The first domino in a growing national redistricting battle is likely to fall Wednesday as the Republican-controlled Texas legislature is expected to pass a new congressional map creating five new winnable seats for the GOP. The vote follows prodding by President Donald Trump to stave off a midterm defeat that would deprive his party of control of the House of Representatives.
Democrats who refused round-the-clock police escorts to ensure they’d provide a quorum were confined to the House floor, where they protested on a livestream. They’ve vowed a blue-states payback for the Texas map, with California’s legislature poised to approve a retaliatory gerrymandering for the state’s voters to consider in November.
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Joint Chiefs chairman huddles with European counterparts
Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is participating in a virtual meeting of NATO defense leaders amid a renewed push to end Russia’s war in Ukraine, a U.S. defense official said.
U.S. Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, NATO’s supreme allied commander Europe, also was taking part in Wednesday’s meeting as Western countries devise possible future security guarantees for Kyiv that could help forge a peace agreement.
The defense official, who wasn’t authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, said Caine also met with European military chiefs Tuesday evening in Washington to discuss best options to provide to political leaders.
It wasn’t immediately clear who took part.
A Texas Democrat gets an encouraging phone call
Democratic Texas state Rep. Penny Morales Shaw shows her support for fellow Democratic Texas state Rep. Nicole Collier who refuses to leave there House Chamber due to a required law enforcement escort, Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2025, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
The Texas Democratic state legislator leading a protest in the Texas House chamber has received encouragement from 2024 presidential nominee Kamala Harris.
“We are all in that room with you,” the former vice president said.
State Rep. Nicole Collier posted video on social media of her listening to the call from Harris, who told her she should not feel alone as Democrats work to thwart GOP plans to redraw congressional districts to favor Republicans.
Collier said the call from Harris showed “we are making a difference” and that “people are watching and they are ready to hold this government accountable.”
Texas legislature set to pass new congressional map in redistricting battle
Seven Democrats slept in the Texas House chamber House overnight to protest both a Republican plan for redrawing congressional districts that was set for a vote Wednesday and the GOP’s requirement for Democrats leaving the Capitol to be shadowed by police officers. Fort Worth Rep. Nicole Collier led the protest.
State law officers shadowed Democrats outside the Capitol, tailing them as they drove and shopped and watching their homes and apartments to ensure they’d show up Wednesday to give Republicans the quorum they need to approve the maps without any Democratic votes.
Democrats returned after their two-week walkout raised national attention to the GOP’s plan to fulfill Trump’s wish for Republicans to pick up five seats in the 2026 elections.
▶ Read more on redistricting developments at the Texas capitol
Trump calls on Federal Reserve official to step down, extending pressure campaign
Trump said on social media that Lisa Cook, a member of the Federal Reserve’s governing board, should resign after a member of his administration accused Cook of committing mortgage fraud by claiming two different homes as her principal residences.
Bill Pulte, director of the agency that oversees mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, urged the Justice Department to investigate Cook, who was appointed to the board by former president Joe Biden in 2022 and was re-appointed the following year to a term that lasts until 2038.
The allegation represents another front in the Trump administration’s attack on the Fed, which has yet to cut its key interest rate as Trump has demanded. If Cook were to step down then the White House could nominate a replacement. And Trump has said he would only appoint people who would support lower rates.
Yosemite visitors may face prosecution for protesting at the national park
Shannon “SJ” Joslin was fired after hanging a pride flag from El Capitan while some visitors face potential prosecution for alleged violations of protest restrictions that have been tightened under President Donald Trump. (AP video by Brittany Peterson)
A Yosemite National Park ranger was fired after hanging a pride flag from El Capitan, and the National Park Service and the Justice Department are pursuing “possible criminal charges against several park visitors who are alleged to have violated federal laws and regulations related to demonstrations,” NPS spokesperson Rachel Pawlitz said.
Shannon “SJ” Joslin, a biologist who studies bats, was fired for “failing to demonstrate acceptable conduct” after hanging a 66-foot wide transgender pride flag on the famous climbing wall on May 20 before taking it down voluntarily.
Hanging the flag was their way of saying, “We’re all safe in national parks,” Joslin, 35, told The Associated Press, and their firing sends the opposite message: “If you’re a federal worker and you have any kind of identity that doesn’t agree with this current administration, then you must be silent, or you will be eliminated.”
▶ Read more about the crackdown on demonstrations inside National Parks
Feds offer money for crime tips amid DC police takeover
Federal law enforcement are offering a $500 reward for information leading to an arrest in the nation’s capital as part of the president’s crackdown on crime.
The U.S. Marshals Service posted a QR code people can scan to send tips about what federal officials have described as a “crime emergency.”
Washington has historically struggled with crime but has driven violent crime rates down recently. Attorney General Pam Bondi said Wednesday morning that there have been more than 550 arrests in Washington, D.C. since Trump ordered the police surge earlier this month.
Trump wants the government to own 10% of Intel Corp.
Intel has received about $2.2 billion of the $7.8 billion pledged under the Biden administration’s CHIPS and Science Act — money the Trump administration wants converted into non-voting Intel shares.
This would deepen the Trump administration’s involvement in the computer industry as the president ramps up pressure for more U.S. companies to manufacture products domestically instead of relying on overseas suppliers.
It also would make the U.S. government one of Intel’s largest shareholders and blur the traditional lines separating the public sector and private sector in a country that remains the world’s largest economy.
▶ Read more about why Trump wants the government to own part of major companies
Trump is leveraging presidential power for Republican control
Some of his steps to intervene in elections — like pushing Republican legislators to redraw maps for GOP advantage — are typical but controversial political maneuvers, taken to his trademark extremes. Other uses of his presidential power have no modern precedent, such as ordering his Department of Justice to investigate the main liberal fundraising entity, ActBlue, and demanding detailed voter files from each state.
Then came Trump’s falsehood-filled rant on social media pledging to lead a “movement” to outlaw voting machines and mail balloting.
“Those are actions that you don’t see in healthy democracies,” said Ian Bassin, executive director of Protect Democracy, a nonpartisan organization that has sued the Trump administration. “Those are actions you see in authoritarian states.”
▶ Read more about Trump’s attempts to predetermine the results of U.S. elections
Evacuating for a hurricane could expose immigrants to deportation
Natural disasters have long posed singular risks for people without permanent legal status. But with the arrival of peak Atlantic hurricane season, immigrants and their advocates say Trump’s militaristic immigration enforcement agenda has increased the danger.
Places considered neutral spaces by immigrants such as schools, hospitals and emergency management agencies are now suspect, and many local first responders now collaborate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. For people without legal documents, this can mean having to choose between physical safety and avoiding detention. The fear can extend into disaster recovery as agencies share information with deportation agents.
In past disasters, the Department of Homeland Security said it would suspend immigration enforcement, but that’s now unclear. DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said CBP hasn’t issued guidance “because there have been no natural disasters affecting border enforcement.”
▶ Read more about the dilemmas immigrants now face in natural disasters
Hundreds of federal health employees sign a letter protesting Kennedy’s actions
The employees at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other federal agencies have signed a letter charging that Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has endangered their lives and the rest of the public.
The two-page letter sent to Kennedy and members of Congress cites his anti-science rhetoric, denigration of federal workers, layoffs affecting public health programs and Kennedy’s decision to replace members of a vaccine advisory panel with a handpicked group that includes some anti-vaccine advocates.
It faults Kennedy’s delayed response to an Aug. 8 shooting at the CDC’s main campus in Atlanta. And it asks Kennedy to stop spreading false health information, affirm the CDC’s scientific integrity, and guarantee the safety of the HHS workforce.
About 400 current employees signed their names, most of them from the CDC but some from the National Institutes of Health and other health agencies. Also signing the document are some noted former CDC leaders, including former acting director Dr. Anne Schuchat.
