May 15, 2026: All Newsclips

Lead Stories

Texas immigration law partially blocked by federal judge

On Thursday, a federal judge blocked the state of Texas from enforcing certain provisions of its controversial immigration law, just one day before they’re set to go into effect. In his 78-page order granting a preliminary injunction, U.S. District Court Judge David Alan Ezra found two anonymous Honduran immigrants leading a class action had met their burden to show they face a substantial threat of enforcement under Senate Bill 4. “Enforcement of this law would place plaintiffs at risk of arrest, prosecution, detention, and ultimately, removal,” Ezra wrote. “The court finds this threatened enforcement and the severity of the harm imposed to plaintiffs in the event the likely preempted law is enforced against them constitutes irreparable harm.”

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The remaining provisions of SB 4 untouched by Ezra’s injunction will be allowed to take effect Friday, including the ability for police to arrest anyone suspected of unlawful entry into the country. The injunction applies only to those suspected of illegal reentry. Both plaintiffs live in Austin and are the primary providers in their families. One is a green card holder, while the other has received provisional approval for a U-visa, which protects the victims of crimes who have been helpful to law enforcement from deportation. The American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Texas and the Texas Civil Rights Project brought the class action on their behalf. The defendant in the case is Freeman Martin, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, the agency responsible for the enforcement of the law. In his order, Ezra wrote he believed the provisions of SB 4 challenged by the plaintiffs likely violate the U.S. Constitution’s supremacy clause, because the law conflicts and encroaches on the federal government’s interest in regulating immigration. Passed in 2023, SB 4 made it a state crime to break immigration laws. Once prosecuted, judges are required to order migrants to be removed to Mexico.

USDA employees’ union sues federal agency, accusing Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins of religious coercion

A union representing more than 19,000 employees of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is suing the agency. It accuses Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins of violating employees' First Amendment rights through a campaign of religious coercion. The National Federation of Federal Employees filed the lawsuit, in conjunction with seven individual USDA employees. "Plaintiffs – a group of multifaith and nonreligious USDA employees ... are subject to the effects of that coercion, religious sermonizing, and denominational preference," the complaint reads. "They feel excluded and unwelcome, and they fear the negative consequences of not sharing the Secretary's religion or expressing their own different beliefs in the workplace."

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Rollins is one of two cabinet secretaries from Texas serving in the second Trump administration. In her home state, Christian nationalism has become a central theme in Republican primary runoff campaigns ahead of the May 26 election. The legal complaint, filed Wednesday in a federal court in California, claims the communications reached a new level with an April 5, 2026, email to employees, marking Easter and promoting the secretary's evangelical Christian theology. "Today we celebrate the greatest story ever told, the foundation of our faith, and the abiding hope of all mankind," the email began. "From the foot of the Cross on Good Friday to the stone rolled away from the now empty tomb, sin has been destroyed. Jesus has been raised from the dead. And God has granted each of us victory and new life. And where there is life — risen life—there is hope."

Texas governor's prosecutor plan targets Travis County DA José Garza

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Thursday unveiled a legislative priority that takes aim at Travis County District Attorney José Garza and other progressive prosecutors by creating a statewide prosecutorial office with authority to intervene in local cases. Under Abbott's plan, the statewide prosecutor would monitor cases to ensure that they are handled properly within 90 days — and would have the authority to take over cases and act within 30 days when local prosecutors fall short. Abbott said the office also would be available to help local district and county attorneys prosecute local cases. "We want to ensure that justice is done for all the victims who have been victimized," Abbott said in an interview with the American-Statesman. "The state will have a prosecutor to take those cases when the local district attorney doesn't have the resources or doesn't have the will to take those cases."

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The effort represents Abbott’s latest focus on Garza, a progressive prosecutor who took office in 2021. Conservatives have routinely portrayed Garza as soft on crime, though in his second term he also has faced increased bipartisan criticism over day-to-day case management in his office. In an interview later Thursday, Garza accused Abbott of a "political stunt" and said his office has worked on programs to improve community safety. Abbott's proposal "ignores the gap between politics and the realities that prosecutors all across the state face," Garza said. Abbott said he was partly moved to create the position after ongoing Statesman reporting last year showed Garza's felony prosecutors routinely failed to indict cases within 90 days, an issue that resulted in the release of potentially violent defendants and others remaining in jail longer than legally allowed. Garza's office has since addressed the deficiencies. "The failure to indict people who had been arrested, including murderers, and the failure to indict them on time was a catalyst, the straw that broke the camel's back," he told the Statesman. "We have to have a state prosecutor who will backstop that kind of failure, that kind of neglect by a district attorney."

Trump leaves China, short on deliverables but with signs of a stabilized relationship

President Donald Trump departed Beijing Friday afternoon local time without any immediate sign that the US and China have resolved thorny challenges dogging their fractious relationship, but with a freshly stabilized relationship with Chinese leader Xi Jinping – for now. The leaders covered a range of issues from Iran and Taiwan to trade, during two days that included intensive bilateral meetings. But there were also grand displays of soft diplomacy, marking the first Beijing meeting for the longtime rivals in nearly a decade. Since Trump’s last visit in 2017, he has reimagined Washington’s role in the world, while Xi has tightened his grip on authority domestically and spurred China’s high-tech transformation. “We’ve settled a lot of different problems that other people wouldn’t have been able to settle, and the relationship is a very strong one,” Trump said at the start of bilateral discussions Friday, offering no concrete details on the problems in question.

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Given how bad relations have been in recent years, the fact both leaders came away speaking of each other in warm terms and agreeing on the importance of their ties is evidence of a shift to stabilization at a time when a jittery world is desperately seeking geopolitical calm. The US-Israeli war with Iran loomed over the whirlwind summit. There were questions of what, if any, behind-the-scenes support Xi might be willing to extend to help bring an end to the months-long conflict, which has thrown the global economy into turmoil without a clear endgame. Details of the sweeping trade deals Trump promised ahead of the trip remain unclear, with big pronouncements from the president and some top officials, but any substantive announcements still absent and unconfirmed by China. And amid concerns from experts and analysts that Xi was walking into the meeting with the upper hand, the Chinese leader offered his own flex on the issue of Taiwan. But the visit also provided an opportunity to reset the tone of the fractious US-China relationship, Xi rolling out a literal and figurative red carpet that charmed and delighted his guest, a warm connection on display. “I think it will go down as a very important moment in history. And maybe more than anything else, a great moment of respect,” Trump reflected during an interview with Fox News.

State Stories

San Antonio congressional candidate Maureen Galindo faces antisemitism accusations

San Antonio Democratic congressional candidate Maureen Galindo is facing heat after an article and an op-ed, both appearing over the weekend in the New York Times, accused her of spreading antisemitic conspiracy theories on social media. In response to the reports, Galindo doubled down on her rhetoric, telling the Current in a conversation Tuesday that she’s not antisemitic but instead is taking a stand against a cabal of “Zionist billionaire Jews” that controls the world. “It’s all very complex. But, it’s my perception that Zionist billionaires run the world,” Galindo said. “They’re of all religions. But, especially Israeli, Jewish billionaire Zionists who disproportionately and factually own a lot of Hollywood production studios, media companies and banks.” Galindo told the Current she has “no hatred toward any group,” except the “billionaire Zionists and their puppets.”

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The accusations and Galindo’s response are the latest chapters in one of the most bizarre political stories this election season. The self-proclaimed sex therapist and housing advocate ran an underdog populist campaign to represent Texas’ redrawn 35th District, which includes part of San Antonio. Despite her fringe rhetoric and meager funding, she ended up in the Democratic primary runoff against Johnny Garcia, a former Bexar County Sheriff’s Department public information officer. Galindo said she didn’t read either of the New York Times pieces, which hit the street as her May 26 runoff looms. However, she said she suspects Zionist Jews and their collaborators are behind the so-called “hit pieces.” The claim appears to dovetail sentiments she shared in a Facebook video last fall cited by the Times in which she warned that Jews and Christian Zionists are trying to bring about the End of Days via their control of Hollywood. In her remarks to the Current, Galindo also said the Zionists are trying to sabotage her candidacy so that her opponent, Garcia, can retain control of Bexar County’s human trafficking networks, which, according to Galindo, are controlled by the Zionist billionaire Jews.

Second Baptist lawsuit heads to July trial after mediation fails

Mediation efforts in a lawsuit accusing Houston's Second Baptist Church of misleading congregants have been unsuccessful, a court document shows. The case will now head to a jury trial, currently scheduled for July 27. The legal fight involving the Houston megachurch is currently taking place in Texas’ 11th Division Business Court. A group of current and former church members known as the Jeremiah Counsel say the church concealed the real reason for changing bylaws that had affirmed voting rights to the congregation. The revised bylaws consolidated power in the hands of a few and abolished the 94,000-member congregation’s right to vote in major decisions, such as selecting the top pastor.

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Second Baptist has denied the allegations. Along with the nearly century-old church itself, the defendants are longtime senior pastor Ed Young; his son and the church’s new leader, Ben Young; associate pastor Lee Maxcy; and Dennis Brewer Jr., general counsel and executive pastor at Fellowship Church in Grapevine. Fellowship Church is led by Ed Young Jr., Ben Young’s brother. Second Baptist’s revised bylaws resemble Fellowship’s bylaws. Speaking to his congregation last year, Second Baptist senior pastor Ben Young said that the allegations "simply are not true” and said the new bylaws were both "biblically and legally" sound. In a statement shared Thursday, the Jeremiah Counsel expressed disappointment at the lack of resolution “after participating in mediation in good faith.” The group is seeking a restoration of voting rights for Second Baptist members. The trial was initially scheduled for last month, but was moved soon after the mediation was ordered on April 1. Attorneys for the defendants did not respond to the Houston Chronicle’s requests for comment.

Texans push back on Elon Musk's bid for tax breaks for Terafab

Residents of a largely rural county east of College Station aren’t wild about Elon Musk’s proposal to receive tax breaks in exchange for building a massive computer chipmaking facility there. Many of them lined up this week to voice concerns and, in some cases, support for the semiconductor manufacturing and advanced fabrication facility being pitched by Musk’s SpaceX. Dubbed Terafab, Musk says it would be the world’s largest.

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Supporters say the investment, which could begin at $55 billion and more than double through later phases, is too good for Grimes County to pass up. Detractors, though, worry about the questionable environmental track record of Musk’s businesses — and whether the huge space company getting set for what’s likely to be the largest-ever initial public offering even needs the help. “I believe it would be immoral to give this company tax abatement when we have serious concerns about health issues and safety issues,” county resident Jacqueline Ross told Grimes County commissioners. She was among more than a dozen who signed up to speak at a special meeting to discuss commercial and financial information the commissioners court received from SpaceX regarding its request. No details of the proposal have been made public.

A Texas fight for a powerful oil job tests the strength of the hard right

Bo French was such a headache for some Republican leaders last year that they asked him to resign as a county party chairman. But if their goal had been to try to sideline Mr. French, among the loudest voices on the far right in Texas, that effort may have backfired. With the support of a couple of billionaire oilmen, Mr. French has become a viable candidate for a powerful statewide job overseeing the Texas oil and gas industry, a cornerstone in the nation’s energy portfolio. Attorney General Ken Paxton headlined Mr. French’s campaign kick off party. Steve Bannon, a former close aide to President Trump, has boosted his candidacy.

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On the other hand, Mr. French is opposed by Gov. Greg Abbott and other top Republican officials, along with some of the biggest companies in the energy business. They have all thrown their considerable conservative weight and campaign cash behind Jim Wright, the staid incumbent chairman of the Texas Railroad Commission who is facing Mr. French in a May 26 runoff. The contest, mostly overlooked outside of Texas, offers a clear test of the power of a traditional business-backed conservative incumbent against a self-described “America First” upstart challenging his own party’s boundaries of decency. The two men, who have never met in person, are waging parallel but utterly disparate campaigns. Mr. French, 56, frequently posts anti-Muslim rhetoric on social media, claiming the state of Texas is being taken over by Muslims. He has called for the deportation of nearly one-third of the country and attacked his critics as “liars” or “gay race communists.” Accused criminals, he has said, deserve one punishment: “A rope.”

4 of the 5 fastest growing cities in the country are in North Texas. Here's where

North Texas is no stranger to staggering growth, and new census data shows that it's only accelerating. The new data, tracking population growth between July 1, 2024, and July 1, 2025, shows that four of the five fastest-growing cities are North Texas suburbs. The nation's fastest-growing city, Celina, is no stranger to rapid growth. In 2024, it was the fastest-growing city in the county, and its population was previously expected to quintuple in just ten years, WFAA previously reported. Once again, Celina topped the list for population growth, with a 24.6% increase in just one year. Celina's continued growth isn't a surprise, after it was revealed as the fastest-growing city in the country, it also issued a record number of single-family residential permits in 2024.

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"Families are drawn to Celina for our outstanding schools, safe neighborhoods, and dynamic community life, while businesses recognize the strategic advantages of our location, robust infrastructure, and supportive environment," Celina Mayor Ryan Tubbs previously told WFAA in a statement. The No. 2 fastest-growing city is Fulshear outside Houston, according to Census data. Other Collin County cities round out the list of the top 5 fastest-growing cities. Princeton ranked third, Melissa ranked fourth, and Anna ranked fifth. Several other North Texas cities also ranked in the top 15, including Forney at No. 8 and Greenville at No. 15. In the same amount of time, Fort Worth saw the second-largest numeric population increase, growing by 19,512 people. McKinney ranked 10th for the largest numeric increase, adding 8,504.

Dallas Morning News Editorial: In the Republican primary runoff for Texas Attorney General, we recommend no one

This month, Texans will cast their votes in primary runoff elections, deciding who will appear on the ballot for the November general election. Early voting begins Monday and continues through May 22. Election day is May 26. State Sen. Mayes Middleton and U.S. Rep. Chip Roy are headed for a runoff in the Republican primary for attorney general. We cannot recommend either of them. With a focus on the office’s nuts-and-bolts responsibilities, state Sen. Joan Huffman was the smartest choice in the primary. But we knew that Middleton and Roy would be the front-runners, so it was not surprising that Huffman only won about 15% of the vote.

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Roy and Middleton are running two of the most noxious campaigns you’ll see this year. Each has been aggressively slinging mud at the other in outlandish ads filled with claims that stretch the truth beyond the breaking point. If you were to believe them, you’d think Middleton is a secret Shariah supporter and Roy is in cahoots with the pro-transgender lobby. While the candidates insult voters’ intelligence with insane claims, they are far too quiet on actual policy issues that matter.

Dustin Fawcett: West Texas built one boom. It can build another

(Dustin Fawcett is Ector County Judge.) Odessa knows how to build an industry from scratch. When the first oil wells came in across the Permian Basin, nobody had a blueprint. The infrastructure didn’t exist, the workforce had to be trained, and critics said the land was too remote, the conditions too harsh, the risks too high. West Texans figured it out anyway, and in doing so, they powered a nation. That same instinct is what I bring to the conversation about data centers. Texas needs to lean into this opportunity, not shy away from it. Data centers are not an abstraction. They are the infrastructure behind everything we take for granted: the apps on our phones, the payment systems at every gas station and grocery store, the electronic health records at rural hospitals across West Texas.

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When a small-town ER physician pulls up a patient’s medical history, a data center made it possible. When a soldier in the field accesses real-time intelligence, data infrastructure made it possible. These facilities are as essential to modern life as the power grid, and America’s ability to lead in artificial intelligence depends on building enough of them, fast enough, on American soil. Texas is already at the center of that buildout, competing with Virginia, Arizona, and the rest of the world for this investment. The question for Ector County and West Texas broadly is whether we want a seat at that table. I do, and here’s why we’re better positioned than anywhere else in the country. The Permian Basin produces something that data centers need and most of the country lacks: energy and water, in abundance, side by side. Start with energy. The fracking revolution made the Permian the most prolific oil basin in the world, but associated natural gas overwhelmed pipeline capacity faster than anyone could keep up. Prices at Waha Hub went negative for more than 40% of trading days in 2024. Operators were paying to move gas or flaring it, disposing of abundance instead of profiting from it. Data centers change that calculus. A gigawatt-scale facility consumes roughly 170 million cubic feet of gas per day, and behind-the-meter generation turns a stranded resource into the most reliable, dispatchable power source in the world.

Houston Chronicle Editorial: Kelly Peterson wants Republicans to stop fighting each other. They should want that, too.

Stan Stanart came so close to clearing the 50% threshold in March’s primary election for House District 126, we’re surprised he didn’t claim election fraud. We kid, but Stanart, 66, has been known to dabble in conspiracy theories about elections – a fact that he once apologized for back when he was running for Harris County Clerk but now he defends running for state representative for his northwest Harris County district. Luckily, Republican voters there have a stronger option in Kelly Peterson, who is still our pick in the May runoff.

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A former district manager for the outgoing incumbent Sam Harless, Peterson, 55, said she prioritizes property tax relief, flood mitigation, securing the border, strengthening job training and opportunities. And, perhaps most refreshing, she told us, “I want empathy back at the Capitol,” adding, “I want fighting to stop within our party.” Republicans should want that, too. Ridiculous purity tests have led to vengeful cleavages in the state’s Republican party. As a county clerk, Stanart garnered plenty of media attention and we suspect he would do the same as a state representative. Peterson is ready to get down to the issues that actually affect everyday life in the suburban communities of House District 126. Republican voters should go with her.

Houston Chronicle Editorial: It's time for Rep. Vo to go. Dems should pick school leader Breaux in runoff.

As school board president for Alief ISD, Darlene Breaux has seen up close the promise and the challenges of this westside Houston community. It is one of the most diverse districts in the state, brimming with polyglots and possibility. It is also, like so many school districts, battling declining enrollment and state funding that hasn’t even kept pace with inflation. Since she began on the board in 2017, voters there have approved a bond and tax rate increase – no small feat when similar efforts in neighboring districts have failed. Breaux took it as a sign that she and the board have earned the community’s trust. She certainly earned our endorsement for House District 149. Currently represented by Democrat Hubert Vo, the district is known for its international diversity. Vo, who has been in office for two decades, helped bring an important management district to the area, investing in beautification and other projects. That win was in 2007. But his accomplishments in office have been light since then.

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When we spoke with Vo ahead of the March primary, we were concerned by how frequently he repeated himself and how little he had to show for all his time in office. Breaux meanwhile, impressed us with her passion and ideas for the Legislature including, “adding teacher wellness days, further protecting seniors in care facilities who are reliant on backup power during disasters, utilizing mobile technical training opportunities in the district and helping residents in the district — which includes Barker Reservoir — during disasters by automatically dropping toll road fees.” Incumbency is important. It should translate to connections, seniority and respect on the floor. But we don’t see Vo’s years in office paying off. Breaux is more than ready to take up the task and Democratic voters should pick her to represent them in Austin.

El Paso city population drops by 2,209 in 2025, largest decline in Texas, new census estimates show

The number of people living in the city of El Paso fell by 2,209 between 2024 and 2025, the largest decline in Texas and seventh-largest in the United States, according to estimates released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau. The annual population decline is the largest ever recorded in census estimates for the city of El Paso, surpassing a drop of 1,700 people between 2017 and 2018, records show. The city’s population has grown by a little over 4,000 since the 2020 census, or 0.6%, which makes it El Paso’s slowest growth period since a population decline during the Great Depression in the 1930s. Several trends such as rapidly declining birth rates, slowing immigration from Mexico and migration of young adults out of El Paso in search of better economic opportunities have slowed the city’s population growth over the past 15 years or longer. Now, national economic and political developments may also be playing a role, said Tom Fullerton, an economics professor at the University of Texas at El Paso.

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“The immigration crackdown in the United States has severely reduced population growth in El Paso, a place where international migrants frequently prefer to relocate,” Fullerton said. “The anti-trade movements from both the right and left wings of the political spectrum have also damaged business and job opportunities in El Paso during the past decade. A variety of investments on both sides of the border have been sidelined due to business climate uncertainty, tariff rate increases, and administrative actions that thwart international commerce and manufacturing. Any time trade suffers, it tends to slow economic expansion and demographic growth within the Sun City and throughout the Borderplex,” he said. The loss of 2,209 people – or about 0.3% of the city of El Paso’s 2024 population – is equivalent to losing the entire student body at El Dorado or Montwood high schools. Mayor Renard Johnson said “population numbers are important because they tell us whether people feel they have opportunity and a strong quality of life in a city.”

Parents plead with HISD leaders to scrap changes to special education program, to little success

Houston ISD leaders defended plans Thursday to move thousands of special education students to new campuses in the 2026-27 school year despite a federal investigation and emotional opposition from dozens of families, saying the move would reduce class sizes and limit the number of different grades served in one classroom. HISD announced its new “Special Education Success Programs” May 6, days after the Houston Chronicle and other media outlets reported on leaked documents outlining plans to move some children with disabilities to “specialty schools.” Under the new plan, up to 5,000 students who spend most of their time in self-contained classrooms will move to one of 150 designated campuses. HISD Deputy Superintendent Kristen Hole said at the school board’s monthly meeting that 65% of teachers in self-contained classrooms are currently serving at least three grade levels in one classroom.

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Under the new model, most classrooms will be limited to two grade levels, allowing teachers to better support students’ needs, she said. “We're walking into classrooms over and over again and seeing teachers really trying to support their students, but (it's) being very, very hard, because you have a kindergartner and a fifth grader sitting three feet apart, and the teacher is trying their best, but that's a hard environment to really provide that quality instruction,” Hole said. About 100 community members signed up to speak at Thursday’s meeting, with most voicing emotional opposition to the planned changes. Several HISD parents and students cried as they pleaded with the board not to force them to leave their community schools. HISD police escorted two parents — Cristian Garcia and Jessie Dugan — out of the meeting after they refused to stop speaking. “I worked hard to get to Bellaire. Now, I'm figuring out that I won't be able to go there next year, and I'm very sad about it. I just started making friends, and now you're making me change and lose my friends,” said Rhys Sullivan, a freshman at Bellaire High School. “It was my dream to join the Bellaire band, and you've taken that dream away from me.”

Austin population tops 1 million residents as growth reshapes the city

Austin’s new million-resident milestone is more than just a number. To City Demographer Lila Valencia, it means more business opportunities and tax money for city services. It puts Austin in a league of just 12 cities now with a seven-digit population. It signals that Austin remains a city on the rise, unlike those losing population. “It definitely puts Austin on more of not just a national stage in terms of big cities, but an international and global stage that can really work to attract greater economic development to the area,” she said. The U.S. Census Bureau on Thursday released data officially listing Austin’s 2025 population as 1,002,632. Austin, the city. Not the Austin metro area. Not the Austin region. Austin, the city, has been teetering at the million mark since 2020. That year, the Census Bureau put Austin at 958,151. Since then, it has grown 4.6%.

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Austin’s new status shines light on its evolution from a fast-growing boomtown into one of the nation’s largest cities, bringing both economic clout and mounting pressure on infrastructure, housing and public services. Even as the city grapples with traffic congestion, affordability challenges, aging bridges and food access gaps, Austin continues to attract new residents with its job market, cultural identity and outdoor lifestyle. The new federal designation also arrives as population growth slows or reverses in many large U.S. cities, reinforcing Austin’s status as one of the country’s enduring growth centers. “There’s no denying now that Austin is a big city and we have big challenges," said Austin Mayor Kirk Watson. “But we also still have a small town heart and that’s part of what makes it the best place in the country to raise a family or to seek out new opportunities.” The million-person mark is no surprise to Valencia. She says Austin has been a 1-million-person city since 2020 and has been waiting for federal data to catch up. The demographer’s numbers have been at odds with the Census Bureau’s figures since that year, when the federal count was thrown off-kilter by COVID-19. Because of that, Valencia said, the Census Bureau missed about 40,000 residents.

Houston Chronicle Editorial: Staci Childs found hundreds of issues in your kid's proposed curriculum. Think what she can do in the state House.

If you’ve been following the state’s overhaul of K-12 social studies curriculum and infusion of Bible passages in reading lists, you probably know Staci Childs. She’s the current State Board of Education member who has been challenging the conservative-led efforts and personally poring over thousands of pages of proposed class material, flagging around 200 errors and concerns. She is also our pick for the Democratic primary for state House District 131.

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True, her challenger, Lawrence Allen Jr., 64, won the outgoing incumbent’s endorsement but that outgoing incumbent is also his mother, Alma Allen. Both candidates have remarkably similar experience in education. Both have served on the State Board of Education, though Childs is also a lawyer. When we interviewed the candidates together, Childs, 38, was more informed and energized to help innovate in the Legislature. In fact, she has already had some success. She told the editorial board earlier that, from the state board, she was able to get a Republican legislator to help her pass a budget rider that created a grant program for some of the lowest-performing schools to fund tutoring, parental engagement and professional development. She is the best prepared to make a difference once in the Legislature, too. Democratic voters should go with Childs.

Fort Worth becomes 10th largest US city with more than 1 million residents, Census shows

Fort Worth is officially one of the largest cities in the country, and the city is still growing fast. New data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows the city’s population has reached 1,028,117, pushing Cowtown into the top 10 largest cities in the United States. That’s up from its previous ranking at number 11. The milestone comes after Fort Worth surpassed Jacksonville, Florida, by more than 10,000 residents. Within Texas, Fort Worth remains the fourth-largest city, behind Houston, San Antonio, and Dallas, trailing Dallas by about 300,000 people. Mayor Mattie Parker says the growth is no accident.

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“Fort Worth is booming for the right reasons,” Parker said in a press release put out by the city Thursday, adding that the focus now is on managing that growth through what she calls smart policies, investments, and planning to ensure long-term success. The latest Census estimates, which reflect data through July 2025, show Fort Worth added 19,512 new residents in just one year, which is the second-largest numeric increase in the country, according to the report. Only Charlotte, North Carolina, saw a bigger jump. That growth stands out, especially as many large U.S. cities are seeing slower gains or even slight declines. According to Census data, those slowdowns have been most noticeable in the Northeast. Fort Worth’s rise is also part of a much larger trend across Texas.

Stacy Eastland dropped from lawsuit targeting Camp Mystic

The elder brother of Camp Mystic’s late owner Richard “Dick” Eastland has been dismissed from a lawsuit filed by the parents of several children killed in a flash flood after it was shown he had no part in the Texas Hill Country retreat for more than a decade before the July 4 disaster. Stacy Eastland was dropped from the lawsuit after his attorney proved he had no ownership interest or operational role with Camp Mystic for more than 10 years before the flood that killed 25 children, two counselors and his brother at the retreat.

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Eastland severed all ties to Camp Mystic in 2012 after transferring his minority interest in Natural Fountains Properties, Inc., which owns the land where the camp operates, back to the company, according to a statement from FBFK Law, which defended him in the dispute. Eastland, a prominent trust and estate lawyer in Houston, had initially been named as one of numerous defendants in the lawsuit filed by the parents of six children killed in the flash flood. That lawsuit also targeted Camp Mystic, Natural Fountains Properties and several other members of the Eastland family. “Stacy Eastland should never have been named in this lawsuit,” Eastland’s attorney, Dan Bitting, said in the statement. Eastland said he continues to grieve what happened at Camp Mystic. “I was shocked and devastated when I was accused of having any role in the tragic deaths of 27 young girls, when I had no involvement with the camp for more than a decade before the floods,” Eastland said. “I am grateful that (the) plaintiffs’ attorneys finally acknowledged that I should never have been sued in connection with this tragedy.”

National Stories

Lawmakers worry Trump’s chummy China trip puts $14B Taiwan arms package in jeopardy

Lawmakers from both parties are watching closely for any signs President Donald Trump’s summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping could affect future U.S. support to Taiwan, as questions swirl around the future of a proposed $14 billion weapons package for the island. “It’ll be interesting to see what he gives away on Taiwan,” Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told reporters Thursday. She also noted that the White House readout of the Trump-Xi meeting “didn’t mention Taiwan at all.” During the summit, Xi warned Trump that mishandling Taiwan could damage relations between the two countries and lead to conflict, according to Chinese state media and reports from the meeting. Beijing also described Taiwan as the “most important” issue in U.S.-China relations.

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Trump has not publicly responded in detail to Xi’s warning. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Thursday that U.S. policy toward Taiwan remained “unchanged” after the summit. Trump struck a notably warm tone toward Xi during the summit, repeatedly praising the Chinese leader and emphasizing cooperation, economic ties and a “stable” relationship between the two countries. Still, it remains unclear exactly what Trump and Xi discussed privately about Taiwan, including whether future U.S. arms sales were discussed. That uncertainty is fueling concern in Congress, especially as lawmakers watch the fate of a proposed $14 billion Taiwan weapons package that has been ready for the president’s approval since at least March but reportedly held under wraps in the lead-up to the China trip. Lawmakers fear the administration could delay approving the package further as it tries to stabilize relations with Beijing, which strongly opposes U.S. arms sales to Taiwan.

Fed Governor Miran submits resignation, throws support behind Warsh as new chair

Federal Reserve Governor Stephen Miran officially handed in his resignation letter Thursday, saying he will vacate his spot on the central bank board when or just before new Chair Kevin Warsh takes his seat. Stepping in to fill what was left of an unexpired term last September, Miran served as a contrarian voice on the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee. He voted “no” in each of the six meetings he has attended since taking over for Adriana Kugler, who abruptly resigned in August 2025. In his letter, Miran said his brief stint was “the highest honor of my life” and expressed confidence in Warsh, who gained Senate confirmation to the top seat Wednesday. Miran came to the Fed after serving as chair of the Council of Economic Advisers.

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“Going forward, I am excited about changes Chairman-designate Kevin Warsh and the Federal Reserve may make in areas such as communications policy, balance sheet policy, and keeping the Federal Reserve to its narrow mandate and out of hot-button political and cultural issues,” he wrote. Miran has advocated for lower rates, voting against the three quarter-percentage-point reductions the FOMC approved in 2025. This year, he voted against the three decisions to hold rates steady in favor of quarter-point cuts. In addition, he said he has pushed for a more forward-looking approach to monetary policy and believes the Fed “needs to do a better job accounting for nonmonetary forces and their implications for monetary policy.” Specifically, he cited the impact of lower population growth and immigration on employment and deregulation as a disinflationary force. “I’ve emphasized that given monetary policy lags, policymaking needs to be forward-looking and begin to incorporate these effects now,” Miran said. He also expressed support for a series of moves the Fed has enacted lowering regulatory barriers for banks, and led research showing how the central bank should shrink the size of its balance sheet and its $6.7 trillion in asset holdings.

The Supreme Court keeps abortion pill mifepristone available by telehealth

The Supreme Court decided to keep the status quo in place for abortion access Thursday. The high court's order means the abortion pill mifepristone will remain available via telehealth as a case brought by Louisiana against the Food and Drug Administration proceeds through the lower courts. The Supreme Court stayed a May 1 ruling from the New Orleans-based, U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals which would have banned mifepristone from being mailed for the whole country. Thursday's decision came in the form of order from the court issued around 5:30 p.m., about 30 minutes past a deadline the court set for itself. Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas dissented publicly.

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The appeals court ruling would have re-instituted prescribing regulations from before the pandemic that required patients to receive mifepristone in person in a doctor's office or clinic. The FDA determined that in-person dispensing of mifepristone was medically unnecessary in 2021. The state of Louisiana sued the FDA last fall, arguing that telemedicine access undermines the state's abortion ban. This week, FDA's commissioner Dr. Marty Makary resigned under pressure from the White House. It's not clear if this lawsuit played a role in his ouster, but anti-abortion rights groups were vocal about their displeasure with how little he did to restrict abortion in that role.

Emails show Kash Patel went on a 'VIP snorkel' at Pearl Harbor

When Kash Patel visited Hawaii last summer, the FBI took pains to note the director was not on vacation, highlighting his walking tour of the bureau’s Honolulu field office and meetings with local law enforcement. Left out of the FBI’s news releases was an exclusive excursion that Patel took days later when he participated in what government officials described as a “VIP snorkel” around the USS Arizona in an outing coordinated by the military. The sunken battleship entombs more than 900 sailors and Marines at Pearl Harbor. The swim, revealed in government emails obtained by The Associated Press, comes to light amid criticism of Patel’s use of the FBI plane and his global travel, which have blurred professional responsibilities with leisure activities. The FBI did not disclose the snorkeling session or that Patel had returned to Hawaii for two days after his initial stopover on the island.

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“It fits a pattern of Director Patel getting tangled up in unseemly distractions — this time at a site commemorating the second deadliest attack in U.S. history — instead of staying laser-focused on keeping Americans safe,” said Stacey Young, who founded Justice Connection, a network of former federal prosecutors and agents who advocate for the Department of Justice’s independence. With few exceptions, snorkeling and diving are off-limits around the USS Arizona. The battleship, now a military cemetery reachable only by boat, has stood as one of the nation’s most hallowed sites since Japan bombed and sank it in 1941. Marine archaeologists and crews from the National Park Service make occasional dives at the memorial to survey the condition of the wreck. Other dives have been conducted to inter the remains of Arizona survivors who wanted to rest eternally with their former shipmates. Still, since at least the Obama administration, the Navy and the park service have quietly allowed a handful of dignitaries, including military and government officials responsible for management of the memorial, to swim at the site. The Navy and park service declined to provide details of those permitted to take such excursions.

U.S. moving to indict Cuba's Raúl Castro, sources say

The U.S. is taking steps to indict Raúl Castro, the 94-year-old former president of Cuba and brother of Fidel, in connection with the downing of planes 30 years ago, according to U.S. officials familiar with the matter. The potential indictment — which would need to be approved by a grand jury — is expected to focus on Cuba's deadly 1996 shootdown of planes operated by humanitarian group Brothers to the Rescue. A Justice Department spokesperson declined to comment. The plan comes as the U.S. heaps pressure on the Cuban government. The Trump administration has threatened heavy tariffs on any country that exports oil to Cuba, leading to energy shortages as oil shipments are largely cut off. President Trump has pressed for major reforms in Cuba and has floated a "friendly takeover" of the country.

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The pressure on Cuba began to pick up in January, after the U.S. military removed Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro from power and flew him to New York to face drug charges. Venezuela was a key partner of Cuba's before the operation. Raúl Castro formally stepped down as the leader of Cuba's Communist Party in 2021, but he is still widely seen as one of the most powerful figures in the country. His grandson Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, known as "Raulito," is viewed as both a representative of the 94-year-old and a key point of contact between the U.S. and Cuba. CIA Director John Ratcliffe met with the younger Castro on Thursday, following an earlier U.S. visit last month. Ratcliffe personally delivered President Trump's message that the U.S. is "prepared to seriously engage on economic and security issues, but only if Cuba makes fundamental changes," a CIA official said. The official added that Cuba can "no longer be a safe haven for adversaries in the Western Hemisphere." Miami's top federal prosecutor several months ago spearheaded a new initiative targeting Cuban communist leaders. That initiative, which involves federal and local law enforcement and the U.S. Treasury Department, is pursuing prosecutions involving economic crimes, drugs, violent crimes and immigration-related violations, with a focus on targeting those in the Communist Party leadership, CBS News previously reported.

Frustrations erupt as Senate, House Republicans clash over housing

Senate Republicans are furious that a bipartisan bill they passed to address housing affordability has languished in the House for weeks and undergone revisions that may doom its chances of becoming law before the November election. On Wednesday evening, the House unveiled new legislative text that would scale back the Senate bill’s restriction on institutional investors’ ownership of single-family homes, even though the language was endorsed by President Trump. If the House approves those changes on the floor next week, the bill would need to go back to the Senate for approval before it heads to Trump’s desk. Senate Republicans fear that could ultimately derail what would be the largest housing bill enacted in decades and one they were hoping to tout as a major accomplishment in the fall campaign.

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Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Senate Banking Committee which crafted the legislation, expressed that there is “an enormous amount of frustration” among his Senate colleagues and “astonishment” that the House did not take action on “a bill, which could lower housing costs in the face of an approaching election, where cost of living is the biggest issue” for several weeks. Kennedy said a small group of House Republicans have “raised hell” over the bill but for weeks did little to actually move the legislation forward, delaying a top legislative priority. This comes just as a small group of House conservatives bogged down a Senate-passed bill to reopen most of the Department of Homeland Security earlier this spring. “Those who have raised the most hell in the House about the bill have done just nothing for a considerable period of time. And what I discussed with the president on Monday … [was] to see if he could get the bill moving,” Kennedy added. Senate Republicans are worried that the House will wind up killing their top-priority legislation by tinkering with it only months before Election Day. They fear that Senate Democrats could now walk away from the legislation — which initially passed the upper chamber 89-10 — to deprive the GOP of a big policy win ahead of the fall campaign.

Trump poised to drop IRS suit, launch $1.7B 'weaponization' fund for allies: Sources

President Donald Trump is expected to drop his $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service in exchange for the creation of a $1.7 billion fund to compensate allies who claim they were wrongfully targeted by the Biden administration, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News. The commission overseeing the compensation fund would have the total authority to hand out approximately $1.7 billion in taxpayer funds to settle claims brought by anyone who alleges they were harmed by the Biden administration's "weaponization" of the legal system, including the nearly 1,600 individuals charged in connection with the Jan. 6 Capitol attack as well as potentially entities associated with President Trump himself. While the settlement is expected to be agreed upon in the coming days, sources caution that the final terms will not be set until they are officially announced.

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In addition to a public apology from the IRS, the compensation fund is believed to be the main condition for Trump to drop a series of legal actions he filed against the federal government, including the $10 billion lawsuit related to the 2019 leak of his tax returns as well as $230 million in legal claims related to the 2022 search of his Mar-a-Lago estate and the Russia collusion investigation he faced during his first term in office, sources familiar with the ongoing deliberations said. The settlement terms are expected to prohibit Trump from directly receiving payments related to those three legal claims; however, entities associated with Trump are not explicitly barred from filing additional claims, sources said. In response to a request for comment, a spokesperson for President Trump's legal team told ABC News, "The IRS wrongly allowed a rogue, politically-motivated employee to leak private and confidential information about President Trump, his family, and the Trump Organization to the New York Times, ProPublica and other left-wing news outlets, which was then illegally released to millions of people. President Trump continues to hold those who wrong America and Americans accountable."

Scrutiny ramps up over mystery of missing lawmakers

Scrutiny of lawmakers absent from Washington due to mysterious health issues is ramping up as two House members — Reps. Tom Kean Jr. (R-N.J.) and Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.) — have missed weeks of votes. The absences come as leaders in both parties are encouraging full participation from their members, given the razor-thin margins in the House. And in the instance of Kean, who represents a swing district, the absence could affect his reelection campaign and, by extension, the balance of power in Congress next year. Kean, 57, has not voted since March 5 due to what his campaign called a “personal medical issue,” without further elaboration. And while an April 27 statement said he expects to “return to a full schedule and be at 100 percent” in the “near future,” he remained absent as the House returned this week.

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Wilson, 83, has not voted since April 17, though she is expected back in the Capitol next week. Her monthlong absence went largely unexplained and unnoticed until reporter Jamie Dupree noted her absence in a post on the social platform X on Wednesday, leading reporters to ask House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) about it. “She’s recovering from a procedure, and I expect that she’ll be back shortly,” Jeffries told reporters in the Capitol. Republican leaders, by contrast, say they are unaware of what Kean’s actual medical issue is and are not sure when he will be back to work in the House. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said Thursday that he spoke to Kean about two weeks ago, and he “sounded great.” “He said he was out on a medical issue and he’ll be back as soon as possible. That’s the full extent of what I know about it,” Johnson said. “It’s a personal thing, and obviously I told him that we’re praying for him, and I need him to get back as soon as he can.” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) said that he has not spoken to Kean directly.

Penile implant specialist with history of far-right comments led Hantavirus presser

As the Trump administration sought to reassure Americans this week that a hantavirus outbreak posed little risk to the public, Dr. Brian Christine, one of the top public health officials in charge of infectious disease policy, stood before reporters in Nebraska promising a response “grounded in science” and “grounded in transparency.” Before he joined the Trump administration last year, Christine was an Alabama-based urologist who specialized in penile implants. He has little public health experience and a history of far-right commentary and promoting conspiracy theories. He’s said the Covid pandemic led to a wider government plot to control people, compared the Biden administration to Nazi Germany and suggested the Covid vaccine had little effect in stopping the pandemic. He once hosted a YouTube show called “Erection Connection,” a professional YouTube series on erectile dysfunction for fellow urologists.

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A CNN review of archived podcast episodes, social media posts and radio appearances found that Christine repeatedly framed public health institutions, the federal government and pandemic-era policies as tools used to target conservatives and religious Americans. In comments made on a podcast he hosted while running for Alabama state Senate in 2022, Christine questioned the legitimacy of the 2020 election. He also advocated for abortion bans without exceptions for rape or incest and suggested there may have been a worldwide effort involving George Soros and figures associated with the World Economic Forum’s “Great Reset” to use the pandemic to force small businesses to close. Christine repeatedly criticized Covid mandates, arguing that the vaccines neither prevented disease nor transmission, despite evidence the vaccines prevented millions of deaths. Andrew Nixon, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Media Relations at the US Department of Health and Human Services, told CNN, “Assistant Secretary for Health Admiral Christine remains focused on executing President Trump and Secretary Kennedy’s agenda to Make America Healthy Again and deliver on President Trump’s Executive Order to protect our children against chemical and surgical mutilation.”

Copyright May 15, 2026, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved