End of an Era in Texas as Paxton Faces Talarico

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton defeated four-term Sen. John Cornyn by more than 25 percentage points in Tuesday's Republican Senate runoff, ending the long-serving Republican senator’s career and making Cornyn the first GOP senator from the state to lose his party's nomination for reelection. The Associated Press called the race almost immediately after polls closed.

Paxton, who was impeached by the GOP-led Texas House in 2023 on corruption charges and later acquitted by the state Senate, secured the nomination one week after receiving President Donald Trump's endorsement, the latest in a string of Trump-backed primary victories this month that also ousted Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky.

In the attorney general race, state Sen. Mayes Middleton defeated U.S. Rep. Chip Roy roughly 55% to 45%, casting himself as the MAGA candidate even without a Trump endorsement. Roy's past criticism of the president likely hurt him among primary voters.

In response, the Cook Political Report shifted the Texas Senate race from "Likely Republican" to "Lean Republican" after the runoff, and an early post-runoff poll showed Democrat James Talarico, a state representative from Austin, leading Paxton 47% to 44%. Nearly a third of Cornyn's primary voters told pollsters they would support, a figure that could make Texas a major battleground for Senate control in November.

 

Jerome Powell to Stay on Fed Board after Chair Term Ends

Jerome Powell confirmed this week that he will remain on the Fed’s Board of Governors after his term as chair expires May 15th, breaking sharply with the modern tradition in which outgoing Fed chairs leave the institution entirely.

Powell cited what he called an unprecedented series of legal attacks on the central bank, including a Justice Department criminal probe over the Fed's $2.5 billion headquarters renovation. A federal judge quashed the probe in March, finding the government had produced "essentially zero evidence" of wrongdoing. The DOJ announced on April 24 that it was closing the inquiry, though U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said she would restart the investigation if warranted, and the White House characterized the matter as transferred to the Fed's Inspector General rather than fully resolved.

"These legal actions by the administration are unprecedented in our 113-year history," Powell said, adding that he felt he had "no choice" but to stay until the matter reached a transparent conclusion. He said he would keep a low profile and step aside once Kevin Warsh, whose nomination advanced out of the Senate Banking Committee 13–11 on Wednesday, is confirmed as his successor.

 

Former FBI Director James Comey Indicted Again

Former FBI Director James Comey was indicted this week on two felony counts of threatening President Donald Trump, stemming from a May 2025 Instagram photo of seashells arranged to spell "86 47."

Comey surrendered Wednesday in Alexandria, Virginia, and was released without bond. His attorney, Patrick Fitzgerald, said Comey "vigorously denies the charges." This is Comey’s second indictment under the Trump administration, the first of which was thrown out when the US attorney who brought the charges was found to have been illegally appointed. Those charges related to previous testimony before Congress.

 

Details on WHCD Shooter Released

Federal prosecutors have charged Cole Tomas Allen, 31, of Torrance, California, with three counts including attempting to assassinate President Trump after Allen opened fire at a security checkpoint outside the White House Correspondents' Dinner at the Washington Hilton on the evening of April 25. A Secret Service officer struck by gunfire was protected by a bulletproof vest and is expected to recover. Allen was subdued at the scene.

Court documents reveal weeks of deliberate planning. Allen reserved a room at the Hilton on April 6, traveled by train from Los Angeles to Washington, and minutes before the attack sent family members a manifesto in which he described himself as a "Friendly Federal Assassin" and expressed rage at the Trump administration's policies, though he did not name the president by name. Prosecutors say his target list prioritized administration officials by rank.

A Caltech-educated engineer, Allen had no prior criminal record. Investigators found anti-Trump social media posts across his accounts.

The incident is the third reported assassination attempt against Trump since July 2024 and comes amid a sharp rise in politically motivated violence across the country, including two prior attempts on Trump at a Butler, Pennsylvania, rally and a West Palm Beach golf course; the assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk in September 2025; and the June 2025 targeted killing of Minnesota House Democratic leader Melissa Hortman and her husband at their home, and the shooting of state Senator John Hoffman and his wife at theirs.

 

Florida and Virginia's Redistricting Gamble

Ahead of the 2026 midterms, Florida and Virginia are both pursuing mid-decade redistricting for partisan gain. In Florida, Governor Ron DeSantis has called a special legislative session for late April to redraw the congressional map, drawing Democratic backlash and gerrymandering concerns.

In Virginia, voters face an April 21 referendum on a constitutional amendment that, if passed, would temporarily allow the Democratic-controlled legislature to bypass the state's bipartisan commission and enact a heavily Democratic 10-1 congressional map.