We’re more than a year out from the 2026 midterm elections, but the Republican Party is already starting to position itself for what will likely be a difficult election cycle. Texas lawmakers have an unusual plan to redraw their maps early and eke out as many as five more likely Republican seats in the House […]

On a Friday evening this July, the Trump administration announced it would lay off all of the health research scientists at the Environmental Protection Agency. Hundreds of investigators who try to understand how toxic pollution affects the human body would be gone. That wasn’t a surprise. The EPA — which had a founding mission to […]

This story appeared in The Logoff, a daily newsletter that helps you stay informed about the Trump administration without letting political news take over your life. Subscribe here. Welcome to The Logoff: The US and the European Union have arrived at a new trade deal, just days before President Donald Trump’s threatened deadline to impose substantial new tariffs.  What’s […]

The Earth has never been so hot. Millions of people, amounting to nearly half the country, across the Southeast, Midwest, and Northeast are under heat alerts. Outside of the US, an early heat wave in India and Pakistan saw temperatures reaching 120 degrees Fahrenheit. Europe was gripped by extreme heat in June and early July, […]

This story was originally published in The Highlight, Vox’s member-exclusive magazine. To get early access to member-exclusive stories every month, join the Vox Membership program today. For the last half-century, America’s population growth has been concentrated in the sweltering, equal parts bone-dry and waterlogged, yet ever-sprawling Sunbelt. Undeterred by the limits of hydrology or climate, metro areas […]