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Newsclips - May 1, 2025 |
Lead Stories
The U.S. economy shrinks as Trump's tariffs spark recession fears
As President Trump marks his 100th day in office this week, there's not much to celebrate about the U.S. economy. Economic output is shrinking. The stock market has dropped sharply. And consumer confidence has tumbled to its lowest level since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. That hardly looks like the new "golden age" the president promised on Inauguration Day just over three months ago. Figures released by the Commerce Department Wednesday show that the United States' gross domestic product contracted at an annual rate of 0.3% in the first quarter of the year, after growing at a solid pace of 2.4% in the final months of 2024.
The quarterly GDP report covers the final weeks of the Biden administration and the early months of Trump's term, including the first rumblings of the president's new trade war. Growth was dragged down in part by a surge of imports, as businesses and consumers raced to stock up before Trump's sweeping tariffs took effect in early April. Imports are a net negative for GDP. Government spending was also down. Personal spending, which is the biggest driver of the U.S. economy, also slowed during the first quarter, after robust growth at the end of last year. Personal spending grew at an annual rate of just 1.8% in January, February and March — less than half the pace of the previous quarter. "Consumers continued driving the train but with much less gusto than they have been up until now," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics. An index of consumer confidence, compiled by the nonprofit Conference Board, has fallen for five straight months, and tariffs have now eclipsed inflation as a top concern. Many of those surveyed say they're worried that Trump's import taxes will raise prices and possibly drag the economy into a recession. The forward-looking elements of the confidence index are already well below the level that typically signals a looming recession.
Read this article at NPR - Subscribers Only
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John Cornyn trailing Senate primary challenger Ken Paxton, says new internal polls
New internal polls by both major parties show U.S. Sen. John Cornyn is in big trouble as he faces the toughest GOP primary opponent of his political career in 2026. A Republican poll obtained exclusively by the Houston Chronicle show Cornyn is down against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton among likely GOP primary voters by 17 percentage points. A Democratic poll shows him down more than 20 percentage points. The numbers have some Republicans worried that Cornyn is in a race he can’t win, and instead could force a primary fight that costs millions of dollars and ends up bruising the eventual GOP nominee ahead of the general election. And they come as other key Republicans are weighing whether to join the race. U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt of Houston, in particular, has emerged as a possible contender.
State Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, said it’s time for someone to have a serious talk with Cornyn about whether he really wants to go through with another campaign that could quickly turn negative and costly. “If I was an incumbent senator with these types of polling numbers, I probably wouldn’t run because you can’t win,” Bettencourt said. Cornyn has said he's not afraid of a primary against Paxton or anyone else. His campaign issued a similar statement Wednesday touting his easy primary victories over the decades and said he is “110% committed to running a vigorous reelection campaign.” So far, his campaign has heavily targeted Paxton, using social media to call the third-term Republican “a fraud” and alluding to Paxton having an affair that was confirmed during his impeachment trial in the Texas Senate. The new polling follows another survey earlier this spring, by Fabrizio, Lee & Associates, a firm used by the Trump campaign, that found Paxton up more than 20 percentage points in a head-to-head battle with Cornyn. Paxton said during a recent radio interview just over a week ago on KSEV-AM 700 in Houston that he later commissioned other polls that showed entering the race with a big advantage over Cornyn with likely GOP primary voters.
Read this article at Houston Chronicle - Subscribers Only
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Tesla board opened search for a CEO to succeed Elon Musk
About a month ago, with Tesla’s stock sinking and some investors irritated about Elon Musk’s White House focus, Tesla’s board got serious about looking for Musk’s successor. Board members reached out to several executive search firms to work on a formal process for finding Tesla’s next chief executive, according to people familiar with the discussions. Tensions had been mounting at the company. Sales and profits were deteriorating rapidly. Musk was spending much of his time in Washington. Around that time, Tesla’s board met with Musk for an update. Board members told him he needed to spend more time on Tesla, according to people familiar with the meeting. And he needed to say so publicly. Musk didn’t push back.
Tesla has been on a losing streak in the months since Musk, its visionary chief executive, began spending much of his time helping President Trump slash federal spending. Last week, after the company said its first-quarter profit had plunged 71%, Musk told investors he would soon pivot back to his job at Tesla. “Starting next month,” he said on a conference call about earnings, “I’ll be allocating far more of my time to Tesla.” The board narrowed its focus to a major search firm, according to the people familiar with the discussions. The current status of the succession planning couldn’t be determined. It is also unclear if Musk, himself a Tesla board member, was aware of the effort, or if his pledge to spend more time at Tesla has affected succession planning. Musk didn’t respond to requests for comment. During a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Trump thanked Musk for his government work. “You know you’re invited to stay as long as you want,” Trump said. “I guess he wants to get back home to his cars.”
Read this article at Wall Street Journal - Subscribers Only
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Greg Abbott calls for automatic denial of bonds during Houston visit pushing constitutional amendment
Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday demanded state legislators approve a constitutional amendment that — if passed by voters — would require courts to automatically deny bail to people accused of murder and other violent crimes in the state. Surrounded by crime victim families at Crime Stoppers of Houston, Abbott called on lawmakers to start a process that could put even more stringent requirements on judges and magistrates, who decide if a person can go free in between their arrest and trial. “Judges have far too much discretion to set easy bail on dangerous criminals,” Abbott said. The state constitution, which requires that bail be set in most criminal cases, has created a “broken” system, Abbott said.
Abbott’s called-for reform was quickly called unconstitutional by groups already skeptical of other bail-related bills moving through the legislature. The Texas Senate passed a bill in February, known as SJR 5, that proposes an amendment to the Constitution that would give judges discretion to deny bail to people accused of violent crimes and some sex-related offenses. The current bill requires judges to find evidence that a defendant won’t appear in court and is a danger. In his remarks, Abbott indicated the legislation should make the denial automatic – “unless there's clear and convincing evidence that the defendant will appear in court and not endanger the community.” The burden should be on repeat violent criminals “to prove that they are not a danger to the community,” Abbott said. Judges who don’t deny bail should be required to explain their decisions in writing and prosecutors should be able to appeal bail decisions to a higher courts, he said
Read this article at Houston Chronicle - Subscribers Only
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State Stories
Elon Musk’s lawyer drops out of Texas attorney general race
A lawyer for Elon Musk is dropping out of the race for Texas attorney general. John Bash, also a former federal prosecutor, said Wednesday that he had a family health scare that caused him to reconsider his plan to run for the post being vacated by Ken Paxton. “We’ve been deeply moved by the encouragement and support we’ve received over the past several weeks,” Bash said in a social media post announcing his decision. “I launched this campaign because I believe Texas must continue to lead the national fight to protect our prosperity, safety, and constitutional freedoms.” Attorney general is a high-profile job in Texas. Paxton is vacating the seat to run in a Republican Senate primary against Sen. John Cornyn, a former attorney general. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott also previously served as the state’s top lawyer. Bash applauded the other candidate in the race, state Sen. Mayes Middleton. “I will be rooting for the next AG to represent our great State with distinction and to continue the impactful work of General @KenPaxtonTX,” he wrote. Bash recently represented Musk in a defamation case in Texas.
Read this article at Politico - Subscribers Only
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Trump tariffs are putting even more pressure on Texas' soaring homeowner insurance premiums. Here's why.
President Donald Trump's proposed tariffs could cause homeowners insurance premiums in Texas to rise even faster this year than they otherwise would have, a new study finds. Even without tariffs, average premiums in Texas will rise by about $500 this year, according to projections from Insurify, an insurance comparison shopping website. But tariffs on imports such as Canadian lumber and Mexican lime — used in concrete — would push that to $713 a year, Insurify projects, bringing the average annual cost of homeowners insurance in Texas to $6,718 by the end of 2025 — an increase of 12% over last year. Texas homeowners already pay some of the highest home insurance rates in the nation, especially in regions such as Houston and coastal Texas. Average homeowners and auto insurance rates have seen double-digit increases in recent years, according to data from the Texas Department of Insurance, due largely to costly natural disasters as well as overall inflation.
"In the last five years, 68 billion-dollar disasters have impacted Texas, the most of any state, causing about $108 billion in damages," wrote Chase Gardner, data insights manager for Insurify, in an email. "Texas is one of the most at-risk states for hurricanes, coastal flooding, drought, hail, lightning, tornadoes, wildfires, ice storms, strong winds, heat waves, and cold waves." "All of these severe weather events increase risk for insurers," he added. "The substantial climate related losses Texas home insurers face force them to pass more risk onto homeowners in the form of higher premiums." If Trump's tariffs take effect and remain in effect, Gardner explained, claims will become even costlier, which will translate into higher premiums. "Tariffs will fuel rate increases even more, because tariffs increase the cost of home repairs," Gardner wrote. "Since rates are based largely on the cost to rebuild or repair a home, the added costs of tariffs will have to be passed on to the consumer through higher premiums." Over the past month, Trump has gone back and forth on his tariff proposals. Even so, the Insurify report noted, Trump's tariffs are already having an impact nationwide. In an April 2025 survey from the National Association of Homebuilders, 60% of respondents reported their suppliers have already increased material prices, or announced plans to do so, as a result of Trump's tariffs. The builders estimated that the overall impact of the tariffs would raise the cost of building a home by about $11,000.
Read this article at Houston Chronicle - Subscribers Only
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Former Sen. Phil Gramm warns that Trump tariff uncertainty could lead to recession
Former U.S. Sen. Phil Gramm voted for President Donald Trump three times and remains a fiercely loyal Republican. But that isn’t stopping him at age 82 from ringing alarm bells over Trump’s tariff policies, which he says are setting up the nation for an economic recession and political pain for Republicans in next year’s midterm elections. “They are not going to work and they are going to prove to be political poison,” Gramm, a professional economist who was known as one of the nation’s biggest budget hawks when he was in the Senate from 1985 to 2002.
Trump has placed tariffs of up to 145% on Chinese goods, prompting China to hit back with a 125% tax on U.S. products. He’s also introduced a 10% tax on goods from most other countries, while threatening to add on much higher rates for dozens of those nations after 90 days. In celebrating the first 100 days of Trump’s presidency, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said at a briefing on Monday that Trump is using tariffs as leverage to force other countries into negotiating with the United States, though no major deals have been announced. Gramm, who has lived in the Texas Hill Country for more than 20 years, said Trump is leaning into a series of “verifiably false grievances” that make it sound like free trade has been bad for the American economy when the opposite is true.
Read this article at Houston Chronicle - Subscribers Only
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Harris County leaders slam toll road bill as 'cash bailout' for Houston as it passes Texas Senate
A controversial bill that would take millions of dollars generated through toll roads in Harris County and reallocate them to the City of Houston was passed this week by the Texas Senate. The legislation would divert as much as $80 million from the county's coffers to Houston, and has been labeled a "cash bailout" for the city's budget deficit by its opponents. County commissioners and officials in cities such as Katy and Pearland have voiced vehement opposition to the bill, which they said will take funding from critical infrastructure projects and use it to plug Houston's budget gap. “I am not in favor the largest bailout for a city in the history of the state — at the expense of transportation infrastructure across the county and how it will hurt our economy," Commissioner Adrian Garcia said in a Wednesday statement to the Chronicle. "Nothing last night changed that. This is a matter that should and can be resolved locally."
Garcia said county officials reached out to the City of Houston with an offer to have a discussion. "So far, we’ve gotten no response” State Sen. Paul Bettencourt, who represents parts of northwest Harris County, introduced Senate Bill 2722. A companion bill is also under consideration in the Texas House. The bill mandates a 70/30 split between the county and city for revenue generated through the Harris County Toll Road Authority, Bettencourt said in a Wednesday news release. He said the legislation requires the county prioritize "actual road needs." "Since 2019, toll revenues in Harris County have been distributed based on political formulas rather than actual road needs," Bettencourt said. "If drivers are paying tolls, then drivers should see those funds reinvested into roads they actually use to help pay down the debt, prioritize county owned roads and split 70/30 with the City of Houston to cover expenses." Although Bettencourt alleged the county distributed HCTRA funds using a "political formula," county officials, including Republican Commissioner Tom Ramsey, unanimously approved a toll road funding redistribution April 21. A spokesperson from Ramsey's office also spoke against the bill at a House Committee Hearing Thursday.
Read this article at Houston Chronicle - Subscribers Only
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Matt Thomas, award-winning radio journalist and News 88.7 anchor, dies at 41
Matt Thomas, a longtime Texas radio newsman and midday anchor at News 88.7, died on Wednesday after a brief illness. He was 41. Known for his steady, professional delivery and excellent news judgement, Thomas was a key part of Houston Public Media's news operation starting in July 2022. He helped lead local listeners through many important stories, including Hurricane Beryl last summer, the 2024 presidential election and the Houston snowstorm in January. "Matt was a calm, reassuring voice in a fast-paced world of news," said Laurie Ramirez, longtime friend and Houston Public Media Executive Director of Content Operations. "He was a news guy through and through – he loved jumping on the big story of the day and considered anchoring the news a privilege and honor."
Thomas, a North Texas native, had a career that included ABC Radio News in New York City, KTRH in Houston, KRLD in Dallas and WFAA-TV in Dallas. He was also heard on public radio stations across Texas, anchoring statewide newscasts for The Texas Newsroom from Houston Public Media's studios. As a young reporter, Thomas was assigned to some of the biggest stories in Houston and elsewhere. He spent several weeks sleeping in a news vehicle while covering Hurricane Katrina for KTRH in 2005, was part of the coverage of Enron's collapse and aftermath and reported live from the scene of the tragic downtown Dallas police shootings in 2016. Thomas won numerous awards during his career, including regional Edward R. Murrow awards, a national Murrow for his work on a radio series and recognition from Texas Associated Press Broadcasters for other stories he produced. "I was always a big fan of Matt over the years and was thrilled when we finally got to work together," said Jack Williams, Senior Director of Content at Houston Public Media. "Matt was such a solid addition to our newsroom and was always a great resource for our coverage. He will be greatly missed."
Read this article at Houston Public Media - Subscribers Only
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Former Miss Venezuela: Why Texas must keep protecting citizens from meritless lawsuits
(Carmen María Montiel is a real estate professional, journalist, author of “Stolen Identity: A Story of Love, Violence and Liberation,” and a domestic violence survivor who has experienced the impact of SLAPP lawsuits.) Leaving my native Venezuela in 1988 to further my education and pursue the American dream began a journey that was often as difficult as it was rewarding. As a former Miss Venezuela and television journalist, I overcame countless obstacles building a new life — learning English, becoming a proud American citizen, earning my degree, and establishing a career at Telemundo. But none of these challenges prepared me for the day my ex-husband filed a defamation lawsuit against me after I filed for divorce and described in court documents instances of verbal and physical abuse. His lawsuit wasn’t about seeking justice. It was about silencing me. The problem with domestic violence is silence. Too many don’t talk, because we’re afraid that people won’t believe us. Afraid they will label us. Afraid for our lives and for the lives of our children.
While I was afraid of the consequences, I decided I had to speak out. And what I experienced was a surprise to me — I got sued for speaking the truth. It was a classic SLAPP — a strategic lawsuit against public participation. SLAPPs usually take the form of meritless defamation suits. These aren’t legitimate legal actions seeking remedies for actual wrongs. They’re weapons wielded by those with resources to silence, intimidate, and financially drain those who dare to speak out. Even when a defendant ultimately wins one of these meritless lawsuits, the cost and stress of defending the suit exacts a heavy toll on the victim. And that’s the point. SLAPP plaintiffs want these suits to shut down criticism or inconvenient truths. The Texas Citizens Participation Act (TCPA), our state’s anti-SLAPP law, saved me from years of stressful and expensive litigation. It allowed my attorneys to quickly file a TCPA motion to dismiss this frivolous lawsuit designed solely to punish and silence me.
Read this article at Dallas Morning News - Subscribers Only
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Baylor College of Medicine lays off 122 employees as Trump funding cuts loom
Baylor College of Medicine is laying off 122 employees as it prepares for major federal funding cuts from the Trump administration, the school announced Wednesday. While the layoffs affect less than 1% of Baylor's roughly 13,000-member workforce, they speak to the vulnerability of academic medical centers nationwide amid the proposed cuts to a range of federal health care services. Baylor leaders previously told the Houston Chronicle that they are cutting back the graduate school class size and pausing new construction projects in preparation of a major reduction in National Institutes of Health grant funding, which makes up about half of their $800 million research budget.
As Congress considers dramatically cutting Medicaid funding over the next decade, and the Department of Education slashes training grants, the Houston medical school needed to take further action, said Dr. Paul Klotman, Baylor's president and CEO. "We can't be waiting around for the shoe to drop, because we won't be able to buffer it," Klotman told the Chronicle. The affected employees work in administrative positions and did not treat patients, Klotman said. Additional programs and activities will be eliminated, but Klotman said those haven't been finalized. Baylor has also implemented a hiring freeze for all "college-funded" faculty and staff, according to the announcement, and divisions across the medical school are cutting budgets for nonessential expenses. Baylor is in an especially vulnerable position when it comes to federal funding cuts. The school typically operates with tight margins, commonly reporting annual losses of around $30 million to $40 million, according to audited financial statements. Last year, they drew $326 million in NIH funding – more than any other Texas university. The Trump administration has sought to dramatically reduce a portion of that grant funding that pays for research infrastructure and equipment, describing that spending as "administrative bloat." The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
Read this article at Houston Chronicle - Subscribers Only
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Gov. Abbott threatens to pull San Marcos funding over 'antisemitic' Israel ceasefire resolution
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has threatened to cut off state funding to the city of San Marcos after its leaders agreed to put an Israel-Hamas war ceasefire resolution to a vote next week. San Marcos City Council voted April 15 to advance a ceasefire resolution, with a formal vote scheduled for its May 6 meeting. That resolution includes support for ending U.S. military funding of Israel with federal and local tax dollars. Abbott on Tuesday said there would be consequences if the resolution passes in a letter sent to San Marcos Mayor Jane Hughson. The letter states that no governmental entity in Texas “may enter into a contract worth $100,000 or more unless it includes a ‘written verification’ that the contracting entity ‘does not boycott Israel’ and ‘will not boycott Israel during the term of the contract.’”
Abbott added that the city’s proposed resolution “seems calculated to violate this law by calling for San Marcos to limit its commercial relations with Israel.” The city’s resolution states more than $4.4 million in San Marcos residents' tax dollars went to Israel. Abbott refuted that statement, calling it “hard to believe.” Abbott added that the resolution’s call to reallocate those dollars away from Israel’s military and toward essential domestic priorities are “unacceptable” and a public expression of a desire to do what state law prohibits. Despite Abbott’s claims, San Marcos' resolution states that it's attempting to curb antisemitism rather than promote it. The resolution ends with the City Council condemning any “anti-Palestinian, Islamophobic, antisemitic, and all xenophobic rhetoric and attacks.” San Marcos officials declined to comment on Abbott’s letter, saying they do not provide comment on items that are scheduled for consideration by the full city council. They said the resolution is still expected to be considered at the May 6 council meeting.
Read this article at Houston Chronicle - Subscribers Only
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Bill that would save THC retailers from total ban advances in Texas House panel
Legislation that could save the state’s consumable hemp market from a total ban – while reducing it to edibles and non-synthetic, smokable low-dose flower buds, grown only in Texas – passed unanimously in a Texas House committee late Wednesday. Counties could opt out and elect to go entirely “dry” with no hemp sales at all through elections similar to those allowed for alcohol sales, and the entire hemp program would be moved from state health officials’ purview and under the direction of the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission. Even with local option, however, the plan is in direct opposition to demands by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and a vast majority of the Texas Senate that the state enact a total ban on gummies, vapes, drinks and other retail products made with hemp-derived synthetic tetrahydrocannabinol — or THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana.
The products have proliferated through more than 8,500 license holders throughout the state since they became legal through a loophole in a 2019 farm bill. But while Patrick visits smoke shops hoping to find underage customers and vowing to accept nothing less than Senate Bill 3’s ban on the retail consumable hemp market in its original form, the bipartisan House State Affairs Committee didn’t hesitate to rewrite the legislation before sending it to the House floor on a 15-0 vote. The new legislation, sponsored by House State Affairs Chairman Ken King, R-Canadian, comes three weeks after veterans, police, doctors, pediatricians, parents, scientists, and business owners testified past 3 a.m. at a contentious House hearing over the merits and risks of allowing the $8 billion industry to continue. The House version of the bill could still wipe out half of the value of products on the market today. But it stops short of killing the industry altogether, allowing hemp specialty stores but banning the products from being sold in gas stations and vape shops. The bill bans all forms of smokable hemp except low-dose hemp flower – not high enough to be psychoactive – that’s grown naturally in Texas. It also bans hemp vapes, including those made with THCA and other derivatives.
Read this article at Dallas Morning News - Subscribers Only
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Texas Senate approves bill aimed at ending State Fair’s gun ban
The Texas Senate approved a bill Wednesday that takes aim at the State Fair of Texas’ gun ban. The policy was put in place last year after a gunman shot three fairgoers in 2023. Only elected, appointed or employed peace officers are allowed to bring firearms. But the bill’s author, state Sen. Bob Hall, R-Rockwall, said the move denied “citizens their right to self-defense.” “This bill simply ensures that a lease on or other temporary control of government property cannot be used as a back door means to deny Texans their lawful right, to their God given right, to carry a self-defense weapon,” he said on the Senate floor. The legislation, headed to the Texas House of Representatives, would prevent contractors from banning guns in government-owned public spaces, unless state law says otherwise.
The State Fair contracts with Dallas annually to use Fair Park. There’s also language in the bill that allows residents or licensed gunholders to file complaints with the attorney general if they suspect a contractor is violating the law. Moreover, an entity found in violation could get a civil penalty between $1,000 and $1,500 for the first violation, and between $10,000 and $10,500 for the subsequent violation. The bill’s advancement to the House comes on the heels of lawsuits filed by Attorney General Ken Paxton, who sued the city of Dallas and City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert last year to prevent the policy from going into effect. Paxton, like Hall, argued the fair’s policies infringed on residents’ gun rights. But he did not prevail. Despite multiple attempts, the Texas Supreme Court sided with the fair. “Unfortunately, the liberal, woke, anti-gun lobby convinced the court to side with them,” Hall said Wednesday. But that hasn’t deterred the state’s top legal officer. Earlier this month, Paxton sued the city of Dallas once again, and this time he went after gun restrictions at the Majestic Theater and Music Hall at Fair Park. The two properties are also city-owned, but they’re managed by contractors.
Read this article at Dallas Morning News - Subscribers Only
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Over 1M Texans are caring for someone with Alzheimer’s disease or dementia, report says
Over a million people in Texas are caring for a person with Alzheimer’s or dementia, according to recent data. The Alzheimer’s Association released its 2025 report this week, outlining the prevalence and impact of the disease across the country ? with caregivers providing 1.9 billion hours of unpaid care in 2024. Estimates from 2020 show that nearly 12% of Texas seniors have Alzheimer’s, which is a progressive disease marked by loss of memory and cognitive function. The disease is the most common cause of dementia, which is the more general term for cognitive decline. Using 2020 data, the association estimates more than 450,000 seniors in Texas have Alzheimer’s disease. Those people also often need extra care and support, the majority of which is provided by family, friends and other unpaid workers.
Nearly 1.1 million Texans serve as caregivers for a person with dementia, according to 2024 figures, with the aggregate value of that uncompensated work exceeding $33 billion. Those caregivers may supply a range of support, including help with bathing, paying bills and communicating with health care providers. Nationwide, the study estimates, two-thirds of dementia caregivers are women. The need for caregivers is projected to increase over the coming decades, as the United States population ages and more people live with Alzheimer’s. As of this year, an estimated 7.2 million people in the country have Alzheimer’s, according to the report. That number could grow to 8.5 million by 2030, and to 11.2 million by 2040, data shows. That increase will require states, including Texas, to significantly boost the number of people working to support seniors with dementia, including doctors and home health aides. Experts say early intervention is the key to providing the best possible care for people with dementia. For loved ones, that may mean keeping an eye on the early warning signs of dementia and encouraging medical visits if those signs appear.
Read this article at Dallas Morning News - Subscribers Only
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First Denton County measles case reported amid outbreak
Denton County Public Health officials have reported the county’s first case of measles this year amid a growing statewide outbreak, according to a statement. The infected individual is an adult Denton County resident with an unknown vaccination status, officials said. The person visited several locations while contagious on April 19, including a Texas Rangers game at Globe Life Field and Texas Live! in Arlington, and three Flower Mound restaurants, officials said. On April 20, the person attended church at Flower Mound United Methodist Church and visited a Walmart store in Lewisville, according to the statement.
Measles spreads through the air when a person infected with the virus coughs or sneezes and can stay airborne for up to two hours, officials said. Those most at risk for contracting measles are the unvaccinated and those who are receiving treatment or have conditions that impact the immune system. Anyone who was at the locations on the dates listed should monitor for symptoms of measles until May 13, officials said. Symptoms include high fever, cough, runny nose, red or watery eyes, and flat red spots that begin forming on the face before traveling downward.
Read this article at Fort Worth Star-Telegram - Subscribers Only
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Dallas Morning News Editorial: Evictions are already easy in Texas, so why target tenants?
Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick instructed a Senate committee to find ways to protect property owners from squatters, people who never had permission to enter and occupy a building. What Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, produced is a bill, Senate Bill 38, that makes it easier and faster for Texas landlords to evict tenants. It was an odd response to Patrick’s charge. Squatting involves multiple crimes, such as trespassing and vandalism. Eviction is a civil matter. The existing eviction process already is faster here than in many states. One analysis of Travis County eviction court records found that, last year, 84% of eviction cases concluded within 30 days. Texas landlords successfully turn out thousands of tenants every year. In Harris County, property owners filed more than 80,000 eviction cases in 2023 and won at least 54% of them. Another 42% were dismissed. Renters won 0.62% of the time. The current eviction process works.
Lawmakers who want to combat squatters, versus targeting tenants facing eviction, have a better alternative. Sen. Bryan Hughes, R-Mineola, introduced a bill that specifically targets squatting and related usurping-of-property rights problems. SB 1333 defines a range of criminal offenses and attaches penalties. The bill’s supporters range from police departments to associations of apartment and campground owners, to Realtors and builders, to the Texas Farm Bureau and local government officials. True squatting cases are rare but significantly more complicated than a typical tenant-landlord dispute. If a property owner calls police to help remove a squatter — a trespasser — the squatter may claim to own the property. The officer can’t be sure who is telling the truth at that moment. Real hustlers can even victimize two people at once. These con artists will rent a vacant property — without the owner’s permission — to an innocent person who never suspects the purported landlord has no rights to the property. Both the real owner and the swindled tenant lose in such cases.
Read this article at Dallas Morning News - Subscribers Only
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County Stories
Partisanship debated in Tarrant County College board race
The race for the District 7 Tarrant County College board position is pitting a far right candidate against two contenders who don’t want partisan politics to interfere with educating students. Veronica Chavez Law, Hunter Crow and Cary Cheshire are vying for the District 7 seat after Kenneth Barr chose not to seek reelection. Cheshire did not respond to messages from the Star-Telegram requesting an interview, and he did not complete the Star-Telegram’s voters guide questionnaire. Election Day is Saturday with polls open from 7 am. to 7 p.m.
Kenneth Barr, a former mayor of Fort Worth who has served on the TCC board since 2019, is not seeking reelection, saying it is time for someone younger to take on the challenges of overseeing one of the largest higher education institutions in the U.S. Founded in 1965, Tarrant County College offers five types of degrees and an array of technical programs across its six campuses. The college estimates about 1 in 22 Tarrant County residents take a class at TCC every year. TCC is one of the country’s 20 largest institutions of higher education. Barr isn’t shy about expressing his views about his concerns that partisan politics will affect trustees’ decisions about what is best for the students who are seeking degrees and finding career paths, stating that he supports Chavez Law to succeed him. “This is a nonpartisan election for a nonpartisan board,” Barr said. “We need someone who’s committed to education, not politics.”
Read this article at Fort Worth Star-Telegram - Subscribers Only
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National Stories
Supreme Court has heated exchange in blockbuster religious charter school case
The Supreme Court’s conservative majority on April 30 seemed sympathetic to the Catholic Church’s bid to create the nation’s first religious charter school in Oklahoma, a potentially major expansion of the use of taxpayer money for religious education. However, the chief justice's relative silence makes it possible the case could end in a 4-4 tie, since one of the six conservative justices, Amy Coney Barrett, recused herself from the case. Apart from Chief Justice John Roberts, the other conservative justices involved in the case appeared swayed by the argument that barring the church’s participation would be discriminatory. “All the religious school is saying is don’t exclude us on account of our religion,” said Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
The court’s liberal justices, meanwhile, raised concerns about how religious charter schools could favor one religion over another and entangle the government in religious issues. "Really, what you're saying is the free exercise clause trumps the essence of the establishment clause," Justice Sonia Sotomayor told the attorney for the state’s charter school board. "The essence of the establishment clause was, 'We're not going to pay religious leaders to teach their religion.'" The Oklahoma case presents a major test of the separation of church and state. The U.S. Constitution prohibits the government from establishing a religion, but also says the government cannot prohibit people from freely exercising religion. In some recent cases where those portions of the Constitution have been in tension, the Supreme Court came down on the side of protecting religious exercise, expanding the role of religion in public life.
Read this article at USA Today - Subscribers Only
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Takeaways from Trump NewsNation town hall
President Trump on Wednesday called in to NewsNation for a town hall program marking the first 100-day milestone of his second term in the Oval Office. Rounding out a media blitz to celebrate the benchmark, Trump brushed off concerns about his polling and policies as he talked with moderators Chris Cuomo, Bill O’Reilly and Stephen A. Smith. After Trump appeared for a little under half an hour, other guests, including Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and former White House adviser Steve Bannon, appeared during the two-hour program.
Trump swatted away concerns about some of the moves that have stoked controversy throughout his first 100-day stretch. Asked to name the biggest mistake he’s made so far, Trump said he didn’t think he’d made any. “I’ll tell you, that’s the toughest question I can have because I don’t really believe I’ve made mistakes,” he said, arguing that the country is in a “transition period” and will see “tremendous economic victories” ahead. And as his dramatic tariff moves heighten economic anxieties, Trump contended that he knows his stuff “perfectly.” “We have to have fair trade. We’re losing billions and billions of dollars, hundreds of billions of dollars. And it’s not fair, and it’s time for the American people to be properly protected by somebody that knows what he’s doing,” Trump said. “And I know what I’m doing perfectly,” he asserted. He added that “it’s a little complicated subject” and “I’ve got to explain it.” The president has been celebrating his 100-day mark amid sagging approval numbers, but he brushed those off, too, lambasting “fake polls” and touting his November win as a sign of his enduring success. Trump and Smith were cordial to each other and shared kind words even as Smith has been critical of many of Trump’s policies.
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President Trump reveals what he told Zelenskyy during viral meeting at the Vatican
President Donald Trump revealed Tuesday evening what he and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy discussed during their viral meeting at the Vatican when both were in attendance for the late Pope Francis' funeral. "I was telling him that it's a very good thing if we can produce a deal, that you sign it, because Russia is much bigger and much stronger," Trump said Tuesday evening during a town hall hosted by NewsNation, which he participated in by phone. The pair met face-to-face for the first time since their contentious Oval Office meeting in February, while both attended the papal funeral. Neither White House or Ukrainian officials gave many details on the nature or content of the talk, other than that it was "productive" and "symbolic."
"We discussed a lot one on one," Zelenskyy posted on X following the viral meeting. "Hoping for results on everything we covered. Protecting lives of our people. Full and unconditional ceasefire. Reliable and lasting peace that will prevent another war from breaking out. Very symbolic meeting that has potential to become historic, if we achieve joint results." Despite few details being released about the meeting, Trump did tell reporters over the weekend that part of the pair's discussion revolved around the U.S. sending more weapons to Ukraine. "He told me that he needs more weapons, but he's been saying that for three years," Trump said. "We're going to see what happens – I want to see what happens with respect to Russia. Because Russia, I've been surprised and disappointed – very disappointed – that they did the bombing of those places after discussions."
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Home builders are piling on discounts as they struggle to entice buyers
Would a $5,000-off voucher entice you into buying a new home? Builder Taylor Morrison launched an email campaign this spring sending this offer to prospective house hunters. The discount is meant to offset President Trump’s tariffs, which are expected to push up prices for new homes soon. It is the latest profit-sapping endeavor that American home builders have resorted to in a sluggish market. The spring buying season, when builders make close to 40% of their annual sales, is halfway over. Based on earnings released by listed builders, demand has been disappointing. America’s biggest builder, D.R. Horton, said revenue fell 15% in its latest quarter compared with a year ago, while PulteGroup’s sales dropped 2%.
This is before the pain of tariffs is really felt. Builder LGI Homes said this week that its suppliers sent notice that they plan to raise prices soon for some components imported from China. Builders rely on Chinese manufacturers for white goods, parts for heating and ventilation systems and porcelain fittings. D.R. Horton and Lennar told investors that their building-materials providers are holding fire for now, but they expect import levies to push up construction costs later this year. Builders think new-home prices will rise by anywhere from $5,000 to $15,000 as a result of the trade war. The timing is terrible. Affordability is already so stretched that builders have been offering sweeteners including mortgage-rate buydowns, price cuts and design upgrades to get deals over the line. The number of completed but unsold new homes sitting on their lots has reached the highest levels since 2009. In a “completely abnormal” trend, home builders have increased their use of incentives this spring, according to Rick Palacios, head of research at John Burns Research & Consulting. They offered sweeteners equivalent to 7.2% of the home purchase price in the first two weeks of April, up from 6.1% in January, data from John Burns show. Usually, they dial back incentives and raise prices this time of year.
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The Senate votes down resolution to block Trump's global tariffs amid economic turmoil
Senate Republicans narrowly voted down a Democratic resolution Wednesday that would have blocked global tariffs announced by Donald Trump earlier this month, giving the president a modest win as lawmakers in both parties have remained skeptical of his trade agenda. Trump announced the far-reaching tariffs on nearly all U.S. trading partners April 2 and then reversed himself a few days later after a market meltdown, suspending the import taxes for 90 days. Amid the uncertainty for both U.S. consumers and businesses, the Commerce Department said Wednesday that the U.S. economy shrank 0.3% from January through March, the first drop in three years. The 49-49 vote came weeks after the Senate approved a resolution that would have have thwarted Trump’s ability to impose tariffs on Canada.
That measure passed 51-48 with the votes of four Republicans — Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul of Kentucky. But McConnell — who has been sharply critical of the tariffs but had not said how he would vote — and Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse were absent Wednesday, denying Democrats the votes for passage. Democrats said their primary aim was to put Republicans on the record either way and to try to reassert congressional powers. “The Senate cannot be an idle spectator in the tariff madness,” said Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden, a lead sponsor of the resolution. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said the dismal economic numbers should be a “wakeup call” to Republicans.
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Florida leads as state and local governments sign on for Trump's mass deportations
The roster of local police departments and state agencies that have joined President Donald Trump’s drive for mass deportations has soared to more than 500, with nearly half from Florida. That cooperation will be on display Thursday when Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis joins officials from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to tout an operation that authorities say netted about 800 immigration arrests in less than a week. Local police can make immigration arrests and detain people for immigration violations under specific agreements. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement had 135 agreements across 21 states in December. That number has jumped to 506 deals across 38 states, with an additional 74 agencies pending approval.
As the Trump administration ramps up cooperation with state and local agencies, it is moving to retaliate against those that limit helping immigration authorities. On Monday, the president signed an executive order to publish a list of “sanctuary” jurisdictions and reiterated threats of criminal charges against state or local officials who thwart federal policy. Advocates who oppose local officials getting into immigration enforcement say the practice violates a clause in the U.S. Constitution that makes federal, not state, authorities responsible for it. “This is finding methods to terrorize communities,” said Katie Blankenship, an immigration attorney and co-founder of Sanctuary of the South, adding that local law enforcement officers aren’t trained to handle immigration issues “in any sort of just manner.” ICE, which has about 6,000 deportation officers, needs help achieving Trump’s goal of deporting many of the roughly 11 million people in the country illegally, a conservative estimate. Texas, whose Republican governor, Greg Abbott, has closely allied himself with Trump on immigration, has 76 enforcement agreements on record, the second-largest number of any state. They include one inked April 10 with the state National Guard. Texas has also signed an agreement with U.S. Customs and Border Protection for its National Guard to arrest people at the border.
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Harris accuses Trump of abandoning American ideals in first major speech since leaving office
Former Vice President Kamala Harris rebuked President Donald Trump in her first major speech since leaving office, accusing her former rival of setting off the “greatest man-made economic crisis” in modern history through his across-the-board tariffs, and warning that his conflicts with the courts were moving the nation toward a constitutional crisis. Harris spoke Wednesday evening at the Emerge Gala in San Francisco, benefitting an organization that supports women interested in entering politics. The 2024 Democratic presidential nominee marked the first 100 days of the second Trump administration during her address, saying that “instead of an administration working to advance America’s highest ideals, we are witnessing the wholesale abandonment of those ideals.” “And what we are also seeing in these last 14 weeks is Americans using their voice and showing their courage,” Harris added.
The former vice president delivered a series of attacks on the administration, blaming Trump for the economic turbulence caused by the tariffs he has imposed on goods imported from major trading partners. Harris called Trump’s tariffs “reckless” and said, “as I predicted,” they are “clearly inviting a recession.” Harris said those import taxes will “hurt workers and families by raising the cost of everyday essentials, devastate their retirement accounts that people spent a lifetime paying into, and paralyze American businesses, large and small, forcing them to lay off people.” Trump has said the across-the-board tariffs are meant to correct a trade imbalance with other countries and restore US manufacturing jobs. However, the administration’s policy changes have rocked global markets and added to mounting economic pressure on the US economy. Official data released Wednesday showed the economy contracted in the first quarter by 0.3%. Harris told Democrats there is a method behind the break-neck pace of policy rollouts of the Trump administration, calling the president a “vessel” of a much larger conservative project.
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Newsclips - April 30, 2025 |
Lead Stories
US consumer confidence plummets to Covid-era low as trade war stokes anxiety
Americans’ confidence in the economy slumped for the fifth straight month to the lowest level since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic as anxiety over the impact of tariffs takes a heavy toll. The Conference Board said Tuesday that its consumer confidence index fell 7.9 points in April to 86, its lowest reading since May 2020. Nearly one-third of consumers expect hiring to slow in the coming months, nearly matching the level reached in April 2009, when the economy was mired in the Great Recession. The figures reflect a rapidly souring mood among Americans, most of whom expect prices to rise because of the widespread tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump. About half of Americans are also worried about the potential for a recession, according to a survey by The Associated Press-NORC Center.
“Rattled consumers spend less than confident consumers,” said Carl Weinberg, chief economist at High Frequency Economics, in an email. “If confidence sags and consumers retrench, growth will go down.” A measure of Americans’ short-term expectations for their income, business conditions and the job market plunged 12.5 points to 54.4, the lowest level in more than 13 years. The reading is well below 80, which typically signals a recession ahead. How this gloomy mood translates into spending, hiring, and growth will become clearer in the coming days and weeks. On Wednesday, the government will report on U.S. economic growth during the first three months of the year, and economists are expecting a sharp slowdown as Americans pulled back on spending after a strong winter holiday shopping season. And on Friday the Labor Department will release its latest report on hiring and the unemployment rate. Overall, economists expect it should still show steady job gains, though some forecast it could report sharply reduced hiring.
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How Miriam Adelson went from big MAGA Winner to casino loser in Trump’s first 100 days
One hundred days ago, Miriam Adelson was on top of the world. The billionaire and far-right mega-donor was in the Capitol Rotunda, dressed in an all-white version of a Sgt. Pepper’s coat and her signature round sunglasses, standing next to Laura Bush and Barack Obama, watching her chosen candidate, the man she had spent more than $100 million on, be sworn in as president. Her basketball team, the Dallas Mavericks, was fresh off of a run to the NBA finals, thanks to Luka Doncic, the league’s most talented young superstar. Las Vegas Sands, the gambling company founded by her late husband and fellow kingmaker Sheldon Adelson, was making slow progress toward its long-term goal of building a casino about 20 minutes’ drive from the squad’s home court. Perhaps most exciting, at least from a pure profit perspective, was the firm’s potential to land a license to operate a casino on Long Island, just outside of New York City, widely believed to be the one of the most lucrative untapped gambling markets on the planet. If Sands could secure it, the MAGA queen would have a cash register that would never stop ringing. Of course she was happy. But that was 100 days ago.
In the three months or so since, Trump’s approval rating has tanked as he declared a trade war on the entire world—even on Israel, where Adelson was born, and where she remains an influential figure. Under the leadership of Adelson’s son-in-law, Patrick Dumont, the Mavericks gave away their superstar in what was instantly panned as the worst trade in NBA history. The Adelsons’ family-controlled company, Las Vegas Sands, dropped its plans to build the Dallas-area gambling house for now. And now there’s New York, where Sands spent about $400 million and hired a squad of lawyers, lobbyists, architects, engineers, and image makers, all for a chance at that jackpot in Nassau County. On Wednesday, Sands president Dumont announced to investors that the Adeslon family was ending its East Coast pursuit, after more than a decade of trying. Miriam’s winning streak was over. Dumont, in an investor call, blamed Sands’ change of heart on the rise of online gambling as a competitor to real-world action. (A company spokesperson declined to comment on the record for this story, and pointed to Sands’ statement on the topic.) Multiple sources familiar with the situation tell Vanity Fair that’s only a partial answer. Politics was one of several other factors. Adelson wasn’t the only Trump superfan trying to bid in this cobalt blue state. But she was the most visible.
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Lottery Commission formally bans third-party courier companies from selling tickets online
The Texas Lottery Commission voted unanimously Tuesday to ban third-party "courier companies" that broker game ticket sales through smartphone apps, a practice that has been in place for years but only recently gained political attention. Tuesday's action came with little discussion, a far cry from the stinging criticism lawmakers heaped on the recently resigned former executive director of the state-run gaming operation during a series of legislative hearings. Several lawmakers expressed concern that the couriers are effectively a work-around to the 1991 state law that established the Texas Lottery, which expressly forbids using a telephone to buy and sell tickets. Others warned that faceless transactions can invite money launderers or those underage to illegally play the lottery in Texas.
Ryan Mindell, the director who resigned this month, and his predecessor Gary Grief, who resigned in February 2024, each told legislative committees that they were powerless under state law to regulate couriers. However, after forceful pushback from lawmakers and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick earlier this year, Mindell reversed course. He said the law permits him to revoke the licenses of lottery retailers who do business with couriers, which the commission affirmed with its vote Tuesday. Commissioner Mark Franz said that initially he was skeptical of imposing a ban on courier companies, noting the Legislature is considering action to either regulate the way they operate in Texas or to outlaw them outright. However, he said, his mind changed once he took a closer look over the weeks since Mindell made his recommendation. "I have during this 30-day period weighed all evidence, and I am persuaded that this is the right move to go forward, and that we should do the maximum amount allowable under our current statute, which is what this does my in understanding," he said during the meeting. The measure will promote and ensure integrity, security, honesty and fairness in the operation and administration of the lottery, the rule states.
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Bill clarifying when doctors can perform abortion unanimously passes Texas Senate
A bill that would clarify when Texas physicians can legally perform an abortion to save a mother’s life unanimously passed the state Senate on Tuesday. Senate Bill 31, also known as the Life of the Mother Act, would allow doctors to intervene and provide abortion care to pregnant women who are experiencing medical emergencies. Current law includes an exception for patients with a “life-threatening physical condition” but requires the doctor performing the procedure to provide “the best opportunity for the unborn child to survive.” Doctors have said that language is vague and confusing, making many hesitant to perform an abortion to save a mother’s life. Violating the state’s near total abortion ban is punishable by up to 20 years in prison and a $10,000 fine — in addition to a $100,000 civil penalty.
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who presides over the Senate, thanked Sen. Bryan Hughes, R-Mineola, for his work crafting a proposal that garnered “universal support from all sides.” In a statement issued after the final vote, Patrick credited Texas for leading the way “in protecting life,” noting the Life of the Mother Act “is only designed to provide legal clarity for doctors in rare cases when a mother’s life is threatened.” Despite how divisive abortion is politically, Hughes said, the entire legislative body agreed that a pregnant woman’s life must be protected. “These are difficult matters to grapple with,” he said. “We can all agree — we can all agree — that when the life of the mother is at risk, she should be protected. That’s what this bill is about.”
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State Stories
Why legislation to protect mothers’ lives in Texas went from bipartisan to belligerent
In the annals of the Texas Legislature, it may be that no bill has suffered the kind of instant whiplash as the one Republican Senator Bryan Hughes christened the “Life of the Mother Act.” Senate Bill 31, which Hughes filed exactly one hour before the deadline on March 14, was presented as one that would free Texas doctors to provide abortions when their pregnant patients were suffering from medical emergencies—without fear of the career-killing, prison sentence-inducing penalties for violating Texas law. “The intent of this bill is to remove any excuse, when a mom is in danger . . . that’s always been an exception we have recognized,” Hughes said. “We want to love them both. There’s a mom and a baby. We want to love and respect and protect them both.” The bill was championed by fervent abortion opponents, including Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, who named its passage one of his top priorities. Also supporting the Life of the Mother Act: notable reproductive rights advocates. Its coauthors in the Senate and joint authors of the companion House Bill 44, including three of the most liberal surviving Democrats, Senator Carol Alvarado and Representative Ann Johnson of Houston and Representative Donna Howard of Austin, got to savor the rarest of bipartisan triumphs.
All in all, March 14 seemed like the happiest of days in the capital, when legislators across the political spectrum could feel good about doing good. Republican Representative Charlie Geren from Fort Worth, another abortion foe who is cosponsoring the bill in the House, put it best when he declared, “Too many women have suffered. Too many women have died.” Well, yeah. In hospitals and doctors’ offices across the state, chaos and tragedy have ensued since the Legislature enacted a series of restrictive laws including 2021’s Senate Bill 8, which allows anyone to sue individuals who “aid or abet” an abortion after about six weeks of gestation, and the “trigger law,” which outlawed most abortions after Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022. In combination, these laws made virtually all abortions illegal, with no exceptions for rape, incest, or fetal abnormalities and included only a vague passage referring to “medical emergencies” that place “a woman in danger of death or serious risk of substantial impairment of a bodily function.” Doctors who didn’t follow the law could be charged with a felony, fined $100,000, lose their medical license, and be sentenced to life in prison. Meanwhile, those who reported doctors and others who assisted with abortions—anyone from nurses to neighbors to Uber drivers—could reap a $10,000 “bounty,” as the cash reward came to be known. The Life of the Mother Act would, in the words of its proponents, save women’s lives—in a state where the government seems only marginally interested in doing so. But the bill isn’t far reaching. For instance, it excludes exemptions for abortions in the case of fatal birth defects or complications that damage a woman’s future fertility. It doesn’t address pregnancies resulting from rape or incest. Democratic leaders know that trying to get such changes through the GOP-dominated Legislature would be counter-productive. So, to mix metaphors, those working to even slightly to expand reproductive rights here have to crawl over glass to grab what crumbs they can.
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Texas lawmakers have the lottery on the chopping block
It is a real possibility that the Texas lottery can go away in the wake of two major payout scandals. The Texas Lottery Commission is up for its every-12-year review known as the Sunset Commission. Last week, Texas Lottery Commission Executive Director Ryan Mindell was the latest to resign. This came after a public grilling earlier this Spring in a Texas Senate committee hearing. The Texas Rangers, the Texas Attorney General, and select lawmakers continue to investigate whether large electronic lottery courier companies improperly had their thumb on the scale for two huge payouts: one for $95 million and another for $83 million. They're also investigating whether state regulators looked the other way. Courier services are companies like Lotto.com and Jackpocket, which sell lottery tickets online or through mobile apps.
In April, the Texas House zeroed out the budget for the Lottery Commission, killing the program if they don't make a different decision while negotiating with the Texas Senate. The legislative session ends in early June. “It’s a hard thing even for someone like me to comprehend," said Rob Kohler, a longtime anti-gambling lobbyist for the Baptist General Convention of Texas. According to state data, lottery sales have plummeted since the legislature began to scrutinize the industry. Earlier this Spring, the commission abruptly reversed its years-long course and decided that it could ban third-party lottery courier services. Sales in both scratch-offs and draw games have decreased. Lotto.com filed a lawsuit against the state for its quick backpedal to ban the courier services. Kohler told NBC 5 on Monday that it may be because people heard of the scandal and lost faith that it was fair. “They’ve lost players. There’s no doubt. You can look on social media. There’s folks they care enough that they bother to write down several sentences, you know I used to do this and I’m not going to do it anymore because it’s fixed," said Kohler.
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Latinx organizations, supporters advocate on behalf of undocumented students at state Capitol
Abigail Holguin, a government and Mexican American studies junior, reads from a piece of paper to a staffer in state Rep. John Lujan’s office. Speaking the words written by a friend, who is an undocumented student, Holguin rattled off the bevy of adjectives used to describe immigrant communities: “lazy,” “criminals,” “we come to steal jobs.” “While it might be convenient for these negative outliers to define all undocumented persons, the students would be significantly impacted by (Texas) House Bill 160 or law-abiding, morally conscious and hard-working people,” Holguin said. A group of students led by the UT chapter of predominantly Latino fraternity Sigma Lambda Beta lobbied lawmakers and testified before the Texas Senate Education Committee on April 22. They spoke against Texas Senate Bill 1798 and Texas House Bill 160, which would neutralize the Texas Dream Act, which is a law granting in-state tuition eligibility for undocumented students.
Marco Julian Gonzalez, a member of the Sigma Lambda Beta fraternity, led the advocacy planning efforts over multiple months, bringing together 15 students from his organization and advocates across UT. Holguin was one of those students. She and two other students met with staffers from the office of state Sen. Donna Campbell, along with representatives from the offices of John Lujan and Terry Wilson. Those offices are where she read her friend’s statement. “It’s a lot to tell someone this, especially when you’re so used to not talking about it, especially in the very political climate we live in,” Holguin said. “Being one of the trusted friends to not only know your story, but also be one of your trusted friends to tell the story for you really puts into perspective how important it is knowing about this (and) talking about this.” The organization split into smaller groups and spoke to representatives and senators across the political spectrum. Interpersonal communications sophomore Samuel Lawrence Brainard said lawmakers should not treat the issue with as much partisanship. “Speaking as someone who voted for Donald Trump and I’m sure that plenty of people in this office probably did as well, being concerned about immigration is not mutually exclusive from offering the students who are not here of their own volition, basic opportunities and economic mobility and being able to climb the social ladder,” Brainard said.
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Noem takes look at cross-border tunnel during El Paso visit
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem visited El Paso on Monday. The trip included meeting with U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials and a walk along the border wall near the spot where federal officials a few months ago discovered a cross-border tunnel believed to have been used by Mexican cartels to bring across drugs and “high value” migrants. Noem’s visit followed that of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth last week to highlight El Paso’s importance in the Trump administration’s border security strategy even as migrant encounters have plummeted. Noem’s trip came unannounced and wasn’t open to local news media. It came a little more than a month after DHS announced a series of international ads telling migrants not to come to America and warning they would be hunted down if they commit crimes. The president of Mexico called the ads “discriminatory” and vowed to change her country’s laws so they wouldn’t run in the future. Noem later countered saying the ads are working.
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Texas man charged with failing to register as an undocumented migrant
The Justice Department charged a migrant man in a West Texas federal court for failing to register his undocumented status with the federal government. The charge comes after President Donald Trump signed an executive order in January requiring migrants to register based on a rarely used provision from a 1952 law. The executive order directed the Homeland Security secretary to “announce and publicize information about the legal obligation of all previously unregistered aliens in the United States to comply.” The Texas case follows one of an Arizona man charged earlier this month for failing to register. The Justice Department charged Hugo Moreno-Mendez with two misdemeanors. One was for refusing to provide DNA and the other was for willful failure to register. The second charge confused Moreno-Mendez’s attorney.
“This is not a charge I’ve ever seen before,” said Lauren McLeod, who has practiced law for 17 years, the last eight as a criminal defense attorney in Waco. Moreno-Mendez is accused of illegally entering the United States more than two decades ago and failing to register with the federal government. It’s unclear if his case is related to Trump’s executive order. In February, Department of Homeland Security officials announced they would create a registry for people who were in the U.S. illegally. DHS set a deadline of April 11 for people to comply with the new rule. Anyone who did not register with the federal government could be criminally prosecuted or fined. Moreno-Mendez reported to the McLennan County Probation Department on March 13 according to court records, and was arrested that day. Moreno-Mendez was on a 12-month probation after a September conviction on unlawfully installing a tracking device, local court records show. Justice Department officials noted in court filings that he entered the country illegally in 2004 “and willfully failed or refused to make such application or to be fingerprinted after thirty days.” Failing to register is punishable by up to six months in prison.
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Tilman Fertitta confirmed as U.S. ambassador to Italy by Senate
Houston's Tilman Fertitta has been confirmed as United States ambassador to Italy and San Marino. The billionaire businessman, who was nominated to the post by then President-elect Donald Trump in December, was approved by the Senate on Tuesday evening by a vote of 83-14. Fertitta, who was born in Galveston and is of Sicilian descent, described himself as a longtime admirer of Italy's culture, food and patriotic spirit in his testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations committee earlier this month. "If confirmed, I take the responsibility of being an ambassador at this crucial moment in history as the most important job of my life," Fertitta said. "You have my commitment, and America has my commitment, to always represent the United States and President Trump with dignity, pride, friendship and strength."
The confirmation will mean changes for many Houston institutions, given the scope of Fertitta's business and civic activities since he launched his entertainment empire with a single restaurant, Landry's Seafood in Katy, in 1986. He is the wealthiest person in Houston according to Forbes magazine. In a letter to the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, Fertitta said that, if confirmed, he would resign as CEO of Landry's, Inc., which has grown to include about 600 dining, gaming and entertainment locations. He is also expected to step down as chair of the University of Houston System Board of Regents. However, Fertitta will retain his role as owner of the Houston Rockets, he said in the letter.
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Texas lawmakers propose scrapping the STAAR test in favor of three much shorter exams
House lawmakers are proposing to replace the state’s annual STAAR exams with a series of tests given throughout the year under a plan they say would reduce the exams’ high-stakes nature and relieve pressure on students. The widely-criticized State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness tests would be scrapped in favor of three much shorter tests given at the start, middle, and end of each school year, according to draft legislation released on Tuesday. The plan would mark the most dramatic redesign of the state’s tests since STAAR was established for public and charter school students in 2011.
State Rep. Diego Bernal, a San Antonio Democrat who authored the bill, said having multiple short tests makes the purpose less about grading a student’s learning each year, and more about diagnosing any problem areas and improving them over time. It also means teachers and schools can be better evaluated on student improvement in between tests, he said, rather than just raw performance scores. “We’re not just teaching to the test anymore, we’re allowing teachers to shift and give individualized calibration and attention to students,” Bernal said. “You see the starting point, what kind of progress they’ve made, and how they are doing at the end.” House Bill 4 is up for its first public hearing Tuesday afternoon in the House education committee, whose chair, Republican state Rep. Brad Buckley, is the bill’s primary author. It is a priority bill for House Speaker Dustin Burrows and comes as part of a wider education package that includes vouchers for private schools and a boost in funding for public schools.
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Keller ISD split bill debated in Texas House committee
Local control, voter participation and the Keller school district were front and center at an April 29 House committee hearing in Austin, as lawmakers considered a bill that would put the splitting of a school district up to a public vote. The proposal at the center of the discussion — House Bill 5089 — comes after news broke in January that some Keller school trustees were considering a plan to divide the district in half along U.S. 377 through a process called detachment. The move would have separated Keller, Southlake, Watauga and Colleyville from district residents west of 377 in Fort Worth. The district ultimately didn’t go through with the idea, but different interpretations of state law over whether the splitting of a district must be approved by voters became apparent amid public outcry.
“Over the last four months, I’ve learned more about the Education Code than I have in the past three decades, and frankly, I’m embarrassed to to admit that, but I had to learn because we discovered a confusing and dangerous loophole that our board of trustees attempted to exploit,” said Angela Hall, a parent in the Keller school district who testified at the House Public Education Committee hearing. As a split was debated in Keller, there was debate over whether it could be done unilaterally if proposed through a resolution by the board or if a split must be taken to residents for a vote. House Bill 5089 by Rep. Charlie Geren, a Fort Worth Republican, clarifies that the process of detachment must go through voters. The bill as filed says a petition signed by 20% of registered voters in the existing district would be presented to the Texas State Board of Education. The state board would then determine if the petition is valid. If it is, an election would be held.
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North Texas lawmakers want transparency around jail deaths
Tarrant County lawmakers and advocates for those incarcerated in Texas jails called for more transparency surrounding in-custody deaths during an April 28 subcommittee hearing. The legislation comes as the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office faces scrutiny over recent jail deaths, with family members and advocates demanding more information about the circumstances surrounding people’s deaths while in jail custody. “Government must be accountable to the people it serves,” said Rep. Nicole Collier, a Fort Worth Democrat, during the subcommittee hearing. “When oversight laws are ignored or transparency is lacking, it sends the wrong message that accountability is optional. That’s unacceptable.”
House Bill 3841 by Collier and Rep. David Lowe, a North Richland Hills Republican, says a jail death investigation would begin “as soon as practicable” after an outside law enforcement agency is appointed to investigate. If a conflict of interest arises, the appointed investigative agency must notify the Texas Commission on Jail Standards so a new agency can be tapped to investigate, Collier said during the hearing. For each county jail death, the commission would need to publish on its website monthly: The county where the death occurred. The date the death occurred. The name of the law enforcement agency investigating the death and the date they were appointed. This information would also be required for any new law enforcement agency appointed to investigate due to a conflict of interest. Whether the investigation is pending or complete. The information would stay on the website until at least the second anniversary of the inmate’s death.
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State ethics panel to review allegations of ‘dark money’ in Prosper ISD trustee race
The Texas Ethics Commission has agreed to review allegations that a political action committee broke election laws when it spent $50,000 supporting two challengers running for the Prosper Independent School District school board. The PAC, known as the Accountable Leadership Committee, received $50,000 from a Washington, D.C., fund to support candidates in the trustee races, campaign finance records filed with the school district show. The money supported two candidates trying to unseat incumbents: Scott Bray, who is challenging incumbent Kelly Cavender for the Place 3 trustee seat, and Janette Church, who is challenging incumbent Garrett Linker for Place 6.
Bray and Church have said they are not involved with the committee, which has sent out advertisements supporting them. The committee’s website doesn’t give information on its mission or origins apart from the statement that it is “fighting for accountability and transparency.” The complaint was filed by Doug Charles, who founded a now-inactive political action committee that supported Linker in Prosper ISD’s 2022 trustee race. In an interview, Charles called the $50,000 contribution “dark money” — donations that can’t be traced because the source isn’t disclosed. The committee lists Dustin McIntyre as its treasurer on campaign finance records and includes a Nevada phone number and an address with a Frisco mailbox. Calls made to McIntyre’s listed number were not returned Monday. The ethics commission will review Charles’ complaint at 9 a.m. on Sept. 17 in Austin. The commission accepted jurisdiction on the complaint this month, which does not mean the commission found that a violation occurred. “It is scary. … $50,000 just didn’t randomly show up from Washington, D.C., into Prosper ISD,” Charles said in an interview. “There’s an agenda. It’s deep, it’s dark, and it’s ugly, and we need to know why.”
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Simplifying Texas child vaccine exemptions sparks partisan tensions amid measles outbreak
Legislation designed to make it easier for parents to exempt school children from vaccine requirements is fueling tensions over declining vaccination rates amid the ongoing measles outbreak in Texas. Currently, to exempt a child from school vaccine requirements, a parent must request the required form from the Texas Department of State Health Services. The department then mails the form to a parent, who must then fill it out and have it notarized before taking it to the school. State Rep. Lacey Hull, R-Houston, wants the form available on the department’s website, cutting days or weeks from the process as parents wait to receive the required paperwork. During a debate that went late into Monday night, Hull said her House Bill 1586 was a “DOGE-like” proposal solely about government efficiency.
However, several testified before lawmakers that the proposal would undermine public health, expose children to diseases and further erode vaccination rates that have been declining in schools. “By making it easier for parents to opt out of routine childhood vaccinations required for school entry, this bill threatens the protection of vulnerable children who cannot be vaccinated,” said Catherine Troisi, an infectious disease epidemiologist at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. The partisan divide was evident during the House Public Health committee’s debate as a Democratic lawmaker questioned an advocate representing an organization dedicated to banning vaccine mandates. Rep. Ann Johnson, D-Houston, said taking sides on the issue based solely on political party affiliation will hurt public health at large. “If we make this purely Republican and Democrats, guess who suffers? All of us,” said Rep. Ann Johnson, D-Houston.
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Texas House gives initial passage to antisemitism bill
The Texas House gave initial approval to legislation Tuesday designed to tamp down on antisemitism in Texas’ public schools and universities. The 134-2 vote gives the proposal a clear path for it to become law. The bill comes as President Donald Trump has taken a strong stance against pro-Palestine protests that many on the right view as anti-Jewish hate. Trump has threatened to cancel international student visas and deport any students found to have committed a hate crime. Texas has taken up the mantle as well. A groundswell of conservative support for legislation like the bill passed Tuesday came after pro-Palestine protests erupted at some public universities in 2024. State troopers arrested dozens of protesters at University of Texas campuses in Dallas and Austin last March.
In response to the demonstrations, Gov. Greg Abbott signed an executive order that directed schools to update free speech guidelines to address what he described as rising antisemitism on campuses. Opponents of the bill said they fear it will chill free speech on campuses, especially related to protests of Israeli military action in Gaza. The bill adds the definition of antisemitism to bullying statutes and requires public schools and colleges to consider if antisemitism was involved in any disciplinary action. Rep. Jon Rosenthal, D-Houston, who said he is the House’s lone “fully Jewish member,” initially opposed the bill. Rosenthal said the Jewish community is divided on the bill. He expressed his own personal reservations over the use of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition in state law — a definition that was not intended to be used in laws or legal documents.
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Communities In Schools of Houston highlights mental health initiative during Mental Health Awareness Month in May
Communities In Schools of Houston (CIS), a leading educational nonprofit, proudly joins the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) in recognizing Mental Health Awareness Month this May. This year’s national campaign, “In Every Story, There’s Strength,” highlights the power of personal stories to foster connection, understanding, and hope. NAMI is the nation’s largest grassroots mental health organization dedicated to building better lives for the millions of Americans affected by mental illness. NAMI’s campaign celebrates the power of storytelling to fuel connection, understanding, and hope for those navigating their own mental health path. For 46 years, CIS has championed student well-being, placing mental health at the core of its mission. Since launching the CIS Mental Health Initiative (MHI) 13 years ago, CIS has grown to become the largest school-based provider of mental health services in Harris County.
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National Stories
Trump, back in rally mode, marks 100 days in office with boisterous Michigan speech
Donald Trump's Michigan rally celebrating the 100th day of his second term wasn't a campaign rally, but it resembled one in many ways. He spoke for almost an hour and a half, falsely claimed to have won the 2020 presidential election, danced to "YMCA," and acknowledged the regulars that have shown up to his rallies for years. "I miss you guys," he said to the Front Row Joes, one group of Trump faithful. "I miss the campaign." While the Tuesday night rally had been billed as a way to celebrate his 100-day record, it served many more purposes. Trump also used his time on stage to luxuriate in the crowd's adoration, blame Joe Biden for various national problems, and insist that he, as president, is not getting the credit he deserves for his accomplishments.
Among the policies Trump celebrated was his deportations of alleged Venezuelan gang members to El Salvador — a move that courts have challenged. In recent days, the Supreme Court temporarily blocked new deportations under the Alien Enemies Act, the law the Trump administration has used to deport more than 200 people to El Salvador. "Now the courts are trying to say that, you know, that doesn't matter. I don't think it's going to be allowed to stand," he said. "We are delivering mass deportation, and it's happening very fast. And the worst of the worst are being sent to a no-nonsense prison in El Salvador." He then presented a video of prisoners being flown to El Salvador and treated roughly — having their heads shaved and being marched, bent-over, into prison cells — while the crowd cheered.
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Secret deals, foreign investments, presidential policy changes: The rise of Trump’s crypto firm
The pitch from “ZMoney” arrived on the encrypted messaging app Signal just days before Donald J. Trump’s presidential inauguration. “ZMoney” was Zachary Folkman, an entrepreneur who once ran a company called Date Hotter Girls and was now representing World Liberty Financial, the cryptocurrency firm that Mr. Trump and his sons had recently unveiled. Mr. Folkman was writing to a crypto startup in the Cayman Islands, offering a “partnership” in which the firms would buy each other’s digital coins, a deal that would bolster the startup’s public profile. But there was a catch, The New York Times found. For the privilege of associating with the Trumps, the startup would have to make, in effect, a secret multimillion dollar payment to World Liberty. “Everything we do gets a lot of exposure and credibility,” Mr. Folkman wrote, asserting that other business partners had committed between $10 million and $30 million to World Liberty.
The Cayman startup rejected the offer, as did several other firms that received a similar pitch from World Liberty, executives said. They considered the deal unethical, concluding that World Liberty was essentially selling an endorsement — and hiding the arrangement from the public. World Liberty’s executives, who have maintained that they did nothing improper, were undeterred. They successfully pitched similar deals to other firms while also marketing their coin to buyers around the world, reaping more than $550 million in sales, with a large cut earmarked for the president’s family. Mr. Trump’s return to the White House has opened lucrative new pathways for him to cash in on his power, whether through his social media company or new overseas real estate deals. But none of the Trump family’s other business endeavors pose conflicts of interest that compare to those that have emerged since the birth of World Liberty. The firm, largely owned by a Trump family corporate entity, has erased centuries-old presidential norms, eviscerating the boundary between private enterprise and government policy in a manner without precedent in modern American history.
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Jennifer Hegseth holds unorthodox role shaping Pentagon affairs
Hours after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth arrived at the Pentagon on his first full day in office, his wife, Jennifer, made a request. Would the defense secretary’s staff, she asked, edit and post a video to the Defense Department’s social media accounts of his initial remarks to reporters? The ask felt to some like a directive, according to people familiar with the matter and messages reviewed by The Washington Post. Though defense officials were aware of Jennifer Hegseth’s quiet yet omnipresent role in her husband’s bruising Senate confirmation process and her background — like his — at Fox News, she had no experience working in government and — importantly, these people said — had not been appointed to any official role in the Trump administration. “We would always hear that she was saying what kind of videos he should be doing, and what kind of statements he should be doing, and how the press should be handled,” recalled one person, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss a dynamic viewed inside the Pentagon as unorthodox and sometimes problematic.
The role of Jennifer Hegseth, 40, throughout her husband’s budding tenure in President Donald Trump’s Cabinet has snapped into focus in recent weeks, after damaging news reports about Pete Hegseth’s stumbles as his on-the-job training plays out in public view — including the revelation that she was among a group of people with whom he shared advance notice of a U.S. military operation in Yemen. Others in the unclassified group chat, created by the defense secretary using the commercially available Signal app, included his brother and personal lawyer. It’s one of at least two such group chats established by her husband that Jennifer Hegseth has been included in along with other political appointees at the Pentagon, said two people familiar with the matter. The other group chat includes Sean Parnell, a senior adviser and spokesman, and Tami Radabaugh, a former Fox News producer overseeing how Pete Hegseth and the Pentagon engage with the media, these people said. It was not immediately clear whether that group chat, which has not been previously reported, also has included highly sensitive information. Jennifer Hegseth on multiple occasions has informed her husband’s staff of media interviews he planned to do, underscoring a belief among some officials that she wields outsize influence over certain Pentagon operations. Typically, such responsibilities fall to dedicated media-engagement professionals employed by the Defense Department, not the secretary’s wife.
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The big decision that could shape AOC’s future
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is at a crossroads — again. Five months ago, she chose to play the inside game with her fellow House Democrats, running for her party’s top post on the high-profile Oversight Committee. She came up short to a more senior lawmaker, Rep. Gerry Connolly of Virginia, and left the committee entirely. Now she has a second chance. Connolly unexpectedly announced Monday he will soon step aside for health reasons, leaving her with another critical choice — one made even more momentous by how much has changed inside the Democratic Party since she last chose to try and move up the House ranks.
Faced with the stresses of President Donald Trump’s second term, Democratic voters are yearning for younger and more assertive leadership. Many see exactly what they are looking for in Ocasio-Cortez, 35, who has traveled the country in recent months, packing rally after rally with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and fueling speculation about a potential White House run. In other words, the stage afforded as ranking member of the House Oversight Committee is suddenly looking a whole lot smaller, and Ocasio-Cortez is remaining publicly and privately noncommittal as speculation swirls about Connolly’s successor. Even colleagues who enthusiastically backed her Oversight bid last year have been left guessing about her final decision. “The group of us who were her whip team have asked for her plans, and she’s still sorting out what she wants to do,” said Rep. Becca Balint (D-Vt.). “I think, to the person, we’ve all said, ‘Just let us know what you want to do, and we’ll work on your behalf.’”
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‘There’s no playbook for this': Trump allies press SEC on businesses
Paul Atkins took over as Wall Street’s chief regulator just a week ago, but he’s already staring at what could become a political headache: all the president’s friends. The Securities and Exchange Commission’s new chair is facing a battery of decisions that directly involve some of President Donald Trump’s closest connections. Crypto firms, whose donations helped catapult Republicans to power, want the SEC to green-light a wave of novel products for everyday investors. The agency must decide how to proceed with a lawsuit against Elon Musk, whom it sued just before Inauguration Day. Trump Media & Technology Group, whose largest shareholder is the president, has called for an investigation of a London-based hedge fund’s bet against its stock. And Trump Media, Truth Social’s parent, is poised to launch a series of investment products of its own, likely needing SEC approval.
On top of all that, Atkins’ agency is running into MAGA world just as the White House pushes for more control over historically independent regulators like the SEC — setting up a potential challenge for the new chair, who was a member of the commission until 2008. “He already has a hard job, and now that job will include managing a relationship with the White House that will be more robust than any chair previously would have had to manage,” said Jennifer Schulp, director of financial regulation studies at the Cato Institute, the libertarian-leaning think tank. “It’s going to be a lot of feeling in the dark.” The rush of activity underlines a broader concern over the close ties that businesses have with the Trump administration, which has already begun shepherding major regulatory changes in corporate America’s favor. It comes as the president’s own business empire shows little hesitation about striking new deals or ventures, even if the optics raise alarms. Last week, a website for a memecoin that Trump launched right before his inauguration unveiled plans to host an “intimate, private” dinner with him for its biggest holders.
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New York bans smartphones in schools, joining national movement
New York will require schools statewide to ban smartphone use during school hours, joining a national movement aimed at preventing compulsive social media use and distractions that interfere with school work, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced this week. In more than 700 districts including New York City, school leaders will be required to create plans to store students’ smartphones “from bell to bell” and prevent their “unsanctioned use” during class, lunch and other parts of the school day. The ban, which applies to students in kindergarten through 12th grade, will also restrict other “internet-enabled personal devices” such as smartwatches. The ban will not apply to basic cellphones that lack internet access, state officials said.
New York will join roughly a dozen other states including California, Florida, Louisiana and Virginia that have moved in recent years to require districts to limit phone use, though the policies vary. Some states have banned devices only during classes; others have ordered districts to create their own restrictions. The bipartisan movement to crack down on phones has been fueled by anxiety over the consequences of an “always online” youth culture. Today, about 90 percent of U.S. teenagers own a smartphone, surveys show. Nearly one in three 8-year-olds have a smartphone. These bans come as policymakers are searching for solutions to soaring rates of depression, anxiety and self-harm among adolescents in the past decade. The U.S. surgeon general in the Biden administration warned last year that the addictive nature of social media could be part of the crisis, especially for young girls, though research on the issue is nuanced and mixed.
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Whitmer, Michigan’s Democratic Governor, appears with Trump again
Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan didn’t hide her face when she appeared Tuesday with President Trump in her state as he marked his 100th day in office and announced new jet fighters for a National Guard base there. Their joint appearance stood in contrast to an awkward one when Whitmer found herself inside the Oval Office earlier this month while Trump signed a set of executive orders and held a question-and-answer session with reporters. She proceeded to try to hide herself—she was photographed holding blue folders in front of her face—and the fact that she was in such proximity to a Republican president many in her party try to avoid. This time at the Selfridge Air National Guard Base, where the president announced that A-10 fighter planes would be replaced with new F-15 jet fighters, Trump gestured for her to come to the microphone and stand behind his presidential seal.
“I hadn’t planned to speak,” Whitmer said. “But on behalf of all the military men and women who serve our country and serve so honorably on behalf of the state of Michigan, I am really damn happy we are here.” During her White House visit earlier in the month, Whitmer had been trying to secure funding for an expansion of the base near Detroit and warn the president about the impact of his tariffs on her state’s auto industry. “I’m so grateful this announcement was made today,” Whitmer, a potential 2028 presidential candidate, said of the expansion of the base’s assets, before shaking Trump’s hand. Trump said Whitmer had “done a very good job” and noted that she had visited him at the White House to lobby for the base. “She was very effective,” he added. The Michigan governor has shown a greater willingness to try to work with Trump than some other Democratic governors. Their meeting at the National Guard base was held before Trump appeared at a rally in Macomb County, a suburban battleground area north of Detroit in a swing state that Trump won in November. Away from Trump, Whitmer has expressed concern about what his trade war will mean for her state’s large auto and manufacturing industries.
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Newsclips - April 29, 2025 |
Lead Stories
Tariff ‘chaos’ drags key Texas manufacturing gauge to worst since 2020
A widely followed measure of Texas manufacturing activity weakened significantly as executives used words like “chaos” and “insanity” to describe the turmoil spurred by President Donald Trump’s tariffs, according to a report by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. A general gauge of business activity plunged to its worst reading since May 2020 based on recent survey responses from 87 Texas manufacturers, the Dallas Fed said Monday. While responses indicated modest current growth in production, company outlooks fell to a post-pandemic low as respondents pointed to frazzled supply lines and difficulty in forecasting. Survey indexes tracking the prices of raw materials and finished goods came in well above average, and almost 60% of respondents said higher tariffs would negatively impact their business this year.
Even as a majority of companies said they would pass higher costs onto customers, some 38% said it’s becoming harder or much harder to do so. US prices have increased more than 20% in the past four years, increasing concern that consumers may be fatigued, or have less spending power, to tolerate another ramp up in inflation. “The tariff issue is a mess, and we are now starting to see vendors passing along increases, which we will have to in turn pass along to our customers,” a respondent in the printing industry told the Dallas Fed. Another in food manufacturing said “tariffs and tariff uncertainty are wreaking havoc on our supply lines and capital spending plans.” An executive in electronics manufacturing said, “We have already had to turn around and refuse shipments because customers cannot afford the tariffs, delaying our ability to build, which will eventually lead to job losses.” Even companies with domestic inputs felt pressure because of a reduction in demand, one survey respondent said. Texas accounts for about 10% of total US manufacturing. One executive in the solidly Republican state told the Dallas Fed that “we believe the direction the current administration is leading our country is on target, but the pain to get there may be longer and more intense than originally anticipated.”
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'Burn it all down': Hardline conservative bloc declares war on Texas House GOP leadership
A group of insurgent Texas House Republicans has declared open war on GOP leadership and the lower chamber’s regular order of business, vowing to kill every local and consent calendar for the rest of the legislative session. The extraordinary move will slow down the passage of legislation about a month before the regular session's end and has some lawmakers fearing a repeat of the 2017 “Mother’s Day Massacre,” when the hardline Freedom Caucus killed more than 100 local and consent bills ahead of a deadline. “You won’t see another (L&C calendar) for the rest of this Session and we’re not even close to being finished,” state Rep. Steve Toth, R-Conroe, said in a social media post Saturday morning. “Burrows’ Leadership team has left us no other options than to burn it all down.”
If the local and uncontroversial bills are to survive, they will have to come up one at a time and be discussed on the House floor. And because there are scores of such bills waiting in the queue, such debates could threaten the future of those bills and other far-reaching measures in the five weeks remaining before the 2025 regular session ends June 2. Long-simmering tensions between the conservative bloc of lawmakers and House Speaker Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, exploded Friday when Republican state Rep. Briscoe Cain of Deer Park led a maneuver to pop every Democrat-led proposal from the L&C calendar, which is generally reserved for uncontroversial measures, including the naming of roads, that are voted unanimously out of committee. The first to fall was a bipartisan bill targeting white-tailed deer overpopulation. The second, a proposal to let a Native American tribe commission peace officers in Texas. The third would help the state go after motor fuel theft.
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Texas House Dems appear to fold on threat prompted by vote on education savings accounts
House Democrats appeared to fold over a threat to block all proposed amendments to the Texas Constitution. By Monday afternoon, at least six such amendments passed — including funneling money to dementia research and a nuclear power incentive fund. Leaders of the minority party in the House threatened to lock arms to block any amendments requiring a two-thirds majority to be placed before Texas voters on a ballot. They hinted at such a move to force compromise on the vote over education savings accounts. However, Republicans refused to put the issue on a statewide ballot as well and punted other proposed compromises on the bill now heading to the governor’s desk. Amendments need 100 votes to pass the House, which would require support from at least 12 of the 62 Democrat members of the House. Democrats showed some resistance early Monday, blocking the full passage of one amendment that would add a provision to the state Constitution blocking estate taxes.
That resistance soon crumbled, however, as large majorities passed six other amendments. They included $3 billion in dementia research funding and a $2 billion nuclear power incentive fund. Several amendments were held up for weeks in the Texas House after it became clear that they lacked the votes needed to pass and be placed on November’s ballot. Rep. Chris Turner, D-Grand Prairie, authored a proposed amendment that extends property tax exemptions to the spouses of veterans who died from medical conditions associated with military service. Turner’s proposal passed Monday with wide bipartisan support. Turner said he knew it had wide bipartisan support and that the House Democratic Caucus may still work to block other amendments with less support. “For Democratic members, there are always some that we would oppose on the merits and some we would support,” he said. As for whether the caucus might block less popular proposed amendments, “Those discussions are ongoing,” he said. House Democratic Caucus chair Rep. Gene Wu, D-Houston, did not comment when asked about the votes. Other amendments likely to come before the House include increases to homestead exemptions for property taxes and tax cuts for businesses, bail law reform to make it harder for people accused of violent crimes to be released and funding for water projects.
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Trump’s next 100 days: Trade deals, foreign policy and reconciliation
As President Trump looks to his next 100 days in office, White House officials said his focus can be summarized in five words: Trade deals and peace deals. Trump’s first 100 days in office saw a flood of executive action to rapidly deliver on key campaign promises around immigration and culture war issues, as well as a blitz against major agencies to slash the scope and size of government staffing and spending. Trump is expected to take additional deregulatory actions and sign more executive actions to enforce immigration and other aspects of his agenda, officials said.
But as Trump charts the path forward, the president and his aides are devoting significant time and resources to trying to negotiate trade deals to resolve tariff disputes and the potential economic fallout largely created by Trump’s own policies. Trump is also expected to focus in the weeks ahead on foreign policy, where he has struggled to deliver on a pledge to end the war in Ukraine and has kept a close eye on the Middle East. “I think we’re now entering this new era where we’ll now be able to focus on peace and prosperity,” a White House official said. “Peace in the world, prosperity at home by fixing our trade relationships and finding peace deals.” White House officials indicated that trade deals would be at the center of Trump’s agenda and schedule in the coming weeks. The president announced earlier this month a 90-day pause on “reciprocal” tariffs for many countries to allow for talks, creating a deadline of July 8.
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State Stories
'Cannabis civil war': Why Texas lawmakers want to boost medical marijuana and end hemp sales
With 15 surgeries, head trauma, a disc replacement and documented post-traumatic stress disorder, former LSU football player Jamal Pack believes he is a perfect candidate for the state’s medicinal marijuana program. But the cost and hurdles to participate are too high, the Houston resident said, especially when the state is awash in hemp-derived THC products that work just as well. “If medical marijuana became more accessible, I would switch over," he said. "I know I can get approved for it, but I’d have to pay so much and travel is hard.”
The rise of cheap, loosely regulated delta-8 products in Texas after the state legalized hemp has undercut the state’s medicinal marijuana program, known as the Texas Compassionate Use Program, which operates under strict rules and has struggled to gain traction since its start a decade ago. This year, state lawmakers have proposed overhauling the playing field with bills that would support a dramatic expansion of the medicinal program, while banning all hemp-derived THC and effectively putting the burgeoning industry out of business. The approach has split the patient community, including veterans seeking alternatives to traditional pharmaceuticals. David Bass, director of Texas Veterans for Medical Marijuana, explained that though many veterans do enjoy easy access to cheap products, the hemp market undermines a core philosophy of the medical program: that cannabis is legitimate medicine and should be treated and regulated as such. Meanwhile, Mitch Fuller, legislative advocate for Veterans of Foreign Wars, said he welcomed an expansion but felt many veterans currently purchasing hemp products would fall through the cracks during a market transition or struggle to afford the more expensive medicinal products.
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Texas lawmakers hear proposal to fine, jail noncitizen donors
Noncitizens who make political contributions in Texas elections could be fined and jailed under a bill taken up by a legislative committee Monday. It is illegal for foreign nationals to donate or spend money in federal, state and local elections under federal law. But Rep. Dennis Paul, R-Houston, said “enforcement is rare and often focused on national races.” Paul’s House Bill 4312 would prohibit anyone who is not an American citizen from knowingly donating to a Texas candidate or political committee. An offense would be a Class A misdemeanor, and violators would face up to a $4,000 fine, a year in jail or both. “This applies at every level of government — including school board, judicial, local races — ensuring foreign money has no influence in Texas politics,” Paul said Monday morning. “The bill aligns with federal law, but it ensures Texas can defend its election without waiting on Washington and gives our state clear legal grounds to enforce that standard.”
Paul said his proposal would empower the state “to investigate and penalize violations directly, especially in the small local contests where oversight is a weakness.” Daniel Hunt, a member of the State Republican Executive Committee, said Texas needs to eliminate outside influences in its elections. “Texans should be determining who their representatives are, who their governor is, etc.,” Hunt said. “This goes all the way down to school board and city council elections.” Rep. Richard Peña Raymond, D-Laredo, asked Paul to amend his bill to also make it illegal for Texas candidates to accept contributions from noncitizens. Paul said it would be a good floor amendment. Other members of the House State Affairs Committee raised concerns over enforcement, including Rep. Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont, who has introduced legislation to limit out-of-state contributions in Texas elections and other bills related to campaign donations and advertising.
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Potential Head Start defunding could hurt Texas economy, schools
National and local Head Start providers in Texas are calling on community members to reach out to elected officials in light of reports that the federal government is proposing to slash the program that provides child care and creates job opportunities for low-income families. Head Start, a federally funded child care and preschool program for children ages 0-5, is among the latest programs being eyed for budget cuts by the Trump administration, according to a leaked proposal for fiscal year 2026 that allocates no money toward it. Any budget decisions would have to be approved by Congress. In a virtual press conference on Monday, April 28, program providers and advocates said dismantling Head Start would have far-reaching consequences for the Texas economy and workforce by taking away services that help children thrive and allow parents to go to work.
The proposal also comes on the heels of recent cuts to the federal offices of Head Start and Child Care. Kriston Jackson-Jones, of the Dallas-based Child Care Group, said other services beyond child care such as health screenings, mental health supports and disability services are also at risk with the defunding proposal. “That’s the real power of Head Start. It builds strong children, strong families and most importantly, strong communities,” she said, noting that 19,000 jobs in Texas’ early childhood sector are also on the line. More than 65,000 children and 50,000 parents in Texas rely on Head Start and Early Head Start, which focuses on infants and toddlers, according to child advocacy nonprofit Children at Risk. Texas’ economy is estimated to be losing out on $9.4 billion a year due to affordability and accessibility issues in the child care system, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation. The return on investment, officials said on Monday, ranges from $7-9 for every $1 spent on Head Start.
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Voucher bill requires public schools to help administer the program for students with disabilities
Gov. Greg Abbott and Republican legislators have pitched vouchers as an escape hatch for students with disabilities struggling in public schools, who will get up to $30,000 a year to spend on private education. But the program could also prove a major strain on public schools, which are saddled with the time-consuming and costly task of evaluating whether interested students qualify for special education services. The bill headed to Abbott’s desk requires public schools to complete comprehensive special education evaluations for all students interested in private school vouchers, including those with no intention of ever enrolling in public districts, within a 45-day deadline.
Since students with disabilities are first in line to receive the vouchers and can receive higher dollar amounts based on their needs, the law is expected to spur additional demand for the evaluations. Public schools fear the new rush of requests will further clog a system that’s already overwhelmed: Special education evaluations have increased by more than 70% in the last decade, and school districts are struggling to complete those on time amid a staffing shortage. State Sen. Brandon Creighton, a Conroe Republican who authored the school voucher bill, acknowledged the hardship for public school districts. But he said that the districts are already required to complete evaluations for students who need them, even if they’re enrolled in private schools. “There’s been an incredible uptick in the number of evaluations requested,” he told Hearst Newspapers in an interview. “I'm not sure exactly how it will tie into (the new program), but we'll have to wait and see on that.”
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Fort Worth ISD risks TEA takeover after failing ratings
When Texas education officials released long-delayed 2023 A-F accountability scores last week, the Fort Worth Independent School District found itself at risk for a possible state takeover like the one that occurred two years ago in the state’s largest school district. After a now-closed sixth grade center in the district received a failure rating for five consecutive years, Fort Worth ISD is facing the possibility of state intervention. But the specifics of the situation make it difficult to predict what that intervention looks like — and even whether it happens at all. When a school receives a failure rating for five consecutive years, state law requires the education commissioner to do one of two things: Shut that campus down, or take over the entire district, replacing its elected school board with a state-appointed board of managers made up of district residents. The commissioner may also replace the superintendent, but isn’t required to do so.
Because of a change in state law, TEA didn’t issue failure ratings in 2021 and 2022. But that change was a pause, not a reset. That means any campus that racked up four consecutive failure ratings between 2016-2019 and then received an F in 2023’s ratings could place its district at risk of state takeover. Across Texas, there’s only one campus in that situation: Fort Worth ISD’s Leadership Academy at Forest Oak Sixth Grade, formerly known as Glencrest Sixth Grade. Complicating matters is the fact that Fort Worth ISD has already closed Forest Oak Sixth Grade. After the sixth grade center lost about a quarter of its enrollment between 2019 and 2022, the district shut the campus down at the beginning of the current school year and consolidated it with the Leadership Academy at Forest Oak Middle School, about a mile away. It’s unclear if the district’s closure of its own campus satisfies the law requiring Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath to intervene or, if not, what action the commissioner would take. TEA officials have noted that the ratings are considered preliminary until they’re finalized in August, and every district has the opportunity to appeal.
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San Antonio Express-News Editorial: Funding air conditioning in Texas prisons a moral, constitutional imperative
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice and Texas Legislature have had years to correct a deficiency that renders a typical Texas prison into what a U.S. district judge likened to “unconstitutional punishment.” Instead, disregard for fellow humans amid a populist tough-on-criminals mentality has kept the state from making meaningful progress toward installing air conditioning in Texas’ notoriously and dangerously hot prisons. From 2001 to 2019, at least 271 deaths in Texas prisons were attributable to extreme heat in facilities without air conditioning, public health researchers from Harvard, Boston and Brown universities found.
Now, legislation recently passed out of the Texas House Committee on Corrections aims to put the state on track — sort of — to have air conditioning throughout state prisons by 2032. House Bill 3006 calls for the TDCJ to complete such a transformation for one-third of its prisons by 2028, another third by 2030 and the rest two years after that. But even if the bill — a seemingly earnest effort by its sponsor, state Rep. Terry Canales, D-Edinburg — were to become law, something no prison air conditioning bill has done, it’s questionable whether its intent would be realized. For one thing, the bill caps spending on each phase at $100 million, while the TDCJ has estimated it would take $1.3 billion to install climate-control systems in inmate housing areas, according to the Texas Legislative Budget Board. And the bill’s tasking of the TDCJ is contingent on the Legislature providing such funding, which is hardly assured. We hope state lawmakers will do the right thing by correcting this decadeslong deadly deficiency and overcoming the misguided notion that prison inmates deserve to suffer.
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A 106-year tax break? Texas lawmakers look to close loopholes in unchecked economic development laws
The Texas Legislature is considering closing loopholes in a tax incentive program that lets cities and counties give public funds to private businesses with no limits and little oversight. Other types of economic development incentives in Texas, such as abatements on city, county and school property taxes, cap each deal at 10 years. Those programs also come with other guardrails and transparency measures. Chapters 380 (for cities) and 381 (for counties), by contrast, let city and county officials reduce any type of tax or fee that companies pay — or simply give away public money to companies as grants. A 2021 Houston Chronicle investigation found the state statutes impose no limits on each deal and do not require officials to write rules guiding their programs, hold public meetings before the deals are approved or reclaim funds paid to companies that fail to meet their commitments.
One city even extended a 60-year sales tax rebate deal last spring through 2099 – meaning the agreement will run for 106 years. A bill filed by state Sen. Brian Birdwell, R-Granbury, would address some of these weaknesses. Senate Bill 878 passed the Senate 27-4 this month and awaits a hearing in the House Ways & Means Committee. The bill would force cities and counties to hold public hearings on each deal before putting it to a vote of the commissioners court or city council, post information about the deals on their websites and include “appropriate performance metrics” in each agreement. It would cap the deals at 25 years – 10 years plus up to three 5-year renewals, which could be approved only if the deal’s performance metrics are met. The bill also would block cities and counties from using the laws to reduce businesses’ property taxes, limiting those abatements to other chapters of state law that cap those deals at 10 years.
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CenterPoint Energy to launch 100 weather stations across Houston metro ahead of hurricane season
CenterPoint Energy plans to install a network of 100 weather stations across its 12-county service territory in the Greater Houston area before hurricane season kicks off on June 1, the company announced Monday. The weather stations are expected to help the Houston-area electric utility better forecast severe weather and more precisely distribute resources, among other improvements, according to CenterPoint’s statement. CenterPoint said it would be the first investor-owned utility in Texas to establish its own weather station network. “Our weather network will provide invaluable situational awareness, in real-time, to help us act quickly, proactively and precisely before weather threatens to impact the electrical system and our customers,” Matt Lanza, CenterPoint’s meteorology manager, said in the statement.
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Texas school ratings reveal stark east-west divide in Austin: 'There is work to be done'
The 2023 Texas Education Agency's academic accountability scores released last week highlighted a stark divide running generally along Interstate 35 in Austin: schools that earned A ratings — the highest passing scores — were mostly located west of the bisecting highway, and those with failing scores were concentrated along the corridor and to its east. West of I-35 and south of Texas 183 lay swaths of campuses that received A ratings by the TEA's A-F letter grading system, which is used to designate which schools meet state academic standards. Campuses that failed to meet state standards are concentrated to the east and north of the two major thoroughfares. The sharp image also comes into focus as the Austin school district — along with many others across the state — saw an increase in schools earning F ratings in 2023 compared with the previous year.
In Austin the disparity is visually blaring, underscoring a historic imbalance in the district's allocation of resources and a lack of teacher and staff stability at campuses with the greatest needs, according to local education advocates and experts. The Austin district considers demographics, such as economic and emergent bilingual data, when deciding which resources or staff members to allocate to campuses, spokesman JJ Maldonado said. Some students may face family challenges that affect their ability to get to school, and some changes to the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness test, such as its move to online instead of paper form, could be difficult for students who only access computers at school, Maldonado said. "We recognize there is work to be done throughout our schools and we’re working with our communities to transform Austin ISD — not only to succeed within the state system but to continue delivering the excellence our students and families expect and deserve," he said. Campuses that have been rated an F do tend to experience higher teacher turnover, especially among newer educators, which can contribute to a lack of stability at schools, Maldonado said.
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Members of Ed Young's Houston megachurch claim church shut them out
In May 2024, Pastor H. Edwin "Ed" Young told his congregation that he was resigning from his leadership post at Second Baptist in Houston, ending his 46-year tenure as one of America's most influential and charismatic pastors. The pastor, then 87 years old, named his son Ben Young as his successor. Nearly a year later, a group of current and former Second Baptist members say the father and son, associate pastor Lee H. Maxcy and attorney Dennis Brewer (together dubbed "the Young Group"), abolished the right of church members to vote for their next pastor and installed Ben Young as an act of self-interest to "takeover" the church. Earlier this month, members of the congregation filed a suit in Harris County District Court.
The case against Second Baptist is led by a newly formed, Houston-based nonprofit called the Jeremiah Counsel Corporation that says its purpose is to "promote, protect and restore integrity, accountable governance and donor protection for churches" in Texas. In a statement Friday, the Jeremiah Counsel alleged that the Young Group "deceived and manipulated" the Second Baptist's 90,000 members by amending the church bylaws to deny them their right to vote for a new pastor. It claimed church members never received copies of the proposed bylaws, and the Young Group now controls over $1 billion in assets. "The church membership and the assets have been put at great risk because of the deceitful and deceptive practices of the church leadership, including the Senior Pastor, collectively ‘the Young Group,’ which has stripped all church members of the voting rights they have had since the church was founded nearly 100 years ago," the Jeremiah Counsel said.
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MD Anderson implements hiring pause after $43M loss, anxiety over Trump tariffs
MD Anderson Cancer Center has implemented a hiring pause for some positions and cut back “non-essential” spending after seeing a budget shortfall through the first half of the fiscal year, according to an internal email from the cancer center’s president, Dr. Peter Pisters. In the email, sent to employees April 17, Pisters said the cancer center took a $43 million operating loss through March – or $18.3 million below projections. Expenses had outpaced revenue, with more doctors on staff and fewer new patients coming to the hospital compared to last year, Pisters said. The losses reflect only a small percentage of MD Anderson’s 2025 budget, which listed $7.8 billion in total projected revenue through August. However, inflation and uncertainty in the financial markets – including the prospect of tariffs raising prices on medications – prompted the institution to take action, Pisters said in an interview with the Chronicle.
“The economic climate makes it very difficult to forecast,” Pisters said. “And that’s not a personal view, that’s a shared view among CEOs that I speak with.” Pisters characterized the changes as “mild” and said he was confident they would be enough to reach the $140 million budget surplus expected by August. The hiring pause will only affect positions that aren’t directly tied to patient care, he said. Research positions funded by external grants and contracts will still be considered. Additionally, MD Anderson employees have been asked to cut back on business travel and conference attendance, unless there’s a legitimate need. Pisters said he’s no longer planning to attend two major cancer research conferences held by the American Society of Clinical Oncology and the American Association for Cancer Research. MD Anderson is among many health systems struggling with increasing costs, in part because of supply chain disruptions and workforce shortages. Fifteen hospitals have closed so far in 2025, already exceeding the total closures in 2023, according to Becker’s Hospital Review.
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Shirtless J6er spews white supremacist lies about Texas teen’s killing
White supremacists are attempting to make the tragic murder of a North Texas teenager about Black-on-white crime, and the grieving father of the white victim isn’t playing along. What began as a bizarre tragedy that made headlines all across the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is becoming a national story tied to January 6 rioters who were pardoned from prison by President Donald Trump. The story begins on Wednesday, April 2, in Frisco, Texas, a far northern suburb of Dallas. Austin Metcalf, a 17-year-old white student from Memorial High School in Frisco, and 17-year-old Karmelo Anthony, a Black student from Centennial High School in Frisco, ended up next to each other in a tent during a rainstorm.
This tent was for the Memorial High School team, not the Centennial High School team. According to reports from the scene, Anthony came under the other team’s tent because it was raining. The two teens apparently did not know each other. However, by Anthony’s account, Metcalf told him he had to leave the tent and threatened him. The Black student reportedly replied: “Touch me and see what happens.” The white student persisted in trying to expel the Black student from the tent. According to eyewitness accounts, Anthony pulled out a black knife from his backpack and stabbed Metcalf once in the chest before running away. Metcalf was pronounced dead soon after at a local hospital. Locally, racial tensions accelerated because of the murder, which Anthony claims was not intended to be a murder and was his response to being bullied by Metcalf. By some accounts, Metcalf and his twin brother were known bullies. By other accounts, the victim was a model student. Anthony told police as he was being escorted away: “He put his hands on me, I told him not to.” Here’s a question no one seems to be asking: How is it possible for a high school junior to have a large knife at a track meet? Was there no security at the stadium? Texas is a state where the attorney general is suing cities to force them to allow guns in other public venues such as the state fair and theatrical performances. But still: Why was it possible for a high school student to bring a murder weapon to a track meet? Instead, the national debate has turned to race, and that is being done by what might be called “outside agitators” sparked by local race baiting.
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National Stories
Mark Carney warns Canadians in Liberal Party victory speech: 'Trump is trying to break us'
Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberal Party won Canada’s federal election on Monday, capping a stunning turnaround in fortunes fueled by U.S. President Donald Trump’s annexation threats and trade war. After polls closed, the Liberals were projected to win more of Parliament’s 343 seats than the Conservatives. It wasn’t immediately clear, though, if they would win an outright majority — at least 172 — or would need to rely on one of the smaller parties to pass legislation. The Liberals looked headed for a crushing defeat until the American president started attacking Canada’s economy and threatening its sovereignty, suggesting it should become the 51st state. Trump’s actions infuriated Canadians and stoked a surge in nationalism that helped the Liberals flip the election narrative and win a fourth-straight term in power.
In a victory speech before supporters in Ottawa, Carney stressed the importance of Canadian unity in the face of Washington’s threats. He also said the mutually beneficial system Canada and the U.S. had shared since World War II had ended. “We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons,” he said. “As I’ve been warning for months, America wants our land, our resources, our water, our country,” Carney said. “These are not idle threats. President Trump is trying to break us so America can own us. That will never ... ever happen. But we also must recognize the reality that our world has fundamentally changed.” The Conservative Party’s leader, Pierre Poilievre, hoped to make the election a referendum on former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, whose popularity declined toward the end of his decade in power as food and housing prices rose. But Trump attacked, Trudeau resigned and Carney, a two-time central banker, became the Liberal Party’s leader and prime minister. In a concession speech and with his own House of Commons seat still in doubt, Poilievre vowed to keep fighting for Canadians.
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It’s not just ‘leftist’ judges. GOP appointees have many sharp words for Trump.
President Donald Trump has spent almost his entire political career attacking the independence of the judicial system. But even against that backdrop, the first three months of his second term have been something else. As judges have halted his actions or ruled against him in dozens of cases, he and his top allies have increasingly cast their decisions as an illegal and unconstitutional power grab from another branch of government. It’s the kind of talk that could lead to ugly places. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Tuesday cited “rogue district court judges.” Top White House adviser Stephen Miller late Wednesday denounced “a rogue radical left judiciary.” Vice President JD Vance has railed against “radical left judges.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi referred to “low-level leftist judges who are trying to dictate President Trump’s executive powers.” Elon Musk has gone so far as to claim that a “judicial coup” is underway and has pushed for impeaching individual judges. One of the most popular memes in right-wing social media circles this week is a comparison of the number of legal injunctions faced by Trump versus other recent presidents. Trump has faced many more than the others, even as the meme butchers the data. There is at least one very good reason for those numbers, though, and that is that Trump has gone to extraordinary lengths to test the limits of his power. He has even done transparently illegal things in hopes that the Supreme Court will change its precedents. But there’s another aspect of Trump’s attack on the judiciary that should not be lost: It’s not just Democratic-appointed, so-called “leftist” judges who are rebuking him. A fast-increasing number of Republican appointees have also cast the administration’s actions as blatantly illegal, lawless and even dangerous to U.S. democracy.
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Harris to criticize Trump in first major address since leaving office
Former Vice President Kamala Harris will jab at President Trump in the keynote address at the Emerge gala on Wednesday, making her first public remarks since leaving office in January, a source told The Hill. In her remarks, the former vice president, who lost to Trump in November, is expected to offer pointed criticism of the administration, the source said. Harris is also expected to honor the organization for its role empowering women in politics and issue a call to action to combat Trump’s economic policies and his push to overhaul the federal government. Emerge, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary with the gala, is an organization that helps recruit and train Democratic women to run for office. Harris worked with the Emerge co-founder Andrea Dew Steele on her run for district attorney of San Francisco in 2003.
Harris earlier this month made a surprise appearance at a leadership summit for Black women in California and told the crowd, “I’m not going anywhere.” She also signed on with Creative Artists Agency (CAA), the entertainment firm, earlier this year. Speculation has swirled surrounding whether Harris is mulling a run for California governor in 2026, and she is expected to make a formal decision by the end of the summer. Early polling has shown that if Harris was to launch a bid, she would be the Democratic front-runner. The former vice president nabbed nearly 6 in 10 likely primary voters in a February survey from Emerson College Polling/Inside California Politics/The Hill.
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Civil rights lawyers leave en masse as Justice Dept. mission shifts
The new head of the Justice Department’s civil rights division is dramatically reshaping the office to propel President Donald Trump’s social agenda, prompting the departure of about half of the division’s lawyers in recent weeks, according to people familiar with the situation and public statements from top officials. Since being sworn in this month, civil rights director Harmeet K. Dhillon has redirected her staff to focus on combating antisemitism, the participation of transgender athletes in women’s sports and what Trump and his allies have described as anti-Christian bias and the Democrats’ “woke ideology.” The division changed mission statements across its sections to focus less on racial discrimination and more on fighting diversity initiatives. And department officials reassigned more than a dozen career staffers — including section chiefs overseeing police brutality, disability and voting rights cases — to areas outside their legal expertise.
The changes under Dhillon, a longtime Republican activist, coincide with a second White House offer to federal workers that allows them to resign from their positions and be paid through September. The deadline for that offer is late Monday evening, and civil rights employees have been submitting their resignations en masse as the deadline nears, said people familiar with the division who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter. More than 100 division attorneys have already said they will leave their jobs, Dhillon told conservative podcaster Glenn Beck during an appearance on his show Saturday. Many departed because they disagree with the division’s new direction, she said. The division had about 380 attorneys when Trump began his second term in the White House. Approximately half have left or said they will leave, according to people familiar with the division, and Dhillon told Beck she had no problem with their departures. “I think that’s fine,” Dhillon said. “We don’t want people in the federal government who feel like it’s their pet project to go persecute police departments based on statistical evidence or persecute people praying outside abortion facilities instead of doing violence. … The job here is to enforce the federal civil rights laws — not woke ideology.”
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'60 Minutes' correspondent Scott Pelley calls out parent company Paramount
Turmoil at "60 Minutes" spilled from behind the scenes to front of camera over the weekend. In a rare on-air rebuke April 27, longtime correspondent for the CBS newsmagazine Scott Pelley said the broadcaster's parent company Paramount had become heavy-handed in its oversight. His comments came in response to executive producer Bill Owens' resignation from the show last week. Owens resigned after saying he had lost journalistic independence. "It was hard on him and hard on us," Pelley said. "But he did it for us and you. "Stories we've pursued for 57 years are often controversial: lately, the Israel-Gaza war and the Trump administration. Bill made sure they were accurate and fair. He was tough that way," he continued.
"But our parent company, Paramount, is trying to complete a merger. The Trump administration must approve it. Paramount began to supervise our content in new ways," Pelley said. "None of our stories has been blocked, but Bill felt he lost the independence that honest journalism requires." Announcing his resignation, Owens wrote in an internal memo seen by Reuters that it had "become clear that I would not be allowed to run the show as I have always run it" or "to make independent decisions," and that after defending the show "from every angle, over time with everything I could," he had elected to step down. USA TODAY has reached out to a rep for "60 Minutes" for comment. Pelley's comments come as the Trump administration bears down on media outlets it views as biased or over-critical. Both as a candidate and now as president, Donald Trump has taken legal action against several of the major news networks, and his press office has shut out some legacy media outlets from access they previously enjoyed.
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Can public money flow to Catholic charter school? The Supreme Court will decide
The Catholic Church in Oklahoma wants taxpayers to fund an online charter school that “is faithful to the teachings of Jesus Christ.” The Supreme Court could well approve. St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School would be the nation’s first religious charter school. A ruling from the high court allowing public money to flow directly to a religious school almost certainly would lead to others. Opponents warn it would blur the separation between church and state, sap money from public schools and possibly upend the rules governing charter schools in almost every state. The court hears arguments Wednesday in one of the term’s most closely watched cases.
The case comes to the court amid efforts, mainly in conservative-led states, to insert religion into public schools. Those include a challenged Louisiana requirement that the Ten Commandments be posted in classrooms and a mandate from Oklahoma’s state schools superintendent that the Bible be placed in public school classrooms. Conservative justices in recent years have delivered a series of decisions allowing public money to be spent at religious institutions, leading liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor to lament that the court “continues to dismantle the wall of separation between church and state that the Framers fought to build.” The justices are reviewing an Oklahoma Supreme Court decision last year in which a lopsided majority invalidated a state board’s approval of an application filed jointly by two Catholic dioceses in Oklahoma. The K-12 online school had planned to start classes for its first 200 enrollees last fall, with part of its mission to evangelize its students in the Catholic faith.
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