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Texas AG Ken Paxton announces run for US Senate
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced on Fox News’ The Ingraham Angle Tuesday night that he will run for the U.S. Senate.
The announcement comes as Paxton no longer faces the cloud of a federal corruption investigation that loomed over him as he rose up the ranks in the Republican Party.
The announcement by Paxton, a close ally of President Donald Trump and a MAGA firebrand, comes two weeks after Republican Sen. John Cornyn officially launched his re-election campaign as he bids for a fifth six-year term serving Texas in the Senate.
«It’s time for a change in Texas,» Paxton told Fox News’ Laura Ingraham, before acknowledging Sen. Ted Cruz, Texas’ other Republican senator. «It’s time that we have another great senator that will actually stand up and fight for Republican values, fight for the values of the people of Texas and also support Donald Trump in the areas that he’s focused on in a very significant way.»
EXTRAMARITAL AFFAIR DETAILS SURFACE IN HISTORIC IMPEACHMENT TRIAL OF TEXAS AG KEN PAXTON
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks at a news conference in Dallas, June 22, 2017. On Tuesday, Paxton announced that he will run for the U.S. Senate. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez, File)
On Sunday, Cornyn said he was looking forward to «the competition» amid rumors of Paxton’s candidacy.
«Ken Paxton is a fraud,» Cornyn’s campaign charged in a social media post after Paxton’s announcement. «He talks tough on crime and then lets crooked progressive Lina Hidalgo off the hook. He says his impeachment trial was a sham but he didn’t contest the facts in legal filings which will cost the state millions.»
TEXAS AG PAXTON ACQUITTED ON ALL IMPEACHMENT CHARGES: ‘THE TRUTH PREVAILED’
«He says he’s anti-woke but he funnels millions of taxpayer dollars to lawyers who celebrate DEI,» the post continued. «And Ken claims to be a man of faith but uses fake Uber accounts to meet his girlfriend and deceive his family.»
Cornyn’s campaign noted that the incumbent senator has voted with Trump more than 95% of current senators. Trump and Texas need a «battle-tested conservative» who knows how to protect his agenda in the Senate and won’t be outsmarted by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and the Democrats, the campaign said.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas. (Fox News Digital)
The announcement from Paxton puts the gears in motion for what may be an extremely expensive and bruising GOP primary battle, pitting the remaining establishment and business factions of the Republican Party versus the ascendant MAGA wing.
«It sets the table for the most expensive primary in Texas. It will be a brutal battle,» veteran Republican strategist Dave Carney told Fox News. Carney, the longtime top political adviser to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, noted that the announcement by Paxton also «opens up the attorney general’s race. There will probably be a very competitive primary for that and we’re going to have a lot of musical chairs down ballot.»
Matt Mackowiak, a veteran Republican strategist and communications consultant based in Texas and Washington, D.C., said «this is going to be the most expensive, nastiest, most aggressive, most personal U.S. Senate primary in Texas history.»
«You have two candidates who are going to raise significant funds, who are in significant positions, who do not like each and have not liked each other, whose teams do not like each other and the stakes could not be higher,» he emphasized.
WILL DEMOCRATS ONCE AGAIN CHASE THE ‘GHOST OF A BLUE TEXAS’ IN NEXT YEAR’S SENATE RACE?
Paxton’s announcement was not a huge surprise, as he has long claimed Cornyn does not represent the conservative values of Texans and has accused the senator of not being an ally of Trump.
He has also regularly labeled Cornyn a «RINO,» a «Republican in name only» and an insult MAGA and «America First» Republicans have regularly used to criticize more mainstream or establishment members of the GOP.
Paxton, who has been Texas’ top prosecutor since 2015, has regularly criticized his GOP rival, pointing to Cornyn’s position on a border wall and opposing Trump during the 2016 election.
Cornyn also previously came under criticism from conservatives after he helped push a bipartisan gun control bill after the 2022 mass shooting at a Uvalde, Texas elementary school that killed 19 students and two teachers.
Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton at his primary night celebration, on March 1, 2022, in McKinney, Texas. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)
Paxton, for a couple of years, had flirted with a primary challenge against the 73-year-old Cornyn, a former state senator, former Texas Supreme Court justice, and former state attorney general, who first won election to the U.S. Senate in 2002.
FACING POSSIBLE PRIMARY CHALLNGE FROM A TRUMP ALLY, LONGTIME TEXAS SENATOR ANNOUNCES RE-ELECTION
«I can’t think of a single thing he’s accomplished for our state or even for the country,» Paxton said in a September 2023 interview on the Fox News Channel. «Somebody needs to step up and run against this guy,» adding, «everything’s on the table for me.»
Fast-forward to earlier this year, and Paxton, at a county GOP meeting in Texas, told supporters that one of the things «we need to do, and I might play a role in this, is replace John Cornyn in the U.S. Senate.»
And in a Fox News Digital interview in January, Paxton acknowledged that he was «looking potentially at the U.S. Senate.»
Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks at an event outside the Texas Statehouse, on Feb. 28, 2022 in Austin. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)
Cornyn, during the early stages of the 2024 Republican presidential nomination race, had said he would prefer that the GOP take a new direction, which angered Trump. But the senator endorsed Trump in late January of last year, after the then-former president won both the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary, the first two contests in the Republican presidential nomination calendar.
Since Trump returned to the White House three months ago, Cornyn has been supportive of the president’s Cabinet nominees and agenda.
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And in the senator’s campaign launch video last month, the announcer highlighted that during Trump’s first term in office, «Texas Sen. John Cornyn had his back.»
As he gears up for what will most certainly be his roughest re-election of his decades-long career, Cornyn has the backing of the top Republican in the Senate, Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D.
And Republican sources confirm to Fox News that Thune, as well as National Republican Senatorial Committee chair Sen. Tim Scott, have personally asked Trump to back Cornyn.
Sen. John Cornyn speaks during a Senate Finance Committee hearing, on Capitol Hill, March 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
The president’s grip on the GOP is stronger than ever and any endorsement Trump may make in the emerging Republican Senate primary in Texas would be extremely influential.
Making Cornyn’s path to renomination even more difficult is a possible Senate bid by Rep. Wesley Hunt, who represents a Houston area district.
The third-term 43-year-old Texas Republican and rising MAGA star has made his case to the president’s political team, sources confirm to Fox News. Hunt’s argument is that he’s the only person who can win both a GOP primary and a general election, a source familiar with the discussions confirmed to Fox News.
An outside group supportive of Hunt is currently spending seven figures to run ads across the Lone Star State to increase the lawmaker’s name ID.
CORNYN’S RE-ELECTION CAMPAIGN SPARKS QUESTIONS ON BOTH PARTY FLANKS AS DEMS CHASE ‘THE GHOST OF A BLUE TEXAS’
GOP Rep. Wesley Hunt of Texas headlines the opening of the first Trump campaign office in Pennsylvania, on June 4, 2024, in Philadelphia. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)
Some Republican operatives and strategists worry that a primary battle in Texas could cost up to $100 million, potentially diverting much-needed resources from other races.
While Paxton is very popular with the conservative base of the party, it’s not clear at this point what Trump will do regarding the race. And political strategists note that toppling Cornyn in a GOP primary will likely be a very expensive proposition, and it’s not clear if Paxton can raise the money needed for victory.
«This says two things. One, Paxton sees an opportunity. And two, him getting in this early shows he needs the maximum time possible to try to raise money,» Mackowiak said. He added that Paxton «has received some negative feedback on fundraising.»
Paxton grabbed national attention in 2020 for filing the unsuccessful Texas vs. Pennsylvania case in the Supreme Court that tried to overturn former President Joe Biden’s razor-thin win over Trump in the Keystone State, and for speaking at the Trump rally near the White House that immediately preceded the deadly Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol by right-wing extremists aiming to disrupt congressional certification of Biden’s Electoral College victory.
During Biden’s four years in the White House, Paxton took the administration to court numerous times.
While Paxton, who’s in his third four-year term as Texas attorney general, has long been a legal warrior in the MAGA movement, he also has plenty of personal political baggage.
Paxton was indicted on securities fraud charges soon after taking office in 2015, and more recently came under investigation by the FBI over bribery and corruption allegations from former top staffers. And in 2022, he survived a bruising primary amid his many legal difficulties.
In 2023, Paxton was impeached by the Texas House of Representatives, but he was later acquitted of all charges by the state Senate.
The charges in the long-running federal corruption probe were dropped during the final weeks of the Biden administration.
The attorney general also faced an investigation by the Texas State Bar for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results.
While Paxton for years has denied any wrongdoing and has survived his legal fights, he would likely continue to face tough optics and plenty of incoming fire over his past predicaments during a Senate showdown.
Colin Allred, last year’s Democratic Senate nominee in Texas, speaks at a campaign rally in Houston on Oct. 25. (Reuters/Marco Bello)
The eventual winner of next year’s GOP primary will be considered the favorite in the general election against whomever the Democrats nominate.
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Former Rep. Colin Allred has said he’ll decide by this summer if he’ll mount a 2026 Senate campaign.
Allred, a former Baylor University football player and NFL linebacker who later represented Texas’ 32nd Congressional District (which includes parts of Dallas and surrounding suburbs), was last year’s Democratic challenger in the race against Cruz.
Texas,Senate,US,Congress,Donald Trump,Elections,Politics
El presidente de Estados Unidos, Donald Trump, anunció que Israel y el grupo terrorista Hamas llegaron a un acuerdo para un intercambio de rehenes por prisioneros, en el marco de la primera fase de un plan global para la finalización de la guerra en Gaza.
El plan, estructurado en 20 puntos, establece los pasos a seguir en la zona de Medio Oriente. El primer punto del esquema establece que Gaza debe convertirse en “una zona desradicalizada y libre de terrorismo para que no represente una amenaza para sus vecinos”. La segunda cláusula agrega que el enclave “será reconstruido para beneficio de su población, que ha sufrido más que suficiente”.
El tercer apartado fija la condición de que, si ambas partes aceptan, “la guerra terminará inmediatamente”. Israel deberá retirarse a la línea acordada para preparar la liberación de los cautivos, mientras se congelan las operaciones militares. El cuarto punto impone un plazo estricto: “Dentro de las 72 horas de que Israel acepte públicamente este acuerdo, todos los rehenes, vivos y muertos, serán devueltos”.
El quinto punto establece el componente recíproco: tras la liberación de los rehenes, Israel pondrá en libertad a “250 prisioneros condenados a cadena perpetua, además de 1.700 gazatíes detenidos después del 7 de octubre de 2023, incluidas todas las mujeres y niños”.
También se estipula que, por cada rehén fallecido que se devuelva, Israel entregará “los restos de 15 gazatíes”.
El sexto punto aborda el tratamiento de los combatientes de Hamas. Quienes se comprometan a la “coexistencia pacífica y a entregar sus armas” recibirán amnistía, y quienes deseen salir de Gaza contarán con un pasaje seguro hacia otros países.
El séptimo compromiso abre la puerta a la asistencia humanitaria: “Al aceptarse este acuerdo, la ayuda ingresará inmediatamente en Gaza”, con volúmenes mínimos iguales a los pactados en el acuerdo del 19 de enero de 2025, incluyendo reparación de infraestructuras esenciales.
Según el octavo apartado, la distribución de esa ayuda quedará en manos de la ONU, la Cruz Roja y otras instituciones neutrales. El cruce de Rafah se abrirá en ambas direcciones bajo el mismo mecanismo del acuerdo de enero.
El noveno punto crea un gobierno provisional: Gaza quedará bajo la administración de un “comité tecnocrático palestino, apolítico, con supervisión internacional de una ´Junta de Paz´, encabezado por Donald Trump y figuras como Tony Blair”, encargado de la financiación de la reconstrucción hasta que la Autoridad Palestina pueda asumir el control.
El décimo punto introduce un “plan económico de Trump para reconstruir y revitalizar Gaza”, a cargo de expertos en desarrollo urbano del Medio Oriente. El undécimo crea una “zona económica especial con tarifas preferenciales y acceso negociado con países participantes”. El duodécimo apartado garantiza que “nadie será forzado a salir de Gaza”, aunque quienes deseen emigrar pueden hacerlo con derecho de retorno.
El punto trece excluye al grupo terrorista Hamas del futuro político del enclave: “Hamas y otras facciones acuerdan no tener ningún papel en el gobierno de Gaza, directa o indirectamente”. Todo el arsenal militar será destruido bajo supervisión internacional, con un programa de recompra de armas y reintegración financiado por donantes externos. El decimocuarto punto asegura la participación de actores regionales en la vigilancia del cumplimiento de las obligaciones para garantizar que “la nueva Gaza no represente una amenaza”.
El decimoquinto establece una Fuerza Internacional de Estabilización, que “se desplegará de inmediato en Gaza” para entrenar a la policía local y cooperar con Egipto e Israel en el control fronterizo. El decimosexto compromete a Israel a no ocupar ni anexar el territorio, con una retirada progresiva en función de la desmilitarización, conservando solo un perímetro de seguridad transitorio.
El decimoséptimo apartado prevé medidas de ayuda y reconstrucción en zonas “libres de terrorismo” bajo control internacional en caso de que Hamas dilate o rechace el plan.
El decimoctavo punto impulsa “un proceso de diálogo interreligioso basado en la tolerancia y la coexistencia”. El decimonoveno sugiere que “al avanzar la reconstrucción y cumplirse el programa de reforma de la Autoridad Palestina”, podrían darse condiciones para avanzar hacia “la autodeterminación y el Estado palestino”.
El vigésimo y último punto establece que Estados Unidos “abrirá un diálogo entre Israel y los palestinos para acordar un horizonte político de coexistencia pacífica y próspera”.
(Con información de AFP y EFE)
Domestic,Politics,North America,Government / Politics
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It must be something about October and two-year intervals in Congress.
Congress was paralyzed for more than three weeks without a leader two years ago this October as the House unceremoniously ousted former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.
And Congress is paralyzed again this October – unable to find the votes to re-open the government.
«There’s nothing for us to negotiate,» said House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La. «We did the job to keep the government open. And now it’s on the Senate Democrats.»
OMINOUS RED AND ORANGE SKIES HAD CAPITOL HILL TAKE NOTICE AS SHUTDOWN LOOMED
But Democrats say that’s the problem. There haven’t been negotiations. Save for a brief White House meeting last week between President Trump and the top four bipartisan, bicameral Congressional leaders a day before the shutdown.
«The Majority Leader in the Senate, John Thune, R-S.D., talks about, ‘we’ll have conversations.’ We need more than conversations. We need a real negotiation,» said Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., on Fox.
So there are no talks. And the sides are seemingly talking past each other.
It seems as though Congress is positively heading nowhere as shutdown negotiations drag on. (Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters)
So, they’ve turned to handicapping.
Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., gamed out that the shutdown would run another week.
«It won’t end until everybody in the Senate takes their ego out back and shoots it. And then it’ll end,» predicted Kennedy.
It always is, and always will be about the math.
Senate Republicans can conjure up the votes of 55 senators to break a filibuster on the House-passed bill to fund the government. But they need 60 yeas. And Republicans are determined to stick to their playbook.
«I can tell you there’s more than five Democrats in the Senate who know that (Senate Minority Leader) Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. has led them into a box canyon with this Schumer shutdown,» said Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., on Fox. «But the consequences will start to pile up.»
REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK: SENATE REVOTES TODAY ON ENDING GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN
White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt wouldn’t directly answer a question about what would trigger federal firings. But Leavitt made clear that jobs hung in the balance.
«We don’t want to see people laid off. But unfortunately, if this shutdown continues, layoffs are going to be an unfortunate consequence of that,» said Leavitt.
Democrats excoriated the Trump Administration for hinting it would cut programs and jobs in agencies important to Democrats.
«Americans really hate bullies. And this kind of bullying from the White House is going to backlash because they understand that an authoritarian president uses grants to New York for infrastructure, laying off workers, deliberately inflicting pain,» predicted Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. «Don’t inflict unnecessary pain and then boast about it.»
Some Republicans practically reveled in the White House approach.
«All’s fair in love and war. I think that there’s a price to pay for the Democrats shutting this down,» said Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan. «These will be part of the consequences.»
Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., argued that the shutdown is «collective punishment» and undercuts Republicans equally harshly. (Tierney L. Cross/Getty Images)
But one Democrat argued that the Trump administration’s gambit would also undercut Republicans and voters who supported the president. Even in blue states.
«There’s a lot of folks in Vermont, there’s lot of folk in Illinois who voted for President Trump. So this sort of collective punishment,» said Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., on Fox. «I think it’s a really bad idea.»
But the president is coy about when the shutdown could trigger federal layoffs.
«It could,» said the president. «At some point it will.»
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy noted that his department saw «a slight uptick» in aviation safety employees who were calling out sick during the shutdown – since they weren’t being paid.
«They’re thinking about how am I going to get a paycheck? How do I make a car payment,» said Duffy.
WHITE HOUSE ESCALATES SHUTDOWN CONSEQUENCES AS DEMOCRATS SHOW NO SIGNS OF BUDGING: ‘KAMIKAZE ATTACK’
But if you squint, you can see a few signs of bipartisanship.
Johnson is discussing Obamacare subsidies with one prominent Democrat.
«I had I think a fruitful discussion, with Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., about two days ago, a day or so ago,» said Johnson on efforts to address looming Obamacare premium spikes. «Whatever the conference committee comes up with, I will put on the floor. I’m ready to go.»
But Schumer is skeptical about the Speaker’s promises.
«Delay has always been Speaker Johnson’s MO. Speaker Johnson has survived by kicking the can down the road,» said Schumer. «When Johnson says later, they know he means never.»
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., insists Democrats are «playing a losing game.» (Alex Brandon/AP Photo)
Tension is building as the shutdown barrels into its second week as lawmakers spin in circles.
«I realize that my Democrat colleagues are facing pressure from members of their far left base. But they’re playing a losing game here,» said Thune.
But each side is now engaged in a game of parliamentary chicken. Republicans won’t budge from their demand that Senate Democrats approve their funding plan. And Democrats won’t relent from their insistence that the sides shore up Obamacare subsidies.
«I’m not going to vote to reopen the government until I see a way that we can do that,» said Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del.
Even some Republicans worry about Obamacare price spikes.
«There are some folks in what is the new part of the Republican Party, which is blue-collar workers,» said Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-N.J., on Fox Business. «We have to be careful how we do this. We just shouldn’t cut it. We should make sure we use a scalpel and not a sledgehammer.»
SHUTDOWN IGNITES STRATEGIST DEBATE: WILL TRUMP AND GOP PAY THE POLITICAL PRICE IN 2026?
But even if bipartisan senators were to forge a deal, the plan may slam into a brick wall in the House.
«Republicans have spent most of their careers being against Obamacare. Why would they expand it and add a subsidy on top of a subsidy?» asked House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla.
A debate is now raging over which side will cave. Or which party faces political consequences.
Naturally, Republicans believe Democrats will pay a price.
«Their radical base just wants to see them up here fighting Donald Trump, not over any particular issues,» said House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La.
But Democrats don’t see a political downside.
«Are you concerned in any way about the political ramifications that voters might blame your side down the road?» yours truly asked House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y.
«The American people are crystal clear on who shut down the government. Crystal clear,» replied Jeffries.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., suggested Americans are «crystal clear» on who shoulders the blame for the shutdown. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)
However, some lawmakers doubt that voters care about who «shut down the government.»
«My constituents don’t care about the finger pointing. They just want us to govern,» said Rep. Madeleine Dean, D-Pa.
As the impasse deepens, the Senate shifted from parliamentary posturing to ecumenical intercession.
«On this third day of the government shutdown, inspire them to work for your glory in all they think, say, and sow,» prayed Senate Chaplain Barry Black during his invocation of the Senate last week.
HERE’S WHAT TRUMP WANTS TO DO TO RESHAPE THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT DURING THE SHUTDOWN
And then there are the sideshows. The White House sent out a meme portraying Budget Director Russ Vought as the Grim Reaper. And the president trolled Jeffries with an AI-generated social media video, casting Jeffries in a sombrero and a mustache with mariachi music playing in the background.
At the same time, Republicans warned about grave shutdown consequences.
«Real pain is being endured by real people,» said Johnson.
But in the next breath, the Speaker defended the president making light of circumstances, describing the trolling as «entertainment.»
«That’s what President Trump does. And people are having fun with this,» said Johnson.
I didn’t let that go.
«On one hand, you say this is very serious. That people have jobs on the line. On the other hand, you say, ‘oh, this is just fun and games and they’re trolling.’ Which is it?» I inquired.
«What they’re trying to have fun with, trying to make light of, is to point out the absurdity of the Democrats’ position,» answered Johnson.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., defended President Trump’s making light of current circumstances as «entertainment.» (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
So we don’t know if or when Vought will drop the anvil on federal workers. But one senator who caucuses with the Democrats and voted for the GOP plan, signaled his support could wane if Republicans overplay their hand.
«If they start firing thousands of people or clawing back other kinds of programs, I think, it could hurt their chances of getting this resolved,» said Sen. Angus King, I-Maine.’
The Senate has now blocked the House-approved spending package on six separate occasions. The sides are having casual conversations. But nothing has happened.
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It’s as though Congress is on a merry-go-round to nowhere, just going around and around. Everyone’s getting dizzy. And just wants to dismount.
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