(AUSTIN, Texas) — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott says he wants to oust and replace Democratic lawmakers who fled the state in an attempt to prevent Republican redistricting efforts and charge them with felonies. But that might be a challenge and take some time, the state’s attorney general said Monday.
Abbott said if legislators did not return to Texas by 3 p.m. CT, he would remove them then “swiftly” fill the vacancies.
“I believe they have forfeited their seats in the state legislature because they’re not doing the job they were elected to do,” he said Monday on Fox News.
The governor also said the Democrats could be committing felonies if they solicit funds to pay the $500 daily fines they face for skipping the session.
Republican state Attorney General Ken Paxton said those threats might not be practical.
“We’d have to go through a court process, and we’d have to file that maybe in districts that are not friendly to Republicans. So it’s a challenge because every district would be different. We’d have to go sue in every legislator’s home district,” Paxton said in a Monday interview with conservative commentator Benny Johnson.
Democratic Texas state Rep. Jolanda Jones, an attorney, said Abbott’s threat was merely “smoke and mirrors” during a press conference on Monday from Albany, New York.
“There is no felony in the Texas penal code for what he says. So respectfully, he’s making up some s—,” Jones said. “Subpoenas from Texas don’t work in New York, so he’s going to come get us how?”
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said at the news conference that Democrats were “not breaking the law.”
“This is a legitimate process that has been used before,” Hochul said.
Democratic Texas state Rep. Mihaela Plesa, also speaking from Albany, said Abbott is “trying to manipulate the situation to make it play in his favor. It’s not going to work.”
Experts say Abbott’s threats are more effective as intimidation than as legally enforceable action.
“The governor doesn’t have unilateral power to charge members with bribery or to vacate their seats,” said Brandon Rottinghaus, a political science professor at the University of Houston.
But, “Even if it’s not the case that he can do this, it’s certainly the case that he’s made the high stakes very obvious to Democrats,” he added.
Despite the challenge, Paxton said he was “optimistic” the governor would prevail in the standoff with Democrats. Texas Democrats have said they plan to stay out of state until the end of this special session in two weeks, but Abbott is able to call another special session after that.
“If he keeps calling them back, it’s going to be a challenge for all 51 of them to stay out of the state for the rest of their lives,” Paxton said.
State Rep. Gene Wu, Texas House Democratic Caucus Chair, said Sunday that the lawmakers have received an “outpouring of support from people, from Americans around the country” to help pay their fines.
“My phone has not stopped ringing of people texting us, like, keep going, tell us what you need, give me the donation link,” Wu said during a press conference with Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker.
(AUSTIN, Texas) — A showdown is unfolding in Texas as Gov. Greg Abbott threatens to remove Democrats who have fled the state in protest of Republican-led effort to create a new congressional map.
Abbott said Texas House Democrats have until 3 p.m. local time on Monday to return to the statehouse for the special session or risk losing their jobs. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton suggested Democrats who left should be arrested and forcibly brought back.
The response from the Texas House Democratic Caucus to Abbott’s threat was, “Come and take it.”
Democratic members who left the state are slated to hold various events throughout the day Monday in Democrat-led states.
The proposed congressional map, backed by President Donald Trump, could create up to five new Republican seats and help Republicans keep control of the House in the 2026 midterm elections. Consideration of the bill had been set for Monday, but cannot proceed if Democrats deny a quorum.
Democrats hold events in New York, Massachusetts and Illinois
The first press conference with Texas Democrats on Monday was with New York Gov. Kathy Hochul in Albany.
“We won’t sit on the sidelines while Republicans try to rig the system to give Donald Trump more unchecked power,” Hochul said in a statement. “Texas Democrats are standing up for the future of our democracy, and I’m proud to stand with them in the fight against disenfranchisement.”
Texas House Democrats who have gone to Massachusetts for the National Conference of State Legislators summit will be joined by Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker for a press conference in Boston on Monday at 1 p.m. ET. Then, Texas House Democrats who have gathered in Illinois will hold a press conference with Democratic members of Congress in Chicago.
Pritzker on Sunday accused Trump of “rigging” the new Texas maps out of desperation and worry that due to his policies, he was in danger of losing House Republican majorities in Washington. The Illinois governor also warned the newly-proposed maps set a dangerous precedent across the country.
“This is not just rigging the system in Texas,” Pritzker said. “It’s about rigging the system against the rights of all Americans for years to come.”
Abbott, Paxton threaten action against Democrats
Abbott, in his warning to Texas House Democrats, said leaving the state in protest amounted to “abandonment or forfeiture of an elected state office.”
“Real Texans do not run from a fight,” Abbott said in the statement. “But that’s exactly what most of the Texas House Democrats just did. Rather than doing their job and voting on urgent legislation affecting the lives of all Texans, they have fled Texas to deprive the House of the quorum necessary to meet and conduct business.”
Abbott said if they didn’t return by 3 p.m. local time on Monday, he would invoke Texas Attorney General Opinion No. KP-0382 to remove the missing Democrats from membership in the Texas House. He further went on to claim the lawmakers who left “may also have committed felonies” by fundraising in order to pay the $500 fine they risk accruing each day they are absent.
Paxton, in a social media post, wrote that “Democrats in the Texas House who try and run away like cowards should be found, arrested, and brought back to the Capitol immediately. We should use every tool at our disposal to hunt down those who think they are above the law.”
What’s at stake
The new congressional map was proposed by Texas Republicans following a push by Trump for maps more favorable to Republicans to help the party keep the majority in the House in 2026. Currently, House Republicans are operating with a narrow majority.
Trump has said he wants Republicans to pick up five new seats in Texas and others around the country. Democrats have slammed the move and said it risks hurting minority voters.
As the redistricting battle heats up, a House Republican will introduce legislation to ban mid-decade redrawing of congressional maps nationwide.
California GOP Rep. Kevin Kiley will formally introduce the bill on Tuesday which will “nullify new maps adopted by states before the 2030 census, including any that are adopted this year.” The bill’s future remains uncertain, however, as it’s unlikely to be backed by House Republican leadership.
ABC News’ Lauren Peller contributed to this report.
(AUSTIN, Texas) — A showdown is unfolding in Texas as Gov. Greg Abbott threatens to remove Democrats who have fled the state in protest of Republican-led effort to create a new congressional map.
Abbott said Texas House Democrats have until 3 p.m. local time on Monday to return to the statehouse for the special session or risk losing their jobs. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton suggested Democrats who left should be arrested and forcibly brought back.
The response from the Texas House Democratic Caucus to Abbott’s threat was, “Come and take it.”
Democratic members who left the state are slated to hold various events throughout the day Monday in New York, Massachusetts and Illinois.
The proposed congressional map, backed by President Donald Trump, could create up to five new Republican seats and help Republicans keep control of the House in the 2026 midterm elections. Consideration of the bill had been set for Monday, but cannot proceed if Democrats deny a quorum.
The first press conference with Texas Democrats on Monday was with New York Gov. Kathy Hochul in Albany.
“We won’t sit on the sidelines while Republicans try to rig the system to give Donald Trump more unchecked power,” Hochul said in a statement. “Texas Democrats are standing up for the future of our democracy, and I’m proud to stand with them in the fight against disenfranchisement.”
Texas House Democrats who have gone to Massachusetts for the National Conference of State Legislators summit will be joined by Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker for a press conference in Boston on Monday at 1 p.m. ET. Then, Texas House Democrats who have gathered in Illinois will hold a press conference with Democratic members of Congress in Chicago.
Pritzker on Sunday accused Trump of “rigging” the new Texas maps out of desperation and worry that due to his policies, he was in danger of losing House Republican majorities in Washington. The Illinois governor also warned the newly-proposed maps set a dangerous precedent across the country.
“This is not just rigging the system in Texas,” Pritzker said. “It’s about rigging the system against the rights of all Americans for years to come.”
Abbott, in his warning to Texas House Democrats, said leaving the state in protest amounted to “abandonment or forfeiture of an elected state office.”
“Real Texans do not run from a fight,” Abbott said in the statement. “But that’s exactly what most of the Texas House Democrats just did. Rather than doing their job and voting on urgent legislation affecting the lives of all Texans, they have fled Texas to deprive the House of the quorum necessary to meet and conduct business.”
(AUSTIN, Texas) — Democratic statehouse legislators are planning to leave Texas on Sunday in order to break the quorum of a special legislative session in which Republican state legislators are aiming to pass a new congressional map that could create up to five new GOP seats.
The move comes after a marathon public hearing on the plan in the state Capitol on Friday and less than a week after state Republican legislators proposed the new maps. Republicans hold a majority in the Texas state legislature; Democrats had said they would consider all options to stop the maps from being passed, although their options for striking back have been limited.
“We’re not walking out on our responsibilities; we’re walking out on a rigged system that refuses to listen to the people we represent. As of today, this corrupt special session is over,” state Rep. Gene Wu, who chairs the House Democratic Caucus, said in a statement.
After news broke of Democratic legislators breaking quorum, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton wrote in a post on X that Democrats who left should be arrested and brought back to the state capitol.
“Democrats in the Texas House who try and run away like cowards should be found, arrested, and brought back to the Capitol immediately,” he wrote. “We should use every tool at our disposal to hunt down those who think they are above the law.”
Texas Gov. Gregg Abbott issued a blistering statement Sunday evening, accusing the House Democrats who fled the state and prevented quorum of doing so for illegitimate reasons. He said their premeditated decision could result in forfeiture of elected state office and demanded they must return when the statehouse reconvenes for special session at 3:00 p.m. CT on Monday or risk losing their jobs.
“This truancy ends now. The derelict Democrat House members must return to Texas and be in attendance when the House reconvenes at 3:00 PM on Monday, August 4, 2025. For any member who fails to do so, I will invoke Texas Attorney General Opinion No. KP-0382 to remove the missing Democrats from membership in the Texas House,” part of Abbott’s statement read.
The Texas House Democratic Caucus issued a four-word response to Abbott’s letter, “Come and take it.”
The walkout itself cannot stop the passage of the bill, but Democrats aim to run out the clock on the 30-day special legislative session, which would mean Abbott would have to call another one. Texas House Democrats previously broke quorum in 2021 to try to stop an elections bill and in 2003 to try to stop a similar redistricting effort by Republicans. Republicans eventually managed to pass the bills both times.
President Donald Trump has previously said he wanted Texas legislators to draw five new Republican districts.
More than 51 legislators are leaving the state, denying the state House the two-thirds majority out of 150 legislators it needs to have a quorum. An exact number of how many of the 62 Democratic legislators from the state House were leaving was not immediately available.
Democrats who break quorum risk accruing a $500-a-day fine, according to the state House rules, and potential legal action.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, speaking with “War Room” host and former Trump adviser Steve Bannon, said on Thursday, “The House rules and the Senate rules both allow for these people to be arrested if they leave … The challenge is, if they go out of state, we lose jurisdiction, and that — it’s been a challenge in the past, but in the end, as long as the governor is willing to keep calling sessions, ultimately they have to come home.”
Paxton also said he was not worried about defending the maps in court: “We’ve got, we’ve got good maps. And the legislature has the right to draw the maps they want. They’re politically based, not race-based. And if they’re politically based, then they’re defensible.”
Some of the Democratic legislators fleeing the state will appear on Sunday evening with Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker at a press conference. Pritzker has been a staunch supporter of Texas Democrats and has floated the possibility of getting Illinois’ own congressional maps redrawn if Texas redraws its maps. Illinois’ maps have been criticized by outside observers as highly partisan in favor of Democrats.
In late June, the chair of the Texas Democrats, Kendall Scudder, flew from Dallas to Oklahoma to see Pritzker, who was giving remarks at the state Democratic Party’s dinner. The pair had a private meeting during that time to talk about the possibility of lawmakers fleeing the state to Illinois — and if they were to flee the state, that they would have a place they would feel safe and supported.
Since then, Pritzker and Texas Democrats have been in touch, and a small group of them traveled to Chicago in July when members of the delegation left for Illinois and California for brief meetings.
Pritzker and his team have been helping behind the scenes to help find hotels in the area for the Democrats, help their operation, and grease the wheels so things go smoothly for them as they head to Illinois.
The bill containing the maps had been scheduled to be taken up on the state House floor on Monday.
(NEW YORK) — Derek Dooley, a former University of Tennessee football coach, is launching a bid Monday for the Senate in Georgia, entering a shifting political landscape as candidates vie for coveted endorsements and the chance to unseat Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff.
Dooley is leaning on his football background in his campaign launch, highlighting the fact that he is a political outsider and likening his views on sports to the world of politics.
“The foundation of football is the American Spirit. You work hard, you play by the rules, you keep fighting when adversity hits — you have a fair shot at achieving your dreams,” Dooley’s campaign says in his release.
“As a coach, I wanted that for all my players. As your next U.S. Senator, I want that for all Georgians — and all Americans.”
His campaign is betting on his newcomer status to appeal to voters, launching a “Georgia First” campaign aiming to make the case to voters that politicians put themselves first rather than their constituents.
Dooley is the son of legendary University of Georgia football coach Vince Dooley and has close personal ties to Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp. Kemp spent time with Dooley’s family growing up and roomed with Derek Dooley’s brother in college.
Vince Dooley, who passed away in 2022, endorsed Trump for president in 2016, appearing with him on stage at a rally in Atlanta.
“You’re the one who’s going to make America great again,” Dooley said, according to the University of Georgia’s student newspaper, the Red & Black.
Republicans are trying to avoid the outcome of their 2022 cycle in the state, when Herschel Walker, another football legend, lost to Sen. Raphael Warnock in a bruising campaign plagued with abortion allegations and questions on his readiness to serve in the Senate.
It led to the Peach State splitting the ticket between the Senate and gubernatorial races, where key candidate disparities appeared between Kemp and Walker. Republicans are now hoping to take back one of the two Democratic-held seats.
However, rather than a clear nominee, the field in the Georgia Republican primary continues to grow after several Republicans launched or mulled bids following Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp’s announcement that he will not run for the seat.
Dooley will, thus far, face off against Republican Reps. Mike Collins and Buddy Carter. Both congressmen have used their strong support of President Donald Trump and his agenda to boost their campaigns, as looming large over the candidates are the sought-after endorsements from Trump and Kemp.
Unlike the other candidates’ launches, Dooley doesn’t center his messages around his support for Trump as heavily as the others did.
Carter proclaimed himself as a “MAGA warrior” and Collins touted his close work with the president on passing the Laken Riley Act. Dooley, on the other hand, offers more of a biographical summary in his announcement, briefly praising Trump for producing results and saying at the end of his video that he’ll work with the president.
The battle for the primary comes as Kemp, who was seen as one of the strongest Republican candidates for the midterm cycle, officially decided not to run for the Senate in May, saying it wasn’t the “right decision” for him.
Since then, he has sought to work with the Trump administration to coalesce the field around a candidate in hopes of avoiding yet another midterm loss.
Trump met with Kemp earlier this summer to discuss the state’s Senate primary. The White House and Kemp have aimed to avoid a messy primary and have engaged with each other on the best approaches.
(AUSTIN, Texas) — Democratic statehouse legislators are planning to leave Texas on Sunday in order to break the quorum of a special legislative session in which Republican state legislators are aiming to pass a new congressional map that could create up to five new GOP seats.
The move comes after a marathon public hearing on the plan in the state Capitol on Friday and less than a week after state Republican legislators proposed the new maps. Republicans hold a majority in the Texas state legislature; Democrats had said they would consider all options to stop the maps from being passed, although their options for striking back have been limited.
“We’re not walking out on our responsibilities; we’re walking out on a rigged system that refuses to listen to the people we represent. As of today, this corrupt special session is over,” state Rep. Gene Wu, who chairs the House Democratic Caucus, said in a statement.
After news broke of Democratic legislators breaking quorum, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton wrote in a post on X that Democrats who left should be arrested and brought back to the state capitol.
“Democrats in the Texas House who try and run away like cowards should be found, arrested, and brought back to the Capitol immediately,” he wrote. “We should use every tool at our disposal to hunt down those who think they are above the law.”
The walkout itself cannot stop the passage of the bill, but Democrats aim to run out the clock on the 30-day special legislative session, which would mean Texas Gov. Greg Abbott would have to call another one. Texas House Democrats previously broke quorum in 2021 to try to stop an elections bill and in 2003 to try to stop a similar redistricting effort by Republicans. Republicans eventually managed to pass the bills both times.
President Donald Trump has previously said he wanted Texas legislators to draw five new Republican districts.
More than 51 legislators are leaving the state, denying the state House the two-thirds majority out of 150 legislators it needs to have a quorum. An exact number of how many of the 62 Democratic legislators from the state House were leaving was not immediately available.
Democrats who break quorum risk accruing a $500-a-day fine, according to the state House rules, and potential legal action.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, speaking with “War Room” host and former Trump adviser Steve Bannon said on Thursday, “The House rules and the Senate rules both allow for these people to be arrested if they leave … The challenge is, if they go out of state, we lose jurisdiction, and that — it’s been a challenge in the past, but in the end, as long as the governor is willing to keep calling sessions, ultimately they have to come home.”
Paxton also said he was not worried about defending the maps in court: “We’ve got, we’ve got good maps. And the legislature has the right to draw the maps they want. They’re politically based, not race based. And if they’re politically based, then they’re defensible.”
Some of the Democratic legislators fleeing the state will appear on Sunday evening with Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker at a press conference. Pritzker has been a staunch supporter of Texas Democrats and has floated the possibility of getting Illinois’ own congressional maps redrawn if Texas redraws its maps. Illinois’ maps have been criticized by outside observers as highly partisan in favor of Democrats.
In late June, the chair of the Texas Democrats, Kendall Scudder, flew from Dallas to Oklahoma to see Pritzker, who was giving remarks at the state Democratic Party’s dinner. The pair had a private meeting during that to talk about the possibility of lawmakers fleeing the state to Illinois — and if they were to flee the state, that they would have a place they would feel safe and supported.
Since then, Pritzker and Texas Democrats have been in touch, and a small group of them traveled to Chicago in July when members of the delegation left for Illinois and California for brief meetings.
Pritzker and his team have been helping behind the scenes to help find hotels in the area for the Democrats, help their operation, and grease the wheels so things go smoothly for them as they head to Illinois.
The bill containing the maps had been scheduled to be taken up on the state House floor on Monday.
(WASHINGTON) — The deadly mid-air collision at Reagan Airport in January was years in the making, the operations manager of the DCA air traffic control tower on the night of the accident told the National Transportation Safety Board on Friday.
“I don’t think this accident occurred that night,” Clark Allen, the operations manager, said at the investigative hearing. “I think it happened years before we’ve talked about, you know, resources, whether they were available or unavailable at certain time frames, folks being listened to or not being listened to at certain times. This was not that evening. It was a combination over many years that I think that built up to that evening.”
The NTSB concluded three days of hearings late Friday, during which the agency’s investigators questioned officials from the Federal Aviation Administration, U.S. Army, American Airlines regional subsidiary PSA Airlines and other parties over January’s mid-air collision between an American Airlines regional jet and an Army Black Hawk helicopter over Washington, D.C., that killed 67 people.
It was the nation’s first major commercial airline crash since 2009.
During the hearings, the NTSB was told that the Army helicopter never heard the command from the air traffic controller to “pass behind the CRJ” as the transmission was stepped on. It was also revealed that the plane’s pilots were not warned by the controller that there was a helicopter nearby or cleared to fly near the helicopter.
NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy also called out the FAA for not sharing a full list of who was working in the control tower the night of the crash until July 6, months after the accident.
Pilots likely didn’t know how high they were flying The NTSB’s investigation found discrepancies in the altitude data shown on radio and barometric altimeters on Army helicopters after conducting test flights following January’s accident.
It is likely that the helicopter crew did not know their true altitude due to notoriously faulty altimeters inside this series of Black Hawks, according to the investigation. At their closest points, helicopters and planes flew within 75 feet of each other near DCA, an astonishingly close number. During the hearings, the NTSB was told Army Black Hawks can often have wrong readings and a margin of error of +-200 feet.
“I am concerned there is a possibility that what the crew saw was very different than what the true altitude was. We did testing in May that shows concerns with the altimeters, the barometric altimeters on the 60 Lima. So we are concerned, and it’s something we have to continue to investigate how significant is 100 feet in this circumstance,” Homendy told reporters on Wednesday.
Army officials told the NTSB investigators that they plan to inform other military aviation officials of the altitude discrepancy by September, but NTSB board member Todd Inman criticized this for a lack of urgency.
The Army officials said they are also addressing it by mentioning it in the public testimony.
“I hope every Army aviator is not having to watch the NTSB.gov livestream to figure out if there’s a discrepancy in their altitudes and planes that are flying around,” Inman said.
Disconnect between DCA controllers and FAA leadership NTSB investigators and board members noted that there seems to be a “disconnect” between the information they are getting from the FAA officials versus what the employees have shared with them during the interviews.
“What we’re trying to understand is where the disconnect is because what we have is for example, reports from controllers today that are saying there were 10-15 loss of separation events since the accident,” Homendy said.
Tension in the tower Chair Homendy noted air traffic controllers crying during interviews with investigators following the crash, adding the controller whose voice is heard talking to the doomed aircraft has not returned to work. Tensions have been so high in the tower following the crash, a shouting match turned into a fist fight this spring, ending with a controller being arrested.
Some employees say they feared getting transferred or fired if concerns were brought up to their superiors.
“I hundred percent agree with you. There definitely seems to be some barrier in communication where the people that impacts it the most are not hearing the things that the FAA is moving forward on and that needs to be addressed. I agree,” said Franklin McIntosh, acting chief operating officer of the Air Traffic Organization — the operation arm of the FAA.
“I wholeheartedly agree and I will commit to you and everyone on the board in the panel that I will start working this immediately to make sure whatever those barriers are occurring, that it stops,” McIntosh said. “Clearly someone in the facility doesn’t feel like they’re getting the help that they should be getting and quite honestly if that word’s not getting down, then we need to do a better job in breaking through whatever that barrier is.”
The FAA has pushed back on claims of employees being removed or transferred out of the tower as a result of the collision.
“So we didn’t remove anybody as a result of an accident,” said Nick Fuller, acting deputy chief operating officer with the Air Traffic Organization.
Homendy challenged that assertion saying, “I think many would disagree, since it was done pretty immediately. Also the NTSB had to weigh in several times to get people help in the tower.”
NTSB investigators also pressed FAA officials over controllers who manage DCA airspace feeling pressured to “make it work” due to the large volume of aircraft in the airspace near the airport.
“We have many non-standard tools that we use in order to be able to bring a significant amount of airplanes into DCA, ” said Bryan Lehman, air traffic manager at the Potomac Terminal Radar Approach Control, which manages air traffic control in the region, while also adding that they do take “pride in it,” but that it gets too much after a certain point.
Lehman also testified at the hearing that controllers sent a memo to their superiors in 2023 requesting a lower arrival rate for airplanes, but the concerns were dismissed and Congress approved more flights for DCA.
ADSB policy for Army Despite calls from lawmakers and the NTSB for mandated Automatic Dependent Surveillance–Broadcast (ADSB) — technology that makes the aircraft more visible to the tower, other aircraft and the public — on all aircraft, including military aircraft, it remains a point of hesitation for the Army.
All aircraft flying over 18,000 feet are required to have ADSB but certain aircraft, including military aircraft, are exempt from transmitting ADSB location when flying for security reasons.
“I’m pretty sure most people are aware of the fact that it’s inherently open source,” Army Lt. Col. Paul Flanigen told the hearing panel on Friday. “It has some spoofing vulnerabilities which make it non-conducive for those sensitive missions, which not just the army, but all of DOD has to operate on.”
As previously reported by ABC News, the helicopter involved in the accident was not transmitting ADSB out, meaning it wasn’t transmitting its location for other aircraft nearby to see where it was.
A Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) — which detects other aircraft in close proximity — was also not installed in the helicopter, according to the investigation.
The NTSB made a recommendation nearly two decades ago asking the FAA to require ADSB on all aircraft but it was not implemented. The point was brought up again during the hearings.
“Does the FAA right now support requiring any newly manufactured aircraft registered in the U.S. be equipped with ADSB in?” Homendy asked.
McIntosh said yes and showed support towards requiring aircraft to be equipped with ADSB out as well.
Experts have said it’s more effective when an aircraft is equipped with both ADSB in and out so they can transmit their location and also receive the location of other aircraft in its near proximity.
A bill in Congress titled the “Rotor Act” was introduced earlier this week by Sen. Ted Cruz, which would require all aircraft, including military aircraft, to transmit ADSB location when flying. Notably, the newly appointed FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy were present at the news conference and showed their support towards the legislation.
The NTSB’s investigation into the cause of the accident continues and a final report is expected by January 2026.
“We do this to improve safety certainly but we all do this with each of you in mind and your loved ones that were lost tragically with you in mind not just on the CRJ but also PAT 25 so we will continue on and hope to complete this investigation within a year,” Homendy said in her closing remarks on Friday.
(WASHINGTON) — The U.S. Office of Special Counsel confirmed Saturday that it has opened an investigation into former Special Counsel Jack Smith and whether he violated the Hatch Act through his criminal investigations into President Donald Trump.
The investigation follows a referral from Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas earlier this week that asked the OSC to investigate Smith for his investigative and prosecutorial activities prior to the 2024 election which Cotton argued were intended to harm Trump’s political prospects.
Both Smith and former Attorney General Merrick Garland repeatedly maintained prior to departing office that none of the actions taken in either the classified documents investigation or the probe of Trump’s efforts to subvert his 2020 election loss were driven by politics. Trump pleaded not guilty and denied all wrongdoing in both cases.
A spokesperson for Smith’s attorneys did not immediately respond to a request for comment Saturday on the OSC probe. Smith’s cases against Trump were dismissed following the 2024 election due to a longstanding Department of Justice policy prohibiting the prosecution of a sitting president.
The OSC is an independent agency that is not empowered to investigate criminal matters – it is separate from the Special Counsel post that Smith formerly served in under the Justice Department.
OSC primarily operates as an agency to assist government whistleblowers in reporting allegations of waste or wrongdoing, and also enforces the Hatch Act which places restrictions of government employees from engaging in partisan political activities.
It’s unclear what course of action the OSC would even have to take against Smith if its investigation did determine he violated the Hatch Act, given Smith is no longer a government employee.
While it could refer its findings to DOJ, the department has already publicly said that it is investigating Smith and other prosecutors who pursued Trump through its so-called “Weaponization Working Group” that is being led by former interim DC U.S. attorney Ed Martin.
The announcement of the investigation also comes as the administration has found itself under increased scrutiny over its handling of the release of filings relating to deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein — with top officials from across the administration appearing eager to change the subject.
(LOS ANGELES) — An appeals court upheld a lower court’s order to temporarily block federal immigration agents from conducting immigration-related arrests in Los Angeles without probable cause.
In the ruling on Friday night, the ninth circuit court of appeals agreed with a federal judge that immigration agents cannot use race, ethnicity or other factors, including speaking Spanish or speaking English with an accent, as the basis for reasonable suspicion to stop people.
“We agree with the district court that, in the context of the Central District of California, the four enumerated factors at issue — apparent race, ethnicity, speaking Spanish or speaking English with an accent, particular location and type of work, even when considered together — describe only a broad profile and do not demonstrate reasonable suspicion for any particular stop,” the three judge panel said.
The appeals court found that the Trump administration did not dispute in filings that definitive stops in Los Angeles have occurred based on the factors and did not dispute the district court’s conclusion that the reliance on them “does not satisfy the constitutional requirement of reasonable suspicion.”
The judges concluded that plaintiffs “are likely to succeed” in showing that the Trump administration stopped and detained people based on their race, place of work and language.
Last month, immigrant advocacy groups filed a lawsuit accusing the Trump administration of unconstitutional sweeps in Los Angeles.
(MADISON, WI) — — A number of high-profile Democratic governors are ready to fight — ardently throwing support behind their colleagues who have said they will draw new Congressional maps to favor Democrats before the 2026 midterm elections in order to directly counter Texas Republicans’ moves to do the same for their party.
Texas GOP lawmakers just this week released their first draft of the state’s new congressional map that could flip three to five Democratic seats in next year’s midterms.
On Thursday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom promptly responded, saying he’d spoken with state legislators and members of Congress about holding a special statewide election on Nov. 4 for Californians to vote on new congressional maps — ones that would likely favor Democrats.
Convening later in the week for a summer policy retreat on the shores of Madison, Wisconsin, a number of leading Democratic governors have backed Newsom and any other blue state leaders who are taking an offensive position on redistricting.
The Democrats each did so reluctantly, calling Texas Republicans’ efforts “unconstitutional” and “un-American” with hopes that the courts intervene before any new maps steered by either party are implemented. In the meantime, they said it’s time to fight against the Trump-championed GOP redistricting, especially now that other Republican-led states, including Missouri, might follow suit.
“That is so un-American, and it’s a constant threat to our democracy,” Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers said about Republican proposals. “So I’m really pissed, frankly, and we are going to do whatever we can do to stop this from happening.”
Gov. Laura Kelly of Kansas, the Chair of the Democratic Governors Association, explicitly got behind Newsom, Kathy Hochul of New York, JB Pritzker of Illinois and any other governors who are weighing counteraction through special elections, special sessions or additional means of redrawing congressional maps.
“I have never believed in unilateral disarmament, and so while I may not want to participate in certain activities, if I have to, in order to level the playing field, I would support my Democratic colleagues who decide to answer in kind,” Kelly said in an interview.
“If the other side is going to pursue this, regardless of the obvious unconstitutionality of it, then I don’t think we have any other choice but to go there. You just don’t go to the front lines without your bullets,” Kelly said.
Kelly said her strong “preference” would still be for courts to intervene. “In fact, it might actually work to our benefit, you know, to play like this. Okay, we’ll play this game too, and we all go to court.”
Then, Kelly said, “we all lose.”
The process of redistricting could prove to be an uphill battle for Democrats, who have less of an opportunity to gerrymander nationwide than their peers across the aisle because of the varied rules of each state.
It’s the responsibility of partisan legislatures in many Republican-led states to draw the boundaries of all electoral districts. Many more Democratic states use independent citizen-redistricting commissions — a practice used to maintain fairness and combat gerrymandering.
“I do worry,” Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said during the press conference in Madison, about the outcome for Democrats if they decide to get in the redistricting fight.
But, Kelly jumped in, “there’s a bigger risk in doing nothing.”
“You know, we can’t just let this happen and act like it’s fine and hope that the courts fix it. We have no idea, quite honestly, at this point, what the courts might do, but by virtue of us responding in kind, we do send a message,” Kelly added. “We will put up a fight.”
Evers, who campaigned for governor twice on ending gerrymandering in Wisconsin — culminating with their Supreme Court’s decision to strike down the state’s non-contiguous state legislative maps as unconstitutional — said that Wisconsin would not be making any changes to their maps. Other states, though, who may be “up against the wall” should make modifications, Evers said.
“We’re not changing our maps. Here in the state of Wisconsin, we worked hard to get fair maps, and we’re going to continue to do so … in my heart of hearts, this is where we have to be. But when … you have a gun against your head, you got to do something,” Evers said.
Govs. Kelly, Walz, and a number of other Democratic governors also said they’d steer clear of redrawing their maps this cycle, either because they lead predominantly Republican states or because their redistricting processes wouldn’t allow for a swift process to combat current GOP efforts.
The idea of retaliating against Republicans on the matter of redistricting is a notable shift in strategy for Democrats, who have long touted their reverence for “playing by the rules” on constitutional issues.
For years, Democrats have championed independent redistricting and rules meant to encourage fairer maps are now holding them back in some areas and making it more challenging for them in certain districts.
“Democrats are expected to have the decorum. We’re expected to protect the institution. We’re expected to follow the rules on this,” Walz said, saying time for the party to go aggressively on offense to combat the Trump administration.
“We’re not playing with a normal administration. We’re playing one that is throwing all the rules out of there, and if the courts that he has packed aren’t going to do that, then I think it is incumbent upon states that have the capacity or the ability to make sure that we are responding in kind,” said Walz. “It is a terrible spot we’re in as a country, but not responding is going to make it even worse.”
