U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Austin, sought to undermine his GOP colleagues’ attempts to question the election results. Meanwhile, Texas Democrats helped Nancy Pelosi win another term as House speaker.
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
Texas’ Ted Cruz, John Cornyn split in Senate vote to overturn Trump’s veto of the $740+ billion annual defense bill
U.S. Sen. John Cornyn voted to overturn the president’s veto of the annual defense spending bill, while U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz chose to sustain it. Twelve other senators—a mix of conservatives and liberals—joined Cruz in voting against overriding the veto.
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Coronavirus in Texas
Eligible Texans can’t get answers about the COVID-19 vaccine. It’s not clear who — if anyone — has them.
Getting the COVID-19 vaccine to the people eligible to receive it has proven far from easy. Its rollout in Texas has been marred by poor messaging from state officials, technical errors, logistical delays and supply shortages.
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Coronavirus in Texas
Greg Abbott and Ken Paxton tell Austin restaurants to defy COVID-19 order banning overnight dine-in services
A judge ruled Austin and Travis County can restrict on-site dining overnight from Thursday until Sunday. Gov. Greg Abbott says restaurants should ignore the curfew.
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Politics
Congress overrides Trump defense bill veto named after Texas GOP congressman
Retiring U.S. Rep. Mac Thornberry, of Clarendon, the former chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, asked colleagues to overturn Trump’s veto.
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Coronavirus in Texas
Those $600 relief checks could soon be on their way to many Americans
The relief bill, passed Monday night, will reinstate supplemental unemployment benefits of $300 per week and extend eviction protections through the end of January. The legislation also allocates another $284 billion to the Paycheck Protection Program.
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Texas 2020 Elections
More Texas Republicans in Congress are acknowledging Joe Biden’s victory, but many holdouts remain
Upon Biden securing 306 electoral votes during Monday’s meeting of the Electoral College, The Texas Tribune polled all Texans in Congress with the question: “With a majority of the Electoral College voting for Biden today, do you accept Joe Biden as the president-elect?”
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Texas 2020 Elections
After voting for Donald Trump, Texas electors ask swing states to reject results that assured victory for Joe Biden
Electors across the country affirmed Biden’s victory, but the Texas electors refused to admit Trump’s defeat.
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Politics
Defense spending bill named after Texas congressman passes in U.S. House despite Trump’s veto threat
The legislation is named in honor of retiring U.S. Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Clarendon, who is the top Republican of the House Armed Services Committee.
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Coronavirus in Texas
Federal loans helped more than 400,000 Texas companies retain workers during the pandemic, new data shows
Despite details released from the Paycheck Protection Program this week, a full snapshot of the program remains unclear.
