July 13, 2026: All Newsclips

Lead Stories

Lindsey Graham died of aortic dissection, preliminary medical report says

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) died suddenly on Saturday night at age 71, his office said, prompting tributes from President Donald Trump and lawmakers from both parties who recalled his record as a foreign policy hawk and deep friendships he forged during his three decades in Congress. In a statement, Graham’s office said preliminary findings from the D.C. medical examiner’s office found that Graham suffered from an aortic dissection, in which a tear occurs in the inner layer of the main artery. This was caused by arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease, the statement said. These tears usually occur when there is high blood pressure. A death certificate remains pending until all toxicological and microscopic tests are finalized, according to Graham’s office. “At that point the death certificate will be updated to reflect the cause of death and appropriately classify the manner of death,” the statement said.

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Graham’s death narrows Republicans’ majority in the Senate, where they had held a 53-47 edge. He had been running for reelection this year. Emergency medical responders worked to stabilize a man at Graham’s home on Saturday night and transport him to a hospital, according to witnesses and police scanner audio obtained by The Washington Post. Graham, a staunch supporter of Ukraine, died hours after returning from a trip to Kyiv, where he met with President Volodymyr Zelensky. State law allows South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster, a Republican, to make an immediate appointment to fill Graham’s seat for the remainder of his term, which expires in January. Trump praised Graham in a social media post as a “true American Patriot” and said details on the funeral would follow. The White House flag was lowered to half-staff. The president, appearing on several Sunday news programs, said that he spoke with Graham on Saturday evening — shortly before emergency personnel were called — and that the senator told him he was “tired.”

Massive AI buildout poses latest inflation threat as consumers pay more for laptops and electricity

American consumers — and the Federal Reserve — are being hit with another high-cost headache. The gusher of investment in data centers — likely topping $700 billion this year — to power artificial intelligence has made memory chips, computer processors, and other equipment, as well as electricity more expensive, and economists expect it will continue to push up inflation at least through the end of this year. While it won’t be as large a spike as occurred in 2021-2023, when inflation peaked at 9.1%, massive AI spending is likely to keep prices rising more quickly than the Federal Reserve would like. Such increases could lead the central bank to lift its key interest rate later this year to cool spending and bring down inflation. Higher rates from the Fed often boost borrowing costs for auto loans, mortgages, and business loans.

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Fed officials will closely watch June’s inflation report, to be released Tuesday, for further signs of AI’s impact on prices. Inflation last month likely cooled as gasoline prices have fallen after a cease-fire was reached between the U.S. and Iran, though whether that trend continues is now unclear as the U.S. and Iran have resumed fighting. Just four large tech companies — Google parent Alphabet, Amazon, Meta Platforms, and Microsoft — are expected to invest $720 billion this year, mostly on data centers. Those data centers use a lot of semiconductors, and chip supplies have run low. As a result, economists at JPMorgan Chase estimate that the cost of some computer memory chips will have soared by as much as 400% between 2024 and the end of this year. Americans are already seeing higher prices for a range of consumer electronics, including laptops, smartphones, video game consoles, and computers. Electricity prices are also jumping as data centers absorb a growing share of new electrical capacity. In a high-profile announcement last month, Apple announced it was boosting prices for laptops and iPads by about 15% to 25%. A topline MacBook will now cost $1,999, up from $1,699. Many analysts expect price hikes will come for iPhones next. “The rapid expansion of AI data centers has created an extraordinary surge in demand for memory and storage,” Apple said in a statement. “We have never seen a component price increase this much, this quickly.” On the same day, Microsoft announced that the price of its XBox video game console will increase $100 by Aug. 1, citing higher prices for memory chips. Sony is also charging more for the Playstation, while Dell Computer and HP have raised prices for their laptops.

Corpus Christi gave $100M in water discounts to industry giants. Locals picked up the bill

For at least a decade, Corpus Christi sold water to a handful of large industrial plants at a steeply discounted rate, according to documents and interviews with city officials. Residents and businesses paid more than $100 million to subsidize water for some of the world’s richest energy companies, the city’s rate models show. Three years ago, Corpus Christi doubled the companies’ water rates in an effort to correct the imbalance. But the companies, including Valero, Citgo and LyondellBassell, protested to state regulators, sparking a legal battle that will come to a head today as a public hearing over the matter begins in front of an independent state agency in Austin. The outcome will have major implications for Corpus Christi, which is facing an unprecedented water supply crisis, as well as the energy companies that have long dominated its economy. If the companies prevail, Corpus could be forced to refund them tens of millions of dollars even as it desperately seeks funding for new water projects and raises rates on the rest of the region’s consumers.

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“I’m holding my breath,” said Sylvia Campos, a city council member who campaigned on raising industrial water rates. “Let’s hope that we don’t have to pay them back.” Valero, which is leading the effort to dispute rates through a coalition called Affordable Water for Corpus Christi, did not respond to requests for comment. Neither did Citgo or LyondellBassell. The companies all buy water directly from Corpus Christi’s water utility to operate oil refineries and petrochemical plants just outside the city limits. “They know very well how long they’ve gotten away with not paying their fair share,” Campos said. The industry group’s arguments for lower water rates are spelled out in thousands of pages of documents filed with the Public Utility Commission of Texas, a state regulator headed by a panel of gubernatorial appointees. In one filing, a consultant wrote that the group’s members should get a discount for water because they shouldn’t have to pay for “distribution infrastructure they do not own, maintain, or benefit from in the same way as inside-city users.”

Texas Hispanics swung hard to Trump. A new poll shows they’re furious at his deportations.

Benny Melendez voted for President Donald Trump in 2024. But since Trump returned to the White House, it has been increasingly difficult for Melendez to run his small construction company in south Texas. He says immigration officers have detained workers at his job sites and while driving his company trucks. Since the beginning of 2025, more than 10 of those workers have been deported. The chaos of the past year-and-a-half has convinced Melendez to abandon his support for Trump and Republicans, and instead back the Democrat in this year’s U.S. Senate election, state Rep. James Talarico. “How can we continue voting for someone that is targeting our community?” Melendez said. “There’s no way possible we’re going to support that. No way.”

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Melendez is not alone. One in five Hispanic business owners in Texas say they’ve had an employee deported in the past year, according to a new survey commissioned by the U.S. Hispanic Business Council and shared first with POLITICO. Seven in ten said their businesses had been impacted by Trump’s tariffs. Among those surveyed, Talarico holds a seven-point lead over Attorney General Ken Paxton, the GOP nominee, even though a plurality of the over 1,000 respondents self-identify as Republican. Almost one quarter who supported Sen. John Cornyn in the Republican primary now say they’ll back Talarico, while over half say they’ll back Paxton. The survey is the clearest sign yet of Paxton’s vulnerability among Texas’ robust Hispanic business community amidst broader signs that Hispanic voters around the country are swinging hard against him, thanks to the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown and the shaky economy. The survey was conducted from June 2 to 15 and included 1,012 Texas-based USHBC members. Respondents included business owners in construction, food services, retail, manufacturing and other industries. Those business owners pointed to the fear the deportation push created in the community, as well as their bottom lines, for why they were turning on Trump and toward Talarico.

State Stories

Mariachi no longer in ICE custody after calls for his release, Rep. Castro says

The man who sang the national anthem on July 4 at a South Texas immigrant detention facility has been released, according to U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio. Hebert Kaleth Ibarra Castro, 20, was reunited with his wife, Marisol Pantoj, after being arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on June 25 while driving in China Grove. An ICE spokesperson told KSAT that Ibarra Castro “entered the United States illegally,” but Pantoj said he entered the U.S. legally on a B-2 visa. “He came with a B-2 visa when he was 4 years old,” Pantoj said. “He was fleeing violence from (Monterrey) Mexico.” Pantoj said that the visa expired in 2020, and they have been working on obtaining his green card, but it has taken a long time, calling the process “very overwhelming.”

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“The packet itself was 178 pages,” Pantoj said. ”Sponsorship, birth certificates, IDs, passports, pay stubs, we had to develop a marriage evidence folder.” While being held in the South Texas detention facility, Pantoj said Ibarra Castro was asked to sing the national anthem. “He had said, ‘I don’t understand why they asked me to sing a song of the land of the free when they chained me up like an animal,’” Pantoj said. ICE said Ibarra Castro “volunteered to perform the national anthem for other detainees and contract staff at the detention center during a Fourth of July talent contest.” “The performance was part of broader efforts to promote positive engagement through voluntary activities,” ICE said. “Castro received no compensation and participated simply because he enjoys singing.” Rep. Castro announced Ibarra Castro’s release Saturday in a Facebook post. “In a country that stands for freedom and opportunity,” Rep. Castro said, “he deserves a fair chance at the American Dream.”

Gov. Greg Abbott activates Texas emergency resources as heavy rain, flash flood threat continue

As rounds of heavy rain and thunderstorms continue to threaten much of Texas this week, Gov. Greg Abbott has activated state emergency response resources ahead of the increased risk of flash flooding. The announcement comes as a moisture-rich weather pattern is expected to bring multiple rounds of heavy rainfall across large portions of the state through the end of the week, according to the National Weather Service.

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“The State of Texas will deploy all necessary resources to help local officials respond to potential severe weather and flash flooding across the state,” Abbott said in a statement. “I urge all Texans to monitor local forecasts, heed guidance from state and local officials, and always remember: Turn Around, Don’t Drown. Texas will support our communities as these threats develop.” The National Weather Service says slow-moving thunderstorms could bring heavy rainfall and flash flooding to parts of North, West, Central, South and East Texas beginning Sunday night, with the greatest threat expected through the middle of the week. In addition to flooding, some storms could produce damaging wind gusts and large hail.

The most useless border barrier in Texas

Perhaps Raymond Skiles should be relieved. A few months ago, the Trump administration was laying the groundwork to take part of his 550-acre ranch near tiny Langtry to build a border wall—part of a wildly unpopular plan to wall off much of West Texas, including Big Bend National Park. But then, in March, the government backed off the proposal without explanation. Skiles, a 71-year-old retired Big Bend National Park wildlife biologist, was pleased that a thirty-foot wall wouldn’t split his place. But he didn’t exactly rejoice. In June, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the parent agency of Border Patrol, awarded a staggering $2.6 billion contract—the largest upfront award for physical border infrastructure ever—to build a four- to six-foot-tall steel “vehicle barrier” and pave new patrol roads for a 156-mile stretch from Sanderson to Lake Amistad. Fisher Sand & Gravel Co., a North Dakota–based contractor with ties to the Trump administration, won the bid. The new proposal will still tear up Skiles’s land, destroying important archaeological sites and polluting what is one of the last wild places in Texas. And if anything, the latest plans may constitute an even more pointless waste of taxpayer money than a thirty-foot wall.

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Skiles Ranch, like almost the entirety of the Lower Canyons stretch of the Rio Grande below the national park, is characterized by a deep river gorge, with natural canyon walls typically soaring from one hundred to three hundred feet. It’s remote, harsh, and seldom trafficked by migrants. A border wall might, in theory, keep some of the small number who do cross there from entering Texas. But a vehicle barrier makes no sense for the simple reason that vehicles do not and cannot cross an impassable river gorge. As of now, smugglers have not figured out how to drive cars or trucks down vertical cliffs, across a river (or giant Lake Amistad), up vertical cliffs, and subsequently onto private property that’s surveilled and patrolled by Border Patrol, enclosed within fences, and watched over by heavily armed private landowners. Why would they? There are far easier and better places to traffic drugs and people. “It’s impossible” to get a vehicle across the Rio Grande in the Langtry area, said Skiles. “There hasn’t been a vehicle, since the mule-and-wagon days, come down on the Mexican side.” Even if a “coyote” (a smuggler) could get a car down to the river, he would then encounter fifteen to fifty feet of mud in the Langtry area—the result of the muddy Rio Grande hitting the still waters of Lake Amistad, which has since receded. “So the idea of even driving across the canyon, even if you could get to the bank, is ludicrous,” Skiles said.

Former SpaceX engineers open robotics company headquarters in Buda

Two former SpaceX engineers opened the doors of their robotics company’s new Buda headquarters Friday. TerraFirma Inc. moved from Austin to the 40,000-square-foot facility, which the construction technology firm will use as a research, design and testing facility. It welcomed stakeholders, employees and members of the Buda community to the grand opening of its “Robot Ranch” at Tower Business Park. Buda attracted the firm, which hopes to one day send its technology to Mars, with $412,500 in giveaways approved in March. The company intends to hire hundreds of employees over the next few years, according to city documents.

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“(TerraFirma) is exactly the type of innovation-focused, high-wage employer we aim to recruit to Buda, strengthening our reputation as a location for advanced industrial and robotics-focused businesses and helping attract complementary employers and investment over time,” Mayor Lee Urbanovsky said. The company was founded in 2023 by Noah Schochet and Noah McGuinness, both former engineers at Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which also a significant presence in Central Texas. TerraFirma designs and manufactures robotics for construction uses like excavation, site work and demolition, with a long-term goal of sending its technology to Mars.

Muslim advocacy group fights for trust after Texas brands it a terrorist group

It was just past 9 p.m. on June 22, during the Texas State Board of Education meeting, when Shaimaa Zayan, operations manager for the Council on American-Islamic Relations’s Austin chapter, was called up to testify. She braced herself, knowing what was coming. “Can we have a leader of a foreign terrorist organization testify for the state board of education?” Brandon Hall, a Republican board member, asked the chairman, just as Zayan rose to the podium. Hall was referring to an order by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott designating CAIR a terrorist group last November. The group, one of the country’s largest Muslim advocacy organizations, however, is not listed on the U.S. Department of State’s list of terrorist organizations, which is officially responsible for such designations. The chairman said Zayan had a First Amendment right to speak.

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“OK, I won’t listen to it,” Hall said, before walking out of the room. CAIR has spent decades positioning itself as the country’s leading Muslim civil rights organization. But state and federal Republican leaders’ attempts to brand it as a terrorist front in recent months has tested CAIR’s legal standing and cast suspicion on the group or anyone who associates with it. The organization, which has chapters around the country, is now also fighting fraying trust inside some Muslim communities as mosque and nonprofit leaders decide whether standing by CAIR is worth potential risks — notably, in Texas. Since Abbott’s foreign terrorist designation, Imran Ghani, operations manager for CAIR’s Houston chapter, said his office has dealt with stigma in some Muslim communities. While some Texas mosques and other groups have continued to invite CAIR speakers and collaborate on events, as they have regularly in the past, Ghani said at least a dozen Muslim groups in Houston have privately made it clear they are no longer willing to host the civil rights group. “That’s exactly what the governor is intending to do: separate CAIR from the Muslim community, despite being a grassroots organization from within the Muslim community, and punish anybody that supports CAIR,” he said.

Austin startups land $6.5B in first half of 2026, climbing into elite tier, surpassing Atlanta, Chicago and Denver

Austin area startups attracted about $6.5 billion in venture funding during the first six months of 2026. That's enough to rank us among the nation's leading startup ecosystems and more than what a lot of big metros bring in through an entire year. That's according to the latest data from PitchBook and the National Venture Capital Association. And it fits an ongoing trend both locally and nationally of a few high-flying startups carrying the lion's share of funding through huge rounds that exceed $100 million. The data helps make a case for Austin to be flirting with becoming a first or second tier city when it comes to venture backing for startups. San Francisco, New York, Boston and Los Angeles still easily lead the pack. But Austin has climbed the ladder to be in league with Seattle, San Diego and Washington, D.C., and surpassing big markets such as Chicago, Atlanta and Denver.

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The latest numbers, from Q2, show Austin area companies landed about $1.5 billion across 100 deals. That's down from Q1, which was the metro's best quarter ever when we saw nearly $5 billion in deals land across 122 funding rounds, the PitchBook-NVCA data shows. Among the funding rounds that fueled the big numbers in the first half of 2026 are the $400 million raised by NinjaOne, $330 million brought in by Ollin Biosciences and $200 million secured by defense tech startup Allen Control Systems. Meanwhile, the city has seen some solid exits as well. That includes IPOs for Mobia Medical and Vida Global, and Literati and FemiClear being acquired. The data shows plenty of dry powder in the ecosystem, as well. VC firms including Saturn Five, Banner VC and Scout Ventures all have raised $100 million-plus funds so far this year. Though none will be surprised to see AI companies leading the way, the scale of AI's dominance in the VC world is still astounding. "AI continued to define the venture market in H1 2026. The total AI deal value of $355.9 billion made up 86% of all venture dollars in the period," the report said.

Rodeo announces $10.8M in scholarships for incoming college students

The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo announced on Saturday that it would provide more than $10.8 million in scholarships to 541 students looking to attend college. The award is part of a larger $15 million investment by the Rodeo to distribute as scholarships, and a $30 million initiative designated for educational programs and advancing student education opportunities. Each student will receive $20,000 in scholarship money. "Education has the power to change lives, and we're proud to help open doors for these remarkable students," said Chris Boleman, Rodeo president and CEO. "Together, we're investing in future leaders who will shape the future of our state."

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Among the awardees, nearly a third are first-generation high school graduates and more than half will be first-generation college students through the scholarships. About 66% of the awardees are women and 34% are men, the Rodeo said, and the top chosen majors among them are animal science, biology, psychology, mechanical engineering and nursing. The organization said scholarship recipients will attend 49 universities across the state, including Texas A&M University, Texas Tech, Texas State, University of Texas at Austin and the University of Houston. Every year since 1932, the Rodeo gives out scholarship funding to Texas students, totaling about $660 million. "Every scholarship represents an opportunity to invest in the potential of a Texas student," said Wesley Sinor, chairman of the board of the Rodeo. "On behalf of our 36,000 volunteers, there's no greater reward than knowing our year-round work helps students pursue their dreams and create opportunities that will impact families and communities for generations."

How the 2026 FIFA World Cup impacted Houston's restaurants

For months, Houston restaurant owners prepared for a World Cup windfall, with some people comparing the tournament's expected economic impact to hosting seven Super Bowls. Now, with Houston's seven World Cup games over, results are in. And they're a mixed bag. At Tomball’s Tejas Chocolate + Barbecue, sales climbed an estimated 15% to 20%, owner Scott Moore Jr. said. But road closures and barricades for the FIFA Fan Festival slashed business at EaDo bakery Koffeteria to a crawl. Craft Pita founder Rafael Nasr said he redecorated and brought in some soccer fans — but saw only a minimal lift to his bottom line. Restaurants “didn't really see, as a group, any increase whatsoever,” said Mike Shine, the executive director of the Texas Restaurant Association’s Greater Houston Chapter. “When you're talking about the community as a whole, we didn't really see a lot from it.”

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But Shine said some restaurants capitalized on World Cup fever far more than others. Businesses in the right locations, like J-Bar-M Barbecue, had a built-in advantage. More than 650,000 domestic visitors came to EaDo between June 11 and June 30 — up 215% from the same period last year — according to East Downtown Management District Executive Director Elizabeth Whitton. Others created reasons for fans to gather, like Jethro's Cocktail Lounge in Montrose, which brought in a projector for watch parties. Another subset, like the Kolache Shoppe, catered celebrations. And still more restaurants drew in tourists with must-try Houston foods, barbecue first and foremost. At Tejas Chocolate + Barbecue in Tomball, Moore said international visitors flooded in for brisket, sausage and ribs, while others ordered takeout to watch at home. One group of Norway fans drained his Scotch and most of his beer. “We were caught off guard a little bit by the volume,” Moore said.

TCEQ proposes a six-figure penalty against Odem over wastewater treatment plant violations dating to 2023

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality is proposing a $162,650 administrative penalty against the city of Odem for 18 alleged violations at its wastewater treatment plant — the same facility at the center of concerns first reported by KRIS 6 News nearly three years ago. The proposed agreed order stems from a 2023 TCEQ inspection. Among the findings: E. coli levels in discharged water were more than six times the legal limit. Inspectors also documented sewage — including grease balls and floating sludge — in a nearby receiving stream, along with several other violations. TCEQ proposes a six-figure penalty against Odem over wastewater treatment plant violations dating to 2023

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Odem Mayor David Maldonado gave Neighborhood News reporter Stephanie Molina a tour of the facility, pointing out equipment cited in the inspection. "This is a system that was out, and chemicals were being used without approval from TCEQ," Maldonado said as he pointed towards the UV disinfection system. At that time, the city had switched to chlorine tablets for disinfection without state approval. The city requested a compliance plan that would give it more time to address the violations. But Maldonado said that request cannot move forward until a separate compliance plan from 2019 is closed out. He said working to fix the system has been frustrating. "So here we are, years later, and we're looking back and going, 'Well, this was supposedly fixed already, so why are we still working on it?'" Maldonado said.

Dallas County DA argues elections official should be dropped from LULAC lawsuit over voter purge

Dallas County has asked a federal court to drop its top elections official from a lawsuit filed by the League of United Latin American Citizens. Dallas district attorneys recently filed a motion to remove Elections Administrator Paul Adams from the suit, arguing that he "has not violated any federal or state law, and has complied with the procedures set out in Texas Election Code." LULAC, Texas LULAC, LULAC's Dallas chapter and Common Cause alleged in a federal lawsuit that Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson and elections administrators across the state violated the National Voter Registration Act. The lawsuit, filed in March, says that Texas adopted a “troubling voter purge program that relies on unvetted, outdated citizenship data to remove voters from rolls in ways that are discriminatory and non-uniform across counties.”

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The voter purge program in question is the process Nelson implemented last October, which compared registered Texas voters against the federal Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements database. LULAC said in its complaint that the state, and by extension local counties, relied on outdated or unreliable data that can incorrectly identify voters — especially naturalized U.S. citizens — as noncitizens. More than 2,700 voters were identified as "potential noncitizens." Nearly a quarter of them are from North Texas — 277 from Dallas County and 338 from Collin, Denton and Tarrant counties, according to Secretary of State data. Elections officials from those counties were also named in the lawsuit. Other Texas counties with high numbers of voters who were flagged included 362 from Harris County, 201 in Bexar County and 165 in El Paso County. Brazoria County's county clerk was dismissed from the suit last month, while Collin County Elections Administrator Kaleb Breaux and Secretary of State Jane Nelson have also filed motions to be dropped.

National Stories

17 Mexican nationals have died in ICE custody or enforcement operations, Mexico says, announcing legal action

Mexico plans to pursue criminal and civil action in the United States over the deaths of Mexican nationals in ICE custody and enforcement operations, President Claudia Sheinbaum said Thursday. The announcement comes after an ICE agent fatally shot 52-year-old Mexican immigrant Lorenzo Salgado Araujo during an enforcement operation in Houston's Magnolia Park neighborhood on July 7. Salgado had lived in the United States for decades and had a work permit application pending. Foreign Minister Roberto Velasco said Mexico has recorded 17 deaths of Mexican nationals linked to ICE since the start of the current U.S. immigration crackdown: 14 in detention centers and three during enforcement operations, including Salgado Araujo.

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Sheinbaum said her government would no longer rely solely on diplomatic protest notes. "We are going to do everything in our power," she said, adding that Mexico could not fail to act in response to the deaths of Mexicans during ICE enforcement operations or in detention centers run by private companies contracted by ICE. She said Mexico would continue providing consular support to families and detainees, especially Mexicans "whose only crime is working honestly in the United States." Velasco said the Foreign Ministry will ask Mexico's Attorney General's Office to refer the cases to U.S. state prosecutors and the U.S. Department of Justice, seeking criminal investigations. He said the referrals would be filed "against whoever is responsible." U.S. authorities said agents were carrying out an operation when Salgado Araujo tried to evade arrest and used his vehicle as a weapon, prompting an officer to fire in self-defense. But witnesses and relatives have challenged that account. El País reported that neighbors heard him cry, "¡Me están matando!" after the shooting, and his family said they first learned of his death through videos and social media, not from authorities.

Lindsey Graham’s career of contradictions

Lindsey Graham had reached the end of his rope on the night of Jan. 6, 2021, declaring his alliance with Donald Trump over. “Trump and I, we’ve had a helluva journey. I hate it to end this way. Oh my god, I hate it,” the South Carolina Republican senator said during a floor speech after the Capitol riot had been subdued. “All I can say is, count me out, enough is enough,” Graham concluded. Except no journey with Lindsey Graham was ever really over. In more than three decades in Congress, Graham constantly maneuvered across the political spectrum in search of relevance and influence. True to form, he returned to Trump’s side later in 2021 and was an early endorser of his 2024 presidential campaign, at a time when Trump seemed beatable.

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That ingratiation led Graham to an influential role as an informal adviser on national security. On Saturday he spoke by phone with the president to discuss the senator’s trip to Ukraine and his long effort to pass tough new sanctions against Russia. The call took place, according to Trump, not long before paramedics were called to Graham’s Capitol Hill home. His aides announced Graham’s death in an early Sunday morning social media post. “If I had a problem, a real problem, I wouldn’t often ask. But if I had a problem with a Democrat, he could work it out,” Trump said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday. “He was a great, he was a great politician, actually.” It’s debatable how much Graham could work out with Democrats in his last few years in the Senate. His ideological maneuvering left him increasingly isolated when it came to the sort of dealmaking he’d learned as a sidekick to John McCain (R-Arizona) in his first 15 years in the Senate.

US has no 'dead man's switch' to attack Iran if it kills Trump

President Donald Trump is suggesting he has left standing orders for the U.S. military to destroy Iran “ at levels they’ve never seen before ” if Tehran follows through on its long-standing threats to kill him. But the U.S. government has no way to create an automatic, preauthorized “dead man’s switch” that would prompt immediate retaliation. Instead, if Trump were killed, the transfer of power to his successor is governed by the 25th Amendment and the Presidential Succession Act of 1947. Vice President JD Vance instantaneously would become commander in chief and have authority for any retaliation. Under such a scenario, Vance could do exactly what Trump called for, though there also is a chance he could decide not to follow his predecessor’s orders — or offer a direct response in a different way.

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“The U.S. has, for a whole variety of reasons, never utilized a technical ‘dead man’s switch,’” said Garrett M. Graff, author of “Raven Rock: The Story of the U.S. Government’s Secret Plan to Save Itself -- While the Rest of Us Die.” The United States does have extensive contingency plans for continuity of government in the event of a nuclear attack or other major catastrophe that wipes out most or all of Washington. But those plans also do not allow for immediately launching retaliatory strikes upon the death of a president, even if that president had demanded that the military be ready to do so. Trump nonetheless posted on his social media website Saturday that Iran had made threats “to assassinate, or attempt to assassinate” him and he said 1,000 “missiles are Locked and Loaded and aimed at the Islamic Republic of Iran, with thousands more to immediately follow, should the Iranian Government act on its threat.”

Democratic pastors run to reclaim Jesus from Trump's Republicans

A band of white Democratic pastors have a striking message ahead of November's US midterm elections: Republicans have hijacked Jesus for political gain, and we're not going to stand for it. For decades, it's been a truism that Republicans have cornered the Christian market -- at least when it comes to white voters. But these ministers are so fed up with President Donald Trump, and particularly his policies against immigrants, that they're running as Democrats in November to rein him in. "The Christians we're hearing in Washington don't reflect the Jesus of the Gospels," one of the insurgents, Adam Hamilton, told AFP.

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As the head of a 24,000-member Methodist megachurch in a deeply conservative, rural area of Kansas, Hamilton would typically fit the profile of a right-wing Republican Christian. However, along with support for fiscal responsibility and a strong military, the 62-year-old Hamilton backs legal access to abortion and protecting LGBTQ rights in his campaign for the US Senate. Citing the "crassness and mean-spiritedness" of Trump's presidency, he said what's happening in Washington is "inconsistent with the values that I've preached for 36 years." "I want to stand up and be heard saying: 'This is not OK.'" Democrats have a long tradition of clergy in politics, but predominately among African Americans. In Congress now, there's Senator Raphael Warnock, who leads Atlanta's Ebenezer Baptist Church, where Martin Luther King Jr was pastor. But the last white, Democratic pastor in Congress was Bob Edgar, a Methodist minister representing Pennsylvania from 1975 to 1987.

States prepare lawsuit to block Paramount’s merger With Warner Bros.

A group of states are preparing to file a lawsuit to block Paramount’s acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery as soon as this week, according to four people briefed on the plans, a legal challenge that would create a major obstacle for one of the biggest media mergers in history. A draft of the lawsuit currently circulating argues that the $111 billion deal would harm competition in the market for so-called tent pole films, the expensive blockbusters that make up a large portion of studio revenues, among other claims, two of the people said. California has taken the lead on the lawsuit, and states including New York, Washington and Connecticut have said they will join the effort, according to three of the people, as well as another person familiar with the states’ plans. All of them spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive legal matter before it was public.

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Once the lawsuit is finalized, the states could decide to delay filing it or scrap it completely. Reuters earlier reported states could sue as soon as this week. A spokeswoman for Paramount said in a statement that the company was prepared to address “legitimate antitrust issues,” adding that its merger with Warner Bros. Discovery “raises no such concerns.” “We are confident the facts and the law support this transaction, and we will continue to defend it vigorously,” she added. Paramount has said it plans to close the deal in the third quarter of the year. As part of its deal with Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount has said it would pay the company’s shareholders about $650 million in cash for each quarter the deal doesn’t close, starting in October. The lawsuit would disrupt efforts by the billionaire Larry Ellison and his son, David Ellison, to create a Hollywood colossus. The combined company would include two major movie studios, multiple streaming services and the news networks CNN and CBS News, expanding the father-son duo’s influence over the flagging entertainment and media industries.

McConnell says after weeks of speculation that hospitalization was due to a fall

Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky on Sunday announced, after weeks of speculation, that he had a fall last month that landed him in the hospital. “My doctors have confirmed that I didn’t break any bones or suffer a concussion. I didn’t have a heart attack or a stroke. I don’t have any tumors or hemorrhages. But I was briefly unconscious and was taken to the hospital. While receiving excellent care over the past several weeks, I’ve also had to deal with a mild case of pneumonia,” he said in a statement. McConnell also provided a photo showing him smiling next to his wife, Elaine Chao. He appears to have a copy of Sunday’s Washington Post sports section on his lap.

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McConnell said he’s moved from a hospital to a rehabilitation center to continue regaining his strength. His doctors have run through “every test they can think of” to try to determine what caused the incident. The former Senate majority leader said he “won’t be able to return to the Senate floor to vote quite yet” but he’s “been working closely” with legislative staff in the meantime. The statement comes after weeks of questions over McConnell’s health, as aides for the 84-year-old were fiercely protective about releasing information on his condition. The lack of information sparked speculation and rumors online that his health had significantly deteriorated. McConnell, a childhood polio survivor, has faced a series of health issues in recent years, including multiple falls. In 2023, he froze midsentence during a news conference. Along with his own statement, McConnell included a note from the attending physician of Congress, who described the injuries after the fall at his Washington, DC, home as “minor.”

Copyright July 13, 2026, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved