SCOTUS Tells POTUS Why Not: Donald Trump can move ahead with decimating the federal workforce and nuking federal agencies after another conciliatory ruling by the Supreme Court on Tuesday. The order overturns a lower court ruling and will allow Trump to fire what will likely be tens of thousands of employees.
Waffle White House: Trump isn’t done on tariffs. On Monday, he sent letters to 14 countries claiming he will raise tariffs on them if they don’t negotiate trade deals with the U.S. by August 1. Of course, Trump has waffled on this. Forbes supplied readers a useful compendium this week of all the times Trump has threatened tariffs and then granted extensions. For example, on April 4, he swore on Truth Social that he wouldn’t compromise on tariffs. Five days later, he wrote that he was pausing the most extreme tariffs for 90 days. On Tuesday, he wrote that “No extensions will be granted.” Forbes judged that to be flip-flop No. 28 on tariffs – and counting.
Division Over DOJ: Trump’s biggest fans have long expected him to open the secret files they think are in the government’s possession, files which they say would show Jeffery Epstein was murdered so that the names of the liberal Democrats who supposedly raped underage girls at Epstein’s parties would not be made public. Trump’s own attorney general, Pam Bondi, told Fox News in February that Epstein’s “client list” was sitting on her desk. Now, Bondi’s Department of Justice said Monday that there is no client list. Tucker Carlson called Trump’s dismissal of the list a cover-up. Steve Bannon said we must “take these apparatuses down,” like the DOJ.
Mounting Tragedies: While conservatives continue to duke it out on the national stage, locally, we are far from recovered after flooding, with more heavy rain dousing Austin Wednesday as we went to press. The Austin-area death toll had risen to 14 as of Tuesday morning, the Statesman reported. In Travis County, 10 are still reported missing. And discoveries of the tragic losses continue, with an Austin family confirming the death of a 1-year-old during a July 4 celebration in Kerr County.
Firefighters Fired Up: The Austin firefighter’s union voted unanimously on Tuesday night to initiate a vote of no confidence against the city’s fire chief, Joel Baker, alleging that Baker waited days to send local firefighters to Kerr County to help with the deadly flooding. “We are disgusted with our fire chief,” the Austin Firefighters Association announced Monday. “He needs to be held accountable and fired for his disgraceful dereliction of duty.” AFA President Bob Nicks told the Statesman that Baker denied an informal request for help from the state on July 2, before the storm that killed at least 100 people.
City Leaders “Disappointed”: As the no-confidence vote was taking place, Mayor Kirk Watson and City Manager T.C. Broadnax came to Baker’s defense, declaring their support for the chief and questioning the AFA’s interpretation of events. “It is disappointing that the Association would make these allegations,” Broadnax said. Watson expressed disappointment with AFA President Bob Nicks, accusing him of politicizing the flood. The city will enter into negotiations with AFA for a new contract this summer. Baker has vowed not to step down from his role.
Scorcher Ahead: With all the rain, Austin did not have a single 100-degree day in June. That’s the first time that has happened in six years, according to the National Weather Service’s Harrison Tran. Tran told KUT by next week, rain chances are expected to evaporate, with triple-digit heat setting in. September and August are expected to be even more scorching than usual.
Shoe News Just Dropped: Kristi Noem (inconceivably, secretary of Homeland Security) is ubiquitous on television screens, and there she was again on Tuesday, playing the role of public servant, advising travelers that they will no longer have to remove their shoes in the TSA security checkpoint lines. The shoe removal ritual began a few years after the 9/11 attacks almost 24 years ago, but TSA now has the technology to tell if you’ve got a bomb in your footwear, Noem said. She added: “I think most Americans will be very excited to see they will be able to keep their shoes on.”
Cancun Cruz, Ted the Greek: On Saturday night, 36 hours after a wall of water swept down on campers along the Guadalupe, as Texas and the nation mourned, Cruz was seen with his family at the Parthenon in Athens, Greece. He didn’t get back to Texas until Sunday night – the soonest he could make it back, according to a spokesperson. By contrast, Chip Roy, who represents Kerrville in the U.S. House of Representatives, was on the ground in Kerr County by Friday.
Yeah, Big Score, Abbott: As he did after the 2022 massacre of schoolkids in Uvalde, Gov. Greg Abbott dismissed the idea that there should be a review of officials’ actions, saying on Tuesday that investigating possible failures surrounding the deadly floods is for “losers.” He followed that up with a football analogy. “We got this. We’re going to make sure that we go score again.”
Local Rep Regrets: Wes Virdell, the Republican state representative from Kerrville, spent the weekend assisting with rescue efforts. He explained to reporters why he opposed a $500 million emergency alert bill in the recently concluded legislative session that might have saved campers along the Guadalupe and said he likely would vote differently on the bill now if he could do it over.
Local Businesses Rock: As officials figure out how to handle the fallout, local businesses have stepped up in major ways, gathering donations. We have a list of ways to help here. In a little more good local business news, Wheatsville Food Co-op has entered into an agreement to acquire two Fresh Plus neighborhood grocery stores in Austin (Hyde Park and Allandale). These two long-standing Austin grocery institutions said in a press release that they are coming together to preserve local, independent food retail.
Quote of the Week
“Know this, every football team makes mistakes. The losing teams are the ones that try to point out who’s to blame. The championship teams are the ones that say, ‘Don’t worry about it, man. We got this.’”
– Gov. Greg Abbott avoiding government accountability for flooding with a metaphor
This article appears in July 11 • 2025.