Predators who commit these crimes tend to repeat them over and over again, until stopped,” U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, Paxton's primary opponent who lost the May 26 runoff election, posted on X last month. “Paxton could have stopped this one, but instead cut him loose to reoffend over and over again, putting more children at risk.” State Rep. Jeff Leach, a Plano Republican who endorsed Cornyn’s reelection, sent a letter to Paxton’s office in May calling the deal “incomprehensible” and demanding answers. Paxton’s office did not respond to emailed questions for this story. A spokesperson pointed to a letter that two of his prosecutors who worked on the case sent to Leach last month, in which they explained that the case went to trial last year but ended in a 7-5 hung jury, and the young victim did not want to testify a second time after the mistrial. “The child emphasized that he preferred to move on with his life and prioritize his mental and emotional health,” wrote the prosecutors, Brenda Cantu and Dorian Cotlar. Beyond Paxton’s immediate political rivals, the deal has attracted criticism from local officials in Waco, including the McLennan County district attorney, a state representative from the area and even the judge presiding over the matter.

Read this article at The Texas Newsroom, The Texas Tribune and KWBU-FM - Subscribers Only

Texas court nixes shipper liability in Home Depot/Werner case

Just one day after the Montgomery Supreme Court decision set off speculation that the case could open the doors to shipper liability on top of widening the legal exposure of brokers, a Texas court slowed down that talk in the Lone Star State. The case of Montgomery vs. Caribe Transport II, which widened broker liability in safety-related incidents, came down on May 14. A day later, the Texas Supreme Court said in a case involving Home Depot and tangentially Werner Enterprises, “one who hires an independent contractor is generally not liable for the contractor’s torts.” Home Depot (NYSE: HD) hired Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ: WERN) to move freight. (Although in trucking terms Werner would not be considered an independent contractor, it is for this case because it was hired by Home Depot to move its freight).

The crash that launched the case occurred in April 2024 near Houston, on a frontage road of the Katy Freeway, just west of the interstate 610 loop around Houston. Juwan Smith, an employee driver at Werner, was transporting freight for Home Depot. Smith crashed with Natalio Garcia at an intersection along the road after reportedly running a red light. Garcia was killed. Home Depot was not initially named as a defendant in the case but was added later. The various arguments in the case focus on the term “duty,” and what was Home Depot’s “duty” to ensure a safe driver. “An existing duty already applies to the carrier and its employee,” Home Depot argued in an earlier legal filing. “A new duty, or the extension of an existing one involving the shipper’s selection of a carrier, is unwarranted.” In that same argument, Home Depot said “attempts elsewhere to impose liability against the shipper have failed.” “There is an existing remedy available to the injured motorists, and it lies against the driver and his employer, not the person who hired the independent carrier,” Home Depot said. The Texas Supreme Court agreed.

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Will new school district takeovers follow the model—and ‘chaos’—of Houston ISD?

No state has taken over as many local public school districts as Texas. Just since 2020, the state education agency has installed its own hand-picked leaders in eight districts. Four of those came this spring. At least another 10 are at risk of takeover, including, as of last week, the Austin Independent School District (ISD). And to lead some of these districts, Texas is turning to a cadre of officials with ties to Mike Miles, the man the education agency chose in 2023 to oversee the Houston school district, the state’s largest. Miles is also a close ally of Mike Morath, Texas’ powerful education commissioner. Already, at least two of these new district leaders have started to adopt policies similar to the contentious reforms Miles has pursued in Houston. He has touted improved test scores under his charge. Houston ISD had no F-rated campuses and fewer D-rated campuses in the state’s latest ratings compared with previous years.

But Miles has also sparked widespread protests in response to the district’s rigid adherence to scripted lessons and repetitive testing, the firing of principals and teachers, mass school closures, and the conversion of schools into charters. Miles did not respond to requests for comment from the Texas Observer. Houston ISD officials, in a statement to the Observer, said the district did not achieve better ratings by maintaining the status quo but “made difficult decisions” to improve academic performance, noting the majority of its campuses are now rated A or B. The school districts whose new leaders have connections to Miles should prepare for “upheaval and chaos,” warned an elected Houston school board member. “If anything doesn’t align with improving test scores, it will be taken away,” said Maria Benzon, who was elected in November to the Houston ISD board but is not permitted to serve under the ongoing state takeover. Under Miles, for example, Houston ISD eliminated librarian positions and turned some libraries into what Benzon called “detention centers,” because they are being used, in part, for students with behavioral issues. Morath, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) commissioner, has said the centers are used for more than just punishment.

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Dallas Stars announce plans for new arena in Plano

A day after the Dallas Mavericks announced their potential new home, the Dallas Stars said they’ve taken a “major step” toward a new arena in Plano. The organization said in a statement Tuesday it’s signed a non-binding letter of intent to build an arena and entertainment district at The Shops at Willow Bend. “This project would present a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for our franchise,” Dallas Stars owners Tom Gaglardi said. Plano confirmed in February it had been in "earnest discussions" with the team for the past year regarding the potential move. The Shops at Willow Bend is a 1.4 million-square-foot indoor shopping center located off of the Dallas North Tollway and George Bush Turnpike. The Stars’ letter of intent outlines plans for a mixed-use development including retail and dining spaces in addition to the new arena.

The letter will go before the Plano City Council next week for consideration. In a statement Plano Mayor John Muns called the Stars an “iconic North Texas organization." “We are encouraged by their interest as conversations move forward,” he said. The Stars’ lease at American Airlines Center ends in 2031. In a statement, Dallas City Council member Adam Bazaldua called the news "disappointing," but said it's not a "setback" for the city. "We have to work with the circumstances before us, and some factors are simply beyond our control," Bazaldua said. The Mavericks were awarded full control of AAC earlier this year in a dispute with the Stars over arena maintenance and improvements. The hockey team's headquarters and practice facility is in Frisco. "I know our City Manager worked diligently to keep the Stars in Dallas," Bazaldua said. "Unfortunately, following their split with the Mavericks, the organization apparently did not believe it could sustain the American Airlines Center on its own." On Monday the Dallas Mavericks announced they’ve chosen the former Valley View Mall site in North Dallas as the team’s potential new home when their lease ends, also in 2031, after ongoing speculation they were considering City Hall as a possible location. In a statement, the Mavericks said the long-vacant mall site "meets most of the criteria established at the outset of our evaluation process" and provides an opportunity to keep the team within Dallas city limits.

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Grand Prairie residents demand answers after canceled Muslim celebration at Epic Waters

More than a dozen speakers used Tuesday night's Grand Prairie City Council meeting to criticize the city's decision to cancel a private Eid celebration at Epic Waters Indoor Waterpark. Gov. Greg Abbott had threatened to withhold more than $500,000 in state funding after the celebration was announced. The June 1 event was organized by local Muslim families to celebrate Eid al- Adha, one of Islam's holiest holidays. The celebration was canceled in early May after Abbott accused organizers of promoting religious discrimination based on an early promotional flyer that described the gathering as a "Muslims only" event. The governor publicly threatened to pull approximately $530,000 in state funding from the city if the event was not canceled.

During public comment Tuesday, several residents and community advocates questioned why city leaders reversed course after initially indicating that organizers had followed the park's rental policies. Mohammed Abdullah, one of the event organizers, told council members that the city first stated all procedures had been followed before later canceling the event after what he described as political pressure from Austin. "Tonight we're asking for honesty," Abdullah said. "Grand Prairie proudly speaks about community, diversity, inclusion, respect and being a welcoming city for all people." Abdullah called on the city to provide a public explanation of how the decision was made and whether it was influenced by the governor's office. Other speakers echoed those concerns, arguing the cancellation sent a message that Muslim residents were not welcome in the community. Dr. Angela Lucky, a longtime Grand Prairie resident and community activist, said residents deserve transparency if state officials played a role in the decision. "Decisions affecting community events should be made locally and guided by the needs and values of the people who live here," Lucky told council members. Several speakers urged city officials to meet with Muslim community leaders and work toward hosting a future Eid celebration. Others said the cancellation was especially disappointing for children and families who had planned to attend the event. The controversy began in May when Abbott demanded the city cancel the event, citing concerns about religious discrimination. Organizers said the gathering was intended to create a family-friendly environment centered on modest swimwear and was never intended to exclude people based on faith. City council members did not publicly respond to the comments during the meeting. No action regarding the canceled event appeared on Tuesday night's agenda.

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Gina Ortiz Jones evades council vote, creates voters task force

When City Council tried to slow Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones’ drive to create a voting commission, she took the decision out of council’s hands by simply calling it into being. Jones said she forged ahead without a City Council vote “to make sure that process doesn’t get in the way of progress.” She relied on a technicality to launch the task force, whose mission is to advise her office on how to boost voter turnout in San Antonio. Municipal boards and commissions, such as the longstanding Mayor’s Commission on the Status of Women, must be created by council approving either an ordinance or resolution, according to city code. Not so for task forces, which mayors can create with the stroke of a pen.

Jones can decide what the task force will explore and who will sit on it without City Council weighing in. Task forces also require far less public access than city commissions — and the group is working out its recommendations to increase voter participation in private, without publicly available agendas or public meetings. Despite the differences, Jones continues to call the group the voting commission, as she’d originally pitched it. Jones put an ordinance creating such a commission to a council vote on April 2, a month after proposing it. But council members tabled it, saying they needed more information and time to consider it. The task force has met twice since May 22 and is under pressure to submit its recommendations in a matter of weeks. The mayor said she set an early July deadline for the group “to help us prepare for the November 2026 election.” Federal, state and county races will be on that midterm ballot, all of which are partisan races. The mayor and City Council are nonpartisan offices.

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Watchdog accuses Brandon Herrera’s congressional campaign of breaking campaign finance law

A watchdog group has filed a regulatory complaint accusing San Antonio congressional candidate Brandon Herrera’s campaign of funneling $2.7 million in contributions into a shell company so it can avoid reporting how it’s actually spending the cash. In a letter filed late last month with the Federal Election Commission, the nonprofit Campaign Legal Center alleged the Republican candidate, his principal committee, his leadership PAC and an authorized joint fundraising committee together skirted rules requiring them to show how they spent cash raised from donors. Campaign officials for Herrera, who’s running to represent Texas’ 23rd Congressional District, were unavailable Tuesday afternoon for immediate comment on the complaint.

The FEC, as a matter of policy, doesn’t comment on complaints. “The overall goal seems to be concealing their how they’re spending their money in a way that’s not only illegal but fundamentally undermines the transparency voters have a right to,” Campaign Legal Center Director of Federal Campaign Finance Reform Saurav Ghosh told the Current. Indeed, federal filings show 99.4% of Herrera’s 2026 campaign expenditures have gone to Texas Strategy Group, an entity that’s not registered to legally do business anywhere in the United States and doesn’t even have a website, according to the nonprofit’s complaint. During Herrera’s failed 2024 campaign for the same seat, 92% of funds were directed to the shell company, the document also states. Herrera, a YouTube gun influencer who’s never before held public office, landed the Republican nomination this spring after U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales ended his reelection bid. The incumbent for the South Texas district faced mounting pressure from the GOP to drop out over an affair he had with a former staffer who later died by suicide.

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James Talarico's latest response to GOP attacks? Barbecue

After weeks of Republican taunts that he's a vegan, Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico sat down Tuesday to a platter piled with brisket, ribs, sausage and brisket boudin. Then he dug in. "It’s so good," Talarico declared at Smokey Joe's BBQ in Dallas, saying it rivals some of the best barbecue back home in Central Texas. The lunch stop at Smokey Joe’s was equal parts meal and message. Talarico's taste in food has become an unlikely campaign issue in his Senate race against Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton.

Republicans have mocked him as a vegan and culturally out of step with Texas, an attack that gained traction after Talarico joined former President Barack Obama at Austin's Taco Joint last month. Talarico, a state representative from Austin, ordered two potato, egg and cheese breakfast tacos, which an employee later said was his usual order. "He's a vegan and you can't get elected as a vegan in Texas," President Donald Trump said. Gov. Greg Abbott wrote on X, "Potato egg and cheese? Homi is not beating the vegetarian allegations." Talarico repeatedly has said he is not a vegan, though he has added there’s nothing wrong with that. His campaign has spent days pushing back on the GOP jabs. Tuesday, he offered a highly visible rebuttal at Smokey Joe’s, joined by state Sen. Royce West of Dallas. The large meat platter included Texas Twinkies, bacon-wrapped jalapeño pepper stuffed with cream cheese and chopped smoked brisket. Talarico dismissed the vegan attacks as a distraction. "Ken Paxton doesn't have anything to run on," he said. "He doesn't have solutions to lower people's costs or unrig this economy, so all he's got is name-calling."

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Fort Worth to weigh local data center regulations as residents call for moratorium

Will Fort Worth join cities across Texas and the United States in implementing development standards for new data centers later this year, or perhapsenact a temporary moratorium on the projects? That was the question that Fort Worth City Council members began the process of weighing on June 2, during a long-awaited presentation on data centers from Fort Worth Assistant City Manager Jesica McEachern during the city council’s work session meeting. Data centers have become an increasingly prominent topic at Fort Worth City Council meetings as the developers behind multi-billion dollar projects have come to the city for rezoning requests and tax agreements.

Meetings on the southeast and southwest edges of Fort Worth have been filled with residents expressing concerns about the environmental and health impacts of data center projects, as leaders in nearby cities struggle to get a seat at the table with developers. The presentation was put together at the request of city council member Michael Crain earlier this year, with the goal of paving a path forward to balance potential economic development with those concerns from residents. The company Edged has been developing a data center near the intersection of Interstate 20 and Chapin School Road, located in Crain’s council district. McEachern outlined the economic impact of data centers before detailing current city regulations that pertain to them, then outlined new proposals for amendments to the local zoning code, noise regulations, water requirements, and a new strategy for economic development proposals for data center developments.

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Mansfield school trustees investigating residency claim made by board president

The Mansfield school board is looking into questions about whether the board president meets district residency requirements following a Star-Telegram report on Tuesday. In March, board president Jandel Crutchfield signed a non-homestead affidavit saying she does not reside in the Mansfield home she gave as her primary mailing address when she ran for school board in 2024. In the sworn statement, which was filed in Tarrant County, Crutchfield declared she had never lived in the Mansfield home and had no intention of doing so in the future. The affidavit characterized the home as an investment property.

In the same affidavit, Crutchfield designated a property in Itasca, some 40 miles from Mansfield, as her homestead, or primary residence. According to property tax records, though, Crutchfield does not own that home. Her husband, Johnoson Crutchfield, was the real estate agent who listed the Itasca property for sale. It sold in February. Stu Madison, a lawyer for the Mansfield school district, told the Star-Telegram via email the board had asked an outside attorney to examine the issue. “This matter is being thoroughly investigated by independent legal counsel on behalf of the Mansfield ISD Board of Trustees,” Madison wrote. He added that the board would release a statement once the investigation concludes. Jandel Crutchfield did not respond to a voice message or a text message requesting comment.

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Wylie principal resigns after backlash from Islam event

The principal at Wylie East High School resigned following backlash from a “Why Islam” event that occurred at the school in February. Tiffany Doolan, who had worked for Wylie ISD for 19 years, notified the district of her resignation on May 26. In a statement, the district said Doolan had been a victim of targeted online attacks and public hostility. In February, an outside group called “Why Islam” set up a table at WEHS during lunch. The group was on campus to meet with the Muslim Student Association for World Hijab day. However, school officials said they did not approve the tabling during lunch.

Following the event, the district placed a staff member on leave who they say did not verify the guest speaker approval process was completed. The event went viral after the president of the WEHS Republican Club, Marco Hunter-Lopez, posted a video to social media, in which he said the group was handing out information about Islam to students. Rep. Chip Roy invited Hunter-Lopez to testify to Congress. In his testimony, he called the event an “ideological promotion under the guise of diversity and inclusion.” WISD said in a statement that the district does not promote religion, politics, or ideology and that assertions that the district intentionally promoted a religion are false. Photos of Doolan wearing a hijab for World Hijab Day in previous years were resurfaced and also received criticism on social media after the “Why Islam” event. The district said the photos circulating were weaponized and taken out of context.

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Southwest Airlines just hinted at its biggest change yet—but it’s still 3 years away

In a nod to shifting consumer demands, Southwest Airlines is considering adding long-haul international flights to its offerings. If implemented, the change would be one of the biggest in the carrier’s 55-year history of flying. During a recent appearance at the Bernstein Strategic Decisions Conference, Bob Jordan, the carrier’s CEO, said that significant changes are currently in the works at the company, including the addition of long-distance routes and new destinations. Long-haul flights are typically classified as nonstop flights that last between six and 12 hours. Some major carriers, like American Airlines, define long-haul routes by distance, classifying them as flights over 3,000 miles.

“We’ll have far more domestic destinations that we can provide for you,” Jordan said at the conference. “We just opened acreage a couple of weeks ago—the Caribbean. We’re continuing to add destinations at a very swift pace here in 2026. And we’ll also offer you access to destinations that we don’t serve today. I think it’s likely that we’ll, over that period of time, delve into long-haul international.” However, the CEO noted that the integration of such longer flights may not start for another three to five years. He emphasized that plans for long-haul routes are in very early stages; no destinations have been finalized. “We don’t have to be Delta, American, and United in terms of that huge, wide, long-haul network,” he noted. “But through the right destinations, we can be highly relevant in our customer base in terms of where they want to go.” Southwest, which considers itself a low-cost carrier, has made significant changes to its business model over the past year, with the introduction of assigned seating and checked bag fees. The company is now looking to invest in more premium features for its guests. In February, Southwest integrated SpaceX’s Starlink Wi-Fi into its flights for seamless connectivity for passengers’ devices when they travel. The new partnership launches this summer and will be available on more than 300 aircraft by the end of 2026. As part of a larger effort to modernize the customer experience and improve financial performance, Southwest has also added extra-legroom seating and new fare bundles.

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National Stories

CBS News fires Scott Pelley of ‘60 Minutes’

CBS News fired Scott Pelley on Tuesday, jettisoning one of the network’s best-known journalists in a clash over the future of “60 Minutes,” the country’s top-rated news program. Mr. Pelley, 68, a “60 Minutes” correspondent and a former anchor of “CBS Evening News,” joined the network in 1989. At a staff meeting on Monday, he accused the network’s editor in chief, Bari Weiss, of “murdering ‘60 Minutes,’” citing the ouster last week of the program’s leadership team and two on-air correspondents. “We have parted ways with Scott Pelley,” Nick Bilton, the tech journalist who was hired last week as the new “60 Minutes” executive producer, wrote in a memo to the show’s staff on Tuesday night.

CBS News declined to comment. In a formal letter to Mr. Pelley, which was obtained by The New York Times, Mr. Bilton wrote that the correspondent had been “terminated for cause effective immediately.” Mr. Pelley, in a telephone interview on Tuesday evening shortly after he was fired, said he had devoted decades of his life to “60 Minutes,” which he said he still cared about deeply. “I have been in combat in Afghanistan,” Mr. Pelley said. “I have been in combat in Iraq. I have been in the war zone in Ukraine multiple times, risking my life and the happiness of my family because of my devotion to the broadcast.” The firing of Mr. Pelley is among the most consequential moves of Ms. Weiss’s rocky tenure at CBS. And it is almost certain to spike tensions that have coursed through the network for months. It also raises the stakes of Ms. Weiss’s surprising decision to replace the entire leadership team at “60 Minutes,” CBS News’s most successful franchise, and hire Mr. Bilton, who has no experience in broadcast TV, to oversee the show. The program’s viewership was up 9 percent this past season from a year prior, and the show is routinely among the nation’s highest-rated weekly broadcasts, according to Nielsen.

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Takeaways from Tuesday's primaries as Democrats try to make Iowa inroads and defend California

The contours of a premier U.S. Senate race took shape Tuesday night in Iowa, while President Donald Trump’s endorsement streak ran into a roadblock there. Democrats chose a nominee for a U.S. House race in New Jersey that could decide control of the chamber. But much of the focus is on California, home to Hollywood but not a governor’s race packing much star power. Here are takeaways from primary elections in California, Iowa, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico and South Dakota. Democrats stunned by how Trump has remade American politics have spent the past decade debating which type of candidate is best positioned to energize voters and win elections, not moral victories. Iowa marked the latest stop in this sometimes agonizing conversation.

The party’s establishment supported Josh Turek, a state representative who presented a compelling personal biography that included competing for the U.S. in four Paralympics. State Sen. Zach Wahls, meanwhile, offered himself as a more disruptive player, refusing to back Chuck Schumer as Democratic leader if he were elected. Democratic voters united behind Turek, who will face Republican Ashley Hinson in the fall. At this point, many of the party’s most fractious races are behind them. But Turek’s win could be closely watched in Michigan, where one of the last major Democratic primaries will unfold on Aug. 4. Rep. Haley Stevens is emerging as the establishment candidate there vying against state Sen. Mallory McMorrow and progressive Abdul El-Sayed. In just the past month, the power of Trump’s endorsement helped end the political careers of two senators — John Cornyn of Texas and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana — and Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky. But the president was unable to lift Rep. Randy Feenstra to victory in Iowa’s Republican primary for governor. Trump jumped in with his backing last week but Feenstra narrowly lost to Zach Lahn.

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GOP senators balk at Trump’s pick of Pulte to head national intelligence

Republican senators are expressing bewilderment at President Trump’s choice of Bill Pulte, the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, to serve as the acting director of national intelligence, with some calling him “unqualified” because of his lack of national security and intelligence credentials. Trump’s pick of Pulte, a loyal deputy who has raised allegations of mortgage fraud against some of Trump’s political adversaries, such as New York Attorney General Letitia James and Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), to oversee the nation’s intelligence agencies while the nation is embroiled in a conflict with Iran, caught Republican senators by surprise Tuesday. Republican senators say they have no oversight over the president’s choice of people to serve as acting Cabinet-level officials, but they signaled Pulte could have a tough time getting 51 votes to be confirmed as intelligence director for a longer term.

“The Senate doesn’t have any role to play in terms of confirming acting officials, but I see no evidence of any qualifications for that job,” Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), a senior member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said of Trump’s pick of Pulte to serve as intelligence director for the foreseeable future. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) said he doesn’t know much about Pulte but remarked he doesn’t appear to be qualified to serve as the president’s principal adviser on all matters related to national security. “The best I can tell you is he’s not qualified, but I don’t know anything about him other than that,” he said. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) also raised questions about Pulte’s qualifications to take charge of the nation’s intelligence agencies in a role overseeing the Central Intelligence Agency, National Security Agency, Defense Intelligence Agency and elements of the FBI. “I was surprised to see the name. I am not familiar whether he has any intelligence background, so obviously I’m going to have to learn a little bit more,” she said.

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Greg Abel puts his stamp on Berkshire Hathaway with pair of megadeals

Greg Abel spent the past year trying to reassure investors that Berkshire Hathaway is still the willing and opportunistic dealmaker it had been under his predecessor, Warren Buffett. He said the right things, but a prolonged slump in the company’s stock showed that shareholders wanted action. In one weekend in late May, they got it. Abel, who succeeded Buffett as Berkshire’s chief executive officer in January, agreed over the weekend to pay $6.8 billion for the home builder Taylor Morrison Home

while also in pursuit of a second multibillion-dollar transaction. On Monday, he delivered his encore: a $10 billion purchase of shares in Alphabet, Google’s parent company. “He’s unbelievably efficient, and that’s probably dramatized by the fact that I’m slow and inefficient,” Buffett said of his successor, in an interview. “Even in my prime, I did not get as much accomplished in a day as Greg does.” The deals rank among the biggest Berkshire has pursued in recent years and reveal how Abel is willing to borrow from Buffett’s successful playbook while putting his own stamp on how to organize Berkshire. “It signals to the market that Greg Abel is—no pun intended—ready, willing and able to allocate capital to deals and not afraid to venture into an out-of-favor industry in keeping with the Berkshire MO,” said Cathy Seifert, an analyst at CFRA Research. Since Buffett announced plans in May 2025 to cede his CEO title at year-end, Abel has been working to persuade Berkshire’s shareholders that he would maintain what has made the company such an unusual fixture among U.S. corporations: a conglomerate of unrelated businesses from railroads to energy to children’s toys, a dominant insurance arm and a sizable portfolio managed by the CEO. The new CEO came into the role as an operational maestro who would bring a critical eye to that vast portfolio of businesses.

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Tennesee GOP Rep. Andy Ogles deletes anti-Pride Month tweet

Rep. Andy Ogles made a social media post Tuesday saying “homosexuality has no place in America,” and then deleted it after drawing criticism from at least one fellow House Republican. The tweet from Ogles (R-Tenn.) wished his followers “Happy Nuclear Family Month” in an apparent reference to Pride Month, which began Monday. Rep. Mile Lawler (R-N.Y.) condemned the message as “absolutely idiotic” in a social media post. “Homosexuality exists. In America,” Lawler wrote on X. “In fact Andy, you have family, friends, neighbors, colleagues and constituents who are gay and lesbian. It doesn’t make them less than or somehow unworthy of being an American.”

Ogles said in a statement later Tuesday that the original post was written by a member of his communications staff and he only learned about it after the fact when he started getting calls about it. “The post was stupid, hurtful and a complete distraction from my America First focus,” he said. “The employee has been reprimanded.” House leadership did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Pride Month commemorates the 1969 Stonewall Uprising in New York, which served as a major catalyst for LGBTQ+ rights. Ogles has been called out for his social media posts in the past. Earlier this year, he faced backlash for posting that “Muslims don’t belong in America.” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries at the time called the Tennessee Republican a “malignant clown and pathological liar who has fabricated his whole life story.”

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Trump aims new tariffs at 59 countries and the European Union

President Trump has proposed tariffs of at least 10 percent on 60 American trading partners, his most aggressive effort yet to enact new import duties after the Supreme Court struck down the administration’s sweeping tariffs. Jamieson Greer, the U.S. trade representative, said on Tuesday night that investigations found that the 59 countries, along with the 27-nation European Union, had failed to enact or effectively enforce laws prohibiting imports made with forced labor. The administration, invoking a legal provision known as Section 301, proposed a 12.5 percent duty on imports from countries including China, Brazil, South Korea, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Goods from the European Union, Canada and Mexico would face 10 percent import taxes.

Mr. Trump has signaled he intends to use Section 301 to rebuild his tariff agenda after the Supreme Court ruled that he exceeded his authority by using the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA, to impose duties without congressional approval. After the court struck down those tariffs, Mr. Trump sought to revive them partially with a global 10 percent duty under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, a never-before-used provision. A trade court ruled in May that the move violated the law. The tariffs were initially scheduled to expire at the end of July. Mr. Greer’s office has also opened an investigation into what the Trump administration has described as “excess manufacturing capacity” among 16 of America’s largest trading partners. “Following the Supreme Court overturning the IEEPA tariffs, a legal basis was needed to rebuild Trump’s tariff wall, and this was a convenient way to do so,” said Steve Okun, chief executive of APAC Advisors, a geopolitical consulting firm. Mr. Okun added: “Tariffs are here to stay under the Trump administration.” Mr. Greer’s office is scheduled to hold hearings on July 7 about the proposed tariffs, which would take effect sometime after that.

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DOJ is investigating former congressman George Santos for insider trading on Kalshi

In February, four months after being released from federal prison, former Republican congressman George Santos took to social media to express his enthusiasm about attending President Trump's upcoming State of the Union address. "I'm going to be there for the State of Union in the gallery, guys," Santos said in a video he posted to X a day before the president's remarks. At the time, traders on the prediction market site Kalshi were placing millions of dollars worth of bets on who would attend. Santos' video confirming his presence sent odds soaring. But he didn't show up. "Watching SOTU from an airport tv was not part of the plan! FML," Santos wrote on X, using slang for a more coarse way of saying, "screw my life."

He posted the message as Trump was speaking, making those same odds in the Kalshi market plummet. What Santos didn't say was that he had already placed bets on Kalshi that he was not going to appear at the State of the Union address, according to three people with direct knowledge of his trades who were not authorized to speak publicly. They say Santos misled the public and turned a profit based on that deception in the tens of thousands of dollars. Kalshi detected Santos' trades, froze his account and referred the case to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Department of Justice, which both opened investigations into Santos, according to two people familiar with Kalshi's investigation who was not authorized to speak publicly. Neither the CFTC nor the Justice Department returned requests for comment. Kalshi declined to comment. Reached by NPR, Santos said, "Well, that's news to me," when asked about the insider trading probe underway into his activity on Kalshi.

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‘I thought I had my future wife’: The Florida woman catfishing America’s political class

Rob Field wondered if he had finally met the one. In December 2024, Field — then a top aide to Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy of New Jersey — swiped right on the dating app profile of a woman named Leah. When the self-described Florida transplant arrived for a winter date without a coat, Field purchased one for her. The two, who shared an affinity for left-leaning politics, grew closer over homebaked peanut-butter cookies and even talked of weekend trips to out-of-state football games. Over months of texting, Field came to believe that the woman who identified herself as Leah Andrews might be his “forever person.” But just over five months after they first met, surreptitiously recorded videos of their dates and calls were posted online by conservative influencer Steven Crowder.

Field watched himself on tape — his private observations on fellow Democrats and Republicans suddenly available for public consumption, just days before New Jersey’s contested 2025 primary election for governor. When he heard her voice in those videos it became clear to Field that she had never been who she said she was. She was not Leah Andrews, according to a lawsuit filed this week by Field, but a Florida woman named Alysia Gamble. According to public records and online videos we have reviewed, Gamble — who is married with kids — was a former QAnon organizer. Gamble’s five-month pursuit of Field wasn’t an isolated project: We have identified at least three other instances in which the Florida woman went undercover to court men in an attempt to capture a few moments of viral content later published online by Crowder or conservative activist James O’Keefe. Crowder’s media company, Louder with Crowder, did not respond to a request for comment, and O’Keefe, who is not named in the lawsuit, declined to comment for this article.

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Lead Stories

John Cornyn stands by criticism of Ken Paxton as unfit for office

Sen. John Cornyn will support the “Republican ticket” in November, but he said Monday he still believes Attorney General Ken Paxton is a crook who is unfit for office and will put the seat at risk in November. “I stand by everything I said during the whole campaign,” Cornyn told reporters as he returned Monday to the Capitol where he has represented Texas for nearly a quarter century. Cornyn lost to Paxton by a wide margin in last week’s Republican runoff, the end of a year-long primary battle featuring brutal attacks between the two rivals. Cornyn and his allies spent heavily on ads hammering Paxton over alleged personal and professional misconduct.

Paxton, who has denied wrongdoing, ran a campaign that leveraged his support among the conservative grassroots. He focused on criticizing what he said has been Cornyn’s disloyalty to President Donald Trump, who endorsed Paxton in the final days of the runoff. Paxton faces Democrat James Talarico, a state representative from Austin, in the general election. Paxton is expected in Washington this week to meet with leading Republicans and raise money for what is likely to be an expensive campaign. His campaign did not respond to a request for comment for this story. Talarico has shown he can galvanize his base and raise massive amounts of money – including $27 million in the first three months of 2026. Raising money could be a challenge for Paxton, who was vastly outspent in the primary. Cornyn has functioned as a kind of gatekeeper to many deep-pocketed Republican donors in Texas. He said Monday he will look to help with races in states such as Maine, Alaska and Michigan.

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Abbott campaigns against Talarico as he tries to lift Texas GOP ticket

In the days after the primary runoff, Gov. Greg Abbott was urgently working to mend fences among the state’s fractured GOP and sounding the alarm to supporters that they need to take this cycle seriously. He called on Republicans to back the entire party slate — even candidates he had campaigned against in the hotly contested primaries. “This year is unlike any other, and we MUST unite,” Abbott wrote in a fundraising memo. It is the latest example of how the Republican governor has cemented himself the leader of the state party as he has amassed a campaign war chest unlike any seen before. In a campaign cycle that is widely expected to be bruising for Republicans, as voters have soured on President Donald Trump’s handling of the economy and war in Iran, Abbott will likely be relied upon more than ever.

The governor is already setting the tone for the GOP. Abbott faces state Rep. Gina Hinojosa as he seeks a record fourth term in the governor's mansion. But since March, he has focused his fire on James Talarico, the Democratic U.S. Senate nominee, and rarely, if ever, mentioned his own opponent. The Republican governor has said Talarico “doesn’t share Texas values,” “needs to learn the definition of ‘humanity’” and suggested the Austin Democrat “could win in Minnesota, but not in Texas.” “Talarico can run for U.S. Senate. But he can't run from his record,” Abbott wrote in a recent post on X. It’s part of a strategy aimed at lifting an entire GOP ticket with at least a couple statewide candidates who Democrats think they have a real shot at beating — including Attorney General Ken Paxton right at the top. By focusing on Talarico, Abbott avoids drawing attention to his lesser-known opponent, while making the case to voters that Democrats on the ticket are too extreme. Talarico “is a piñata that is just such an easy target,” said Dave Carney, Abbott’s political consultant. “He is the leader of their band of misfits and they are just totally out of step.”

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Democrats fret Graham Platner could cost them — and not just in Maine

Graham Platner’s latest scandal has Democrats questioning whether the once-hyped candidate could end up weighing down their midterm chances. Platner is all but certain to be Democrats’ Senate nominee to face Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine)after next week’s primary, with Gov. Janet Mills having suspended her campaign in April. But the litany of potentially damaging stories keeps growing, with new reporting over the weekend that Platner exchanged sexual text messages with other women while he was married. The revelation, which follows scandals related to his offensive old Reddit posts and his tattoo resembling a Nazi symbol, are leading some Democrats to question whether Platner undermines their credibility in going after Republicans on issues of moral character. Even as Democratic senators publicly defend him, strategists worry whether Platner will be able to keep withstanding the ongoing drip of revelations about his controversial past — and about what might come out next.

“Up until now, the things that have come out, most Mainers have been pretty forgiving — enough to force out a sitting governor in a primary,” said Chuck Rocha, a longtime Democratic strategist who is advising multiple Senate campaigns but is not involved with Platner’s bid. “The thing that bothers me about Graham is every week it seems like it’s something else. … I worry because I have the scars of trying to beat Susan Collins for many cycles.” In Maine, where Democrats are also hoping to hold onto the GOP-friendly 2nd Congressional District and the governor’s mansion, strategists fret that the Senate candidate — who has appeared on the campaign trail with other Democrats this spring — could harm more than he helps come November. “Is he going to be an albatross to run with? Absolutely,” said one Maine Democratic strategist, who, like others in this article, was granted anonymity to speak candidly. “He’s going to lose. All these polls showing him up against Susan Collins — people forget that the voters who decide this race make their decisions in the last two weeks.”

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Ballroom? Weaponization funds? Battleships? The Trump losses keep piling up

President Donald Trump is suddenly taking losses from his own friends and allies, especially on Capitol Hill. GOP lawmakers are bucking Trump on his White House ballroom, shelving plans to spend $1 billion to secure the new facility and other areas of the presidential compound. The “Trump battleships” are steaming into a wave of skepticism at the House Armed Services Committee as lawmakers prepare to mark up the FY2027 defense authorization bill this week. (All puns intended.) The House may vote this week on a discharge petition for a Ukrainian aid bill that Trump is certain to oppose. Several dozen House Republicans could back the measure anyway. And after Trump — bogged down in negotiations to end the war with Iran — said Israel had agreed to halt its military assault against Hezbollah in Lebanon, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared he’d continue IDF operations in the southern part of the country. Trump reportedly yelled at Netanyahu over the offensive.

Most prominently, Republicans are also in the process of killing Trump’s $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund, a direct rebuke to the president. Trump and Hill Republicans are trapped in a dangerous paradox. Trump’s political endorsement is worth more than ever in GOP primaries, yet his legislative agenda and fixation on personal projects are growing more toxic heading into the fall campaign season. As more Republicans move past their primaries, they’re suddenly finding it advantageous to oppose him. Senate Republicans remain far short of the votes needed to begin floor consideration of their $70 billion reconciliation bill to fund ICE and Border Patrol. GOP leaders will make a decision today about whether it’s possible to pass the bill this week, but that’s looking increasingly unlikely. At least a dozen GOP senators said Monday that the White House’s attempt to quell the uproar over Trump’s “anti-weaponization” fund wasn’t enough to win their support for advancing the immigration-centric package — something that should unify them. In a statement, the Justice Department vowed to honor a federal judge’s approval of a temporary restraining order that paused the fund until June 12. But the statement said nothing about how the administration would handle the fund beyond that deadline.

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State Stories

Nate Cohn: A blue Texas may be more than a dream for Democrats

Could Texas really turn blue in 2026? While it’s tempting to be skeptical, a blue Texas is increasingly easy to imagine. It’s even easier to imagine after Ken Paxton’s victory over John Cornyn, the incumbent senator, in the Republican primary runoff on Tuesday night. That’s partly because Mr. Paxton, the state attorney general, has distinct political liabilities. He’s faced investigation, indictment, impeachment and a messy public divorce. But there’s another reason Democrats might pull off a statewide win for the first time in three decades: demographics. Texas is one of the most diverse states in the country, and national polls show Democrats surging back in support among young and nonwhite voters — and especially Hispanic voters.

On paper, these national demographic trends ought to send Texas racing toward the left and into contention. Add in Mr. Paxton’s nomination and you can start to see how Democrats could flip Texas this fall. After a decade of big talk from Democrats about Texas, it’s understandable that people could harbor some doubt about flipping the nation’s largest red state. Judging by presidential election results, Democrats barely made any progress at all: President Trump won Texas by almost 14 percentage points in 2024. But beneath the state’s stable Republican voting record, extraordinary demographic shifts have put Texas Republicans in a much more vulnerable position. To an extent few would have imagined a decade ago, Texas’ status as a reliably Republican state now depends on elevated levels of support among Hispanic voters. In the latest national polls, Mr. Trump’s gains among Hispanic voters have vanished — and the Republican grip on Texas is in danger as a result. The latest New York Times/Siena poll is representative: It shows Democrats ahead by 30 points, 54 percent to 24 percent, among Hispanic registered voters nationwide. That’s better than Joe Biden’s margin in 2020 and getting close to Hillary Clinton’s margin in 2016.

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U.S. House Democrats target Texas AG Ken Paxton over ActBlue lawsuit

The top Democrats on three U.S. House committees are going after Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, accusing him of ignoring consumer complaints about the Republican organization WinRed's online fundraising tactics, while filing a lawsuit against the site's Democratic counterpart ActBlue. The lawmakers — U.S. Reps. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, Robert Garcia of California and Joseph Morelle of New York — have demanded his office turn over any documents related to complaints about WinRed's use of a pre-checked box to draw repeated campaign donations from donors without their knowledge. "While you have done nothing to investigate dozens of such complaints from Texans about being defrauded by WinRed, the platform used to process campaign contributions to Republican candidates and political committees, your office has opened an investigation into an unrelated entity, ActBlue, which processes donations to Democratic candidates and causes," the lawmakers said in a letter to Paxton, who on Tuesday became the Texas Republican nominee for U.S. Senate.

The letter cites a May 12 report by Hearst Newspapers that 27 complaints had been filed with Paxton's office against WinRed, a platform he and other Texas Republicans use to raise campaign funds. Several complainants told Hearst that they had received no acknowledgement from the attorney general's office, despite some saying that the fundraising platform had siphoned much of their life savings from their bank accounts. The letter, signed by Raskin of the House Judiciary Committee, Garcia of the Oversight and Government Reform and Morelle of the House Administration Committee, asks Paxton to turn over complaints and related internal communications by June 8. However, because Democrats are in the minority in the House, they have no formal power to force compliance by Paxton or his office. Paxton's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The letter comes as the Texas race for U.S. Senate shifts into high gear. Talarico, a state representative of Austin, has acknowledged that his remarks might come off as "cringy," and has hammered Paxton over his 2023 impeachment by the Texas House on grounds that he used the attorney general's office to help a campaign donor. Hearst Newspapers found that Paxton's office had received dozens of complaints over recent years about WinRed from Texans, or family members on their behalf, who suspected the pre-checked box had allowed the platform to continue charging them for months, or even years. One donor said $15,000 had been taken from her account without her knowledge; another said nearly $11,000 had been taken from his account before he had noticed the missing funds.

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At largest rally yet, James Talarico and Gina Hinojosa up attacks on opponents

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gina Hinojosa joined James Talarico on the campaign trail Monday evening in Plano for the only time on his “The People vs. Ken Paxton Tour.” The event touted over 4,000 attendees — the most yet at any of Talarico’s rallies. During her 15 minutes with the microphone, Hinojosa drove home two points: Governor Greg Abbott is corrupt and public schools are overdue for proper government support. Hinojosa was elected to the Texas House in 2016 to represent part of Travis County, though she never meant to run for anything. She was a mom who was angry about her son’s school being shut down.

“I was compelled to run for the school board to save our neighborhood schools. I ran, I won. We saved our schools in that fight for our public schools,” Hinojosa told the cheering Plano crowd. “That took me to the House, where I’ve been fighting Greg Abbott’s corrupt agenda for our schools and for our state ever since.” Hinojosa will be on the Nov. 3 ballot against Abbott, the 10-year Republican incumbent. She’s running because the promise of Texas she was raised knowing is not the reality Texans are living today. The last time Talarico rallied in the area was February, before he beat Jasmine Crockett for the Democratic bid. A few hundred people were in Dallas’s Longhorn Ballroom under the disco ball that night. The first bill Talarico said he would draft as senator would be an anti-corruption bill to achieve six main goals. The bill would overturn the Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commissioner supreme court case that allows corporations and other outside groups to spend an unlimited amount of money on elections. It would also ban super PACs, bar politicians from insider trading, create term limits, overhaul the supreme court and end all gerrymandering. Talarico said the next action would be to “unrig this economy” in order to make the American Dream attainable again. Trickle-down economics is theft, he said. The theory suggests that financial benefits to corporations and the wealthy would ultimately benefit the working class.

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Drilling company sought clearance to drill four locations near Oak Cliff apartment complex before explosion

The City of Dallas, with the help of Austin Street Center and multiple other agencies, began moving the former residents of The Clyde Apartments to new temporary housing on Monday while a clearer picture emerged of the events that led to last Thursday's deadly explosion and fire. "I'm still waking up thinking it's not what it is. But it's real," said Aleya Montana, who lost two dogs in the blast and subsequent five-alarm fire that destroyed the two-story structure and killed three residents. Montana is among the families in 19 apartment units temporarily housed at the Comfort Inn & Suites on Inwood Road in Dallas. With the help of Catholic Charities, St. Vincent de Paul, the Red Cross, and Mission Oak Cliff, Austin Street Center is finding new apartments in the same general area of Dallas with 6-months free rent.

At the site of the explosion on E. 9th in Oak Cliff, Atmos Energy crews are still working to repair the gas line and restore service to the entire block, which remains closed between N. Denver St. and N. Patton Avenue. Most of the apartment debris has been piled into a corner of the lot where the building used to stand. The charred remains of the drilling rig suspected in the deadly explosion sit in a southeast corner. Online records from Texas811 show that "ECS" - Engineering Consulting Services - got clearance to drill soil tests at four specific GPS locations. As previously reported on WFAA, the current owner of the property was in discussions to sell the site for a larger development. The soil testing was being conducted at the request of the prospective buyer. Of the four drill locations identified, evidence of previous drilling can be found in the parking lot of the adjoining "Bonnie" apartments, a round asphalt patch surrounded by red spray paint that clearly denotes "ECS." Texas 811 records also show that at 12:57 pm Thursday that a "nicked" gas line with leaking gas was reported at the GPS location in front of The Clyde Apartments: BARBA Drilling identified as the contractor. The four soil test drill sites are identified by GPS as 1: 32.748976, -96.81924, 2: 32.74852, -96.81914, 3: 32.74911, -96.81973, and site 4: 32.74920, -96.82001. Online records show that "damage to gas line took place" a "nicked" gas line at GPS 32.74852, -96.81914, directly in front of the apartment complex.

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Most Texas companies are using AI — and some say it’s decreasing their need for workers

Texas executives say certain business tasks are being replaced by artificial intelligence, and 10% of the companies across the state using AI attribute it to a decreased need for human workers, according to a new survey from the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. The survey results, which were published in late May and came as part of a supplemental feature to the Dallas Fed’s widely watched monthly business outlook surveys, were based on responses from more than 300 executives across the state and offer rare insight into how the new AI reality is unfolding in one of the world’s largest economies. The survey also showed that two-thirds of Texas businesses are using AI to at least some degree, with executives overwhelmingly reporting productivity gains from employees who do.

“I think the big question in terms of the labor market is, ‘Is AI automating or augmenting workers?’ ” said Emily Kerr, a senior business economist at the Dallas Fed. “ ‘Is it replacing or enhancing workers?’ That’s like the big, open question. And from our survey over the past couple years, as we’ve been asking about this, the answer continues to be both.” The Dallas Fed survey’s release comes at a seemingly pivotal moment for the world-changing technology. Three-and-a-half years since the public release of ChatGPT, AI has remade stock markets, led to broad GDP gains and rearranged aspects of daily life for millions of people around the world. Yet in recent months so much exuberance has given way to what’s been dubbed an “AI backlash,” prompted largely by fears about widespread job losses as some corporate executives cite the technology for manpower reductions. Last month, days after Meta cut 8,000 workers as part of a larger pivot to AI, the pope published a 42,000-word encyclical calling for the technology to be “disarmed.” Big name tech founders have been getting booed at commencement speeches. A flurry of polling has shown Americans are increasingly more AI-pessimistic than optimistic.

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Denton sued by Texas over upcoming ‘Big Gay Swim Day’ at city pool

The Texas Office of the Attorney General sued the city of Denton last week, seeking to have a court prevent a “Big Gay Swim” event from being held at a city swimming pool. The lawsuit arose from a statement in the event’s online description, which said the pool would have “gender neutral changing rooms” during the event. However, the organizers removed that statement after the city notified them about the state law. “Prior to any action by the Attorney General, staff proactively took all necessary measures to ensure full compliance with state law in advance of PRIDENTON’s rental of the Civic Center Pool on June 7, including informing the organizers that certain elements of their advertising conflicted with state law and advising them of the requirement to comply,” the city said in a Monday afternoon statement.

The event’s hosts, Denton-area nonprofits PRIDENTON and OUTreach Denton, released a joint statement Monday. In it, the groups called the lawsuit “frivolous.” They also noted that they removed any mention of restrooms from the event’s promotional material on May 21 after a conversation with city officials. “We removed this language from all posts and advertisements about this year’s events, in compliance with these expectations,” the groups’ statement says. The statement also criticized SB 8 for lacking “guidance regarding its enforcement while assigning severe penalties for perceived violations.” “This legislation gives license to harass and surveil any person who does not present or conform within the narrow limitations of an oppressive gender binary,” it says. “Ken Paxton’s history of protecting predators instead of prioritizing the safety of children is well-documented and does not align with this lawsuit’s alleged motivation.” Inside a child sex abuse case that Paxton’s office offered a plea deal of 1 day in jail The lawsuit could mark the first legal test of SB 8’s standard of “every reasonable step.”

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Houston Rockets: Former coach Rick Adelman dies at 79

Former Houston Rockets coach Rick Adelman died at 79 Monday, the National Basketball Coaches Association announced. A cause of death was not specified. He ranks 10th all time among coaches in wins, with a career regular-season record of 1,042-749. Only four other coaches — Pat Riley, Gregg Popovich, Jerry Sloan and George Karl — coached more games and had a better winning percentage than Adelman, who took the Portland Trail Blazers to the NBA Finals twice and also was head coach in Sacramento, Houston, Minnesota and Golden State. Adelman was drafted by and played two seasons, 1968-70, with the San Diego Rockets. He coached the franchise — since moved to Houston — from 2007 to 2011.

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Bexar County election takeaways: GOP purges moderates, Democratic centrists skate by

A still-raging U.S. Senate primary between Republicans John Cornyn and Ken Paxton fueled big upsets all the way down-ballot in last week’s runoff elections. Meanwhile, Democrats didn’t have a big-ticket race on the ballot and saw a return to normal among their voters, who rejected some of the potentially problematic candidates who advanced from the March primary. Republicans’ U.S. Senate race was rocked by a last-minute Trump endorsement for Paxton, but Cornyn’s 28-point loss was still quite shocking considering that national Republicans broke spending records trying to help him over the line. “I think the margin in that race surprised everyone, including me,” said San Antonio political strategist Kelton Morgan, who got his start working for Arizona Republican John McCain.

The result was a number of losses for moderates in GOP primaries all the way down the ballot — from Trump-backed Carlos De La Cruz‘s win over state Rep. John Lujan (R-San Antonio) in the 35th Congressional District, to a longtime incumbent knocked out by his far-right challenger in a race to serve on the state’s Railroad Commission. Just three months ago, Democrats were in a similar position. A divisive matchup between U.S. Senate hopefuls James Talarico and Jasmine Crockett rocked that party’s March primary and fueled many surprises and upsets in races down-ballot. But Democrats’ Senate nomination was decided outright in March, yielding a much smaller turnout and more predictable choices in last week’s Democratic primary runoffs. “Democrats had many low-information voters turn out in the first round,” said San Antonio Democratic strategist Bert Santibañez. “Whereas, the Democrats who showed up for a runoff without there being a top-of-ticket highlight, they’re going to be more queued-up on the candidates, so you’re going to see a lot more informed decisions.” On Tuesday, Democrats on the West Side, for example, overwhelmingly chose labor-endorsed Adrian Reyna over a former Bexar County Constable with a long history of scandal in reliably blue Texas House District 125.

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SpaceX wins another $4.16B for Golden Dome satellites

SpaceX has landed another multi-billion deal with the U.S. Space Force — this time it’s $4.16 billion to build a satellite network to spot enemy attacks as part of President Donald Trump’s Golden Dome missile defense project. The contract came days after Elon Musk’s space firm got a $2.29 billion contract to build a satellite data network for the military, also for the Golden Dome system. The new deal eclipses that one as the company’s largest military satellite contract to date and comes weeks before the Starbase-based company is set to go public in what could be the largest-ever initial public offering.

The work in both cases will likely go to SpaceX subsidiary Starlink, which provides satellite internet service around the world and is the company’s biggest moneymaker. Starlink already operates Starshield, a secure network for the U.S. government and military. The newest deal calls for SpaceX to create a system to “sense and track airborne targets from space” by 2028 as part of a program called the Space-Based Airborne Moving Target Indicator program. It’s to include “space-based sensors, secure and rapid communication links, and resilient ground processing,” the Space Force said. It’s meant to augment the network of airplanes, drones and radars that are always watching for threats but that are more at risk from new weapons systems. “By focusing these capabilities to the space domain, we are providing the Joint Force with sustained battlespace awareness of contested airspace,” Space Force Col. Ryan Frazier said in a statement.

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Cathy McHorse, Austin child care advocate, dies at 57

Cathy McHorse, an Austin educator whose advocacy helped reshape early childhood policy and laid the groundwork for the passage of a landmark child care funding initiative, died May 23 after suffering a sudden brain bleed. She was 57. For more than 30 years, McHorse worked as a teacher, nonprofit leader and policy advocate, becoming one of Central Texas' most influential voices on early childhood education. Friends, colleagues and elected officials described her as a humble but determined force whose expertise and persistence helped push the needs of young children and working families from the margins of local policy debate toward the center of it. "Cathy was an amazing human being," former Austin City Council member Alison Alter said. "Her brilliance, sweetness and humanity touched people."

Born May 15, 1969, in Ann Arbor, Michigan, McHorse grew up in Rockville, Maryland. She earned a bachelor's degree from Duke University in 1991 and moved to Austin with Edward McHorse, who she married the following year. She earned a master's degree in early childhood special education from the University of Texas in 1993, a credential that would anchor a career spent arguing that children’s earliest years deserve far more public attention and investment. She began her career teaching special education at Graham Elementary School in Northeast Austin before stepping away from the classroom in 1996 to raise the couple’s three children. From 2007 to 2011, she worked as a math and reading intervention specialist at Highland Park Elementary School where she also served on the PTA. Her work later shifted to advocacy. At United Way for Greater Austin, where she worked from 2017 to 2023, McHorse emerged as one of the region's leading experts on child care and early childhood development.

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Texas ‘detransition clinic’ to offer surgery, counseling, fertility treatment

The nation’s first “De-Transition Clinic” will provide a multidisciplinary array of medical treatment, including surgery, fertility counseling, psychotherapy and speech pathology to patients who have received gender transition care before the age of 21, according to a previously unreleased settlement agreement with the Texas state attorney general’s office. The agreement between State Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) and Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston, coordinated with the Justice Department, ended a three-year investigation into the hospital’s treatment of transgender youth. Under the terms of the settlement, announced last month, the hospital will pay $10 million to the state to resolve allegations of improper billing to the state’s Medicaid program, ban five doctors from practicing at the facility and “permanently and irrevocably cease providing ... any sex-rejecting procedures.”

The 10-page settlement, obtained Monday by The Washington Post through a public records request to the attorney general’s office, details how the detransition clinic must be run. Under the agreement, Texas Children’s, the nation’s largest pediatric hospital, will create its detransition clinic within 90 days of the settlement. Its “multidisciplinary services” — provided at no cost for five years — will include a patient navigator to coordinate care across departments, endocrinology, surgery, primary care, fertility counseling, psychiatry, speech pathology and social work to assist with insurance and legal name changes. Care will be provided to patients who have received gender transition care before age 21, and obstetric-gynecology care for those over age 21. “The detransition clinic will formalize the supportive, multidisciplinary services we already deliver to all patients who need our care,” Texas Children’s said in a Monday statement. “This simply provides structure and a name for the services we currently provide.” The agreement requires that the hospital’s medical staff amend their bylaws within 90 days to require that staff and prospective appointees be evaluated on compliance with the new ban on “sex-rejecting procedures” and that anyone who violates it automatically relinquishes their position, according to the agreement.

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Laura Miller: Dallas must go strong mayor

I have seen City Hall inside and out. I have witnessed the best and worst of public service. I have both admired many of the people I wrote about and served with, and I have testified against others in criminal court and the court of public opinion. I have worked with the city’s most selfless business leaders and others who would suck the marrow out of their mother’s bones if it made them another dollar. I have marinated in this dysfunction for 40 years. And I have three conclusions: First, the council-manager form of government doesn’t work anymore. Second, our 14-1 City Council configuration, ordered by a federal judge in 1991 to increase minority representation, no longer works. Third, as a direct result of this, developers have filled the vacuum and are currently running our city. They build wherever they want, whenever they want to, no matter how inappropriate. They do it by flattering the people inside City Hall and by demonizing the ones outside of it. And the current sports arena pursuit is only the most brazen example.

We need wholesale change. AT&T is leaving downtown Dallas for Plano, and it’s not just the homelessness, lack of police presence, and general unresponsiveness to the company’s needs that sent it fleeing. Buried in the mountain of 5,000 emails released to the public several months ago was one from AT&T CEO John Stankey to the city manager, Tolbert, who was trying to convince him to stay: “My concerns transcend the immediate issues and moment, and extend to the ongoing and cyclical nature of our challenges with effective/sustained governance of the City … ,” he wrote. I will make my case for restructuring Dallas’ government with anecdotes. I have thousands of them, all neatly stacked in boxes containing dated reporter notebooks, scrapbooks, and old newspapers going back to 1983. They’re in my attic, where a pest control man recently removed a mother raccoon and her six babies. Digging through those notebooks, I chose carefully for this article.

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How the Dallas Mavericks' arena decision changes the fight over City Hall's future

The Dallas Mavericks announced Monday they're heading to North Dallas — leaving Downtown — ending months of speculation and clearing the way for what supporters and critics alike say could finally be an honest conversation about the future of Dallas City Hall. The team confirmed it has entered into an option agreement for 104 acres at the former Valley View Mall site near Preston Road and LBJ Freeway, where it plans to build a new arena and entertainment district. The announcement landed the same day the city published a long-awaited repair study showing what it would cost to keep City Hall standing — somewhere between $531 million and $611 million in construction costs alone, with 20-year occupancy costs climbing to roughly $1.5 billion.

The two issues had become inseparable in recent months, with some prominent voices pushing to demolish City Hall and hand the downtown site to the Mavericks. District 7 Councilmember Adam Bazaldua said that debate was never clean. "What we were initially given was meant to have a sticker shock, a shock value, and it did it," he said of an earlier repair estimate that drew headlines with figures as high as $1.4 billion. "What it wasn't was an honest discussion." With the Mavericks gone from the conversation, Bazaldua says the building can finally be evaluated on its own terms. "Now we can talk about City Hall just being City Hall," he said. Not everyone agrees repairs are the right call. "Say Yes to Downtown," a consortium of business owners and civic groups, has argued the site represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to re-energize the urban core.

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National Stories

Scott Pelley accuses CBS News boss of ‘murdering’ ‘60 Minutes’

CBS News faced a fresh wave of turmoil on Monday after Scott Pelley, the “60 Minutes” correspondent, laced into the show’s newly hired executive producer during a staff meeting and accused Bari Weiss, the network’s editor in chief, of “murdering” the longstanding Sunday news program. In an extraordinary exchange, Mr. Pelley, his newscaster’s baritone sometimes shaking in anger, told Nick Bilton, the new executive producer, that he had “slender” qualifications for his new job and questioned the network’s commitment to the future of the program, according to a recording of the meeting obtained by The New York Times. The 10 a.m. gathering, held at the program’s Midtown Manhattan headquarters, was intended as a formal introduction to Mr. Bilton, a tech journalist and filmmaker who was appointed last week as part of a major shake-up at “60 Minutes.”

CBS fired Tanya Simon, the previous executive producer, and her deputy, along with Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega, two of the show’s correspondents — an event that Mr. Pelley referred to as “Black Thursday.” Mr. Bilton, who had never worked in traditional broadcast news, opened Monday’s meeting by trying to assuage the anxieties of staff members who believed he might fundamentally change the decades-old DNA of the country’s top-rated news program. “For me, the journalism is the journalism,” Mr. Bilton said, according to the recording. “That is why I am here. That is why we are all here.” He added: “The rumors people are spreading, that I’m going to turn the show into 60 one-minute episodes, that it’s going to be like TikTok, that is not changing. The show is going to stay exactly like it is for now.” He also warned that the broadcast television industry that incubated “60 Minutes” would soon be obsolete. “Broadcast is an ice cube that is melting, OK?” Mr. Bilton said, saying the show had to adapt. “Bari loves this institution,” he added. “She loves ’60 Minutes.’” At that, Mr. Pelley interrupted. “She is murdering ‘60 Minutes,’” the correspondent said. “She does not love this place. She was brought in to kill it, and she’s been doing exactly that.”

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Inside a big primary day

Today is a huge primary day, spanning six states: California, New Jersey, Montana, South Dakota, New Mexico and Iowa. Both parties will land nominees in key House districts. Democrats will settle a contentious Senate battle in Iowa. The large field vying to replace former Speaker Nancy Pelosi in her San Francisco-based seat will winnow down to two. Today will also settle a host of questions. Will a mysterious super PAC successfully meddle in the Democratic primary for Rep. Tom Kean’s (R-N.J.) seat? Can the DCCC get its preferred candidate to take on Rep. David Valadao (R-Calif.)?

Here’s what we’re tracking. California. The California gubernatorial primary is the most important race of the day, with former Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.) in a strong position to advance to the general election. Republican Steve Hilton and billionaire Democrat Tom Steyer are battling to finish in the top two. House Democrats are eager to flip the 22nd and 48th districts, but they have bitter primaries in both seats. In the Central Valley, the DCCC is backing state Assemblymember Jasmeet Bains over progressive Randy Villegas, a move that has angered Latino leaders. One of them is likely to join Valadao in the top two. Real Change PAC, a mysterious pop-up group with ties to the GOP, has spent some $650,000 to try to thwart Democrat Rebecca Bennett in the 7th District primary and boost her rivals, Tina Shah and Brian Varela. Bennett is likely still the favorite to take on Kean. Trump endorsed Kean on Monday night despite the GOP lawmaker’s mysterious absence from public view for months. And in the open 12th District, a crowded field is competing to replace Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.). The top contenders are surgeon Adam Hamawy and organizer Sue Altman. State Rep. Josh Turek and state Sen. Zach Wahls are facing off in the Democratic Senate primary for a chance to take on Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-Iowa) in the general election. Turek has had millions of dollars in outside help and is the favorite here. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-Iowa) faces a right-wing primary challenge but is expected to survive. And there’s a crowded Iowa GOP gubernatorial primary, but Rep. Randy Feenstra (R-Iowa) got Trump’s endorsement and is in the driver’s seat.

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Federal appeals court rules that Trump’s trans military ban appears discriminatory

A federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., said Monday that the Trump administration’s transgender military policy appears motivated by "the bare desire to harm a politically unpopular group," delivering some of the strongest appellate criticism yet of a cornerstone of President Donald Trump’s campaign against transgender rights. Writing for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Judge Robert Wilkins concluded that key portions of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's policy likely violate the Constitution's guarantee of equal protection because they appear rooted in hostility toward transgender people rather than legitimate military concerns.

"The sharp contrast to the Mattis Policy ... appears to be driven by the bare desire to harm a politically unpopular group: persons who identify as transgender," wrote Wilkins, an appointee of former President Barack Obama. "As such, at this preliminary stage, I conclude that the Hegseth Policy is both arbitrary and based upon animus." The remarks came in a fractured ruling that partially upheld and partially narrowed an injunction against the policy. The court preserved protections for the named transgender plaintiffs currently serving in the military while allowing enforcement of portions of the policy affecting prospective recruits. But the most striking aspect of the 107-page opinion was Wilkins' repeated focus on what he described as evidence that the administration's policy targets transgender identity itself. The judge opened his opinion by recounting language used by Trump and Hegseth to justify the policy.

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Israel and Hezbollah trade new attacks despite Trump promise of de-escalation

The Israeli military launched deadly new strikes in Lebanon on Tuesday after reporting attacks from Hezbollah overnight, despite President Donald Trump saying both sides had agreed to de-escalate after Iran threatened to pull out of peace talks. Trump said Monday night that he had spoken with both sides and that they agreed “all shooting will stop” after Tehran signaled that Israel’s intensifying military operations in Lebanon could derail efforts to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Talks with Tehran were ongoing, Trump said. The Lebanese Embassy in Washington said Hezbollah had accepted the terms of a U.S. proposal for a “mutual cessation of attacks,” which would also block Israel from attacking Beirut. Its threat to do so had sparked panic in the Lebanese capital, after the U.S. ally’s deepest incursion into its neighbor in 26 years.

But despite the claims of a renewed ceasefire, clashes continued Tuesday morning. Israel continued to launch its own strikes on Lebanon, with the Lebanese Civil Defense agency saying on its Facebook page Tuesday that six people had been killed in an Israeli strike on Monday night in the village of Marwaniyeh in southern Lebanon. It was not clear exactly when that strike was launched. Lebanon’s civil defense said Tuesday that one of its centers, in Nabatieh in southern Lebanon, had been subject to “direct targeting as a result of a hostile Israeli airstrike.” It said the building was damaged, along with equipment inside of it. The Lebanese Army later reported that two soldiers had been moderately wounded as a result of being targeted by an Israeli hostile drone in Nabatieh. The Israeli military told NBC News that it had launched at least one strike in Nabatieh, but said it was targeting Hezbollah infrastructure.

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The Trump Administration is taking a strict approach to Medicaid work requirements

The Trump administration signaled Monday it’s taking a muscular approach to one of its signature and most controversial health initiatives: new work requirements that could force millions of low-income people off Medicaid. The new regulation — anxiously awaited by states who are due to implement the work requirements Jan. 1 — takes a stricter stance on verification and exemptions than state officials and patient advocates had hoped for. Administration officials said they sought to minimize enrollee paperwork and ensure everyone eligible for a work exemption receives it, while closing the door to fraud. “We’re forgiving but we’re not foolish,” Mehmet Oz, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS, said at a press briefing.

The regulations, while weedy, will affect how many millions of Americans could drop off Medicaid under a raft of new requirements included in President Donald Trump’s tax bill that congressional Republicans passed last year. Starting next year, those on expanded Medicaid — about 20 million people who earn up to 138% of the federal poverty line — will have to work, go to school or volunteer at least 80 hours a week to remain qualified for the program. They can be exempted if they’re pregnant, disabled, medically frail, in substance-abuse treatment or are full-time caregivers for a family member. “If your condition significantly impairs your ability to engage in work … then you are likely not subject to the work requirements,” Dan Brillman, the director of Medicaid, said at the briefing. Patient advocates had been especially concerned about the details around the medical frailty exemption — what qualifies and how people must prove they are medically frail before being allowed to enroll.

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Anthropic files to go public in blockbuster year for IPOs

Anthropic, the artificial intelligence lab recently valued at nearly $1 trillion, said Monday it has filed confidentially for an initial public offering, setting up a blockbuster year for IPOs. The filing could put the company behind the Claude AI model on a path to go public this fall. Elon Musk’s SpaceX is preparing to stage what is likely to be the largest IPO ever next week. The Wall Street Journal reported last month that Anthropic’s chief rival, OpenAI, was preparing to submit its own IPO filing imminently. Banks have told both Anthropic and OpenAI that whoever makes it to market first will get to define the new industry and have first dibs on the large pools of cash eager to back new AI companies. If both file initial paperwork with regulators around the same time, either would still have a chance to stage an offering before the other.

Anthropic said in a blog post that its plans will depend on market conditions and other factors. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in a CNBC appearance Monday that he didn’t think there was a race to go public. “We will do it when it makes sense,” he said. The year could end up being the biggest ever for money raised through IPOs if Anthropic, OpenAI and SpaceX all make their debuts. SpaceX is aiming to raise as much as $80 billion or more in an offering next week. It had a valuation of $1.25 trillion after its combination with Musk’s AI company xAI, and could see its valuation rise further. Anthropic has recently emerged as a front-runner in the AI wars after a period of staggering growth. The company, founded in 2021 by a group of former OpenAI employees including Anthropic’s now-CEO Dario Amodei, was once a scrappy underdog that investors were uncertain could pull ahead of the ChatGPT maker. That changed with the release of hit products like its AI-coding tool Claude Code, which became a viral hit across Silicon Valley and helped position Anthropic as a real competitor to OpenAI.

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Pentagon bans journalists from press office, designating it a classified space

The Defense Department has designated its press office a classified space and banned journalists from accessing it to meet with the public affairs officers who have traditionally answered their questions. The change in security status, which took effect in recent weeks, was confirmed by four people familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the nonpublic matter. While Pentagon reporters are still largely barred from the building, as litigation over the agency’s press rules continues, the change would have an outsize impact on them upon a possible return — restricting access to a space they have for years been able to walk freely.

People familiar with the change said it was driven in part by a shift that moved Pentagon speechwriters into the public affairs office. The office will be equipped with SIPRNet, the Secret Internet Protocol Router Network, so personnel can use the tool without decamping for a separate secured room. “The Pentagon Press Office has been redesignated as a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility due to speechwriters from the Office of the Secretary of War sharing the facility,” acting Pentagon press secretary Joel Valdez said in a statement to The Washington Post. “These speechwriters routinely handle classified material and require SIPRNet access,” he said. “As a result, journalists will no longer be permitted to enter the office space,” he added. “Access to the office of the Assistant to the Secretary of War for Public Affairs and to the Press Secretary remains available by appointment only.” The move comes amid a months-long legal battle over whether journalists should have unescorted access to unclassified spaces in the Pentagon. Members of the media traditionally have been allowed to access public spaces in the Defense Department, talking to sources and attending regular briefings.

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This GOP congressman is running unopposed in Tuesday’s primary. He’s been missing from Washington for nearly three months

GOP Rep. Tom Kean is running unopposed in his primary on Tuesday, seeking a third term in one of the nation’s most competitive seats. But voters haven’t seen or heard directly from Kean in months — and it’s still unclear when he might return to work on Capitol Hill. Kean has yet to offer a date for his return to House Speaker Mike Johnson and his team, who have been navigating their reed-thin margins without him since early March, according to three GOP leadership sources. The New Jersey congressman said in late April on social media that he’s dealing with a “personal medical issue,” without specifying what it is, and said he would be back “very soon.” Late last month, he told The New Jersey Globe that he’d be back in the “next couple of weeks.”

His absence, though, is now increasingly rattling House Republicans. Kean’s colleagues say they are worried about his health — and how the unexplained absence could complicate the GOP’s ability to hold onto a critical swing seat in an already difficult midterm cycle, according to multiple sources. Some Republicans, too, are frustrated by what they see as a massive public relations failure, sources say, with the congressman’s team unable to answer specific questions about his return — and then drawing national scrutiny for the lack of responses. Multiple aides in Kean’s office did not respond to requests for comment from CNN. Kean has spoken privately to Johnson since his last vote on March 5. But if the speaker or others in leadership are aware of Kean’s medical condition, they have not disclosed it to their colleagues or their own staff, sources said. Kean’s absence has mystified many of his House Republican colleagues. Some have been privately raising questions about what happens if Kean is forced to drop out of the race after the primary. Under New Jersey law, a post-primary vacancy would be filled by the state’s GOP county committee leaders. (Kean told the Globe last month that he is planning to run for reelection.)

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Lead Stories

Data centers need water. Could Texas oil companies help?

Thirsty data centers are cropping up all over Texas, as the state contends with a water shortage so severe that entire communities are running dry. But data center developers in parched areas of the state may end up banking on a little-known solution from Houston’s oil industry: oilfield wastewater, known as produced water. Deals involving the treated wastewater are already taking shape behind closed doors. After reaching a $43 million land deal for a power plant to support data center operations in an undisclosed location, Texas Pacific Land Corp. said it was “in talks” to supply the project with treated oilfield wastewater.

Using the waste stream as a water source is a solution that not only allows data center development to move forward more freely in Texas as water supplies dwindle, but could also solve an existential problem for oil companies. Their oilfields are drowning in wastewater. The longstanding practice of injecting this water underground has turned into a critical problem for Houston's oil companies as a rash of earthquakes, leaking wells and toxic geysers prove the wastewater they are sending underground is not staying put. State Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock, is aiming for a “twofer,” as he advocates for cleaning and reusing the wastewater for data centers and agriculture, and for recharging drying rivers – instead of injecting it underground into “pore space.” “Texas is out of water in some areas today,” Perry told a packed ballroom at the Produced Water Society Conference in Sugar Land in February. “Oil and gas industry will be out of pore space in two years. For those that are familiar, we can't inject anymore.” The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, charged with developing treatment and testing standards for oilfield wastewater, has yet to finalize a permit process for its release into rivers or for irrigating crops. But data center use could leapfrog this stalled process.

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Republican Party of Texas expects $600 million to be spent on campaigns in Texas

Now that the bruising primaries are over, both major political parties in Texas are trying to unify as early as possible before November. For Republicans, it’s repairing the rift between supporters of U.S. Senate candidate Ken Paxton and John Cornyn, who lost to Paxton in the GOP runoff. Paxton will face Democrat James Talarico in November. “We always have very brutal primaries. I mean, this is not a new thing,” Abraham George told us on Inside Texas Politics. “But, you know, at the end of the day, they will look at Talarico and go, well, there’s no way we can get behind that guy,” Abraham George is chairman of the Republican Party of Texas.

He tells us the state party has had conversations with both camps in an effort to mend fences and transfer support. George tells us that because Paxton won, and he needs all the support he can get, he’s ready to work with everyone. And George expects Cornyn to eventually get behind Paxton because he understands how dangerous Talarico is as an opponent. “We should take him seriously. I mean, he is probably more dangerous than Beto (O’Rourke),” George said. “He’s a weird, weird dude. But I’ll tell you the truth, he is very charismatic for a lot of people, very beta male, which helps with a great group of people. And so, we are taking him seriously.” The chairman tells us the GOP is focused on two areas of the state: South Texas, where Republicans are trying to keep the border counties they flipped during the last election. That cost the party millions, and it is already trying to raise more this cycle. They’re also paying closer attention to Harris County. George says GOP candidates have been performing better there in recent elections, and they’re looking to move the needle even more this cycle. George says Governor Greg Abbott, who is on the ballot against Democrat Gina Hinojosa, has promised to spend $20 - $25 million in Harris County alone. And those dollars will be just a drop in the bucket compared to the overall spending expected in Texas as both national Republicans and Democrats invest in the state. “We were told by RNC (Republican National Committee) a couple of days ago, a few days ago, we’re expecting about $600 million total spent in Texas between Democrats and Republicans. That’s a lot of money,” George explained.

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Records link soil analysis to nicked gas line at Oak Cliff blast site

Sparse but chilling details in an alert sent Thursday show that the firm overseeing a soil analysis at the site of a deadly Oak Cliff apartment explosion earlier this week reported a drilling company damaged a gas line near the building. Texas811 records reviewed by The Dallas Morning News indicate the damage was caused by a rig boring for soil samples. ECS Limited, a national engineering consulting firm with an office in Carrollton, reported the issue. Austin-based O-SDA Industries had plans to buy the Oak Cliff property to build low-income housing for seniors. Megan Lasch, the company’s president, said she hired ECS to provide a geotechnical report, in which engineers analyze soil, rock and groundwater conditions before designing foundations.

An ECS Limited spokesperson told The News in an email that none of its employees were on site at the time of the explosion. They declined to comment further, citing the ongoing investigation. Authorities have connected the explosion to a gas leak but have not provided further details. The records said the line was damaged with a drill rig by Barba Drilling, and a charred truck at the scene was registered to Barba Drilling Co. Manuel Barba, listed in records as the company’s manager, did not respond to phone calls, text messages or voicemails seeking comment. Officials said three people were killed and at least five others were injured in Thursday’s blast at The Clyde apartments in the 400 block of East 9th Street, near Patton Avenue. The tragedy is the worst gas explosion in the city since 2018, when a leak and subsequent explosion in northwest Dallas claimed the life of a 12-year-old girl. “This is absolutely catastrophic,” said Geoff Henley, a Dallas attorney representing the current property owner, who was not involved in the digging work. “A variety of things had to go wrong for this to happen.”

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Iran and US trade strikes, Kuwait comes under fire as diplomacy drags on

Iran and the United States said they had both carried out strikes on military targets, and each accused the other of acting aggressively as ?diplomatic efforts to end three months of war drag on. The U.S. military said it had at the weekend struck Iranian air defences, a ground control station and two drones that were threatening ships after "aggressive Iranian actions", including shooting down a U.S. drone over international waters. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said on Monday it had targeted an air base used by the U.S. in response to an attack on southern Iran. It did not ?identify the base, but Kuwait activated air defences on Monday and denounced Iranian missile and drone attacks, which it said were undermining efforts to reduce tensions in the ?region.

Oil prices, which have risen sharply since the start of the war, gained more than 3% on Monday after ?the strikes. Tensions were also fuelled by Israel ordering troops to move further into Lebanon against Tehran-backed Hezbollah, in a conflict that was reignited by the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran. The ?U.S. and Iran have sporadically exchanged strikes since a ceasefire took effect in early April, while Pakistan has been mediating efforts to secure a more durable agreement. An exchange of strikes ?last Thursday was described in similar terms by each side. The war launched by the U.S. and Israel on February 28 has killed thousands of people, mainly in Iran and Lebanon. It has also caused global economic pain by pushing up energy prices since Iran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, a vital global supply route for oil and liquefied natural gas. In a late-night social media post, U.S. President ?Donald Trump did not mention the exchange of hostilities, repeating his assertion that Iran "really wants to make a deal". He berated critics, including what he described as "seemingly unpatriotic Republicans", for negative “chirping” about ?negotiations to end the conflict. "Just sit back and relax, it will all work out well in the end - It always does!" he said.

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State Stories

Abbott: Texas GOP will help raise what Paxton needs to beat Talarico

Gov. Greg Abbott, Texas Republicans’ most prolific fundraiser, says Senate nominee Ken Paxton will have no trouble raising the money he needs to win in November. But Abbott made clear Paxton won't be on his own. Get the latest political news, analysis and policy decisions shaping Texas and the nation. The governor said well-funded Republicans up and down the ballot will help ensure Democrats don't "hijack" Texas. “We're all going to come together and make sure we have the resources capable of winning this election cycle, just like we have for more than 30 years now,” Abbott said Thursday at an event with law enforcement officials in Arlington. In the GOP Senate race, incumbent John Cornyn outspent Paxton nearly 2-to-1, funding a barrage of negative ads and attacks against him. Still, Paxton won the runoff Tuesday in a landslide and now heads into the general election against Democrat James Talarico, a state representative from Austin.

Questions remains about whether Paxton, whose legal troubles and personal controversies have bitterly divided the GOP, can raise what's needed for what could become one of the nation's most expensive Senate fights. Talarico pulled in $27 million in the first quarter of 2026, the largest first-quarter haul ever reported by a Senate candidate in any state during an election year. And he said Thursday his campaign had collected more than $3 million in the first 24 hours after Paxton clinched the nomination. Article continues below this ad Even in victory, Paxton was looking ahead to November and asking for donations. “I know how critical it is for our party to come together, and that's what we must do now,” he said. “Without a shadow of a doubt, I will be the Democrats' No. 1 target in November.” Abbott cannot directly transfer money from his sizable campaign account, which topped $100 million earlier this year. He can donate to other statewide and legislative races, but federal law prohibits money raised in state races from going directly to Senate candidates.

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Energy giant switches on first phase of $1.1 billion Texas solar farm set to power AT&T and Toyota

Sequoia Solar, in Callahan County, Texas, has officially brought its first 400 megawatts of capacity online. That first phase is now operating, while a second 415-megawatt phase is due online before the end of the year. Together, the two phases will bring the project to 815 megawatts, placing it among the continent's largest solar developments, according to Electrek. Power from the project is being sold under long-term purchase agreements to AT&T, Toyota, PepsiCo, and Donaldson Company. The project's launch also reflects a broader shift across the energy sector. Even companies with long ties to fossil fuels are investing more in renewable energy as utilities and major businesses look for stable, long-term sources of cleaner electricity. Texas is at the center of that growth, as solar and battery projects continue to spread while statewide electricity demand rises.

Adding hundreds of megawatts to the grid can help meet rising electricity demand and ease strain on power systems, especially in fast-growing states such as Texas. Solar can also make energy costs more predictable over time because sunlight is free and not subject to the same fuel-price swings as coal or gas. For companies like AT&T, that translates into lower operating costs and less pollution tied to their operations.

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Meta data center expected to become city of El Paso’s largest property taxpayer

The artificial intelligence data center that Meta Platforms Inc. is spending $10 billion to develop in Northeast El Paso will be the city’s biggest property taxpayer when the campus is fully built. The city of El Paso estimates Meta’s data center will pay around $15 million a year in city property taxes alone – not including what it may pay to other taxing entities. El Paso Electric is currently the city government’s biggest taxpayer, paying about $4 million last year, according to Robert Cortinas, the city’s chief financial officer and deputy city manager. “We’re talking about a large influx of property tax dollars in the very near future,” Cortinas told El Paso Matters.

The city and county governments in late 2023 awarded economic development incentives to Meta. Those consisted mainly of an 80% break on property taxes for 35 years. The city also committed $12.5 million to repair the road infrastructure immediately around the data center. That $12.5 million is the biggest outlay so far of an $80 million fund El Paso Electric committed to the city in exchange for City Council’s support of the utility’s 2020 sale to a J.P. Morgan-owned investment fund. The main reason the city courted Meta to establish a data center here, Cortinas said, was to increase local tax revenue from a multi-billion-dollar private investment that would lower the tax burden on existing El Paso property owners. The city recognized the project wasn’t a massive job creator, Cortinas added.

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Georgetown poised to expand water supply as city plans for long-term growth

The city of Georgetown is taking another step to secure its future water supply, announcing plans in May to significantly increase the amount of groundwater available to the city. Georgetown city leaders signed a term sheet with Recharge Water LP that would provide up to 34,800 acre-feet of groundwater per year, sourced from the Carrizo-Wilcox aquifer in Bastrop and Lee counties. Georgetown Mayor Josh Schroeder called the agreement a major milestone, as cities across Central Texas face growing concerns about water availability. “Water is one of the major issues in Central Texas,” Schroeder said.

If finalized, the agreement would span 30 years and is expected to begin delivering water to the city by 2031. There are also options for two additional 30-year terms according to the city. KXAN reached out to the Texas Water Development Board on the impact the agreement would have on the Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer and will update this story if a response is given. The move comes as Georgetown faces rising demand driven by population growth. City data previously projected a need for tens of thousands of additional acre-feet of water annually to meet long-term demand. To address that gap, voters earlier this month approved a plan to sell off portions of the city’s water utility outside city limits, a move leaders say could reduce overall water demand by about 60%. City officials say the combination of reducing demand and securing new groundwater will help cover most of Georgetown’s future water needs.

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Dallas builder shutting down, laying off 150-plus as bankruptcy, misconduct allegations roil owners

About 150 employees of a Dallas-based specialty construction company appear to be collateral damage in a legal battle between an out-of-state private equity firm declaring bankruptcy and its founders accused of financial misconduct. In a WARN notice dated May 19, Auzmet Architectural notified the state that it would be laying off 152 workers at its 1444 North Cockrell Hill Road headquarters. Most would be separated from employment immediately, with a select few assisting with wind-down until mid-July, the notice said. Auzmet designs and builds custom facades for buildings and has provided services at Dallas’ First Baptist Church, Atelier Flora Lofts, Ross Tower and more. The company has several ongoing projects in the city, notably Uptown’s under-construction Bank of America Tower at Parkside, and it is unclear what will happen to those projects.

On May 22, Auzmet, alongside owners Illinois Avenue Partners and a host of IAP’s other subsidiaries, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. A few months ago, IAP sued departed founders Richard Gifford and Michael Winton alleging a “pervasive scheme of financial misconduct, manipulation of IAP’s books and records, self-dealing, and concealment of company liabilities and financial status.” “The magnitude of Winton and Gifford’s malfeasance is substantial and has been debilitating to the Company,” reads the complaint, filed in Delaware Chancery Court in January. Winton and Gifford founded IAP, headquartered in Philadelphia, around 2018, and the firm initially targeted small custom signage companies and other commercial real estate contractors, according to the complaint. IAP then acquired Auzmet in 2021, its first major acquisition and the largest company in IAP’s portfolio by far, seeking outside investment to do so. The lawsuit then alleges that though the revenue of IAP’s portfolio companies couldn’t support additional acquisitions, the pair continued to seek outside investment and debt financing to acquire more companies while representing to IAP’s board and lenders that its portfolio companies’ financials were strong. Winton and Gifford then approached the board multiple time for cash infusions, citing cash shortfall emergencies, unexpected due to IAP’s purportedly strong financials, the lawsuit says. They also allegedly took out two loans totaling more than $1 million to fix cash problems and make payroll that they never disclosed to the board.

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Austin Pets Alive! gets $10K donation, pet beds

Austin Pets Alive! (APA!) received a $10,000 donation and 30 pet beds on Thursday. The donation was from Robert Thiele, an Amazon delivery driver and owner of Clark Courier Services, which was named in honor of his late bulldog, Clark, who passed away this spring after a battle with cancer. “I named Clark Courier Services after Clark because just like our drivers, he delivered smiles every single day. In a world full of best friends, Clark was the bestest,” said Thiele.

According to Amazon, the donated pet beds were given a second life through Amazon Re:Turn, which repurposes textiles from customer returns that could not be resold or donated. As a surprise for Thiele, APA! unveiled memorial plaques dedicated to Clark on shelter kennels, which were inscribed with his name and the words “forever delivering.” “Our Delivery Service Partners are local, small business owners embedded in the communities they serve. Robert’s been delivering in Austin for nearly seven years, and he’s not just moving packages. He’s showing up for the people, the pets, and the neighborhoods around him. That’s what this program is about,” said Emma Crowley, Amazon spokesperson. “Today, we got to give a little back to someone who has and will continue to give so much to others.”

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ACA enrollment is dropping nationwide, but not in Texas.

Cuts to federal subsidies for health insurance are driving people across the country to drop plans they bought through the Affordable Care Act marketplace — but not in Texas. A recent report by the think tank KFF found that 4.2 million Texans signed up for health insurance this year through the ACA, known as Obamacare, 5% more than last year and one of the largest increases in the country. It comes as the number of enrollees nationwide declined 5% to 23.1 million. States including Arizona, Oklahoma and North Carolina saw declines of 15% or higher. The upheaval in healthcare plans follows a decision by congressional Republicans last year to cut federal spending by letting expire what are known as enhanced premium tax credits.

Those credits were created during the COVID-19 pandemic to further lower premium costs for low-income families, while also expanding access to working-class families who had not qualified for subsidies when the original Affordable Care Act passed in 2010. The difference in Texas seems to be a bipartisan law passed in 2021 that gives the state's Department of Insurance the power to limit how much insurance companies raise rates on certain plans bought through the ACA marketplace. So while costs on middle-tier "silver" plans might have increased sharply in Texas, premiums for so-called gold and bronze plans have stayed relatively stable. The bureaucratic maneuver is known as "silver loading," said Alec Mendoza, a policy advisor with the non-profit Texas 2036. "Our preliminary data showed 75% of enrollees in Texas are still eligible for low cost plans and the numbers bear that out," he said. "We've been preaching for people to go and shop around." Texas is one of nine states to see enrollment increase this year for one reason or another. Some states like New Mexico and Massachusetts chose to help make up the loss of federal subsidies for their residents. Others, like Texas and Louisiana, not only have "silver loading" laws but also more uninsured residents because the state didn't expand access to Medicaid.

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Houston police add officers after major pay raise, matching U.S. trend

A year after Mayor John Whitmire secured city council approval of nearly $1 billion in police raises over five years, the Houston Police Department has more officers in its ranks than at any time in the last two decades. Whitmire and police union leaders have praised the uptick, tying it to improved morale and the lucrative new contract, but experts say rising staffing levels are a trend in law enforcement agencies across the country. “Our new contract appears to be bringing people in,” said Doug Griffith, president of the Houston Police Officers Union, in a previous interview with the Houston Chronicle. He declined to comment for this story.

But public safety agencies nationwide are reporting improved staffing numbers – including departments that haven’t handed out 36.5% in raises to officers, as Houston did. “We’re seeing incremental increases the last few years, things are stabilizing,” said Chuck Wexler, the executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum, a Washington D.C.-based police think tank. “Overall, staffing is better than it has been in years.” Seven of the 10 biggest Texas police agencies saw an increase in officer headcounts between 2024 and 2025, state data show, led by Fort Worth. HPD’s headcount reached 5,364 in March. That’s the highest in at least 20 years, according to city records. The department actually recruited more officers in its 2024 fiscal year – before the raises were approved – than in the last fiscal year or as of April in the current fiscal year, which ends June 30, city data show. But the number of officers leaving the department has dropped significantly, from 269 in 2024 down to 149 as of April in the current fiscal year, records show. That dynamic also is nationwide, Wexler said: Recruiting is improving at the same time that retirements and resignations are slowing. Still, Wexler praised the data out of Houston specifically, saying the officer headcount is the best in 25 years.

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Marvin Forland, who helped build San Antonio medical school, dies at 93

Dr. Marvin Forland, a founding faculty member of the UT Health San Antonio medical school, has died at age 93, university officials announced Thursday. An internist, nephrologist and educator, Forland established what was then the University of Texas Medical School at San Antonio — now the Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long School of Medicine. He helped shape the school from its earliest years “as a community devoted to forming humane and morally serious healers,” officials with UT Health, the academic health center of UT San Antonio, said in a release. Forland died Tuesday while in hospice care.

A native of northern New Jersey, Forland served in the military in the Renal Branch of the Army’s Surgical Research Unit at Brooke Army Medical Center and on the faculty at the University of Chicago School of Medicine. He returned to San Antonio in 1968 to help build the new medical school. The push for a medical school arose from public health needs in San Antonio, including care for indigent residents and demand for specialists, he told the Express-News in 2015. “Polio in ’49 and ’50 was a major problem and received a lot of national attention,” Forland recalled in an interview. “Tuberculosis and diarrhea diseases in children were far, far greater problems. So there were a lot of public health needs.” The opening of the medical school “provided a whole new tier of expertise,” he said.

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How the Spurs have arrived at the NBA Finals, well ahead of schedule

Late Saturday night, Keldon Johnson stood inside a still-buzzing visitors locker room in Oklahoma City, surveyed the bedlam surrounding him and tried to fathom the unfathomable. Atop his head, the Spurs forward was wearing one of his trademark Stetson cowboy hats. Almost everyone else in the room – starters, benchwarmers, G Leaguers and team staffers – had donned crisp black ballcaps bearing the Spurs’ logo that proclaimed the next stop in the team’s magical mystery tour of a season: “2026 NBA Finals.” “This is one of the most emotional, rewarding nights I’ve ever been a part of,” said Johnson, the only player in franchise history to endure six seasons without a playoff berth. “Starting with last year, coming in this year, believing in ourselves. It takes a village to be where we’re at.”

One season after finishing with the third-worst record in the Western Conference, two seasons after posting a second consecutive 22-win campaign, the Spurs are headed to the Finals for the seventh time in franchise history and first time since 2014. The Spurs face the New York Knicks, in a rematch of the 1999 Finals that produced the first of five title banners hanging in the Frost Bank Center rafters. Game 1 is Wednesday in San Antonio (7:30 p.m., ABC). Supposedly too young, too callow, too inexperienced for any of this, the Spurs got here by knocking off defending champion Oklahoma City in Game 7, on the road, by way of a brutally professional 111-103 victory Saturday. It was the type of triumph authored by a defiant team bent on bucking basketball history, in no mood to wait its turn. “Words like competitiveness, resolve, togetherness, execution, habits,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. “They don’t give a damn about the word ‘experience.’ ”

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CDC finds that most of those hospitalized with measles in West Texas were children or pregnant adults

A report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found that more than 90% of the people hospitalized during the first two months of the 2025 measles outbreak in West Texas were children. More than half were under the age of four. Of the five adults who required hospital care for measles during that period, four of them were pregnant. Two of them delivered their babies while they were in the hospital for measles, and both babies tested positive for measles within two days of birth. The CDC gathered this information from the available medical records of 54 of the 60 people who were hospitalized between January 20 and March 18, 2025. More than 70% of those hospitalized during these two months had pneumonia. Nearly 70% had hypoxia. 70% required supplemental oxygen. Four children were admitted to the intensive care unit; two required intubation and mechanical ventilation, and one child died. All of the people included in this report were either unvaccinated or their vaccination status is unknown. The West Texas measles outbreak continued through August 18 of that year. Of the 762 people with confirmed infections between January and August 2025, 99 were hospitalized. Another child died, bringing the total number of people killed by measles during the outbreak to two.

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Sudden death playoff decides winner of Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial

Russell Henley birdied the final four holes, including in a sudden death playoff, to win the PGA Tour’s Charles Schwab Challenge on Sunday at Colonial Country Club. Henley tracked down third-round leader Eric Cole to earn his victory. Henley shot 3-under 67 in the final round to finish at 12-under 268. Cole shot even-par 70 in the final round. After the win, Henley talked about when he knew he’d have a chance to pull off the victory. “When I made it the putt on 17,” he said. “I knew that I had a chance to put a little pressure if I played 18 well, and so just seeing those putts go in. Just kept fighting, and just got a little bit of momentum, and hard to believe I’m sitting here.”

It was the sixth win of Henley’s career and his first since winning the 2025 Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill Club & Lodge in Orlando, Florida. Henley talked about what it took to get the win, and how he kept his momentum heading into the playoff hole. “I was still kind of running on pure adrenaline at that moment,” he said. “I was glad I got to go hit a few balls off one tee while I was waiting, just to kind of swing my arms a little bit and just kind of try to get into a little bit of a rhythm, because I was very excited. So that was huge for me, and then just continued on into the last hole, and, yeah, crazy finish. I’m just over the moon.” For Henley, a Georgia native, it was his fourth top-10 finish of the season and his first since finishing third at the Masters.

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National Stories

Why it matters if OpenAI or Anthropic wins the IPO race

In the bitter rivalry between AI heavyweights OpenAI and Anthropic, it will mostly be who has the best technology that determines the ultimate victor. But which one of them gets to its public offering first matters a great deal, too. The window for initial public offerings is decidedly open, with a receptive market. Cerebras, an AI-chip company, rose 68% on its first day of trading last month. Only digital-design platform Figma’s absurd 250% rise last year was bigger for a company valued at more than $10 billion at listing in the past five years, according to FactSet data. Elon Musk’s SpaceX plans to follow up this summer in what may well be the largest IPO in history—with a targeted valuation of $1.5 trillion. That will add more heat to the IPO cauldron. This is all the more reason for OpenAI and Anthropic to try to be the first big artificial-intelligence-model developer to go public.

There are some clear advantages to being first out of the gate. Just as importantly, there are major disadvantages in being second. Academic research has shown that IPOs tend to come in industry clusters, and that companies listing later in a cycle don’t tend to perform as well. That stands to reason, given that higher-quality companies with deeper moats tend to go public early, triggering a barrage of followers that might not be as strong. And even in a hot market, there isn’t an infinite amount of money to go around. Investors may rotate out of other stocks to pile into SpaceX, then do more reshuffling to make bets on OpenAI and Anthropic later this year or next. The one that goes first is likely to gobble up more of the increasingly scarce capital. And both OpenAI and Anthropic are looking for sky-high valuations. Anthropic raised money recently at a valuation approaching $1 trillion. OpenAI was last valued in March at $852 billion.

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DHS backs off its demand for Green-Card applicants to leave US

The Department of Homeland Security said that highly qualified and skilled green-card applicants will see no noticeable impact from a controversial policy announced last week that most people seeking permanent legal residency would have to apply from outside the US. The clarification, which appeared aimed at reassuring employers and immigrants that the process won’t become restrictive, came in a statement Saturday, which said the guidance issued last week by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services merely reiterated longstanding law and policy. At the time, a USCIS spokesperson said immigrants temporarily in the US who wanted green cards “must return to their home country to apply, except in extraordinary circumstances.” This would have changed the decades-long practice of allowing immigrants sponsored by relatives or employers to remain in the US while waiting for green cards.

The latest DHS statement suggested that the requirement to apply from outside the US would not affect those who can serve US national interests or provide economic benefits, and that the policy won’t prevent any qualified person from obtaining a green card. Immigration lawyers said they received many worried phone calls after the initial USCIS statement from clients worried that the Trump administration was trying to restrict legal immigration. The new rule is “another way to try to deport people I believe are not deportable,” Elizabeth Goss, an immigration lawyer in Boston, said of the earlier policy. “It’s another way to force people out.” At the same time, DHS said that some applicants will need to begin the process in a US embassy or consulate outside the US. It won’t impact any current permanent legal residents, DHS added. The statement was reported earlier by the New York Times and CBS News.

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Blue states pitch 100 percent tax on Trump’s ‘anti-weaponization’ payouts

Democratic state leaders around the country have an unusual strategy to stymie President Donald Trump’s $1.8 billion settlement fund for people who claim they were wrongly investigated by the government. Their plan: Tax the payouts at 100 percent. California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) has endorsed the idea, saying, “It’s an action we look forward to taking.” State legislators in New York and Wisconsin are crafting bills on the topic. And Democratic candidates are rallying behind the tactic in blue states. “The slush fund is a blatantly corrupt theft of taxpayer dollars, and we need to do everything we can to stop it,” Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colorado) said in an interview with The Washington Post. Bennet is the leading Democratic candidate for governor in Colorado. “I actually think this won’t wear well with Republicans or Democrats in America,” Bennet said of the politics of Trump’s fund.

The issue is particularly relevant in Colorado, where Gov. Jared Polis (D) recently granted clemency to Tina Peters, a former county clerk who helped secretly copy voting machine hard drives in an effort to bolster Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election was stolen. Earlier this month, Vice President JD Vance said it was “reasonable” that Peters “get some compensation” from the fund. The Trump administration drew backlash from Democrats as well as some Republicans when it announced this month that it was establishing a fund to pay people who claim they were wrongly investigated or prosecuted, echoing the president’s claims of a “weaponized” justice system. Trump agreed to drop a $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS over the leak of his tax records in exchange for creating the $1.776 billion pool of money. A federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked the Trump administration from moving ahead with the fund as critics question how the money will be distributed and worry that it will go primarily to Trump allies. Democrats in Congress reacted to the fund with outrage but have limited options to respond while they are in the minority. At the state level, however, Democratic officials have more options to try to block the payments. In California, Assembly Budget Committee Chair Jesse Gabriel (D) said Democrats are planning to put a tax on the payouts in the state budget. “That money belongs to taxpayers, and we’re going to make sure it stays with taxpayers,” Gabriel said.

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Federal transportation board pauses proposed Union Pacific Railroad and Norfolk Southern Railway merger

The Surface Transportation Board is pausing a decision on an $85 billion merger between Union Pacific Railroad and Norfolk Southern Railway. The federal agency — which regulates the nation’s railroads — announced its unanimous decision May 28 to allow both companies to submit more information, including the merger’s potential effect on competitiveness, by July 27. Board officials said the railroads provided incomplete information when the application was first submitted and that a revised application didn’t fix the problem. The revision, submitted April 30, included an environmental review. Public comments about the application are considered in the completeness of the revised application, according to the agency.

“The board finds that there are several aspects of the revised application that are unclear or underdeveloped,” the agency said in a news release. Additional information is required “so that the board (can) thoroughly evaluate — and the public has an adequate opportunity to comment on — whether the transaction is in the public interest,” the agency said in a news release. The merger, if approved, would create a single-line railroad across the country, linking the East and West coasts. On May 18, Eric Gehringer, Union Pacific’s executive vice president of operations, told attendees of the 22nd Annual Southwestern Rail Conference that the federal agency was expected to make a decision on the proposed merger by early 2027. Gehringer said the merger would not create a behemoth railroad company. “I’m not going to integrate the two railroads right away,” he said at the Hurst event. “We’ll have a plan, it will be well thought out. We’ll have all of the changed management in place and we will make one adjustment after the next in line with safety, in line with service, in line with growth. We’ll make sure those changes, as we make them, demonstrate the outcome that we expected. If we have to adjust, we’ll adjust.”

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'At what point does it make sense to ditch a gas car for an electric vehicle?'

Rising gasoline prices have some Americans thinking about buying an electric vehicle. It's a big financial decision, especially since Republicans ended federal subsidies last year worth up to $7,500. Guadalupe Higuera, 30, of Phoenix, Ariz., bought his Chevrolet Equinox EV before that incentive ended. But he still wonders if it was a smart choice. Higuera responded to NPR's request for questions about reducing your climate impact and saving money. "At what point does it make sense to ditch a gas car for an EV?" he asked. "Does it make sense to replace it at a certain age or mileage? Or do we just drive it until the wheels fall off?" Higuera says his question is motivated by both saving money and reducing his contribution to the greenhouse gases that are warming the climate.

After investigating his question, the answer, as far as climate pollution is concerned, is clear: it makes sense to switch to an EV now. On saving money, the answer is more complicated. But Higuera concludes that switching to an EV was a good financial choice, too. One reason Higuera questioned his decision was that nothing was wrong with his previous car, a 2016 Jeep Wrangler. And his family has owned an auto repair shop, north of downtown Phoenix, since before he was born. So, he grew up with the idea that it's wasteful to get rid of a car that still runs fine. "I remember having that conversation with my parents [and] my older brother, before I got my current car," Higuera says. "And they're like, 'your car — we can keep fixing it. It's still good. There's nothing wrong with it.'" Americans are keeping their vehicles longer. The average age of cars and light trucks on the road increased to 12.8 years, according to the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics. Often, a big factor in deciding whether to get a new car is repair costs, according to AAA. And not everyone has the benefit of getting the family discount for repairs, as Higuera does. There are lessons for everyone considering an EV in answering Higuera's question. We set out to compare the costs of keeping his Jeep with buying his EV. And we used a tool that calculated typical repair costs (not his family discount), so the comparison can be useful to others.

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Cory Booker admits Graham Platner 'has questions to answer' following latest scandal

Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., admitted to having "concerns" on Sunday over the latest scandals surrounding Graham Platner, the presumptive Maine Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate. While appearing on ABC's "This Week," Booker was asked about the latest scandal plaguing Platner's campaign after it was reported that Platner had sent explicit messages to at least six women despite being married. "Do you have concerns with the weight of all these controversies that it may jeopardize Democratic hopes to get that Senate seat in Maine?" host Jonathan Karl asked Booker.

"Yes, I have concerns," Booker said. "That guy has questions to answer, and that’s what campaigns are for." Booker then pivoted to discussing his concerns over the Democratic Party failing to take back the Senate in 2026. "I know that so much is riding on Democrats taking control of the Senate," Booker said. "That this election, if we do not get the votes necessary to take care of the House and the Senate, we will continue to have an out-of-control president." Platner’s campaign confirmed the text exchanges to Politico following a report from the Wall Street Journal that claimed his wife, Amy Gertner, told a campaign aide about the texts after he launched his senate bid as they began looking into potential political liabilities. After the story went viral, Gertner released a five-minute video statement defending her husband and his campaign. "So it makes me really angry, disappointed, and I find it really shameful that there's a group of media outlets and people who are willing to spread gossip, instead of talking about real issues that Graham is running on — like healthcare and education and childcare," Gertner said.

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Mexico's Sheinbaum accuses U.S. of political interference after DOJ indicts Mexican domestic officials

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum launched her strongest criticism to date against what she says are blunt U.S. attempts to interfere in Mexican domestic politics. What had been a recurring theme in her recent speeches became on Sunday a rallying cry to stir up her supporters at a rally in Mexico City, where she claimed that since the deaths of two CIA agents on April 19, efforts by U.S. authorities and far-right groups to destabilize her government have intensified. The most serious attempt at intervention to date, according to her, came days after that incident when the Department of Justice indicted 10 Mexican officials — including Rubén Rocha Moya, the governor of Sinaloa state — on charges of alleged drug trafficking offences.

“An incident of this magnitude is unprecedented in our bilateral relations,” she said. “Is this really a legitimate, genuine interest in helping Mexico? Or are we perhaps seeing sectors of the U.S. far right positioning themselves ahead of their 2026 elections?” The president assured that Mexico is open to and committed to maintaining security cooperation in order to prevent drug trafficking, but this does not mean that the U.S. can determine who is guilty of a crime or not. “When pressure is applied to our institutions from outside, when it becomes accepted that another country can intervene in matters that are the responsibility of Mexicans, we’re no longer talking about cooperation; we’re talking about interference,” said Sheinbaum. The case involving the 10 indicted individuals has become the main point of tension between Sheinbaum and President Donald Trump’s administration, as it marks the first time a U.S. authority has requested the arrest and extradition of a sitting, elected Mexican official.

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Hard-liners balk at GOP’s failure to enshrine anti-transgender laws

GOP hard-liners who promised voters they’d use their new majority in Washington to enact anti-trans legislation are increasingly frustrated their leaders don’t seem to share the same commitment. A record number of bills that would roll back access to health care, sports participation and military service for transgender individuals have been introduced over the last year and a half after Republicans spent tens of millions of dollars campaigning on the issue in 2024. The party has struggled, however, to get more than a handful to President Donald Trump’s desk, and some Republicans worry the weak showing could deflate red state voters come November as the GOP fights to keep control of Congress.

These members are now looking toward legislative packages — like the annual defense policy bill or party-line budget reconciliation bills — as their last chance to codify restrictions on the trans community this year. But leaders are still not making the issues a priority, they say. “It just amazes me that they aren’t listening on this issue, I really don’t understand that,” Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) said in a recent interview. Hawley has failed to convince leaders to attach a provision in the current immigration enforcement-focused reconciliation bill that would defund Planned Parenthood, which offers gender-affirming care he called “risky” and “dangerous” for children. While he successfully zeroed out Medicaid funding for the health care provider in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act — one of the few anti-transgender measures Congress has enacted — that provision will expire in July, upping the pressure to get it reauthorized. “I’ve absolutely been telling [leaders] I want this in the next bill because taxpayer money shouldn’t be funding transgender treatment for minors,” added Hawley, who is now looking ahead to the potential third reconciliation bill the party could advance later this year.

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Copyright June 08, 2026, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved