Lead Stories

Abbott appoints election denier lead 'election integrity' policy and firebrand as comptroller

A Texas state representative who believes the 2020 election was stolen from President Donald Trump will lead election policy as a senior adviser to Gov. Greg Abbott. State Rep. Nate Schatzline, a Fort Worth Republican, resigned from the Texas House on Thursday to accept the new role developing policy and legislative strategy related to election integrity, according to a statement from the governor’s office. The two-term representative is among the most conservative members of the state House and a pastor at the Fort Worth mega church Mercy Culture. He does not have previous election administration experience.

He also annouynced on Thursday that Don Huffines will lead the comptroller’s office, elevating a one-time political nemesis to the post Huffines is seeking in the November election. The move comes after acting Comptroller Kelly Hancock — who Huffines beat in the March GOP primary — announced he was stepping down at the end of the month. Hancock is a close ally of Abbott’s and the governor backed him over Huffines in the primary. On Thursday, the governor said Huffines is the right man for the job, which includes overseeing the state’s finances and the rollout of the state’s new private school voucher program, a key policy priority for Abbott. The appointment is effective Aug. 1. In recent weeks, Schatzline was floated to replace Secretary of State Jane Nelson, who announced her retirement in June.

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Trump got the Senate candidates he wanted. How much will he spend to help them?

President Donald Trump reshaped this year’s U.S. Senate map by sidelining some Republican incumbents and promoting loyalists to replace them. Now the question is whether he’ll put his money where his mouth is. With four months to go until November’s elections, it’s still unclear how much MAGA Inc., the country’s largest political war chest with $382 million in the bank as of last month, plans to spend on key races. The silence has persisted even as Senate Republican leaders have urged Trump’s team, both privately and publicly, to pick up the tab for the president’s decisions. Front and center is Texas, where Trump successfully endorsed fiery conservative Ken Paxton over Sen. John Cornyn, a choice that some Republicans grumble has turned a safe election into a toss-up that will drain resources away from other battlegrounds.

Democratic nominee James Talarico, a state lawmaker, has made Paxton’s history of corruption allegations a central target of his campaign. “The president picked Paxton, and he’s got $350 million dollars,” Cornyn recently told Semafor. “I think he can spend his money.” Another challenge has emerged in North Carolina, where Sen. Thom Tillis declined to run for reelection after feuding with Trump last year over healthcare spending. Trump backed Michael Whatley, his former handpicked chair of the Republican National Committee, to run instead, and Democrats hope to flip the seat with former Gov. Roy Cooper. Some in Republican campaign leadership are expecting MAGA Inc. to pitch in for Whatley in North Carolina, where the state’s several metro media markets can be pricey. Republicans will likely be able to count on generous support from well-funded official party committees, which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled earlier this week should be allowed to make unlimited direct contributions to candidates’ campaigns. But even that sum falls short of what Trump has stockpiled in MAGA Inc. Even though the president is constitutionally barred from running again, he began raising money shortly after winning a second term, and he’s regularly held fundraisers at his resort properties where tickets cost $1 million per person.

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Immigrant arrests surge to 10,000 in 5 days as ICE clamps down

Federal immigration officials have detained more than 10,000 people in the last five days, a major surge that has stemmed from a push within Immigration and Customs Enforcement to increase arrest rates. Agency leaders in recent days ordered top ICE officials to focus more of their officers’ efforts on picking up immigrants they want to deport, according to documents obtained by The New York Times and interviews with federal officials. ICE officers have arrested people at check-ins with immigration authorities, during traffic stops and on the street. The push has apparently yielded results, with recent arrest numbers roughly doubling from the 1,000 picked up each day earlier this year. ICE officials were told that the White House wanted an increase in arrests, according to three officials with knowledge of the conversations.

One of the officials said that it was unclear how long the pace could continue, but that ICE officials had been told that 2,000 arrests a day was the new standard for enforcement. The surge has occurred without the fanfare of highly visible operations last year, in which officials announced their intentions ahead of time to target cities, including Chicago and Los Angeles, and send officers pouring into the streets. Markwayne Mullin, the homeland security secretary, pledged to mount a quieter enforcement campaign following the chaos of a monthlong operation in Minnesota, where federal officers killed two U.S. citizens. The rise in arrests suggests that President Trump is determined to meet his pledge of mass deportations, a goal that is popular among his conservative supporters but that has fueled a political backlash amid the administration’s heavy-handed tactics. The Trump administration has promised more aggressive actions, particularly after the Supreme Court in recent days expanded the president’s power to set federal immigration policy, but undercut his effort to eliminate birthright citizenship for the children of illegal immigrants and visitors.

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CPS Energy must pay nearly $400M over 2021 winter storm charges

A Bexar County judge ordered CPS Energy to pay nearly $400 million to two natural gas suppliers, rejecting the utility’s claim that prices charged during the February 2021 winter storm were unconscionable. State District Judge Laura Salinas ruled that Houston Pipe Line Co. LP and Oasis Pipeline LP charged market prices during the storm, that the contracts were enforceable and that CPS breached them by failing to pay the full invoices. Salinas found the prices charged by the subsidiaries of Dallas-based Energy Transfer LP were consistent with prevailing market prices and with prices paid by other buyers during the storm.

The judge awarded the two companies virtually everything they sought, including $263.7 million in unpaid gas charges, $119.1 million in prejudgment interest and $9.4 million in attorneys fees. In the five-page ruling issued Thursday, the judge also included court costs, post-judgment interest and additional attorneys fees if they prevail on appeal. In an emailed statement, CPS Energy said it is considering its appellate options. “CPS Energy is disappointed by the court’s decision, which will cost this community more than $390 million and may effectively end a key legal safeguard against grossly unfair treatment for essential services like natural gas during the next statewide disaster,” it said. Energy Transfer spokesperson Vicki Anderson Granado said it was pleased with the ruling. “The message is clear: CPS Energy must pay its bills just like everyone else,” she said. “The bills sent to CPS were for their many natural gas purchases and reflected the terms agreed to at that time based on market conditions. CPS failed to prepare appropriately for the winter storm season, and they put the interests of their customers at risk. We had no choice but to file suit to get CPS Energy to honor its contracts.”

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State Stories

Texas House candidate for Fort Worth area district posts racially coded meme

A Republican candidate for a Fort Worth area Texas House district posted and then deleted a racially coded meme on her campaign Facebook page. On July 1, Cheryl Bean posted on Facebook an AI-generated illustration of WNBA player Sophie Cunningham on a boat with her Indiana Fever teammates, posing similarly to the “Washington Crossing the Delaware” painting. In the image, Cunningham is pointing forward, referencing a June 22 game when she pointed dramatically at Phoenix Mercury player DeWanna Bonner after a physical altercation with Cunningham’s teammate Caitlin Clark. In the image, the Black players are wearing floaties while none of the white players are. “IYKYK A little humor for the day,” Bean wrote in the post on Cheryl Bean for Texas.

Bean is running for House District 94 in the Nov. 3 election. The district covers central Arlington, northeast Fort Worth, Hurst and parts of Bedford. The seat is held by Republican Tony Tinderholt, who announced his retirement in June 2025 and is now a candidate for Tarrant County commissioner. She is also the board chair of the Texas Center for Arts and Academics, which governs two public charter schools, one in Fort Worth. Several comments referenced why only the Black players have floaties and none of the white players do. “So the Floaties basically trying to say we can’t swim. Because from my angle I can see who doesn’t have them on,” one person wrote. Others laughed at the detail. “Not the black girls with floaties on” another person wrote with a laughing and cemetery emoji. “Okay Sophie looks fantastic but I noticed only the black women are wearing floaties. I think this made me laugh even more,” another wrote. “Why all the black ladies got water wings?” said another. By about 11:30 a.m. Thursday, the post was deleted.

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Dallas GOP convention could cost up to $40 million

The Republican extravaganza planned in Dallas this fall could cost as much as $40 million, but it remains unclear how much of the cost will fall on taxpayers, the event’s co-chair said. The first-of-its-kind midterm convention — dubbed the “Trump-a-palooza” — will be privately funded by donors, but whether Dallas will receive reimbursement for police, fire, traffic control and other public services needed to host the event at the city-owned American Airlines Center is up in the air. The potentially hefty price tag comes as Republicans are fundraising ahead of what is expected to be an expensive midterm election in November. The U.S. Senate race between Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Democratic Texas House member James Talarico is already costly.

Dallas developer and prominent Republican donor Ray Washburne told The Dallas Morning News that he has not seen a final budget but expects the two-day event to cost between $30 million and $40 million. Washburne, the event’s co-chair, estimates about 20,000 people would attend each night. City officials didn’t respond Thursday to questions about whether Dallas has committed funding, personnel or other public resources to the Sept. 9 and 10 convention. The city also didn't say whether it has developed preliminary cost estimates. A nonprofit host committee, which will include people from the area, is expected to be announced next week. That committee will cover some costs for hosting the event, according to Rick Gorka, who identified himself as a convention spokesman. The number of GOP donors in Dallas may have helped attract the event, said Tami Brown Rodriquez, the former chair of the Dallas County Republican Party.

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‘TEXAS’ street mural near UT covered overnight

The city of Austin covered the “TEXAS” street mural on Guadalupe Street in front of the University of Texas at Austin campus overnight with a mixture of gravel and oil, according to Jeff Stensland, the public information officer for Austin Transportation & Public Works. The mural's removal, first reported by The Daily Texan, UT's student newspaper, occurred between 3 and 6 a.m., Stensland said. The removal came after Gov. Greg Abbott directed the Texas Department of Transportation to eliminate “non-standard surface markings, signage and signals” in October. The mural was first installed in May 2024 to celebrate the Longhorns' joining the Southeastern Conference. In May, the Texas Department of Transportation rejected the city of Austin’s appeal to preserve the street art. Austin removed multiple other street murals early Thursday morning. Cities across the state have removed their murals to comply with Abbott's directive. In Houston, Montrose's rainbow crosswalks were removed in October.

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State senator plans to challenge San Marcos’ data center ban, says city lacks legal authority

Less than a month after San Marcos became the first city in Texas to ban data centers citywide, one state lawmaker says he plans to challenge the ordinance, arguing the city does not have the legal authority to enact it. In a statement to KXAN, State Sen. Paul Bettencourt said the city’s zoning amendment conflicts with state law. “They should not use zoning to ban anything everywhere in the city of San Marcos because that’s not lawful under the state of Texas guidelines. A ban doesn’t work here, and this will get challenged.”

The San Marcos City Council approved the ordinance in June after months of discussion over the potential impact of data centers on the community. City leaders cited concerns over the facilities’ high water demand, land use and long-term effects on the city’s natural resources. In response to Bettencourt’s comments, the City of San Marcos said: “City Council provided initial authorization to update the Development Code in August 2025. As part of the process, City staff conducted public hearings, had meetings with the development community and held an open house to gather input and comments on the draft code. The draft was presented to the City Council, which reviewed staff recommendations and made amendments before adopting the updated code at the June 16, 2026, meeting.” Some locals who supported the ban said they expected the decision to face opposition but hope the city stands by it. “I think that’s very frustrating. If the city and the people within the city decide that this is what we want here, they should listen to that,” said Aimee Lewey. “Of course there’s going to be some pushback. The biggest thing with these data centers is it’s taking away not only our clean water that we need to live, but also these beautiful environments like the school that we have,” said Sylvia Ellis, San Marcos resident.

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Tarrant GOP’s election strategy focuses on $3.5M in donations, unified campaign

“One big beautiful campaign” and $3.5 million are the keystones to success for Tarrant County Republicans in the midterm elections, Tarrant’s GOP Chair Tim Davis said. On Wednesday, Davis outlined his vision at an Arlington Republican club called the Freedom Fighters. Davis was frank with the roughly 20 people in attendance, saying the November election will not be an easy victory. Anyone who thinks so is naive, Davis said. “Everything we have, we have to earn,” he said. “Everything we have, we have to fight to keep, and that’s going to be true in November.” Heavy-hitting positions on the ballot include the U.S. Senate seat, five U.S. Representative seats and a number of statewide offices.

Tarrant County’s Republican candidates will have the most integrated campaign than ever before and the party will raise $3.5 million to support them, Davis said. An integrated campaign will ensure that the candidates’ values, efforts and messaging are aligned up and down the ballot. “We don’t need to have 40 judges running around doing different things, we need to do that,” he said. “We need to be the quarterback for that at the party, and that’s what we’re working hard to do.” The staggering goal of $3.5 million will fund advertisements and voter research, Davis said. Much of the campaigning will be volunteer driven. On Saturday, the Tarrant County GOP swore in new precinct chairs. Davis said they are fired up to do the hard work until the election. “They get the fight that it’s going to take, they get the work that it’s going to take, they get the time that it’s going to take, the treasure it’s going to take for us to hold this great state and keep electing people like [State Board of Education member] Brandon Hall, keep electing people like Governor Abbott,” Davis said. “I keep saying Senator Paxton already. I hope I’m not jinxing it.”

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Texas Rep. Nehls says struggling Americans may not work hard enough

It's not unusual for politicians to be accused of being out of touch. One Texas congressman didn't do much to change that perception when he was asked about affordability. In a video shared online by MeidasTouch's Pablo Manríquez, Texas Rep. Troy Nehls was asked about the current affordability crisis Americans are facing with increased costs from the gas station to the grocery store.. Rather than immediately answering the question, Nehls pivoted to his own Fourth of July plans. "Affordability? What are you talking about?" Nehls asked before bragging about his upcoming Fourth of July plans in Texas.

"I'm gonna get me a couple of big lobster tails," he continued. "I'm gonna get me some nice ribeyes, I'm gonna sit in my backyard with my family, my neighbors, and we're going to be enjoying the fourth, celebrating 250 years, the birthday." Nehls eventually returned to the question of affordability by arguing that recent increases in energy prices were temporary and tied to ongoing conflict in the Middle East. "Everybody understands, you're gonna see a little increase in energy prices because of Iran. I mean, come on, people aren't stupid," he said. "But I think in the end, the short-term increase in some of the costs of energy, you know, gasoline and stuff, is temporary, but President [Donald] Trump has made it very clear to these companies, don't be gouging, no price gouging."

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Texas among hardest hit by explosive diarrhea parasite

Texas is nearly a nationwide leader in one statistic, per the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), though it isn't a mark worth celebrating in the Lone Star State. The CDC reports 145 people across the United States contracted the the parasite Cyclospora between May and its June 16 report, with 11-to-30 of those individuals residing in Texas. CDC data reports New York as the nation's leader in Cyclospora with 31-to-80 cases. Texas and Illinois are the only other states with more than 10 reported cases nationwide. The symptoms of Cyclospora aren't pretty. The CDC notes the most common symptoms as: watery diarrhea, loss of appetite, weight loss, cramping, bloating, increased gas and nausea.

Cyclospora can often be contracted by eating or drinking contaminated food or water during travel outside the United States, though the CDC has not confirmed the specific source of Cyclospora in the 145 reported cases nationwide. Cyclospora cases can be treated via antibiotics, though symptoms can last for as long as a month if not immediately treated. Individuals who contracted Cyclospora range from 17-years-old to 89-years-old, per the CDC. The onset of Cyclospora resulted in 20 hospitalizations as of June 16, but no deaths to date. 2026 is far from the first time Cyclospora has emerged in the United States. A 2019 Cyclospora outbreak emerged via imported berries and herbs from Mexico, while 2018 saw 400 people get infected with Cyclospora via tainted salads at McDonalds. The CDC reports "investigations to identify potential sources [of Cyclospora] are ongoing."

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South Texas congressman trying to get border wall exemptions reinstated

U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, says he’s working with Republicans on the House Appropriations Committee for exceptions to be put in the 2027 Homeland Security budget bill to exempt certain landmarks in the Rio Grande Valley from border wall construction. If approved, Cuellar says border wall exemptions that Congress had previously given to these landmarks — Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park; La Lomita Chapel; SpaceX; historic cemeteries; the National Butterfly Center and Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge — would once again apply.

“It’s not final. We got to make it final But I did get language in the bill to say that those exceptions that we got for the Valley – SpaceX, Butterfly Center (La Lomita) Chapel, all that – you can’t use appropriated dollars and you cannot use Big Beautiful Bill dollars, or reconciliation,” Cuellar told media Thursday. The measure isn’t expected to be voted on for months, however, by Congress. If passed, it likely will be too late to prevent border wall construction at Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge, where U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has told Border Report the agency plans to begin border wall construction starting this month. Funds for the border wall are paid through the $46.5 billion in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act signed by President Trump last 4th of July, which had no exemptions written into the legislation.

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CapMetro employees threaten to go on strike

After a 10-month negotiation process, CapMetro workers and transit subcontractor Keolis are still at odds over desired wages, time off, and better training. After rejecting the company’s most recent offer, the union representing CapMetro workers, the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1091, announced Tuesday, June 30, that 99.5% of its members have voted to authorize a strike. Brent Payne, president for ATU Local 1091, said that a strike is now “highly likely.” The disputes between the union and Keolis have resulted in months-long negotiations about how to move forward. In May, the union asked workers to not take overtime shifts after Keolis stalled negotiations. Though the contract was “maybe 60%” complete, Payne said that the offer did not meet all of the employees’ requests, resulting in the workers declining the deal.

“The best and final that they gave us still didn’t have benefits for my UT shuttle operators. They work full-time hours, meaning they work 40-hour workweeks, but they do not give them any kind of benefits,” Payne said. “We’re not close on a couple of issues.” Payne told us that the subcontractor’s final offer also did not include overtime pay for administrative employees, and offered a 12% pay increase over three years, coming up short of the union’s ask for 14% over the same period. According to the union, over 75% of CapMetro workers can’t afford to live in Austin. “Our members feel very strongly that everybody should have the same benefit package,” Payne said. The union has also pointed out the need for better training and adequate time off that is standard for transit workers across the industry. With a potential strike around the corner, Payne said that Austinites who typically use the public transportation system will likely be impacted. “We cover everything from big bus to all maintenance and UT shuttle operations. That’s everything in fixed route,” Payne said. “I would say a strike would severely disable the city of Austin.”

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New Houston charter school for dropouts raises red flags for critics

Over the last decade, Texas has approved a steady beat of new charter schools — four per year, on average. But for the second time in 30 years, just one charter district made it through the state’s lengthy application process, as the State Board of Education approved a new charter operator at last week's meeting. Critics already questioned creating new charter school districts as public school enrollment falls and charter schools close due to low performance. But now they say the proposed school raises financial concerns, too. The new charter plans to send public taxpayer dollars to an out-of-state, for-profit company with private equity backing to operate its Texas schools. Charter schools can be run by nonprofits — like YES Prep, KIPP and other flagship networks — or by private companies.

In both cases, they receive public funding and operate with more flexibility than traditional public schools. Charters educated about 446,600 Texas students in the 2025-26 school year and just over 99,000 students in the Houston region, according to state data. Patti Everett, an independent education policy researcher, told the State Board of Education last week that if they approved the charter’s management structure, it would represent a “paradigm shift” for charters in Texas. “This application raises many, many red flags, conflicts of interest, and it sets precedents that I think should give us all pause, even if you generally support charter schools,” Everett said. “The idea that taxpayer dollars would go to investors instead of to students, especially at-risk students, is a concerning precedent.” The new charter, Texas School for Dropout Prevention, Inc., has a contract with a private company, Second Mile Education, to operate the school, alongside an independent board and superintendent. Second Mile, which operates 27 schools across the United States, is owned by the private equity firm Satori Capital. The charter school applied last year for Texas approval but didn’t make it to the final rounds. The State Board of Education, whose members are chosen in partisan elections, approved the new charter application in a 9-5-1 vote last week, with board member Pam Little, a Republican from North Texas, abstaining. The vote was mostly along party lines. However, one Democratic representative voted for the charter, Staci Childs from Houston, and one Republican representative who voted against it, Evelyn Brooks of Frisco.

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Driver overrode Tesla's autopilot seconds before crashing into Katy-area home, killing woman: Docs

A bond has been set for the man who was behind the wheel of a Tesla that crashed into a Katy-area home, killing a woman, according to court records. The alleged driver, 44-year-old Michael Butler, now faces a manslaughter charge. He went before a judge on Thursday morning, where his bond was set at $150,000. Online records show that as of Thursday morning, Butler is still in Harris County jail. According to authorities, the crash happened on June 19. Surveillance video shows Butler's Tesla barreling into the home on Blooming Park Lane in Katy. Court documents state Butler was working as a DoorDash driver at the time of the incident. Butler allegedly told investigators that the last thing he remembered was operating the car on Highway 6 and in full self-driving mode.

Butler reportedly said the car was on autopilot and then he "passed out." Records alleged Butler denied feeling ill earlier in the day and has no history of seizures. He also tested negative for seizures, stroke, or heart attack, and no alcohol or street drugs were found in his system. As a result of the crash, 76-year-old Martha Avila was killed. Her family told ABC13 they were cooking dinner and she happened to be in the front playroom of the home when the Tesla plowed through. At the time of the crash, investigators said Butler claimed his car was in self-driving mode, but Tesla since disputed that and claimed he overrode the feature. Updated court records state that investigators downloaded the crash data, black box, and received consent to search Butler's phone. They reportedly found that Butler used full self-driving mode for multiple DoorDash locations before the crash with no issues. Investigators accuse Butler of overriding the self-driving mode by using the accelerator just before the crash and rolling through a stop sign.

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"Weird" and "ironic": Detained San Antonio mariachi records national anthem for ICE

A San Antonio mariachi musician who was brought to the U.S. at age four and is facing possible deportation under the Trump administration's immigration crackdown sang "The Star-Spangled Banner" Thursday for a July Fourth observance at the federal detention center in South Texas where he is being held. Hebert Kaleth Ibarra Castro, 20, said he agreed to be recorded singing the national anthem even though he considered the request "weird" and "ironic." “They can treat us this way and lock us up and chain us up like animals, but still request for us to sing a song that speaks about a land that is free,” he said in a phone interview from the South Texas ICE Processing Center in Pearsall, 55 miles southwest of San Antonio.

Hebert was taken into custody June 25 after police pulled him over for speeding in China Grove, a small city 12 miles east of San Antonio. When he showed the officer a Mexican driver's license, local police contacted U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, whose agents interviewed Hebert and determined he was in the country illegally. His performance of "The Star-Spangled Banner" grew out of an effort to mark Independence Day for detainees at the ICE facility. The center held a contest in which detainees created Fourth of July-themed handkerchief arrangements. Winners received a goodie bag with Cokes, chips and cookies. Staff members at the facility also wanted someone to sing the national anthem, and Hebert said one of them asked him if he would do it. Many of his fellow detainees do not know English, much less the anthem, so he agreed, he said. On Thursday afternoon, Hebert stood beside a poster of the American flag and a display of detainees' red-white-and-blue handkerchief arrangements and belted out "The Star-Spangled Banner," according to his wife, Marisol Pantoja, who spoke to him by phone afterward and received a detailed account.

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Hill Country flood relief fund distributes $82 million one year after disaster

In the days after floodwaters tore through the Texas Hill Country on July 4, 2025, donations poured in from across the country. The Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country quickly launched a relief effort, directing millions of dollars toward emergency assistance for survivors and affected communities. Like many across the Hill Country, the foundation’s CEO Austin Dickson lost loved ones in the flood. He said the anniversary has been a reminder of both the grief that remains and the progress the community has made. “You can be in grief and you can also be hopeful at the same time, and that's very much where I am personally,” Dickson said. “I'm hopeful because there's been so much generosity towards our community, and the Community Foundation has been able to translate that into results.”

The flood killed more than 130 people across the Hill Country and destroyed hundreds of homes, businesses and public spaces, making it one of the deadliest natural disasters in Texas history. Now, one year later, the Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country has raised $150 million for recovery efforts. Founded in 1982, the local nonprofit has so far awarded about $82 million to help families rebuild their lives, Dickson said. “We've moved really quickly and very deliberately and very systematically to make sure as many people as possible get the help that they need,” he said. The first phase of recovery focused on meeting immediate needs. Within 45 days of the flooding, the foundation distributed $15 million to more than 50 local nonprofits, Dickson said, providing direct financial assistance to survivors and crisis support. But as those emergency needs eased, the organization's priorities shifted to long-term recovery.

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National Stories

How a fertilizer shortage caused by the Iran war could affect U.S. food prices

When the war with Iran started, one of the top economic concerns globally was the slowdown of oil shipments. But there was another critical export that got stuck in the region when hostilities began: fertilizer. Before the war, around one-third of the world's fertilizer transported by sea passed through the Strait of Hormuz, according to UN Trade and Development. The waterway has become a shipping chokepoint in recent months. With the strait closed, fertilizer shipments from the Persian Gulf slumped and prices rose, affecting countries all around the world that import fertilizer. The war also created a global shortage of natural gas, a key component in nitrogen fertilizer manufacturing.

It caused a massive headache for U.S. farmers who were hit with higher fertilizer prices and limited availability just as they were deciding what to plant for the upcoming growing season. But the costs borne by farmers don't necessarily get passed on to consumers, and food system experts say they're unlikely to have a major impact on the retail prices of fruit and vegetables. "Consumers are going to see higher food prices come September to January, once harvests start coming in, and the few months thereafter," said Chris Barrett, a professor of agricultural economics at Cornell University. "Very little of that is going to be directly attributable to fertilizer." That's because food inflation is generally driven by larger factors affecting multiple parts of the food supply chain, such as fewer workers and high fuel costs. About one-third of the fertilizer used by U.S. farmers is imported, according to The Fertilizer Institute, an industry trade group. TFI Vice President of Public Affairs Christopher Glen said little of that comes through the Strait of Hormuz.

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Instant replay just cost Team USA its top goalscorer at the World Cup

Over the first four games of the World Cup, U.S. striker Folarin Balogun was nothing short of a revelation. But shortly after he gave the U.S. the lead against Bosnia and Herzegovina on Wednesday, Balogun became the focus of attention for a different reason. The referee went to the cameras for a replay review that left everyone from U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino to NFL superstar Patrick Mahomes in total disbelief. Balogun was ejected for accidentally stepping on an opponent’s ankle. And even though the Americans survived with only 10 players to beat Bosnia 2-0, the implications going forward are enormous: Balogun, the team’s leading scorer, is now suspended for the team’s round-of-16 clash against Belgium.

“For me, never it’s a red card,” Pochettino said. “It was a normal action in football that happened by accident. But it’s not intentional.” The moment was the soccer equivalent of an NFL wide receiver juggling a pass in a playoff game and nobody agreeing whether or not it was a catch after an endless delay for review. In this instance, the stoppage lasted several minutes as Brazilian referee Raphael Claus and the Video Assistant Referee team studied Balogun’s cleat landing on top of Tarik Muharemovic’s leg. Afterward, Claus reached into his right pocket and had a bright red present for Balogun. “Man what…” Mahomes posted on social media. U.S. fans immediately pointed to the parallels with a similar incident earlier in the tournament involving Lionel Messi against Algeria. On that night, in Kansas City, Messi lunged for a ball and raked his studs on the calf of an Algerian defender.

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MAGA base stays quiet after Trump reports billions in personal gains

President Trump’s $2.2 billion in personal earnings during his presidency has been met largely with silence from his MAGA base, which has been increasingly willing to revolt against policies they view as an abandonment of his promises to put everyday Americans first. Far-right members of Congress, prominent media pundits and grass-roots activists have criticized Mr. Trump’s war with Iran and openly broken ranks to demand the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files. They have accused him of prioritizing his own interests over the needs of the voters who elected him to office. But few far-right voices aligned with Mr. Trump have criticized him over the scale of his personal haul, reported this week, or the conflict inherent in his status as a major cryptocurrency industry operator and its top policymaker.

Some described his earnings as a validation of the business acumen they have long admired in him. “Nobody who voted for Donald Trump — a guy with skyscrapers with his name on it, with a plane that has his name on it — is suspect of him making money,” Joe Borelli, the former New York City Council Republican leader and managing director of Chartwell Strategy Group, a lobbying firm, told CNN. “He made his whole career talking about how much money he makes.” Mr. Trump earned about $1.4 billion from his family’s cryptocurrency businesses, new mandatory financial disclosures show. A significant portion of that came in 2025, when an investment firm tied to the United Arab Emirates bought nearly half of the Trump family’s main crypto company, World Liberty Financial. He also collected hundreds of millions of dollars from sales of his $TRUMP memecoin and World Liberty’s sale of its own digital tokens.

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Top elections to watch this July

After a busy stretch in May and June, the elections calendar is quieting down. Only one state is holding its regular primaries in July. It just so happens that this one state, Arizona, is hosting a string of primaries that showcase the extent of the Republican Party’s rightward drift. Arizona conservatives have spread false conspiracy theories about voter fraud since Donald Trump’s defeat here in 2020, and officials who fanned those flames are still running for office all these years later. Many Republicans who tried to overturn Trump’s 2020 loss will be on the ballot in the GOP’s July 21 primaries—including a fake elector. Plus, a former MAGA sheriff is running for Congress, and the far-right Arizona Freedom Caucus is looking to grow its ranks by backing candidates in a dozen legislative districts and working to kick Republican incumbents off of the state’s utility commission.

Also on the menu: Anger over Trump’s immigration crackdown has spilled into municipal elections. That is notably the case in Mesa, which has closely partnered with ICE for a long time; elsewhere, local elections are revolving around the fate of immigration detention centers. Candidates are debating housing and data centers as well. And far from Arizona, Republicans are choosing their nominee for South Dakota governor in a runoff and Georgia voters are choosing a new member of Congress. Burned by a series of statewide losses after they nominated far-right figures, some of the Arizona GOP’s establishment hoped to nominate Karrin Taylor Robson for governor this year; they got Trump to endorse her, a move that seemed to seal the deal. But Trump blew up their plans two months later by also endorsing U.S. Representative Andy Biggs, former leader of the federal Freedom Caucus. Earlier this spring, Warren Petersen, the Republican president of the Arizona Senate, handed records related to the 2020 election to the FBI. This drew a strong rebuke from Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes, whom Petersen is now challenging; Mayes accused Petersen of continuing to fan false conspiracy theories about Trump’s loss in the presidential race that year.

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Mitch McConnell is still in the hospital after medical episode, his office says

Sen. Mitch McConnell remains hospitalized, his office said in a statement Thursday — without offering details about a recent medical episode that has renewed concern about the health of the former Republican majority leader. McConnell “continues his recovery in the hospital” and “continues to improve,” his office said. “Senator McConnell appreciates the outpouring of support he’s receiving while he continues his recovery in the hospital,” the statement said. “The Senator continues to improve, and is working closely with his staff on Kentucky and Senate matters while the Senate is out of session.”

The statement did not explain why he was hospitalized last month. The update comes after multiple outlets reported details of a first responder dispatch call indicating emergency medical personnel responded to McConnell’s home last month to treat an unconscious person who had experienced “cardiac arrest.” POLITICO has not independently verified the dispatch call. The 84-year-old senator, who is retiring at the end of this term, has experienced multiple medical incidents in recent years. On two occasions in 2023, he froze while speaking with reporters. He has also suffered multiple falls and temporarily used a wheelchair, a move his office described at the time as a precautionary measure.

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Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s wedding set for Friday at MSG

Today will be a fairytale. Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s wedding is slated to take place Friday at Madison Square Garden, where the couple’s closest friends and family — and several hundred more — will attend what is expected to be an elaborate event inside the iconic New York venue. Many of the details surrounding the pending nuptials are still unknown, but a city permit obtained by The Associated Press shows that Friday’s wedding event is scheduled to start at 5 p.m. and could last until 4 a.m. the next morning. A law enforcement official briefed on security plans had previously told the AP that a smaller rehearsal dinner would be held Thursday night.

A tented area shielded guests from view as they were dropped off Thursday evening. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss the events publicly. The wedding is the latest development in the superstar singer and football player’s relationship, which has continued to thrill and fascinate millions around the world — particularly the Swifties, the pop star’s enormous and ardent fan base — for the past three years ever since the pair first started dating. Key questions remain over how Swift and Kelce have transformed MSG into a wedding venue fit for a billionaire and the star tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs, as well as who may perform and who will officiate. Trucks and crews have been going in and out of the venue for days, setting up tents and whisking massive materials inside, setting off more speculation about MSG’s makeover. And while fans have seen Swift wear wedding dresses in plenty of music videos over the years, many also remain eager to see what looks she will unveil at the wedding.

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Planned Parenthood set to regain federal funding as GOP ban expires

Planned Parenthood will regain access to federal funding on Saturday, one year after Republicans were able to cut its clinics off from Medicaid. Last year, Republicans were successful in using the party-line One Big Beautiful Bill Act to achieve their long sought-after goal of defunding Planned Parenthood. But the complicated Senate rules involved in passing the bill meant the ban only lasted one year instead of 10. Come July 4, Medicaid will once again cover non-abortion care at Planned Parenthood clinics nationwide. Medicaid is prohibited from paying for almost all abortions under the longstanding Hyde Amendment, but conservatives sought to put Planned Parenthood and other clinics that provide abortions out of business by withholding all federal funding from those clinics. They argued women can receive the same non-abortion care elsewhere.

While the ban did not completely devastate the organization’s finances and drive it to financial ruin like many GOP lawmakers had hoped, Planned Parenthood clinics suffered. “Tens of thousands of patients have been denied access to services like cancer screenings and birth control and STI testing and treatment. These are things that just can’t be undone,” said Nora Walsh-DeVries, vice president of political and legislative affairs at Planned Parenthood Action Fund. The law forced the closure of 30 clinics, according to a new report from Planned Parenthood Action Fund and Planned Parenthood Federation of America. In September 2025 alone, Planned Parenthood provided healthcare services at no cost to 100,000 Medicaid patients, covering an estimated $45 million in health costs. Keeping that up was “deeply unsustainable” and not something every affiliate could manage, Walsh-DeVries said.

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Lead Stories

Texas Governor’s Office asked for broadband rules that help Musk’s Starlink

The Texas office responsible for distributing over five billion dollars in state and federal money to expand rural broadband faced allegations of “favoritism” and offering “sweetheart” deals at a recent hearing of the State Senate’s Business and Commerce Committee. At the June 24 hearing, lawmakers suggested the Texas Broadband Development Office was changing rules and giving special treatment to companies that offer broadband via “low earth orbit,” or LEO, satellites. According to testimony, some of those changes came at the suggestion of the office of Governor Greg Abbott.

Currently, Elon Musk’s company Starlink is the only one in Texas offering residential broadband via low earth orbit satellites at scale, though the Amazon Leo service has also been applying for grants in the state, according to industry monitors. “I'll just say it bluntly, favoritism and transparency are real big concerns that have been brought to my office,” committee chair State Senator Charles Schwertner said. At the hearing, lawmakers criticized how the office has approached a range of its duties, from awarding grants to communicating with applicants to identifying where in Texas there is the greatest need for expanded broadband access. The allegations of favoritism started early in hearing when Schwertner questioned Broadband Development Office director Bryant Clayton about changes his department made to the way it disburses grant money to companies offering low earth orbit broadband service.

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Diocese of Brownsville calls nun’s detainment ‘wildly disturbing’

As questions remain unanswered about how a nun on her way to Mass in McAllen ended up detained by immigration officials, Bishop Daniel E. Flores said Monday that the Department of Homeland Security’s enforcement protocols are “wildly disturbing and need to be reformed.” Sister Leticia Ugboaja, also known as Sister Letty, was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials on Sunday morning while she was walking to Our Lady of Sorrows Church in McAllen. Ugboaja would go on to be released from the Raymondville detention center later that same evening after Valley congressional delegates spoke with DHS.

“There are many questions remaining about the circumstances surrounding Sister Letty’s arrest and detention,” Flores said in a statement. “For now, it is clear that Homeland Security enforcement protocols that make it possible for a religious sister, or anyone, to be detained and handcuffed while peacefully walking to church on a Sunday morning are wildly disturbing and need to be reformed.” Following her release, Sister Letty was seen leaving the detention center in her nun garments while being greeted by Sister Norma Pimentel, according to footage from Telemundo 40. In addition to her volunteer work as an extraordinary minister of holy communion at Our Lady of Sorrows Church, the Catholic Diocese of Brownsville said Sister Letty also works as a registered nurse at South Texas Health System McAllen. She previously served as a certified nursing assistant for 10 years at DHR Health in Edinburg.

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Feds release preliminary report on deadly Oak Cliff gas explosion

An investigative report released Wednesday determined the portion of the gas line that was hit before last month’s deadly explosion in Oak Cliff had not been marked as required before drilling began at the site. It's not clear why the struck line was not marked, a step designed to prevent drillers from hitting underground utility lines. The report, issued by the National Transportation Safety Board, is preliminary, and investigators say it could take more than a year to finish its probe into the cause of the disaster. The finding adds a key detail to a growing fight over responsibility, as residents and relatives of those killed press legal claims accusing Atmos Energy of not repairing repeated leaks, not replacing aging plastic pipe and not properly marking underground gas lines.

The gas utility has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing: “Third parties are responsible for the harms alleged in Plaintiffs’ petitions,” lawyers wrote Monday in a court filing. Dallas Fire-Rescue crews were responding May 28 to a reported gas leak at The Clyde apartments on East Ninth Street near Patton Avenue when the building exploded and caught fire. Three residents — Sylvia Collins, 79; Marisol Pérez, 37; and her 18-month-old son, Erik Pérez Sanchez Jr. — were killed. The NTSB report said at least six others were hurt. Previous reporting from The Dallas Morning News revealed a third-party contractor, Barba Drilling, had been hired to drill for a soil analysis at the site in preparation for future construction. A request to locate and mark utilities was required before drilling could begin. ECS Southwest, LLP, the engineering consulting firm that hired the driller, submitted that request. ECS said in a statement it could not provide further details during the NTSB investigation. Barba did not respond to an emailed request for comment. It’s unclear how the NTSB determined the line locations. In a statement, the agency said the investigation “has involved close coordination with all parties involved, including utility companies. Investigative activities have included the review of records, photographs, diagrams, and witness interviews.”

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How Trump made over $1 billion last year in Crypto, overshadowing real estate

The real estate mogul has become the billion-dollar crypto man. President Donald Trump’s latest financial disclosure report showed he took in about $1.2 billion last year from various crypto holdings, overshadowing a real estate business that brought him fame and helped propel him to the nation’s top office. Whereas it took decades for Trump to amass his various properties, the rise of crypto in his portfolio was done in just over a year, a stunning development sped along by his own friendly policies toward the industry and help from billionaires and other actors with important business before the presidency. Running over 900 pages, the mandatory annual report showed Trump struck several other new veins of wealth last year, raising questions about whether he is profiting from his high office.

He took in tens of millions from new property holdings in foreign countries eager to please a man with power over where to deploy the U.S. military and how much to charge in tariffs. And he got tens of million more suing media companies worried they could lose their broadcast licenses or not get deals approved by his regulators. Ever the salesman, Trump even made big money off the smallest of things, pulling in millions by slapping his name on Bibles, guitars and watches — the latter alone bringing in $4.7 million. Trump got more than $500 million from his World Liberty Financial business selling “governance tokens” and “stablecoins” and other crypto assets. Another crypto business, CIC Digital LLC, took in more than $600 million from sales of souvenir-type “meme” coins stamped with his face. Both the tokens and the meme coins have plunged in value since his sales, partly because they are so difficult to value. Governance tokens, for instance, confer to holders only the power to vote on certain management policies at a company, not equity stakes, and so typical valuation measures don’t apply.

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State Stories

Corpus Christi City Council votes down federal funding application for Inner Harbor desalination project

The Corpus Christi City Council voted 5-4 Tuesday against allowing the city to apply for up to $120 million in federal funding for the Inner Harbor desalination project — the latest in a series of failed votes on the roughly $1 billion proposal. The grant was a part of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s WaterSMART Desalination Grant Program. Council members Roland Barrera, Mark Scott, and Everett Roy brought the motion forward. It would have authorized Corpus Christi to seek up to $120 million in federal grant funding for the project. Opponents of the motion argued the city would likely receive only a fraction of that amount. Council member Eric Cantu said the full figure was not guaranteed. "$120 million — that's not the case, we don't even know what we're going to get."

Council member Carolyn Vaughn echoed that concern, taking issue with how the funding figure had been characterized publicly. "The Mayor gets on Facebook and she does this and if we don't do this we're going to turn down $120 million — that's not the case. No one is going to get $120 million. There's $120 million to go around, they're going to pick 10 groups to get it," Vaughn said. Mayor Paulette Guajardo, who traveled to Washington, D.C. to pursue the federal funding, argued that seeking grant money before construction is standard practice for large infrastructure projects. "It is standard practice to go after grant funding before it's being constructed. This is the way large infrastructure projects work," she said. The five council members who voted against the motion said there is still not enough information to move forward on the project. Council member Kaylynn Paxson questioned how the council could support an application without firm details in hand. "How are we going to say yes to applying for something that we don't have firm information for?" The vote follows a failed vote on September 3, 2025, and a delayed vote on June 3. Barrera said the outcome Tuesday came as no surprise. "I mean I already knew where this was gonna go anyway because it's been that way for the last 18 months." One piece of information the council is seeking is additional study on how the Inner Harbor facility could affect marine life in the bay. City Manager Peter Zanoni said the city plans to give scientists who opposed the far field study an opportunity to review its findings.

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The Pentagon’s flu vaccine policy change created an ‘epidemiological time bomb’ at Lackland

In April, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth changed Pentagon policy to make flu shots voluntary for all military personnel, declaring that mandatory influenza vaccines “weaken our war-fighting capabilities.” Within weeks, recruits at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio started getting sick. The virus burned through boot camp, and by June 24, according to a statement from Congressman Joaquin Castro, 275 people had been infected. The Air Force confirmed one trainee died June 12 due to a “medical emergency,” though officials did not specify whether it was flu related. The speed with which this all happened was not a surprise, according to Dr. Luis Ostrosky, chief of infectious diseases at UT Health Houston. The April policy change created an “epidemiological time bomb.”

“Military settings are prime for transmission,” Ostrosky said. “When you have an introduction of a highly communicable disease in a congregate setting like this, it’s just going to spread like wildfire.” Secretary Hegseth argued the voluntary policy would pose no threat to military readiness. But Ostrosky says the outbreak demonstrates the opposite. He explained that even young, otherwise healthy recruits can be bedridden for days or hospitalized with influenza. “It ends up affecting our readiness for combat at a time when we’re having several conflicts throughout the world,” he said. San Antonio Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones, a Democrat who previously served as Undersecretary of the Air Force, drew a direct line between Hegseth’s decision and the outbreak at the base. “Regardless of whether you want to believe it, science is a thing. It’s really unfortunate that we’re playing politics with people’s public health and with things like vaccines.” While a guest on TPR’s The Source, she said this puts the nation’s overall health in a precarious place. “Not only are we dealing with cuts to public health, but we are also dealing with the misinformation around basic concepts in public health, and there are real consequences of that.”

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Ninth Prairieland defendant sentenced to 50 years in prison, 6 who pleaded guilty get 2-15 years

The ninth person convicted in federal court in March for the nonfatal shooting of a police officer outside a North Texas ICE facility was sentenced to 50 years in prison Wednesday. Six others who pleaded guilty in connection with the shooting received sentences ranging from just short of two years to 15 years in prison. U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor handed down the prison sentence for Ines Soto, 42, who was arrested near the Prairieland Detention Center the night of July 4 along with his wife Elizabeth Soto and eight others. Following the sentencing hearings, the Sotos’ son Estevan Soto read a letter from his father. In his statement, Ines Soto called the weight of Wednesday’s sentences “crushing” but said he was not surprised.

“The government has shown it’s willing to separate loved ones across borders, cage people in squalid detention centers, bring violence into loving neighborhoods and gun people down in the streets,” Estevan Soto said, reading the letter. “Their attempts to bury people in prisons falls right in line with these horrible acts.” Soto and about a dozen others gathered outside the ICE facility, chanted and shot off fireworks in a display they said was meant to support those detained inside. At least two people damaged cars and spray-painted structures within the property. Shooter Benjamin Song fired at Alvarado Police Lieutenant Thomas Gross, hitting the officer in the shoulder soon after he arrived at the detention center. Gross was released from the hospital within the next 24 hours. Song’s attorney and supporters contend Song fired at the ground as suppressive fire once he saw Gross draw his weapon. Soto was involved in Signal group chats planning the noise demonstration outside Prairieland in the days leading up to July 4, according to copies of the messages shown during trial. Prosecutors also showed evidence alleging the Sotos operated a printing press from their Fort Worth home.

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Galveston County commissioners approve new precinct map despite criticism from residents

Galveston County commissioners voted unanimously Monday to adopt new precinct boundaries for elected commissioners, constables and justices of the peace. The decision comes as the county continues to defend itself against claims that its previous map weakened the voting power of Black and Hispanic voters. The new lines take effect immediately and notably change the boundaries of Precinct 3, which has been at the center of the debate since commissioners radically shrunk the precinct's boundaries in 2021. It had been the county’s one precinct in which non-white voters represented a majority.

Even though Black and Latino residents combine to make up nearly 40% of the Galveston County population, people of color no longer made up the majority of a single precinct with the map approved in 2021, according to previous Houston Public Media reporting. While the newly drawn lines change the boundaries of Precinct 3 once again, Galveston County resident Lucille McGaskey said the new map still does not fairly represent minority voters. "The redrawn lines will not give a minority candidate a fair shot. They drew the lines for them to pick the politician. This is not for the people to pick the politician," McGaskey told Houston Public Media after Monday's vote. The move by Galveston County leaders comes about two months after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling weakened Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which bans raced-based gerrymandering. The court’s decision, in a Louisiana case, makes it harder to bring voter discrimination claims against electoral maps. Throughout roughly two hours of public comment ahead of the Galveston County commissioners' vote Monday, residents expressed concern about the idea that the redrawn maps essentially decide the representatives for many residents.

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Dallas City Hall named to World Monuments Fund’s ‘Irreplaceable America’ list

Dallas City Hall has been recognized as one of 10 heritage places included on the World’s Monuments Fund (WMF) “Irreplaceable America” list. The list highlights significant locations across the United States, ranging from landmarks and colonial buildings to Indigenous heritage sites, that face urgent preservation needs. Dallas City Hall, designed by I.M. Pei, was built following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy as part of an effort to rebrand the city and look toward the future. In addition to being named to the Irreplaceable America list, Dallas City Hall has also been placed on endangered lists by Preservation Texas and Preservation Dallas. As uncertainty remains over whether the building will be renovated or demolished, its inclusion on the Irreplaceable America list comes at a pivotal moment.

“Dallas City Hall is irreplaceable as a major civic anchor in downtown Dallas,” said Zaida Basora, vice president of the Save Dallas City Hall Coalition and executive director of AIA Dallas, in a press release. “Not only is this an architecturally and historically significant building, but it has all of the elements to serve as a catalyst for the kind of development and revitalization that the southern area of downtown Dallas needs.” The nationwide open call for nominations resulted in 75 submissions. Nominations were evaluated based on cultural significance, urgency of conservation needs and the potential community benefit of preservation.

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What Trump's Great American State Fair got right and wrong about Texas

Walking into the Texas booth at President Donald Trump's Great American State Fair, the first thing you notice is a welcome blast of Texas-style air conditioning. Washington is in the midst of its first big heat wave of the summer. But inside Texas' booth on the National Mall this week, it is dark and cool, with Selena and Willie Nelson playing on a jukebox in the corner and visitors mingling around replicas of Big Tex and the Alamo. This is the version of itself that Texas wants to present to the country, a fun, lively oasis where NASA sends astronauts into space and people bury Cadillacs in the ground for the sheer spectacle of it. There's plenty that the state's tourism officials missed. There are no blue bonnets or barbecue — save a brief flash of brisket in a video — no replicas of oil rigs or breakfast tacos.

Doug Latham, a South Carolinian who was stationed in Texas while serving in the Air Force, thought they'd done an okay job, except for one thing. "The size of Texas. There's no way you can comprehend that," he said. To be fair, there's only so much you can say with a modest-sized room of identical dimensions to the 39 other states participating in the fair — 11 states declined Trump's invitation. Andrew Mahaleris, a spokesman for the Governor's Economic Development and Tourism Office, which organized the booth, said the aim was to give visitors "a real taste of what makes our state exceptional." While Florida focused on their citrus industry and Arizona on the state's natural beauty, Texas's booth seemed to focus on its quirks and ingenuity. You can watch a video of musicians performing at the Austin City Limits music festival while checking out a scaled-down version of Amarillo's Cadillac Ranch before walking inside a replica of a NASA spacecraft.

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Rural Texas is losing Affordable Care Act access coverage even as statewide enrollment rises

Recent headlines have highlighted rising Affordable Care Act (ACA) plan enrollment in Texas, but statewide gains mask uneven trends across different communities. While overall enrollment in Texas increased by about 5%, enrollment fell more than 3% in rural areas and dropped roughly 5% in exurban counties, or metropolitan counties where at least one-third of residents live in rural-designated census blocks. Across the country, ACA Marketplace plan selections fell by more than one million people to 23.1 million in 2026, the largest year-over-year decline since the marketplaces were created over a decade ago. Actual enrollment is expected to drop even further because many consumers may not pay their premiums or may cancel coverage during the year as higher costs, following the expiration of enhanced premium tax credits, make plans less affordable.

With enhanced premium tax credits expiring, average monthly costs for ACA Marketplace enrollees rose 58% in 2026, leading many consumers to choose cheaper plans with higher out-of-pocket costs and pushing deductibles up by more than $1,000 on average—the largest jump in the marketplace history. “Rural enrollees may be shifting to lower tier plans that require more out-of-pocket costs or dropping healthcare coverage altogether because of recent Marketplace changes,” said Alexa McKinley Abel, director of government affairs and policy at the National Rural Health Association (NRHA). “Increases in ACA premiums combined with recently finalized regulations that incentivize enrollment in bronze and catastrophic plans will lead to higher healthcare costs for rural populations, and ultimately less access to care. These costs may come in the form of paying the higher premiums themselves, less generous coverage leading to higher out-of-pocket costs, or expensive medical bills for those who are no longer insured.” Texas remains an outlier nationally, posting enrollment growth even as Marketplace sign-ups fell across the country. Still, signs of the national affordability squeeze are emerging in rural parts of the state, where rising premiums are coinciding with sharp enrollment declines.

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Austin’s million-dollar home boom spills into Texas Hill Country

Three years ago, Jen Bachman noticed a woman who had started coming in twice a day to the cafe she owns with her husband in Wimberley, Texas, a small town about 45 miles southwest of Austin. The woman, Linda Nelson, said she’d made all her husband’s meals for over 40 years, and now that he’d died, she never wanted to cook again. Bachman made a coffee mug emblazoned with “Linda” for her to use, and hung it on the wall between Linda’s meals. She started doing the same for other regular customers, and now there are around 1,500 personalized mugs at Wimberley Café. Demand for the mugs got so strong that Bachman limited hanging them on the walls to customers who ate there at least five times a week. She’s up to making around 25 new mugs a month, and is running out of wall space. “There are so many people here now, I can barely keep up,” she said. Wimberley is one of several small towns ringing Austin to the west that have exploded with growth over the past six years.

The surge started as a reaction to Austin’s pandemic housing boom, when waves of remote workers and big-tech companies like Tesla and Oracle moved there. There were 729 Austin homes sold for over $1 million between January and April of this year, compared with 262 for that same period in 2019, according to Unlock MLS. People looking for less-expensive homes and more space moved out to nearby towns like Wimberley, Dripping Springs and Spicewood. These areas are part of Texas Hill Country, a region of farm and ranch towns that have long attracted city dwellers looking for a rural getaway. An hour’s drive or less to Austin, these towns are now seen as good spots for weekend homes and, in some cases, for commuting. Median home prices, and the number of homes sold over $1 million, in these towns soared between 2019 and 2023, according to Unlock MLS. Prices have started to soften over the past two years, but they are still significantly higher than they were before the pandemic. “Austin just keeps getting bigger and more expensive. The luxury market has spread out to these areas,” said Vaike O’Grady, market research adviser for Unlock MLS.

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TCEQ fines Freeport LNG for alleged air pollution, record keeping violations

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) has fined one of the country's largest liquefied natural gas exporters for alleged air pollution violations dating back to 2019. The TCEQ said Freeport LNG, located south of Houston along the Gulf Coast, failed to keep its air pollution below the state's regulatory limits and maintain proper records. However, the state agency also agreed to defer part of Freeport LNG's fines and issued a new permit late last year that increases the amount of air pollution the company is allowed to produce. Freeport LNG paid $103,240 in fines, even as it denied allegations that it exceeded its air pollution limits and failed to meet the TCEQ's record-keeping requirements.

Environmental advocates expressed frustration that Freeport LNG received what they view as a minor punishment for repeated violations. "The fines are too small to get their attention," said Melanie Oldham, director of the nonprofit Better Brazoria County Clean Air and Water. Freeport LNG declined a request for comment from Houston Public Media. In TCEQ enforcement documents, Freeport LNG denied the agency's allegations. The TCEQ did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday morning. In enforcement documents, state environmental regulators said Freeport LNG has taken steps over the last five years to comply with TCEQ regulations. The TCEQ has agreed to waive an additional $25,810 in fines if Freeport LNG complies with the agency's enforcement order. State environmental regulators said Freeport LNG exceeded its allowed emissions of nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide and volatile organic compounds. According to the TCEQ, the company released 14.33 tons of unauthorized nitrogen oxides, 118.53 tons of unauthorized carbon monoxide emissions and 7.31 tons of unauthorized VOC emissions.

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Texans voice opposition to data centers as couple's lawn message takes flight, the industry sharpens its pitch

A majority of Texans oppose having a data center built in their community — and a Red Oak couple has cut their answer into the lawn for anyone flying overhead to see. A new University of Texas/Texas Politics Project poll found 56% of Texas voters opposed to local data center construction, with opposition climbing to 62% in rural areas. Only 29% said they were in favor. The survey of 1,200 self-reported registered voters was conducted June 5–12 and carries a margin of error of plus or minus 2.83 percentage points. In Ellis County, Deanna Tiffany said her husband cut "No more data centers" into the grass at their property, big enough to read from the air. "I don't want them in my neighborhood," she said.

Joshua Blank, research director at the Texas Politics Project, said the industry has noticed. "Surely they're aware that they're fighting an uphill battle with public opinion, and they're making a greater effort to try to show that they're not as costly to the communities as they appear," Blank said. Companies are responding to concerns about how much power and water data centers consume. Microsoft and Chevron last week signed a 20-year agreement for Chevron to build a co-located natural gas power plant — Project Kilby — to provide dedicated electricity to a Microsoft-operated data center in West Texas. Google, which already operates data centers in Ellis County, announced a $10 million Texas Water Impact Fund earlier this month for water stewardship and infrastructure projects in communities where it builds. A new advocacy group is also entering the conversation. The Texas National Security Council, a recently launched public-interest nonprofit, has brought on former Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw as its public face. He frames the buildout as more than an economic question. "It's a national security imperative. If we lose the race for AI, and frankly, it is a race with AI with China right now. It compromises our capability, our military capability, tenfold," McCraw said. Still, McCraw said the industry has not done enough to bring residents along. "They just need to be more proactive in terms of talking to the communities themselves, plain and simple," he said. For now, more rural couples appear to be landing where the Tiffanys have. "Makes me proud. I'm fighting for my community," Tiffany said.

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Another man has died after being in Tarrant County Jail custody — the fourth death in 2 weeks

Another man has died after being in Tarrant County Jail custody — the fourth death in less than two weeks, raising more questions from family members. The family of Victor Runnels, 61, told reporters Tuesday they still do not know what medical emergency led to him being taken from the jail to John Peter Smith Hospital and said they received few answers from the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office. Runnels’ relatives called for transparency and an independent investigation into the circumstances surrounding his death. “We want to know why,” Rogers said. “Why are we not afforded those answers?” Runnels was pronounced dead at 4:46 p.m. Friday at JPS, according to the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s website. He was released from custody at the jail at 4:18 p.m. that same day, court records show.

Family members said they were notified he was in the intensive care unit by a family member before arriving after Runnels’ passing. According to the family, they were not informed he was transported to JPS. Runnels’ sister, Vicky Rogers, said the family is seeking justice and accountability. “I deeply, deeply love my brother,” Rogers said. “For this to happen to him, we must have answers. I want justice and accountability for my brother. I’m not going to rest in peace without it.” Runnels was arrested June 11 over a parole violation, according to court records. The Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office says it will not be investigating the death, as it doesn’t match the criteria of an in-custody death. “The Texas Commission on Jail Standards reviewed the case and formally determined that it does not meet the criteria for an in-custody death,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement. “Every day, people arrive at our jail already sick, struggling with addiction, or dealing with long-term untreated medical conditions. Unfortunately, there are cases where an individual’s illness is so advanced that there is no curative treatment available. We remain committed to ensuring that every person in our custody is treated with professionalism, dignity, and the highest standard of care.”

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National Stories

‘The battle line has been drawn’ around Virginia’s data centers

For decades, the world’s densest cluster of data centers has grown in Northern Virginia with little scrutiny and generous incentives. That changed this spring, when state lawmakers seriously considered taking away a key tax exemption that saved the state’s data centers $1.9 billion last year and doesn’t expire until 2035. For a while, it looked like Virginia would have its first-ever state government shutdown over whether to sunset the incentive early. Policymakers ultimately reached a compromise to avert a shutdown — and send a warning shot to the industry — by signing off on a budget Monday containing the first-ever statewide tax on data center energy consumption. Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger praised the initiative. “Virginia has a responsibility to make sure the data center industry is paying their fair share for the energy they use,” she said in a Monday evening address. “But this is only the beginning.”

Even activists and lawmakers who have been pushing for years to rein in Northern Virginia’s data center industry were surprised by how quickly cracks appeared in the foundation of what felt like a stable relationship. Northern Virginia is home to more than 300 data centers. About 200 more are expected to go up in the coming years. Loudoun County, specifically, has the world’s highest concentration of data centers, relying on the industry for almost half its property tax revenue. But Virginia voters have quickly soured on the issue. A recent Washington Post-Schar School poll of more than 1,100 found just 35% would be comfortable with a new data center going up in their community, putting pressure on politicians to effectively choose between the interests of their constituents and those of the data center operators whose business they depend on. “The battle line has been drawn around that question in Virginia,” said Brennan Gilmore, executive director of Clean Virginia, a nonprofit advocacy group focused on political corruption and utilities in the state. “And folks are lining up on either side of it.”

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U.S. beats Bosnia-Herzegovina 2-0 to advance to round of 16 and keep its World Cup dreams alive

Folarin Balogun scored his third goal of the World Cup before being sent off with a red card in the second half, and Malik Tillman converted on a free kick to give the 10-man United States a 2-0 win over Bosnia-Herzegovina on Wednesday night that advanced the Americans to the round of 16. Balogun dominated the first half with his 45th-minute goal, 14 minutes after he put the ball in the net but was called for offside. The Americans had to scramble down a man after his foul against Tarik Muharemovic in the 64th minute. Star Christian Pulisic had a goal disallowed for offside in the 78th minute, and Tillman helped seal the win when he curled in a free kick from from just outside the box in the 82nd, a shot off diving goalkeeper Nikola Vasilj’s right hand.

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Frustration mounts as GOP infighting derails House

Republicans are growing increasingly frustrated with the infighting that has brought work in the House to a halt and caused Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to send lawmakers home early for the second week in a row. Republican rebels are fuming over a voter ID bill and what they say is a broken promise from leadership to vote on border legislation by Independence Day. But those defectors are getting increasing heat from not only their colleagues, but from the president whose policies they claim to be fighting for. While hosting a group of Republican lawmakers for dinner Tuesday evening at the “Rose Garden Club” at the White House, President Trump turned to Johnson and asked if it was members of the House Freedom Caucus who tanked a procedural vote that would have teed up major funding and defense legislation.

Johnson, according to a source at the dinner, responded to Trump that some of the 13 lawmakers who voted down the rule were in the Freedom Caucus. Trump said that was “stupid” and that Republicans should stick together like the Democrats. Trump dubbed the rebels part of the “3 o’clock caucus” in an apparent reference to the kind of members he gets asked to call in the wee hours of the morning to help sway them on a vote, as he has previously publicly complained about. Trump said there were nine members of the 3 o’clock caucus, but he didn’t specify who the nine were, the source said. Punchbowl News first reported Trump’s remark at the dinner. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), who is not a Freedom Caucus member, was the most visible of the 13 rebels this week. She had called for the annual defense authorization bill to include her amendment attaching the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE America) Act, legislation pushed by Trump that would require voter ID to cast a ballot and proof of citizenship for voter registration. It has passed the House multiple times.

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States considering charging employers with Medicaid-covered workers

New Jersey is launching a new fee on companies whose workers have Medicaid health coverage instead of being covered by their employers. Other states are considering it, too. Democratic lawmakers and governors see it as a way to help pay for the joint federal and state insurance program that covers low-income residents as federal policy changes are expected to make the program more expensive for states and may lead to a reduction in the number of people with coverage. Proponents also say it’s about fairness because employers benefit from having some lower-income workers with taxpayer-funded health coverage. Business groups object. So do some liberal policy organizations.

New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill signed a measure Tuesday night to charge employers that have at least 50 workers covered by Medicaid, and the state budget she approved earlier in the week counts on raising $145 million this year from the program. Under the plan, companies will be billed for each employee and employees’ dependent receiving Medicaid, the joint state-federal insurance program. The fees per person would start at $325 a year for companies with 50 to 249 Medicaid beneficiaries and top out at $725 annually for employers with at least 500 recipients. A bill passed this week in California doesn’t impose a charge now, but it does direct the state administration to present lawmakers options for doing so next year. Finishing the job would fall to the successor of Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat who is leaving office in January. Democratic gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra has made an employer charge part of his election platform. State Sen. John Laird, a Democrat who sponsored the California proposal, said the big tax and policy law President Donald Trump signed a year ago was a major factor in the need for action because it could prompt the state to spend more on Medicaid to plug holes left by federal changes.

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Vatican excommunicates bishops of breakaway traditionalist sect

The Vatican on Thursday said it had excommunicated top clerics in an archconservative Catholic sect with thousands of adherents in the United States and Europe for ordaining renegade bishops in defiance of the Holy See, triggering the most serious schism in decades within the world’s largest Christian faith. Pope Leo XIV had pleaded directly with the sect, the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX), not to move forward with the consecration of four traditionalist bishops, a move that, under church law, carries the penalty of automatic excommunication. In an extraordinary act of defiance, the group moved forward on Wednesday. By Thursday morning, the Vatican announced the excommunications — signaling the limits of Leo’s willingness to a accommodate traditionalists who reject modern church teachings.

The Vatican’s statement, issued by Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, head of the Vatican’s powerful Dicastery of the Doctrine of the Faith, came with a stern warning to priests and parishioners associated with the society. “As regards the lay faithful, those who formally join the Priestly Society of Saint Pius X … are to be considered schismatic and excommunicated,” Fernández declared in a letter published Thursday. In recent years, both conservatives and liberals have tested the Vatican by pushing the boundaries of official doctrine — moves that have threatened to create rifts in the church of 1.4 billion Catholics. Founded in Switzerland in 1970 by French Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, who opposed modernizing changes in the church a decade earlier, SSPX claims more than 700 priests and a half million members worldwide. Many will now have to choose between SSPX and the Catholic Church.

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Colorado Governor Polis fires officials who opposed freeing election denier

Gov. Jared Polis of Colorado on Wednesday fired two members of his clemency board after they spoke out against his decision to commute the prison sentence of the election denier Tina Peters. The board members, Hannah Seigel Proff and Azra Taslimi, had objected to Mr. Polis’s decision in May to release Ms. Peters from prison after pressure from President Trump. After the commutation, Ms. Proff and Ms. Taslimi revealed that the board — appointed by Mr. Polis — had twice voted unanimously to reject Ms. Peters’s application for a shortened sentence. Mr. Polis, a Democrat, has the final decision, and overruled the board.

The board normally operates in secret, and does not disclose the pardon and commutation recommendations it makes to the governor. Ms. Proff and Ms. Taslimi said they had been compelled to pierce that veil of secrecy in Ms. Peters’s case. On Wednesday, they said they had paid the price. They received a letter from the governor saying they were being dismissed for violating the board’s confidentiality standards. “You breached the required duty of confidentiality by publicly divulging board members’ votes,” Mr. Polis wrote to each of the women, who shared the letters with The New York Times. Ms. Peters, a former county clerk in conservative western Colorado, had been sentenced to nine years in prison after being convicted in 2024 in a plot to tamper with voting machines under her control in an attempt to show that the 2020 election had been rigged against Mr. Trump.

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C.I.A. reorganization prioritizes cyberoperations

John Ratcliffe, the C.I.A. director, announced on Tuesday that the agency was reorganizing to ensure that it can adopt technology faster and further develop offensive cyberoperations division. He promised that the agency would use new technology more aggressively and take “smart risks,” even as it prioritized human decision making and oversight of artificial intelligence and other innovations. The changes are intended to strengthen the C.I.A.’s ability to collect intelligence by gaining access to additional computer networks or communications, or even just locating additional potential human sources. The overhaul, Mr. Ratcliffe said, is an acknowledgment that in the modern world, digital borders are as important as physical borders.

In his first major address as C.I.A. director, Mr. Ratcliffe said artificial intelligence is raising the stakes in America’s competition with its adversaries, since the new technology is itself a transformative weapon. “In conversations with many of the president’s other national security and economic security advisers, we’re talking about the impact of these frontier A.I. models,” he said. “It would be, as we’ve talked about, not misplaced to refer to their capabilities as akin to digital nuclear weapons.” To improve its collection, both through human spies and eavesdropping on communication networks, “more C.I.A. officers are going to have to become just as comfortable with handling lines of code as they are with handling human assets and sources,” Mr. Ratcliffe said. In a brief interview after the speech, Mr. Ratcliffe said the capabilities of the new generation of artificial intelligence model had promoted hard thinking about cyberdefenses and cyberoffensive operations. “These capabilities, it is fair to say, surprised everyone in terms of what that iteration was capable of versus what was predicted about where A.I. was going to go.”

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Trump administration seeks to stomp out all fires quickly, reviving policy that has been discredited

The deaths of three U.S. government firefighters in a Colorado wildfire are casting a spotlight on the Trump administration’s creation of a new federal fire service and its revival of a previously discredited policy to stomp out all wildfires quickly. One of the killed firefighters worked for the U.S. Wildland Fire Service, established this year without customary congressional approval by drawing personnel from four agencies within the Interior Department. The victims were part of an elite, helicopter-based crew that got trapped Saturday in a fast-growing wildfire near the Utah border as they attacked the blaze on the ground. Five firefighters, including the ones who died, tried to shield themselves by deploying tentlike emergency shelters as flames overran their position. The two survivors were hospitalized with burn injuries.

The consolidation of thousands of personnel into the fire service has sown confusion among some firefighters about who their bosses are and what their responsibilities should be, according to former government officials. And the administration’s focus on “full suppression” of new fires marks a sharp reversal from a decades-long trend toward embracing flames as a tool — to burn off old vegetation and growth that acts like fuel and lessen the risk of catastrophic blazes being stoked by a warming planet. The changes benefit private fire aviation companies that are key to hitting blazes fast. Federal officials have not released details on the circumstances preceding the weekend deaths, including the firefighters’ objective at the site where they were overrun. “The question is, why were they attacking that fire in the first place?” asked Timothy Ingalsbee, a former federal firefighter and cofounder of the advocacy group Firefighters United For Safety, Ethics and Ecology. “What was actually at risk? If it was a bunch of shrubs on remote mountaintops, what was the real risk that justified putting those firefighters at risk?”

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Lead Stories

Greg Abbott calls for prohibition on data center construction in rural Texas neighborhoods

Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday called for a prohibition on data center construction in rural neighborhoods amid growing backlash to the energy and water-intensive facilities, especially in heavily Republican communities. The governor, who previously touted Texas as “the epicenter of AI development,” made the statement at a campaign event in a small town East Texas, which has seen a surge in data center development. “We must prohibit them from building AI data centers in rural Texas neighborhoods,” Abbott said during the event in Bullard. It is the latest sign that the GOP sees the growing opposition to data centers as a potential liability heading into November’s high-stakes midterms.

Recent polling by the University of Texas at Austin found most Texans do not want data centers built in their communities, with opposition especially high, at 62%, among rural Texans whom Republicans have long counted as ardent supporters. At the campaign speech, Abbott also reiterated restrictions he called for in a June 10 letter to state regulators, including that new centers need to “bring their own power, reuse their own water, and do it in a way that reduces the cost of electricity for residents across our state.” And he again called for lawmakers to strip tax breaks from the facilities. A campaign spokesman for the governor said the position is no different from what he’s already called for. In the letter, Abbott didn’t say anything about prohibiting construction, but called for lawmakers to establish “best practices such as setbacks, noise-reduction technology, and other measures that take into account the concerns of neighbors.” “As the Governor said in the letter, he will work with lawmakers to ensure local communities are not adversely impacted,” Abbott spokesman Eduardo Leal said.

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Supreme Court rules on Trump’s birthright citizenship order, transgender athletes and campaign finance limits

The Supreme Court announced its final opinions of the term yesterday, covering some of the most high-profile issues facing the country. The court rejected President Donald Trump's executive order ending citizenship at birth for those born on U.S. soil. The court ruled that the executive order ran foul of the Constitution’s 14th Amendment, which has long been interpreted to bestow birthright citizenship on almost anyone born in the United States. The high court, in a ruling that combined two cases, upheld state laws that ban transgender athletes from participating in girls’ and women’s sports. Two student athletes in West Virginia and Idaho sued to overturn the bans. The justices also struck down longtime campaign finance rules challenged by Vice President JD Vance that place limits on how much a national political party committee can spend in coordination with individual candidates.

Leaders of various groups that represented the plaintiffs in the birthright citizenship case weighed in on future threats to the guarantee for those born on U.S. soil to automatically receive citizenship. "I’m expecting that this president will basically try and retaliate in some form or another. That’s what I’m expecting," said the CEO of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), Juan Proaño, during a press call with other groups. LULAC is the oldest and largest Hispanic and Latino civil rights organization in the U.S. But Cody Wofsy, the deputy director of ACLU's immigrants' rights project, said the organization doesn't "anticipate that there will be a round two of this fight over birthright citizenship — the Supreme Court has rejected it and rejected it emphatically." The Democratic National Committee and the campaign fundraising arms for House and Senate Democrats denounced the Supreme Court's ruling today overturning long-standing campaign finance restrictions. The governor and attorney general of Idaho, both Republicans, released separate statements praising the Supreme Court's ruling upholding the state's ban on transgender athletes in girls' and women's sports. The law, one of two that were upheld today, says that sports “designated for females, women, or girls should not be open to students of the male sex.”

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Trump reports over $1.4 billion in income from crypto ventures

U.S. President Donald Trump reported more than $1.4 billion in income from his family’s crypto ventures last year, showing how Trump now derives most of his income from ?digital assets that have benefited from his policies, according to a review of his latest financial disclosures on Tuesday. The filings, his annual disclosure for 2025 with ?the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, disclosed that his companies received almost $800 million from World Liberty Financial, a crypto venture he and his sons co-founded. That income, which the president splits with family members, included more than $520 million from sales of crypto tokens and more than $250 million from the sale of interests in the World Liberty business.

Trump reported another $635 million from the sale of his Trump meme coins. The news underlines how crypto has transformed the president's fortunes. In his disclosure a year ?ago, , for example, the president reported $57.35 million from token sales at World Liberty, which then leaped nine-fold in this year’s filing. Reuters recently estimated the Trump family has made at least $2.3 ?billion from crypto-related projects since Trump returned to the White House in 2025. On taking office, Trump began to put in place policies and initiatives that ?the industry saw as beneficial, from implementing federal rules for stablecoins to dialing back policing of the industry by the U.S. Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission. For 2025, the president also reported ?over $80 million in income from settlements with various media companies and $52 million in income from his company licensing his name to overseas property developers, driven principally by deals with Middle Eastern partners.

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Trump announces midterm convention for Republicans in Dallas in September

President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that Republicans will hold their first-ever national convention ahead of November's midterm elections, an unusual event aimed at boosting turnout in races that will decide whether the party maintains control of Congress. The convention will be held in Dallas on Sept. 9 and 10. Although both major parties traditionally hold blockbuster conventions during presidential campaigns, Trump has long floated the idea of a similar gathering this year to focus voters' attention on a sprawling collection of House and Senate races. If Democrats regain control of either chamber, they will be empowered to block Trump’s agenda and launch investigations into his administration for the final two years of his term.

Republicans have only slim majorities in Congress, and the party in power normally loses ground in the midterms. And without Trump on the ballot, Republican leaders worry that it could be hard to galvanize their voters. Trump hopes the convention would help change that dynamic, and he’s been talking about it since last year. He floated in a social media post that Republicans would use the event “to show the great things we have done since the Presidential Election of 2024.” “We will also have lots of Great Entertainment — It will be a RALLY like none other!” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post announcing the convention details. The Democratic National Committee considered hosting a similar midterm convention but ultimately rejected the idea. An expensive soiree could have strained the DNC’s finances, which are struggling with lackluster fundraising and millions in debt. Democrats have said the GOP convention will be a chance for them to tie Republican House and Senate candidates to Trump, whose approval rating is underwater.

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State Stories

Suzanne Bellsnyder: Abbott was for data centers before rural Texas was against them

Gov. Greg Abbott says he will not allow data centers to be built in rural Texas neighborhoods. Apparently, Abbott was for data centers before rural Texas was against them. The line recalls one of the most damaging political statements of the 2004 presidential campaign, when Democratic nominee John Kerry said he had voted for an $87 billion spending measure before voting against it. Republicans used the statement relentlessly as proof that Kerry would change positions whenever the politics became uncomfortable.

Now Texas’ Republican governor is performing his own version of the Kerry shuffle. For years, Abbott welcomed data centers, celebrated their investment and promoted Texas as the ideal home for the technology industry. His administration stood beside corporate executives at groundbreaking ceremonies and investment announcements. Texas provided qualifying data centers with a state sales-tax exemption now projected to cost the state more than $3 billion over two years. Abbott was present when Facebook broke ground on its Fort Worth data center in 2015. More recently, he celebrated Google’s announcement of a $40 billion Texas investment in artificial intelligence and data center infrastructure. This was not an industry that slipped quietly into Texas while the governor was looking the other way. Abbott recruited it. He promoted it. His state subsidized it. But now that rural Republican voters are angry about data centers consuming water, demanding enormous amounts of electricity and appearing beside homes and farms, Abbott suddenly wants to sound like the man standing between rural Texas and the industry he helped bring here.

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Ex-GOP candidate for railroad commission supports Democratic nominee

A Republican who wanted a seat on the Texas Railroad Commission is backing the Democrat instead. Hawk Dunlap, a fourth-generation oil worker who finished last among five candidates in the GOP primary in March, has endorsed state Rep. Jon Rosenthal of Houston for the agency that regulates the state’s oil and gas industry. Dunlap announced his support for Rosenthal in a Houston Chronicle op-ed last week, citing the Democrat's energy industry experience.

Rosenthal, a mechanical engineer who has spent his career in the oil and gas industry, faces the Republican nominee, Bo French, a former Tarrant County GOP chairman. Democrats have been shut out of the office for more than 30 years. Rosenthal said having the backing of a Republican candidate could help him appeal to moderate Republicans or right-leaning independent voters turned off by French’s extreme rhetoric on social media. “It’s important because we both find the Texas oil and gas industry, and the regulation of it, and protecting communities, is just too important for partisan politics,” Rosenthal said of Dunlap’s support Monday. French did not respond to a request for comment. At the Texas Republican Convention in Houston, French portrayed Rosenthal as a threat to the state’s energy industry. “Radical Rosenthal represents the same failed ideology that wants to shut down fossil fuels, raise energy prices and make America dependent on foreign adversaries,” French said in his speech June 12.

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These Texas GOP congressmen are pushing more federal oversight of AI

Two of the state's GOP congressmen are responding to growing concern among Texans around the societal repercussions of artificial intelligence technology. U.S. Reps. Brian Babin, chair of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee, and Nathaniel Moran have filed legislation that would give the federal government a larger role in the development of new AI technologies. Moran's bill would require technology firms to report if their AI systems attempt to evade controls put in place by developers or show the ability to "enable offensive cyberattacks against critical infrastructure," along with other potential threats to national security and human safety. Right now, reporting is voluntary.

“AI is a powerful engine of innovation, and I want to see it flourish, but not without accountability and not without human oversight,” Moran, who represents East Texas, said in a statement. “This legislation ensures that when something goes wrong with a high-capability AI system, the U.S. Government has the information needed to act quickly.” At a hearing last week on a slate of new artificial intelligence bills, Babin called for increased funding for the U.S. Center for AI Security and Innovation, the federal government's primary mechanism for testing AI systems and recommending standards. While praising the economic gains, he also cautioned of the need to "address important challenges in the AI space while preserving America’s competitive advantage." The legislation comes amid the rapid development of advanced AI systems like Anthropic's Claude Mythos, the latest version of which the company has only released to government agencies and some large corporations out of concern it could be used to hack existing cyber security systems. The powerful tool has increased fears around the AI age, as residents and politicians alike grapple with not only the repercussions of the technology for jobs and national security, but also with the rapid construction of data centers that power the technology.

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Mayor Eric Johnson calls first-ever Republican midterm convention in Dallas 'a tremendous honor'

President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that the Republican Party's 2026 midterm convention would be held this September in Dallas, the first of its kind for the city. Ray Washburne, a billionaire Dallas developer and Republican donor who's co-chairing the event, confirmed to WFAA the convention will be held at the American Airlines Center. Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson issued a statement through the Republican Mayors Association calling the news "a tremendous honor." "Dallas has become America’s top destination for business, families, and major events," Johnson wrote. "I look forward to welcoming my fellow Republicans from across the United States to Dallas this September."

Johnson, who is chairman of the Republican Mayors Association, further said he's confident this convention will energize the party, strengthen their movement and build momentum for the 2026 election. Johnson, formerly a longtime Democrat, made news in September 2023 when he announced in an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal that he was now a Republican, making Dallas the largest city in the U.S. with a Republican mayor. "After these wins for the people of Dallas — and after securing 98.7% of the vote in my re-election campaign this year — I have no intention of changing my approach to my job," Johnson wrote at the time. "But today I am changing my party affiliation. Next spring, I will be voting in the Republican primary. When my career in elected office ends in 2027 on the inauguration of my successor as mayor, I will leave office as a Republican."

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Dallas employees to take mandatory furlough days amid financial shortfall

City of Dallas employees will be required to take mandatory furlough days as the city tries to balance its budget. What we know: The mandatory furlough days affect employees paid by the city's General Fund. Employees will be required to take the furlough days on July 10, Sept. 4 and Sept. 28. Employees will not be able to take vacation, sick leave, or comp time on those dates. Two floating furlough days will also be required by General Fund employees and Internal Service Fund employees at or above the Assistant Director level before Sept. 16.

Several groups of Dallas employees are exempt from the furlough days, such as firefighters, police officers, sanitation workers and 911 employees. Dallas officials said in a statement that, despite previous measures, the city's General Fund expenses continue to outpace revenue, which prompted the furlough days. What they're saying: "Furloughs are not our preferred solution; however, they enable us to reduce expenses, protect jobs and employee health benefits, and continue delivering services to our residents," said Dallas City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert in a statement. "These steps are necessary to navigate the current financial challenges and to position the City responsibly for the upcoming FY27 and FY28 biennial budget." "Dallas deserves a city government that delivers core services effectively, efficiently, and affordably. The City cannot do everything, and we must prioritize spending that has the most meaningful impact," Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson said in a statement. "Our partners in government and the private and not-for-profit sectors must also bear more of the burden that currently falls on Dallas taxpayers alone."

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Gov. Abbott blasts Supreme Court ruling preserving birthright citizenship

Gov. Greg Abbott blasted the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to preserve birthright citizenship on Tuesday, calling it "a missed opportunity" after the justices rejected President Donald Trump's effort to end the long-standing constitutional guarantee. On social media, the governor argued birthright citizenship has become "a powerful magnet for illegal immigration," and called automatic citizenship for children born to noncitizen parents "an absurdity that was never contemplated by our Constitution nor agreed to by the American people." "Congress must clarify that American citizenship means something," Abbott posted. "The American people and the sovereignty of our nation deserve nothing less."

Abbott was joined by U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, who called the ruling "a travesty." The court's highly-anticipated 6-3 ruling preserves a constitutional guarantee that has existed for more than a century. It also carries particular significance in Texas, which is home to the nation's second largest immigrant population. As of 2023, Texas was home to about 750,000 birthright citizen children under age 17 with noncitizen parents, according to The Urban Institute's Children of Immigrants Data Tool, which uses U.S. Census data. That's nearly 16% of the 4.7 million children in the same category throughout the U.S. Tuesday's ruling ensures future children born in Texas under similar circumstances will continue to receive automatic U.S. citizenship at birth. On Trump's first day back in office in 2025, he signed an executive order directing federal agencies not to recognize automatic citizenship for children born after the order took effect. Those children would no longer automatically become U.S. citizens under Trump's order if their mother was in the country without legal status. It also applied to mothers in the U.S. temporarily — such as on a student, work or tourist visa — and children whose father was neither a U.S. citizen nor a lawful permanent resident.

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First death confirmed in Lackland flu outbreak, Rep. Castro says

The Air Force has acknowledged that the recent death of a recruit in basic training at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland was caused by a flu virus that has swept the base, according to U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro. It was the first confirmation that Airman 1st Class Keon Talik McDaniel, 25, of Grand Rapids, Mich., died of influenza. Previously, the Air Force said only that McDaniel, who was in his sixth week of basic training, suffered "a medical emergency" and died at Brooke Army Medical Center on June 16. Air Force officials did not disclose whether he had contracted the flu. They said the cause of death was under investigation. On Tuesday afternoon, however, Castro said in a statement: “The Air Force confirmed that trainee Keon McDaniel died from the flu during the outbreak at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio."

The San Antonio Democrat has been in contact with Air Force officials to track the influenza surge and has given regular public updates. He and two fellow Democratic lawmakers on Tuesday called for federal legislation to require flu vaccinations for all military personnel. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth rescinded the flu vaccine requirement in April, and in May influenza began spreading at Lackland, which is the hub of Air Force basic training, graduating 35,000 airmen every year. Castro said McDaniel's death was "a tragedy that could have been prevented were it not for the reckless actions of Secretary Hegseth. I will continue to push for the Pentagon to fully restore its vaccine mandate and protect lives. Our military must be guided by science, not politics.” After the flu began spreading at Lackland, the Pentagon suspended the voluntary vaccine policy for recruits at the base; for the time being at least, they once again must be vaccinated.

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Judge dismisses Michael Cargill bankruptcy over tax returns

The bankruptcy case of Austin gun-rights advocate Michael Cargill has been tossed over his failure to file tax returns. The action leaves him without protections from collections for outstanding debts owed by his Central Texas Gun Works gun shop, which the company’s December filing put at $2.9 million, about five times its assets. It’s the second time in two years Cargill has been defeated by his own lack of due diligence in bankruptcy filings.

“We have the same tax issues that need to be resolved,” U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Shad Robinson said Tuesday. “You appear to have a business that can be reorganized, but you have to dot your I’s and cross your T’s and check the boxes.” The court was acting on a request from bankruptcy trustee Kevin Epstein, who had asked the court to dismiss the case over Cargill’s failure to file tax returns for 2021 through 2025 for CTCHGC LLC, the gun shop’s registered name. The trustee acts as a watchdog for compliance. He also pointed to Cargill’s unauthorized use of thousands of company dollars for meals and other personal expenses, blowing through the amount budgeted by the court by nearly $20,000 in one month. In filings with the court, Epstein said Cargill and Central Texas Gun Works were abusing the process and asked that he be prevented from seeking bankruptcy protection again until federal tax returns are filed. Tuesday’s agreed order will bar him from filing again until he has all of his taxes filed and accepted into 2025. Cargill’s attorney admitted in filings that they failed to request authority to use court-authorized cash collateral, but said they have now done so. The court extended the company’s use of cash through the end of the case next week. Cargill denied the money was for personal meals, but instead said it was for classes the company offers.

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A year after the Hill Country floods, two communities face different recoveries

Nearly a year after floodwaters destroyed their home along the Upper Guadalupe River, Juliet and Scott Welden watched construction crews build a new one on the same property. This time, the house was elevated 8 feet above the ground in hopes that it can withstand another catastrophic flood. “We watched the water enter our home, and the floors buckled,” Juliet Welden said. “The furniture floated. Rooms began collapsing, and the water kept rising.” The force of the current pushed the couple out of their house. They survived by clinging to a large bush as the flood tore through their neighborhood.

At least 130 people died along the Upper Guadalupe River after torrential rain struck the Texas Hill Country during the Fourth of July holiday. The Weldens’ rebuilding effort has been supported by federal disaster assistance and contributions from churches, foundations and other community organizations. “The local community — there’s a lot of love, compassion, kindness, generosity,” she said, adding that churches and private groups often provided the most immediate assistance. The Weldens expect to move into their new home in October. Less than 100 miles away, survivors along Sandy Creek describe a much different recovery. The normally placid, spring-fed creek southwest of Austin became a violent river shortly after midnight on July 5, when the same storm system that flooded the Guadalupe moved through the area. Nine people died, and approximately 200 homes were damaged. Ashlee Willis lives with her family on an herb farm divided by Sandy Creek. Standing near the creek almost a year later, she pointed toward a utility pole that showed how high the water had risen. “You would be probably 15, 20 feet underwater right now where we’re standing,” Willis said. “The water was 10 feet up that pole. It’s hard to fathom.”

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Texans paying half a dollar more for gas this Fourth of July

Many San Antonians, like most Texans and Americans, are hitting the road for the long Fourth of July weekend. And Daniel Armbruster, a spokesman for the Texas arm of the American Automobile Association (AAA), said Texans are finding prices quite a bit higher than last fourth of July, largely due to travel demand and some uncertainty over a lasting truce in the U.S. war against Iran. "Today (Tuesday) in Texas, the average is $3.30. A year ago, it was $2.77. So, we're still roughly about 50 cents higher than a year ago," said Armbruster. The average price for a gallon of regular unleaded in San Antonio on Tuesday was $3.19 or 55 cents higher than a year ago at $2.74. Armbruster, however, said overall prices in the Alamo City have been trending down in recent days.

Nationally, gas prices started the week at $3.91 a gallon, up 69 cents from last year's $3.22, AAA reported. Around 5 million Texans and 72 million Americans are expected to travel 50 miles or more during the Fourth of July travel period, defined by AAA as between June 27 and July 5. Around 85% Americans are traveling by vehicle, and the majority of the rest are flying. Armburster said while the number of travelers is up in Texas and nationally this year over last, the increase is the smallest growth rate since the end of the pandemic. He said another interesting travel trend to note this Fourth of July is that many Americans started taking the entire week off as a holiday after the pandemic ended. Armbruster said more Texans and Americans are traveling this Fourth of July because the holiday is a three-day weekend for many. And since it's the nation's 250th birthday party, more Americans are feeling the holiday is extra special this year and willing to travel to some bigger celebrations that are planned across the country.

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City of Houston scales back plans to install power generators as HUD secretary celebrates progress

During his visit to Houston on Monday, U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Scott Turner celebrated the installation of a backup power generator at the Acres Homes Multiservice Center in the northwest part of the city. "You identified a need for stronger energy, resilience," Turner said. "We gave $101 million out of the total available to support power generation and resilience program. This generator which is going to be outside today ... is a mark of the success of our cooperation and working together." The generator is one of 15 already installed under Mayor John Whitmire's Power Protection Initiative, launched after Hurricane Beryl and the derecho wind event in 2024 left millions of Houstonians — and many city facilities — without power for days.

HUD awarded about $315 million to the city after the natural disasters in 2024. Most of the money is flowing to the backup power generators and housing repairs. The award also funds homeless services and debris pickup. The city plans to install generators at an additional 49 locations across Houston. The update provided on Monday marked a scaling back of an earlier version of the initiative, in which more than 100 sites had been identified as priority locations for generators. "We had a big wish list. As we’re going through, we’re really trying to prioritize them based on the restrictions we have to follow, but also what communities and what areas need it the most," said Houston emergency management director Brian Mason. In the aftermath of the power outages caused by Hurricane Beryl, nearly 70,000 Houstonians sought shelter in the city’s cooling centers, according to Mason, the city's interim chief of resilience and recovery. Of the city’s 13 multiservice community centers, only one had a generator at the time. Houston Health Department director Theresa Tran said the city has seen a higher number of heat-related illnesses this June compared to last year.

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Dallas jury finds for women who accused developer Bill Hutchinson of sexual assault.

Dallas County jury last week awarded damages to two of three women accusing developer Bill Hutchinson of sexual assault. The jury deliberated for hours following a trial that lasted two weeks. The two women were awarded a combined $860,000. The women said that they were assaulted in the summer of 2020 at the Dallas Virgin Hotels and Dunkirk apartments, which Hutchinson was affiliated with. Hutchinson is also a registered sex offender who pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl at his Laguna Beach vacation home. (The official charge was misdemeanor sexual battery.)

“We are glad to see some vindication for our clients who bravely came forward against a rich and powerful man who clearly thinks the rules shouldn’t apply to him,” Michelle Simpson Tuegel, who represented the three women, said in a statement. “This was an extremely hard-fought case, but our efforts were well worth it to have a jury believe our clients and further validate Hutchinson’s record of sexually assaulting vulnerable women.” In 2021, we wrote about the accusations leveled at Hutchinson and the reactions of those who knew him well. At the time, he had stepped down as CEO of Dunhill Partners. He’s now CEO again.

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National Stories

Democratic primary voters oust an incumbent House member and reject a senator in Colorado

Democratic primary voters vented their frustration with their party’s establishment in Washington on Tuesday, ousting a long-serving member of Congress and rejecting a sitting senator’s campaign for governor. Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser won the Democratic primary for governor, defeating Sen. Michael Bennet, who sought to return to Denver after 17 years in the Senate. And Melat Kiros, a lawyer who describes herself as a democratic socialist, beat Rep. Diana DeGette, who has spent nearly three decades in Congress. DeGette’s defeat comes a week after two House Democrats lost primaries in New York, where voters chose democratic socialists endorsed by New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani over sitting lawmakers backed by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York).

Sen. John Hickenlooper (D) fared better, fending off a challenge from progressive state Sen. Julie Gonzales. Bennet, who has spent 17 years in the Senate, was considered the front-runner when he announced his campaign for governor more than a year ago. He had the support of Hickenlooper and a trio of House Democrats from Colorado. But Weiser gained ground in recent polling ahead of the primary as he made the case to voters that he had been more aggressive in confronting President Donald Trump than Bennet. He emphasized his record of suing the Trump administration dozens of times as state attorney general and criticized Bennet for voting to confirm eight of Trump’s Cabinet members. Bennet expressed regret about voting to confirm Energy Secretary Chris Wright but stood by his other votes, arguing that they helped him work with the Trump administration to make sure the state has the federal resources it needs to fight wildfires. “The easiest vote in America is for a Democrat to vote against these people,” Bennet said this month in a primary debate. “But I did it because it was the right thing to do for Colorado.”

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Chuck Schumer hits his limit

Everything was ready for Dan Kleban to launch his candidacy for Senate in Maine: He had informed top Democrats about his decision, hired staff to run his campaign and picked an early summer day in 2025 to make the public announcement. And then a call came in from Washington. It was a warning from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. “They were basically like, don’t launch,” said one person with direct knowledge of the situation. “We’re telling you: ‘Don’t launch.’” Kleban’s campaign was stunned. Kleban was a politically active owner of a well-known brewery, and he hadn’t kept his plans a secret. Just a week earlier, Kleban and his aides had told the DSCC that they were announcing their campaign shortly after the July 4th holiday and received no pushback, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the situation.

Democratic frustration with Schumer goes far beyond Maine. To a previously unreported degree, the longtime Democratic leader, acting through the DSCC, has struggled to navigate a series of tumultuous primaries, beset by an angry base of voters, insurgent candidates and party officials who complain that he’s alternately done too little or too much to influence races. The result has been the messiest collection of Democratic primaries in decades. The Senate minority leader faces another fraught primary in Michigan in August, where a Schumer-backed candidate is struggling to best lefty favorite Abdul El-Sayed. The DSCC tried and failed to hold off a third candidate, state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, mirroring the scramble — and ultimately the failure — to shape the primary in Maine. The tumult has amounted to a stunning rebuke of Schumer, who is seen by many Democrats as having controlled most primaries in battleground states with an iron grip for the last decade. “The thing about iron is it rusts,” El-Sayed told NOTUS in a recent interview. “I’m proud to be the only candidate in my race that the Senate minority leader has said that he would not be OK with.” “I do think people in Michigan are sick and tired of being told what they cannot have and should not fight for by people in D.C.,” he added. “And we present an opportunity to think differently about them.”

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Mike Johnson can’t get control of the House

House lawmakers will start their July 4 holiday early after House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) lost control of the chamber for a second straight week. A growing group of conservative dissidents blocked a procedural vote on Tuesday that would have allowed GOP leaders to bring up a must-pass $1.15 trillion defense policy bill on the floor this week. The revolt started last week, when allies of President Donald Trump froze the floor, demanding passage of the SAVE America Act in the Senate, as a condition of voting on any legislation in the House. That bill requires proof of citizenship for those registering to vote and includes changes to mail-in voting laws, and it’s become Trump’s top legislative priority. This week, the issues for Johnson intensified. Fourteen House Republicans broke with the party to block the rule, and some of those lawmakers had more grievances than just the voting bill.

Some conservatives pointed to a promise House GOP leadership made to hold a vote on a border security package before July 4. But the bill was not scheduled for a vote this week. “We certainly didn’t see either committee action or floor action on it. That disappointed a number of people, myself included,” Rep. Andy Harris (R-Maryland), chair of the House Freedom Caucus, said of the border package. Harris voted to block the defense bill from moving ahead Tuesday. Others, including Harris, pointed to the Supreme Court’s decision on Tuesday upholding birthright citizenship, arguing it only magnifies the need for the Republican Congress to pass a border security bill. “Particularly in line with birthright citizenship today, we need to be on offense and we’re not,” Rep Chip Roy (R-Texas) said. “We were told in Reconciliation 2.0 that we would get border security through, and that didn’t happen. So let’s do what we need to.” Johnson was unable to break the deadlock even after Trump himself posted on his social media warning House Republicans last week to stop blocking the speaker’s agenda. The Trump plea came only after the president last week canceled a bill-signing for a bipartisan housing bill over his demand that Congress first pass the voting bill.

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Trump now 'hates' his own trade deal. But he'll have a hard time killing it.

President Donald Trump keeps saying he wants to walk away from the $1 trillion-plus North American trade deal he negotiated in his first term. Nobody believes he will. But Trump’s refusal to commit to the tariff-lowering pact means that his administration must now enter a protracted period of negotiations with Mexico and Canada — extending what has already been a year of uncertainty for major U.S. industries like automakers and dairy farmers who rely on multibillion dollar supply chains and export markets across the continent. “Uncertainty makes it hard for businesses to plan. It’s that simple,” said Anne McKinney, the vice president of the Americas program for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. “One of the main benefits of USMCA is the certainty that it provides, the stability. And when companies don’t have that, it makes it harder to plan investments.” When Trump signed the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement in early 2020, he called it “the largest, most significant, modern, and balanced trade agreement in history.”

Congress approved the pact, a renegotiated version of the 1990s North American Free Trade Agreement, by wide margins. But while the trade deal continues to enjoy broad, bipartisan support on Capitol Hill, the president has done a 180 — part of a broadside against free trade that has included raising tariffs around the globe to their highest rates in nearly a century (before many of them were struck down by the Supreme Court earlier this year). Trump has taken a particularly aggressive stance towards the United States’ closest neighbors, singling out Canada and Mexico with tariff threats just days after winning reelection in 2024, and hasn’t let up. Earlier this year, he dismissed the three countries’ trade deal as “irrelevant.” This month he told reporters on Air Force One that he’s “not a big fan” and would rather have USMCA “terminated.” “Trump hates the USMCA. He’s not happy with it” said an industry official close to the administration, who said the president was never enthusiastic about the deal and had grown frustrated by loopholes in the deal that allow countries outside the continent, primarily China, to benefit from the lower tariff rates. “If he knew how it was going to play out after signing it, I don’t think he would have signed it.” The person was granted anonymity to discuss conversations with the administration.

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NPR retracts story about Alito retirement

NPR legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg misheard an announcement about retirements as she was leaving the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday. As a result, an NPR headline erroneously claimed that Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito was retiring. The headline sat atop a lengthy story that recapped the conservative justice's tenure. The error was also reported on NPR's airwaves. Alito is not retiring. The story was wrong. Here's how it happened. Totenberg was reporting on the final day of the Supreme Court session on Tuesday. As she was leaving the court, Chief Justice John Roberts was announcing upcoming retirements. Totenberg wondered why everyone else wasn't leaving and asked someone outside the court. According to her interview that same day on All Things Considered, Totenberg asked a bystander what was going on, and the person replied "retirement announcements." But Totenberg heard the reply in the singular, "announcement, " and assumed it was the notice that Alito was retiring.

NPR had the lengthy story about Alito's retirement already written, because that's what newsrooms do in anticipation of significant retirements and even deaths. Totenberg spoke with both her intern, who was at the court with her, and NPR Executive Editor Krishnadev Calamur and told them what she heard. Calamur surfaced the story that NPR had previously prepared for the day Alito did announce his retirement and published it. The information was also broadcast on NPR's airwaves. NPR was offering special live coverage of the court's decision on the birthright citizenship case. "We profoundly regret the error and the confusion that this has caused and Nina has reached out to Alito to apologize personally," Calamur told me. The story was published on NPR's website at 10:51 a.m. ET and it was live for about 5 minutes. It was up for longer periods on some member station websites. It was taken down and replaced with an editor's note by 10:57 a.m. The error was corrected on the broadcast at 11:07 a.m. ET. In the minutes after it was published, Totenberg called Calamur to tell him she was mistaken.

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Felicia Lamb: Trulieve 'Megatron' facility threatens my home

(Felicia Lamb is a lifelong resident of Jefferson County whose family has lived and worked the same land in Waukeenah for nearly 200 years. Raised in a family of cattlemen and farmers, she has a deep appreciation for the land, its natural resources, and the heritage of rural North Florida.) There is a tale of two Trulieves: one celebrated on Wall Street as the first American marijuana company listed on the New York Stock Exchange; the other sending algae-filled water from its property onto mine in rural Jefferson County. Trulieve, a Florida-based medical marijuana company and one of the nation's largest cannabis producers, operates a more than 1-million-square-foot cultivation facility in Jefferson County, the rural North Florida community I have called home for much of my life and where my family has deep roots. I wish, however, the company cared as much about Main Street as they do about Wall Street. For nearly 200 years, before Florida was even a state, my family has lived on the same land in Waukeenah. Seven generations have called this place home.

Over those generations, neighbors became lifelong friends, and friends became family. That's the beauty of a small rural community. People know one another. They look out for one another. That is why protecting places like Waukeenah matters and deserves thoughtful stewardship so future generations can experience the same sense of belonging and connection that so many of us have been fortunate to enjoy. That all changed for me, my family and our community when Trulieve moved in right next door in 2019. Their indifference to the noise, water and odor pollution they have generated is the greatest threat to our community’s way of life in my family’s history. We are left to hope that state regulators can do what patience and pleading have not – make Trulieve be the good neighbor they promised to be. To be honest, I was not happy to learn Trulieve was moving next door. But you’re always hopeful when things change. I was prepared to see their building where my family had watched cattle roam and watermelon grow. And I was excited that they would bring jobs to our little community, allowing families to stay closer together instead of driving 30 minutes or more for work. But I wasn’t expecting an 80-acre factory complex – dubbed “Megatron” by Trulieve – with 11 buildings totaling more than a million square feet, with their own electric substation to keep the operation going 24/7. I also was not expecting a torrent of water rushing onto our property, cutting an erosion scar a quarter mile long, nearly 6 feet deep, and in places 20 feet wide, while carrying fluorescent green algae that contained who knew what and threatening to pollute nearby creeks and waterways all the way down to St. Marks.

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Heat wave trudges east on Wednesday, putting millions more at risk

A significant heat wave that has broiled much of the Midwest this week is spreading farther east on Wednesday, bringing the potential for record-breaking high temperatures to millions more people. Little relief is expected for much of the country until the weekend. More than 160 million people are under extreme heat warnings or heat advisories, and for many it was the second or third straight day of severe warnings to avoid being outside in the warmest parts of the day. Triple-digit temperatures are being made worse by high levels of humidity, leading to oppressive heat index readings. Many emergency officials and meteorologists say the heat index is a more accurate measure of what if feels like outside than temperature alone.

And on Tuesday, the heat index was brutal: 106 in Chicago on Tuesday; 113 just north of Milwaukee; 103 in Cleveland; 113 in Southern Illinois. On Wednesday, the Weather Service said, cities from Kansas City to Boston will likely record heat index values between 100 and 115 degrees. Radley Horton, a professor at Columbia University’s Climate School, said this particular heat wave has been characterized by especially high humidity. “And when the amount of moisture in the air is particularly high, it tends to make nights that much warmer,” Dr. Horton said. “Temperatures don’t change as much between daytime and nighttime.” Most of the East Coast will be at some risk of dangerous temperatures, according to the Weather Service, but the most extreme temperatures will remain in the states around the Great Lakes. Most of Wisconsin, Ohio, Michigan and Illinois will be under the service’s most extreme and rare warning level, reserved for long-lasting heat that offers little to no relief at night. Bob Oravec, a meteorologist at the Weather Prediction Center, said Wednesday was expected to be “the first big hot day,” with areas of Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York expected to see the most anomalous temperatures on Wednesday. “That’s because typically their average temperature is lower,” he said. “But the highest temperatures on Wednesday are really not going to be much different anywhere. From the Great Lakes to the Ohio Valley to the Northeast, they’re going to reach 95 to 100.” Washington, D.C., could reach 100 degrees for four consecutive days between Wednesday and Saturday — with the potential to tie a record for the city, said Michael Muccilli, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

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DOGE cut off small town America’s 250th birthday money

A local Ohio historical society had hoped to go big for America’s 250th anniversary. It settled on what it could afford: a limited “passport” project to encourage people to visit and engage with local history sites. President Donald Trump wanted a splashy, ambitious and unparalleled semiquincentennial. Local libraries and historical associations across the country were instead forced to abandon planning for ambitious history and civics initiatives when his administration axed federal funding for state and local humanities projects last year. “There’s certainly things that we could have done for America 250 if the funding was available. That just didn’t work out how we thought it could have,” said Meghan Reed, the executive director of the Trumbull County Historical Society.

In Trumbull County, Ohio, even the “passport” project had to be kept small because the historical society did not get the funds to print more booklets. Ohio Humanities, the council that distributes federal small-dollar grants to the states’ local historical societies and community groups, was just embarking on funding history projects for the 250th when DOGE axed its funding last year. So too were the humanities councils in West Virginia, Alabama and Washington state, the leaders of all three told NOTUS. In nearly every state and territory across the country, the official humanities nonprofits created by a congressional mandate to help make history and literature accessible to all Americans had to give up their anniversary planning when DOGE pulled their federal funding, according to people involved with the councils at both the federal and state level. “It means that we are not able to do things that are extra, things that are bigger projects. A lot of humanities organizations would have had some incredible projects that none of us have been able to complete,” said Jessica Cyders, the executive director of the Southeast Ohio History Center, another group that could have been a candidate for a 250th anniversary Ohio Humanities grant.

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Lead Stories

Justices expand presidential power over regulators, but not the Fed

The Supreme Court expanded presidential power on Monday by affirming President Trump’s ability to fire most independent regulators, though the justices explicitly affirmed the Federal Reserve’s independence and said its leaders could not be dismissed at will. The court’s 6-to-3 ruling to broadly allow the firing of federal regulators, with the three liberal justices dissenting, is a significant shift in power from Congress to the president that could usher in a drastic change to the government’s structure by giving the president more direct control over independent agencies. The justices ruled in two separate but related cases. One involved Mr. Trump’s efforts to fire Rebecca Kelly Slaughter, a Democratic member of the Federal Trade Commission who did not align with his agenda, and another involved his efforts to fire the Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook, whom the president had targeted as he pressured the central bank to lower interest rates.

In the first case, the justices found that Ms. Slaughter could be dismissed, but underscored the “unique role” of the Federal Reserve and cautioned that it should not be read as extending to the central bank. At the Federal Reserve — which has vast influence over the economy and a long history of independence from political forces — the justices affirmed that officials could not be fired at will, only for cause. In the second case, the justices decided in a 5-to-4 ruling that Ms. Cook could not be fired without the chance to refute the unproven allegations of mortgage fraud that the Trump administration cited in seeking her ouster. Agencies affected: The Federal Trade Commission is just one of dozens of agencies affected by the ruling in Trump v. Slaughter. The president will now be able to fire at will leaders from the Securities and Exchange Commission, Consumer Product Safety Commission, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the National Labor Relations Board, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Postal Service, ending nearly 90 years of legal protection for those jobs. In the F.T.C. case, Justice Sonia Sotomayor warned in her dissent that the majority’s ruling would unleash “chaos” by transforming independent agencies, undoing centuries of political practice and concluding that “all three branches of government have been acting in open defiance of the Constitution all this time.” In the Cook case, Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote that the court had decided to “go big” when “a modest approach would have been appropriate.”

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Texas promised children with disabilities up to $30K vouchers. Fewer than 30 got the full amount.

One of the biggest selling points of Texas’ new private school voucher program was that it would support students with disabilities, offering up to $30,000 in state-funded accounts for tuition and other services. The possibility drew thousands of applications from across Texas, and hundreds of families flooded public school districts with requests for special education evaluations to qualify for higher amounts. However, fewer than 30 students with disabilities actually received the $30,000 maximum, according to data from the Comptroller’s Office. That’s less than 1% of applicants who indicated that they had a disability. It’s something the Texas Education Freedom Account directors tried to warn parents about earlier this year. “Most students will receive less than the maximum,” a handout about special education vouchers read.

But many families still hoped that they would get closer to $30,000 to pay for private schools dedicated to students with disabilities, which can easily cost between $25,000 to $60,000 a year, according to a Chronicle analysis. One in four of the over 100,000 students awarded vouchers had a documented disability, and their average funding award was about $16,000, or roughly half the maximum amount, according to the Texas Comptroller’s Office. While nearly 13,000 families received more than the base amount, only around 220 families received over $20,000, records shared with the Chronicle from June 23 show. “The headline in everything we communicated was: ‘Homeschoolers get $2,000, private school students get $10,474 and students in special education get up to $30,000,’” said Travis Pillow, communications director for the education accounts. “It might be natural to see that round number and say, ‘My student is getting $30,000.’ When in reality, the ‘up to’ was very important, and the vast majority are getting less than that.”

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Speaker Johnson announces gambit to attach SAVE America Act to must-pass defense bill

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) announced on Monday that he plans to use an unusual maneuver to merge the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act with the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) after conservatives ground the House to a halt over the voter ID bill. Hard-line conservatives have said they would oppose any procedural rules that tee up debate and a final vote on legislation until the Senate passes the SAVE America Act, which would require proof of citizenship to register to vote in federal elections and the presentation of an ID to cast a ballot, or until the House takes further action to force the issue. Johnson said that he will use a process called MIRVing, in which a procedural rule directs separately passed legislation to be packaged together and sent to the Senate.

“We’re going to pass a MIRV, or what’s better known as a merge onto the rule. So what that means is, when Republicans vote for the rule, they’ll be voting not just for the NDAA and everything else is there, but they’ll be voting to merge onto that the SAVE America Act we passed back in February,” Johnson said. “So that will send both of those items together over to the Senate, and so if any Republicans choose to vote against the rule, they will be voting against that outcome. So we think this is another good way to show the resolve of the House,” he added. The plan will likely face obstacles and continue the standoff between the chambers over the SAVE America Act. The upper chamber can still strip out the SAVE America Act, which faces united Democratic opposition, from the NDAA. But the gambit risks complicating the passage of the defense bill, which is considered must-pass legislation. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), who submitted an amendment to the House Rules Committee to attach the SAVE America Act to the NDAA, quickly came out against Johnson’s plan.

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Despite SCOTUS loss on mail-in voting, Trump still has ways to affect November’s elections

President Donald Trump has tried many ways to tighten his grip on U.S. elections, from signing executive orders to pushing restrictive legislation in Congress. Monday’s Supreme Court ruling siding with states that accept late-arriving mail ballots was the latest example showing the limits of his reach. It followed back-to-back rulings last week that barred his two sweeping executive orders seeking to change national election rules, more court rulings preventing his Department of Justice from obtaining detailed state voter data and his stalled attempts to get the Senate to pass the SAVE Act. That measure would eliminate nearly all absentee voting, require citizenship documents to register to vote and impose photo identification requirements nationwide right before the midterm elections. “It’s been a mixed bag for Republicans,” said University of Notre Dame law professor Derek Muller. But the president, he added, “has come up mostly empty-handed.”

Trump’s efforts have not been entirely fruitless. Republican-run states have satisfied his demands to redraw congressional district lines, efforts buoyed by the Supreme Court striking down a key section of the Voting Rights Act, and he has been directing his Department of Justice to investigate voting and election operations, which Democrats see as a possible prelude to their involvement in November. All the activity around how the nation votes and runs its elections is a reflection of the Republican president’s long fixation on his false claim that his 2020 election defeat was rigged. He has been so frustrated by the inability of the Senate to pass the SAVE Act that he has refused to sign a bipartisan housing bill. He weighed in again Monday after the Supreme Court’s decision in the mail ballot deadline case, saying on his social media account that he is trying to “save America from crooked elections.” The president has repeatedly said U.S. elections are riddled with fraud in part because of noncitizen voting. Research shows the problem to be rare, accounting for a minuscule percentage of fraud cases. Convictions are measured in the hundreds over periods in which tens of millions of ballots are cast. Trump’s view resulted in a multiagency push to nationalize voter data and use federal resources to help states remove voters from the rolls. The Department of Justice has sought detailed voter files from multiple states, data that would include dates of birth and partial Social Security numbers. Democratic and some Republican secretaries of state balked, and federal lawsuits followed. The administration has lost every case so far.

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State Stories

Paxton says ‘we need to look more into’ in vitro fertilization

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, the GOP’s Senate nominee in the Lone Star State, said that “we need to look more into” in vitro fertilization as the procedure becomes a growing point of contention in the pro-life movement. Paxton’s comments come two weeks after delegates at the Texas Republican Party’s biennial convention in Houston called for an end to such procedures, which they argue in their platform “destroy embryonic life.” Paxton publicly broke with his party at the time, telling the Texas Tribune that he is a “strong supporter of IVF and pro-family policies.” Yet Paxton adopted a less absolute position in a Saturday interview on the sidelines of the Faith and Freedom Coalition’s Road to Majority Conference in Washington, D.C.

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Texas Dems carefully navigate Israel-Gaza conflict at statewide convention

Jewish Democrats found themselves on defense at the Texas Democratic Convention in Corpus Christi last week. While some party delegates were pushing in the platform to condemn Israel and accuse the nation of genocide in Gaza, the final version of the document approved on Saturday struck a more nuanced tone, recognizing Israel’s right to exist, condemning Hamas and calling for support for a Palestinian state. While many Texas Jewish Democrats have also been critical of Israeli political leadership, they have worried the tone can alienate Jewish voters and, at its worst, feel anti-Semitic. Some said they felt disrespected at times during the platform fight, but ultimately were pleased to see the final version lose most of the most divisive language.

“I’m relieved,” said Arthur Pronin, president of the Meyerland-area Democrats. The final platform closely mirrors the one adopted during the party's 2024 convention in El Paso. But Democrats added a key line that seemed aimed at reducing the tension, by saying the party recognizes “that criticizing the policies, laws, or actions of a specific regime should never be treated as an indictment of the citizens, many of whom may lack political power, hold differing views, or suffer under those exact same policies.” The party also added a line that would have been unheard of just a few years ago, jabbing — by name — at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which has long been one of the most prolific fundraising arms in U.S. politics. The platform now calls for more accountability in campaign finance and to "eliminate and reject the influence and contributions of foreign-interest PACs and lobbying organizations, including AIPAC, on campaigns.”

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MAGA Senate candidate called out for visiting Iceland with 'some lady who's not his wife'

Texas Attorney General and GOP Senate nominee Ken Paxton was questioned on Monday for allegedly traveling with "some lady who's not his wife," in a video shared on social media. The anti-Trump group The Lincoln Project called out the MAGA candidate in a critical midterm race. Paxton, who was backed by President Donald Trump and beat the president's adversary Sen. John Cornyn, will face off against Democratic state Rep. James Talarico in November. Paxton was caught on video traveling with an alleged mistress from Dulles International Airport to Reykjavik, The Daily Mail reported. She was identified by the outlet as Tracy Duhon, a Christian influencer and mother of seven. He is married to Texas State Senator Angela Paxton, who filed for divorce under 'biblical' reasons; however, a state district judge canceled it last month.

In a series of posts on X, The Lincoln Project shared a video of Paxton and criticized the Republican, who has touted "family values" in his campaign. "Why is @KenPaxtonTX spending the week before the 4th of July in Iceland? He's in one of the most competitive races in the country, and he's not campaigning. Does this sound or look like someone willing to fight for the job or taking the campaign seriously?" The Lincoln Project posted on X. "This man is saying James Talarico doesn't represent Texas values.....So is this Texas values????" Covie, a political commentator with more than 179,000 followers, wrote on X. "Someone should put this s--- up on billboards all over Texas," political analyst and strategist Rachel Bitecofer wrote on X. "We have friends everywhere," Rick Wilson, former GOP strategist and The Lincoln Project co-founder, wrote on X.

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John Cornyn: Four years later, the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act is making a difference

It’s been four years since the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, or the BSCA, was signed into law. My Senate colleagues and I carefully crafted this legislation in response to the tragic school shooting in Uvalde, where 19 children and two teachers died on May 24, 2022. I am proud of the work we did to reject the calls for extreme measures that would have encroached on the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding Texans and instead delivered a practical solution, narrowly tailored to address the root causes of this senseless violence. The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act provided hundreds of millions of dollars to Texas in grants for school safety and mental health infrastructure, and created new authorities to prosecute gun trafficking, all while protecting the due process rights of law-abiding firearms owners.

The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act marked a historic investment in resources for mental health and school safety. Texas has received more than $300 million to strengthen mental health care and school safety. These resources have allowed school districts to upgrade security cameras, implement threat alert systems and improve emergency response plans. This law expanded the Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic, or CCBHC, program, which has allowed clinics to expand their services for mental health and substance use disorders. There are now more than 500 CCBHCs operating in 46 states. Because of these provisions, those who are mentally troubled are more likely to receive the help they need, and children attending schools are safer due to enhanced security measures. This law also created narrow, targeted provisions consistent with existing law to keep dangerous weapons out of the hands of criminals and the mentally ill using the National Instant Background Check, or NICS, system. Of course, some loud voices have tried to erode support for these narrow reforms by labeling them as gun control measures, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.

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Nun released after being detained by ICE on her way to Mass

A Rio Grande Valley nun who was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents while on her way to Sunday Mass has been released, according to U.S. Reps. Monica De La Cruz and Henry Cuellar. De la Cruz, R-Texas, said on Facebook that after speaking with Department of Homeland Security Secretary Mullin, Sister Letty Ugboaja is coming home. “My office worked closely with the Department of Homeland Security, and I’m grateful they acted to resolve this quickly. Thank you to everyone who kept her in their prayers,” De La Cruz said in her post. Cuellar, D-Texas, also said that after speaking with Mullin and border czar Tom Homan, he was pleased to share that Ugboaja is coming home.

“The order has been given for her to be released today instead of tomorrow, and she’ll be home tonight. My office stayed engaged with the Department of Homeland Security throughout this process, and I appreciate everyone who helped make this possible. Thank you to all who kept her in your prayers. We’re thankful for this good news,” Cuellar said. On Sunday, Our Lady of Sorrows Church in McAllen announced on social media that Ugboaja had been detained by ICE while on her way to Mass: “We ask our parish family to please keep this religious Sister Letty in your prayers. Reports indicate that she was detained while on her way to Sunday Mass. We pray for her safety, peace, and strength during this difficult time, and we hope for a swift and just resolution that allows her to be released soon.” ValleyCentral reached out to Sister Norma Pimentel, executive director of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley, who confirmed that Ugboaja was on her way to Our Lady of Sorrows.

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New Texas food truck permit sparks cost concerns for Southeast Texas owners

Starting Wednesday, food trucks across Texas will operate under a new statewide permit system, replacing permits previously issued by individual cities and counties. The change comes from House Bill 2844, passed during the 89th Texas Legislature, with the goal of simplifying the process for food truck operators by creating one statewide permit through the Texas Department of State Health Services. But while the new system could make it easier for some vendors to operate across multiple communities, some local food truck owners and health officials say the change could create new financial challenges. In Beaumont, newly opened food truck El Patron is still focused on building its customer base and has not yet felt the impact of the new permit system.

For longtime operators, however, the change is raising concerns. Joseph Taylor, owner of T’s Barbecue and Blues, has operated his food truck for three years and said the new permit cost could make it harder for some businesses to continue. “$1,300. I have to sell a lot of brisket sandwiches to make that back up, and it has to be made back up for it to be a viable business decision,” Taylor said. Taylor said he currently spends about $400 a year on permits to operate in Port Arthur and Jefferson County. Under the new statewide system, food trucks could pay between roughly $300 and $1,400 for the initial application and licensing process, depending on their operation category. Inspection fees may also apply. For some operators, the change may not have a major impact. Joe Oates, owner of Boss Burger, said traveling throughout Southeast Texas already means paying multiple permit fees in different jurisdictions.

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Sundance Square scores big as World Cup crowds draw national attention

Whether It’s little kids playing in the fountain or folks seeking shade underneath the trees, people are coming out in the 90-degree weather to watch the World Cup at Sundance Square. Sundance Square in downtown Fort Worth is hosting soccer viewing parties at the plaza for the entirety of the World Cup. The destination has been hugely popular, and the big crowds have put Fort Worth in the national spotlight. More than 7,000 people filled the plaza and surrounding streets for the Mexico vs. South Korea match on June 18, according to Andy Santos, who works at Stretch and Tone, a yoga studio and shop at 302 Main St.

“There’s been a lot of movement, like we’ve had a lot more people coming in the stores, people from all over the world, which is incredible,” Santos said. For Rafferty Berkey these events have been “nothing short of miraculous” for his hot dog truck, Coney Corner, which he has parked at the viewing events. “I’m super grateful to have the opportunity to just be out here, and to be able to provide food to people,” Berkey said. The owners of Hopscotch, Cesar Luna and Corina Duenes, say the watch parties have been great visibility for their business, which sells “traditional Mexican treats and sweets.” The shop is at 101 W. Third Street, right in the middle of Sundance Square, and has been open since 2023. “For some of the most popular games, people come out, and they support their team, and it has been really good for us, but it has been really wild,” Luna said. All the local businesses that spoke to Star-Telegram agreed that Mexico’s team draws the largest crowd.

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Chevron and Microsoft Sign $9b West Texas power-and-compute deal

Chevron and Microsoft announced a 20-year power purchase agreement on June 22, 2026, to co-locate a dedicated natural gas power plant with a Microsoft AI campus near Pecos in Reeves County, West Texas. The development is named Project Kilby. The project carries a total capital outlay estimated between $7 billion and $9 billion, with definitional dispersion between Bloomberg’s earlier estimate and a later figure from TD Securities.

Project Kilby is structured around Chevron’s wholly owned subsidiary Energy Forge One LLC. Energy Forge One partners with Joulent LLC, the energy venture of investment firm Engine No. 1. Joulent holds a 50 percent equity option in the project. The site covers more than 2,000 acres in Reeves County at the heart of the Permian Basin. TD Securities analyst Jason Gabelman estimated the capital outlay at approximately $9 billion, assuming predominantly project-financed capital at a developer internal rate of return of roughly 15 percent, which implies Microsoft pays approximately $150 per megawatt-hour under the PPA. The plant will ramp to 2.67 GW of nameplate generation capacity, built in phases. Microsoft will add approximately 2 GW of data center capacity over the next five to seven years to serve AI and cloud workloads. The agreement creates more than 6,000 construction jobs and generates hundreds of permanent operational roles.

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Texas A&M cleared after NSF research security review

The National Science Foundation found no violations in a major Texas A&M University contract that came under scrutiny when a key GOP leader alleged that the institution failed to protect other federally funded research from entities linked to the Chinese military. U.S. Rep. John Moolenaar, a Michigan Republican who chairs the House of Representatives' select committee on China, had urged the NSF to conduct a review and pause funding for a project known as SECURE, or “Safeguarding the Entire Community of the U.S. Research Ecosystem.” A&M received the five-year, $17 million contract in 2024 and is now analyzing data to identify and mitigate federal research risks with foreign organizations. The University of Washington received $50 million for its part in the initiative.

“NSF found no violations of the SECURE award terms and conditions,” Mike England, head of media affairs at the NSF, said in an email to the Houston Chronicle on Friday. “NSF takes research security very seriously and remains focused on maintaining robust oversight of the SECURE program.” Moolenaar did not accuse Texas A&M or the University of Washington of breaking the law as they work with SECURE, which stemmed from the CHIPS and Science Act under the Biden administration. In a letter to the NSF in March, he said he worried that the universities advancing the country's research security frameworks allegedly "collaborate with China’s defense research and industrial base, its nuclear weapons programs, its mass surveillance infrastructure, and institutions on U.S. government national security lists." A&M officials defended their research practices in a statement to the Houston Chronicle after Moolenaar urged the NSF to pause funding in March. They then submitted letters to the NSF and NASA, describing their policies in more detail and stating that A&M currently has no agreements or contracts with Chinese entities. Moolenaar, who previously described a vision to remake SECURE into a new national research security center, reaffirmed his belief that A&M has had "multiple research security failures where it published research with Chinese entities the U.S. government has designated as national security risks."

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Dan Patrick reiterates: ‘No separation of church and state’

Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick stood in the Oval Office last Friday afternoon and told the American people once again there should be no such thing as separation of church and state in America. Patrick, a Southern Baptist from Houston, chaired President Donald Trump’s controversial Religious Liberty Commission that was made up entirely of evangelical Christians and one Orthodox rabbi. Standing directly behind Trump, who was seated, Patrick declared: “No president in our history has stood more for God than this president. He has been unashamed to speak the word of Jesus. He’s been unashamed to speak up for all faiths.” Patrick lauded Trump as leading the fight for religious liberty as “one of your greatest legacies” and said he was “the perfect president to be here in the 250th celebration” of the nation’s birth. Earlier Friday, Trump spoke at the Faith and Freedom Coalition gathering at the Washington Hilton. There he said: “We saved religion, it was going down.” He accused the Biden administration of carrying out a “reign of persecution.” Trump also encouraged that crowd to get out and vote in the midterms or else sacrifice all the “progress” he has made.

Patrick defined religious liberty as “that little voice inside of us that tells us right from wrong. It’s that voice that when we’re in trouble we can talk to in our quiet moments. It’s that voice when we feel unloved and alone that can comfort us through a higher power.” Then he warned: “When governments can take away your religious liberty, they’re putting their hand in your heart and taking everything you believe in.” He compared such an atrocity to communism and told Trump, “We didn’t know about this communist movement a year ago.” Patrick referenced the 103 witnesses the commission chose to hear from — all were handpicked to testify before the panel — and declared those testimonies showed “one constant theme: The overwhelming majority of our witnesses said they were attacked and punished and what was used against them was one phrase that’s not in the Constitution and that phrase is ‘separation of church and state.’” He added: “The Left has used that one phrase that was one line out of one of hundreds of letters by Thomas Jefferson to batter and hammer people of faith for the last 70 to 80 years, and this report will speak very clearly that we want to be sure Americans understand they cannot be attacked by that phrase any longer.”

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Dallas mayor calls narrative that businesses have lost confidence in Downtown 'a bunch of bull'

In his regular newsletter this week, Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson addressed the narrative of businesses losing faith in Downtown after a string of recently announced departures, calling that narrative "a bunch of bull." Johnson touted a recently approved incentive package meant to attract a $1.3 billion office tower and about 5,000 jobs from Morgan Stanley. The plan would include a lease of office space in Downtown Dallas through 2031. "Morgan Stanley choosing Dallas as a new regional hub would be a huge win for the fast-growing Y'all Street sector of the city," Johnson wrote.

Johnson went on to say Dallas has led the nation in post-pandemic economic recovery under his watch, and noted multiple business investments — including Goldman Sachs investing hundreds of millions of dollars into a new campus near Victory Park last year, meant to house 5,000 employees, and Frontier Communications' decision to relocate its headquarters from Connecticut to Dallas in 2023. Of course, there is also Nasdaq, the Texas Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange coming to town. Johnson pointed out that Neiman Marcus, despite closing its downtown shop, still plans on heavily investing in its NorthPark Center location, and that Fifth Third and the Dallas Mavericks plan to remain in the city, although not in Downtown. "FIFA chose Downtown Dallas — over many other interested cities — as the home of its international broadcast center for the World Cup and selected the region to host more matches than any other," Johnson wrote. "Does that sound like a loss of confidence, or does it sound like winning?"

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National Stories

Democratic socialists hope to build on NYC wins in Colorado primaries

After victories in New York City, democratic socialists are taking their fight against the Democratic establishment to Colorado. On Tuesday, Rep. Diana DeGette will face her toughest reelection fight yet, against 29-year-old attorney and democratic socialist Melat Kiros, who was born months after she won her seat in Congress, 30 years ago. Kiros, who was fired from her law firm in 2023 after writing an open letter criticizing her employers’ response to pro-Palestinian protests, told ABC News she hopes to build on the movement’s momentum from last Tuesday in New York and channel voters’ anger with the political system.

“Ultimately, folks are really tired of the party failing to meaningfully represent the values and policies that are extremely popular with our base,” she said. “And we're looking for leaders that are unbought and unafraid to stand up to a lot of these corporations and special interests that have gotten us into this mess in the first place.” While Kiros has netted the endorsement of progressive stalwart Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) and some left-leaning groups, the race does not break down evenly along ideological fault lines. DeGette is a leading member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus who has led Democratic messaging on abortion rights and served as a House impeachment manager during President Trump’s second impeachment trial. Unlike some incumbent Democrats facing primaries, she has criticized Israel’s handling of the war in Gaza and voted against additional U.S. military aid to Israel. “Denver knows I don’t back down. That’s why I’m taking on Donald Trump to protect our reproductive freedom, abolish ICE, and pass Medicare for All. Together we’ll win and deliver on our progressive values,” DeGette said in a statement to ABC News.

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Supreme Court rejects Trump push to toss $5M E. Jean Carroll verdict

The Supreme Court on Monday rejected a push by President Donald Trump to throw out a jury’s $5 million finding that he sexually abused the writer E. Jean Carroll at a New York City department store in the mid-1990s and later defamed her. The high court declined to take up the case in a brief, unexplained order, as is typical. There were no noted dissents. Trump also plans to appeal another $83.3 million verdict awarded to Carroll by a different jury after a second defamation trial, his lawyers have said. The decision comes as the court hands down its biggest opinions, including a ruling that expands his firing power over the federal bureaucracy with the exception of the Federal Reserve. Trump called the decision to pass on the Carroll case “surprising” in a social media post, and he said he would continue to fight the defamation claims. “This Case is really against the United States of America, and all it stands for,” he wrote.

Trump’s lawyers had argued that allegations leading to the verdict were propped up by “highly inflammatory” evidentiary rulings, including those that allowed the testimony of two other women who accused Trump of sexual abuse decades ago. Trump has denied all three women’s allegations. Trump’s attorneys argued the judge broke federal evidence rules in the case. They framed it as a distraction from Trump’s unique duties as president, though the verdict came before his return to the White House. “This mistreatment of a President cannot be allowed to stand,” Attorney Justin D. Smith wrote in court documents. Trump, a Republican, has since nominated Smith to be an appeals court judge. His lawyers called the case “Liberal Lawfare” in a statement on Monday. Carroll’s lawyers had urged the justices to pass on the case. They argued that the women’s testimony was relevant because the allegations were similar and that Judge Lewis Kaplan’s decisions were in line with others around the country. “This question is not worthy of review,” wrote attorney Roberta Kaplan, who is not related to the judge.

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Supreme Court OKs late-arriving mailed ballots in loss for Trump

The Supreme Court on June 29 said Mississippi can count late-arriving mail-in ballots, handing a defeat to President Donald Trump, who is trying to curtail voting by mail. The court upheld a state law allowing ballots cast by Election Day to be counted if they’re received within five days. Justice Amy Coney Barrett and Chief Justice John Roberts joined the court's three liberal justices in backing the law. "The question today is not whether requiring ballots to be received by election day is a good or bad idea; the question is whether the idea has made its way into the United States Code," Barrett wrote for the 5-4 majority. And federal law, she concluded, dictates only that voters make a choice by a specific day, not that their ballots must be received on that day.

In dissent, Justice Samuel Alito said accepting late-arriving ballots "effectively postpones the date on which the electorate's choice is made, and federal law precludes that postponement." "Allowing absentee ballots to pour in over the days and weeks after election day, by which point preliminary elections returns are being publicly reported, creates greater opportunity for fraud and risks further undermining the public's confidence in election integrity," he wrote. More than a dozen states have laws similar to Mississippi. Additional states allow late-arriving ballots from military and overseas voters. Voting by mail has decreased since its peak during the COVID-19 pandemic. But nearly 30% of voters still cast a ballot that way in the 2024 elections. Democrats are more likely than Republicans to vote by mail. Supporters of mail-in voting say it makes it easier for people – including retirees, service members and rural residents – to cast a ballot. And grace periods prevent people from losing their vote over postal service delays. But Trump has long railed against mail-in voting as vulnerable to fraud, despite casting a ballot by mail himself in March. He has claimed without evidence that mail-in voting cost him the 2020 election.

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Trump nominates Acting Labor Secretary to lead department

President Trump said Monday that he would nominate Keith Sonderling as labor secretary. Sonderling has served as acting head of the department since Trump’s first labor secretary, Lori Chavez-DeRemer, resigned in April after a tumultuous tenure at the agency. He will need Senate confirmation for the permanent role. In a social-media post, Trump said that Sonderling “has proven his dedication to delivering strong results for Hardworking People of our Country” and “will do an incredible job in his new role.” In a statement on X, Sonderling said that he’s grateful for Trump’s “trust and confidence” and looks forward to “advancing the President’s agenda on behalf of America’s workers, families, unions, and job creators.”

Sonderling was previously deputy labor secretary. He also worked in the Labor Department during the first Trump administration, as the acting administrator of the agency’s Wage and Hour Division. Sonderling worked as commissioner of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission from September 2020 until August 2024, a Senate-confirmed role. Chavez-DeRemer, a former Republican congresswoman who was an unusual choice for labor secretary in a Republican administration, left the department amid a continuing inspector general investigation that looked at allegations of misused taxpayer funds and an improper relationship with a member of her security team. The results of that investigation have yet to be released. Chavez-DeRemer has denied wrongdoing. Her nomination was backed by Teamsters President Sean O’Brien, and she received support from more than a dozen Senate Democrats.

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How Trump chose a former Oklahoma state trooper to lead ICE — and handed Markwayne Mullin a win

After an occasionally rocky start in his new post, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin won an internal debate when President Donald Trump announced he was nominating Lance Schroyer, a former Oklahoma state trooper, to lead Immigration and Customs Enforcement, five sources familiar with the dynamic told CNN. The federal agency, which falls under DHS, is charged with carrying out Trump’s pledge of mass deportations; if confirmed, Schroyer would lead that task as the administration tries to deliver unprecedented results. He’d be charged with increasing immigration arrests and ramping up detention space, even as the administration had to sell or find ways to repurpose some warehouses that received bipartisan pushback. All three ICE directors in the second Trump administration have served in an acting capacity.

One of Mullin’s first tasks after assuming the role of secretary in March was selecting a leader for the agency after then-Acting Director Todd Lyons announced his departure. Mullin originally proposed a different candidate, Tulsa County Sheriff Vic Regalado, which caused friction with some White House officials, who did not think he was the correct fit, the sources said. (Regalado said publicly he took himself out of consideration.) When it became clear that Mullin’s first choice was not going to get White House support, Mullin turned to Schroyer, whom he called a “good friend of mine” at a National Sheriffs’ Association event this year. Schroyer currently serves as a senior adviser to Mullin and was part of Mullin’s security detail in the Senate. But there were internal disagreements over whether he was the right fit, particularly when the administration is under pressure to show results from the president’s immigration crackdown, the sources said. “[Schroyer] is Markwayne’s person— but he was ultimately appointed by the president,” one source said, noting that Trump has interviewed Schroyer and liked him.

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Trump is using a $500M no-bid contract to build his White House ballroom

White House officials last year secretly awarded a no-bid contract worth up to $500 million for the construction of the East Wing ballroom in an unusual arrangement that sidestepped typical contracting procedures designed to control costs, according to a copy of the agreement obtained by The Washington Post. The White House routed the contract through the Executive Residence, the document shows, an office that is exempt from rules that require federal agencies to solicit competitive bids and disclose details to the public. The office is typically responsible for routine repairs, entertainment expenses, and the purchase of furniture, art and other items for the executive mansion. The confidential contract with Clark Construction, along with related correspondence and records obtained by The Post, reveal for the first time how the Trump administration bypassed norms last summer as it set the ballroom project in motion.

Records also show that President Donald Trump was directly involved in negotiating some costs for the East Wing project. The East Wing contract is the latest example of the administration turning to no-bid deals to hasten a Trump-style makeover of the nation’s capital, which has included handpicking firms to upgrade Lafayette Square next to the White House and to renovate the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. Competitive bidding is generally required at most federal agencies. Experts said the Executive Residence is exempt from those rules, and the president has legal authority to hire companies of his choosing to make changes to the executive mansion and the surrounding grounds. Those experts said soliciting bids would have ensured the best price for taxpayers, especially given the size and cost of the East Wing project. “I would certainly expect them to compete a project of this size and complexity,” said Anthony Costa, a former General Services Administration official who oversaw complex government real estate projects during a career that spanned four presidential administrations.

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Lead Stories

Inside Republicans’ plan to win the midterms

Donald Trump won the presidency in 2024 by turning out multitudes of people who usually don’t vote, in no small part because his campaign built an entire strategy around aggressively courting their support. Republicans, including some involved in Trump’s campaign, now think they can use the same strategy to save the GOP’s control of Congress. From almost the moment the 2024 campaign ended, Republicans have dedicated themselves to building a turnout operation with the sole focus of identifying, engaging and ultimately persuading “low propensity” voters — those who maybe cast a ballot two years ago but often skip midterm elections. It’s a program aimed at solving a traditional problem for parties in power during midterm elections, when their voters become more complacent and turn out in lower numbers than their opposition’s. And the years of dedicated work is an overlooked reason Republicans think they have a chance to defy widespread predictions of their electoral doom.

“There has never been an operation like this before,” Theresa Vaccaro, political director for the National Republican Congressional Committee, told NOTUS. She, like others interviewed for this story, emphasized that the entire GOP political ecosystem — from political committees like hers to allied super PACs, the Republican National Committee and the White House itself — is working closely together to achieve the same goal. The NRCC has more than 30 so-called “battlestations” in key House districts: offices available to serve as a hub of voter outreach efforts for the whole party. Vaccaro said her committee held its first meeting about the program before Trump was inaugurated and built on efforts that started in 2024. Undergirding the whole operation is a dataset of the voters Republicans are trying to target, one that party strategists say they’ve spent most of this decade building and fine-tuning. That didn’t exist in the failed 2018 midterms campaign, they say, when the notion of a Trump turnout voter was still new. Republicans involved in the turnout effort acknowledge that what they’re trying to do won’t be easy. The political environment is hostile for Republicans this year, with Trump facing a sharp drop in approval and a continued deep and widespread public discontent with the economy.

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State commission declines to discipline a top Austin realtor — but expresses 'concerns'

A formal complaint case filed against one of Austin's top-selling Realtors is closed. The Texas Real Estate Commission decided there was not sufficient evidence warranting disciplinary action against Kuper Sotheby's International Realty agent Kumara Wilcoxon. But TREC staff attorney Kenneth Herring said in an advisory letter that the agency is "concerned" by her actions related to the multimillion dollar listing at the center of the complaint. In a Texas Real Estate Commission complaint prepared on Feb. 20, Moreland Properties broker associate Amy Deane claimed Wilcoxon did not present her clients' offers for a Tarrytown-neighboring property, which was listed for $9.45 million, when they indicated interest last September. Based on interactions related to that listing, Deane claimed several violations of the Texas Real Estate License Act and TREC rules like misrepresentation or dishonest conduct as well as failure to disclose a material fact.

The commission ultimately determined there was "insufficient evidence that Ms. Kumara Wilcoxon intentionally withheld material information or intentionally acted outside the client's best interest," according to the TREC letter. "Moving forward, unless specifically limited by the client, Ms. Kumara Wilcoxon should err on the side of disclosing all and allow the client to decide if the information is material," Herring said in the May 28 letter obtained by the ABJ. "At this time, we anticipate no further action regarding this complaint and expect Ms. Kumara Wilcoxon to take note of our concerns ... Failure to comply with this advisory letter could result in further disciplinary action in the future." Kuper Sotheby's representatives declined to comment for this story when the ABJ reached out to Wilcoxon. Despite repeated outreach to Wilcoxon and other associated agents, Deane said in the complaint that her clients' initial $9.5 million all-cash offer, which was $50,000 higher than the property's list price, and a subsequent $9.45 million offer with a leaseback option did not translate into a transaction. The seller's daughter "verified that neither offer had ever been presented to her or her mother; that they were told by Kumara that an offer was expected but advised to wait; and that they were later told, when they asked about the full-price offer, that it 'never materialized,'" Deane wrote in the February complaint.

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Left-wing Democratic primary wins pose a test for a Jeffries speakership

As New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani and fellow democratic socialists celebrated a trio of insurgent leftist victories that rocked last week’s House primaries in New York, so did congressional Republicans. In the days since, the GOP has gleefully speculated that a potential Democratic majority next year could be just as unruly and restive as its own has been, with an ideological battle between liberals and moderates undermining a possible speakership of Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York). “You can call it the Bolshevik Revolution of 2026,” House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) said following the election results, while the National Republican Congressional Committee facetiously sent Jeffries a sympathy card and flowers. Jeffries and his Democratic allies have downplayed the tensions, noting that their party held together a broad spectrum of members the last time they were in charge of the House, from 2019 to 2023.

But there are warning signs for Jeffries, who already faces growing frustration from the Democratic base that he is not fighting back hard enough against President Donald Trump. If Democrats win only a narrow majority in the heavily gerrymandered chamber in November, it will give each vote outsize importance and Jeffries critics more opportunities to stir up trouble. Two of the challengers backed by Mamdani, Darializa Avila Chevalier and Claire Valdez, defeated Democratic incumbents endorsed by Jeffries; only one of the three, Brad Lander, has committed to vote for him as speaker. Those candidates, all of whom are likely to win their heavily Democratic districts in November, and a handful of others who have prevailed against more moderate Democrats in primaries this year, are expected to push for more liberal policies, particularly regarding Israel and Gaza, immigration enforcement, and universal health care. “What I hope will happen is that Democratic leadership will incorporate the lessons that voters are sending into the agenda that we’re going to be fighting for,” Lander said. Jeffries, for his part, has projected his typical calm and refused to engage with conjecture about how his leadership could be challenged. His office did not respond to an inquiry from The Washington Post, but he congratulated Valdez, Lander and Avila Chevalier on social media Saturday.

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Supreme Court’s explosive final week: Here’s the biggest cases

The Supreme Court is expected to wrap up its term this week, with eight cases still awaiting rulings, including some of the most intensely debated of the past year. The court’s next release of decisions will take place this morning at 10 a.m., when rulings in some of the remaining cases will be announced. The next decision day will be revealed after that. Last week saw the court hand the Trump administration major wins, giving a green light to some of its moves on immigration policy. But a ruling on the contentious issue of birthright citizenship is still pending, along with the president’s right to fire federal appointees and the rights of transgender athletes, among other issues. Arguably the most anticipated ruling is on President Trump’s executive order seeking to restrict birthright citizenship, which was one of his first acts after returning as president last year. Justices seemed skeptical of the administration’s arguments defending the order when they heard the case in April. In a sign of how important Trump has viewed the case, he became the first sitting president ever recorded to have attended Supreme Court arguments as a listener.

A decades-old precedent could be overturned if the court rules in Trump’s favor on his attempts to fire Federal Trade Commission (FTC) member Rebecca Slaughter. Trump decided to remove Slaughter, a Democratic commissioner who was first appointed in 2018, last year because her service was “inconsistent” with the administration’s policies. The act setting up the FTC only permits the president to remove commissioners for cause, and the Supreme Court’s 1935 ruling in Humphrey’s Executor v. United States upheld that barrier. But a majority of the court appeared open to allowing Trump to fire Slaughter without cause during arguments held in December. The ruling could also have wide-ranging implications for other federal agencies, limiting their independence from the president. One federal agency that the high court has seemed more inclined to protect is the Federal Reserve, which could be critical in saving board of governors member Lisa Cook’s job. Trump sought to fire Cook last summer over allegations of mortgage fraud against her, making him the first president to try to remove a sitting Fed governor in its history. Cook has rejected the allegations and argued the Justice Department investigation into her was politically motivated.

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State Stories

Maternal health ‘deserts’ endanger some Texas women, babies

Sarah Gipson knew something was wrong when the normally chatty sonogram technician fell silent and called for the doctor. Gipson was in the 32nd week of her high-risk pregnancy, and she felt horrible. She was seeing stars, had constant ringing in her ears, and had been on bed rest for several weeks. Still, she wasn’t alarmed. “It wasn’t anything abnormal for me to feel terrible,” she said. That Halloween Day in 2024, however, was different. The doctor told her she’d lost all amniotic fluid — that the baby was “dry” and had to be delivered immediately, both for the baby’s sake and for her own. But Gipson, who was expecting her first child, was all alone at the doctor’s office in Nacogdoches that day; she’d made the hourlong drive by herself from her home in Hemphill in Sabine County. Her mother arrived just in time for the surgery.

Gipson is one of thousands of women across Texas living in a maternal healthcare “desert,” with limited access to care during pregnancy, according to an analysis by Public Health Watch of data published in a May 2024 report by the Texas Organization of Rural and Community Hospitals (TORCH). Of the more than 200 rural counties in Texas, about 70% have no hospital at all or have hospitals that don’t have facilities for delivering babies. Maternal access is even worse in East Texas, where more than 80% of the nearly 60 counties stretching from Oklahoma to the Gulf Coast are considered rural. More than 72% of those counties lack hospitals or labor-and-delivery units. The cash-strapped rural hospitals can’t make enough money from private insurance or Medicaid to cover the costs of providing maternal care, according to John Henderson, TORCH chief executive officer. “The pure economics of it are just problematic,” he said. In the last five years, more than 100 rural hospitals nationwide have stopped delivering babies, leaving fewer than half of rural hospitals across the country with labor-and-delivery services, according to a report from the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform released in January.

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Country hit 'Choosin' Texas' has surprising parallels to the Texas Senate race

It’s tough to pinpoint the exact moment when Ella Langley’s hit single “Choosin’ Texas” grew bigger than country music, bigger than the singer’s starriest aspirations, bigger than the state of Texas itself, but like the universe, its expansion continues. It’s a history-making smash about a love triangle that finds the 27-year-old country star losing her man to a woman from the Lone Star State. “She’s from Texas,” Langley sings. “I can tell by the way he’s two-stepping ’round the room.” The mild rasp in her voice sounds defeated, deflated. Her twang suggests the rise and fall of a shrug. Her man hasn’t left her yet, but it’s no use. He’s as good as gone. “And judging by the smile that’s written on his face,” Langley concedes, “there’s nothing I can do.” Since February, “Choosin’ Texas” has been every bit as unstoppable, two-stepping in and out of the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100, topping the chart for a total of 10 weeks, making it one of the biggest country crossover hits ever. It’s currently holding steady at No. 2 behind a shiny new Taylor Swift single. “Every day I wake up, it’s like something more insane has happened,” Langley, an Alabama native, told Billboard a few months ago.

When any song gets that massive, we start peeking behind the breezy rhythms and golden melodies. We start listening more closely for secret meanings, for cosmic coincidences, for thematic subcurrents whispering to the greater American psyche — or at least for some meaningful parallelisms that might help explain a runaway hit’s sudden exceptionality. With “Choosin’ Texas,” we can probably find our answers in the lyrics alone. Langley is narrating her breakup from the position of a helpless outsider, lamenting the far-off place that’s suddenly created a hole in her life. The geography matters here. She isn’t singing about Montana, or New Hampshire, or Ohio. Langley is anxious about Texas. Feel familiar? This summer, plenty of Americans are wondering if the fate of our democracy is riding on a U.S. Senate race that most of us won’t vote in. On one side, there’s the Democrat James Talarico, a Texas lawmaker and Presbyterian seminarian with a soothsaying voice that The New Yorker recently described as “civic A.S.M.R. for anyone sick of Donald Trump.” On the other side is Republican Ken Paxton, the state’s attorney general whose endorsement from Trump helped him defeat incumbent Sen. John Cornyn in a gnarly runoff last month. Come November, the implications will be national and long term. Yes, Talarico is trying to flip a reliably red Senate seat, but he’s ultimately trying to awaken the Democratic Party within Texas writ large. After the 2030 Census, Texas is expected to gain four votes in the Electoral College, making it a necessary win for any candidate hoping to reach the White House in 2032 and beyond. None of the rest of us asked for Texas to hold this kind of power over our lives, but, like in the song, here we are.

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Gary Susswein: A KUT-University of Texas breakup would only deepen our divide

(Gary Susswein is the principal owner of BandOne, an Austin-based communications and strategy firm. He previously served as Chief Communications Officer at UT Austin and Metro Editor at the Austin American-Statesman.) I was the spokesperson for the University of Texas at Austin in 2012, when the Regents considered a proposal to purchase a second FM radio license and launch another public radio station, KUTX, alongside KUT. What was supposed to be a routine vote was delayed when Regents questioned the cost, structure and timeline. Underlying those on-the-record concerns, however, was one concern we kept hearing informally: Should our public university really be in the business of owning public radio stations? Questioning the relationship between UT and public radio felt shocking — even subversive — at the time. But today, it’s at the top of many Austinites’ minds after the university’s and KUT’s clashes over a festival and the firing of general manager Debbie Hiott (who was previously a colleague of mine at the Statesman and is an outstanding journalist).

It’s tempting to say the answer should be a resounding “no.” But as a crisis communications professional, I know the worst decisions are sometimes made in moments of anger, stress and broken trust, and I believe the right path forward is to recognize that our public university really should be in the business of owning public radio stations. In many ways, the recent blow-up felt inevitable. While KUT’s local reporting is fiercely independent and fair, the station is part of a national network that unquestionably leans left. At the same time, the UT administration is moving away from the politically progressive approaches that have anchored higher education administration. University backers see this as an overdue correction to reflect statewide values and restore public trust. Some faculty members may warn that it is an overreaction that stifles free speech and harms the school, but UT is continuing to climb in national academic rankings, applications and fundraising. Against this backdrop, there have always been uncomfortable questions about whether journalists should be employed by a huge public agency that is part of a state government they must cover objectively and thoroughly. During my years at UT, I sometimes disagreed with university decisions. But my role as a public employee was to get on board and implement them. That’s more challenging for a journalist covering the institution, surrounded by tenured faculty members who enjoy academic freedom.

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Tesla quietly settles lawsuit over deadly crash involving Full Self-Driving system

Tesla Inc. has quietly resolved a lawsuit stemming from a fatal 2023 crash that precipitated a defect investigation into the carmaker’s automated-driving technology. The collision involved 71-year-old Johna Story, who had stepped out of her vehicle on an Arizona highway to help direct traffic around cars that had already crashed due to blinding sun glare. Moments later, she was struck at high speed by a Tesla Model Y SUV using the Austin company’s so-called Full Self-Driving system. Story’s death — one of 40,901 on U.S. roads that year — was the first known pedestrian fatality linked to Tesla’s automation technology. The crash prompted a federal investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and a lawsuit from Story’s daughter against Tesla and the driver.

Attorney Dustin Birch, who represents Story’s daughter, said in a phone interview that the case recently settled and “my client is happy to put this behind her.” Terms of the settlement were not disclosed and an attorney for Tesla didn’t respond to requests for comment. Bloomberg News published an investigation last year that examined whether sun glare can compromise Tesla’s camera-based automated-driving system. The report reconstructed the crash in part through videos and photos obtained via public records requests. CEO Elon Musk has increasingly bet Tesla’s future on driverless-vehicle technology and robotaxis, with Full Self-Driving underpinning those ambitions. The automaker has sought approvals around the world for versions of the technology, even as some auto-safety advocates say that aspects of the system are defective. It is not approved for fully driverless operation in the U.S.

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There’s no evidence Plano mosque applies 'Sharia law' in its funeral practices, a federal judge says

An Austin federal judge declined to dismiss a lawsuit against the state's funeral agency and its former presiding officer that alleges religious discrimination against the East Plano Islamic Center, or EPIC. In a footnote, Ezra also wrote there is no evidence suggesting — and neither party is alleging — that EPIC is applying Sharia law in its practices, despite repeated public statements from Texas Republicans. "In resolving the present Order, and without purporting to be an expert in Islamic teachings," Judge David Alan Ezra wrote, "the Court simply notes the absence of any evidence or allegation that Islamic burial rites qualify as 'Sharia law' of the sort that threaten Texas law,” adding that the agency’s cease-and-desist letter against the mosque fails to identify any specific aspect of its services that violate state law.

Ezra ruled then-presiding officer Kristin Tips' involvement and conduct in the Texas Funeral Service Commission's investigation into EPIC's funeral practices violated the mosque's First and Fourteenth Amendment rights. "The Court finds that targeting an organization’s religious funeral rites for prohibition while allowing similar rites by others and departing from longstanding TFSC practice violates EPIC’s Free Exercise and Equal Protection rights," Ezra wrote in his opinion. KERA News reached out to attorneys for Tips and the Texas Funeral Service Commission and will update this story with any response. The funeral commission sent EPIC a cease-and-desist letter last March alleging the mosque was illegally operating as a funeral home without a license. That prompted EPIC's lawsuit four months later accusing the commission of illegal overreach and violating the mosque's religious rights. The investigation was one of at least five state probes into EPIC prompted by Republican backlash over the mosque's proposed housing development in Collin and Hunt counties, formerly known as EPIC City and now called The Meadow. Opponents of EPIC and the development accuse the Islamic organization of trying to impose Sharia law in Texas.

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Democrat running for Texas railroad commissioner touts his experience

Jon Rosenthal is a four-term Democratic state Representative for District 135. He’s also a career mechanical engineer who’s worked in the oil and gas industry for more than 25 years. If you were to ask the Democrat what makes him different than his opponent for railroad commissioner, Republican Bo French, that is where he starts. “Sometimes my opponents have tried to say that I’m a Democrat that wants to destroy the oil and gas industry. My answer to that is it’s literally how I make my house payments. I’m not looking to cut the legs out from my own household,” Rosenthal told us on Inside Texas Politics. “I’m the expert in this race. My opponent has no experience.”

The Texas Railroad Commission is the oldest regulatory agency in Texas, celebrating 135 years in 2026. But it has nothing to do with trains anymore. It oversees the energy industry in Texas, from oil and gas, to coal, to pipelines. Rosenthal says the seed for his run for Railroad Commissioner was planted after Winter Storm Uri in February 2021 that caused more than 200 deaths, widespread power outages for days on end, and highlighted the vulnerability of the state’s power grid. “We came back into the legislature and they largely refused to act on the core issues for the problem, which was natural gas delivery. We make more electricity from natural gas in this state than any other form,” he explained. “And this is me coming back to fix our energy grid.” In terms of regulation, Rosenthal says the agency cannot add or remove any of the rules, that’s up to the legislature. But he does argue Texas should enforce the rules already in place. One regulation he says he might advocate changing involves “routine flaring,” or when excess natural gas is burned during oil production. “I do think we should be having stronger efforts to reduce that, capture the gas. It’s an energy source. You know, we burn $1.9 billion worth of natural gas into the air in Texas every year. It would be enough to provide natural gas for free every household in the state that uses it. So, it seems like we should be able to capture that, sell it, use the money from that to pay for the infrastructure,” argued the lawmaker.

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A case for appreciating city council speakers

As a longtime correspondent (and sometimes even enjoyer) of City Council meetings, I will admit that the public comment portion can be a mixed bag. You might even lean toward being irritated at times because the comments can seem disorganized, even incomprehensible. You might agree with every speaker, but at the end of the day, public comment is one of the most effective ways for citizens to tell their elected officials how they feel. If you sit through a couple of Dallas City Council meetings, you can begin to get a true picture of the city’s needs, if you pay attention. People who feel unheard when they attempt to discuss an issue through other means—emailing or calling a city council member or a city department, for instance—will often avail themselves of their three minutes at the microphone before the 15 people elected to do something about their city. The journey for a visitor to Council Chambers requires them to walk the length of City Hall, enter one door, go through security, and then walk the length of City Hall again once inside until they reach the elevators that will take them to their destination.

The speaking experience is often even less welcoming. Robert Wilonsky’s latest column in the Dallas Morning News explores how long the Council made people wait to speak about their tennis courts in Oak Cliff. Some were children, many were people getting their first glimpse into how a City Council meeting works. I don’t think they were left with a favorable impression. (At the same meeting, former Councilmember Bob Stimson was rushed away from the microphone by two Dallas police officers after he went a few seconds over his allotted time to wrap up a thought.) And it’s not unusual—citizens ready to speak about issues frequently find themselves waiting for hours to do so. It happened earlier this month, in fact. (Emma Ruby at the Dallas Observer talked to a few of the speakers.) It’s also worth noting that while the Council can duck away for a bite and stay hydrated by drinking at their seat, those in the gallery cannot—food and drink are not allowed, even if you’ve been there since 9 a.m. and the dinner hour is approaching, and you still haven’t had your chance to speak. If you sign up to speak at City Hall, you’re signing up for a long haul that will likely mean that you find yourself in chambers, hungry, and watching council members sing happy birthday to each other while holding a cake, right in front of you, like when you would go to the park with your mom and see some other kids having a birthday party and all you got to do was swing on some stupid swings and drink warm water from a fountain.

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How a South Texas official preserves public trust in elections

Cameron County sits at the southernmost tip of Texas. Remi Garza, the county’s election administrator, has offices in Brownsville, the county seat. He’s two miles from the Mexican border, but far from the charged political atmosphere in other parts of Texas. The county population is 90 percent Hispanic. Donald Trump won over its voters in 2024, but it’s a consistently blue island in the country’s biggest red state. Despite this, Garza’s office hasn’t been under siege in recent years like other election offices across the country, where some public officials have received threats and been accused of manipulating outcomes. (Investigations have not turned up any evidence of widespread voter fraud anywhere in the country.) “We’ve been very fortunate,” Garza says. “We have good support, good communication with community leaders and the general public. That isn't true for others in the state of Texas.”

Garza’s first government job was in the county judge’s office, where he worked for 12 years. He came to it through involvement with a community organization helping local longshoremen. (Brownsville is a port town, the only deepwater port on the U.S.-Mexico border.) At the time, the county was growing, becoming less rural and more urban. The judge’s office was dealing with the construction of a new international bridge, a new jail facility and the renovation of a historic courthouse. The latter, an imposing three-story building with an octagonal rotunda and an art-glass dome, sits catty-corner from Garza’s present workplace. Garza liked the feeling of being involved in work that was having a positive impact, developing projects and seeing them move forward to completion. His parents had a history of community involvement; his father, a doctor, had been an elected member of the school board.

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Texas Rep. Gene Wu says underfunded schools are fueling juvenile justice challenges

State Rep. Gene Wu says Texas must do more to support public education and address the root causes of youth crime, arguing that underfunded schools and a lack of mental health resources are contributing to problems in the state’s juvenile justice system. During a Houston Community Media news briefing focused on challenges facing children and teenagers, Wu said the state’s education system is one of the biggest issues facing young Texans. “I would say one of the biggest issues right now, bar none, is our education system,” Wu said. Wu said Texas schools are not equipped to serve students who come from troubled homes, experience poverty or struggle with mental health and behavioral issues. He also criticized lawmakers for failing to fully fund public education.

“Every year we defund our schools more and more,” Wu said. According to Wu, lawmakers were told during the 2025 legislative session that Texas public schools faced a $16 billion funding shortfall but only allocated about half that amount. He said the result has been school closures, larger class sizes and increasing pressure on teachers across the state. “Classroom sizes are getting bigger and bigger. Teachers are getting more and more frustrated,” Wu said. Wu also criticized the state’s emphasis on standardized testing, arguing that schools are financially incentivized to move students through the system rather than ensure they are learning. “The system right now is only geared toward testing,” Wu said. “It does not actually care whether students learn or not.” Wu said the lack of educational resources has also changed how schools respond to student behavior, with law enforcement increasingly becoming involved in situations that were once handled by administrators. “Back when I was in school, there were no cops in school,” Wu said. “If you got into a fight, you went to the principal’s office.”

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Target rolls out THC beverages in Texas as the future for such products remains unclear across U.S.

Target has rolled out THC beverages at nearly every Texas location, according to the company. The retailer confirmed the beverages have been available at Lone Star State stores since May 10. This comes amid a court battle over hemp-THC regulations in Texas and as a federal ban on such products approaches in November. The legal landscape for hemp-THC products is up in the air in Texas and across the country. In Texas, the future of smokable hemp hinges on a legal battle out of Travis County. There, hemp organizations and businesses have filed suit against state officials over new regulations that could ban smokable products and impose higher fees on retailers and manufacturers.

At the federal level, new rules for hemp products are set to take effect as part of a government funding bill signed by President Donald Trump last year. The rules would impose new THC potency restrictions that would see many products banned. However, according to the U.S. Hemp Roundtable, a coalition of different hemp companies and organizations across the country, the White House recently sent a funding request to Congress regarding the looming ban. In the request sent to Congress, Russell T. Vought, director of the United States Office of Management and Budget, asks that regulation be changed “to ensure the fair treatment of hemp products.” More specifically, the request seeks to have hemp products regulated in a way consistent with rules proposed by Congressman Andy Barr in the House Rules Committee. Barr’s proposal would protect hemp products that are currently set to be banned come November. At a minimum, Vought’s funding request asks Congress to delay the incoming federal ban. It is still uncertain how Congress will respond to the request.

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National Stories

A 'heat dome' is driving dangerous heat across the U.S. into the July 4 weekend

Extreme heat this week will blanket a majority of American states through the July 4 weekend, according to forecasters. The National Weather Service on Sunday said "dangerous to record setting heat will expand across the eastern two-thirds" of the country. In areas including Ohio, parts of North Carolina and Washington, D.C., the extreme temperatures and humidity will be especially threatening for people with respiratory issues and the elderly. "With the combination of high humidity, heat indices may reach 100-110 Degrees," said the NWS. "Much of the central and eastern U.S. is under a Moderate to Major HeatRisk, which can pose health impacts on those without hydration or cooling."

Parts of Iowa, Missouri and Kansas are under extreme heat warnings. A heat dome is driving the heatwave. It occurs when a very hot air mass parks itself over a region and gets trapped under a "lid" above the Earth's surface. But the high temperatures are not the only concern, said NWS forecaster Bryan Putnam. "You get temperatures in the 90s to low 100s, that's obviously pretty hot. But you combine that with the humidity, those heat indices will go well into the 100s and that's the temperature that it's going to feel like," Putnam told NPR on Sunday. Risks for extreme heat are also expected to continue after July 4 and in the West. Daytime temperatures could feel like 100 to 105 degrees and the heat could limit overnight relief, the NWS said. Putnam said people gathering outdoors for the July 4 weekend, including at night to see fireworks, should be vigilant. "Your temperatures might stay in the 80s and the 90s in the heat in the evening, as well as the fact is with the humidity, that's going to keep those heat indices high as well," he said. "Just because the sun goes down doesn't mean it still isn't going to be hot."

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Millions drop Obamacare health plans after subsidies expire and costs rise

About 3 million fewer people in the United States had Affordable Care Act health insurance plans in February compared with the same time last year, according to new federal data. In the report released Friday, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services suggested the 13% drop in enrollment from 22.1 million people in 2025 to 19.2 million this year could be attributed to a federal crackdown on fraudulent or “phantom” enrollment. But health analysts said it was more likely related to the Jan. 1 expiration of federal subsidies, which caused a surge in plan costs that resulted in many people being unable to pay their premiums. “We know that real people lost their health insurance coverage,” said Cynthia Cox, a vice president and director of the ACA program at the healthcare research nonprofit KFF, citing survey findings on people who had left their plans. “This coverage loss happened at the same time millions of people faced double or even triple digit increases in their premium payments.”

The new data, compiled in April but showing coverage in February, represents the government’s first official look at how people’s inability to pay their first bills this year affected total enrollment. That is because the figures capture the marketplace after a nonpayment grace period expired. A federal estimate in January showed that about 800,000 fewer people had signed up for ACA plans compared with the same time last year, marking the first time in the past four years that enrollment had been down from the previous year at that point in the shopping window. Cox said KFF expects the total number of people in the government healthcare program to continue to decline throughout the year, potentially to a low of about 17.5 million. That would be a significant drop for the government’s flagship subsidized health insurance program for working-age people who do not qualify for Medicaid. In recent years, ACA plans have become a popular choice for gig workers, farmers, ranchers, hairstylists and others without health coverage through an employer. The ACA subsidies that expired this year were at the center of a bitter fight in Congress last fall, with Democrats and some Republicans calling for their renewal. Sharp increases in health costs across ACA and other health insurance programs come as voters in the approaching November elections say affordability is among their top concerns.

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How the Reflecting Pool turned green: Missing ‘Bubblers’ and a rush job

The nanobubblers had to go. It was early June, and the Trump administration was planning an event at the Lincoln Memorial on June 12 to promote President Trump’s Ultimate Fighting Championship birthday celebration at the White House. Dotted around the perimeter of the memorial’s Reflecting Pool were the nanobubblers, the temporary water-purification machines meant to keep the pool clear of algae. Encased in black fencing and powered by large generators, the machines were something of an eyesore. Before the event, the National Park Service asked Greenwater Services, which won a $1.7 million no-bid contract to install the nanobubblers, to remove them, according to two people briefed on the decision. The people asked for anonymity because they feared retaliation from the administration. The Park Service did not provide a reason for the removal, but it coincided exactly with the promotional event, which drew crowds to the Reflecting Pool.

Photos from that evening showed the pool without the hoses or enormous machines working to keep the water clean. The water looked dark blue. But by the time the purification systems were reinstalled 36 hours later, enormous algae blooms were starting to spread unchecked, turning the water green. Once the algae started growing, it proved difficult to eliminate. Even with the nanobubblers back online, Park Service workers tried dumping jugs of hydrogen peroxide into the water to clear the algae more quickly. But the peroxide largely dissolved before it could reach the large clumps in the middle of the basin. The result was a Reflecting Pool that stayed green and murky for about a week because of the residual chlorophyll — a highly visible symbol of one of Mr. Trump’s pet projects gone very wrong. The decision to remove the water-treatment systems, which has not previously been reported, was one of several missteps that have plagued Mr. Trump’s $16.4 million renovation of the Reflecting Pool. There have been no-bid contracts, peeling strips of waterproof coating in Mr. Trump’s handpicked shade of “American flag blue,” and even a dead duck floating in the water (though it is not clear if the renovation had anything to do with the duck’s demise).

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Ukraine's drones set another Russian oil refinery ablaze

Ukraine kept up its heavy drone assault on Russia, setting fire to a major oil refinery in the south, as President Vladimir Putin acknowledged for the first time on Sunday that the country was facing a “certain deficit” of fuel and vowed to strengthen protection of oil facilities and boost fuel output. Ukraine has markedly stepped up its long-range attacks on Russian military industries and energy facilities in recent months, aiming to cut Moscow’s revenue for its invasion — now in its fifth year — and make Russians feel the consequences. “Our ‘long-range sanctions’ reached two oil refineries in Russia,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on the Telegram messaging app on Sunday. “Each (strike) means a reduction in the resources that fuel the Russian war machine, and another step toward peace.”

The campaign has choked Russian fuel supplies, causing widespread shortages and long lines at gas stations across the country and prompting authorities in many regions to introduce fuel rationing. According to Western analysts, it has also slowed Moscow’s efforts on the battlefield, heaping pressure on the Kremlin to come to the negotiating table. Speaking to a Russian state TV reporter, Putin described the Ukrainian attacks on oil refineries as an attempt to “cause a split in Russian society and force Russia to halt, even if only briefly, the advance of our troops along the line of contact, and create conditions for launching a negotiation process on terms advantageous to our adversary.” “We will not give them that chance,” Putin said, adding that “strikes on our infrastructure, wherever they are directed, have absolutely no effect on the situation at the front, on the line of contact.” He said for the first time that Ukraine has proposed a halt on deep strikes, arguing that Kyiv made the offer because Russian strikes deep into Ukrainian territory are more powerful and devastating.

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The Supreme Court is building its own massive police force

A series of slickly produced videos show agents clad in suits and sunglasses striding confidently in slow motion. They usher VIPs into armored SUVs, as specially trained dogs sniff out explosives and officers toting assault rifles keep watch. The scenes evoke Hollywood films about the Secret Service, but the real-life protectees are not the president or the first family: They’re the justices of the Supreme Court, and these videos are part of an aggressive recruitment pitch for officers to defend them. The staid Supreme Court now has sizzle reels and even a pithy tag line from a dulcet-toned announcer: “The highest court. A higher calling.” It’s often said that the Supreme Court has no army. Yet, with little fanfare, the size of the Supreme Court’s police force has begun mushrooming. For years, the force sat at fewer than 200 officers, but now officials are aiming to more than double the ranks of the agents and officers who protect the justices and the Supreme Court’s building.

The push for a rapid security buildout stems from the substantial threats to the justices at a moment of growing political violence in the U.S. and the sense that the system has just not been up to the task of keeping them safe. That’s a belief that appears to be shared by at least some of the justices themselves. “The justices are averse to the intrusion into their personal lives that comes with increased security, but they are resigned to the need for it both personally and for the court as an institution,” said one former court staffer, who was granted anonymity to speak candidly about the court’s security practices. A spokesperson for the Supreme Court declined to comment for this article. The Supreme Court has never been so central to the political system, nor so public in the way it exercises power — be it snarling the pre-election prosecution of Donald Trump, blocking the president’s tariffs or scaling back the Voting Rights Act. Yet even as the court boasts sweeping authority, it remains reflexively opaque to the public. The prospect that Americans grow restless at being ruled by nine robed lawyers they never see doing their jobs has the potential to fuel a crisis of legitimacy. The Supreme Court cloaks its deliberations in secrecy and still banishes cameras from its ornate courtroom. Court officials are loath to discuss the security measures being undertaken to protect the justices.

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Trump’s takeover of 250th birthday celebrations is bumming out Congress

Congress wanted the nation’s 250th birthday to unite America in celebrating its founding principles, common bonds and democratic institutions that have made the country so unique. It passed bipartisan legislation a decade ago creating a commission to support events in the capital and around the country to mark the occasion. Instead, the semiquincentennial events in Washington, D.C., have become intensely partisan, with President Donald Trump essentially taking over as master of ceremonies. The president and his administration have spurned congressional efforts to celebrate the anniversary in favor of their own high-profile events, such as the UFC match at the White House and campaign-style rallies on the National Mall, culminating with one on July Fourth that Trump has dubbed “the most spectacular TRUMP RALLY of them all.”

“I will be speaking at approximately 9 P.M., preceding the Fireworks which again, like the Airshow, will be approximately ten times larger than any Fireworks in the History of our Country. So, if you like Airplanes and Fireworks and President Trump, be there!” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post. A handful of Democratic-led states are openly boycotting Trump’s 16-day Great American State Fair, progressive activists are organizing competing events in D.C., and some Washingtonians are skipping the traditionally bipartisan July 4 events on the National Mall altogether. “I think that’s sad,” Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) told NOTUS. “If the celebration of the miracle of democracy that comes from the founding of this nation becomes partisan, shame on us,” lamented Sen. Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina). Trump this week kicked off 250th celebrations with a campaign-sounding speech on the National Mall in which he touted anti-transgender policies, praised immigration agents implementing his deportation push, and promoted a tentative peace deal with Iran.

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MAHA feels betrayed after Supreme Court ruling on Monsanto, glyphosate

Prominent activists with the “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) movement are raging and saying they feel betrayed after the Supreme Court sided with pesticide maker Monsanto on Thursday and said it did not need to put a warning label about a potential cancer risk associated with its Roundup weedkiller. The backlash could test the movement’s ties with the Republican Party,?especially after the Trump administration backed Monsanto in the case. Several studies have found a link between glyphosate, the main ingredient in Roundup, and cancer, including a major study from last year. Bayer and Monsanto have denied any such connection. But MAHA followers have long been alarmed by the idea, and many have grown impatient with a White House that has largely resisted their calls for tighter regulation of pesticides.

In April, President Trump, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and high-level administration officials held a private meeting with MAHA activists to hear their complaints and try to smooth over any ill-will. Later that month, a MAHA-led coalition rallied outside the Supreme Court during oral arguments, saying people should be able to hold companies accountable. Inside, the justices heard arguments — including some by the Department of Justice — that companies should be protected. For some MAHA supporters, Thursday’s verdict showed that despite Trump’s alliance with Kennedy, the administration would rather prioritize the interests of pesticide makers. “A lot of MAHA voters are realizing they’ve been snookered, they’ve been had by Republicans that had no intention of protecting their health. It’s just a talking point that they added,” said David Murphy, founder of United We Eat and finance director of Kennedy’s presidential campaign. Murphy said the decision could be a tipping point for MAHA voters, who have historically been a loose collection of groups without a set political party.

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Lead Stories

Unease about Talarico’s Black support on display at Texas Democratic Convention

Black Democrats caucusing at the Texas Democratic Party convention Friday cheered when state Rep. James Talarico, the Democratic U.S. Senate nominee, said November would bring an end to three decades of one-party statewide rule. But some of the most emphatic applause he received during his remarks came when he acknowledged the Democratic Party’s “troubling history of taking Black voters for granted.” “Let’s just be very honest,” Talarico said Friday to a room in Corpus Christi packed full of Black Democrats from around the state. “I am committing to you to not make those mistakes. I am committed to working with the members of this caucus to show up for, invest in and fight for the votes of every Black Texan.” Nearly four months after defeating U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Dallas — one of the state’s most prominent Black politicians — for the U.S. Senate nomination, Talarico’s quest to coalesce Black Democrats behind his candidacy was still ongoing among the party’s rank-and-file activists at a convention where Texas Democrats were looking to present a forceful show of unity.

The unease about Talarico’s standing with Black Texans stems from a primary in which polls consistently showed the Austin Democrat with meager support — sometimes under 10% — from Black voters. The rest went to Crockett, forming the basis of her 46% vote share in the March primary. She endorsed Talarico the day after her loss and urged Democrats to “rally around” their nominees. More recently, however, Crockett has cast doubt on whether Black voters have unified behind Talarico and the broader statewide ticket. Ahead of this week’s convention, which she skipped, Crockett also declined to commit to campaigning for Talarico, telling the Dallas Morning News she was “more focused on down-ballot races.” Energizing the Black voters core to the Democratic base will be critical for Talarico’s chances in November, when he’ll need a surge in turnout among left-leaning voters, even as he also works to appeal to independents and moderate Republicans — namely those repelled by the legal and ethical scandals and hard-right politics of Republican U.S. Senate nominee Ken Paxton, the attorney general. “I don’t have to tell this caucus, though, that there is no way to win this race without Black Texans — no way at all,” Talarico said. “This is not going to be easy. This is a big state, and we don’t have a lot of time. But I am looking forward to being your partner in this fight, because we have to win.” Talarico — who also stopped by several other caucuses Friday, including the Latino, labor and Stonewall Democrats’ meetings — was well received at the Black caucus, with a notable portion of the room jumping to their feet when he appeared.

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Texas will require students to read Bible passages in new state curriculum

In what appears to be a national first, Texas students will be required to read Bible passages as part of a new statewide reading list. The State Board of Education gave final approval to updated Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills – known as TEKS – on Friday, capping off a week of meetings and often tense public discussion. The board also approved rewritten K-8 social studies lessons that narrow the view of history from a global one to a focus on U.S. and Texas history. The state will begin rolling out the new standards beginning in the 2030-31 school year. The literacy TEKS typically includes Shakespeare and Sophocles. Now there’ll also be Psalm 23 and the Prodigal Son – the King James version. State Board of Education District 2 representative Brandon Hall, from Aledo, northwest of Fort Worth, is one of 10 Republicans on the 15-member elected board. The pastor championed the inclusion of Bible passages and Christian stories as a valuable reflection of American culture and what he wants every Texas student to learn.

“America and Texas have been a Christian nation and a Christian state forever,” Hall said. “And this is why, you know, the proportion of the impact they’ve had is why they’re included. Of course, there are other faiths that are represented, but they’ve had a minimal impact.” Nearly 500 people signed up to offer testimony for or against the new social studies and reading curriculum. The lists add at least one Bible passage to each grade’s required reading starting in the first grade. Kim Middleton, from Lubbock, spoke in support of the board’s efforts, saying students need to learn those biblical references. “Let's pick back up our Bibles and allow our Judeo-Christian foundations to shine bright in our classrooms,” she said. Opponents of the changes say they emphasize Christianity over other religions and misrepresent history. Rabbi Joshua Fixler said he’s worried his children won’t learn as well. “This proposed list provides only Christian religious texts, and it does so in ways that are not age appropriate,” he told the board. “For example, my fourth grader would have to read three religious texts. All three center on Christian messages of faith and theology to which my family does not ascribe.”

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S&P Global improves outlook on city of Houston’s finances

One of the "Big Three" credit ratings agencies improved its outlook on the city of Houston's financial position on Thursday, two weeks after city officials approved major reforms to the city's revenue flow. In a news release announcing the "stable" outlook, the agency said the city "made substantial progress in materially reducing its budget gap ... through various structural changes." S&P Global lowered the city's outlook in 2024 amid rising public safety costs tied to the more than $1 billion blockbuster settlement with the firefighters' union, which included immediate backpay and hiked salaries by more than 30% over the five-year agreement. The "negative" outlook signaled the possibility of a credit downgrade, which would raise the city's borrowing costs.

This year, Houston Mayor John Whitmire's administration redirected about $100 million in revenue from the city's water and wastewater utility to the $3 billion general fund, which supports most departments including police and fire. At the same time, the administration moved the more than $100 million solid waste department out of the general fund and into the utility while adopting a $5 monthly fee for garbage customers. Altogether, the changes essentially erased the projected deficit for this fiscal year, which runs through June 2027. Steven David, Whitmire's chief operations officer, said the improved outlook is "just a validation of the work that Mayor Whitmire has been doing for the past two-and-a-half years.” "If fiscal stability is a house, we’ve laid the foundation with this fiscal year, and it’s good to see that S&P is recognizing that," he said.

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Opposition to AI data centers grows in Texas, poll shows

Texans are voicing growing concern about the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence data centers, putting new pressure on state leaders to balance economic development, national security and local worries over water and electricity. A newly released poll from the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas found 56% of Texans oppose the construction of data centers in their community. Opposition was higher in rural and suburban communities where current and planned data center construction is more prevalent. Some of those concerns came up Tuesday during a Texas House Natural Resources Committee hearing, where lawmakers heard from local officials, industry representatives and residents worried about the strain data centers could place on Texas’ water supply and power grid.

Some lawmakers said they understand why voters are skeptical. State Rep. Trent Ashby, R-Lufkin, said the feedback he hears from constituents is “overwhelmingly” negative toward data centers, but he also questioned how to weigh that against broader national security concerns tied to the race to develop artificial intelligence. Several county-level leaders asked the state to give local governments more authority to block or regulate data centers before they are built. Gov. Greg Abbott has also been responding to voter concerns. In an interview with NewsNation’s Ali Bradley, Abbott said when it comes to data centers “Texans are going to be protected.” “Here’s what I outlined so far, and that is, data centers must bring their own power,” Abbott said in the interview. “They must reuse their own water. And they must reduce electricity costs for residential customers as well as small business customers. Those are bottom line expectations.”

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The extremely online Senate race testing Democrats’ midterm strategy

To understand the future of the Democratic Party — maybe even the future of politics writ large — you have to charter a plane or board a ferry and cross some five miles of choppy waters across the Straits of Mackinac, where Lake Huron meets Lake Michigan, to reach Mackinac Island, a roughly 4-square-mile scrap of land shaped like a turtle and wedged between Michigan’s upper and lower peninsulas. It feels like traveling back in time. There are no cars on the island; horse-drawn taxis clip-clop amid the Victorian architecture. The place seems about as far from the digital cacophony that is politics in 2026 as you could get. Yet one week in late spring, the three millennial candidates in what has become the nation’s most online primary all arrived here by ferry for their first real statewide televised debate amid days of politicking. The stakes couldn’t be higher.

If Democrats lose the general election in November to prospective Republican nominee Mike Rogers, it will be all but impossible for them to reclaim the Senate — and the GOP knows it. Already, the Senate Leadership Fund, the Super PAC aligned with GOP Senate Majority Leader John Thune, has reserved $45 million in ads for Rogers this fall. In hypothetical general election matchups, the margins are thinner than the lilac cotton candy you can buy over at the Sanders Candy and Fudge Shop here. Beyond control of the Senate, the Michigan primary could help determine what kind of Democratic Party will emerge from the midterms at a time when Democratic voters are furious with the party’s second electoral loss to President Donald Trump and hungry for major change. Two of the Michigan candidates — former public health official Abdul El-Sayed and state Sen. Mallory McMorrow — have called for a change in Democratic leadership. El-Sayed has said he’s the only candidate that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer wouldn’t be “OK with winning.” McMorrow called for Schumer to step aside last March. On the other hand, primary candidate Haley Stevens, a U.S. representative, has Schumer’s endorsement and the support of the party establishment in Michigan. They are also debating how to rein in ICE and whether to adopt Medicare for All (El-Sayed backs the latter, while McMorrow and Stevens support a public option approach).

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State Stories

Austin City Council has been voting in secret for years, despite the city’s claims of transparency

Austin Energy says Austin City Council members have taken secret votes for years on matters involving the publicly owned utility, and that those votes don’t appear in any public record. The disclosure only came after KUT News reviewed more than 1,000 City Council meetings and challenged the utility’s claim that such votes “ARE indicated in council minutes.” Last month, the council took what appears to be its first documented secret vote on Austin Energy, approving the purchase of gas-powered electric generators estimated to cost more than $1 billion. The vote occurred in a closed session under a narrow carve-out to the Texas Open Meetings Act that allows elected officials who oversee power companies to vote in secret on "competitive matters.” The final vote tally was never released. A record of the meeting on the city’s website simply says the measure was “conducted and approved.” Council members and city staff have refused to disclose the vote breakdown, effectively shielding elected officials from any political backlash and firing up critics.

When KUT News asked whether the vote was unprecedented, Austin Energy insisted it was not. The utility’s spokesperson, Matthew Mitchell, said council members have taken similar closed-door votes for years and they were “not infrequent.” Erik Johnson, a spokesperson for the city, suggested that KUT should “review the voting record manually” to seek previous examples of executive session votes. In an effort to show that secret votes are part of regular business, Austin Energy provided a list of 16 meetings from 2019 to 2025 during which it said “discussions or votes” occurred behind closed doors. Such closed-door votes “ARE indicated in council minutes," Mitchell said. But a KUT News review of every City Council meeting dating back to 1999 found no public record of such votes. When KUT presented those findings to Austin Energy, the utility changed its explanation, saying the absence of records proves nothing because even the existence of a secret vote may be confidential. “The fact that minutes do not reflect that a vote was taken, does not mean that a vote was not taken,” Mitchell said in an email. With no public record of any vote and council members committed to secrecy, it’s difficult to know how many votes may have taken place since the 1999 law allowing for them took effect.

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Lubbock Matadors SC Partners with Communities In Schools of the South Plains for Giveback Night on June 27

Communities In Schools of the South Plains is proud to partner with Lubbock Matadors SC for a special Giveback Night on Saturday, June 27, bringing the community together for an evening of soccer, family fun, and support for local students. Fans can use promo code CISSP when purchasing tickets to receive discounted admission, and 50% of every ticket purchased with the promo code will be donated back to Communities In Schools of the South Plains. Communities In Schools of the South Plains will also be on-site at the game sharing more about its mission and selling raffle tickets for a 2026 Jeep Willys. The Jeep will be set up at the gate, giving fans a chance to see it in person and purchase raffle tickets during the event.

The winner of the Jeep Raffle will be announced at LaceUp806 Presented by Michael Postar’s Affordable Storage on August 8. LaceUp806 is Communities In Schools of the South Plains’ annual fundraiser and plays a major role in helping CIS expand its reach to more students, families, and campuses across the region. Last year, LaceUp806 raised enough money to add CIS services to more than 10 schools across the South Plains. This year, the organization is working toward a record-breaking goal of raising $500,000. “We are so proud to partner with the Lubbock Matadors for this Giveback Night,” said Kenna West, CEO of Communities In Schools of the South Plains. “The Matadors have built something special in Lubbock, and their commitment to community aligns so well with the work CIS does every day in schools across the South Plains. This is a great opportunity for families, soccer fans, and our entire community to come together, enjoy a great night of soccer, and support local students.” Lubbock Matadors SC has quickly become a meaningful part of the local sports community, helping grow the game of soccer in Lubbock while creating opportunities for athletes and inspiring the next generation of players. The Matadors are led by a passionate ownership group that includes former Major League Soccer leadership, soccer entrepreneurs, successful business owners, Texas Tech alumni, and local investors who share a love for Lubbock and a commitment to the community.

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Jim Hogg County confirms first New World screwworm case

Jim Hogg County officials have confirmed the county's first case of New World Screwworm, marking another development in South Texas as state and federal agencies continue efforts to prevent the pest from spreading. County Judge Juan Carlos Guerra announced Friday that the confirmed case was identified in the Guerra area of Jim Hogg County. While the discovery marks the first case reported in the county, local officials stressed that residents should remain alert rather than alarmed. "We have been preparing for this possibility for several months," Guerra said in a statement. "This confirmation is not a reason to panic. It is a reminder that we must all do our part by increasing vigilance and reporting any suspected cases immediately."

New World Screwworm larvae feed on the living tissue of warm-blooded animals, making livestock, wildlife and household pets vulnerable to infestation if wounds are left untreated. County leaders are urging ranchers, hunters, veterinarians and pet owners to routinely inspect animals for open wounds or unusual signs of infestation. Officials say early detection and rapid reporting are critical to limiting the spread of the pest and allowing response teams to act quickly. Jim Hogg County officials said they are working with the Texas Animal Health Commission, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and local veterinarians to monitor the situation and coordinate response efforts. Guerra also credited local ranchers, wildlife managers and agricultural producers who have already participated in educational meetings and preparedness efforts in recent months.

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Gracie the Giraffe has been found

Gracie was found Friday morning after being missing for several days in the Hill Country. The Real County Sheriff’s Office (RCSO) confirmed that the giraffe was discovered during an aerial search at 7:30 a.m. Gracie was reported missing on June 22 after escaping from Cedar Hollow Ranch. According to RCSO, she was found about 4 miles south of the ranch. RCSO said Ranch Manager Vick Jones has since contacted his veterinarian and planned to put together a team to safely capture Gracie and bring her home.

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Worker’s death at SpaceX factory followed hundreds of injuries in recent years

Around 4 a.m. on May 15, in the 1-year-old South Texas town of Starbase, Jose Luis Bautista, a 25-year-old man from nearby Donna, rode a scissor lift around 50 feet up toward the ceiling of the “Starfactory,” where Elon Musk’s SpaceX makes parts for its Starship rockets. Bautista and other workers with Delta Fabrication and Machine Inc., a contractor out of Daingerfield, needed to replace metal beams supporting the structure of the factory with new ones. Bautista strapped himself to a white beam that weighed nearly 8,000 pounds and was about 5 stories off the ground. The beam, Bautista’s supervisor would later tell Cameron County sheriff’s officers, had “not been adjusted correctly.” The supervisor, named as Brent Lee Harvey in the sheriff’s office case report, said that he had contacted a foreman, Omar Alvarado, and instructed his team to “properly adjust and secure the beam to the structure.” According to the report, Bautista was attaching himself to another beam when the one he was already secured to started falling.

Alvarado told a sheriff’s investigator that he was on the phone when the beam fell and took Bautista with it. Alvarado further told the investigator that Bautista may have thought the beam was secure because it had anchor bolts already installed on it. Bautista would hit the beam on the way down before falling to the concrete factory floor. Harvey said, per the report, that “he did not know why Jose Luis would have attached himself to the improperly secured beam.” Harvey also said that the bolts on the beam were temporary. Within minutes of Bautista falling, a man described with the acronym “EHS”—likely an environmental health and safety specialist—started doing CPR, and security guards arrived to help load Bautista into one of Starbase’s ambulances, the report states. Doctors would pronounce him dead at a Brownsville hospital the same day. Three days later, after an autopsy, Cameron County would declare his cause of death “multiple blunt force trauma due to a fall.” The Cameron County Sheriff’s Office declared Bautista’s death an accident.

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South Texas candidates navigate redistricting at Texas Democratic Convention

As Democrats from across Texas gather in Corpus Christi for their state convention, one issue is shaping nearly every campaign conversation: redistricting. New political maps have redrawn congressional and legislative boundaries across the state, leaving many candidates scrambling to introduce themselves to voters they have never represented before. For some candidates, that means spending months traveling thousands of miles across newly configured districts in hopes of building name recognition before November. For Tanya Lloyd, a public school educator challenging incumbent Republican Michael Cloud in the newly redrawn 27th Congressional District, that effort has meant crisscrossing a district stretching from the Austin suburbs to Aransas County. "I have put 65,000 miles on my car these past two and a half years. Everywhere I'm invited I go," Lloyd said.

Despite losing to Cloud by roughly 90,000 votes in 2024, Lloyd said her two decades in the classroom have prepared her for the long campaign ahead. "I have been in the public school classroom for two decades. If that doesn't teach you perseverance, I don't know what will," she said. Other Democratic candidates described similar challenges in newly redrawn districts. Bobby Pulido, the Tejano musician challenging incumbent Republican Monica De La Cruz in the redrawn 15th Congressional District, said he believes his race is more competitive than many expected. "I know I took a heavily gerrymandered district that most people thought could never be in play. It's in play right now. We're fighting, and I think we have a good chance of flipping the seat," Pulido said. Pulido also said candidates should prioritize the people they represent over party loyalty. "You know people running for office have their loyalty to the party and not to the people they want to serve. So I think the most important thing is letting the people know they are the priority, not the party. If it means sometimes going against your own party because it would hurt your constituents and go against what your constituents would want, I think you have to be courageous enough to take those votes," he said. Former Texas Democratic Party Chair Gilberto Hinojosa said issues such as economic inequality, education and access to quality healthcare continue to resonate with voters across the state. "Economic inequality, education, making sure that every person in this state has access to quality healthcare. That's what keeps people up at night. That's what people want to hear about," Hinojosa said. Hinojosa also pointed to South Texas as a key battleground in statewide races this November, including the gubernatorial campaign of his daughter, Democratic candidate Gina Hinojosa. "If Mr. Talarico and Gina win South Texas by past margins or even higher, that would be a positive sign. But the turnout is ultimately going to decide who the next governor and next United States senator from Texas is," he said.

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Fort Bend braces for legal fight over Daniel Wong’s status as county judge

Fort Bend County’s two Democratic commissioners, Grady Prestage and Dexter McCoy, along with Republican Daniel Wong, have signaled there will be a legal battle to settle their dispute over Wong’s appointment as interim county judge. Prestage is the senior elected official on the county’s five-member commissioners court and said ahead of Thursday’s meeting that he would preside after a civil lawsuit tied to Wong’s appointment was dismissed earlier this month. But that did not end up happening as Prestage’s motion to remove Wong from office failed along party lines, and the meeting continued with Wong presiding over commissioners court. Wong is the GOP nominee for county judge and will face McCoy, the Democratic nominee, in November’s election. McCoy and Prestage walked out of Thursday’s meeting after the 2-2 vote regarding Wong’s status.

"I've been here 36 years. This is not fun," Prestage said. "This is the darkest day that I've seen in this county. It's ridiculous. Our discourse has been infected by evil, hateful speaking, hateful actions. I don't know where it's coming from, but I hope it goes away." McCoy and Prestage said they plan to pursue legal action regarding Wong’s status as county judge. In April, Galveston County District Court Judge Jeth Jones suspended the embattled KP George from his role as Fort Bend County's top elected official and appointed Wong as county judge on an interim basis. The decision by Jones, a Republican serving as a visiting judge in the case, was in response to a civil lawsuit filed by a county resident against George in 2025, accusing him of incompetence and of violating her First Amendment rights during a commissioners court meeting. Separately, George was convicted of felony money laundering in March and earlier this month was sentenced to 180 days in jail and five years’ probation. He has filed an appeal.

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Texas agricultural officials issue emergency quarantines across 21 counties for screwworm parasite

Dyed sterile fly pupae used to combat the spread of the New World screwworm at Chapparosa Ranch in La Pryor, Texas, US, on Thursday, June 11, 2026. The US's best weapon against a deadly cattle parasite threatening the beef industry is more than a yea Federal and state agricultural officials have confirmed that the number of New World screwworm cases in the United States has reached 26, as Texas authorities issue a wave of emergency quarantine orders to contain the flesh-eating parasite's expansion into Deep South Texas.

According to official records, 25 of the confirmed cases are concentrated across Texas, with one domestic animal case identified in Lea County, New Mexico. The latest wave of detections has prompted Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC) Executive Director Dr. Lewis R. Dinges to sign multiple emergency orders expanding strict animal movement restrictions. In a major geographic expansion, Dr. Dinges signed an emergency order on June 26, 2026, establishing Infested Zone 10. This new zone comes after the aggressive parasite was detected on June 25 in a bovine located in Jim Hogg County.

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From outcast to insider: The arc of Glen Maxey's long life in politics

Glen Maxey remembers when members of the Texas House, many of them from his own party, would not so much as shake his hand even though he was a duly elected state representative. The year was 1991, and at 41 he had already had nearly two decades of experience as a Democratic organizer. He had been a legislative staff member and a public policy advocate. He was also openly gay at a time when fears surrounding AIDS had further marginalized his community. But most of all, Maxey was undaunted. Through more than a little persistence and a refusal to let grudges stand in the way of progress, he helped colleagues navigate the countless obstacles that often derail legislation under the Capitol dome. Maxey was Texas' first openly gay elected official to serve at that level. But he wouldn't be the last.

LGBTQ+ rights were not among the planks in his party's platform. But before he retired from the House after six terms, they would be. And they remain so. "The world has finally caught up with Glen Maxey," the still-active 74-year-old Democratic activist said in an interview while staffing a booth at the party's state convention on Friday. Maxey came of age in an era when his party could take victory in statewide elections for granted. But not the candidates he backed. In 1972, he was a young staffer in the upstart gubernatorial campaign of Sissy Farenthold, a reform-minded state representative. She lost the nomination to the establishment-backed Dolph Briscoe, a Uvalde rancher and part of the conservative faction of the Texas Democratic Party. Four years earlier, while in his teens, he volunteered for Eugene McCarthy, who challenged President Lyndon Johnson before the Texan ended his bid for reelection. Maxey, who later represented part of Austin in the House, was born into a rodeo family and graduated from Sam Houston State University in the conservative East Texas city of Huntsville. He taught elementary school in equally conservative Navasota.

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Mariachi musician stopped for speeding — and turned over to ICE

Hebert Kaleth Ibarra Castro was still wearing his mariachi uniform when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents handcuffed him and took him into custody. The 20-year-old San Antonio musician was driving home Thursday morning after performing at a birthday party when a police officer in China Grove, a small city 12 miles east of San Antonio, stopped him for speeding. China Grove's police department is among local law enforcement agencies in Texas that have agreements with ICE to carry out some immigration enforcement duties.

Hebert texted his wife from the roadside: "Baby, I’ve been pulled over." He also called Miguel Guzman, music director of Mariachi Los Galleros de San Antonio, who was driving home from the same performance with his son and another member of the ensemble. They went to where Hebert had been pulled over, near a gas station off U.S. 87 East in China Grove. Hebert was accused of driving 69 mph in a 50-mph zone, and the officer issued him a ticket and took the keys to his gray 2014 Toyota Camry. Guzman said two unmarked ICE vehicles arrived soon afterward, and two agents got out: a man dressed all in black and a woman with her face covered. Hebert is now in an ICE detention center in South Texas, his fate uncertain. U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, a San Antonio Democrat, is working with Hebert's family to secure his release. The case illustrates the precarious situation of non-citizens living in the U.S. as the Trump administration aims to remove anyone who is in the country without legal authorization.

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Houston judge dismisses Tony Buzbee's claims against Jay-Z, Roc Nation

A Houston judge has dismissed several lawsuits filed by prolific attorney Tony Buzbee over allegations that Jay-Z and his company, Roc Nation, recruited Buzbee's former clients to sue his law firm. The ruling by Judge Kristen Hawkins this week is the latest development in a legal battle that began in December 2024, when Buzbee amended a lawsuit that was part of a series of legal actions he brought against music mogul Sean Combs to also name Jay-Z, whose real name is Shawn Carter. Buzbee's client alleged that Carter and Combs raped her when she was 13 at a party in 2000, allegations Carter and Combs denied. The woman later voluntarily dismissed her lawsuit.

Days later, Buzbee's law firm sued Carter and Roc Nation’s lawyers, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart and Sullivan, accusing them of trying to recruit current and former clients of Buzbee to sue the attorney's firm in retaliation for the legal action against the musician. "Buzbee filed with fury; the court ruled with finality," said Gregg Costa, who represented an attorney from Roc Nation. Buzbee on Thursday told the Chronicle that he would appeal the decision or "refile in a different form." "The conduct we have caught on tape and supported by multiple witness affidavits is egregious. I won’t allow these shady characters to come to Texas and get away with this kind of foolishness." Earlier this month, without directly naming Buzbee, Carter referred to the Houston lawyer as a "1-800 ambulance chaser" during a freestyle rap at the Roots Picnic music festival in Philadelphia, reviving an insult he had previously used.

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National Stories

The Trump Pentagon appointee who has divided top Republicans

Last fall, one of the top Republicans in Congress left the Pentagon suspecting he’d been told a lie. Rep. Mike D. Rogers, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, had learned that the Trump administration planned to remove thousands of soldiers from Romania — even as his committee demanded that the Pentagon consult with Congress before initiating any major withdrawals. So the Alabama lawmaker devised an honesty test, people familiar with his thinking said. In an October meeting with Elbridge Colby, the Pentagon’s policy chief, the congressman asked whether any troop reductions were coming. Colby, Rogers recounted in an interview with The Washington Post, said he wasn’t aware of any. Two weeks later, the administration announced that it was removing an Army brigade that had fortified NATO’s eastern flank since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Rogers, who is so pro-Europe that Romania awarded him the honorary rank of commander in 2017, was livid. “I took him at his word,” Rogers said. In his own interview with The Post, Colby denied having misled the congressman. The policy chief said that military leaders had also recommended removing the brigade and that, at the time of the October meeting, the final order to do so hadn’t been given. Colby argued that he was not, then, “in a position to commit the department one way or the other.” “I am very careful about what I say and what I don’t say,” Colby said, noting that in a formal letter he’d asked Rogers to retract the accusation of dishonesty. Rogers has not. In the months since, House and Senate Republicans have conducted more aggressive oversight of Colby than nearly any other Trump appointee. They have overruled his policies and blocked the confirmation of two officials nominated to serve as his top deputies. At least two prominent Republicans have publicly accused him of dishonesty.

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Julia Letlow’s victory in Louisiana completes Trump’s revenge on Cassidy

President Donald Trump just finished the job in Louisiana. First, he successfully ousted Sen. Bill Cassidy — a longtime rival who voted to convict Trump on impeachment charges — last month. Then on Saturday, Trump got his preferred pick, Rep. Julia Letlow, over the finish line in the runoff to replace the senator. It was a return to form after several recent misses in primaries, with Trump’s endorsed candidates going down in Iowa and Georgia and after the Republican he initially endorsed in South Carolina flopped. Saturday’s result reaffirms his grip on the Republican party: With Trump’s backing, Letlow overcame a late surge from rival John Fleming, the hardline conservative state treasurer who was also trying to rally the MAGA base behind him. Letlow’s win sends another Trump ally to Washington, continuing the MAGA takeover of the party, and shows the continuing power of Trump’s blessing that lifts candidates even when others have conservative credentials of their own.

It also bolsters the power of GOP Gov. Jeff Landry, whose steadfast support of Letlow was also crucial to her victory. This primary was the latest test of an emerging question that will help shape the future of the GOP: How powerful is Trump’s endorsement against opponents who are also MAGA acolytes? Unlike in primaries pitting MAGA against the establishment or against the president’s enemies — which MAGA is clearly winning — several contests this year have involved multiple candidates all seeking to run in the America First lane. In Louisiana and Alabama, Trump’s endorsees won, though both Letlow and Rep. Barry Moore were given a major run for their money by fellow pro-Trump candidates. But in a pair of governor’s contests, Rick Jackson’s billions helped him clinch the nomination in Georgia and Zach Lahn pulled off a surprise upset in Iowa, as both bear-hugged the president. Fleming, a House Freedom caucus founder and former White House aide, ran as an unabashed Trump ally and spent the campaign arguing he represented MAGA’s ideological roots. He tried to cast Letlow as the establishment pick powered by elected officials rather than grassroots conservatives. But Republican primary voters ultimately sided with the candidate carrying Trump’s seal of approval.

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Trump again threatens Iran with annihilation as Kuwait and Bahrain report attacks

President Donald Trump again threatened Iran on Sunday with annihilation following U.S. attacks on Iranian military targets in retaliation for Tehran’s latest strikes on shipping in the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz. Iran’s neighbors, Kuwait and Bahrain, reported incoming missiles and drones overnight. “United States aircraft just struck Iranian missile and drone storage locations, and coastal radar sites, for violating the Cease Fire Agreement, AGAIN!,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. The U.S. military attacked a number of Iranian targets after a commercial tanker in the Strait of Hormuz was reported to have been struck by a projectile on Saturday. The attacks were the latest escalation of tensions between the two countries in recent days, following an interim agreement meant to bring an end to hostilities in the region.

U.S. Central Command said early Sunday that fighter jets struck 10 Iranian military targets in and near the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation for a drone strike on the Panamanian-flagged tanker, the M/T Kiku. The ship was transiting the strait with more than two million barrels of crude oil, CentCom said late Saturday. “There may come a point when we are no longer able to be reasonable, and will be forced to militarily complete the job that we very successfully started. If that happens, the Islamic Republic of Iran will no longer exist!” Trump wrote. Trump has repeatedly threatened to send Iran back to the “stone age.” In an April Truth Social post, Trump threatened “a whole civilization will die tonight” and raised the specter of nuclear war. “For Iran, the Clock is Ticking, and they better get moving, FAST, or there won’t be anything left of them,” Trump said in a post in May.

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Chaos came to CBS News. What’s in store for CNN?

Over nearly five decades, CNN has survived multiple owners, ratings ups and downs, and attacks by President Trump. Now, its journalists are bracing for its most dramatic transformation yet: a corporate merger that would put the 24-hour cable network under the same ownership as CBS News. David Ellison, the technology heir who controls Paramount, the owner of CBS, is poised to complete a $111 billion purchase of CNN’s parent company as soon as next month. Mr. Ellison has not publicly detailed what he has in store for CNN. But the network’s newsroom is wary of his conspicuous coziness with Mr. Trump and the prospect that he may assign some oversight of CNN to Bari Weiss, his pick to run CBS News after he bought Paramount last year. Ms. Weiss, who had virtually no broadcasting experience before taking over in October, has reshaped CBS News in occasionally chaotic ways, recently firing the leadership of the network’s flagship, “60 Minutes.”

Several on-air correspondents who were fired later accused her of editorial interference, which she has denied. Mr. Ellison and his deputies are weighing whether to put Ms. Weiss in charge of CNN, which is far larger than CBS News and is a major profit center, two people familiar with their thinking said. He has remained supportive of Ms. Weiss, despite grumbling from journalists. Anderson Cooper, the channel’s biggest star, has told colleagues at CNN that he does not want to work for Ms. Weiss, two people familiar with his remarks said. Mr. Cooper, who overlapped with Ms. Weiss at CBS as a correspondent at “60 Minutes,” left that show this spring after 20 years. A spokeswoman for Mr. Cooper declined to comment. One option under consideration by Mr. Ellison would be to pair Ms. Weiss with a more experienced TV executive who could handle the technical and financial aspects of the network, two people briefed on internal discussions said.

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European soccer fans marvel at the splendor of America’s suburbs

Frank Everink hadn’t even heard of Kansas City. But when the Dutch soccer fanatic saw his team would be playing along the border of Missouri and Kansas, he made a detour in his worldwide road trip. Everink got into his camper van and drove south from Toronto, making stops in Detroit, Chicago and Indianapolis. Along the way, he—and other European fans who flocked to Kansas City for the World Cup—beheld the fruits of the American economy from a vantage point few foreign tourists typically see: suburban superstores, hulking plates of food, quiet streets. He marveled at the sprawling houses, a contrast from the tightly packed homes of the Netherlands. “It’s spacious,” he said. “You go here for your shopping, and there for your dentist. People are so rich here. I think that’s why they can be so nice.”

The throngs of Dutch fans that flooded Kansas City and its suburbs this past week got a taste of day-to-day life in the U.S., reigniting a long-running trans-Atlantic debate: Who lives better, Americans or Europeans? The Europeans had plenty of thoughts on American culture. “We are a bit shocked about all the food you are eating,” said Dutch national team superfan Sandra Tatee. Fans also balked at the size of the Costcos and the vastness of the highways. In recent days, social media has been filled with videos of Europeans gawking at the staples of suburban American life—a two-car garage, a walk-in closet, a second refrigerator. One Brit went viral for trying Chick-fil-A for the first time: “That was absolutely banging,” he said. In another, he toured the inside of an American fire station, marveling at the size of the trucks and the station itself. “This is nuts, honestly,” he said. The data sheds some light: The average American home is about 1,800 square feet, with new single-family homes measuring well over 2,000 square feet, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. Europeans’ homes are about 1,100 square feet on average, according to data from U.K. and European Union data agencies.

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Trump taps former Oklahoma trooper as new ICE director

President Trump said on Saturday he was nominating Lance Schroyer, a former Oklahoma state trooper, to lead Immigration and Customs Enforcement. In a post on Truth Social, Mr. Trump told the Senate to move quickly to confirm Mr. Schroyer, who would be the first Senate-confirmed leader of the high-profile agency since 2017. “Lance has firsthand experience getting Illegal Aliens OFF our streets and, just like ME and our Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin, he LOVES the men and women of ICE,” Mr. Trump wrote. ICE has been at the center of the Trump administration’s push to ramp up deportations across the country. Those efforts have brought heavy scrutiny to the agency, particularly after immigration agents killed two Americans in Minneapolis earlier this year.

Mr. Schroyer appears to have limited experience managing national policies, and had never worked at ICE before Mr. Mullin took over as homeland security secretary in March. He is currently a senior adviser to Mr. Mullin, and previously was a major at the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety. He served as a U.S. Marine. Mr. Schroyer was part of a security detail for Mr. Mullin when Mr. Mullin served in the Senate. He was assigned by the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, a Department of Homeland Security official said. In May, Mr. Trump tapped David Venturella, a former career Immigration and Customs Enforcement official, to lead the agency in an acting capacity. Mr. Venturella will stay on as acting director until Mr. Schroyer is confirmed, the official said. The agency has been without a Senate-confirmed director since an Obama administration official retired in January 2017. In his first term, Mr. Trump tried to install Tom Homan, who now serves as the White House border czar, as the permanent director of ICE. His nomination stalled in the Senate. Mr. Schroyer hails from the same state as Mr. Mullin, the new homeland security chief, who praised the pick in a post on social media. “With over 29 years of law enforcement experience, Lance will play a vital role in helping deliver on the President’s mandate from the American people to target, arrest, and deport illegal aliens,” Mr. Mullin wrote.

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In a first since Trump deployed the guard to D.C., Democrats are sending troops

For the first time since President Trump controversially deployed the National Guard to the nation's capital last year, several Democratic governors have sent members of their respective guards to the city. Kentucky and North Carolina began the trend in recent weeks, each sending just a single guard member as D.C. readied for America 250 celebrations. Michigan then sent more than 100 last week, and Minnesota followed suit with 107 earlier this week, according to numbers made public by the D.C. Joint Task Force, which is coordinating Trump's deployment in the city. Those troops are joining thousands of uniformed, armed guard members who have maintained a continuous presence in the city since August. Until recently, troops have come from Washington, D.C. and more than a dozen Republican-led states, which offered up members of their guard as part of a joint federal task force launched by Trump to fight crime in the city, which was already trending down. U.S. territories Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands have also contributed members of their National Guard.

But these are the first troops sent from states led by Democrats, leading many legal experts who have been watching Trump's deployment in D.C. to wonder whether those guard members will participate in the routine – and controversial – neighborhood patrols and overall militarized feeling of the nation's capital that has become a trademark of this administration. Democrats have largely opposed the president's deployment to the city. D.C. is currently filled with more than 4,800 uniformed National Guard members patrolling residential streets, city parks and metro stops. That number has nearly doubled in the past month after federal officials announced a "summer surge" in law enforcement ahead of planned America 250 celebrations. The deployment now costs upwards of $2.8 million per day, according to an estimate by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. When contacted by NPR, spokespeople for each respective governor's office made it clear that their guard members were sent to help with the influx of crowds expected for America 250 celebrations taking place in the city this summer, not for law enforcement purposes as part of the larger ongoing federal Joint Task Force operation. But troops from all four Democratic-led states are listed as part of the official federal Joint Task Force numbers released to the public.

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Lead Stories

‘I’d love to have his help’: Paxton reveals what he told Cornyn after Senate runoff

“By the way, did John Cornyn ever call and concede?” Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick posed the question to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in an interview for the inaugural episode of the lieutenant governor’s new Lt. Dan podcast. He sat at a wooden table fashioned with a microphone and branded mug, as Paxton responded from a video screen facing the head of the table. The episode was released about a month after Paxton defeated longtime Republican incumbent Sen. John Cornyn in a bruising primary runoff. Paxton faces state Rep. James Talarico, the Democratic nominee for the statewide seat, in the Nov. 3 general election. The interview touches on the theme of party unity that’s being pushed by GOP leaders, as Cornyn voters weigh whether to support Paxton in the fall.

“So he sent me a text,” Paxton said. “I never saw a phone call from him, but I texted him back and I said, ‘Thank you. You know, I appreciate your service to Texas and to the country and I’d love to get together and talk.’” Paxton’s campaign declined to elaborate on the concession exchange. If it’s up to him, Paxton said, he and Cornyn will get together, but both parties have to be willing. “I don’t know what John’s going to decide,” Paxton said. “I haven’t heard back from him. I’d be happy to talk to him. I’d love to have his help and support.” He later added: “I would have supported John no matter what, and I said it publicly, and I meant it. I do not want James Talarico, and I would vote for John 10 times before I voted for James Talarico.” Had Cornyn won, Patrick said he’d be “all in, money, marbles and chalk, to help him win.” “I hope he comes around,” said Patrick, who didn’t endorse a candidate in the primary.

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Nursing homes, factory owners and immigrants brace for fallout from Supreme Court ruling

Immigrants began making plans to sell or rent their homes, secure bank accounts and figure out thorny issues like child custody arrangements. Business owners started calculating how many days they can continue to employ workers whose legal status is set to expire. And nursing home leaders warned they would have fewer beds to offer if health aides are forced to leave the country. Panic rippled through communities from Florida to Ohio and beyond in the hours after the Supreme Court cleared the Trump administration Thursday to strip humanitarian protections from Haitians and Syrians — and potentially all 1.3 million immigrants from over a dozen countries who had been previously shielded from deportation. “The residents will be losing caregivers that they really have become attached to,” said Colin O’Leary, executive director at Laurel Ridge Rehabilitation & Skilled Care Center in Boston. Managers at the facility were racing to figure out how much longer staff members from Haiti with temporary protected status could continue taking care of patients. “That’s a lot for our residents to handle.”

Attorneys said Haitians and Syrians could lose work permits in little more than a month, but the deadline remained unclear because lower court judges must issue orders to implement the decision. Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff, told reporters Thursday that Haitians and others with temporary protected status should be detained and deported once they lose the benefit. “If you no longer have status in this country, then you’re supposed to be deported,” Miller said. Some of those immigrants have lived in the United States for decades and said they feared being sent back to conflict-ridden homelands that they barely know and whose languages some do not speak. Temporary protected status, a program created in 1990, grants work permits and deportation reprieves to immigrants for up to 18 months if their nations are engulfed in war, natural disasters or other emergencies. Applicants cannot have serious criminal records and the government can, and has, renewed the protections multiple times. President Donald Trump and his allies have alleged that the temporary protections have lasted long after the emergencies have passed and have allowed undocumented immigrants and visa overstayers to live and work in the United States. But the program also has become a political wedge. When he was a senator representing Florida, home to thousands of Haitians, Venezuelans and others with the protections, Secretary of State Marco Rubio favored the protections.

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Texas screwworm cases rise to 20 as officials expand infested zone to 3 counties

The number of confirmed New World screwworm cases in Texas rose to 20 overnight, with the latest detection confirmed in Medina County. State officials have created a new infested zone that includes parts of Medina, Bandera and Uvalde counties. The Texas Animal Health Commission said there are now confirmed cases in nine Texas counties, and officials are urging ranchers to check livestock regularly for any signs of infested wounds. Officials say their best defense continues to be releasing millions of sterile male flies, a strategy that helped eliminate the pest from the United States decades ago.

“That was very successful in eradicating screwworm from the United States and all the way down through Central America back in the, the 50s, 60s and into the early 2000s, and I believe it can be a successful technique again,” said Dr. Samantha Holeck, New Mexico state veterinarian. Lawmakers and politicians from across the country are also pushing for more action. Nebraska Sen. Pete Ricketts said he sent a letter to the USDA. Clayton Tucker, a Democrat running for Texas agriculture commissioner, criticized the response, saying, “Now, bureaucrats and politicians are arguing while the threat continues to spre

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Texas jobs growth cools in May — but annual forecast remains surprisingly robust

Job growth in Texas cooled in May, but the state still remains on track for a surprisingly robust year of employment gains, according to the latest model-based forecast from the Dallas Fed. The regional bank’s latest forecast is for a statewide jobs increase of 1.8% for 2026, a figure that would be nearly in line with Texas’s longer-term growth trend and far better than the nearly flat job growth the state experienced last year. “It’s pretty good,” said Luis Torres, a senior business economist with the Dallas Fed. “It’s along the long-run trend of 2%.”

It’s also relatively unexpected: While economists have broadly predicted prolonged negative economic impacts caused by the war in Iran, the Trump administration’s restrictive immigration policies and persistent geopolitical uncertainty — and other surveys have shown that half of Texas companies were in fact suffering as a result of the Iran conflict — the U.S. and Texas economies have also proved resilient. In Texas, Torres sais, part of this year’s unexpectedly positive jobs performance stems from the massive AI investment and construction projects underway throughout the state. The state — now in the middle of a decadeslong economic and population boom driven largely by its relative affordability — also remains a magnet for companies and residents, with recent census data showing that D-FW, in particular, continues to rank among the country’s fastest growing metro areas. “We haven’t changed the rules of the game here in Texas, right?” Torres said. “Pro-business, low taxes. All these things are still working in our favor.”

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State Stories

Austin politicos sell Westlake estate after asking $7M

Austin’s latest luxury sale might well have taken place in a smoke-filled room. Compass agent Ellen Troxclair, who also serves as a member of the Texas House of Representatives, represented politicos David and Elizabeth White in the sale of their home at 600 Logans Lane in Austin. David White, a registered lobbyist, and Elizabeth White co-founded the Austin-based government relations firm Public Blueprint, according to its website. They sold the home to the Piccolo Bambino Trust on May 29, public records show. The property deed discloses neither the price nor the individual organizer of the trust. The 8,370-square-foot home was last listed for $6.5 million dollars, or about $776 per square foot. Built in 2002, the five-bedroom, seven-bathroom home occupies a 2.1-acre lot in Westlake, an affluent neighborhood west of Lake Austin. Features of the property include a pool, an outdoor kitchen and six covered terraces.

Troxclair is the founder of the Troxclair Residential Group, a team affiliated with Compass. She represents a portion of the Hill Country in the Texas House, including a western slice of Travis County, but her district’s boundary line stops short of 600 Logans Lane, according to state maps. Based on asking price alone, it’s one of Austin’s priciest sales to date this year, according to a TRD Data analysis of publicly recorded sales. Excluding this home, the top ten sales transacted on the multiple listing service so far in 2026 range from a home at 400 Inwood Road that traded in March after asking $6 million and a home at 203 Buckeye Trail that traded in April after asking $9.5 million. The home went under contract without a price cut in just 33 days, showing rare speed in what used to be one of the country’s slowest-moving luxury markets. The typical Austin luxury home went under contract in 104 days last fall, ranking fourth in the country and first in Texas for the highest median days on market, according to Redfin. The city rebounded this spring; during the three months ending April 30, Austin luxury homes sold in a median of 57 days, a 16-day drop year-over-year in days on market and the second-biggest decrease in the country, Redfin found.

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Tesla's small robotaxi fleet could 'dramatically scale,' TxDOT official says

Tesla Inc. officially began operating a robotaxi service in Austin a year ago. Now, leadership at the Texas Department of Transportation thinks its fleet could start to surge. TxDOT Executive Director Marc Williams experienced a production version of the Cybercab at the Texas Innovation Invitational and wrote on LinkedIn afterward that the purpose-built robotaxi will “dramatically scale” Tesla’s cab operations over the coming months. “Observing this vehicle firsthand — from its design and butterfly doors to the cargo trunk configuration — provides a tangible example of how quickly our transportation system is evolving,” Williams wrote. “Sitting inside the cabin, the complete absence of traditional driver controls underscores a significant shift in mobility and vehicle design. No steering wheel, no accelerator, no brake. Only a single touch-screen monitor.”

The invitational, meant to highlight emerging technologies and potential safety improvements, arrived as Tesla runs operates a robotaxi fleet of just 69 Model Ys across the Lone Star State. It's a fleet size dwarfed by Waymo's 620 vehicles in Texas. As Williams wrote, the Cybercab is expected to eventually be folded into Tesla's robotaxi fleet and could help boost its number of vehicles on the road. For now, sightings of the vehicle without a steering wheel have been limited to the company's Austin factory and conference settings. Still, Tesla has pointed to progress in its robotaxi operations after it began offering unsupervised robotaxi rides in Austin and hasn't reported many crashes to federal regulators in recent months. But Tesla's record on safety reporting has caused Democratic Sens. Edward J. Markey and Richard Blumenthal to question whether the company is accurately reporting crash metrics.

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Suzanne Bellsnyder: Closed primaries are a threat to Texas voters

(Suzanne Bellsnyder is editor of the Texas Rural Reporter.) In Texas, many elections are effectively decided long before November. That's why the growing push to close the state's primaries matters far beyond Republican politics. It is a fight over who gets to participate in the elections that actually determine who governs Texas. For years, closing Texas primaries was a long shot. A small but influential faction inside the Republican Party kept pushing for it, while most Texans paid little attention. This month, that changed. Three developments happened in quick succession. Delegates to the Republican Party of Texas convention adopted closing the state's primaries as part of their top election priorities. Gov. Greg Abbott embraced the idea from the convention stage, declaring that "only Republicans will vote in Republican primaries."

And Secretary of State Jane Nelson — who said she was bound by her oath to enforce the election laws on the books and would implement closed primaries only if the Legislature enacted them — announced she will step down July 17. Taken together, those events transformed a fringe proposal into a serious possibility. The first question Texans should ask is simple: Who wants this? The answer is not most voters. Polling conducted late last year by Ragnar Research on behalf of Unite America found that majorities of Texans — including Republican primary voters — support keeping Texas' current open primary system, which allows voters to choose which party's primary to participate in each election cycle without formally affiliating with a party. Texans opposed closing the primaries by a wide margin — 54% to 19%. Even among Republican primary voters, opposition outpaced support. Those advocating for closed primaries claim they are protecting the will of Republican voters. As a lifelong Republican, I can tell you they have it backward. The open primary helped build the modern Republican majority in this state — I know, because I was in the trenches of that revolution three decades ago. I chaired the College Republicans and spent years working to elect Republicans up and down the ballot. Our party can and should earn voters' support on its policies and principles. It should not slam the door on them.

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What is KUT's relationship with UT Austin? A potential split would be a pricey, drawn-out affair

After the firing of KUT and KUTX General Manager Debbie Hiott by the University of Texas at Austin, supporters of the stations have questions about the organization's relationship with UT — and whether they should continue to operate under the state’s flagship university. In an interview after her firing, Hiott called for such a change. She reiterated that call in an interview this week, saying her termination was a sign that UT was "willing to interfere" in the stations' work. "That level of interference is something that the community should be concerned about," she said. "The community pays for KUT and KUTX and Texas Standard, and the community should be the ones responsible for the stations." NPR stations across the country have taken steps to move out of the university-backed model, but detangling the stations from UT after decades would be a long, financially complicated process.

KUT wouldn’t exist without the University of Texas, if that wasn’t made obvious by the station’s call letters. Those letters stretch back more than 100 years, when the physics department decided to start experimenting with newfangled radio wave technology in the 1920s. UT professor Robert Schenkkan created the station in its current form in 1958 under the purview of UT’s School of Communication. In 1971, KUT became one of the first stations in the country to air programming from newly founded NPR. Currently, KUT and its sister music station KUTX are part of UT’s Moody College of Communication, and the stations broadcast from the Moody College building on campus. UT holds the licenses of both KUT and KUTX to broadcast as nonprofit stations through the Federal Communications Commission, while the community provides material support for the station. It’s a commonplace arrangement in the world of public media. KTEP, the NPR station in El Paso, has a similar agreement with the University of Texas at El Paso, as does WOSU, the Columbus, Ohio-based NPR station that’s housed on The Ohio State University campus.

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Former San Antonio Spurs owner Peter M. Holt, not his son, bought land in Hawaii, public records show

Documents obtained Thursday by the Express-News indicate former San Antonio Spurs chairman and CEO Peter M. Holt, not his son, purchased 100 acres on Hawaii’s Big Island for $8 million. The revelation comes after the New York Post earlier this week reported that current Spurs owner Peter J. Holt made the 100-acre purchase. According to the Express-News’ reporting, an entity called PMHSI LP bought the land in question. Records cited in the article connect the purchasing partnership back to Peter M. Holt, who retired from his position with the NBA team in 2016. The elder Holt’s wife, Julianna, succeeded him in his leadership role at Spurs Sports & Entertainment (SS&E). Peter J. Holt took the reins of the franchise in 2019.

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A giraffe named Gracie escaped in Texas. No one can seem to find her

A giraffe named Gracie is missing in Texas, and the search for her has become a tall order. Gracie, who is about 3 years old, has been missing for nearly two weeks after escaping her enclosure at Cedar Hollow Ranch in the Texas Hill Country, said Vic Jones, who owns the remote property about 100 miles (160 kilometers) west of San Antonio. He said Wednesday that Gracie had wandered into a part of the privately owned preserve that other giraffes previously avoided. Jones said he has sent up helicopters to look for Gracie, a few sightings have trickled in, and a $5,000 reward is on the table. But the giraffe, which stands roughly the height of a tree, hasn’t turned up. “She wound up going up and feeding in an area on the hillside and the rocky ledges that none of the other giraffes had ever gone on before,” Jones said. “And when she came down off of there, she came down on the wrong side of the gate.”

The ranch is in rural Real County, where its roughly 2,700 residents were put on alert to be on the lookout for a missing giraffe. Jones said the search area is extremely remote, and the likelihood of Gracie encountering any humans is low. “People are not in danger of her because she’s not around people,” Jones said. ‘She’s out in very, very rough, heavily wooded lands.” The Texas Hill Country has one of the largest concentrations of exotic captive animals in the country. Real County Sheriff Nathan Johnson said the mild climate and rugged terrain seems to serve as a good stand-in for most of the animals’ native African environments. He rattled off a list of animals that have gone missing over the years, especially after floods, but said this was his first giraffe. “I’ve had wildebeests, I’ve had water buffalo, I’ve had monkeys, I’ve had zebras, all go missing,” Johnson said. “Sometimes we recover them, and sometimes we don’t.” While the middle of Texas is not a giraffe’s native environment, Jones said Gracie should be able to find plenty of leaves and other vegetation to eat. He said other animals were not likely to bother her. Jones said he initially had helicopters searching an area of about 7,500 acres (3,000 hectares) with no luck. A few days later, there was a report that Gracie was spotted to the south. But by the time they could search the area, Jones said, she was already gone. “We’re always two three days late for where the information is coming from, so that makes it tough,” Jones said.

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As some praise Texas’ proposed ‘Judeo-Christian’ curriculum, rabbis say it dismisses Judaism

During a Texas State Board of Education hearing on Monday (June 22), supporters of a proposal to require Texas public school students to read Bible stories argued doing so would acknowledge that the nation was founded on Judeo-Christian values. Rabbis and Jewish leaders at the hearing, however, criticized the biblical passages chosen by the education board as heavy on Christianity and dismissive of Judaism. Grounding support of the measures in “Judeo-Christian” values is a “fig leaf at inclusion,” one said. The State Board of Education kicked off a week of meetings Monday by hearing from more than 400 experts, teachers and concerned citizens on two proposals — one that would overhaul the state’s social studies curriculum, and another that would create a required reading list for K-12 public schoolchildren. Both proposals include biblical references, passages and stories. A final vote is expected by Friday.

Many of the speakers who praised the proposed reading list said it was important to teach children about Judeo-Christian heritage and values. “Don’t lie about where we came from as Americans,” witness Richard Green said. “It was the Judeo-Christian value system that produced the greatest, most powerful, the wealthiest, most free, the most benevolent nation in the history of the world.” Larry Holland with the conservative grassroots group Citizens for Education Reform endorsed the reading list because it was aligned with “a nation founded on the principles of Judeo-Christian heritage.” However, several rabbis and Jews rejected the use of “Judeo-Christian” to support the list. “One would think that this phrase is meant to evoke friendship between the two faiths, but I do not find that here — or in the language surrounding support for this list,” said Blake Ziegler, a Texas field organizer for the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism. Cameron Samuels, executive director of Students Engaged in Advancing Texas, a group that aims to incorporate young people in state policy decisions, objected to using “Judeo-Christian” to characterize Texas values. “Not in my Jewish faith shall you mandate entire chapters of the Bible for over five-and-a-half million students in Texas and proclaim that this speaks for Jewish people,” Samuels said.

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Daniel Wong rejects calls to step down as Fort Bend County Judge

Fort Bend interim County Judge Daniel Wong said Thursday he will remain in office despite the county attorney's conclusion that he no longer has the legal authority to serve. Wong rejected calls to step aside and insisted he would remain in the seat while any legal disputes play out in court. "I will continue doing the job I was appointed to do, serving the people of Fort Bend County," Wong said, adding that he would also continue presiding over the commissioner's court. The dispute stems from the June 16 sentencing of former County Judge KP George, who received 180 days in the Fort Bend County Jail, five years of community supervision and a $5,000 fine after being convicted of felony money laundering. George has appealed the conviction.

Wong was appointed interim county judge in April by visiting Judge Jeth Jones after George's felony conviction led to a civil removal proceeding. The order suspended George from office while the removal case remained pending and installed Wong as temporary county judge. George later posted the required $50,000 bond, allowing Wong to assume office. Wong, the Republican nominee for county judge, has led Commissioners Court since then. The current dispute centers on what happened after George's June 16 sentencing. The civil removal lawsuit that led to Wong's appointment was dismissed, prompting County Attorney Bridgette Smith-Lawson to conclude Wong's temporary appointment ended with it. Wong and his legal team argue the dismissal did not terminate the appointment and that the Texas Constitution requires him to remain in office until a successor is qualified. Smith-Lawson on Wednesday issued a legal opinion concluding Wong's authority ended when the civil lawsuit that prompted his appointment was dismissed.

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TEA probes Judson ISD for alleged failure to report child abuse

After months of infighting on the Judson Independent School District board, the Texas Education Agency has launched a special investigation into alleged board governance failings and whether the district failed to report child abuse to the appropriate authorities. Allegations center largely on transparency, procedural concerns and student safety issues, Richard Segovia, TEA’s director of special investigations, wrote to the district on June 8. The agency is investigating 15 possible violations of state law, according to Segovia’s letter, which the Express-News obtained. TEA spokesperson Jake Kobersky confirmed the investigation but said he could not provide details, because the matter is still pending. Judson ISD spokesperson Lexie Greathouse said the district would not comment on the investigation, because it is ongoing and TEA classified the notification letter as confidential.

The investigation escalates a months-long fight over leadership and accountability in Judson ISD. It includes six allegations against Judson ISD trustees and Board President Monica Ryan, including claims the board violated school board rules and conspired to fire the district’s former superintendent, Milton Fields. Other allegations include claims that trustees overstepped their authority, failed to properly evaluate Fields, inappropriately discussed public business behind closed doors and sought academic benefits for a trustee’s child. The state investigation also will review whether Fields properly reported alleged child abuse, disclosed staff misconduct and kept trustees informed about other TEA inquiries into the district. Ryan said the allegations against her and the board have already been addressed internally since they began surfacing in January, but she did not offer specifics. Infighting among trustees has consumed the board since it announced an investigation into Fields in early 2026. The district is now providing documentation to TEA, so the agency can close its investigation, Ryan said.

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Did Spurs great George Gervin get a boost in his bid to trademark ‘Iceman’?

Spurs great George Gervin’s bid to trademark the nickname “Iceman” may have gotten an unexpected boost. A representative for the Hall of Famer said that a U.S. Patent and Trademark Office decision refusing Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams’ application to trademark “Iceman” bolsters Gervin’s own case to claim the iconic moniker. “If anything, it strengthens our situation,” said Jerald Barisano, CEO and president of Gervin Global Management, a sports and entertainment management, marketing and media company that Gervin chairs. A trademark office examining attorney concluded Wednesday that Williams’ proposed Iceman mark is identical to an existing federal trademark for Iceman insulated boots owned by Oregon-based LaCrosse Footwear.

Because Williams also wants to use the mark on clothing and related merchandise, consumers could mistakenly believe the products come from the same source. A “likelihood of confusion exists” between the two, the examining attorney concluded. Unlike Williams, Gervin has been known as the Iceman for decades, Barisano said. Shirts and posters have been sold for decades bearing Gervin’s nickname, he said. “The company in Oregon has used it for a while,” Barisano added, referring to LaCrosse’s 1988 trademark registration. “They’ve been using it on boots. George is not looking to sell boots.” Gervin, who played from 1973 to 1985, earned his nickname for his cool composure and seemingly effortless jump shots, layups and finger rolls. He filed to trademark his legendary nickname in March — four days after Williams moved to claim it for himself. Williams, the first pick in the NFL draft in 2024, was given the nickname last season for having ice in his veins late in games, the Chicago Sun-Times has reported. Gervin filed applications for both “Iceman” and “Iceman 44” — a homage to his jersey number. The application for Iceman states he first began using the nickname in 1980, though his association with it actually began in the 1970s. Williams wasn’t born until 2001. He wants to register the monikers for sweatshirts, T-shirts, hats, shoes and socks, as well as entertainment services, including personal appearances and basketball camps. The trademark office has yet to issue a decision on the applications. Gervin’s Iceman application was not mentioned in the trademark office’s action on Williams’ application. Williams has three months to respond to the office action or request an extension before his application is abandoned.

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JMI joins Texas Conservative Coalition Research Institute warning against rollback of tort reforms

The James Madison Institute (JMI) is teaming up with a Texas-based policy organization to make the case that Florida’s economic success is tied in part to legal reforms that supporters say have created a more predictable business climate. JMI and the Texas Conservative Coalition Research Institute released a joint white paper this week, “The Litigation Lobby: Civil Justice Reform and the Future of the Texas-Florida Economic Advantage,” examining tort reform efforts in both states. The paper argues that policymakers should resist efforts to roll back changes enacted over the past several decades. The report contends that Florida and Texas have emerged as national economic leaders in part because lawmakers pursued civil justice reforms designed to limit excessive litigation costs and provide greater certainty for businesses and insurers.

“Florida’s rise as one of the nation’s premier destinations for business and capital was not an accident,” said Robert McClure, President and CEO of The James Madison Institute. “It was built over decades, in part, by deliberate legal reforms that gave businesses and families confidence in a fair, predictable system.” The paper highlights several issues JMI and its Texas counterpart say warrant continued attention, including third-party litigation financing, proposals to expand liability in certain lawsuits, and efforts to revive legal fee structures that reform advocates argue contributed to higher insurance costs. Among its recommendations, the report calls for greater transparency surrounding litigation funding agreements, safeguards against foreign involvement in lawsuit financing, and renewed scrutiny of proposals that could increase damage awards and litigation exposure. The publication arrives as Florida continues to debate the long-term effects of recent tort reform measures enacted by the Legislature. Supporters argue that those changes are helping stabilize the insurance market and improve the state’s business climate, while critics contend they have made it more difficult for consumers to pursue legitimate claims.

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Texas man gets 30 years in prison for transporting 'anti-government' pamphlets

Last Independence Day, several protesters were arrested following a demonstration that turned violent outside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Prairieland Detention Center. On Tuesday, nearly a year later, eight individuals were given their sentence from a federal judge in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas: a combined 450 years in prison. The defendants, whom federal prosecutors argued were part of an "Antifa Cell" and provided "material support to terrorists," were convicted earlier this year on charges ranging from rioting to attempted murder. "The sentences handed down today make clear that Antifa terrorists who attack law enforcement and federal facilities will face swift and uncompromising justice," said Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche in a statement. But critics warn the prosecutions and harsh sentencing could chill First Amendment–protected activity. Perhaps the most chilling is the case of Daniel Rolando Sanchez-Estrada, who received 30 years in federal prison for transporting a box of constitutionally protected pamphlets and zines.

Sanchez-Estrada was not present the night of July 4, 2025, when a group of protesters arrived at the Prairieland Detention Center outside of Dallas to set off fireworks and signal solidarity with the immigrant detainees held inside. But his wife, Maricela Rueda, was present and subsequently arrested after the demonstration turned violent. Rueda later called Sanchez-Estrada from the Johnston County Jail and told him to do "whatever you need to do" and "move whatever you need to move at the house," according to the criminal complaint. After Rueda's call, officers observed Sanchez-Estrada load and move a box from his home to another residence, containing "numerous Antifa materials, such as insurrection planning, anti-law enforcement, anti-government, and anti-immigration enforcement documents," according to his indictment. But despite these materials falling squarely under the protection of the First Amendment, Sanchez-Estrada was arrested, charged, and convicted of corruptly concealing a document and conspiracy to conceal documents. He has since filed a motion to overturn his conviction. "The punishment must fit the crimes—not the headlines, not the politics, not the fears that have been mongered about this case," Christopher Weinbel, Sanchez-Estrada's defense attorney, told the federal judge during the sentencing hearing, arguing a long sentence would make a mockery of the justice system, reports The Intercept.

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George P. Bush: Texas can set data center rules that work for all. Here’s what to do next

(George P. Bush served as Texas land commissioner from 2015 to 2023.) Texas just sent a clear message to data center developers: If you want to be a part of building the backbone of the future economy, we want your investments, but Texas families won’t be stuck with the bill. Gov. Greg Abbott’s June 10 directive to shield residential ratepayers from the costs of data center expansion and protect our natural resources is not a brake on growth but an opportunity to shape it. We have the tools to strengthen our grid, protect our communities and keep Texas in the driver’s seat on innovation and national security. But it will take smart, targeted policy solutions to use those tools to achieve the central vision of the governor’s directive. Abbott is right to insist that residential customers should not underwrite the cost of massive new data center infrastructure.

Requiring large users to fully fund the lines, substations and upgrades needed to serve their facilities is common sense for pro-growth states such as Texas. These standards should operate as a clear baseline: If you want to interconnect with the Texas grid, you pay your fair share and don’t diminish reliability when our grid is stressed. But if state leaders define every development guideline from the top down, we risk repeating the mistakes of high-regulation states that chased headlines instead of investment. Cities and counties typically negotiate zoning, water access and road improvements. They should have room to structure investment opportunities to their communities so long as they respect state-defined minimum standards for power, water, and potential noise limits. From the Panhandle to the Rio Grande Valley, local leaders should not be restricted by state rule-making that keeps them from doing what’s best for their community. The reality is that the best companies in this space are already doing most of what Abbott has called for — routinely co-locating data centers with new power generation and battery storage, investing in demand-responsive operations and implementing high water-efficiency standards such as closed-loop systems.

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National Stories

Supreme Court clears the way for Trump to dismantle TPS

The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that the Trump administration has full discretion to end temporary protections for immigrants, putting hundreds of thousands back at risk of deportation. The Thursday ruling is another legal defeat for migrants previously granted deportation reprieve and work authorization through Temporary Protected Status, a program President Donald Trump’s Department of Homeland Security is dismantling. The court previously allowed the Trump administration to end TPS for Venezuelans through its shadow docket, but this decision goes further. It says that the DHS secretary can end TPS for countries without the ability for judicial review. While the April oral arguments focused on TPS for more than 350,000 Haitians and 6,100 Syrians, the order has repercussions for all immigrants protected under the program. Nearly 1.3 million immigrants had TPS before then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem started ending them for 13 countries.

The justices rejected the idea that racial animus played a role in the termination of TPS for Haitians. “None of the cited statements by either the President or the Secretary was overtly racial, and in substance all expressed policy views that could rest on race-neutral justifications,” Justice Samuel Alito wrote in the court’s opinion in Mullin v. Doe and Trump v. Miot, two cases the Supreme Court considered in tandem. “Viewing all the relevant evidence, Miot respondents are unlikely to prove that race was a motivating factor in the decision to terminate Haiti’s TPS designation, and it follows that they are not entitled to interim relief on their equal protection claim,” he continued. The Trump administration’s decision to end TPS for Haitians and Syrians came after years of negative statements from President Donald Trump and other top officials about people from both countries Trump referred to Haiti as a “shithole” country and promoted a false rumor about Haitian immigrants eating dogs. He’s also long said Syrian immigrants are dangerous, tying them to terrorism. The three-decade-old program created by Congress is supposed to protect immigrants from being deported to countries deemed too unsafe because of armed conflict, natural disasters or other humanitarian crises. There is no limit to the amount of times the federal government can renew TPS designations and some have lasted for decades, such as for El Salvador.

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Intel’s chip business shows signs of life after years of struggle

At a tech conference in San Francisco this week, admirers surrounded Lip-Bu Tan, the chief executive of Intel, waiting to take selfies with a man few of them had heard of before last year. The spectacle made Matthew Sysak, a senior executive at the tech company Lumentum, shake his head. Watching from a few feet away, he compared the attention on Mr. Tan to the industry’s rock star treatment of Jensen Huang, the chief executive of the chip maker Nvidia, now the world’s most valuable company. “It’s a traveling circus,” he said in disbelief. Not long ago, Intel, which was once one of the most powerful tech companies in the world, was described as Silicon Valley’s fallen icon. Sales were plummeting, costs soaring and debts mounting. The U.S. government intervened last summer and took a 10 percent stake in the company. Now, Intel is showing signs of a turnaround. Its value has more than tripled to $650 billion, its business has started to rebound behind the artificial intelligence boom, and it has added big customers like Nvidia and Apple.

The stakes are high for the company and Mr. Tan, who took over in March last year. Intel is a cornerstone of the U.S. government’s push to rebuild the nation’s semiconductor manufacturing and wean Silicon Valley off its dependence on Taiwan. If Intel is unable to turn itself around now — when nearly the entire chip industry is cashing in on A.I. — a fix may not be possible, said Chris Miller, the author of “Chip War,” a book that recounts the rise of the semiconductor industry. “As the only American manufacturer of cutting-edge chips — and the only firm with its high-end research in the U.S. — Intel’s fate will shape the future of America’s chip industry and determine the extent to which the country relies on Taiwan,” Mr. Miller said. Less than a year ago, President Trump demanded that Mr. Tan step down as Intel’s chief executive because of concerns that the company he previously led had illegally sold chip technology to China. Days later, the two met and negotiated a deal for the government to take the 10 percent stake for $8.9 billion. The money was the remainder of a federal grant that Intel had been promised through the CHIPS and Science Act, a bipartisan law aimed at making the United States less reliant on Asia for semiconductors. The investment was a shot in the arm, said Sanjay Natarajan, a senior executive with Intel’s manufacturing business until last year. It helped lift the company’s market value and signaled that the U.S. government had a vested interest in rebuilding Intel’s business.

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Vance dismisses Watergate scandal, says ‘deep state’ went after Nixon

Vice President JD Vance on Thursday expressed sympathy for former president Richard M. Nixon, suggesting that Nixon was wrongly forced out as president in 1974 and comparing his political travails decades ago to those facing President Donald Trump now. “As I joked … backstage, if Watergate happened tomorrow, it would be like a 12-hour news story,” Vance said in remarks at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum in California. “The idea that it would have taken down a presidency is crazy.” A spokesperson for Vance did not immediately respond to questions about whether the vice president was being facetious and how he was defining Watergate. The Watergate scandal, which began in 1972 with a botched attempt to bug the Democratic National Committee’s offices at the Watergate Hotel in Washington, mushroomed into a wide-ranging investigation by reporters and lawmakers that revealed Nixon was aware of the break-in and directed secret White House payments in an effort to cover it up.

He resigned as president two years after the scandal broke, with Nixon blaming The Washington Post for its central role in exposing his involvement in the break-in and other abuses. The scandal also prompted a series of reforms intended to rein in presidential authority, including more independence for government watchdogs such as inspectors general, which Trump has steadily rolled back. Historians said Thursday that the full scope of the Watergate scandal, ranging from the president’s efforts to apply pressure to his “enemies list” to asking for a census of Jewish Americans serving in government because he believed they were unpatriotic, revealed Nixon’s abuses of presidential power. Vance “should know better as a well-educated lawyer,” said Timothy Naftali, a previous director of the Nixon library, referring to Vance’s law degree from Yale University. Naftali, a Columbia University presidential historian, referenced tapes that contained thousands of hours of Nixon’s Oval Office conversations.

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Venezuela earthquakes death toll rises at least 235 and 4,300 injured health minister says

Over 200 people were killed and more than 4,000 were injured as a pair of powerful earthquakes struck Venezuela on Wednesday evening, officials said. The two quakes -- a 7.2 magnitude one followed just seconds later by a 7.5 -- struck the coast of Venezuela, knocking down buildings in Caracas, the capital, and sending residents racing into the street. Responders are undertaking "intensive rescue operations" Thursday, searching for people thought to be under the rubble, acting President Delcy Rodriguez said.

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Supreme Court strikes down blue state's 'vampire rule' in major win for gun rights

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled against Hawaii on Thursday, handing concealed-carry permit holders a major victory in a 6-3 decision. The Supreme Court sided with the plaintiff in Wolford v. Lopez, who contested Hawaii's state law requiring a property owner's explicit permission to allow lawful gun owners to bring firearms into public businesses. "Hawaii's law at issue here violates the constitutional right to keep and bear arms," Justice Samuel Alito wrote. "This regime hobbles what the Second Amendment protects: the right of Americans to carry arms for self-defense as they go about their daily lives."

The ruling reverses a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which had upheld Hawaii's restrictions after the state enacted them in response to the Supreme Court's 2022 Bruen decision. After Bruen struck down New York's "proper cause" licensing requirement and held that Americans have a constitutional right to carry handguns outside the home for self-defense, Hawaii overhauled its firearms laws. Among the new provisions was a requirement that concealed-carry permit holders could not bring firearms onto another person's private property, including businesses open to the public, unless the owner provided express authorization through signage or verbal or written permission. In Second Amendment advocacy circles, the law became known as the "vampire rule." Alito wrote that the law could subject lawful concealed-carry permit holders to criminal liability while going about routine daily activities, such as stopping at a gas station, pharmacy or grocery store. He illustrated the concern through a hypothetical based on Jaime Caetano, a woman who sought to carry a weapon after threats from an abusive former partner, imagining her running ordinary errands while lawfully carrying a firearm for self-defense. "Unless each of these establishments has posted a sign saying 'Guns Welcome' or something to that effect, each visit could expose her to criminal liability," Alito wrote.

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Inside the C.D.C.’s mad scramble to meet Kennedy’s demands

Less than 24 hours after Robert F. Kennedy Jr. became the nation’s health secretary, his press secretary delivered an order from him to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Take down your advertising campaign promoting flu vaccines. It was Feb. 14, 2025. Flu season was in full swing and it was a bad one. That same day, the C.D.C. reported that influenza-related ailments had killed 68 children — 11 that week alone — and 16,000 people overall. There had been 29 million reported cases and 370,000 hospitalizations. Nicole Coffin, the veteran communications expert who took the press secretary’s call, dashed off an email to her supervisor, Kevin Griffis. “Andrew Nixon/HHS gave me a call and asked that we pull out of circulation all campaign ad buys related to flu or anything encouraging shots or vaccinations,” she wrote, referring to the Health and Human Services Department, which Mr. Kennedy leads. “He said this request came directly from the Secretary.”

Alarmed, Mr. Griffis wrote to his boss, Susan Monarez, the acting C.D.C. director, warning that halting the campaign in the middle of an outbreak “presents significant reputational risk to the agency” and could raise “legal issues.” The exchanges over the flu vaccine campaign are in a cache of internal C.D.C. emails obtained last week by The New York Times, and published online this week. The messages provide a detailed look at a period of transition in which the leaders of the nation’s public health agency frequently found themselves buffeted and dismayed by the agenda imposed by Mr. Kennedy and the new Trump administration. The emails begin in January, before Mr. Kennedy was confirmed, and end in mid-August, about a week before the White House fired Dr. Monarez as C.D.C. director at the secretary’s request, just 29 days after her Senate confirmation. While Mr. Kennedy’s fraught relationship with the health agency is well known, the messages, coupled with interviews, shed light on how C.D.C. employees scrambled to meet his demands — often on matters regarding vaccines and autism — as the administration gutted the agency’s ranks. When Mr. Kennedy was considering remaking the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices, the panel of outside experts that advises the C.D.C. on vaccine policy, agency employees were dispatched to a nearby National Archives facility to dig up 60 years’ worth of historical information on the committee, including its original charter from 1964 and policies on how it handled conflicts of interest.

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Data center controversy unseats powerful Utah lawmaker

A massive data center project in Box Elder County, Utah, helped bring down the state’s Senate president, who lost his GOP primary on Tuesday after his support for the controversial development fueled voter backlash. Stuart Adams, one of Utah’s most powerful politicians and the longest-serving president of the state Senate in its history, lost to challenger Stephanie Hollist, a former university lawyer and vocal opponent of the data center. Hollist accused Adams, as well as the state’s broader political establishment, of ignoring public concerns about a Stratos data center project that critics feared could cause serious environmental harms. Adams won his previous reelections in the reliably red state with ease. But his position as head of the Utah Military Installation Development Authority, which approved initial plans for the development earlier this year, made him a focal point of growing voter dissent over the project.

Box Elder County Commissioners Boyd Bingham and Lee Perry, who voted in favor of allowing the plans to continue, also lost their primary elections. “Do I think that the data center vote cost me the election? Yes I do,” Perry told The Salt Lake Tribune after conceding on Wednesday. “Would I do anything different? … I wouldn’t vote differently, but I would push back against the state and make them come out publicly and tell everybody why they’re forcing it down our throat.” The proposed Stratos project, which is backed by investor and “Shark Tank” star Kevin O’Leary, is expected to be one of the world’s largest artificial intelligence data centers, spanning multiple sites across the Beehive State. But residents worried the project could strain fragile water supplies near the Great Salt Lake and consume strenuous amounts of electricity. Developers have argued the campus would create jobs and generate millions in tax revenue. As opposition mounted, Adams sought to distance himself from the project in the closing weeks of his campaign, calling for significant reductions to its proposed size of 40,000 acres. But it was too late for the lawmaker, who became the first sitting Utah Senate president to lose a primary election in modern Utah history.

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Supreme Court ruling blocks thousands of lawsuits against the maker of Roundup weedkiller

The Supreme Court sided with the maker of Roundup weedkiller Thursday in a ruling expected to block thousands of lawsuits alleging it failed to warn people the product could cause cancer. The case came before the justices after a tidal wave of litigation that included some multibillion-dollar verdicts against Bayer, a German agrochemical manufacturer that acquired Roundup’s original producer, Monsanto, in 2018. The decision is a victory for President Donald Trump’s administration, which argued in support of Bayer. But it provoked outrage from allies in the “ Make America Healthy Again” movement who want to rein in pesticide use. The high court, in a 7-2 ruling, held that Roundup cannot be sued in state courts for failure to warn because federal regulators have found a cancer link unlikely and do not require a warning label.

Federal law also bars states from imposing additional or different labeling requirements, the opinion from Justice Brett Kavanaugh states. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, joined by Neil Gorsuch, dissented, saying that Monsanto could have added a warning without violating federal law. Though focused on Roundup, the ruling could affect similar health claims against other pesticide products. “This decision is good for American farmers who help feed the world,“ Bayer CEO Bill Anderson said. ”It provides the regulatory clarity necessary for innovators like us to develop the agricultural tools that guarantee an affordable food supply.” Though Bayer said the ruling should result in the dismissal of failure-to-warn lawsuits, the company said it plans to proceed with a proposed $7.25 billion class-action settlement intended to resolve many of the remaining claims. The ruling was denounced by environmental groups and lawyers representing people who believe they were harmed by Roundup.

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Copyright July 03, 2026, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved