Stephen Dinan

Texas launches full legal assault on runaway Democrats blocking redistricting

Texas Republican officials have asked California to help arrest the Democratic lawmakers who fled to the West Coast last week, seeking to scuttle GOP plans to pad their numbers in the U.S. House by redrawing the Texas congressional map.

August 10, 2025

Art and absurdity of redrawing congressional lines — and then crossing them

We've come a long way from the country's first-ever gerrymander, which involved two future presidents vying to get elected to the first Congress.

August 10, 2025

Texas judge blocks Beto O’Rourke from helping runaway Democrats

A Texas judge issued a restraining order Friday blocking former Rep. Beto O'Rourke from using his political group to help state Democratic lawmakers remain on the lam.

August 8, 2025

Gov. Newsom vows to ‘nullify’ Texas with 5 more Democratic seats in California

California Gov. Gavin Newsom promised retaliation against Republicans if Texas follows through on redrawing its congressional map, saying he'll ask voters to approve a new map that would counter GOP gains with five new Democratic seats in his own state.

August 8, 2025

Paxton asks Texas Supreme Court to strip absent Democratic lawmakers of their seats

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton asked his state's Supreme Court to boot some Texas Democrat "cowards" out of their legislative seats after they failed to show up for business Friday, breaking an unofficial deadline.

August 8, 2025

Texas Democrats face deadline to return or risk expulsion, arrest

Democrats in the Texas Legislature are staring at a Friday deadline for returning or facing consequences that Republicans say could include arrest or ouster from their statehouse seats.

August 8, 2025

Appeals court slaps down Judge Boasberg’s contempt proceedings against Trump officials

A federal appeals court has delivered a reprimand to Judge James Boasberg, telling him he's gone too far in his effort to pursue criminal charges against Trump administration figures who he says intentionally defied his orders to bring back three planeloads of unauthorized immigrants earlier this year.

August 8, 2025

Trump asks Supreme Court to approve ICE’s arrests in Los Angeles

The Trump Justice Department sparked the next major legal battle over his deportation policies Thursday, rushing to the Supreme Court to ask the justices to give a preliminary OK to Homeland Security's aggressive push to arrest illegal immigrants in Los Angeles.

August 7, 2025

Judge halts new construction at ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ migrant detention camp amid ecological concerns

A federal judge ordered the government Thursday to shut down any new construction at "Alligator Alcatraz," Florida's new migrant detention camp -- but allowed it to keep current operations going.

August 7, 2025

Oklahoma moves to cancel in-state tuition for illegal immigrants after DOJ prod

Oklahoma and the Trump Justice Department have reached a deal to overturn the state's law that has allowed illegal immigrants to pay in-state tuition rates.

August 7, 2025

Trump orders work on new census that will not include those in U.S. illegally

President Trump announced Thursday that he has ordered the Department of Commerce to create a census that will exclude anyone illegally in the U.S.

August 7, 2025

Immigration enforcement agency scraps age limits, reports 80,000 applications in one week

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said that the country's chief deportation force is scratching its age cap and will now accept recruits of all ages, as it seeks to hire up for President Trump's mass deportation push.

August 6, 2025

U.S. freezes assets of Mexican cartel ‘narco-rapper’

The Trump administration expanded its war on Mexico's cartels Wednesday by freezing the assets of leaders of Cartel del Noreste and "narco-rapper" El Makabelico, whom U.S. authorities said uses his concerts to launder money for the designated foreign terrorist organization.

August 6, 2025

Supreme Court, Justice Department push back on lower courts over emergency docket orders

Critics have berated President Trump because they fear he will defy the courts. In recent weeks, however, federal judges have tested the boundaries of the law, with a series of rulings that seem to challenge Supreme Court pronouncements.

August 6, 2025

Court orders California to rethink its ban on hiring illegal immigrants at state schools

A court ordered the University of California to consider hiring migrants, ruling this week that the state's fair employment law allows them jobs even if they're here illegally.

August 6, 2025

Trump creates credibility crisis for Labor Department’s monthly jobs report

Experts on all sides of the political divide said the Bureau of Labor Statistics numbers, while facing some challenges, are not being manipulated to aid Democrats or derail President Trump.

August 5, 2025

Justice Department names and shames sanctuary jurisdictions

The Justice Department named and shamed sanctuary jurisdictions Tuesday, publishing its first list of 12 states, four counties and 19 cities it said try to thwart migrant deportations.

August 5, 2025

DHS to refuse entry to transgender male athletes seeking to compete in women’s sports

The Department of Homeland Security has entered the gender war, announcing Monday it will refuse to issue visas to biologically male foreign athletes who seek to compete in the U.S. as women.

August 4, 2025

Out of order? AI hallucinations suspected in withdrawal of federal judges’ questionable rulings

AI hallucinations aren't just for high school students. Federal judges are apparently turning over their jobs to chatbots and suffering the consequences.

August 3, 2025

Supreme Court orders more briefing in dispute over Louisiana congressional map

The Supreme Court has asked litigants in a major voting rights case to file briefs over whether it's constitutional to allow states to carve out legislative districts to boost racial minorities' electoral power.

August 2, 2025