Texas GOP Vows to "Hunt Down" Missing Democratic Lawmakers
Pope Leo's "Catholic Coachella" draws one million. Russia's 500-year-old volcano just woke up. Your medical records could get a tech makeover. Wall Street's warning. And more difficult news from Gaza.
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While the president weighs in on Sydney Sweeney and Rupert Murdoch plots his West Coast expansion (seriously, Californians, now would be a good time to invest in local media that’s already building audience), the real drama is unfolding in Texas. Democrats just staged a dramatic multi-state escape they say is essential to save democracy. Many of them are camped out in Chicago and Texas Governor Greg Abbott just ordered their arrest. It's the kind of high-stakes political theater that makes summer news cycles worth paying attention to. We’re also covering: your health data going digital, Trump's revenge tour targets Jack Smith, and a 500-year-old volcano that picked this week to wake up.
A scheduling note: I’m interviewing House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries tomorrow at 12:30 pm ET / 9:30 am PT. If you have questions for Leader Jeffries, please share them with us. You can do so in the comments of this newsletter or by sending them to community@newsnotnoise.com.
Here Are Your Headlines:
Catch Us If You Can: Texas Democrats just pulled off a dramatic exodus to block the state from executing on a Trump-backed redistricting plan. It’s turning into an interstate political drama. Over 50 Texas Democratic lawmakers fled the state on Sunday in a political Hail Mary to prevent Republicans from passing a new heavily gerrymandered Congressional map that would deprive Democrats of 5 seats in the House. Without the Democrats, the Republican-controlled chamber lacks a quorum. At least two-thirds of the 150-member state legislature must be present for the state House to vote, effectively pausing today’s scheduled vote. “This is not a decision we make lightly,” state Rep. Gene Wu said, calling the new maps racist and “corrupt.” Now Texas Gov Greg Abbott has issued arrest warrants for the lawmakers and is ordering the Texas Department of Public Safety to bring back "any member who has abandoned their duty to Texans." The wrinkle: the DPS can only operate inside Texas state lines.
Where They Went: About 30 Democratic lawmakers went to Chicago, where they were welcomed by Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker. Pritzker, considered a 2028 presidential contender, met with Texas Democrats a few weeks ago, apparently to prepare for this scenario. Pritzker vowed to “do everything we can to protect every single one of them,” as Texas Republicans threaten to “hunt them down.” “We know they’re doing the right thing. We know that they’re following the law,” Pritzker said. Other Texas lawmakers scattered to Albany, New York City, and Boston, where they are meeting with senior Democrats.
Threats: Each absent lawmaker faces a daily $500 fine. (They’ve asked for public donations. Texas Gov Abbott calls this fundraising a felony and is trying to use it to justify punitive action against the fleeing lawmakers.) Abbott warned he would begin legal action to remove Democrats from office if they did not return today (they did not). Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton warned the “fleeing cowards” “should be found, arrested, and brought back to the Capitol immediately,” and cited his own nonbinding 2021 legal opinion. The Democrats’ reply from Illinois: “Come and Take it,” — a famous Texas revolution battle cry — dismissing Abbott’s threats as “sound and fury signifying nothing.”
Deja Vu: Democrats similarly fled in 2021 to block a GOP voting bill. After a tense weekslong standoff, some Democrats returned after 38 days and the bill passed, though with fewer provisions.
Context: Democrats are resisting what they believe is the GOP’s attempt to force a permanent Republican majority by redrawing red state maps. For more info, check our explainer from Friday here. Texas Republicans defend their new “politically based” map as “totally legal”. But the Princeton Gerrymandering Project already ranks Texas among the most heavily gerrymandered states, with a “significant Republican advantage” — more tilted than New York or California.
The Numbers: In 2024, Texas House Republicans won roughly 56% of the vote, but got two-thirds of the seats. Under this new map, they’d likely control 30 of 36 Texas House seats (83%). So 56% of the vote could yield 83% of the seats.
Dems Response: California and Texas governors are vowing counter-gerrymanders. California Gov Newsom said he’s considering a special election to redraw the state’s maps before the 2026 midterms. NY Gov Kathy Hochul said today, “we are at war” and “the gloves are off.” Hear more in my interview with New York Gov. Kathy Hochul here.
Further Complications: There’s a cruel reality buried in all this. Gov. Abbott’s special session aims to pass this voting map but also coordinate relief for the victims of last month’s disastrous floods. The walkout prevents voting on anything, including that aid. Democrats accuse Gov. Abbott of tying disaster relief to gerrymandering; Republicans accuse Democrats of holding up aid.
What’s Next: The endgame is unclear. Abbott can keep calling lawmakers back; they can refuse, indefinitely. If Texas hunts down absent lawmakers while Pritzker protects them, we could see serious interstate conflict. Abbott made similar threats when Democrats fled in 2021— nothing happened. Some lawmakers returned after 38 days and the blocked measure passed. Any legal battle could end up before a Supreme Court that has repeatedly ruled in favor of gerrymandering over the last few years.
If you read the Independent Sentinel you'd learn that “Arrest is Nigh” for the fleeing Texas Democratic lawmakers. And PJ Media is telling its audience that these “charter jet” liberals are showcasing “political cowardice” and “self righteousness.” But are these reliable sources? Well Ground News helps to determine their reliability by ranking each source and shows you news from across the spectrum. Ground News ranks both Independent Sentinel and PJ Media as “low factuality” outlets. This is a great way to see what people outside your bubble are reading, and to understand which offer the most and least reliable reporting. My audience gets 40% off the Vantage Plan which comes out to $5 a month. It’s a great way to get outside your filter bubble and better informed. To subscribe, go to my link at GroundNews.com/NNN
Sharing is Caring? The Trump administration is encouraging tech firms and health companies to develop shared standards that would make it easier for doctors, patients – and major tech companies – to share Americans’ health information. Over 60 companies, including Apple, Google, UnitedHealth Group, and CVS Health have already agreed to the initiative.
The Good: Trump argued this will reduce paperwork and streamline health services. Administration officials also say it will make it easier for patients to access their full health records, which providers sometimes fail to deliver in a timely manner. The initiative is fully voluntary, so you don’t have to opt-in.
The Neutral: This won’t be a centralized, government-run database. If you’re suspicious of big government, you’ll probably like the sound of that. But the initiative is in the hands of private companies and if you’re suspicious of for-profit corporations, that might worry you. These health tech companies are increasingly targeted by hackers who want to steal or lock up Americans’ health data. A 2020 study found that kind of crime is on the rise and a 2024 analysis found these private companies are typically understaffed and have inadequate IT security, making these attacks more likely to succeed. Thousands of such attacks have occurred over the last two years; last year alone, the medical information of over 144 million Americans was stolen or exposed. To check if your information has been exposed, see here.
The Bad: Critics are worried that personal health data could be shared with private firms that want to sell you products based on your health profile. The data could also be used to discriminate against marginalized groups. LGBTQ+ people, for example, are already discriminated against in health care. Advocates are also worried health information could be used to prosecute people living with HIV.
The Come Down: Trump has told 17 major pharmaceutical firms they must lower drug prices for Medicaid patients by September 29 or face serious (unspecified) consequences.
Whacked: Trump allies are desperately attempting to defend his eyebrow-raising firing of Erika McEntarfer, the Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner. Trump accused her, without evidence, of manipulating employment data for political purposes. Now officials say further changes could be coming to the agency. “The president wants his own people there,” Trump’s National Economic Council director, Kevin Hassett, said yesterday, “so that when we see the jobs numbers, they are more transparent and more reliable.” Hassett also claimed the “hard evidence” that the numbers were “rigged” was… “that there have been a bunch of revisions.” Revisions are entirely normal and have happened before, including when Biden was in office. “These numbers are put together by teams of literally hundreds of people,” former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers said. “There’s no conceivable way that the head of the BLS could have manipulated this number.” This is not a left-right issue. People who follow financial markets are warning that this firing “imperils trust in economic data,” which is bad news for the US economy.
Ceasefire Collapse: 19 former senior Israeli military officials are calling for an end to the Gaza war, saying that what started as a “just war” is no longer so. They argued the war is “leading the State of Israel to the loss of its security and identity.” Now Israeli and US officials are reportedly debating what to do next. Ceasefire talks with Hamas have collapsed. The Jerusalem Post reports that Prime Minister Netanyahu is calling for a full occupation of Gaza; this is facing intense resistance from many in Israel who want the war to end. Many fear an escalation would further endanger the remaining hostages. Israel is under increasing pressure from the international community and internal critics to take a diplomatic approach. And those 19 former IDF leaders insist Israel is “on the precipice of defeat.”
Aid and Hunger: In the week since Israel announced it would begin daily humanitarian pauses to allow more aid into the Gaza Strip, 1,200 aid trucks have entered, according to the Israeli military. Data from the military shows a little under 45,000 tons of aid entered Gaza in July. That’s the highest amount since Israel blockaded the Strip in March, but it is almost six times less than what entered in February.
Hostage Horror: Hamas announced yesterday it would allow the Red Cross to deliver aid to the hostages if Israel committed to doing more to permanently open humanitarian corridors and stop airstrikes while aid is distributed. In violation of international law, Hamas has prevented the International Red Cross from checking the welfare of hostages since October 7. The announcement followed the publication of a second video of hostage Evyatar David, in which a skeletal David is shown digging what he says is his own grave. There is criticism of the US media for failing to show these images in a prominent way; this video is now running in Times Square. The UN Security Council says it plans to hold a special session tomorrow to address the hostage situation.
Future: Hamas maintains it will only disarm when a Palestinian state is established. But Israel considers the group’s disarmament a prerequisite for a peace deal.
Context: The war began when Hamas killed over 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostages in its October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, with Israeli officials saying 50 hostages remain in Gaza today. The conflict has also devastated Gaza's 2.2 million residents, with international aid organizations reporting mounting civilian deaths and most of the population displaced amid widespread destruction of homes, hospitals, and schools.
Mother Nature is Unhappy: A volcano in Russia’s Far East erupted yesterday for the first time in over 500 years, sending ash over 3 miles into the sky. Hours later, another large earthquake in the vicinity caused renewed tsunami warnings. Experts think all this could be related to last week’s mega-quake, which occurred in the exact same region.
New Race: Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) announced today she is running to be governor of South Carolina. Interestingly, her primary opponents include Alan Wilson, a state prosecutor who Mace accused of mishandling an investigation into her ex-fiancé.
Retribution: The Trump administration has launched an investigation into special counsel Jack Smith for potential violations of the Hatch Act, which forbids government officials from engaging in certain partisan political activities. This is an interesting decision from an administration whose allies have committed “myriad” blatant violations of the Hatch Act over the years, according to a 63-page government report from 2021. When then-White House Counselor Kellyanne Conway was asked in 2019 about the fact she was found to have violated the Hatch Act, her response: “Blah, blah, blah.… Let me know when the jail sentence starts.”
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