July 1, 2026: All Newsclips

Lead Stories

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

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

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

Trump reports over $1.4 billion in income from crypto ventures

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

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

Trump announces midterm convention for Republicans in Dallas in September

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

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

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

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

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

State Stories

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

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

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

Ex-GOP candidate for railroad commission supports Democratic nominee

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

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

These Texas GOP congressmen are pushing more federal oversight of AI

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

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

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

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

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

Dallas employees to take mandatory furlough days amid financial shortfall

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Judge dismisses Michael Cargill bankruptcy over tax returns

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

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

Gov. Abbott blasts Supreme Court ruling preserving birthright citizenship

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

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

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

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

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

National Stories

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

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

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

Chuck Schumer hits his limit

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

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

Mike Johnson can’t get control of the House

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

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

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

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

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

NPR retracts story about Alito retirement

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

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

Felicia Lamb: Trulieve 'Megatron' facility threatens my home

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Copyright July 01, 2026, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved