Bill creating office in NMDOJ to oversee CYFD headed to governor's desk
Bill could make 'magic mushrooms' a legal treatment option in New Mexico
Last week, the Senate passed the bill and now it heads to Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham's desk for final action.
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Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Yahoo
Seven House Democrats making day trip to New Mexico amid redistricting battle
This article was adapted from our premium politics newsletter, The Blast, which delivers exclusive reporting, nonpartisan analysis and the first word on political moves across the state. Subscribe today. Members of the Texas House Democratic Caucus have gone to New Mexico for the day to meet with Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham. It's not a quorum break — unlike the last time Texas Democrats sent a contingent to New Mexico — but another chance for Democrats to lock arms nationally against the mid-decade redistricting effort in the Lone Star State. House Democrats headed to Santa Fe on Tuesday include: Speaker Pro Tempore Joe Moody of El Paso Jon Rosenthal of Houston, vice chair of the Select Committee on Congressional Redistricting John Bucy of Austin Salman Bhojani of Euless Erin Elizabeth Gámez of Brownsville Josey Garcia of San Antonio Christian Manuel of Port Arthur It's the THDC's third such expeditionary force this special session after members traveled to California and Illinois on Friday to meet with Govs. Gavin Newsom and JB Pritzker. Democrats frame the coalition as a national 'firewall' against Texas' map redraw pushed by President Donald Trump and called by Gov. Greg Abbott as Republicans look to retain the U.S. House in 2026. U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York will travel to Austin on Wednesday, underscoring the national spotlight on Austin. Unlike Newsom and Pritzker, Lujan Grisham isn't considering retaliatory redistricting because there's no more juice to squeeze out of New Mexico. The state's three congressional seats are already held by Democrats. Instead, Texas Democrats are using the trip to argue that Abbott and Republicans are wasting time with redistricting as opposed to prioritizing a legislative response to the recent Central Texas floods. Flash floods have hit the New Mexico mountain town of Ruidoso three times in less than a month during the ongoing monsoon season. One of the floods killed three people. The town is expected to get more rain Tuesday. 'We're traveling to meet with leaders who put people first in a crisis,' Moody said in a statement, contrasting New Mexico with Texas' focus on redistricting. 'We're seeking serious, productive conversations with other governors about how to solve the real problems Texans expect and deserve their leaders to solve.' Flood response is on Abbott's call for the special session, but the Republican-controlled Legislature could adopt a new congressional map first, making it politically unpalatable for Democrats to break quorum with flood debate still to come. Additionally, the day trip teases the possibility that House Democrats could leave Austin for longer, grinding the special session to a halt by denying the Legislature enough members to conduct business. House Democratic Caucus Chair Gene Wu of Houston last week suggested a quorum break is on the table as the minority weighs its options to thwart redistricting. Between the trips to California, Illinois and now New Mexico, 22 Democrats have taken a trip out of state during the special session under threat of being compelled back to Austin. It would take 51 of the caucus' 62 Democrats to successfully break quorum. 'Our message to leaders across the country has been simple: if they can steal five seats in Texas by breaking the rules, your state is next,' Rosenthal said in a statement. The lineup for The Texas Tribune Festival continues to grow! Be there when all-star leaders, innovators and newsmakers take the stage in downtown Austin, Nov. 13–15. The newest additions include comedian, actor and writer John Mulaney; Dallas mayor Eric Johnson; U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minnesota; New York Media Editor-at-Large Kara Swisher; and U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-El Paso. Get your tickets today! TribFest 2025 is presented by JPMorganChase.
NBC News
6 hours ago
- NBC News
Texas Democrats leave the state in an extraordinary move, and a slow trickle of Gaza aid: Weekend Rundown
In an extraordinary move to counter Republican redistricting in Texas, dozens of Democrats in the state House of Representatives headed to Illinois to deny a necessary quorum for the GOP to move forward with those efforts. The roughly 30 Democrats are expected to stay for the week in a plan brokered with Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, who met with the Texas caucus late last month and has directed his staff to provide logistical support for their stay. 'We're leaving Texas to fight for Texans,' Texas House Democratic Caucus Chair Gene Wu said in a statement. 'We will not allow disaster relief to be held hostage to a Trump gerrymander. We're not walking out on our responsibilities; we're walking out on a rigged system that refuses to listen to the people we represent. As of today, this corrupt special session is over.' Last week, Texas Republicans released a proposed congressional map that would give the GOP a path to pick up five seats in next year's midterm elections. It followed President Donald Trump's public pressure for a new map in the state as he works to retain a majority in Congress in what historically is a difficult year for the party holding the White House. The proposed map would shift district lines in ways that would target current Democratic members of Congress in and around Austin, Dallas and Houston, as well as two already endangered Democrats representing South Texas districts that Trump carried last year. Food trickles into Gaza, but not enough to stop a famine, aid groups say Humanitarian organizations say the amount of aid that has entered Gaza since Israel said it would pause military action in some areas is insufficient to stop a growing number of Palestinians dying from hunger. Israel has allowed only a limited amount of aid to enter the enclave since it lifted a total blockade this year. Most of the aid has been distributed by the Israel-backed group known as the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, and other humanitarian organizations have said Israeli restrictions have hampered their efforts to distribute aid. 'This is not an adequate response,' Jeanette Bailey, the International Rescue Committee's global practice lead and director of research for nutrition, said in a phone interview. A gradual entry of aid 'here or there,' she said, 'is not going to be adequate to prevent us from entering into a full-blown famine where the numbers of deaths go way, way up.' Hamas sparked outcry in Israel over the weekend when it released video appearing to show a visibly gaunt Israeli hostage alongside images of emaciated Palestinian babies. Meet the Press White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett defended President Donald Trump's decision to fire Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner Erika McEntarfer, as well as Trump's claim that weaker-than-expected jobs reports were 'rigged,' but he failed to produce any evidence to support the claim. Hassett said on NBC News' 'Meet the Press' that installing Trump's 'own people' will help achieve more 'transparent and reliable' jobs reports in the future. 'What we need is a fresh set of eyes over the BLS,' Hassett, the director of the National Economic Council, told moderator Kristen Welker. Several Republicans, including Sen. Rand Paul, of Kentucky, questioned the firing. 'We have to look somewhere for objective statistics. When the people providing the statistics are fired, it makes it much harder to make judgments that, you know, the statistics won't be politicized,' Paul told NBC News on Friday. Meanwhile, Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., accused Trump of trying to 'weaponize' labor statistics for his own agenda. Padilla said the Senate would evaluate the 'independence' of a new BLS commissioner when it comes time to confirm a new one. 'When [Trump's] trying to weaponize the Bureau of Labor Statistics, that tells you a lot about their insecurity about the economy and the state of economic affairs,' Padilla told Welker. Politics in brief On a break: As members of Congress prepare to head home for summer recess, Republicans will look to sell the unpopular 'big, beautiful bill' in their home states, while Democrats are working on their big brand problem. Windy City warning: New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani's team hopes to avoid the missteps of Chicago's progressive Mayor Brandon Johnson as it works to win in November. Impeached again? The Smithsonian's National Museum of American History will once again mention Trump in an exhibit about presidential impeachments after the removal of a placard noting his two Senate trials sparked concerns. It's a good time to be a nostalgic millennial The Backstreet Boys are playing to sold-out crowds. Lindsay Lohan is starring in a new 'Freaky Friday' movie. And former 'Dawson's Creek' co-stars and exes Katie Holmes and Joshua Jackson were recently spotted filming a new project in New York City. No, it's not the early 2000s — but millennials feel like they're so back. A recent surge in millennial-focused pop culture serves as 'the next level of escapism' for an uncertain generation, said Kate Kennedy, author of 'One in a Millennial: On Friendship, Feelings, Fangirls, and Fitting In.' 'It returns us to a time when our biggest worry was getting in line for a CD, not whether we would be able to afford a house,' Kennedy said. 'I think we're a more lonely and isolated generation as adults than we ever anticipated that we would be in our youth,' she said, adding that millennials 'straddle two very different eras in terms of technology and information.' Notable quote I can't be doing this forever, just waiting for the dust to settle and things to kind of normalize again — I need a job. no match for sluggish hiring — with a bleak labor market, ghosting employers and a 'black hole' into which 1,000 applications can fall unanswered. In case you missed it Amid an ongoing manhunt, authorities warned that Michael Paul Brown, the suspect accused of killing four people Friday in a Montana bar, could return to the town of Anaconda, where the shooting occurred. Officials in Tennessee found 14 improvised explosive devices in a man's home while they were arresting him last week on suspicion of threatening officials. A record crowd of 91,032 for a regular-season Major League Baseball game got to see all the pomp and pageantry with the MLB Speedway Classic before the rain washed out the game itself Saturday. The game resumed Sunday, with the Atlanta Braves beating the Cincinnati Reds 4-2. Two men described as 'associates' of the suspect in a quadruple homicide in Tennessee have been arrested on suspicion of helping the fugitive. Yu Zidi, a 12-year-old Chinese swimmer, has become a global sensation with her history-making times, even as observers and fans back home caution against overhyping the young athlete. Ukraine's anti-corruption bodies say they have uncovered a major graft scheme that procured military drones and signal jamming systems at inflated prices. Reigning 100-meter world champion Sha'Carri Richardson was arrested on allegations that she assaulted her boyfriend at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
CNBC
7 hours ago
- CNBC
Texas Democrats head to Illinois to deny Republicans a quorum on redistricting
CHICAGO — In an extraordinary move to counter Republican redistricting in Texas, dozens of Democrats in the state House of Representatives are heading here Sunday to deny a necessary quorum for the GOP to move forward with those efforts. The roughly 30 Democrats are expected to stay for the week in a plan brokered with Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, who had met with the Texas caucus late last month and has directed staff to provide logistical support for their stay. A news conference with the governor and Texas Democrats is expected later Sunday. "We're leaving Texas to fight for Texans," Texas House Democratic Caucus Chair Gene Wu said in a statement. "We will not allow disaster relief to be held hostage to a Trump gerrymander. We're not walking out on our responsibilities; we're walking out on a rigged system that refuses to listen to the people we represent. As of today, this corrupt special session is over." Last week, Texas Republicans released a proposed new congressional map that would give the GOP a path to pick up five seats in next year's midterm elections. It followed President Donald Trump's public pressure for a new map in the state as he works to retain a majority in Congress in what historically is a difficult year for the party holding the White House. The proposed map would shift district lines in ways that would target current Democratic members of Congress in and around Austin, Dallas and Houston, as well as two already endangered Democrats representing South Texas districts that Trump carried last year. A House committee approved the gerrymandered congressional maps on a party-line vote Saturday morning. After the vote, the committee chairman, Republican state Rep. Cody Vasut, told NBC News the maps were drawn to help Republicans win more seats. "This map was politically based, and that's totally legal, totally allowed and totally fair," Vasut said. "You got states like California and New York and Illinois that have these really large margins between the percentage of seats they have and the percentage of votes that they're getting, and Texas is underperforming in that. And so it's totally prudent, totally right, for Texas to be able to respond and improve the political performance of its map." "This is not a decision we make lightly, but it is one we make with absolute moral clarity," Wu continued in the statement. "Governor Abbott has turned the victims of a historic tragedy into political hostages in his submission to Donald Trump. He is using an intentionally racist map to steal the voices of millions of Black and Latino Texans, all to execute a corrupt political deal. Apathy is complicity, and we will not be complicit in the silencing of hard-working communities who have spent decades fighting for the power that Trump wants to steal." Politically, the move puts Pritzker at the center of a high-profile national fight. The governor, who is running for his third term in office, is also widely viewed as a 2028 presidential contender. He has implored Democrats to resist Trump's agenda. The origins of Pritzker's involvement began when the governor gave a keynote address to Oklahoma Democrats in June. Pritzker met privately in a "robust" meeting with the party chair to talk about the Texas redistricting, according to a person close to the governor. When Pritzker later met with Texas Democrats he assured them they could come to his state and find support, including finding hotels, meeting spaces and other logistical assistance. The Texas Democrats, however, face the risk of a $500-a-day fine and even possible arrest for fleeing the state. The Republican-controlled Legislature approved the measure in 2023, two years after state Democrats left the state for three weeks to block an elections bill from progressing. "Democrats have got to stand up at this point and tell every individual in this nation, this is not normal. This is not democracy," Democratic state Rep. Ann Johnson told NBC News on Saturday. "You've got these Texas Republicans that are just rolling over and giving Trump what he wants because he's asked for it. It's an affront to every citizen, not only in Texas but the nation." The Texas House is scheduled to convene at 3 p.m. CT Monday. The redistricting bill is so far the only item on the calendar.
