October 8, 2026: All Newsclips

Lead Stories

Texas Latino lawmakers clash with national Democrats in a call over the gubernatorial race

Latino Democratic leaders are renewing calls for the Democratic Governors Association to invest more heavily in Texas after a New York Times/Siena College poll showed Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gina Hinojosa narrowly leading Republican Gov. Greg Abbott. The poll released Saturday found Hinojosa ahead of Abbott by three points, a result within the poll's margin of error. It comes as Hinojosa continues to face a huge financial disadvantage against the three-term Republican governor. Abbott's reelection campaign and his Republican allies are outspending her by roughly 10-to-1. More than 70 Latino Democratic leaders from across the country sent a letter this week urging the DGA and its chair, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, to invest $10 million in the Texas governor's race. The New York Times first reported on the letter, which CBS News has confirmed.

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Beshear, a potential 2028 presidential contender, has been constrained by the DGA's commitments to first protect incumbent Democratic governors seeking reelection, though some of those incumbents are currently in strong positions. In a statement, Beshear called Hinojosa a "great candidate" and said the DGA is "currently investing by paying expenses and providing staff, with more to come." "My goal as chair of the DGA this year is to win as many races as we can and that's exactly what we're doing by going on offense and expanding the map," Beshear said. Julián Castro, who served as secretary of housing and urban development in the Obama administration, renewed the push Saturday following the release of the New York Times poll. Castro, the former mayor of San Antonio and a 2020 presidential contender, took to social media to call for the DGA and Beshear to support Hinojosa "in a real way." "How much more evidence" of Hinojosa's "strength in Texas" will Beshear and the DGA "have to see before they support her in a real way?" Castro wrote. "She can win!" The renewed pressure comes as Democrats increasingly see the Lone Star state as competitive in the closing weeks of the campaign, even as Hinojosa continues to face a substantial spending disadvantage — what some Republicans are describing as a "firewall" — in a state that President Trump won by nearly 14 points in 2024.

Mexico’s Sheinbaum is getting fed up with playing nice with the U.S.

President Claudia Sheinbaum began her workday at dawn last week by grilling Mexico’s top security and intelligence officials. She wasn’t happy. Inside the ornate National Palace, Sheinbaum confronted some of her most trusted aides over their plans to freeze the local bank accounts of former Mexican officials linked to a state governor from Sheinbaum’s ruling party. The U.S. Treasury was about to target those former officials with sanctions for allegedly accepting bribes to protect the Sinaloa cartel’s drug-smuggling operations, said people familiar with the discussion. To Sheinbaum, her security chiefs were going beyond the close cooperation with American law enforcement that has been the hallmark of her two-year tenure by taking for granted that the U.S. had solid evidence linking the former officials to drug cartels, these people said.

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She was unusually harsh with Security Minister Omar García Harfuch, a confidant who has guided her policies throughout her political career, the people said. Sheinbaum said that the U.S. measures were part of an effort to destabilize Mexico and her government, they added. In the end, Sheinbaum consented to freeze the former officials’ accounts. Refusing to do so would have likely strained relations with the U.S. Spokespeople for Sheinbaum and García Harfuch declined to comment. The episode reflects the harsher tone that Sheinbaum is taking toward American efforts to fight drug trafficking on her country’s soil and the Trump administration’s targeting of her leftist party, Morena. In recent weeks, Sheinbaum has criticized the U.S. at mass rallies and public events, citing the northern neighbor’s insatiable demand for narcotics and defending Mexican sovereignty as President Trump has repeatedly said that Mexico is run by cartels. “We Mexicans don’t want interference, interventionism, or violations of our territorial integrity,” she said before tens of thousands of supporters in Mexico City’s central Zócalo square late last month. She has also confronted state governors from opposition parties who want to strengthen security cooperation with the U.S.

Trump makes last-minute pitch in San Antonio after upending the GOP map

President Donald Trump’s supporters started lining up at 2:30 p.m. for a last-minute campaign rally at San Antonio’s Freeman Coliseum on Wednesday evening. Trump was in town rallying support for two candidates who owe their political careers to the president, and are now facing tougher-than-expected races in red territory this November. Republican U.S. Senate hopeful Ken Paxton is trailing Democrat James Talarico in recent polls — a nightmare scenario for national Republicans trying to defend a large number of incumbents on the Senate map this year. Trump endorsed Paxton over U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) just as voting started in their primary runoff, after national Republicans had already spent tens of millions of dollars protecting Cornyn. Meanwhile Carlos De La Cruz, the GOP nominee in Texas’ 35th Congressional District, is in a tough race for a district that was drawn specifically to elect a Republican.

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Now weeks out from the election, Trump is working to excite his supporters for both hand-picked candidates in a state he won overwhelmingly just two years ago — amid GOP apathy without him on the ballot. Wednesday’s rally was Trump’s fourth time in Texas in six weeks, and his PACs are now some of the biggest spenders in Texas races as the GOP fights to hold onto its majorities in the U.S. House and U.S. Senate. “I’m very proud of [Paxton], and I think he’s going to be an unbelievable senator,” Trump told the crowd after being interrupted multiple times by protesters. “… We also need to collect a proud 20-year Air Force veteran to Congress, Carlos De La Cruz.” Outside of the Freeman Coliseum, supporters winding through the security weren’t particularly interested in either of the down-ballot candidates. They came decked out in Trump T-shirts, hats, earrings and even costumes — and many said they were there to see one man only. “This is a historic event for us here in San Antonio,” said Jesse V., a 32-year-old from Comal County, who asked to withhold his last name because of his left-leaning employer. “I’m super excited to support the greatest president. This is my first rally.”

FCC considers allowing more political robocalls before midterms

The Federal Communications Commission is considering a request by a conservative group to loosen rules on political robocalls, including those with artificial intelligence-generated voices, before November’s midterm elections. Federal law currently bans most robocalls to cellphones unless the caller gets consent beforehand. The petition calls for a waiver that would allow political groups to use artificial or prerecorded voices in unsolicited wireless calls. The Republican-led FCC advanced the request for public comment and could rule on it as soon as late October. Consumer advocacy groups warn the proposed change could trigger a surge of unwanted, partisan and potentially misleading automated calls in the critical final days of the election, which will determine which party controls Congress for the final two years of President Donald Trump's term.

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The potential perils became evident two years ago during the presidential primary season when thousands of voters in New Hampshire received a robocall with an AI-generated voice of then-President Joe Biden. The call suggested voters should forgo casting a ballot in the primary and “save” their votes for the general election. Under the waiver request before the FCC, some state and federal laws protecting against deception and voter intimidation would continue to prohibit certain misleading election-related messages. But granting it could weaken a major deterrent for bad actors, said Tim Harper, who leads the elections team at the Washington-based Center for Democracy and Technology. Such a ruling close to Election Day would open “a huge opportunity for abuse during a period where harm has outsized impact,” he said. “Campaigns will use this technology to target voters in deceptive ways.” The Club for Growth, a right-leaning economic policy group seeking the change, said it could help political organizations better communicate with potential voters, including in more languages, and improve polling accuracy by helping groups reach more voters. It calls current federal rules outdated and argues they dampen freedom of speech.

State Stories

Incoming DART CEO Nathaniel Ford named in Florida spending probe

Incoming Dallas Area Rapid Transit CEO Nathaniel Ford Sr. is among those whose communications are being sought by Florida investigators examining contracts and spending at the financially troubled Jacksonville Transportation Authority, which he previously led. The Florida attorney general’s office subpoenaed agency records, including communications like emails and texts involving Ford, his spouse and the owner of a consulting firm. The subpoena seeks records from the agency from 2023 to 2025, including tuition reimbursement records, payments for massages and murals, card statements and ridership reports for the authority’s controversial autonomous vehicle program.

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JTA officials confirmed on Sept. 29 they had received the subpoena from Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier’s Office of Statewide Prosecution, nonprofit Florida news outlet Jacksonville Today reported. The investigation comes as the Jacksonville public transit agency faces a nearly $40 million budget shortfall and layoffs affecting roughly 200 employees, Florida news outlets reported. The authority said it is “prepared to fully cooperate” with investigators in a statement reported by local media. Ford is scheduled to start as DART’s president and CEO on Oct. 26 after leading the JTA for 13 years. A DART spokesperson said Ford and DART Board Chair Randall Bryant did not respond to requests for comment Wednesday night. Bryant said earlier this year his agency had secured “one of the most talented, sought-out transit executives” in hiring Ford, pointing to his decades of experience serving as CEO of transportation agencies in Atlanta, San Francisco and Jacksonville. Ford’s hire was controversial among DART’s board, who voted 9-6 in his favor this summer. Some touted his decades of experience leading transit agencies and others cautioned against his history.

ICE arrests in the Austin area have risen over 300% since start of Trump's second term

Immigration and Customs Enforcement received renewed scrutiny and media attention across the nation following the shooting of Wilber Garces Perez on Sept. 20 in North Austin. But the effects of ICE's presence in the Austin area increased months before the shooting, following a statewide and national trend. Arrest numbers, provided by ICE to the Deportation Data Project, show a marked increase starting around the start of President Donald Trump's second term. The number of ICE arrests that result in detention has risen by 308% from January 2025 to July 2026. In March 2025, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche announced "Operation Take Back America." "The Justice Department has taken numerous steps to empower prosecutors and law enforcement operating in Districts around the country to protect their communities," Blanche's memorandum said.

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From January to July of 2025, the first six months of President Trump's second term, there were 2,844 arrests with detentions in the Austin area. This year, there were 4,817 over the same period. Arrests spiked during May through July of 2026. Since October 2022 — the earliest available data — the days with the highest numbers of arrests were mostly in May, June and July of this year, with 15 of the 20 highest days of arrests taking place during those three months. On June 27, 2026, 83 people were arrested and detained, the most of any day since October 2022. "In President Trump’s first year back in office," a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson responded over email, "more than 3 million illegal aliens have left the U.S. because of the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration including an estimated 2.2 million self-deportations." DHS also called into question the validity of the data and analysis, which was provided by ICE through a public information request and processed by the Deportation Data Project.

Texas childcare centers face soaring insurance costs as insurers leave the market

Spend a few minutes in a room full of toddlers and it's easy to understand why running a childcare center comes with risks. At Happy Days School in Garland, toddlers chase balloons across a small classroom as director Delia Merritt reminds them to share and keep their hands – and teeth – to themselves. "No, ma'am," Merritt gently scolds the 16-month-old baby who bit her classmate. No one is hurt, but it's the kind of thing Merritt and her staff worry about. "With insurance going up the way it is ... as far as the liability numbers, it makes it really, really hard," Merritt said. Playground injuries, falls, transportation, and even Texas weather have always made childcare centers expensive to insure. But insurance agent Samantha Phillips said those everyday risks aren't the reason the industry has reached a tipping point. Phillips specializes in insurance in the childcare industry.

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She said that happened as states began giving survivors of childhood sexual abuse more time to seek justice. In 2019, Texas lawmakers doubled the window for certain childhood sexual-abuse lawsuits from 15 to 30 years. The change was intended to give survivors more time to bring a case. But Phillips said it also had an unintended consequence for insurers: They could face claims tied to policies written decades earlier. "What happened as an unanticipated ripple effect that nobody could have predicted was the amount of claims and the amount of old expired insurance policies that ended up paying hundreds of millions of dollars in nuclear verdicts as a result," Phillips said. With no way to predict how many more claims could surface, Phillips said some insurers simply stopped covering childcare centers. "We saw a mass exodus of insurance carriers leave the industry," Phillips said. "They were just trying to cut their losses." There are only two traditional insurance carriers left in Texas. So, providers like Merritt are left with fewer choices and, in some cases, much higher bills. In 2023, Merritt said Happy Days paid about $30,000 for insurance. The next year, the quote jumped to $40,000, even though the center hasn't filed a claim in seven years.

UT symposium explores AI’s growing role in future of health care

Some of the biggest names in health care, technology and research gathered at the University of Texas this week to discuss how artificial intelligence is already changing the way patients receive care and how hospitals operate behind the scenes. The two-day UT Real Health AI Symposium brought together leaders from across the UT System to share lessons learned from using AI in health care, while also examining the challenges and limitations that come with the rapidly evolving technology. “Can we organize care around a person’s health over time?” asked Dr. Claudia Lucchinetti, vice president for medical affairs at UT Austin and dean of Dell Medical School.

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That question helped frame discussions throughout the conference, which focused on improving patient outcomes, strengthening trust and finding ways AI can make health care more effective and accessible. Tech and health leaders say AI is increasingly being used across health systems for everything from administrative support to clinical decision-making. “Today’s really a reflection of our UT system coming together to share lessons learned on the use of AI,” said Jim Buntrock, chief data officer for Dell Medical School. “It ranges from adoption of AI to some of the results and learnings from using AI, but also acknowledging some of the limitations that might be happening.” Buntrock said one of the biggest areas of opportunity is reducing administrative work for doctors and nurses, allowing them to spend more time with patients. “Reducing some administrative burden for physicians, ambient listening that can help transcribe the care and patient interaction, so reducing some of that administrative toil on the care team, but increasing that interaction with the patient,” he said. Health leaders at the symposium also discussed how AI could help hospitals better manage patient flow, monitor supply inventories and identify meaningful patterns hidden within large sets of health data.

Dallas Morning News Editorial: Angela Paxton’s ‘whole team’ ad gets politics totally wrong

Political ad season is always cringe worthy. But state Sen. Angela Paxton’s ad calling for people to support “the whole team” was hard to watch not only because of how debasing it was for her personally, but because of the way it pointed up why American politics is broken. The ad features the senator in a dark business suit wearing a Texas-shaped necklace. She faces the camera, sitting before the stairwell of what appears to be a home. She promises to talk about “the elephant in the room.”

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Then, she says nothing at all about the elephant in the room, her estranged husband, Attorney General Ken Paxton. She is totally silent on the man she is divorcing on “biblical grounds,” which everyone understands means marital affairs. The ad doesn’t deliver on what she promises, because she has nothing whatsoever to say about a genuine concern every voter should have — the lower-than-low character of Ken Paxton. To us, that doesn’t just include infidelity. It includes his vile abuses of his office; his decision to chase off or fire conservatives of conscience in the attorney general’s office, the allegations of bribery, the interference in a federal investigation, the mysterious wealth he’s gained while in office. We could go on. Sen. Paxton encourages us to ignore all that because nothing is more important than the Republican “team” winning in November. But there is something more important. Elections aren’t about parties, or they shouldn’t be. No less than Gov. Greg Abbott signed a bill in 2017 to eliminate straight-ticket voting. Why? Because it’s bad for democracy. Elections should be about the individuals we decide should represent us in important public offices. Voters have an obligation to look at every person running, to weigh their positions and their character. Because both matter.

Dallas Morning News Editorial: For Senate District 9, we recommend Sen. Taylor Rehmet

Democratic incumbent Taylor Rehmet has had little time to prove himself in Texas Senate District 9. He earned the seat in a special election early this year, making national headlines when he defeated challenger Leigh Wambsganss, who was endorsed by President Trump, in a traditionally Republican stronghold. Rehmet, 34, and Wambsganss, 59, meet again in this race, trying to earn four full years representing the district that spans part of Tarrant County — a large swath of Fort Worth plus suburbs including Southlake, Keller, North Richland Hills and Haltom City. Though Rehmet hasn’t had the chance to gain traction in Austin — Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick refused to give him a committee assignment this year — he and his office have been busy talking to constituents, learning about the district’s needs and drafting legislation. We recommended him in the January special election runoff, and we recommend him again over Wambsganss in this race.

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Rehmet, a U.S. Air Force veteran, machinist and union leader, is more poised now while retaining the pragmatic approach that won over voters eight months ago. He speaks about affordability in a sophisticated way, addressing artificial intelligence surveillance pricing tools at grocery stores and junk fees from leasing offices. He acknowledges the growing appetite for lower property taxes but doesn’t make broad, unrealistic promises to eliminate them. Instead, he proposes that the state take on a larger share of funding public schools, evaluating corporate tax incentives to possibly shift some of the burden off homeowners. He offers nuance in his discussion of the Texas Education Agency takeover of Fort Worth ISD, specifically noting progress made under former Superintendent Karen Molinar before she was ousted by the state. There are positions we don’t agree with, including his staunch opposition to private school education savings account programs and to Senate Bill 840, designed to encourage more affordable housing. But Rehmet does show a willingness to work across the aisle to serve the best interests of his constituents and his target group — everyday working Texans. Wambsganss, chief communications officer for Patriot Mobile, is campaigning on concerns shared by both parties, including data centers and postsecondary education, while also focusing on culture war issues that don’t affect most Texans. She writes that “Texas must come before party politics” while also warning that Rehmet “has aligned himself with an extreme agenda.” She did not make herself available to be interviewed. We’d like to see Rehmet serve a full term, hopeful that his sensible approach and willingness to listen and learn serve District 9 well.

Houston ISD loses roughly 9,000 students, more than twice its projection

Houston ISD lost roughly twice the number of students district leaders had initially projected to lose. In June, officials projected approximately 4,000 students would leave the district and crafted their budget to withstand the roughly $50 million dollars it would lose in state funding tied to student enrollment. However, at a Texas Senate Education hearing Tuesday, state-appointed superintendent Mike Miles said the number of students who left was closer to 10,000. Enrollment in the district has been steadily declining for years. This is not the first time the district's projections have fallen short of reality. For the 2024-2025 school year, the district's projections were short by roughly 1,200 students when the district lost nearly 8,000.

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Miles insisted that despite the enrollment losses, his reforms and the district's model were financially stable. "You just have to be very fiscally responsible, and you cannot pay for all things," Miles told lawmakers. "You cannot have all things. You have to pay for your leverage points." Last year the district cut hundreds of positions in its central office and closed or consolidated 12 schools to help offset the losses. In September, district administrators began what they described as an annual "campus leveling" process directing some schools to cut staff, reassign employees and ask school leaders to slash spending in response to student losses. Education experts warned enrollment declines could be exacerbated this year by the state's new voucher program, which gives families the opportunity to leave public schools and take state education funding to private schools. A report released last week from the Texas Center for Voucher Transparency said more than a 1,200 Houston ISD students used vouchers to leave the district for private school or homeschooling options.

Dallas Morning News Editorial: We recommend Rep. Matt Shaheen for reelection

House District 66 covers a fast-growing portion of Collin County, spanning parts of Celina, Frisco, Plano and Prosper. As the region continues to add residents, questions about school enrollment, transportation, traffic, housing and maintaining the quality of life that has drawn residents and families to the area will be top of mind. We recommend Republican Matt Shaheen for a seventh term in Austin over a less experienced Democratic candidate, Sandeep Srivastava. Shaheen, 61, lives in Plano and has represented the district since 2015. He has established himself as a serious and engaged legislator. During the last legislative session, he chaired the House Committee on Elections and also served on the House Committee on Higher Education.

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Following House Democrats’ quorum break in August 2025, Shaheen authored a bill that prohibits state lawmakers from raising political funds while absent from the Legislature for the purpose of breaking a quorum. This is the kind of policy work that has defined much of his tenure in Austin. Shaheen strikes us as sincere in his effort to represent a solidly conservative district, and he is not beholden to the increasingly inflammatory rhetoric that has plagued some parts of his party. He issued a statement last month condemning Bo French’s remarks targeting University of Texas at Austin students and told us French’s comments “fall below the standards of the Republican Party. It’s just not helpful at all.” Shaheen spoke knowledgeably about his legislative priorities — maintaining Texas’ strong economy and focusing on workforce development. He also pointed to a strong resume of work in the Legislature on issues ranging from combating sex trafficking to supporting Texas’ Education Savings Account program. We don’t agree with Shaheen on every issue. He didn’t support Senate Bill 840, a housing bill passed last year that this Editorial Board has supported. SB 840 helps address the state’s housing shortage by allowing apartments to be built in commercial districts by right in certain large cities. But Shaheen has a proven track record. We appreciate that he is a conservative who is true to his word and is committed to governing in a pragmatic, measured way. We aren’t confident that his opponent is ready to serve the district in Austin. Srivastava, 58, hasn’t held any previous positions in public office. He previously ran for Plano City Council and twice for Texas’ 3rd Congressional District. His desire to serve strikes us as genuine, but he offered few concrete policy proposals for how he would address the district’s most pressing challenges. Matched against Shaheen’s experience in the House and five years as a Collin County commissioner, Srivastava is not yet prepared for the demands of the Legislature. We recommend voters choose Shaheen.

American-Statesman Editorial: Buckingham deserves another term as Land Commissioner

With more than 13 million acres of public land in its portfolio, the Texas General Land Office is the largest owner of mineral rights in the state. It uses the funds generated by oil and gas leases to provide disaster relief, administer some veterans benefits and supplement state school funding via the $61.5 billion Permanent School Fund, among other duties. If it’s doing its job right, the average Texan is none the wiser. “We roll up our sleeves every single day and make Texans’ life better, and most people don’t even know that we exist,” Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham told our Editorial Board. We recommend Buckingham, the Republican incumbent, for a second term given her effective management of the office. The eye surgeon and former state senator from Travis County is on the Nov. 3 ballot.

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Buckingham has successfully managed the vast responsibilities of this job: overseeing the transfer of billions of dollars to public education each biennium; helping more than 7,400 families buy homes through the veterans mortgage program; and operating and maintaining 10 nursing homes and five cemeteries for veterans. Importantly, unlike many Republican officials, Buckingham stood up this summer for Texans and against federal border wall construction efforts in the Big Bend region. Buckingham sent a cease-and-desist letter in July to Customs and Border Protection after a federal contractor improperly cleared a stretch of state-owned land in Presidio County. Buckingham demonstrated a commitment to defend land that belongs to all Texans, even if it meant challenging her party’s president. “There are places that a wall makes sense, and there are places that it just doesn’t,” Buckingham told us. “So we want to do what’s right for Texas in the various geographic areas.” At the same time, we disagreed with her decision in November 2024 to offer 1,400 acres in Starr County, about 35 miles west of McAllen, to the incoming administration of President Donald Trump for “deportation facilities.” Ultimately the state built a stretch of border wall there.

Houston Chronicle Editorial: We recommend Rep. Mano DeAyala for reelection

Mano DeAyala hasn’t been in office long but he’s already fought off Democrat challenges and members of his own party to represent House District 133. The attorney was accused of being a RINO after his vote to impeach Attorney General Ken Paxton but he still won his primary handily. This time around, he was unopposed by fellow Republicans, but will have to face a serious contender in Democrat Josh Wallenstein, a lawyer who has previously run in Democratic primaries for Harris County Department of Education Board of Trustees and state representative. We still believe DeAyala is the right pick for the red district that includes the Energy Corridor and three of the small “villages” out that way. But we hope that feeling the pinch of a Stanford-educated, Texas-born lawyer who has worked in anti-corruption will push DeAyala toward bills that boost school funding and away from bills like SB 17 that restricted property purchases from foreign entities and some individuals or his anti-SLAPP bill that would have made it harder for successful defendants in libel and defamation lawsuits to recoup legal fees. That last one was shelved — thank goodness.

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We want to see the DeAyala who worked across the aisle with Democratic Rep. Ann Johnson to add much-needed civil district courts to Harris County. Who helps author bipartisan bills that make mail-in ballots easier to read for people with low vision. Who has helped bring back flood infrastructure dollars for his district and even boosted Houston’s efforts to improve its aging water infrastructure. We believe those are the bread and butter issues his constituents care about. Meeting with us in person, he aptly defended that record against critiques from Wallenstein. Both candidates had compelling lived experience relevant for the job. Wallenstein’s own son was in Houston ISD when it was taken over by the state. It wasn’t a good experience. Fully funding public schools from the state is his alternative to the dueling property tax relief plans currently on the table for the governor and lieutenant governor. And we especially liked his reminder that much of the district rents and that they deserve some relief, too. “I’m running so that I can represent everybody, homeowners and renters,” Wallenstein, 53, said, adding that he wouldn’t be beholden to any party. DeAyala, 50, meanwhile, grew up in the district, as did his wife. “It’s an area that I know very well and I can represent very well.” He touted the Legislature’s $8.5 billion school funding bill last session, which didn’t even adjust the basic per-student allotment to meet rising inflation. “Is there more to do? Yes,” DeAyala said. Still, his vision for public education dollars emphasized tying funding to classrooms and classroom outcomes. This was a tough call, but ultimately we think his experience as an incumbent offers the best way to deliver for the district, and Wallenstein failed to convince us otherwise.

Rep. Rich McCormick and Rep. Beth Van Duyne break up

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... the Georgia congressman and Texas congresswoman called it quits -- although it's unclear exactly when. However, we're told there's no bad blood between the two. We reached out to McCormick ... who tells us, "I have a great relationship with her and will continue to strive to be the best friend I can be." We also reached out to Van Duyne ... so far, no word back. In late July, Charlie asked the duo if it was "tricky" having a relationship in DC as they walked side-by-side after a series of votes. McCormick told us ... "Relationships are tricky to begin with, right? But DC makes it easy." Back in May 2024, Rep. Van Duyne confirmed to the Daily Mail she and McCormick were "happily" in a relationship. No word on what led to the split.

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National Stories

Hillary Clinton endorses her first candidate of 2026

Hillary Clinton endorsed her first candidate of the 2026 election cycle this week. The former first lady and secretary of state endorsed Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, a Democrat, in her Senate run against Michele Tafoya, a former NFL sideline reporter and commentator. Clinton announced the endorsement on Tuesday, her first midterm endorsement for a House or Senate candidate. “Peggy Flanagan has spent her career fighting for children and families, from the Children’s Defense Fund to the Lieutenant Governor’s office, and she’s delivered for them,” Clinton said in a statement. “I know she’ll be that same champion in the Senate, and I’m proud to endorse her.”

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Clinton also criticized President Donald Trump amid rising prices. “Donald Trump has made it harder for families to afford childcare, groceries, and health care for their kids. His tariffs and war in Iran are driving up prices, and his budget ripped health care and food assistance away from children so billionaires could get another tax cut,” she said. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In a statement, Flanagan said she was “honored” to have Clinton’s endorsement. “Secretary Clinton has spent five decades fighting for those families, and I’m honored to have her support as we take that fight to the United States Senate,” Flanagan wrote. Several high-profile politicians have endorsed Flanagan, including Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar. Clinton began her career at the Children’s Defense Fund, where she worked as a staff attorney and chaired the organization’s board. Between 2001 and 2009, she served as a U.S. senator for New York, and she ran for president in 2008 and 2016. Flanagan previously served as the head of Children’s Defense Fund in Minnesota, where she co-chaired a campaign to raise the minimum wage and index it to inflation. “Long before she was First Lady, Senator, or Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton was knocking on doors for the Children’s Defense Fund, making the case that every child in this country deserves a fair shot. That same work shaped me,” Flanagan said in her statement.

Michigan’s Mike Rogers says trade war with Canada needs to end

Michigan Republican Senate nominee Mike Rogers called for an end to the “tariff war” with Canada in a new campaign advertisement released Wednesday, another break from the Trump administration weeks before the midterm elections. Rogers’ ad comes as Republican campaign groups across the country have entered triage mode in an effort to salvage GOP control in an unfavorable political environment. “Here in Michigan, we know that Canada is not our enemy. We need to end this tariff war now,” Rogers said in the advertisement, which is part of a coordinated spend between his campaign at the National Republican Senatorial Committee. He added, “as Michigan’s senator, I’ll bring both parties together to lower your prices.” Each year, Michigan does roughly $80 billion in trade with Canada, according to the Michigan Chamber of Commerce.

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The new video comes weeks after he put out another advertisement breaking with President Donald Trump, publicly calling for the war with Iran to end “quickly.” In both commercials, Rogers said that prices are too high and neither mentioned the president by name. The latest ad is a shift from his previous positioning on trade with Canada. Last month, Rogers said that some of the tariffs imposed on Canadian goods are needed, as the state’s manufacturing sector has been gutted by cheap foreign imports in the past. “President Trump is right to put America first — and tariffs are necessary, but are not a one-size-fits-all solution,” Rogers previously said in a press release. But, he also said he has the pull to end the trade war threatening Michigan. During a press conference in the Oval Office on Wednesday, Trump downplayed the suggestion that Rogers was breaking with him. “I viewed him as saying that he thinks Canada should make a deal,” Trump said. “Canada has been ripping off our country for many, many years.” Rogers’ and Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed’s campaigns did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Canadian poet Anne Carson wins Nobel Prize in Literature

Canadian poet, essayist and translator Anne Carson has been awarded this year's Nobel Prize in Literature. Carson, 76, is celebrated for works that often cross the boundaries between poetry, fiction and scholarship. She has also translated ancient Greek literature and has been a professor of classics for more than 30 years. The Nobel Prize is awarded for a lifetime's body of work and is regareded as the most prestigious award in global literature with the winner receiving 12 million Swedish kronor (£900,000, $1.2m).

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‘Head on a guillotine’: ABC says Trump’s threats are already swaying coverage

ABC programs are already tempering their election coverage ahead of the midterms to avoid angering President Donald Trump, a lawyer for the broadcast company told a federal judge on Tuesday, but any possible reprieve is still likely weeks away. ABC is accusing FCC Chair Brendan Carr of threatening to impose a corporate death penalty on its eight stations in the nation’s largest TV markets by hauling in its licenses for a review years ahead of schedule. That’s forcing the Disney-owned network to second-guess how it covers the midterm elections for fear of angering the administration, ABC’s lawyer told a federal judge in Washington Tuesday, a consideration seeping into decision-making around whether to air presidential speeches and what the political line-ups should look like on daytime shows like “The View.” The bigger stakes, though, could be the lead-up to the 2028 presidential election as any decision from U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan could affect how all broadcasters weigh the president’s mood in covering politics.

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ABC, the broadcast home of Jimmy Kimmel, has stood out for its pushback from many media companies facing pressure from the administration, and a court victory — or defeat — could have sweeping influence over what the network airs. The outcome could be a bellwether for other national networks, which have faced similar threats from Trump and Carr over their coverage. “We sit with our head on the guillotine,” said Beth Wilkinson, a lawyer for ABC, during Tuesday’s hearing. “We are watching everything we do.” The case is a major test of Carr’s authority, and comes after Trump called on the FCC to yank the licenses of media companies he says are biased against him and engaged in allegedly misleading coverage. Carr’s targets as chair have included ABC’s hosts on “The View” and “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” — frequent critics of the president. Carr has also previously criticized coverage by CBS’ “60 Minutes” and programming from NBC, raising fears his behavior could sway editorial choices there as well. This summer, Trump also called for ABC and NBC to lose their licenses for not airing one of his speeches. ABC’s critics like Daniel Suhr, the conservative lawyer heading the Center for American Rights, downplayed the harms alleged Tuesday, accusing the network of trying to avoid an FCC’s investigation into whether Disney’s diversity, equity and inclusion hiring practices constituted discrimination. Carr has argued that he called in the ABC licenses due to frustrations getting documents in that probe.

Whistle-blower says I.R.S. leaked his tax records in retaliation

An Internal Revenue Service investigator sued the agency this month, claiming officials illegally leaked his confidential personnel records to federal prosecutors to punish him for years of whistle-blowing on the agency’s failure to tackle tax dodging. Brian J. Visalli, a 24-year I.R.S. veteran, specializes in investigating complex offshore tax shelters. He has publicly criticized the agency, writing articles about its unwillingness to aggressively target schemes that multinational companies use to skirt their taxes. He contributed to two reports published by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration: one on conflicts of interest within the I.R.S. and the other on the agency’s refusal to investigate advisers who design and sell aggressive tax strategies. He says the I.R.S. is using relatively small mistakes in his personal tax return to retaliate against him.

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The suit claims the I.R.S. illegally disclosed his employee and tax information to Justice Department prosecutors to discredit and fire him. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of Illinois. The I.R.S. did not respond to a request for comment. Mr. Visalli’s investigations included one into Malta pension plans, a tax-dodging strategy used by wealthy Americans. To fight the crackdown, promoters of the scheme hired Ken Kies, a lobbyist who last year became the top tax official in the Treasury Department under President Trump. In the past year, Mr. Visalli has written articles in Tax Notes, a trade publication, criticizing the I.R.S.’s record on pursuing multinational tax dodgers. He attacked his employer for failing to use a 2010 law requiring transactions that generate tax benefits to have “economic substance.” He said the agency suffered from “institutional cowardice.” The refusal to invoke that law “represents a fundamental abdication of the I.R.S.’s responsibility to protect the fiscal foundation of American government from sophisticated tax fraud masquerading as legitimate business planning,” he wrote. The agency has turned tax enforcement “into a negotiation in which the government starts from a position of weakness and retreats from there.”

Trying to execute Christa Pike again would push into uncharted legal territory, experts say

After Christa Pike survived Tennessee’s failed attempt to execute her, the unsettled question of whether the state will try again could push Tennessee into uncharted legal territory, experts say. Pike, 50, suffered burns and blisters to her arms and her prognosis remains uncertain after executioners tried to give her two lethal doses of pentobarbital, her legal team said Wednesday. She was sentenced to death for the 1995 beating and stabbing death of classmate Colleen Slemmer. Although other states have moved forward with attempting to execute inmates a second time, in those cases, the first try had been halted before any drug actually began flowing.

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Outgoing Republican Gov. Bill Lee has paused executions in Tennessee and ordered an outside review of the failed Sept. 30 attempt to put Pike to death. His office did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment on whether the state would try again to execute her. Death penalty experts say it’s hard to know what will happen if the state decides to move forward with a second attempt. “Whether or not it would be lawful for the state of Tennessee to attempt to execute her again is a complex question that will take significant time, attention and analysis of her defense team, the prosecution team, the state government in Tennessee and multiple state and federal courts,” said Stephen Johnson, a criminal defense attorney in Tennessee who is president-elect of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. Pike regained consciousness almost six days after the failed attempt to kill her. Her legal team had believed she was brain dead, but after she woke up, she was aware of what happened and was “angry and confused,” her lawyers said Wednesday.

SEC warns activist investors after climate push at Exxon Mobil

The US Securities and Exchange Commission warned asset managers and activist investors about their reporting obligations following a shareholder campaign in 2021 to remove Exxon Mobil Corp. directors over their record on climate. The SEC’s guidance stems from an investigation into the contentious activist investor push that year that successfully changed the oil company’s board of directors. The agency said it probed but chose not to to pursue an enforcement action against members of a group called Climate Action 100+, adding it had “serious concerns” about the conduct of the group and other participants. Asset managers and investors who join groups need to make sure they’re complying with SEC rules on shareholder engagement, the regulator said in a report on Wednesday.

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The agency said shareholders have the right to express their views but anyone owning more than 5% of a public company must disclose their plans and other information if they seek to change or influence control of the company. The SEC also said it probed whether the climate group and its members pressured BlackRock Inc. and State Street Corp. — two major investors in Exxon — to support group-backed matters submitted to a shareholder vote. The investigation didn’t conclude that BlackRock or State Street agreed to vote proxies in certain manners or shared their proxy voting intentions with those associated with the group. Vanguard Group Inc. never became a member of the group, the SEC said. Climate Action 100+, which is supported by the Boston-based nonprofit group Ceres, said it has always operated within US securities law and supports investors as they assess the climate risks of companies they choose to invest in. “Engaging with companies on how they manage those risks and assessing director performance is a long-standing, lawful part of responsible investing. To be clear, the SEC report did not find that Climate Action 100+, Ceres, or any investor violated the law,” said Michael Boudett, general counsel of Ceres, in a statement.

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