Rep. Tony Gonzales attacks primary opponent amid reporting of his affair with aide who died by suicide
The San Antonio Express-News reported on a text message from a staffer admitting to having an affair with Gonzales. The staffer died last year after setting herself on fire in Uvalde.
Texas sues Dow, claiming “habitual” pollution violations at Gulf Coast chemical plant
Local citizens who are preparing their own lawsuit against the chemical giant say Attorney General Ken Paxton’s suit could shield Dow from bigger penalties.
Some Abbott-backed candidates face political headwinds in Republican primaries
The governor is supporting two U.S. House candidates whose opponents were recently endorsed by President Donald Trump, while his picks for comptroller and agriculture commissioner are trailing in the polls.
Gillespie County Republicans scale back hand-count amid staffing shortage
The county GOP will use machines to tally early voting results but still plans to hand-count ballots cast on Election Day.
DHS shutdown leaves local emergency responders on their own amid extreme weather, expert warns
EXCLUSIVE: The partial government shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security could have a critical impact on local disaster response without assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, a public safety expert warned. In an interview with Fox News Digital, Jeffrey Halstead, the director of strategic accounts at Genasys, a communications hardware and software provider to help communities during disasters, said the DHS shutdown could impact emergency response and recovery efforts now that FEMA support has been restricted. “Every time that the government enters into one of these shutdowns, there’s a distinctive part of the federal government that is impacted, both reviewing the grant program or distributing funds from pre-awarded grant programs. This is exactly the area of DHS as well as FEMA that affects emergency managers, emergency response and recovering different cities, counties, and regions should they face a weather and/or disaster-related event,” Halstead said. Halstead, also a retired chief of police in Fort Worth, Texas, with more than 30 years in law enforcement, explained that government shutdowns delaying federal funds “drastically impacts” the local response to disasters. ICE SHUTDOWN FIGHT MIGHT RESTRICT FEMA, COAST GUARD TO ‘LIFE-THREATENING’ EMERGENCIES “I know personally, I was in Arizona for over 21 years, in Texas as chief of police for over seven, and then I was in Nevada for a long time, and I worked directly with a few states in the Western United States,” he said. “The last government shutdown pretty much ended their grant application process, meaning the grants would not be approved, not even be assigned and/or funds not released,” he continued. “This drastically impacts their ability to plan and to coordinate a lot of their planned response events. In Arizona, the central UASI region or the Urban Area Security Initiative, they have none of their grants being reviewed, which replaces outdated equipment, vehicles and funds training so that every quarter they can meet the standards and then be ready should something happen.” This comes as the Trump administration ordered FEMA to suspend the deployment of hundreds of aid workers to disaster-torn areas across the country during the DHS shutdown. More than 300 FEMA disaster responders were preparing for upcoming assignments, but were told to halt their travel plans. Grant systems are also not fully operational until lawmakers can reach a deal to fund the department. “The biggest impact is funding, the grants being distributed and then getting all that equipment and training aligned so that they can actually have a very successful year getting ready for a disaster,” Halstead said. DHS SHUTDOWN EXPLAINED: WHO WORKS WITHOUT PAY, WHAT HAPPENS TO AIRPORTS AND DISASTER RESPONSE “Should there be a traumatic weather event, critical incident or something that would require FEMA support, FEMA staff or FEMA resources, those may not be available,” he added. “This drastically impacts the city, county, state and federal collaboration efforts that literally are immediately engaged, aligned and resources deployed, sometimes within 12 hours. So this greatly inhibits their ability to plan effectively should a critical event, disaster event, or weather-related event come their way. They won’t have all these federal assets and resources that they have come to depend on, rely on, and work with in both their planning as well as training events or previous disasters where they responded and provided support.” As part of the move to end FEMA deployments, staffers currently working on major recovery efforts will remain on the sites and cannot return home unless their assignment ends, but no new personnel can join or relieve them without DHS approval. Recovery efforts are still ongoing in places like North Carolina, where Hurricane Helene devastated the region in the fall of 2024. As Halstead noted, the recovery effort is the “final piece for the emergency management cycle to get back to normalcy for that region.” “When that is dramatically impacted, you still see some areas of North Carolina a couple of years later still struggling in the recovery phase being completed,” he said. “That is directly related to all of these stalls and delays in FEMA, FEMA funding and the financial support needed to get the recovery phase completed.” PARTIAL GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN DRAGS ON AS DHS FUNDING TALKS STALL Asked about the importance of federal funding given recent extreme weather across the U.S. such as snow on the East Coast, flooding in California and fire disasters in the High Plains that forced evacuations, Halstead said it is “extremely critical” and that the delay in funds can impact the safety of local residents. “It’s absolutely extremely critical for emergency managers, your fire departments as well as law enforcement, to utilize not just these partnerships and the resources, but the funding allocations so that they can plan effectively in responding, operational control of the disaster, and then getting into that recovery mode … Then sometimes that delay, it’s going to impact the safety and the welfare of Americans,” Halstead explained. Republicans and Democrats in Congress have yet to reach a deal to end the partial shutdown, in large part due to Democrats’ demand for stricter oversight and reforms of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) following the fatal shootings last month of two U.S. citizens by federal agents in Minneapolis, which the GOP has thus far resisted. President Donald Trump argued earlier this week that it is a “Democrat shutdown” and “has nothing to do with Republicans.” Halstead said he would like lawmakers on Capitol Hill to negotiate in good faith to end the shutdown so that first responders will have “effective means to do our jobs safely and very, very efficiently.” “I know a lot of people are really upset because they leverage a significant political issue over a common funding agreement that should have been approved very quickly,” he said. “This has happened a lot in the last two to three years. We’ve seen shutdown after shutdown after shutdown. What a lot of citizens don’t realize is that when the government is shut down, all of this work — grant reviews, proposals,
NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani reverses course on homeless encampments after pausing clearings
Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced Wednesday that New York City will resume clearing homeless encampments after pausing the policy for a few weeks. Mamdani paused the policy in January, arguing that it did not do enough to get people into housing. The Democrat said his new initiative will be led by the Department of Homeless Services rather than the police and will involve sustained outreach, which he said will lead to better results. “We will meet them looking to connect them with shelter, looking to connect them with services, looking to connect them with a city that wants them to be sheltered and indoors and warm and safe. And that is something that I believe will yield far better results, because it hasn’t even been the driving directive of these policies before,” Mamdani said during an unrelated news conference. Before taking office in December, Mamdani criticized how Mayor Eric Adams approached the city’s homeless encampments, and he officially paused his predecessor’s policy on Jan. 5. AFFLUENT UPPER EAST SIDE EXPLODES IN OUTRAGE OVER CONTROVERSIAL HOMELESS SHELTER: ‘UNACCEPTABLE!’ Mamdani reiterated on Wednesday that he believes Adams’ policy was a “failure.” “I made a decision with my team to put a pause on that prior administration’s policy as we started to develop our own policy that would generate far better outcomes for the city,” he said. Under the new approach, the city will first post a notice that a homeless encampment will be cleared and then send homeless department outreach workers there daily for a week to guide people into social services. On the seventh day, sanitation workers will dismantle the encampment, with the expectation that individuals have vacated the area. Mamdani said that relentless outreach would help connect with homeless New Yorkers whose “first reaction might be that of skepticism.” LIZ PEEK: HERE IS THE ONE AND ONLY THING THAT DEMOCRATS ACTUALLY CARE ABOUT “Their second reaction might be that of wariness, given their prior experiences within the shelter system,” he said. “But their third, their fourth, their fifth or sixth reaction may be one of interest in the possibility of shelter services, programing support, supportive housing.” David Giffen, executive director of the Coalition for the Homeless, said his organization was “blindsided” by Mamdani’s announcement, calling it a “political response” that would do little to help the homeless population, according to the Associated Press. Giffen said the new approach would hurt trust between the city’s outreach workers and unsheltered residents, and may potentially lead to more deaths during extreme weather events. “When a city worker shows up and throws out all your belongings, you’re not going to trust that person the next time they show up offering you a place to sleep inside,” Giffen said. At least 19 people have died outside during a prolonged cold stretch in the city, raising concerns about the city’s response. The mayor’s office said there is no evidence that anyone who died was living in encampments, and it has encouraged homeless people to get to new shelters, heated buses and warming centers. Fox News Digital reached out to Mamdani’s office for comment. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Trump DOJ probes Michigan schools over gender curriculum, joins lawsuit against LA race-based program
The Trump Justice Department on Wednesday launched investigations into three Michigan public school districts over gender-related classroom instruction and sought to intervene in a federal lawsuit challenging a race-based admission and funding program in Los Angeles — intensifying the administration’s push into school policy disputes nationwide. The Civil Rights Division said it is examining whether the Detroit Public Schools Community District, Godfrey-Lee Public Schools and the Lansing School District included “sexual orientation and gender ideology (SOGI) content in any class for grades pre-K-12.” If such instruction is provided, investigators will assess whether parents were notified of their right to opt their children out and whether the districts “limit access to single-sex intimate spaces, such as bathrooms and locker rooms, based on biological sex.” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon said the department is focused on enforcing parental rights and Title IX. TRUMP ADMINISTRATION THREATENS TO PULL FEDERAL FUNDS FROM VIRGINIA SCHOOL DISTRICTS IN GENDER POLICY DISPUTE “This Department of Justice is fiercely committed to ending the growing trend of local school authorities embedding sexuality and gender ideology in every aspect of public education,” Dhillon said. She added that “Supreme Court precedent is clear: parents have the right to direct the religious upbringing of their children,” including exempting them from instruction that conflicts with their beliefs. Dhillon also said Title IX requires protecting “the safety, dignity, and innocence of our youngest citizens… by ensuring that they have unfettered access to bathrooms and locker rooms of their biological sex.” GOP SENATOR PROBES 18 BLUE STATES, DC OVER TRUMP’S TRANSGENDER ATHLETE ORDER The department noted the Michigan districts receive “hundreds of thousands of dollars of taxpayer funding” and said investigators will evaluate compliance with Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and the Supreme Court’s 2025 decision in Mahmoud v. Taylor. Officials emphasized the Civil Rights Division “has not reached any conclusions about the subject matter of the investigations.” In a separate action, the Justice Department said it is seeking to intervene in a lawsuit filed by the nonprofit 1776 Project Foundation challenging the Los Angeles Unified School District’s Predominately Hispanic, Black, Asian, and Other (PHBAO) Program. According to the department’s proposed complaint, the program categorizes students by race and neighborhood demographics for funding and magnet school admissions, separating students into “Anglo,” meaning White, and other racial categories. Neighborhoods with fewer than 30% White residents are designated as disadvantaged, and certain schools receive additional funding, a reduced student-teacher ratio by 5.5 students, and magnet admissions preferences. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT SUES PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT OVER ALLEGEDLY DISCRIMINATORY POLICIES The complaint states LAUSD treats attending school with non-White students “as a disadvantage equal to attending an overcrowded school.” Attorney General Pam Bondi said the federal government is intervening to enforce equal protection guarantees. “Treating Americans equally is not a suggestion — it is a core constitutional guarantee that educational institutions must follow,” Bondi said. Dhillon said students “should never be classified or treated differently because of their race,” adding that “Racial discrimination is unlawful and un-American.” First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said LAUSD’s desegregation program has “outlived its usefulness to the point of being unconstitutional.” The Michigan investigations remain ongoing, and the LAUSD case is pending in federal court. Representatives for the Michigan districts did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment. “Because this matter involves pending litigation, we are unable to comment on the specifics,” LAUSD said in a statement. “However, Los Angeles Unified remains firmly committed to ensuring all students have meaningful access to services and enriching educational opportunities.”
Democrats risk FEMA disaster funding collapse as DHS shutdown hits Day 5
Senate Democrats and the White House remain locked in a standoff over proposed reforms to immigration operations nationwide, a dispute that could carry unintended consequences for disaster response efforts. Without a fresh infusion of funding, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) could soon face constraints with its disaster relief operations. As hurricane season approaches, limited funding could hamper the agency’s ability to respond to major storms and other emergencies. The partial government shutdown affecting FEMA’s parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), entered its fifth day with no resolution in sight. GOP WARNS DEMOCRATS USING DHS SHUTDOWN TO STALL SENATE VOTER ID PUSH Before the shutdown began last week, a top FEMA official warned lawmakers that shuttering DHS could significantly strain the agency’s disaster response capabilities. Office of Response and Recovery Associate Administrator Gregg Phillips told a House panel examining the effects of a DHS shutdown that while FEMA’s disaster relief fund holds roughly $7 billion — enough to sustain emergency responses for the “foreseeable future” — a catastrophic event could quickly exhaust those resources. “That said, if a catastrophic disaster occurred, the [disaster relief fund] would be seriously strained,” Phillips said. For comparison, the federal government spent more than $50 billion on disaster relief during the last fiscal year. Phillips also noted that, during his nearly two-month tenure, FEMA had already spent $3 billion in 45 days on roughly 5,000 projects. THUNE GUARANTEES VOTER ID BILL TO HIT THE SENATE DESPITE SCHUMER, DEM OPPOSITION: ‘WE WILL HAVE A VOTE’ Earlier this week, President Donald Trump said FEMA would play a “key role” in responding to a sewage spill into the Potomac River, where roughly 200 million gallons of raw sewage poured into the waterway that runs through the nation’s capital. The cost of FEMA’s involvement in that cleanup effort has not yet been determined, a DHS spokesperson told Fox News Digital. The current DHS funding bill, which Senate Democrats rejected last week, includes roughly $26 billion for FEMA’s disaster relief fund. But negotiations remain stalled as Democrats push for reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). ‘IT’S ABSURD’: DHS SHUTDOWN BEARS DOWN ON US AS LAWMAKERS JET OFF TO EUROPE There has been little progress this week. Congressional Democrats sent a counterproposal to the White House late Monday, responding to an offer from the administration made last week. A White House official told Fox News Digital “the parties are still pretty far apart.” “The administration remains interested in good-faith conversations to end the Democrat shutdown before more Americans feel the impacts,” the official said. “But the administration also remains committed to carrying out the president’s promise to enforce federal immigration law.” Spokespeople for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said congressional Democrats have “been clear for weeks about the reforms needed to rein in ICE and stop the violence.” “We’ve continued working through language and additional issues to make progress, but Republicans have largely ignored the core guardrails Americans are demanding,” they said. “Dems are negotiating in good faith. It’s time for Republicans to do the same.” Unless a deal is reached before next week, the Senate is expected to vote Monday on the original full-year DHS funding bill, a measure likely to be blocked again by Schumer and his caucus.
City-run board cancels lease of Israel drone supplier, sparking backlash toward Mamdani: ‘Ludicrous’
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is facing criticism on social media after a Brooklyn navy yard controlled by the city dropped the lease of a company that sends drones to Israel, six weeks after Mamdani took office as mayor after running on a platform critical of Israel. The controversy stems from a move by the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corp. (BNYDC) declining to renew its lease with New York City drone manufacturer Easy Aerial, a company that provides drones to Israel’s military, the New York Post reported. The BNYDC is controlled by board members who serve at the pleasure of the mayor, and the move comes just over a month after Mamdani was sworn in on New Year’s Day after being widely criticized on the campaign trail for anti-Israel statements and positions. “Easy Aerial is leaving the Brooklyn Navy Yard,” NYC Democratic Councilman Lincoln Restler posted on X Thursday. “@BklynNavyYard leadership made the right decision last month to not renew their lease. This public asset should not be leasing space to companies producing drones that are being transformed into weapons of war.” MAMDANI’S ANTISEMITISM CZAR ONCE SLAMMED POST CONDEMNING HAMAS TERROR ATTACKS Fox News Digital reached out to Mamdani’s office for comment on his role, if any, in the decision. Dating back to last year, anti-Israel protesters have been active at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, calling for the eviction of two tenants, Crye Precision and Easy Aerial, who do business with Israel, the Brooklyn Paper reported. In a statement to Fox News Digital, a BNYDC spokesperson said the decision was made in December and that Easy Aerial was notified in January. ISRAEL ACCUSES MAMDANI OF POURING ‘ANTISEMITIC GASOLINE’ AFTER HE REVOKES ADAMS’ EXECUTIVE ORDERS “BNYDC notified Easy Aerial at the beginning of the year that it would not renew its lease agreement for business reasons related to operational and campus compliance matters,” the spokesperson said. “Like any landlord, we evaluate renewals based on adherence to lease terms and campus policies. There were no other factors in our decision.” Dating back to his college days, when he founded his school’s Students for Justice In Palestine chapter, Mamdani has supported the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel, an issue that came up many times on the campaign trail. In October, a resurfaced video from 2023 showed Mamdani calling to “end New York state subsidy of settler crimes.” Mamdani has faced criticism on social media over the board’s move as well as from One Israel Fund Executive Vice President Scott Feltman. “At a time when terrorists from Hamas are continually violating the ceasefire agreement and attempting to penetrate the buffer zone between Gaza and Israel, the mayor of New York has decided that a company which enables Israel to prevent such incursions is a threat to peace,” Feltman said. “It is ludicrous on every level and, in the end, New York loses out on another tax-paying company providing good, quality jobs for its residents.” Fox News Digital reached out to Easy Aerial for comment.
Fake police officers kidnapping Americans in Haiti, sparking renewed strong travel warning
Kidnappers posing as police officers are targeting victims in Haiti’s capital as ransom abductions spike in Port-au-Prince, prompting the U.S. Embassy to issue a fresh security warning urging Americans to limit travel and avoid driving alone. The embassy said there has been an increase in reported kidnappings for ransom, particularly in the Delmas area, with some assailants impersonating law enforcement to carry out abductions. U.S. officials urged Americans to limit all unnecessary travel, avoid traveling alone and inform someone of their movements and expected return times. “Do not drive alone,” the notice stated, reiterating that Haiti remains under a Level 4 – Do Not Travel advisory, the State Department’s highest warning level. UN STAFF IN HAITI TOLD TO STAY OFF STREETS AFTER GANG COALITION FLEXES MUSCLE, US MARINES FACE GUNFIRE Fox News Digital has reached out to the State Department for additional information on the matter. The warning comes weeks after the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince notified U.S. citizens of ongoing security operations north and south of the compound and in Croix-des-Bouquets after heavy gunfire was reported in the capital. The violence prompted U.S. government personnel to halt all movements, according to the State Department, and officials urged nearby American citizens to avoid the area and monitor local media for updates. OFFICIALS CHANGE TRAVEL ALERT FOR SPRING BREAK HOT SPOT WHILE WARNING OF ‘SEXUAL ASSAULTS’ Armed gangs control large portions of Port-au-Prince and surrounding areas, according to the State Department and the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti. Croix-des-Bouquets, one of the areas referenced in the recent warning, has long been considered a stronghold of the 400 Mawozo gang. STATE DEPARTMENT ISSUES SECURITY ALERT AMID ‘HEAVY GUNFIRE’ NEAR US EMBASSY IN HAITI Joly Germine, 34, of Croix-des-Bouquets, was sentenced to life in prison in December for his role in the 2021 abduction of 16 American citizens, including five children, Fox News Digital previously reported. The victims, with Ohio-based Christian Aid Ministries, were returning from an orphanage when they were taken hostage, according to the Justice Department. The alerts underscore the worsening security crisis in Port-au-Prince, where heavily armed gangs control large swaths of the city and kidnappings have become a major source of revenue for criminal groups. Ransom abductions have plagued Haiti for years, often targeting business owners, aid workers and foreign nationals perceived as able to pay. Fox News Digital’s Alexandra Koch contributed to this report.