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How Ken Paxton keeps pushing the legal envelope
How Ken Paxton keeps pushing the legal envelope

CNN

time3 days ago

  • Politics
  • CNN

How Ken Paxton keeps pushing the legal envelope

The morning after news broke that Texas House Democrats planned to return to the state, effectively ending their efforts to block Republicans from redrawing the state's congressional maps, Attorney General Ken Paxton took a victory lap. The firebrand conservative ally of President Donald Trump had used his office to wage several legal battles against the absent Democrats at once, drawing outsized attention as he challenges Sen. John Cornyn in next year's Republican Senate primary. Paxton asked the state Supreme Court to expel 13 of them from office. He asked an Illinois court to help enforce the Texas House speaker's civil arrest warrants for the Democrats who had holed up outside Chicago. And he obtained a court order preventing former Texas congressman Beto O'Rourke's political action committee from raising money to assist those boycotting Democrats. Then, he claimed O'Rourke violated that court order and sought his arrest. On Wednesday morning, Paxton said his strategy worked: Democrats planned to end their quorum-breaking effort faster than they had in previous standoffs, including 2003 and 2021. 'The idea of putting pressure on them from different angles — I think it got to them. Because they certainly came back faster than they have in the past,' Paxton told conservative talk radio host Mark Davis. Paxton's actions, and his comments in the radio interview, offered a window into how one of the nation's most controversial attorneys general has long operated. He has pushed legal boundaries — riling up conservatives and using the courts to place himself at the center of political fights with national consequences, even when his lawsuits have little chance of success. The three-term attorney general's willingness to wage those battles has earned him deep support among conservatives — including those in the state Senate who acquitted him two years ago, after the Republican-dominated House had impeached him over allegations of corruption and bribery. It has also alienated many Democrats and some moderate Republicans — and it's why Democrats believe the state's Senate race could become competitive next fall if Paxton ousts Cornyn in the GOP primary. The swirl of controversy surrounding Paxton intensified last month, when his wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton, filed for divorce, alleging infidelity. Still, as his primary against Cornyn looms, Paxton has effectively silenced his Republican critics as the party waged a pressure campaign to return the absent House Democrats to Texas. And he did so using tools unavailable to Cornyn — who asked US Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate the source of the Democrats' funding, but could not launch his own probe. Paxton is 'one of the most innovative AGs in terms of using his office for advancing his political vision,' said Paul Nolette, a professor and the director of Marquette University's Les Aspin Center for Government who has written extensively about attorneys generals' use of their offices to influence national policy. 'What's new and unusual is that he's really been the one who has modeled how to use tools that don't, on their face, seem partisan, for greater partisan effect,' Nolette said. Steve Vladeck, CNN Supreme Court analyst and professor at Georgetown University Law Center, said that among legal experts, 'I think everyone views Paxton the same way — as someone who will stop at nothing to use and abuse his office to advance whatever he views as the partisan political imperative of the moment.' 'He views himself less as the attorney general of Texas than as the attorney general of the Republican Party,' Vladeck said. 'And that may endear him to the folks who vote for him and who his actions benefit, but it certainly isn't consistent with his constitutional, statutory and ethical duties and obligations to all of the people of Texas.' After 12 years in the Texas legislature, Paxton was elected attorney general in 2014. During his first two years in office — the last two years of Barack Obama's presidency — Paxton filed 27 lawsuits against the Obama administration. He initiated a lawsuit seeking to have Obama's signature domestic achievement, the Affordable Care Act, declared unconstitutional — an effort the Supreme Court rejected. Paxton was more successful battling Obama's immigration reforms, blocking the implementation of a policy that would have granted deferred action to undocumented immigrants who have lived in the United States since 2010 and have children who are American citizens or lawful permanent residents. He also fought Obama's administration over environmental protections, water regulations, overtime policy, hiring rules for felons and more. He led 13 states that won an injunction halting the Obama administration's guidance for schools on transgender students' bathroom access. Perhaps Paxton's most audacious legal move came in 2020, when he filed a post-election lawsuit against four presidential battleground states — Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — where President Joe Biden had defeated Trump. He alleged in a statement that those states' actions to expand voter access during the coronavirus pandemic had cast 'a dark shadow of doubt over the outcome of the entire election.' The Supreme Court quickly denied the lawsuit, ruling that Texas lacked standing. During Biden's term, Paxton again regularly challenged the Democratic administration in court. His office bragged in a November 2024 news release that it had filed its 100th lawsuit against Biden's administration. Paxton said in a statement at the time that 'the federal government has been ruthlessly weaponized against the American people. But Texas stood in their way.' He challenged Biden's immigration policies, including winning a ruling blocking Biden's 'parole in place' policy that gave legal status to certain undocumented individuals who are married to US citizens. He unsuccessfully challenged the Biden administration's coronavirus vaccine mandate and later launched investigations into the pharmaceutical drug makers who manufactured vaccines. With Trump back in office, Paxton has continued to wage cultural battles by targeting blue states. In December, Paxton sued a New York doctor for prescribing abortion pills to a woman near Dallas — one of the first challenges to shield laws enacted by Democratic-controlled states to protect doctors in the wake of Roe v. Wade's overturning. Then, in July, he sued a New York county clerk for failing to levy a fine imposed in Texas when that doctor did not show up for court. The suits are ongoing. He has also returned to an issue Trump raised constantly during the 2024 campaign: allegations of voter fraud. Paxton's office said in a news release last month it had 'launched a sweeping investigation into more than 100 potential noncitizens who cast over 200 ballots in the 2020 and 2022 election cycles.' Nolette said Paxton has 'used the very ample tools of the AG's office to maximum effect.' He pointed to Paxton's targeting of a migrant shelter in El Paso by demanding its client records, his use of consumer protection laws to probe pharmaceutical drug-makers, hospitals that provided gender-affirming care to minors and more. 'He's really been a leader in using those almost bread-and-butter tools of the office, which are typically for run-of-the-mill cases at the state level or noncontroversial, bipartisan issues, and using those in a more sharply partisan way,' Nolette said.

Pennsylvania House makes last-ditch effort to stave off cuts at Philadelphia's public transit agency
Pennsylvania House makes last-ditch effort to stave off cuts at Philadelphia's public transit agency

Yahoo

time11-08-2025

  • Business
  • Yahoo

Pennsylvania House makes last-ditch effort to stave off cuts at Philadelphia's public transit agency

Public Transit-Philadelphia HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania's House of Representatives met hastily Monday to pass transportation funding legislation in a last-ditch effort to stave off deep service cuts at the Philadelphia region's public transit agency. The Democratic-backed bill passed the chamber, 108-95, over the objection of nearly every Republican in the chamber. The nearly $1 billion bill has the support of Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro, and includes funding for highways, too. But it faces an uncertain future in the Republican-controlled Senate, where the GOP majority has resisted increasing aid for transit. The bill increases aid for transit agency operations by $292 million, or about 25% more, with the lion's share of the money going to the Philadelphia-based Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority. SEPTA has said it cannot keep waiting for more aid before it makes cuts, which it says would be more drastic than any undertaken by a major transit agency in the United States. The nation's sixth-largest public transit system has warned that it will cut half its services by Jan. 1 and be unable to provide enhanced service for major tourist events next year. Those include FIFA World Cup matches in Philadelphia, events surrounding the celebration of the nation's 250th birthday, Major League Baseball's all-star game, the PGA Championship and NCAA March Madness games. The deadline push comes after two years of stalemate, amid transit struggles nationwide with rising costs and lagging ridership. SEPTA has said that, on Thursday, it will begin a 10-day preparation period for 20% across-the-board service cuts. Those take effect Aug. 24 and include eliminating bus routes with lower ridership and reducing the frequency of bus, trolley and rail services across the region. Under the plan, fares will then rise by 21.5% on Sept. 1 and, soon after, the agency will impose a hiring freeze. It will carry out another service cut on Jan. 1 that will mean that it will have eliminated half its current services, it has said. Democrats say shoring up public transit agencies around the state is critical to the economy and making sure people can get to work, school and medical appointments. Republicans have objected that transit agencies need to become more efficient, highways need more state funding and transit riders should pay higher fares. Transit agencies in Pittsburgh and elsewhere around Pennsylvania also say they are making cuts or raising fares, or both. ___ Follow Marc Levy on X at

Weekend work? Senate inches closer to opening votes on Trump's mega tax bill
Weekend work? Senate inches closer to opening votes on Trump's mega tax bill

Yahoo

time29-06-2025

  • Politics
  • Yahoo

Weekend work? Senate inches closer to opening votes on Trump's mega tax bill

WASHINGTON − President Donald Trump is trying to blame Democrats for the potential failure of his "big, beautiful bill" as it inches closer to its first votes in the Republican-controlled Senate as the second-term president and his GOP allies push forward on campaign promises to eliminate taxes on tips and spend more money on border enforcement. "The problem we have is that it's a great bill, it's a popular bill," Trump said during a June 27 White House press conference of the sweeping piece of legislation that is not polling well with many Americans. "But we'll get no Democrats only because they don't want to vote for Trump." Trump has pressed Senate Republicans to stay on his ambitious timeline to complete their work and get it back through the House in time for the measure to be on his desk for signature into law by July 4. But the president and House Speaker Mike Johnson are also acknowledging their immediate ambitions might not become reality amid deep internal GOP policy disputes and complex Senate rules that have sent the mega bill through the legislative shredder. More: GOP senators negotiate Trump budget bill in hopes of improving its polling Among the many concerns Republicans are still trying to work through are their own proposed cuts for Medicaid eligibility, which Democrats already see as a winning political message for them in the upcoming 2026 midterm elections where they're looking to retake majorities in both the House and Senate. Trump has said previously he wants Congress to pass the sweeping bill and get it to his desk by Independence Day. But for that to happen the Senate still needs to finalize and pass its version, before then sending it back to the GOP-led House to reconcile any differences with their efforts that previously won approval with the slimmest of majorities in May. As the Senate continues to grapple with concerns including the legislation's high cost and the Medicaid language, Trump is hedging his own deadline. "It's important," but, "it's not the end-all," Trump told reporters during the mid-day White House press conference on June 27. "We'd like to get it done by that time, if possible," Trump said. About an hour later, Trump posted on Truth Social urging the Senate to stay in session through the upcoming weekend to keep working on the bill. "We can get it done. It will be a wonderful Celebration for our Country, which is right now, 'The Hottest Country anywhere in the World' — And to think, just last year, we were a laughingstock," the president wrote. As Trump was speaking in the White House, some GOP senators said they were only guessing when asked when they would receive a full and finalized bill that will be brought to the floor for debate. Several said they're eyeing late on June 27 or early June 28. Once that happens, multiple senators said the hours-long process of debate that culminates in a vote could begin midday on Saturday, June 28 and stretch through into June 29, a Sunday. The Medicaid issue appears to still be dragging the process, as Majority Leader John Thune, R-South Dakota, said discussions were ongoing as of the afternoon of June 27. While some disagreements remain unresolved, Sen. John Kennedy, R-Louisiana, said he would like to move on from discussions and into action. "We're gradually going from thoughtful, rational deliberation into the foothills of jackassery," Kennedy told reporters. "We're talking about the same things over and over and over. It's clear we're not going to (have) unanimity on some of this. That's why God made votes." A Saturday start date for the voting process is "aspirational," Thune said. "We've got a few things we're waiting on, outcomes from the parliamentarian on," Thune said. "But if we can get some of those questions and issues landed then my expectation is at some point, yeah, tomorrow we'll be ready to go." "It's, uh, nothing certain," he added. Asked if he has enough Republicans on board to succeed in an eventual vote, Thune said, "We'll find out tomorrow." Further complications in the Senate have come in the form of Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough's ruling on what is and is not within the scope of a spending bill. MacDonough, a nonpartisan official, found several Senate Republicans' provisions in violation, including attempts to repeal federal food aid for noncitizens, multiple measures softening environmental regulations and deregulation for gun silencers. "The parliamentarian's been a little difficult," Trump said. "I would say that I disagree with the parliamentarian on some things, and on other ways, she's been fine." Trump did not go so far as to call for her termination, though, unlike some Republicans on Capitol Hill. The president is instead laying the groundwork to pin the blame on his congressional opponents. "The Democrats won't approve it only because politically it's so good for the Republicans," Trump said. "If I were a Democrat, I would vote for this bill all day long," he added. Polling has shown Trump's bill is not scoring well with in public opinion. Fewer than 30% of voters support the bill in three recent surveys by Pew, Quinnipiac and the Washington Post-Ipsos. The bill is doubtful to get support from any Senate Democrat, but under special Senate rules, only 51 Republicans are needed to sign-off and avoid a filibuster. Across Capitol Hill, Speaker Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, said he recognized the deadline for sending the final legislation to Trump could slip beyond their July 4 deadline. 'It's possible but I don't want to accept that as an option right now. I'm going to try to push it through,' Johnson told reporters. 'I still want to get done by July Fourth.' Johnson said it would be best if the Senate version stayed 'as close as possible' to the House version. He said lawmakers would get three days to review the bill text once the Senate completes it. 'The House will not be jammed by anything,' Johnson said. 'I have been doggedly determined to get this done by July 4, as has the president.' (This story and its headlines have been updated with more information.) This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump pushes Senate to keep working this weekend on mega tax bill

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