It now appears likely special counsel Robert Mueller has crossed what President Donald Trump has said is a clear red line by gaining access to the president’s tax returns as part of a broadening investigation looking for links between Trump’s business interests, his presidential campaign and Russia.

In fact, it seems almost certain the FBI–special counsel investigation has its hands on the president’s tax returns.

“Mueller would be engaged in malpractice if he didn’t” already have access to the president’s tax returns, a member of Congress on one of the congressional committees looking at Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election told me.

In fact, people familiar with the type of investigation that Mueller is now running signal the near-certainty that Mueller has access to the president’s tax returns. The purpose would be to use the tax returns as a road map to investigate potential Russian financial influence within Trump Organization limited liability companies.

“I believe Mueller has already obtained tax returns in the Russia investigation,” Renato Mariotti, a former federal prosecutor in the Securities and Commodities Fraud Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago, said on Twitter on Aug. 10. He later wrote in The Hillhe often used tax returns in his own federal investigations, and that it is almost a necessity in an investigation like Mueller’s. It’s also done without knowledge of the subjects of the investigation.

“A federal prosecutor obtains tax returns by seeking an ex parte order from a federal judge. That means that the person who is being investigated doesn’t know that the tax returns are being sought or if the judge issues the order,” he said. “Basically, it’s done in secret.”

Mariotti also said that “the July FBI raid at the home of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort tells us a great deal about the status of … Mueller’s investigation.”

Before taking “an aggressive, public action” like having the FBI search a subject’s home, Mariotti wrote, a “typical step” federal prosecutors take in white-collar investigations is obtaining tax returns.

“A prosecutor would first take steps that can be done covertly, without the subject knowing, to gather evidence that can serve as the basis for more aggressive actions like search warrants,” he wrote. “I worked with federal prosecutors who obtained tax returns in every single white-collar investigation they worked on.”

Mariotti also said it ordinarily would require a senior Justice Department official to sign off on a request to the IRS for tax returns in a non-tax federal investigation. But, in this case, Mueller already has that authority.

“Mueller has authority to do so because the statute permits ‘United States attorneys’ to obtain tax returns and he has the power of a ‘United States attorney’ pursuant to the special counsel regulations,” he wrote, noting that “even the tax return of someone other than Manafort” could be helpful to Mueller, and that “he could have tax return information for many individuals.”

Does Mueller have the president’s tax returns?

“I would be surprised if Mueller hadn’t obtained some tax returns by now. The question is just whose tax returns he has,” Mariotti wrote.

Bloomberg reported in late July that Mueller had expanded his probe to Trump’s business interests – prompting the president’s lawyers to complain that such an investigation was outside the scope of his remit and leading to considerable public speculation about the scope and direction of the special counsel’s investigation. Meanwhile, Trump a day earlier pointed to Mueller examining his finances as a red line that should not be crossed.

An even surer sign that such a red line has likely been crossed now, experts say, is the direct involvement of the IRS’ vaunted Criminal Investigation unit – the one that once put mob boss Al Capone away on a tax conviction and has deep expertise in such matters.

The Daily Beast has reported exclusively that Mueller’s team has, in fact, begun to work closely with this IRS department. Obtaining Trump’s tax returns as a routine part of that inquiry is not just possible – it’s likely, experts say.

“Special counsel Bob Mueller has teamed up with the IRS. According to sources familiar with his investigation into alleged Russian election interference, his probe has enlisted the help of agents from the IRS’ Criminal Investigations unit,” Daily Beast political correspondent Betsy Woodruff reported on Aug. 31.

“This unit—known as CI—is one of the federal government’s most tight-knit, specialized, and secretive investigative entities. Its 2,500 agents focus exclusively on financial crime, including tax evasion and money laundering,” she reported. “A former colleague of Mueller’s said he always liked working with IRS’ special agents, especially when he was a U.S. Attorney. And it goes without saying that the IRS has access to Trump’s tax returns—documents that the president has long resisted releasing to the public.”

Every American’s personal tax information is sacred to the IRS. That includes the president of the United States. Any IRS employee is fired on the spot if they’re caught even looking at someone’s personal tax information outside of an audit. That, too, includes Trump’s tax returns.

But, as Mariotti pointed to, there is one time-honored avenue for access to someone’s personal tax records – and it doesn’t require a subpoena or necessarily notifying the subject of the IRS or FBI investigation. Any U.S. attorney (or a special counsel acting under U.S. attorney powers) can request access to tax returns through an ex parte court order, and the request is nearly always handled without further review up the line at the IRS.

Now, quite obviously in this case, it would be nearly impossible for Mueller to obtain the president’s tax returns without triggering an intense reaction inside the agency and the FBI hierarchy. But once the IRS’ Criminal Investigation unit is involved – as appears to be the case, according to the Daily Beast’s reporting – then that process is well-known, understood and compartmentalized.

A longtime congressional oversight staff director who has overseen dozens of similar investigations pointed me to this particular section in the criminal resource manual for U.S. attorneys, which describes what they need to do in order to obtain someone’s tax returns as part of an FBI investigation.

“United States Attorneys may have occasion to seek access to tax information (returns and return information) for use in non-tax criminal matters,” it reads. “Title 26, United States Code, Section 6103(i)(1) provides for tax information to be obtained upon the grant of an ex parte order by a Federal district court judge or magistrate judge for use in criminal investigations.”

Bringing in the IRS’ Criminal Investigation unit makes this process even easier, and more likely. IRS officials then make those records available – without necessarily notifying anyone outside the investigating teams of the request. The FBI has that sole authority to request this of the IRS. When both the FBI and the IRS are working together, the circle is close-knit.

We may not know, for sure, whether Mueller’s team has access to the president’s tax returns until he takes an action publicly. Congressional oversight committees conducting their own investigations aren’t likely to know, either.

Congressional access to tax return information from the IRS is quite limited, a senior congressional oversight investigator told me. Only the House Ways and Means and Senate Finance committees have the authority to look at individual tax returns from the IRS, and neither panel is involved in the congressional Russia investigations.

They’re completely focused on tax reform at the moment. It’s also highly unlikely any of them will seek those returns, this aide told me. “Even if they were briefed, I would assume that they would hold that information very close,” the aide said.

And Trump’s attorneys may have no way of knowing whether that red line has been crossed, either, even though it certainly appears likely that it has been. They, too, might be forced to wait and see how the Mueller investigation concludes.

Sometimes, they’re served them loudly and with a side of salad.

Over the weekend, Ty Cobb and John Dowd, members of President Donald Trump‘s legal team, were overheard discussing details of the Russia investigation during what appeared to be a working lunch at BLT Steak in Washington, just feet from the Washington Bureau of the New York Times.

New York Times investigative reporter Kenneth P. Vogel on Sunday tweeted a photograph of the pair from his seat at the next table. The steakhouse, the New York Times notes, is popular in the city.

“Here’s a photo of Ty Cobb & John Dowd casually & loudly discussing details of Russia investigation at @BLTSteadDC while I sat at next table,” Vogel wrote.

Vogel reported he overheard them debating how to respond to investigators’ requests in the Russia probe, as well as discussing White House counsel Donald F. McGhan and Jared Kushner, the president’s son in law. Federal investigators are probing Russian meddling in the 2016 election and its possible collusion with associates of the Trump administration or members of the president’s campaign team.

“Mr. Cobb was heard talking about a White House lawyer he deemed ‘a McGahn spy’ and saying Mr. McGahn had ‘a couple documents locked in a safe’ that he seemed to suggest he wanted access to,” according to the Times story. “He also mentioned a colleague whom he blamed for ‘some of these earlier leaks,’ and who he said ‘tried to push Jared out.'”

The New York Times published a full story on the lawyers’ meeting with the headline, “Trump Lawyers Clash Over How Much to Cooperate With Russia Inquiry.”

And for inquiring minds wanting to know, Vogel tweeted that he ordered the tuna Niçoise salad.

The legal saga of President Donald Trump’s travel ban took another turn late Tuesday when the Supreme Court granted the administration a partial win, blocking a lower-court order that would have allowed refugees from Muslim-majority countries into the United States and allowing the ban to continue until the issues are sorted out in court.

In a one-sentence order issued by Justice Anthony Kennedy, the high court agreed with a White House argument that the ban should continue until states who sued the administration over the ban submit their arguments to the court.

It takes a vote of five justices to grant a stay application.

“We are pleased that the Supreme Court has allowed the government to keep in place the protections for the Nation’s safety and security provided by the Executive Order,” Ian Prior, a Justice Department spokesman, told Breitbart.com. “We look forward to full argument on October 10th.”

But Naureen Shah, a senior official with the human rights group Amnesty International, said the high court has dealt “yet another devastating blow to vulnerable people who were on the cusp of obtaining safety for themselves and their families.”

Refugees from the nations affected by the ban “continue to be subjected to unimaginable violence and fear while their lives are in limbo,” Shah said in a statement. “This ban is inherently cruel and no part of it should be allowed to stand.”

At issue is a ruling from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last week, in which the court found that a relationship between refugees and resettlement agencies who want to bring them in is “bona fide,” as defined by the Supreme Court in an earlier ruling.

The White House ban allowed only some close relatives of U.S. residents to enter the country while excluding others, such as grandparents, aunts and uncles.

In last week’s opinion, however, the 9th Circuit ruled the government couldn’t deny entry to extended family members. Acting Solicitor General Jeffrey Wall said the administration had decided not to fight the “close-family aspect of the district court’s modified injunction.”

But advocates suggested that the relationship between a resettlement agency and a refugee family fits the definition of “bona fide.” If it had been allowed, the designation based on the appellate court ruling would have given the green light to as many as 24,000 refugees who want to enter the U.S.

Tuesday’s order, however, isn’t the Supreme Court’s last word on the travel policy that Trump rolled out in January as his first major national-security initiative. And as the case winds its way through the federal court system, it’s not clear what will be left for the court to decide.

On Oct. 10, the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments on the legality of the ban, which keeps out travelers from six mostly Muslim countries and refugees anywhere in the world. The 90-day travel ban, however, lapses in late September and the 120-day refugee ban will expire a month later.

In a series of district- and appellate-court rulings earlier this year, judges have found that the bans violate the Constitution and federal immigration law. The Supreme Court has agreed to review those rulings and the ban writ large; in the meantime, the high court has been called upon to evaluate what parts of the policy can take effect in the meantime.

The White House hasn’t said if it would try to renew the bans, take action make them permanent or expand the travel ban to other countries.

The devastating Hurricane Irma, which was once one of the strongest storms the Atlantic had ever seen, has been downgraded to a Category 4 hurricane, with winds as strong as 155 mph. Despite its downgrade, the National Hurricane Center still classifies Irma as “extremely dangerous.”

Irma “will continue to bring life-threatening winds, storm surge, and rainfall hazards to the Turks and Caicos Islands and the Bahamas through Saturday,” the center said Friday in a forecast discussion.

Irma is expected to remain a Category 4 hurricane when it makes landfall in Florida Saturday. Florida Gov. Rick Scott urged residents to evacuate and not try to ride out the storm. Bahamas Prime Minister Hubert Minnis ordered evacuations for six southern islands — Mayaguana, Inagua, Crooked Island, Acklins, Long Cay and Ragged Island, CNN reported.

The hurricane, which had record-breaking winds of 185 mph, has left at least 11 people dead, hundreds of thousands without power, and tens of thousands without water. More than half of the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico was without power Thursday and President Donald Trump approved an emergency declaration for the island, as well as the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The Trump administration confirmed Tuesday that it will rescind an Obama-era program that had granted some 800,000 young people in the country illegally work permits and a temporary reprieve from deportation.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions and acting Homeland Security Secretary Elaine Duke formally announced that President Donald Trump will end Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. The DACA program will not be fully rescinded for six months, effectively forcing on Congress the final say over whether to provide a long-term fix that would stave off deportation for immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children.

Introduced in 2012 as a stop-gap measure, the program had allowed people who had arrived in the country at age 16 or youngerto obtain two-year work permits and a reprieve from deportation.

It was instituted in the wake of a pair of high-profile failures by Congress to overhaul the nation’s immigration system, stoking fierce criticism by conservative Republicans and immigration hard-liners that DACA amounted to executive overreach – including from Sessions, a former Republican senator from Alabama, who lambasted DACA in announcing its end Tuesday in remarks at the Justice Department.

“This policy was implemented unilaterally to great controversy and legal concern after Congress rejected legislative proposals to extend similar benefits on numerous occasions to this same group of illegal aliens,” the attorney general said. “The executive branch, through DACA, deliberately sought to achieve what the legislative branch specifically refused to authorize on multiple occasions. Such an open-ended circumvention of immigration laws was an unconstitutional exercise of authority by the executive branch.”

The letter set a deadline of Tuesday to act. The states had previously sued to challenge a companion program, Deferred Action for Parents of Americans, or DAPA, a program that a federal court blocked in 2015.

“Our collective wisdom is that the policy is vulnerable to the same legal and constitutional challenges that the courts recognized with respect to the DAPA program, which was enjoined on a nationwide basis in a decision affirmed by the 5th Circuit,” Sessions said. “If we were to keep the Obama administration’s executive amnesty policy, the likeliest outcome is that it would be enjoined just as was DAPA.”

The attorney general did not take questions at the briefing.

Under the guidance issued by the Justice Department and Department of Homeland Security, DHS agencies that oversee immigration enforcement will immediately stop considering any new DACA applications.

However, those currently enrolled in DACA whose benefits are set to end within the six-month period that ends March 5, 2018, have a one-month period to apply for renewal ending Oct. 5.

Additionally, people who have already submitted an application – either to obtain new DACA status or to have their current benefits renewed – will have their paperwork considered on a case-by-case basis, DHS officials said. All other applications will be rejected.

The president’s decision to end DACA has stoked fears of a crackdown on those enrolled in the program. Applicants are required to submit a raft of personal information to authorities and attest that they are in the country illegally, which has spurred some advocates to question whether Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers will now simply turn to the records they already have on hand to track down people for deportation.

However, the official added that such requests would likely be reserved for higher priority cases, such as when ICE officers are searching for people accused of felonies, serious misdemeanors or when they pose a potential threat to national security, as opposed to simply losing their DACA status.

“Out of all the people that we are targeting in the cases that we are working, that’s a very baseline charge. And with our limited resources, we’re usually focused on higher level targets,” the official said.

That said, the official continued, “I think the thing that they should focus on is following the instructions that have been put out here today and that have continued to be put out by USCIS and go from there.”

A broad range of groups and lawmakers, including some Republicans and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, lambasted the administration’s decision to rescind DACA, portraying it as a betrayal of trust for immigrants who volunteered their information to authorities.

“President Trump’s action today is an affront to who we are as Americans,” Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., said in a statement. “He is needlessly targeting children who know no other country as home than America. This does not make our communities safer or our economy stronger. In fact, it does just the opposite.”

Nonetheless, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., announced plans to hold a press briefing to promote their immigration bill hours after Sessions’ remarks Tuesday afternoon. The House passed a version of the so-called DREAM Act in 2010, but it stalled in the Senate, falling eight votes shy of the 60 needed to pass.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican who led the coalition of states that threatened to expand its lawsuit to halt DACA, said he was pleased with the Trump administration’s decision.

“I applaud President Trump for phasing out DACA. As the Texas-led coalition explained in our June letter, the Obama-era program went far beyond the executive branch’s legitimate authority,” Paxton said in a statement. “Had former President Obama’s unilateral order on DACA been left intact, it would have set a dangerous precedent by giving the executive branch sweeping authority to bypass Congress and change immigration laws.”

Nonetheless, while the president’s decision may have staved off one court challenge, others appear to be on the horizon: New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, both Democrats, have said that New York will sue to stop DACA from being rescinded.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions and acting Homeland Security Secretary Elaine Duke formally announced that President Donald Trump will end Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. The DACA program will not be fully rescinded for six months, effectively forcing on Congress the final say over whether to provide a long-term fix that would stave off deportation for immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children.

Introduced in 2012 as a stop-gap measure, the program had allowed people who had arrived in the country at age 16 or youngerto obtain two-year work permits and a reprieve from deportation.

It was instituted in the wake of a pair of high-profile failures by Congress to overhaul the nation’s immigration system, stoking fierce criticism by conservative Republicans and immigration hard-liners that DACA amounted to executive overreach – including from Sessions, a former Republican senator from Alabama, who lambasted DACA in announcing its end Tuesday in remarks at the Justice Department.

“This policy was implemented unilaterally to great controversy and legal concern after Congress rejected legislative proposals to extend similar benefits on numerous occasions to this same group of illegal aliens,” the attorney general said. “The executive branch, through DACA, deliberately sought to achieve what the legislative branch specifically refused to authorize on multiple occasions. Such an open-ended circumvention of immigration laws was an unconstitutional exercise of authority by the executive branch.”

The letter set a deadline of Tuesday to act. The states had previously sued to challenge a companion program, Deferred Action for Parents of Americans, or DAPA, a program that a federal court blocked in 2015.

“Our collective wisdom is that the policy is vulnerable to the same legal and constitutional challenges that the courts recognized with respect to the DAPA program, which was enjoined on a nationwide basis in a decision affirmed by the 5th Circuit,” Sessions said. “If we were to keep the Obama administration’s executive amnesty policy, the likeliest outcome is that it would be enjoined just as was DAPA.”

The attorney general did not take questions at the briefing.

Under the guidance issued by the Justice Department and Department of Homeland Security, DHS agencies that oversee immigration enforcement will immediately stop considering any new DACA applications.

However, those currently enrolled in DACA whose benefits are set to end within the six-month period that ends March 5, 2018, have a one-month period to apply for renewal ending Oct. 5.

Additionally, people who have already submitted an application – either to obtain new DACA status or to have their current benefits renewed – will have their paperwork considered on a case-by-case basis, DHS officials said. All other applications will be rejected.

The president’s decision to end DACA has stoked fears of a crackdown on those enrolled in the program. Applicants are required to submit a raft of personal information to authorities and attest that they are in the country illegally, which has spurred some advocates to question whether Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers will now simply turn to the records they already have on hand to track down people for deportation.

However, the official added that such requests would likely be reserved for higher priority cases, such as when ICE officers are searching for people accused of felonies, serious misdemeanors or when they pose a potential threat to national security, as opposed to simply losing their DACA status.

“Out of all the people that we are targeting in the cases that we are working, that’s a very baseline charge. And with our limited resources, we’re usually focused on higher level targets,” the official said.

That said, the official continued, “I think the thing that they should focus on is following the instructions that have been put out here today and that have continued to be put out by USCIS and go from there.”

A broad range of groups and lawmakers, including some Republicans and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, lambasted the administration’s decision to rescind DACA, portraying it as a betrayal of trust for immigrants who volunteered their information to authorities.

“President Trump’s action today is an affront to who we are as Americans,” Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., said in a statement. “He is needlessly targeting children who know no other country as home than America. This does not make our communities safer or our economy stronger. In fact, it does just the opposite.”

Nonetheless, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., announced plans to hold a press briefing to promote their immigration bill hours after Sessions’ remarks Tuesday afternoon. The House passed a version of the so-called DREAM Act in 2010, but it stalled in the Senate, falling eight votes shy of the 60 needed to pass.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican who led the coalition of states that threatened to expand its lawsuit to halt DACA, said he was pleased with the Trump administration’s decision.

“I applaud President Trump for phasing out DACA. As the Texas-led coalition explained in our June letter, the Obama-era program went far beyond the executive branch’s legitimate authority,” Paxton said in a statement. “Had former President Obama’s unilateral order on DACA been left intact, it would have set a dangerous precedent by giving the executive branch sweeping authority to bypass Congress and change immigration laws.”

Nonetheless, while the president’s decision may have staved off one court challenge, others appear to be on the horizon: New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, both Democrats, have said that New York will sue to stop DACA from being rescinded.

Originally making landfall as a Category 4 hurricane on Aug. 25, Harvey downgraded to a tropical storm Aug. 26, maintaining 45 mph winds as of Tuesday. It is expected to produce 7 to 13 inches more of accumulated rain through Friday over parts of the upper Texas coast and southwestern Louisiana, the National Weather Service reported. Some isolated storms may cause areas of the upper Texas coast, like the Houston/Galveston metropolitan area, to reach storm totals of 50 inches of rain – surpassing state records and causing catastrophic flooding.

At least 10 people have lost their lives in relation to the storm, though that number is expected to rise in the next few days, local officials announced Monday.

Damage inflicted by Harvey has been initially estimated to cost up to $30 billion, well above the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s allotted $3.8 billion budget. The cost for Texans is further compounded by the fact that less than a third of property owners in Texas have flood insurance on their homes and businesses.

About 30,000 are expected to seek emergency shelter and more than 450,000 people are likely to seek federal aid, which will be needed for years, FEMA said Monday. President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump plan to fly to Texas Tuesday, visiting Corpus Christi and then traveling to Austin for multiple briefings on the damage and ongoing relief efforts.

“As Louisiana and Texas contend with the historic flooding caused by Hurricane Harvey, HHS is committed to doing all that we can to ensure that those affected by this storm receive the vital assistance and support they need,” Price said in a statement.

NASA astronauts are also keeping an eye on the storm, tweeting images of the incredible storm from the International Space Station as well as sending well wishes to those affected.

“#Harvey – still a menace! Hearts & prayers go out to families, friends, & fellow Texans dealing with this storm. #TexasStrong #HoustonStrong,” Astronaut Randy Bresnik wrote Monday evening.

Residents and officials on the east coast of Texas are making last-minute efforts Friday to prepare for Hurricane Harvey ahead of its pending landfall.

As of 8 a.m. EDT, the storm was categorized as a Category 2 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson wind scale, with maximum wind speeds reaching 110 mph. It is 140 miles southeast of Corpus Christi, Texas, moving northwest at 10 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Weather models predict that Harvey will drench east Texas with 15 to 25 inches of rain, with up to 35 inches in some isolated areas along the middle and upper Texas coast through Wednesday. Storm surge warnings and watches have also been issued along the majority of Texas’ eastern shores, with the largest surge, estimated between 6 to 12 feet, expected to impact land stretching from the north entrance of Padre Island National Seashore to Sargent.

Slowing down closer to the coast, Harvey is expected to make landfall late Friday night or early Saturday morning as a Category 3 hurricane. It will be the first hurricane to hit Texas’ coastline since 2008 and the first major hurricane to slam into the U.S. in 12 years, since Hurricane Katrina.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott pre-emptively declared a state of disaster for 30 counties Wednesday. On Thursday, he discussed hurricane preparedness with President Donald Trump, acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Elaine Duke and Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Brock Long, according to the governor’s office. Trump told Abbott that the federal government will assist the Lone Star state in preparations as well as rescue and recovery efforts as needed.

Abbott also activated 700 members of the Texas National Guard ahead of the hurricane and has military helicopters on standby in Austin and San Antonio if needed for rescues and emergency evacuations.

Officials in Calhoun, Victoria, Jackson, San Patricio and Refugio counties north of Corpus Christi issued evacuation orders Thursday, along with the cities of Portland, Rockport, Port Aransas, Aransas Pass, Ingleside and Robstown. All residents of Brazoria County who live on the Gulf side of the Intracoastal Canal have been ordered to evacuate as well.

Corpus Christi’s Mayor Joe McComb strongly advised residents to evacuate the city Thursday, but did not implement an evacuation order.

“We could mandate it, but people need to make a decision of their own. I’m not going to risk our police and fire people going to try and drag somebody out of the house if they don’t want to go,” McComb said at a press conference.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, issued a statementThursday asking Texans in the hurricane’s path to remain vigilant as they brace for the storm.

“As Texas prepares for the potential impact in the Gulf Coast region from [Hurricane] Harvey, I urge all Texans in the path of the storm to heed warnings from local officials, know your evacuation route, and avoid all high water areas,” Cruz said.

U.S. Navy Vice Adm. Joseph Aucoin, commander of the U.S. 7th Fleet, has been relieved of his duties following two fatal ship collisions within two months under his command, U.S. officials announced Wednesday.

Aucoin was expected to retire in a few weeks, but Adm. Scott Swift, commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, relieved him prematurely “due to a loss of confidence in his ability to command,” the Navy said in a short statement Wednesday. He will be replaced immediately by Rear Adm. Phil Sawyer, who was already confirmed to take over the position following Aucoin’s exit.

Aucoin’s removal was the latest official step after a Navy destroyer, the USS John S. McCain, was traveling to a port in Singapore Monday morning when it was struck by the Alnic MC, a Liberian oil tanker. The destroyer was damaged near its rear on the left-hand side. Ten sailors remain missing, though divers found and are working to identify the remains of some of the sailors.

U.S. Navy and Marine Corps divers located some remains during an ongoing search-and-rescue effort into sealed compartments and other damaged parts of the ship, Swift said Tuesday. The Malaysian Navy also reportedly found a body 8 nautical miles northwest of the crash, and is working to identify it. It is expected to send the remains to the U.S. Navy Wednesday.

The collision came two months after a separate U.S. destroyer, the USS Fitzgerald, crashed into a freighter off the coast of Japan. Seven American sailors were killed in the incident, and two officers as well as the senior enlisted sailor were relieved of their dutiesFriday following an investigation into the fatal strike.

The Navy announced a rare pause in operations Monday to allow fleet commanders, leaders, command officials and sailors to assess safety measures as investigations continue into the causes of both accidents.

Aucoin, a navy flight officer who received his commission in 1980 from the University of North Carolina Naval Reserve Officers’ Training Corps program, has served as a pilot and commander on a number of aircraft carriers and worked for the Pentagon throughout his tenure. He became the commander of the Seventh Fleet in September 2015, according to the Navy.

The 7th Fleet commands as many as 70 ships, 140 aircraft and 20,000 sailors at a time. Headquartered in Japan, it operates from bases in Japan, South Korea and Singapore, “providing security and stability” to a 48 million-square- mile area in the Indo-Asia Pacific.

Conservative news outlet The Daily Caller on Monday published a story titled “It’s High Time Barron Trump Starts Dressing Like He’s In the White House” that criticized the 11-year-old for the way he dresses. The story included multiple photographs of Barron dressed in a T-shirt and shorts while boarding Air Force One for the White House on Sunday.

“I’ve been on the Barron Trump train from the start, but it’s about time the president’s son starts dressing the part,” reporter Ford Springer wrote.

He went on to say Barron looked as if he was headed to the movies and not as if he was in a public appearances with his parents, who Springer said were dressed in “their Sunday best.” Barron wore a red T-shirt with the words, “On your mark tiger shark,” khaki shorts and loafers.

Clinton, daughter of former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, promptly stood up for Barron as the story drew attention on Twitter.

Clinton also defended Barron’s right to a typical childhood in January when he was again the subject of internet attacks.

“Barron Trump deserves the chance every child does-to be a kid. Standing up for every kid also means opposing @POTUS policies that hurt kids,” she wrote.