REDISTRICTING TEXAS 2025

Texas Senate approves new congressional lines as House Democrats remain out of state

Democrats' absence has halted work in the Texas House, which must also approve the new boundaries, for more than a week.

BY AYDEN RUNNELS AND KATE MCGEE AUG. 12, 2025

THE TEXAS SENATE APPROVED NEW CONGRESSIONAL LINES ON TUESDAY IN A RARE MID-DECADE REDISTRICTING EFFORT THAT COULD AID REPUBLICANS IN THEIR EFFORT TO KEEP CONTROL OF THE U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AFTER THE 2026 ELECTION.

"This mid-decade redistricting isn’t about fair representation—it’s about politicians picking their voters instead of voters choosing their leaders," the Senate Democratic Caucus said in a statement. "And it doesn’t stop here. If they can gerrymander now, they can and will do it before every election."

The exit wasn't enough to deny a quorum, as their counterparts have done in the Texas House. Dozens of Democrats in the lower chamber have decamped to Illinois and other parts of the country, bringing work in the House to a halt for a second week as the chamber continued to lack the minimum headcount needed to conduct business.

“We stand in solidarity with our House Democrat brothers and sisters,” said Houston Sen. Carol Alvarado, the Senate Democratic leader. “Our options here to push back and fight in the Senate are pretty limited, so we’re using every tool that we have.”

The Senate-approved map now heads to the House, which must approve the lines. So far, the Democrats' absence has stalled the effort. On Tuesday, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and House Speaker Dustin Burrows saidthey would adjourn for the session if the lower chamber continued to lack a quorum on Friday. Gov. Greg Abbott said he would immediately call a second special session with the same agenda, while teasing the possibility of adding more items.

Texas Republicans began to push for new political boundaries after President Donald Trump’s team insisted state lawmakers, who were initially wary, take up an opportunity to gain more GOP seats in Congress.

The Senate-approved map is identical to the initial draft introduced in the House. After that proposal was approved by a House committee, Democrats in the lower chamber left the state, depriving the chamber of the required number of lawmakers to pass legislation. The so-called quorum break stalled the map from passing the full House.

In a statement, Patrick said the Senate "will continue passing this map each legislative session to accurately reflect our state until House Democrats return from their ‘vacation’ and get back to work for the people of Texas.”

While the Senate Democrats who walked out Tuesday labeled the map "unconstitutional," the Republican leading the chamber's redistricting push argued otherwise.

"No one has presented data, or frankly any compelling case that this map violates any applicable laws," said Sen. Phil King, R-Weatherford.

Democrats in other states, including California Gov. Gavin Newsom and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, have also promised their own retaliatory redistricting if Texas passes the new map.

Republicans in Texas have taken an offensive stance on the quorum break, with Burrows signing civil arrest warrants for the missing Democrats. Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton have also requested that some members be expelled from their seats by the state Supreme Court. Missing members are also facing $500-a-day fines for their absence.

In crafting new districts that would likely elect Republican representatives, the proposed map could also pit incumbent Democratic representatives againstone another in some districts, or risk them losing their seats in others. Under the new map, areas represented by progressive Reps. Greg Casar and Lloyd Doggettwould both be under the new District 37, currently held by Doggett.

Doggett has expressed interest in running again for the seat and pushed back in a post on X against claims he was “declaring war” on Casar in doing so. The new map would redraw Casar’s District 35 so that less than 10% of his current constituency would remain as it would no longer cover the Austin area.

“Abandoning winnable majority Hispanic #TX35 to challenge me in #TX37 helps Trump, divides progressives,” Doggett wrote in the post on Monday.

https://www.texastribune.org/2025/08/11/texas-redistricting-map-vote-senate/

LUKRAINIAN SUPPORT FOR WAR EFFORT COLLAPSES

Public sours on Washington, loses hope for quick NATO accession

BENEDICT VIGERS AUGUST 7, 25

LONDON — Most Ukrainians now favor ending the war with Russia through negotiations, as support for fighting until victory has dropped sharply since the early days of the conflict. Although their hopes for joining NATO and the European Union have faded and approval of U.S. leadership has plummeted, Ukrainians still see the EU, U.K. and U.S. as key to ending the war. Yet, most doubt that will happen anytime soon.

More than three years into the war, Ukrainians’ support for continuing to fight until victory has hit a new low. In Gallup’s most recent poll of Ukraine — conducted in early July — 69% say they favor a negotiated end to the war as soon as possible, compared with 24% who support continuing to fight until victory.

This marks a nearly complete reversal from public opinion in 2022, when 73% favored Ukraine fighting until victory and 22% preferred that Ukraine seek a negotiated end as soon as possible.

Support for the war effort has declined steadily across all segments of the Ukrainian population, regardless of region or demographic group. This shift comes as diplomatic efforts gain new traction. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has signaled readiness for direct talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, proposing renewed negotiations, while U.S.Big Fat LiePresident Donald Trump is attempting to pressure the Kremlin with the threat of sanctions.

Despite these moves, the conflict continues largely unabated. Daily missile and drone attacks persist, and fighting remains intense along multiple sections of the front line.

Lasting End to Active Fighting Not Expected to Arrive Soon

Though a clear majority of Ukrainians now favor a negotiated end to the war as soon as possible, most are skeptical that active fighting will end soon. One in four (25%) think it is likely that active fighting will come to an endwithin the next 12 months, although only 5% see it as “very likely.” Over two-thirds (68%) think it is unlikely that active fighting will come to an end in the next year.

Ukrainians Sour on Washington but See a Role for U.S. in Peace Negotiations

Ukrainians’ views of their most prominent military ally have shifted decisively since the early months of the war. In 2025, 16% of Ukrainians approve of U.S. leadership, while 73% express disapproval, a record high. All of the goodwill that Washington built up in 2022, when 66% approved of U.S. leadership, has evaporated.

Tensions between Kyiv and Washington have risen in 2025 after Trump’s return to office. A tense meeting between Trump and Zelenskyy in the Oval Office in late February coincided with temporary pauses in U.S. military assistance.

By contrast, perceptions of Germany have improved significantly this year. Leadership approval of Berlin has reached a record high of 63%, despite Germany’s more cautious stance in the war’s early months. Approval of Russia remains negligible (1%), while China continues to receive low ratings (8%), as it has since the war began.

Despite sharp disapproval of U.S. leadership, most Ukrainians still view Washington as having a meaningful role to play in resolving the conflict. Seventy percent believe the U.S. should play “a significant role” in peace talks, in line with views toward EU countries (75%) and the U.K. (71%). Although some negotiations have recently taken place in Türkiye, 55% of Ukrainians support its significant involvement, notably lower than support for the EU, U.K. and U.S.

Hopes for Quick Entry to NATO, EU Fade Further

Ukraine has long expressed a desire to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which is seen by many as crucial to the country’s long-term security. In the first two years of the war, hopes were high for a quick accession to NATO, when clear majorities (64% in 2022 and 69% in 2023) expected Ukraine to be accepted within the next decade.

Hopes for a quick accession to NATO fell to 51% last year and have continued a downward trend,

Bottom Line

While most Ukrainians are ready to see the fighting end, few expect it to happen soon.Ukrainians see key roles for the EU, U.K. and U.S. to play in bringing the war to an end, even though public approval of Washington has cratered.

This year has also seen another decisive shift in hopes for a quick accession to NATO, with 32% now expecting to be accepted in the next decade.As diplomatic efforts drag on, the future of Ukraine’s war effort, and its relationship with the international community, remain deeply uncertain.

(EU, Ukraine and NATO should be punished for this fucking lie.)

HTTPS://NEWS.GALLUP.COM/POLL/693203/UKRAINIAN-SUPPORT-WAR-EFFORT-COLLAPSES.ASPX

==Overall Foreign-Born Population Down 2.2 Million January to July

Illegal population estimated to have fallen 1.6 million this year==

By Steven A. Camarota and Karen Zeigler on August 12, 2025

Analysis of the raw data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) household survey, officially called the Current Population Survey (CPS), shows an unprecedented 2.2 million decline in the total foreign-born or immigrant population (legal and illegal) between January and July of this year. We preliminarily estimate that the number of illegal immigrants has fallen by 1.6 million in just the last six months. This is likely due to increased out-migration in response to stepped-up enforcement. However, analysis based on the CPS comes with caveats.

Findings:

Analysis of the CPS data shows the total foreign-born population of all ages, both in and out of the labor force, declined an unprecedented 2.2 million from January to July – the largest six-month decline ever within the same year.Non-citizens accounted for all of the falloff in the total foreign-born; the naturalized U.S. citizen population has actually increased some since January. We preliminarily estimate that the illegal immigrant population declined an astonishing 1.6 million (10 percent) to 14.2 million from January to July of this year.

Confirmation of the decline in the illegal immigrant population can be seen in the 10 percent decrease in the number of non-citizens from Latin America who indicated they arrived in the U.S. in 1980 or later. It is well-established that this population overlaps significantly with illegal immigrants.

the CPS actually shows significant job growth among the U.S.-born. Further, to the extent employment growth may have slowed overall, it is likely due to illegal immigrants leaving the country.

Based on the CPS, the BLS reports in Table A-7 of the Employment Situation Report that the number of employed foreign-born individuals declined by 1 million from January to July 2025. Table A-7 also shows an increase of 2.5 million workers among the U.S.-born.

Introduction

Some reporting has focused on the decline of immigrants in the labor market. This analysis goes deeper, using the newly released raw data – typically referred to as the “public-use data” – from the Current Population Survey (CPS). We use the survey, colloquially known as the “household survey”, to measure recent trends in the total foreign-born population (both in and out of the labor force) through July of this year.

While raw data from the CES is not available to the public, our analysis of the CPS indicates that the number of foreign-born residents, primarily illegal immigrants, has fallen dramatically from January to July of this year. To the extent that the CES shows weak job growth, it is likely due to the falloff in the number of employed illegal immigrants in the country due to their heading home.

As the Center has already reported in a prior publication, theforeign-born hit historic highs numerically and as a share of the U.S. population in January 2025 based on the monthly CPS. The January CPS was the first government survey to be weighted to more fully reflect the enormous increase in net international migration that the Census Bureau now observes due to the border surge during the Biden administration.2

FindingsTrends in the Total Foreign-born. Figure 1 reports the total foreign-born population in the United States from January 2021 to July 2025, reflecting the most recent data available. There is certainly variation in the data, but the trend had been upward in the preceding four years.However, since January 2025 the trend has been in the other direction, declining nearly 2.23 million since the start of this year. This is a huge and statistically significant decline, indicating something has fundamentally changed.3 This is by far the largest six-month decline that has ever occurred within the same year in the CPS since January of 1994 when the CPS began to ask about citizenship on a regular basis.4 Decline in Non-citizens. Figure 2 shows that the decline in the foreign-born since January has been entirely among those who are not U.S. citizens. The number of non-citizens is down 2.6 million,while the number of naturalized citizens is actually up 373,000.5 In short, all of the 2.2 million decline in the foreign-born is among those who are not U.S. citizens. The decline in the non-citizen population, like the decline in the overall foreign-born, is statistically significant. Since illegal immigrants are not citizens, the decline in the number of people who are not American citizens is consistent with what would be expected if the number of illegal immigrants fell. …

https://cis.org/Report/Overall-ForeignBorn-Population-Down-22-Million-January-July

https://x.com/YAGClimate/status/1955270844697006104

DeVory Darkins

@devorydarkins

Former Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger reacted to federalizing D.C., and it's not what the Morning Joe hosts were expecting. 😂

"As a former police chief, if somebody would have come to me and said, 'Hey, we’re going to bring, you know, 500,000 more law enforcement officers in to assist you,' what's not to like about that?"

8:21 AM · Aug 12, 2025

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202.9K

Views

1:35

https://x.com/devorydarkins/status/1955243224207167642

12 Aug, 2025 18:03

Ukraine plotting new provocation to sabotage Putin-Trump meeting – MOD

Presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump are set to meet in Alaska on Friday

Ukraine is preparing a new provocation to disrupt negotiations between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his American counterpart Donald Trump in Alaska on Friday, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.

A group of foreign journalists has already been taken to the city of Chuguev in Kharkov Region, in order to “prepare a series of reports about residents of the city in the frontline zone,” the ministry said. The Ukrainian Army is plotting a provocative strike using UAVs and missiles on one of Chuguev’s densely populated residential areas or a hospital, which will be “immediately recorded by the Western journalists brought in.”

=“As a result of the Kiev regime’s provocation, all responsibility for the strike and civilian casualties will be placed on Russia’s Armed Forces[.] Provocations are also possible in other settlements controlled by Ukraine,” the statement published on Tuesday said.

In April 2022, Ukrainian forces claimed to have found the bodies of hundreds of people in the Kiev suburb of Bucha,shortly after Russian troops left the area as part of a “goodwill gesture” by Moscow amid peace talks with Kiev. Ukraine immediately blamed the deaths on Russia and subsequently used the incident as one of the main reasons for its withdrawal from peace negotiations. Moscow has repeatedly said the so-called massacre was a false-flag operation intended to tarnish its image and derail the diplomatic process.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said he appealed to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres three times to provide the lists of bodies found in Bucha, “but there is just silence in response.”

The Russian Foreign Ministry has also accused Ukrainian forces of executing civilians in a Donbass town as part of a “false flag”operation designed to wrongly frame Moscow for war crimes.

According to the ministry, witnesses claimed that mercenaries, including alleged Polish nationals, carried out dozens of killings in Selidovo in Russia’s Donetsk People’s Republic before retreating in the face of advancing Russian troops in late October.

https://www.rt.com/russia/622812-ukraine-plot-provocations-sabotage-alaska-meeting/