The Latest: Supreme Court allows Texas to use map favoring Republicans in 2026
A divided Supreme Court has come to the rescue of Texas Republicans Thursday s ruling allows the state s next congressional elections to use the GOP s new map pushed by President Donald Trump despite a lower-court ruling that it likely discriminates on the basis of race The U S Southern Command informed another strike against a small boat in the eastern Pacific Ocean on Thursday the nd attack on the Trump administration asserts were trafficking drugs And the Trump administration has instructed U S embassies and consulates around the world to prioritize visa applications for foreign investors or World Cup ticket holders a mixed message amid Trump s expanding immigration crackdown Trump is taking center stage at Friday s FIFA draw The Latest White House to submit plans for new ballroom to planning commission The White House is expected to submit plans for Trump s new ballroom to a federal planning commission before the year ends about three months after construction began Will Scharf named by Trump as chairman of the National Capital Planning Commission explained Thursday that White House colleagues recounted him the long-awaited plans will be filed sometime in December Once plans are submitted that s really when the role of this commission and its professional staff will begin announced Scharf who is also a top White House aide He revealed the review process would happen at a normal and deliberative pace Separately the White House certified Thursday that a second architectural firm has been added to the project Spokesperson Davis Ingle noted architect Shalom Baranes of Washington D C was needed as construction moves into a new phase Read more about the proposed plans Another boat is sunk amid probe into the first strike The U S Southern Command commented the strike on the small boat in the eastern Pacific Ocean Thursday was the nd strike so far killing four people and raising the death toll to at least The strike was communicated as Adm Frank Mitch Bradley appeared for classified briefings as lawmakers began an scrutiny into the very first strike Bradley narrated them there was no kill them all order from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth Democrats are pushing for the release of video they say shows a war crime or murder Read more about the strike Supreme Court allows Texas to use redistricted map favorable to GOP A divided Supreme Court on Thursday came to the rescue of Texas Republicans allowing next year s elections to be held under the state s congressional redistricting plan favorable to the GOP and pushed by President Donald Trump despite a lower-court ruling that the map likely discriminates on the basis of race With conservative justices in the majority the court acted on an urgency request from Texas for quick action because qualifying in the new districts already has begun with primary elections in March Justice Elena Kagan wrote for the three liberal justices that her colleagues should not have intervened Read more about the ruling Trump calls people from Somalia garbage He mentioned it four times in seven seconds In fact Trump s rhetorical attacks on immigrants have been building since he explained Mexico was sending rapists across the dividing line during his presidential campaign announcement a decade ago But with one flourish closing a two-hour Cabinet meeting Tuesday Trump amped up his anti-immigrant rhetoric even further and ditched any claim that his administration was only seeking to remove people without legal status It was a riveting display in a nation that prides itself as being founded and enriched by immigrants alongside an ugly history of enslaving millions of them and limiting who can come in Trump s U S Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids and deportations have reignited an age-old debate and widened the nation s divisions over who can be an American Read more about Trump s contemporary comments Appeals court Trump must release school mental vitality grants A federal appeals court on Thursday rejected the Trump administration s bid to halt an order requiring it to release millions of dollars in grants meant to address the shortage of mental vitality workers in schools The project was funded by Congress after the school shooting in Uvalde Texas included grants meant to help schools hire more counselors psychologists and social workers with a focus on rural and underserved areas of the country Read more about the decision Trump to direct more water to California farms The U S Bureau of Reclamation on Thursday stated a new plan for operating the Central Valley Project a vast system of pumps dams and canals that direct water southward from the state s wetter north It follows an executive order Trump signed in January calling for more water to flow to farmers arguing the state was wasting the precious supply in the name of protecting endangered fish species Source
