December 8, 2025: All Newsclips

Lead Stories

Jasmine Crockett expected to launch Senate campaign ahead of candidate filing deadline

U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett on Monday is expected to launch a Senate bid that will dramatically reshape the race for the seat held by Republican John Cornyn. If she files her candidacy for the seat, Crockett would join a March 3 Democratic primary field that includes former U.S. Rep. Colin Allred of Dallas and state Rep. James Talarico of Austin. The winner of the Democratic nomination advances to a November general election showdown against the victor of the GOP primary that includes Cornyn, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt. The Democratic Senate primary will likely focus on which candidate is better suited to be the party’s standard bearer in the era of President Donald Trump. Polls show Democrats want a fighter to lead a fierce resistance to Trump and his policies, rather than someone focused on compromising.

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“Voters are looking for someone who’s unapologetic in defending our values and who is plain spoken and knows how to speak the language of the everyday person,” said Kardal Coleman, chairman of the Dallas County Democratic Party. “All of them are going to be skilled campaigners and skilled communicators, but the person who can really exemplify what it means to be a Texas Democrat is going to have the most success.” Candidates have until 6 p.m. Monday to file for the March 3 primaries. Crockett will make an official announcement on her political future at 4:30 p.m. Crockett, 44, is in her second term representing District 30 in the Dallas area. She won the seat in 2022 after the late trailblazing Democrat Eddie Bernice Johnson hand-picked Crockett as her successor. Before Congress, Crockett served one term in the Texas House. She got there by winning an underdog campaign against former state Rep. Lorraine Birabil, D-Dallas. In Congress Crockett is known for her unabashed criticism of Trump and his allies. She’s had spats with U.S. Republican Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Nancy Mace of South Carolina that went viral.

Trump’s firing spree gives Supreme Court the chance to remake government

President Trump’s firing spree at federal agencies has snowballed into a Supreme Court showdown over how modern American government should work. Dangling by a thread is the tradition that certain sensitive policy details—from regulating nuclear reactors to setting safety standards for consumer products—should be managed by bipartisan panels of technocrats, whose jobs are insulated from political pressure. In its place, the high court appears poised to enshrine a competing view championed by Trump: that presidents must have the power to dismiss any of these unelected experts for any reason—or no reason at all. That is the only way, proponents say, to cut red tape and ensure that regulators remain accountable to voters. “This case is at the heart of two conflicting visions for the presidency and how the government operates generally,” said Ilan Wurman, an expert on administrative and constitutional law at the University of Minnesota. “Given what we know of the justices’ prior views and decisions, it would be surprising if they didn’t rule in favor of robust presidential control of the administrative state.”

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The court will hear arguments Monday in the case of Rebecca Slaughter, a Democratic member of the Federal Trade Commission fired by Trump in March. The justices are considering what might seem like a technical issue involving the constitutionality of longstanding federal laws that restrict the president’s ability to fire the leaders of independent agencies, including the FTC, the National Labor Relations Board and the Consumer Product Safety Commission. But the court’s answer, expected by July, will matter far beyond the job security of bureaucrats at boards and commissions with an alphabet soup of initials. A broad victory for Trump will allow him to intensify his mission of directing those agencies to implement his deregulatory agenda, advance his political aims and even pursue retribution against his foes. It is all part of what conservative legal scholars call the unitary executive theory, the notion that the Constitution concentrates all the powers of the executive branch in the hands of a muscular president. In an interview from her home, where she now works on her case out of her basement, Slaughter said granting the president such unfettered power could have broad ramifications for the nation’s economy. “Congress set up these agencies to protect integrity and stability in markets, and to ensure that decisions—many of which involve economic policy—are being made by experts on the merits, rather than for political reasons or to do favors for the president’s allies or punish his enemies,” she said.

New week, No new plan: ACA subsidies issue takes center stage

A discharge petition, several bipartisan proposals and a Senate vote that will undoubtedly fail: Lawmakers are scrambling this week to try to pass something that will extend the Affordable Care Act subsidies that are set to expire at the end of the year. This week is seen as critical for addressing the subsidies, as the Senate is set to vote on a Democratic proposal — a vote that was scheduled as part of the deal to reopen the government. But Republicans say what Democrats are offering is a non-starter and there is no consensus or real momentum around any of the flurry of proposals flying around Capitol Hill right now. The one person who could potentially help move the needle is President Donald Trump, but he hasn’t helped lawmakers out much so far. He’s given them little direction on a health care plan, though he’s endorsed putting ACA subsidy funds into health savings accounts instead.

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“We’ve been speaking in the Senate a lot — both parties in the Senate. Everyone’s got their ideas. We’re just trying to thread a needle to get to 218 and 60. That’s it,” said Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, one of the lawmakers who introduced legislation to deal with the expiring subsidies. Senate Democrats, meanwhile, have proposed a clean three-year extension of the tax credits that Republicans say they won’t support. “Republicans have one week to decide where they stand … Any Republican who claims to care about premium increases on Jan. 1 has only one realistic path and that’s to support our simple, clean three-year bill for an extension. If Republicans block our bill, there’s no going back,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said. Ryan Wrasse, spokesperson for Senate Majority Leader John Thune, called a clean extension “a wildly unserious proposal that has been repeatedly rejected.” “If enacted, the Democrats’ plan would allow people who make north of $500K per year to continue receiving these meant-to-be-temporary Biden COVID bonuses,” Wrasse said in a post on X.

Trump waives Southwest Airlines fine for holiday meltdown

Ahead of the holiday season, the Trump administration just let Southwest Airlines off the hook for the remaining government payments of a record-setting $140 million fine brought by the Department of Transportation after the airline’s software meltdown stranded two million customers over Christmas three years ago. Late on Friday evening, the Department of Transportation posted a notice relieving Southwest from making its final $11 million payment for "significantly improving its on-time performance,” according to the department. The outstanding $11 million was nearly a third of the total $35 million fine that Southwest owed to the government, thirty times larger than any previous Transportation Department penalty for consumer-protection violations.

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The rest of the $140 million penalty was either returned directly to customers harmed by the systemwide holiday meltdown in 2022 or set aside by the airline for future compensation to passengers, as mandated by the Transportation Department’s enforcement action. “DOT believes that this approach is in the public interest,” reads the Friday notice, amending the original consent order struck by the Biden administration. This move is just the latest rollback of Biden-era enforcement actions by Trump’s pick for Secretary of Transportation, Sean Duffy, who previously worked as a lobbyist for an airline trade association. In May, the department dropped a lawsuit against Southwest filed by the Biden administration for “chronically delayed flights” in violation of consumer protections and related laws. Under Duffy, the department has also revoked Biden-era consumer-protection rules ensuring customers receive automatic compensation for canceled flights and extensive delays. The enforcement rollbacks come amid extensive outside lobbying and pressure from the airline lobby. Airlines for America, the main industry association representing Southwest and other airlines, hired the influential MAGA-connected lobbying firm Ballard Partners at the start of the year to work on “aviation policy for domestic carriers.” White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and Attorney General Pam Bondi both worked as lobbyists for Ballard.

State Stories

West Texas measles outbreak cost $12.6 million, a study found

The United States is on the brink of losing its measles-free status in 2026 after eradicating the disease in 2000. The 2025 outbreak began Jan. 20 in West Texas. Gaines County had 414 confirmed cases of measles, with Terry County and El Paso County experiencing around 60. In total, there have been 1,828 cases in the United States in 2025, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The Texas Department of State Health Services confirmed the first measles outbreak in Bexar County on July 2. A recent study found that an outbreak the size of the one that occurred in West Texas cost around $12.6 million. It costs around $58,600 for one person to receive care for measles in the hospital. “These outbreaks require extensive public health responses to mitigate, consume substantial hospital resources, and impose an economic and financial burden on state and federal budgets,” according to the study.

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But more than just being a financial burden, measles threatens the health of communities. Symptoms present as a high fever, cough, runny nose, red, watery eyes and white spots in the mouth a few days after symptoms appear. Complications include ear infections, diarrhea, pneumonia and encephalitis, or an inflamed brain. For kids who are 5 and younger, complications can be higher risk. It can lead to hospitalization, hearing loss and death. Eradicating the disease has been complicated by the head of the Department of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. spurring public mistrust in vaccines, firing experts at the CDC and constraining the ability for health departments to respond. To be fully immunized, children require two dosages, according to Metro Health. The first is given by 15 months old and the second by 6 years old. If you’re an adult and have no evidence of immunity, you can be administered one dose with your healthcare advisor deciding if a second dose is necessary. Even if vaccinated, you can still pass the virus along. The question will be if the outbreaks are linked. This is done by evaluating the genomes of the virus to see if it contains similar genetic information. It is a method that has been done for previous outbreaks like the COVID pandemic and AIDS epidemic.

TCU football learns bowl destination, will face marquee opponent

TCU football is headed to San Antonio for bowl season. The Horned Frogs will face Lincoln Riley and USC in the Alamo Bowl at 8 p.m. Dec. 30 at the Alamodome. TCU (8-4) finished the regular season with wins over Houston and Cincinnati. The Trojans (9-3) finished No. 16 in the final College Football Playoff rankings. “I know our fans are very excited about this opportunity to play against USC, one of the great programs in all of college football,” coach Sonny Dykes said on Sunday. “We’re very excited about the opportunity go to San Antonio and stay in the state of Texas. It’s a fantastic bowl, I’ve had an opportunity to coach in it before, and I always felt like it was one of the top bowl games.”

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The Horned Frogs’ bowl game will be on a bigger scale compared to last year, when they beat Louisiana 34-3 in the New Mexico Bowl. It’s an opportunity to end the year with a top-20 win over a marquee opponent from the Big Ten in a standalone game on ESPN. “You look at the history of this bowl, there’s a lot of eyes on this game,” Dykes said. “It’s in a great time slot, the day before New Year’s Eve, I would expect the game to be widely viewed which obviously helps in recruiting.” Assuming no opt-outs, the Trojans have plenty of star power with wide receiver Makai Lemon and quarterback Jayden Maiava. USC also has former TCU running backs coach Anthony Jones on staff. He was an integral part of TCU’s run to the 2022 national championship against Georgia as he helped develop Kendre Miller and Emari Demercado into NFL running backs. Riley’s younger brother, Garrett, also previously served as Dykes’ offensive coordinator at SMU and TCU in 2022 before departing for Clemson. Riley said the Trojans are also excited to face the Horned Frogs and the game will have a special meaning to him due to his relationship with Dykes.

Texas Tech beats BYU for Big 12 title, likely CFP 1st-round bye

Texas Tech's all-in bet just paid off. After an offseason of big dreams and bigger spending, the No. 4 Red Raiders secured their first Big 12 championship in program history Saturday with a 34-7 rout of No. 11 BYU. It was another dominant display from a 12-1 squad, unlike any seen in Lubbock, one that fuels even more confidence about a deep College Football Playoff run. After the confetti fell inside AT&T Stadium and coach Joey McGuire hoisted a trophy he had been chasing for four years, he fought back tears as he embraced billionaire board chair Cody Campbell, general manager James Blanchard, athletic director Kirby Hocutt and the many stakeholders who helped set up this program for a historic season. Together, they ended decades of frustration for a Texas Tech football program that hadn't won an outright conference title since 1955. When the Red Raiders built their trophy room as part of their $242 million new training facility, they reserved a space for a Big 12 trophy. In place of hardware, a small block rested on the trophy stand with one word printed on it: "BELIEVE."

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Texas State to play Rice in Armed Forces Bowl

The Texas State Bobcats are going bowling once again. The Bobcats are set to face Rice in the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl on Jan. 2 at Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth. It is the third consecutive year the Bobcats have qualified for a bowl game after playing in the First Responder Bowl each of the last two seasons, which included a matchup against upcoming opponent Rice in 2023. The Bobcats finished the regular season with a 6-6 record, starting the season impressively with a 3-1 record through four games, but ultimately finishing with a lackluster 3-5 record in Sun Belt Conference play. This season was the Bobcats' last in the Sun Belt, as they are set to join the reformed Pac-12 Conference for the 2026 season.

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Texas A&M had to ‘kick a door down’ to make the CFP. Now, Aggies face difficult title path

There’s a multitude of worthwhile reasons to revisit Texas A&M’s early-season statement road win over Notre Dame after Sunday’s College Football Playoff bracket reveal. For one thing: It undoubtedly had a say in where the Aggies are seeded and why the Irish were controversially omitted from the 12-team field. For another: It’s a reminder of what A&M will need to do to capitalize on the opportunity now afforded to them. “I don’t think we were magically going to become a team where everything comes smooth,” A&M head coach Mike Elko said after his team’s 41-40 win at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Ind. “We had to kick a door down.” The Aggies (11-1) kicked another down Sunday when they officially reached the College Football Playoff for the first time in program history and earned first-round home field advantage at College Station’s Kyle Field as the 12-team bracket’s seventh-seeded team.

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The turbulence — or, at least, the potential for it — comes next. The playoff committee’s bait-and-switch decision to flip Notre Dame and Miami at seemingly the last second cost A&M a rematch with an Irish team that it beat to kick start a historic season. The Aggies will instead host the 10th-seeded Hurricanes (10-2) who, like A&M, beat Notre Dame by a single score earlier this year and sharpened their playoff resume because of it. The winner of that first-round game will play second-seeded Ohio State (last year’s national champion) in the Cotton Bowl Classic at Arlington’s AT&T Stadium on New Year’s Eve. The victor of that quarterfinal may have to play third-seeded Georgia (the SEC championship game winner) in the Fiesta Bowl one week later to clinch a trip to the championship game. Texas — the only team that beat A&M this season — lost to both Ohio State and Georgia earlier in the year. There are nine teams ranked ahead of the Aggies in ESPN’s Football Power Index. Three of them — Ohio State (second-best FPI rank), Georgia (sixth-best) and Miami (seventh-best) — are on their side of the bracket and would be first or second-round opponents. Per ESPN’s SP+ metrics, which are measured differently than their FPI figures, the Aggies and Hurricanes have an identical rating but both lag behind the Buckeyes and Bulldogs. Or, in other words, this ain’t Samford.

Facing future water shortages, Williamson County invests in $500K study to find solutions

Williamson County is working with local cities and other water providers to study the area's long-term supply needs. Representatives from the county and several cities, including Cedar Park, Georgetown, Leander and Round Rock, recently came together to form the Williamson County Water Group. "The county is not a water provider, and we're officially not in the water business," said Williamson County Judge Steve Snell. "But I think we can provide leadership in that conversation as we bring our cities and our water providers together to create a better future for Williamson County." The group's first task includes helping oversee a recently approved $500,000 study, which is intended to assess the county's long term water and infrastructure needs.

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"We can't do anything without water," Snell said. "We all need to work together and use our expertise." Snell likened the new county-led coalition to the Brushy Creek Regional Utility Authority — a partnership between the cities of Cedar Park, Leander and Round Rock to treat and distribute water from the Lower Colorado River Authority. Cedar Park Mayor Jim Penniman-Morin said this partnership is in everyone's interest. "What we've realized is that for us to achieve our long term goals as a community — particularly economic development — all our neighbors have to thrive as well," he said. "There is no version of Cedar Park as successful as it should be without all our neighbors being equally successful." Several cities, including Georgetown, have struggled to keep up with customers' water demand in recent years.

Austin's Paramount Theatre celebrates 110 years of community building

Since its inception in 1915, The Paramount Theatre has established roots in Austin as a safe haven for community members from all walks of life and interests. While the theatre has seen many changes in physical attributes and ownership, its presence as a community staple has remained strong throughout the decades. Jim Ritts, CEO and executive director of nonprofit Austin Theatre Alliance—which operates the theatre—said the milestone is an accomplishment for theatres nationwide, not just the local Austin community. He said it’s rare for a theatre to operate for over 100 consecutive years and remain in their same location without closing.“Us having been here since 1915, it means when we opened, we were in the middle of World War I,” Ritts said. “We survived the Spanish flu which killed tens of millions of people all over the world and we came back from World War II, and obviously this last bit of the pandemic. We have always been there for the community to be able to come together.” The theatre’s stage has crossed paths with artists from far and wide including industry stars such as Willie Nelson and Miles David to figures like Barack Obama and Harry Houdini.

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The theatre is home to various annual events including South by Southwest Conference and Festivals, Austin Film Festival, ATX Television Festival and Moontower Comedy Festival. In addition to these larger-scale events, community members can find all sorts of entertainment hosted at the theatre from live podcasts and comedy to special movie screenings and musical concerts. With strong roots tied to a multitude of Austin communities, the space has become known as a hub for individuals of all backgrounds to find connection. Ritts said he has come across people who call the theatre “Austin’s church” because of its reputation as a gathering place. “They come together to be entertained, they come together to be to be informed, they come together to celebrate whether it's you know a first date, a marriage proposal, they've been married here, they've been eulogized here, they have been able to gather in a sense of community that I think is so incredibly important,” Ritts said.

‘Anger’ could sway the Houston City Council runoff as election day approaches

In November, trial attorney Alejanda Salinas celebrated with supporters as she emerged at the front of the 15-candidate field for a vacant at-large city council position with more than 21% of the vote. "I’m a first-time candidate running against someone with strong name ID," Salinas said on election night. "We had a lot of work to do over the past four months, and the position we’re in, I think, is a testament to the work of not only myself, but the hundreds of people that have volunteered on our campaign." Former District D council member Dwight Boykins had name recognition, but Salinas had money — with more than $500,000 in contributions to his $140,000.

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About 140 of her 560 donors were from out of state — including many of her coworkers at the Susman Godfrey law firm, who gave more than $200,000. "I’m fundraising from the exact same people all of my opponents are — their family and friends and people that believe in their campaign," Salinas said. "All that reflects is that I’ve lived all over this country, and I want to take the lessons I’ve learned from all over the country and make this city better." "You know, I don’t have a law firm to give me all that money," Boykins said, "but it doesn’t matter." Salinas ran on a decidedly progressive platform for voters dissatisfied with status quo politics — advocating for legal action to fight against the Republican-controlled state government and calling for multimodal transportation options. Boykins, by contrast, positioned himself as a pragmatic moderate operating outside partisanship.

SMU draws $60 million donation to launch energy studies, honors programs

The Dallas-based O’Donnell Foundation is committing $60 million to Southern Methodist University to help the school advance its vision of becoming a national leader in energy studies amid the industry’s boom in North Texas. The donation is the second-largest gift in the university’s history after a $100 million commitment from the Moody Foundation in 2019 created the Moody School of Graduate and Advanced Studies. The late Edith and Peter O’Donnell Jr. started the O’Donnell Foundation in 1957, focused on bolstering math, science and arts. The investment from the prominent benefactor with a record of hefty donations to Texas schools will help SMU recruit top faculty, create an honors fund and launch an energy studies program. The university is touting a new “Energy Science, Innovation and Enterprise” program as the first of its kind, due to its interdisciplinary approach. The program will prepare students for careers in energy, oil and gas, entrepreneurship, and more.

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Bringing in faculty across the university’s business, engineering, and humanities and sciences schools, the program will fuse various subjects associated with the energy industry, from economics to engineering to public policy. The school’s goal is to develop top-notch leaders who can steer the industry from any angle. “The energy sector is so front and center here, not only in the state of Texas, but also in Dallas,” SMU President Jay Hartzell told The Dallas Morning News in an interview Friday. “Energy is an area where we thought it was really ripe for an opportunity.” Texas produces about 25% of the nation’s wind energy, 25% of its fossil fuels and 5% of its nuclear energy. Texas employs about 990,100 workers in energy-related fields, according to the latest U.S. Energy and Employment Report. While the state is “the epicenter” of a global energy industry, Dallas is uniquely positioned to lead it, said Bruce Bullock, director of the Maguire Energy Institute at SMU, who helped envision the new program. The region is home to automotive companies, oil and gas businesses, and major financial institutions. “Dallas has all of that, and that’s why SMU is really the ideal place to locate a program like this,” Bullock said. Students in the new program will learn not only the technical skills, but also the soft skills, like leadership, integrity and work ethic, Bullock added. That’s especially important in an industry like energy, where leaders are required to manage big teams early in their careers, he said. SMU will also start an honors program in the foundation’s name, called the O’Donnell Academic Honors Fund. Selected students will gain a “distinctive educational experience,” studying closely with faculty members and in small classroom sizes. The “highly personalized” honors program will focus on students in “high-impact fields,” starting with those majoring in biology, chemistry and applied physiology and health management. Those programs will access four years of seed funding to recruit faculty and a career counselor. Twenty students from each chosen major will receive scholarships and career advising. Scholars in their third year will have professional experiences that align with their major, like assisting in research or internships. The offerings will start in fall 2026. The programs support SMU’s new strategic plan, set to be unveiled in spring 2026. The donation will allow the school to pursue its “relentless focus” on attracting top-tier students and faculty members, Hartzell said.

Texas Longhorns left out of playoffs after starting the season ranked No. 1

At the start of the college football season, everyone expected a team from Texas to make the playoffs. A couple teams did, but not the one fans expected. The Texas A&M Aggies and Texas Tech Red Raiders have a chance to win the national title. The Texas Longhorns, the top-ranked team in the country at the start of the season, will not. As a consolation prize, the Longhorns will play the University of Michigan in the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl on Dec. 31 in Orlando. A&M will host a first-round game against Miami on Dec. 20. Texas Tech, winners of the Big 12 Conference, get a first-round bye and won't play until New Year's Day as they await the winner of the Oregon/James Madison game.

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The Aggies were the surprise team of the year in the Southeastern Conference. Preseason polls had the team finishing eighth. And while the Aggies only beat one team that finished the year ranked, that early-season win against Notre Dame propelled A&M up the national rankings. Similarly, Texas Tech was not a favorite to win the Big 12 at the start of the season, but the Red Raiders spent millions of dollars compiling their roster, with reports saying it was among the most spent across all of college football. For the Longhorns, it was a preseason of high hopes, from a No. 1 ranking to a predicted Heisman-winning quarterback in Arch Manning. But the team stumbled from the top spot to being unranked after losing to powerhouse Ohio State and a struggling Florida team in the first five games of the season. The team did rally, with wins over playoff-bound Oklahoma and Texas A&M, but a blowout loss to Georgia in November proved to be too much to overcome in the team’s hope to slip into the playoffs.

Texas judge denies Klein ISD’s request for dismissal from Title IX lawsuit

A Texas judge has denied Klein Independent School District’s request to be dismissed from a Title IX lawsuit stemming from allegations that a former teacher organized a sex trafficking ring and helped her son traffic students. Kedria Grigsby, 42, a former cosmetology teacher at Klein Cain High School, was arrested last year and charged with three counts of compelling prostitution of a minor and three counts of trafficking a child, according to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office. Grigsby is accused of assisting in her son's efforts in recruiting teen runaways from the school district for prostitution. Desma Darden, a former special education teacher at the high school, filed a federal lawsuit in February alleging she told two of her supervisors and the sheriff’s office in March of 2023 that her teenage daughter had been subjected to human trafficking and prostitution by Grigsby and her son, Roger Magee.

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She resigned two months later after being told she would be terminated if she didn’t do so, according to Darden’s lawsuit. United States District Judge Alfred Bennett, in an order last month, partially granted an October motion that sought each party’s dismissal, including the school district, former Klein Cain High School Principal Nicole Patin, and Deedra Davis, an employee relations staffer in the school district. While Bennett’s order dismisses Title IX allegations against Patin and Davis, it maintains that the school district can not be dismissed from the lawsuit, which is just one of several federal lawsuits stemming from the alleged sex trafficking ring. Bennett’s order also affirms magistrate judge’s recommendation on the case, according to court documents. According to the order, Patin, Davis and the school district had argued that the magistrate judge improperly relied on “nonexistent facts” to conclude that the victim sufficiently alleged a Title IX claim against the school district. Bennett forfeited their objection and said that the court agrees that the victim adequately established criteria for a Title IX claim, which prohibits sex-based discrimination in public schools and retaliation against those who file the complaints.

ICE deported Austin college student before court could intervene, filing shows

Late last month when immigration agents detained 19-year-old Any Lucia Lopez Belloza before she could board a flight home to Austin, her family – and her lawyer – were stunned by how quickly the federal government moved to deport her. Just two days after being arrested at Boston Logan International Airport, the college student was shackled and placed on a flight back to her native Honduras where she remains as she searches for a new university. The deportation unfolded so rapidly that she had already been flown to Texas by the time her lawyer could file an emergency motion to stop it – a stay a federal judge approved within minutes.

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A new court filing obtained by the American-Statesman explains how the U.S. government is justifying the legality of the lightning-fast deportation. Legal experts say the filing, and the case at large, represents one of the increasingly common and troubling tactics the Trump administration is using amid its ongoing immigration crackdown. It's an approach that relies on speed and geography to shield its actions from judicial review. In the Wednesday filing, the federal government argues the court that granted Lopez Belloza’s habeas petition lacks jurisdiction because she was not physically in the state of Massachusetts when the petition was filed. It also contends the habeas petition – intended to free someone from unlawful custody – is moot because she is no longer detained. “When the petition was filed on November 21, 2025 at 6:00 p.m., petitioner was in ICE custody in Texas,” the filing states. “As petitioner’s arrest and detention were lawful, and petitioner has been released from custody, this court should dismiss the petition rather than transfer it to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas.”

National Stories

Mom of Karoline Leavitt’s nephew rejects White House narrative of her ICE arrest

From her confinement in a remote detention center in Louisiana, Bruna Ferreira recounted all the ways she said she has tried to maintain a friendly relationship with the family of White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt. After all, Ferreira shares a child with Leavitt’s brother. The Brazilian immigrant selected Leavitt to be her son’s godmother. She signed off on her son’s trip to the White House Easter egg hunt this spring. And she said she “moved mountains” to ensure he could attend Leavitt’s wedding in January. Arrested Nov. 12 by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Ferreira, 33, said it is insulting to sit in orange prison scrubs facing possible removal to Brazil after spending most of her life in the United States while the Trump administration paints her as a criminal. She is being detained for being in the United States illegally, a civil violation, after overstaying a visa when she was a child.

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“I asked Karoline to be godmother over my only sister,” she said Thursday in a video interview with The Washington Post. “I made a mistake there, in trusting. … Why they’re creating this narrative is beyond my wildest imagination.” Since her arrest, the White House media office has portrayed Ferreira as an absentee mother who had not been in Karoline Leavitt’s orbit in years. The White House issued a statement that said Ferreira had not spoken to Leavitt in years and that Ferreira had never lived with her son. The White House also shared a Department of Homeland Security statement that called Ferreira a “criminal,” with a previous arrest for “battery,” though it has not responded to repeated requests for supporting documentation. Court records, family photos and Ferreira’s account tell a different story. Ferreira said she met Michael Leavitt at a nightclub. They fell in love, got engaged and had a child, living together in New Hampshire. Their relationship fell into turmoil and instead of marrying, they broke up in 2015. Through the years they have shared caregiving responsibilities for their son, now 11, according to Ferreira and court records. While it is not uncommon for the White House and DHS to make disparaging statements about undocumented immigrants, Ferreira said she was offended by their remarks. Her son is a Leavitt, and she said she sees that side of the family frequently while visiting the boy or cheering him on at school or in sports. Karoline Leavitt, who Ferreira said was once like a younger sister to her, is among the most vociferous champions of President Donald Trump’s campaign to deport millions of immigrants.

Libraries and museums get federal funding back after Trump cuts

The Institute of Museum and Library Services is reinstating all grants that were previously terminated by the Trump administration. A short statement posted on the agency's website Wednesday reads, "this action supersedes any prior notices which may have been received related to grant termination." The IMLS is the independent agency in charge of awarding federal grant funding to libraries and museums across the country. Earlier this year, it was the target of one of President Trump's executive orders, which led to the termination of grants that had been previously awarded. Library insiders said the move particularly hurt small and rural libraries, with limited access to other sources of funding.

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In response to the EO, attorneys general in 21 states filed a lawsuit against the administration, and in November a Rhode Island District Court judge ruled that the Trump administration's actions were unlawful. Now, libraries and museums across the country will have access to money that had been stuck in a months-long limbo. American Library Association President Sam Helmick said in a statement that the reinstatement was a "massive win" for libraries in all states. "We are breathing a sigh of relief, but the fight is not finished," the statement reads. "The administration can appeal court decisions. Congress can choose to not fund IMLS in future years. ALA calls on everyone who values libraries to remind their Congressmembers and elected officials at every level why America's libraries deserve more, not fewer resources." NPR has reached out to IMLS representatives for comment. Generally speaking, federal funding only makes up a small portion of the budget for public libraries. But it does help pay for workforce training and pilot programs, and it supports basic library services such as internet access in rural libraries. The IMLS awarded $266 million in grants to museums and libraries in 2024.

Tributes, not politics, play center stage as Trump hosts the Kennedy Center Honors

The three living members of the rock band KISS walked onto the red carpet at the Kennedy Center Sunday night. No makeup, and sporting tuxes instead of spandex, but they were swarmed by the press like the rock stars they are. Other big names across entertainment were in the building, too — Gloria Gaynor, Sylvester Stallone, George Strait and Michael Crawford. But it was President Trump who was the star of the show. It was the Kennedy Center Honors – the first since Trump installed himself as chair of the center's board. Trump said he was closely involved with picking the honorees, and Sunday, he became the first president to host the awards. Earlier this August, Trump broke from tradition and announced the names of the honorees. "This is the greatest evening at the Kennedy Center," he told the crowd from the stage, before joking about renaming the building the Trump-Kennedy Center.

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For the most part, the presenters stayed away from politics and shared personal stories related to the honorees. Actor and producer Sylvester Stallone was the first star to be honored. Composer Bill Conti took the stage to perform selections of his score from the movie Rocky. The actor Kurt Russell reminisced about working with him on Tango and Cash. "When Sly gives you a love tap, it's like a sledgehammer hitting your shoulder," he said. Actor Kelsey Grammer took the lead in honoring Phantom of the Opera star Michael Crawford. Ahead of the show, Grammer said the Kennedy Center Honors was an event he's respected and participated in for the last few decades, and he praised Trump's interest in investing in the center. "The word is, it was pretty much falling down," he said on the red carpet. "So I'm really excited about it." On stage, most presenters stayed away from commenting on politics. Grammy-winning singer Vince Gill honored country superstar George Strait. Dubbed "The King of Country Music," Strait is one of the best-selling country musicians of all time. Gill performed the George Strait song "Troubadour." Also honoring Strait were country-duo Brooks and Dunn and Miranda Lambert.

Violent threats pile up as Indiana Republicans confront pressure from Trump on redistricting

Spencer Deery’s son was getting ready for school when someone tried to provoke police into swarming his home by reporting a fake emergency. Linda Rogers said there were threats at her home and the golf course that her family has run for generations. Jean Leising faced a pipe bomb scare that was emailed to local law enforcement. The three are among roughly a dozen Republicans in the Indiana Senate who have seen their lives turned upside down while President Donald Trump pushes to redraw the state’s congressional map to expand the party’s power in the 2026 midterm elections.

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It’s a bewildering and frightening experience for lawmakers who consider themselves loyal party members and never imagined they would be doing their jobs under the same shadow of violence that has darkened American political life in recent years. Leising described it as “a very dangerous and intimidating process.” Redistricting is normally done once a decade after a new national census. Trump wants to accelerate the process in hopes of protecting the Republicans’ thin majority in the U.S. House next year. His allies in Texas, Missouri, Ohio and North Carolina have already gone along with his plans for new political lines. Now Trump’s campaign faces its greatest test yet in a stubborn pocket of Midwestern conservatism. Although Indiana Gov. Mike Braun and the House of Representatives are on board, the proposal may fall short with senators who value their civic traditions and independence over what they fear would be short-term partisan gain. “When you have the president of the United States and your governor sending signals, you want to listen to them,” said Rogers, who has not declared her position on the redistricting push. “But it doesn’t mean you’ll compromise your values.” On Friday, Trump posted a list of senators who “need encouragement to make the right decision,” and he took to social media Saturday to say that if legislators “stupidly say no, vote them out of Office – They are not worthy – And I will be there to help!” Meanwhile, the conservative campaign organization Turning Point Action said it would spend heavily to unseat anyone who voted “no.” Senators are scheduled to convene Monday to consider the proposal after months of turmoil.

Why New Orleans became Trump’s newest immigration target

Federal agents began immigration enforcement operations in metro New Orleans on Wednesday morning, as part of what the Department of Homeland Security is now calling Operation Catahoula Crunch (previously dubbed Swamp Sweep). Across the city there were reports of agents gathering, arrests at home improvement stores, and closed businesses in immigrant-heavy neighborhoods — scenes reminiscent of recent blitzes in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Charlotte, North Carolina.For some, New Orleans may not seem an obvious next location. The city is home to only about 27,000 foreign-born people, according to U.S. Census data, well below Charlotte’s 150,000 and Los Angeles’ 1.5 million. Metro New Orleans is about 10% foreign-born, below the national average of 14.3%.But in Louisiana, the Trump administration finds a unique combination of recent legal changes, enforcement-friendly politics and a large immigration detention infrastructure that could make the operation smoother than other efforts. Louisiana is also the first location where this type of crackdown is taking place under a state law that makes it a crime — even for local officials and police — to interfere with federal law enforcement.

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Administration officials like top Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino have generally been coy about how they pick locations, citing “intelligence” and telling reporters they wouldn’t “telegraph potential operations.” For many New Orleans area leaders, the selection looks like a choice made for political theater. President Donald Trump has relished any opportunity to flex federal muscle in locales where his politics are unpopular, and New Orleans is a historic Democratic stronghold.“What we are seeing unfold in our community is not public safety; it is a political stunt wrapped in badges, armored vehicles, and military uniforms,” U.S. Rep. Troy Carter, a Democrat who represents most of the New Orleans metro area, said in a statement on Tuesday.As a matter of timing, the most obvious advantage for the administration came two days before federal immigration agents began staging for operations in southern Louisiana, when a federal judge formally ended New Orleans’ nearly 13-year-old policing consent decree. For most of that time, the court-monitored agreement tightly regulated how the New Orleans Police Department could engage with immigrants, banning officers from asking about immigration status, compiling records related to immigration or participating in civil immigration enforcement. The consent decree made the city a de facto “sanctuary city” in many ways, but by court order, rather than city ordinance as in Chicago and Los Angeles.

How abortion access became a major sticking point in the GOP healthcare fight

As congressional Republicans weighed how to approach the fight over extending Affordable Care Act subsidies, powerful antiabortion groups saw an opportunity. Led by Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, antiabortion activists began to pressure Republicans during the fall government shutdown to further restrict abortion coverage from insurance plans made cheaper by ACA subsidies at the heart of the dispute. The activists’ warning was simple: Extending subsidies without such limits was a line Republicans must not cross to keep social conservative support in next year’s midterm elections. “If you demotivate the pro-life voters and tell them we don’t have something to offer you, it is a disaster to the Republican Party,” said Frank Cannon, chief political strategist at Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America. Those lobbying efforts are how abortion access became a sticking point as Congress faces a critical deadline next week to extend the subsidies before Dec. 15, the end of the open enrollment period for ACA coverage that takes effect in January.

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The popular healthcare subsidies expire at the year’s end, and conservative activists are intensifying their campaign on Republicans to ensure that the money isn’t used to indirectly fund abortions. A clash over abortion adds another layer of complexity to the continuing debate over reforming or ending the subsidies, which benefit about 20 million Americans, and further imperils the narrow prospects of reaching a deal. Republicans were already inclined to let the subsidies lapse, given longtime conservative opposition to the Obamacare healthcare law. Democrats secured a promise from Republicans to hold a vote on healthcare by the second week in December in exchange for voting to end the 43-day shutdown. President Trump’s advisers recently began drawing up a healthcare plan that included a two-year extension of the subsidies, but House Speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.) warned the White House that most House Republicans were opposed to continuing them. “I think the Republican conference really wants to find a path forward to take care of people that have no place else to go to get their health insurance,” said Sen. Mike Rounds (R., S.D.). But he cautioned, “We have never, as Republicans, ever voted to use taxpayer money to fund abortions, and we’re not going to start now.” The healthcare law, which broadened insurance access primarily through the creation of new health exchanges and an expansion of Medicaid, has been a top target of conservatives since its passage more than 15 years ago. Republicans have tried and failed to repeal the law in several high-profile fights.

Another instructor removed by University of Oklahoma amid protest over student’s failing grade

Another instructor at the University of Oklahoma has been removed amidst the controversy over one student’s failing grade. The most recent educator to be removed from the classroom allegedly told students that they would be excused for attending Friday’s protest of the removal of the teaching assistant at the heart of the controversy. The move was first reported by OU Nightly, which explained that the instructor told students she would excuse any absence for attending the protest. When asked by a student if attending a counter-protest would qualify, the instructor reportedly said it had to be an organized protest.

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There were no such protests on Friday, according to OU Nightly, and the student told the student-run outlet that he filed a complaint with the university. Director of First-Year Composition Dr. Roxanne Mountford called the lecturer’s attendance policy “inappropriate.” A statement from the university said the instructor “allegedly demonstrated viewpoint discrimination by excusing students who intended to miss class to attend a protest on campus, but not extending the same benefit to students who intended to miss class to express a counter-viewpoint.”

Copyright December 09, 2025, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved