March 15, 2026: All Newsclips

Lead Stories

Trump says Cornyn and Paxton are both electable as he mulls endorsement in Texas Senate race

President Donald Trump told NBC News on Saturday that he’s still mulling a potential endorsement in the competitive Republican primary for a Senate seat in Texas. Sen. John Cornyn is facing Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in a May 26 runoff after a close contest on the first ballot. “I’ll let you know that over the next week or so,” Trump said in a phone interview when asked if he’s going to endorse Cornyn. “I like him. I always liked him.” He said he thinks he’ll make a decision in the next week. “A lot has to do with the SAVE America Act. A lot is going to determine — Republicans have to get that passed, because that will secure voting in this country,” Trump said. Both candidates are vying for Trump’s endorsement. Paxton has championed abolition of the legislative filibuster to pass the Trump-backed election bill.

click here for more

Earlier this week Cornyn abandoned his long-standing support for the Senate filibuster, the 60-vote rule to pass most bills, saying he’ll support “whatever changes to Senate rules that may prove necessary” to pass the SAVE America Act. “I very much appreciate that he is” in favor of nixing the filibuster, Trump said of Cornyn. When asked if Cornyn’s move had won him over, he said, “I don’t know, but we have to get it passed.” Trump also said he’s not convinced Cornyn is the GOP’s best chance to hold the Senate seat. “I’ve heard that. I don’t know. I mean, I don’t know. I don’t know that to be a fact,” Trump said. “But I like him. I’ve always liked him. I like both candidates very much.” He said he isn’t worried about Paxton being unelectable. “No, I think they both win,” Trump said, while calling Democratic nominee James Talarico “so weak.”

The biggest change to voting in Republican election bill could become a burden for many US voters

Joshua Bogdan was born and raised in the United States. The only time the New Hampshire resident has left the country was for a day and a half in seventh grade, when he went to Canada to see Niagara Falls. Even so, that did not mean proving his U.S. citizenship in last fall’s local elections was easy. The 31-year-old arrived at his voting place in Portsmouth and handed the poll worker his driver’s license, just as he had done in other towns when arriving to vote. She said that would no longer do. The poll worker said that under the state’s new proof-of-citizenship law, which took effect for the first time during town elections in 2025, Bogdan would need a passport or his birth certificate because he had moved and needed to reregister at his new address. A scramble ensued, turning the voting process that he had always found fun and invigorating into a nerve-wracking game of beat the clock.

click here for more

“I didn’t know that anything had officially changed walking in there,” he said. “And then being told that I had to provide a passport that I’ve never had or a birth certificate that’s usually tucked away somewhere safe just to cast my vote — which I’ve done before — it was frustrating.” Bogdan’s experience in New Hampshire is a glimpse into the future for potentially millions of voters across the country. That is if Republican voting legislation being pushed aggressively by President Donald Trump passes Congress and a “show your papers” law is put in place in time for the November elections. The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility, or SAVE America Act, cleared the U.S. House last month on a mostly party-line basis. Republicans say it would improve election integrity. Trump has called its safeguards common sense. The bill is scheduled to come up in the U.S. Senate next week for voting and debate.

Trump knew the risk of Iran blocking the Strait of Hormuz. He still went to war.

Before the U.S. went to war, Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told President Trump that an American attack could prompt Iran to close the Strait of Hormuz. Caine said in several briefings that U.S. officials had long believed Iran would deploy mines, drones and missiles to close the world’s most vital shipping lane, according to people with knowledge of the discussions. Trump acknowledged the risk, these people said, but moved forward with the most consequential foreign-policy decision of his two presidencies. He told his team that Tehran would likely capitulate before closing the strait—and even if Iran tried, the U.S. military could handle it. Now, two weeks into the war, Iran’s leaders have refused to back down, and the Strait of Hormuz has emerged as Tehran’s most potent leverage point.

click here for more

Iran has blocked tankers from the strait and struck cargo ships, triggering a surge in oil prices and an energy shock rippling around the world. U.S. forces are targeting Iran’s mine-laying ships and factories, trying to prevent the country from lining the waterway with explosives. The joint U.S.-Israel military operation has killed Iran’s supreme leader, targeted military headquarters and damaged or destroyed more than 90 Iranian vessels. Yet, the price has been steep. At least 13 Americans have been killed, including six in a crash Thursday of an Air Force refueling plane, making the war in Iran the deadliest military operation of Trump’s two terms. At least 140 Americans have been wounded in the conflict. Roughly 175 people, mostly children, were killed in a strike on a girls’ school in Iran, which a preliminary U.S. investigation found was likely launched by U.S. forces.

He was Chevron’s man in Venezuela—and a CIA informant

In the months before President Trump moved to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, the Central Intelligence Agency turned to an old friend for advice on who should replace the autocratic leftist. Former Chevron executive Ali Moshiri told the agency that if the U.S. government tried to oust the entire Maduro regime and install the democratic opposition led by María Corina Machado it would have another quagmire like Iraq on its hands, according to people familiar with the matter. She didn’t have the support of the country’s security services or control of its oil infrastructure, Moshiri argued. His recommendation: Stick for now with another autocratic leftist, Maduro’s longtime deputy and economic manager Delcy Rodríguez. The option was later presented to Trump in a secret CIA assessment.

click here for more

Hours after American commandos dragged Maduro out of his fortified compound, Trump echoed the sentiment. It would be “very tough” for Machado to take over, he said. “She doesn’t have the support within or the respect within the country.” Moshiri’s hidden hand in Washington spycraft, revealed here for the first time, offers a window into how Trump embraced the energy industry’s unsentimental playbook for dealing with autocratic regimes. And it marks a dramatic turnaround for Chevron’s prospects in Venezuela, where the company’s decision to stay invested during decades of political upheaval now leaves it with a strategic advantage as the oil begins to gush again. In a statement, Chevron said that “between spring of 2025 and the removal of Maduro, Chevron did not authorize anyone working for, or on behalf of, the company to engage with the CIA related to Venezuela’s leadership, including assessments of government officials or opposition leaders.” It added that the company had no advance knowledge of Maduro’s ouster, and didn’t coordinate or advocate for it. Chevron added that it “does not have a business relationship with Ali Moshiri—formal or informal.”

Behind plans to save DART: How the transit agency reversed its fate

Randall Bryant had been chair of Dallas Area Rapid Transit for less than a day when suburban cities started calling. They wanted out. The night before, Walt Humann, widely regarded as the father of DART, had sworn in the 38-year-old, who wore his signature custom-made bowtie. Bryant pledged to tackle simmering concerns over governance and funding. He had no idea those disputes were about to boil over. City leaders told him they were considering exit elections that could fracture the region’s transit system. Bryant didn’t even have some of their phone numbers saved yet. Suddenly, the youngest board chair in the agency’s history had roughly 120 days to stop a political revolt before cities locked in ballots asking voters whether to abandon DART altogether. “My biggest goal was to ensure that DART presented something to the cities that was a reasonable offer,” Bryant said.

click here for more

The stakes were enormous. If multiple cities pulled out, it could gut DART’s funding and threaten rail and bus service across North Texas. For frustrated suburbs, it was leverage in a long-running fight over whether the system is controlled too much by and spends too much in Dallas — and too little back home. What followed was a frantic stretch of negotiations. Bryant and other leaders scrambled to assemble governance changes and financial concessions. By late February, half of the six cities that called exit elections had backed down. The fight exposed how fragile the 40-year-old transit partnership had become and how quickly it could splinter in one of the nation’s fastest-growing regions. Todd Little, executive director of the North Central Texas Council of Governments, a regional planning group, said Bryant’s efforts helped keep the system intact. “It has not only saved DART, it has saved regional transportation,” Little said. Bryant comes from politics. His grandmother, Kathy Nealy, served in the administration of President Bill Clinton on his advance team and built a long career as a political consultant. Growing up in Hamilton Park, a historically Black neighborhood in North Dallas, Bryant knocked on doors at age 7 on behalf of Ron Kirk’s campaign, helping elect Dallas’ first Black mayor. By 10, he was taking the Red Line from Park Lane to Oak Cliff to visit his grandmother and watch campaigns up close. Today, Bryant runs his own government affairs, public relations and political consulting firm. His appointment to DART marks the fifth board or commission on which he has represented the city of Dallas, beginning in his 20s on the South Dallas/Fair Park Trust Fund Board.

State Stories

How a San Antonio lawyer helped U.S. House members take down Tony Gonzales

As U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales struggled to survive a scandal over sexting and an affair with a subordinate, members of Congress who wanted him sidelined went looking for additional damaging text messages the Republican congressman may have sent. A San Antonio lawyer named Robert J. "Bobby" Barrera was in a position to help. Barrera represents Adrian Aviles, whose late wife, Regina Ann Santos-Aviles, ran Gonzales' regional district office in Uvalde. She and the married congressman had an affair in the spring of 2024. A year and a half later, Santos-Aviles took her own life by setting herself on fire.

click here for more

For months afterward, rumors circulated about her relationship with Gonzales, who dodged questions about it. Then, on Feb. 17, the San Antonio Express-News reported the first documentary evidence of a liaison: a text in which Santos-Aviles told a then-colleague on Gonzales' staff, "I had (sic) affair with our boss." That and subsequent disclosures rocked the Republican primary campaign in which Gonzales, a Navy veteran and father of six, was seeking a fourth term. Some House Republicans demanded he resign or at least abandon his re-election bid. Gonzales refused. Last week, several members of Congress, intent on breaking the stalemate, reached out to Barrera. He's a respected criminal defense attorney who has expertise in family law and who represents Aviles pro bono. Barrera had been exploring a possible civil action against Gonzales for alleged harassment of Santos-Aviles. He believed there might be an avenue for Aviles to pursue monetary damages on his wife's behalf, and he tried to negotiate an out-of-court settlement with Gonzales. But the House members who contacted Barrera weren't interested in any of that. By his account, they wanted to get ahold of compromising messages between Gonzales and Santos-Aviles, and they thought he might have some. They were after previously undisclosed material that went beyond what had already been published by the Express-News and later by other news organizations.

Is this the beginning of the end for South by Southwest?

In the days and weeks before the City of Austin pulled the plug on South by Southwest in 2020, the event’s leaders cycled through the five Kübler-Ross stages of grief. Most of that time was devoted to the first: denial. To be fair, most of the country was doing likewise during the earliest days of the COVID-19 pandemic. President Donald Trump seemed unconcerned. Severe lockdowns had begun in China and Italy, and some international events had been canceled, but American institutions were mostly still humming along. And SXSW had very much become an important institution, one with a global reputation. Each year it brought together attendees from all corners of the world for conference sessions, concerts, and film screenings.

click here for more

Hugh Forrest, then SXSW’s chief programming officer, was better aware than many Americans of what was happening overseas, as the novel coronavirus and attendant lockdowns spread. His wife, who is from China, had traveled there to visit family in mid-January and ended up stuck, unable to get a flight out. Yet even he couldn’t fathom the possibility that one of the nation’s premier annual cultural events might be called off. “We had been meeting with Austin Public Health,” he recalls. “They were saying, ‘You’ll be fine. Just have lots of hand sanitizer.’?” Even as the news worsened, with the first confirmed U.S. cases and deaths, Forrest and his colleagues inside SXSW Center, the company’s newly built downtown-Austin office tower, had incentives to remain in denial. If they believed their own economic-impact reports, the event was worth hundreds of millions of dollars to Austin each year. If they called it off, would they be responsible for returning the tens of millions of dollars that attendees had paid for badges? And millions more to sponsors? Would their insurance policy cover such costs? Alongside denial came the second stage of grief: anger, expressed through defensiveness. A senior SXSW staffer told me that organizers were receiving daily calls from reporters asking whether it was wise to gather hundreds of thousands of international visitors, and would push back. Forrest remembers being particularly annoyed by a conversation with one author and entrepreneur, who was among the future-facing speakers who had helped build SXSW’s reputation. “He had been talking to his doctor friends, and [they were saying] this was much worse than anything else,” Forrest told me. “On the one hand, I like him a lot. On the other hand, he’s kind of a know-it-all.”

Prairieland shooter convicted of attempted murder, others on lesser charges in 'antifa' trial

In an unprecedented trial seeking to tie alleged “antifa” members to domestic terrorism, a federal jury returned a mixed verdict for nine people accused in a nonfatal July 4 shooting of a police officer outside the Prairieland immigration detention center — including a conviction on one count of attempted murder for shooter Benjamin Song. Song, Autumn Hill, Zachary Evetts, Savanna Batten, Meagan Morris, Maricela Rueda, Elizabeth Soto and Ines Soto were convicted of rioting, providing material support to terrorists, conspiracy to use and carry an explosive, and use and carry of an explosive — the explosive being fireworks. Daniel Sanchez Estrada was convicted of corruptly concealing a document or record. He and his wife, Rueda, were also convicted of conspiracy to conceal documents.

click here for more

Song was also convicted on three counts of discharging a firearm. Hill, Evetts, Morris and Rueda were acquitted of the attempted murder and discharging a firearm charges, which they faced for allegedly aiding and abetting Song. All nine were accused of playing a role in the nonfatal shooting of Alvarado Police Lt. Thomas Gross outside the ICE facility. Prosecutors argued the group was a "North Texas antifa cell" that shared anti-ICE and anti-government beliefs. The defendants argued the protest was supposed to be a peaceful noise demonstration in support of the immigrants inside the detention center, and that they never intended for things to get violent. At least two jurors were visibly distraught before Judge Mark Pittman read the verdict. Families and friends of the defendants let out muffled sobs as the decision came down.

San Antonio district is creating a virtual school. What we know

For years, public schools pointed to private school vouchers and the charter school boom, saying they siphon students and state funding – drivers of sweeping school closures in San Antonio. A new Texas law allows districts to open virtual learning academies. San Antonio’s largest school district is moving forward. In speaking with experts, it’s clear that any launching virtual learning program will take some adjusting. As Northside Independent School District, which educates nearly 100,000 students, begins its first effort, it’s limiting virtual enrollment to students living in the NISD boundaries. Though, district decision makers have already brought up the concept of expanding those parameters.

click here for more

“What’s required to run a virtual school with high academic expectations, there’s a lot of infrastructure that has to be there,” Digital Academy of Texas Executive Director Erica Kouros told MySA. She’s a leader at DATX, which operates with K12 and educates 2,700 students across Texas, including San Antonio. Kouros noted her company consists of multiple teams ensuring students are swept into classes, properly enrolled, that courses are available and keeping the whole operation running. “If you think about what we do … everything that happens in a brick-and-mortar school … and classroom happens virtually.” Senate Bill 569 allowed public schools to create virtual learning programs, letting kids who need more flexibility in their schedule to work from the comfort of their home. This could give public schools, like NISD, the chance to retain students who can’t operate within the confines of a traditional in-person school day – a serious leg up amid dwindling enrollment numbers.

Corpus Christi cancels César Chávez march amid rumors; Dolores Huerta drops out

The annual César Chávez march in Corpus Christi has been canceled after rumors about the late labor leader’s legacy spread and civil rights icon Dolores Huerta withdrew from the event, the Express-News has learned. The move mirrors a similar cancellation in San Antonio, where organizers earlier this month called off the city’s César E. Chávez March for Justice, citing a “sensitive matter” involving Chávez without providing further details. The César Chávez Foundation and the Dolores Huerta Foundation have not responded to requests for comment.

click here for more

The march in Corpus Christi would have marked the 25th anniversary of the event in the Coastal Bend city, honoring Chávez, the civil rights leader who co-founded the United Farm Workers with Huerta and became one of the most influential labor organizers in the United States. Founded in 1997, San Antonio’s César E. Chávez March for Justice has drawn thousands each year and would have marked its 30th anniversary this spring. In both San Antonio and Corpus Christi, march organizers said they acted after hearing rumors circulating within labor and activist networks that damaging information about Chávez could soon surface. A memo sent to San Antonio City Council members and obtained by the Express-News said the cancellation involved a “sensitive matter,” but did not elaborate. A source with firsthand knowledge of the discussions told the Express-News that leaders of the California-based César Chávez Foundation warned city officials that negative information about Chávez’s past could soon be reported in a national news outlet.

Carl R. Trueman: James Talarico represents Christianity’s past, not its future

(Carl R. Trueman is the Busch Family Visiting Fellow at the Center for Citizenship and Constitutional Government at the University of Notre Dame and the author of “The Desecration of Man.”) James Talarico’s ability to quote the Bible in support of progressive causes has helped propel him to fame as a fresh young face of the Democratic Party. The Presbyterian seminarian has the strait-laced appearance of a small-town preacher. But as a member of the Texas House of Representatives he has argued in favor of biological males competing in women’s sports by saying, “God is nonbinary.” However novel this may seem, it reflects one of the oldest habits of the liberal Protestant tradition to which Talarico belongs: championing progressive social causes just as they are losing favor with the public. Talarico is not a sign of where America is heading but where it has been.

click here for more

Nowhere is this clearer than in Talarico’s views on transgenderism. In 2024, Britain’s only youth gender clinic was closed. A government report published that year found “remarkably weak” evidence for using treatments such as puberty blockers on children. In the United States, Donald Trump won the 2024 presidential election while campaigning against men competing in women’s sports and has threatened to remove federal funding for schools that allow them to do so. Talarico, however, is unmoved. He stands by a record of statements that includes a 2021 claim that “there are many more than two biological sexes, in fact there are six.” This is a misreading of the great works of gender theory that stand behind progressive understandings of sexuality. Worse, it damages the Christian, specifically Presbyterian, religious tradition to which Talarico and I both belong. Christianity makes certain claims about what it means to be human. We are created in God’s image and made as man and woman, distinguished by the sexual characteristics and complementarity of our bodies. Our bodies are, in a deep sense, who we are. I am not a soul that dwells in a body as an astronaut exists in a spacesuit. I am a body-soul unity.

SNAP beneficiaries sue USDA over food restrictions like those in Texas

Recipients of federal food assistance sued the U.S. Department of Agriculture this week to stop the agency from restricting the types of SNAP purchases that will soon be outlawed in Texas. Residents in five states alleged in a federal lawsuit Wednesday that new restrictions for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program beneficiaries deprive some recipients of food they need “to maintain their health and employment,” the lawsuit states. The USDA issued a series of waivers for 22 states that prevent the purchase of junk food, sodas, candy and other food items. The USDA issued Texas a waiver last year. It takes effect in April and continues for two years and specifically restricts the purchase of sweetened drinks and candy. The lawsuit was filed by the National Center for Law and Economic Justice, a nonprofit that advocates for low-income families.

click here for more

The plaintiffs are SNAP recipients who live in Colorado, Iowa, Nebraska, Tennessee and West Virginia. It names the USDA and U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins as defendants. It's not clear if the lawsuit would have any effect on the Texas restrictions. The Chronicle was unable to reach the National Center for Law and Economic Justice on Saturday. The lawsuit alleges the USDA redefined food “haphazardly” and did so without authority and without seeking input from the public, specifically from “people or businesses directly affected.” The restrictions are part of the Trump administration’s “Make America Healthy Again” movement championed by U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr, and Rollins, a native Texan and Trump loyalist who previously led the conservative Texas Public Policy Foundation. Rollins wrote in an opinion piece published in December that reform is overdue and that the restrictions ensure “taxpayer dollars provide nutritious options to Americans in need.”? “The chronic disease epidemic does not respect partisan boundaries, and never before has it presented such an enormous threat to our national welfare,” Rollins wrote. “The urgency of the crisis is abundantly clear.”

Dallas ISD looks to roll out free pre-K for all students

Officials in the Dallas Independent School District are floating a plan to offer tuition-free pre-K to all 3- and 4-year-olds. Dallas ISD currently offers free pre-K to students who qualify under certain federal, state and district guidelines, and provides tuition-based classes to all other students. At a meeting Thursday, district officials brought school board members a proposal to drop its tuition to $0. Researchers and education advocates say high-quality pre-K can help close gaps between disadvantaged students and their peers. New research in Dallas ISD and other Texas districts suggests that students are seeing the benefits of the investments in early learning that the state has made over the last several years.

click here for more

School districts in Texas offer tuition-free pre-K to students who fall into any of several categories, including students who are homeless, those who can’t speak or understand English and children who qualify for free or reduced-price lunches. Under Dallas ISD’s new plan, those students would still be first in line for seats, as required by state law. But Superintendent Stephanie Elizalde told board members that the district’s projections indicate there will be enough seats for every student who applies. For students who don’t qualify for free tuition, the district’s current pre-K tuition rate is $5,000 a year for full-day classes for 3- and 4-year-old, and $2,500 a year for half-day classes for 3-year-olds. About 267 families are paying tuition for pre-K classes this year. Elizalde told The Dallas Morning News that the tuition those families pay doesn’t cover the full cost of their child’s pre-K education, meaning the district already subsidizes all its pre-K students at some level. District leaders expect the move to have a minimal financial impact on the district, she said. It costs the district more to manage tuition payments than those payments bring in, she said, and the district has enough open seats in its pre-K classes each year that officials don’t expect to need more teachers. School districts across Texas stand to lose large numbers of pre-K students in coming years. According to numbers released Monday by the Texas Comptroller’s Office, pre-K students made up the biggest share of applicants for Texas Education Freedom Accounts, the state’s new education savings account program. Across all grades, 5,267 students who are zoned for Dallas ISD schools applied for education savings accounts by March 8.

Southwest Airlines to end flights at Chicago O'Hare and Washington Dulles

Dallas-based Southwest Airlines is discontinuing flights at two major airports in what it calls ongoing efforts to "refine its network." The airline said in a written statement to KERA that service to Chicago O'Hare (ORD) and Washington Dulles (IAD) will end effective June 4. Southwest's spokesperson said the airline will continue to serve both cities at other airports. "These changes do not represent any significant changes in flight availability for these cities, as we will continue our robust service at Chicago Midway (MDW), Baltimore Washington International (BWI), and Washington Reagan National (DCA)," said a spokesperson for Southwest Airlines.

click here for more

The airline's website says flights booked before June 3 to the two airports will still be valid. Customers holding reservations for travel to ORD or IAD on or after June 4, 2026, can rebook or get on a travel standby list. They are also eligible for a refund. The Southwest spokesperson noted operating at O'Hare has been "challenging." The Federal Aviation Administration last month proposed capping flights at the airport this summer after its two main carriers — United and American — announced additional flights. "We are confident we can serve Chicagoland from our long-standing base at Midway where we will continue to offer service to more than 80 destinations, including the 15 markets we serve from O’Hare," the spokesperson said. "We will offer up to a combined 271 departures to 79 nonstop destinations from DCA and BWI." They added that all affected frontline employees will have the opportunity to bid for open positions across the network, including at BWI, DCA and MDW.

PFLAG must turn over records in Texas probe tied to transgender youth care ban, court rules

The Texas Supreme Court ruled Friday that the Texas Attorney General’s Office can require LGBTQ advocacy group PFLAG to turn over documents related to an investigation into medical care for transgender minors. The court overturned a previous district court decision that had largely blocked the AG’s office from seeking certain records. The dispute stems from a civil investigative demand issued in 2024 by Texas AG Ken Paxton. His office is investigating whether medical providers may have violated state law by misleading insurers about treatments provided to transgender minors.

click here for more

The Attorney General’s office began seeking records after PFLAG submitted an affidavit in an ill-fated lawsuit challenging the state’s 2023 law banning certain gender-affirming medical treatments for minors, including puberty blockers and hormone therapy. In that filing, the group’s executive director said families with transgender adolescents were discussing “contingency plans” and “alternative avenues to maintain care in Texas.” State investigators argued those comments suggested the group might have information about doctors continuing to provide treatments banned under Texas law and requested related records from PFLAG. PFLAG sued to block the request in February 2024. A Travis County judge initially sided with the group and limited what records PFLAG had to provide. The attorney general’s office appealed directly to the state’s highest civil court. In Friday’s ruling, the Texas Supreme Court said the lower court improperly interfered with the state’s investigation, emphasizing that under state law, the AG doesn’t have to prove someone has relevant documents before requesting them.

'Just mean': New Texas rule requiring proof of legal status threatens workers

Iris Yanez spent 12 months and $13,000 working toward a Texas hairdresser’s license. By the time she finished the requirements in early February, a quiet policy change by the state had already made her ineligible. “I’m going to have two credentials that I’m not going to be able to use,” Yanez, who also has a state license for eyelash extensions, told the American-Statesman in Spanish. The 45-year-old was caught in a sudden shift by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation that now requires applicants to provide proof of legal authorization to be in the United States.

click here for more

Yanez is one of potentially thousands of hairdressers, barbers, electricians and HVAC professionals across Texas who are ineligible to obtain or renew professional licenses after the state agency added the requirement in late January. The department’s commissioners could vote to make the policy final as early as March 24. The agency says the change is meant to comply with a 1996 federal law signed by President Bill Clinton that bars states from providing public benefits to people without legal status unless a state legislature explicitly authorizes it — a law Texas largely did not enforce for decades. Approximately 18,000 licenses — about 2% — are not attached to a Social Security number, according to TDLR data provided to the Statesman by state Sen. Judith Zaffirini’s office. Agency spokeswoman Caroline Espinosa told the Statesman the change was an attempt “to combat fraud, human trafficking and labor exploitation.” She declined to offer further explanation.

GOP says James Talarico’s faith-heavy Senate campaign is too liberal

State Rep. James Talarico quotes Scripture while advocating for public policies like welcoming immigrants, protecting abortion access and respecting transgender rights. Republicans say that mix of progressive politics and biblical rhetoric shows the Austin lawmaker is out of step with the more conservative religious views of many Texans and unfit to represent them in the Senate. As the race moves ahead, Talarico, a Presbyterian seminarian, has made his faith central to his campaign, and Republicans have seized on it as a line of attack. It began shortly after Talarico defeated U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Dallas in the March 3 Democratic Senate primary. Republicans flooded social media with clips of his past remarks, focusing on moments in which he invokes Bible passages to deliver political messages.

click here for more

That’s included an abortion-related discussion in which he referenced the story of an angel talking to Mary about carrying the son of God. “That is an affirmation in one of our most central stories that creation has to be done with consent,” Talarico said. “You cannot force someone to create.” Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Flower Mound, replied to that clip by comparing Talarico to a demon prince of hell. “If Beelzebub were a politician, he would talk like this,” Gill said. Talarico said the Republican attacks are to distract people from the Iran war and high cost of living. “They’re hoping Americans care more about culture wars than actual wars. More about pronouns than prices,” Talarico said on X. “We’re not falling for it.” The GOP assault comes as the Republican Senate contest is still unresolved. Incumbent Sen. John Cornyn faces a May 26 runoff against Attorney General Ken Paxton. Paxton has sharply criticized Cornyn as a Republican in name only who has been disloyal to President Donald Trump. Cornyn has rejected that and recently announced a faith advisory council of prominent evangelical pastors. He has stepped up character jabs against Paxton, including a new TV ad accusing his rival of violating some of the Ten Commandments.

On anniversary of ICE detention, Texas judge orders Palestinian woman released on bond

After a year in immigration detention, a Muslim Palestinian woman from New Jersey could be released from ICE custody after an immigration judge ordered her release for a third time. The federal judge on Friday granted Leqaa Kordia a $100,00 bond -- higher than the $20,000 Kordia had previously been granted, prompting the Department of Homeland Security to file an automatic stay to keep her in custody. The $100,000 bond is expected to be paid immediately unless DHS cancels the payment and invokes the automatic stay a third time, according to a statement released by Kordia’s legal team at the Texas Civil Rights Project. In the statement, Kordia said she was “deeply grateful for all the people who attended today’s bond hearing on theone yearmark of my detention.

click here for more

“All I want is for the government to finally release me now so I can go home to my family,” Kordia said. “Until then, I’ll continue speaking up for the basic rights and freedom of all people, from Texas to Palestine." Judge Tara Naselow-Nahas said the previous $20,000 was more than enough – but said she had “her hands tied.” She said she hoped the government would agree that $100,000 was enough and “not turn around and issue an automatic stay.” She called the government’s arguments “disingenuous” and noted the hundreds of documents submitted by Kordia’s lawyers. DHS attorney Stacy Norcross said during Friday's brief hearing that “no amount of bond” would guarantee Kordia's appearance in court. Kordia was arrested last March for allegedly overstaying her visa. Before that, she had been arrested during a 2024 protest at Columbia University against Israel’s war in Gaza. Kordia, 33, lives in New Jersey. She was born in the West Bank and came to the U.S. on a tourist visa in 2016.

National Stories

Hegseth gutted offices that would have probed Iran school strike

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has gutted the Pentagon oversight offices that would have investigated the recent strike on an Iranian girls’ school — a move that has degraded America’s ability to protect civilians amid its largest air campaign in decades. The Pentagon chief last year slashed offices that didn’t contribute to his goal of “lethality,” including the group that assists in limiting risk to civilians, known as the Civilian Protection Center of Excellence. Around 200 employees who worked on the issue, including at that office, have been reduced by about 90 percent, according to two current and former officials and a person familiar with the effort. The team that handles civilian casualties at Central Command, which oversees the Middle East, has dropped from 10 to one. Hegseth can’t close the offices because they are approved by Congress.

click here for more

But he has managed to make them nearly inoperable, according to the people, as the Pentagon investigates its responsibility in what could be the worst U.S.-led killing of civilians since 2003. Iranian state media said the strike killed about 170 children and 14 teachers. “The fact that our secretary of Defense, that our Central Command commander, cannot actually tell us whether or not they dropped a bomb in this location, that is so unbelievably unacceptable,” said Wes Bryant, the Pentagon’s former chief of civilian harm assessments until last year. “It just points even more to recklessness in this, in the entire planning and execution of this campaign, the fact that they don’t have any idea.” Hegseth has said no other country takes as many precautions to ensure the U.S. is not targeting civilians. But the Pentagon chief, who has long derided the use of laws in war, this week called military rules of engagement “stupid.” “We untie the hands of our warfighters to intimidate, demoralize, hunt and kill the enemies of our country,” he said at a Tuesday press conference on the U.S.-Israeli military operation. “No more politically correct and overbearing rules of engagement, just common sense, maximum lethality and authority for warfighters.”

Pentagon names 6 military members killed in Iraq tanker crash

The Pentagon on Saturday identified the six United States service members who died this week when a refueling aircraft crashed in Iraq. The service members were Maj. John A. Klinner, 33, of Auburn, Ala.; Capt. Ariana G. Savino, 31, of Covington, Wash.; Tech. Sgt. Ashley B. Pruitt, 34, of Bardstown, Ky.; Capt. Seth R. Koval, 38, of Mooresville, Ind.; Capt. Curtis J. Angst, 30, of Wilmington, Ohio; and Tech. Sgt. Tyler H. Simmons, 28, of Columbus, Ohio. U.S. Central Command had stated that the aircraft crashed after an incident involving another plane, which landed safely. The crash, which happened Thursday in western Iraq, was not a result of hostile or friendly fire, the Central Command said. The plane that went down was a KC-135, which is used by the Air Force to refuel a wide range of aircraft while in flight. A U.S. official previously said that the other plane involved was also a KC-135.

click here for more

Three of the service members — Major Klinner, Captain Savino and Sergeant Pruitt — were assigned to the Sixth Air Refueling Wing at the MacDill Air Force Base. Major Klinner was a husband and father to 7 month-old-twins, a boy and a girl, and a 2-year-old son, according to Mr. Klinner’s brother-in-law, James Harrill. Mr. Harrill said Mr. Klinner had been deployed to the Middle East for less than a week before his death and was nearing the end of his military career. “You could just hear the excitement in his voice about the possibilities of what was next,” Mr. Harrill said on Saturday night. In a statement, Col. Ed Szczepanik, the Sixth Air Refueling Wing Commander, mourned the loss of the squadron’s members. “To lose a member of the Air Force family is excruciatingly painful, especially to those who know them as son, daughter, brother, sister, spouse, mom, or dad,” the colonel said. “To lose them at the same time is unimaginable.” All three had been stationed in Alabama before deployment. The other three — Captain Koval, Captain Angst and Sergeant Simmons — were assigned to the 121st Air Refueling Wing at Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base in Ohio, the Pentagon said. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine offered his condolences on Saturday and had earlier ordered flags to be flown at half-staff in their honor. The six deaths brought the total number of American service members killed in the war with Iran to at least 13 as it stretched into its third week.

FCC chief threatens broadcasters as Trump criticizes coverage of Iran war

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr issued a stern warning to broadcasters Saturday, threatening to revoke government-issued licenses if they run what the federal agency deems “fake news.” The warning, alongside which Carr included a screenshot of a post by President Donald Trump inveighing against legacy media coverage of the Iran war, was just the latest salvo from an official who since becoming FCC chairman at the outset of Trump’s second term has relished the role of media enforcer. “Broadcasters that are running hoaxes and news distortions — also known as the fake news — have a chance now to correct course before their license renewals come up,” Carr wrote in a post on X. “The law is clear. Broadcasters must operate in the public interest, and they will lose their licenses if they do not.”

click here for more

Carr said “changing course” would be a savvy business decision for broadcasters — though he did not mention any by name — given “trust in legacy media has now fallen to an all time low of just 9% and are ratings disasters.” It’s unclear what trust metrics Carr is citing, but Gallup found in 2020 that 9 percent of Americans have “a great deal” of trust in mass media, though another 31 percent said they had “a fair amount” of trust. “When a political candidate is able to win a landslide election victory after in the face of hoaxes and distortions, there is something very wrong,” Carr said, presumably talking about President Donald Trump, who received 312 electoral votes and 49.9 percent of the national vote in the 2024 presidential election. “It means the public has lost faith and confidence in the media. And we can’t allow that to happen. Time for change!” Carr’s post elicited backlash from Democratic politicians and press freedom advocates, who have long criticized the administration’s frequent insistence that adversarial or unflattering coverage is “fake.” “If Trump doesn’t like your coverage of the war, his FCC will pull your broadcast license. That is flagrantly unconstitutional,” Gavin Newsom, the Democratic governor of California, responded on X.

House GOP leadership silent as more members post anti-Muslim statements

Several Republican lawmakers are ramping up anti-Muslim comments and facing little to no response from their leadership. "Muslims don't belong in American society," Rep. Andy Ogles posted on Monday. "Pluralism is a lie." The Tennessee Republican, whose seat is in a safe red district, has previously expressed support for banning immigration from Muslim-majority countries and said in a speech last year that "America is and must always be a Christian nation." The United States was not established as a Christian nation. "He didn't start this this week," said Sabina Mohyuddin, executive director of the American Muslim Advisory Council in Tennessee. "This has been building up." Mohyuddin estimates Ogles has tens of thousands of Muslim constituents in his district.

click here for more

"We know this kind of rhetoric leads to more bullying in school, discrimination in the workplace, hate crimes and vandalism against mosques," Mohyuddin said. "But it is an election year and these politicians believe if they spew this hateful rhetoric, they are going to get more votes." House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., was asked about Ogles' rhetoric during a press conference at the House GOP's annual retreat this week. "Look, there's a lot of energy in the country and a lot of popular sentiment that the demand to impose Sharia law in America is a serious problem — that's what animates this," Johnson said Tuesday, adding, "It is not about people as Muslims." Johnson's comments echo a growing chorus among Republican lawmakers, who've been increasingly vocal about denouncing Sharia law and raising questions about Muslims immigrating to the U.S. and those already in the country. There are now 50 Republicans in the "Sharia-Free America" caucus. Republicans have also spent more than $10 million on political TV ads that mention "Sharia" or "Islam" in a negative way, most of it in Texas ahead of its primaries, according to the ad-tracking firm AdImpact. That's about 10 times what had been spent in each of the last four election cycles. Sharia law — a religious framework — does not have standing over the U.S. Constitution. "Because people don't really know or have any idea what Sharia law is, it's the boogeyman. You just throw the word out there and people get scared," Mohyuddin said. "This is how we practice our religion. And last I heard, the Constitution still protects the freedom of religion." A handful of Congressional Republicans have denounced Ogles' comments. "I have many Muslim constituents, neighbors and friends who have contributed greatly to our community and country. Freedom of religion is a pillar of our nation and broad brush statements like this are offensive and completely inappropriate," Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., said in a statement to NPR.

In South Carolina, measles shows how far apart neighbors can be on vaccines

When Kate Morrow gave birth to twins eight years ago, they were very premature, with compromised immune systems. "We counted on the community to keep our children safe," Morrow says. She trusted that her neighbors were vaccinating their children to protect other vulnerable people in her community — including her twins. But that's no longer the case. Morrow and her family moved to Spartanburg County, S.C., in 2019. The area is the epicenter of the biggest measles outbreak in the U.S. in more than three decades, with nearly 1,000 confirmed cases. Measles — one of the world's most contagious diseases — was declared eliminated in the U.S. in 2000, thanks to widespread vaccination and school vaccine requirements. But with the current resurgence of measles, the country is at risk of losing that elimination status.

click here for more

In Spartanburg County, school vaccination rates have fallen to just under 89% — well below the 95% threshold needed to prevent community outbreaks. And it's not just Spartanburg. There are places around the country where vaccination rates have sunk to levels low enough to allow outbreaks to flare, says Michael Osterholm, director of the University of Minnesota's Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy. "There are a lot more South Carolinas waiting to happen," he says. Morrow says it's hard for her to understand why so many parents in her community are turning against vaccines. "How did we get here?" she asks. "How did we get to a place where we don't trust our doctors to do the very best thing for our children? How did we get to a place where vaccinations have become political?" The answer is a mix of widespread misinformation, lingering resentment over COVID mandates, and politicians at the local and national level who are sowing mistrust of vaccines.

Richard Grenell’s scorched-earth term at Trump’s Kennedy Center

It didn’t take Richard Grenell long to transform the Kennedy Center. The fiery former ambassador took the institution’s top post in February 2025 with a clear mandate from his boss. President Donald Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that the country’s center for arts and culture, home of the National Symphony and Washington National Opera, was “not going to be woke.” And within days of Grenell’s arrival, he set in motion the changes that would recast a nonprofit known for presenting classical music, opera and ballet as a key player in the administration’s culture wars.

click here for more

The Kennedy Center that Grenell leaves (Trump named his replacement on Friday) is vastly different from the one he entered. Not only has it split with the Washington National Opera, the center has experienced reams of cancellations from artists and been abandoned by audience members disturbed by its direction. Those performances that still take place often play to semi-empty houses. And last month, Trump abruptly announced the center will close in July for a two-year renovation project. “This has been hard to watch, how quickly he’s run it into the ground,” said one former high-ranking employee who was fired during the first week of Grenell’s tenure and, like others interviewed for this article, spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear of retribution. Sharp-elbowed and sharp-tongued, Grenell has often carried himself as Trump’s attack dog — lambasting media members, Democrats and anyone else he perceived as insufficiently aligned with the president’s agenda. In response to a Saturday post criticizing his tenure from Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode Island), Grenell shot back, “Your buffoonery knows no limits. You sat silent while the place went into total disrepair.”

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