Embattled Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, teased a potential 2026 primary challenge to Texas Sen. John Cornyn after the lawmaker announced his bid to succeed Minority Leader Mitch McConnell come November.  Paxton took to X, formerly Twitter, Wednesday night — prior to Cornyn revealing his intention to run for leader — addressing speculation about it. Paxton said the senator would have difficulty remaining in his role...

Texas will appeal a ruling by a federal judge to block the state from enforcing a law that would make illegal immigration a state crime, Gov. Greg Abbott said Thursday, further escalating his legal fight with the Biden administration.  Hours earlier, U.S. District Judge David A. Ezra of the Western District of Texas granted a preliminary injunction to block Texas’ Senate Bill 4 from taking effect next week....

After months of just talking among themselves, lawmakers in South Carolina are finally debating making changes in how the General Assembly chooses judges. Senators on Thursday took up a bill altering the procedure for picking who sits on the bench. But there are plenty of warnings that wholesale changes aren’t going to happen in the process by which the General Assembly votes on judges from the Supreme Court...