The Texas American Federation of Teachers (AFT) announced on Tuesday that it plans to sue the Texas Education Agency (TEA) over what it called “unlawful investigations” into school officials over social media posts made about Charlie Kirk’s assassination.

In September, Texas Commissioner of Education Mike Morath sent out a letter to state school superintendents announcing that he was launching investigations into school officials that he said “posted and/or shared reprehensible and inappropriate content on social media” regarding the Turning Point USA founder’s death.

“Such posts could constitute a violation of the Educators’ Code of Ethics and each instance will be thoroughly reviewed to determine whether sanctionable conduct has occurred and staff will investigate accordingly,” Morath wrote. “While the exercise of free speech is a fundamental right we are all blessed to share, it does not give carte blanche authority to celebrate or sow violence against those that share different beliefs and perspectives.”

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The lawsuit alleges that since the letter was issued, several Texas AFT members have been placed on administrative leave, reprimanded or terminated over their social media posts, which the organization claims is a First Amendment violation.

“Somewhere and somehow, our state’s leaders lost their way,” Texas AFT President Zeph Capo said in a statement. “A few well-placed Texas politicians and bureaucrats think it is good for their careers to trample on educators’ free speech rights. They decided scoring a few cheap points was worth the unfair discipline, the doxxing, and the death threats targeted at Texas teachers. Meanwhile, educators and their families are afraid that they’ll lose everything: their livelihoods, their reputations, and their very purpose for being, which is to impart critical thinking.”

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National AFT President Randi Weingarten also released a statement condemning the TEA.

“Sadly, Texas officials, unlike their colleagues in Utah, decided to exploit the tragedy of Mr. Kirk’s senseless murder, rather than deescalate,” Weingarten said. “Their actions are a transparent effort to smear and shame educators, divide our communities, and deny our kids opportunities to learn and thrive. They are a state-sponsored attack on teachers because of what they thought were private comments to friends and family. And even if we think some of this speech is noxious, defending one’s right to speak is the essence of our democracy.”

She added, “You don’t lose your constitutional rights when you decide to become a teacher—the Constitution, for it to have any meaning at all, has to work for all Americans, not just some.”

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The AFT is seeking a permanent injunction of the TEA policy and investigations. The TEA declined to comment to Fox News Digital.

In the weeks following Kirk’s assassination, several public school teachers across the nation were reprimanded or fired after going viral with controversial social media posts that appeared to celebrate his death.

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Texas Gov. Greg Abbott previously announced that more than 100 teachers in the state would have their teaching certifications suspended after investigators found they had called for or encouraged violence following Kirk’s assassination.

Fox News’ Kristine Parks contributed to this report.

The Minnesota ICE shooting that resulted in the death of Renee Good has drawn strong reactions everywhere.

According to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Good was operating a vehicle that agents ordered her to exit. Good, according to Noem, refused and “attempted to run them over and ram them with her vehicle.”

After Vice President JD Vance delivered a strong statement defending ICE agents for their work, the White House posted a graphic with a portion of Vance’s plea and the caption, “STAND WITH ICE.”

Former MLB All-Star Mark Teixeira, who launched his campaign for Texas’ 21st Congressional District in August as a Republican to “help defend President Trump’s America First agenda,” voiced his support.

“I stand with ICE,” the former Texas Ranger, Atlanta Brave, Los Angeles Angel and New York Yankee wrote on X.

Teixeira’s announcement followed Rep. Chip Roy’s decision not to seek re-election and run for Texas attorney general. Roy, who represents the district, made the announcement in a campaign video shared on X last year. His video centered on preserving the Lone Star State’s legacy of “liberty, freedom and self-determination.”

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Noem called the incident “domestic terrorism.”

“An officer of ours acted quickly and defensively, shot to protect himself and the people around him,” she said.

Federal authorities said Good tried to run over ICE agents who were part of a 2,000-member team sent to the Twin Cities to round up and deport undocumented immigrant criminals.

Teixeira, 45, played 14 seasons in the majors. He debuted with the Rangers in 2003 but is perhaps best known for being an MVP candidate and World Series champion with the Yankees, the final stop of his career.

One of the best hitters in the game, Teixeira was a three-time Silver Slugger Award winner and finished his career with a .269 batting average and 409 home runs. He was a five-time Gold Glove winner and was a member of the Yankees’ 2009 World Series championship team. 

The congressional race is set for November 2026, with a primary scheduled for March.

Fox News’ Jackson Thompson contributed to this report.

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Aiming to not only hold but expand their 53-47 majority in November’s midterm elections, top Senate Republicans are showcasing the plummeting rates of border crossings during a stop Friday at the nation’s southern border with Mexico.

And the group, led by Senate Majority Leader John Thune, is also highlighting how President Donald Trump and Republican lawmakers are “putting more money in Americans’ pockets.”

The stop at the border, hosted by One Nation, a nonprofit outside group closely aligned with Thune, is seen as an unofficial kickoff by Senate Republicans ahead of the midterms to tout the sweeping “One Big, Beautiful Bill Act,” Trump’s signature domestic achievement last year that was passed nearly entirely along party lines in the GOP controlled Congress.

At the event at the border, which was a regular stop for Republicans amid the surge in border crossings during then-President Joe Biden’s administration, the GOP senators are teaming up with members of the National Border Patrol Council. And they are highlighting how the passage of the domestic policy measure “secured transformational border security funding,” according to One Nation.

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“This is a remarkable, remarkable difference in just a year,” Thune said at the event. “It’s been an incredible year of progress when it comes to the southern border and the American people are experiencing the benefit of that in the form of having safer streets and safer communities and safer neighborhoods.”

But with Democrats enjoying decisive victories and overperformances in the 2025 elections and in a slew of special elections and other ballot box showdowns last year, which were fueled by their laser focus on affordability amid persistent inflation, the Republican senators are also using Friday’s trip to spotlight the tax cut and energy policy provisions in the bill, which they rebranded as the “Working Families Tax Cut.”

“The Working Families Tax Cut will make buying groceries more affordable for working Americans this year,” the Senate Republicans touted on social media on the eve of the border stop. “Every Democrat voted against it.”

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And they also highlighted that “Senate Republicans have worked closely with President Trump to lower energy prices and make life more affordable — and the results speak for themselves.”

Thune, at the border, pointed to the tax cut provisions in the GOP measure, including no tax on tips and overtime and reduced rates for seniors on Social Security, along with “the jobs that are going to be created by the pro-growth policies that we put in place….are going to lead us to a place where the American people are seeing their incomes go up.”

But Democrats see the cost of living as their winning issue heading into the midterms.

“If the Republican agenda actually made life more affordable for working Americans, then they wouldn’t be desperately flailing as families struggle to afford groceries, health care, and housing,” Lauren French, communications director at Senate Majority PAC, the top Senate Democrat-aligned outside group, told Fox News Digital. “Instead of focusing on working people, Trump and Senate Republicans are focused on bringing chaos and instability into our communities.”

Joining Thune, the longtime senator from South Dakota, at the border is Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming, number two in Senate Republican leadership.

There are also Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, who faces a bruising GOP primary showdown in March against challengers Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Rep. Wesley Hunt; and Republican Sens. Jon Husted of Ohio and Ashley Moody of Florida, who were appointed last year and will face voters this November.

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GOP Sens. Pete Ricketts of Nebraska and Mike Rounds of South Dakota, who are up for re-election this year, are also on the trip, as are former Rep. Mike Rogers and former Republican National Committee chair Mike Whatley, the GOP Senate candidates in battlegrounds Michigan and North Carolina who are backed by Thune and the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

“We’re seeing signs already that the economy is starting to tick up and is starting to take hold as the President’s policies are getting in place,” Whatley argued last month in a Fox News Digital interview. “We need to make sure that we have the trade policies, the tax policies, the regulatory policies from this administration that are going to help our small businesses, our manufacturers and our farmers across North Carolina.”

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But Democrats are energized as the midterm year begins, as they continue to keep their focus on the issue of affordability.

“Donald Trump has lost the economy, is losing his mind, and is going to lose the midterms,” Democratic National Committee chair Ken Martin claimed in a recent statement.