TribCast: Assessing the rollout of Texas school vouchers
In this week’s episode, hosts Matthew and Eleanor talk with Tribune K-12 education reporter Jaden Edison about who in Texas applied for school vouchers and why Muslim schools were shut out of the program.
Photos: The last day Texas stores can sell smokeable hemp cannabis
New state rules that went into effect March 31 further restricts the amount of THC that can be found in hemp-derived products, effectively banning smokeables.
Texas will launch its own clinical trials into ibogaine psychedelic after failing to find a drug company to help
The Legislature last year approved $50 million to research the psychedelic and find a company to develop it into a drug for FDA approval.
Texas judge rejects push to let churches make political endorsements
A group of Texas churches and the IRS agreed to nix the Johnson Amendment, which prohibits nonprofits from endorsing candidates. A Trump-appointed judge said no.
Trump issues order to impose new rules on mailing of ballots
Much of Trump’s first executive order on elections has been blocked in court. Legal challenges are likely for this one, too.
Trump signs executive order overhauling mail-in voting in major election integrity push
President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed a sweeping executive order targeting mail-in voting and voter eligibility, calling the move a major step toward restoring confidence in U.S. elections. Speaking from the Oval Office, Trump said the order is focused on “voter integrity and Mail-In ballots” and on “stopping the massive cheating that’s gone on.” “We’re going to be signing an executive order,” Trump said. “It’s, I believe it’s foolproof… I think it’s very obvious what’s said.” The order directs federal agencies to work with states to compile lists of eligible voters using federal citizenship and identity data, while also instructing the U.S. Postal Service to develop new safeguards for mail-in ballots, including barcode tracking and verification measures. TRUMP REVEALS TOP ISSUES GOP SHOULD FOCUS ON TO SECURE MIDTERMS VICTORY: ‘I’VE NEVER BEEN MORE CONFIDENT’ Under the order, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) working with the Social Security Administration and other federal databases, will create and share “State Citizenship Lists” with state election officials. The lists are intended to identify individuals confirmed to be U.S. citizens who will be at least 18 years old by the time of a federal election and who reside in that state. Those lists are to be updated and transmitted to states ahead of federal elections, according to the order. The order also directs the attorney general to prioritize investigations and potential prosecutions involving officials or others who issue ballots to individuals not eligible to vote in federal elections, as well as those involved in the “printing, production, shipment, or distribution of ballots” to ineligible voters. SCOTUS CONSERVATIVES SIGNAL READINESS TO CURB LATE-ARRIVING MAIL BALLOTS On mail ballots, the executive order calls on the postmaster general to initiate a rule-making process within 60 days. Proposed changes include requiring ballots to be clearly marked as official election mail, including a unique Intelligent Mail barcode or similar tracking technology, and undergoing Postal Service design review. The order also outlines a system under which states would notify USPS if they plan to use mail-in or absentee ballots and provide lists of eligible voters, allowing the Postal Service to maintain participation records tied to ballot distribution. Trump framed the changes as a direct response to what he described as longstanding vulnerabilities in voting by mail. NOEM BACKS SAVE AMERICA ACT, SLAMS ‘RADICAL LEFT’ OPPOSITION TO VOTER IDS AND PROOF OF CITIZENSHIP “The cheating on mail-in voting is legendary,” he said. “It’s horrible what’s going on.” Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the administration is pushing for a system that ties each ballot to a trackable envelope. “If you voted by mail, you will have it on the envelope,” Lutnick said. “There’ll be a million envelopes… and you’ll be able to know exactly correctly, that citizens voted.” Trump said additional election-related measures, including voter ID and proof of citizenship requirements, are also under consideration. “We’d like to have voter ID, we’d like to have proof of citizenship… we’re working on that,” he said. He also argued that opposition to such measures is politically motivated. “The only people that don’t want to do voter ID are people that cheat,” Trump said. Trump acknowledged the order could face legal challenges but said he believes it will withstand them. “I don’t know how it can be challenged,” Trump said after signing the order. “You may find a rogue judge… but that’s the only way that could be changed.” The executive order states that voting in federal elections is reserved “exclusively for citizens of the United States” and argues that additional safeguards are necessary to “maintain public confidence in election outcomes.” It also says that ballot identifiers such as barcodes can help ensure that only eligible voters receive and cast ballots. Within minutes of Trump signing the order, top elections officials in Oregon and Arizona pledged to sue, arguing the president was illegally encroaching on states’ authority to run elections, according to The Associated Press. Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes said the state’s vote-by-mail system, originally designed by Republicans, is now used by about 80% of voters. Arizona does not need the federal government to determine voter eligibility, and federal data is not always reliable, Fontes said. Trump cast the issue in much broader terms. “If you don’t have honest voting,” he said, “you can’t have really a nation.”
Trump says he will attend Supreme Court oral arguments on birthright citizenship challenge
President Donald Trump said Tuesday he plans to attend Wednesday’s case before the U.S. Supreme Court about who is entitled to birthright citizenship. The justices will hear arguments in Trump v. Barbara, which is challenging his 2025 executive order ending the birthright citizenship practice. Trump issued the order upon taking office, saying birthright citizenship, a product of the 14th Amendment that has been widely interpreted to guarantee citizenship to anyone born in the U.S., has been widely abused by foreigners, specifically illegal immigrants. NEARLY ALL REPUBLICAN AGS ADD FIREPOWER TO TRUMP’S BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP PUSH The case has come before the high court after multiple judges blocked the order from taking effect. The Trump administration has argued the 14th Amendment was originally intended to grant citizenship to former slaves, not to children of illegal immigrants or temporary visitors. “This is not about Chinese billionaires or billionaires from other countries who, all of a sudden, have 75 children or 59 children in one case or 10 children becoming American citizens,” Trump told Fox News senior White House correspondent Peter Doocy in the Oval Office on Tuesday. “This was about slaves. And if you take a look, slaves. We’re talking about slaves from the Civil War.” HOW THE SUPREME COURT’S INJUNCTION RULING ADVANCES TRUMP’S BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP FIGHT The 14th Amendment was ratified in 1898 after the Supreme Court held that children born on U.S. soil are automatically granted citizenship with very few exceptions, such as children of diplomats. Trump noted that people and companies, many from China, have profited off the birth tourism industry by bringing people into the U.S. with the intent of giving birth so their children could be granted American citizenship and, therefore,reap its benefits. “People are making a living, a big living, getting hundreds of thousands and even millions of dollars from bringing people in and saying, ‘Congratulations, your whole family is going to be a citizen of the United States of America,’” he said. “That’s not what it was for. It wasn’t for billionaires bringing people in or family, and it was for the children of slaves.” Critics warn that if birthright citizenship ended, it could create a new class of people born in the U.S. who are not recognized as citizens, while supporters say it would be an incentive for illegal immigration and exploitation. “It is the craziest thing I’ve ever seen,” said Trump. “It’s been so badly handled by legal people over the years. If you look at the original birthright citizenship papers, they all happened right after the Civil War. The reason was it had to do with the babies of slaves. … Our country is being scammed. We’re getting all of these people.”
Illegal alien murder suspect avoided system as ICE pushes Dem governor to keep him locked up
A Guatemalan national in the U.S. illegally — who authorities say entered as a “gotaway” and had never been encountered by federal immigration officials — has been charged in a fatal stabbing in Fairfax County, Virginia, Fox News has learned. Fairfax County Police said Monday that Anibal Armando Chavarria Muy, 38, was arrested and charged with second-degree murder, adding that he is being held without bond. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) sources confirmed to Fox News that Chavarria Muy has no alien registration number, indicating he had not previously been encountered by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and is believed to have entered the U.S. illegally at an unknown time and location. ICE has lodged a detainer with Fairfax County authorities. Officers responded to a reported stabbing just before 9 p.m. Sunday and, upon arrival, located a man inside a residence with multiple stab wounds to the upper body. VIRGINIA PROSECUTOR’S RECORD ON VIOLENT OFFENDERS SCRUTINIZED AFTER ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CHARGED IN MOM’S MURDER Officers immediately performed life-saving measures until Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department personnel took over and transported the man to a nearby hospital, where he was later pronounced dead. The suspect left the scene before officers arrived, police said, and detectives from the Fairfax County Police Department’s Major Crimes Bureau took over the investigation. After an investigation, Chavarria Muy was identified as the suspect. Police said he and the victim were known to each other. HOUSE PANEL SUMMONS SOROS-BACKED FAIRFAX PROSECUTOR OVER RELEASES TIED TO VIOLENT ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CASES Officers ultimately located Chavarria Muy in a vehicle and took him into custody without incident. The DHS said ICE has requested that Fairfax County officials honor the detainer and not release Chavarria Muy from custody, citing past instances where local authorities have declined to comply with such requests. Democrat Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger previously signed an executive order restricting cooperation between state and local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities, reversing a policy under former Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin that had allowed such coordination. DEM SENATOR WARNS DEPORTATION COULD LET VIRGINIA WOMAN’S ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT KILLER ‘ESCAPE ACCOUNTABILITY’ “Anibal Armando Chavarria Muy, a criminal illegal alien from Guatemala, was charged with second degree murder after repeatedly stabbing a man to death in Fairfax County. ICE is calling on Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger and Virginia’s sanctuary politicians to not release this murderer back into our communities,” DHS Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said. “This incident comes just one month after an innocent woman was murdered by another criminal illegal alien at a bus stop in Spanberger’s state. “Open-border policies yet again have caused another preventable tragedy.” The incident comes roughly one month after Stephanie Minter was stabbed to death at a bus stop in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Authorities charged Abdul Jalloh, a 32-year-old Sierra Leone native, in Minter’s killing. Jalloh had been arrested more than 30 times prior to the attack, according to the DHS, with previous charges including rape, malicious wounding, assault, drug possession, identity theft and trespassing. Authorities said prior charges had been dropped, allowing him to remain free. Fox News Digital’s Leo Briceno contributed to this report.
Kristi Noem, Trump respond to shocking cross-dressing photos tied to her husband
President Donald Trump reacted on Tuesday after newly released photos appeared to show the husband of former Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem cross-dressing in private messages to a number of women. The images were allegedly part of a trove of hundreds of messages sent between Noem’s husband, Bryon, and three women, obtained by The Daily Mail. The father of three appeared to be pictured in hot pink underwear, wearing a skin-colored shirt with large, faux breasts worn underneath. The New York Post reported the photos were taken while acting out a “bimbofication” fetish, which focuses on hypersexual, exaggerated physical appearances. TRUMP HIGHLIGHTS BORDER PATROL UNION’S ENDORSEMENT OF SEN. MARKWAYNE MULLIN TO HELM DHS Another image appeared to show Bryon Noem posing with large, fake breasts in a tight light blue T-shirt while making a kissy face. Trump told the Daily Mail he did not know about the photos and was surprised the Noem family confirmed their authenticity. “They confirmed it? Wow, well, I feel badly for the family if that’s the case, that’s too bad,” Trump told the outlet. “I haven’t seen anything. I don’t know anything about it. That’s too bad, but I just know nothing about it.” It is unclear if anyone else inside the administration knew about the alleged photographs. Fox News Digital was unable to authenticate the photos independently. FIRED DHS CHIEF KRISTI NOEM FACES CRIMINAL REFERRAL FROM CONGRESSIONAL DEMOCRATS Markwayne Mullin was sworn in as Homeland Security Secretary last week after Kristi Noem’s March 5 ousting. Kristi Noem is currently serving as special envoy to the Shield of the Americas. In a statement to The Post, a spokesperson for Kristi Noem said she was “devastated” by the discovery. “The family was blindsided by this, and they ask for privacy and prayers at the time,” the spokesperson said. While the couple has been married for more than 30 years, Fox News previously reported rumors of an alleged affair between Kristi Noem and her top advisor, Corey Lewandowski, contributed to her dismissal from the DHS post. NEWSOM DECLARES ‘TRUMP IS IN RETREAT’ AFTER NOEM OUSTER, DEMANDS MILLER BE ‘NEXT’ During her time as 33rd governor of South Dakota, Kristi Noem was sued by a transgender and “gender nonconforming” advocacy group, The Transformation Project, after the state terminated a contract with the organization. She also received backlash from the LGBTQ community for signing the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which advocates claimed sanctioned discrimination against queer people. The White House, Department of State and DHS did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment. This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
PHOTOS: Anti-ICE agitators dox agents by sending warning postcards to neighbors
EXCLUSIVE: Activists and agitators opposed to enforcement of federal immigration laws have found a new, intrusive way to dox or leak personal and identifying information of ICE and CBP agents, the Department of Homeland Security exclusively told Fox News Digital Tuesday. Immigration agents continue to face an escalating 8,000% increase in death threats and a 1,300% increase in assaults since President Donald Trump took office in January 2025, according to DHS. An ICE agent living in Wake County, North Carolina, was doxxed in recent days, as evidenced by postcards sent to the officer’s neighbors with language suggesting they needed to be warned of his presence on their block. “Beware, your neighbor is an ICE agent. Immigration enforcement lives next door,” the postcard said in billboard-style font festooned with a generic image of a federal agent and a mock-up of an ICE badge addressed to a resident in Raleigh. DEMOCRATIC OFFICIALS, TIKTOKERS, LIBERALS TAKE THEIR ANTI-ICE RHETORIC TO THE NEXT LEVEL The message section of the postcard shared with Fox News Digital showed what appeared to be a still shot from CCTV footage depicting a Black federal immigration agent. DHS blurred the agent’s face, which was not blurred in the original mailing. DHS Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis told Fox News Digital the doxxing only adds to threats because agents “risk their lives every single day to remove murderers, pedophiles, rapists, terrorists and gang members from American neighborhoods.” Fox News Digital also noticed fine print on the doxxing postcard’s postage stamp indicating it was sent “presorted first-class,” a special subset of USPS business mail that requires the sender to mail at least 500 pieces, each weighing 3.5 ounces or less. Presorted first-class also requires more than typical local “junk mail” granted presorted standard postage, which indicates at least 50 such letters or postcards. That detail indicates that hundreds of such postcards were disseminated around the country. THE FAR-LEFT NETWORK THAT HELPED PUT ALEX PRETTI IN HARM’S WAY, THEN MADE HIM A MARTYR “Comparing ICE day-in and day-out to the Nazi Gestapo, the Secret Police and slave patrols has consequences,” Bis said Tuesday. “The men and women of ICE are fathers and mothers, sons and daughters. They get up every morning to try and make our communities safer. “Like everyone else, they just want to go home to their families at night. The violence and dehumanization of these men and women who are simply enforcing the law must stop.” The news comes weeks after identifying information for a reported 4,500 ICE and USBP employees was allegedly leaked by a DHS whistleblower to an Irish national who runs a website called the “ICE list.” After the shooting death of Renee Good in January, Dominick Skinner received the massive dataset, The Daily Beast reported. The outlet quoted the website administrator as saying information about ICE agents’ identities flooded in. Some people told him their neighbors were allegedly immigration agents, while hotel and bar staff reportedly sent him sticky notes, according to the outlet. Skinner, who now lives in the Netherlands but has American family, told the outlet the website was not supposed to turn into a database but suggested it was a response to then-Secretary Kristi Noem warning people stateside they could be prosecuted for doxxing. Anyone who receives similar postcards or paraphernalia doxxing DHS agents is advised to contact ICE’s tip line at (866) DHS-2-ICE or (866) 347-2423.