NATION
Gunman Killed by Secret Service
In the third incident of threat to the president in the last one month, a gunman on May 23, 2026 opened fire at a security checkpoint near the White House, leading to Secret Service personnel returning fire that killed the gunman, later identified as 21-year-old Nasire Best of Dundalk, Maryland. A bystander was seriously injured.
On April 25, 2026, a California man, Cole Thomas Allen, charged into a Washington hotel during the White House Correspondents' Dinner event and Secret Service shot and injured a man who attacked them near Washington Monument earlier in May 2026.
********************************* STUDENT LOANS ********************************
States Sue Trump Admin's New Student Loan Cap Rules
On April 30, 2026, Trump administration's Department of Education issued rules as called for by the provisions of One Big Beautiful Bill of July 2025, capping loans at $50,000 per year and total of $200,000 for professional degrees in law and medical schools and $20,500 and $100,000, respectively for the other programs.
Democratic states--led by 23 Attorneys-General and Governors Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania and Andy Beshear of Kentucky--Plus District of Columbia filed a lawsuit on May 19, 2026, arguing that the new rules were unconstitutional as they discriminated against medical technicians, nurses and other medical workers who were licensed professionals like doctors.
Education Department Rewrites New Rules on Professional Degree Loans
After last week's ruling by U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell to reject Trump administration's rules to classify nursing, physical therapy and other fields outside the definition of "professional" degree program, Education Department on June 29, 2026 revised the rules to include those fields now under the "professional" degree program, thus qualifying the students in those fields to obtain higher loan amount. Education Undersecretary Nicholas Kent said that the revision was meant to be "temporary" to comply with the federal judge's ruling as the government was readying for filing an appeal.
********************************* STUDENT LOANS ********************************
******************* TRUMP VS. E. JEAN CARROLL ************
Civil Trial against Trump Goes Underway, Victim’s Friend Testifies about Rape
Civil Trial against Trump Goes Underway, Victim’s Friend Testifies about Rape
As if there is no respite from the legal challenges, Former President Donald Trump is facing another lawsuit from columnist E. Jean Carroll, who in a 2019 memoire has accused the former president of raping her at a New York City department store in 1996. Trump, as usual, denied the episode altogether. After three days of testimony by Carroll, her writer friend Lisa Birnbach on May 2, 2023 testified that the rape and assault by Trump did happen in 1996 and her friend had called her to say what had happened in the Bergdorf Goodman store.
Trump Found Liable for Sexual Assault
A federal jury on May 9, 2023 convicted Former President Donald Trump on sexual assault of advice columnist E. Jean Carroll, 79, in 1996, and awarded $5 million to her. However, on the more serious count of rape, the jury acquitted Trump. After the verdict in the federal civil trial was read, Former President Donald Trump lashed out in the social medial, calling it another “witch hunt”. Defendant’s attorney, Joe Tacopina, is clearly happy that the jury has not determined Trump a “rapist”, but he is “perplexed” by the verdict. Plaintiff’s lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, said that no one, not even the president, was above the law.
Trump Suffers Dual Legal Setbacks
On July 19, 2023, Former President Donald Trump suffered dual legal slamming. The first one was related to that a federal judge, U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan, upholding a $5 million jury award handed out in May 2023 in a case filed by E. Jean Carroll, an advice columnist, alleging Trump of raping her at a department store more than two decades ago. The second one was related to Trump team’s effort to move the hush money case from the state court to federal court.
Trump Dramatizes during Jury Selection in Second Rape Trial of Advice Columnist
After a big Iowa victory, Former President Donald Trump took a detour to stop by a Manhattan courtroom on January 16, 2024 for a jury selection and a session for spelling out the ground rules. Judge Lewis A. Kaplan told the prospective jurors that an earlier jury had already convicted the former president of raping advice columnist E. Jean Carroll years ago at an upscale department store and already handed $5 million in fines against Trump to be awarded to Carroll. This jury, according to Judge Lewis A. Kaplan, should only determine if Trump owed any additional money for his damaging comment during his presidency in 2019. When the judge asked the courtroom whether anyone thought that there was any unfairness against anyone, former president slyly raised his hand. The advice columnist, E. Jean Carroll, is complaining that she has received death threats from Trump’s consiglieres and apparatchiks, who are also trying to ennoble the insurrectionists as patriots. Nine jurors will hear the case beginning this week.
E. Jean Carroll: Jury Returns a Second Fine against Trump
In the second civil trial in nine months against Former President Donald Trump in the defamation case brought by E. Jean Carroll, a jury on January 26, 2024 awarded $83.5 million to the former advice columnist who had accused the former president of sexually assaulting her in a 1996 encounter at the Bergdorf Goodman store in the Fifth Avenue. A separate jury in May 2023 awarded an additional $5 million to Carroll, but cleared the former president of rape charge. The presumptive Republican frontrunner was in the New York City court for couple of hours, but left before the verdict was delivered. Later in a statement, he accused “our legal system” of being “out of control” and slammed the $83.5 million fine “absolutely ridiculous".
Trump, Advice Columnist Seat 15 feet from Each Other at Courtroom
Former President Donald Trump’s lawyer D. John Sauer on September 6, 2024 argued at the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that the May 9, 2023, $5 million verdict against the former president was riddled with “implausible allegations being propped up by highly inflammatory, inadmissible” evidence by advice columnist E. Jean Carroll’s legal team.
E. Jean Carroll’s attorney Roberta Kaplan countered Trump team’s argument, adding that her client had brought the case because the defendant “had sexually assaulted her in 1996, in a dressing room at Bergdorf Goodman, and then defamed her in 2022 by claiming” that she was crazy, and had made this whole thing up. Former President Donald Trump was present at the courtroom and seated about 15 feet from where his accuser was seated.
Appeals Court Upholds the $83.3 million Verdict
In a severe rebuke to President Donald Trump, a three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on September 8, 2025 upheld the $83.3 million verdict against the president. The appeals court rejected Trump's request to dismiss the fines and for a retrial, opining the verdict [of $83.3 million in damages] was based on "fair and reasonable" trial.
U.S. Supreme Court Refuses to Intervene in Jean Carroll Case
In a setback to President Donald Trump, U.S. Supreme Court on June 29, 2026 unanimously refused to accept President Donald Trump's appeal against a $5 million award handed by a jury to columnist E. Jean Carroll in a sexual assault case alleged to have taken place in 1996 inside a department chain store in New York City .
Appeal to the apex court related to an additional $83.3 million in fine handed by a separate jury is pending.
******************* TRUMP VS. E. JEAN CARROLL ************CALIFORNIA
Newsom Says DOJ Investigating California's First Couple
Governor Gavin Newsom on June 15, 2026 said that Trump administration's Department of Justice was investigating him and his wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom. The federal investigators are knocking on their friends' doors in order to find a crime, according to the potential 2028 Democratic presidential nominee.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Court Blocks Harsh Crackdown on Immigrants from 39 Countries
U.S. District Chief Judge John McConnel Jr. on June 5, 2026 blocked Trump administration's order in the aftermath of last Thanksgiving shooting in the District of Columbia that made migrants from 39 nations persona non grata.
TEXAS
Plano to Use TIRZ to Pay for $700 million from Bond Backed by TIRZ Revenue
The Dallas Morning News has reported in its June 15, 2026, edition how the city of Plano is planning to invest its $700 million in the $3 billion Stars arena and surrounding mixed-use community. Plano is planning to fund by bond backed by TIRZ revenue. A Tax Increment Refinancing Zone, or TIRZ, model freezes the value to the ground. Any increase in property tax or sales tax revenue will be reinvested in that area. With TIRZ model, Plano doesn't need to increase property tax for residents. They can repay $700 million over time using the TIRZ revenue as the property tax base and sales tax base increase over time for roughly 900 acres.
*********** TEN COMMANDMENT DISPLAY IN THE CLASSROOMS (SB10) ************
Families File Lawsuit over The Decalogue Display in the Classroom
15 multifaith families filed lawsuit against 14 school districts, including many in North Texas, over the display of the Ten Commandments in classrooms, The Dallas Morning News reported in its September 23, 2025, edition.
The lawsuit comes on the heels of a similar suit that had led to a federal judge issuing verdict in August 2025 that the display of the Ten Commandments, required by the Senate Bill 10 passed in this year's legislative session, did expressly show favoritism in favor of Christianity and did have all the appearance of "coercion" to the non-Christian students.
The Decalogue Setback to Lone Star State, Paxton Sues a Pair of ISDs for not Following SB10
A federal judge on November 18, 2025 temporarily blocked the public display of Ten Commandments in the Texas classrooms as mandated by the Senate Bill 10. U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia of the Western District of Texas in San Antonio has ruled that the plaintiffs are likely to prevail on the ground of the First Amendment's Establishment Clause, which prohibits the state from establishing a religion and ensures separation between the state and the church.
In a separate, but related, ruling in August 2025, U.S. District Judge Fred Biery of the Western District of Texas in San Antonio temporarily prohibited 11 school districts, including Plano Independent School District, from displaying the Ten Commandments in classrooms.
The plaintiffs in the November 18, 2025, case include 14 school districts, among them many are North Texas school districts such as Fort Worth, Arlington, McKinney, Frisco, Azle, Northwest, Rockwall, Lovejoy and Mansfield.
On the same day as U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia issued TRO [temporary restraint order] relief against display of the Ten Commandments in the classrooms of 14 ISDs, Attorney-General Ken Paxton chose to sue Leander ISD and Round Rock ISD for flouting the Senate Bill 10, days after he took the Galveston ISD to the court early this month for the same reason.
Appeals Court Rules in Favor of State's Ten Commandment Display Law
Nation's most conservative appeals court, Fifth U.S. Court of Appeals, on April 21, 2026 in a split opinion overturned the lower court ruling on Texas law requiring Ten Commandment display in each public-school classroom. Judge Stuart Kyle Duncan upheld the state law, adding that the law "does not transform the poster into a summon to prayer".
Paxton Asks Proof of Classroom Display of Ten Commandment from 29 ISDs
Texas Attorney-General Ken Paxton wrote a letter on May 7, 2026, asking proof from 29 school districts, including three from North Texas, that they were complying with the Senate Bill 10 and Senate Bill 11. Governor Gregg Abbott signed the bills passed in 2025 in the preceding legislative session.
Senate Bill 10 calls for displaying copies of donated Ten Commandment in classrooms, while the Senate Bill 11 requires school boards to hold votes on, not necessarily to approve for, accommodating time for students for prayer or reading religious texts. Three North Texas school districts are Dallas, Fort Worth and Plano. Paxton threatened to bring lawsuits if satisfactory responses were not sent by the ISDs in due time. Paxton's flurry of lawsuits and investigations increases in the run-up to the May 26, 2026, Senate primary runoff against seating Senator John Cornyn.
*********** TEN COMMANDMENT DISPLAY IN THE CLASSROOMS (SB10) ************
**********************2023 SENATE BILL 4
Appeals Court Upholds State Deportation Measure
A three-judge panel of the Fifth U.S. Court of Appeals on May 29, 2026 blocked a lower court ruling to suspend the implementation of the Texas Senate Bill 4. Earlier this month, U.S. District Judge David A. Ezra blocked parts of the S.B. 4, passed by Texas legislature and signed by Governor Gregg Abbott in 2023 in response to Former President Joe Biden's lack of border control and enforcement. With Donald Trump in the White House now, the 2023 Texas S.B. 4 is redundant.
2023 Senate Bill 4: State and local police to enforce immigration laws and detain undocumented immigrants and state judges empowered to order such undocumented immigrants to return to the countries that they have come from
Ezra's rationale for blocking the Senate Bill 4 was that the U.S. "must regulate immigration with one voice".
**********************2023 SENATE BILL 4
Texas Students Improve in the Latest STAAR Results
The State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness, or STAAR, end-of-course exams results for high school students for the academic year of 2025-26 were published on June 10, 2026. The state performance and DISD performance this year are better than last year's performances for Algebra I, Biology, English I, English II and the U.S. History.
For the state of Texas, the percentage of students who have performed on grade level is as follows for each of the end-of-course exams:
* Algebra I : 54% (2025-2026) compared to 47% (2024-2025)
* Biology : 71% (2025-2026) compared to 62% (2024-2025)
* English I : 55% (2025-2026) compared to 51% (2024-2025)
* English II : 60% (2025-2026) compared to 56% (2024-2025)
* US History : 70% (2025-2026) compared to 68% (2024-2025)
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