(Ben Sargent)

To see more political cartoons from Ben Sargent, visit our Loon Star State section or find Observer political reporting here.

The post Loon Star State: Entering… appeared first on The Texas Observer.

By LINDSAY WHITEHURST, ASHRAF KHALIL and ALANNA DURKIN RICHER, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The nation’s capital challenged President Donald Trump’s takeover of its police department in court on Friday, hours after his administration stepped up its crackdown on policing by naming a federal official as the new emergency head of the department, with all the powers of a police chief.

Related Articles

Terry Cole, chosen to take over DC’s police force, has spent 22 years at DEA

Trump and Putin will meet in Alaska for a high-stakes summit on the Russia-Ukraine war

Woman pleads guilty to assault for spitting on top DC prosecutor during interview

Inflation or jobs: Federal Reserve officials are divided over competing concerns

Judge strikes down key parts of Florida law that led to removal of books from school libraries

District of Columbia Attorney General Brian Schwalb said in a new lawsuit that Trump is going far beyond his power under the law. Schwalb asked a judge to find that control of the department remains in district hands and sought an emergency restraining order.

“The administration’s unlawful actions are an affront to the dignity and autonomy of the 700,000 Americans who call D.C. home. This is the gravest threat to Home Rule that the District has ever faced, and we are fighting to stop it,” Schwalb said.

The lawsuit comes after Trump Attorney General Pam Bondi said Thursday night that Drug Enforcement Administration boss Terry Cole will assume “powers and duties vested in the District of Columbia Chief of Police.” The Metropolitan Police Department “must receive approval from Commissioner Cole” before issuing any orders, Bondi said. It was unclear where the move left the city’s current police chief, Pamela Smith, who works for the mayor.

Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser pushed back, writing on social media that “there is no statute that conveys the District’s personnel authority to a federal official.”

Justice Department and White House spokespeople did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment on the district’s lawsuit Friday morning.

Chief had agreed to share immigration information

Schwalb had said late Thursday that Bondi’s directive was “unlawful,” arguing it could not be followed by the city’s police force. He wrote in a memo to Smith that “members of MPD must continue to follow your orders and not the orders of any official not appointed by the Mayor,” setting up the legal clash between the heavily Democratic district and the Republican administration.

FILE – Metropolitan Police Department Chief Pamela Smith speaks during a news conference with Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser on President Donald Trump’s plan to place Washington police under federal control and deploy National guard troops to Washington, Aug. 11, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File)

Bondi’s directive came even after Smith had told MPD officers hours earlier to share information with immigration agencies regarding people not in custody, such as someone involved in a traffic stop or checkpoint. The Justice Department said Bondi disagreed with the police chief’s directive because it allowed for continued enforcement of “sanctuary policies,” which generally limit cooperation by local law enforcement with federal immigration officers.

Bondi said she was rescinding that order as well as other MPD policies limiting inquires into immigration status and preventing arrests based solely on federal immigration warrants. All new directives must now receive approval from Cole, the attorney general said.

The police takeover is the latest move by Trump to test the limits of his legal authorities to carry out his agenda, relying on obscure statutes and a supposed state of emergency to bolster his tough-on-crime message and his plans to speed up the mass deportation of people in the U.S. illegally.

It also marks one of the most sweeping assertions of federal authority over a local government in modern times. While Washington has grappled with spikes in violence and visible homelessness, the city’s homicide rate ranks below those of several other major U.S. cities and the capital is not in the throes of the public safety collapse the administration has portrayed.

Residents are seeing a significant show of force

A population already tense from days of ramp-up has begun seeing more significant shows of force across the city. National Guard troops watched over some of the world’s most renowned landmarks and Humvees took position in front of the busy main train station. Volunteers helped homeless people leave long-standing encampments — to where was often unclear.

FILE – Washington Metropolitan Police investigate near the U.S. Capitol, Oct. 19, 2022, in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

Department of Homeland Security police stood outside Nationals Park during a game Thursday between the Washington Nationals and the Philadelphia Phillies. DEA agents patrolled The Wharf, a popular nightlife area, while Secret Service officers were seen in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood.

Bowser, walking a tightrope between the Republican White House and the constituency of her largely Democratic city, was out of town Thursday for a family commitment in Martha’s Vineyard but would be back Friday, her office said.

The uptick in visibility of federal forces around the city, including in many high-traffic areas, has been striking to residents going about their lives. Trump has the power to take over federal law enforcement for 30 days before his actions must be reviewed by Congress, though he has said he’ll re-evaluate as that deadline approaches.

Officers set up a checkpoint in one of D.C.’s popular nightlife areas, drawing protests. Troops were stationed outside the Union Station transportation hub as the 800 Guard members who have been activated by Trump started in on missions that include monument security, community safety patrols and beautification efforts, the Pentagon said.

Troops will assist law enforcement in a variety of roles, including traffic control posts and crowd control, National Guard Major Micah Maxwell said. The Guard members have been trained in de-escalation tactics and crowd control equipment, Maxwell said.

National Guard troops are a semi-regular presence in D.C., typically being used during mass public events like the annual July 4 celebration. They have regularly been used in the past for crowd control in and around Metro stations.

By ANNE D’INNOCENZIO, Associated Press Retail Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Shoppers spent at a healthy pace in July, particularly at the nation’s auto dealerships, as they shrug off President Donald Trump’s tariffs, which are starting to take a toll on jobs and lead to some price increases.

Related Articles

‘Monopoly: St. Paul Edition’ hits the landmarks, nails the Minnesota-isms in Thursday debut

Inflation or jobs: Federal Reserve officials are divided over competing concerns

Warren Buffett’s company reveals new investments in Nucor, homebuilders Lennar and DR Horton

Minnesota down 4,400 jobs in July as labor force indicators cool; unemployment at 3.5%

Costco forgoes sale of abortion pill, emboldening religious groups

Retail sales rose 0.5% last month, a slowdown from a revised 0.9% in June, which was revised upward, according to the Commerce Department’s report released Friday. The pace in July matched economists’ estimates.

The increases followed two consecutive months of spending declines — a 0.1% pullback in April and a 0.9% slowdown in May.

Excluding auto sales, which have been volatile since Trump imposed tariffs on many foreign-made cares, retail sales rose 0.3%.

Auto sales rose 1.6%. They appear to have returned roughly to normalized spending after a surge in March and April as Americans attempted to get ahead of Trump’s 25% duty on imported cars and parts and then a slump after that, according to Samuel Tombs, chief U.S. Economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics.

The data showed solid spending across many retail sectors. Business at clothing stores was up 0.7% while online retailers saw a 0.8% increase. Business at home furnishings and furniture stores rose 1.4%.

However, at electronics stores, sales were down 0.6%. And business at restaurants, the lone services component within the Census Bureau report and a barometer of discretionary spending, fell 0.4%, however as shoppers are focusing on eating at home to save money.

Still spending appears to be holding up even as Trump’s tariff are resulting in a slowdown in hiring and rising prices for shoppers.

Earlier this month, the Labor Department reported that U.S. hiring is slowing sharply as Trump’s trade policies paralyze businesses and raise concerns about the outlook for the world’s largest economy. U.S. employers added just 73,000 jobs last month, the Labor Department reported Aug 9, well short of the 115,000 expected.

Another government report, issued Tuesday, on U.S. inflation showed that inflation was unchanged in July as rising prices for some imported goods were offset by declining gas and grocery prices, leaving overall prices modestly higher than a year ago.

Consumer prices rose 2.7% in July from a year earlier, the same as the previous month and up from a post-pandemic low of 2.3% in April. Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, core prices rose 3.1%, up from 2.9% in June. Both figures are above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target.

On a monthly basis, prices rose 0.2% in July, down from 0.3% the previous month, while core prices ticked up 0.3%, a bit faster than the 0.2% in June.

The new numbers suggest that slowing rent increases and cheaper gas are offsetting some impacts of Trump’s sweeping tariffs.

Many businesses are also likely still absorbing much of the cost of the duties. The consumer price figures likely reflect some impact from the 10% universal tariff Trump imposed in April, as well as higher duties on countries such as China and Canada.

But that may change. U.S. wholesale inflation soared unexpectedly last month, signaling that Trump’s taxes are pushing costs up and that higher prices for consumers may be on the way.

The Labor Department reported Thursday that its producer price index — which measures inflation before it hits consumers— rose 0.9% last month from June, biggest jump in more than three years. Compared with a year earlier, wholesale prices rose 3.3%. The figures were much higher than economists had expected.

The report comes as major retailers like Walmart and Target are slated to report their fiscal second-quarter earnings reports starting next week. Analysts will stud the reports to see how much retailers are absorbing the costs and how much they’re passing on to shoppers. They’ll also want to get insight into the state of consumer behavior heading into the critical fall and winter holiday seasons.

In May, Walmart, the nation’s largest retailer, warned t hat it had increased prices on bananas imported from Costa Rica from 50 cents per pound to 54 cents, but it noted that a large sting for shoppers wouldn’t start to appear until June and July. The retailer’s chief financial officer, John David Rainey, told The Associated Press that he thought car seats made in China that were selling for $350 at Walmart would likely cost customers another $100.

But a growing list of companies including Procter & Gamble, e.lf. Cosmetics, Black & Decker and Ralph Lauren told investors in recent weeks that they plan to or have already raised prices.

Some, like eyewear retailer Warby Parker, are trying to be selective and are trying to focus on raising prices on just their premium products as a way to offset the higher costs from tariffs.

Warby Parker has been shifting production away from China, where it plans to bring the percentage of all cost of goods sold by year-end under 15%. But it’s also having to deal with higher tariffs costs in other countries.

Warby Parker told analysts last Thursday that it plans to keep its $95 option. But it’s increasing prices on select lens types. It also wants to cater more to older shoppers who need more expensive progressive lens. Warby Parker said that progressives, trifocals and bifocals make up roughly 40% of all prescription units sold industrywide. But just 23% of Warby Parker’s business now is made up of progressives. Company executives said progressives are its highest priced offering and offer the highest profit margins.

“We were able to quickly roll out select strategic price increases that have benefited our growth,” Neil Blumenthal, co-chairman and co-founder and co-CEO of Warby Parker, told analysts last week.

By CHANNI ANAND and RIAZ KHAN, Associated Press

CHOSITI, India (AP) — Flash floods triggered by torrential rains have killed over 200 people and left scores others missing in India and Pakistan over the past 24 hours, officials said Friday, as rescuers brought to safety some 1,600 people from two mountainous districts in the neighboring countries.

Sudden, intense downpours over small areas known as cloudbursts are increasingly common in India’s Himalayan regions and Pakistan’s northern areas, which are prone to flash floods and landslides. Cloudbursts have the potential to wreak havoc by causing intense flooding and landslides, impacting thousands of people in the mountainous regions.

Experts say cloudbursts have increased in recent years partly because of climate change, while damage from the storms also has increased because of unplanned development in mountain regions.

Dozens missing in remote Himalayan village

In India-controlled Kashmir, rescuers searched for missing people in the remote Himalayan village of Chositi on Friday after flash floods a day earlier left at least 60 people dead and at least 80 missing, officials said.

Related Articles

Today in History: August 15, power restored after largest blackout in U.S. history

Aid groups call on Israel to end ‘weaponization’ of aid in Gaza

US approves potential $346 million weapons sale to Nigeria to bolster security

Japan and China commemorate World War II anniversary on different dates

Countries deadlocked on plastic production and chemicals as talks on a global treaty draw to a close

Officials halted rescue operations overnight but rescued at least 300 people Thursday after a powerful cloudburst triggered floods and landslides. Officials said many missing people were believed to have been washed away.

Harvinder Singh, a local resident, joined the rescue efforts immediately after the disaster and helped retrieving 33 bodies from under mud, he said.

At least 50 seriously injured people were treated in local hospitals, many of them rescued from a stream filled with mud and debris. Disaster management official Mohammed Irshad said the number of missing people could increase.

Weather officials forecast more heavy rains and floods in the area.

Chositi, in Kashmir’s Kishtwar district, is the last village accessible to motor vehicles on the route of an ongoing annual Hindu pilgrimage to a mountainous shrine at an altitude of 9,500 feet.

Officials said the pilgrimage, which began July 25 and was scheduled to end on Sept. 5, was suspended.

The devastating floods swept away the main community kitchen set up for the pilgrims, as well as dozens of vehicles and motorbikes. More than 200 pilgrims were in the kitchen at the time of the flood, which also damaged or washed away many of the homes clustered together in the foothills, officials said.

Sneha, who gave only one name, said her husband and a daughter were swept away as floodwater gushed down the mountain. The two were having meals at the community kitchen while she and her son were nearby. The family had come for pilgrimage, she said.

Photos and videos on social media show extensive damage with household goods strewn next to damaged vehicles and homes in the village. Authorities made makeshift bridges Friday to help stranded pilgrims cross a muddy water channel and used dozens of earthmovers to shift boulders, uprooted trees and electricity poles and other debris.

Kishtwar district is home to multiple hydroelectric power projects, which experts have long warned pose a threat to the region’s fragile ecosystem.

Hundreds of tourists trapped by floods in Pakistan

In northern and northwestern Pakistan, flash floods killed at least 164 people in the past 24 hours, including 78 people who died in the flood-hit Buner district in northwest Pakistan on Friday.

Dozens were injured as the deluge destroyed homes in villages in Buner, where authorities declared a state of emergency Friday. Ambulances have transported 56 bodies to local hospitals, according to a government statement.

Rescuers evacuated 1,300 stranded tourists from a mountainous Mansehra district hit by landslides on Thursday. At least 35 people were reported missing in these areas, according to local officials.

Rescuers backed by boats and helicopters worked to reach stranded residents. Dozens of villages were still missing and the death toll is likely to rise, Kashif Qayyum said.

More than 477 people, mostly women and children, have died in rain-related incidents across the country since June 26, according to National Disaster Management Authority.

Deaths were reported from different parts of Pakistan on Thursday. Bilal Faizi, a provincial emergency service spokesman in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, said rescuers worked for hours to save 1,300 tourists after they were trapped by flash flooding and landslides in the Siran Valley in Mansehra district on Thursday.

The Gilgit-Baltistan region has been hit by multiple floods since July, triggering landslides along the Karakoram Highway, a key trade and travel route linking Pakistan and China that is used by tourists to travel to the scenic north. The region is home to scenic glaciers that provide 75% of Pakistan’s stored water supply.

Pakistan’s disaster management agency has issued fresh alerts for glacial lake outburst flooding in the north, warning travelers to avoid affected areas.

A study released this week by World Weather Attribution, a network of international scientists, found rainfall in Pakistan from June 24 to July 23 was 10% to 15% heavier because of global warming. In 2022, the country’s worst monsoon season on record killed more than 1,700 people and caused an estimated $40 billion in damage.

Khan reported from Peshawar, Pakistan. Contributors from Pakistan include Anwarullah Khan in Bajur, Abdul Rehman in Gilgit, Rasool Dawar in Peshawar and Ishfaq Hussain in Muzaffarabad.