Texas house fails to meet quorum for third day
The Texas legislature failed to meet quorum for a third time today, after only 95 of the 100 representatives needed were present. Dozens of Democratic lawmakers defied Governor Greg Abbott’s demands to return, and remain out of state in protest over a new GOP-drawn congressional map.
Speaker Dustin Burrows attempted to reconvene the house today and meet quorum after it failed earlier this week.
Key events
The US president and the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan have officially signed the peace agreement, establishing a so-called “Trump route for international peace and prosperity”.
The corridor for transit and trade will connect mainland Azerbaijan with the autonomous Nakhchivan region, and the AP reported that the Trump administration said it was the Armenians who suggested naming it after the US president.
Both leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan heaped praise on Trump and suggested he should receive a Nobel peace prize, which Trump has expressed interest in winning.
Trump kicks off peace deal signing with leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia
In the state dining room, Donald Trump is flanked by the president of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, to his right, and the Armenian prime minister, Nikol Pashinyan, on his left.
Trump says that both nations agree to “stop all fighting forever”. But a key part of the agreement is that it establishes what will be now known as “the Trump route for international peace and prosperity”. This is a key transit corridor that will have US development rights.
Trump adds that he thinks Aliyev and Pashinyan are “going to have a great relationship”.
Ahead of today’s peace deal signing, here’s a recap of where things stand
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The Texas House failed to meet quorum for a third time today, after only 95 of the 100 representatives needed were present. Dozens of Democratic lawmakers continue to defy Governor Greg Abbott’s demands to return, and remain out of state in protest over a new GOP-drawn congressional map. The Democrats’ next stop on their tour to deny quorum is California. They’ll hold a press conference at 5pm ET today with Governor Gavin Newsom in Sacramento.
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Abbott has spent the last 24 hours ratcheting up and repeating threats against the absent Democrats. He vowed to “call special session, after special session, after special session with the same agenda items on there”, in an interview with NBC News.
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Meanwhile, the Trump administration wasted no time today. A few standout items are below.
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First, the DoJ has issued two grand jury subpoenas to the New York attorney general, Letitia James, also a longtime Trump adversary, according to various reports. One of the subpoenas is tied to a civil fraud case her office brought against Trump, and the other is reportedly tied to the attorney general’s investigation into NRA.
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The Trump administration is also demanding that UCLA pay the federal government $1bn over multiple instalments to settle claims of antisemitism. That’s according to a report from CNN. If the proposal is agreed to, it would mark the biggest settlement the government has received from a higher education institution.
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And then, according to new reporting by the New York Times, the president has secretly signed a directive to the Pentagon to begin using military force against certain Latin American drug cartels that the Trump administration considers terrorist organizations. In response Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, said her government had been informed of a coming order but that it had nothing to do with the US military operating on Mexican soil.
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Finally, for now at least, the Trump administration was handed a win when it comes to its ongoing showdown with the judiciary over the president’s immigration agenda. A federal appeals court overturned Judge James Boasberg’s ruling that found probable cause to hold Trump administration officials in contempt of court over their handling of the deportations of hundreds of Venezuelan migrants under the centuries-old Alien Enemies Act.
Trump fires IRS commissioner after only two months on the job – report
The New York Times is reporting that Donald Trump is replacing the IRS commissioner, Billy Long, only two months after her was confirmed.
Long is a former congressman from Missouri and a notable Trump ally – who pushed false claims that the 2020 election was stolen. According to the Times, Long is being primed for an ambassador nomination. It is unclear who lead the agency next, according to the Times.
Long is the sixth person to run the IRS this year alone, there have been four acting commissioners since Danny Werfel’s resignation in January, following Trump’s inauguration.
A senior administration official tells the Times that treasury secretary Scott Bessent will be named acting commissioner.
We’ll be bringing you the latest as Donald Trump prepares to welcome the Armenian prime minister, Nikol Pashinyan, followed by the president of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev. They’re expected to sign a peace deal, which would be a landmark development in decades of tension and fighting. Pashinyan is due to arrive soon.
The meeting will be certainly be an opportunity for the president to highlight his “peacemaker-in-chief” bona fides, but peace is more elusive in one of the hallmark international conflicts of Trump’s second term.
Today is Trump’s original deadline for Russia to end its invasion of Ukraine, or face fresh sanctions. So far there’s been no update, but Trump has said he is ready to meet with Vladimir Putin despite the Russian leader’s refusal to sit-down with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The exact time and location remain undefined, but the UAE has been floated, given Putin’s refusal to talk in Kyiv.
Trump administration seeks $1bn settlement from UCLA – report
The Trump administration is demanding that the University of California, Los Angeles, pay the federal government $1bn over multiple installments to settle claims of antisemitism, according to a report from CNN.
The settlement would also require UCLA to pay $172m to a fund for Jewish students and other individuals affected by alleged violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, per CNN. Title VII prohibits employment discrimination on the basis race, color, religion, sex and national origin.
CNN notes that if the proposal is agreed to, it would mark the biggest settlement the government has received from a higher education institution. CNN has not yet received comment from the University of California system.
According to CNN’s reporting, “the proposed agreement prohibits overnight demonstrations and calls on the school to revise its policies and procedures on protests. It also requires UCLA to discontinue race and ethnicity-based scholarships and provide the resolution monitor with admissions data.”
Burrows is now speaking and says that he and attorney general Ken Paxton have tried to make the civil arrest warrants they have filed against Democratic lawmakers “enforceable beyond state lines”.
Also, notably, Burrows is enacting a new policy that states that any member breaking quorum will no longer have their paycheck or per diem deposited electronically. While the Capitol is not withholding pay – as that violates the state’s constitution – they are now stipulating that their paychecks must now be picked up in person.
Burrows said the statehouse will withhold a percentage of absent Democrats’ monthly expenses, and any administrative work that requires the House’s approval will need to be done in person.
Texas house fails to meet quorum for third day
The Texas legislature failed to meet quorum for a third time today, after only 95 of the 100 representatives needed were present. Dozens of Democratic lawmakers defied Governor Greg Abbott’s demands to return, and remain out of state in protest over a new GOP-drawn congressional map.
Speaker Dustin Burrows attempted to reconvene the house today and meet quorum after it failed earlier this week.
Abbott threatens to add more Republican seats to gerrymandered map: ‘We may make it six, or seven or eight’
In an interview with Ruthless Podcast, Texas’s governor, Greg Abbott, threatened to add “six, or seven or eight” new seats to the GOP-drawn congressional map that Democrats are already protesting by breaking quorum.
The current proposal is a gerrymandered map that could secure Republicans five seats in Texas ahead of the 2026 midterms.
When asked about how he sees this redistricting battle ending, Abbott was resolute: “One way or the other, they [Democrats] are coming back, and it’s going to end with these maps being passed.”
Trump’s justice department subpoenas New York attorney general – reports
The DOJ has issued two grand jury subpoenas to Letitia James, the New York attorney general and longtime Trump adversary, according to reports.
One of the cases relates to a civil fraud case brought by James’s office against Trump, which resulted in the president owing New York state $500m, the New York Times reported. The other case relates to the attorney general’s investigation into National Rifle Association (NRA), a rightwing gun lobbying group.
The investigation will raise further concerns that Trump is using the legal system to pursue personal vendettas. Last month the justice department announced a new “strike force” to investigate unsubstantiated charges that Barack Obama and top officials conspired to hurt Trump’s 2016 campaign, as legal experts told the Guardian that the department is “being used as a personal weapon” by Trump.
“Any weaponization of the justice system should disturb every American. We stand strongly behind our successful litigation against the Trump Organization and the National Rifle Association, and we will continue to stand up for New Yorkers’ rights,” James’s office said in a statement.
Second bomb threat at Illinois hotel housing Texas Democrats
Today, the hotel where several Texas Democrats are staying experienced a second bomb threat in one week, according to local police.
The St Charles police department said that they conducted a thorough search of the area, and no explosive device was found. They confirmed that all 70 hotel guests are safe.
Today’s bomb threat comes just days after an initial bomb threat at the same hotel, which is located in a suburb outside Chicago.
It’s not immediately clear how many Texas lawmakers are still staying at the Q-Center hotel where the threats were made.
‘I’m going to call special session after special session,’ says Texas governor
In an interview with NBC News, Texas’s governor, Greg Abbott, said he would call “special session, after special session, after special session with the same agenda items on there”, referring to the Democratic lawmakers who broke quorum this week.
The legislators have vowed to stay out of Texas until at least the end of the current session, which ends on 19 August.
In the interview, Abbott, a Republican, was undeterred. “Democrats act like they’re not going to come back as long as this is an issue,” Abbott said. “That means they’re not going to come back until like 2027 or 2028.”
Since the quorum break, the legislative business of the entire session is now on ice. This includes relief for the victims of the catastrophic flooding that hit Texas last month.
“There’s only one thing that’s denying our ability to get legislation passed. And it’s these Democrats who have fled the state, turned their backs on their fellow constituents,” Abbott said. “And those Democrats are going to lose their job in the upcoming election, if they don’t get kicked out before then, because they’re not stepping up helping out their constituents who are in desperate need.”
It’s important to note that Republican House leadership in Texas chose to start the special session with the question of redistricting legislation.
Texas house attempts to reconvene special session: where things stand
The Texas legislature is hoping to resume its special session today at 2pm ET, after Democratic lawmakers broke quorum for two consecutive days earlier this week in protest over a gerrymandered congressional map, drawn by the state’s GOP.
For their part, the dozens of absent Democrats have hunkered down in blue states – such as Illinois, New York and Massachusetts – and have told the Guardian they plan to stay away from the Texas Capitol for “as long as it takes”.
The Democrats’ next stop on their tour to deny quorum is California. Where they’ll hold a press conference at 5pm ET today with Governor Gavin Newsom and House speaker emerita Nancy Pelosi.
Texas’s governor, Greg Abbott, and attorney general, Ken Paxton, both Republicans, have threatened the legislators who left town with civil arrest warrants. Paxton has also promised to file court orders that would declare the Democrats’ seats vacant if they fail to return to Texas by Friday.
Meanwhile, Texas senator John Cornyn, also a Republican, has said the FBI has agreed to help local law enforcement locate and arrest the legislators, despite none of them being been charged with a crime.
For his part, Gavin Newsom has taken a leading role in the redistricting arms race that’s ensued, and pledged to retaliate against Republicans’ redistricting efforts by working to change California’s own congressional map.
Lawsuit seeks justice department and FBI communications about Epstein investigation
Michael Sainato
An advocacy group sued the US justice department and the FBI on Friday for records detailing their handling of the sex-trafficking investigation into the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The legal organization Democracy Forward is seeking records related to senior administration officials’ communications about Epstein documents and any regarding correspondence between Epstein and Donald Trump.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Washington DC, appears to be the first of its kind. The group says it submitted requests under the Freedom of Information Act (Foia) for the records related to communications about the case in late July that have not yet been fulfilled.
“The court should intervene urgently to ensure the public has access to the information they need about this extraordinary situation,” said Skye Perryman, the president and CEO of the Democratic-aligned group, in a statement. The federal government often shields records related to criminal investigations from public view.
The Epstein case has been subject to heightened public focus since the justice department said last month it would not release additional documents from the case.
Meanwhile, top Trump officials reportedly met at the White House on Wednesday night to discuss strategy moving forward as the Trump administration continues to face criticism, including from Republicans, for its handling of the official files related to Epstein and the US president’s responses to calls for the release of all documents related to the criminal investigation.
The meeting was reportedly hosted by JD Vance, with the gathering moved from the vice-president’s official residence to the White House, according to reporting by CNN. The meeting had been billed to include top Trump officials, including the US attorney general, Pam Bondi, and the FBI director, Kash Patel. Vance and his staff had denied that a meeting to discuss the handling of the rumbling Epstein scandal was taking place.
The Trump administration is now weighing whether to release recorded audio from the recent Department of Justice interview with Epstein’s convicted accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell.
Mexico at no risk of US military intervention, says President Sheinbaum
Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, has said that members of the US military would not be entering Mexican territory after a news report that Washington may take such action to combat drug cartels.
Earlier today, the New York Times (paywall) reported that Donald Trump had secretly signed a directive to the Pentagon to begin using military force against certain Latin American drug cartels.
Sheinbaum said her government had been informed of a coming order but that it had nothing to do with the US military operating on Mexican soil.
No contempt for Trump officials over Venezuela deportations, appeals court rules
A US appeals court has overturned a lower court’s ruling finding probable cause to hold Trump administration officials in contempt of court over their handling of the deportations of hundreds of Venezuelan migrants under a centuries-old wartime law.
US district judge James Boasberg found in April that officials could face criminal contempt charges for willfully disregarding his 15 March order barring the deportations to El Salvador of alleged Venezuelan gang members under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act without the chance to challenge their removals.
The Trump administration appealed. This morning, a three-judge panel of the DC circuit US court of appeals sided with the government by a 2-1 vote.
Judges Gregory Katsas and Neomi Rao, both of whom were nominated by Donald Trump in his first term in the White House, concurred with the unsigned majority opinion. Judge Cornelia Pillard, who was appointed by Barack Obama, dissented.
“The District Court’s order raises troubling questions about judicial control over core executive functions like the conduct of foreign policy and the prosecution of criminal offenses,” Katsas wrote in an opinion.
The Washington division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) posted on X today – in the early hours – to show their presence alongside US park police.
This comes after the White House committed to beef up federal law enforcement to combat crime in the nation’s capital, despite a 30-year low in violent crime in 2024, according to a report by the justice department.
Robert Tait
Trump firing labor statistics head won’t achieve his agenda, says former chief
Donald Trump will need to take more radical action than simply firing the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) if he is determined to “cook the books” on jobs figures, the federal agency’s former commissioner has said.
Erica Groshen, who ran the BLS during Barack Obama’s presidency, said meddling with how government statisticians calculate unemployment and labour market trends would require “a whole new cadre” of people to be brought in by a new commissioner. It would also provoke upheaval and a likely rash of whistleblowing among the existing workforce.
Trump provoked widespread criticism last week by firing the BLS’s commissioner, Erika McEntarfer, after weaker-than-expected jobs numbers for July and downward revisions for the two previous months, statistics that seemed to portend a looming economic slowdown.
In an interview, Groshen said Trump’s reasoning for terminating McEntarfer had “no basis at all”. She said the decision was “very shocking” despite having warned of such a possibility earlier this year in a briefing paper that flagged changes in civil service employment classifications under Trump, which make it easer to fire senior officials deemed to be out of step with the president’s agenda.
“This isn’t inconsistent with the way he’s acted in other situations,” she said. “[But] it’s a question of boundaries. I had quietly hoped and assumed it wouldn’t happen.”
Read more here:
We’re getting more updates from the Chevening House visit between JD Vance and the UK foreign secretary, David Lammy.
Ahead of their meeting today, the US vice-president and Lammy took the opportunity to go carp fishing behind the estate. Alas, no fish were actually caught.
Speaking to reporters, Lammy said that the pair will be “discussing the developing situation in the Middle East and in Gaza”, and Vance noted that the US has “no plans to recognise a Palestinian state” but “the president has been very moved by these terrible images of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. So we want to make sure that we solve that problem.”
As we wait for more on the meeting, here are a few snaps of the fruitless fishing expedition.