July 6, 2026: All Newsclips

Lead Stories

Texas Senate polls give Ken Paxton and James Talarico reasons to worry

If the political truism that anyone trying to get elected to public office had best run scared — or run unopposed — still holds true, two recent polls in the Texas race for U.S. Senate suggest that both candidates are entering the final four months of the 2026 campaign with much trepidation. Both the Times/Siena Poll and one by the Texas Politics Project show Republican Ken Paxton and Democrat James Talarico in a dead heat. The Times shows the race tied at 47-47, and the Politics Project, an arm of the University of Texas, gives Paxton the edge by just 1 percentage point. Those numbers should worry any Texas Republican.

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Two years ago, Donald Trump carried Texas by 14 percentage points en route to his return to the White House. Two years before that, Paxton buried his Democratic opponent in his bid for a third term as Texas attorney general by a comfortable 10 points as Republicans kept alive their winning streak in statewide elections that began in 1998. Adding to Paxton's nail-biting is the nosedive in Trump's approval rating in the nation's most reliably Republican large state. In 2024, Trump beat Democratic nominee Kamala Harris 56% to 42% in Texas. The Politics Project poll that came out in late June shows Trump less popular in Texas now than Harris was 18 months ago. Trump announced last week that he plans to come to Dallas in September for an unusual midterm meeting of the Republican National Committee. No doubt that will excite Republicans, which would likely help Paxton. But because Trump is sitting at 43% approval and 51% disapproval in Texas, his appearance in Dallas could end up energizing more Democrats than Republicans.

Treasury has an internal report warning about the dangers of an AI bubble

A draft report inside the Treasury Department is set to warn of the risks posed by the artificial intelligence market, likening key aspects of it to the dotcom bubble that upended the U.S. economy when it burst in the early 2000s. The document, the existence and contents of which have not been previously reported but was obtained by NOTUS, is a significant departure from the Trump administration’s public tone, which has focused on encouraging unrelenting investment to unlock exponential growth. Career Treasury analysts found that AI firms are more deeply entrenched in the U.S. economy than their dotcom predecessors and pose significant risk to the entire system if financial conditions change, productivity goals are missed or various choke points stymie growth. A downturn in the AI market would send shockwaves throughout the entire economic ecosystem, the analysts wrote.

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The report concluded that the AI bubble’s popping would lead to less of an immediate crash than the U.S. economy experienced with dotcoms in the early 2000s. But the analysts predicted that companies would cut back, investors would lose confidence, and the economy would grow more slowly should the industry falter. Stock markets, private credit markets, companies financing data center buildouts, cloud providers, chip manufacturers and utilities would all feel the effect, according to the report. The report was prepared by Treasury analysts for Secretary Scott Bessent, Federal Reserve Board Chair Kevin Warsh and various federal financial regulators and offers a rare glimpse of how the Trump administration is examining the risks posed by AI. It has been completed for weeks and is awaiting formal approval before reaching its intended audience, which is eventually expected to include the public. The report stresses that AI companies maintain some fundamental differences from the businesses that dominated the dotcom boom of the late 1990s, which was defined by speculative excess and an overreliance on debt financing. Many of the top AI companies, by contrast, are more mature, profitable and maintain healthier balance sheets, which could blunt the impacts of the “bubble” bursting — or if it bursts at all.

FIFA lifts US star striker Balogun’s red card suspension at World Cup after Trump calls Infantino

U.S. President Donald Trump intervened on behalf of star U.S. forward Folarin Balogun, whose red-card suspension was lifted in a decision that allows him to play in a World Cup match against Belgium on Monday. A single red card can completely change a World Cup match. Here’s why it’s the most feared punishment in soccer. Produced by Nandini Gupta Balogun, the American leader with three goals in the tournament, received a red card for stepping awkwardly on the right ankle of Tarik Muharemovic of Bosnia-Herzegovina in a 2-0 round of 32 win on Wednesday, triggering an automatic one-game suspension. FIFA announced Sunday that the suspension had been lifted for the round of 16 match, an extraordinary move that triggered praise from Trump and outrage from Belgium’s team. It appeared to be the first time since 1962 that a red card during a World Cup didn’t result in a suspension.

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Trump called FIFA president Gianni Infantino after the game asking FIFA review the red card, according to a person familiar with the call who spoke on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to speak publicly about the matter. “Thank you to FIFA for doing what was right, and reversing a great injustice!” Trump said in a statement on social media. The Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA) said it was “astonished,” and Belgium coach Rudi Garcia mocked FIFA’s action. “I didn’t know that in the offices of FIFA the fifth of July was the first of April in Europe,” Garcia said through a translator in an April Fools’ Day comparison. “The Belgian federation does not defend itself, it does not protect the national team. She defends football in general, she defends her integrity, her ethics. I think it’s the first time in the history of the World Cup that there is this kind of decision.” Garcia wouldn’t respond when asked about a possible appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport or whether he thought Trump impacted FIFA’s action. “In order to safeguard the legitimate rights of all participating teams and to protect the fundamental principles of fair play in our sport, both at this FIFA World Cup and at future editions of the tournament, the RBFA is investigating all potential options,” the Belgian federation said in a statement.

Anti-incumbent mood sweeping country in troubling sign for GOP majorities

A sour, anti-incumbent mood is sweeping across the nation on its 250th anniversary in what political analysts say is an especially troubling sign for Republican control of the House and Senate, given President Trump’s slumping approval rating. Rising voter anger with the status quo has hit both parties, with eight House incumbents — five Democrats and three Republicans — losing primary races this year in addition to two GOP Senate incumbents, Sens. Bill Cassidy (La.) and John Cornyn (Texas). Republicans on Capitol Hill fear the antiestablishment mood could cost them control of the House and perhaps the Senate as well. National Republican Senatorial Committee Chair Tim Scott (S.C.) has warned Senate GOP colleagues privately “about how bad polling is, currently, for Republicans and how bad the president is losing ground among all groups,” said a senior Republican aide.

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Senate Republican Conference Chair Tom Cotton (Ark.) also shared polling with Senate Republicans at a recent lunch meeting that showed independents moving in large numbers away from the GOP and toward Democrats, according to a GOP senator who attended the presentation. Whit Ayres, a prominent Republican pollster, warned that Trump’s slumping approval rating is a red flag for Republican prospects, citing political trends over recent decades. “We know that the party in power tends to lose House seats in a midterm election, but the number of seats lost is highly correlated with the president’s popularity. When presidential job approval is above 50 percent, the average loss of House seats for his party is 14. When it’s below 50 percent, the average loss of House seats for his party is 32,” he said. Ayres said there is “a lot of variation around those numbers” and that with “extreme redistricting,” mid-decade redistricting and growing polarization among voters, GOP losses may be limited. “But there are very few people at this point who are predicting that the Democrats will not gain seats in the House,” he added.

State Stories

For Central Texas flood survivors, recovery is 'storm after the storm'

Reminders of the family Terry Traugott and Sherry McCutcheon’s lost in last year’s Central Texas floods are everywhere in their Manor home. Their momma’s pink cane, covered with dirt they can’t yet wipe off. The burnt-out living room light bulb because their brother, Gary, always changed it. An incomplete puzzle their mother worked on. The sisters can’t finish it without her. On July 5, 2025, McCutcheon and Traugott lost their momma, Betty Massey West, 84, and brothers, Doug West, 54, and Gary Traugott, 60, when a raging flood in northwest Travis County destroyed their family home and claimed their lives.

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The sisters spent the day with their mom on July 4, eating Chinese food and drinking Diet Cokes, sharing memories and watching fireworks through the rain on their way home. “The last day she spent with us. It was so weird, it was like magic. I felt love so thick, almost like you could cut it,” McCutcheon said. “I didn’t want her to leave.” Hours after the sisters dropped their mom at home, water from Big Sandy Creek poured into the house. In the historic July 5, 2025, flood, 18 people in Central Texas died, including 10 in Travis County. A day before, a devastating flood killed more than 100 people in Kerr County, about 130 miles west of Austin. One year later, almost no one in Travis County has begun to rebuild. Roads and river banks are weaker than before July 5, 2025, and families are living in temporary housing closer to the flood zone as they wait for permit approval, insurance awards, safety measures and state and federal aid, multiple survivors told the American-Statesman. Despite new emergency state legislation that requires counties to install warning sirens and flood gauges in flood-prone areas, the community is without those resources. It could be until 2027 before the county installs them.

Austin bolstering its semiconductor ecosystem with bulk of state TSIF grants

KoMiCo Technology Inc. executives for years have been waiting for a decision on an application through the federal CHIPS and Science Act. That is all while its biggest customers, like chipmakers Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and Texas Instruments Inc., were approved, allowing them to building large fabs in Taylor and Sherman. That’s complicated things at a long-planned 40,000-square-foot expansion at KoMiCo’s longtime facility at 201 Michelangelo Way in Round Rock, where the company is expected to be ready to service those large chipmakers and a wealth of other customers. It has instead been forced to pivot, securing $750,000 from the city of Round Rock and $2 million from the Texas Semiconductor Innovation Fund to accelerate that buildout. “We’re not like them,” said Ulysses Schussler, the company’s technical sales director, referring to Samsung and TI. “Our pockets are not as deep. It really takes a lot to commit the amount of capital needed to support those factories.”

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The Texas Semiconductor Innovation Fund – along with the Texas Semiconductor Innovation Consortium and TSIC executive committee – was established back during the 2023 legislative session. It provides funding to companies engaged in semiconductor research, design and manufacturing. It is already proving to be a lifeline for many companies in the Austin area – and further strengthening the metro's reputation as a semiconductor hub. The fund has awarded $458.9 million in grants to 28 different entities statewide, including direct semiconductor manufacturers, parts and materials suppliers and educational institutions, as of June 25, according to data compiled by the Austin Business Journal. The vast majority of that amount – roughly $358 million, or 78%, spread across 18 grants – has gone to Austin-area companies so far, according to an ABJ data analysis. That number nears 80% when you add in two grants awarded to companies in Killeen, increasingly part of the Austin area. Houston-area entities have only received about 11% of total grant award money. Lubbock-area companies have gotten around 4.3% and Dallas-area companies 4.1%, according to an analysis of that data.

Data center developer donates millions for Ellis County animal shelter, college as pushback grows

As concerns grow around the influx of data centers being built across Texas – including from the state’s governor – one company in Ellis County is trying to better its relationship with the community. Compass Datacenters recently made a $15 million donation for a new animal shelter in Ellis County after the SPCA ended its contract there last year. "One of the things we always try to do in communities is if there's a need for any infrastructure, we always want to kind of know about it as a long-term neighbor and so there was an immediate need," said Chris Crosby, founder and CEO of Compass Datacenters. The county approved the donation last month. It comes as Compass is planning to build another facility in the town of Red Oak, where the Dallas Morning News reported the developer has been expanding its footprint in recent years.

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Many residents questioned whether the donation was made with “strings attached.” At a commissioners meeting last month, Waxahachie resident Susie Hall said she understands the need for a shelter but didn’t agree with the county relying on a data center. “I hate to think that we're going to be obligated to Compass because there will be something they're going to want in return," Hall said. Ellis County Judge John Wray said the donation does not come with any obligations. "There is no strings attached," Wray told KERA." We understand it, this is the first time our county to my knowledge has entered into a community benefits agreement with a gift of this nature." Last week, Compass also donated a $12.6 million, 40,000-square-foot building to Texas State Technical College to expand the school’s Mechanical, Electrical, IT Data Center Pathway Program, which prepares students for careers in the data center industry. "We’ve watched students come into this program with no background in the field and walk out ready to start careers that will support their families for decades,” Chancellor Mike Reeser said in a statement. “That’s what happens when a curriculum is built around what employers need. This new facility means we will be able to give even more people the same life-changing opportunity.”

New CDC data suggests Houston and suburbs new COVID-19 hotspot

Houston is now roughly six years removed from the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. But recent data suggests COVID might be surging once again in the Bayou City. Recent data released by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) last week showed one in 264 Americans are currently "actively infectious" with COVID-19, with 186,000 new daily infections nationwide. A large portion of those infected are not "actively infectious," per the CDC, with less than one percent of reported cases deemed actively infectious across more than 40 of the 50 states across the U.S. That's not the situation in Texas, however. The CDC data shows Texas, Nevada and the territory of Guam have the most actively infectious cases as a share of the cases in a given state.

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Portions of Central Texas show a 2.4 percent to 3.5 percent active infectious rate, a rate deemed "high" by CDC data. That share grows in Houston, Galveston and portions of East Texas, where there is a "very high" active infectious rate of more than 3.5 percent. Guam, parts of northern Nevada and small pockets of both California and the East Coast are the only other areas nationwide showing an active infectious rate over 3.5 percent. Mike Hoerger, an associate professor of psychology and psychiatry at the Tulane Cancer Center, wrote on X he is encouraged by decreasing levels of active infections in California and Hawaii. He's conversely concerned with the COVID levels in Fort Bend County, which he notes is "right next to Houston." CDC data showed COVID infections are growing in three states (including Texas) and declining in 34 states nationwide. The Houston Health Department and Rice University collaborated to produce a City of Houston SARS-CoV-2 Wastewater Monitoring Dashboard, which tracks the likely incidence of COVID across local communities through wastewater testing. COVID levels rose in the northern Houston suburbs via data tracked on June 22, while the rest of the county remained stagnant.

Study finds Texas cities can impact weather patterns, storm intensity

A recent study out of Texas A&M found that cities have a role in shaping weather patterns. The findings, published in the science journal Nature earlier this year, show thunderstorms are more likely to develop and strengthen over large urban cities like Dallas and Houston, while cold fronts potentially weaken as they move across urban areas. “Cities appear to have an impact on rainfall systems and that impact depends on the type of system,” said state climatologist John Nielsen-Gammon, a co-author of the study. The key way cities affect weather is through temperature, Nielsen-Gammon said. Urban areas tend to hold on to heat longer because of the density of pavement and large buildings, known as the “heat island” effect.

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“That presumably accounts for how it is that we saw more thunderstorms developing over cities than over the surrounding countryside,” Nielsen-Gammon said. “[The air is] just a little bit more unstable over the cities.” Researchers used radar data of more than 40,000 storms recorded between 1995 and 2017 to put together a three-dimensional picture of the atmosphere around Austin, Houston, Dallas and San Antonio. “All four cities exhibit a higher frequency of isolated storms compared with their rural counterparts, with 7–16% increases in three inland cities,” read the study. In the Dallas area specifically, Nielsen-Gammon said researchers found that heat trapped in paved areas tends to amplify the heat island effect. “You've got these places where there's lots of evaporation in the rural areas with the reservoirs and the farms and so forth compared to the urban areas, where things tend to be a bit drier,” Nielsen-Gammon said. He added that continued population growth in major cities like Dallas and Houston only amplify the intensity of certain storms. “We're able to actually see that different types of storms are actually affected differently,” Nielsen-Gammon said. “That explains some of the different results that have appeared in previous studies.” Results from the study can help improve weather forecasting, flood mitigation and emergency preparedness in major cities.

Life after the flood: How a Texas father’s loss spurred a quest to protect others

From Matthew Childress' home in Houston you can hear the bells at St. Luke's United Methodist Church, the same church where his daughter Chloe's funeral was held on July 12 — about a week after she lost her life in catastrophic flooding in the Texas Hill Country. For Childress, the funeral was overwhelming. He stood in front of a packed house in the church and told the crowd how he imagined Chloe and her fellow Camp Mystic counselor, Katherine Ferruzzo, were helping others as the floodwaters overtook their cabin. "Chloe was not just my hero. She was an actual hero," Childress said. "I know she was leading those children with Katherine by her side. Following the counselor policies, doing everything they could in their power when it got bad to lead those girls to safety. "She wasn't just my hero," he added. "She was their hero." Since then, he's turned his grief into action — advocating for public safety legislation and emergency warning systems in Texas and elsewhere.

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As he heard the church bells ring in April, Childress paused. "It's beautiful," he said. Chloe was set to spend a month at Camp Mystic, having returned for the first time as a counselor. Instead, Matthew and Wendie Childress drove from Houston to the Hill Country after the flood and identified Chloe's body at a funeral home in Kerrville on July 5. Since then, Matthew said he's been oscillating between different stages of grief. "It could be a picture, it could be an action, it could be driving by a restaurant that you went to, but we live in this world every single day that I find myself just shaking my head, saying, ‘I can’t believe I find myself here,'" he said. In the months since Chloe's passing, Matthew, Wendie and other families who lost loved ones at the camp have immersed themselves in the work to make sense of their losses. They've pushed for state investigations and new legislation in Texas and across the U.S., along with filing lawsuits against the camp in hopes of preventing other families from experiencing a similar tragedy.

ICE detained Iranian Christian who taught preschool at Houston church

Zahra Razavinik, an Iranian immigrant who has lived in the United States for nearly three decades, is part of a team of teachers at Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church who encourage preschool children to develop their “God-given gifts.” Federal immigration officials have deemed her a threat to national security and sent her to the El Valle detention center in Raymondville. She’s been detained since January, despite her lack of criminal history and efforts to relocate to a country that will grant her a visa. “She cannot go back to Iran. Keep in mind the country conditions over there,” Razavinik’s attorney, Misbah Chaudhry said. “Right now, it's open war between Iran and USA.” What’s just as concerning, Chaudhry added, is that Razavinik, 66, is a Christian.

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“It's a fundamentalist government over there, very conservative,” she said. “She is a liberal and because of her religious activities, she has no option to go back.” It’s unclear how the current conflict between the United States and Iran could impact Razavinik’s fate. The United States and Iran came to an agreement this month to cease hostilities. Chaudhry doubts conditions for people like Razavinik will improve. Christians in Iran continue to be arrested and imprisoned in the aftermath of the June 2025 12-Day War with Israel, human rights groups have reported. Last year, authorities in Iran arrested more than 250 Christians on charges related to their religious beliefs, an increase of more than 80%, according to Article 18, a London-based nonprofit that advocates for religious freedom in Iran. More than 40 Christians were still serving sentences at the end of 2025, and at least 16 others remained in pre-trial detention, the report states.

Delays in federal research funding hit Texas universities

The Trump administration is delaying tens of millions of dollars in federal research grants to some of Texas' biggest universities. While many institutions said they hope to eventually receive approval for the money, the administration's plans remain unclear amid a larger overhaul of the system by which grant applications are evaluated. Experts warn the holdup is leaving some universities to put research plans on hold. "The problem is uncertainty. These universities are trying to plan," said Dr. Sudip Parikh, CEO of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, which represents scientists and researchers. "How many graduate students is the University of Texas or A&M going to accept? You base that on how much grant money you're going to get."

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Texas A&M University in College Station saw direct grants from the National Science Foundation drop from $11.7 million over the first nine months of the 2025 fiscal year to $2.4 million over the same period this year, according to federal data compiled by the non-profit Grant Witness, which tracks federal research spending. In Houston, Rice University's NSF funding dropped from $14.1 million to $4.2 million over the same period, and the University of Houston's funding declined from $7.6 million to $2.8 million. National Institutes of Health funding going to MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston dropped by 26% to $73 million this fiscal year. And Baylor College of Medicine has received $125 million in grants so far this fiscal year, down from $147 million the previous year. Those delays reflect a nationwide trend, with NSF awards down 39% so far this fiscal year and NIH awards down 24%, according to federal research spending tracker ScienceSpending.org. Those two programs represent close to one third of federal research dollars, with the rest largely coming from the Departments of Defense and Energy and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

North Texas-affiliated White Nationalists march in Washington amid 250th anniversary celebrations

A large group of masked men wearing the markings of a well-known white nationalist group marched with flags and chanted “reclaim America!” in Washington on Saturday morning, as the capital city prepared for the main events celebrating the United States’ 250th birthday. The march, through neighborhoods around the U.S. Capitol, was brief, though bystanders posted scores of videos on social media. The group left the city sometime before 11 a.m., the Metropolitan Police Department said in a statement. The group of apparently several hundred people wore tan baseball hats marked with the logo of the white supremacist group Patriot Front, which includes a ring of 13 white stars, a reference to the first American colonies. They carried various flags, including the Confederate battle flag.

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“M.P.D. recognizes the rights of individuals to peacefully express their views and remains committed to maintaining public safety and security for D.C. residents and visitors,” a police spokeswoman said in a statement. Patriot Front, which has long called for the United States to be turned into a white ethno-state, has a history of staging high-profile demonstrations, almost always in the same uniform of dark shirts, khaki pants, work boots and white face masks. “This definitely looks like Patriot Front,” said Mary McCord, a former assistant attorney general for national security under presidents Obama and Trump. She said the logo on their hats, which includes imagery resembling fascist symbols of Italy in the 1930s, was consistent with the group, as was the clothing. The group — which broke away from another white nationalist organization, Vanguard America, in 2017 after the bloody “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Va. — has employed the same tactics in different cities. Demonstrators often show up in public spaces in rented U-Hauls, spilling out onto the streets for a flag-waving march before piling back into the trucks and disappearing. Two summers ago, hundreds of Patriot Front members descended on Nashville, carrying upside-down American flags and causing a major uproar in the city.

Why are Republicans suddenly for Ibogaine?

A few years ago, former Republican Texas Gov. Rick Perry traveled to Mexico to take a psychedelic. During his youth, Perry experienced three concussions and has dealt with mild insomnia and anxiety since his early 20s – around the same time he began serving in the Air Force. After years of his own research and having been evaluated by a neuroscientist who told him he had mild atrophy, Perry decided to leave the country and undergo psychedelic-assisted therapy, hoping to alleviate some of his health conditions. The hallucinogen was ibogaine – a psychoactive compound extracted from the Tabernanthe iboga plant and a Schedule I substance in the U.S., which meant he had to leave the country to legally pursue the treatment.

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Studies have shown that the substance can help reduce opioid dependence and produce “long-term positive psychological outcomes,” specifically for individuals with traumatic brain injuries. However, there are serious risks that come with consuming the substance. Without suitable screening and expert supervision, evidence shows that taking the substance can result in cardiac arrest. He told the Chronicle that his experience with the substance took him on a “journey through outer space.” During his mental excursion, he saw different Mesoamerican emblems, hieroglyphics, and a satanic figure. “[It] was just a fascinating coursing through the universe and seeing a lot of things,” Perry said. After Perry returned home, the same neuroscientist conducted two sets of scans on his brain – one just a week after the treatment and another six months later. There was progress. “A neurosurgeon, who was a respectful skeptic initially, who has become a complete believer in this medicine, look[ed] at my before and after scans and said, ‘Your atrophy is gone. Your brain looks like a 40-year-old individual’s brain,’” Perry said. The now 76-year-old told us that he no longer battles with the mild cases of insomnia and anxiety that he had to manage for about 50 years while in the Air Force and later serving in multiple positions within the Texas government. “I don’t suffer from those,” he explained. “I don’t have to deal with those anymore.”

Sen. Kolkhorst reflects on Guadalupe River flood legislation one year after deadly disaster

One year after the Guadalupe River floods killed 138 people across approximately four counties, state Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, R-District 18, said Texas has made significant legislative progress on camp safety and flood warning infrastructure — but that more work remains. The July 4, 2025, floods killed 119 people in Kerr County alone. Twenty-five campers and two counselors at Camp Mystic were among those killed. Kolkhorst said the most prominent legislation to emerge from a special session following the disaster was Senate Bill 1 and House Bill 1, known as the Heaven’s 27 Acts. “Those legislations really focus on camp safety,” Kolkhorst said. “Some common sense things that we put in law that are requirements now.”

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She said the bills require camps to designate a muster spot, ensure counselors are trained, prohibit cabins in floodplains, and file evacuation plans with every county where a camp operates. Evacuation plans must also be provided to parents. “SB1 and HB1, very good bills that are being looked at across our nation as the new standard for camp safety,” Kolkhorst said. Kolkhorst said Senate Bill 5 set aside $50 million for rain gauges and sirens distributed as grants to counties. She said Kerr County received eight sirens and rain gauges, six of which had been installed as of May 15. The remaining two were still being installed at the time of the interview. She said the initial funding prioritized counties included in Gov. Greg Abbott’s disaster declaration, an area she described as Flash Flood Alley — a wide swath of Texas counties. Kolkhorst also said the legislature set aside $28 million for meteorological equipment designed to better predict what she called “rain bombs.” She said the equipment, which will be unique to Texas, is still being built and would fill a gap in weather monitoring between Del Rio and Brownsville. “So much progress made, but still a lot needs to be done in making sure that we warn people properly,” Kolkhorst said.

Eric Bronner: I’m a veteran. Closing Texas GOP primaries betrays conservative values

(Eric H. Bronner is a Navy veteran, Naval Academy graduate, lifelong independent voter, and founder of Veterans for All Voters, a national nonpartisan nonprofit.) Last month at the Texas GOP convention in Houston, Gov. Greg Abbott pledged to ensure that “only Republicans vote in Republican primaries.” He framed the proposal as an election-integrity measure. I understand why that line draws applause in a political party’s convention hall. I understand that party identity matters to many Texans. Principles matter. Private associations matter. But Texas primary elections are not private meetings. They are taxpayer-funded public elections, run under long-established rules set by the Texas Legislature. That is why Veterans for All Voters, the nonprofit I founded, filed an amicus brief in federal court: In Hunt v. Texas, we support the position taken by Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson.

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As a nonpartisan veterans group, we oppose closed primaries in blue states, red states and anywhere else where party insiders try to wall off public elections from the public. Nelson, a Republican appointed by Abbott, will likely leave office this month. She rightly defended state law and opposed the GOP’s lawsuit to close the primaries. In an age when too many officials take cues from party elites before they read the law, she did the job that every Texan needed her to do. Now Texans should watch closely. The next secretary of state should be chosen for fidelity to the law, steadiness under pressure and a willingness to serve every Texan. A successor chosen to fold the state’s hand in court would send a very different message. The chief elections officer of Texas serves all voters. You don’t want them to be an errand-runner for party bosses. In Texas, voters do not register by party. They show up, choose one primary, and participate in that party’s contests for that election. They cannot vote in both primaries. Closing primaries would replace that simple system with additional registration and paperwork burdens on all voters and costly upgrades to the state's voter registration systems. Conservatives should be the first to reject that government overreach and unnecessary expense.

National Stories

Trump says he overruled plan to cancel Mall celebration amid weather evacuations

President Donald Trump said Sunday he personally overruled a recommendation to cancel the July Fourth “Salute to America” event on the National Mall after approaching storms forced a chaotic evacuation of hundreds of thousands of revelers and triple-digit heat cast a sweltering pall over much of the day. The president — who took the stage just after 11 p.m. Saturday after a more than three-hour delay in the planned programming — on Sunday declared the event a rousing success in a Truth Social post. “When I heard that it was cancelled, I immediately overturned that decision,” he wrote. He congratulated law enforcement officials for quickly rescreening people who wanted to return once the storms passed. Still, the crowd who witnessed his speech and the fireworks show was less than half than those who had arrived earlier in the day, Trump said.

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A senior White House official said Sunday that “all the entities involved” had recommended calling the festivities off altogether after storms forced the exodus from the Mall. “When POTUS heard this, he told all involved to invite everyone back in and the speech would take place, even if it meant waiting until 2 a.m.,” said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private deliberations. In the end, Trump got the July Fourth rally and pyrotechnic show he wanted. And much like the event itself, which effectively supplanted earlier plans for Washington’s July Fourth celebrations that had been in the works for years, it happened primarily through his own sheer force of will. A spokesperson for Freedom 250 — the White House-led organization that put together Saturday’s event — did not respond to questions about Trump’s account of a recommended cancellation. Those involved in the planning acknowledged that the weather had presented challenges throughout the day, strained the patience of revelers, and drawn questions from critics about whether officials had adequately prepared for a weather forecast that days before the event had called for high heat and a strong chance of dangerous storms.

DOGE self-deleted on July 4th. The grand experiment fell apart long before that.

President Donald Trump’s cost-cutting commission that once plunged the government into chaos is nearing its destiny — becoming a former federal initiative. Up for debate: how and when the end will truly come for the Department of Government Efficiency, which triggered thousands of federal employees to leave their jobs and voided billions of dollars in government contracts. Trump’s January 2025 executive order creating DOGE also established a July 4, 2026, sunset. “A smaller Government, with more efficiency and less bureaucracy, will be the perfect gift” to America on its semiquincentennial birthday, the president said when he announced the commission. But DOGE didn’t really deliver on that promise, said Elizabeth Linos, a Harvard Kennedy School public policy and management professor, as did others who spoke to POLITICO about DOGE’s dramatic efforts over the past 18 months. Instead, it resulted in a near-immediate loss of expertise and live-saving programs but cost savings nowhere near the $2 trillion once promised.

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Looking long term, Linos said that “effectively, DOGE told the American people that they can’t trust government to protect their data, to use their data and technology for good.” “That has really long-lasting effects on our ability to rebuild trust in government or even convince the next generation of talent to enter government to begin with,” she said. DOGE claims it saved $215 billion, or $1,335.40 per taxpayer, with its cuts, which included slashing duplicative software licenses, canceling diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, grants as well as ending leases for underused office space. That’s a pittance to the federal budget, which is now about $7 trillion each year. The effort faded relatively early too as tech mogul Elon Musk clashed with government officials and left DOGE in May last year. What comes next is not clear. “President Trump was given a clear mandate to eliminate waste, fraud and abuse from the federal government,” said White House spokesperson Davis Ingle. “He has made significant progress in making the federal government more efficient to better serve the American taxpayer.”

The company processing ICE's medical payments hasn't paid out a dime

The company hired to process payments to health providers caring for people in Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s custody has so far paid zero dollars for those services. Acentra Health, the Virginia-based company that signed on in October to process the payments, has pushed back the timeline for doing so by several months and most recently said it would start reimbursements later this year. Those payments are meant to go to dentists, pharmacies, emergency departments and others for providing offsite care for immigrants. This means that health care providers are seeing immigrants in ICE detention without getting paid. And it’s raising concerns that if the money doesn’t come through, immigrants will stop receiving treatment.

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“I think the question goes to ICE,” said Deborah Fleischaker, acting ICE chief of staff during the Biden administration. “Is this acceptable? Are they meeting the terms of the contract? Why are you continuing with them? How long are you going to go without having these claims processed before you can’t find people to provide medical care?” The contract is worth millions. As of June 4, Acentra Health had received $44.6 million of the $67.5 million contract, which is set to end on July 31, according to a federal government contracting database. ICE did not respond to a NOTUS inquiry. In a contracting document, ICE said that payment processing was essential to ensure proper care for detainees. “ICE’s ability to pay for medically necessary offsite care has been compromised since ICE has no system in place to process or pay medical claims,” the November document states. “It is an absolute emergency for ICE to immediately procure claims processing support because lack of this support will delay critical medical care for IAs such as dialysis, prenatal care, oncology, chemotherapy, etc.”

After America’s 250th, Trump will test how far he can push NATO allies

Fresh off a week of star-spangled celebrations of America’s 250th, President Donald Trump departs for Turkey on Monday to meet with fellow leaders of NATO. They hope he wouldn’t declare independence from them. Trump has long been skeptical about NATO and European allies, asserting that the alliance the United States forged after World War II to fend off the Soviet Union has been taking advantage of Washington’s largesse. Deep into his second term, the president by now is now well acquainted with the theatrics of NATO gatherings, reveling, according to his associates, in the drama of threatening fellow leaders and watching them scramble to keep him happy. The strains increase every year, with Trump’s popularity sinking in Europe after he threatened to seize Greenland in January and sent energy prices spiking with his attack on Iran. The president has fumed that European allies didn’t do enough to help Washington in its war. And in recent days, he has renewed complaints about their defense spending, though he has successfully driven big increases.

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Now, the alliance will again attempt to weather Trumpian pressure, by flattering him where possible and avoiding unnecessary confrontations. Trump is scheduled to arrive in the Turkish capital of Ankara on Tuesday and will meet Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan before having dinner with fellow NATO leaders that evening. The substantive meeting will be Wednesday morning, which diplomats have kept short to minimize potential disruptions. Afterward, Trump plans to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa before holding a news conference and returning to Washington, according to White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly. The president’s grievances have already subsumed much of NATO’s business. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte laid the foundation last month, praising the president’s stewardship and delivering a presentation in the Oval Office of what he called the “Trump trillion,” with poster boards in golden, “Art of the Deal”-style lettering boasting increases in Europe’s defense spending over the last decade.

Paul Pelosi allegedly involved in hit-and-run in California

The husband of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was involved in a hit-and-run in California that left a parked car with “major” damage authorities said Saturday, and he could face misdemeanor charges. Paul Pelosi was driving his brown convertible Friday in Yountville, a town in the heart of wine country, when he struck a legally parked car on the side of the road, briefly stopped and then drove away, the Napa County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. No injuries were reported. A witness saw the collision and called 911. Shortly afterward sheriff’s deputies found Pelosi with damage to the front of his car on a road roughly a quarter of a mile away. He reportedly told officers he knew he hit something but was not sure when or what caused the damage.

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Pelosi, 86, did not have any alcohol in his system, according to the statement. The sheriff’s office referred him to the Department of Motor Vehicles for a process to determine whether he may continue to drive — something that officials say is common for older drivers. Pelosi was not arrested, and because no one was injured, the sheriff’s office recommended a misdemeanor charge for fleeing the scene of an accident. A staffer for Nancy Pelosi did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. Paul Pelosi pleaded guilty in 2022 to misdemeanor charges of driving under the influence in Napa County and was sentenced to five days in jail and three years of probation. However, he served only two days in jail and received good conduct credit for two other days, leaving just one day to serve in a work program at the courthouse. As part of his probation, Pelosi was required to attend a three-month drinking driver class and install an ignition interlock device, which forces drivers to provide a breath sample to prove sobriety before the engine will start. He also was ordered to pay about $5,000 in victim restitution for medical bills and lost wages, along with nearly $2,000 in fines. That same year he was attacked and severely beaten with a hammer at the couple’s San Francisco home.

Democrat Mallory McMorrow suspends her Michigan Senate campaign

Michigan Democrat Mallory McMorrow suspended her campaign for the U.S. Senate on Sunday, abruptly reshaping the party primary just a month before the election and leaving a two-person contest between moderate Haley Stevens and progressive Abdul El-Sayed. McMorrow’s exit comes after many Democrats increasingly viewed her as a long shot for the nomination. It also creates a fresh dynamic in one of the country’s most closely watched Senate races, forcing Democratic voters into a direct choice between Stevens, a mainstream congresswoman backed by much of the party establishment, and El-Sayed, supported by many progressive movement leaders. The binary choice will be on full display Tuesday, when Stevens and El-Sayed are set to face off in a televised debate. During a May debate, El-Sayed repeatedly went on the offensive against Stevens, who mostly declined to engage directly with him.

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McMorrow’s departure could also prompt influential Democrats in the state to announce their support for Stevens because of concerns about El-Sayed’s electability in a general election. Some had stayed on the sidelines because of relationships with McMorrow. The seat being vacated by Democratic Sen. Gary Peters is one that the party must hold if it hopes to reclaim the Senate majority in this fall’s midterm elections. The primary winner is expected to face Republican Mike Rogers, who lost to now-Sen. Elissa Slotkin in 2024. McMorrow made the announcement in a statement and video posted online Sunday, which came after ballots have already gone out. “Today, I’m announcing that I am suspending my campaign for United States Senate,” McMorrow wrote. “And I’m doing it with a deep, deep sense of gratitude,” she said. “For our thousands of volunteers, for everyone who donated what you could — building a campaign with zero corporate PAC dollars. For my staff, who built this team up from nothing. I thank you.”

ITV and Sky reshape British TV landscape with $2.1 billion deal

Sky ?has agreed to buy the broadcast channels and streaming service of Britain's ITV for £1.6 billion ($2.13 billion), creating a British champion ?with the scale to compete with global players like Netflix, Amazon and Disney. Sky CEO Dana Strong said the deal, announced on Monday and confirming a recent Reuters story, was a "defining moment", one of the biggest in the history of British broadcasting. It will now face scrutiny from regulators and lawmakers.

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The combination of Britain's biggest free-to-air commercial broadcaster ?and the pay-TV company Sky would have been unthinkable just a few years ago, but the rise of YouTube and the ?streaming giants, has left traditional companies exposed. The merger of the public ?service channels of ITV, and the leading pay-TV business of Sky, founded by Rupert Murdoch in 1989, would account for more than 70% of ?the UK television advertising market, analysts have said. Strong said the deal would deliver "outstanding British programming" in a rapidly changing world. "ITV will remain a public ?service broadcaster at the heart of British life, and we’re excited about the future we can build together," she said. To satisfy regulatory concerns, Sky may be forced to relinquish its third-party ad sales contracts, for example for Paramount-owned Channel 5, as the 70% television ad share includes those contracts.

Copyright July 06, 2026, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved