USNN World News - USNN World News

Economy

Mounting Debt Taking a Toll on Health, Nearly Half of Americans Say

by USNN World NewsAugust 9, 2025August 9, 2025

National News

Commerce Department Threatens to Take Ownership of Harvard Patents

by USNN World NewsAugust 9, 2025August 9, 2025

World

Zelenskyy Rules Out Ceding Land to Russia Ahead of Trump-Putin Meeting

by USNN World NewsAugust 9, 2025August 9, 2025

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit with the state Supreme Court on Aug. 8, asking the court to declare the House seats of 13 Texas Democrats vacant due to “unlawful absences.” Paxton filed the lawsuit shortly after Democrats broke a deadline set by Texas Speaker of the House Dustin Burrows to return to the Capitol on Friday. “I have asked the Texas Supreme Court to declare what has been clear from the beginning: that the runaway members have officially vacated their offices in the Texas House,” Paxton said in a press release. Story continues below advertisement The lawsuit is aimed at 13 Democratic members who stated publicly they refused to return, “confirming in their own words the very grounds for this legal action,” according to the press release. Those named include the following Texas Democratic representatives: Ron Reynolds, Vikki Goodwin, Gina Hinojosa, James Talarico, Lulu Flores, Mihaela Plesa, Suleman Lalani, Chris Turner, Ana-Maria Ramos, Jessica Gonzalez, John Bucy III, Christina Morales, and Gene Wu, the Texas House Democratic Caucus chairman. Paxton said Texas law gives him the authority to represent the state in “quo warranto actions” and to appear before the Texas Supreme Court in matters of direct state interest. Related Stories Texas Governor Aims to Remove Absent Democrats With Emergency Petition to State High Court The Epoch Times Texas Holds Legislative Session After Democrat Lawmakers Depart The Epoch Times More than 50 state Democrats fled the state to derail Republican plans to redraw the state’s Congressional map before the midterm elections. “When members of the legislature disregard arrest warrants, refuse to perform their duties, and announce that they intend to prevent the legislature from exercising its constitutional responsibilities, they have, through words and conduct, demonstrated an intent to relinquish and abandon their offices,” the lawsuit states. Such legal action is rarely used. Warranto petitions are typically used to challenge a person’s right to hold a public or corporate office or to revoke a corporation’s charter. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott also filed a warranto petition on Aug. 5 with the state’s high court, naming Wu as a respondent. The governor’s lawsuit alleged that House Democrats abdicated their official duties by refusing to show up for work. Story continues below advertisement The state justices gave Wu until Friday to respond. Paxton and Burrows took steps to enforce arrest warrants in other states, while the attorney general also began investigations into Powered by People and Texas Majority PAC for allegedly “operating an illegal financial influence scheme to bribe Democrats into breaking quorum.” Also, the fleeing Democrats potentially face felony charges and fines of $500 per day that must be paid from their own funds. The fight between Democrats and Republicans started when the Department of Justice (DOJ) sent Abbott a letter on July 7 raising concerns that four congressional districts in the Houston and Dallas areas were unconstitutional because of “racial gerrymandering.” Current boundaries run afoul of the Voting Rights Act by relying on racial demographics to group minority voters into “coalition districts,” where no single racial group forms a majority, according to the DOJ. Abbott added redrawing the congressional map onto the special session agenda, prompting the Democrats to purposefully break quorum and grind the legislature to a halt.

National News

Texas AG Files Suit With State Supreme Court to Declare Seats of 13 Absent Democrats Vacant

by USNN World NewsAugust 8, 2025August 8, 2025

Sports

Hard to Believe? For the Miami Marlins, the Wild Card Is Within Reach

by USNN World NewsAugust 8, 2025August 8, 2025

National News

Suspect Dead, Officer Killed in Shooting Reported at Emory University

by USNN World NewsAugust 8, 2025August 8, 2025

World

Trump to Meet Putin in Alaska on Aug. 15

by USNN World NewsAugust 8, 2025August 8, 2025

Economy

Trump Gained ‘10 Times More Income’ for Average Families Than Biden, Says Economist

by USNN World NewsAugust 8, 2025August 8, 2025

Business

FAA Plans to Hire Nearly 9,000 Air Traffic Controllers by 2028 Amid Nationwide Shortage

by USNN World NewsAugust 8, 2025August 8, 2025

Economy

US Households Owed an Average of $152,653 at the End of Q2 2025: Report

by USNN World NewsAugust 7, 2025August 7, 2025

World

Israel Plans Full Military Control of Gaza, Netanyahu Says

by USNN World NewsAugust 7, 2025August 7, 2025

NATIONAL NEWS

Trump Says He’ll Sign Order to Prepare Guantanamo Bay to House Illegal Immigrants

By Jacob Burg President Donald Trump said on Jan. 29 that he would sign an executive order converting the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba ...

Senate Judiciary Committee Advances Pam Bondi’s Nomination for Attorney General

By Sam Dorman A Senate panel voted on Jan. 29 to advance former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi’s nomination to lead the Department of Justice, ...

DOJ Moves to Dismiss Appeal in Mar-a-Lago Classified Documents Case

By Sam Dorman The Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a motion on Jan. 29 to voluntarily dismiss its appeal in the Florida classified documents case ...

Trump Admin Offers Buyouts to Nearly All Federal Employees

By Tom Ozimek Federal employees are being offered buyouts under the Trump administration’s new “deferred resignation” initiative, with the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to ...

Farmers Author Letter of Support for RFK Jr.’s Health Secretary Confirmation

By Jeff Louderback On the eve of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s first confirmation hearing, a group of farmers sent a letter to the Senate Finance ...

Gabbard, Patel, RFK Jr. Face Senate Confirmation Hearings This Week

By Stacy Robinson President Donald Trump’s administration is gearing up for another round of confirmation battles. So far, four of his nominees have cleared the confirmation ...

Government Officials Put on Leave After Allegedly Trying to Circumvent Trump’s Orders

By Zachary Stieber Officials who work at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) have been placed on leave because they allegedly tried to find ...

Trump Says Military ‘Turned on the Water’ in California, Although State Disputes It

By Jack Phillips President Donald Trump on Monday evening wrote on social media that the U.S. military, under his direction, turned on water supplies in ...

Trump Says New Tariffs Will Target Semiconductors, Steel, and Pharma

By Emel Akan and Nathan Worcester DORAL, Fla.— President Donald Trump delivered a speech at the House Republican retreat on Jan. 27 at his Doral ...

Trump Admin Outlines Criteria for Reclassifying Federal Workers for Easier Termination

By Tom Ozimek The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has issued detailed guidance for federal agencies on implementing one of President Donald Trump’s executive orders ...

Trump Says He ‘Immediately Halted’ Hiring of New IRS Agents

By Jack Phillips President Donald Trump on Saturday said he has halted any new hires of Internal Revenue Service (IRS) agents. “They hired—were trying to hire ...

Johnson Invites Trump to Address Joint Session of Congress

By Tom Ozimek House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has extended an invitation to President Donald Trump to deliver a customary post-inauguration speech to lawmakers on ...