National map battle
Texas Republicans approve Trump-backed congressional map
A new Texas state congressional map heads to the state Senate after the House passed the measure intended to flip five Democratic-held U.S. House seats up for grabs in the 2026 elections.
Why this matters: This is a rare mid-decade redistricting to help President Donald Trump improve the GOP's odds of holding a narrow U.S. House of Representatives majority. Dozens of Democratic lawmakers temporarily delayed the bill's passage by staging a two-week walkout.
What's causing a deadly outbreak in NYC?
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump has filed lawsuits against two construction companies over what he called a "completely preventable" outbreak of Legionnaires' disease that has killed five people and sickened more than 100 others in New York City. An outbreak of the disease, which began July 25, has been clustered across five ZIP codes in Central Harlem. The city health department said the outbreak is linked to cooling towers, heat exchangers that use fans and water to cool down buildings. Construction companies and the city are accused of negligence when the towers filled with storm waters that bred bacteria.
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What's the weather today? Check your local forecast here.
Outer Banks brace for Hurricane Erin
Hurricane Erin's higher tides and big waves are battering much of the East Coast. Beachfront property owners are bracing Thursday for the worst amid predictions of a storm surge of up to 4 feet and significant coastal erosion. Powerful waves of 15 to 20 feet are expected to slam beaches, especially in North Carolina, for 48 hours or more as the hurricane crawls northward offshore through at least Thursday. Late yesterday, the National Weather Service said about 7.7 million people were under coastal flood warnings and nearly 32 million were under coastal flood advisories along the East Coast. Erin is expected to stay hundreds of miles offshore, but impacts are forecast to worsen as it makes its closest approach to the U.S. mainland.
Painting the southern border wall black
The Trump administration is painting the U.S.-Mexico border fence black to make the steel so hot migrants won't climb it. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem unveiled the plans Wednesday in Santa Teresa, New Mexico, while workers ran paint rollers up the steel bollards behind her. When asked about the possibility that critics might call the heat-inducing paint job cruel, Noem said: "Don't touch it." As USA TODAY has previously reported, hundreds of miles of 30-foot barrier at the border already pose a deadly threat to migrants who attempt to scale the fence. El Paso Times, part of the USA TODAY Network, captured these photos of the steel border wall painted black.
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Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori are doubles trouble
The U.S. Open mixed doubles competition, largely an afterthought in the past, debuted a revamped format this week and energized crowds at Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York. In part, that's thanks to a star-studded, 16-team field that included names like Novak Djokovic, Emma Raducanu and Carlos Alcaraz. Not to mention some riveting tennis: In the final Wednesday night, defending champions Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori outlasted Iga Swiatek and Casper Ruud 6-3, 5-7, 10-6. The Italian duo proved mixed doubles players can hold their ground against the world's best singles players. See photos of the biggest stars in the reimagined mixed doubles competition.
Photo of the day: Goal for Gotham!
Defending champion Gotham FC kicked off the 2025-26 Concacaf W Champions Cup with a 2-1 victory against Monterrey on Wednesday. The winner of the competition will qualify for both the 2027 FIFA Women's Champions Cup and the inaugural FIFA Women's Club World Cup in 2028. Follow with Studio IX, USA TODAY's women's sports hub.
Nicole Fallert is a newsletter writer at USA TODAY, sign up for the email here. Want to send Nicole a note? Shoot her an email at NFallert@usatoday.com.
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Yahoo
23 minutes ago
- Yahoo
California voters will decide redistricting in November, escalating battle with Trump and Texas
Ratcheting up the pressure in the escalating national fight over control of Congress, the California Legislature on Thursday approved November special election to ask voters in November to redraw the state's electoral lines to favor Democrats and thwart President Trump's far-right policy agenda. The ballot measure, pushed by Gov. Gavin Newsom and other state and national Democratic leaders, is the latest volley in a national political brawl over electoral maps that could alter the outcome of the 2026 midterm elections and the balance of power in the U.S. House of Representatives. If voters approve the redrawn lines on Nov. 4, Democrats in the Golden State would see the odds tilted further in their favor, while the number of California Republicans in the House could be halved. Newsom initially said that new electoral districts in California would only take effect if another state redrew its lines before 2031. But after Texas moved toward approving its own maps this week that could give the GOP five more House seats, Democrats stripped the so-called "trigger" language from the amendment — meaning that if voters approve the measure, the new lines would take effect no matter what. The ballot measure language, which asks California voters to override the power of the independent redistricting commission, was approved by most Democrats in the Assembly and the Senate, where they hold supermajorities. California lawmakers have the power to place constitutional amendments on the statewide ballot without the approval of the governor. Newsom, however, is expected later Thursday to sign two separate bills that fund the special election and spell out the lines for the new congressional districts. Democrats' rush to the ballot marks a sudden departure from California's 15-year commitment to independent redistricting, often held up as the country's gold standard. The state's voters stripped lawmakers of the power to draw lines during the Great Recession and handed that partisan power to a panel of independent citizens whose names are drawn in a lottery. The change, Democrats said, was forced by an extraordinary change in circumstances: After decades of the United States redrawing congressional lines once a decade, President Trump and his political team have leaned on Republican-led states to redraw their district lines before the 2026 midterm elections to help Republicans retain control of the House. 'His playbook is a simple one: Bully, threaten, fight, then rig the rules to hang onto power," said Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas. "We are here today because California will not be a bystander to that power grab. We are not intimidated, and we are acting openly, lawfully, with purpose and resolve, to defend our state and to defend our democracy.' Republicans in the state Assembly and the state Senate criticized Newsom's argument that Democrats must "fight fire with fire," saying retaliation is a slippery slope that would erode the independent redistricting process California voters have chosen twice at the ballot box. "You move forward fighting fire with fire, and what happens? You burn it all down," said Assembly Minority Leader James Gallagher (R-Yuba City). He said Trump was "wrong" to push Gov. Greg Abbott to redraw Texas' lines to benefit Republicans, and so was California's push to pursue the same strategy. State Senate Majority Leader Lena Gonzalez (D-Long Beach), who co-authored the bill drawing the proposed congressional districts, said Democrats had no choice but to stand up, given the harm the Trump administration has inflicted on healthcare, education, tariffs and other policies that affect Californians. 'What do we do? Just sit back and do nothing?" Gonzalez said. "Or do we fight back and provide some chance for our Californians to see themselves in this democracy?" Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones (R-Santee) said the effort is "a corrupt redistricting scheme to rig California's elections" that violates the "letter and the spirit of the California constitution." "Democrats are rushing this through under the guise of urgency," Jones said. "There is no emergency that justifies this abuse of process.' Three Assembly Democrats did not vote in favor of the constitutional amendment. Jasmeet Bains (D-Delano), who is running for Congress against Rep. David Valadao (R-Hanford) in the San Joaquin Valley, voted no. Progressive Caucus chair Alex Lee (D-San Jose), and Dawn Addis (D-Morro Bay), did not vote. Democrats will face an unusual messaging challenge with the November ballot measure, said Matt Lesenyie, an assistant professor of political science at Cal State Long Beach. The opponents of mid-decade redistricting are stressing that the measure would "disadvantage voters," he said, which is "wording that Democrats have primed Democrats on, for now two administrations, that democracy is being killed with a thousand cuts." "It's a weird, sort of up-is-down moment," Lesenyie said. How did we get here? Trump's political team began pressuring Abbott and Texas Republicans in early June to redraw the state's 38 congressional districts in the middle of the decade — which is very uncommon — to give Republicans a better shot at keeping the House in 2026. "We are entitled to five more seats," Trump later told CNBC. Some Texas Republicans feared that mid-decade redistricting could imperil their own chances of reelection. But within a month of the White House floating the idea, Abbott added the new congressional lines, which would stack the deck against as many as five Texas Democrats in Congress, to the Legislature's special session in July. By mid-July, Newsom was talking about California punching back. In an interview with the progressive news site the TN Holler, Newsom said: "These guys, they're not f—ing around. They're playing by a totally different set of rules." Democrats in Texas fled the state for nearly two weeks, including some to California, to deny Republicans the quorum they needed to pass the new lines. Abbott signed civil arrest warrants and levied fines on the 52 absent Democrats while they held news conferences in California and Illinois to bring attention to the fight. While the Texas drama unfolded, consultants for the campaign arm of House Democrats in California quietly drew up maps that would further chop down the number of Golden State Republicans in Congress. The proposed changes would eliminate the district of Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Corona) and dilute the number of GOP voters in four districts represented by Reps. Doug LaMalfa, Kevin Kiley, David Valadao and Darrell Issa. The Democrats agreed to return to Texas last week and pointed to California's tit-for-tat effort as one measure of success, saying the Golden State could neutralize any Republican gains in Texas. Since then, other Republican-led states have begun to contemplate redistricting too, including Indiana, Florida and Missouri. Trump's political allies are publicly threatening to mount primary challenges against any Indiana Republican who opposes redrawing the lines. In California, the opposition is shaping up as quickly as the ballot measure. California voters received the first campaign mailer opposing the ballot measure a day before the Legislature voted to approve it. A four-page glossy flier, funded by conservative donor and redistricting champion Charlie Munger Jr., warned voters that mid-decade redistricting is "weakening our Democratic process" and "a threat to California's landmark election reform." Republicans have also gone to court to try and stop the measure, alleging in an emergency petition with the state Supreme Court that Democrats violated the state Constitution by ramming the bills through without following proper legislative procedure. The high court Wednesday rejected the petition. A wave of legal challenges are expected, not only in California but in any state that reconfigures congressional districts in the expanding partisan brawl. Assemblymember Carl DeMaio (R-San Diego) said Thursday morning that a lawsuit challenging the California ballot measure would be filed in state court by Friday evening. He said Republicans also plan to litigate the title of the ballot measure and any voter guide materials that accompany it. And, he said, if voters approve the new lines, "I believe we will have ample opportunity to set the maps aside in federal court." Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Buzz Feed
24 minutes ago
- Buzz Feed
Noem Announces Trump's Plan To Paint Border Wall Black
Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem recently announced the Trump administration's latest genius plan: painting the entire southern border wall black to deter immigration. At a Tuesday press conference in Santa Teresa, New Mexico, she praised the wall, saying "It's tall, which makes it very, very difficult to climb, almost impossible. It also goes deep into the ground, which would make it very difficult, if not impossible, to dig under. And today we are also going to be painting it black." Unsurprisingly, Kristi credited Donald Trump for the bright idea. "That is specifically at the request of the president, who understands that in the hot temperatures down here, when something is painted black, it gets even warmer, and it will make it even harder for people to climb." According to USA Today, she was asked if critics might find that cruel. Her response? "Don't touch it." For a few moments, she even painted the wall with a roller. Look how hard she works, everyone! Definitely worth her salary of $235,100 per year! Notably, she failed to mention the cost of this project, though CNN reported that the "Big, Beautiful Bill" dedicated about $46.5 billion to modernizing the border. The outlet also noted that this isn't the first time Trump has shown interest in painting the wall black. During his first term, he brought it up numerous times and ordered sections test-painted, with officials reportedly saying it was "largely being done to placate the president." In 2020, the cost was estimated at $1.2 million per mile — who knows what it would cost now with prices these days. Naturally, people have a lot to say about all this: One person wrote, "They know there is no sun at night, right?" Another said, "Tracks with this administration. Everything is just paint metaphorically. Hair, makeup, policy, troop deployment domestically, history, education, religion. All they do is attempt to paint over the awful people that they are." "Trump wants to paint 1300 miles of border wall black.. so it will be too hot to touch. Estimated to cost $2.7 billion. The estimated cost of gloves for illegals: $5.00 a pair. History will record this time as the Dumbest of All Ages.." "The crazy thing is that despite this costing literally billions of dollars; they have the money for it! That's right, Congress decided to cut funding for benefits for Americans and instead give CBP billions for the border wall, which they'll now use to paint the thing black." "The clown car of idiots never fails to impress with the level of stupid they show every single day." "Noem forgot to say Trump will make Mexico pay for the paint." "Fun Fact: Painting the entire 1,300-mile U.S.-Mexico border wall black could cost $2.72 BILLION. We are governed by the dumbest people in America." "This is sure to make grocery prices go down. Release the Trump Epstein files." And finally, "They really are just taking tips from Wile E. Coyote." What do you think about all this? LMK in the comments below!
Los Angeles Times
24 minutes ago
- Los Angeles Times
California voters will decide redistricting in November, escalating battle with Trump and Texas
SACRAMENTO — Ratcheting up the pressure in the escalating national fight over control of Congress, the California Legislature on Thursday approved a November special election to ask voters to redraw the state's electoral lines to favor Democrats and thwart President Trump's far-right policy agenda. The ballot measure, pushed by Gov. Gavin Newsom and other state and national Democratic leaders, is the latest volley in a national political brawl over electoral maps that could alter the outcome of the 2026 midterm elections and the balance of power in the U.S. House of Representatives. If voters approve the redrawn lines on Nov. 4, Democrats in the Golden State would see the odds tilted further in their favor, while the number of California Republicans in the House could be halved. Newsom initially said that new electoral districts in California would only take effect if another state redrew its lines before 2031. But after Texas moved toward approving its own maps this week that could give the GOP five more House seats, Democrats stripped the so-called 'trigger' language from the amendment — meaning that if voters approve the measure, the new lines would take effect no matter what. The ballot measure language, which asks California voters to override the power of the independent redistricting commission, was approved by most Democrats in the Assembly and the Senate, where they hold supermajorities. California lawmakers have the power to place constitutional amendments on the statewide ballot without the approval of the governor. Newsom, however, is expected later Thursday to sign two separate bills that fund the special election and spell out the lines for the new congressional districts. Democrats' rush to the ballot marks a sudden departure from California's 15-year commitment to independent redistricting, often held up as the country's gold standard. The state's voters stripped lawmakers of the power to draw lines during the Great Recession and handed that partisan power to a panel of independent citizens whose names are drawn in a lottery. The change, Democrats said, was forced by an extraordinary change in circumstances: After decades of the United States redrawing congressional lines once a decade, President Trump and his political team have leaned on Republican-led states to redraw their district lines before the 2026 midterm elections to help Republicans retain control of the House. 'His playbook is a simple one: Bully, threaten, fight, then rig the rules to hang onto power,' said Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas. 'We are here today because California will not be a bystander to that power grab. We are not intimidated, and we are acting openly, lawfully, with purpose and resolve, to defend our state and to defend our democracy.' Republicans in the state Assembly and the state Senate criticized Newsom's argument that Democrats must 'fight fire with fire,' saying retaliation is a slippery slope that would erode the independent redistricting process California voters have chosen twice at the ballot box. 'You move forward fighting fire with fire, and what happens? You burn it all down,' said Assembly Minority Leader James Gallagher (R-Yuba City). He said Trump was 'wrong' to push Gov. Greg Abbott to redraw Texas' lines to benefit Republicans, and so was California's push to pursue the same strategy. State Senate Majority Leader Lena Gonzalez (D-Long Beach), who co-authored the bill drawing the proposed congressional districts, said Democrats had no choice but to stand up, given the harm the Trump administration has inflicted on healthcare, education, tariffs and other policies that affect Californians. 'What do we do? Just sit back and do nothing?' Gonzalez said. 'Or do we fight back and provide some chance for our Californians to see themselves in this democracy?' Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones (R-Santee) said the effort is 'a corrupt redistricting scheme to rig California's elections' that violates the 'letter and the spirit of the California constitution.' 'Democrats are rushing this through under the guise of urgency,' Jones said. 'There is no emergency that justifies this abuse of process.' Three Assembly Democrats did not vote in favor of the constitutional amendment. Jasmeet Bains (D-Delano), who is running for Congress against Rep. David Valadao (R-Hanford) in the San Joaquin Valley, voted no. Progressive Caucus chair Alex Lee (D-San Jose), and Dawn Addis (D-Morro Bay), did not vote. Democrats will face an unusual messaging challenge with the November ballot measure, said Matt Lesenyie, an assistant professor of political science at Cal State Long Beach. The opponents of mid-decade redistricting are stressing that the measure would 'disadvantage voters,' he said, which is 'wording that Democrats have primed Democrats on, for now two administrations, that democracy is being killed with a thousand cuts.' 'It's a weird, sort of up-is-down moment,' Lesenyie said. Trump's political team began pressuring Abbott and Texas Republicans in early June to redraw the state's 38 congressional districts in the middle of the decade — which is very uncommon — to give Republicans a better shot at keeping the House in 2026. 'We are entitled to five more seats,' Trump later told CNBC. Some Texas Republicans feared that mid-decade redistricting could imperil their own chances of reelection. But within a month of the White House floating the idea, Abbott added the new congressional lines, which would stack the deck against as many as five Texas Democrats in Congress, to the Legislature's special session in July. By mid-July, Newsom was talking about California punching back. In an interview with the progressive news site the TN Holler, Newsom said: 'These guys, they're not f—ing around. They're playing by a totally different set of rules.' Democrats in Texas fled the state for nearly two weeks, including some to California, to deny Republicans the quorum they needed to pass the new lines. Abbott signed civil arrest warrants and levied fines on the 52 absent Democrats while they held news conferences in California and Illinois to bring attention to the fight. While the Texas drama unfolded, consultants for the campaign arm of House Democrats in California quietly drew up maps that would further chop down the number of Golden State Republicans in Congress. The proposed changes would eliminate the district of Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Corona) and dilute the number of GOP voters in four districts represented by Reps. Doug LaMalfa, Kevin Kiley, David Valadao and Darrell Issa. The Democrats agreed to return to Texas last week and pointed to California's tit-for-tat effort as one measure of success, saying the Golden State could neutralize any Republican gains in Texas. Since then, other Republican-led states have begun to contemplate redistricting too, including Indiana, Florida and Missouri. Trump's political allies are publicly threatening to mount primary challenges against any Indiana Republican who opposes redrawing the lines. In California, the opposition is shaping up as quickly as the ballot measure. California voters received the first campaign mailer opposing the ballot measure a day before the Legislature voted to approve it. A four-page glossy flier, funded by conservative donor and redistricting champion Charlie Munger Jr., warned voters that mid-decade redistricting is 'weakening our Democratic process' and 'a threat to California's landmark election reform.' Republicans have also gone to court to try and stop the measure, alleging in an emergency petition with the state Supreme Court that Democrats violated the state Constitution by ramming the bills through without following proper legislative procedure. The high court Wednesday rejected the petition. A wave of legal challenges are expected, not only in California but in any state that reconfigures congressional districts in the expanding partisan brawl. Assemblymember Carl DeMaio (R-San Diego) said Thursday morning that a lawsuit challenging the California ballot measure would be filed in state court by Friday evening. He said Republicans also plan to litigate the title of the ballot measure and any voter guide materials that accompany it. And, he said, if voters approve the new lines, 'I believe we will have ample opportunity to set the maps aside in federal court.'
