By KEVIN FREKING and MIKE CATALINI Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican Doug LaMalfa, a seven-term U.S. representative from California, has died, GOP officials said Tuesday. He was 65.

FILE – In this image from video, Rep. Doug LaMalfa. R-Calif., speaks on the floor of the House of Representatives at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, April 23, 2020. (House Television via AP, FIle)

His death, confirmed by Majority Whip Tom Emmer and National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Richard Hudson, reduces the Republicans’ already narrow control of the House to 218 seats to Democrats’ 213.

Details surrounding LaMalfa’s death were unclear.

LaMalfa represented Northern California’s 1st District, along the Oregon border, including Redding and reaching just north of Sacramento. He had planned to run for reelection despite his district being dramatically redrawn under a ballot measure passed by California voters in November. The measure, backed by Democrats, was designed to make it harder for LaMalfa and four other Republicans to win reelection.

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“Doug was a principled conservative and a tireless advocate for the people of Northern California,” Hudson said. “He was never afraid to fight for rural communities, farmers, and working families. Doug brought grit, authenticity, and conviction to everything he did in public service.”

LaMalfa was a former state lawmaker and rice farmer. He was first elected to Congress in 2012.

He was a regular presence on the House floor, helping GOP leadership open the chamber and offer his view local and national affairs.

C-SPAN in a recent compilation said he gave at least one set of remarks for the record on 81 days in 2025. Only two other lawmakers spoke on the House floor more frequently.

Catalini reported from Trenton, N.J.

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE, Associated Press Technology Writer

A golden phone that President Donald Trump’s family business promised to release last year remains mysteriously under wraps as the technology industry serves up a glut of new gadgets at CES in Las Vegas this week.

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When the Trump Organization launched a mobile phone service last June, it was supposed to be a stage setter for a new smartphone bathed in gold with a $500 price tag — a bargain compared to Apple’s latest iPhone models that sell for anywhere from $800 to $1,200. The newly formed Trump Mobile targeted its T1 phone for an August or September release.

What’s more, Trump Mobile initially hailed T1 as a device that would be “proudly designed and built in the United States for customers who expect the best.”

But both the T1’s shipping date and U.S. manufacturing ambitions gradually began to shift, even as Trump Mobile continues to accept $100 deposits for the device.

Not long after announcing the device, Trump Mobile pivoted from describing it as phone that would be made in the U.S. to framing it as a device that would be “proudly American.” Trump Mobile’s website now touts the T1 as having an “American-proud” design, with no further explanation.

Analysts believed that the shift stemmed from a recognition that the U.S. lacked the supply chain and other logistics required to make a smartphone for less than $1,000 — the same hurdles that made it implausible for Apple to acquiesce to President Trump’s demands that the company move its iPhone manufacturing from China and India.

Later in the summer, Trump Mobile also became more vague about when the T1 would become available, but still indicated it would be delivered to customers who paid the $100 deposit by the end of 2025. Trump Mobile’s website continues to list the T1’s targeted release date as “later this year.”

The Trump Organization didn’t respond to inquiries from The Associated Press about the delays or when the device is now expected to be shipped. The Financial Times recently reported that it was told by a customer representative for Trump Mobile that the phone will be shipped in late January and attributed its delayed release to the 43-day shutdown of the federal government last year.

Whatever the reason, the T1’s ongoing absence from the smartphone market didn’t come as a surprise to International Data Corp. analyst Francisco Jeronimo.

“We have always been quite skeptical about this phone,” Jeronimo said. “They are probably finding that it is harder to build a phone than they thought it would be. Let’s see if this thing comes to life or not.”

While the T1 has remained in a holding pattern, Trump Mobile has been selling its wireless service for $47.45 per month — a price tied to Donald Trump’s titles as the 47th and 45th President. For customers looking for a smartphone that they can use sooner rather than later, Trump Mobile is also selling refurbished versions of older iPhones and Samsung’s Galaxy models at prices ranging from $370 to $630.

“Maybe they changed their strategy and figured out they are better off just selling refurbished phones,” Jeronimo said.

By VALERIE GONZALEZ, Associated Press

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas (AP) — Families of students killed in the Uvalde, Texas, school massacre are among those who could testify at the trial of a police officer who was part of the hesitant law enforcement response and is charged with failing to protect children from the teenage gunman.

Opening statements were set to begin Tuesday, a day after a judge seated a jury in what is a rare case of charges being brought against an officer who is accused of not doing more to save lives. Authorities waited more than an hour to confront the shooter.

A line forms at the Nueces County Courthouse in Corpus Christi, Texas, as jury selection continues in the trial for former Uvalde school district police officer Adrian Gonzales, Monday, Jan. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Adrian Gonzales, a former Uvalde schools officer who was among the first to respond to what was one of the worst school shootings in U.S. history, has pleaded not guilty. His attorney has said the officer tried to save children that day.

Gonzales faces 29 counts of child abandonment or endangerment and could be sentenced to a maximum of two years in prison if he’s convicted.

He and former Uvalde schools police chief Pete Arredondo are the only two officers to face criminal charges over the response. Arredondo’s trial has not been scheduled.

Some families of the victims were upset that more officers were not charged given that nearly 400 federal, state and local officers converged on the school soon after the 2022 attack.

Terrified students inside the classrooms called 911 and parents outside begged for intervention by officers, some of whom could hear shots being fired while they stood in a hallway. A tactical team of officers eventually went into the classroom and killed the shooter.

The gunman killed 19 students and two teachers at Robb Elementary.

An investigation found 77 minutes passed from the time authorities arrived until the tactical team breached the classroom and killed Salvador Ramos, who was obsessed with violence and notoriety in the months leading up to the shooting.

The trial for Gonzales was expected to last about two weeks, Judge Sid Harle said. Before seating the jury Monday, he told several hundred potential jurors that the court was not looking for those who know nothing about the shooting but wants jurors who can be impartial.

Close to 100 people were dismissed after saying they already formed opinions.

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Among the potential witnesses are FBI agents, Texas Rangers, emergency dispatchers and school employees.

At the request of Gonzales’ attorneys, the trial was moved to Corpus Christi after they argued Gonzales could not receive a fair trial in Uvalde.

The indictment accuses Gonzales of putting children in “imminent danger” of injury or death by failing to engage, distract or delay the shooter and by not following his training. The allegations also say he did not go toward the gunfire despite hearing shots and being told the shooter’s location.

State and federal reviews of the shooting cited cascading problems in law enforcement training, communication, leadership and technology, and questioned why officers waited so long.

According to the state review, Gonzales told investigators that once police realized there were students still sitting in other classrooms, he helped evacuate them.

Prosecutors likely will face a high bar to win a conviction. Juries are often reluctant to convict law enforcement officers for inaction, as seen after the Parkland, Florida, school massacre in 2018.

Sheriff’s deputy Scot Peterson was charged with failing to confront the shooter in that attack. It was the first such prosecution in the U.S. for an on-campus shooting, and Peterson was acquitted by a jury in 2023.

Associated Press writers Jim Vertuno in Austin, Texas, Juan A. Lozano in Houston and John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio, contributed to this report.

By SEUNG MIN KIM, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump will gather with House Republicans on Tuesday to ensure they’re aligned on their agenda at the start of a critical midterm election year that could alter the course of his final two years in office.

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GOP lawmakers are hosting a daylong policy forum at the Kennedy Center, the performing arts venue on the other side of Washington from the Capitol. Its board, which is stacked with Trump loyalists, recently voted to rename it the Trump Kennedy Center, though that move is being challenged in court.

House Republicans are convening as they launch their new year agenda, with health care issues in particular dogging the GOP heading into the midterm elections. Votes on extending expired health insurance subsidies are expected as soon as this week, and it’s unclear whether the president and the party will try to block its passage.

Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., are trying to corral Republican lawmakers when GOP leaders have a thin majority in the chamber. Meanwhile, rank-and-file lawmakers have felt increasingly emboldened enough to buck Trump and the leadership’s wishes, such as on the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files.

With Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s resignation taking effect at midnight Tuesday, Republican leaders now have a 219-213 majority in the House.

The meeting also comes after the Trump administration’s dramatic capture of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela, which occurred after a monthslong U.S. campaign to pressure the now-deposed leader by building up American forces in the waters off South America and bombing boats alleged to have been carrying drugs.

The Maduro capture is reigniting the debate about Trump’s powers over Congress to authorize the campaign against Venezuela, though House Republican lawmakers have largely been supportive of the administration’s efforts there.

Among the topics likely to be discussed on Tuesday are promoting and implementing the GOP’s marquee tax-and-border legislation, as well as a broader affordability agenda and midterm politics, according to a Republican official who was involved in the planning of the meeting and insisted on anonymity to discuss it.

Republicans are also mulling a potential second tax bill that could be passed with just party line votes while confronting the possibility of a potential partial government shutdown at the end of the month.

It is unclear why House Republicans chose the Kennedy Center venue for their off-campus session. House GOP meetings are generally held in the Capitol or a nearby site off campus if they are discussing political matters. The speaker’s office did not respond to a request for further comment.

AP Congressional Correspondent Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report.