School bonds failed across Texas. What happens now?
Texas voters rejected 20 of 35 bond propositions put forward by 19 school districts in November.
Texas reaches $12.6 million settlement in connection with 2019 Port Neches chemical plant explosion
The settlement directs TCP Group to repair equipment and to pay $12.6 million in penalties for clean air violations at its Southeast Texas facility.
‘They are fed up’: Dem mayor’s office demands solution on key issue after voters sent ‘resounding message’
In response to the Biden administration loosening key immigration restrictions, a spokesperson for New York City Mayor Eric Adams sounded off on the federal government, saying that New Yorkers and Americans are “fed up with our broken immigration system.” The Biden Department of Homeland Security is launching an ICE Portal app in December that will allow migrants to skip their in-person check-ins at an ICE office and instead check in with immigration officials via an app on a phone or computer. The app reportedly has severe glitching issues and does not track a migrant’s location if he or she is using an Android phone or laptop. Further, the app does not check migrants for past arrests or outstanding warrants and allows them to opt out of or contest government orders to undergo electronic tracking. This comes after the Biden administration set the record for the highest number of illegal migrants entering the country in a single year in 2023, with 3.2 million entries. This surpassed the previous record of 2.7 million set the year before. ‘100% ON BOARD’: BORDER STATE OFFERS TRUMP MASSIVE PLOT OF LAND TO AID MASS DEPORTATION OPERATION Adams has said that New York, which has seen over 220,000 migrants arrive in the city since spring 2022, has been “devastated” by the surge of migrants. Kayla Altus, a spokesperson for Adams, told Fox News Digital that “cities should not have to carry the cost and burden of a national problem.” “For decades, Washington has endlessly talked about comprehensive reform, but delivered nothing of substance,” she said. “This election, the American people sent a resounding message: they are fed up with our broken immigration system.” 1 IN 10 INMATES IN TEXAS’ HARRIS COUNTY JAIL WANTED BY ICE, RECORDS SHOW She said the election, which saw a blowout victory for former President Trump and Republicans gaining unified control of Congress, gave the federal government a clear mandate to fix the immigration problem. “Democrats and Republicans must come together to pass meaningful immigration reform for the first time in four decades,” she said. “That is what’s best for the American people, as well as the immigrants who come here, seeking the opportunity to build a better life and have a shot at the American Dream.” Down in the border city of Laredo, Texas, Mayor Victor Trevino told Fox News Digital that he is working with state and Mexican authorities to prepare for the possibility of another migrant surge before Trump takes office. He said that although the city currently has “adequate” resources for everyday legal crossings, “no community is equipped enough to handle unnatural surges.” Trevino noted that the city is not equipped for a surge in migrant children as Laredo “does not have a pediatric intensive care unit.” Steven Camarota, director of research at the Center for Immigration Studies, told Fox News Digital that other sanctuary cities like Chicago, Los Angeles and Denver are also struggling with the fiscal costs of the migrant surge. He said that in many instances, illegal migrants are even crowding out resources meant for citizens. Camarota pointed to testimony he gave to the House Subcommittee on National Security, the Border, and Foreign Affairs in September, in which he listed the fiscal costs to individual sanctuary cities: $12 billion in New York over the next three years on housing, food, health care and other services for recently arrived illegal immigrants, $361 million in Chicago and $36.4 million in Washington, D.C., in 2023, and $180 million in Denver in 2024. “The real policy that would save the cities’ money is robust enforcement that both increased removals, made people go home, and encourage people to go home on their own,” he said. “If you’re increasing removals and you’ve increased just normal outmigration, you could really cut into these numbers and start to save some real money.” Jessica Vaughan, who works as director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies, told Fox News Digital that while the murder of nursing student Laken Riley by an illegal immigrant has garnered lots of attention, she said that tragic stories like that are not isolated but rather part of a larger patten. “Only ICE knows for sure how often someone who’s released by a sanctuary has been subsequently arrested for another crime,” she said. “There’s a human cost to the sanctuary policies and there is no reasonable law enforcement or public safety or even community trust justification for having this policy. It is political and it has to stop.”
Abolish the ATF?: Rep. Burlison wants to eliminate ‘disaster agency’ he says has been violating 2nd Amendment
Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., wants to abolish the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and plans to put forward a measure that would do just that. “The ATF is a disaster,” Burlison, a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, told Fox News Digital on Thursday, adding that “for decades they’ve been a disaster agency” which has “been violating the… Second Amendment.” The congressman suggested that states should be allowed to handle matters themselves, without federal interference. “There’s very few ATF officials,” he said, accusing the agency of “co-opting or commandeering [local] law enforcement to enforce laws” which state lawmakers did not pass. CONGRESSMAN ERIC BURLISON: IN THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION, ‘THE INMATES ARE RUNNING THE PRISON’ The legislator plans to introduce a proposal previously put forward in 2023 by then-Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla. Burlison, a freshman who took office last year, was one of the Republicans who joined Gaetz’s measure as a cosponsor. GOP Reps. Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Paul Gosar of Arizona, Mary Miller of Illinois, Andy Biggs of Arizona, Cory Mills of Florida, Mike Collins of Georgia, Barry Moore of Alabama, Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Bob Good of Virginia also joined as cosponsors, according to congress.gov. MATT GAETZ URGES COLLEAGUES TO ABOLISH THE ATF BEFORE IT STRIPS AMERICANS OF GUN RIGHTS: ‘CANNOT BE TRUSTED’ Fox News Digital reached out to the ATF for comment on Friday. “ATF provides enormous benefits to the American public through all of its efforts fighting violent crime every day,” ATF spokesperson Kristina Mastropasqua said in an emailed statement. Burlison also thinks the Department of Education and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) should be abolished. GAETZ INTRODUCES ‘ABOLISH THE ATF ACT’ AFTER RULING AGAINST STABILIZING BRACES “The EPA is making one-size-fits-all rules for the entire United States” and is “being more harmful than… helpful,” he said.
‘Unlikely coalition’: A criminal justice reform advocate sees opportunities in a second Trump term
President-elect Donald Trump campaigned for president in 2016 in part by styling himself as a tough-on-crime contender who, if elected, would institute a national anti-crime agenda, crack down on immigration and bring “very strong, very swift,” law and order. His incendiary rhetoric and messaging on crime had set off alarm bells among many Democrats and criminal justice advocates ahead of his January 2017 inauguration. “I am the law and order candidate,” he told voters, before adding in the next breath, “I am also the candidate of compassion.” But the second part of his remarks did little to assuage fears that under Trump, the U.S. would see an indiscriminate crackdown on crime. Jessica Jackson, a human rights attorney and CEO of criminal justice advocacy group REFORM Alliance, told Fox News Digital that she originally had some reservations of her own. “First and foremost, I’m a Democrat,” Jackson said in an interview. “So, to work with President Trump back in 2018 was considered a little bit unusual.” But Jackson did just that, lobbying for the First Step Act, a bipartisan bill aimed at reducing federal prison populations through curbing disproportionate sentences, promoting rehabilitation and allowing certain inmates the possibility of early release. GAETZ WITHDRAWS AS ATTORNEY GENERAL NOMINEE Jackson was part of a large group of police groups, religious leaders, prosecutors and celebrities who lobbied on behalf of the First Step Act. Their efforts were successful, and in December 2018 Trump signed the First Step Act into law. The law has been roundly praised for both helping to reduce the federal prison population and, importantly, cutting down the rates of recidivism—the rate of formerly incarcerated persons who re-offend. Jackson noted that the law has resulted in a reduction of recidivism “from about 49% to 9.7%.” A 2024 report from the Brennan Center for Justice estimates a slightly lower, but still striking, reduction rate of 46.2% to 9.7% of recidivism among former inmates aided by the First Step Act. “I think the biggest lesson that I learned in the first administration was if you engage with the administration, there are opportunities to make progress on the issues that you care about,” Jackson said of working with Trump. Now, she and other criminal justice advocates see more opportunities to work together in Trump’s second term. MIKE ROGERS REPLACING WRAY AS FBI DIRECTOR IS NOT HAPPENING, TRUMP ADVISER SAYS One major opportunity that Jackson sees for Trump is passing the Safer Supervision Act, bipartisan legislation aimed at helping formerly incarcerated persons transition back into their communities. Proponents see the bill as a way to build on the success of the 2018 legislation. Former inmates overwhelmingly struggle to readjust to life after prison, and the Safer Supervision Act seeks both to aid in employment opportunities for former inmates and to reduce the litany of burdensome parole and probation requirements. It looks to address major hurdles faced by ex-cons, including a lack of structure, trouble finding a job and the many gaps in the federal parole and probation system, which is itself made up of understaffed and underfunded programs. These hurdles have, at times, landed ex-cons behind bars for what appear to be largely innocuous reasons—ranging from missing a meeting with a parole officer to leaving a judicial district without permission or associating with people who have former convictions or are engaged in criminal behavior. At times, it is not communicated to the ex-prisoner what exactly the restrictions are. Jackson said that her team once worked with a former inmate who had traveled to and from work on public transit, eventually saving up enough money to make a down payment on a car. Unfortunately, when he went to finance the car, she said, “It turns out that unbeknownst to him, and buried in the list of onerous conditions, was that he couldn’t open a bank account without talking to a supervision officer.” “So, here’s a guy who thinks he’s doing something great—getting a car to go back and forth to work; taking his kids to school. And the next thing you know, he’s got a violation of his supervision and is being sent back in,” Jackson said. As a whole, former inmates are highly prone to recidivism: A 2023 Justice Department analysis of prisons in 24 states found that a whopping 82% of people released were rearrested at least once in the 10 years following their release. (A still-significant 43% were rearrested within a single year.) Jackson hopes that Trump will make good in his second term on expanding these criminal justice reform initiatives—by passing the Safer Supervision Act and implementing other measures, such as second-chance hiring. Asked whether she had been in talks with any transition team staffers, Jackson laughed. “It’s funny, because everybody keeps asking me like, ‘Well, have you talked to anybody over there?’” “We came together in a very unlikely coalition, and we were able to make real progress—we never actually stopped talking to them,” she said. “And I think we’re excited about the opportunity to continue those conversations and to make progress where we can.”
Pam Bondi, Trump’s pick for attorney general, praised as ‘loyal’ and ‘qualified’ for top US prosecutor role
President-elect Donald Trump tapped former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi on Thursday to head up the U.S. Department of Justice in his second term—a swift decision but one met with little surprise among many in Trump’s orbit. That’s because Bondi, 59, has emerged as a close ally of the president-elect in recent years—including defending him in his impeachment proceedings, and more recently, in the run-up to Election Day, where she serves as the co-chair of the Center for Law and Justice at the America First Policy Institute (AFPI) a think tank set up by former Trump staffers. Like former Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, who withdrew his name from consideration for attorney general Thursday afternoon, Bondi is from Florida and is considered by many to be a staunch loyalist of the president-elect, dedicated to rooting out what the president-elect has described as the “weaponization” of the Justice Department. Beyond that, however, the two appear to have little in common. FLURRY OF PRE-ELECTION LEGAL CASES IS NOW ‘STANDARDIZED’ STRATEGY, EXPERTS SAY A Florida native, Bondi has spent years as a prosecutor in the Sunshine State—spending 18 as a prosecutor in the Hillsborough County State Attorney’s Office before being elected in 2010 to serve as Florida’s first female attorney general. More recently, Bondi has used her perch at AFPI to voice concerns about election security—a major issue that Republicans sought to emphasize as they filed a flurry of re-election lawsuits, mainly in major swing states. If confirmed, it is likely that Bondi will use her post to implement many of Trump’s tough-on-crime policy proposals, including cracking down on cartels, fentanyl, trafficking and more. A website for Trump’s Agenda47 called for policies such as extending the death penalty for human traffickers, ending welfare for migrants living in the U.S. illegally, and cracking down on violent crime in major cities, which Trump has described as having declined into “cesspools of bloodshed and crime.” In the hours after her nomination, however, it remained unclear how—or whether—she planned to implement some of these proposals. One member of the Trump transition team pointed Fox News Digital to a widely circulated clip of CNN legal analyst Elie Honig highlighting Bondi’s qualifications for the role. “Pam Bondi is, without a question, qualified to be attorney general,” Honig said in the clip, calling her experience “on par with, or better than, most United States attorneys general that we’ve seen over the past 50 years or so.” “Even CNN is fawning over her qualifications,” a source familiar, who declined to be identified, told Fox News Digital. MATT GAETZ SAYS HE WILL NOT SERVE IN THE UPCOMING SESSION OF CONGRESS Those close to Bondi have praised her long record as a prosecutor, and her staunch loyalty to the president-elect, alongside whom she has worked since 2020—first, helping to represent him in his first impeachment trial, and currently in her post at AFPI. Bondi is “all about integrity and the proper application of justice and fairness,” said Gianno Caldwell, the head of the Caldwell Institute of Public Safety, an organization designed to fight violent crime. Bondi serves on the advisory board of that group. “I think she’s going to be able to root out a lot of the bad apples,” Caldwell added. “And return the Justice Department to its traditional focus, which is law and order, and fighting crime.” MIKE ROGERS REPLACING WRAY AS FBI DIRECTOR IS NOT HAPPENING, TRUMP ADVISER SAYS Like other top contenders for the role. Bondi has not been shy in going after Trump critics, including special counsel Jack Smith, who was tapped by Attorney General Merrick Garland in 2022 to investigate both an alleged effort by Trump and his allies to overturn the results of the 2020 election, and Trump’s keeping of allegedly classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida. Smith appears to be winding down his investigation—a welcome relief for the president-elect, who had vowed as a candidate to fire him “within two seconds” after taking office. Still, Bondi has shared in Trump’s criticisms, using a recent radio interview to describe Smith and his team of prosecutors as “horrible” people trying to make a name for themselves by “going after Donald Trump and weaponizing our legal system.” “Attorney General nominee Bondi is looking forward to the confirmation process and answering any questions senators might have,” said Alex Pfeiffer, a spokesman for the Trump transition team. Bondi’s life “has been dedicated to keeping Americans safe,” he added. “She looks forward to continuing that work at the Department of Justice.”
Join us Dec. 11 for a conversation with Uvalde Leader-News publisher Craig Garnett
The author of “Uvalde’s Darkest Hour” sits down with Austin American-Statesman’s Tony Plohetski
‘Conveyor belt of radicals’: GOP slammed over Senate absences that helped Biden score more judges in lame duck
Senate Republicans faced criticism over several vote absences this week that allowed Democrats to confirm judges or agree to end debate on nominees that otherwise could have been blocked if each of the missing GOP lawmakers were there. One particularly crucial vote was on Monday for a lifetime appointment to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court, a coveted appeals court slot to which Democrats did not have the votes to confirm President Biden’s nominee, since outgoing Sen. Joe Manchin, I-W.Va., voted against. However, since Sens. Mike Braun, R-Ind., Steve Daines, R-Mont., Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., JD Vance, R-Ohio, and Marco Rubio, R-Fla., did not vote, the nominee was confirmed by 49 votes to 45 votes. DSCC HOPEFUL GILLIBRAND SAYS DEMS SHOULD HAVE PUT IMMIGRATION FIX ON TABLE ‘2 YEARS AGO’ “This leftist judge would have been voted down and the seat on the important 11th circuit would have been filled by Donald Trump next year had Republicans showed up,” wrote Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., on X. “Now, the leftist judge will have a lifetime appointment and the people of FL, AL and GA will suffer the consequences.” Mike Davis, the former chief counsel for nominations to former Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, told Fox News Digital, “A senator’s only job is to show up and vote.” “President Biden is jamming through bottom-of-the-barrel radical left-wing judges for lifetime appointments to the federal bench after the American people voted for dramatic change. Senate Republicans must do everything they can to stop this lame-duck conveyor belt of radicals. But if these Senate Republicans cannot even show up to vote, let alone debate for four hours on each judge, why should we vote for these deadbeat senators?” Davis is also founder and president of the Article III Project. GOP SENATOR DEBUTS BILL TO ABOLISH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT FOLLOWING TRUMP CAMPAIGN PROMISE A senior Senate source confirmed to Fox News Digital that there was irritation among the Republican conference about their colleagues’ absences. The most vocal about it was Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., they said. In a statement, Vice President-elect Vance said, “As a co-chairman of the transition, it’s vital that I’m focused on making sure President Trump’s government is fully staffed with people who support his America First agenda and will be ready to hit the ground running on January 20th.” “However, it’s also important to me to do everything in my power to block more radical judges from getting confirmed. So while it may be outside of the norm for an incoming VP to take Senate votes in the lame duck period, if my colleagues here in the Senate tell me that we have a real chance of beating one of these nominees, I’ll move heaven and earth to be there for the vote,” he added. SENATE SHOWDOWN: GOP SECURES DEAL WITH SCHUMER TO SAVE COVETED APPELLATE JUDGES FOR TRUMP In a separate statement, Brian Hughes, Trump-Vance Transition spokesman said, “We cannot allow Chuck Schumer to play games with the transition’s ability to staff the incoming administration. Under no circumstances should we allow radical left judges to be jammed through the Senate at the 11th hour, but the Vice President-elect is needed for the transition to continue working ahead of schedule.” Vance is notably the first senator in over a century to vote on a judicial nomination after being elected to be vice president. The vice president-elect was at the Capitol during the latter part of the week facilitating meetings between senators and Trump selections for key administration posts. Vance was in attendance for pivotal votes on Wednesday, while some Republicans were still absent. A spokesperson for Daines pointed Fox News Digital to an X post from the senator, in which he detailed travel issues he ran into on his way to Washington, D.C. “Runway closed due to ice, then prolonged de-icing, then a medical emergency…then Delta flight attendants timed out. Landed DC at 10 pm and voting until ~ midnight,” he said. Daines’ office said he went immediately to the Senate floor to vote once he finally landed in the capital. The offices of Braun, Hagerty and Rubio did not provide comment to Fox News Digital in time for publication. Rubio was recently selected by Trump to be his nominee for Secretary of State. While the circuit court confirmation was the most important vote that GOP absences helped to advance, it wasn’t the only case of it happening this week. Braun, Hagerty, Vance, Rubio and Sens. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., and Ted Cruz, R-Texas were absent for a vote on a district court nominee on Tuesday that was ultimately confirmed, despite Manchin opposing and Democrats not otherwise having enough votes. Cruz was in Texas on the day of the vote with Trump and billionaire Elon Musk for the launch of a SpaceX rocket. The senator is the soon-to-be chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and told reporters this week that space legislation “will be a significantly higher priority of the full committee.” DEMOCRAT TAMMY BALDWIN DETAILS RECIPE FOR RUNNING IN A SWING STATE AFTER VICTORY IN TRUMP-WON WISCONSIN He cited his trip to the launch, saying, “My number-one priority is jobs. And commercial space generates tens of thousands of jobs across Texas and across the country.” Cramer’s office did not provide comment in time for publication. On Wednesday, both Cruz and Braun missed another district judge confirmation that Manchin opposed, handing Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Biden another accomplishment. Braun further missed another Wednesday vote on a district judge that was opposed by outgoing Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., allowing the nominee to be confirmed. On Wednesday, Tillis spoke on the Senate floor on the subject. “Schumer’s trying to ram through Biden’s liberal judicial nominees. We can block some of them, but it requires ALL GOP senators to be here. VP-elect [Vance] is a busy man right now, but he’s still here on the Senate floor holding the line, and so should all of our GOP colleagues,” he wrote on
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Gaetz’s status in the House and the Ethics Committee report
Former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., resigned from the House last week. That is final. The precedent of the House is that once you bow out, it is done. So, Gaetz cannot revoke his letter of resignation last week. It declared he was stepping aside “effective immediately.” As reported earlier, Gaetz could serve in the new Congress. He was duly re-elected to his seat for the new Congress to be seated on Jan. 3. In his letter to the clerk of the House, Gaetz declared, “I do not intend to take the oath of office for the same office in the 119th Congress to pursue the position of Attorney General in the Trump Administration.” GAETZ WITHDRAWS AS ATTORNEY GENERAL However, Fox is told that Gaetz would have to inform the clerk of the House that he, in fact, does intend to serve in the new Congress – if he elects to do so. Gaetz has not signaled his future plans. That part of the Gaetz letter is not binding. Technically, the House Ethics Committee must wrap up its inquiry into Gaetz by the end of this Congress at 11:59:59 am EST on Jan. 3. However, there is precedent for the House Ethics Committee voting to carry over an inquiry from one Congress to another. So it’s not unheard of that this is a done deal. PRESIDENT-ELECT TRUMP ANNOUNCE PAM BONDI AS HIS NEW PICK FOR US ATTORNEY GENERAL The committee still wants to finish its current work. However, if Gaetz is not going to serve in the new Congress and has withdrawn his nomination for attorney general, this likely diminishes the importance of publicly releasing the report of a former member. Yes, there may be damning information in the report, but the House usually does not release reports about former members – even though there is precedent for doing so. Moreover, the Senate Judiciary Committee isn’t interested in the report, now that Gaetz is not before them as the attorney general nominee. In addition, if Gaetz does elect to serve in the House, that would help the GOP with their numbers, with Reps. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., and Michael Waltz, R-Minn. – and maybe more – leaving to join the Trump administration.
Ken Paxton can’t be deposed under oath in whistleblower lawsuit, Texas Supreme Court says
The attorney general has agreed not to contest a lawsuit brought by former employees accusing him of retaliation after they said he abused his office.