Johnson, the first Black woman elected to any seat in Dallas and the first Black Dallasite to serve in Congress, was a towering figure in Texas politics.
Abby Livingston
Abby Livingston joined The Texas Tribune in 2014 as the publication's first Washington bureau chief, and departed August 2022. In this role, she covered members in the Texas congressional delegation and campaigns back in the home state. A seventh-generation Texan, Abby grew up in Fort Worth and graduated from the University of Texas at Austin. Prior to the Tribune, Abby worked for NBC, CNN, National Journal and Roll Call. At the Tribune, she won the 2017 National Press Club Award for Washington regional reporting and the Society of Professional Journalists' 2018 Sigma Delta Chi Award for Washington correspondence. Abby is a contributing writer to the Almanac of American Politics and frequently appears on MSNBC, CNN and Sirius XM radio. She also had a role on an episode of "The Bold and The Beautiful." In keeping with the Trib’s great history of hiring softball stars, Abby is a three-time MVP (the most in game history) for The Bad News Babes, the women’s press softball team that takes on female members of Congress in the annual Congressional Women’s Softball breast cancer charity game.
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Politics
Essay: The education and disillusionment of a young Texas reporter in D.C.
I moved to Washington in 2006 to work for a senator. I left in 2022 in the prime of my journalism career. I had seen enough.
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Criminal Justice
Texan basketball star Brittney Griner sentenced to 9 years after being found guilty in Russian drug case
Griner’s allies remain hopeful President Joe Biden will secure a prisoner swap, much like he did earlier this year with another Texan, ex-Marine Trevor Reed.
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Politics
Ted Cruz says Texas should repeal its now-defunct law banning gay sex
The law was made unenforceable by the Supreme Court in 2003, but Justice Clarence Thomas recently suggested that the court should reconsider it.
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Politics
John Ratcliffe, former Texas congressman, warned Trump staffers against trying to undermine 2020 election
White House staffer Cassidy Hutchinson testified about Ratcliffe’s warnings before the U.S. House committee investigating the events leading up to the Jan. 6 insurrection. She was an assistant to former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows.
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Uvalde school shooting
“This was fundamentally important”: John Cornyn says gun deal shows U.S. Senate can still function
More than any other senator, Cornyn is responsible for shepherding the landmark legislation through the chamber. He did so by embracing compromise and his own political risk.
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Uvalde school shooting
Texas congressman Tony Gonzales, who represents Uvalde, breaks with House Republicans to vote for gun bill
The U.S. House passed the legislation Friday afternoon. Nearly all Texas Republicans voted against it. The bill is widely viewed as a series of modest changes to current gun regulations, falling far short of proposals pushed by House Democrats and President Joe Biden.
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Uvalde school shooting
U.S. Senate approves first major gun legislation since 1994, one month after Uvalde shooting
The legislation still needs to clear the House, where it is expected to pass. President Joe Biden has signaled he will sign the bill into law.
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Uvalde school shooting
Caught between an A+ NRA rating and a nation reeling from shootings, John Cornyn is key to whether gun safety deal advances
The bipartisan gun legislation could end up being a career definer for John Cornyn, Texas’ senior senator. He’s shown a past willingness to compromise but faces critics further to his right, including his fellow senator Ted Cruz.
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Uvalde school shooting
U.S. senators reach deal on gun legislation in aftermath of Uvalde shooting
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, was one of the lead negotiators for the proposal, which would expand background checks for people under 21 and encourage states to enact “red flag” laws. President Joe Biden and House Democrats had wanted to go further.