Editor Brian Harrod Provides Comprehensive up-to-date news coverage, with aggregated news from sources all over the world from the Roundup Newswires Network
As far as court battles go, 2017 was a busy year on the voting rights front in Texas - and 2018 will likely be no different. After years of litigation, Texas and its legal foes - minority and civil rights groups and voters of color - begin the year waiting on the courts to rule on the fate of the state's embattled political maps and voter identification requirements.
AP photo Letitia Plummer, a Houston dentist and candidate for Congress to represent Texas District 22, smiles Dec. 9 during a women's candidate training workshop at El Centro College in Dallas. EMILY'S List, an organization dedicated to electing candidates at all levels of government who support abortion rights, is conducting a national recruitment effort looking to train candidates and potential candidates in over 20 states.
The Texas Public Policy Foundation, which has more than 75 employees in Texas, will open a new office D.C. in January. Its leaders plan to increase its D.C. staff from five to as many as 15 employees in 2018, to seek rollbacks and changes to environmental and health care issues, and work on criminal justice reform.
U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts is promising a careful evaluation of the federal judiciary's sexual misconduct policies. WASHINGTON - Chief Justice John Roberts is promising a careful evaluation of the federal judiciary's sexual misconduct policies and an effort to highlight the work of court employees following the year's destructive hurricanes.
President Donald Trump surrounded by members of congress and supporters as he speaks during an event on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, to acknowledge the final passage of tax overhaul legislation by Congress. Trump's unpredictable, pugnacious approach to the presidency often worked against him as Republicans navigated a tumultuous but ultimately productive year in Congress.
With control of the White House and both chambers of Congress, Republicans had high hopes of pushing an ambitious agenda forward and making good on last year's campaign promises. But their long-held promise of repealing and replacing the 2010 health care law stalled in the Senate in one of the most dramatic moments of the year.
A presidential adviser says Donald Trump has full confidence in his new FBI director despite a series of attacks on the impartiality of his soon-to-retire deputy. A presidential adviser says Donald Trump has full confidence in his new FBI director despite a series of attacks on the impartiality of his soon-to-retire deputy.
Two consulting firms hired to help the United States police ZTE Corp's compliance with trade sanctions have resigned, according to four people familiar with the matter. FILE PHOTO: People stand at ZTE's booth during Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, February 27, 2017.
AUSTIN Unless churches in Texas expressly forbid them, loaded guns can legally be taken into houses of worship by anyone licensed to the carry them in the state, Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a legal opinion. "If a church decides to exclude the concealed or open carrying of handguns on the premises of church property, it may provide the requisite notice, thereby making it an offense for a license holder to carry a handgun on those premises," Paxton wrote in his opinion requested by Lt.
Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, second from left, speaks during an event to celebrate Congress passing the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act with, from left, President Donald Trump, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Vice President Mike Pence, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and fellow Republican members of the House and Senate on the South Lawn of the White House on Dec. 20, 2017.
Texas has been awarded billions in federal aid to help recover from Hurricane Harvey and the devastating flooding that followed, but it's unclear how the state is spending its share of the money. Disaster recovery experts say the lack of transparency in Texas could hinder coordination, encourage fraud and squander an opportunity not only to rebuild after one of the country's costliest natural disasters, but also to mitigate the risks of the next monster storm.
New Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen has kept up her tough talk on immigration enforcement during a multi-day trip to the Southwest border, calling out sanctuary cities and backing President Donald Trump's proposed border wall. After a stop in Austin Tuesday to discuss Texas' anti-sanctuary cities law, Nielsen headed to the U.S.-Mexico border, where she called on local jurisdictions to cooperate with immigration authorities in the detention and deportation of criminal aliens.
But Texas still held more executions than any other state. "Prosecutors, juries, judges, and the public are subjecting our state's death penalty practices to unprecedented scrutiny," said Kristin Houl, executive director of the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, in the release of the group's annual report .
In this Nov. 17, 2017, file photo, George Dorsey walks through his hurricane-damaged home in Houston. If House Republicans have their way, victims of hurricanes in Texas and Florida could deduct their losses on their taxes.
The statement Conway made when asked why Trump's then-Press Secretary Sean Spicer mischaracterized the size of inauguration crowds is one of many Trump-related quotations on the list, assembled by Fred Shapiro, an associate director at the library. "I actually had to limit the amount of Trump-related quotations on the list so as not to have the list overwhelmed by him," Shapiro said.
A U.S. Coast Guard cutter intercepted a self-propelled semi-submersible vessel engaged in smuggling more than 3,800 pounds of cocaine, federal officials said Sunday. According to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection , on November 13, CBP and Marine Operations arrested the crew during operations in international waters, and all three suspects will face charges in the U.S. "The drug cartels are relentless and extremely innovative," National Air Security Operations Center - Corpus Christi Director Allen Durham said.
President Donald Trump's weekend remark about a scaled-back tax cut for corporations sparked behind-the-scenes debate in the U.S. Congress, with a White House aide trying on Thursday to minimize the impact of the president's comment. The US Capitol Building is seen from the Congressional Visitors Center in Washington, U.S., December 6, 2017.
In this Jan. 3, 2017, file photo, House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wis. administers the House oath of office to Rep. Blake Farenthold, R-Texas, during a mock swearing in ceremony on Capitol Hill in Washington.
In this Dec. 5, 2017, photo, House Republicans, from left, Rep. Rob Woodall, R-Ga., Rep. Richard Hudson, R-N.C., Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, and Rep. Mark Sanford, R-S.C., arrive for a closed-door strategy session on Capitol Hill in Washington. Sounding a discordant note among the positive talk on the tax bill, a number of Republicans are delivering a blunt assessment, casting the bill as a boost to big corporations and the wealthy instead of the middle class.
A Texas sheriff who was among the first people to reach two badly injured U.S. Border Patrol agents said he thinks they may have been sideswiped accidentally by a tractor-trailer, not attacked, as President Donald Trump and some others have suggested. The injured agents were found the night of Nov. 18 along a culvert next to Interstate 10 near Van Horn, which is about 110 miles southeast of El Paso and about 30 miles from the border with Mexico.