Trump met with Thune to discuss Senate races, including Texas
Senate Leadership Fund officials were also present at the meeting. The source said the meeting was broadly about Senate races, but Cornyn's race came up.
Paxton and Cornyn are both Trump allies, and the president has not endorsed in the primary.
The meeting comes as polls show Paxton leading Cornyn ahead of the February primary.
The primary could be of top concern to Republicans because other polls show Democrats within striking distance of Paxton in a general election. A poll released by Texas Southern University last month showed Cornyn leading Senate candidate and former Rep. Colin Allred (D-Texas) by 4 points and Paxton leading Allred by 2. A separate poll released by the Senate Leadership Fund, which is supporting Cornyn, showed Cornyn leading Allred by 6 points, while Hunt led Allred by 4 and Paxton trailed him by 1.
Cornyn's allies believe a Trump endorsement would help Cornyn close the gap with Paxton, and would alleviate any general election concerns.
The dynamic has made Democrats particularly optimistic in the red state ahead of 2026. The Texas Majority PAC and the Texas Democratic Party launched an eight-figure campaign dubbed 'Blue Texas' last week aimed at electing Democrats up and down the ballot in the Lone Star State next year.
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UPI
22 minutes ago
- UPI
State Department cutting 1,353 jobs amid downsizing
The State Department on Friday notified more than 1,300 workers they were being fired as part of downsizing planned by Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Photo by Al Drago/UPI | License Photo July 12 (UPI) -- The State Department on Friday began notifying 1,353 affected workers of their pending job losses as the department reduces its workforce by 15%. The people losing their jobs amid the downsizing work in positions that are being eliminated or consolidated, a State Department official told media on Thursday, NBC News reported. "This is the most complicated personnel reorganization that the federal government has ever undertaken," the official told reporters during a briefing. "It was done so in order to be very focused on looking at the functions that we want to eliminate or consolidate, rather than looking at individuals." The State Department notified 1,107 civil service and 246 foreign service workers of their pending job losses, CBS News reported. The department plans to eliminate nearly 3,400 positions, including many who have already accepted voluntary departure offers this year. The State Department also will close or consolidate many U.S.-based offices as part of the reduction in force that is being done in accordance with a reorganization plan, which members of Congress received in March. The Trump administration says the downsizing is needed to eliminate redundancy and better enable the State Department to focus on its primary responsibilities. Secretary of State Marco Rubio created the downsizing plan, which he said is needed due to the department being too costly, ideologically driven and cumbersome, The New York Times reported. The downsizing isn't going unchallenged on Capitol Hill. All Democratic members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Friday opposed the downsizing in a letter sent to Secretary of State Marco Rubio. "During a time of increasingly complex and widespread challenges to U.S. national security, this administration should be strengthening our diplomatic corps -- an irreplaceable instrument of U.S. power and leadership -- not weakening it," the Democratic Party senators said. "However, [downsizing] would severely undermine the department's ability to achieve U.S. foreign policy interests, putting our nation's security, strength and prosperity at risk." The Senate Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee include Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, Chris Coons of Delaware, Chris Murphy of Connecticut, Chris Van Hollen of Maryland and Tim Kaine of Virginia. The Senate committee's other Democratic Party members are Jeff Merkley of Oregon, Cory Booker of New Jersey, Brian Schatz of Hawaii, Tammy Duckworth of Illinois and Jacky Rosen of Nevada.
Chicago Tribune
an hour ago
- Chicago Tribune
Medicaid, environment experts react to Trump's megabill, potential effects
Northwest Indiana Medicaid and environmental experts expressed concern with the impacts of the Trump Administration's megabill. President Donald Trump signed a megabill focused on tax breaks and spending cuts into law July 4, the day after a tight House roll call vote of 218-214 in favor of the bill. At its core, the package's priority is $4.5 trillion in tax breaks enacted in 2017 during Trump's first term that would expire if Congress failed to act, along with new ones. This includes allowing workers to deduct tips and overtime pay, and a $6,000 deduction for most older adults earning less than $75,000 a year. 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'I opposed this measure because I cannot in good conscience leave people behind. The Republican Majority made a decision to prioritize their elite donors and corporations, and now seniors, veterans, hard-working Americans, women, children and those yet to be born will pay with increased costs and possibly their lives,' Mrvan said. The bill passed the Senate vote two days before the House vote. The Senate's 50-50 tie was broken by Vice President JD Vance. U.S. Sen. Todd Young said the package includes his legislation that incentivizes R&D activity as well as leveraging private sector investment to increase affordable housing options. 'While I wish this legislation included additional fiscal reforms, this is a strong bill that will benefit Hoosier families and increase the security and prosperity of all Americans,' Young said in a statement. U.S. Sen. 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Earlier this year, the Indiana Legislature passed a law that as of July 1, imposed a work or volunteer requirement of 20 hours per week, quarterly eligibility checks and monthly monitoring of internal reviews of personal information, according to the statement. Further, Indiana has a trigger law that requires Medicaid expansion to automatically begin unwinding if federal funding for Medicaid expansion drops below 90%, which means services would be reduced, according to the release. Currently, Indiana's Medicaid program is funded 90% by the federal government and 10% through the cigarette tax and hospital assessment fee, said Tracey Hutchings-Goetz, a Hoosier Action organizer. The new federal Medicaid law will supersede the state Medicaid law, Hutchings-Goetz said. 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Hutchings-Goetz said that she has heard daily from Medicaid recipients who are self-employed, chronically ill, with disabilities or parents with sick children with questions about how the bill will impact them and what they can do. In anticipation of a lapse of coverage, Hutchings-Goetz said people are considering stockpiling medications and other emergency preparedness strategies. 'People are trying to plan and they don't have enough information, and we don't have enough information,' Hutchings-Goetz said. 'People are really scared.' In Indiana, the Medicaid cuts will result in 12 rural hospitals closing, Hutchings-Goetz said. When that happens, people will have to travel further for care, which will lead to sicker populations and potential death, she said. 'This bill is going to make us sicker and poorer, and we're not happy with it,' Hutchings-Goetz said. Leslie Hawker, program manager for Everybody Counts Inc., said the new federal Medicaid law is 'devastating' for everyone, as it's projected that 17 million people will be kicked off Medicaid. As the uninsured go to hospitals for emergency care, Hawker said insurance costs will increase for those who have private insurance as hospitals seek to recoup the cost of caring for the uninsured, Hawker said. 'It's going to kill people, and for what? Who benefits by this bill? It's not the normal, everyday John Q. Public. It's people who own corporations. It's a death sentence for a lot of people,' Hawker said. Coupled with Medicaid changes, one former Environmental Protection Agency leader believes environmental changes will have drastic effects for U.S. citizens. 'It will increase a variety of pollution threats, like emissions from power plants, from heavy-duty diesel buses and trucks,' said former EPA Region 5 Administrator Debra Shore. 'Eventually, it will lead to early deaths, loss of work and school hours. It's a severe hit to the gains we had made in protecting public health.' While the megabill was still going through the House and Senate, the EPA posted on Facebook, saying it 'delivers for all Americans,' by eliminating hundreds of billions of dollars in Green New Deal tax credits, repealing former President Joe Biden administration's electric vehicle mandates, and opening federal lands and waters to oil, gas, coal, geothermal and mineral leasing, according to Post-Tribune archives. Shore, who led the EPA's Chicago office during Biden's presidency, said the bill is 'perhaps the most sweeping rollback of environmental and public health protections in modern U.S. history.' 'The size of cuts in the EPA budget will effectively, in my opinion, eviscerate the agency,' Shore said. 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'It is heartbreaking to hear how they are being treated with willful cruelty, with dismissal of expertise and utter disregard for their passionate devotion to the agency's mission.' Susan Thomas, director of policy and press for Just Transition Northwest Indiana, said that although the megabill's passage was imminent, it doesn't make it any easier. 'So much has been stripped away,' Thomas said. 'It's destruction for destruction's sake.' Thomas is worried about how much oil and gas companies will benefit from the megabill and how it will impact generations to come. Environmental justice communities — such as those in Northwest Indiana — could continue to suffer if industries are given more power. She believes public health will worsen as a result of EPA rollbacks and Medicaid cuts. An October report from Industrious Labs found that most residents in Gary are in the top 10% of U.S. residents most at-risk for developing asthma and at-risk of low life expectancy. In 2020, Indiana had a lung cancer rate of 72.5 per 100,000 people, with Lake County as one of the counties with the highest cancer mortality rates, according to the American Lung Association. A 2016 JAMA Network report also found Gary as one of the top five U.S. cities with the lowest life expectancy at one point. 'We've really got to take a step in our communities and be hyperlocal,' Thomas said. 'That will help make local progress, and when you make connections with folks, you make friendships, you make bonds, and you start to rely on each other. It's really powerful.'
USA Today
an hour ago
- USA Today
Americans' views on immigration take a massive positive swing amid Trump's crackdown
Americans' views on immigration took a massive positive swing this year amid President Donald Trump's ongoing crackdown, according to new Gallup polling. The share of Americans who thought immigration should decrease – 55% – reached a 5-year high point in 2024. This year, it has dropped to 30%, and positive views of immigration have hit a record high of 79%, according to poll results released July 11. The poll surveyed 1,402 Americans between June 2 and 26. The Trump administration ramped up its promise to carry out widespread deportations in June, sending out masked immigration agents to raid restaurants, farms and hardware stores and touching off widespread protests. He has unveiled a new "Alligator Alcatraz" detention facility for migrants in the Florida Everglades. The administration has faced legal challenges at every turn, bringing it several times to the brink of clashes with judges who have imposed barriers on the scale and tactics of the crackdown. During former President Joe Biden's administration, Americans' views on immigration took a dip amid a surge of migration and reports of disarray on the southern border. But this year, even among Republicans, views on immigration have grown significantly rosier – 64% of Republicans now believe immigration is a good thing, a 25-point jump from June of 2024. The fraction of Republicans who think immigration should decrease has fallen from 88% to 48% in that time span. Trump's immigration policies are broadly unpopular, with just 35% disapproving of his handling of the issue, according to the poll. The Trump administration faced heavy pushback over its immigration policies in March when it deported hundreds of men to a brutal prison in El Salvador – even though most were Venezuelan. It was forced to return Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man from El Salvador who a judge ordered could remain in the U.S., amid an ongoing legal battle. The Supreme Court has since given the Trump administration the green light to deport people to countries from which they do not originate.
