January 16, 2026: All Newsclips

Lead Stories

Earnings fall short at Bank of America, Citi, JPMorgan and Wells Fargo

For a year, Wall Street’s dominant theme has been the so-called K-shaped economy, in which the well-to-do have powered financial activity despite lower earners’ struggles. This week, the nation’s largest banks reported a broadly disappointing set of quarterly earnings, the first stumble after a yearlong spree of rising markets and softening regulations paid off handsomely for the finance set. Results at Bank of America, Citi, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo all fell short of expectations, and their shares fell. Troubles ranged from delayed merger deals (JPMorgan) to stubborn expenses (Citi) to questions about the efficacy of artificial intelligence tools (Bank of America). Banks that do business largely with rich individuals and corporations, such as Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, fared comparatively better.

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Results from major lenders are closely watched because they contain hints about the state of the economy and ordinary American consumers. Wells Fargo’s chief executive, Charles Scharf, said his organization had not seen a “meaningful” shift among the customer data it collected, including checking account flows, direct deposit amounts, overdraft activity and payments. Another Wells Fargo executive described “very consistent activity.” Wells Fargo’s quarterly results disappointed for a different reason: lower-than-expected profits, in part because mortgage lending stayed weak in a slow housing market. The bank’s stock had its steepest fall in six months. For yet another quarter, Trump administration policies loomed large. This time, the banks were asked by reporters and Wall Street analysts about President Trump’s threatened 10 percent cap on credit card interest rates. Although it’s not clear how or if Mr. Trump could unilaterally impose that ceiling, bankers mostly gave identical responses by arguing that charging lower rates would cause them to lend less to riskier borrowers with patchier credit. And Jeremy Barnum, JPMorgan’s chief financial officer, was candid about what a cap would mean for the bottom line. “It would obviously be bad for us,” he said.

‘Dumbest thing I’ve ever heard’: Republicans amp up their resistance to Trump’s Greenland push

President Donald Trump is talking about taking over Greenland by any means necessary. Republicans in Congress are trying to scare him back to reality. As Trump continually threatens to bring the Danish territory into the U.S. over the objections of key global allies and the island’s elected representatives, some GOP lawmakers are stepping up their warnings and engaging in diplomacy as Democrats prepare to put the other party on record opposing a military invasion. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) predicted members on both sides of the aisle would lock arms and require congressional signoff if it became clear Trump was preparing imminent military action. “If there was any sort of action that looked like the goal was actually landing in Greenland and doing an illegal taking … there’d be sufficient numbers here to pass a war powers resolution and withstand a veto,” Tillis said.

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Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) went further, predicting that it would lead to impeachment and calling Trump’s Greenland obsession “the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.” The blunt public messaging comes as lawmakers try to reassure U.S. allies, including Denmark, in private. A bipartisan group of House and Senate lawmakers will be in Copenhagen Friday to try to drive home in person the message that military action does not have support on Capitol Hill. Senate Majority Leader John Thune is not joining the delegation but he largely endorsed the message the contingent plans to send in comments to reporters Thursday, saying “there’s certainly not an appetite here for some of the options that have been talked about or considered” — an apparent reference to military action. The pushback amounts to one of the most profound breaches yet seen between GOP lawmakers and the president in Trump’s second term. So far the Republican uneasiness over Trump’s brash foreign policy moves have not resulted in any successful steps to restrain him.

Venezuela's opposition leader gives Trump her Nobel Peace Prize medal

President Donald Trump lost out on the Nobel Peace Prize, yet in a rare confluence of geopolitics and chance, he wound upwith the 18-karat gold medal nonetheless. María Corina Machado, who won the 2025 prize, presented hermedal to Trump during a private meeting at the White House on Thursday in appreciation for deposing Venezuela's repressive leader, Nicolás Maduro, in a U.S. military raid on Jan. 3. In a post on his social media site, Trump thanked Machado for parting with her prize. He did not say what he intends to do it. "It was my Great Honor to meet María Corina Machado, of Venezuela, today," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "She is a wonderful woman who has been through so much. María presented me with her Nobel Peace Prize for the work I have done. Such a wonderful gesture of mutual respect. Thank you María!"

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He later posted a photo of himself with Machado and the medal. In an interview, Machado told Fox News that she gave Trump the medal "because he deserves it." "I decided to present the Nobel Peace Prize medal on behalf of the people of Venezuela," she added. Machado’s offering is wholly symbolic; it does not make Trump the official recipient of the prestigious honor. The Norwegian Nobel Institute has already stated that Machado remains the winner for all time. The prize can’t be shared or transferred, the institute said in a statement last week. It said Thursday: "But one truth remains. As the Norwegian Nobel Committee states: “Once a Nobel Prize is announced, it cannot be revoked, shared, or transferred to others. The decision is final and stands for all time.” A medal can change owners, but the title of a Nobel Peace Prize laureate cannot." Yet, with the medal in hand, Machado was always free to do with it as as she chose. She had already dedicated the prize to Trump, crediting his support for her democratic movement.

In ink and on airwaves, Texas media grows ever more concentrated

In the realm of Texas newspapers, one media mogul now rules them all—or close to it at least. Last February, Hearst Communications acquired the Austin American-Statesman. Seven months later, the privately held New York-based conglomerate bought up the Dallas Morning News, one of the country’s last locally owned metro papers, for just over $80 million—outbidding the notorious hedge-fund outfit Alden Global. Considering the alternative, this was seemingly welcome news for the journalism business in Texas, where over 200 local papers have shuttered in the past 20 years. Under the vampiric regime of Gannett/Gatehouse, the Statesman was bled and hollowed out into a husk of a paper. And the Morning News had steadily slipped away from its glory days, when it had bureaus around the world, and was mired by turnover, layoffs, and declining print circulation. Hearst, meanwhile, is one of the few media companies still investing in newspapers, and it has an established interest in Texas: It already owned the Houston Chronicle, these days the state’s best paper by a mile,and the San Antonio Express-News, as well as others in Laredo, Midland, and Beaumont.

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While Hearst’s spending spree has brought salvation in the short term, it does raise concerns about homogenization of coverage and about the fate of the union contracts that journalists have won in recent years at the Dallas and Austin papers. (A unionization effort was voted down in Hearst’s San Antonio newsroom in 2024.) The Hearst expansion also raises questions long-term about the size, strength, and investigative firepower of the state’s press corps—particularly at the Capitol. Is it in fact a good thing that Hearst now runs the papers servicing the four largest metros in Texas, which are home to roughly two-thirds of the state population? Do these papers risk being stripped of their local identities and missions under Hearst assimilation? What will it look like for the journalists covering politics and state government at these papers to consolidate under a single Capitol bureau? In an October interview, Hearst’s CEO Steve Swartz said the local papers would retain their independence but would also benefit from economies of scale—and more might in Austin. “I think that there are advantages to being concentrated in locales. … We will be able to better service in Texas a number of advertisers, to reach more people for them. I think we’re going to be able to have the biggest and most effective capital bureau in Austin, the best coverage of the statehouse and of the political leaders both in Texas and in Washington.”

State Stories

Greg Abbott’s campaign tops $100 million

Gov. Greg Abbott has amassed $105.7 million in campaign cash, a chest-thumping haul that towers over challengers trying to block his bid for a fourth term. The updated financial account that his campaign released late Thursday also e dwarfs all other Texans seeking state offices this year. Only Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is close, reporting $38 million in the bank. Democrats say they plan to counter their financial disadvantage through grassroots fundraising and targeted spending. Still, the vast sums held by the state’s two most powerful Republicans provide a clear measure of the GOP’s three-decade dominance in Texas politics. “The outpouring of support from across the state sends a powerful message about the values Texans expect our governor to defend,” said Kim Snyder, Abbott’s campaign manager. “As socialists win elections elsewhere, Texans are stepping up to support Governor Abbott because he protects our way of life.”

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Abbott’s chief Democratic rival, Austin Rep. Gina Hinojosa, announced a $1.3 million campaign haul. She did not release figures on the amount of cash her campaign maintained as of the end of 2025. Abbott’s eye-popping numbers indicate that the governor could, at this pace, easily outspend his opponents. It also creates the potential for Abbott to influence Republican state legislative races to continue reshaping the Texas House in his image. Abbott flexed that muscle in 2024, where his campaign dollars helped unseat numerous Republican incumbents opposed to his efforts to send taxpayer cash to private schools. With more friendly Republicans in the House, the Legislature passed a school choice proposal, giving the governor a landmark policy win that could come to define his legacy. No such hot-button issue is dividing House Republicans this time, cycle, and Abbott has made eliminating property taxes his No. 1 policy goal. It’s a policy highly popular among conservatives. Only Patrick, who presides over the Texas Senate, has questioned its feasibility. The primary is March 3. Abbott’s campaign said it raised $22.7 million during the latter six months of 2025 from more than 48,000 contributions. His full finance report was not available late Thursday. Statewide officeholders and lawmakers are required to file campaign finance reports every six months.

Could attacks on Sharia law steer Texas Muslims away from the Republican Party?

For months, Gov. Greg Abbott has mounted a campaign against Muslim-led groups, trying to stop a planned Islamic community in North Texas and designating the nation's largest Muslim civil rights group a terrorist organization. And on Wednesday, Abbott predicted Republican voters will endorse a full ban on "Sharia law" when polled on GOP primary ballots. “Texas already does have the strongest pushback against Sharia law of any state in the country, but we're going to take it the full load and do everything possible to make sure Sharia law has no presence in Texas whatsoever,” Abbott said on conservative radio host Glenn Beck’s show.

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The blitz seems designed to resonate with right-wing, often Christian voters, who have long supported measures like President Donald Trump's Muslim ban in his first term. But some of the state's Muslim Republicans say the rhetoric has left them questioning their place in the party and runs the risk of alienating a conservative voting bloc that is ripe for GOP cultivation. Nafees Asghar, a Republican voter in Richmond, said his Muslim faith is the source of his conservative values. “Muslims don't believe in same-sex marriage,” Asghar said about his own beliefs. “We don't believe in gender modification. We do not believe in mid-term or long-term abortions. We don't believe in that, and the Republicans don't believe in that. So, if what we believe is Sharia law, then that makes me think that these Republicans also believe in Sharia law.” Asghar says he is a “staunch conservative, like most of the Muslims are, or should be.” He has almost always voted for Republicans. But he will vote for “anyone but Abbott” in the primary in March, and thinks Muslims should prove to be a reliable voting bloc by doing the same. Asghar isn’t alone. Mo Nehad used to envision a spot for himself in the Republican Party. As a Muslim, he saw reflections of his conservative beliefs in the tenets of the GOP, like opposing abortion and same-sex marriage.

Brooke Rollins faces backlash for $3 diet advice

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins took heat on social media Thursday over a comment that Americans can eat healthily for $3 a meal by consuming "a piece of chicken, a piece of broccoli, corn tortilla and one other thing." Rollins, a native Texan and former president of the conservative Texas Public Policy Foundation, appeared on News Nation to promote the Trump administration's Make America Healthy Again campaign, which advises Americans to eat more whole foods like meat and vegetables. That has drawn push back from Democrats that the diet is hard to achieve with the relatively high price of groceries. "We've run over 1,000 simulations," Rollins said. "So there is a way to do this that actually will save the average American consumer money." Social media users quickly pilloried the remarks, sharing pictures online of nearly empty plates with small pieces of chicken and broccoli.

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Among them was U.S. Rep. Ted Lieu, a California Democrat who wrote on X, "Due to Trump’s tariffs, last month was the largest spike in grocery prices in three years. So now this is what the Trump Administration suggests you can afford for a meal." The Department of Agriculture did not respond Thursday to a question about how many calories the meal described by Rollins would contain, according to their simulation. A spokesperson did say their analysis showed "hundreds of thousands" of other options to eat healthy for $3 a meal, built around foods including poultry, cottage cheese, frozen broccoli, sweet and white potatoes, frozen blueberries, whole grain bread and butter. The department reported last month that grocery prices were up 2.4% in 2025, with beef and other meats, along with fresh vegetables seeing larger spikes. They explained the increase, which is slightly below historical norms, as a product of factors including inflation, weather and trade patterns.

Trial of former Uvalde CISD officer recesses early Thursday due to family emergency of jury member

The ninth day of the trial against former Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District police officer Adrian Gonzales continues in the Nueces County courthouse on Thursday. On Wednesday, the courtroom was still tense after Tuesday’s outburst from Velma Lisa Duran, the sister of Robb Elementary teacher Irma Garcia, who was killed in the shooting. “Y’all are saying she didn’t lock her door,” Duran shouted as she was removed from the courtroom by deputies. “She went into the fatal funnel!” The fatal funnel is a tactical term used by law enforcement to describe an area, like a doorway, where a police officer does not have cover and can be shot. Presiding Judge Sid Harle had told family members before the trial to not have any outbursts for risk of declaring a mistrial.

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However, court continued Wednesday with testimony from school employees and parents of children who were at Robb Elementary the day of the shooting. Instruction aide Melodye Flores told the court she was the first to tell Adrian Gonzales there was a shooter in the parking lot. She was positioned to speak directly to Gonzales’s actions in the first minutes of the police response. Flores is the person previously described as wearing an orange-peach shirt, who had fallen to the ground as Gonzales drove up. She said she told the driver of the vehicle, who she knew was a cop, that they needed to stop the gunman before he entered the fourth-grade building. “We need to go in. We need to stop him,” Flores recalled what she said. Flores said she pointed to where she previously saw the gunman, but at the time she was talking to Gonzales, she could not see the gunman. Testimony on Wednesday also came from a doctor who worked at a nearby outpatient clinic as victims from the shooting came in.

Texas Supreme Court hears arguments in case tied to state’s bounty hunter abortion law

The Texas Supreme Court heard oral arguments Wednesday in Sadie Weldon v. The Lilith Fund, a case that pertains to Senate Bill 8, the 2021 law that banned abortions after around six weeks. The landscape of abortion law has changed since SB 8 — also called the Texas Heartbeat Act — passed, with Texas enacting more comprehensive abortion bans after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. But SB 8’s novel “bounty hunter” provision, which allows private citizens to sue anyone who “aids or abets” an abortion after cardiac activity is detected in a fetus, has continued to drive legal questions. The Texas Supreme court’s decision in Sadie Weldon v. The Lilith Fund would not decide the constitutionality of SB 8, though challenges to the law still persist. It could, however, impact whether a challenge to the law has a path forward.

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The case has wound through the courts since 2022, when Weldon, a private Texas citizen, sought to depose Neesha Davé, the deputy director of the Lilith Fund, a nonprofit that provides support to people seeking abortions. In a sworn affidavit for a separate legal proceeding, Davé acknowledged that the Lilith Fund had helped at least one Texas woman pursue an abortion, a potential violation of SB 8. Weldon filed a Rule 202 petition to try to glean more information about the potential violation without officially filing a lawsuit. “We wanted to find out exactly who was involved, the extent of the violation and what else we could investigate,” said Jonathan Mitchell, Weldon’s attorney, in arguments presented Wednesday. Mitchell, who was a key figure in the drafting of SB 8, has represented a number of clients filing Rule 202 petitions pertaining to suspected abortion law violations. However, the Lilith Fund countersued Weldon, asking a judge to both declare SB 8 unconstitutional and prevent Weldon from suing the organization under the statute. Weldon asked the courts to dismiss that countersuit, invoking the Texas Citizens Participation Act — a law intended to prevent retaliatory suits aimed at silencing “matters of public concern.” A Jack County court and the Second Court of Appeals ruled that the TCPA does not apply to declaratory judgment claims of this nature.

Fraud, cannabis millions and a bitter court fight involving Perry’s Restaurants

Fraud, conspiracy, attempted murder and a partner deprived of tens of millions of dollars are alleged between restaurant scion Chris Perry, his restaurant group Perry’s Restaurants and a former consultant. The claims and counterclaims filed in Texas courts since early December read like alternate histories. Craig Aumann, the consultant, filed suit in early December saying Perry, David Crawford and Perry’s Restaurants employees worked to deprive him of an ownership stake in Vantage Point Global Corp., a company set up to farm and export cannabis from Costa Rica.

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Aumann’s lawsuit says he was initially hired as a consultant to assist fundraising for the venture but was asked to assume the CEO title after a falling out with a previous leader. He relocated to the South American country and oversaw the farm’s setup and obtained necessary government licenses. Aumann says he moved to the country full time in October 2023 for a salary of $100,000 a year and $15,000 a month in expenses — but with a significant equity stake. Crawford was a co-founder and, according to the suit, Perry was the first and main investor. It says he obtained 51% of the company through financial outlays from accounts tied to Perry’s Restaurants Limited, the Houston company behind Perry’s Steakhouse & Grille, CARVE American Grille, Verdad True Modern Mexican and the original Perry & Sons Market & Grille. It has operations in Austin, San Antonio, Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth and eight other states. Seventy acres of Costa Rican farmland was the main source of cannabis for Vantage Point. After a year and repeated offers from outsiders to purchase the business, the last of which was for $45 million, Aumann says, Perry, Crawford and others conspired to push him out.

UT Arlington offering buyouts amid federal funding restrictions

The University of Texas at Arlington said it will start offering buyouts to faculty and staff, citing increased funding challenges amid federal restrictions. UTA President Jennifer Cowley announced a voluntary separation program and a phased retirement program earlier this week. The programs will provide incentives for employees to consider retirement or other career transitions this spring. Cowley said the programs were needed to help UTA adapt “amid significant shifts in federal funding and policy,” according to a Monday email to students, faculty and staff. She said university officials are looking for ways to “preserve funds” to support the school’s mission and brace for the future, noting “there are challenges ahead.” UTA spokesperson Jeff Caplan declined to share additional details, deferring to Cowley’s email.

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The move follows budget-saving measures last year in response to federal funding reductions, including a staff hiring freeze and a pause in staff salary adjustments. The public university, which serves over 42,000 students, is the fifth largest in Texas. It’s one of 16 universities in the state to receive the elite R1 Carnegie status, a classification given to the nation’s top research institutions based on research spending and the number of research doctorates awarded annually. About 17% of the school’s funding comes from the federal government — nearly 9% going to student financial aid and 8.5% coming from grants and contracts, according to a June email from Cowley to the UTA community. At her state of the university address in September, Cowley acknowledged that federal challenges, including those related to research support, student financial aid and international student visas, were testing the school’s budget.

Texas A&M has big plans for new nuclear reactors in College Station

Texas A&M has big plans for small reactors as it expands the nation’s largest nuclear engineering program and partners with six startups to develop new power plant technologies. The first experimental reactor could be running as early as July, and five other private companies have plans to build pilot projects. The new reactors are small enough to ride on the back of a truck or fit inside a grocery store. Texas A&M’s nuclear engineering program has 550 students, 23 faculty and a 60-year-old small research reactor operating near the College Station airport. University officials say their RELLIS Research Campus will become an energy proving ground to fulfill Gov. Greg Abbott’s desire to make Texas ground zero for next-generation U.S. nuclear.

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However, many Texans fear and oppose new nuclear facilities, despite two power plants operating without incident for more than 50 years near Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth. The federal government has also failed to obey a 1982 law requiring the construction of a permanent waste disposal site. Tomlinson's TakeTexas' record use of solar power proves the grid relies on renewable energyTexas set a record for solar power and battery use, proving the electric grid can and does rely on renewable energy.Texas governor’s plan for taxpayer-funded nuclear reactors reanimatesNuclear advocates want more reactors, but opponents insist radioactive waste remains a problem, and money would be better spent elsewhere.Crypto-mining and AI are bad news for Texas electricity customersData centers providing artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency mining are making enormous demands on the nation’s electric grid, and home electric bills are rising fast. Critics also question whether new nuclear will be affordable. The reactor designs are untested, and project costs frequently spin out of control.

Greg Abbott once endorsed this Republican. Now she’s running against him.

In 2022, Evelyn Brooks touted the support of Gov. Greg Abbott as she handily won a seat on the Texas State Board of Education. Four years later, she’s challenging him in the GOP primary for governor, accusing Abbott of orchestrating a top-down takeover of public schools and criticizing his $1 billion voucher program. “Honestly, it looks a little bit like communism,” Brooks said of the voucher program. “I don’t agree with the direction that he’s taken our education.” Brooks — who is vacating her deep-red SBOE district after just one term — is one of 10 Republicans challenging Abbott in the primary. But as the only officeholder, she is by far the most established of the group.

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Brooks could provide an early test of GOP support for Abbott’s signature voucher program, fresh off the governor’s success in muscling it through the legislature. Though few elected Republicans oppose the program today, vouchers were long seen by rural lawmakers as a potential drain on local schools and there has been growing agitation among some on the right, who see the program as a potential boost for Islamic institutions. Her campaign faces long odds. Fresh off key legislative wins over vouchers, bail reform and property tax cuts, Abbott’s grip on power in his party has never been stronger. And the governor has easily fended off past primary challenges. In 2022, Abbott cruised to victory with 66% of the vote against spirited challenges from former state Sen. Don Huffines and former Texas GOP chairman Allen West. Abbott, meanwhile, had a 78% approval rating from GOP voters in the latest survey by the University of Texas at Austin’s Texas Politics Project and boasts $90 million in the bank to fend off challengers. Wayne Hamilton, a Republican strategist who managed Abbott’s first gubernatorial campaign in 2014, noted that the governor still defeated his GOP challengers last cycle by more than a million votes despite Huffines spending $15 million in his primary bid. “This year, it will be no different, except that he will crush them at a greater level,” Hamilton said. “He’s got an incredibly strong base of support that other politicians just don’t have.”

City delays another Wings facility as concern grows from WNBA team

One Dallas pro sports franchise is weighing a move to Plano. Another is analyzing potential arena sites to remain in Dallas, but owns prime property in Irving as a fallback. Then there are the Dallas Wings: Eager and, since 2024, contractually committed to move from Arlington to Dallas, but now reeling from another gut-punch delay. Wings CEO Greg Bibb told The Dallas Morning News the team’s $48.6 million training facility that was supposed to open this spring in Far West Oak Cliff is in construction limbo — unstarted, actually — and now projected to open by spring 2027. The delay compounds last May’s setback, when the city of Dallas informed the Wings that Memorial Auditorium downtown won’t be refurbished in time to host WNBA games until 2027, a year later than planned.

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Both delays are ill-timed for a Wings franchise that wants to pounce during this most pivotal confluence in the WNBA’s 29-year history: rising women’s basketball popularity, a potential new collective bargaining agreement and greater ability to woo players — in the Wings’ case, to build around star Paige Bueckers. Ninth-year Wings CEO Bibb seemingly has reasons to be frustrated, but during a sitdown with The News to explain the latest delay, he says his emotions don’t rise to that level. “Obviously I’m disappointed that we’re not getting ready to move into two facilities that we thought we were going to be moving into when we signed the agreement,” he said. “But I do believe in the city and its leadership. “And I do believe in the vision of what the city has for the next decade downtown.” City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert, through a spokesperson, declined to comment. Mayor Eric Johnson has been vocal in his support for the Wings, but his spokesperson didn’t respond to emails. Rosa Fleming, director of Dallas’ convention and event services, did not respond to calls or emails and council member Jesse Moreno, whose District 2 includes downtown didn’t respond to phone messages.

Ex-prosecutor booted from Harris County judicial race over threat, signatures

A judge removed a Houston lawyer from the Democratic race against Judge Lauren Reeder following a contentious hearing that brought the challenger to court to defend both her ballot signatures and a text message. The message in question appeared to threaten the incumbent with exposing a past romantic relationship if she didn't drop out of the race, according to testimony. The decision late Thursday to disqualify Kim McTorry, a former Harris County prosecutor and associate judge, from the race for the 234th District Court judge seat came just ahead of a looming deadline for officials to print and mail the March primary ballots to overseas voters. Both sides waited more than two hours on opposite ends of the courthouse for her ruling, only to be told to expect an email with the decision.

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A witness testified that McTorry understood a text message she sent Reeder "was bad" and that her intent was to intimidate the incumbent, Judge Christi Kennedy wrote in a seven-page ruling. Kennedy determined McTorry's testimony was not credible and suggested that she may have coordinated with a political activist to share social media videos threatening to expose Reeder's affair with an attorney. The bulk of testimony in the temporary restraining order hearing focused on how an apparent misunderstanding led to an escalating political feud and frayed friendships, rather than similarly dwelling on 42 potentially fraudulent signatures. The Harris County Democratic Party chair rejected Reeder's complaint about the signatures, triggering the hearing on Wednesday and Thursday. Reeder's attorney, Lloyd Kelley, argued McTorry attempted to extort his client — a violation of election code. McTorry alleged Reeder violated the same code by attempting to bribe her after she entered the March 3 primary race for Reeder’s bench in December.

Another judge rules on Southlake candidate’s challenge of eligibility for Texas House race

For the second time in a week, a Tarrant County judge ruled that Zee Wilcox, a state House hopeful whose candidacy has been called into question, must remain on the Republican primary ballot. Judge Ken Curry, presiding over the 96th District Court, granted a temporary injunction on Thursday, following an afternoon hearing where Wilcox and Tarrant County GOP Chairman Tim Davis took the stand to share their sides of the dispute over filing paperwork. The decision follows Davis’ determination earlier this month that Wilcox, a candidate from Southlake for Texas House District 98, is ineligible for the Republican primary ballot. After taking the arguments from both sides under consideration, Curry said he struggled to decide the best course of action, but ultimately concluded that Wilcox could remain on the ballot until further notice, as a more permanent resolution is considered in a North Texas appellate court.

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Wilcox told the judge that the court’s intervention was needed to ensure her campaign isn’t further derailed. “Catastrophic” harm has already been done to her election bid, she said. She is competing against two other Republicans in the March primary, Keller Mayor Armin Mizani and Colleyville businessman Fred Tate. “I don’t know if I can ever recover,” said Wilcox, who runs a health and beauty business. Wilcox, representing herself in court, sued Davis on Jan. 9. She has argued that Texas election law was incorrectly followed and that her candidacy is valid. Wilcox has maintained that invalidating her candidacy is a result of political retaliation, while Davis has said the decision was “not the result of some vast conspiracy.” “Do I have proof of it? Not hard proof, but common sense,” Wilcox said of her retaliation claim in an interview after the hearing. Wilcox filed to run for office on Dec. 8. She was notified on Dec. 16, after the filing deadline, that a local precinct chair had challenged her application to run for the North Texas House district. She offered to fix any issues but didn’t hear back, Wilcox said.

Save Our Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum group to protest planned closure

The Save Our Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum group will gather with students and community members from noon to 2 p.m. Jan. 17 at the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum to protest the decision to close the museum. Organizers say the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum has long served as a cultural and educational cornerstone for the region, preserving local history and family records through community donations. The group also cites a memorandum of agreement between the Texas A&M System and the Panhandle-Plains Historical Society, saying plans to end the university’s involvement would violate that agreement. The group is calling on West Texas A&M University President Walter Wendler and the Texas A&M System to stop any plans to sever ties with the museum and to reaffirm their commitment to its continued operation.

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National Stories

Trump threatens to send troops to Minneapolis

President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to invoke an 1807 law and deploy troops to quell persistent protests against the federal officers sent to Minneapolis to enforce his administration’s massive immigration crackdown. The threat comes a day after a man was shot and wounded by an immigration officer who had been attacked with a shovel and broom handle. That shooting further heightened the fear and anger that has radiated across the city since an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent fatally shot Renee Good in the head. Trump has repeatedly threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act, a rarely used federal law, to deploy the U.S. military or federalize the National Guard for domestic law enforcement, over the objections of state governors. In 2020, for example, he threatened to use the act to quell protests after George Floyd was killed by Minneapolis police, and in recent months he threatened to use it for immigration protests.

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“If the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don’t obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of I.C.E., who are only trying to do their job, I will institute the INSURRECTION ACT, which many Presidents have done before me, and quickly put an end to the travesty that is taking place in that once great State,” Trump said in social media post. Presidents have invoked the law more than two dozen times, most recently in 1992 by President George H.W. Bush to end unrest in Los Angeles. In that instance, local authorities asked for the assistance. “I’m making a direct appeal to the President: Let’s turn the temperature down. Stop this campaign of retribution. This is not who we are,” Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, said on X. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said he would challenge any such action in court. He’s already suing to try to stop the surge by the Department of Homeland Security, which says officers have arrested more than 2,500 people since Nov. 29 as part of an immigration operation in the Twin Cities called Metro Surge. The operation grew when ICE, which is a DHS agency, sent 2,000 officers and agents to the area in early January.

Pentagon to overhaul independent military newspaper Stars and Stripes

The Pentagon said it will take editorial control over a historic military newspaper, Stars and Stripes, in an effort to get rid of what the department sees as “woke” policies and coverage. “We will modernize its operations, refocus its content away from woke distractions that syphon morale, and adapt it to serve a new generation of service members,” said Sean Parnell, a Defense Department spokesperson, in a social media post Thursday. Parnell added that the Pentagon would change the newsroom’s priorities to “warfighting, weapons systems, fitness, lethality, survivability, and ALL THINGS MILITARY.” According to Defense Department sources who spoke with the right-wing publication The Daily Wire, the Pentagon plans to hire active-duty service members and distribute “War Department-generated materials” that would account for roughly 50% of Stars and Stripes’ editorial production. In addition, Parnell said the publication will no longer use wire services, such as the Associated Press or Reuters.

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“That is public relations, not independent journalism,” Jacqueline Smith, the publication’s ombudsman, told Stars and Stripes. “The other ‘50%’ of the content would hold no credibility.” Editor-in-Chief Erik Slavin told NOTUS that the publication did not receive any communication from the Pentagon before Parnell’s post. “We are continuing to provide accurate and balanced news on matters of interest to the military, with emphasis on overseas communities. We do so in places and on topics — housing, pay, field exercises and even sports, to name a few — that no other news outlet regularly covers,” Slavin said. The publication came under fire Wednesday when The Washington Post reported that applicants to their open job positions were asked if they would promote Trump policy. Employees at the Stars and Stripes are Defense Department employees but have traditionally exercised editorial independence. Democrats on the Senate Armed Forces Committee criticized the move by the Defense Department to overhaul Stars and Stripes.

Trump’s judicial blitz loses steam

President Donald Trump is getting judges confirmed at an even faster clip than he did at the beginning of his first term — but he’s making less of an impact on the judiciary. Trump’s ability to reshape the federal judiciary was one of the crowning achievements of his first term. Aided by the GOP Senate and years of vetting by the conservative legal movement, he appointed more than 200 judges, including three Supreme Court justices. By the numbers alone, Trump 2.0 is off to an even stronger start. The Senate confirmed 26 judges in 2025, compared to 19 in the first year of Trump’s first term. But the overwhelming majority of those judges sit on district courts. There simply aren’t as many of the more coveted and more powerful appeals court spots to fill as there were in 2017. That reality, along with more steadfast resistance from Democrats, suggests Trump won’t be able to make as big of an impact on the courts this time around.

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“This is not going to be the same kind of earth shaking four years … we saw in his first four years, when he really did turn the judiciary around in terms of the percentage of judges appointed by Republicans as opposed to Democratic presidents,” said Russell Wheeler, a senior fellow in the Brookings Institution’s Governance Studies program. Trump came into office in 2017 with more than 100 judicial vacancies waiting for him, including a Supreme Court seat, thanks largely to Sen. Mitch McConnell’s blockade of then-President Barack Obama’s nominees. He inherited only about 40 vacancies for his current term, fewer than any president since Ronald Reagan. Trump appointed 12 appeals-court judges in 2017 — more than any president has gotten in their first year since 1945, according to the Congressional Research Service. He has been able to appoint only six so far in his second term. There are also fewer vacancies opening up over the course of Trump’s second term. Federal judges — including Republican appointees — have been retiring at an unusually slow pace since Trump’s second inauguration, according to federal data and research by Derek Muller, a University of Notre Dame law professor who has tracked vacancies by recent presidential administrations.

Following Texas, Florida drops ABA oversight of lawyers

Florida is now the second state to drop its requirement that lawyers in the state hold a degree from a law school accredited by the American Bar Association, The Tallahassee Democrat reported Thursday. The Florida Supreme Court, which sets law-licensure requirements, said the decision is designed to open the door for more law school accreditors. “The rule changes create the opportunity for additional entities to carry out an accrediting and gatekeeping function on behalf of the Court,” the Jan. 15 opinion read. “The Court’s goal is to promote access to high-quality, affordable legal education in law schools that are committed to the free exchange of ideas and to the principle of nondiscrimination.”

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The Texas Supreme Court made a similar decision last week, and Ohio and Tennessee’s high courts are also considering minimizing the ABA’s oversight of lawyers in their states. Republicans, including Florida attorney general James Uthmeier, who called the ABA “a captured, far-left organization,” have targeted the ABA, which accredits the vast majority of law schools in the country, as part of a broader crusade against diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. Last year, the ABA suspended its DEI standards in response to conservative criticism. On Thursday, Gov. Ron DeSantis praised the state Supreme Court’s decision as a “Good move” in a post on X. “The (highly partisan) ABA should not be a gatekeeper for legal education or the legal profession.” For now, though, a new law school accreditor has yet to emerge. And experts say it’s unlikely most law schools will abandon their ABA accreditation any time soon, because it’s created reliable professional standards that make it easier for lawyers to practice in multiple states. Justice Jorge Labarga, the only dissenting vote in the Florida opinion and the only justice who wasn’t appointed by DeSantis, cautioned that a new law school accreditor would have a tough time rivaling the ABA. “[The ABA] has cultivated unmatched proficiency in dealing with Florida law-school-specific issues that would require decades for any successor to develop,” he wrote in his dissent. “Refinements can always be made. However, replacing an established entity with an unknown alternative is detrimental in the context of disputes."

Democrats launch campaign for Virginia voters to join redistricting fight

Democrats launched a campaign Thursday aimed at persuading Virginia voters to back a plan to redraw the state’s congressional map in their favor, the latest salvo in a nationwide battle over redistricting ahead of the midterm elections. Virginians for Fair Elections, a Democratic-aligned nonprofit, kicked off its public-facing efforts. The organization will urge voters in Virginia to vote “yes” on a proposed redistricting amendment to the state constitution that would give lawmakers in Richmond, not the state’s bipartisan redistricting commission, the authority to redraw the congressional map through 2030. The Democratic-controlled House of Delegates passed the amendment on Wednesday, and the Democratic-controlled Senate is expected to approve it by the end of the week. The push in Virginia is the latest move in an unusual mid-decade battle over redrawing U.S. House district lines, which began when Texas approved new maps favored by President Donald Trump. Officials in a handful of other states have since redrawn their maps as both sides fight for an edge in the battle for control of the House in 2027.

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The Virginia campaign, which plans to emphasize that the commission approved by voters in 2020 will return after 2030, will argue that the effort is being undertaken “with reluctance” as a response to other states diminishing Virginia’s voice in Congress through redistricting, according to a news release. The group plans to immediately begin raising money to air ads and hold events aimed at persuading and mobilizing voters. Campaign officials and state lawmakers have said they expect that any special election related to redistricting would occur in April. “We wish we didn’t have to take this step. But with Donald Trump pressuring MAGA-controlled legislatures to rig their maps, this temporary, emergency exception will keep Virginia’s elections fair until every state plays by the same rules — and make sure the people, not politicians, decide how Virginia’s voice is heard in Congress,” said Kéren Charles Dongo, the campaign’s top operative.A video released Thursday makes a similar argument. The effort echoes a campaign in California, led by Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) and his allies, which successfully persuaded voters to redistrict ahead of the midterms by arguing that it was necessary as a direct response to Texas and other Republican-controlled states.

ICE error meant some recruits were sent into field offices without proper training, sources say

As Immigration and Customs Enforcement was racing to add 10,000 new officers to its force, an artificial intelligence error in how their applications were processed sent many new recruits into field offices without proper training, according to two law enforcement officials familiar with the error. The AI tool used by ICE was tasked with looking for potential applicants with law enforcement experience to be placed into the agency’s “LEO program” — short for law enforcement officer — for new recruits who are already law enforcement officers. It requires four weeks of online training. Applicants without law enforcement backgrounds are required to take an eight-week in-person course at ICE’s academy at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Georgia, which includes courses in immigration law and handling a gun, as well as physical fitness tests.

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“They were using AI to scan résumés and found out a bunch of the people who were LEOs weren’t LEOs,” one of the officials said. The AI tool was initially the mechanism used to categorize résumés, the officials said and flagged anyone with the word “officer” on their résumés — for example, a “compliance officer” or people who said they aspired to be ICE officers. The majority of the new applicants were flagged as law enforcement officers, the officials said, but many had no experience in any local police or federal law enforcement force. Both law enforcement officials noted that ICE’s field offices provide more training beyond what is provided at the academy or in the online course before officers are sent out onto the street and that the officers singled out by the AI tool most likely received that training. The officials weren’t authorized to speak publicly and spoke to NBC News on condition of anonymity. A DHS spokesperson said called it a "technological snag" that was quickly rectified, impacting about 200 hires who then reported to the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center for full training. The spokesperson said that no candidate was placed on enforcement duties without "appropriate training and credentials."

‘A massacre happened’: The 24 hours that bloodied Iran

Robina Aminian was passionate about fashion, posting images of herself on Instagram wearing the dresses she hand-embroidered. She was also passionate about politics. On Jan. 8 the fashion student finished her class at Tehran’s women-only Shariati College at around 7 p.m. and joined a group of antigovernment protesters not far from campus. Iranians had been demonstrating for over a week, but Aminian knew that day was going to be different. The protests had been growing in size and expanding to more cities, with calls for regime change becoming louder. President Trump had threatened to intervene if security forces started shooting. Adding to the growing momentum, Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of the deposed shah, had urged Iranians to pour onto the streets at 8 p.m., the start of the Iranian weekend. Aminian wouldn’t survive the night. “She was a girl full of enthusiasm for life and a lover of design and fashion whose dreams were buried by the violence of the oppressors of the Islamic Republic,” said her aunt Hali Nouri, speaking from outside Iran.

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Trump said Wednesday that the killing of protesters had stopped, comments that appeared to lessen the chance of a U.S. strike against the regime. If so, it is largely because security forces had unleashed an unprecedented wave of violence beginning late last week that Iranians reached by The Wall Street Journal said had left a tense pall over many cities. Iran carried out the crackdown under the cover of an internet shutdown and extensive disruption to phone services, so it is hard to judge its true scale. Human-rights groups are trying to assemble a full account of the death toll, compiling evidence that includes images of body bags and testimonies from relatives, medical workers and other eyewitnesses. But eyewitness accounts of localized violence and estimates by human-rights groups and intelligence services point to bloodshed that far exceeds the toll in previous bouts of protests, whatever the final tally of the dead may be. Iranian officials initially acknowledged the economic grievances that sparked the unrest in late December. But the rhetoric shifted as pressure on the regime grew. By last week, the head of the judiciary was warning there would be no leniency for those aiding the enemies of the Islamic Republic, and other top officials were speaking menacingly of war with foreign-sponsored terrorists.

Copyright January 16, 2026, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved