West Bengal Election 2026: ‘Maa Kali filled me with new energy’, PM Modi says as poll campaign concludes
In an open letter to the voters, which was shared on social media, PM Modi invoked the Hindu goddess Kali, saying the deity filled him with “new energy.” The prime minister also equated the West Bengal election campaigning to a pilgrimage.
Texas legislators investigating July 4 floods to hold first hearings
The two-day hearing marks the first public session for the joint state House and Senate flood investigating committees. Members previously visited Camp Mystic, where 27 girls and the director died.
Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Republican runoff: Who is running for Place 3 and what to know
The criminal court decides death penalty case appeals and rules on petitions for those who believe they’ve been wrongfully detained. Alison Fox and Thomas Smith are in the runoff for Place 3’s Republican nominee.
Meet the mayor of a tiny Texas town who wants to limit how cities can govern
A push to restrict local governments’ power is having downstream effects in tiny towns and big cities like Dallas.
U.S. Supreme Court upholds Texas’ newly redrawn congressional map
The high court had previously allowed the map to be used temporarily, but Monday’s ruling makes that permanent.
Republicans rush to green light White House ballroom following third Trump assassination scare
Republicans are rushing to give President Donald Trump’s controversial ballroom addition to the White House the congressional go-ahead after a shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner. Lawmakers argue that Trump’s desire to build a ballroom at the White House — which ground to a halt after being snarled in litigation — would provide an ideal secure venue for future events following the shooting at the Washington Hilton on Saturday. Sen. Tim Sheehy, R-Mont., announced he would try to fast-track a bill to give congressional approval for construction of the ballroom in the Senate when the upper chamber returns this week. HOUSE GOP PUSHES BACK ON SENATE’S ‘SKINNY’ PLAN TO END RECORD-BREAKING DHS SHUTDOWN He argued that “a president of any party should be able to host events in a secure area without attendees worrying about their safety.” “It is an embarrassment to the strongest nation on Earth that we cannot host gatherings in our nation’s capital, including ones attended by our president, without the threat of violence and attempted assassinations,” Sheehy said in a statement. It’s an about-face on Capitol Hill for Republicans, who, since Trump first announced his plans to build a ballroom last year, have largely kept their distance from the issue. And it’s one spurred by the shooting on Saturday night, when Cole Allen was subdued by federal law enforcement after exchanging gunfire near the ballroom of the Washington Hilton, where Trump and his Cabinet, along with hundreds of guests, were seated for the annual White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner. But a lawsuit and an ensuing court-ordered injunction against the 90,000-square-foot, $400 million gilded behemoth — which was being built where the White House’s East Wing once stood — have thrown the future of the project into question. SENATE GOP RAMS THROUGH BLUEPRINT TO BANKROLL ICE, BORDER PATROL THROUGH END OF TRUMP ERA A federal court ordered in March that the construction end without congressional approval. That ruling was later appealed to allow construction to continue below ground for what Trump previously described as a “shed” for a military complex. After the shooting, Trump pushed for construction to continue. “We need the ballroom,” Trump said at a news conference Saturday night. “That’s why Secret Service, that’s why the military are demanding it.” TRUMP ADMIN URGES RESTORING BALLROOM CONSTRUCTION IN EMERGENCY MOTION: ‘TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE’ Now Republicans are getting involved. Reps. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., and Randy Fine, R-Fla., like Sheehy, are planning to introduce legislation that would give congressional approval to the project. “I don’t believe congressional approval is required for the project, but if it’ll keep activist judges on the sideline, so be it,” Boebert said on X. The latest legislative push in the lower chamber comes during a week full of deadlines and must-do items for House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La. Among them is consideration of the Senate’s budget blueprint to fund immigration operations for the remainder of Trump’s presidency. At least one lawmaker, Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, wants any consideration of the blueprint to “provide for construction of a secure ballroom on White House grounds.” For now, it’s not entirely a partisan issue. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., one of the few Democrats at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner, argued that rancor between the aisles should be put aside to support ballroom construction. “That venue wasn’t built to accommodate an event with the line of succession for the U.S. government,” Fetterman said on X. “After witnessing last night, drop the TDS and build the White House ballroom for events exactly like these.”
Supreme Court hands GOP a redistricting win by striking down lower court block on Texas map
The Supreme Court handed down a victory for the Republican Party on Monday, striking down a lower court’s ruling that had blocked Texas’ plans for redrawing its congressional districts. The court hung its order on reasoning from a previous ruling in Abbott v. League of United Latin American Citizens but did not elaborate. The three liberal justices, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson, dissented. The decision comes after the Supreme Court temporarily greenlit the state’s map in December and California’s map in February. Both states spearheaded the mid-cycle redistricting fights that have now been cropping up across the country. The high court’s approval of both states’ maps, giving Republicans and Democrats five-seat advantages, respectively, served to cancel each other’s efforts out ahead of the 2026 midterms. DOJ BACKS TEXAS IN SUPREME COURT FIGHT OVER REPUBLICAN-DRAWN MAP Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, had asked the Supreme Court last year to pause a three-judge panel’s ruling in the Western District of Texas that found 2-1 that race was too much of a factor in its redraw and that the state had improperly attempted to pack Latino and Black voters into new districts. The Department of Justice also chimed in, telling the high court to intervene and reverse the lower court decision, saying Texas’ choice to change its map was driven by purely “partisan objectives,” not racial objectives, which could violate the Voting Rights Act. The voting and immigrant rights groups who challenged Texas and Abbott claimed that the map was an illegal racial gerrymander. The high court granted a 6-3 temporary stay in December, finding in an unsigned order that the groups had committed “at least two serious errors,” including that they did not extend the Texas legislature the “presumption of legislative good faith.” REAGAN-APPOINTED JUDGE TORCHES COLLEAGUES IN TEXAS MAP FIGHT Second, the groups did not offer an alternative map that served Texas’ stated political needs, the justices said. The high court said in the order that the lower court should also not have “interfered with an active primary campaign, causing much confusion and upsetting the delicate federal-state balance in elections.” In the dissent, Justice Elena Kagan, an Obama appointee, criticized the conservative majority for its “eagerness to playact a district court.” “This Court’s stay guarantees that Texas’s new map, with all its enhanced partisan advantage, will govern next year’s elections for the House of Representatives,” Kagan wrote. “And this Court’s stay ensures that many Texas citizens, for no good reason, will be placed in electoral districts because of their race. And that result, as this Court has pronounced year in and year out, is a violation of the Constitution.”
Obama sets internet ablaze with ‘sick’ reaction to the ‘motive’ of WHCD shooter
Former President Barack Obama sparked an online firestorm over the weekend after his X post discussing the “motive” of the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner shooter went viral. “Although we don’t yet have the details about the motives behind last night’s shooting at the White House Correspondents Dinner, it’s incumbent upon all us to reject the idea that violence has any place in our democracy,” Obama posted on X on Sunday evening, roughly 24 hours after President Trump and top officials were whisked out of the Washington Hilton Hotel when shots rang out from a man who stormed security during the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner. “It’s also a sobering reminder of the courage and sacrifice that the U.S. Secret Service Agents show every day. I’m grateful to them — and thankful that the agent who was shot is going to be okay.” Obama’s post has been viewed nearly 52 million times and sparked outrage from conservatives, who pointed to a manifesto left by the shooter and other details of the attack that they say show the motive was to harm Trump and his Cabinet. WHCD SHOOTING SUSPECT PLANNED TO TARGET TRUMP OFFICIALS, MANIFESTO REVEALS “Let’s not pretend to be this clueless about motive, @BarackObama,” EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin posted on X. “The attempted assassin put out an anti-Trump manifesto about wanting to kill Trump Admin officials, minutes before trying to storm a ballroom filled with the President, VP, Cabinet, and many others from his Admin.” Former FBI Co-Deputy Director Dan Bongino simply replied, “Are you kidding?” “There is a manifesto, and this is why you are the problem,” Rep. Abe Hamadeh, R-Ariz., posted on X. “Oh come on,” reacted former Department of Homeland Security press secretary Tricia McLaughlin. “There is no ambiguity. It was a politically motivated attack driven by anti-Trump and anti-Christian bile. It’s wrong to downplay or obscure the obvious motive.” Journalist Emma-Jo Morris posted on X, “It’s crazy how irrelevant Obama has become. Just reduced to posting bluesky-tier cope and meaningless cliches, ‘incumbent upon all’ etc.” WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENTS’ DINNER SUSPECT CHECKED INTO HILTON HOTEL ONE DAY BEFORE THE SHOOTING: SOURCES The Republican National Committee commented, “You are so SICK! Law enforcement officers confirmed this radicalized Leftist was targeting President Trump and his administration last night. Why are you lying?” Popular independent journalist Nick Shirley also joined in, urging Obama to “call it out for what it is.” “Wdym by ‘although’? It’s obvious what the motive was,” wrote Shirley. Heritage Foundation media fellow Tim Young took a similar line, telling the former president, “Don’t pretend you don’t know.” “The details were out early this morning and it was clear he was a leftist trying to harm as many people in Trump’s cabinet as possible,” Young wrote. WHO IS COLE ALLEN? CALIFORNIA MAN NAMED AS SUSPECT IN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENTS’ DINNER SHOOTING “Agreed on condemning political violence, but you know what his motives were,” “Charlie Kirk Show” Executive Producer Andrew Kolvet posted on X. “This is a lie—the gunman’s manifesto was published six hours ago,” political commentator Batya Ungar-Sargon posted on X. “But it’s also a confession—an admission that the motive is damning to President Obama’s side, hence the need to lie.” Authorities have identified Cole Allen, a 31-year-old California resident, as the suspect who allegedly opened fire during the annual event attended by Trump and senior administration officials. Federal law enforcement officials confirmed to Fox News Digital that after Allen’s arrest, he said he intended to target Trump administration officials and had prepared a manifesto detailing his intent, while also sharing anti-Trump and anti-Christian rhetoric on social media. U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro told reporters at a news conference after the shooting that Allen has been charged with two counts of using a firearm during a crime of violence and assault on a federal officer using a dangerous weapon. Pirro also said more charges are expected. Fox News Digital reached out to Obama’s office for comment.
Watchdog report exposes teachers union ‘political machine’ funneling more than $1 billion to liberal causes
FIRST ON FOX: A new pair of reports is shedding fresh light on how teachers unions across the country have quietly poured more than $1 billion into political causes over the past decade, with a top education watchdog warning the spending reflects a growing focus on activism rather than classroom priorities. According to research from Defending Education, national teachers unions alone have directed roughly $669 million toward left-wing political groups, advocacy organizations and campaigns since 2015. When state and local affiliates are included, that figure balloons to more than $1 billion in total political spending. The reports track spending from the two largest unions, the National Education Association (NEA) and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), as well as their state-level affiliates, using federal filings and campaign finance records. “These entities are a political machine,” Rhyen Staley, research director at Defending Education, told Fox News Digital. NATION’S 2 LARGEST TEACHERS UNIONS FUNNELED NEARLY $50M TO LEFT-WING GROUPS, WATCHDOG REPORT SAYS “Show me your budget and I will show you what you value; and what the teachers unions value is political power and advancing a left wing, social justice agenda. Parents, families, and communities have little to no counter to the influence that teachers union dollars have on state and local campaigns. Gone are the days of unions just advocating for higher wages, better working conditions, and good health insurance; they are a political machine focused on fomenting a ‘political revolution.’” The Defending Education report found the unions’ political spending stretches across a vast network of progressive organizations and political committees, including the State Engagement Fund, which received more than $60 million, and For Our Future Action Fund and its affiliates, which pulled in more than $40 million. Unions also directed tens of millions toward major Democratic-aligned political committees, including the Senate Majority PAC and House Majority PAC. MOST RADICAL COURSES, CURRICULUM THAT RECEIVED FEDERAL FUNDING IN 2025 In addition, the report found more than $85 million went directly to Democratic Party entities at the federal, state and local levels, not including individual candidate contributions. At the same time, unions funded a wide range of progressive causes, from climate initiatives to ballot campaigns opposing school choice, often routing money through nonprofit groups and political action committees. Some of the progressive groups in the report who took money from the nation’s most powerful teachers unions include: Color of Change + PAC, Indivisible, National Center for Transgender Equality, Planned Parenthood, Sixteen Thirty Fund, New Venture Fund and the Human Rights Campaign Foundation. Defending Education President Nicole Neily argued the findings challenge long-standing assumptions about how union dues are used. “It’s time to dispense with the myth that unions care whatsoever about teachers’ best interests. Educators are victims of a bait-and-switch: instead of their dues going to advocate for increased pay or improved working environments, they’re being spent advancing a hard-left political agenda, underwriting causes such as climate change, gender activism, and abortion (as well as supporting progressive politicians at all levels),” Neily said. “Given the outsized role that unions have played in the education system over the past fifty years, greater transparency on union spending is absolutely critical so that policymakers and teachers themselves can make informed decisions about the role that these entities should — or should not — play in the future.” The spending revelations come as unions and allied organizations ramp up mobilization efforts ahead of May Day protests, which critics have previously warned could serve as a major political organizing push. As Fox News Digital previously reported, teachers unions have played a role in preparing for large-scale demonstrations, with activists framing the events as part of a broader “political revolution.” “It’s very clear that teachers unions seek to destroy our country by turning our students against it,” Teacher Freedom Alliance CEO Ryan Walters told Fox News Digital earlier this year. Fox News Digital reached out to the NEA and AFT for comment.
Ron DeSantis unveils new Florida congressional map that would give the GOP an extra four seats
FIRST ON FOX: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis revealed the new redistricted congressional map for the state, which shows the GOP gaining an extra four seats. Should the state legislature, which holds a Republican majority in both the state House and Senate, approve the redrawing, it would then return to DeSantis to be signed into law and would apply to the 2026 midterms. “Florida got shortchanged in the 2020 Census, and we’ve been fighting for fair representation ever since,” DeSantis told Fox News Digital. “Our population has since grown dramatically, and we have moved from a Democrat majority to a 1.5 million Republican advantage. Drawing maps based on race, which is reflected in our current congressional districts, is unconstitutional and should be prohibited.” “Our new map for 2026 makes good on my promise to conduct mid-decade redistricting, and it more fairly represents the makeup of Florida today,” DeSantis added. REPUBLICAN GOVERNOR SIGNS INTO LAW TRUMP-BACKED CONGRESSIONAL REDISTRICTING MAP Currently, the Florida delegation to Congress is represented by 20 Republicans and seven Democrats, with an eighth Democratic seat vacant following the resignation of former Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick. The redistricted map proposal comes after Virginia recently approved a constitutional amendment that would allow the state to redraw Virginia’s congressional districts and flip four GOP seats to the Democratic side. Virginia’s new proposed map was praised by Democrats, including Gov. Abigail Spanberger and former President Barack Obama. GOP GOVERNOR NOMINEE PUSHES REDISTRICTING TO OUST STATE’S LONE HOUSE DEM “Virginia voters have spoken, and tonight they approved a temporary measure to push back against a President who claims he is ‘entitled’ to more Republican seats in Congress,” Spanberger said in a statement. “Virginians watched other states go along with those demands without voter input — and we refused to let that stand. We responded the right way: at the ballot box.” Ffity-one and a half percent of Virginia voters approved the amendment last week. Projections show 10 seats that likely will be won by Democrats, and just one by a Republican to represent the entirety of Virginia in Congress. Currently, Democrats hold six seats in Virginia while Republicans hold five. NEW YORK, CALIFORNIA PROJECTED TO LOSE 6 HOUSE SEATS TO RED STATES AFTER 2030, CENSUS ANALYSIS SHOWS A source familiar with DeSantis’ new map told Fox News Digital that the redistricting proposal isn’t as closely tied to Virginia’s recent sway toward Democratic seats, and that the decision is more related to the population increases. “The governor has been planning this long before what took place in Virginia, and continues to be adamant that Floridians deserve fair representation that accurately reflects the state’s changing population and demographics,” the source told Fox News Digital. California implemented a similar strategy with the implementation of Prop 50, which temporarily allows the far-left Democratic assembly in the state to draw new congressional maps. MARYLAND HOUSE APPROVES NEW CONGRESSIONAL MAP AS SENATE LEADERS WARN OF RISKS The new California legislature-drawn maps show Democratic-leaning seats favoring four that were previously held by Republicans, with projections showing Democrats will hold as many as 48 seats in Congress while the GOP could have as few as four. DeSantis faced opposition from House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., who is the most likely pick to serve as speaker of the House should Democrats take back the majority in November. “Our message to Florida Republicans is F around and find out,” Jeffries said. “If they go down the road of a DeSantis dummymander, the Florida Republicans are gonna find themselves in the same situation as Texas Republicans, who are on the run right now. VIRGINIA REPUBLICANS CHARGE ‘POWER GRAB’ AS DEMOCRAT WHO BACKED REDISTRICTING RUNS FOR CONGRESS “Under no circumstances are Texas Republicans picking up five seats. They’ll be fortunate if they get two or three. While in California, we are going to get all five,” Jeffries added. During a news conference in Florida, DeSantis responded to Jeffries’ comments with an invitation to come down to the Sunshine State and campaign for Democratic congressional candidates, implying the state’s Republican majority would hold strong in the midterm. “Please. Be my guest. I will pay for you to come down to Florida to campaign,” DeSantis said. “I’ll put you up in the Florida governor’s mansion. We will take you fishing.” REPUBLICANS APPEAL JUDGE’S DECISION REJECTING NEW YORK CITY GOP DISTRICT LINES “We’ll do all this stuff. There’s nothing that could be better for Republicans in Florida than to see Jeffries, Hakeem Jeffries, everywhere around this state,” DeSantis added. The redistricting fight has been bolstered across red and blue states as both parties attempt to take control of a Congress led by very slim majorities. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., encouraged Florida’s redistricting attempt, saying that the state “has the right to do so. “Florida has the right and the intention to do it. And my view is that they should,” Johnson said last week.