Daily Briefing: Wednesday, October 28, 2026

From October 19 through Sunday, 23.4% of registered Texas voters had cast a ballot in person or by mail, compared with 24.3% over the first seven days of early voting in 2018, the Texas Tribune reported from Texas Secretary of State data. Nearly 4.5 million Texans voted in that stretch. Early voting ends Friday, and Election Day is November 3.

The federal government is considering moving a section of border wall planned for a levee beside the Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge so that it runs through the refuge instead, the Texas Tribune reported. The change is meant to resolve a lawsuit in which Hidalgo County Irrigation District No. 2 accuses government contractors of trespassing on its property. At an October 14 hearing in federal court, an assistant U.S. attorney said the move would “probably just create additional litigation from other interested parties.” U.S. Customs and Border Protection did not confirm the plan.

Texas Children’s Hospital has opened what Attorney General Ken Paxton calls the country’s first detransition clinic, a requirement of the settlement his office reached with the hospital in May, his office announced Tuesday. The clinic provides care through age 21 to patients who previously underwent gender-transition interventions, and the hospital must fully fund its services for the first five years. The settlement also required the hospital to pay $10 million to resolve claims under the Texas Health Care Program Fraud Prevention Act over Medicaid billing.

Total public debt outstanding reached $40,528,358,939,415.85 on October 26, against $40,463,151,897,249.19 on October 23, according to the Treasury Department’s Debt to the Penny data.

The United Conservative Party (UCP), which governs Alberta, now requires candidates for its board of directors to sign a declaration that they “recognize, respect and will abide by the majority decision made by Albertans on Question 10” of the October 19 referendum, CBC News reported. Albertans voted three to one in that referendum to stay in Canada and not pursue an independence referendum. Premier Danielle Smith confirmed the document at the legislature. Several independence advocates running for board posts told CBC they will sign it but that it will not change their long-term goal of an independent or sovereign Alberta.

Edmonton city council voted Tuesday to propose a task force on municipal autonomy to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, part of an effort to push back against what council members describe as growing interference from Alberta’s provincial government, CBC News reported. The council also voted to pursue an autonomy resolution at the next Alberta Municipalities convention.