August 7, 2026: All Newsclips

Lead Stories

Senator Perry and Speaker Burrows spar over competing priorities for next Texas legislative session

State Rep. Drew Darby hosted a conversation with State Sen. Charles Perry and Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows to open the 22nd annual West Texas Legislative Summit, organized by Angelo State University and the San Angelo Chamber of Commerce at the C.J. Davidson Conference Center at ASU on Thursday, August 6, 2026. The two-day event began with a soiree Wednesday evening and continued Thursday with a full day of political speeches and roundtable discussions. In the opening session, Burrows and Perry highlighted legislation they considered most significant from the 89th legislative session and sketched early priorities for the 90th session that begins in January 2027. Burrows said from last session he was most proud of the Teachers’ Bill of Rights. Senate Bill 27 and House Bill 6 strengthened classroom authority for Texas public school teachers.

click here for more

The legislation gives teachers clearer legal authority to remove disruptive or threatening students and manage discipline with less administrative interference. It also refined formal grievance procedures and expanded flexible contract options for school districts. Burrows also pointed to a quieter but important change: the statewide ban on cell phones in classrooms. “Test scores are going to go up,” he predicted. The two lawmakers then turned to the next session and offered different emphases. Burrows called for further property tax reduction, ways to lower health, property and casualty insurance rates, and broader work on affordability. Perry stressed infrastructure investment and protecting the ability of counties and cities to manage their own needs. Burrows said the Legislature should pursue measures to make health insurance more affordable and examine ways to lower property and casualty rates. Darby then highlighted Perry’s ongoing work on produced water — the wastewater generated by oil and gas operations in West Texas. For every barrel of oil produced, operators typically generate four to five barrels of produced water. Perry said he is traveling to Orla, a small community between Pecos and the New Mexico border, to examine new desalination technology that could treat produced water to a standard suitable for agricultural use. “I’d drink it,” Perry said.

Elon Musk, Greg Abbott confirm $17B Terafab plant for College Station

It’s official: SpaceX and Tesla are building a massive $16.8 billion chipmaking facility outside of College Station in Grimes County. SpaceX has been working on this deal for months and has already negotiated tens of millions of dollars in incentives with Grimes County, local school districts and the state for the advanced semiconductor facility, called Terafab. The facility is expected to span 100 million square feet and employ more than 3,000 people. The initial phase of development is expected to cost $16.8 billion, SpaceX said Thursday, lower than the company’s prior estimates of $55 billion. Terafab will build chips for self-driving vehicles, humanoid robots and space-based data centers, according to the company’s update. Both SpaceX and Tesla are based in Texas.

click here for more

“We’re now embarking on the most epic chip-building effort,” Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, said in a statement. “The Terafab is bringing cutting-edge manufacturing to America, creating thousands of high-paying jobs in the Lone Star State and enabling us to produce AI chips at scale for use on Earth and in space.” The new facility is part of SpaceX’s rapid expansion across the state – it launches rockets outside of Brownsville, tests engines in McGregor and builds components for its broadband internet satellites in Bastrop. The company says it has created more than 56,000 direct and indirect jobs, $28 billion in estimated economic impact since 2024 and hundreds of millions in indirect tax revenue since 2024. Gov. Greg Abbott announced Thursday that the project is receiving a $30 million Texas Enterprise Fund grant from the state. Anderson-Shiro CISD and Iola ISD gave their final approval for tax breaks for the project earlier this week, and Grimes County previously approved waiving property taxes.

HHS awards small Texas firm with $150M contract to represent unaccompanied children

The Department of Health and Human Services revealed plans to award a multimillion-dollar contract to a small Texas law firm, tasking it with representing thousands of immigrant children as they face immigration court proceedings. HHS’s refugee resettlement division — charged with overseeing unaccompanied undocumented children — had a contract with the Acacia Center for Justice that was not renewed after expiring last Friday. The federal government had a fraught relationship with Acacia, including attempting to terminate its legal contract last March and withholding funding for months. Nonprofits have sued to get the agency to pay invoices dating back to December totaling roughly $65 million, the groups announced last week.

click here for more

On Thursday, Acacia said its legal teams had defended more than 20,000 children despite not being paid. In a Tuesday statement before the new contract was published, the organization said it was “adamant” whoever took over the contract must have “deep experience” with the country’s immigration system. The Office of Refugee Resettlement quietly awarded the new contract — worth up to $150 million per year — to the Burke Law Group, a boutique law firm headquartered in Houston. No one at the organization specializes in immigration law, according to staff biographies on the website, though the site lists “immigration and asylum” as one of two-dozen practice areas on a separate page. The firm would “provide legal orientation, legal consultation and attorney-of-record representation services” for unaccompanied immigrant children while under Office of Refugee Resettlement care, the agreement reads, and help connect them with legal resources after being discharged. The federal government has been required to help facilitate legal counsel for unaccompanied children in Office of Refugee Resettlement custody since 2008.

Abuse, harassment allegations threaten to derail Republicans’ midterm message

House Republicans are confronting an unwelcome political headache as a string of abuse or harassment allegations involving several GOP lawmakers threatens to complicate the party’s midterm message just months before the November elections. The domestic abuse allegations against Rep. Max Miller (R-Ohio), coupled with the scrutiny surrounding Reps. Cory Mills (R-Fla.) and Chuck Edwards (R-N.C.), have dominated headlines and handed Democrats fresh political ammunition at a critical point in the campaign. The developments have also served as an unwelcome distraction for GOP leaders, who have sought to keep voters focused on their message that Republicans are best equipped to tackle inflation, the rising cost of living and other kitchen-table concerns.

click here for more

The timing is particularly challenging for Republicans as they work to defend their narrow House majority. Although the controversies involve individual lawmakers, the steady stream of negative headlines could have a cumulative effect, forcing vulnerable incumbents to answer for events far outside their own districts. “Vulnerable House Republicans mistakenly think that no matter how awful their behavior is, they are untouchable. Voters in these districts are pissed over higher costs, Republicans’ broken promises, and are ready to reject these scandal-plagued members, who’ve made voters’ lives worse. Every single vulnerable Republican who has coddled and stood by these creeps should be ashamed of themselves, are unfit to serve, and will lose their job in November,” Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokesperson Viet Shelton told The Hill in a statement. Douglas Heye, a GOP strategist, said that “Miller and Mills make it harder for Republicans to talk about the issues they want to focus on.” “The faster they are gone, the better for everyone,” Heye said, arguing that both GOP lawmakers should drop their reelection bids.

State Stories

Travis County Democratic Party eager to turn page after chair’s resignation

It’s been five months since the March primary election, and the dust still hasn’t settled within the Travis County Democratic Party. The latest chapter in the party’s internal turmoil came July 27, when the newly elected TCDP Chair Jessica Cohen resigned under pressure from party insiders who questioned her ability to lead the organization and raise money for its coordinated campaign at a time when Texas Democrats have a legitimate shot at winning both a U.S. Senate seat and the governor’s office. Cohen has a criminal background that records indicate started with a car burglary at 17. More serious charges include a 1990 aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and a 2004 assault causing bodily injury, according to records obtained by The Austin Bulldog’s Ken Martin, who has reported extensively on Cohen’s background in several bruising stories dating back to 2018, when Cohen was a City Council candidate.

click here for more

Even so, Cohen defeated incumbent Doug Greco in the March primary by a decisive 61% to 39%. Greco had served as chair since June 2025 after winning a special election of precinct chairs to replace Pooja Sethi, who stepped down to run for Texas House District 47, a seat Democrats expect to retain in November. This isn’t the first time the party establishment has found itself at odds with Democratic primary voters’ choice for party chair. In 2018, Dyana Limon-Mercado defeated the establishment’s preferred candidate, Anne Wynne. Nevertheless, Limon-Mercado went on to serve as chair and was later elected Travis County clerk. As things stand now, the party’s precinct chairs will choose Cohen’s successor in a virtual special election on Saturday, Aug. 8, according to an email party secretary Iris Suddaby sent to precinct chairs. Two candidates have entered the race: Shenghao “Daniel” Wang, an attorney who serves on the Travis Central Appraisal District Board of Directors and was one of eight Democrats in the running for Texas House District 49, and Luke Warford, a former Texas Democratic Party strategist who now leads the Agave Democratic Infrastructure Fund.

Texas Republicans offer blueprint of plan to ban Islam, Shariah

A ban on the sale of halal foods. Hijabs forbidden in public schools. Required school lessons on the "violence and political domination of Islam." Some Texas Republicans have offered an early blueprint of a legislative agenda targeting the hundreds of thousands of Muslims in the state with new laws that would make practicing their faith essentially impossible. The plan is part of a broader effort by Republicans to stop what they call the "Islamification of Texas," a political narrative describing the perceived growth in Muslim influence and communities. Critics, however, called the plan an attack on freedom of speech and religion that has left Muslims and other non-Christians vulnerable to harassment and violence.

click here for more

At a conference this month hosted by the far-right grassroots organization True Texas Project, several Republican lawmakers and activists warned of a "Muslim invasion" that seeks to replace Christians across the country. State Sen. Bob Hall, an Edgewood Republican who represents a swath of North Texas, called blocking Shariah, the moral code laid out in Muslim scriptures, the state's top priority. Hall and others at the conference repeatedly echoed versions of the "great replacement" theory, in which white supremacists and Christian nationalists believe politicians are conspiring to replace white people with non-white immigrants. "It’s coming after us," Hall warned the roughly 350 people attending. "We’ve got to get in the way of it, and we’ve got to stop it." About 2% of Texas adults describe themselves as Muslims, according to the Pew Research Center’s Religious Landscape Study. In comparison, 67% describe themselves as Christian. More than 100,000 Muslims live in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, which is home to several dozen mosques.

Major data center company backs Abbott’s audit as Texas pauses new grid connections

Gov. Greg Abbott said Thursday that QTS Data Centers has committed to meet the state’s new standards for data center projects, marking one of the first major industry responses to the state’s new oversight requirements. QTS, which owns four operational data centers in Texas, made their announcement days after Abbott directed the Public Utility Commission of Texas and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas to conduct a comprehensive audit of pending data center projects before allowing any additional facilities to connect to the state’s electric grid. The governor has said the review is intended to protect residential ratepayers, ensure projects have adequate power and water resources, and verify developers can deliver on their proposals.

click here for more

According to the governor’s office, QTS agreed to meet several requirements Texas is seeking for future developments, including using closed-loop cooling technology that minimizes water consumption after startup, providing dedicated power generation rather than relying solely on the ERCOT grid and ensuring projects do not increase electricity costs for residential customers. “As demand for digital infrastructure continues to grow, we support policies that encourage responsible development, protect resources, ensure ratepayers see benefits of energy investments on their utility bills, and foster strong partnerships with the communities where data centers operate,” QTS Co-CEOs Tag Greason and David Robey said in a statement. QTS, one of the world’s largest data center operators, said it has committed since 2019 to building facilities that consume no water during normal operations and supports greater transparency, infrastructure planning and accountability as Texas continues to attract artificial intelligence and cloud computing investments.

Former Dallas CFO warns against using debt to shore up pension

Dallas’ former chief financial officer had no plans to come back to City Hall, but she returned Wednesday to warn the city against asking voters to approve $500 million in bonds to invest in the police and fire pension system. Elizabeth Reich, who oversaw the city’s finances from 2016 to 2022, told council members that taking on more debt to close the $3.7 billion shortfall in the police and fire pension system goes against conventional wisdom. Pension obligation bonds (POBs) only work if you’re investing in them at a higher rate of return than the interest you’re paying on the debt, she said.

click here for more

That means the city is betting the pension fund’s investments will outperform the cost of borrowing for decades. “I have yet to meet another pension restructuring expert who thinks that POBs are the silver bullet,” Reich said. Dallas officials are proposing a $1 billion bond package to pay for public safety facilities, including the police academy and a new 911 emergency center. Half of it will go toward pension obligation bonds. Residents could face a tax increase if approved. If the pension system does not make enough money in the market with a 6.5% return, then the city will still owe the debt and will likely have to increase its contributions to cover the gap. That’s why Reich said it was risky. Jack Ireland, the current chief financial officer and Reich’s right hand before she left, said the staff was recommending a bond to stop the city’s reliance on operating funds for pension payments. The city has built its budget around pension payments for the last two budget cycles.

‘Could we please not lie?’ Viagran, Jones clash as council creates Project Marvel advisory committee

The San Antonio City Council approved the creation of a 33-member community advisory committee to offer suggestions on how to use $75 million the San Antonio Spurs are committing to the downtown sports and entertainment district. The committee's creation was proposed by council members Sukh Kaur of District 1, Teri Castillo of District 5, and Marina Alderete Gavito of District 7 using a “three-signature memo.” It’s a process available to council members who want to bring an issue to the floor for discussion. But that approval didn’t come without another public disagreement among council members, similar to those that have come up during multiple discussions and votes over the proposed Spurs arena and surrounding district known as “Project Marvel.”

click here for more

Thursday’s disagreement was between San Antonio Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones and District 3 Councilwoman Phyllis Viagran, with Viagran saying statements made by Jones were misrepresentations or lies. Early in the discussion, Jones said a presentation by city staff on the committee’s creation appeared to be outdated. “It sounds like we may have had an older version that was presented as the term sheet is not executed,” Jones said. The mayor was referring to a term sheet between the City of San Antonio and Spurs Sports & Entertainment that was considered by council in August 2025. At the time, Jones had pushed to delay the term sheet multiple times before it was approved by council. Councilwoman Viagran called for a point of order shortly after Jones made the claim. “The term sheet was executed. It was voted on by the council. The contract has not been decided upon,” Viagran said, triggering an argument between the two. Jones said it was not finalized. Viagran said Jones’ statements were misrepresentations. Jones then turned to City Attorney Andy Segovia. “Andy, please correct the councilwoman,” Jones said. “Mayor, this is an argument, semantics, only a law school student would appreciate. The term sheet was approved by the city council,” Segovia said. “We can use executed, approved, we can use whatever term we want to use. It was approved by city council.”

Lina Hidalgo’s proposed tax-rate hike for Harris County education programs fails for the second year in a row

Commissioners on Thursday denied Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo’s second attempt at a proposed tax-rate increase to fund early childcare programs. The rejection came almost one year after county commissioners voted against Hidalgo’s first penny-tax proposal and said the county judge’s efforts to pass the measure to support a slate of education programs disrupted decorum as she brought a group of children to the meeting in 2025. The same motion failed on Thursday after the proposal by Hidalgo, a Democrat who is not seeking a third term in this year’s election, did not receive a second vote.

click here for more

Hidalgo said such a tax-rate increase — which she said would have come with a $10 addition on the annual tax bill for an average homeowner in Harris County — would have generated $66 million to fund Early REACH and other childcare programs funded by COVID-era federal grant dollars. Like last year, the proposal would have taken the tax-rate increase proposal to the voters of Harris County, which includes Houston. But commissioners said the option is costly — and they already are facing what could be the highest tax rate in the county’s history. “I’m so sorry for what we are telling the people of Harris County, that we don’t trust them,” Hidalgo said Thursday. “The question before commissioners court is simple: Do we trust the people of Harris County enough to let them decide on whether or not they would like to see more affordable child care? And we are not willing to let them decide. These are the kinds of decisions that turn people off of politics.”

Sid Miller says Republicans will lose statewide elections due to rapid data center development, backlash

Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller said Thursday that Republicans are going to lose some statewide elections this year because of data centers, which has become a heated issue for Texas across the state. In an interview with The Texas Tribune, Miller also called out Gov. Greg Abbott for what he says is inaction on data center development in Texas. The lame-duck Republican said data centers are not a partisan issue, but declined to say who he might vote for come November. “I haven’t committed to anybody,” Miller said. “There’s some Republicans I may have to leave blank, I just can’t do it.” More than 300 data centers already operate in the state, and a Tribune analysis found at least 248 data center projects are planned. A majority of Texans in a new poll were against data center construction in their communities.

click here for more

“Republicans should be on this issue and we’re not,” Miller said. “The Democrats are, and they’re right on the issue. I’m not endorsing any Democrats, but we’re going to lose some elections in the midterms because of this one subject.” Since the legislature doesn’t come back in session until January, and any new laws wouldn’t take effect until next September, Miller said he thinks Abbott is buying time for data center companies to gain a monopoly over the competition. “He’s given a wink and a nod to his data center people saying ‘Hey, you have plenty of time to get grandfathered in, then we’ll put the screws on all your competition,’” Miller said. In January, Abbott endorsed Nate Sheets, Miller’s Republican primary challenger for the office who later won. Sheets has kept mostly quiet about data center development, while his Democratic challenger, Clayton Tucker, has been vocal about his opposition to data centers. Tucker has traveled to data center community events around the state, many of which Miller was in attendance for too. Miller has not endorsed either candidate, but Miller and Tucker both spoke at a data center forum in June.

CPS Energy leaders defend against Gov Abbott's attacks

CPS Energy Board Chair Francine Romero is pushing back on Governor Greg Abbott's claims that bringing private competition to San Antonio's energy market would save consumers. “There is so much wrong with that,” Romero said. Speaking Thursday morning at Texas Public Radio’s Luminaries breakfast event, Romero said Abbott was misrepresenting how competition with residential electricity providers in Houston created lower energy bills. At an Aug. 4 San Antonio event, Abbott announced he would ask the state legislature to end city monopolies of energy which includes San Antonio and Austin. He said bringing private competition would lower power utility bills. Abbott said the average cost of electricity in San Antonio was about 12 cents per kilowatt-hour.

click here for more

“In Houston, it’s available as low as 6 cents per kilowatt hour. So you could really reduce your electricity costs a whole lot,” Abbott said. Romero said she went online to investigate how much a kilowatt hour would cost in Houston and she couldn’t find Abbott’s price of 6 cents. “The cheapest rate I could find was 12.6 – 12.9 cents a kilowatt hour.,” she said. She said there might be cheaper introductory rates for customers but then the price goes up. “I would challenge anyone to go look up these rates in Houston today and take the governor’s advice and he was wrong,” Romero said. Frank Almaraz, interim president and CEO for CPS Energy, rejected the governor’s office calling the transfer of 14% of CPS Energy’s revenue to the city’s general revenue fund as a “slush fund.” Last year CPS Energy provided to San Antonio’s city budget over $500 million, one of the largest sources of general revenue for the city. The city used that to pay for a variety of services including police, fire fighting, parks and libraries. Almaraz, who was also speaking at the TPR Luminaries event, said these are “critical services for our community.”

Christian nationalist influence on Tarrant County government the focus of upcoming panel discussion

A group of Tarrant County civic organizations aims to educate voters about the influence of religious nationalism in state and local government with a panel discussion and day of action Saturday. The League of Women Voters of Tarrant County planned the event as a way to educate neighbors about what they see as an attack on democracy, president Janet Mattern told the Fort Worth Report. The league is concerned about “the gutting of voting rights,” the elimination of diversity, equity and inclusion programs, and other local government policy changes they believe are often traced to a common factor, Mattern said.

click here for more

“That movement is the Christian nationalist movement, and they have been working towards undermining our democracy,” Mattern said. “In the League of Women Voters, we have as part of our mission to defend democracy … and so we thought it was very necessary to educate ourselves and to educate the community about what Christian nationalism is.” Christian nationalism is the belief that the United States is a country defined by Christianity, according to the Washington, D.C.-based Freedom Forum, a nonpartisan nonprofit that seeks to protect First Amendment rights such as religious liberty. According to the forum, Christian nationalists generally believe the government should advocate for Christian values and pass laws reflecting those values and that the separation of church and state should not be maintained.

Harris County commissioner seeks halt to affirmative action program

Harris County Commissioner Tom Ramsey is seeking to suspend a program designed to distribute government contracts to businesses owned by minorities and women after a judge struck down a similar program run by the city of Houston. Commissioners will consider Ramsey’s proposal Thursday, along with several other items related to the beleaguered program, which also faces a lawsuit brought by the same company that won the ruling against the city. Coupled with Texas’ recent move to dismantle a related statewide initiative, Harris County’s affirmative action program is facing an uncertain future. A spokesperson for Ramsey, the lone Republican on Commissioners Court, said in a statement that his issue with the county program is that it was an inefficient program that fails to support the people it was designed to benefit. q

click here for more

“Commissioner Ramsey has raised concerns previously that Harris County’s … program is overly complicated, expensive to administer and falls short of helping the small businesses it was intended to serve,” said Precinct 3 spokesperson Amery Reid. Reid said Ramsey will ask the other court members to consider suspending the program while the county “develops a simpler and legally sound approach that better supports small businesses.” County Attorney Abbie Kamin indicated after the ruling against the city program, however, that she believes “there is a lawful and durable path forward that preserves meaningful opportunities for minority- and women-owned businesses while satisfying constitutional requirements.” Commissioner Rodney Ellis championed the county’s affirmative action program and created the Department of Economic Equity and Opportunity to oversee it, among other responsibilities. He pledged to continue fighting for the program, calling actions against it “a cynical political maneuver designed to divide our community and deny opportunities to people across Harris County.” “Instead of undercutting small businesses and their workforce during an ongoing affordability crisis,” he said in a statement, “we should be expanding opportunities so that everyone in our community can thrive.” Ellis also added an item to Thursday's agenda to discuss the lawsuit against the county in a closed-door executive session.

Texas Head Start leaders warn of quality risks in new rule

Federal officials proposed an overhaul of the Head Start program Thursday that they say would reduce bureaucracy, give local providers more flexibility and create as many as 236,000 additional preschool slots nationwide. Texas Head Start leaders say they worry children and families could lose critical services in the process. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said the proposal would shift authority over issues including staff-to-child ratios, group sizes, workforce requirements, background checks and transportation practices from federal rules toward state and local systems. Officials say the changes would save $2.2 billion and lower administrative costs. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. called Head Start "the program that works for the most vulnerable, the poorest kids in our society," and said the administration hopes the proposal will end up "protecting the program as it was designed."

click here for more

The proposal also would cap administrative costs at 5%, down from 15%, and add requirements related to nutrition and physical activity. The proposal is subject to a 60-day public comment period. It is not yet final. Texas Head Start leaders and program executives said they support expanding access to the federally funded early education program. But they warned that loosening requirements around staffing, group sizes, family services and administrative costs could weaken the quality that distinguishes Head Start from other childcare programs. “It’s not about my program; it’s about the people I serve that I’m most worried about,” said Hanna Adams, executive director of Cornerstone Community Action Agency. The agency’s Head Start program serves Parker, Palo Pinto, Jack and Wise counties and about 370 children, she said. About 23% of those children, or roughly 85, have identified disabilities. Alex J. Adams, an assistant secretary at HHS, said the department is hoping to give Head Start centers the flexibility by eliminating most of Head Start's regulations. "Federal mandates can certainly hinder local decision-making, drive up costs and limit the program’s reach,” Adams said on a preview call with reporters Wednesday night. He highlighted a decadelong decline in Head Start enrollment. “If we get this proposed rule right, we will grow the number of Head Start slots.”

School leaders highlight Communities In Schools support at first leadership summit in Angleton

Strong relationships and community support can make the difference between a student falling behind and finding a path forward, local school leaders said during the first Communities In Schools Leadership Summit. The event Wednesday marked the Southeast Harris and Brazoria County chapter’s 40th anniversary and brought together school leaders to discuss student success, mental health, technology and community partnerships. Brazosport College President Vincent Solis opened the panel by asking what makes the partnership between school districts and Communities In Schools unique.

click here for more

“It takes a village,” Columbia-Brazoria ISD Superintendent Steve Galloway said. “Every kid needs somebody they can depend on, regardless of who they are or what obstacles they face.” Helping students should take priority over bureaucracy, he said. “My staff has heard me say this, and it’s a little abrupt, but I’m saying, ‘Get the hell out of the way,’” Galloway said. “Don’t keep somebody who’s willing to help from helping.” The partnership gives students support schools often cannot provide alone, Angleton ISD Superintendent Alicia Press said. During a visit to Southside Elementary, Press found a classroom full of students participating in a Communities In Schools homework club. Students and parents had begun requesting the coordinator by name. “We’re seeing students’ grades improve because everything’s getting turned in,” Press said. Solis also asked what gives the panel hope about today’s students. “Kids these days are awesome,” Brazosport ISD Superintendent Danny Massey said. Adults often judge younger generations by comparing them with their own childhoods, he said.

National Stories

McConnell says he's been released from rehabilitation facility to recover at home

Sen. Mitch McConnell’s office says the Kentucky Republican has been released from a rehabilitation center and will continue his recovery from home. “Earlier today, I was discharged from the rehabilitation center to continue my recovery at home,” the senator said in a statement released by his office. “Elaine and I are grateful for the many well wishes and support from friends, colleagues, and Kentuckians, and for the attentive care I’ve received from excellent doctors, nurses, therapists, and hospital staff.” McConnell, 84, has been absent from the Senate since his office said he fell at his home in Washington in June. The senator spent roughly four weeks in hospital care and then went to a rehabilitation center in mid-July to continue physical therapy, according to his office.

click here for more

He has not been seen or heard from publicly for months, though his office has released a photo of him with his wife, Elaine Chao, from the rehabilitation center. He said in Thursday’s statement he would not be returning immediately to the Senate, which is still in session before a planned August recess. “On the advice of my doctors, I’ll maintain an intensive regimen of physical therapy from home during the state work period, and I’ll continue to engage with my staff and colleagues on important Senate business,” he said in the statement released by his office. The senator voted by proxy in the Agriculture Committee on Thursday, as allowed by Senate rules.

Murkowski to oppose Todd Blanche nomination, narrowing his path to confirmation

Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska said Friday she will vote against Todd Blanche’s nomination to be attorney general, narrowing his chances at confirmation for the role. Murkowski said the so-called anti-weaponization fund was a factor in her decision, arguing that the $1.8 billion fund — which was only rescinded as Blanche’s nomination was in limbo — could be brought back if he is confirmed. “The country needs an Attorney General who will check the worst impulses of this administration,” Murkowski said. “I hope Mr. Blanche is able to achieve that, if confirmed, but I simply do not have confidence that will be the case.” With Sen. Mitch McConnell absent from the Senate, Blanche cannot afford to lose any more Republican votes. The nomination now hinges on how Sen. Bill Cassidy, one of the most prominent GOP critics of President Donald Trump, will vote.

click here for more

Freedom Fuel, praised by Trump, sells cheap gasoline. But how?

As a steady stream of drivers pulled into the Freedom Fuel Network’s gas station on Roosevelt Boulevard this week, some pumps still had signs saying “Red Lion,” the station’s brand as recently as last Friday. Other pumps were freshly pasted with Freedom Fuel’s fierce-eagle logo. But what drivers mainly noticed were the prices: 10 to 20 cents per gallon below other stations. “It’s awesome,” said Edwin Torres, 29, who works for a rental car company and often stops by to fill up the fleet. “It’s to the point where 20 cents does go a long way.” The Roosevelt Boulevard station is one of four new locations announced this week by the Freedom Fuel Network, an expansion that deepens the mystery around a company that has revealed little about itself publicly while drawing praise from the White House for its discount gas.

click here for more

Public documents link the network to a Baltimore Ravens special-teams coach, a New Jersey-based energy investor and a fuel distributor sued repeatedly for unpaid debts and other alleged misconduct, including fraud. Their refusal to talk publicly about the project — and the White House’s promotion of it — has prompted wide scrutiny, including from fuel industry analysts trying to figure out how they manage to sell gas at prices significantly lower than geographic competitors. When the network launched in early July, it charged $3.47 per gallon (in honor of President Donald Trump, the nation’s 47th president, Trump said). At the time, the price was about 40 cents a gallon below market, according to industry analysts. On its website, the company said it had experienced “explosive growth — an average volume increase of more than 50 percent, with several locations surging over 100 percent.” At such volumes, according to an analysis created for The Post by FuelTrust, a fuel supply chain technology firm, the company could have been forgoing as much as $24,000 a day in revenue compared with nearby competitors, or as much as $360,000 over the first two weeks.

DOGE overstated savings, government watchdog says

President Donald Trump’s cost-cutting initiative that roiled the federal bureaucracy in the first year of his second term overstated its savings, a congressional government watchdog said Thursday. Number fudging at the Department of Government Efficiency — the executive agency spearheaded by Elon Musk to ostensibly eliminate excess spending — had already been documented in a myriad of news reports. Among them, an August 2025 analysis of DOGE’s receipts by POLITICO found only $1.4 billion of its claimed $32.7 billion in contract savings was legitimate. But the Government Accountability Office’s findings, released Thursday, add to the body of work suggesting that the now-defunct agency’s legacy is less tied to actual broad cost-cutting in Washington than it is to the high-profile fights surrounding the shuttering of the U.S. Agency for International Development and other small agencies, the contested firing of thousands of government employees and setting the tone for an unapologetically disruptive second Trump administration.

click here for more

Taken at face value, DOGE’s claimed savings of $215 billion are a drop in the bucket compared to a federal budget that is around $7 trillion each year. Meanwhile, Thursday’s report, centered on the $110 billion reported savings listed on the agency’s Wall of Receipts, found that “some savings estimates are incorrect or lack supporting evidence.” The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. That website hasn’t been updated since Jan. 1. The report highlights how DOGE reported more than $1.7 billion in savings on a single contract for IT support at more than 700 military medical treatment facilities. Though the agency identified the contract for termination and met with the Defense Department, the report authors write, DOGE eventually decided against moving to terminate the contract. “While no action was taken on the contract, the Wall of Receipts continued to report savings of more than $1.7 billion,” the report states. And while some contracts did result in savings, the report authors were unable to corroborate the reported savings touted by DOGE because the agency did not disclose how it calculated those savings. That problem persisted when attempting to corroborate savings from canceled grants — which DOGE credits for roughly $49 billion in savings.

Trump-endorsed Rep. Andy Ogles projected to lose GOP primary in Tennessee

Two-term Rep. Andy Ogles lost the Republican primary for his Tennessee House seat, the Associated Press projects, despite securing an endorsement from President Trump. With just over 80% of votes counted in Thursday's primary, Ogles trailed former state Agriculture Commissioner Charlie Hatcher by just over six points, according to results compiled by the AP. It marks the second loss this week by a congressional candidate backed by Mr. Trump, whose endorsement typically carries significant sway in Republican primaries. In a Michigan GOP House primary two days earlier, Trump-endorsed candidate Amir Hassan lost to Thomas Smith, who had suspended his campaign weeks earlier. In a victory speech Thursday night, Hatcher said Ogles had called him to concede and offered to help him transition into the job.

click here for more

"I don't know what D.C. is going to be like. It's going to be a new environment for me," Hatcher told Nikki Hauser, a reporter for Nashville CBS affiliate WTVF. "I appreciate anybody that can mentor me and help me in that process ... He was nice enough to do that, and I accepted it." A member of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus, Ogles secured the president's endorsement last November, and Mr. Trump again urged people to vote for the "Conservative Warrior" in an Election Day social media post. But Hatcher was endorsed by Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee and former Gov. Bill Haslam. Ogles has drawn controversy for incendiary rhetoric on social media, including posts stating that "homosexuality has no place in America" and that "Muslims don't belong in American society." He deleted the post about homosexuality, saying the "stupid" and "hurtful" post was written by a member of his staff who was later "reprimanded." Ogles' phone was seized by the FBI in 2024 as part of a campaign finance-related investigation. The lawmaker pushed back on the move, and the Justice Department agreed to return his phone earlier this year. He was not charged with a crime.

How the Reflecting Pool came to mirror Trump’s Washington

In January, the World of Concrete trade show drew 47,000 people to the Las Vegas Convention Center. One of them was the manager of a Trump Organization golf club in New Jersey, who had come seeking help with an enormous, unfamiliar task. The manager, David Schutzenhofer, wanted ideas for how to fix the leaking, algae-ridden Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington. Several vendors told him they knew just the guy to call: Rodney Jarboe, the president of the Missouri-based company Creative Polymers. Mr. Jarboe had worked on a bridge at another federal landmark, the Gateway Arch in St. Louis. In an interview, Mr. Jarboe said he first spoke in March with Mr. Schutzenhofer, who made clear that the work would be rushed. President Trump, Mr. Jarboe said he was told, wanted the renovation project done in time for the country’s 250th birthday on July 4.

click here for more

“For this thing to be done in the time frame that was required, we almost had to have a contract and start manufacturing by the first week of April,” Mr. Jarboe said. “So it was a very tight deadline to make a decision.” Those initial conversations about the Reflecting Pool, which have not previously been reported, kicked off an ad hoc plan by the Trump administration that involved coating the pool with a sheet of blue polyurea, which the president promised would make it beautiful. Within months, though, the pool was drained and ugly — the butt of jokes and memes. Many of the details of the saga are reported in this article for the first time. They show that the pool, which was supposed to reflect the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument, became a striking reflection instead of the second Trump administration’s willingness to skirt laws, expend millions of dollars, ignore facts and punish truth tellers in service of the president’s demands to put his mark on the capital. The Interior Department, led by Doug Burgum, handed out no-bid contracts and squelched doubts about the costs and risks. An employee from Mr. Trump’s private business life, Mr. Schutzenhofer, played an off-the-books role in government decisions. A top federal housing official, Bill Pulte, brought Mr. Trump memes that encouraged him to keep going. And when Mr. Trump sought to blame the project’s failure on shadowy vandals, Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney in Washington, backed him up by charging members of the public with crimes, only to have the cases fall apart.

Copyright August 07, 2026, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved