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LAKE GRANBURY (AP) – Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson received a memorable welcome from an ostrich at a state park in Texas when the towering two-legged bird gave him a peck, according to a video Sunday.

AUSTIN (AP) — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is running for the U.S. Senate in a primary challenge against Republican Sen. John Cornyn, setting up what is likely to become one of the GOP’s most contentious and expensive contests of 2026.

Paxton, a close ally of President Donald Trump, made the announcement Tuesday after spending more than a year openly flirting with a Senate challenge. During that time, Paxton has sought to position himself as a national leader among the GOP’s ascendant hard right, launching some of the first criminal investigations in the U.S. over abortion bans and gender-affirming care for transgender youth.

His entry into the race, which he made official in an interview on Fox News’ “The Ingraham Angle,” comes as Paxton is no longer shadowed by legal troubles that had hung over him for nearly a decade but did not weaken his ability to win reelection twice.

“I’m running for U.S. Senate to fight for President Trump’s agenda and take a sledgehammer to the D.C. establishment,” Paxton said in a post on X. “Together, let’s send John Cornyn packing.”

Cornyn’s campaign responded by calling his challenger a “fraud” and leaning into Paxton’s historic impeachment in 2023 after eight of his closest aides accused him of corruption and reported him to the FBI. Paxton was later acquitted in a trial the Texas Senate, where his wife is a state senator but was not allowed to cast a vote.

“This will be a spirited campaign and we assure Texans they will have a real choice when this race is over,” Cornyn’s campaign said in a statement.

Paxton’s decision to enter the race highlights his political resiliency and popularity among Texas Republicans after a decade of legal woes that, at times, seemed to imperil his future: felony securities fraud charges, impeachment after an extraordinary revolt by his closest aides and an FBI corruption investigation. Paxton reached a deal to end the criminal case and the Biden administration quietly decided not to prosecute him.

Cornyn, a respected and popular senator within the GOP conference in Washington, will likely now have to face his most competitive campaign since taking office in 2002.

He recently lost his bid to lead the GOP as Senate majority leader in November after he spent several years as Sen. Mitch McConnell’s No. 2 in leadership. A former Texas attorney general and state Supreme Court justice, Cornyn has helped the party raise millions of dollars throughout his decades-long career and has worked with Democrats on bipartisan bills.

Cornyn has received criticism from Paxton and other Republicans after he suggested that Trump might not be the best Republican candidate for the 2024 presidential election.

Paxton has also expressed discontent with Cornyn’s support of a 2022 bipartisan gun bill that strengthened background checks for buyers under 21, increased prosecution for unlicensed sellers and funds for youth mental health services in the wake of the Uvalde, Texas, elementary school shooting that killed 19 children and two teachers.

Amidst several legal battles, the Texas attorney general has become a well-known figure on the right for his litigation against former President Joe Biden. Notably, Paxton led a lawsuit attempting to overturn Trump’s loss to Biden in 2020, an effort that the U.S. Supreme Court rejected.

In 2023, the GOP-controlled Texas House voted to impeach Paxton for bribery offenses related to a wealthy real estate donor before his acquittal in the Senate, where Paxton was once a lawmaker. The Justice Department decided not to pursue its investigation into Paxton over the allegations in the final weeks of former President Biden’s term, according to two people familiar with the matter who spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity.

Earlier this month, a district court awarded a combined $6.6 million to four former senior Paxton aides in a whistleblower lawsuit after they were fired shortly after reporting Paxton’s actions to the FBI. Paxton’s office has said he will appeal.

In 2022, when Paxton was last on the ballot, Republican George P. Bush made Paxton’s legal troubles the cornerstone of a primary challenge. Paxton won easily in a runoff.

A Democrat has yet to enter next year’s Senate race in Texas, where their party hasn’t won a statewide office in more than 30 years.

AUSTIN – KUT reports that just a week into a push to get workers back into the office, employees with Texas’ transportation agency are struggling to find parking. So, they’re parking illegally. An employee with the Texas Department of Transportation reached out to KUT on Thursday, saying the agency is allowing workers to park in fire lanes at its 1,600-employee campus near Stassney Lane and Burleson Road. The person asked to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation. Another person filed an Austin 311 complaint about the parking Thursday, but it was closed. A screenshot from the app that the complainant shared with KUT says “DPS [Department of Public Safety] supervisor did not allow [the] officer permission to enter and cite vehicles in the fire lane.” Austin Transportation Public Works confirmed in a statement to KUT that an officer was called out to TxDOT on Tuesday, but no tickets were issued. Under Austin’s city code and state law, it’s illegal to obstruct or park in front of a fire lane.

“The officer was granted access by security and noted the improperly parked vehicles were located on TxDOT’s private property,” the statement read. “Transportation and Public Works manages vehicle parking on public right-of-way and does not regulate parking on private property.” In a statement, TxDOT spokesperson Adam Hammons told KUT parked cars “maintained the required clearance standard on the road for emergency vehicles.” He said the agency anticipated parking issues. “TxDOT allowed some workers to park along the outside curb of the parking garage in anticipation of a possible overflow, which was not the case,” he said. “This did not impede emergency vehicles to access the facility.” Five TxDOT campuses were consolidated into a new 49-acre site that opened in South Austin in 2022. During planning for the site, TxDOT cited the ability for employees to work remotely as a reason to scale back plans for more parking.

FRISCO (ABC) — The family of a 17-year-old student charged with murder in the fatal stabbing of another student at a high school track meet last week is “sincerely saddened” over the death, the teen’s attorneys said in their first public statement since the incident.

The incident occurred on April 2 at a Frisco Independent School District stadium during a track and field championship involving multiple schools in the district.

Austin Metcalf, 17, an 11th grader at Frisco Memorial High School, died after police said another student stabbed him during an altercation in the bleachers at the meet.

The suspect in the deadly stabbing — Karmelo Anthony, a student at Frisco Centennial High School — has been charged with first-degree murder, police said.

His family has retained Dallas-Fort Worth-area defense attorneys Billy Clark of the Clark Law Firm and Kim Cole of K Cole Law in the case, according to a joint press release from their firms.

“Karmelo and the entire Anthony family are sincerely saddened that a life was lost and offer their condolences to the family of Austin Metcalf,” the attorneys said in a statement on Monday.

“During this difficult time, we urge the public to refrain from rushing to judgment before all the facts and evidence are presented,” they continued. “Karmelo, like all citizens of the United States, is entitled to a fair and impartial legal process; we are committed to ensuring that Karmelo’s rights are indeed protected throughout each phase of the criminal justice system.”

Anthony is being held in the Collin County jail on $1 million bond.

The attorneys said they plan to work with the Collin County District Attorney’s Office to seek a reduced bond and a “better determination of the filed charge.”

“This will certainly be a long road ahead and during this challenging time, we ask for prayers for both families and we ask for your patience and respect for the legal process as we seek the truth,” the attorneys said.

In the wake of the incident, Anthony’s family has launched a fundraiser on the platform GiveSendGo, which as of early Tuesday afternoon has raised more than $236,000. The fundraising page did not detail how the funds will be used.

Anthony allegedly confessed to the killing and officers say he told them he was protecting himself, according to the arrest report.

One officer who responded to the scene said Anthony told him unprompted, without being asked any questions about the incident, “I was protecting myself,” according to the arrest report.

When the officer advised another responding officer that he had “the alleged suspect,” Anthony reportedly responded, “I’m not alleged, I did it,” according to the arrest report.

Anthony “made another spontaneous statement” and reportedly asked an officer if what happened “could be considered self-defense,” according to the arrest report.

The stabbing occurred under the Memorial High School tent in the stadium bleachers at approximately 10 a.m. on April 2, according to the arrest report.

Responding officers said they spoke to multiple witnesses, including one who reported that the altercation began after Metcalf told Anthony to move out from under their team’s tent, according to the arrest report.

The witness reported that Anthony allegedly reached inside his bag and said, “Touch me and see what happens,” according to the arrest report.

Metcalf grabbed Anthony to move him, according to a witness, and Anthony allegedly pulled out what the witness described as a black knife and “stabbed Austin once in the chest and then ran away,” the arrest report stated.

“Just doesn’t make any sense,” Metcalf’s mother, Meghan Metcalf, told Dallas ABC affiliate WFAA in emotional remarks last week. “Just because the kid was mad, my son is not here anymore, and I don’t understand it.”

Frisco Police Chief David Shilson called the incident a “senseless act of violence” in a lengthy statement last week while offering his “deepest condolences to all the families involved especially the Metcalf family.”

He also warned that false information related to the stabbing was being circulated on social media and “to only trust information that comes from official releases and verified sources.”

Shilson said police are investigating a fake account created using his name that was “perpetuating misinformation” on the incident. Police said they are pursuing felony charges.

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LUBBOCK (AP) – A day care facility in a Texas county that’s part of the measles outbreak has multiple cases, including children too young to be fully vaccinated, public health officials say.

West Texas is in the middle of a still-growing measles outbreak with 505 cases reported on Tuesday. The state expanded the number of counties in the outbreak area this week to 10. The highly contagious virus began to spread in late January and health officials say it has spread to New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas and Mexico.

Three people who were unvaccinated have died from measles-related illnesses this year, including two elementary school-aged children in Texas. The second child died Thursday at a Lubbock hospital, and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. attended the funeral in Seminole, the epicenter of the outbreak.

As of Friday, there were seven cases at a day care where one young child who was infectious gave it to two other children before it spread to other classrooms, Lubbock Public Health director Katherine Wells said.

“Measles is so contagious I won’t be surprised if it enters other facilities,” Wells said.

There are more than 200 children at the day care, Wells said, and most have had least one dose of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, which is first recommended between 12 and 15 months old and a second shot between 4 and 6 years old.

“We do have some children that have only received one dose that are now infected,” she said.

The public health department is recommending that any child with only one vaccine get their second dose early, and changed its recommendation for kids in Lubbock County to get the first vaccine dose at 6 months old instead of 1. A child who is unvaccinated and attends the day care must stay home for 21 days since their last exposure, Wells said.

Case count and hospitalization numbers in Texas have climbed steadily since the outbreak began, and spiked by 81 cases from March 28 to April 4.

On Tuesday, the state added another 24 cases to its count and two additional counties, Borden and Randall. One more person was hospitalized since Friday, with 57 total.

Gaines County, where the virus has been spreading through a close-knit Mennonite community, has the majority of cases, with 328 on Tuesday. Neighboring Terry County is second with 46, followed by Lubbock County with 36.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention met with Texas officials Monday to determine how many people it would send to West Texas to assist with the outbreak response, spokesman Jason McDonald said Monday. He expected a small team to arrive later this week, followed by a bigger group on the ground next week.

The CDC said its first team was in the region from early March to April 1, withdrawing on-the-ground support days before a second child died in the outbreak.

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(AUSTIN) — Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar reminds business owners that April 15 is the deadline to file property tax renditions with their county appraisal districts. Different deadlines apply for certain regulated property.

A rendition is a report that lists a business’ good faith estimate of value for its taxable inventory, furniture and fixtures, machinery, equipment and other property owned or managed as of Jan. 1 each year. The appraisal district may use the information reported in the rendition to set property values.

A rendition allows property owners to record their opinion of their property’s value and ensures that the appraisal district notifies property owners before changing a recorded value. Exempt property, such as church property and equipment used for farming, is not subject to rendition.

Owners whose property was damaged by storm, flood or fire last year may file a special decreased value report, which indicates the property’s condition on Jan. 1, 2025. Filing the decreased value report could lower those owners’ final tax bills for 2025.

Rendition forms and decreased value report forms are available from county appraisal district offices statewide and may be downloaded at the Comptroller’s property tax forms webpage.

For more information about property renditions, deadlines, deadline extensions, penalties and rendition forms, taxpayers may contact the Comptroller’s Property Tax Assistance Division at 800-252-9121 (press 3) or visit the division online.

ODESSA — The Environmental Protection Agency has approved a Texas company’s application to capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and inject it underground, becoming the first project in the state to be awarded such a permit.

Occidental Petroleum Corporation, a Houston-based oil firm, will start storing 500,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide in deep, non-permeable rock formations 4,400 feet underground as soon as this year. The facility will be located 20 miles southwest of Odessa.

“This is a significant milestone for the company as we are continuing to develop vital infrastructure that will help the United States achieve energy security,” Vicky Hollub, the company’s president and CEO, said in a statement. She said these permits will help energy companies “address their emissions or produce vital resources and fuels.”

Carbon dioxide is a byproduct of oil and gas production and the largest contributor to climate change. Oil and gas facilities leak or vent the greenhouse gas, which traps heat in the atmosphere and prevents it from cooling. Environmentalists and the oil and gas industry are divided over the environmental benefits of carbon capture.

While the industry has hedged its climate goals on the technology, environmental policy experts remain skeptical about whether it significantly reduces air pollution, saying the world should transition to other fuel sources to slow climate change. Some Texas scientists say the injection method has been tested and proven to work for years and now needs to be implemented.

Oxy will attempt to reduce the output of the gas through a technology called direct air capture, or DAC. It grabs the carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and separates it from other particles in the air by incinerating them. The equipment then compresses the gas to a brine before transporting and storing it permanently underground.

According to the draft permit, which the EPA presented to the public for feedback last fall, Oxy will monitor the pressure and temperature of the well and downhole. It will measure every second on the surface and every ten seconds inside the well, providing a reading every ten minutes. Workers will account for corrosion and groundwater every three months. The company must alert the EPA 30 days before most tests or if there are any changes. It must also alert them of any malfunctions within 24 hours.

Virginia Palacios, executive director of Commission Shift, an oil and gas watchdog group, said Oxy’s permit application redacted certain details regarding the layers where the carbon dioxide would be stored, which only the EPA could review. She said that concealing this information gives residents no assurance that the gas will stay put, adding that the public should have been allowed to evaluate that information. The permit contains information showing the depth and construction of the injection well as well as the layers of rock.

More companies could follow Oxy’s lead, and win quicker approval if Texas regulators win the authority to grant such permits. The Texas Railroad Commission, the state agency regulating oil and gas companies, has applied to the EPA for the power to issue similar permits. The EPA is currently accepting public testimony. A public hearing for the public to issue feedback has not been set.

Article originally published by The Texas Tribune. To read the originally published article, click here.

ODESSA — Texas’ renewable energy industry is booming.

Accounting for nearly 90% of new electrical generation, wind, solar and battery storage industries have established themselves as a reliable source of energy for the state’s grid — and positioned Texas as a national leader in the renewable energy arena.

Legislation by state Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, R-Brenham, will dramatically test its ability to maintain its momentum.

The legislation proposes sweeping administrative rules, imposes fees and requires the Texas Public Utility Commission to approve wind and solar projects before they can break ground. It is the second time Kolkhorst has attempted to tie a tight leash to renewables and deter what she and her allies describe as a visual blight in rural Texas towns and unchecked growth.

The bill passed its first legislative test last week when a Senate committee voted overwhelmingly to advance it to the full upper chamber. It must also have approval in the Texas House before it becomes law.

Renewable energy groups fiercely oppose her efforts and say the bill would limit energy production the state’s grid desperately needs to support Texas’ population growth. The Energy Reliability Council of Texas, the state’s main electrical grid operator, projects demand to double in the next decade. And they said it is antithetical to Gov. Greg Abbott’s “all of the above” approach to energy generation.

While there has been a noticeable shift around renewable energy at the Capitol, Kolkhorst and other lawmakers have not relented. Lawmakers have advanced other bills, including a proposal by state Sen. Phil King, R-Weatherford, which requires 50% of the grid’s energy to rely on power sources that can be turned on or off at will, meaning natural gas and coal. Renewable energy companies must help achieve this goal, or must otherwise purchase “natural gas credits” to comply.

“Any policy that hamstrings or puts red tape on energy development, any energy development, is not good for the grid,” said Daniel Giese, director of state affairs at the Solar Energy Industries Association. “It’s not good for consumers either.”

Kolkhorst did not respond to an interview request.

Her backers said lawmakers should strike a balance between enabling the industry’s growth and protecting landowners, wildlife and natural resources and preserving landscapes. They said not enough information has been gathered on the environmental impacts of the growing solar and wind industry’s infrastructure. Cara Gustafson, a spokesperson for Stewards for Conservation, a group formed last year to advocate for this issue, said it is not driven by an anti-renewable sentiment.

“We knew we were going to be painted as anti-renewable no matter what,” Gustafson said. “If we were anti-renewables, we would just say that.”

Kolkhorst’s bill would require any wind or solar equipment generating anything greater than 10 megawatts to seek a permit with the Public Utilities Commission, the state agency that regulates electric, telecommunications and some water and wastewater utilities. The application must contain a description of the facility, specify its type and a copy of information filed to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. It also directs the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department to review environmental impacts.

Applying for a wind or solar facility would also trigger a public hearing with counties within 25 miles of the proposed project. The applicant must publish the details of the hearing at least twice in a newspaper. The utility commission must wait no less than 30 days before approving or rejecting the application, consider what the bill’s writers call “compliance history,” and accept input from nearby county judges.

Those who get the permit must ensure any equipment is at least 100 feet away from any property line and 200 feet away from any habitable structure. Wind projects must be kept at a distance of 3,000 feet from the nearest property. Property owners can waive these requirements.

The bill would additionally order any permitted facility to monitor, record, and report any environmental impacts and conduct wildlife assessments to submit them to Parks and Wildlife. Every permitted facility must also pay an environmental impact fee determined by the utilities commission, which would pay for a “clean-up” fund.

The proposed rules for the wind and solar companies stand in stark contrast to policies that govern oil and gas production. For instance, no statewide rule mandates oil and gas wells to be at certain distances from residential properties. Cities can pass ordinances to set them. County governments don’t need to hold hearings. The oil and gas industry is subject to certain air and water pollution rules regulated by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. The Texas Railroad Commission oversees permitting, sets hearings and approves or denies an operator’s application.

In a statement, a spokesperson for the Texas Railroad Commission, which issues permits for oil and gas drilling, said permitting “is designed to protect groundwater and the surrounding sub-surface environment to ensure residents aren’t affected by pollution.”

The spokesperson added the commission requires operators to build firewalls around oil tanks that are within the limits of any city, and where tanks are at least 500 feet from any highway or home or closer than 1,000 feet to any school or church. The railroad commission also considers whether the tank is hazardous.

Gustafson said the bill gives landowners more agency over the projects by establishing a uniform process for every project. She said environmental studies are necessary to protect natural resources.

The Parks and Wildlife Department, in a hearing last year, urged industry developers involved in wind, solar and storage projects to seek their input to “minimize the impact” on wildlife and natural resources. Laura Zebehazy, the agency’s ecological and environmental planning director, during the hearing said her team works with some, but not all, renewable energy projects.

Zebehazy, who said parks and wildlife input is voluntary, said the construction, operation, maintenance and decommissioning of the equipment can have negative environmental and wildlife consequences.

None of this is required currently under Texas law. Wind and solar companies work directly with landowners who agree to a lease and contract from which they benefit financially. The industry almost exclusively relies on its relationship with landowners, said Judd Messer, the Texas vice president of the Advanced Power Alliance, a group advocating for renewable energy policies in 11 states. He said the bill invites the state to regulate a landowner’s ability to manage their property freely, adding that no other energy-generating industry is subject to the same standards.

The renewable energy sector faces other pressing issues regarding its growth, said Messer. He said the industry is focused on dealing with the waste created by equipment that no longer generates electricity.

Messer said the bill “only inserts more government into a situation where private property rights and free enterprise ought to win the day.”

Article originally published by The Texas Tribune. To read the originally published article, click here.

EDINBURG – National Democrats are planning to target U.S. Rep. Monica De La Cruz in next year’s midterms, putting the Edinburg Republican in their crosshairs for the second straight election cycle as the party looks to rebound from a disastrous showing in South Texas.

De La Cruz’s 15th Congressional District was the only Texas seat included on the initial list of 2026 targets unveiled Tuesday morning by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the campaign arm of U.S. House Democrats. The announcement signals that national Democrats are poised to put money and other resources into flipping the district, a longtime Democratic stronghold before De La Cruz brought it under GOP control in 2022.

De La Cruz was also the DCCC’s lone target in Texas last year, reflecting the lack of competition that has endured since Republican state lawmakers redrew the state’s political maps to protect endangered incumbents. In 2024, De La Cruz won reelection with 57% of the vote — the only one of the state’s 25 GOP-controlled congressional seats where the Republican nominee failed to net 60%.

The district is anchored in Hidalgo County and its biggest city, McAllen, along the U.S.-Mexico border. It runs through rural South Texas up to Guadalupe County east of San Antonio. Hispanic residents make up about three-quarters of the district’s eligible voting-age population, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.

De La Cruz’s win over Democrat Michelle Vallejo was one of several high-profile GOP wins in South Texas last year. As in 2022 — when De La Cruz also defeated Vallejo — Republicans in Texas and Washington, D.C., saw the race as an important benchmark in their efforts to continue gaining ground among Latino voters and cutting into Democrats’ hold on South Texas.

Vallejo, the co-owner of her family’s flea market in Alton, saw a path to bring the seat back under Democratic control, starting with her newfound support from national Democrats who had declined to seriously invest in the race two years earlier. The DCCC put the district on its early target list and gave Vallejo mentorship and resources through its Red to Blue program for candidates in races it deems competitive.

But much of Democrats’ national spending came not from the DCCC, but House Majority PAC, a super PAC connected to House Democratic leadership, and Republicans easily outspent Democrats in the district.

In a statement, DCCC Chair Suzan DelBene, a Washington Democrat, made clear the party would target De La Cruz over the economy.

“Monica De La Cruz is running scared, and she should be,” DelBene said. “From tanking the economy, gutting Medicaid, abandoning our veterans, to making everything more expensive, she’s broken her promises to Texans, and it’s going to cost her her seat.”

The DCCC “is already working to recruit authentic and battle-ready candidates in Texas who reflect this community and will work to better Texans’ lives,” DelBene added.

Zach Bannon, a spokesperson for the National Republican Congressional Committee, said De La Cruz “has been a relentless champion for Texans, delivering real results” for the state.

“She was reelected last year by nearly 15 points, and she’ll once again embarrass any out of touch Democrat that is foolish enough to challenge her,” Bannon said in a statement.

National Republicans will be defending a narrow House majority next year, though they are also going on offense in some districts. The NRCC last month named two Texas Democrats — U.S. Reps. Henry Cuellar of Laredo and Vicente Gonzalez of McAllen — among the 26 incumbents it plans to target.

Gonzalez previously represented Texas’ 15th Congressional District before switching to the neighboring 34th Congressional District after the 15th was drawn to favor Republicans.

Article originally published by The Texas Tribune. To read the originally published article, click here.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Shortly before he was forced to resign, the nation’s top vaccine regulator says he refused to grant Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s team unrestricted access to a tightly held vaccine safety database, fearing that the information might be manipulated or even deleted.

In an interview with The Associated Press, former Food and Drug Administration vaccine chief Dr. Peter Marks discussed his efforts to “make nice” with Kennedy and address his longstanding concerns about vaccine safety, including by developing a “vaccine transparency action plan.”

Marks agreed to give Kennedy’s associates the ability to read thousands of reports of potential vaccine-related issues sent to the government’s Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, or VAERS. But he would not allow them to directly edit the data.

“Why wouldn’t we? Because frankly we don’t trust (them),” he said, using a profanity. “They’d write over it or erase the whole database.”

Marks spoke to the AP on Sunday, after officials in Texas confirmed the nation’s second measles-related death in an unvaccinated child this year. Marks attributed the death to the tepid response from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which again encouraged the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine on Sunday but has also promoted claims about vitamin A supplements.

During his Senate confirmation hearings, Kennedy told lawmakers he is not “antivaccine.” But since taking office, he’s promised to “investigate” children’s shots, and agencies under his watch have terminated vaccine-related research, canceled meetings of vaccine advisers and are poised to reinvestigate ties between vaccines and autism — a link debunked long ago.

Since being sworn in, “Mr. Kennedy has increased the pace by which he intends to minimize the use of vaccines in this country,” Marks said.

An HHS spokesperson said Kennedy has advocated for vaccination multiple times since becoming health secretary and pointed to a social media post Sunday in which he called the vaccine “the most effective way to prevent the spread of measles.” But hours later, Kennedy also praised “extraordinary healers” in the Mennonite community who he said were using a drug combination to treat measles. Neither of the drugs has been shown to directly treat the disease, which is a viral infection.

Marks is highly regarded by former FDA leaders and biotech industry executives, but his time at the agency was not without controversy. During the COVID-19 pandemic he was alternately criticized for being too slow — under Trump— and too fast — under Biden— to authorize new vaccines and boosters.

Marks says he “tried everything” to work with Kennedy. At the center of that effort was a plan to increase publicly available information about vaccine ingredients, safety and side effects.

Marks and his team had hoped to kick off the initiative with a two-day public “listening session,” followed by an expert report written by an independent organization, such as the National Academies of Sciences.

Overhauling the VAERS system

The centerpiece of the effort would be a vast overhaul of the VAERS system, maintained by the FDA and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

FDA and CDC scientists monitor the database for “possible signals” of emerging problems with vaccines. But analyzing the data requires both medical and statistical expertise, because anyone can submit unverified reports of side effects, injuries and death. The public-facing website warns that the data is unverified and may be incomplete or inaccurate. Misinterpretations of VAERS have long been central to anti-vaccine groups and messaging.

Marks notes that government scientists spend hours adjudicating each report of serious injury or death, often by tracking down death certificates and interviewing health providers. It’s not unusual for investigators to find reports of deaths that were caused by something totally unrelated to a vaccine, like a car crash, or that a death occurred months after vaccination in someone with a serious illness.

Much of that detail is redacted for legal reasons. But Marks said his office was committed to making much more information available.

“This is a legitimate thing that I actually was willing to compromise on,” Marks said “We need to make VAERS more transparent so that people can understand that we actually do the work on the backend.”

Details of Marks’ plan were confirmed by a second person with direct knowledge of the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they did not have permission to speak publicly about internal agency matters.

The proposal was sent to FDA’s acting commissioner, Trump appointee Dr. Sara Brenner, in mid-February, but Marks and his team did not hear back.

By mid-March, Marks’ office was fielding multiple requests from Trump administration staffers seeking full access to the VAERS database. In responding to the requests, Marks and his staff emphasized the sensitive nature of the data, which includes confidential personal, medical and corporate information.

The HHS spokesperson said that it would make “perfect sense” for staffers working for Kennedy to seek access to the VAERS database to do their own analysis.

Marks says Kennedy is ‘walled off’ from FDA

Marks said he never spoke directly with Kennedy, whom he described as “walled off” from FDA officials.

On the day he was forced out of his post, Marks said he was summoned to a meeting at HHS headquarters.

Two senior HHS officials greeted him and recalled Marks’ work during the COVID-19 pandemic; he had coined the name and developed the concept for “Operation Warp Speed,” which rapidly accelerated the development of vaccines and therapies to treat the virus.

After an awkward silence, Marks said, one of the officials told him: “Look, he wants you gone.” According to Marks, it was an obvious reference to Kennedy.

“It was pretty clear that either I was going to resign, or they were going to fire me,” Marks said.

He submitted his resignation later that day, citing Kennedy’s support for “misinformation and lies” about vaccines.

The HHS spokesperson said Kennedy is “installing scientists committed to reversing the chronic disease crisis,” and that Marks was a “rubber stamp” for the drug industry.

This week, Kennedy is making stops across the southwestern U.S. as part of a “Make America Healthy Again” tour focused on fluoridation, food dyes and other issues.

Marks said Kennedy should be working to get more children vaccinated to stop the outbreak.

“I consider these needless and senseless deaths,” Marks said. “These kids should get vaccinated. That’s how you prevent people from dying of measles.”