Texas redistricting standoff escalates with threat to arrest absent Democrats – US politics live | Republicans

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Texas governor threatens arrest of Democrats absent at redistricting vote

Hello and welcome to the US politics live blog. My name is Tom Ambrose and I will be bringing you all the latest news lines over the next few hours.

We start with news that Texas governor Greg Abbott has escalated the standoff over redrawing the state’s congressional districts by threatening to arrest Democratic lawmakers who are using their collective absence from the state capital to prevent the move.

More than 50 Democrats have fled from Texas, staging a kind of temporary political exile in Democratic-led states, Reuters reports. It is intended to deny Republicans in Austin the quorum necessary to vote on their redistricting plan, championed by president Donald Trump.

By redrawing lines in hopes of flipping some seats in the US House of Representatives currently held by Democrats, the Republican Party aims to protect its narrow majority in next year’s congressional midterm elections. Trump has told reporters he expects the effort to yield as many as five additional House Republicans.

During Monday’s statehouse session in Austin, the Republican speaker of the Texas House of Representatives issued civil warrants for the wayward Democrats – most of whom have gone to Illinois, New York or Massachusetts – to be brought back to Austin.

“To ensure compliance, I ordered the Texas Department of Public Safety to locate, arrest, and return to the House chamber any member who has abandoned their duty to Texans,” Abbott said in a statement.

But the move seems largely symbolic. The warrants apply only within the state, and breaking quorum is not a crime that would allow Texas authorities to pursue extradition from other states.

Read our latest story here:

In other developments:

The former Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) commissioners and non-partisan economic groups have criticized Donald Trump’s shock firing of BLS commissioner Erika McEntarfer after the July jobs report data revealed jobs growth stalled this summer.
About 600 former Israeli security officials, including previous heads of the Mossad and the military, have urged Donald Trump to pressure Israel to end the war in Gaza as the country’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, considers expanding the conflict.
Mike Johnson became the highest ranked US official to visit the occupied West Bank on Monday, the Republican House speaker drawing measures of praise and condemnation for his trip in support of Israeli settlements amid a worsening starvation crisis in Gaza.
More than 40 people protesting the war in Gaza and worsening humanitarian crisis were arrested outside the Trump International hotel in New York City on Monday evening.
Donald Trump’s special envoy is expected in Moscow days before the US president’s deadline on Friday for Russia to make progress on ending the war in Ukraine or face increased US sanctions.
The US state department has prepared plans to impose bonds as high as $15,000 for some tourism and business visas, according to a draft of a temporary final rule. The bonds would be issued to visitors from countries with significant overstay rates, under a 12-month pilot program.
The Trump administration is seeking to block veterans from receiving abortions at hospitals run by the Department of Veterans Affairs in cases of rape or incest, or when a veteran’s pregnancy has imperiled their health, according to new paperwork filed by the administration.
The Swiss stock market has plunged, the cabinet has held crisis talks and the country’s president has been accused of mishandling a vital phone call with the White House after Donald Trump hit the country with a shock 39% export tariff.
News Corp, part of the Murdoch family media empire, has announced it will bring a version of the brash rightwing New York Post to California in early 2026.
Marjorie Taylor Greene said that she feels the Republican party has lost touch with its base – but she said she has no plans to leave the party.
More than a dozen Democratic members of Congress signed a letter that urges the Trump administration to recognise Palestinian statehood, in a draft copy shared with the Guardian.

Key events

Bondi launches grand jury investigation into Obama administration handling of 2016 Russian election interference

Attorney general Pam Bondi has ordered justice department officials to launch a probe into how Obama-era officials handled Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Reuters reports that the DOJ will investigate allegations that the Obama administration manufactured intelligence on Russia’s interference, according to a source familiar with the matter.

Last month, director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said that she had received “overwhelming evidence” that demonstrates Obama and his national security officials “manufactured and politicized intelligence to lay the groundwork for what was essentially a years-long coup against President Trump.” She declassified numerous documents as evidence of what described as “treasonous conspiracy” from the Obama administration to undermine Donald Trump’s 2016 victory.

After Gabbard’s document release, the justice department formed a taskforce in July to investigate the allegations further. Democrats, in response, have criticised Gabbard’s attempts to re-litigate a 2020 bipartisan Senate Intelligence review that did find evidence that Russia engaged in an “aggressive” effort to influence the outcome of the 2016 election.

It’s a quiet August Tuesday on the president’s schedule today. The only listed item on his agenda is an executive order signing at 4pm EDT. We don’t know the details of that just yet.

Trump is also speaking on CNBC now, and we’ll bring you the latest from that interview.

Nina Lakhani

The Trump administration’s decision to abruptly terminate a $3bn program helping hundreds of communities prepare for climate disasters and environmental hazards is unconstitutional and should be overturned, a court will hear on Tuesday.

A coalition of non-profits, tribes and local governments is suing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the agency’s administrator Lee Zeldin for terminating the entire Environmental and Climate Justice (ECJ) block grant program – despite a legally binding mandate from Congress to fund the Biden-era initiative.

It’s the first-of-a-kind proposed class action lawsuit that would force the EPA and Zeldin to reinstate the program and each individual grant, rather than forcing the recipients to sue individually.

The $3bn ECJ program was created by Congress through the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) – a long standing source for ire for Trump and his polluting industry allies – to help historically disadvantaged communities come up with local solutions to improve resilience in the face of worsening climate shocks and environmental degradation.

It was intended by Congress to fund community-based projects across the country to tackle longstanding and pressing environmental harms that cause death and ill health from hazards including industrial pollution, lead pipes, flooding and urban heat islands. Almost 350 rural and urban groups, towns and tribes were selected by the EPA from 2,700 applicants, through a rigorous process that included longterm accountability and oversight over the funds.

Anna Betts

More than 40 people protesting the war and worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza were arrested outside the Trump International hotel in New York City on Monday evening.

The protest, organized by IfNotNow, a Jewish-American anti-occupation group, had begun earlier in the evening at Columbus Circle. Hundreds gathered under the banner “Trump: Jews Say No More” to demand an end to the war in Gaza and that the Trump administration pressure Israel to allow greater humanitarian aid to enter into territory, as health officials there continue to report deaths from starvation and malnutrition.

“Let’s not mince words, the Israeli government’s blockade of Gaza is a policy of ethnic cleansing by way of forced mass starvation,” said Morriah Kaplan, IfNotNow’s interim executive director, during her speech to the crowd. “It is an unbearable, unspeakable, unfathomable affront to our shared humanity and those who are carrying it out and are deploying our Jewish symbols, language and traditions to defend and justify it, which is why I’m heartened to see such a range of Jews and Jewish organizations coming together today to say with one voice that we oppose these atrocities, not in spite of our Judaism, but for many of us, because of it.”

“We need the US government to use its considerable leverage to end these horrors,” she added.

Protesters held signs that read “stop ethnic cleansing”, “never again is now” “stop starving Gaza” and “not in our name” and speakers included Ruth Messinger, Rabbi Jill Jacobs, the T’ruah CEO, and Brad Lander, the New York City comptroller.

“Yesterday was the Jewish holiday of Tisha B’Av in which Jews mourn the destruction of the people of Israel,” Lander said, “and what we’re witnessing right now is destruction caused by the State of Israel.”

Rwanda reached deal with US to take in up to 250 migrants, government says

The United States and Rwanda have agreed for the African country to accept up to 250 migrants deported from the US, the spokesperson for the Rwandan government and an official told Reuters, as president Donald Trump’s administration takes a hardline approach toward immigration.

The agreement, first reported by Reuters, was signed by US and Rwandan officials in Kigali in June, said the Rwandan official, speaking on condition of anonymity, adding that Washington had already sent an initial list of 10 people to be vetted.

“Rwanda has agreed with the United States to accept up to 250 migrants, in part because nearly every Rwandan family has experienced the hardships of displacement, and our societal values are founded on reintegration and rehabilitation,” said the spokesperson for the Rwandan government, Yolande Makolo.

“Under the agreement, Rwanda has the ability to approve each individual proposed for resettlement. Those approved will be provided with workforce training, healthcare, and accommodation support to jumpstart their lives in Rwanda, giving them the opportunity to contribute to one of the fastest-growing economies in the world over the last decade.”

Swiss president Karin Keller-Sutter will travel to Washington later on Tuesday for meetings with US authorities on improving Switzerland’s customs situation, the government said.

“The aim is to make the US a more attractive offer in order to reduce the level of additional tariffs on Swiss exports, while taking US concerns into account,” the government said in a statement.

Switzerland, home to some of the world’s best-known luxury brands, was left stunned after the US president on Friday imposed one of the highest tariff rates in his global trade reset. Industry associations said tens of thousands of jobs were at risk.

Local media had reported that after three months of talks, negotiators believed they had secured a 10% tariff on exports to the US, a key market for Swiss products such as luxury watches, jewellery and chocolate but also machinery and pharmaceuticals.

But after a 30-minute call with Keller-Sutter on Thursday evening variously described as “bad-tempered”, “disastrous” and “badly misjudged”, Trump imposed a levy even higher than the 31% he had announced on his so-called “liberation day” in April.

Switzerland’s blue-chip stock market index opened 1.8% lower on Monday, the first day of trading since the tariff announcement on Swiss National Day, a public holiday. The cabinet said after an emergency meeting it would improve its offer to Trump.

Putin doubts potency of Trump’s ultimatum to end the war, sources say

Russian president Vladimir Putin is unlikely to bow to a sanctions ultimatum expiring this Friday from US president Donald Trump, and retains the goal of capturing four regions of Ukraine in their entirety, sources close to the Kremlin told Reuters.

Trump has threatened to hit Russia with new sanctions and impose 100% tariffs on countries that buy its oil – of which the biggest are China and India – unless Putin agrees to a ceasefire in Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Putin’s determination to keep going is prompted by his belief that Russia is winning and by scepticism that yet more US sanctions will have much of an impact after successive waves of economic penalties during the years of war, according to three sources familiar with discussions in the Kremlin.

The Russian leader does not want to anger Trump, and he realises that he may be spurning a chance to improve relations with Washington and the West, but his war goals take precedence, two of the sources said.

Putin’s goal is to fully capture the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, which Russia has claimed as its own, and then to talk about a peace agreement, one of the sources said.

Richard Luscombe

Mike Johnson became the highest ranked US official to visit the occupied West Bank on Monday, the Republican House speaker drawing measures of praise and condemnation for his trip in support of Israeli settlements amid a worsening starvation crisis in Gaza.

The excursion followed Johnson’s arrival in Israel on Sunday on an unannounced visit with other Republican lawmakers, and his meeting with Israeli defense minister Israel Katz and foreign minister Gideon Saar.

Johnson’s visit to the West Bank is the highest profile by a senior US political figure since then secretary of state Mike Pompeo went to Psogat in November 2020 during the final months of Donald Trump’s first presidency.

It is a private trip hosted by a pro-Israel advocacy group, an Axios report said, and not an official congressional delegation. The outlet said Johnson traveled with fellow Republican representatives Michael McCaul, Nathaniel Moran and Michael Cloud of Texas, and Claudia Tenney of New York.

Johnson told Israeli settlers on Monday that Israel was the “rightful owner” of the contested Palestinian territory, according to a report published on the pro-Palestinian website Common Dreams, and separately, Marc Zell, the chair of Republicans Overseas Israel.

Michael Sainato

The former Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) commissioners and non-partisan economic groups have criticized Donald Trump’s shock firing of BLS commissioner Erika McEntarfer after the July jobs report data revealed jobs growth stalled this summer.

Trump, without any evidence to back his claims, alleged McEntarfer “faked” employment numbers in the run-up to the 2024 election to boost Kamala Harris’s chances and said that the recent data was “rigged” to make Trump and Republicans look bad.

The Trump administration has continued to repeat the allegations. The National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett, a Trump appointee, has claimed “all over the US government, there have been people who have been resisting Trump everywhere they can,” in justifying the firing.

Friends of BLS, a group chaired by former BLS commissioners Erica Groshen, an Obama appointee, and William Beach, Trump’s appointee during his first term, strongly criticized the firing of McEntarfer, Trump’s allegations, and called on Congress to act.

“We call on Congress to respond immediately, to investigate the factors that led to Commissioner McEntarfer’s removal, to strongly urge the Commissioner’s continued service, and ensure that the nonpartisan integrity of the position is retained,” Friends of BLS wrote in a statement. “This rationale for firing Dr McEntarfer is without merit and undermines the credibility of federal economic statistics that are a cornerstone of intelligent economic decision-making by businesses, families, and policymakers.”

The Association of Public Data Users, the National Association for Business Economics and the American Economic Association also criticized the firing.

US border agents were directed to stop deportations under President Donald Trump’s asylum ban, CBS News reported Monday citing two unnamed Department of Homeland Security officials.

The direction comes after a three-judge panel at the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia circuit on Friday partially granted an order that limited the asylum ban, saying it cannot be used to entirely suspend humanitarian protections for asylum seekers, according to CBS.

Officials at Customs and Border Protection were instructed this weekend to stop deportations Trump’s asylum ban and process migrants under US immigration law, CBS said.

Last month, a lower court judge blocked Trump’s ban on asylum at the US-Mexico border, saying that Trump had exceeded his authority when he issued a proclamation declaring illegal immigration an emergency and setting aside existing legal processes.

The American Civil Liberties Union brought the challenge to Trump’s asylum ban in February on behalf of three advocacy groups and migrants denied access to asylum, arguing the broad ban violated US laws and international treaties.

Texas governor threatens arrest of Democrats absent at redistricting vote

Hello and welcome to the US politics live blog. My name is Tom Ambrose and I will be bringing you all the latest news lines over the next few hours.

But the move seems largely symbolic. The warrants apply only within the state, and breaking quorum is not a crime that would allow Texas authorities to pursue extradition from other states.

Read our latest story here:

In other developments:

The former Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) commissioners and non-partisan economic groups have criticized Donald Trump’s shock firing of BLS commissioner Erika McEntarfer after the July jobs report data revealed jobs growth stalled this summer.
About 600 former Israeli security officials, including previous heads of the Mossad and the military, have urged Donald Trump to pressure Israel to end the war in Gaza as the country’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, considers expanding the conflict.
Mike Johnson became the highest ranked US official to visit the occupied West Bank on Monday, the Republican House speaker drawing measures of praise and condemnation for his trip in support of Israeli settlements amid a worsening starvation crisis in Gaza.
More than 40 people protesting the war in Gaza and worsening humanitarian crisis were arrested outside the Trump International hotel in New York City on Monday evening.
Donald Trump’s special envoy is expected in Moscow days before the US president’s deadline on Friday for Russia to make progress on ending the war in Ukraine or face increased US sanctions.
The US state department has prepared plans to impose bonds as high as $15,000 for some tourism and business visas, according to a draft of a temporary final rule. The bonds would be issued to visitors from countries with significant overstay rates, under a 12-month pilot program.
The Trump administration is seeking to block veterans from receiving abortions at hospitals run by the Department of Veterans Affairs in cases of rape or incest, or when a veteran’s pregnancy has imperiled their health, according to new paperwork filed by the administration.
The Swiss stock market has plunged, the cabinet has held crisis talks and the country’s president has been accused of mishandling a vital phone call with the White House after Donald Trump hit the country with a shock 39% export tariff.
News Corp, part of the Murdoch family media empire, has announced it will bring a version of the brash rightwing New York Post to California in early 2026.
Marjorie Taylor Greene said that she feels the Republican party has lost touch with its base – but she said she has no plans to leave the party.
More than a dozen Democratic members of Congress signed a letter that urges the Trump administration to recognise Palestinian statehood, in a draft copy shared with the Guardian.