Texas lawmakers failed to pass a bill to improve local flood warning systems this year
A GOP state lawmaker who represents Kerr County says he likely would vote differently now on House Bill 13, which would have established a grant program for counties to build new emergency communication infrastructure.
Photos: After Texas Hill Country flood, grief and recovery take hold
After the tragic flooding in Kerr County, photographs depict a battered but resilient community.
Fighter jets protect Trump during NJ weekend stay as 11 aircraft violate restricted airspace
Fighter jets intercepted at least three aircraft on Sunday, which violated temporary flight restriction (TFR) airspace over Bedminster, New Jersey, where President Trump was spending the holiday weekend, according to North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). With one aircraft being intercepted in the morning, and two others being intercepted later in the day, NORAD said there were a total of 11 unauthorized aircraft incursions in the TFR airspace over the weekend. At about 10:30 a.m. on Sunday, a civilian plane violated the TFR and was safely escorted out of the area by a NORAD aircraft. “NORAD and the [Federal Aviation Administration] aim to keep the skies over America safe, with close attention paid to areas with Temporary Flight Restrictions (TFR) to ensure flight safety, national security, and the security of the President,” Gen. Gregory Guillot, Commander, NORAD and US Northern Command said. “TFR procedures are mandatory, and the excessive number of TFR violations this weekend indicates some civil aviators are not reading Notice to Airmen, or NOTAMs, before each flight as required by the FAA.” NORAD INTERCEPTS PLANE IN TRUMP’S BEDMINSTER NO-FLY ZONE: ‘NO EXCUSES’ Guillot said the NORAD armed fighter jets intercept and guide offending aircraft out of the TFR. SECOND NAVY FIGHTER JET GOES OVERBOARD FROM TRUMAN AIRCRAFT CARRIER, PILOTS EJECTED “Should the pilot of an aircraft happen to find itself intercepted by either fighters or helicopters, they should immediately come up on frequency 121.5 or 243.0 and turn around to reverse course until receiving additional instructions on one of those frequencies,” Guillot added. In another instance on Saturday, an aircraft was safely escorted out of the TFR airspace just before 2:40 p.m., after a standard “headbutt” maneuver was used to get the pilot’s attention. AIR FORCE F-16 STRUCK BY DRONE DURING TRAINING FLIGHT OVER ARIZONA IN 2023 The maneuver involves a military jet flying directly in front of a civilian aircraft at a close but safe distance to visually signal the pilot to either follow or change course. Officials warned private pilots to do their homework before takeoff. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “It is critically important for North American flight safety that Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR) violations are avoided,” NORAD said in a message to pilots. “All pilots must familiarize themselves with updates to restricted airspace, including reviewing new and existing FAA NOTAMs [Notice to Airmen] that impact their flight plans and activities. Adhering to FAA restricted airspace protocols is mandatory, regardless of geographical region, airframe, or aircrew.” Fox News Digital’s Jasmine Baehr contributed to this report.
Trump dismisses Musk’s political ambitions as ‘ridiculous’ in sharp rebuke
President Donald Trump slammed former first buddy Elon Musk for starting a third political party, saying such parties have “never worked” while also calling the move “ridiculous.” Trump spoke with reporters before boarding Air Force 1 in Bedminster, New Jersey, when he was asked about Musk’s move to start a third party. “I think it’s ridiculous to start a third party,” Trump said from the tarmac. “We have a tremendous success with the Republican Party. The Democrats have lost their way, but it’s always been a two-party system, and I think starting a third party just adds to confusion. “It really seems to have been developed for two parties,” the president continued. “Third parties have never worked. So, he can have fun with it, but I think it’s ridiculous.” ELON MUSK LAUNCHES ‘AMERICA PARTY’ AFTER TRUMP SIGNS HISTORIC SPENDING BILL: ‘WASTE & GRAFT’ Musk announced the launching of a new political party called the “America Party” on his social media platform X on Saturday. The entrepreneur called the formation of the party a direct response to a corrupt political establishment that no longer represents the American people. The announcement followed a viral July 4 poll on X, where Musk asked whether voters wanted independence from what he called the “two-party (some would say uniparty) system.” ELON MUSK SAYS US IS RULED BY ‘PORKY PIG PARTY’ AS TRUMP DEFENDS HIS VISION AGAINST FORMER ALLY’S CRITICISM Over 1.2 million votes were cast, with 65.4% saying “yes.” “By a factor of 2 to 1, you want a new political party and you shall have it,” Musk posted Saturday. “When it comes to bankrupting our country with waste & graft, we live in a one-party system, not a democracy. Today, the America Party is formed to give you back your freedom.” A short time after his gaggle with reporters, Trump turned to Truth Social to express concerns over Musk, while giving insight into what may have led to the two parting ways. “I am saddened to watch Elon Musk go completely ‘off the rails,’ essentially becoming a TRAIN WRECK over the past five weeks. He even wants to start a Third Political Party, despite the fact that they have never succeeded in the United States – The System seems not designed for them,” the president said. “The one thing Third Parties are good for is the creation of Complete and Total DISRUPTION & CHAOS, and we have enough of that with the Radical Left Democrats, who have lost their confidence and their minds! “Republicans, on the other hand, are a smooth running ‘machine,’ that just passed the biggest Bill of its kind in the History of our Country,” Trump continued. “It is a Great Bill but, unfortunately for Elon, it eliminates the ridiculous Electric Vehicle (EV) Mandate, which would have forced everyone to buy an Electric Car in a short period of time.” WOULD DONALD TRUMP HAVE WON THE 2024 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION WITHOUT ELON MUSK’S HELP? Trump said he has been “strongly opposed” to an EV mandate from the very beginning, and the new bill allows consumers to buy whatever type of vehicle they want, whether it is electric, gas, or hybrid-powered. “I have campaigned on this for two years and, quite honestly, when Elon gave me his total and unquestioned Endorsement, I asked him whether or not he knew that I was going to terminate the EV Mandate – It was in every speech I made, and in every conversation I had,” Trump said. “He said he had no problems with that – I was very surprised!” Trump also said Musk asked a close friend of his to run NASA, but the president took issue with it when he found out that friend was a “blue blooded Democrat” who never contributed to a Republican. “I also thought it inappropriate that a very close friend of Elon, who was in the Space Business, run NASA, when NASA is such a big part of Elon’s corporate life,” he said. “My Number One charge is to protect the American Public!” Musk chose to establish a new political party after expressing grave concerns with the president’s “Big, Beautiful Bill,” which was signed into law on Friday at the White House. The sweeping $3.3 trillion legislation includes tax cuts, infrastructure spending and stimulus measures and has drawn criticism from fiscal conservatives and libertarians. Though Musk did not reference the bill directly in his America Party posts, the timing suggests rising friction between the billionaire and the president. Musk has previously warned that unchecked spending by both parties threatens the long-term health of the economy. TRUMP NOT INTERESTED IN TALKING TO MUSK: ‘ELON’S TOTALLY LOST IT’ The new party, according to Musk’s posts, will target a few key seats in Congress. The goal is to create a swing bloc powerful enough to hold the balance of power and block what Musk sees as the worst excesses of both Republicans and Democrats. Third parties have traditionally had a difficult time gaining ground in American politics as the system is built for two dominant parties. With the Electoral College, winner-take-all elections and strict ballot access laws, outsiders cannot meaningfully compete. Even when a third-party candidate catches fire, it rarely lasts beyond a single election cycle. One of the biggest third-party efforts in recent history was Ross Perot’s 1992 run. He earned nearly 19% of the popular vote as an independent but didn’t win a single Electoral College vote. It was the closest a third-party candidate got to the White House after President Teddy Roosevelt’s famed Bull Moose Party run in 1912 against his onetime protégé, William Howard Taft. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Others, like Ralph Nader, have tried with the Green Party, and Gary Johnson with the Libertarian Party, but no third-party candidate has come close to winning the presidency. Fox News Digital’s Jasmine Baehr contributed to this report.
Jewish group slams Democratic NYC mayoral hopeful over ‘sick’ mockery of ‘sacred’ traditions
A Jewish advocacy group is blasting Democratic New York City mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani for sharing a video mocking Hanukkah Jewish traditions on social media. The organization, Stop Antisemitism, says Mamdani posted the “sick” video to his X account last year. The video is originally from the Geeta Brothers Duet Group, a satirical and comedic duo who dressed themselves in stereotypical Jewish garb for the performance. “Zohran Mamdani posts Indian men cosplaying Jews, spinning dreidels and lighting the menorah,” Stop Antisemitism wrote in a statement on X. “Our holidays and traditions are sacred and not for your comedic pleasure, Zohran Mamdani – this is sick,” the group added, tagging the mayoral candidate. TOP DEMOCRATS, MEDIA DEMAND ZOHRAN MAMDANI CONDEMN ‘GLOBALIZE THE INTIFADA’ PHRASE Mamdani had posted the video in December 2024, adding the caption, “Happy 3rd night of Hanukkah from Astoria and Long Island City.” The video originates from the 2015 parody album “Punjabi Christmas Album Hits” from the Geeta Brothers. Mamdani posted another video from the same album on Christmas Eve, this one based on “Jingle Bells.” “Wishing you all a very merry Christmas from Astoria and Long Island City,” he wrote at the time. Mamdani’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital. Accusations of antisemitism have harried Mamdani’s campaign from its outset. The self-proclaimed democratic socialist has refused multiple times to recognize Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state, and he has supported the BDS movement against Israel. “I believe Israel has a right to exist,” he said during a mayoral primary debate in June. “As a Jewish state?” the moderator pressed. “As a state with equal rights,” Mamdani said. He later elaborated on his opposition to Israel being a Jewish state in an interview with Fox 5. “I’m not comfortable supporting any state that has a hierarchy of citizenship on the basis of religion or anything else,” he said. DAVE RUBIN WARNS JEWS TO ‘GET THE HELL OUT’ OF NYC IF MAMDANI BECOMES MAYOR Mamdani, a Muslim, has also faced criticism for refusing to condemn the phrase “globalize the intifada.” StopAntisemitism founder Liora Rez argued last week that electing Mamdani mayor would not only be “catastrophic” for Jewish residents, but all who reside in the city. “If Zohran Mamdani was elected as mayor, it would be hands down catastrophic for Jewish residents of New York City,” Rez told Fox News Digital. “And we would even take it a step further where citizens of New York City in general, due to his very troubling stances on socialism, would greatly suffer as well.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “I think individuals who are concerned that Zohran Mamdani is antisemitic have every single right to be concerned considering his past behavior,” Rez added. “We can list dozens of examples of his past antisemitic adjacent and direct antisemitic actions.” Fox News’ Sophia Compton contributed to this report
NYC mayoral frontrunner Zohran Mamdani’s professor father claimed Hitler inspired by Abraham Lincoln
New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani’s father, a longtime academic and Ivy League professor, said during a 2022 panel discussion about one of his many books that Adolf Hitler drew his inspiration for the Holocaust from Abraham Lincoln. The younger Mamdani, a self-proclaimed socialist, has credited his parents with providing him a “privileged upbringing,” one that included frequent discussions on politics and global affairs, according to a New York Times profile on the mayoral candidate and his parents. Mamdani’s mother is an Oscar-nominated filmmaker. During a 2022 panel discussion hosted by the Asia Society, Mamdani’s father, Mahmood, asserted that America was the “genesis of what we call settler-colonialism” around the world. JONATHAN TURLEY: WHY NYC’S ZOHRAN MAMDANI LOOKS MORE AND MORE LIKE A HARDCORE MARXIST “With the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln generalized the solution of reservations, they herded American Indians into separate territories,” Mamdani, Columbia’s Herbert Lehman professor of government, said. “For the Nazis, this was the inspiration – Hitler realized two things: one, that genocide is doable. It is possible to do genocide, that’s what Hitler realized. Second thing Hitler realized, is that you don’t have to have a common citizenship.” The elder Mamdani also argued during the talk that the racist and antisemitic Nuremberg Laws of Nazi Germany “were patterned after American laws.” Other comments included claims that there is no difference between “nationalism and colonialism” and that the Allied forces during World War II shared the same goals as the Nazis. “The Nazi political project was shared by the Allies, and that political project was to turn Germany into a ‘pure’ nation. A ‘pure’ nation rid of its minorities,” Mamdani said at the Asia Society event. “When the Allies defeated the Nazis and went into Eastern Europe, they began to create ‘pure’ nations. To ethnically cleanse Eastern Europe of Germans – move them back into Germany. One crime doesn’t wipe out another.” CITY-RUN GROCERY STORES, DEFUNDING POLICE, SAFE INJECTION SITES: WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT NYC’S NEXT POTENTIAL MAYOR Following the political upset in New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary, critics began unearthing videos of the younger Mamdani espousing similarly radical views. One of those moments came from remarks the NYC mayoral candidate made at a Young Democratic Socialists of America conference in 2021, during which he told attendees not to compromise on goals like “seizing the means of production.” A second included a video from The Gravel Institute, during which Mamdani discusses the need to turn housing from a private commodity to a public one. In the video, he called for luxury condos to be replaced with communal-style living that would include things like shared laundry facilities and food co-ops. “If we want to end the housing crisis, the solution has to be moving toward the full de-commodification of housing,” Mamdani urged in the video for The Gravel Institute. DEM MAYORAL CANDIDATE IN MAJOR AMERICAN CITY LINKED TO RABID ANTI-ISRAEL ACTIVISM: REPORT Meanwhile, other remarks by Mamdani’s father have raised concerns about how the Democratic mayoral candidate’s upbringing could impact his governing style. In an interview about his book, “Good Muslim, Bad Muslim: America, the Cold War, and the Roots of Terror,” the older Mamdani asserts that the term “suicide bomber” is a misnomer because they are no different from “soldier[s] whose objective is to kill.” Professor Mamdani has also reportedly argued that Israel is “the logical conclusion of Nazism,” according to an excerpt of a study chronicling his academic arguments shared by the Washington Free Beacon. Fox News Digital reached out to both Professor Mamdani and his son for comment.
NY Dem says he ‘disagrees’ with Mamdani, makes comparison to Trump
Rep. Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y., says he disagrees with Zohran Mamdani when it comes to his positions, but said his fellow Democrats could learn something from the democratic socialist — something that reminds him of President Donald Trump. “You have to recognize that he tapped into something,” Suozzi said on CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday. “He tapped into the same thing that Donald Trump tapped into, which is that people are concerned that the economy is not working for them.” The “democratic capitalist,” as he describes himself, said in a Wall Street Journal op-ed last week that Mamdani’s win in the democratic mayoral primary should be a “loud wake-up call for Democrats.” “Too often, Democrats are not perceived as being focused on affordability and the economy and the middle class and people aspiring to the middle class and their economic concerns,” Suozzi told Weijia Jiang, who was filling in for Margaret Brennan. MAMDANI’S PRIMARY WIN EXPOSES DEMOCRAT DIVIDE AS TOP LEADERS WITHHOLD ENDORSEMENTS “They see Democrats as being primarily focused on reproductive rights and on LGBT protections, which are important issues, but they’re not the issues that people think about every night when they’re lying in bed thinking about paying their bills or when they are talking about how they’re going to send their kids to school,” he continued. MAMDANI’S POLITICAL EARTHQUAKE ROCKS DEMOCRATS, DIVIDING PARTY ON PATH FORWARD While Suozzi does not believe Trump or Mamdani has the correct path forward when it comes to those issues, he said Democrats can learn to lean into root issues. “Everybody in America, whether you’re a right-wing conservative or a left-wing progressive, should believe that in return for working hard, you make enough money so you can live a good life,” he said. “You can buy a home. You can educate your children. You could pay for your health insurance. You can retire one day without being scared. People don’t feel that currently, and we have to do a better job of communicating that.”
Johnson says megabill will be ‘jet fuel’ for economy; teases 2 future bills within next year
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said Sunday that President Donald Trump’s megabill will be “jet fuel” for the economy despite Democrats’ criticisms. Johnson, who ceremoniously handed Trump the gavel after the president signed his signature tax cuts and spending package into law Friday, teased two future bills to be passed within the next year. In an appearance on “Fox News Sunday,” he said the “big, beautiful bill,” which is “a huge leap forward for our priorities,” is the first step in a three-tier strategy. Johnson expects a second reconciliation bill by fall and a third by spring before the end of the current Congress. “I think we can do that, and so you’ll see more of us advancing these common-sense principles to deliver that American First agenda for the people,” Johnson said. “That’s what they elected us to do, and this was hugely forward.” Johnson pushed back on a reported Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) memo claiming Republicans will lose the majority in 2026 as a result of the “big, beautiful bill.” TRUMP SIGNS ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL’ BILL IN SWEEPING VICTORY FOR SECOND TERM AGENDA, OVERCOMING DEMS AND GOP REBELS “Our Republicans are going to be out across the country telling the simple truth, and guess what? It will be demonstrated,” Johnson said. “Everyone will have more take-home pay, they’ll have more jobs and opportunity. The economy will be doing better, and we’ll be able to point to that as the obvious result of what we did. So don’t buy into those false talking points.” The speaker dismissed criticisms from Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., and DNC Chair Ken Martin in particular as “old, tired talking points” that are typically used against any Republican tax legislation. Johnson stressed that the bill permanently extends the 2017 Trump tax cuts, which the speaker claims targeted lower- and middle-income Americans. He said the bottom 20% of earners witnessed their lowest federal tax rates in 40 years because of those original cuts and said that the new megabill expands on that by cutting taxes on tips, overtime pay, and seniors – benefits that he says will help Republicans during the 2026 midterm elections. “We’re giving everybody a tax cut,” Johnson told “Fox News Sunday” host Shannon Bream. “And that’s going to help the economy, it’s going be jet fuel. Small business owners, entrepreneurs, risk-takers, the people that provide the jobs, manufacturers, farmers get assistance here, and that will lift the economy.” Citing the Council of Joint Economic Advisers, Johnson said the megabill will spur 3% economic growth, create 4 million jobs and increase the average household’s take-home pay by $13,000. “This is a great thing for people who go to work every day,” Johnson said. “They’re going to feel that. And we’re excited about the upcoming election cycle in ’26. Because people will be riding an economic high, just as we did after the first two years of the first Trump administration. This time it’s on steroids.” ZELENSKYY TOUTS ‘FRUITFUL’ TRUMP CALL AFTER US PRESIDENT WAS ‘DISAPPOINTED’ BY PUTIN TALK Johnson also responded to criticism from Rep. Glenn Ivey, D-Md., who argued that the megabill makes tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans permanent, while those for the working class “are time sensitive” and “expire in a couple of years.” “Now, I don’t think he read the bill, it’s 940 pages, so I would give some grace on that,” Johnson said in response to Ivey’s claims. Bream noted that Ivey was listening while the bill text was read on the Senate floor last Sunday. “Yeah, you’re right, for 19 hours or whatever it took,” Johnson said. “If you make between $30,000 and $80,000 a year, you can have a 15% less federal tax rate. You’re going to save more money, you’re going to keep more of your hard-earned money, and that’s not going away. So by making all these tax cuts permanent, it’s the largest tax bill, the most important, most consequential tax bill that Congress has ever passed because of what it does for people who go out and work hard every day.” Johnson said the bill pushes “pro-growth policies” and constitutes the “largest savings for the taxpayers in U.S. history.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “In the bill, we’re also going to secure the border permanently. We’re going to return to American energy dominance again, which is going to also be jet fuel to the economy,” Johnson said. “We’re gonna take care of peace through strength because we’re going to give important investments in our military industrial complex, which will help us in our competition with China. There is so much in this bill.”
Race against time: How Congress barely made July 4 deadline on ‘big, beautiful bill’
Football and basketball coaches are experts in clock management. So are lawmakers. Coaches are adept at either burning or saving just enough time on the clock to execute a play – or prevent the other team from doing so. Congressional clock management is very different. TRUMP $3.3T MEGABILL SETS HOUSE RECORD FOR LONGEST VOTE IN HISTORY Whatever lawmakers say they will do – it will always take them a profoundly longer period of time in which to do it. That’s why the temporal politics of passing President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” overwhelmed everyone who works on Capitol Hill over the past few weeks. That ranges from the lawmakers themselves to the aides, journalists, Capitol custodians and U.S. Capitol Police officers. To wit: Congressional Republicans have churned through variations of frameworks and iterations of the big, beautiful bill since February. But things finally got serious when the House adopted its formal version of the package on May 22, beating the Memorial Day goal by four days. There was chatter that the Senate would tackle the House’s package the week of June 9. Then that fell to the week of June 15. The idea was that the Senate would process its version of the bill that week and then allow the House to sync up during the week of June 22. Then those hopes were dashed. That’s to say nothing of the Senate at least voting to proceed to even start debate at the very end of the week of June 15. Here’s what really happened. And it underscores just how protracted the process can be on Capitol Hill, especially with a very complicated and controversial piece of legislation. On Monday, June 23, Republican senators talked about taking a procedural vote to launch debate on the big, beautiful bill as early as Wednesday or Thursday, June 25 or 26. Such a vote would require just 51 yeas. But the bill wasn’t ready. Republicans were still crafting and drafting the bill to comport with Senate budget rules. The GOP also aimed to write the legislation in a fashion to court 51 yeas to crack the procedural hurdle and formally start debate. Midweek came and the Senate never took a procedural vote. Sens. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., and Thom Tillis, R-N.C., opposed starting debate on a bill that was not complete. So midweek morphed into the weekend, and when the Senate convened on Saturday, June 28, Fox News was told the chamber would take a procedural vote to begin debate around 4 p.m. ET. SENATE REPUBLICANS RAM TRUMP’S ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’ THROUGH KEY TEST VOTE Well, you guessed it. The Senate did not trigger that vote until 7:31 p.m. Saturday. And the 15-minute vote turned into a three-hour and 38-minute affair. The Senate closed the vote at 11:09 p.m. Saturday – with Vice President JD Vance nearby in case his services were necessary to break a tie. They were not. At least not on the dais. But Vance played a pivotal role in negotiating with Johnson, Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., and others to greenlight the Senate starting on the bill. However, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., then compelled Senate clerks to read the entire 940-page bill out loud from the dais. That enterprise consumed just under 16 hours of floor time. The clerks – their voices cracking and hoarse – concluded a few minutes after 3 p.m. on Sunday. This marked the first time a senator required the clerks to verbally read a bill before the Senate since 2021. So, once the clerks concluded their oratory, it was believed that the Senate might go all night with its marathon voting session – known as a “vote-a-rama” – and try to finish the bill sometime by dawn Monday. But this is Congress time. Senators didn’t even begin the vote-a-rama until 9:40 am Monday. Twelve hours later, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., suggested it was time to “start figuring out” a final group of amendments that were necessary to conclude the bill. Some groaned at that notion. One senator told Fox News that 12 hours later was a little late in the game to “start figuring out” something of that magnitude. The Senate then toiled throughout the night Monday and into Tuesday. Thune and the GOP leadership finally cut a deal with Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, on rural hospitals to marshal her vote. The Senate approved the bill late Tuesday morning after an all-night session. Vance was back to break the tie in what is called a “Van Halen” vote. The tally was 50-50 since three GOP senators defected. But Vance’s vote in favor made the roll call “51-50.” For those who are uninitiated in the Van Halen discography, “5150” was Van Halen’s first album with new lead singer Sammy Hagar, supplanting David Lee Roth. It went to No. 1 on the Billboard charts. Then, it was on to the House. HOUSE ADVANCES TRUMP’S MASSIVE AGENDA BILL AFTER FREEDOM CAUCUS CAVES The House Rules Committee serves as a gateway for legislation to head to the floor. It convened a meeting early Tuesday afternoon. The Senate would soon send its revamped version of the big, beautiful bill across the Capitol Dome for the House to align. The Rules Committee then proceeded to meet until around 1 a.m. Wednesday, prepping the bill for the floor. That meant the House could vote by late Wednesday afternoon. But there was a problem. House GOP leaders discovered what they termed a “technical error” in the rule. The entire House must first approve the rule before debating legislation on the floor. So the House needed to vote on the fix first. That vote started early Wednesday afternoon – and continued for another seven hours and 31 minutes. That established a record for the longest roll call vote in House history, topping a vote of seven hours and 21 minutes in 2021. Some Republicans weren’t at the Capitol. But they held the vote open to buy time to work on skeptical GOP members who may be holdouts. And around 9:30 p.m. Wednesday, House Speaker Mike Johnson,
Trump spending cuts, his approach to climate change attacked as catalyst of catastrophic Texas flooding
Critics of President Donald Trump wasted no time blaming staffing cuts at the National Weather Service (NWS) for the widespread death and destruction caused by the floods in Texas, a reaction the White House called “shameful and disgusting.” At least 59 people, including 21 children, have been confirmed dead from the flash floods along the Guadalupe River that began Friday. Eleven children and one counselor remain missing from a girls’ summer camp near the river, which flooded due to the remnants of Tropical Storm Barry. That storm made landfall over Mexico, but triggered massive unexpected thunderstorms over parts of Texas. “It only took 9 days for Trump’s cuts to the [National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration] to kill dozens of children in Texas when Tropical Storm Barry landed this week,” Grant Stern, the executive editor of Occupy Democrats, wrote on X. TEXAS FLOOD SURVIVORS SHARE HARROWING STORIES, SEARCH CONTINUES FOR THOSE STILL MISSING “The people in Texas voted for government services controlled by Donald Trump and Greg Abbott,” added Ron Filipkowski, former federal prosecutor and the editor-in-chief of MediasTouchNews. “That is exactly what they (sic) getting.” “What has happened to the girls at Camp Mystic is EXACTLY what one of the country’s best meteorologists, John Morales, warned would happen,” added Rachel Bitecofer, assistant director at Christopher Newport University’s Wason Center for Public Policy. “Trump’s cuts to the NOAA & NWS have critically impacted storm prediction nationwide.” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem held a press conference Saturday, and acknowledged some of the criticisms regarding the nation’s flood notification systems, which included concerns that weather forecasts underestimated the amount of rain that ultimately fell. Noem noted that the Trump administration is “currently upgrading” the nation’s flood notification technology, which she described as “ancient.” DEADLY TEXAS FLOOD EXPOSES ‘NEGLECTED’ WEATHER ALERT SYSTEM TRUMP AIMS TO MODERNIZE “When the [weather] system came over the area, it stalled,” Noem said during the press conference. “It was much more water, much like [what] we experienced during [Hurricane] Harvey, with the same type of system that was unpredictable in the way that it reacted in the way that it stopped right here and dumped unprecedented amounts of rain that caused a flooding event like this.” Tom Fahy, legislative director for the National Weather Service Employees Organization, told NBC News that weather forecasting offices were adequately staffed, and “they issued timely forecasts and warnings leading up to the storm,” but he added that unfilled leadership positions were “clearly a concern.” “All I’ll say is this. The National Weather Service issued a flood watch for Kerr County more than 12 hours ahead of the catastrophic flood. A flash flood warning was issued for Hunt & Ingram 3 HOURS before the Guadalupe started to climb,” said Texas-based meteorologist Avery Tomasco. “They did their job and they did it well.” The same sentiment was echoed by other meteorological experts as well. But, still, news of the advanced warnings has not stopped people from using the catastrophe to criticize the Trump administration. “The reason Trump defunded the National Weather Service leading to the deaths of all those girls in the Texas flood is because PROJECT 2025 THOUGHT WEATHER PREDICTION SCIENCE WAS TIED TO EVIDENCE OF CLIMATE CHANGE,” musician Mikel Jollett wrote on X. WHITE HOUSE INSISTS FEMA IS TAKING HURRICANE SEASON ‘SERIOUSLY,’ BLASTS ‘SLOPPY’ REPORTING Isaiah Martin, a Democratic candidate for Texas’s 18th Congressional District, called for an immediate congressional investigation into “the Republican DOGE cuts to NOAA and the National Weather Service.” “We saw the affects (sic) this weekend,” Martin wrote on X. “Trump defunded these agencies and we DEMAND answers. There MUST be *swift* accountability!” “Trump & Musk gutted the National Weather Service. The result was predictable: A bad forecast leading to the death of children in a horrific flood,” added California state Senator Scott Wiener. Meanwhile, Washington Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee did not directly blame Trump’s approach to climate change for the deaths, but he suggested the president’s efforts to peel back green energy funding are a contributing factor to increased catastrophic natural disasters, like this weekend’s flood in Texas. “It is hard to make the Texas flood tragedy worse, except to know that on the same day Trump signed a bill cratering solar and wind energy that is vital in the battle against the climate change making these torrential rains more frequent,” Inslee wrote on X this weekend. During an interview with CNN, Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, added that he didn’t think it was helpful to have open leadership positions that, if filled, could “help prevent these strategies.” “I don’t think it’s helpful to have missing key personnel from the National Weather Service not in place to help prevent these tragedies,” Castro said, adding “we have to figure out in the future how we make sure that it doesn’t happen again.” White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson called it “shameful and disgusting” to see that in the wake of this tragedy people are politicizing what took place. ”It’s shameful and disgusting that in the wake of tragedy, the left’s first instinct is to lie and politicize a disaster to target their political opponents. False claims about the NWS have been repeatedly debunked by meteorologists, experts, and other public reporting,” Jackson said. “The NWS did their job, even issuing a flood watch more than 12 hours in advance. The Trump Administration is grateful to the first responders who sprung into action to save hundreds lives during this catastrophe, and will continue to help the great state of Texas in their recovery efforts.”