(The Center Square) – A Texas district court granted a request for a temporary restraining order against former U.S. Rep. Robert (Beto) O’Rourke, D-El Paso, and his political action group, Powered by People. Both have reportedly raised money to fund dozens of House Democrats leaving Texas. More than 50 left in protest to prevent the Texas House from conducting official business, including voting for a Congressional redistricting bill they oppose.

On Thursday, Attorney General Ken Paxton launched an investigation into Powered by the People and Texas Majority PAC, The Center Square reported.

On Friday afternoon, Paxton sued O’Rourke and Powered by the People in District Court in Tarrant County. Roughly three hours later, the court granted Paxton’s request for an emergency temporary restraining order to block them from continuing to raise or distribute money for absconding Democrats.

The 20-page lawsuit states, “Robert Francis O’Rourke and his political influence operation, Powered by People, are traveling the state misleadingly raising political funds to pay for the personal expenses of Texas Democrats who have abandoned their offices and fled the state in the middle of a Special Legislative Session. Texas law prohibits, as a matter of public confidence and trust, personal fundraising for state officials.

“Nevertheless, Mr. O’Rourke and Powered by People are intentionally blurring the dichotomy between political and personal funds in a deceptive and confusing manner to take advantage of donors. Mr. O’Rourke and Powered by People are directing consumers to political fundraising platforms, such as ActBlue, for the express political purpose of ‘fight[ing]’ Republicans and protecting Democratic seats from ‘corrupt republicans,’ meanwhile the funds are actually being used for lavish personal expenditures (i.e. travel on private jets, luxury hotel accommodations, and fine dining that are disconnected from, and have no legitimate purpose relating to, their legislative positions).”

“Texas law prohibits organizations from engaging in false, misleading, and deceptive acts, such as the fundraising scheme operated by O’Rourke and Powered by People,” Paxton said.

Late Friday, Judge Megan Fahey issued a 3-page ruling stating that the court “finds that harm is imminent to the State, and if the Court does not issue the Temporary Restraining Order, the State will be irreparably injured. Specifically, Defendants’ fundraising conduct constitutes false, misleading, or deceptive acts under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, … because Defendants are raising and utilizing political contributions from Texas consumers to pay for the personal expenses of Texas legislators, in violation of Texas law. Because this conduct is unlawful and harms Texas consumers, restraining this conduct is in the public interest.”

She also said that O’Rourke and Powered by People “have and will continue to engage in unlawful fundraising practices and utilization of political funds in a manner that either directly violates or causes Texas Democratic Legislators to violate” Texas penal and election codes and House Rules of Procedure. “Consumers have and continue to suffer irreparable harm through these unlawful acts because they are making political contributions that are being used to fund personal expenses and violate State law.”

The order issues a series of directives and scheduled a hearing for August 19 to determine if a temporary injunction should also be issued.

After the ruling, Paxton said, “The Beto Bribe buyouts that were bankrolling the runaway Democrats have been officially stopped. People like Robert believe Texas can be bought. Today, I stopped his deceptive financial influence scheme that attempted to deceive donors and subvert our constitutional process. They told me to ‘come and take it,’ so I did.”

In response to the lawsuit, O’Rourke said, “Paxton is trying to shut down Powered by People, one of the largest voter registration organizations in the country, because our volunteers fight for voting rights and free elections… the kind of work that threatens the hold that Paxton, Trump and Abbott have on power in Texas.” He also said Paxton “wants to silence me and stop me from leading this organization. He wants to stop us from fighting Trump’s attempt to steal the five congressional seats he needs to hang on to power. But I’m not going anywhere.”

(The Center Square) – With Democrats still playing hardball over confirming the rest of President Donald Trump’s civilian nominees, Republicans are becoming increasingly vocal about changing Senate procedural rules to help fast-track the process.

Democrats haven’t allowed a single civilian nominee to pass by voice vote or unanimous consent, which would drastically speed up the confirmation process. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., has called Democrats’ tactics “a historic level of obstruction” and urged them to “rein in their reflexive anti-Trump sentiment.”

With more than 130 nominees remaining, Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., told reporters earlier this week that Senate Republicans plan to take up some kind of rules reform legislation when they return from recess in September.

This so-called “nuclear option,” implemented by a simple majority vote, could include cutting down on debate time, allowing more than one nominee confirmation per vote, or abolishing procedural votes on nominees entirely.

“What Chuck Schumer has done is slow down the process. Typically, by now, 70% of the President’s nominees are confirmed through a short process, a short pass called unanimous consent,” Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., said Wednesday. “But Chuck Schumer is making us spend two hours at a minimum on every one of those.”

Trump also threw his support behind a rules change after nominee-related negotiations between Republican and Democratic leaders apparently blew up. According to a Trump social media post Wednesday, Schumer had demanded the administration release some $2 billion in withheld federal funds in exchange for Democrats’ cooperation.

“This has never happened before. There has never, in U.S. history, been such a delay. THEY ARE EXTORTIONISTS!,” Trump wrote, referring to Senate Democrats. “Republicans must create legislation in order to get out of the grasp of these Country hating THUGS. Move quickly!!!”

This “nuclear option” is not unprecedented. Democrats used it in 2013 to limit debate time and more easily invoke cloture on all nominees except U.S. Supreme Court appointees, while Republicans extended that to include SCOTUS nominees in 2017.

“So when anyone tells you Republicans are taking the ‘nuclear option’ with President Trump to change the Senate rules, remind them that DEMS started this in 2013,” Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., said on X Wednesday. “We’re working through rule change options with the Trump White House to expedite nominees, end the gridlock, and clear the backlog.”

If Republicans do change Senate rules, it would also allow lawmakers more time to pass the 12 annual appropriations bills providing funding for the federal government in fiscal year 2026. So far, the Senate has only passed three of those bills via a minibus, which still needs the House’s approval.

If Congress is unable to pass all 12 funding bills by Sept. 30 – the end of fiscal year 2025 – they will have to pass a short-term Continuing Resolution, or CR, to prevent a government shutdown.

(The Center Square) – U.S. Sen. Ashley Moody, R-Fla. and Secretary of Education Linda McMahon discussed empowering parents to help them give their children a quality education. 

At a Wednesday news conference, Moody talked about the One Big Beautiful Bill and how she didn’t want the accomplishments for education and school choice to go unnoticed in Florida and across the nation.

“For those that value parental empowerment, the ability for all kids to have options and education so that they can fulfill their God-given potential,” Moody said. 

McMahon said that being able to have “universal school choice is really fantastic.”

“The president is absolutely committed that no child should be trapped in a failing school and that education needs to be returned to the states,” McMahon said. “Part of my job is to make sure that we’re finding out the best practices so that many states can follow those best practices.”

She also praised Florida for being a “leading example.”

Emphasizing the urgency of reform, she pointed out the need to give all students a chance to thrive. 

“Every student deserves a shot at success, and no child should be shackled to a failing school,” McMahon said.

She gave a brief overview of a new federal tax credit scholarship program for K-12 education, which will help support families who are picking private schools and education options that they feel would be the best fit for their children. 

“The program enables individuals to contribute tax credited scholarship funds that provide scholarships for private school tuition and a host of other education related services, products, and providers,” McMahon said. 

Congress is working alongside states to further expand school choice initiatives across the country. 

“The One Big Beautiful Bill also expands 529 plans, special family savings accounts for education to include books, materials, testing fees, dual enrollment fees, educational and tutoring costs.” 

If school choice is expanded, it gives families control and allows their children to receive the quality education they deserve.

• Ashley Olds is an intern reporter and member of the 2025 Searle Freedom Trust and Young America’s Foundation National Journalism Center Apprentice and Internship initiative.