Key U.S. senators appeared more comfortable Wednesday with former Texas Gov. Rick Perry being the next U.S. energy secretary than they were with former Exxon Mobil chief Rex Tillerson being the next U.S. secretary of state.
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.
Texas Republicans unite behind Speaker Paul Ryan, split on plan to gut ethics office
While all the Republicans from Texas backed U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan, some were more comfortable than others with a surprise plan to gut the chambers’ ethics office, making for a raucous first day of the new Congress.
The 10 days that defined 2016 for the Texas congressional delegation
From U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz’s Republican National Convention speech to U.S. Rep. Filemon Vela’s letter to Trump, 10 days in 2016 stand out for how they disrupted, empowered or otherwise messed with members of the Texas delegation.
Trump’s F-35 tweets have Fort Worth on edge
President-elect Donald Trump’s recent tweets criticizing a plane manufactured in Fort Worth has many in the city rattled.
Texas Congressman on thin ice…on purpose
U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey of Fort Worth has tried everything from moving baggage on a runway to housekeeping at a Holiday Inn to better understand the lives of his constituents. This week, he helped out at a local ice skating rink.
Texans in Congress offer scant support for full border wall
None of the 38 Texans in Congress offered a full-throated endorsement of a complete border wall, a position popular with President-elect Donald Trump’s supporters, a Texas Tribune delegation-wide survey found.
Reports: Rick Perry lands spot in Trump’s cabinet as energy secretary
If confirmed, the erstwhile Trump rival will oversee American energy policy and its ramifications on the economy, environment and national security.
In cheesy D.C. political ripoff, Arkansas claims queso crown
U.S. senators from Texas and Arkansas engaged in a food fight for the ages at the nation’s Capitol on Wednesday. Inexplicably, Texas lost.
Reports: Trump passing on U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul to lead Department of Homeland Security
U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul was widely viewed as a top contender for the position in Trump’s Cabinet.
Trump passes on Texas Rep. Jeb Hensarling for Treasury secretary
Despite being overlooked, Hensarling will enter his eighth term with the most influence of his career.


