January 12, 2026: All Newsclips

Lead Stories

Federal prosecutors open investigation into Fed Chair Powell

The U.S. attorney’s office in the District of Columbia has opened a criminal investigation into Jerome H. Powell, the Federal Reserve chair, over the central bank’s renovation of its Washington headquarters and whether Mr. Powell lied to Congress about the scope of the project, according to officials briefed on the situation. The inquiry, which includes an analysis of Mr. Powell’s public statements and an examination of spending records, was approved in November by Jeanine Pirro, a longtime ally of President Trump who was appointed to run the office last year, the officials said. The investigation escalates Mr. Trump’s long-running feud with Mr. Powell, whom the president has continually attacked for resisting his demands to slash interest rates significantly. The president has threatened to fire the Fed chair — even though he nominated Mr. Powell for the position in 2017 — and raised the prospect of a lawsuit against him related to the $2.5 billion renovation, citing “incompetence.”

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Mr. Trump told The New York Times in an interview last week that he had decided on who he wants to replace Mr. Powell as Fed chair. He is expected to soon announce his decision. Kevin A. Hassett, Mr. Trump’s top economic adviser, is a front-runner for the top job. While Mr. Powell’s term as chair ends in May, his term as a governor runs through January 2028. Mr. Powell has not disclosed whether he plans to stay on at the central bank beyond this year. Mr. Powell, in a rare video message released by the Fed, acknowledged on Sunday that the Justice Department had served the central bank with grand jury subpoenas days earlier. He described the investigation as “unprecedented” and questioned the motivation for the move, even as he affirmed that he carried out his duties as chair “without political fear or favor.” The Fed chair warned that the investigation signaled a broader battle over the Fed’s independence. “The threat of criminal charges is a consequence of the Federal Reserve setting interest rates based on our best assessment of what will serve the public, rather than following the preferences of the president,” Mr. Powell added. “This is about whether the Fed will be able to continue to set interest rates based on evidence and economic conditions — or whether instead monetary policy will be directed by political pressure or intimidation.”

Trump 'inclined' to keep ExxonMobil out of Venezuela after CEO response at White House meeting

President Donald Trump said Sunday that he is “inclined” to keep ExxonMobil out of Venezuela after its top executive was skeptical about oil investment efforts in the country after the toppling of former President Nicolás Maduro. “I didn’t like Exxon’s response,” Trump said to reporters on Air Force One as he departed West Palm Beach, Florida. “They’re playing too cute.” During a meeting Friday with oil executives, Trump tried to assuage the concerns of the companies and said they would be dealing directly with the U.S., rather than the Venezuelan government. Some, however, weren’t convinced. “If we look at the commercial constructs and frameworks in place today in Venezuela, today it’s uninvestable,” said Darren Woods, CEO of ExxonMobil, the largest U.S. oil company.

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An ExxonMobil spokesperson did not immediately respond Sunday to a request for comment. Also on Friday, Trump signed an executive order that seeks to ensure that Venezuelan oil revenue remains protected from being used in judicial proceedings. The executive order, made public on Saturday, says that if the funds were to be seized for such use, it could “undermine critical U.S. efforts to ensure economic and political stability in Venezuela.” Venezuela has a history of state asset seizures, ongoing U.S. sanctions and decades of political uncertainty. Getting U.S. oil companies to invest in Venezuela and help rebuild the country’s infrastructure is a top priority of the Trump administration after Maduro’s capture. The White House is framing the effort to “run” Venezuela in economic terms, and Trump has seized tankers carrying Venezuelan oil, has said the U.S. is taking over the sales of 30 million to 50 million barrels of previously sanctioned Venezuelan crude, and plans to control sales worldwide indefinitely.

Washington’s new lobbyists: Paid online influencers with few rules

Last summer, Donald Trump’s 28-year-old former campaign aide Alex Bruesewitz had some new advice for the president: reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug. “Nearly 70% of Republican voters support Trump on this. No brainer!,” he said to more than 640,000 followers on X. What Bruesewitz left out of the post: A political-action committee funded by legal marijuana’s biggest players had just paid him $300,000. Trump’s return to the White House has transformed the federal government and upended the business of lobbying, creating a new class of Washington operatives that blur the lines between consulting, advocacy and journalism. Corporate and foreign interests that used to rely primarily on paid lobbyists to pitch their case to lawmakers and administration officials are instead pouring money into trying to get their cause promoted by a group of young, conservative influencers known to be close to Trump’s staff.

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A camera-ready pack of Gen-Z social-media natives—many of whom were too young to vote when Trump announced his first run for office—are reaping the rewards. They don’t work for traditional news outlets and are thus unshackled from newsroom ethics rules, such as the typical ban on accepting gifts worth more than $25. They don’t have to follow the disclosure laws that apply to big-money super PACs or lobbyists. And they have large followings eager to hear pro-Trump views, a gold mine for those looking to sway both Washington and the public. Israel made plans over the past year to spend $900,000 on an influencer campaign with a U.S. audience, according to disclosure documents, as Israel fights negative sentiment on the right. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with conservative social-media stars on at least two of his visits. The solar energy and health industries have paid thousands of dollars to influencers to support their interests, according to people who have been offered or participated in such deals. Qatar, beverage interests and others have courted those with online political followings. MAGA influencers are turning access to the White House into lucrative new businesses. Trump’s former campaign manager Brad Parscale has pivoted from campaigning to running a prominent firm that specializes in connecting influencers to companies and others willing to pay for their posts.

New Texas poll brings bad news for Republicans — and one unexpected bright spot

The dominant political narrative for much of the past year has been that Democrats are sitting pretty heading into the 2026 midterms, while Republicans will be swimming against an upstream current, weighed down by the heavy millstone of President Donald Trump strapped tightly around their necks. But a newly released poll of Texas voters suggests that while Republicans have more reason for worry than celebration 11 months before the November election, there is a largely buried — and perhaps unrecognized — glimmer of hope that they might catch a break in the fall. Let's get the GOP's bad news out of the way first in the poll of 1,200 self-identified registered voters conducted by the Texas Politics Project and released Friday. Trump's approval rating in Republican-led Texas is underwater. So are those of pretty much every Republican holding statewide office and those running for statewide office. On a dozen issues state leaders tackled in the 2025 Legislature, respondents in the poll, taken Dec. 9-13, gave failing marks to 10. And on eight of them, the disapproval-to-approval ratio hovered close to 2-1.

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Ironically, even that faint ray of sunshine for Texas Republicans looks, at first blush, like another cloud. It has to do with the economy, both at the national and personal levels, and the overall direction of the state and the nation. More than one-third of respondents said the national economy was in poor shape, and only 24% said they themselves were doing OK financially. And that, paradoxically, is the good news. Here's why. In February, only 20% of Texans said they were happy with their own financial well-being. That survey came one month into Trump's return to the White House and represented a 5-point drop from when Democratic President Joe Biden was still in charge. Confidence in the national economy had been dropping since April, falling to 27% in August. The latest poll shows a 7-point rebound. Now let's look at why the poll might be putting a spring in the steps of Texas Democrats. First, their signature issue of health care is the top concern of most respondents. And unease about its affordability cuts across party lines. Overall, a whopping 89% said they are worried about the cost of heath care, and most said they are "very concerned." The pollsters said a key driver was the debate during the recent government shutdown over whether Congress would fully fund the Affordable Care Act.

State Stories

Crime in Austin dropped below pre-pandemic highs in 2025

Here's some good news to start 2026: Crime went down in Austin last year. And the drop isn't insignificant. In 2025, the city saw its lowest number of murders since 2020, and, overall, all violent crime dropped, along with property crime. The decrease brings Austin back to pre-pandemic normals, the Austin Police Department says, but it's also part of a larger national trend of crime-reduction in the U.S. Back in 2020 the city saw the highest number of murders, 60, since it began formally counting crime statistics in the 1960s. In 2021, that number soared to nearly 90.

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But since then the number of homicides has trended downward. APD Assistant Chief Angie Jones says last year, the number of homicides dropped to 55 — down from 66 in 2024. Jones says it's been the product of more collaboration between units within the police department, as well as other city departments "We have a really strong team there. They're very thorough and they do a phenomenal job," she said. "And that gets all of these dangerous felons off the streets." Jones said, homicides in 2025 were down 23% compared to 2024. Aggravated assaults were down 13% and robberies were down 5%. Property crimes also dropped significantly Those crimes dipped 7% over 2025 and they've dropped by nearly 20% since 2020, Jones said. For the last five years, experts wondered if high crime rates in the pandemic would be the "new normal." Jeff Asher, a national expert who runs the Real-Time Crime Analytics dashboard, says this year, to him, felt like a tipping point.

The speed-obsessed Texas wildcatter in pole position for Venezuela’s energy riches

Texas oilman Rod Lewis has made millions drilling in places even other wildcatters find too dangerous. But when he flew to Venezuela in 2024, he encountered an opportunity that was as treacherous—and possibly as profitable—as any in the world. Lewis wasn’t daunted by the country’s political and legal landscape. A firm he backs cut a deal with the state-run oil company, making it one of the few North American companies with contracts to operate in Venezuela, but it has since been stumped by sanctions that forbid it from doing business there. Now Nicolás Maduro is gone, and Lewis is in pole position to rush in to the Latin American country with the world’s largest oil reserves. He isn’t one to move slowly. “I have a need for speed,” he told Boat International magazine, in a feature about his 78-meter yacht called the M5, which is said to be the world’s largest single-masted vessel. He said he flies a helicopter three days a week and a plane five, with a preference for his collection of vintage World War II aircraft.

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While the Trump administration is pushing deep-pocketed firms such as Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips to wade into Venezuela, oil executives at a White House meeting on Friday said they needed security guarantees and an overhaul of Venezuela’s legal and commercial framework to consider diving in. But fast-moving wildcatters, armed with private capital, are less cautious. “I can tell you that the independent oil companies and the individuals—wildcatters, our phone’s ringing off the hook,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said at an event at the Economic Club of Minnesota. “They want to get to Venezuela yesterday.” Lewis fits the bill, people who know him said. He is a nimble, private operator with a high tolerance for risk and a wealth of experience forged in unstable locales such as Mexico and Colombia. “He’s actually a wildcatter,” said Conrad Gibbins, co-head of Upstream, Americas, at investment bank Jefferies. “He’s actually one of the few old-school guys in the industry that’s still around, still doing stuff.”

Democrats go statewide in Texas House races

For the first time in modern Texas politics, Democrats will field candidates in every one of the state’s 150 House districts. It’s a milestone party leaders hope will boost turnout, money and organization up and down the ballot, even as Gov. Greg Abbott enters the cycle with a well-tested ground game of his own. Democratic leaders say the move is less about flipping deeply red districts and more about expanding the electorate and forcing Republicans to defend territory they have long taken for granted. Houston Rep. Christina Morales, the new chief of the Texas House Democratic Campaign Committee, said a full slate of candidates creates infrastructure that can benefit statewide races, regardless of the odds in individual districts.

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Campaigns that once existed only on paper now bring door-knocking, phone banking and voter registration efforts, she said. Morales also is coordinating with national Democrats, trying to harness energy from Texas’ high-profile Senate race, marked by a bitter GOP feud. In that primary, incumbent Sen. John Cornyn faces Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt of Houston. The Democratic Senate contest, featuring state Rep. James Talarico of Austin and U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Dallas, has drawn wide voter interest and donor support. But attention and money only go so far. Abbott enters the cycle with a major advantage: a mature, statewide voter-mobilization network built over decades of Republican control. “Abbott has made it his own,” said longtime GOP strategist Thomas Graham, citing sustained relationship-building at the precinct level and focus on local concerns. “Democrats are still rebuilding a statewide party. The ground game heavily favors the governor.”

Students scramble as A&M reviews race, gender courses 1 week before class

An unprecedented review of thousands of courses at Texas A&M University for “race or gender ideology” has triggered chaotic last-minute changes for students and professors, just days before the spring semester begins. While many on campus are waiting to see how the policy might affect them, some students have already received stressful alerts. Iliana Lombrana learned in an email last Tuesday that her sociology course Introduction to Race and Ethnicity was canceled because A&M system’s new policy prohibits core classes from teaching topics related to race, gender or sexual orientation. The abrupt change briefly jeopardized her financial aid status and left her disappointed to miss out on the class she was most excited about this semester.

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“College is supposed to expand your worldview by showing you different perspectives,” Lombrana told the Chronicle. “The professors I’ve had in my courses have always respected and honored different perspectives from myself and my peers.” Texas A&M University officials declined to say how many courses have been affected, since the review is ongoing. If they are flagged for problematic topics, they could be canceled, moved from the core curriculum or changed to omit topics of race and gender. Two faculty members who attended a meeting with the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences this week said that he expects to request exemptions for around 30 courses. “As we examine thousands of courses to make sure they comply with the new policy of the Board of Regents, we realize there will be challenges,” Texas A&M said in a statement. “But we will get creative, make adjustments and do everything possible to ensure the Spring 2026 semester runs as smoothly as possible.” The changes have put faculty in the College of Arts and Sciences — home to many cultural courses — on edge. Many professors also remain confused about how the university is determining what falls under the definition of “ideology.” The college’s interim dean, Simon North, declined to comment.

Trump administration change to ‘public charge’ rule could leave more Texas kids without insurance

A federal rule change related to immigrants’ use of public benefits could create a “chilling effect” in migrant communities – and experts warn it could mean higher rates of uninsured children in Texas. The Department of Homeland Security wants to withdraw current federal guidance on the “public charge” rule. The proposed rule would mean officials could look at an immigrant’s use of public benefits – like Medicaid or SNAP – to assess whether they’re likely to become a public charge reliant on the government to meet their needs. If they have accessed public benefits, it could negatively affect their likelihood of being approved for legal status, such as a green card.

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“Families are going to be a little bit more apprehensive,” said Robert Sanborn, president and CEO of the Texas advocacy group Children at Risk. “The problem is that when we talk about a lot of Latino families, there's a lot of fear there about what is this going to mean.” Kelly Whitener, an associate professor with Georgetown University’s Center for Children and Families, said there’s been a lot of back-and-forth about what the term “public charge” means and how it is assessed. “The latest proposed rule seeks to undo what the Biden administration rule put into place around that definition without offering a new definition,” Whitener said. The first Trump administration had broadened the list of benefits the government could consider in 2019 and allowed prior public benefits to count in a determination. In 2022, the Biden administration restored the public charge definition that had been used since 1999. It limited what the government could consider a “public charge” to things like cash assistance, such as Social Security Income, and long-term institutionalization.

Harrison County DA’s Office first in state under new law to successfully appeal bond reduction

The Harrison County District Attorney’s Office this past week became the first in the state to win a criminal case appeal under a new bail reform law designed to strengthen public safety. The district attorney’s office successfully appealed a bond reduction for Corey Wilbert Jr., who is one of four defendants charged in the October 2025 murder of 48-year-old Carlos Hill on Bean Street in Marshall. Wilbert’s bond previously was reduced from $250,000 to $70,000 following a hearing in the 71st Judicial District Court. With this week’s successful appeal, however, his bond has been restored to the higher amount. “We felt $250,000 was sufficient,” District Attorney Reid McCain said. His office appealed the bond reduction to the 6th Court of Appeals in Texarkana.

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Senate Bill 9, enacted Sept. 1, allows prosecutors to appeal bond reductions they feel are inadequate for certain violent offenses. Under the new law, prosecutors “have a right now to take that issue on appeal because we think that’s better for the citizens of Harrison County,” McCain said. “Prosecutors across the state now have that authority, and we did. We did it successfully. “As it turns out, it was a case of first impression,” McCain said, explaining that refers to a new legal issue that is brought before a court. Because prosecutors hadn’t had the right to challenge a bond reduction before, the matter was a first impression issue before the appellate court, which ruled in the office’s favor. SB 9 was passed in June by the Legislature as part of a major bail reform package. According to the legislation, prosecutors can appeal bonds they believe are insufficient if the case involves a murder; a capital murder; certain aggravated assaults; an aggravated kidnapping; an aggravated robbery; an aggravated sexual assault; indecency with a child; a trafficking of persons or continuous trafficking of persons; or a defendant who has committed a felony while on bail for a previous felony.

Greg Abbott-targeted Muslim group says it helped stop attack on Trump

When Gov. Greg Abbott designated a Muslim civil rights group as a terrorist threat last fall, he pointed to its relationship with the Federal Bureau of Investigation as a key reason. In 2008, the FBI began restricting contact with the Council on American-Islamic Relations after it was identified as one of more than 200 groups and individuals with ties to a charity accused of funneling money to Hamas. Abbott said the group’s actions to “support terrorism across the globe and subvert our laws through violence, intimidation, and harassment are unacceptable.” CAIR is now pushing back with new information, not only disputing that it had any involvement with terrorist activity but saying it has actively helped officials thwart attacks — including alerting the FBI to a potential threat against President Donald Trump during his first term.

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Federal authorities arrested a man in 2019 named Hasher Taheb and accused him of planning attacks on the White House, as well as the Statue of Liberty, Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial and a synagogue. CAIR officials say they were deeply involved in the case, helping to facilitate meetings between FBI agents and community members who knew Taheb and, with FBI approval, to try and talk Taheb down. The group has not previously detailed its role in the case. It recounted the involvement and provided emails from the time documenting some of the exchanges to Hearst Newspapers. “We only reveal it now in response to these ludicrous claims that CAIR — which has quite literally helped to stop acts of terrorism — is a terrorist organization,” said Edward Ahmed Mitchell, CAIR’s national deputy director. “CAIR has not only condemned terrorism verbally, but we have taken action to stop terrorism.”

Florida woman posed as father of Camp Mystic flood victim, asked for donations, court documents show

Days after the deadly Camp Mystic floods last year, a woman from Florida reportedly tried to collect money online by pretending to be the father of one of the victims, according to court documents. Records state that 28-year-old Maitlin Paige White from Crestview, Fla., created a GoFundMe account on July 8, 2025, using the identity of Matthew Childress. Only four days prior, Childress' 18-year-old daughter Chloe died in the tragic floods while working as a counselor at Camp Mystic. On July 10, Childress notified authorities that someone had created the account using his name and a photo of Chloe, according to the documents. The court records allege the GoFundMe account was asking for the public to make cash donations to support the Childress family in the wake of the tragedy.

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During their investigation, detectives said they uncovered a second online donation account in Childress' name, this time on the Spotfund platform. Investigators said that after they requested records from GoFundMe and Spotfund, they received White's name, phone number, email address, and bank account details, all connected to the accounts she set up on July 8. The affidavit states that when investigators spoke with Childress, who lives in Harris County, he confirmed he had not given anyone permission to create online fundraisers for him or to use his personal information or his daughter's image. According to the documents, when investigators contacted White, she admitted to creating the fake accounts in Childress's name and using Chloe's name and photo to collect donations. The complaint says White told detectives she was a "single mother of two young children and was looking for a quick way to make some money." She also said she linked her Chime bank account to the fundraising pages so the donations would go straight to her. On July 11, Harris County Precinct One Constable Alan Rosen warned donors to the families of Texas Hill Country flood victims to be wary of impersonators in a Facebook post. In the message, he said a "scammer" was pretending to be Chloe Childress' father and that the donations totaled around $1,500 before it was shut down. Court records have not confirmed whether or not the incident in the Facebook post is linked to White's alleged crime. Court documents state that the Harris County District Attorney's Office charged White with a felony count of online impersonation on Jan. 2. The records also show she is not in custody and her bond has not been set.

American man wins Chevron Houston Marathon for 1st time since 2002

In a year where the United States of America is set to celebrate its 250th birthday, the men's winner for the 54th annual Chevron Houston Marathon Sunday couldn't be more fitting. Just after 9 a.m., Zouhair Talbi became the first American man to win the Chevron Houston Marathon since 2002. He also set a course record with his time of 2:05:45. "I knew I had under 2:06:00 in me, and I was just trying to find the perfect time, perfect race. That's why I chose Houston. The course, I know it's fast," said Talbi, who credited the pacers for helping him stay on track.

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How Frederick Haynes made decision to run for Congress

Dallas minister Frederick Haynes III was attending a civil rights summit in Montgomery, Ala., when he learned of a movement to draft him to replace Democrat Jasmine Crockett in Congress. The draft Haynes website went up three days before the deadline to file for the March 3 primaries. His cellphone buzzing throughout the day, he concedes he was caught off guard. “That’s when I knew it was serious, and I needed to seriously pray about it,” said Haynes, who for the next 48 hours consulted trusted allies. He filed a late bid for the 30th Congressional District, a decision that reshaped not only his career, but also North Texas politics. It pushed Rep. Marc Veasey, a fellow Democrat from Fort Worth, into early retirement. Haynes, 65, will kick off his campaign with a rally Monday in Fair Park. “A church member told me ‘you were awakened to the next phase of your purpose,’” he said.

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Haynes’ path from the pulpit to the stump took shape during debate over last summer’s redistricting plan. At legislative hearings, he spoke against the GOP plan that redrew the state’s congressional boundaries to give Republicans at least five more seats in Congress, including District 32 in North Texas. A group of young Democrats then approached Haynes about running for statewide office. “I told them thank you, but no,” he said. But they then “put a full court press on me.” In September, Haynes took a medical leave of absence from his mega-church in southern Dallas, Friendship-West Baptist Church, which has long been a hub for prominent Black civic, political and business leadership. He said the political recruiters gave him a “respite” to allow him to recover. They were back again as the filing deadline for the 2026 primaries loomed.

Pete Hegseth to visit Fort Worth’s Lockheed Martin and Brownsville's SpaceX on Monday

Pete Hegseth, the U.S. secretary of defense, will visit Lockheed Martin in Fort Worth on Monday as well as SpaceX in Brownsville, where “patriots work tirelessly, not with rifles, but with hardhats and relentless dedication, to ensure our military remains the most lethal and capable fighting force in the world,” the Pentagon said Sunday. Hegseth will deliver remarks to SpaceX employees alongside Elon Musk, the company’s founder. This is part of Hegseth’s “Arsenal of Freedom” tour and a “direct follow-up to Secretary Hegseth’s call to action delivered to defense executives last fall at Fort McNair.”

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“For too long, Pentagon bureaucracy has hindered the speed and might of our manufacturing base, obstructing innovation and warfare solutions from companies like SpaceX and Lockheed Martin,” the Department of War said in a statement Sunday. “Under the leadership of President Trump and Secretary Hegseth, we are unleashing the full power of our Defense Industrial Base (DIB) to advance our Peace Through Strength agenda.” The Pentagon described Monday’s event as Hegseth’s “third major speech” since he was sworn in. “This tour is intended to fuel a revival of our Defense Industrial Base, ensuring it can supply America’s finest with technologically superior products at the speed of relevance, the statement said. “This guarantees our dominance not just for today, but for generations to come. Lockheed Martin’s Fort Worth facility builds the F-35 Lightning II fighter jet for the Pentagon and foreign allies. In December, the company rolled out the first in a series of F-35A jets for Finland. The F-35 is the most economically significant defense program in history, according to Lockheed, creating 290,000 U.S. jobs and contributing $72 billion to the economy annually. Lockheed Martin has a $17.7 billion payroll in Texas, and the F-35 production facility in Fort Worth employs roughly 19,200 technicians, mechanics, engineers and support staff, and relies on nearly 900 Texas suppliers. The program has contributed $7 billion in local economic benefits, according to the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce, and supported over 30,000 jobs in the greater Fort Worth economy.

Texas launches portal for public complaints against colleges

The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board officially launched its Office of the Ombudsman website Friday, providing a portal where students and members of the public can file complaints against the state’s public colleges and universities. The new office was mandated by Senate Bill 37, legislation that went into effect Jan. 1, which increases state control over public higher education by giving governing boards authority over curriculum, faculty governance and hiring and requiring academic program reviews. It also established the ombudsman’s office to manage complaints and investigations into alleged violations of the state’s DEI ban or of the other provisions of SB 37. In October, Gov. Greg Abbott appointed Brandon Simmons as ombudsman. Simmons is a former tech company executive, corporate attorney and venture capitalist who previously served on the Texas Southern Board of Regents and as an entrepreneurial resident and distinguished professor of business at Wiley University in Marshall.

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“Through a user-friendly website and engagement on campuses across Texas, I look forward to a collaborative, productive partnership with our institutional leaders and students,” Simmons said in a statement. “Texas leads the nation with top-ranked, rapidly ascending universities, and our office is here to support these great institutions in serving the next generation of Texas students.” The website’s launch follows a series of high-profile incidents at public institutions in the state where faculty have had to alter course content or have even been removed for allegedly violating SB 37. Under Chancellor Brandon Creighton, the former state senator who authored SB 37, the Texas Tech University system in the fall began enforcing new standards regarding the teaching of race and sexuality, including that faculty may acknowledge the existence of only two genders, male and female. In September, an instructor at Texas A&M was removed after a video showing a student confronting her over a gender identity lesson went viral. And just last week, a philosophy professor at Texas A&M was told to remove from his syllabus passages by Plato related to patriarchy, masculinity and gender identity. The new ombudsman’s office will have five days to notify any college or university named in a complaint through the portal, The Austin American-Statesman reported, and the institution will have 175 days to respond. If it is found in violation of state law, the ombudsman can recommend that the Legislature withhold funding until the institution comes into compliance.

North Texas judge won’t face sanctions for declining to marry gay couples, Texas Supreme Court rules

marriages — and he wants that ruling overturned altogether. The Texas Supreme Court has reiterated its stance that judges who won’t perform certain weddings for religious reasons will not run afoul of state rules on judicial conduct, siding with a North Texas judge seeking to overturn the legalization of gay marriage altogether. Justices confirmed Friday that their October clarification of the rules that govern state judges’ conduct resolves a certified question posed by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals: Does it violate rules on judicial impartiality for a judge to publicly refuse to officiate certain weddings based on their sincerely held religious belief? “Accordingly, the answer to the certified question is no,” the Texas Supreme Court wrote in a two-page opinion.

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Friday's ruling likely resolves Jack County Judge Brian Umphress’ claims that he could be unlawfully disciplined for refusing to marry gay couples. But Umphress also wants the courts to rule that the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2015 ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges does not require judges to officiate gay marriages — and he wants that ruling overturned altogether. It’s now up to the Fifth Circuit to decide whether those claims can move forward. Josh Blackman, a constitutional law professor at the South Texas College of Law in Houston, said there's not much the federal appeals court can do. "At most, the justices can say, 'this issue is resolved by the [U.S.] Supreme Court. If you don't like it, file an appeal to the Supreme Court and deal with it there,'" Blackman said. KERA News has reached out to attorneys for the State Commission on Judicial Conduct and Umphress for comment and will update this story with any response. The question stemmed from Umphress’ 2020 lawsuit against the commission. The agency, responsible for disciplining state judges, issued a now-withdrawn sanction in 2019 against a different judge in Waco who publicly refused to marry gay couples while continuing to perform straight weddings.

County Stories

Kleberg County Judge Rudy Madrid released after DWI, attorney issues statement

Kleberg County Judge Rudy Madrid has been released from jail after his arrest last night involving a traffic stop on Highway 77. 3NEWS also heard from Madrid's attorney Saturday night. Mark Gonzalez released the following statement on his behalf: “Judge Madrid’s main focus is continuing to serve the wonderful people of Kleberg County, as he has since 2014. He has the utmost respect for the men and women of law enforcement, both with regard to Kleberg County and the Texas Department of Public Safety, as well as law enforcement across the state and nation. On the advice of counsel, Judge Madrid will not be making any statement regarding these allegations; however, I can assure you that he will be vigorously contesting any accusations while respecting the criminal justice process,” Gonzalez said.

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City Stories

San Marcos to reconsider stalled $1.5B data center project

After community opposition helped stall a $1.5 billion data center proposal, the development is once again moving through the approval process. The San Marcos Planning and Zoning Commission will meet Tuesday, when the project’s lead landowner and developer, Fort Worth-based Highlander SM One LLC, is set to petition for approval to build the data center campus. The project’s resurgence comes after local opposition led the commission to recommend denial in March. In August, the City Council — after more than two hours of public comment that mostly opposed the development — voted 5-2 to approve measures to annex and rezone the 64 acres on Francis Harris Lane.

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Despite that, the measure failed to achieve the required supermajority to move forward, requiring the landowners to restart the application process in October. “It’s incredibly frustrating,” Amanda Rodriguez, Place 6 city councilor, said in an interview Thursday. “Especially when the developer, after he saw everybody come through and push back, then to come back and try again. And when they say, ‘I care about you and your people.’ That’s two conflicting beliefs.” After a contentious town hall meeting, the company announced it was pausing its involvement in the rezoning case “to take the time needed to address concerns raised and to ensure that any future plans align with the needs and values of our community.” John Mayberry, manager of Highlander SM One, said in a Dec. 16 meeting that there are many potential builders and companies in discussions related to the project but nothing can move forward until the zoning issue is resolved. “Frankly, the time of this process led their contract to expire,” he said. The project envisions a five-building data center campus that would reside partially in San Marcos city limits at 904 Francis Harris Lane. Each of the data center’s buildings would have a 76-megawatt power capacity. The proposed facility would receive wastewater services from the city. Electricity would be managed by Pedernales Electrical Cooperative and water by the Crystal Clear Special Utility District.

National Stories

Trump’s war on Labor data didn’t change the economic outlook

President Donald Trump’s shake-up at the Bureau of Labor Statistics — and baseless claims that the agency was inaccurately reporting jobs numbers — didn’t change the actual economic trend lines: job growth slowed significantly during the president’s first year back in office, the highly anticipated December jobs report found. The unemployment rate for December punched in at 4.4% — just a tenth of a point lower than the month prior — with 50,000 new jobs added, according to the report. Economists and data watchers were eagerly awaiting the first good look into the job market since the government shutdown precluded crucial data-gathering work. But the report wasn’t surprising. “All the numbers are pretty much the same,” said Gbenga Ajilore, the chief economist at the left-leaning think tank the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

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And the December figures didn’t provide the evidence Trump has sought to back his claims that he has created a hot economy. In August, the president fired Erika McEntarfer, then the bureau’s commissioner, which authors the monthly jobs reports. Trump wrote in a Truth Social post that the July jobs data was “RIGGED in order to make the Republicans, and ME, look bad.” In all, 584,000 jobs were created in 2025 — a significant decline compared to the 2 million jobs in 2024. Except for 2020, when the pandemic brought the economy to a standstill, it was the worst year for job creation since the recession. Economists who spoke to NOTUS said there was nothing suspect about the December jobs report, however. “There is no evidence that there is anything untoward about these numbers,” Ajilore said. Ryan Young, a senior economist at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, said he believes BLS is “operating in good faith” and not “being politicized right now.” But that doesn’t mean the agency, which sits within the Department of Labor, escaped the consequences of a chaotic year for the federal government.

Congress is debating the possible consequences for ICE and even Noem after Renee Good's killing

The killing of a Minnesota woman by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer is reverberating across Capitol Hill where Democrats, and certain Republicans, are vowing an assertive response as President Donald Trump’s aggressive deportation operations spark protests nationwide. Lawmakers are demanding a range of actions, from a full investigation into Renee Good’s shooting death and policy changes over law enforcement raids to the defunding of ICE operations and the impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, in what is fast becoming an inflection point. “The situation that took place in Minnesota is a complete and total disgrace,” House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York said as details emerged. “And in the next few days, we will be having conversations about a strong and forceful and appropriate response by House Democrats.”

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Yet there is almost no consensus among the political parties in the aftermath of the death of Good, who was behind the wheel of an SUV after dropping off her 6-year-old at school when she was shot and killed by an ICE officer. The killing immediately drew dueling narratives. Trump and Noem said the ICE officer acted in self-defense, while Democratic officials said the Trump administration was lying and they urged the public to see the viral videos of the shooting for themselves. Vice President JD Vance blamed Good, calling it “a tragedy of her own making,” and said the ICE officer may have been “sensitive” from having been injured during an unrelated altercation last year. But Good’s killing, at least the fifth known death since the administration launched its mass deportation campaign, could change the political dynamic. “The videos I’ve seen from Minneapolis yesterday are deeply disturbing,” said Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, in a statement. “As we mourn this loss of life, we need a thorough and objective investigation into how and why this happened,” she said. As part of the investigation, she said she is calling for policy changes, saying the situation “was devastating, and cannot happen again.”

Sec. Noem says DHS sending 'hundreds more' ICE agents to Minnesota

Sec. Kristi Noem says hundreds more federal law enforcement officers will be headed to Minnesota on Sunday and Monday following the shooting of Renee Good in Minneapolis. Speaking on FOX News' "Sunday Morning Futures," Homeland Security Sec. Kristi Noem said more officers will be on the ground in Minnesota on Sunday and Monday. "We're sending more officers today and tomorrow," Noem told host Maria Bartiromo. "They'll arrive, there'll be hundreds more in order to allow our ICE and our Border Patrol individuals that are working in Minneapolis to do so safely. We're going to continue to, if they conduct violent activities against law enforcement, if they impede our operations, that's a crime, and we will hold them accountable to those consequences." The backstory: Tensions have been high in the Twin Cities in recent days following the shooting of Renee Nicole Good at the hands of ICE officer Jonathan Ross. The shooting has sparked protests across the city including outside the regional ICE headquarters at the Whipple Building at Fort Snelling.

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What we don't know: It's not clear exactly how many officers will be coming to the Twin Cities and exactly where this will put the total head count for federal law enforcement in the metro. In December, the Trump administration launched Operation Metro Surge, bringing more than 100 federal agents into the Twin Cities. In January, the Department of Homeland Security launched a new 30-day surge, this time bringing a reported force of 1,500 ICE officers and 600 Homeland Security investigators into the state with an aim at tackling fraud. Friday, FOX News reported that Border Patrol was set to add as many as 1,000 of its agents on the ground in Minneapolis as well. It's possible some or all of the hundreds that Noem referenced are the reported Border Patrol agents being deployed. Dig deeper: Homeland Security has defended the surge by showing some of the worst offenders that have been arrested in Minnesota. On a website dubbed "Worst of the Worst," federal officials include dozens of profiles with information on the worst offenders arrested by ICE in Minnesota. Offenses range from murder to sexual abuse against children and the list includes gang members including individuals allegedly associated with the notorious Tren de Aragua.

The list of 2026 Golden Globes winners

From Timothe´e Chalamet dedicating his “Marty Supreme” award to his parents and girlfriend Kylie Jenner to Jean Smart imploring people to choose kindness as she accepted another hosanna for “Hacks,” the 2026 Golden Globe Awards were packed with emotion. While Chalamet was the only victor from “Marty Supreme” – the award also marked his first Golden Globe - the Leonardo DiCaprio-led “One Battle After Another” maintained its frontrunner status. Coming into the 83rd iteration of what is known as the biggest party in Hollywood with a leading nine nominations, the dramedy “One Battle…” earned four Globes, including best comedy or musical and best director for Paul Thomas Anderson. DiCaprio lost to Chalamet in the stacked best actor category that also included George Clooney and Ethan Hawke.

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The Jan. 11 show aired live on CBS and Paramount + from Beverly Hills, California, and featured Nikki Glaser returning as a host both sharp and gentle. Along with “One Battle…,” the night's top movies were “Hamnet,” “Sinners,” "KPop Demon Hunters," and “The Secret Agent,” all of which earned two awards. On the TV side, Netflix’s searing drama “Adolescence” won four awards from its leading five nominations: Best supporting actor for Owen Cooper, best actor in a limited series for Stephen Graham, best supporting actress for Erin Doherty and best limited/anthology series or TV movie. HBO’s intense medical drama “The Pitt” nabbed two Globes, including one for standout star Noah Wylie, while Seth Rogen’s very-meta Hollywood circus “The Studio” also aced a pair for best comedy and best actor in a comedy for Rogen.

Even as rent falls in many U.S. cities, a supply crunch could be on the horizon

Renters in the U.S. found some relief in 2025 as a surge of newly finished apartments in many parts of the country led to cheaper rent. It’s a trend that could reverse in 2026. Data released Friday shows the construction of new apartments has dropped off in the last year, spelling potential trouble for renters as the number of available properties stagnates and macroeconomic pressures keep more people in the rental market. It’s a shift that experts say could indicate the start of a challenging cycle for renters. “Fewer housing projects are being started and fewer are being completed, which goes to show that the pandemic building boom is over,” said Daryl Fairweather, the chief economist for real estate brokerage Redfin. “This will limit inventory of both homes for sale and rent moving forward, which will exacerbate the housing shortage.”

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According to October data released Friday from the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, two major indicators of residential apartment construction activity saw a year-over-year decline. Starts, which measures the launch of construction, saw a nearly 11% drop in activity compared to October 2024. This means there are fewer apartments being built now than in the year prior. Another important indicator is the number of completed builds. October data shows completions declined nearly 42% compared to the year prior, meaning there are fewer newly constructed apartments ready to enter the market now than there were in 2024. However, the data also showed a pickup in permits authorizing new apartment construction — meaning builders have new projects lined up. It can take more than a year and a half to get a building completed once a permit is issued, according to Robert Dietz, the National Association of Home Builders’ chief economist. So although there is an uptick in permits for new construction, that is unlikely to immediately translate into a jump in completed projects in 2026.

Transgender athlete bans get Supreme Court review in landmark case

The Supreme Court on Tuesday will for the first time wade into the heated national debate over whether transgender girls should be allowed to participate in girls' and women's sports. The justices will hear arguments in a pair of cases from Idaho and West Virginia, where federal courts have blocked state laws that would prohibit trans girls from participating on teams consistent with their gender identity. The outcome of the cases will determine the fate of those laws and similar measures in 27 other states. There are an estimated 122,000 transgender American teens who participate in high school sports nationwide, according to the Williams Institute at UCLA Law School. Lower courts have concluded separately that the bans discriminate "on the basis of sex" in violation of Title IX, the landmark civil rights law that has promoted equal opportunities for women and girls in athletics, and the Constitution's Equal Protection Clause.

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The states are asking the justices to overturn those decisions and reinstate their laws, arguing that sex and gender identity are not synonymous when it comes to women's athletics and that allowing transgender girls to compete against cisgender girls is unfair and unsafe. "It really comes down to one simple question," said West Virginia Attorney General John McCuskey in an interview with ABC News. "Is it legal and constitutional for states to delineate their athletic playing fields based on the immutable physical characteristics that people have that are associated with their sex that's assigned at birth?" Becky Pepper Jackson, a high school sophomore from Bridgeport, West Virginia, who competes in discus and shot put on the track and field team, brought the legal challenge to her state's law in 2021. She is the only known openly trans athlete in West Virginia in any sport. "Someone has to do it. Someone has to do this for all of us," Becky, 15, told ABC News in an exclusive interview. "Otherwise these laws and bills are just going to stand." Transgender athletes make up just over 1% of the more than 8 million teenage student athletes nationwide, according to the Williams Institute.

‘History will tell’: as US pressure grows, Cuba edges closer to collapse amid mass exodus

Hatri Echazabal Orta lives in Madrid, Spain. Maykel Fernández is in Charlotte, in the US, while Cristian Cuadra remains in Havana, Cuba – for now. All Cubans, all raised on revolutionary ideals and educated in good state-run schools, they have become disillusioned with the cherished national narrative that Cuba is a country of revolution and resistance. Facing a lack of political openness and poor economic prospects, each of them made the same decision: to leave. They are not alone. After 68 years of partial sanctions and nearly 64 years of total economic embargo by the US, independent demographic studies suggest that Cuba is going through the world’s fastest population decline and is probably already below 8 million – a 25% drop in just four years, suggesting its population has shrunk by an average of about 820,000 people a year. There are a number of root causes for this exodus, but most experts agree that the blockade, decades of economic crisis, crumbling public services, political repression and widespread disillusionment with the revolution have merged to become a “polycrisis”.

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The unrest further undermines Cuba at a time when the Trump administration is stepping up its offensive across Latin America, heavily reinforcing US military deployment in the Caribbean, raiding Caracas to capture the Venezuelan president, and stepping up threats against the governments of Panama, Colombia and Cuba. According to research on Cuba by Juan Carlos Albizu-Campos Espiñeira, an economist and demographer at the Christian Centre for Reflection and Dialogue in Havana, and Dimitri Fazito de Almeida Rezende at the Federal University of Minas Gerais, the Caribbean nation’s population is nowhere near the government’s 2015 projection for last year – 11.3 million – and has even fallen below forecasts for 2050. Between 2022 and 2023 alone, researchers saw an 18% plunge in the population due to migration. The country has also recorded more deaths than births for five years running, with fertility rates stuck below population replacement levels since 1978. Now, one in four Cubans is over the age of 60, worsening economic and social prospects. But the exodus of young people is the prime accelerator of this decline. Most of those who leave are aged between 15 and 59; 57% are women and 77% are of reproductive age. They finance their emigration through their own resources and family funds, using a worldwide network of contacts to navigate routes through Latin America, Europe, Africa and Asia.

Trump says Tehran wants to talk as U.S. weighs military options

President Donald Trump says Iran has contacted the United States to propose talks as his administration weighs responses — including military options — amid reports from rights groups that hundreds of people have been killed across the country amid mass protests against the regime. “We may have to act before a meeting. … A meeting is being set up,” Trump said aboard Air Force One on Sunday night, declining to elaborate on the options under consideration. Trump said he believed Iran was taking U.S. threats seriously. “They’ve been going through it for years with me,” he said in response to a question, noting the U.S. strike that killed Iranian Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani in Trump’s first term and the recent U.S. operation to remove Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro. The New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran said it received eyewitness accounts and credible reports that hundreds of protesters have been killed since Thursday night, while another U.S.-based group, Human Rights Activists News Agency, estimates 490 protesters have been killed since demonstrations began on Dec. 28.

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Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, speaking to a gathering of ambassadors in Iran on Monday, said Tehran was ready for “war” but also dialogue. “We are not warmongers, but we are prepared for war. … We are also prepared for negotiations, but fair negotiations, with equal rights and mutual respect,” he said. Araghchi met Saturday with his Omani counterpart, Badr Albusaidi, who traveled to Tehran for talks and who has acted as a go-between for Tehran and Washington in the past. Iranian authorities, who have shut down internet access, are struggling to contain some of the largest protests since the Islamic Republic was founded in 1979. Protests that erupted over economic grievances have evolved into calls for regime change, and demonstrations have grown increasingly violent.

Copyright January 12, 2026, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved