Texas Gov. Abbott signs redrawn congressional map favoring Republicans into law after Trump push
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(WASHINGTON) — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said on Friday that he has signed the bill redrawing Texas’ congressional map into law, a milestone for the Republican-driven mid-decade redistricting in the Lone Star state that comes as other states also prepare to consider redrawing their congressional map.
Abbott, who signed the bill around a week after the state Senate passed it, shared a video on social media Friday showing the Republican putting his signature on the legislation.
He added right afterwards, “Texas is now more red in the United States Congress.”
States usually draw their congressional map once a decade, after the census, but President Donald Trump and the White House had pushed the state to redraw its map in order to help Republicans bolster their slim majority in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2026’s midterm elections.
Experts have said the new congressional map could allow Republicans to flip up to five seats; Republicans have said the new district borders were drawn based on political performance and other considerations allowed by law.
Democrats have said the maps unfairly target and marginalize voters of color.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(WASHINGTON) — With a week until a July Fourth deadline for Congress to get President Donald Trump’s megabill passed, Senate Republicans are going over the final sticking points — with the end in sight and a potential vote this weekend.
On Friday afternoon, Senate Republicans met with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who called the passage of the bill the “single most important economic thing we’re going to do this year.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson chewed over the One Big Beautiful Bill Act with Senate Republicans at the closed-door lunch on Friday, telling reporters afterward that the Senate’s version of the legislation is almost done.
“We had a great discussion about a lot of important issues, and I feel like we’re getting very close to a final product,” Johnson said as he left the meeting.
While the Senate grapples with the state and local tax provision, Johnson said he believes senators are “very, very close to closing that issue out.”
The Senate version of the bill is expected to hit the Senate floor on Saturday afternoon. It begins with a procedural vote on the motion to proceed to the bill, which requires a simple majority of votes to pass.
Assuming the bill gets the necessary votes to proceed, there are up to 20 hours of debate, evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats. Republicans will likely yield back most of their ten hours. Democrats will likely use close to all of it.
After an unlimited series of amendment votes, the Senate could vote on the final passage of the bill at some point on Sunday.
Still, some roadblocks remain. The Senate parliamentarian on Thursday rejected a Medicaid provision in the bill, which is a major blow to Senate Republicans’ efforts. Also, Senate Majority Leader John Thune can afford to lose only three Republican votes when the bill goes to the Senate floor, given unified Democratic opposition in the Senate.
“All of it depends on…we’ve got a few things we’re waiting on, outcomes from the parliamentarian on, but if we could get some of those questions issues landed, and my expectation is at some point tomorrow, we’ll be ready to go,” Thune said Friday.
Johnson and Thune met with Trump Thursday night in the Oval Office about the tax and immigration bill as Congress barrels toward its self-imposed Fourth of July deadline.
“We had a long discussion about … where the bill stands and its status. And they are — we are very, very close, and Leader Thune has confidence that they could get the job done by this weekend, and we certainly are hopeful for that,” Johnson said about the Thursday meeting.
Earlier Friday, Johnson suggested the Fourth of July deadline could slide, saying “it’s possible” that the deadline could change — although he said he wanted to remain committed to the July Fourth goal. However, later in the day, Johnson stuck to Independence Day.
“That’s been our goal all along, and it hasn’t changed,” the speaker said, adding that “the House is ready to act as soon as the Senate does.”
After fudging his long-standing, self-imposed July Fourth deadline for Congress to pass his massive immigration and tax bill, Trump later doubled down on the date in a social media post.
“The House of Representatives must be ready to send it to my desk before July 4th — We can get it done,” the president wrote.
Earlier, when asked about the deadline during a news conference in the White House briefing room, the president said “it’s not the end all” and that “it can go longer.”
On Thursday, congressional leaders and the administration touted the benefits of the package during a celebration in the East Room of the White House.
As the Senate aims to move forward this weekend with the megabill, House leaders told members in a formal notice “pending Senate action on H.R. 1, votes on the One Big Beautiful Bill are expected in the House next week” — interrupting a planned weeklong Independence Day recess.
“Further information regarding the timing of votes will be provided as soon as possible, and Members will be given a minimum of 48 hours’ notice prior to any votes in the House,” the notice states.
Earlier this week, Trump told members of Congress that they would have to forgo vacations to get the bill to his desk.
“To my friends in the Senate, lock yourself in a room if you must, don’t go home, and GET THE DEAL DONE THIS WEEK,” Trump posted on his social media platform. “Work with the House so they can pick it up, and pass it, IMMEDIATELY. NO ONE GOES ON VACATION UNTIL IT’S DONE.”
Jackie Talarico said she grew tired of being harmed by her home. Now, the Navy wife says she is taking her former landlords to court.
“Our houses are not our safe place,” said Talarico. “We were told there was no mold in our house. We were told there was no lead. We were told there is no asbestos, and they lied.”
Talarico used to live in privatized military housing while her husband, a U.S. Navy cryptologic technician, was stationed at Naval Air Station Key West in Florida.
Talarico documented issues from mold to water damage, and said the ceiling collapsed in her child’s bedroom. Once repaired, Talarico said it began to cave in again.
The Talaricos and nearly 200 current and former tenants in the Florida Keys are now suing Balfour Beatty, one of the largest privatized military housing providers in the United States. The lawsuit alleges Balfour Beatty “systematically failed to properly repair and remediate significant problems in the homes, including water damage, mold, structural defects, HVAC, plumbing issues, electrical problems and the presence of lead paint and asbestos.””We are aware of the lawsuit and intend to defend ourselves vigorously,” Balfour Beatty Communities said in a statement to ABC News.
A spokesperson for Balfour Beatty Communities said, “The health, safety, and well-being of our residents is our top priority. NAS Key West’s climate creates an environment that is more conducive to mold growth than other areas of the country.”
In 2021, Balfour Beatty pleaded guilty to fraud in a federal case, accused of falsifying maintenance records of military housing, having to pay more than $65 million after prosecutors said they “lied about the repairs to pocket millions of dollars in performance bonuses” from the military.
The current case from Key West involves one of the 14 current private-sector military housing providers across the U.S. According to the Military Housing Association, currently about 99% of military family housing in the United States is owned and operated by private companies.
“Our servicemembers give so much every day and put so much on the line for our country, one thing they should not have to sacrifice is their children and their families’ life, health and safety when they do that every day for the rest of America,” Talarico said.
Talarico joined other military wives on Capitol Hill in April to advocate for a Senate bill that would conduct studies on the health effects of mold growth in military installations.
“My number one fear throughout this has always been my husband’s career,” said Talarico. “Luckily his command has been nothing but supportive.”
When the Department of Defense decided to get out of the housing business in 1996, it received Congressional approval to engage private investors with expertise to renovate or replace old, inadequate housing, establishing the Military Housing Privatization Initiative (MHPI). The contracts were often decadeslong to incentivize the massive undertaking, according to congressional research. Since the implementation during the defense cuts of 1996, some housing conditions have seemingly deteriorated, sparking Senate hearings in 2019 for reforms.
The Department of Defense’s inspector general acknowledged in a 2024 report that mismanagement of living facilities, including reports of environmental hazards, such as mold, could impact the health and readiness of the military, including recruitment and retention, across all types of military housing.
The report cited GAO’s 2023 findings that the DoD has taken steps “to increase assistance to residents of privatized housing, ensure the DoD has adequate personnel to conduct oversight activities and improve the Dod’s oversight of the condition of private housing units. However, the GAO found a need for more detailed formal dispute resolution guidance, improved guidance on the role of the tenant advocate, and better oversight of the condition of private housing units.”
In Texas, the house where Lt. Col. Travis Allen previously lived is now unoccupied after mold overtook the property. He served in Iraq in 2007 and is now the chaplain at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph. He moved his family three years ago.
“This was supposed to be my best assignment,” Allen told ABC News. “This was supposed to be the crowning jewel of my career. To move from the tactical level to the operational level. But immediately, all that excitement about being here was derailed.”
Instead, he says he later found out there were leaking sewage pipes under the home that the housing company, Hunt Military Communities, said it had already repaired.
Allen’s wife, Stacey, and daughter, Sydney, were by his side to address health issues, including visits to specialists who couldn’t understand why they couldn’t control the inflammation and pressure in his eyes.
“So we had the house tested, and that’s when we found out that there was black mold coming through the air ducts,” said Allen. “Green mold in the house, too.”
Environmental consultant Joe Reiss, who tests species of molds though is not involved in any of these cases, told ABC News that this fungus thrives in damp environments and “will look for an opportunistic colony.”
Allen says he has incurred out-of-pocket expenses totaling thousands of dollars. He has now moved his family off base with only the essential clothes and furniture they could salvage from the mold.
Hunt Military Communities said it remains committed to providing affordable, well-maintained housing. “We have rigorous processes in place to thoroughly investigate and address maintenance-related concerns,” it said in a statement to ABC News.
These stories have been repeated with numerous lawsuits nationwide, dating back more than a decade. As a result of the Senate hearings on conditions of MHPI, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 established the Tenant Bill of Rights, which some critics say has not been enforced.
“It’s more like guidelines,” said attorney Ryan Reed, about the MHPI’s implementation of the Tenant Bill of Rights. “If the landlord doesn’t follow it, there’s no meaningful consequence. Many of the rights are written so vaguely that multiple interpretations could be had of what exactly that means.”
Reed said his firm has represented around 150 military families over the last six years in litigation involving their private military housing. He said the problems can be traced back to the Military Housing Privatization Initiative itself.
“At that point, the military was powerless to police their partner,” Reed told ABC News. “They were the minority partner. They were not the expert. And by and large, they just allowed the housing companies to do whatever the housing company said was right.”
Reed said the lack of consensus on how to fix the problem is a larger issue. One of the components in the Tenant Bill of Rights is the formal dispute resolution process.
“What we discover at the end of the day is that process really has no teeth,” said Reed.
The Department of Defense told ABC News it intends to complete reforms and hold private companies accountable for fixing these problems.
“I know firsthand that our warfighters cannot deliver if they are sidelined by problems at home, especially those that can negatively affect health and quality of life,” Assistant Secretary of Defense Dale Marks said in a statement to ABC News. “Secretary Hegseth and I are committed to rebuilding military readiness and appreciate the support from Congressional committees to make much-needed housing reforms.”
“Together, we will complete implementation of these reforms and hold private companies accountable to fixing these problems,” said Marks, who was confirmed in June and will serve as Hegseth’s chief housing official.
Talarico, formerly based at Naval Air Station Key West, Florida, said she wants the failures to be addressed.
Balfour Beatty Communities, which oversees some privatized homes at NAS Key West, told ABC News that they are currently working to install new HVAC systems, among other improvements to vapor barriers and weather sealants to prevent deterioration.
“We understand that residents would like all the older homes at NAS Key West to be extensively renovated or rebuilt, but our joint venture with the Navy does not currently have the funding to undertake such a project,” said a spokesperson for Balfour Beatty Communities. “As funding becomes available, we are committed to working with the Navy to improve aging housing.”
Talarico, Allen and other military families hope additional reforms will provide safe, affordable and accessible housing.
“Housing, shelter, is a war fighter’s basic need,” Allen said. “And for some of us, that need is going unmet and we need help.”
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump hit back on Elon Musk following Musk’s rampage against his domestic megabill, saying on Thursday he’s “very disappointed” in the Tesla billionaire.
“Look, Elon and I had a great relationship. I don’t know if we will anymore,” Trump said.
Musk responded to the comments in real time on X, where he continued to swipe at the legislation and at Trump directly.
“Where is this guy today??” Musk wrote as he reupped another user’s compilation of past Trump tweets criticizing high deficits, unbalanced budgets and more.
At one point, Musk responded to a user: “Without me, Trump would have lost the election, Dems would control the House and the Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate.”
The president was asked about Musk’s relentless criticisms of the tax and immigration bill while taking reporter questions alongside German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in the Oval Office.
“He hasn’t said anything about me that’s bad. I’d rather have him criticize me than the bill, because the bill is incredible,” Trump said of Musk.
The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” passed the House last month by a single vote. The measure would extend Trump’s 2017 tax cuts and boost spending for the military and border security, while making some cuts to Medicaid, SNAP and other assistance programs.
It now faces headwinds in the Senate, specifically among a small group of Republican fiscal hawks.
Musk has said the the legislation, estimated by the nonpartisan budget office to add $3 trillion to the deficit over the next decade, would undermine the Department of Government Efficiency’s goal to reduce government spending and trim the national debt.
Trump contended on Thursday that Musk, the CEO of Tesla, was really “upset” because the legislation would remove tax credits for electric vehicles.
“But I’m very disappointed because Elon knew the inner workings of this bill better than almost anybody sitting here, better than you people,” Trump said. “He knew everything about it. He had no problem with it. All of a sudden, he had a problem.”
Musk pushed back on X and suggested Trump was not telling the truth.
“False, this bill was never shown to me even once and was passed in the dead of night so fast that almost no one in Congress could even read it!” he wrote.
In another post, Musk wrote: “Whatever.”
“Keep the EV/solar incentive cuts in the bill, even though no oil & gas subsidies are touched (very unfair!!), but ditch the MOUNTAIN of DISGUSTING PORK in the bill,” the post read.
“In the entire history of civilization, there has never been legislation that both big and beautiful,” Musk added. “Everyone knows this! Either you get a big and ugly bill or a slim and beautiful bill. Slim and beautiful is the way.”
