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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is declaring his candidacy in the Senate primary against longtime incumbent Sen. John Cornyn, reported Punchbowl News' John Bresnahan.

The move sets up what could potentially become one of the most expensive and bruising primary battles of the 2026 Senate elections.

by Jennifer Shutt, Daily Montanan

April 8, 2025

The Supreme Court permitted President Donald Trump this week to resume mass migrant deportation flights under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, a ruling that had many of Trump's legal critics fuming and Trump's team proclaiming victory — but it wasn't quite that cut and dry, former federal prosecutor Elie Honig explained during a CNN panel on Tuesday.

"This is a victory for the Trump administration, one of the more significant ones they have netted before the high court," said legal reporter Paula Reid. "But it's a partial victory because they will be expected to follow process, small-p."

A prominent civil liberties organization celebrated the courtroom win handed to The Associated Press on Tuesday in a legal ruling that made near-identical points as the group did over two months ago.

The victory lap came after U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden scorched the Trump White House’s expulsion of the Associated Press from the Oval Office and Air Force One as “brazen” and likely unconstitutional.

President Donald Trump posted to his Truth Social account on Tuesday that he'd met with House Speaker Mike Johnson and "conservative" members to talk about ongoing budget talks. Trump promises that he's supportive of spending cuts.

"I had a very good meeting today with the Speaker of the House and some of our more Conservative Members, all great people. I let them know that, I AM FOR MAJOR SPENDING CUTS!" he wrote in all capital letters. "WE ARE GOING TO DO REDUCTIONS, hopefully in excess of $1 Trillion Dollars, all of which will go into 'The One, Big, Beautiful Bill.' I, along with House Members and Senators, will be pushing very hard to get these large scale Spending Cuts done, but we must get the Bill approved NOW. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!"

Reports claimed President Donald Trump wanted the U.S. government to fund a military parade for his 79th birthday, though Politico cited the White House saying that report is false. The idea of a Trump military parade inspired one Army veteran to ask why her generation never got their parade after serving in a war.

In 2018, Trump wanted a grand parade but ultimately called it off because it would cost approximately $92 million. Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and Takis Karantonis, the chair of Virginia’s Arlington County Board, told Politico on Monday that there have been discussions with Trump administration officials about such a parade.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) escalated his opposition to Trump's trade war with an impassioned plea to the president on Fox Business on Tuesday with former presidential adviser Larry Kudlow.

Paul, who recently drew Trump's public wrath by crossing the aisle to vote with Democrats on a resolution to block tariffs on Canada and has repeatedly spoken out about why he believes restrictionist trade policies are a bad idea, laid out his case as starkly as he could.

A federal judge on Tuesday delivered a victory to The Associated Press’ challenge over the Trump White House’s expulsion of the news outlet from the Oval Office and Air Force One.

The ruling came two months after President Donald Trump's administration barred AP journalists from accessing certain White House spaces and events following its refusal to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America.

Mack Schroeder, a fired budget analyst from the Department of Health and Human Services, faced off against Sen. Jim Banks (R-IN) last week as the lawmaker fled into an elevator. This week, he returned to Banks' office with friends.

Schroeder confronted Banks about the federal cuts, but Banks said he didn't care because Schroeder seemed like a "clown" to him.

One of Dr. Mehmet Oz's first orders of business after being appointed President Donald Trump's director of Medicare and Medicaid Services: robot doctors.

According to Wired, Oz made the comments during his first all-hands meeting at CMS since taking over the agency.

MAGA Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) expanded on eyebrow-raising allegations made against Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) floated early Tuesday morning by Elon Musk, the head of the Department of Government Efficiency initiative.

Musk, in a post to his X platform just before 1 a.m., wrote in a reply to Schumer: “Chuck, I’m starting to think you’re getting a piece of the action with the government fraud. But no, that couldn’t possibly be the reason, could it?”

Former Republican strategist Tim Miller, who now runs The Bulwark podcast, does not pity those who endorsed President Donald Trump and are now losing huge investments.

MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace showed a clip of Barstool Sports founder David Portnoy, who raged that he lost $7 million on the first day of the market crash. By Monday, he estimated he'd lost $20 million, calling it "Orange Monday" instead of "Black Monday."