This week, lawmakers and government leaders are making major decisions that have the potential to impact Americans across the country. As ticket buyers are preparing for summer concerts, the Justice Department and Live Nation may have just reached a deal in their 2024 case. Now, business owners in Texas are sounding the alarm on the 35-year HUB program being dismantled after the state’s acting comptroller abruptly restructured the program, ending thousands of their certifications. Over in Virginia, lawmakers just passed a legislation that would ban educators from citing the Jan. 6 protest as “peaceful” or insinuating that massive voter fraud occurred during the 2020 election. While that’s happening, Arizona becomes the latest target for the Trump administration to investigate their 2020 election results. Through it all, the life and legacy of civil rights leader Bernard Lafayette Jr. is being honored after his passing.
Justice Department Lawsuit Reaches Tentative Deal With Live Nation
Two years after the Justice Department filed a lawsuit against Live Nation, a tentative agreement has been reached to maintain the major concert promoter’s relationship with Ticketmaster, disregarding a decade of complaints from concert ticket buyers.
The 2024 civil antitrust lawsuit was joined by 30 state and district attorneys general to address Live Nation’s exclusive control over the live entertainment industry. The case was filed under the Biden administration in response to the complaints of fans attending the concerts of Beyoncé, Kendrick Lamar, Usher, Drake, and others. Since Live Nation acquired Ticketmaster in 2010, the case has been building, documenting criticism from fans of the rising prices of ticket prices.
While Live Nation disagrees with holding any dominance in the industry, the entertainment company owns at least 150 venues across the country.
“Today marks a major step in improving the concert experience for artists and fans throughout the United States,” said Michael Rapino, President and CEO of Live Nation Entertainment in a statement.” Live Nation is proud to lead the way enhancing this experience with our amphitheaters, which will be open to all promoters, allowing these promoters to decide how best to distribute up to 50% of the tickets, and capping ticketing service fees at 15%.”
This new agreement from the Trump administration’s Justice Department is being criticized by New York Attorney General Letitia James, and 25 other states who believe the settlement doesn’t address the main concern impacting ticket buyers.
“The settlement recently announced with the U.S. Department of Justice fails to address the monopoly at the center of this case and would benefit Live Nation at the expense of consumers,” said James. “We will keep fighting this case without the federal government so that we can secure justice for all those harmed by Live Nation’s monopoly.”
Ticketmaster competitors and several states urge for the federal government to continue the case as it is seen as concerns on how the investigation was handled arises.
Minority-And-Women-Owned Businesses File Lawsuit After Texas Leaders Dismantle State’s HUB Program
A new lawsuit was filed in a Texas court after more than 15,000 Black, Hispanic and women business owners lost access to billions of dollars in public contracting opportunities due to the 35-year-old Historically Underutilized Business (HUB) program being dismantled.
On December 2, 2025, acting Texas Comptroller Kelly Hancock issued an emergency regulation that implemented new rules on who is eligible to receive state funds. The regulation restructured the existing program, introducing it as Veteran Heroes United in Business (VetHUB). This change limited the eligibility solely to businesses owned and operated by veterans with a service-connected disability. By January 6, Black, Hispanic, Asian and Native American and women-owned HUBs were all decertified from the program. The number of certified businesses dropped from more than 15,000 to approximately 500.
“I am one of only a few Black-woman owned companies in the male-dominated construction industry,” said Cortena Williams, CEO of Burleson-based restoration firm Williams Professional Water Restoration Service LLC. “I did everything I was supposed to do. I built my business, I earned my certification, and I was immediately ready to work. This program was my opportunity — and the Comptroller took it away overnight.”
The HUB program was launched in the 1990s and passed in the state legislature to expand opportunities for Black, Hispanic, Asian, Native American and women contractors who were traditionally overlooked. Four minority- and women-owned businesses and a statewide trade association are involved in the lawsuit against the Texas Comptroller and various state agencies who are actively infringing on a state approved program.
“In this country, the legislature passes the laws, not the Comptroller, and Texas is no different,” said Alphonso David, civil rights attorney, President & CEO of the Global Black Economic Forum, and co-lead counsel for the plaintiffs. “The HUB case highlights a fundamental American principle — members of the executive branch cannot rewrite laws passed by the state legislature. They cannot deny citizens of their legal rights without a court order, legislative approval, or due process. Acting Comptroller Hancock took a program created by statute and rewrote it without any legal authority. His actions are baseless and unlawful and must be reversed.”
The business owners are hoping that the lawsuit leads to the HUB program being reinstated.
The Global Black Economic Forum, Freedom Economy and the American Pride Rises are supporting the litigation alongside a coalition of business and civil rights organizations.
Virginia Lawmakers Pass Bill To Establish Jan. 6 Guidelines for K-12 Classrooms
To prevent massive misinformation on the Jan. 6 insurrection and the results of the 2024 presidential election, Virginia lawmakers recently passed a bill that would implement strict guidelines on how students are taught in K-12 classrooms. This means any mention of there being mass voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election would be prohibited.
The White House website describes the protestors as “peaceful” and pushes back on labeling them as “insurrectionists” as nearly 1,600 of them were pardoned after President Donald Trump was sworn into office. Virginia lawmakers’ new bill would require for Jan. 6 curriculums to solely describe the event as an “unprecedented, violent attack on United States democratic institutions.”
Since returning to office, Trump has constantly claimed that the 2020 election was stolen. In the last few weeks, the federal government continues to target states like Georgia and Arizona to review their ballots from six years ago.
Virginia Delegate Dan Helmer tells the Washington Post, “This is a preventative measure against a massive disinformation campaign on the part of the White House.”
Republican lawmakers are not in support of the legislation as they say the state is trying to implement partisan views to control children’s perspectives. Some are even encouraging parents to remove their children from public education.
If Virginia’s Democratic Governor Abigail Spanberger signs the bill into law, the state would be one of the first to shape how the two events are taught.
Civil Rights Leader Bernard Lafayette Jr. Dies At 85
Community members in Nashville and across the country are honoring the life and legacy of the late civil rights leader Bernard Lafayette Jr. who was pivotal in organizing desegregation and voting rights campaigns in the South.
As a Freedom Rider and one of the founding members of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, Lafayette was a student at American Baptist Theological Seminary, now American Baptist College, alongside his roommate Congressman John Lewis, during the Civil RIghts Movement. He committed his life to the advancement of justice and equal access for African Americans before the passing of 1965 Voting Rights Act.
Last week, thousands arrived in Selma, Alabama to honor the anniversary of “Bloody Sunday,” a day that Lafayette did the groundwork to make happen. In 1963, he was named the director of the Alabama Voter Registration Campaign. In Peace and Freedom: My Journey in Selma was a memoir written by Lafayette and Kathryn Lee Johnson, sharing his experience mobilizing and training the local community before the 1965 Selma to Montgomery march.
After his years in Selma, he returned to complete his undergraduate degree and furthered his education at Harvard University. In 1992, he served as president of the Baptist College and continued as a life-long advocate for change and peace in higher education.
Trump Administration Orders Arizona To Hand Over 2020 Voting Records
Six years after President Trump lost the 2020 Presidential Election, his administration continues its investigation by hitting Arizona’s largest county with a federal grand jury subpoena to turn over its 2020 voting records. This comes six weeks after the FBI raided Georgia’s Fulton County for their election records.
“The FBI has the records,” said Warren Petersen, Arizona’s senate president, in a social media post mentioning Trump. He stated that he “complied with a federal grand jury subpoena for records relating to the Arizona State Senate’s 2020 audit of Maricopa County.” This came after multiple county officials stated as of Monday that no subpoena was received.
While claims of massive fraud during the 2020 election have been debunked, the president continues to pursue the investigation. Now, more than two dozen states have been sued by the Justice Department to access their voting records, urging for voters’ private information to also be shared.
Ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, Trump is hoping for Congress to pass the restricting voting rights bill, the SAVE Act.