Tex's Place

By Ben Smith Four Senate Republicans handed Democrats a symbolic victory Tuesday, joining them to pass a non-binding war powers resolution rebuking President Donald Trump's handling of the Iran conflict, accomplishing nothing except giving Tehran a headline. The resolution passed 50-48 with support from Sens. Rand Paul (R-KY), Susan Collins (R-ME), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), and Bill Cassidy (R-LA). Absences from Sens. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Dave McCormick (R-PA) helped secure passage. The vote followed a similar House rebuke earlier this month, when four Republicans crossed party lines to pass a resolution directing the administration to end hostilities with Iran absent congressional authorization. The House measure passed 215-208. Neither vote changes a single thing about U.S. policy, and both sides know it. The Senate action is non-binding and will not go to Trump's desk. Democrats cast the vote as a rebuke of executive war-making authority, but the administration is p...

By The Heartland Institute Gov. Jeff Landry recently signed the Louisiana Energy Protection Act into law, which protects the state’s oil and gas producers from environmental activists seeking to bankrupt them over alleged downstream impacts of climate change. The law prevents anyone from attacking the industry with frivolous climate-focused lawsuits like one that was filed in a Washington state court last year, which is attempting to sue six oil companies after a woman died of heat stroke. The law does not protect the companies from lawsuits over clear and immediate impacts from their operations, like spills and erosion or coastal degradation caused directly by oilfield operations. In other words, the law does not grant broad environmental immunity to the industry. This is a good step for science, energy policy, and, frankly, sanity.  It is insane to try to connect a heatwave, or any bad weather, to a particular oil producer. This isn’t like suing a chemical plant for poisoni...

By Ben Smith A Biden-appointed federal judge in California just threw up another nationwide roadblock against the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, barring ICE from making arrests at immigration courts and tossing a separate detention policy in the same sweeping order. U.S. District Judge P. Casey Pitts of the Northern District of California ruled Tuesday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) violated the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) when they rescinded earlier limits on courthouse arrests without, in his view, giving a sufficient explanation. Pitts vacated the policies in a 71-page order. The order directly affects ICE’s ability to enforce removal cases that are actually being heard. ICE can no longer rely on the Trump administration’s 2025 courthouse-arrest policy, which allowed agents to take illegals into custody when they appeared for immigration court proceedings. Pitts also struck down a June 2025 w...

By Susie Moore It's coming down to the wire for the Supreme Court as it wraps up the 2025 term. With 17 cases yet to be decided, we knew heading into Thursday morning (one of the announced decision days) that there would likely be multiple decisions handed down and that one or more of them was likely to be a "big" one — as in one that was highly anticipated.  As it turns out, none of the five opinions issued by the Court today were "big" ones — except they're always big to the parties involved, and even some of the less flashy, procedural ones have far-reaching implications. That's unquestionably true of the decision in Blanche v. Lau , a case involving returning lawful permanent residents (LPRs) — green card holders — who leave the United States temporarily after allegedly committing certain crimes. Now, normally, LPRs are treated as though they are already admitted to the United States when they return from brief travel abroad. But the Immigration ...

By Paul DeLaCruz Oh, how the bow-tied mighty have fallen. Tucker Carlson, once the polished face of prime-time Fox News conservatism, the guy who could eviscerate liberal hypocrisy with a smirk and a stack of note cards, has officially declared “I'm out” on the Republican Party. In a recent podcast appearance, he wailed that he could no longer support a party “not loyal to the United States” that puts “the interest of a foreign country above those of its own citizens.” Translation : Tucker’s mad that America is backing Israel against Iran, and he’s ready to burn the whole GOP tent down rather than admit that sometimes foreign policy involves allies who aren’t perfect. The man who built a career calling out elite betrayal has decided the real betrayal is... supporting a democratic ally against jihadist threats and the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism. Peak 2026 irony. The Great Transformation: America Last, Grievances First Let’s be clear: Tucker didn’t ju...

By Elaine Mallon New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani cemented his status as a political kingmaker after all three Democratic Socialist candidates he backed won their primary races. Major upsets unfolded in New York City on Tuesday night as Mamdani-backed candidates Brad Lander and Darializa Avila Chevalier defeated incumbent Reps. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., and Adriano Espaillat, D-N.Y., respectively. And in the open 7th Congressional District, Democratic Socialist Claire Valdez won in spite of outgoing incumbent Rep. Nydia Velázquez, D-N.Y., endorsing another candidate. The victories for the Mamdani-backed candidates have sparked questions about where the Democratic Party is headed is headed and whether the traditional party establishment’s influence is waning. Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., alleged that House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., cut a deal with Zohran Mamdani to ensure New York City Council member Chi Ossé did not challenge him, claiming Jeffries feared he would lo...

By Streiff The first-place trophy in the FAFO Competition was officially retired today as nine Antifa terrorists were awarded a total of 450 years in federal prison for their attack on July 4, 2025, on the Prarieland ICE Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas; see TX Police Officer Shot in Neck at ICE Detention Center, Multiple Suspects Arrested Wearing Body Armor – RedState . Defendant Maricela Rueda received 70 years. Defendants Autumn (Cameron Arnold, no word on his preferred pronouns) Hill, Zachary Evetts, Savanna Batten, Meagan Morris (or Bradford Morris), and Elizabeth Soto scored 50 years each. A Mexican national named Daniel Rolando Sanchez-Estrada was in ninth place with 30 years. The big winner was the ringleader, a former Marine Corps Reservist named Benjamin Hanil Song. He was adjudged responsible for the shooting of Alvarado Police Department Lieutenant Thomas Gross and received 100 years, yes, you read that correctly, 100 years in prison. With good behavior, he could be ...

‘Evidence shows that it has for years operated for political purposes,’ MRC President David Bozell says By Brian Flood The Media Research Center (MRC) is out to prove ABC’s "The View" is a "political operation, not a bona fide news interview program" as the network battles the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) over equal time for political candidates.  Earlier this year, the FCC launched an investigation into ABC's " The View " amid the agency's crackdown on equal time for political candidates after Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico appeared on the show. Disney on Monday launched an on-air campaign urging viewers to support "The View," but the conservative MRC feels the show fails to meet the "bona fide news" standards that would make it exempt from the equal time rule. "For nearly four decades, the Media Research Center (MRC) has been an unrelenting media watchdog and a counterforce to a...

By Ryan King WASHINGTON — Iran and Oman announced Tuesday they would jointly handle issues related to future navigation of the Strait of Hormuz and “the costs associated with them” — even as the Trump administration publicly insisted that Tehran can’t charge tolls. Oman and Iran sit on opposite sides of the southern entrance of the strait, and their vague joint statement raised fears that the two countries may try to collect money from ships traveling through the vital waterway. The two countries said in a joint statement they had “agreed to maintain their dialogue on this issue through a joint working group … in order to reach agreement on the future administration of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz and the services that will be provided in this regard and the costs associated with them in accordance with international standards.” Iran and Oman announced a working group Tuesday to administer services related to future navigation of the Strait of Hormuz and “the cos...

By Ben Smith A federal judge in Oregon ordered the fence around Eugene’s federal building removed within 48 hours, finding that it blocked access to a plaza long used for protests, vigils, and public assembly. That may be a win for the plaintiffs, but it leaves one obvious question hanging over the case: What happens to the people who have to work inside the building? U.S. District Judge Mustafa T. Kasubhai issued the bench ruling Monday in a case brought by local activists challenging the federal government’s decision to fence off the upper courtyard after a January riot at the building. The building houses several federal offices, including ICE, the IRS, the Social Security Administration, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The ruling gives the government two days to take down the perimeter fence, though Kasubhai said officials could later install a narrower security setup that does not shut the public out of the upper courtyard. The fence went up in April after Eugene polic...