Schumer, Jeffries sue to block federal agents at polls in November

WASHINGTON— Congressional Democratic leaders filed a lawsuit Thursday aiming to prevent the Trump administration from following through on statements that they are considering sending armed federal agents to polling places in November.

The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia by Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D- N.Y., House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D- N.Y., the national Democratic Party and Democratic campaign groups, alleges the Trump administration plans to send agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Federal Bureau of Investigation to the polls this fall.

The complaint said doing so could intimidate countless voters into not showing up at the polls in violation of federal law and their constitutional rights.

“Notwithstanding federal law, and the traditional sanctity afforded to polling places, the Trump Administration has made clear by word and deed over the past year that it asserts the authority to dispatch armed officers to active polling locations,” the complaint said.

—CQ Roll-Call

Talarico's 'favorite drag queen' responds to Paxton's campaign ad

A popular drag performer from Mesquite who found herself the unlikely star of Ken Paxton's new campaign ad says the Republican Senate hopeful should focus on policy and helping Texans — not personal attacks.

Alyssa Edwards, a star of "RuPaul's Drag Race," published an open letter to Paxton after the attorney general released an ad this week featuring snippets of videos of her to attack his Democratic rival James Talarico for U.S. Senate.

Edwards, whose off-stage name is Justin Johnson, called herself a "very proud" Texan and wrote that she did not fully understand Paxton's motive in his attempt to "disparage" her.

"But I do know this," she wrote Wednesday. "The way we choose to speak about others often says far more about our own character than it ever will about theirs."

—Dallas Morning News

High cost of living tops voter concerns, Becerra remains front-runner in California governor's race, new poll shows

LOS ANGELES — As Californians prepare to elect a new governor in November, the concern they want to be his top priority is reducing the state's entrenched high cost of living, according to a poll by the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies and co-sponsored by the Los Angeles Times.

Not too far behind that is strong voter support for fighting the policies of the Trump administration. That may be among the many reasons 58% of likely voters surveyed support Democrat Xavier Becerra in the governor's race compared to the 33% who back Republican Steve Hilton, whom the president endorsed.

"These results suggest that Becerra is in a commanding position heading to November," said IGS co-director Eric Schickler. "With 2026 shaping up to be a strong Democratic year nationally, the headwinds facing Hilton in Democratic-leaning California are even stronger than usual."

The poll found that Becerra's lead over Hilton had increased slightly since an August IGS poll, and the Democrat now holds a 25-percentage-point advantage.

—Los Angeles Times

Pastor loses bid to remain: ICE deports him to Haiti despite US-citizen wife, kids

A Haitian pastor who received a brief reprieve from deportation after he was abruptly removed from a flight to Haiti last week was returned to the country on Thursday.

Molis Augustave was deported to Haiti along with dozens of other people despite several legal efforts to halt his removal and reverse a decision by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services denying his application for permanent residence filed by his wife, who is a U.S. citizen.

Augustave, who was arrested on Sept. 4 while driving for DoorDash, has become an example of the growing uncertainty facing Haitians in the U.S. following the end of their humanitarian protections.

After the Supreme Court cleared the way this summer for the Trump administration to revoke Haiti’s Temporary Protected Status designation despite ongoing litigation in federal courts, immigration advocates say they are seeing an increase in people with pending immigration claims — including through marriage and other family-based adjustments — being detained and deported.

—Miami Herald

Russian envoy to meet with US in New York for Ukraine proposals

A Russian envoy is set to meet U.S. officials in New York to discuss the war in Ukraine, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The Kremlin’s envoy Kirill Dmitriev will sit down with Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to receive U.S. proposals on the conflict, the person said, asking not to be identified discussing private information. No additional details of the proposed meeting are known.

Witkoff and Kushner, who is U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, visited Moscow and Kyiv earlier this month to try to restart negotiations on ending Russia’s war. Putin and Trump had a “constructive and quite candid” call after the visits, according to Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov.

Still, there was no breakthrough at the Kremlin talks, people familiar with the matter said at the time. President Vladimir Putin has remained determined to seize control of all of Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region as his full-scale invasion heads into its fifth winter.

—Bloomberg News