By MARK SHERMAN WASHINGTON (AP) Texas on Friday asked the Supreme Court for an emergency order to be allowed to use a congressional redistricting plan pushed by President Donald Trump that is favorable to Republicans in the 2026 elections despite a lower court ruling that it likely discriminates on the basis of race. The state is calling on the high court to intervene to avoid confusion as congressional primary elections approach in March. The justices have blocked past lower-court rulings in congressional redistricting cases, most recently in Alabama and Louisiana, that came several months before elections. Texas redrew its congressional map in the summer as part of Trump’s efforts to preserve a slim Republican majority in the House in next year’s elections, touching off a nationwide redistricting battle. The new redistricting map was engineered to give Republicans five additional House seats, but a panel of federal judges in El Paso ruled 2-1 Tuesday that the civil rights groups that challenged the map on behalf of Black and Hispanic voters were likely to win their case. If the ruling holds for now, Texas could be forced to hold elections next year using the map drawn by the GOP-controlled Legislature in 2021 based on the 2020 census. Texas was the first state to meet Trump’s demands in what has become an expanding national battle over redistricting. Republicans drew the state’s new map to give the GOP five additional seats, and Missouri and North Carolina followed with new maps adding an additional Republican seat each. To counter those moves, California voters approved a ballot initiative to give Democrats an additional five seats there. The redrawn maps are facing court challenges in California, Missouri and North Carolina.
https://www.pressdemocrat.com/2025/11/21/election-2026-redistricting-texas-scotus/
Tag: Donald Trump
DeSantis, Democrats, environmentalists join forces to oppose new Gulf drilling
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. In a rare display of political alignment, Florida’s top Republicans, Democrats, environmental groups, and even some of President Donald Trump’s closest allies in the state are loudly rejecting the administration’s new plan to expand offshore drilling near Florida’s coast. Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has long insisted Florida’s beaches and military testing zones remain off-limits, renewed his warnings this week, urging Trump to stick with the protections he signed in 2020. DeSantis, Democrats, environmentalists join forces to oppose new Gulf drilling “Now what the Interior Department is proposing to do is really to go back off that policy,” said DeSantis, Friday. “I think that would weaken protections we worked really hard to establish offshore.” The Interior Department’s proposal would open new waters for oil and gas development, aiming to boost domestic production and lower prices. But in Florida, where drilling in state waters is already barred by the state constitution, the idea has landed with a thud. Military, Environment, and Bipartisan Pushback Opposition is emerging from every corner of the state’s political landscape. U. S. Rep. Jimmy Patronis, a Republican whose district includes major military installations, warned new rigs could jeopardize critical national security operations in the Eastern Gulf. “The right hand is not talking to the left hand,” Patronis said. ”The Department of the Interior is hard charging to try to drive down gas prices. So they’re trying to do everything they can to throw it and see what sticks to the wall.” State Trump administration announces plan for new oil drilling off Florida Matthew Daly and Matthew Brown Patronis argues drilling could disrupt hypersonic missile testing and other weapons development within the Gulf Test and Training Range. He’s circulated a letter to the White House, signed by most of Florida’s GOP delegation, reminding federal leaders that military testing and energy exploration “are not compatible.” It comes as environmental groups say the risks extend far beyond defense. “Floridians don’t want their treasure trashed,” said JP Brooker with Ocean Conservancy. He warns that drilling puts fisheries, sea turtles, beaches, and billions in tourism revenue at risk. “It’s a political no-brainer,” said Brooker. “The ocean in Florida is like corn. It’s like corn in Iowa, right? It’s something that you have to care about and care about supporting, regardless of your political background, if you want to have a chance of getting elected.” Democrats Also Sound the Alarm Democrats, too, say the plan is unnecessary and dangerous. “Big oil does not need any more help right now,” said U. S. Rep. Kathy Castor, Thursday evening. “They are doing fine and they hold over 2, 000 active leases in the Gulf already.” Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried called the proposal a “nonstarter,” pointing to memories of the Deepwater Horizon disaster just 15 years ago. National Politics Biden permanently bans offshore drilling in 625 million acres of ocean David Goldman, Ella Nilsen and Matt Egan, CNN “Florida has a long history of bipartisan support against drilling off our coastlines,” she said in a statement. “Our state’s fragile ecosystem and economy would be irreparably harmed if this proposal were to move forward.” A History of Avoiding Drilling Near Florida The bipartisan resistance echoes earlier victories for drilling opponents: In 2018, voters approved a constitutional amendment banning drilling in state waters. That same year, then-Gov. Rick Scott secured a pledge from Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke that Florida would be protected: “We are not drilling off the coast of Florida.” In 2020, Trump signed a memorandum extending the federal offshore drilling moratorium until 2032.
https://www.wptv.com/news/state/desantis-democrats-environmentalists-join-forces-to-oppose-new-gulf-drilling
Trump urges Treasury Secretary Bessent to take Federal Reserve job
By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER and JOSH BOAK WASHINGTON (AP) For the second time in two days, President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he would like to appoint Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to chair the Federal Reserve. Yet Bessent keeps saying he doesn’t want the job, Trump added, in comments to the U. S.-Saudi Investment Forum. “We’re thinking about him for the Fed, but he wants no part of it, he likes being secretary of the Treasury,” Trump said. “I think we’ll leave him so let’s cross your name off right, officially, right?” Trump has been sharply critical of the current Fed chair, Jerome Powell, whose term ends in May, for not cutting interest rates quickly enough. Trump’s pick as a replacement will almost certainly push for rapid interest rate cuts and likely institute wide-ranging changes in how the Fed operates. Bessent earlier this year published extensive criticisms of the Fed’s groundbreaking efforts to shore up financial markets and the economy after the 2008-2009 Great Recession and during the pandemic. Bessent is heading up the Trump administration’s search for a new Fed chair. Yet despite his protestations, he is also widely seen as a leading potential replacement for Powell. “He’s a top-tier candidate right now,” Stephen Moore, a senior economic adviser to Trump in his first term, said. Trump “wants to shake things up, so I think he wants an outsider.” Two of the five candidates Bessent has named are current Fed officials: Governors Christopher Waller and Michelle Bowman. The other three would fit the outsider criteria: Kevin Hassett, currently a top White House economic official; Kevin Warsh, a former Fed governor who has been highly critical of the Fed; and Rick Rieder, a senior managing director at asset manager BlackRock. Late Tuesday, in an interview By mid-December, “the president will meet the final three candidates and hopefully have an answer before Christmas,” Bessent said. Associated Press Writer Fatima Hussein contributed to this report.
https://www.redbluffdailynews.com/2025/11/19/federal-reserve-bessent/
Tennessee judge blocks deployment of National Guard in Memphis
MEMPHIS, Tenn. A Tennessee judge on Monday night blocked the use of the National Guard in Memphis under a crimefighting operation by President Donald Trump but also put the order on hold, giving the government five days to appeal. Davidson County Chancellor Patricia Head Moskal’s decision sides with Democratic state and local officials who sued, contending that Republican Gov. Bill Lee cannot deploy the Tennessee National Guard for civil unrest unless there is rebellion or invasion, and even then, it would require action by state lawmakers. The plaintiffs also said another provision spells out a need for a request from a local government to use the Guard in some scenarios, including a “breakdown of law and order,” they said. The state has said Tennessee law gives the governor “the authority to dispatch the Guard when needed and to determine when that need exists.” In a statement posted on X, Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris, a plaintiff in the case, said he is pleased with the decision. “The injunction does not take effect immediately, and the state has a chance to seek leave to appeal,” he wrote. “However, this is a positive step toward ensuring the rule of law applies to everyone, including everyday Tennesseans and even the Governor.” Since their arrival on Oct. 10, troops have been patrolling neighborhoods and commercial areas of Memphis, including near the iconic Pyramid in downtown, wearing fatigues and protective vests that say “military police,” with guns in holsters. Officials have said Guard members have no arrest power. The Guard is part of a task force established by an order from Trump. It also involves a slew of other law enforcement agencies whose officers have patrolling the city now for weeks. For years, Memphis has dealt with high violent crime, including assaults, carjackings and homicides. While this year’s statistics show improvement in several categories, including murders, many acknowledge that violence remains a problem. Trump announced in September that the National Guard would be deployed to combat crime in Memphis alongside authorities from a slew of federal agencies as part of the so-called Memphis Safe Task Force. The task force, which includes hundreds of personnel attached to various federal and state law enforcement agencies and Memphis police, has made more than 2, 500 arrests since it began operating in Memphis. Arrests have been made on charges ranging from drug and weapons violations to immigration warrants to homicides. Lee has said the National Guard would “play a critical support role” for local law enforcement. Memphis Mayor Paul Young, a Democrat, said he never requested that the Guard come to his city. But after Trump made the announcement and Lee agreed, Young, who is not involved in the lawsuit, and others has said they wanted the task force to focus on targeting violent offenders. Young has said operations include some 150 Guard members. Both the plaintiffs and the state acknowledged that the governor did not issue an order to trigger the deployment, but sent a news release. Lee has said that, “As the the commander-in-chief, Gov. Lee has the authority to authorize the Title 32 strategic mission to Memphis.”.
https://www.npr.org/2025/11/17/nx-s1-5611530/national-guard-memphis-judge-ruling
‘Gut punch’: Liberal billionaire reportedly ‘unrecognizable’ after caving to Trump
California tech billionaire Marc Benioff, once a staunch supporter of the Democratic Party, has become “unrecognizable” after endorsing President Donald Trump’s National Guard deployments and cozying up to the president, The Washington Post reported Sunday.
Benioff had initially distanced himself from Trump following his 2024 victory, pledging to maintain his company’s core values such as diversity and inclusion. But after he publicly supported Trump’s plan to deploy the National Guard to San Francisco and made social media posts congratulating the president, those around him began to question whether he had caved on his principles.
“Marc Benioff stood out as someone who showed us that San Francisco values and the tech industry could coexist with and amplify each other,” said California state Rep. Matt Haney, a Democrat who represents San Francisco, speaking with the Post. “[That persona is now] unrecognizable.”
Others, like Rafael Mandelman, the president of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, described Benioff’s apparent shift towards Trump as a “gut punch.”
Inside Benioff’s company Salesforce, the reaction was also negative. A message sent in the company’s internal messaging channel sharing a news article that included Benioff’s comments supporting Trump’s National Guard deployments garnered 200 negative reactions from employees using barfing-face emojis, according to a screenshot obtained by the Post.
“This seems to conflict pretty heavily with our values,” an employee at Salesforce wrote, according to the report.
While Benioff eventually walked back his support for Trump’s proposal to deploy the National Guard to San Francisco, he continued to praise the president on social media. Last month, Benioff even joined Trump for dinner in Tokyo.
Their relationship appeared so strong that Trump personally asked Benioff for advice on who should replace Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell — whom Trump has frequently clashed with and considered firing over Powell’s refusal to cut interest rates as Trump wished.
“Marc, do you have a suggestion?” Trump asked Benioff, owner of Time magazine, during the dinner.
“You put me on the cover of Time magazine. That was a nice picture. Thank you very much for that,” Trump added.
Benioff’s evolving political stance has sparked concern and surprise among former allies and employees alike as he increasingly aligns with the Trump administration.
https://www.rawstory.com/marc-benioff-trump-gut-punch/
‘Retribution’: Trump calls for Epstein inquiry into Democrats
President Donald Trump is intensifying his efforts to thwart attempts to force the release of the Epstein files, even as the House moves toward a vote that could send disclosure legislation to his desk for his signature or veto. This development further heightens scrutiny of his past ties to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
On Friday, the president announced he will ask the U.S. Department of Justice, Attorney General Pam Bondi, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation “to investigate Jeffrey Epstein’s involvement and relationship with Bill Clinton, Larry Summers, Reid Hoffman, J.P. Morgan, Chase, and many other people and institutions, to determine what was going on with them, and him.”
The New York Times reported that the “inquiry appeared to be retribution for the renewed focus on his own ties to Mr. Epstein.”
After White House officials reportedly held a Situation Room meeting with Republican Congresswoman Lauren Boebert on Wednesday to convince her—unsuccessfully—to remove her name from the discharge petition, the president took a different approach on Friday. He appeared both to try to wash his hands of the entire ordeal while refocusing attention on his political opponents and others.
“Epstein was a Democrat, and he is the Democrat’s problem, not the Republican’s problem!” Trump railed on his Truth Social website, while attacking Democrats.
“The Democrats are doing everything in their withering power to push the Epstein Hoax again, despite the DOJ releasing 50,000 pages of documents, in order to deflect from all of their bad policies and losses, especially the SHUTDOWN EMBARRASSMENT, where their party is in total disarray, and has no idea what to do,” Trump alleged.
“Some Weak Republicans have fallen into their clutches because they are soft and foolish,” the president continued. “Epstein was a Democrat, and he is the Democrat’s problem, not the Republican’s problem!”
“Ask Bill Clinton, Reid Hoffman, and Larry Summers about Epstein, they know all about him, don’t waste your time with Trump. I have a Country to run!”
Deadline on Friday noted that “Since the email release, Trump has avoided answering reporters’ questions about Epstein.”
Pointing to Trump’s Friday remarks, Politico’s Kyle Cheney remarked, “Trump again pleads with Republicans to stop talking about Epstein. The pressure hasn’t worked as well as it usually does. Also, the emails show Epstein was politically amorphous, deriding Ds just as much as Rs. And these latest emails were from the Epstein estate, not DOJ.”
https://www.alternet.org/smartnews/trump-clinton-epstein/
BBC apologizes to Donald Trump over Jan. 6 speech, issues retraction
Nov. 14 (UPI) — The BBC has issued a retraction and a formal apology to U.S. President Donald Trump for edits made to a speech he gave ahead of the January 6 Capitol Hill riots. The edits made it appear as if he was inciting his supporters to violence.
BBC Chairman Samir Shah also penned a personal written apology to the White House. However, the BBC indicated it would not be paying compensation, as demanded by President Trump.
The retraction stated that an edition of Panorama titled *Trump: A Second Chance*, broadcast on October 28, 2024, used excerpts lifted from different parts of Trump’s speech in a way that inadvertently made it appear they were contiguous. In the BBC’s version, Trump was shown saying, “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol and I’ll be there with you. And we fight. We fight like hell,” when his actual words were, “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol, and we’re going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women.”
The BBC accepted that this edit “gave the mistaken impression that President Trump had made a direct call for violent action” and offered an apology: “The BBC would like to apologize to President Trump for that error of judgment.”
However, the notice made no mention of compensation, which was one of President Trump’s key demands in a letter threatening the BBC with a $1 billion lawsuit. The letter alleged that the program had defamed him and gave the BBC a deadline of 5 p.m. EST on Friday to respond.
A BBC spokesman said the corporation strongly disagreed that “there is a basis for a defamation claim.” There was no immediate response from either the White House or Trump’s legal counsel.
The Panorama program was not an isolated incident. According to *The Telegraph*, the BBC’s *Newsnight* program did something very similar with the same speech in a broadcast in 2022.
A spokesman for Trump’s legal team said that, based on the latest revelation, it was “now clear that the BBC engaged in a pattern of defamation against President Trump” and accused the corporation of attempting to influence the outcome of the 2024 election.
The controversy has sparked a furious debate about editorial impartiality at the BBC, which is funded by a £229 annual license fee that every household with a TV must pay. This has prompted calls for an overhaul of the BBC’s internal processes and procedures.
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy acknowledged that the BBC’s editorial rules were “in some cases not robust enough and in other cases not consistently applied.” She also appeared to suggest that the replacement for director-general Tim Davie, who resigned Sunday, should come from a journalism background. Davie spent the first half of his career as a senior marketing executive at PepsiCo before joining the BBC’s marketing division.
The opposition Conservative Shadow Culture Secretary, Nigel Huddleston, stated he was waiting to see if Trump accepted the BBC’s response as the “fulsome apology” he was entitled to receive.
“I do not want the British license fee payer or the rest of the BBC to pay the price for poor editorial decisions made by BBC journalists,” Huddleston said in a post on X. “However, we would all be in a better position if the BBC had never made these errors in the first place. The BBC needs a fundamental review of processes and procedures to ensure that such failures in impartiality never happen again.”
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2025/11/14/Trump-receives-apology-from-BBC/9561763112533/
Newsom’s Prop 50 Redistricting Measure Faces New Lawsuit from DOJ
The Justice Department on Thursday filed a lawsuit to block California’s newly approved congressional districts, escalating a legal battle that could impact which party controls the U.S. House of Representatives in 2026.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in California, targets the redistricting map advanced by Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom. This move comes after Republicans pursued a similar redistricting effort in Texas, which was backed by former President Donald Trump.
This case sets up a high-stakes clash between the GOP-led administration and Governor Newsom, a Democrat widely viewed as a potential presidential candidate in 2028.
This is a breaking news story. Updates will follow.
https://www.newsweek.com/newsom-prop-50-california-doj-lawsuit-trump-congress-redistricting-11043732
The timeline for SNAP benefits remains uncertain, even after Congress agrees to end the shutdown
**SNAP Food Aid Uncertainty Looms as Congress Moves to Reopen Government**
By Geoff Mulvihill, Associated Press
Congress has taken a significant step toward reopening the government, but uncertainty remains regarding when all 42 million Americans who rely on SNAP food aid will regain access to their full November benefits.
On Wednesday, the House adopted a plan to reopen the government, sending it to President Donald Trump for his signature. Included in the plan is a provision to restart the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). However, questions persist about when benefits will be loaded onto the debit cards beneficiaries use to purchase groceries.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which administers SNAP, stated in an email Wednesday that funds could be available “upon the government reopening, within 24 hours for most states.” The USDA did not immediately clarify whether this timeline applies to when money would be available to states or when funds would be loaded onto beneficiaries’ debit cards.
Court Battles and State-by-State Variation
SNAP, the largest government food program, serves about one in eight Americans. Court battles have affected the program’s fate in recent weeks, with seesawing rulings and varied USDA communications meaning that beneficiaries in some states have already received their full monthly allocations, while others have gotten nothing or only partial payments.
States report that it’s faster to provide full benefits than to calculate and program for partial payments. According to an Associated Press tally, at least 19 states and the District of Columbia issued full benefits to some recipients last week. Many accomplished this within a day or so, during the narrow window between a Nov. 6 court ruling requiring full payments and a Nov. 7 U.S. Supreme Court action that stopped it.
Jessica Garon, spokesperson for the American Public Human Services Association, anticipates that most states will issue full benefits within three days of receiving the go-ahead, though it may take up to a week for others. Experts suggest that states which have not distributed any November benefits, such as South Carolina and West Virginia, will likely be the quickest to act. A complication arises for the 16 states that issued partial benefits, as technical hurdles may delay the issuance of the remaining amounts.
Delays Impact Millions of Recipients
Timing is critical for millions of Americans counting on SNAP benefits. About 42 million lower-income Americans receive an average of $190 monthly per person through the program. Recipients report that benefits rarely cover their full grocery needs, even with careful budgeting. Delays make things worse.
Doretha Washington, 41, of St. Louis, is struggling to feed herself, her husband, and their six children on limited resources. Her husband works servicing heating and cooling systems, but the family still needs SNAP to make ends meet. By November, they had received nothing, though Missouri reported Tuesday that partial benefits would be issued soon.
“Now it’s making things difficult because we can’t pay our bills in full and keep food in here,” Washington said. “I’m down to three days of food and trying to figure out what to do.” She has been rationing their supply, while others have turned to food charities, facing long lines and diminishing provisions.
State Governments Scramble as Funding is Cut Off
The USDA notified states on Oct. 24 that SNAP would not be funded for November if the shutdown continued. This led states to scramble—most Democratic-led states sued for funding restoration. Some Democratic and Republican-led states sought to cover SNAP payments with state funds, boost food banks, and even deploy the National Guard for food distribution. Others used federal SNAP funds only after a judge ordered the Trump administration to restore payments.
The Senate-passed bill to reopen the government calls for states to be reimbursed for spending their own money on programs usually funded federally. Details about SNAP reimbursement eligibility remain unclear.
While the USDA has promised to reimburse states that paid partial SNAP benefits under a system allowing up to 65% of regular allocations—and said that even states paying full benefits could receive partial reimbursement—it also clarified that amounts already loaded onto EBT cards would not be reduced.
Confusion and Chaos
States that pursued legal action for benefit restoration noted in a Wednesday court filing that the USDA’s late and sometimes contradictory information “illustrates the chaos and confusion occasioned by USDA’s multiple, conflicting guidance documents.”
**Associated Press reporters Margery A. Beck and David A. Lieb contributed to this report.**
https://www.bostonherald.com/2025/11/12/timeline-for-snap-benefits/
US House votes on ending US government shutdown — WSJ
The House of Representatives was approaching a final vote late Wednesday on legislation aimed at ending the longest government shutdown in US history, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal on Thursday.
The bill, which had already passed the Senate on Monday, was gaining significant momentum. Its approval by the House would clear the way for US President Donald Trump’s signature, potentially bringing the shutdown to an end.
**Market Reaction**
At the time of writing, the US Dollar Index (DXY) was up 0.05% on the day, trading at 99.50.
https://bitcoinethereumnews.com/finance/us-house-votes-on-ending-us-government-shutdown-wsj/