Proposal limiting Texas city, county property taxes loses steam
The House refused to back a bill that would apply only to the state’s largest cities.
Texas lawmakers at odds over ending massive water exports from East Texas
State. Rep. Cody Harris won’t accept Senate changes allowing exports to continue while the state studies its underground water supply.
Texas sued over its lab-grown meat ban
Two California-based companies accuse the state of government overreach for banning the sale of their products for the next two years.
Most Texas THC products expected to remain legal amid legislative impasse
Legislators have apparently failed to reach a last-minute deal to tighten regulations on consumable hemp products.
Texas student groups sue to block state law that limits campus protests
The law, largely in response to pro-Palestinian protests last year, bans “expressive activity” on campuses from 10 p.m. to 8 a.m. The lawsuit says it is overly broad and will affect protected speech.
Texas is poised to replace STAAR. Here is what schools’ new standardized tests would look like.
A bill scrapping the state’s standardized test heads over to Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk. It would replace STAAR with three shorter tests at the beginning, middle and end of the year.
Texas kids’ camps must remove cabins from floodplains, operate warning systems under new rules nearing approval
The state House and Senate on Wednesday advanced similar camp safety bills to each others’ chambers. The parents of children who died at Camp Mystic advocated for the new legislation.
Trump asks Supreme Court for urgent ruling on tariff powers as ‘stakes could not be higher’
The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court Wednesday to quickly make a decision on whether President Donald Trump has the authority to impose his sweeping tariffs under federal emergency law. This appeal is a result of a federal appeals court ruling 7-4 that a vast majority of Trump’s tariffs were illegal according to the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act even though it allowed the duties to remain until the case was resolved. Many states and small businesses challenged Trump’s tariffs in a lawsuit saying they were causing serious economic harm. FEDERAL COURT STRIKES DOWN TRUMP TARIFFS AS ILLEGAL UNDER FEDERAL LAW IN APPEALS RULING “These unlawful tariffs are inflicting serious harm on small businesses and jeopardizing their survival,” said Jeffrey Schwab, an attorney with the Liberty Justice Center. The Trump administration, however, countered the appeal, arguing that striking down the tariffs could cause serious economic harm. “That decision casts a pall of uncertainty upon ongoing foreign negotiations that the President has been pursuing through tariffs over the past five months, jeopardizing both already negotiated framework deals and ongoing negotiations,” the Trump administration argued in its appeal. “The stakes in this case could not be higher.” TRUMP’S TARIFF POWER GRAB BARRELS TOWARD SUPREME COURT Officials also pointed out that the levies have raised $159 billion since late August, a figure that has more than doubled from the previous year. Although the Constitution does give Congress the power to set tariffs throughout the years many lawmakers have delegated those authorities to the White House. Although Trump has been seen to use this to his advantage, some of his duties on steel, aluminum, autos, and earlier tariffs on China were left in place by former President Joe Biden and are not part of this case. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Legal experts have noted that the government has also warned that if the courts strike down these tariffs, the U.S. Treasury could be forced to refund billions that have already been collected. The Supreme Court is expected to decide soon on whether they will take up the case directly, which will potentially set up a major ruling on the limits of presidential power over trade.
Pro-life group urges Senate to press RFK Jr. on abortion pill safety, demand safeguards return
FIRST ON FOX—The Restoration of America Foundation (ROAF) is calling on the Senate Finance Committee to hold Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. accountable at Thursday’s 10 a.m. hearing, demanding answers about the removal of safety protocols for the abortion pill mifepristone. In a letter provided exclusively to Fox News Digital, ROAF argues the rollback leaves women more vulnerable and shifts costs to taxpayers. ROAF argues that the Biden-era rollback of Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) requirements, safeguards in place for more than two decades, endangers women by allowing abortion pills to be prescribed via telehealth and delivered through the mail. FDA LIMITS NEW COVID VACCINE BOOSTERS TO HIGH-RISK AMERICANS ONLY “The removal of key Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) requirements for mifepristone has eliminated essential safeguards that protected women’s health for over two decades,” said Doug Truax, founder and CEO of the Restoration of America Foundation. “We urge the Senate to demand clear answers about why these safety protocols were removed and when they will be reinstated.” The Food and Drug Administration originally required mifepristone to be dispensed in person to ensure women were screened for potential complications such as ectopic pregnancy. That changed under the Biden administration, when telehealth prescribing and mail-order delivery were permitted for the first time. MORE THAN 20 GOP ATTORNEYS GENERAL CALL ON RFK JR, FDA TO REINSTATE SAFEGUARDS FOR ABORTION DRUGS Truax warned that “allowing these powerful drugs to be ordered online and sent through the mail without proper medical screening puts women at serious risk.” He added, “Women deserve to know about potential complications and have immediate access to emergency care if needed.” ROAF points to recent studies and media reports, including a New York Post investigation published in April, which found that nearly 11 percent of chemical abortions resulted in serious complications such as hemorrhage, infection or sepsis. That rate is more than 20 times higher than what the FDA has previously cited. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP The hearing where Kennedy is scheduled to appear is expected to spotlight broader debates over abortion and medical safety under the Trump administration. The HHS did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
US bolsters military presence in Caribbean near Venezuela amid Trump’s efforts to halt drug trafficking
The U.S. military is strengthening its Navy presence near Venezuela, as President Donald Trump seeks to stop the flow of drug trafficking from the Latin American country. U.S. naval and air assets have been sent to the region to take on drug trafficking and protect regional maritime routes, with some already used this week to target alleged narco-terrorists. A Marine strike on Tuesday struck a vessel in the southern Caribbean Sea while allegedly carrying members of Tren de Aragua smuggling narcotics headed for the U.S. TRUMP TOUTS US STRIKE AS MADURO SLAMS MILITARY ‘THREAT’ OFF VENEZUELA Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has deployed several assets to the region, including USS Iwo Jima, USS Lake Erie, USS Jason Dunham, USS Gravely and USS Sampson, to target criminal organizations and narco-terrorism, Fox News can confirm. “In support of the President’s directive to dismantle Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs), Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs), and counter narco-terrorism to defend the homeland, the Secretary of Defense directed the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group/22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit and the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Lake Erie (CG 70) to the U.S. Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM) area of responsibility (AOR),” Col. Chris Devine, a spokesman for the Defense Department, told Fox News. “Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers USS Jason Dunham (DDG 109), USS Gravely (DDG 107), USS Sampson (DDG 102) and embarked U.S. Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment teams are currently operating in the region,” he continued. Hegseth also sent air assets “to strengthen U.S. whole-of-government detection, monitoring, and interdiction capabilities to sustain pressure on TCO networks throughout the region,” according to Devine. HEGSETH ISSUES STARK WARNING TO DRUG TRAFFICKERS FOLLOWING US MILITARY STRIKE ON VENEZUELAN VESSEL “The enhanced U.S. force presence in the USSOUTHCOM AOR will bolster U.S. capacity to detect, monitor, and disrupt illicit actors and activities that compromise the safety and prosperity of the United States homeland and our security in the Western Hemisphere,” he said. “These forces will enhance and augment existing Joint Interagency Task Force – South and USSOUTHCOM capabilities to disrupt narcotics trafficking and degrade and dismantle TCOs and FTOs.”