Gov. Greg Abbott proposes further limiting screen time in K-12 classrooms
The proposal, which would have to be passed by the Legislature, follows a ban on cellphone use in K-12 schools approved by lawmakers last year.
Federal judge extends pause on border wall construction at South Texas wildlife refuge
An irrigation district claims border wall construction is damaging its property and canal.
Houston law firm with Trump ties declines $150 million contract to represent migrant children
The administration had offered the contract to the Burke Law Group, which has little experience in immigration.
UT-Austin overhauling core classes but hasn’t detailed how new center relates to the courses
UT-Austin proposes big changes to how future students meet graduation requirements as questions persist about a new Center for Humanities.
Longstanding limits on certain firearms, silencers lifted in Texas after judge’s order takes effect
The Trump administration declined to immediately appeal a ruling by a federal judge in Lubbock that invalidated parts of the 1934 National Firearms Act.
White House exposes ‘Transshipment Scam’ costing US up to $26B, points finger at China
Concerns are growing that foreign exporters are routing goods through third countries to evade U.S. tariffs, according to a new White House report released Thursday. As well as China, Panama, Mexico and Colombia are among more than 40 countries identified as posing a high transshipment risk, together with Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic. Transshipment can involve routing goods through an intermediary country before they enter the United States under a different country of origin, potentially qualifying for lower tariffs. TOP TRUMP AGENCY PURGES OVER 20 SUSPECTED CHINA-LINKED PRODUCTS FROM FEDERAL MARKETPLACE The 25-page report, titled “The Great Transshipment Scam,” was produced by the White House Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy, which is led by trade adviser Peter Navarro. The report says China offers the most developed historical example of transshipment. Following the imposition of Section 301 tariffs on China in 2018, the direct U.S. trade deficit with China fell in 2019 and 2020. “After their imposition, Chinese exporters increasingly routed goods through third countries,” the report says, with goods that previously moved directly from China to the United States instead being shipped through jurisdictions where limited assembly, finishing, repackaging, relabeling or documentation changes could create the appearance of a different national origin. PETER NAVARRO: TRUMP’S ARTEMIS VISION IS NOW FLYING — AND CHINA IS PAYING ATTENTION “Over time, these practices contributed to the development of a global network of production hubs, logistics platforms, free-trade zones, bonded warehouses, processing corridors, and re-export centers,” the report said of the transshipment practice. The report also estimates tariff-avoiding transshipment costs the U.S. Treasury between $19 billion and $26 billion in revenue annually. “The Trump administration has taken steps to strengthen transshipment enforcement.” “For years, the great transshipment scam has let communist China launder its exports,” Navarro said, according to The Associated Press. TRUMP HEADS TO BEIJING FOR HIGH-STAKES XI TALKS AS TAIWAN TENSIONS, TRADE DISPUTES TEST US STRENGTH Navarro also said countries such as India could also use transshipment to avoid tariffs and that new trade frameworks pursued by the Trump administration will include provisions to penalize trading partners that engage in the practice. The report cites government and private-sector estimates putting the value of goods transshipped to avoid tariffs at roughly $34.2 billion to $303 billion annually. Navarro said U.S. Customs and Border Protection has begun using artificial intelligence in a prototype program to detect transshipment. He also said importers found to have falsified a product’s origin can face tariffs applied retroactively for roughly a year. The report comes ahead of a planned September visit to Washington by Chinese President Xi Jinping, following President Donald Trump’s visit to Beijing in May. Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House for comment.
Marco Rubio gets 68 new jobs in epic White House birthday gift inspired by viral meme
Marco Rubio has a lot of jobs. Now, he has 68 more. The White House gave the secretary of state a gold-framed collage for his 55th birthday featuring dozens of versions of the viral “Rubio realizing” meme that has transformed President Donald Trump’s top diplomat into everything from an Iranian ayatollah to an astronaut. At the center of the 68-panel mosaic is the original, unaltered photograph of Rubio slumped on a couch in the Oval Office earlier this year, signed by Trump in gold ink with a presidential endorsement: “You are great.” WHAT RUBIO’S RISE AS THE INTERNET’S ‘FIXER’ TELLS US ABOUT TODAY’S POLITICS Around it is a resume that rivals Barbie’s. There’s Rubio as Robocop, Rubio as an astronaut, Rubio as the White House Easter Bunny, Cardinal Rubio preparing for a papal conclave, Rubio bundled up as the leader of Greenland and one where Rubio holds up a sign that says, “Please stop making memes about me.” The White House presented Rubio with the collage in May, but the gift only came to wider attention this week after Axios reporter Marc Caputo shared a photo of it on X. While nearly 70 imaginary gigs may sound excessive, the joke lands particularly well for a Cabinet official who has already accumulated an unusually high number of real roles. VANCE, CRUZ, HEAD TO IOWA ON 2026 MISSIONS AS 2028 GOP RACE TO SUCCEED TRUMP HEATS UP Rubio serves as secretary of state and acting national security advisor and previously pulled double duty as acting archivist and acting administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development. The internet also appears to have decided Rubio could handle a few more. The meme began with a decidedly more serious moment on Feb. 28, 2025, when Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Rubio and other administration officials met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office. A photograph from the contentious meeting captured Rubio sitting low on a couch, his hands interlocked and an expression on his face that the internet quickly interpreted as a man coming to an uncomfortable realization. HOW MARCO RUBIO IS RIDING LAUGHTER AND MEMES TO SOCIAL MEDIA DOMINANCE Then came the heavily-Photoshopped memes. As major jobs opened, in reality or otherwise, Rubio kept getting hired. When Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro was captured, meme Rubio appeared dressed to take over the country. When Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz announced he would not seek re-election, Rubio turned up in blaze orange hunting gear, shotgun included. Rubio has acknowledged he wasn’t initially thrilled with the photograph that launched it all. “The meme thing, you know, was interesting, ’cause when it first came out, I hated that picture,” Rubio recently told Lara Trump on Fox News’ “My View.” MARCO RUBIO SPOTTED IN NIKE TRACKSUIT ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE DURING TRIP TO CHINA, IGNITING MEMES ONLINE Rubio explained that the Oval Office couch was partly to blame. “If you don’t have a pillow behind your back, you kinda sink,” he said. But the secretary of state eventually surrendered to the court of public opinion. “And then it turned into this other thing, and it was fine. And it’s funny,” Rubio said. He also revealed that Scavino had turned the online frenzy into something framed forever. “Dan Scavino made a nice board for me,” Rubio said. “And even since he made that board, we had to update it.” Which raises an obvious problem. Rubio may already need a bigger frame. The White House and the State Department did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment.
Gun rights groups capitalize after judge reverses decades-old restrictions: ‘Monumental’
Gun rights advocates are wasting little time putting a “huge” federal court victory into action after a judge struck down decades-old firearms restrictions as unconstitutional. Gun Owners of America (GOA) and Silencer Shop, a federal firearms licensee covered by the ruling linked to the sale and transfer of silencers, notified the Trump administration Thursday they planned to begin transferring gun silencers without going through the National Firearms Act registration and approval process that has governed such transactions for decades. Just after midnight Thursday, two gun owners walked out of a Texas firearms dealer with silencers without first completing the federal registration and approval process that has governed such transfers for generations, according to Gun Owners of America. INSIDE TRUMP’S UNPRECEDENTED BATTLE PLAN TO EXPAND SECOND AMENDMENT RIGHTS THROUGH JUSTICE DEPARTMENT GOA said Brandon Herrera and Texas state Rep. Wes Virdell acquired the suppressors from Silencer Shop in Leander, Texas, in what the gun rights group called the first lawful transfers without National Firearms Act registration since the law was enacted in 1934. “This is the first time in 92 years that any gun owner has been able to do this,” Aidan Johnston, Gun Owners of America’s director of federal affairs, told Fox News Digital in an interview. “Previously, this would have been punishable by up to 10 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine per violation. So, this was a big federal law. We took a really big bite out of it.” Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Ga., who attended the midnight transfers and helped write the legislation that set the stage for the ruling, called it “literally, the greatest Second Amendment win in the history of our country,” adding that it marked “a monumental day for the country and a monumental day for the Second Amendment.” The ruling also appears poised to stand without a challenge from the federal government. Clyde said Wednesday he had received confirmation from the Trump administration that the Justice Department would not appeal the decision. “GOA fought to crush the NFA’s unconstitutional restrictions through the One Big Beautiful Bill, but we didn’t stop there. We promised to keep fighting until these restrictions were gone, and now our members are putting the historic victory into action,” said Erich Pratt, senior vice president of Gun Owners of America. “The era of federal registration for constitutionally protected arms must end.” CLARENCE THOMAS’ CONSTITUTIONAL ARGUMENT AGAINST FEDERAL GUN LAW GETS FIRST MAJOR COURT TEST The legal fight traces back to Republicans’ 2025 reconciliation package, which initially included broader efforts to roll back National Firearms Act restrictions on suppressors and short-barreled firearms. After the Senate parliamentarian blocked portions of the deregulation push under reconciliation rules, the final One Big Beautiful Bill Act signed by President Donald Trump instead reduced the NFA’s longstanding making and transfer taxes to $0 for suppressors, short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns and certain other weapons, effective Jan. 1, 2026. Gun rights groups seized on that change almost immediately. The same day Trump signed the law, Gun Owners of America, the Silencer Shop Foundation and other plaintiffs sued the federal government, arguing the NFA’s registration and approval requirements could no longer constitutionally stand for weapons on which Congress had eliminated the underlying tax. Fifteen states later joined the challenge. The Justice Department countered that the remaining regulations could still be supported by other NFA taxes and Congress’ authority over interstate commerce. “Congress didn’t fully repeal the law. They just reduced this 1934 tax from $200 to $0,” Johnston told Fox News Digital. “And I think all of us could understand there’s no such thing as a $0 tax. It doesn’t raise any revenue. It’s not a tax.” U.S. District Judge James Wesley Hendrix, a Trump appointee, sided with the challengers Aug. 5, ruling that once Congress eliminated the making and transfer taxes, the regulations that had existed to help collect those taxes lost their constitutional footing. Hendrix permanently blocked federal officials from enforcing the challenged requirements against the plaintiffs and, where applicable, their members and customers, while declining to issue a nationwide injunction. However, while the plaintiffs had separately argued that the NFA’s registration and approval requirements violated the Second Amendment, Hendrix said that “Efforts to render the NFA constitutional must come from Congress, not this Court.”
Federal appeals court restores Texas mail ballot ID requirements in major election integrity ruling
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals restored key parts of Texas’ election law Wednesday, handing the state a major win after repeatedly reversing the lower court during a five-year legal fight. The 11-page ruling overturned a lower court decision that blocked nine parts of Senate Bill 1, a 2021 law that changed Texas’ rules for mail-in voting and voter assistance. The appeals court pointed to its repeated reversals in the case, noting that it has “reversed the district court on everything” during roughly five years of litigation. JUDGE HANDS TRUMP MAIL-BALLOT WIN FOR NOW AS DEMOCRATS’ NEXT MOVE LOOMS “The bulk of the plaintiffs’ claims fail for lack of standing. One fails on the merits. But none justifies interference with the State Legislature’s efforts to prevent voter fraud and to protect election integrity,” Judge Andrew Oldham wrote in the opinion. The restored rules include requirements for Texans voting by mail to provide an identification number or Social Security number on ballot applications and for that information to match state records. The law also lays out a process for voters to fix defective ballots and requires voters and people helping them fill out ballots to sign an oath stating they did not coerce the voter. A district judge blocked the rules in March 2025 after several lawsuits challenging the law over accessibility concerns were combined. The plaintiffs argued the requirements made voting too difficult for some voters with disabilities and violated the Americans with Disabilities Act. Texas allows several groups to vote by mail, including voters who are 65 or older and those who qualify because of a disability. MAGA TRIUMPH: TRUMP ALLY KEN PAXTON DEFEATS JOHN CORNYN IN BITTER TEXAS GOP PRIMARY WAR The appeals court found the groups did not have legal standing to bring most of their challenges and rejected another challenge outright. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a defendant in the lawsuit, celebrated the ruling on social media, calling it a “major victory.” Fox News Digital reached out to attorneys and organizations representing the plaintiffs for comment. Texas lawmakers passed Senate Bill 1 in 2021 after a contentious fight over election rules. The law targeted in part voting initiatives Harris County used during the COVID-19 pandemic. Democratic lawmakers, civil rights organizations and voting advocacy groups opposed the measure, and Texas House Democrats broke quorum in an unsuccessful attempt to stop it. The appeals court also noted that the share of mail-in ballot applications or ballots rejected because of identification-number errors fell from 11% to 2.7% after the law took effect.
Mamdani’s luxury-home tax gets new life as appeals court lifts roadblock in homeowner fight
Democratic New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s controversial luxury-home tax rollout is back on track, at least for now, after a New York appeals court on Thursday lifted the roadblock that had stopped the city from moving ahead. Judge Philip Hom temporarily lifted the order blocking the city from moving ahead with the rollout, allowing the surcharge process to resume while the legal battle continues. Randy Mastro, the attorney representing the homeowners challenging the rollout, blasted the administration in a statement to Fox News Digital. MAMDANI’S LUXURY-HOME TAX ROLLOUT DERAILED FOR NOW AS JUDGE DELIVERS WIN TO NYC HOMEOWNERS OVER MASSIVE LIST “It is a shame that the City can’t own up to its own mistakes and admit that it has badly botched the rollout of this surcharge,” Mastro said. “Instead, the administration is doubling down, going to court to ensure that it can continue harassing and threatening New York City homeowners who clearly are permanent residents — something the City would know if it would only do its homework.” Mastro accused Mamdani of pushing ahead with thousands of surcharge notices he called “blatantly illegal.” “It is, quite frankly, outrageous that this Mayor is so desperate to further his agenda that he’s continuing to try to enforce thousands [of] surcharge ‘notices’ that are blatantly illegal,” Mastro said. “We remain confident that when we are back in court in a mere 18 days, the thousands of New York City homeowners who are now illegally burdened with the responsibility of proving they do indeed live in their own homes will finally get the permanent relief they deserve,” he added. MAMDANI’S PROPERTY TAX DUBBED ‘DANGEROUS’ AND ‘A LITTLE WEIRD’ BY COMEDIANS AFTER LIST WAS PUBLISHED Mastro’s office also confirmed to Fox News Digital on background that Thursday’s development was procedural, allowing the city to move forward with its appeal while staying the temporary restraining order. The homeowners are expected back in court Aug. 31, when they will seek permanent relief from the original judge. The appellate order came after a sharp dispute over whether the city’s decision to appeal had automatically put Judge Wayne Ozzi’s entire order on hold. In an Aug. 11 letter to Ozzi, Mastro argued that most of the judge’s restrictions remained in effect and warned the city against pressing ahead with the surcharge. PROPERTY OWNER ADVOCACY GROUPS PUSH BACK ON MAMDANI’S ‘RENTAL RIPOFF REPORT,’ PUBLIC DATABASE OF LANDLORDS Thursday’s order removed that immediate uncertainty by staying Ozzi’s temporary restraining order while the city’s appeal moves forward. The latest turn comes just three days after Ozzi slammed the brakes on the city’s rollout of the surcharge, which targets certain high-value properties that do not serve as primary residences. Ozzi ordered the city to remove a disputed supplemental property roll from its website and temporarily blocked officials from taking further action based on the roll or notices sent to homeowners. He also stopped the city from enforcing deadlines contained in those notices, including the Sept. 18 deadline to file an administrative appeal. CLINTON, OBAMA-ERA DEMOCRATIC HEAVYWEIGHTS PENN AND EMANUEL RIP NYC’S MAMDANI OVER TAXES, ISRAEL, BLAST DSA The lawsuit was filed by New York City homeowners Rachel O’Brien, Carmine Morano and Simon Hedley, who are not challenging the surcharge itself but rather how the Mamdani administration implemented it. The homeowners argue the city improperly put the burden on New Yorkers to prove they live in their properties rather than first determining which homes actually qualify for the surcharge. Their lawsuit also takes aim at the city’s publication of a supplemental property roll containing information on more than 900,000 homeowners. The plaintiffs allege the publication caused “mass confusion” and subjected homeowners to unwanted public scrutiny. During Monday’s hearing, Mastro repeatedly accused the administration of failing to do its homework before launching the program. NYC MAYOR MAMDANI CALLS THREAT OF RICH PEOPLE LEAVING NYC OVER TAXES ‘IMAGINED’ “The city screwed this up… got it wrong… stop the train and make them do it over,” Mastro told the court. “The city is to bear the burden,” he argued. “They didn’t do their homework.” The city quickly fought back. In appellate papers filed Thursday, the city asked the court to confirm that Ozzi’s entire temporary restraining order was automatically stayed under state law or, alternatively, grant a stay while its appeal proceeds. The city also sought permission to appeal if necessary. PROGRESSIVES WANT TO TAX BILLIONAIRES FIRST, AND YOU’RE NEXT ON THE LIST City attorneys argued that filing a notice of appeal and an affirmation of its intention to seek permission to appeal triggered an automatic stay. The city also argued that Ozzi’s order disrupted the status quo and threatened to derail the Department of Finance’s implementation of the surcharge under an already tight timeline. According to the city’s filing, the Department of Finance sent initial determination notices to approximately 17,000 property owners. City officials have maintained that inclusion on the much broader supplemental roll did not mean a property owner would ultimately be subject to the surcharge. The city warned that leaving the lower court’s order in place could interfere with property tax bills scheduled to be mailed Nov. 15 and potentially jeopardize revenue from the surcharge. The city comptroller has projected the tax will generate at least $500 million through fiscal year 2028, according to the appellate filing. NEW YORK CITY LANDLORDS WARN AMERICAN DREAM IS SLIPPING AWAY UNDER SOCIALIST RENT POLICIES The city has also argued that the administrative appeals process gives homeowners a straightforward way to establish that a property is a primary residence and that officials may not have access to all of the information necessary to make that determination without additional documentation from owners. The homeowners dispute that argument, saying state law required the city to make an individualized initial determination before sending the notices in the first place. One plaintiff, Hedley, ultimately received approval after submitting documentation showing that his property was his primary residence. Mastro has argued that Hedley’s experience demonstrates how easily the city could