Reading archive 2025-07-11

California awaits disaster relief as GOP offers full support to Texas: California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), during a trip to South Carolina this week, highlighted the plight of Los Angeles-area communities still reeling from January’s devastating wildfires. - "President Donald Trump and other Republicans have so far withheld the funds, with many arguing that Newsom and other Democrats in the deep-blue state have mishandled the fires and should be forced to rescind liberal policies in exchange for aid. 

"But now deadly floods have struck ruby-red Texas — and the Republican response is much different, with Trump and others promising unfettered and prompt federal support in the months and years to come. 

"The contrast underscores the extent to which the Trump administration treats blue and red states differently, whether in disaster response or in targeting liberal areas for aggressive immigration enforcement."

Why homeowners are suddenly rushing to install rooftop solar: Republicans’ tax and spending law could cut installations in half, experts project.

He seeded clouds over Texas. Then came the conspiracy theories.: Cloud seeding couldn’t have caused the floods that killed more than 100 people, experts say. But rumormongers suggested a link to one company’s work.

Tennis fans deserve better than John McEnroe: You cannot seriously think John McEnroe is good on television. When will network executives be ready to move on?

A band of innovators reimagines the spy game for a world with no cover

Conservatives are asking Trump for another big tax cut: Fresh off passage of the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” some anti-tax advocates hope to push the administration to change how taxable capital gains are calculated.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s wife files for divorce: As Ken Paxton tries to unseat Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) in one of the most closely watched primaries in the country, state Sen. Angela Paxton said Thursday she filed for divorce “on biblical grounds.” 

Senate committee blocks money for plan to keep FBI headquarters in D.C.: Sen. Chris Van Hollen persuaded colleagues to restrict cash for a new FBI campus only in Greenbelt, Maryland, creating a roadblock --- for now --- to moving the bureau to the Reagan building in downtown D.C.

Firings without explanation create culture of fear at Justice Dept., FBI: Widespread, abrupt terminations have left Justice Department and FBI employees wondering if they will be next, people familiar with the matter say.

Trump Loves ICE. Its Workforce Has Never Been So Miserable.: A “mission impossible” deportation campaign has left many employees burned out and morally conflicted. - "At ICE's Homeland Security Investigations division, which has long focused on cartels and major drug-trafficking operations, supervisors have waved agents off new cases so they have more time to make immigration-enforcement arrests, a veteran agent told me. 'No drug cases, no human trafficking, no child exploitation,' the agent said. 'It's infuriating.' The longtime ICE employee is thinking about quitting rather than having to continue 'arresting gardeners.'"