As the dust settles on U.S. Rep. Chuck Edwards’ 3:35 a.m. withdrawal from his reelection campaign, western N.C. Republicans and observers are gaming out the best option to replace him on the November ballot.

Democrats and Republicans alike applauded U.S. Rep. Chuck Edwards’ withdrawal from his reelection campaign Wednesday after the U.S. House Ethics Committee recommended his censure, followed by pressure from his party. 

The Trump administration plans to award a $150 million contract to a small Texas firm — with no specialty in immigration law and run by a former Trump official — to provide legal services to tens of thousands of unaccompanied immigrant children, according to a Wednesday pre-published notice in the Federal Register.

Two courts this week dealt blows to the Trump administration’s attempts to withdraw clean energy and climate grants. A federal appeals court on Tuesday ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency could not terminate $20 billion of clean energy grants awarded to nonprofit groups. And a federal judge on Monday denied the Trump administration’s attempt to halt a court order to restore $1.6 billion in climate justice grants, saying the Environmental Protection Agency must reinstate the money.

North Carolina’s 9th Congressional District has long been considered a safe Republican seat. National Democrats are hoping to flip it in 2026.

A federal judge lifted a stay Wednesday on the termination of temporary protections for hundreds of thousands of Haitians in order to comply with a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that cleared the way for the Trump administration to remove their legal status and open them up for deportations.

North Carolina Congressman Chuck Edwards has dropped his reelection campaign after a U.S. House ethics investigation recommended censure for inappropriate behavior toward female staffers.

A bipartisan bill passed the House in July but faces hurdles in the Senate, where members from both parties have pushed back against ending the semiannual clock changes.

The NC House approved a raft of election and budget changes, including a provision that could disenfranchise voters wrongly flagged in a federal database. That bill passed only with Republican votes.

Governor Josh Stein said it is “premature” to say if he will sign House Bill 328, legislation that would ban intoxicating hemp products in the state.