In the News
WASHINGTON — Warning that President Donald Trump could weaponize Immigration and Customs Enforcement to scare Latinos away from the polls, several Texas Democrats are pushing to bar immigration action around polling places on voting days.
"We've already seen, for instance through the Ukraine scandal, that this president would do anything to be able to win this election, including seeking the help in interfering in an election," said U.S. Rep. Sylvia Garcia, D-Houston, who on Thursday filed the Polling Access Safety Act, which among other things would bar immigration enforcement actions within a mile of polling places during voting.
Politicians in the Democratic and civil rights space have shared tributes on social media following the passing of Rep. Elijah Cummings.
Cummings died at the age of 68 on Thursday (Oct. 17) from "complications from longstanding health issues," his office told the Associated Press. Bipartisan through and through, Cummings served Maryland's 7th Congressional District from 1996 until his death.
Born and raised in Houston, Isabel Longoria, 31, once wore a cowboy hat to an eighth-grade dance at The Rice School. After that, the moniker "Texas," or sometimes just "Tex," followed her everywhere.
"There are still people today that call me that," laughs Longoria. A longtime campaigner, staffer, and self-described policy wonk, Longoria is making her first run for office this year by throwing her hat into Houston's City Council District H race.
In November of this year, Houstonians will vote on the mayor, controller, and all 16 City Council seats. While many of the Council seats are open, the District H incumbent, Karla Cisneros, is seeking her second four-year term.
Co-hosts Gary Polland and Dallas Jones check in with local U.S. Representatives for updates on the 116th U.S. Congressional Session. They are joined by Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia, U.S. House Representative for Texas' 29th Congressional District (D- Houston); and Congressman Randy Weber, U.S. House Representative for Texas' 14th Congressional District (R-Friendswood), as they analyze the political implications of the impeachment inquiry against President Trump, and the political discourse on Capitol Hill throughout the 116th session.
New York (CNN Business)Facebook's original target launch date for the Libra cryptocurrency is still months away, but hurdles are mounting for the project as it tries to get off the ground.
U.S. Senators Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen (Both D-Md.), together with 49 senators and 123 U.S. Representatives and former lawmakers have filed an amicus brief in the Supreme Court in support of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The Supreme Court will hear arguments on DACA on November 12, 2019. President Trump terminated the DACA program on September 5, 2017, throwing the lives of nearly 800,000 Dreamers into chaos.
PayPal has become the first company to walk out officially from the group of organizations that Facebook assembled in a bid to launch the Libra cryptocurrency payment network.
PayPal Drops Out Of Libra Project
The online payments company has revealed that it will forgo further participation in the Libra Association, becoming the first of the 28 founding members to depart from the project.
PayPal made the announcement just four months after it was revealed it is one of the organizations to back up the Libra cryptocurrency.
PayPal, the online payments company, said Friday it is withdrawing from the Libra Association, becoming the first major backer of Facebook's planned cryptocurrency to exit the project amid escalating regulatory pressure.
PayPal said it remained supportive of "Libra's aspirations" but will forgo further participation in the association that's being established to manage the digital currency, which is set to launch next year.
PayPal declined to elaborate on why it was stepping away, though it likely would have incurred heightened scrutiny by lawmakers and regulators skeptical of Libra.
PayPal is withdrawing from Facebook's Libra Association, the company announced Friday.
"PayPal has made the decision to forgo further participation in the Libra Association at this time and to continue to focus on advancing our existing mission and business priorities as we strive to democratize access to financial services for underserved populations," PayPal said in a statement.
David Marcus, who leads the project at Facebook, was previously the president of PayPal. PayPal said it is still "supportive of Libra's aspirations" and that it will continue to partner with Facebook in the future.
Regulators are once again hounding CEO Mark Zuckerberg about the Facebook-led Libra stablecoin project. This time, it's members of the House of Representatives Financial Services.
And House members are requesting that Zuckerberg himself speak in front of the committee, as opposed to just lower ranking Facebook representatives, according to a report by CNBC.