Texas

The request sets the stage for an escalation of a war between the Trump administration and Illinois Democrats, with Gov. JB Pritzker at the helm. But it’s unclear what role federal agents can play in the matter, and there were no reports of FBI activity in the area housing Texas Democrats as of Thursday morning.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker has told NPR if Texas and other Republican majority states redraw new congressional districts outside the usual schedule after census periods, Illinois and blue states might follow the political escalation.

Democrats in New York, California and Illinois are threatening to redraw their own maps in retaliation to Republican redistricting efforts in Texas.

The Texas quorum-breakers met Monday in west suburban Warrenville alongside Illinois and Texas Congress members to denounce Texas GOP Gov. Greg Abbott’s redistricting efforts and “to call out the injustices.”

The Texas 4,000, a nonprofit group raising money for cancer research, stopped at Bloomington's Salvation Army Monday night to rest and recuperate on a 70-day trip across North America.

Midwest Food Bank plans to send disaster relief to Texas, following a winter storm that has left hundreds of thousands of people without electricity for…