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Sports

Celtics Re-Sign Coach Joe Mazzulla to Contract Extension Amid Historic Start to Career

by USNN World NewsAugust 9, 2025August 9, 2025

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

NATIONAL NEWS

House Panel to Take Up Contempt of Congress Charge Against Facebook’s Zuckerberg on Thursday

By Ryan Morgan The Republican-controlled House Judiciary Committee has set a Thursday vote on whether to initiate contempt of Congress charges against Facebook founder Mark ...

Judge Demands Explanation From Hunter Biden’s Lawyers Over Alleged Lie to Court Clerk

By Caden Pearson Lawyers for Hunter Biden may face legal sanctions for allegedly misrepresenting themselves to the court clerk in order to have information related to ...

Hunter Biden Friend Worked for Prosecutor After Investigation Into President’s Son Began

By Zachary Stieber A friend of President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden was employed by the U.S. attorney’s office investigating the Hunter after the probe ...

Massive Backlog of US Passport Applications Sparks Flood of Complaints to Congress

By Bryan Jung A major backlog of U.S. passport applications has spurred a flood of calls by angry American travelers to House and Senate offices on ...

McCarthy: Biden Family Probe ‘Rising to the Level of Impeachment Inquiry’

By Caden Pearson House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has asserted that the growing body of evidence surrounding corruption allegations against President Joe Biden and his ...

Hunter Biden Partner to Testify to Congress as White House Says President ‘Never in Business’ With His Son

By Zachary Stieber Hunter Biden’s former business partner is scheduled to testify to Congress as lawmakers look to dig deeper into connections between President Joe ...

DeSantis Involved in Car Accident on Way to Event in Tennessee: Campaign

By Jack Phillips Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was involved in a car crash on Tuesday while campaigning in Tennessee, according to his campaign. The Republican 2024 ...

Biden Administration Sued Over Alleged Harms of Biofuel Production

By Tom Ozimek The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) biofuel program is doing more harm than good by killing endangered species, according to a federal lawsuit against ...

Texas Governor Says He Will Defy Federal Agency’s Request to Remove Floating Barriers

By Jack Phillips Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday said he would defy a Department of Justice (DOJ) request to remove inflatable, floating barriers in ...

IRS Ends Unannounced Agent Visits to Taxpayers’ Homes

By Tom Ozimek The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has announced a major yet “common-sense” policy change that will put an end to most unannounced agent ...

Trump’s Trade Chief Lays Out Plan to Beat China at Its Own Game

By Jan Jekielek and Terri Wu Former U.S. trade representative Ambassador Robert Lighthizer views the decades of U.S. trade deficit with China as a “wealth transfer.” In ...

RFK Jr. Maintains Highest Favorability Rating Among Presidential Candidates in New Poll

By Jeff Louderback Days after a House hearing on censorship that saw Democrats attempt to prevent Robert F. Kennedy Jr. from testifying, a new Harvard-Harris ...