Daily Briefing: Saturday, November 14, 2026

The Federal Aviation Administration issued a nationwide ground stop for all U.S. airports Friday afternoon “following communication issues impacting multiple Air Route Traffic Control Centers,” the agency said. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the airspace reopened at 8:15 PM Eastern after about four hours and blamed overloaded routers, and FlightRadar24 counted more than 6,600 canceled flights and 8,600 delays, Reuters reported. Duffy asked Congress for $50 billion to replace the air traffic control system.

SpaceX launched its Starship rocket from Starbase in Cameron County on Friday afternoon but aborted its attempt to catch the Super Heavy booster with the launch tower and diverted it into the ocean, BBC News reported. The company said it would decide during the flight whether to try catching the upper stage at the tower, at about 3:15 PM Central Saturday, which would be a first.

Staff of the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission released a limited-scope review of the Texas Funeral Service Commission, which oversees the state’s body donation program, according to the Sunset Commission. The report found “several core regulatory shortcomings at TFSC that raise serious concerns about the long-term stability and effective operation of the agency,” and said the agency took an average of more than 370 days to resolve a complaint in fiscal 2025, The Texas Tribune reported.

Republican Alan Blaylock asked Secretary of State Robert Howden on Friday to declare Ericka Lomick, who received the most votes in House District 93 in Tarrant County, ineligible for office over a 2011 federal felony conviction in North Carolina, The Texas Tribune reported. Lomick told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram she was “fully released from the resulting disabilities.” Blaylock’s lawyers asked for an answer by noon Monday.

The Office of the Attorney General told a state district court in Lubbock on Thursday that it will not proceed with its December 2024 suit accusing the NCAA of deceptive trade practices for letting transgender athletes compete in events marketed as women’s, The Texas Tribune reported. It is at least the third suit the office has dropped since the November 3 election.

Railroad Commissioner-elect Jon Rosenthal said in Midland on Friday that he will push to double the agency’s half-billion-dollar budget, raise employee pay, speed permits for operators that follow the rules and plug orphan wells faster, The Texas Tribune reported. His transition team includes former Railroad Commissioner Barry Smitherman.

Premier Danielle Smith said Friday she will call the 15 United Conservative Party constituency presidents who refuse to sign a pledge to respect the October referendum result, The Canadian Press reported. Separately, Elections Alberta reprimanded the Alberta Prosperity Project, whose leader ran the independence petition drive, for failing to register as a petition third-party advertiser, without a fine, CBC News reported.

The Bexar County team of the Texas Nationalist Movement (TNM) marches at the Alamo in San Antonio tonight at 6:30 PM for its Alamo Memorial March, the TNM calendar shows. On Tuesday at 6 PM, TNM’s Caldwell County team gathers in Martindale at Chronic Chaos Cafe (event page) while its Tarrant County team holds a meetup on the patio at Cousin’s BBQ in Fort Worth (event page). The Llano County team follows Thursday at 6 PM at The Falls in Llano (event page).