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.

Read this article at The Hill - Subscribers Only

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.

Read this article at Washington Examiner - Subscribers Only

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.

Read this article at Raw Story - Subscribers Only

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.

Read this article at Associated Press - Subscribers Only

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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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Lead Stories

Will Texas' new top voting official be a 'disruptor'? Locals are preparing for it

Just months ahead of closely contested midterm elections, Texas is about to get a new top voting official. Many locals there fear the frontrunner is a 34-year-old conservative state lawmaker and pastor with no election administration experience. In Texas, the governor picks the secretary of state, and it's unclear when Republican Gov. Greg Abbott will make a formal announcement. The current top elections official, Secretary of State Jane Nelson — who announced her resignation earlier this month — is expected to stay in office until July 17. For weeks though, signs have pointed to Nelson's successor being state Rep. Nate Schatzline, a pastor at a Fort Worth megachurch with ties to Christian nationalism, who has repeated baseless claims about widespread fraud in American elections.

"I personally have not heard of another name floated," said Chris McGinn, executive director of the Texas Association of County Election Officials, the professional organization for the state's hundreds of local voting officials. In preparation for the announcement, McGinn drafted an analysis report for his members on how Schatzline could affect elections this year as secretary of state. It noted that previous secretaries of state, including Nelson, have been institutionalists who "prioritized stabilizing relationships with county officials, providing bipartisan-friendly training resources, and shielding local administrators from overt partisan warfare." Schatzline, however, would seem to present a change. "It is believed that Schatzline would represent a disruptor model of [secretary of state] leadership: highly ideological, responsive to grassroots activist demands, and comfortable using the office as an active enforcement agency," McGinn's report said. Schatzline, who is not running for reelection for his statehouse seat, did not respond to an NPR request for an interview or comment. An Abbott spokesperson did not respond to questions about Schatzline, saying only that "an announcement on an appointment will be made at a later date."

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Texas Democrats to showcase the generational divide in their state convention

Texas Democrats will open their convention Thursday in Corpus Christi, buoyed by what they foresee as a hostile midterm election cycle for Republicans and by the opportunity to present themselves as a generational alternative to the GOP's decades-long dominance that has lost touch with the needs of a youthful state. Leading their ticket heading toward the Nov. 3 election is 37-year-old James Talarico, who, if elected, would be the youngest member of the U.S. Senate. And the Democratic candidates for governor and lieutenant governor are about a decade-and-a-half younger than the incumbent Republicans who are each seeking a fourth term in office. "It's time for these Republicans to get out of the way and make way for our younger folks," said longtime activist Donna Beth McCormick, the state Democratic Party's sergeant at arms who is approaching 90 years old.

The three-day Democratic state convention's chief purpose is to craft a platform laying out the party's guiding principles and providing something of an issues-based blueprint for candidates up and down the ballot to present to the voters. It's also an opportunity to cement party unity in a year where Republicans are tethered to President Donald Trump as his approval ratings in Texas and across the nation have fallen amid raising inflation and growing unease with the administration's foreign policy. But the convention will not just be about Texas, or about the candidacies of Talarico and those of gubernatorial nominee Gina Hinojosa, lieutenant governor hopeful Vikki Goodwin and the others on the statewide ballot. Several national Democrats who might be looking ahead to the 2028 presidential race have also been given featured speaking slots. Among them are U.S. Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, Illinois Gov. JB Prtizker and New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham. U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who identifies himself as a democratic socialist and has twice sought the Democratic nomination for president, will deliver the keynote address to close the convention on Saturday. Democratic U.S. Rep. Greg Casar of Austin, who at 37 is among about a dozen members of the House born after 1988, said the convention presents an opportunity to show how Texas is overdue for an upending of the GOP's status quo. “While Democrats look to the future, Texas Republicans are running the same candidates whose corruption and bad policies have failed to bring down prices for decades,” said Casar, who leads the Congressional Progressive Caucus and is seeking a third term representing a safe Democratic district.

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Trump asks Congress for billions for Iran war, after tension with Republicans, canceling signing of housing bill

The White House has asked lawmakers to approve $87.6bn (£66.5bn), mostly for "urgent needs" connected with the US war on Iran, a day after Congress passed a resolution rebuking the military action. The bulk of the funding - $67bn - is for the US Department of Defence, the White House said. But the proposal faces an uphill battle in Congress. The Iran conflict is unpopular with voters ahead of the US midterm elections in November, though a ceasefire is currently in effect. US President Donald Trump has also found himself at odds with some members of his Republican Party over the issue of Iran, and is alleged to have ended up in an angry exchange with one senator on Wednesday.

That senator, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, was one of a handful of Republicans who defied the president on Tuesday by voting to pass a measure demanding that he halt the war or seek congressional approval before continuing military action. Cassidy fell back in line after his alleged sparring with the president, and after receiving assurances from members of Trump's administration. He and others went on to vote down another similar measure in the Senate late on Wednesday. The White House Office of Management and Budget sent the formal request for the funds on Wednesday in a letter to House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson. "Most of this request will address urgent needs related to Operation Epic Fury (OEF)," says the letter, referring to the Iran war. The request includes $21bn for munitions, $17.3bn for operational costs and $12.1bn for classified programmes. It also asks for about $300m to bolster security at US embassies and diplomatic outposts in the Middle East and South Asia after some of them came under attack earlier in the war.

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Trump signals he may pull out of trade agreement with Mexico and Canada, which could impact Texas businesses

The Trump administration is pushing up against a July 1 deadline to renew the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). President Donald Trump's public remarks are leading to fears among some Texas businesses that he could pull the U.S. out of the agreement. When Trump negotiated the USMCA during his first term as president, to serve as a replacement for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), he called it the “fairest, most balanced, and beneficial trade agreement we have ever signed into law.” But last week, he said he'd rather see it terminated than renew it. "I would rather not have the agreement," Trump told reporters. "I may sign it, but we do better as a country if we don't have an agreement."

Michelle Schulz, a Dallas-based trade attorney, said she believes U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer is less eager to withdraw from the USMCA than the president. But the decision is ultimately Trump's. "I wouldn’t be surprised if the president did something dramatic and decided to terminate the agreement. I’m ready for anything, but it would not be helpful for our U.S. importers," Schulz said. "In fact, it would cause a great deal more disruption than the tariffs have already caused, in my opinion as a trade lawyer." Schulz anticipates trade negotiations will continue past the July 1 deadline. If the deadline passes without a new agreement, the existing pact will expire in 10 years. "Any of the three parties can withdraw at any time with notice," Schulz said. "So, if the president decides that he does want to withdraw entirely, he can give prior notice, and we may see within the year that we give notice of withdrawal. Hopefully, that’s not the case." Trade, particularly trade with Mexico, is a major driver of the Texas economy. Texas has been the United States’ top exporting state for 22 consecutive years, and Mexico has been the state's leading trade partner for at least the past 17 years.

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State Stories

Camp Mystic files for bankruptcy after months of investigations, lawsuits on flood deaths

Camp Mystic has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy relief, according to court records. The case was filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of Texas on Wednesday by an attorney on behalf of Camp Mystic. The move follows multiple lawsuits by families alleging that the camp failed to protect campers and counselors. Twenty-five campers, two counselors, and Dick Eastland, camp owner and executive director, died when the Guadalupe River flooded nearly a year ago. The bankruptcy complicates the fate of these lawsuits and may delay resolution, experts said.

While the filing itself does not address the litigation, Chapter 11 bankruptcy generally triggers an automatic stay that can temporarily pause lawsuits while the bankruptcy case proceeds. A bankruptcy judge can modify or lift that stay under certain circumstances. But Angela Littwin, a bankruptcy law professor at the University of Texas at Austin School of Law, said the more likely outcome is that the claims are ultimately resolved through the bankruptcy process itself. "The most common outcome of a bankruptcy like this is that the lawsuits would not pick up, that they would be settled in the bankruptcy," Littwin said. Littwin said the process involves creating a trust funded by insurance proceeds and company assets, with plaintiffs pursuing compensation through the trust rather than through individual lawsuits. Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond who has been following the wrongful death lawsuits from families, said the bankruptcy filing implies that the owners of Camp Mystic believe they don't have the resources to cover the outcome of the litigation. "It's going to be more difficult for the families to recover compensation because of this," Tobias said.

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Musk on fatal Tesla crash in Texas: ‘This makes no sense’

Tesla CEO Elon Musk is pushing back on allegations the company’s full self-driving software was involved in a recent crash that killed a Texas woman. Martha Avila, 76, died after a Tesla drove through the front of her home in Katy, Texas, last Friday. Both police and the driver have indicated that Tesla’s automated driving assistance system was in use at the time of the accident, according to a lawsuit filed by Avila’s daughter. “[T]his makes no sense,” Musk wrote in an X post Monday. “FSD [full self-driving] drives slowly through neighborhood streets and this was a high speed crash!” Tesla’s vice president of AI software, Ashok Elluswamy, similarly argued that the driver “manually overrode self-driving by pressing the accelerator all the way to 100% of the accel pedal in this residential area.”

Jennifer Barbour, Avila’s daughter, and her husband Justin Barbour are suing both Tesla and the driver, Michael Butler, over the crash. The lawsuit alleges the accident was “caused by the concurrent negligence of Defendant Butler and the defective condition of the Vehicle and its Autopilot and Full Self-Driving systems as designed, manufactured, and marketed by Defendant Tesla.” The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said it has launched a special crash investigation into the incident. The federal regulator previously opened a probe into Tesla’s full-self driving software, which escalated in March from a preliminary evaluation to an engineering analysis. It is investigating nine other crashes, including one fatal, in which the system failed to detect poor driving conditions and alert drivers quickly enough.

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Fort Bend County Interim Judge Daniel Wong fights back against claims he is no longer county judge

Fort Bend County Interim Judge Daniel Wong is no longer legally the county judge, according to Commissioner Dexter McCoy. Wong was appointed to the role after Judge KP George was suspended in connection with a civil lawsuit alleging First Amendment violations. ABC13 has learned that the woman who filed the lawsuit has now chosen not to move forward, effectively ending Wong's appointment as interim county judge.

On Wednesday, Fort Bend County Attorney Bridgette Smith Lawson issued a statement stating that the case has concluded and that Wong no longer has the legal authority to act as County Judge. Smith Lawson added, "The guidance from this office is based entirely on Texas law, free from partisan politics. It would be irresponsible for the County to ignore the existence of the non-suit, which could expose the County to unnecessary risk." Smith Lawson also said in the statement that the court will continue business without a presiding judge, and Wong cannot participate unless he secures a and presents a new, active court order that has yet to be delivered to the court. A spokesperson on behalf of Wong says the County Attorney did not properly attribute to Texas laws in the matter. Their statement reads, "The County Attorney's opinion cites no section of Texas law and carries no weight whatsoever. County Judge Daniel Wong is the County Judge. In accordance with the Texas Constitution and state laws, Judge Wong will continue to execute his lawful duties and faithfully represent the people of Fort Bend County. The only "unnecessary risk" we are seeing is from the actions of the County Attorney and her meritless and partisan press release. The County Attorney provided the public with the order which put Judge Wong into office, and she cites no document that removes him."

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Disinvited elsewhere, Kanye West found a city that couldn’t say no

In the midst of major budget discussions, economic development deals and utility rate hikes, this week San Antonio city leaders once again found themselves scrambling to react to a broader cultural debate that landed squarely at their feet. The last-minute scheduling of a Ye, or Kanye West, concert caught the attention of an outspoken mayor and rankled Jewish leaders who consider his track record of antisemitic comments dangerous. Now four days later, the San Antonio City Council has been tested by debates weighing morals vs. money, a hard-to-pass-up-on lucrative Alamodome contract, a last-minute ban on swastika merch and a mortifying moment for one of its most spotlight-averse members. Before this week, some of the council’s 10 members said they weren’t even up-to-speed on West’s history of public comments.

Conservative Councilwoman Misty Spears (D9) had already accepted free tickets to the show before issuing a mortified apology from her trip to Israel days later. “Anyone who knows Councilwoman Spears would be able to guess she’s not a Kanye fan,” spokeswoman Megan Coleman said Wednesday. By the time the dust seemingly settled, most of the city leaders had denounced West’s speech — but a majority had signaled they wouldn’t seek to cancel a show with high earning potential for the city. Now the mayor wants more say over how such events are scheduled in the first place, while others fear a censorship fight with wide-ranging implications. “When the government begins making decisions about which artists, speakers or events are acceptable based on ideology or viewpoint, those tools can later be used in ways that harm other communities and causes,” progressive Councilman Jalen McKee-Rodriguez (D2) wrote on social media.

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Houston Methodist announces $110 million gift, largest in its history

Houston Methodist announced on Wednesday a $110-million gift, the largest single donation in the health system’s more than 100-year history. Funds will advance research and care related to neurological diseases, neuroscience and women’s health. The record commitment was made by the Brockman family through their eponymous Brockman Medical Research Foundation. The foundation’s areas of focus include education and research in the fields of science, medicine and healthcare. In recognition of the historic gift, Houston Methodist’s newest hospital facility will be named the Brockman Centennial Tower, with the tower’s entrance named the Anna Margaret Bellows Centennial Hall in honor of the 8-year-old who died at Camp Mystic in the July 4 flooding.

“The Brockman family is a longtime supporter of Houston Methodist,” said Dr. Marc L. Boom, president and CEO of Houston Methodist. “We hope this gift will serve as rocket fuel to drive research and education.” Brockman Centennial Tower is expected to open in 2027 at an estimated cost of $1.4 billion. With building plans exceeding 1 million square feet, the 26-story hospital facility will add nearly 400 new patient beds to Houston Methodist’s flagship campus in the Texas Medical Center, in addition to an expanded emergency department that will connect to the Paula and Joseph C. “Rusty” Walter III Tower. The Walters and their Houston-based company Walter Oil & Gas Corporation, previously donated $101 million in 2017 to accelerate Methodist’s neuroscience research efforts.

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Houston rodeo will build a new $300M arena south of Reliant Park

The Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo will spend roughly $300 million to build a new arena and agricultural complex a few miles south of Reliant Park (formerly NRG Park), the largest investment of the nonprofit’s history and one that cements its future in that part of Houston. The rodeo announced Wednesday it will expand with a 5,000-seat arena to replace the aging one at Reliant Park, along with two large barns and an administrative building that amount to more than 1 million square feet in new space. The new complex will be on land the rodeo owns west of Texas 288 between Reed Road and Airport Boulevard. It is expected to be ready by the 2029 Rodeo.

The rodeo’s annual event then will be split between Reliant Park and this complex, with the latter hosting horse shows, auctions and agricultural events. The bulk of programming, including concerts and the carnival, will remain at Reliant Park, though the new arena could host concerts, comedy shows and other events in the offseason. Chris Boleman, the rodeo’s president and CEO, said the organization started discussing this project before the COVID-19 pandemic. He described it as an expansion – not a relocation – that will allow the rodeo to program year round in addition to its marquee annual event in March. The rodeo’s headquarters will remain at Reliant Center. “Home for us is still Reliant Park, and specifically the center… Our commitment is to be at Reliant Park long term,” Boleman said. “It’s really about creating the best environment possible for our horse and livestock exhibitors. This is the next chapter in our evolution.” Replacing the arena was one key tenet of ongoing lease negotiations between Harris County, the Houston Texans and the rodeo for the future of Reliant Park. Reliant Arena has long been considered past its life span, and the rodeo has been mulling its options for a replacement. The Texans also are considering a new football stadium, and there remains an open question about what to do with the vacant Astrodome in the middle of the campus.

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New drone method could boost oyster restoration along Texas Coast

A new drone-centric method could lead to quicker and easier oyster restoration on the Texas Coast amid a growing need across the Texas Coast. On June 12, oyster harvesting company Jeri's Seafood worked alongside Palacios Marine Agriculture Research to release one million baby oysters into East Galveston Bay on privately leased areas using an agricultural drone. The tiny oysters were spread across five acres in a matter of 20 minutes. The hope is that, given four to six months, the oysters will grow big enough to harvest. If it works, Justin Woody, vice president of Jeri's Seafood, said using the drone to drop oyster seeds could be a game changer for oyster restoration.

"We’re hopeful that it’s successful and that it works and it adds another tool in the toolbox to help oyster restoration efforts in Texas, whether it’s through a harvestable commercial setting or a non-harvestable reef," Woody said. Woody said the entire Texas coast has seen a decline in oyster populations for a multitude of reasons, including Mother Nature, harvesting, or man-made diversions such as damming up a river, which he said can change the habitat and be deadly for oysters. "Now there’s a big push to ‘How do we mitigate that problem, how do we get our populations back up?' And this isn’t the cure-all, but if it works and it’s effective, it’s another tool in the toolbox to help with [restoration]," Woody said. According to Woody, there's a possibility this was the first time hatchery-grown oyster seeds were deployed by drone at this scale for commercial oyster production. He said deploying hatchery-raised seed on the bay bottom wasn't allowed for approved leases in Texas until 2025.

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County judge GOP nominee says local officials should have done more to oppose emissions testing

With $18.50 vehicle emissions testing set to begin in Bexar County on Nov. 1, Republican county judge nominee Patrick Von Dohlen is blaming local officials for not doing more to oppose the federal designation that triggered the requirement. The new requirement applies to most gasoline-powered vehicles between 2 and 24 years old. At a news conference Tuesday, Von Dohlen said local officials failed to adequately oppose the designation and warned that working families could face costly repairs if their vehicles fail the emissions test. "The city and the county could have spoken at numerous, different public hearings to say, 'this is not going to help Bexar County residents.' But nobody did. As far as to my knowledge, I am the only one that has."

Von Dohlen estimated drivers could pay at least $38 million a year in testing fees alone and said tens of thousands of vehicles are expected to fail emissions tests each year. According to Von Dohlen, repair costs could average about $1,500 for cars and $2,500 for trucks, with some owners of older vehicles facing repair bills that exceed the value of their cars. The designation, however, was ultimately made by the Environmental Protection Agency. Emissions-testing requirements are already in place in the Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Austin and El Paso areas after those regions failed to meet federal ozone standards. Democratic nominee Ron Nirenberg's campaign disputes Von Dohlen's criticism and provided Texas Public Radio with a letter the then-mayor sent to EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt on April 30, 2018. In the letter, Nirenberg urged the EPA to maintain Bexar County's attainment status and argued that local governments, nonprofit organizations and private industry had spent more than 15 years working to reduce emissions. The letter also cited state data showing that roughly 32% of the region's ozone pollution originated outside the San Antonio area and noted that air-quality improvements had been achieved even as the metropolitan area added more than 568,000 residents. Some local officials and air-quality planners have debated emissions testing for decades. In the early 2000s, leaders in the Austin area adopted a voluntary emissions-testing program as part of their clean-air strategy, while San Antonio pursued other approaches. Today, Travis and Williamson counties remain in attainment, while Bexar County was ultimately downgraded to nonattainment status, bringing additional federal requirements, including emissions testing.

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‘This is injustice’: how leftist zines were used to sentence anti-ICE protesters to decades in prison

It’s the day after Mother’s Day, the first one Elizabeth Soto has spent apart from her three children. Sitting in jail in Wichita Falls, Texas, her face is washed out by the overhead fluorescent lighting, and her dingy jumpsuit blends into the cinder block walls surrounding her. Speaking through a glass separator, she tells me she celebrated the holiday with her children over the jail’s video-call system while they had dinner at their grandmother’s. “I’ve been a full-time mother all of their lives,” she said. “I’ve never been away from them.” Soto’s children have not visited her in jail, which lies on Texas’s northern border near Oklahoma, hours from their home in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Elizabeth Soto has only seen her husband, Ines Soto, once over the past year, the longest they’ve spent apart since they first started dating more than 20 years ago. He is being held in a federal prison more than 100 miles away.

On Tuesday, Elizabeth was sentenced to 50 years in federal prison; Ines’s sentencing is set for 1 July. All because, as she put it: “They didn’t like my book club.” Her laugh doesn’t quite reach her eyes. Last year on the Fourth of July, a small group from Dallas-Fort Worth held a night-time noise demonstration, setting off fireworks outside the Prairieland Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility south of the cities, in solidarity with the detainees. A few protesters broke away and spray-painted graffiti on employees’ cars and a security post, slashed the tires on a government van, and broke a security camera. The facility’s guards ordered the protesters to disperse, and most of them did. When a police officer arrived at the scene, drawing his gun, an armed protester shot her rifle, hitting the officer in the shoulder. The officer survived. After a three-week trial, a jury found eight of nine protesters guilty of “providing material support to terrorists”, among other crimes. For the Sotos, this “material support” included owning a “printing press” used to print anarchist zines and being part of a leftist book club, the federal government argued. The couple had already left the scene by the time guns were drawn. All eight of the defendants sentenced so far have received unusually harsh sentences – 30 to 100 years – essentially life in prison.

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Texas’ refusal to plan for climate change created a crisis in Corpus Christi

A decade ago, Corpus Christi’s regional water plan projected shortages as soon as 2050. The next plan, released five years later, shortened that timeline to 2030. The next plan, released this year, said shortages were imminent, putting city leaders in a desperate scramble to avoid an emergency. Something’s not right with the calculations that underpin these plans, said John Michael, an engineering executive who has worked on local water infrastructure for 44 years. “Whether it’s climate change or something else, our reservoir system is not as dependable as we once thought,” he said at his office in May. He pointed to the regional water plans on his office table—700 pages in four-inch binders—which are prepared every five years by local committees using methodology provided by the State of Texas. These plans never factored in climate science or considered the projections that a warming planet could contribute to a drought as extreme as the one Corpus Christi now faces.

In fact, as climate models predicted, every drought for the last 30 years in Corpus Christi, has exceeded the parameters contemplated in local plans, thanks to fatal delusions, deep in the heart of Texas’ methodology: Texas doesn’t plan for droughts to get worse. “The droughts keep getting worse,” said Michael, vice president of Hanson Professional Services in Corpus Christi. Four droughts have punctuated his career, each hotter and drier than the last. Each one left the city scrambling to build out its water plans ahead of schedule. For decades, intensifying droughts consistently outpaced planning efforts until, by the start of this drought, the region ran out of plans. The problem is that methods developed by the Texas Water Development Board, an agency headed by appointees of the governor, use the worst drought conditions on record as a worst-case scenario for the future. “Drought-of-record planning is a foundational element of Texas water planning,” said a TWDB spokesperson, Kaci Woodrome. “It provides a consistent, statewide minimum baseline for evaluating water supply reliability.”

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Texas is set to require Bible reading in public schools

Texas would make Bible stories required reading for more than 5 million public school students under a proposal that has reignited debate over widening efforts in the U.S. to put more religion in classrooms. A final vote by the Republican-controlled Texas State Board of Education on whether to approve the plan is set for Friday. Last year Texas became the largest state to require every classroom to display the Ten Commandments. The proposed list has drawn fierce opposition. Critics argue that it violates the constitutional separation of church, lacks diversity and favors Christianity over other religions. Supporters say Judeo-Christian traditions were fundamental to the nation’s founding and that should be reflected in the public school curriculum.

President Donald Trump has pledged to protect and expand religious expression in public schools nationwide, and Texas — a red state that is home to about one in 10 of all U.S. public school students — often sets the agenda. In 2023, Texas became the first state to allow the hiring of chaplains to counsel students, and the following year, the board narrowly approved an optional Bible-infused curriculum for elementary schools. Last year, Republican lawmakers required public schools to display the Ten Commandments, a measure recently upheld by a federal appeals court. Texas has about 5.5 million public school students from kindergarten through high school. If approved by the board, the required reading list would take effect in 2030. “We need to focus on what our nation was founded on and not apologize for that,” Susan Perez, founder of Citizens for Education Reform, told the education board during testimony this week. “It is the truth and we should not be afraid.”

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Former Hidalgo County district clerk wanted since 2013 arrested in Mexico

A former Hidalgo County district clerk is in U.S. custody after being arrested in Mexico. Omar Guerrero, who had previously served as the Hidalgo County district clerk, had been on the run for over 10 years. He was wanted in connection with a sexual assault of a child, a second degree felony, as well as other outstanding warrants. Guerrero had previously been arrested on a felony charge of cocaine possession and a misdemeanor charge of tampering with the identification of an assault rifle. At the time, a justice of the peace set his bond at $1.05 million — $1 million on the felony and $50,000 on the misdemeanor.

At the time, he had a history of fleeing to Mexico to avoid criminal charges. He failed to appear for any court hearings after he posted bond in May 2013. “On April 26, 2013, Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to a report in which a child disclosed an outcry of sexual assault,” Wednesday’s news release read. “The victim reported that she left her workplace with a man known to her as Omar. According to the victim, she was taken to a residence located in the 6300 block of Western Road in rural Mission, Texas, where the assault occurred.” Guerrero was identified by the victim through a photographic lineup. Investigators with the Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office found probable cause that Guerrero did indeed assault the victim. “At the time of his arrest, he was also wanted on additional outstanding warrants unrelated to this case,” the news release read. “Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office will be coordinating with federal authorities to transport Guerrero to Hidalgo County where he will face charges. The investigation is ongoing.”

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No Big Bend Wall continues fight against border wall, citing environmental and archaeological threats

In recent years, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) archaeologists have uncovered a pit house near the Rio Grande in Far West Texas inside Big Bend Ranch State Park (BBRSP). It’s believed to be the first such site to be excavated since the 1940s, when the archaeologist J. Charles Kelley uncovered other pit houses in the La Junta village in nearby Redford. Pit houses are housing structures dug into the earth, typically used for shelter or storage. There are some variations to the uncovered pit houses in the region, but the similarities in the architecture reveal that other communities formed downstream. David Keller, a local archeologist and historian, helped the TPWD team with the new site when he could, but he stopped once he learned about the impending construction of a border wall planned for the Big Bend region; if built, it would threaten this site. He felt that he was being called to duty, so he joined the fight against it.

“The work that Kelley did was significant, but there’s just so much more that we need to do to even begin to understand what was going on here,” Keller told AN. “For [the border wall] to be happening without oversight, it makes archeologists want to pull their hair out, because it’s like we don’t even know what’s there, and you’re going to destroy it before we even have a chance to document it.” He is now part of No Big Bend Wall (NBBW), a group of residents who are organizing against the wall. A resident of Redford, Keller helps as a landowner coordinator. The projected 30-foot-high steel border wall is part of President Donald Trump’s 2025 Executive Order and funded by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. It also includes detection technology, cameras, and lighting. The wall is planned to run for 150 miles along the Rio Grande in Hudspeth, Jeff Davis, and Presidio counties. Big Bend National Park (BBNP), in neighboring Brewster County, and BBRSP, which traverses Brewster and Presidio counties, are also slated for new border security infrastructure. In March, then–Secretary of Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Kristi Noem waived 28 environmental laws that protected historic and archeological sites and resources to expedite the construction, claiming that the Big Bend Sector had a high level of illegal entry with over 89,000 crossings between 2021 through 2025. But CBP recently reported that crossings drastically reduced by 74 percent in the last fiscal year.

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National Stories

How a $45 million donation brought Larry Ellison deeper into Trump’s circle

Larry Ellison didn’t join the gaggle of CEOs that traveled with President Trump on his state visit to China. He wasn’t among the guests at a White House dinner Trump hosted with tech titans. He also skipped the UFC event on Trump’s 80th birthday. The Oracle billionaire didn’t need to be at these public events. Ellison, 81 years old, has developed a more private friendship with Trump that has helped his tech company’s business as well as his son’s effort to assemble a media conglomerate. Key to the relationship: Ellison’s money. Ellison gave roughly $45 million to a political nonprofit group supporting Trump’s election efforts in 2024, according to people familiar with the fundraising. Such funding isn’t subject to disclosure rules and hasn’t been previously reported.

More recently, Ellison has given millions of dollars more to groups that support Trump since the election, the people said, with some of the funds going to Trump’s legacy initiatives in Washington, D.C. Oracle is among the corporate sponsors listed by Freedom 250, a Trump-aligned group hosting celebrations for the country’s 250th birthday. Trump’s investment accounts were actively trading Oracle shares earlier this year, including a sale worth at least $1 million in January and a purchase worth at least $1 million in March, federal disclosure filings show. In a statement, the Trump Organization has said that the president’s investments are independently managed and that he isn’t involved in selecting or approving investments. Trump is “committed to working with every American business and business leader,” said White House spokesman Kush Desai. Oracle declined to comment. While Larry Ellison wasn’t at the Ultimate Fighting Championship event at the White House this month, his son, David Ellison, was among the VIPs there. It took place days after a decision by the Justice Department to clear the $81 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery by his company, Paramount Skydance. The spectacle was streamed by Paramount, which under David Ellison’s leadership paid billions of dollars for the rights to UFC events.

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‘They like a good batting average’: Crypto racks up primary wins

Almost four months into the 2026 congressional primary season, the cryptocurrency industry’s leading super PAC has racked up a winning percentage that could make the Harlem Globetrotters blush. Fairshake, the deep-pocketed PAC group funded by leading crypto firms, has gone 38-2 across the first 40 congressional races it has spent on this year. Though many of those bets were placed in safe races, the spending has helped take down critics and pave the way for a new wave of industry-friendly lawmakers to come to Washington. The group notched four more wins in Tuesday’s primaries, as Fairshake-backed candidates prevailed in races across Maryland, Utah and New York.

Most prominently, Maryland state Del. Adrian Boafo won a hotly contested Democratic primary to replace Rep. Steny Hoyer with the help of more than $5.5 million in spending from a Fairshake-affiliated PAC. The spending spree comes at a pivotal time for the crypto sector in Washington. The industry’s longtime top priority — a sweeping bill that would bless digital assets with a new sheen of regulatory legitimacy — is pending in the Senate, with Republicans hoping for a floor vote next month. The campaign money injects midterm politics into the debate over an issue that is otherwise reserved for financial policy wonks: It offers to help vulnerable lawmakers in both parties who support the effort — and threatens to punish those who don’t. The victories in Alabama and Maryland represent two of crypto’s most audacious plays this year. But Fairshake’s overall record reflects a cautious approach of wading into many races where the candidate it supports is the favorite — and spending early and big when it does enter a competitive contest. Notably, many of the primaries the group has played in so far are for seats considered safe in November.

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Judge bars Trump administration from enacting proof of citizenship requirement to vote

A federal judge on Wednesday permanently barred President Donald Trump’s administration from implementing most of his first executive order on elections, part of which sought to require people to show documentary proof of citizenship when they register to vote. The ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Denise Casper in Boston effectively converts a preliminary injunction she issued a year ago, in which she temporarily blocked many of Trump’s efforts to overhaul elections, into a permanent ban. Casper rejected the administration’s argument that the lawsuit to block the changes brought by Democratic state attorneys general was premature because the rules had yet to be implemented.

Instead, she agreed that the Constitution gives states and Congress the authority to regulate elections, and that Trump’s requirements violated the separation of powers. The Constitution "does not grant the President any specific powers over elections,” she wrote. Among other proposed changes, Trump’s order would have required people to provide documentary proof of citizenship when registering to vote, prevented mail ballots from being counted if they arrive after Election Day, even if they were postmarked by then, and punished states that failed to comply by withholding certain federal money. In a statement, New York Attorney General Letitia James said she was grateful the court had blocked Trump's "unconstitutional attempt to seize control of our elections" and would continue to defend voting rights in this year's midterm elections. “Generations of Americans fought tirelessly for the right to vote, and we honor their legacy by protecting that right against anyone who tries to undermine it," she said. Requests for comment sent to the White House and Department of Justice were not immediately returned.

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Venezuela acting president says at least 164 dead and 971 injured in powerful quakes

At least 164 people have died and 971 were injured after a pair of powerful quakes rocked Venezuela, Acting President Delcy Rodríguez said Thursday, adding that rescue teams are rushing to the hardest-hit areas to free people trapped under rubble. Wednesday evening’s 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes were among the strongest to strike Venezuela in more than a century and could be felt throughout the region. The country’s main airport was damaged and closed, while buildings were evacuated in places as far away as Brazil’s Amazon, about 1,700 kilometers (1,050 miles) from Venezuela’s capital, Caracas. Television broadcasts Thursday showed rescue workers using power tools to work their way into piles of rubble where buildings once stood.

Panicked residents of the capital were sent pouring into the streets, and after the quakes many people walked among the debris searching for the missing among collapsed buildings and toppled electric poles. Footage on state TV showed three children, covered in dust but alive, pulled from the rubble in La Guaira state, which Rodríguez described as a “disaster zone” and one of the areas hardest hit by the quakes because of the large number of collapsed buildings. Rodríguez said authorities were shifting rescue teams from other parts of the country to La Guaira, which sits north of Caracas on the coast. She said officials were trying to make the most of the daylight hours to speed up efforts to rescue people believed to remain trapped under the rubble. “Dozens of buildings have collapsed there ... and we are currently carrying out intensive rescue operations to save lives,” Rodríguez said. Video shared online appeared to show dozens of people, some lying on the ground and others on hospital beds, being treated outside a hospital in La Guaira. While Venezuela sits near multiple fault lines, its position straddling the South American and Caribbean plates makes strong earthquakes much less common than in other parts of Latin America. Rodríguez appealed to businesses to make heavy construction equipment available for rescue operations, adding that search and rescue teams certified by the United Nations were on their way to Venezuela to assist.

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A new ABC campaign urges viewers to push back against FCC pressure

ABC viewers across the country are getting a message from the network: If you like your local stations, or “The View,” help us get the government off our back. ABC on Monday launched an on-air campaign asking viewers to send comments to the Federal Communications Commission’s website pushing back on the agency and its chairman, Brendan Carr. Since February, the FCC has been investigating whether ABC’s “The View” violated the commission’s equal-time rule, which guarantees equal airtime to all candidates running for the same public office. ABC has maintained that “The View” qualifies as what the commission calls a “bona fide” news program and is exempt from the rule, accusing the FCC of violating the First Amendment in a legal filing.

In April, the FCC also ordered an early review of ABC’s eight local stations over its diversity, equity and inclusion practices. The review was announced just days after President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump intensely criticized ABC late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, though the FCC maintained that the timing was purely coincidental. Intensifying its response, ABC began airing two television spots directing viewers to submit public comments on the FCC’s website. “The View has hosted your favorite guests and covered the issues you care about for nearly 30 years,” one commercial reads. “Now the FCC wants to control who is allowed to appear on the show. Viewers, use your voice. Scan this QR code. You have until July 6.” The other announcement, airing in various local markets, says, “Now, the FCC is questioning our commitment to the community,” and asks viewers to show their support by chiming in online. “Disney wants the FCC to classify ‘The View’ as a ‘bona fide news program.’ And it has chosen to run a campaign of misinformation to make its case — misleading viewers about the law,” a spokesperson for the FCC said in a statement. “That is a choice.”

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Gay marriage is dividing Republicans, again

In early June, Representative Andy Ogles, a Republican firebrand from Tennessee, did something he often does: Post a message on X that was sure to shock. “Homosexuality has no place in America. Happy Nuclear Family Month.” But unlike some of his other recent virulent posts — for example, about Muslim Americans — this one drew condemnation from many members of his own party, including Mike Johnson, the House speaker. Mr. Ogles deleted the post on X, which he said was sent by a staffer, and called it “stupid” and “hurtful.” The post’s brief life spoke to the divisions within the Republican Party on same-sex marriage. Obergefell v. Hodges, the Supreme Court decision protecting gay marriage, turns 11 this year, and there is little indication that establishment Republicans are questioning it.

In early June, Representative Andy Ogles, a Republican firebrand from Tennessee, did something he often does: Post a message on X that was sure to shock. “Homosexuality has no place in America. Happy Nuclear Family Month.” But unlike some of his other recent virulent posts — for example, about Muslim Americans — this one drew condemnation from many members of his own party, including Mike Johnson, the House speaker. Mr. Ogles deleted the post on X, which he said was sent by a staffer, and called it “stupid” and “hurtful.” The post’s brief life spoke to the divisions within the Republican Party on same-sex marriage. Obergefell v. Hodges, the Supreme Court decision protecting gay marriage, turns 11 this year, and there is little indication that establishment Republicans are questioning it. Republican states have even started to rebrand Pride Month, the June commemoration of the Stonewall uprising and the signature moment for the gay liberation movement, calling it Fidelity Month or Nuclear Family Month. Mr. Ogles’s now-deleted post referred to the rebranding in Tennessee, where this year the legislature passed a resolution that defined a family as including “one husband and one wife.” “There is a resurgence in the evangelical wing of the party,” said Austin Gilpin, a gay political consultant in Washington who works for Republicans and Democrats. “They are flexing their muscles because they feel like they can get away with it.”

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The new power broker: How Zohran Mamdani muscled NYC’s Democratic establishment

Outside Rep. Adriano Espaillat’s primary night party, four men on the sidewalk were dressed in full neon sequins, trying to get the party started. Inside, the bar had barely opened. Espaillat spent 20 years trying to get to Washington and another 10 years in Congress. He arrived to give his concession speech and left in under 10 minutes. Meanwhile, the real party was going on about three miles away. That’s where Zohran Mamdani was completing his victory lap of three celebrations with candidates who likely would not have gotten near Congress without his endorsements, just a year after he stunned the political world by beating Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic mayoral primary. “We are showing that last June, a year ago tomorrow, was not an anomaly,” Mamdani said. “It was not the end. It was the beginning.”

The wins signify how New York politics and the Democratic Party have a new power broker. Hakeem Jeffries, the Brooklyn-based House Democratic leader, is losing two incumbent members and facing an ascendant band of agitators. And the people long in charge in Democratic politics, including the ones who for decades thought of themselves as the insurgents, aren’t happy about it. They say they feel betrayed, left with a mayor they cannot trust. Around the city council, people who considered themselves his allies are sharing a line, according to one member who spoke to CNN on the condition of anonymity: Mamdani is only interested in allyship on his terms. Council members are talking about ways to give Mamdani his comeuppance, whether holding up funding for parts of his agenda or smaller ways of needling him. Mamdani and those closest to him say: This is what a revolution looks like, on his terms. He elevated a former campaign volunteer in Darializa Avila Chevalier, with a long record of inflammatory tweets and attendance at a widely decried rally the day after Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attacks, and propelled her toward Congress over the chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.

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US lawmakers introduce bipartisan bill to shield ratepayers from data center energy costs

A new bill has been proposed in the US House of Representatives that would require data centers to cover the full cost of grid and generation upgrades needed to serve their facilities, rather than passing those costs to regular ratepayers. The Ratepayer Protection Act, introduced by Kathy Castor (Democrat-Florida) and Gabe Evans (Republican-Colorado), would direct state utility regulators to establish rules ensuring large-load customers, those with a capacity of 100MW or more, pay for any generation, transmission, or other infrastructure required to connect to the grid. The bill would also require financial assurances from large-load customers to cover upgrade costs even if they later reduce operations or exit the grid entirely, shielding utilities and ratepayers from being left with stranded costs.

"My neighbors across Florida are grappling with skyrocketing electric bills. Ratepayers should not have to subsidize wealthy corporations' growing energy demands, especially from AI data centers," said Castor. "The Ratepayer Protection Act safeguards consumers by ensuring these data centers pay for the energy and grid upgrades they need so hardworking families and local businesses are not stuck paying more." "Colorado families, farmers, and small businesses should not be forced to cover the costs of new power generation driven by these developments," said Evans. "The Ratepayer Protection Act is a bipartisan, commonsense solution that protects everyday Americans and ensures our nation can continue to win the AI race." The bill is scheduled for markup in the House Energy and Commerce Energy Subcommittee this week, and has drawn support from Google.

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Lead Stories

Texas water officials seek more funding as crisis worsens, costs soar: ‘This is not going to stop’

Texas water officials pleaded with members of the Texas House Natural Resources committee on Tuesday to provide more funding for water supply projects as project costs skyrocket. Despite the Texas Legislature allocating increased funding to the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) in 2013, and again last year, water experts are concerned about a lack of funding available for local governments to undertake needed water infrastructure projects. In 2013, the Legislature passed House Bill 4, which created the State Water Implementation Fund for Texas (SWIFT). This fund had an initial investment of $2 billion and provided communities with low-interest financing to address state water plan projects. Examples of these projects include building new pipelines and conservation efforts.

The plan was to use that initial investment as the base of an endowment to build a sustainable fund — funneling $27 billion towards water infrastructure projects for 50 years. However, Temple McKinnon, water supply planning director for TWDB, says their drafted 2027 five-year State Water Plan far exceeds current funding. “It’s an ongoing challenge. We do our absolute best to essentially squeeze as much capacity as we can out of our financial assistance programs, but there is growing demand as evidenced very clearly by the kind of new $174 billion price tag for the State Water Plan,” McKinnon told lawmakers Tuesday. McKinnon clarified that increased costs are attributed to a wide range of factors, including inflationary pressure, labor costs, and materials. Last year, the Texas legislature passed a constitutional amendment to dedicate $1 billion a year towards water infrastructure from 2027 through 2047. The voters of Texas confirmed their support with a constitutional amendment referendum. However, the first funds won’t likely be granted until at least 2028.

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After clashes, Senate Republicans prepare to talk it out with Trump

President Donald Trump has clashed with Senate Republicans repeatedly in recent months, demanding they pass legislation that they say doesn’t have enough votes and striking an agreement to end the war with Iran that many of them have criticized. On Wednesday, they’ll have a chance to work out their differences — or air their grievances — face to face. Trump is set to join Senate Republicans for lunch in the Capitol, his first meeting with the entire conference since they had breakfast at the White House in November. Trump’s relationship with some Senate Republicans has deteriorated in the intervening months — not least because he helped to defeat two of their own in GOP primaries.

Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana) both lost their primaries last month after Trump endorsed their opponents. Neither has spoken to the president since he helped end their political careers — but both said they plan to attend Wednesday’s lunch. Cornyn has lamented what he described as the recent feuding between Trump and Senate Republicans. “The main question I would like to ask the president is: Do you want to win the midterms?” Cornyn told reporters. “A bunch of infighting among Republicans isn’t conducive to winning. And if we do want to win, I think we’re going to have to change our behavior.” Trump infuriated Senate Republicans last month by reaching an agreement with the Justice Department to create a $1.8 billion fund to compensate people, including Trump’s political allies, who claim they were wrongly prosecuted during the Biden administration. Some Republican senators said they feared it could reward people convicted in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. The administration eventually backed down, but Trump has created more headaches for his party. Last week, he directed Jay Clayton, his nominee for director of national intelligence, not to appear for his Senate confirmation hearing. That move undercut a Republican plan to renew a major surveillance law.

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Three Mamdani-backed candidates win Democratic primaries in New York

Progressive allies of Zohran Mamdani swept through New York’s primaries Tuesday, handing defeats to mainstream Democrats in deep-blue congressional districts and boosting the New York City mayor’s standing as a kingmaker in the party. Former New York City Comptroller Brad Lander ousted incumbent Rep. Dan Goldman in a race that centered on Israel and the war in Gaza. State Assemblywoman Claire Valdez and community organizer Darializa Avila Chevalier, members of the Democratic Socialists of America, defeated Democratic candidates endorsed by establishment leaders. The victories of Lander, Avila Chevalier and Valdez—all endorsed by Mamdani—highlight the mayor’s expanding influence within the Democratic Party and demonstrate how the DSA has leveraged his popularity to help elect more of its candidates. The victories will likely add to Mamdani’s list of allies inside the New York delegation to Washington. In the predominantly blue city, the winners in the Democratic primaries are heavily favored in the November general elections.

In another closely watched race, New York Assemblyman Micah Lasher, 44 years old, won the primary to succeed retiring Rep. Jerrold Nadler in one of New York’s wealthiest districts, representing parts of Manhattan. Lasher beat out a crowded field of challengers for the 12th Congressional District, including fellow state Assemblyman Alex Bores; Jack Schlossberg, a grandson of President John F. Kennedy; and George Conway, the ex-husband of former Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway, who ran as the most vocal advocate of impeaching the president. Mamdani, who lives in the district and didn’t endorse a candidate in this race, declined to say who he voted for. Lasher had 39% of the vote compared with Bores’s 35%, according to the Associated Press. The Democratic primaries marked Mamdani’s first foray into making endorsements for congressional candidates since he became mayor. The mayor made high-profile campaign appearances with Lander, Avila Chevalier and Valdez and appeared in a splashy television ad with them that aired during the NBA Finals. He also expended political capital, backing upstart candidates and upsetting some Democratic Party leaders in the process. All of the candidates endorsed by Mamdani have called for the dismantling of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and want additional housing and other measures to make life affordable for working families. They are also highly critical of the Israeli government and the war in Gaza.

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A landmark housing bill passed Congress. Home builders fear it will fizzle.

Congress on Tuesday passed its most-ambitious housing legislation since the 1980s, a package of more than 50 provisions aimed at making it easier to build homes and make housing more affordable. The House passed the bill 358-32 with broad bipartisan support a day after the Senate voted 85-5 to approve the measure. President Trump is expected to sign it into law as soon as Wednesday. Home builders and developers are responding mostly with a shrug. The legislation offers no new funding for affordable-housing projects. And it is up against economic headwinds that are keeping builders from expanding the housing stock, such as elevated mortgage rates and higher construction and materials costs. Ultimately, the bill exposes the limits of the federal government’s ability to increase housing supply. Congress doesn’t have the authority to change the local zoning regulations and building codes that actually determine what gets built in America and that have bogged down new-housing development for decades.

Builders, scarred by the years of local bottlenecks that have delayed and killed their projects, fear that Congress’s new legislation could meet the same fate when cities and towns try to implement it. “All of this has to be administered at the state and local levels,” said Ed Brady, president and chief executive of the Home Builders Institute. “It’s going to take some time for this to actually filter down, if at all.” Still, the bill known as the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act is at least a step in the right direction and sends the correct signals, according to housing economists. It includes measures speeding up federal environmental reviews for certain housing projects, removing restrictions on building manufactured homes, and tying cities’ federal funding to their housing production. Aaron Pechota, the executive vice president of development at NRP Group, said there are bits and pieces of the legislation that could make a difference, such as easing the limits on what banks can invest in public-welfare projects including affordable housing. He added that eliminating federal environmental reviews would save months on certain projects. “This is like ordering an appetizer,” Pechota said. “It’s not going to fill you up; it’s not going to be a complete meal.”

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State Stories

Ashley Etienne and Dallas Jones: 5 ways Texas Democrats can shore up the Black vote

(Ashley Etienne is the CEO of Etienne & Saint, a strategic communications firm. She was the communications director for Vice President Kamala Harris and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Dallas S. Jones, a Democratic strategist and public affairs consultant with more than 20 years experience, is the president and CEO of Elite Change Inc.) There’s no doubt that the race between scandal-plagued Attorney General Ken Paxton and state Rep. James Talarico offers Texas Democrats their best chance in decades to flip a Senate seat — but the Democratic Party faces a quiet crisis of Black disillusionment and disengagement that threatens electoral victories here and across the country. As the home of the nation’s largest Black electorate, Texas is the perfect place to address this growing tension. From the shores of Galveston, where Juneteenth was born, to towering figures like U.S. Reps. Barbara Jordan, Mickey Leland and Sheila Jackson Lee, Texas has long been at the heart of the Black movement toward a more perfect union. For decades, Black voters have been the unshakeable foundation of the Democratic coalition. But dangerous cracks have begun to form. In 2020, 15% of Black men in Texas voted for Trump. By 2024, that support more than doubled to 34%. Meanwhile, Black women are exhausted.

Too many feel undervalued by a party that depends on their loyalty and labor but ignores their voices and contributions. In 2024, 92% of Black women voted for Harris, even though 35% felt neither party looked out for them — a sentiment reinforced by the sidelining of Harris after 2024 and Rep. Jasmine Crockett in the 2026 primary. Adding insult to injury, the Texas Democratic Party’s 2026 convention, which is being held this weekend in Corpus Christi, fails to feature any Black woman as a keynote speaker. This neglect is a serious hazard. Black women are not just another voting bloc. They are the backbone of Black organizing in Texas. When they are energized, turnout surges, but when they are disillusioned, the entire coalition collapses. To his credit, Talarico knows this. To win, Talarico must not only expand the Democratic coalition, but also strengthen its fracturing core. That begins with placing Black voters at the center of both his campaign strategy and his governing vision. To do that, he must offer a new blueprint for Black engagement that sheds outdated tactics and shallow assumptions. First, discard the monolith myth. From the Black cowboys in rural West Texas to those boys tipping on 44s in Houston to the Jack and Jill moms in the bougie suburbs of Dallas, Black voters hold diverse economic, social and cultural motivations. Talarico must honor these nuances to effectively mobilize them. Second, step outside of the Black church. Young people and low-propensity voters simply aren’t there. Third, build a modern narrative ecosystem that engages voters where they actually are and uses voices they trust. That means working with young Black community leaders, content creators on social media and others. Fourth, center the message on Black power, not party loyalty or ancestral obligation. Too many Black voters have heard that same tired argument for years from Democrats, but their lives remain unchanged. Fifth, build lasting grassroots infrastructure. End the vicious cycle where organizers are laid off and datasets freeze after Election Day. Making Texas competitive long term requires year-round investment to build political infrastructure, ongoing Black-led field operations and consistent voter drives. Georgia proved this works, which is why it’s a battlefield state.

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NHL exploring Texas expansion in Houston or Austin with billionaire Dan Friedkin and family

The NHL is exploring potential expansion in Texas in either Houston or Austin under an agreement with billionaire Dan Friedkin and his family, Commissioner Gary Bettman said Tuesday. Bettman said the Board of Governors executive committee endorsed a term sheet agreed to with the Friedkins over the next six months. The total investment required between an expansion fee and the cost to build a new arena in one of those cities would amount to $3.5 billion, according to Bettman, who said discussions over the past two years largely revolved around Houston before Austin joined the conversation. “That’s part of the process is to determine what would be best, both for the league and for Dan Friedkin and family,” Bettman said. “Both cities will require a new arena. It may be more feasible in one place than the other. And as we dig a little deeper and do the due diligence, we’ll figure out which makes the most sense.”

Friedkin is chairman and CEO of the Friedkin Group with a net worth of $6.4 billion, according to Forbes. The Houston-based consortium has investments in the automotive industry, entertainment, hospitality and sports, including stakes in European soccer clubs Everton and AS Roma. No board vote was taken. That would only come if the sides involved move forward with an agreement. While there is no guarantee the NHL adds a 33rd team, the move is a first step toward becoming the largest professional sports league in North America, surpassing the NFL. Bettman has said officials were listening to expressions of interest from prospective owners in places like Houston and Atlanta but until now not yet engaged in a formal path toward expansion. “There was an update on Atlanta, there was an update on Arizona and there was an update on South Texas,” Bettman said. “But neither Arizona nor Atlanta are quite as far along in the process as the Friedkin opportunities.”

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Shooter sentenced to 100 years in Prairieland ICE terrorism case; others get max

Eight defendants from North Texas received the maximum possible sentences Tuesday for their roles in a domestic terrorism case in which they were found guilty of charges including rioting and attempted murder of a police officer at the Prairieland ICE Detention Center in Alvarado. Attorneys and families of the defendants said an appeal will be filed. The defendants, whom federal prosecutors described as antifa operatives, were convicted after a 12-day trial in March and were sentenced in hearings with two judges in U.S. District Court in Fort Worth on Tuesday morning. Benjamin Hanil Song, the defendant who was convicted of attempted murder for shooting and wounding an Alvarado police lieutenant during the July 4, 2025, incident, received a 100-year federal prison sentence.

Maricela Rueda was sentenced to 70 years, and Elizabeth Soto and Meagan Morris were each sentenced to 50 years. Those four defendants were sentenced by Judge Mark Pittman, who oversaw the trial, and four others — Autumn Hill, also known as Cameron Arnold; Zachary Evetts; Savanna Batten; and Daniel Rolando Sanchez-Estrada — were sentenced by Chief District Judge Reed O’Connor. Batten, Evetts and Hill received 50-year sentences. The defendants sentenced to 50 years or more were all convicted of providing material support to terrorists, conspiracy to use and carry an explosive, and using and carrying explosives during a riot. Sanchez-Estrada, the only defendant not present at the detention center on the night of the shooting, was found guilty of corruptly concealing a document and conspiracy to conceal documents. He was sentenced to 30 years.

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Ryan Patrick: The Mob Statute corporations are using against trial lawyers

(Ryan Patrick is CEO of Texans for Lawsuit Reform.) In Texas and across the country, commercial vehicle operators have become litigation targets. Billboards along Texas freeways are crowded with 12-foot-tall scowling lawyers, arms folded, asking if you’ve been injured by a semi-truck. Search online for a business alongside the words "injured", “accident”, or “lawyer,” and the advertising machinery becomes visible immediately: paid results populate the top of the page, each one a law firm with a financial stake in your next accident. This is not just opportunism; it is a nationwide infrastructure. In most states, personal injury billboard lawyers have created a claim origination assembly line, deploying the same data-driven acquisition strategies as any sophisticated services startup. For years, when there was a commercial vehicle accident, the standard corporate response was to settle. Cases large and small settled not because a claim was valid, but because the math said to. Defense costs and jury unpredictability made litigation feel like a losing game even when a case was defensible.

In big cities, this era is largely over, and businesses are fighting back. Since 2024, companies and insurers have filed dozens of RICO lawsuits across the country, not challenging individual claims but attacking the networks that are built to manufacture and inflate litigation. Since the 1970s, the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act has been used to dismantle corrupt organizations like the mob, giving prosecutors a way to target criminal enterprises and private parties a way to protect their business interests. Now, insurers and companies, historically defendants in litigation, are turning RICO against corrupt personal injury law firms, case runners, and affiliated medical providers who are accused of fabricating and inflating claims. The companies going on the offensive are varied. FedEx recently sued a New York personal injury firm over allegations it ran a coordinated scheme involving doctors and clinics to stage and exaggerate vehicle crashes. In 2025, Uber filed a series of RICO lawsuits in Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Miami, and New York City, alleging networks of attorneys and medical providers manufactured accidents and systematically inflated settlement values. Closer to home, insurer Allstate filed a RICO lawsuit against a Houston-based medical network alleging fraudulent billing, kickbacks, and unnecessary treatments for auto accident victims. The list goes on.

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Texas board gives preliminary OK to reading list with Bible passages

The Texas State Board of Education gave preliminary approval Tuesday to a proposed reading list with Bible materials. The list includes 13 biblical readings, with at least one Bible passage or story in every grade except kindergarten. The reading list would be required for Texas public school students starting with the 2030-31 school year. The debate over the reading list continues a yearslong battle over what role religion should have in the classroom. This week, the board is also considering changing social studies standards to emphasize American and Texas history over world cultures and geography.

The vote on the reading list came after the board heard hours of public testimony Monday at the meeting in Austin, which drew people from across the state. Advocates for the list emphasized the historical value of biblical texts, especially to American history. They argued that Texas’ reading list should honor the United States’ “Judeo-Christian” roots. “America and Texas have been a Christian nation and a Christian state forever,” Republican board member Brandon Hall said at the meeting. “The proportion of the impact [Christians have] had is why they are included. There are other faiths that are represented, but they've had a minimal impact, especially in our founding and our culture and laws leading up to this point.” During Tuesday's meeting, the board pared the required reading list down, removing several titles from elementary school grades. Board member Will Hickman, R-Houston, said he and other board members had heard concerns from the public that the list was too extensive and would demand too much of the school year. Hickman, who proposed some of the cuts, said streamlining the list would allow districts to select more of their own titles locally.

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'Those who reach for the stars do so from the great state of Texas' | Axiom Space makes Texas its legal home

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Axiom Space leadership announced Tuesday that the commercial human space exploration company has changed its legal domicile from Delaware to Texas. The move aligns the company’s legal home with its operational headquarters in Houston, where it has been based since its founding in 2016. “Texas has been the launchpad of spaceflight since its inception,” Abbott said. “We welcome Axiom Space's decision to make Texas its legal residence and look forward to the progress they will achieve in our state.” Axiom Space employs approximately 700 people, the majority of whom are based in Texas. The move highlights a booming aerospace sector which includes NASA, SpaceX and other major players in the industry. According to state data, Texas is home to more than 150,000 aerospace workers, and NASA's Johnson Space Center alone generates more than $9.8 billion in annual economic output.

The state has also ramped up its financial commitments to the industry, establishing the Space Exploration & Aeronautics Research Fund (SEARF) in 2023. Axiom Space was recently awarded a $5.5 million SEARF grant to advance its orbital computing capabilities. “Texas has demonstrated, consistently and deliberately, that it wants innovative companies to thrive here and has built the policy and regulatory framework accordingly," said Dr. Jonathan Cirtain, Axiom Space CEO and President. "For Axiom Space, establishing Texas as both our operational and legal home puts us squarely in a state that understands our mission, supports our industry, and shares in what we are working to achieve.” Axiom Space is a human space exploration company building space infrastructure and delivering technology-driven solutions. The company is the principal provider of commercial human spaceflight services and is developing advanced spacesuits for future lunar missions. Across its first four private astronaut missions to the International Space Station (ISS), the company has flown 14 astronauts representing 11 nations. Axiom Space is currently building Axiom Station — the commercial successor to the ISS — to provide a permanent platform for microgravity research, technology testing, and orbital manufacturing. Final assembly of the station modules is taking place at its facility at the Houston Spaceport.

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HISD's Mike Miles went a year without required certification or waiver

Houston ISD waited nearly a full school year to seek a state waiver, allowing appointed Superintendent Mike Miles to lead the district for 11 months without a required superintendent certification, state records show, even after the district’s state-appointed board authorized administrators to apply for one the previous June. The Texas Education Agency approved the waiver on June 4, the last day of the 2025-2026 school year, making it retroactive to cover the months Miles had already served without an active certification or a waiver. The new waiver covers three school years, starting with the 2025-26 school year. Nearly all of the state's 1,000 traditional public school superintendents hold the superintendent certification required by state law to lead school districts.

A small number receive waivers for up to three years from the state, often while they work toward certification or when districts face unusual hiring circumstances. In Miles’ case, HISD applied for his waiver after most of the school year had passed, and his application did not lay out a clear path for him to obtain the credential. While the state has approved a handful of other waivers in recent years — including some for other state-appointed superintendents — few came as late in the school year and almost all of them included detailed plans to obtain certification. “Approving a waiver for a school year on the last day of that school year inverts the logic of this rule, and waivers are supposed to authorize something before it happens,” said Texas Tech University professor Jacob Kirksey. “So, a retroactive grant raises some basic accountability questions rather than answering them.” In a statement, the TEA said Miles’ waiver covers the entire school year and that the agency has “broad discretion” under Texas Education Code to grant waivers. State law permits retroactive waivers. "This is an existing practice that is not unique to HISD," according to a Texas Education Agency statement.

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Environmental challenges adding up on South Texas border

The head of an environmental nonprofit organization says the South Texas border region is being hit by numerous environmental challenges, from border buoys installed in the Rio Grande to a liquid natural gas export facility in the Brownsville port. In this episode of Border Report Live, Bekah Hinojosa, co-founder of the South Texas Environmental Justice Network, tells South Texas correspondent Sandra Sanchez and host Rudy Mireles about several lawsuits her group is involved with to try to stop what they believe are “environmental disasters.” Hinojosa says her group opposes the 12-foot-long buoys that are currently being installed in the Rio Grande, starting in Brownsville, Texas. Over 15 miles of buoys have been put in, as well as 245 miles of new border wall being built, much of it in South Texas. She says numerous recent reports predict that the buoys and border wall could cause flooding on river borderlands.

In response to safety questions about the buoys, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesperson told Border Report: “CBP is deploying waterborne barriers in the Rio Grande River to meet operational requirements for securing the border. Waterborne barriers are cylindrical floating buoys utilizing expanded foam that is fully cured before being deployed in riverine locations. The design requirements for these barriers, as specified to CBP contractors, are to withstand a 100-year flood event, consistent with standards used for border wall construction.” The South Texas Environmental Justice Network has also joined the Center for Biological Diversity, and Save RGV in filing a lawsuit against land swaps proposed by SpaceX with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service involving over 700 acres of wildlife habitat that the company wants to acquire to expand its Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas. The lawsuit alleges the Fish and Wildlife Service violated the National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997 by reducing the Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge. The lawsuit also alleges that by approving the transfer, the Service also violated the National Historic Preservation Act by giving away hundreds of acres of a National Historic Landmark. The group also filed a lawsuit against the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to stop the LNG export terminal at the Brownsville shipping channel. But last week, a D.C. Circuit Court ruled “that the Rio Grande LNG Terminal is not inconsistent with the public interest under section 3 of the Natural Gas Act, and the Rio Bravo Pipeline Project is required by the public convenience and necessity.”

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Chad West: I won’t vote to leave Dallas City Hall for a vague promise

(Chad West represents District 1 on the Dallas City Council, which includes north Oak Cliff.) Dallas City Hall couldn’t be more divided, and it seems we are turning our fractured working relationships into a sea of trouble all around our city. I appreciate the patience afforded to me by my Oak Cliff constituents who have attended meetings, emailed, called and texted me about the possibility of moving out of City Hall. Their feedback has solidified my thinking that this matter is part financial, part cultural and part planning. From day one, I have steadfastly supported gathering all the necessary financial data needed for council to make an informed financial decision on whether to move to another location in the central business district or to stay put in City Hall and finally invest in its restoration. I will continue to take votes that lead us to the apples-to-apples cost comparison we must have to make a sound decision.

I accept the assessments of AECOM and other experts that have provided the City Council with four phased repair plans, including cost estimates, for City Hall repairs. My conclusion is that it will cost more to stay in City Hall and renovate it than to move into a new building. But the inevitable higher cost of staying is not a deal-breaker for remaining at 1500 Marilla St. I voted in favor of moving forward with gathering a cost analysis because our residents deserve to be fully informed of what’s at stake. That can only happen if we let CBRE finish its work of gathering lease-to-own costs. I believe it was my fiduciary duty to vote in favor of letting the city manager see this analysis completed. I’m dismayed that some of my council colleagues have consistently voted against fact-finding. Further, some outside of City Hall have appointed themselves experts who have deluged us with flimsy financial numbers that are closer to fantasy than reality. The city’s part of the process hasn’t been perfect, but I don’t fault the experts we have hired for their work thus far gathering phased repair estimates. In this case, I score the point in favor of moving.

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Givens, Creuzot clash over transition to Dallas County DA’s office

The transition to Dallas County's next district attorney is turning into a public feud over how the handoff is being managed. Amber Givens says she has encountered delays, silence and resistance from incumbent John Creuzot. His office disputes that, saying it has been working steadily to answer her requests and prepare for an orderly transition. The disagreement between the two Democrats escalated last week when Givens complained on Facebook about what she called delays obtaining information about the office, and she released an email detailing her concerns.

A county commissioner who has been copied on emails between Givens and the district attorney's office said he believes the dispute stems more from miscommunication than a lack of cooperation. Givens, who began preparing for a possible January 2027 transition months earlier than is typical, said she has resorted to filing public information requests to obtain records from the district attorney's office. A spokesperson for Creuzot said the office is working to respond to her requests while balancing its regular workload. Givens recently turned to social media to air her frustrations, posting an email she sent to a top official in Creuzot’s office in which she complained she’s had to wait a month or more for some documents. “I am sharing this May 29, 2026, email I sent to Mr. Paul Hamilton because I have tremendous respect for the truth,” Givens wrote in a June 16 Facebook post. “For the people of Dallas County, transparency matters. This email reflects my experience with the current administration regarding transition-related matters and outlines the concerns I raised after nearly two months of attempting to obtain information necessary for a successful transition, beginning on April 1, 2026.”

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Guinness World Records: “Gangster Granny” becomes oldest crowdsurfer

Pauline Kana, aka “Gangster Granny” became the oldest person to crowdsurf at a concert in Texas last month. Kana, 99, wore a red-and-white T-shirt with her face on it and the message “Old’s Cool” as the crowd propelled her on a stretcher at country-rock musician Brantley Gilbert’s concert in Bellville. Kana’s grandson Ross Smith spearheaded the effort to help his grandmother accomplish the feat and make it into the Guinness World Records.

A TikTok video shows people in the crowd raising their arms and enthusiastically moving the 99-year-old through the crowd. Kana held her right arm up and smiled. After Kana’s crowdsurfing adventure, Gilbert brought Kana and Smith on stage. Under Smith’s account, the duo has been posting for years and garnered nearly 25 million followers on TikTok and four million followers on Instagram. Smith’s social media accounts chronicle his adventures with his grandma, and feature her acting in skits and holding cheeky signs such as “Size Matters” at a wrestling match and “Race if you think I’m sexy,” at a NASCAR race.

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New report shows affordable childcare is hard to find in Texas

More than half of Texas counties are considered childcare deserts, and according to a new report from the Texas Women's Foundation, the lack of access to childcare is hurting the state's economy. NTX Now's Miranda Suarez and Ron Corning sat down with Karen Hughes White, the foundation's president and CEO, to breakdown the report's findings. Women play an important role in Texas's economy, but a variety of barriers are getting harder to overcome. "Women comprise 46% of workforce here in Texas, but there are key barriers to women's ability to participate fully, consistently, and productively in the workforce that essentially are getting worse," White said.

She also said women are enrolling in higher education at 1.5 times the rate of Texas men, and population trends predict women will be more than 50% of the Texas population by 2040. "Texas and Texas employers have some work to do to be ready to support women in the workforce, and in return to support a really resilient and strong economy here across the state," White said. There are three main barriers when it comes to finding childcare in Texas: access, affordability, and quality-related issues, which White describes as "a crisis." "What we've learned on the affordability front is that center-based infant care in Texas costs more than $11,000 a year, and that actually is more than a full year of tuition at an in-state university," White said. And while the cost of childcare is high, the availability is low. "Over half of Texas counties are considered what's called childcare deserts," she said. "That's defined as when there are three or more children available for each licensed slot. It's more than nearly 112,000 Texas children lacking access within any kind of reasonable driving distance." White says finding a solution to make childcare more accessible is economically imperative. "Investing in childcare is not just a social mandate, but it's a market aligned strategy that supports workforce participation, economic resilience, and economic growth," she said. "It's an economic infrastructure issue — not a women's issue and not a family's issue."

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Delta to cancel two nonstop routes from Austin in October

Delta Air Lines will cancel two nonstop routes from Austin in October. Flights from AUS to Memphis and New Orleans will end Oct. 5 “to better align with demand,” according to an airline spokesperson. Delta is reaching out to affected customers and apologized for any inconvenience. Southwest Airlines currently operates the AUS-New Orleans route and will launch its own flights to Memphis beginning Oct. 1. While regularly scheduled service on the two routes will end, Delta still plans to operate select flights during high-demand football weekends, when the Texas Longhorns play at LSU and when Ole Miss plays in Austin.

Delta has launched six new routes from Austin this year. Year-round service to Columbus and Kansas City began on June 7, while seasonal flights to Asheville, Bozeman and Kalispell began on June 13. The airline will also launch a new route from AUS to Phoenix on July 7, followed by service to San Jose, California, on Oct. 6. The airline has seen expansive growth at AUS in recent months, with a 15% increase in passenger totals in 2025 compared with 2024. The airline opened a permanent flight attendant base in October.

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Scott Ruskan, who saved lives at Camp Mystic, to be honored at ESPYs

A U.S. Coast Guard rescue swimmer credited with helping save the lives of 165 people who were trapped at Camp Mystic during last year's Kerr County flood will be honored with the Pat Tillman Award for Service at the ESPY Awards. Petty Officer Scott Ruskan will be among the honorees at the annual ESPY Awards on July 15, ESPN executives said. Ruskan had finished his training about six months before the rescue mission to Camp Mystic, the Coast Guard said. He was part of a four-person flight crew but reportedly was the only first responder rescuing campers on the ground at the time. Much of Camp Mystic, a summer camp for girls on the Guadalupe River, was flooded when the river rose, and 25 campers and two counselors died.

ESPN said Ruskan's crew made "a deliberate call" to leave Ruskan on the ground so the helicopter could carry more children per trip at Camp Mystic, which at the time reported 200 girls were trapped. "For three hours, with no radio and no cell service, he was the only trained responder on site — setting up triage, organizing safe zones, carrying children barefoot in the dark and comforting each one before moving to the next," ESPN said. "What set him apart was that he was the only person who stayed behind — voluntarily grounded — so others could be lifted out to safety." Ruskan, a former college track/cross country athlete who attended Ryder University, received the Legion of Merit award by President Trump during the State of the Union address in February. He was reunited there with Milly Cate McClymond, one of the girls he rescued.

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New report highlights economic impact of GM’s Arlington assembly plant

New economic data from General Motors shows that the SUV assembly plant in Arlington is supporting local jobs and economic growth in Texas, with its direct gross domestic product topping $2 billion. The Arlington assembly plant at 2525 E. Abram St. employs about 5,200 workers, and is one of the region’s major employers. The plant runs 24 hours a day, six days a week, producing almost one vehicle per minute, according to previous Star-Telegram reporting. Additionally, GM says that every $10 produced by the Arlington plant results in $21 in “total economic activity in Texas.” In June 2023, GM invested $500 million into the Arlington plant.

“At Arlington Assembly, we know our work matters beyond our plant walls,” said plant director Satya Veerapaneni. “We are proud of what we build and proud of the role our team plays in Texas. For Arlington, this is more than a headline. It is about the people who work here, the suppliers who grow with us and the communities that benefit when advanced manufacturing stays strong.” Arlington Mayor Jim Ross says General Motors is a part of the city’s history. The assembly plant opened in 1954. “General Motors is deeply woven into the fabric of Arlington’s history and economy. For decades, this plant has provided thousands of good-paying jobs for our residents, and our community takes immense pride in knowing that these world-class vehicles are built right here in the heart of The American Dream City,” Ross said. There are about 13,000 General Motors employees in Texas, according to GM officials.

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National Stories

People fired over Charlie Kirk posts get big payouts for First Amendment retaliation

By the time Maria Ruhtenberg was fired from her job last September for posting about Charlie Kirk's assassination, few people even knew what she had written. The posts and comments she had made on Facebook were only visible to her friends. Just one person, a Facebook friend she barely knew, complained to her employer. "I don't even know how we became Facebook friends, honestly," said Ruhtenberg. After the conservative activist was shot, Ruhtenberg wrote things like "live by the sword, die by the sword" and "you reap what you sow" and that she disagreed with Kirk's views about the Second Amendment. Ruhtenberg also said that "whoever shot [Kirk] should go to prison."

Two days after that complaint, a right-wing outlet in Iowa emailed Ruhtenberg's employer to ask for a comment about her posts. The next day, she was terminated, less than five days after her initial post. Ruhtenberg had spent 15 years as a public defender for the state of Iowa. Ruhtenberg appealed her termination with the state and got her job back in November. The civil service decision that restored Ruhtenberg's job noted that only the single complaint and the media inquiry raised concerns about her conduct. State public defender Jeff Wright testified during the appeals proceedings that Ruhtenberg was fired because her posts were perceived as condoning violence. Ruhtenberg then sued the state and Wright in federal court for First Amendment retaliation. In May, they settled and Ruhtenberg was awarded $125,000 in damages. The Iowa public defender's office and Wright did not respond to a request for comment. Nine months after Kirk's assassination, cases like Ruhtenberg's continue to be resolved in favor of people who suffered consequences for their social media activity about Kirk. While many of these plaintiffs have settled with six-figure payouts, they are still grappling, to different degrees, with the aftermath of their firings.

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Factory job cuts in June neared financial crisis and Covid levels, S&P says

Job cuts at U.S. factories ran near their highest levels since the end of the global financial crisis in 2009 and the Covid-19 pandemic as worries grew over global demand and rising costs, S&P Global reported Tuesday. Though the firm’s manufacturing index ran better than expected for June, it came largely from an inventory rebuild and despite sharp job cuts that were the most since 2009 — excluding the massive labor reductions at the onset of the Covid crisis in 2020. “While there is better news from the manufacturing sector, we remain concerned as factory growth continues to be temporarily buoyed by inventory building amid supply fears. Supply delays grew more widespread in June,” said Chris Williamson, chief business economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence.

Manufacturers have indicated job cuts for three of the past four months as they seek to reduce head count over costs and demand concerns. “Most worrying was the further fall in employment, notably in the manufacturing sector,” Williamson said. “Factory job cuts are running at the highest since 2009 if the pandemic is excluded, reflecting concerns over the sustainability of the recent upturn in demand alongside worries over the escalating cost of raw materials.” Despite the worries of manufacturing cuts, the jobs picture has been largely solid this year, with strong gains in four of the five months. Manufacturing employment has risen by 23,000 in 2026, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Broadly, the S&P manufacturing “flash” reading for its purchase managers index came in at 55.7, up narrowly from May and better than the Dow Jones consensus estimate for 54.8. The reading represents the percentage share of companies reporting growth for the month. On the services side, the flash PMI was at 51.3, also up slightly on the month and slightly better than the consensus forecast for 51.

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In symbolic vote, Congress directs Trump to remove forces from Iran war

A bipartisan majority in Congress has voted in favor of a war powers resolution to remove U.S. armed forces from hostilities with Iran. The Senate voted 50 to 48 on Tuesday afternoon, with four Republicans joining Democrats in support. They were Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Susan Collins of Maine, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Alaska's Lisa Murkowski.

The measure, which is not legally binding and will not be sent to the White House for a signature, was approved by the House earlier this month. "Today, Congress stood up to Donald Trump and voted to end his costly, unnecessary, and devastating war with Iran," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a statement after the vote. "The message from the only branch of government with the power to declare war is unmistakable: the Trump administration must withdraw U.S. forces from hostilities in Iran." Tuesday's vote comes at a moment when the U.S. and Iran are engaged in delicate negotiations to permanently end the conflict, the initial terms of which have been broadly criticized by members of both parties. President Trump criticized the resolution after it passed, writing on Truth Social that "Four Republican Losers voted with the Dumocrats, and Iran asked my people, 'what does that all mean?' These Senators have just made my job more difficult, but I will get it done, one way or the other, because I always get it done!"

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A look inside the welcome bags planned for white South African refugees

In the coming weeks, the United States plans to provide a welcome gift to white South Africans entering the United States as refugees. They will get an Android tablet, an American flag and copies of the Constitution and Declaration of Independence. They will also receive a packet of literature that provides a sanitized, Trump-approved view of American and South African history, one that criticizes racial equity and civil rights laws and promotes claims of discrimination against white people. The welcome bags include a report commissioned by Mr. Trump during his first term that downplays the role of slavery in the country’s founding, and a children’s book accusing South Africa’s government of “favoring the Black population.”

The gifts would be the latest step by the Trump administration to welcome the white minority in South Africa, even as the president maintains a ban on refugees fleeing from war and persecution everywhere else in the world. The proposal for the bags is still being finalized. Mr. Trump’s aides have planned to give them to a group of South African Afrikaners who enter the United States in the coming weeks, according to government documents obtained by The New York Times and an official familiar with the matter. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to detail plans that have not been announced. It is not clear how much the bags cost, or how much of the cost was being paid by taxpayers. It is unusual for the government to provide welcome gifts of this kind to refugees. Alex J. Adams, who leads the Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children and Families, a government agency that helps refugees, welcomes the Afrikaners in a letter tucked into the welcome bag.

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Rural emergency care is struggling to keep up with ICE detention demand

Emergency responders sped out of a Pennsylvania immigrant detention center on a recent Saturday morning, sirens blaring as they drove past more than 20 protesters demanding the lockup’s closure. It was the Moshannon Valley EMS crew’s second run to the Geo Group-owned site that day. The number of detained immigrants the crew serves has grown by 44% since President Donald Trump returned to office. The Moshannon Valley Processing Center now holds nearly 1,700 people, according to the Deportation Data Project — a population more than half the size of the town. The nonprofit has responded to 43 calls at the detention center since October, EMS chief Fred Ferguson said during a recent interview in the back of one of Moshannon Valley’s five ambulances.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement hasn’t paid them for any of those calls yet, he said. “We have to have some faith that someone’s going to do the right thing and compensate us for the work that’s provided,” Ferguson said. “But you have to be hesitant as well.” Like many providers of rural health and emergency care, the Moshannon Valley EMS is stretched thin. Staffers sometimes have to come into work when they’re off duty. Between gas, wear-and-tear and staff wages, just driving an ambulance out of the station costs around $800, Ferguson said. “We are used to doing more with less,” he said. Rural emergency services across the country face a demand they can’t readily meet at times as ICE scales up its detention capacity. First responders already dealing with few resources and long drives to hospitals are handling expanded populations. The migrants themselves are left waiting for emergency care for urgent medical needs, according to records of 440 calls to 911 from detention centers in rural areas of Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Georgia, Indiana and Texas.

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Trump’s Gaza Board of Peace will hit the reset button in Cyprus

U.S. President Donald Trump’s Gaza Board of Peace is set to convene at a Cyprus resort on June 30 to “adjust its strategy,” an official familiar with the matter told POLITICO. Two senior EU officials, involved in the arrangements for the gathering and granted anonymity to speak freely, confirmed the meeting will take place on the Mediterranean island next week and last two or three days. The goal is to “reset” after “the Iran war has completely shifted the attention in the last several months,” said one of the officials. The meeting will be attended by representatives from the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza — a committee of Palestinian technocrats tasked with replacing Hamas in governing the Gaza Strip — and the Office of Nikolay Mladenov, the former Bulgarian diplomat Trump appointed as his high representative for Gaza, according to the officials.

Cyprus, which is in line with the EU’s position, will attend as an observer. “Cyprus is not a co-organizer of the event, and it is not taking place at a political level. Cyprus was chosen by the executive committee,” explained one of the officials. Trump set up the Washington-led Board of Peace to oversee the reconstruction and governance of the Gaza Strip. The group held its first meeting in February but has made little progress due to funding issues, logistical hurdles and questions regarding its international and legal legitimacy. Meanwhile, the situation in Gaza remains dire: In a recent strike, Israeli forces killed six people, including two children and an Al Jazeera cameraman. Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people in Israel, a large majority of whom were civilians, and taking 251 hostages. The attack prompted a major Israeli military offensive in Gaza, which has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians, many of them civilians, displaced 90 percent of Gaza’s population and destroyed wide areas. The ceasefire brokered by Trump in October 2025 led to the release of the remaining 20 Israeli hostages.

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Maryland Senate president defeats Democratic primary challenger amid redistricting anger

Maryland state Senate President Bill Ferguson won his Democratic primary, The Associated Press projected, defeating his first primary challenger in 12 years despite some backlash over his position on redistricting. Ferguson won amid an anti-establishment wave in Democratic politics this year. His challenger, Army veteran and community activist Bobby LaPin, sought to paint him as an incumbent who had forgotten about the needs of his district since he became the top legislative leader in Maryland. But Ferguson, who represents the state’s 46th Senate District, campaigned on his record, touting the improvements he helped fund for south Baltimore schools and the first-in-the-nation digital ad tax he sponsored in Maryland.

In an interview this month, Ferguson called the primary challenge “a blessing in disguise” and an opportunity “to think through about how best to communicate with voters about the things that I’ve been able to deliver over the years.” LaPin, a small-business owner who launched his campaign late last year, made waves in the south and southeast Baltimore district with near-daily videos he posted about the race on Instagram. He previously promoted his sailing business and his community activism on the social media account, and he surpassed 100,000 followers during the campaign. LaPin also sought to capitalize on anger from some in his party against Ferguson, who defied a push from national Democrats and Gov. Wes Moore last year to redraw Maryland’s congressional districts. Moore and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., favored pushing a new map that would give Democrats total control of the state’s eight House districts, rather than the current 7-1 advantage Maryland Democrats enjoy in the congressional delegation.

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ODNI under Pulte fires 6 staff, sends 45 back to home agencies

Just over 50 career and political intelligence staff at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence have been removed from their roles since Bill Pulte became the agency's acting director, Friday. Six career and political intelligence staff were terminated and 45 were sent back to their home agencies, according to three sources familiar with the personnel moves. Pulte has been asking deputies and other directors for suggestions about cuts. Some of the ODNI deputies pushed for more cuts, but Pulte said that the 51 was enough for now, one of the sources said. One source characterized the cuts as thoughtful and methodical. No staffers have been removed from the counterterrorism group. No further firings are planned for now, two of the sources said.

The cuts follow hundreds of staff reductions last year by former Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, who stepped down last week. Last year's planned downsizing sought to bring the office's headcount from 2,000 to around 1,300. President Trump has pushed for further cuts, directing Pulte to "execute the immediate and needed downsizing of the office" in a Truth Social post earlier this month. The office is charged with overseeing the country's intelligence agencies and helping them coordinate with each other. It was created in response to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, which investigators widely believe was preceded by a failure of intelligence agencies to share information. Since then, Gabbard and some lawmakers have argued the ODNI has become bloated and has added more bureaucracy to the intelligence community — worsening a problem it was created in part to resolve.

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Lead Stories

GOP embraces speculation about China’s role in data center backlash

Republicans are embracing allegations that data center opposition in the U.S. is being fueled by foreign actors, raising questions over how influence operators are contributing to one of the fiercest debates in the tech policy space. Reports, including from OpenAI, recently emerged suggesting China and other countries are carrying out influence campaigns to fan the flames of Americans’ frustration with the data center build-out. Data centers — the server warehouses powering the AI boom — once enjoyed support from politicians on both sides of the aisle. But public opinion has rapidly deteriorated in the face of concerns about the infrastructure’s impact on electricity bills and the environment. Democrats have seized on this backlash, especially around energy costs, while Republicans have struggled to coalesce around a message addressing voters’ worries ahead of the midterms.

“It makes sense for Republicans to point out China’s genuine efforts to influence American politics,” Ryan Fedasiuk, a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, told The Hill. “I’m glad we’re doing so. But on some level, it’s cope … it’s not going to make the problem go away.” President Trump largely supports industry development, arguing tech companies need to be able to build without obstacles to effectively compete with China in the so-called AI race. He has sought to speed up the approval of data center projects, curtailing environmental reviews and pushing for faster grid connections. But the White House is also grasping the reality of data centers’ increasing unpopularity. Earlier this year, Trump secured commitments from leading AI firms to cover rising electricity costs from data centers. As the president and his fellow Republicans try to balance a pro-tech agenda with constituents’ concerns, at least one key administration official and several GOP lawmakers are latching onto the reports of foreign influence campaigns. “Any place that’s trying to build data centers is getting bombarded with foreign-directed propaganda to try to block these from being built,” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum told Fox Business Network late last month.

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‘The president seems to revel in chaos’: Cornyn goes his own way

A few days after losing his Senate runoff, John Cornyn did something unusual for him: He used his leverage against his own party. The Texas Republican was frustrated by a nearly year-long delay in getting his state reimbursed by the Trump administration for more than $10 billion in border security spending that Congress had already approved. Cornyn had something valuable to withhold as lawmakers prepared to take up President Donald Trump’s $70 billion immigration spending bill. “Basically, I told Senator Barrasso and Senator [John] Thune: ‘There’s a price for my vote, and it is to get the administration to release the money,’” Cornyn told Semafor in a recent interview in his hideaway office on the Capitol’s third floor. “Next thing I got is a call from [White House budget director] Russ Vought, and Russ said, ‘we’ll put a notice of funding.’”

Cornyn added a reminder that, with more than six months left in office and a sophisticated understanding of the Senate, he’s positioned to play more hardball if he has to: “That’s one example I think of what you can do when you have some cards to play.” The four-term incumbent is already setting some conditions on his critical undecided vote for Trump’s attorney general pick, Todd Blanche. Cornyn has returned to the candor he displayed for years in the Senate halls, offering withering assessments of Trump’s Iran deal and legislative strategy — a pattern he might continue on Wednesday, when the president visits GOP senators in person. One thing the two-time campaign arm won’t threaten to withhold is his largesse on the trail. He is organizing a large September fundraiser for his colleagues and favorite Senate candidates: Sens. Jon Husted of Ohio, Susan Collins of Maine and Dan Sullivan of Alaska, plus former Sen. John Sununu of New Hampshire and former Rep. Mike Rogers of Michigan. Cornyn draws the line, however, at sending money to Ken Paxton, the Texas attorney general who defeated him in the GOP primary with Trump’s endorsement. Working for other candidates in cheaper states makes more sense to Cornyn, who isn’t sure Paxton can win. “The president picked Paxton, and he’s got $350 million dollars. I think he can spend his money,” Cornyn said of Texas and Trump. “I’m going to try to help in other places.”

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Democrat James Talarico shifts focus to rising costs in new ad

Standing in a small market with a bag of groceries in hand, Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico uses his latest ad to promise relief for Texans struggling with rising costs. The spot marks a shift in emphasis for Talarico, whose campaign has spent weeks responding to Republican attacks centered on his past comments about religion, gender and other cultural issues. “Too many Texans feel like they’re drowning — the cost of groceries, gas, healthcare,” Talarico says directly to the camera. The 30-second ad features the state representative from Austin walking through the store before touting what he describes as a bipartisan record in the Legislature.

“Capping the cost of insulin, cutting taxes for small businesses, and passing the largest property tax cut in Texas history,” Talarico says in the ad before climbing into his Chevy Colorado pickup. “In the Senate, I'll take on corruption and keep fighting to lower your costs.” The focus on affordability contrasts with much of the race's early messaging, as Republican nominee Ken Paxton and his allies have targeted Talarico over his views on cultural and social issues. Paxton, after defeating Sen. John Cornyn in the GOP runoff last month, released an ad featuring short clips of Talarico asserting there are six biological sexes, calling the American flag a complicated symbol and making other statements. Republicans also have used social media to share snippets of Talarico, from saying God is “nonbinary” to talking up the environmental benefits of reducing meat consumption. Talarico has acknowledged some past statements were intentionally provocative and cringey – and he has chowed down on a pile of barbecue in front of cameras to rebut suggestions he is vegan.

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Fatal Tesla crash into Texas home now under federal safety investigation

U.S. auto-safety regulators have opened an investigation into a fatal wreck involving a Tesla that crashed into a home Friday evening and killed one person inside. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the top auto regulator in the country, said Monday that it would examine a crash involving a Tesla Model 3 near Houston. The driver of the Tesla told police he was operating with an automated driving assistance system, according to a statement by the Harris County Sheriff’s Office. The vehicle left the roadway, “entered through the brick residence at a high rate of speed,” and struck a woman who was inside, sheriff’s officials said. The woman, identified as Martha Avila, later died from injuries sustained in the crash, officials said.

Footage from a home camera that was posted on social media and shared with The Wall Street Journal shows the blue Model 3 speeding up to the house in Katy, Texas, crossing over the yard and driveway, and slamming into the front wall of the home. NHTSA said Monday it was launching a special crash investigation into the incident. The regulator’s division that handles such investigations opens more than 100 cases annually to examine incidents involving unique circumstances or outcomes from an engineering perspective, according to NHTSA’s website. Tesla didn’t immediately return a request for comment. In a post on the Elon Musk-owned social media platform X, Tesla’s vice president of AI and software, Ashok Elluswamy, said that the driver manually pressed the car’s accelerator pedal down and had the pedal pressed even after the crash. The incident marks the latest effort by NHTSA to examine Tesla’s suite of advanced driver-assistance technologies. The agency has been conducting a defect investigation of Tesla’s system, known as Full Self-Driving (Supervised), which controls driving and steering functions but requires drivers to continuously monitor the road. Defect probes can result in automakers conducting a safety recall.

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State Stories

Chevron plans massive Texas power plant for Microsoft, eyes oilfield wastewater as water source

Chevron announced Monday it plans to develop a massive power plant in West Texas to fuel a Microsoft data center as a boom in artificial intelligence reshapes the state’s oil and gas industry. The power facility, which will be co-located with the data center in Reeves County, is expected to deliver 2.67 gigawatts of electricity, enough to power roughly 667,500 homes for one hot summer day in Texas. The Houston oil giant said the project — its first power plant for AI — will benefit the Texas economy while mitigating impacts to water resources and the grid. Large Texas oil companies such as Chevron, Exxon Mobil and Diamondback are branching into electricity generation for the first time, cashing in on AI growth as data centers create surging demand for power.

Locating the power facility on the same site as Microsoft’s data center enables Chevron to sidestep grid connections and supply it directly with electricity, which will be made onsite using natural gas produced in the Permian Basin and gas turbines, the company said. Chevron said the project will generate more than $10 billion in state and local tax revenue and will support nearly 2,000 jobs. “Chevron is uniquely positioned to deliver power to customers with certainty, speed and at a competitive cost, leveraging Permian natural gas and our proven execution capabilities,” Jeff Gustavson, Chevron’s president of New Energies, said in a statement. “This project links Chevron’s traditional strengths to emerging demand, creating differentiated value for our shareholders and the communities where we operate.” Chevron plans to use non-potable, brackish groundwater sources for its power generation operation, it said. The company also aims to reuse oilfield wastewater, known as “produced water,” as a water source.

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Oak Cliff gas explosion: Judge approves restraining order against Atmos Energy

An attorney representing victims of a deadly Oak Cliff apartment explosion says gas line records show the building had six reported leaks in the weeks before the blast — and that Atmos Energy knew the pipes were dangerous but failed to act. The five-alarm explosion at The Clyde Apartments killed three people, including Sylvia Collins, a community activist and Democratic Party volunteer. Her daughter, Michelle Collins, has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Atmos Energy, Barba Drilling, and the building's owners, alleging negligence. Attorney Chris Hamilton, who is also pursuing a separate lawsuit against Atmos Energy, said the pattern of leaks at the property was a clear warning that went unheeded.

"At this particular property there were six leaks reported, six different 811 calls since March 20, so in the seven weeks approximately before," Hamilton said. Hamilton said drilling crews followed proper procedure before the explosion, calling 811 to have gas lines marked before breaking ground. But he said the lines were marked in the wrong location — off by 15 feet or more. "There was no way that this driller could possibly know there was a pipeline here," Hamilton said. "He drilled exactly where he was supposed to." Atmos Energy disputes that account. In a statement, the company said the driller — who was not working for Atmos — struck the pipe, and that Atmos had hired a third party to mark the gas lines. "The safety of our communities and employees is our first priority. Our hearts go out to the people who were lost, their families, and everyone who has been impacted," a spokesperson said in a statement. A Dallas County judge on Monday indicated she would sign a restraining order requiring Atmos Energy to notify Hamilton of any work in the area around the explosion -- needed, he argued, because he plans to argue the pipes in the area were old and leaky and contributed to the blast.

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City audit petition certified, moves forward to November ballot

Austinites will get a chance to vote on an amendment that would force regular external audits onto the city of Austin in the upcoming November ballot. This follows a petition, backed by Save Austin Now, sent to the city early June regarding a proposed charter amendment related to city spending and accountability. Those signatures were certified by the Austin city clerk on Monday, moving the amendment forward to the November ballot.

Save Austin Now launched the charter petition effort last year. It would require regular external audits of the entire city budget within a year of the contract engagement — with the independent contractor selected within 120 days. It also requires the city of Austin to review its budget every five years, or no less than one year before the city of Austin asks voters for more money in a tax rate election. “The more than 20,000 Austin residents who signed our petition only want transparency, accountability and efficient spending for the high taxes that we pay,” Save Austin Now co-chair Matt Mackowiak said in Monday’s press release. “If Austinites want to see their tax dollars spent wisely and efficiently, then we must pass this outside audit amendment

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Gov. Abbott orders Texas agencies to expand trade and workforce training

Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday directed four state agencies to immediately expand workforce training programs, apprenticeships and career education opportunities as Texas employees cointnue to seek more skilled workers to fill high-demand jobs. Speaking at a press conference at the Governor's Mansion, Abbott announced a series of directives developed by the Texas Jobs Council, a group created by the Governor in March to identify ways to strengthen the workforce pipeline in Texas through executive action, or actions conducted by an agency. "The demand for a high-skilled workforce has never been greater," Abbott said. "We want to make sure we have the best-trained workforce in the United States."

Texas Jobs Council co-chairs Megan Mauro, interim president of the Texas Association of Business, and Brent Taylor, Southern Region vice president of the Teamsters, joined Abbott at the announcement. The directives affect the Texas Workforce Commission, Texas Education Agency, Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. Under Abbott’s order, the Texas Workforce Commission is directed to do the following: Expand apprenticeship opportunities. Create a centralized online hub for career planning resources and develop career pathways for Texans facing barriers to employment, including veterans, foster youth and people with disabilities. Work to improve connections between employers and jobseekers by launching digital Learning and Employment Records through the Tri-Agency Workforce Initiative.

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Ye concert still on at the Alamodome despite blowback from Mayor Jones, others

The city of San Antonio appears to be keeping a concert by Ye on the city-owned Alamodome’s schedule despite blowback from Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones and other elected officials over the rapper’s history of antisemitism. City spokesman Brian Chasnoff didn’t directly say whether the controversial show would go on as planned, but he said it’s expected to draw more than 60,000 people. As of Monday, 50,000 tickets have been sold, including more than 14,000 within Bexar County and thousands of sales from outside Texas.

“Once Alamodome staff books an event, conceptually, the City Council can direct the City Manager to cancel it,” Chasnoff said in a statement late Monday. It’s unclear if Jones or City Council members want to call a vote on the concert. Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, is slated to perform at the Alamodome on July 4 as part of his international tour promoting his new album, “Bully.” Ye announced June 14 that he was coming to the Alamo City and tickets went on sale June 18. Jones took to social media on Saturday evening to call for the concert to be canceled. Her post drew national attention, appearing in the New York Times, USA Today and Rolling Stone, among other outlets. “Military City USA should not host someone with a record of hate speech and antisemitic comments in a city-funded facility like our Alamodome — not ever, and certainly not on July 4th, our Nation’s 250th birthday,” Jones wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. “Standing up to antisemitism is exactly what it takes to achieve a more perfect Union.”

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Supporters raise over $125,000 for woman who made anti-Islam remarks

A viral video of a woman making anti-Islam comments at a grocery store prompted one state lawmaker to condemn hate speech — but also sparked a groundswell of support for the woman from conservative influencers and their followers who raised more than $125,000 for her. The video shows a woman in medical scrubs telling two women, “You need to leave. You’re not welcome here. This is not a Muslim country, this is a Christian country.” The text on the video says it’s an H-E-B in Conroe, but the grocer didn’t reply to the Houston Chronicle’s inquiry. The confrontation drew attention from figures ranging from Democratic state Rep. Suleman Lalani of Sugar Land to online conservative commentator Sara Gonzales.

A white nationalist influencer with the display name Tom Hennessey launched the fundraiser after social media users shared the woman’s personal information, such as an address and phone number they believed to be hers. The fundraiser on GiveSendGo — a Christian platform — says the woman was fired as a result of the viral interaction. The woman did not respond to requests for comment from the Chronicle. “She said the quiet part loud in the grocery aisle while the rest of us are simply trying to shop without a full-blown cultural invasion,” the GiveSendGo description says. Lalani condemned the comments in the video, saying they weren’t an isolated incident. “Perhaps the most disturbing part is the conviction this woman has in believing neighbors shopping at H-E-B are a threat to her and her country,” he wrote on social media. “This ‘hate virus’ is a contagion we must confront with facts, truth, and unity.” Muslims in Texas have been raising concerns regarding their safety as the GOP has spent months campaigning against “Sharia law,” which members of the faith group say is a moral and spiritual framework central to their faith. Muslims say the rhetoric from Republicans is putting them at risk.

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Data breach exposes personal information of over 3 million Texas hunters, fishers

A cybersecurity incident involving the vendor managing the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s (TPWD) license system may have exposed the personal information of more than 3 million hunting and fishing license customers. The Texas Cyber Command “recently detected a cybersecurity incident” in the TPWD license vendor system, according to a press release. Data exposed includes driver license information, passport numbers, email addresses, phone numbers and residential addresses. The data was tied to hunting and fishing license holders. The agency said there is no evidence customers younger than 18 were involved in the breach.

“We recognize the seriousness of this issue and have identified and implemented additional security options to better protect customer information,” said TPWD in its press release. There is no evidence that any specific group was targeted, according to the state agency. “Many of our staff are hunters and anglers and were affected by this incident. We are committed to continuing to work with the license system vendor to implement increased safeguards to prevent future incidents,” TPWD said. No Social Security numbers, dates of birth or financial information, including credit card details, were believed to have been leaked. TPWD said it is working with its license system vendor to improve security and implement additional safeguards. Those impacted by the breach will get a free year of credit monitoring and can call 844-959-7123 if they have questions. The enrollment deadline for free credit monitoring is Sept. 14. License sales still continue on schedule for August and the next license year, according to the release. “We recognize the seriousness of this issue and have identified and implemented additional security options to better protect customer information. Many of our staff are hunters and anglers and were affected by this incident. We are committed to working with the license system vendor to implement increased safeguards,” the department said in a statement.

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Robert Wilonsky: Still no concrete plans for Dallas’ 112-year-old Concrete House, owned by a state senator

State Sen. Royce West was wondering who was taking pictures of the house next to his Oak Cliff law offices Saturday. And: Why? Uh, well, that was me, I told him Monday morning. Because it’s among the entries on Preservation Dallas’ latest Endangered Places List being released this week. “List for what?” he asked. I told him again, then ticked off some of the other places: the 10th Street Historic District, the perennial concern not far from the West & Associates digs on South R.L. Thornton Freeway; the 151-year-old Garvin Cemetery on Northwest Highway, a city landmark yet again being eyed by developers; the former Hotel St. Germain in Uptown, imperiled by a planned high-rise; the crime-ridden Cole Manor Motel on Harry Hines Boulevard, which is more than endangered, as it’s coming down as I type.

And, of course, Dallas City Hall, whose abandonment creeps ever closer with each vote of City Council members who forget they’re but transient occupants. “That house has been there since 1914,” said West, referring to the manse designed and built by Czechoslovakian immigrant Joseph Kovandovitch. It’s made almost entirely of concrete. One of the city’s first poured concrete houses, actually. Which is why city Landmark Commission designation documents refer to it as — wait for it — The Concrete House. “It’s not going anywhere,” West said. Then he laughed. I’ve seen the future of Dallas City Hall. It’s where Eads Street in Oak Cliff dead-ends into vacant land and a thicket of trees, also owned by West, adjacent to the burgeoning Bottom neighborhood. An architectural marvel made entirely of concrete. Indestructible. Meant to last for a few lifetimes. Which it has, despite numerous fires set by the unsheltered and, according to one history, a cult. And boarded up for as long as anyone can remember.

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3 killed at Midland trucking company — city's second large shooting in 10 days

Authorities are investigating a deadly shooting in the Midland area that happened Monday morning in East Midland. The shooting happened in the area of North County Road 1140 and East Highway 80, at JAT Partner Logistics, a local trucking company, at approximately 6:58 a.m. Details are limited at this time, but a company spokesperson confirmed that at least three employees are dead following the incident. The Midland County Sheriff's Office confirmed that the deaths are from apparent gunshot wounds.

A witness at the scene claimed that the an employee had arrived at the scene and shot two coworkers before turning the gun on himself. Neither the company nor law enforcement officials have confirmed such details. One victim has been identified so far. The family of 45-year-old Jeff Waugh, has come forward to identify him as an employee of the company who passed away in the incident. Family members described Waugh as a hardworking father who is now survived by his two teenage children. Officials say that the motive for the incident remains unclear. An investigation is underway by the Midland County Sheriff's Office and the Texas Department of Public Safety. There is no risk to the public at this time.

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Lackland flu outbreak raises questions about Pentagon vaccine policy

At least 222 trainees have gotten sick during a flu outbreak at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio. The Air Force says it has been working to contain the virus for the past three weeks. The Air Force says medical personnel are isolating and treating sick trainees, monitoring those who may have been exposed, and administering antiviral medications to help contain the outbreak. The number of reported illnesses has climbed to 222, according to U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio. Earlier in the week, Castro said nearly 160 members of the 37th Training Wing had gotten sick.

Castro has called for a full accounting of the outbreak and an investigation into the death of trainee Keon McDaniel, who suffered a medical emergency during the outbreak. Military officials say the cause of death remains under investigation and have not said whether influenza played a role. In April, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ended the military's long-standing influenza vaccine requirement, arguing the mandate weakened military readiness. A Pentagon spokesperson said the policy change was intended to "maximize operational readiness, lethality, and force generation, while safeguarding at-risk populations." The spokesperson said the department remains committed to the health and readiness of service members and civilian personnel. San Antonio Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones, who previously served as Undersecretary of the Air Force, said the outbreak was preventable.

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Texas board hears heated testimony on social studies standards as final vote nears

Dozens of speakers called on the Texas State Board of Education to move forward with a set of revised social studies standards during testimony that began Monday afternoon and stretched well into the night. Dozens more asked the board to amend the standards to give more attention to certain cultures or chapters in history. Monday’s meeting represented the last opportunity for the public to weigh in on the standards before the board takes them up for a final vote. More than 250 people signed up to give public testimony on the issue. Board members are expected to discuss proposed amendments in the coming days before taking a final vote on Friday. The proposed standards would lay out what students are expected to learn in their social studies classes at each grade level. The standards have drawn controversy, with critics saying they place too much emphasis on Christianity while giving short shrift to other world religions. For example, biblical figures such as Abraham and Moses are included alongside figures from American and Texas history such as George Washington and Sam Houston.

The portrayal of Islam in the standards was a point of debate during the meeting. The mention of Islam in the proposed standards is limited, and mostly centers on conflicts like the Spanish Reconquista and acts of terrorism like those that occurred on Sept. 11. Earlier versions of the proposals included material dealing with the development of Algebra and astronomy in the Muslim world, but those were stripped out in the amendment process. Yusuf Shaikh, a Plano ISD graduate, said accurate portrayal of Muslims in world history classes matters. When Muslim students see Islam portrayed in history textbooks only as a source of conflict and not its contributions to math, science and other disciplines, they can be left with the impression that they don’t belong. He also noted that the seventh grade standards include the 1948 creation of the modern state of Israel, but don’t mention the mass displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians that followed. Inshirah Daher, a 15-year social studies teacher and a Palestinian American, took issue not only with the standards’ portrayal of Islam, but also the grade levels at which that material is introduced. She noted that fourth graders would be asked to learn about al-Qaeda before they’re taught foundational skills like how to read a map or how to distinguish a fact from an opinion. “This is not education,” she said. “This is a shortcut that skips the hard work of actually teaching children to be critical thinkers.

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Fort Worth-Tarrant County Innovation Partnership names new leader

The economic development and innovation group in charge of creating industry partnerships with Texas A&M-Fort Worth has a new leader. Cameron Cushman, former assistant vice president of innovation ecosystems at UNT Health Fort Worth, replaced Darryl Heath as executive director of the Fort Worth-Tarrant County Innovation Partnership. The partnership’s mission is to develop innovation hubs around the area’s key industries: aerospace, agriculture, media and healthcare. The organization is funded by the city, the county and Texas A&M University. Heath, who retired in 2015 after more than three decades at the consulting firm Accenture, returned to work and launched the program, Cushman said.

“As an A&M graduate and with an extensive background in innovation, Cameron is the perfect person to continue with Darryl Heath’s leadership and carry us to new heights,” said John Goff, CEO of Crescent Real Estate and a driving force behind Texas A&M’s Fort Worth investment. Texas A&M had already brought Cushman in to focus on some of the hubs. Now, with the first Texas A&M building opening in time for fall 2026 classes, it was time for the organization to begin finalizing those partnerships, he said. The $185 million Law and Education Building broke ground in June 2023. The second structure is the $260 million Research and Innovation Building that will be home to collaboration and research in key sectors, including engineering, aerospace, defense and health sciences. That building will also include key Texas A&M research programs, including a transportation institute, engineering experiment station, AgriLife and the Texas Division of Emergency Management.

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National Stories

Why Democrats are running against the ‘Epstein class’

After Graham Platner secured the Democratic nomination for Senate in Maine, his first ad of the general election didn’t mention his opponent, Sen. Susan Collins, or the Republican Party. It focused on the late disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, and who he called the “Epstein class” of elites in both parties. “Some of the most powerful Democrats and Republicans in the country were on Epstein island,” Platner said in the ad, referring to Epstein’s former residence in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Platner, whose economic-populist campaign combined with controversial online statements and a since-removed tattoo of a Nazi symbol have drawn national attention, framed himself in opposition to this elite class. “It seems the only thing the party establishments can agree on is a love of Jeffrey Epstein, and a hatred of me,” he said. “I’m Graham Platner, and I approve this message because together, we will take back our government from the Epstein class.”

It’s not just Platner: In midterm races from Texas to Maine, Democrats and at least one Republican are running against Epstein and “the Epstein class,” a term Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna of California first used last year to describe the men among the economic and cultural elite who traveled in Epstein’s social circles and helped rehabilitate his reputation after the multimillionaire ex-financier became a convicted sex offender in 2008 for soliciting prostitution of a minor. “I’ll give the survivors credit, but I did coin the phrase ‘Epstein class’ because they’re a group of rich and powerful people who are not playing by the rules, and it offends the sense that we have one tier of justice,” Khanna told The 19th. The number of candidates highlighting Epstein in their campaign messaging, Khanna argued, “shows what a powerful issue this is to win the midterms and win back the trust of the American public.” In two of the most competitive races to determine control of the U.S. Senate, Platner and Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff of Georgia, who is running for reelection, have castigated the “Epstein class” and what they say is elite corruption in their ads and messaging.

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What to watch Tuesday: Mamdani, AI industry flex political power in New York

Two opposing factions in the artificial intelligence industry square off in a Democratic primary for a U.S. House seat. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani tests his political clout by backing fellow democratic socialists. And President Donald Trump, after two of his chosen candidates for governor lost Republican primaries this month, ensured it won’t happen again — by endorsing both candidates in a South Carolina runoff. Those are a few of the races to watch on Tuesday as voters head to the polls for primaries in Maryland, New York, South Carolina and Utah. The crowded Democratic primary became a proxy battle between two powerful camps of the artificial intelligence industry because of one candidate: New York Assemblyman Alex Bores.

Bores, a former Palantir employee who cited ethical concerns in leaving the company, pushed one of the more sweeping state-level AI regulation bills in the country. Now, Bores points to that legislation — which faced some industry pushback — as a framework for how he’d approach regulation in Congress. So when he stepped into the race for the New York congressional district being vacated by retiring Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler, a political group underwritten by investors in OpenAI spent more than $7 million on ads against Bores. Then an opposing wing of the industry, one more in favor of regulation, rode to Bores’ aid. Political groups partly funded by Anthropic, which makes the chatbot Claude, spent more $10 million to boost Bores’ candidacy. Anthropic was co-founded by former OpenAI employee, Dario Amodei, who left the company partly over concerns about AI safety. The election will offer some measure of the political might of the two AI industry factions. The New York City mayor endorsed Democratic primary candidates hailing from his own political camp — a progressive and two democratic socialists — who are challenging more established candidates, some backed by party leadership.

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As Vance leads Iran negotiations, Trump creates disruptions in his path

As Vice President JD Vance entered the fifth hour of negotiations with Iranian leaders over the weekend, President Trump weighed in with an ill-timed threat to start bombing again. If the Iranians closed the Strait of Hormuz, Mr. Trump told a Fox News reporter, the negotiators talking to Mr. Vance would never make it back to their country — in fact, they would have no country to return to at all. For Mr. Vance, this was the latest example of his increasingly tricky role as the frontman in the U.S. negotiations with Iran, as Mr. Trump repeatedly creates disruptions in his path. On Monday, Mr. Vance said the first round of talks had laid “a successful foundation” for peace. But now, Mr. Vance will have to find a way to end a war that he opposed at the start, while navigating his boss’s whims and an adversary that has proved itself, at least in part, immune to Mr. Trump’s threats.

“What we told the Iranians yesterday is when you guys engage in what us millennials might call trash talk, you can’t expect the president of the United States not to respond and not to correct the record,” he said on Monday at a news conference. “So when they say things that aren’t true, the president is going to respond to it.” Both sides have signed a memorandum of understanding to end hostilities and are now trying to strike a lasting nuclear deal in 60 days. But for Mr. Vance, the presumptive favorite for the 2028 Republican nomination, the situation remains politically precarious. “If it works out, I’m going to take the credit,” Mr. Trump said of the peace deal last week. “If it doesn’t work out, I’m blaming JD.” Mr. Vance has said the president was joking, but Mr. Trump has never shied away from deflecting blame onto others — and how Mr. Vance handles the future of the negotiations will factor into Republicans’ performance in the midterm elections and his future as a potential successor to Mr. Trump.

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America’s intractable air traffic problem

Hours after a fatal collision at New York’s LaGuardia airport last March, America’s accident investigation agency dispatched one of its top air traffic control specialists to the scene. She barely made her flight. At the time, a partial government shutdown meant security agents at US airports were not being paid and often did not show up for work. Travellers across the US were forced to wait hours to be screened. Aides had to “beg” officials in Houston to get the investigator out of the queue she’d been stuck in for three hours and on to her flight to New York, said Jennifer Homendy, chair of the National Transportation Safety Board. “It’s been a really, a really big challenge to get the entire team here, and they’re still arriving as we speak,” she told reporters the day after the crash.

America’s air transport system is under strain as never before. Insiders speak of near misses in the air and of staffing shortages in critical sectors that have heightened concern about passenger safety. With traveller numbers at near-record levels, congestion is rising around major hubs while occasional federal government shutdowns are wreaking havoc on operations. Frequent flight delays and cancellations caused by technology outages have prompted federal auditors to warn of the danger posed to air safety by ageing infrastructure. The World Cup, which is bringing millions of football fans to venues across the US, will only ratchet up the pressure — just as the summer travel season peaks. “The US system moves a lot of traffic very efficiently and has for years, but it’s super-strained by a lack of funding and understaffing,” says Brian Vogelsinger, a former Chicago-based air traffic controller. Vogelsinger is not the only one to worry about the staffing crisis in his profession. The National Air Traffic Controllers’ Association (Natca) puts the shortfall at 3,800. That means a lot more work for those currently in the system. “Forty per cent of our facilities are working six days a week, 10 hours a day,” says Anthony Schifano, a controller in Charlotte, North Carolina. “Some of these people?.?.?. never see a weekend off.”

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House Republicans slam Trump’s ‘risky and uncoordinated’ military funding strategy

House Republican appropriators are publicly rebuking the Trump administration for seeking must-have military cash through a party-line reconciliation bill that’s not guaranteed to clear Congress. In a report they plan to release later this week, obtained by POLITICO, House appropriators warn that the White House is trying to fund “critical efforts” like weapons and military equipment through the party-line process, rather than using it to “scale up” military dollars beyond Congress’ regular government funding bills.

“This approach is risky and uncoordinated,” reads the report, an official addendum that goes along with the chamber’s defense funding bill for the fiscal year that starts in October. In particular, appropriators criticized President Donald Trump’s budget request for splitting funding for the F-35 fighter, the most expensive program in Pentagon history, between the two bills. The annual government funding bills and the reconciliation process are “entirely separate tracks, with different timelines, committees of jurisdiction, and approval processes,” the report notes. Many Republican lawmakers are also doubtful GOP leaders will succeed in enacting another party-line package this year.

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Senate passes bill to lower housing costs and restrict Wall Street from buying homes

The Senate voted overwhelmingly Monday to pass a sweeping housing affordability bill aimed at lowering costs, putting Congress on the brink of a rare bipartisan victory in President Donald Trump’s second term. The vote was 85-5. Several senators missed the vote due to severe thunderstorms in the Washington area that led to a ground stop at Ronald Reagan National Airport. The legislation, which would make it easier to build homes and slap limits on Wall Street investors’ buying up houses, now goes to the House, which hopes to vote on it in the next few days. Then, it would go to Trump’s desk to be signed into law.

The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act would be a desperately needed win for Republicans, who have seen their 2026 midterm election prospects deteriorate throughout the year as voters believe Trump and the GOP-controlled Congress haven’t done enough to tackle the cost of living. A mid-June poll by The Associated Press found that Trump’s overall approval rating is 37%, dragged down by the fact that just 33% said they approve of his handling of the economy. Other surveys have shown him getting low marks on handling the cost of living, the main issue that powered him to victory in 2024. And a June NBC News poll showed nearly 80% of U.S. voters believe the “American Dream” is harder to achieve than it was a generation ago. The bill represents a tangible victory on a top affordability concern. The “four corners” deal reached last week among key committee chairs, which was blessed by party leaders, brought together an eclectic mix of lawmakers from all over the ideological spectrum. It was negotiated by Sens. Tim Scott, R-S.C., and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Reps. French Hill, R-Ark., and Maxine Waters, D-Calif.

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Tucker Carlson says he'll no longer support GOP

Longtime conservative commentator Tucker Carlson said on a podcast that “there’s no chance I would support the Republican Party” ahead of the November midterm elections, dismissing the political affiliation he’s defended as a pundit for decades, including as one of Fox News Channel’s most popular hosts. “Not gonna support the Democratic Party,” Carlson was quick to add, speaking late last week on the show “Can’t Be Censored.” “I don’t know what I’m going to do.” Carlson, who has amassed a large following on his own podcast since being fired from Fox News in 2023, has more recently diverged from the party, a disillusionment supercharged by President Donald Trump’s decision to go to war with Iran in February.

Carlson supported Trump in 2024. After the war began, he apologized for supporting the then-presidential candidate and “misleading people,” saying it wasn’t intentional. He’s repeatedly criticized the war as being at the behest of Israel at the expense of Americans, and attacked the party for failing to represent its own voters, citizens and nation. “They are making decisions on the basis of other criteria, what’s best for this company, what’s best for Israel, what’s best for our donors,” he said. “That’s not just, like, they are off in the wrong direction, like, that is unacceptable, that’s treasonous, it’s immoral, it can’t continue.” “I’ve been a consistent defender for 35 years of the Republican Party, I mean very consistent defender, but there’s no defending this,” he said. “So no, I’m out. And if I’m out, then I think a lot of other people are out.”

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Five arrested as part of Trump’s reflecting pool ‘vandalism’ crackdown

Five people have been arrested and an additional five cited for vandalism at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, President Trump said Monday as he blamed political saboteurs for the peeling paint and a green algae bloom wrecking his much-hyped $14 million renovation. Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that vandals “very violently” cut close to a 300-foot gash in the pool’s new “American flag blue” lining with “a box cutter or knife of some kind.” A White House official added that 14 police reports were filed in connection with vandalism on the Reflecting Pool, including one report regarding the large gash Trump described.

National Guard members and officers from various regional law enforcement agencies have been patrolling the area around the Reflecting Pool since this weekend, when Trump said “disgraceful vandalism” was responsible for damage to the newly renovated pool. He said the pool would once again be drained and fixed. “We had people lifting up – it’s not a lot of damage, but we’ll probably have to let the water out and fix it,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Monday. Neither the president nor the White House has offered specific evidence that the pool was purposefully vandalized, and questions remain whether the fast-tracked sealing and painting of the pool may be to blame. The Trump administration awarded Atlantic Industrial Coatings a no-bid $6.89 million contract in April to resurface the pool with his color choice, “American flag blue.” Millions more were added to the contract in May and June, bringing the total cost for the paint job and waterproofing to nearly $15 million.

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Federal judge halts Trump administration effort to subpoena Walz in immigration enforcement probe

A federal judge has blocked an attempt by the Trump administration to subpoena Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and other state officials, calling it an effort to “harass and retaliate against them.” In a ruling unsealed Monday, U.S. District Judge Patrick Schlitz found the “dominant purpose” of the subpoenas was to “coerce Minnesota officials into assisting the federal government with enforcing civil immigration law and to harass and retaliate against them for failing to do so.” The subpoenas were served in January as part of an investigation into whether Walz and other officials obstructed or impeded law enforcement during a sweeping immigration operation in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area.

The subpoenas, which seek records, were sent to the offices of Walz, Attorney General Keith Ellison, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her and officials in Ramsey and Hennepin counties. The judge ruled that there appeared to be “extremely weak to nonexistent” connections between the information sought in the subpoenas and any possible criminal violation. The subpoenas seek materials “that largely if not entirely relate to constitutionally protected conduct,” the judge wrote, noting that Minnesota has the legal right not to devote its resources to enforcing federal immigration law. The Justice Department “is not conducting a criminal investigation,” the judge wrote, “but is instead using the grand jury process for other (unlawful) purposes.” The evidence that the subpoenas were issued for unlawful reasons is overwhelming, the judge said, arguing that the Justice Department “has struggled — without success — to identify a single plausible investigatory justification” for them.

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Copyright June 30, 2026, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved