🗞️Texas redistricting chaos

August 4th, 2025

What happened today 🇺🇸,

• Texas Democrats fled the state to Illinois, Massachusetts, and New York to deny the Texas House a quorum and block a Republican-led redistricting plan that could add up to five new Republican congressional seats in the 2026 elections…Texas House Republicans later voted to issue civil arrest warrants for the Democrats who fled the state and Governor Abbott ordered state police to arrest and return the absent lawmakers

• The U.S. State Department is launching a 12-month pilot program that will require certain business and tourist visa applicants from countries with high visa overstay rates to post a bond ranging from $5,000 to $15,000 to obtain a visa for entry to the U.S., this program aims to deter visa overstays by financially incentivizing compliance…bonds will be refunded to travelers who leave the U.S. before their visa expires and the requirement will not apply to citizens of countries in the Visa Waiver Program

• The Department of Justice has launched a grand jury investigation into "Russiagate" based on a criminal referral from Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard…the probe is investigating allegations that the Obama administration and the Clinton campaign conspired to fabricate evidence falsely linking Trump to Russian interference during the 2016 election

• House of Representatives member, Nancy Mace (R-SC), has officially announced she is running for governor of South Carolina

• Derek Dooley, the former University of Tennessee football coach, has announced that he is running for the U.S. Senate in Georgia as a Republican, seeking to challenge Democratic incumbent Jon Ossoff in the 2026 election

• Tesla has awarded CEO, Elon Musk, a new pay package valued at $29 billion, consisting of 96 million shares of restricted stock…read more here

• Over 3,200 Boeing defense workers in Missouri and Illinois went on strike after rejecting a new contract offer, citing concerns over pay, benefits, and job protections…the strike impacts production of fighter jets and is the first major strike among Boeing defense workers since 1996

• Harley-Davidson has named Arthur Starrs as its new president and CEO, succeeding Jochen Zeitz…Starrs comes over from Topgolf where he served as CEO

• DOW up 1.34% / S&P up 1.47%

• The Trump administration said they would withhold disaster funds from states and cities who boycott/oppose Israel and Israeli companies…read more here

• Israel’s cabinet unanimously voted to fire Attorney General, Gali Baharav-Miara, who is currently prosecuting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in an ongoing corruption trial…their Supreme Court immediately froze the move while it considers the legality

Bonus: A look at the biggest industry in every state

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