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End of government shutdown in sight as Speaker Johnson overcomes GOP revolt

The final vote on sending the bill to President Trump’s desk is Tuesday afternoon

By Elizabeth Elkind
Fox News

Published February 3, 2026 12:34pm EST

Kat Cammack discusses House test vote to end partial government shutdown

Rep. Kat Cammack, R-Fla., discusses the House test vote to end the partial government shutdown. She addresses the need for the SAVE Act to ensure only citizens vote in U.S. elections.

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The end of the current government shutdown is in sight on its fourth day after Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., managed to corral nearly all of his House GOP lawmakers to advance the legislation.

The Senate’s federal funding deal survived an important hurdle late Tuesday morning, clearing a House-wide “rule vote” to allow for lawmakers to debate the measure and set up a vote on final passage by the afternoon.

The 217 to 215 vote was a touch-and-go situation for over an hour as Johnson managed a perilously slim one-seat majority with flare-ups of GOP rebellions that almost upended the proceedings and extended the shutdown.

It comes after a pair of House conservatives announced they would be backing off their threats to sink the legislation during the rule vote if the legislation was not paired with an unrelated election integrity bill called the SAVE America Act.

TRUMP UNDERCUTS GOP PUSH TO ATTACH SAVE ACT TO SHUTDOWN BILL AS CONSERVATIVES THREATEN MUTINY

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., awaits the arrival of the leader of the Orthodox Christian Church, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, at the Capitol in Washington, Sept. 17, 2025.(J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo)

A rule vote is a House-wide test vote of sorts for most bills before they are considered for final passage. They normally fall along partisan lines even if the underlying bill has bipartisan support.

The same is true in this case, where at least several House Democrats are expected to support the funding bill during final passage — despite House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., strongly coming out against it.

But for Johnson, that meant navigating a his slim majority to get nearly all House Republicans to vote in lockstep to advance the legislation.

Democrats had initially walked away from a bipartisan House deal to finish funding the federal government through the end of fiscal year (FY) 2026 on Sept. 30, rebelling against a bill funding the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) over President Donald Trump’s handling of unrest in Minneapolis.

TRUMP, SCHUMER REACH GOVERNMENT FUNDING DEAL, SACRIFICE DHS SPENDING BILL IN THE PROCESS

It left roughly 78% of the government’s yearly funding hanging in the balance. The DHS bill was lumped into a wider package authorizing budgets for the departments of War, Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS), Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and Education.

A new deal hashed out between Senate Democrats and the White House would fully fund those remaining areas while only extending current funding levels for DHS through Feb. 13, in order to give Democrats and Republicans time to hash out a longer-term bipartisan plan.

President Donald Trump arrives to take part in a dedication ceremony for Southern Boulevard in the ballroom at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla., on Jan. 16, 2026.(Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)

And despite most House Republicans coming on board — some more reluctant than others over the prospect of dealing with Democrats — Reps. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., and Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., warned they would not support the bill during the rule vote without the SAVE America Act attached.

GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN ENTERS DAY 4 AS LAWMAKERS GEAR UP FOR HOUSE-WIDE VOTE ON TRUMP-BACKED DEAL

The SAVE America Act would require voter ID at the polls and create a new proof of citizenship mandate in the voter registration process.

But that would require it to be sent back to the Senate for additional approval, where Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said it was dead on arrival.

However, Luna told reporters on Monday night that she and Burchett both changed their minds after getting assurances from the White House that Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., would force a vote on the SAVE America Act.

“As of right now, with the current agreement that we have, as well as discussions, we will both be a yes on the rule,” Luna said. “There is something called a standing filibuster that would effectively allow Senator Thune to put voter ID on the floor of the Senate. We are hearing that that is going well, and he is considering that…so we are very happy about that.”

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna looks on during a House Oversight Subcommittee hearing at the U.S. Capitol on April 1, 2025, in Washington, D.C.(Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

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But another unexpected mutiny arose when Rep. John Rose, R-Tenn., initially voted with Democrats to sink the rule. He posted on X shortly before the vote, “[Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D.] is already backtracking on what he reportedly told some House Republicans: that if we reopened the government, he’d keep his word and bring the SAVE Act to the floor. House Republicans MUST hold the line and refuse to fold on something as fundamental as election integrity. The SAVE Act belongs on must-pass legislation.”

Other conservatives like Reps. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., Byron Donalds, R-Fla., and Troy Nehls, R-Texas, did not initially cast votes but did so by the end of the ordeal.

After negotiations with GOP leaders, Rose eventually switched his vote as the few Republicans left in the chamber applauded. Just one Republican, Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., ended up not voting with the majority.

House lawmakers will now debate the underlying bill, which will see a final vote later in the afternoon.

Elizabeth Elkind is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital leading coverage of the House of Representatives. Previous digital bylines seen at Daily Mail and CBS News.

Follow on Twitter at @liz_elkind and send tips to elizabeth.elkind@fox.com

Martin Shkreli countersues over unique Wu-Tang Clan album

By Jonathan Stempel

• Summary
• Companies

• ‘Pharma Bro’ sues PleasrDAO, Wu-Tang’s RZA, producer
• Shkreli claims 50% stake in ‘Shaolin’ album
• PleasrDAO accused Shkreli of making copies
• PleasrDAO lawyer expects rejection of countersuit

NEW YORK, Feb 3 (Reuters) – Martin Shkreli, the convicted former pharmaceutical executive, countersued a digital art collective that paid $4 million for a one-of-a-kind album by the hip-hop group Wu-Tang Clan.

In a complaint filed late Monday night in Brooklyn federal court, Shkreli also sued Wu-Tang rapper RZA and producer Cilvaringz to undo their alleged “duplicate sale” to the PleasrDAO collective of his 50% interest in copyrights to “Once Upon a Time in Shaolin.”

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PleasrDAO is a decentralized group that buys what its members view as culturally significant materials.

“Mr. Shkreli’s approach throughout has been to distract and delay with actions that the court has consistently and strenuously rejected,” PleasrDAO’s lawyer Steven Cooper said in an email. “These counterclaims will meet the same fate.”

Representatives for RZA and Cilvaringz did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The countersuit raises the stakes in an unusual battle, over a unique album that Shkreli said he bought for $1.5 million in 2015.

Shkreli, 42, relinquished ownership of “Shaolin” to partially satisfy a forfeiture stemming from his 2017 conviction for defrauding hedge fund investors and scheming to defraud investors in his drugmaker Retrophin.

PleasrDAO paid about $4 million for “Shaolin” in 2021.

It sued Shkreli three years later, saying he violated his 2015 sale contract by livestreaming parts of the album for his followers, apparently from copies.

JUDGE ALLOWED PLEASRDAO TO SUE SHKRELI

In his countersuit, Shkreli said the contract called for his 50% copyright interest to be transferred to him in 2103, when he would be 120 years old.

He said the defendants violated his rights when PleasrDAO paid RZA and Cilvaringz $750,000 for that stake, with RZA and Cilvaringz essentially “selling a total of 150% of the copyrights.”

RZA’s and Cilvaringz’s respective given names are Robert Diggs and Tarik Azzougarh.

Shkreli and PleasrDAO are seeking unspecified damages and profits in their respective lawsuits.

Last September, U.S. District Judge Pamela Chen rejected Shkreli’s bid to dismiss PleasrDAO’s lawsuit, saying the value of “Shaolin” came from the collective’s “ability to exploit its exclusivity to create an ‘experience’ that its competitors cannot.”

Shkreli became known as “Pharma Bro” when, as chief executive of Turing Pharmaceuticals in 2015, he raised the price of the life-saving antiparasitic drug Daraprim overnight to $750 per tablet from $17.50.

In 2022, Shkreli was released early from his seven-year prison sentence, and banned from the pharmaceutical industry.

Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Richard Chang and Franklin Paul

香港巴士安全带新法暂缓 立法会被质疑把关不力

发布/2026年2月3日 23:32 / 联合早报

香港实施巴士乘客强制佩戴安全带新法例，岂料数天后就因发现执行细节和法例精神不符而宣布暂缓执行。社会各界纷纷质疑立法会把关不力，立法会前主席范徐丽泰更在报章撰文，指立法会议员履职要重视审议条例草案。

香港巴士乘客强制佩戴安全带的新法例是在1月25日正式实施，港府连日来大事宣传新法，却引起很多乘客不满，认为带来不便。事件过后有出人意表的发展，身为律师的立法会前议员江玉欢上周在社交媒体发文，指新法例列明有关措施只适用于今年1月25日或之后首次登记的新巴士。该日之前首次登记的现役旧巴士，乘客不佩戴安全带也不违法。

由于法例条文与港府的宣传及警方的执法不吻合，港府运输及物流局局长陈美宝上周五（1月30日）召开记者会，表示有关巴士乘客安全带佩戴的法律条文“在技术上有不足之处，未能完全反映立法原意”，宣布暂缓执行并删除条文。

据香港《信报》报道，港府会在完善法律条文后再征询立法会，并重新推出新法。但对于当局打算重新实施备受争议的强制系安全带规例，不少议员的态度有极大保留。有议员认为港府这次错有错着，应顺水推舟，调整原本的强制系安全带要求，甚至无限期搁置立法。

中央港澳办主任夏宝龙上月在全国港澳研究会专题研讨会上发表讲话，指出香港实施行政主导，立法会要发挥好作用，“要同唱一台戏，要多补台，不能拆台”。这次的“安全带之乱”引起香港社会热议，质疑立法会把关不力。

香港立法会前主席范徐丽泰星期二（2月3日）在《明报》撰文，对立法会议员履职提出三点看法，包括：应成为政府与市民之间的桥梁、善用质询及无法律效力的议案辩论，以及重视审议条例草案。

范徐丽泰说，议员应向市民解释政府的政策和法案，再把收集到的民意向政府反映；在审议条例草案的过程中，须逐个考虑各方面意见，达成大家都可接受亦可行的方案。她强调需要平衡各方利益，使条文符合订立条例的初心，并能行之有效。

香港中文大学政务与政策科学学院讲师孔永乐接受《联合早报》访问时指出，立法会议员在审议条例草案过程中，发现新法例在实际执行过程中可能面对问题时，有责任在议会内提出修订。这也是立法会议员发现民意、听取民意，最终向政府表达民意及改善民生福利的过程。

他表示，这起风波反映日后香港立法会议员与市民见面交流时，不但要聆听市民对民生经济各方面的意见，也应多了解他们对即将实施的新法例是否关注及有所忧虑。此外，立法会议员要加强对政策议题的相关研究，确保政策实施后能为整体社会带来更多益处。

Trump says his administration is seeking $1 billion in talks with Harvard

Updated on: February 3, 2026 / 10:09 AM EST / CBS/AFP

President Trump said late Monday his administration is seeking $1 billion in damages from Harvard University in an apparent response to a New York Times report that said the school had won some concessions in ongoing negotiations to settle its dispute with the government.

“We are now seeking One Billion Dollars in damages, and want nothing further to do, into the future, with Harvard University,” Mr. Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

He quoted the Times as saying, “Some connected to the University, however, think Harvard has no option but to eventually cut a deal. The Administration has repeatedly attempted to cut off research grants, which would be an untenable crises. Like many major research universities, Harvard relies on federal funding for its financial model.”

The Times earlier on Monday reported Mr. Trump had dropped his administration’s demands for a settlement payout of $200 million from Harvard, after protracted talks.

Citing “Harvard and Trump officials briefed on the matter, speaking on the condition of anonymity to describe private conversations,” the Times said “Trump administration officials have indicated in recent days that the president no longer expects such a payment.”

Mr. Trump told reporters last September that negotiators were close to reaching a $500 million settlement with Harvard, with part of the deal including a plan to open new trade schools.

“They wanted to do a convoluted job training concept, but it was turned down in that it was wholly inadequate and would not have been, in our opinion, successful,” Mr. Trump said in his Monday post.

“It was merely a way of Harvard getting out of a large cash settlement of more than 500 Million Dollars, a number that should be much higher for the serious and heinous illegalities that they have committed,” he added, without specifying what laws Harvard had allegedly broken.

Administration officials have accused Harvard and other colleges of promoting so-called “woke” ideology while failing to sufficiently protect Jewish students during pro-Palestinian protests and filed a series of legal complaints along with demands for large payouts.

A federal judge ruled in September that the Trump administration violated Harvard University’s First Amendment rights and federal law when it froze nearly $2 billion in federal grants due to the antisemitism allegations.

In her ruling in September, U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs said the funding freeze was part of a “government-initiated onslaught” against the school that was “much more about promoting a governmental orthodoxy in violation of the First Amendment than about anything else, including fighting antisemitism.”

Harvard also separately sued the federal government last year after Mr. Trump barred most international students from entering the U.S. to study at Harvard. Burroughs later ruled for Harvard, blocking that policy. The Justice Department said it will appeal.

Critics have called it a pressure campaign by the administration on liberal universities. CBS News has reached out to Harvard University for comment.

Trump says Republicans ‘should take over the voting’ as his administration pushes for state voter data before the midterms | CNN Politics

Published 1:36 PM EST, Tue February 3, 2026 / CNN

As President Trump says he’d support nationalizing elections, the Justice Department is aggressively seeking state voter rolls across the country. Dana Bash and the “Inside Politics” panel discuss what that could mean for November. Stephen Collinson tells Bash, “There’s the act of almost preparing the electorate for the idea that an election that the president loses would not be a fair election. And to lay the groundwork for, if not legal challenges, political challenges to the election.”

Scouting America ‘on the clock’ to roll back DEI, War Dept says

Sean Parnell says organization must return to ‘core principles’ following Trump’s executive order on federal contracting

By Stephen Sorace
Fox News

Published February 3, 2026 10:00am EST

The Department of War is moving to overhaul its partnership with Scouting America, saying the organization must return to “core values” and eliminate DEI policies to remain eligible for federal support.

The review focused on the department’s financial relationship with Scouting America, formerly known as the Boy Scouts of America, including its involvement in the organization’s National Jamboree, Sean Parnell, assistant to the Secretary of War for public affairs, said in a statement posted on social media.

Parnell described Scouting America as “a great organization” that has “lost its way” in recent years.

“But, for more than a decade now, Scouting America’s leadership has made decisions that run counter to the values of this administration and this Department of War, including an embrace of DEl and other social justice, gender-fluid ideological stances. This is unacceptable,” he wrote.

HEGSETH TELLS TROOPS TO RESIGN IF THEY OPPOSE HIS PLAN TO SCRAP ‘WOKE’ POLICIES AND RESTORE WARRIOR ETHOS

The Boy Scout logo and a uniform are displayed in a store at the Marin Council of the Boy Scouts of America on July 27, 2015, in San Rafael, California.(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Parnell referenced an executive order that President Donald Trump signed at the start of his second term that focused on “terminating radical DEl preferencing in federal contracting,” adding that all organizations affiliated with the department must meet that standard.

DOW and Scouting America are nearing a final agreement, according to Parnell.

“Scouting America remains far from perfect, but they have firmly committed to a return to core principles,” Parnell wrote. “Back to God and country—immediately!”

PETE HEGSETH AXES DEFENSE ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON WOMEN IN THE SERVICES, CITING DIVISIVE AGENDA

Scouting America told Fox News Digital in a statement via email that the organization was “encouraged” by Parnell’s post.

A Boy Scout uniform hangs in a store at the Marin Council of the Boy Scouts of America on July 27, 2015, in San Rafael, California.(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

“For nearly 116 years Scouting has stood as a cornerstone of American ideals, good citizenship, service, and adventure for American youth,” Scouting America said. “We are encouraged by Monday’s social media post by the Pentagon, and we look forward to providing more details as we move ahead.”

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Parnell, however, added that the partnership would continue only on condition that Scouting America “rapidly implements the common-sense, core value reforms” the Trump administration has put forth.

“They are on the clock, and we are watching,” Parnell wrote, adding that officials may have more to announce soon.

Commission sues Trump administration over refusal to restore New York tunnel funding

By David Shepardson

• Summary

• Gateway Development Commission says witholding funds breached its contractual obligations
• Project halt threatens livelihoods and future viability, commission claims
• Democrats blame Trump for arbitrary freeze, urge funding restoration

WASHINGTON, Feb 3 (Reuters) – The commission overseeing a massive $16 billion Hudson River tunnel, the linchpin of rail travel between New York and New Jersey, filed suit to force the Trump administration to restore funding just days before construction is set to halt on Friday.

U.S. President Donald Trump said in October he had terminated the project and the Transportation Department has refused to release any funding for the project approved during the prior administration.

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The Gateway Development Commission, created by New York and New Jersey in 2019 to oversee the project, filed suit late Monday in the U.S. Court of Claims, saying the U.S. Transportation Department breached its contractual obligations by withholding more than $205 million without any legal basis and was seeking to punish Democrats over last fall’s government shutdown.

The commission’s suit said that, without federal funding this week, it “will be unable to pay its contractors to continue construction activities, causing work on this critical project to grind to a halt—leaving unfinished work sites with massive holes in the ground, threatening the livelihoods of the many hundreds of construction employees working on the project, burdening GDC with astronomical costs in delays and penalties, and putting into question the future viability of the project.”

The White House and USDOT did not immediately comment, but the White House said last week that Democrats “are standing in the way of a deal for the Gateway Tunnel Project by refusing to negotiate with the Trump administration. There is nothing stopping Democrats from prioritizing the interests of Americans over illegal aliens and getting this project back on track.”

Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer of New York said the “lawsuit would be unnecessary if President Trump did the right thing for New York and New Jersey and lifted his arbitrary freeze.”

Trump’s Republican administration has repeatedly targeted major transit and infrastructure projects in Democratic-led states. New York Governor Kathy Hochul and New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill — both Democrats — praised the lawsuit and urged Trump to relent.

Any failure of the existing Hudson tunnel, which was built in 1910 and heavily damaged by Hurricane Sandy in 2012, would hobble commuting in the metropolitan area that produces 10% of the country’s economic output and is used by 200,000 travelers daily.

Nearly $2 billion has been spent on the project. The initiative, which received about $15 billion in federal support — involves repairs to an existing tunnel and the construction of a new one for passenger railroad Amtrak and state commuter lines between New Jersey and Manhattan.

Gateway said it told USDOT that it was in compliance with federal law.

Trump, a former New York City real estate developer, refused to approve funding for the project in his first term. The Trump administration is also trying to kill Manhattan’s congestion pricing program introduced last year, designed to reduce traffic and raise billions in funds for mass transit.

Reporting by David Shepardson in Washington; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Michael Perry

Texas Republican voters “cannot take anything for granted” after Democrats’ surprise upset in state Senate race

2026-02-03T12:30:00-0500 / CBS News

Democrats’ victories in a pair of special elections in Texas are raising the party’s hopes for November, with one race cutting into Speaker Mike Johnson’s already razor-thin majority in the House and the other sending shockwaves through the Republican Party nationwide.

In a congressional runoff on Saturday, Christian Menefee defeated another Democrat to fill a vacant seat in a deep-blue district in the Houston area. This narrows House Republicans’ majority in the chamber to 218-214. And it means that if conditions stay the same, Johnson can now only afford to lose a single Republican on party-line votes.

But the weekend’s bigger upset came in a lower-profile state Senate race in Fort Worth’s Tarrant County, where Democrat Taylor Rehmet defeated Republican Leigh Wambsganss by a 57%-43% margin. It’s a major flip for Democrats, gaining a seat that hadn’t been won by the party in over 40 years — in an area that went for President Trump in 2024 by 17 points.

Mr. Trump had endorsed Wambsganss in a social media post on the eve of the election.

In an interview with CBS News’ “The Takeout” on Monday, Rehmet said his campaign made inroads by “going and showing up, knocking doors, making phone calls and really listening.”

Rehmet, a union leader, advised other longshot Democrats to “focus on their district and focus on the issues that working people face.”

It was a low-turnout race, but GOP Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who had sounded the alarm ahead of time that he was worried about Democrats’ enthusiasm before the race, still referred to the upset as a “wake-up call.”

“Our voters cannot take anything for granted,” Patrick wrote in a social media post. “I know the energy and strength the Republican grassroots in Texas possess. We will come out fighting with a new resolve, and we will take this seat back in November. We will keep Texas red.”

Political scientist Mark Jones, of Rice University in Houston, says the reason this race is making Republicans nervous is that it may be a sign that they’re losing the support of moderates.

“Texas Republicans have historically relied on the reality that when push comes to shove, moderate Republicans in November stay with the GOP instead of going with the Democratic alternative,” Jones said. “And I think the risk you run is if the Trump administration and Republicans nationally go too far, the distance between them and moderate Republicans becomes greater than the distance between moderate Republicans and Democratic candidates.”

Rehmet and Wambsganss will face each other again in November, and since the state legislature is not scheduled to be in session until 2027, it’s unlikely Rehmet will ever participate in any votes in Austin, making the victory largely symbolic.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis also sounded the alarm. While noting that special elections can often produce unexpected results, he said the swing in the Texas state Senate district is “not something that can be dismissed. Republicans should be clear-eyed about the political environment heading into the midterms.”

Mr. Trump told reporters Sunday that “you don’t know whether or not” the results are “transferrable.” Mr. Trump had posted twice before Election Day to get out the vote for Wambsganss.

Texas Democratic strategist Chuck Rocha pointed out that Republicans seem to be losing support from a constituency they’ve had some success with in the past two elections.

“What should absolutely terrify Texas Republicans is that Latino voters moved dramatically back to Democrats in this election,” said Rocha, who is working on House and Senate races in the Lone Star State and nationally. “Texas Republicans made Latinos a centerpiece of their mid-cycle gerrymandering strategy, and now it’s going to bite them in the ass.”

Republicans relying on boost from redistricting

Mr. Trump, in an effort to help the GOP hold the House, last year kicked off a mid-decade push to redraw Texas’ congressional districts — especially in South Texas — and net up to five seats for Republicans.

The redistricting campaign could make Menefee’s long-term future in Congress uncertain because the new maps put him in the same district as longtime Houston Rep. Al Green, a fellow Democrat.

But Saturday’s results in the Tarrant County state Senate race indicated the redistricting push could make Johnson’s House majority more precarious. Redistricting comes with tradeoffs: In order to turn five Democratic districts into GOP-leaning districts, mapmakers needed to make some solid-red districts slightly more Democratic, creating some risks for the party, said Joshua Blank of the Texas Politics Project.

“There’s been no indication at the time of or since the redistricting effort here in Texas that those efforts were based off some overwhelmingly sophisticated analysis of the electorate,” Blank said. “They appear to have been based off one year, one election and that may have been a mistake — and I think that question that Republicans are asking themselves this morning.”

Democrats take advantage of low turnout

Republicans have been quick to note that special elections often bring out low turnout, and this one in particular occurred on a Saturday in January during a historic cold front in a state with typically moderate winters.

Jones noted that there were signs of trouble for Republicans ahead of Saturday, since Rehmet had already won the most votes in the November special election, but the Tarrant County Republicans didn’t start sounding the alarm until much later.

Even though Mr. Trump posted twice about the race last week, the GOP “didn’t do the work they needed to mobilize the Republicans to turn out the vote the way they needed to,” Jones said.

While Mr. Trump will not be on the ticket in November, there will be a blockbuster U.S. Senate race for Sen. John Cornyn’s seat that’s likely to turn out far more Republicans than last weekend’s special election. Texas isn’t on the list of Senate seats Democrats are focusing on in November, but nonetheless, the Senate race is still likely to attract record fundraising money and national attention.

“At the end of the day, there are more Republican voters in this district than there are Democratic voters,” Jones said. “It’s just that Democratic voters were more mobilized, and some of those moderate Republicans defected and voted for the Democratic candidate.”

But some Texas politics watchers see potential warning signs for Republicans.

Jorge Martinez, strategic director of Libre, a national grassroots organization that mobilizes Latinos, says that there are Republicans who largely support Mr. Trump, others don’t like everything he’s doing.

“When I look at independent voters and some Republicans that I’ve talked to, they’re concerned with some of the ICE raids here locally as there have been operations at housing construction sites,” Martinez said.

Martinez has been leading the organization’s efforts to knock on doors across Texas in efforts to identify the most pressing issues for voters ahead of rolling out endorsements in congressional races. The economy continues to be the most important priority, Martinez says, with voters acknowledging lower gas prices, but immigration is on people’s minds.

“People might be upset with what’s happening around the country, but ICE is enforcing the laws in the books and if they don’t like it, they have to work with a member of Congress to change that.”

Rehmet told CBS News that the most potent issues in Saturday’s race were education and the cost of living.

Although Tarrant County is a Republican district, it has become a moderate GOP district, Jones said, despite its strong support for Mr. Trump in 2024. Wambsganss, an executive for the Patriot Mobile phone company, was the more conservative Republican running in November’s primary election.

Texas’ upcoming races

Early voting kicks off on Feb. 17 for the March 3 primary. While Democrats are extremely unlikely to make significant gains in the GOP-controlled Texas Legislature, Democrats have zeroed in on the U.S. Senate race, which some see as winnable if Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton wins the GOP primary. Democrats have two candidates competing in the March primary for the Senate race: U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett and state Rep. James Talarico. Democrats have not won a statewide race in Texas since 1994.

Paxton, who has faced a number of personal and professional scandals since taking office as the state’s top law-enforcement officer, is challenging GOP Sen. John Cornyn, who has served in the Senate since 2003. Rep. Wesley Hunt is also running.

Paxton is a close ally of Mr. Trump’s, and was one of the first Republicans to endorse his 2024 election bid. But Mr. Trump has so far refused to make an endorsement in the race, although he appeared to be waffling on that on Sunday, saying he is “giving a very serious thought” to an endorsement.

If Mr. Trump endorses Cornyn, who was the longtime GOP majority whip in the Senate and is generally seen as more electable, Jones, the political scientist, said Paxton would be the “major loser” in Sunday’s results.

In:

• Democratic Party
• Republican Party
• Texas
• Election

Paul Weiss Chair Karp regrets Epstein interactions, firm says | Reuters

By Mike Spector

• Summary
• Companies

• Karp met late convicted sex offender Epstein through client Leon Black, firm says
• Karp sought job for son on Woody Allen film production via Epstein
• Paul Weiss pledged free legal work to Trump administration causes

NEW YORK, Feb 3 (Reuters) – Paul Weiss Chairman Brad Karp “regrets” interactions with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, the law firm said, after a trove of emails revealed more extensive communications between the two men than previously known.

Karp attended dinners with the late convicted sex offender and asked Epstein to help his son land a job with a Woody Allen film production, according to the firm and a Reuters review of emails contained among millions of documents the U.S. Department of Justice released last week as part of the Epstein files.

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Karp also at one point shared a confidential stock sale document with Epstein, according to the emails. In addition, the two discussed sexual misconduct accusations made against well-known men in late 2017, the emails show.

The pair traded emails for several years up to as recently as March 2019. Epstein was arrested on sex trafficking charges later that year in July. He later hanged himself in his Manhattan jail cell. Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to prostitution charges, including soliciting an underage girl.

Karp met Epstein through his work representing “significant firm client” Leon Black, co-founder and former chairman of Apollo Global Management, a Paul Weiss spokesperson said in a statement.

‘REGRET’

“During the course of that representation, which spanned several years, Mr. Karp never witnessed or participated in any misconduct. Mr. Karp attended two group dinners in New York City and had a small number of social interactions by email, all of which he regrets,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

Paul Weiss struck a deal with U.S. President Donald Trump last year to pledge millions of dollars in free legal work to causes Trump’s administration supported in exchange for it rescinding an executive order targeting the law firm.

“I can’t thank you enough for including me in an evening I’ll never forget,” Karp wrote to Epstein in a July 2015 message that followed a scheduled dinner with Woody Allen, the filmmaker. “It was truly ‘once in a lifetime’ in every way, though I hope to be invited again. You are an extraordinary host – and your home….!!!”

Epstein responded: “You are always welcome. There are many many nights of unique talents. You will be invited often.”

“You’re amazing … and thank you!” Karp replied.

Black, the Apollo co-founder and Karp’s client, became embroiled in a dispute with Epstein over fees in 2016. The fees Black paid Epstein later became the subject of intense scrutiny, leading him to relinquish his role atop the giant private-equity firm.

Reporting by Mike Spector; editing by Mark Heinrich

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Clintons will appear for depositions in Epstein probe, staving off contempt vote

By Annie Grayer
Updated 17 min ago
Updated Feb 3, 2026, 1:00 PM ET
PUBLISHED Feb 3, 2026, 12:50 PM ET

Former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrive for Donald Trump’s inauguration in January 2025.

Shawn Thew/Pool/Reuters/File

House Oversight Chair James Comer has agreed to the dates Bill and Hillary Clinton proposed for depositions in the panel’s Jeffrey Epstein probe, putting an end to the contempt of Congress proceedings that had been moving forward against them.

The former president is scheduled to appear on February 27 and the former Secretary of State to appear on February 26 under the terms that Comer had previously set.

Two sources had earlier told CNN that the Clintons agreed to appear for depositions on the panel’s terms, but also suggested they wanted public hearings.

Rep. Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, backed the Clinton’s request to testify publicly to the panel.

“They’ve also requested that the hearings be public hearings. They just made that request today. I strongly support that. I think the idea of moving that deposition from being a private to public, is good for the for the American people. And I support that,” he told reporters on Tuesday.

This story is breaking and has been updated with additional information.

CNN’s Alison Main contributed to this report.