Andrew Zhang, Author at The Texas Tribune

Democratic gubernatorial nominee Beto O’Rourke spoke to supporters last month at a rally in Fort Worth after winning his party’s nomination in the primary election.

Beto O’Rourke tests positive for COVID-19, says symptoms are mild

By Andrew ZhangApril 25, 2022

O’Rourke said he is vaccinated and boosted and tests regularly while traveling the state. A campaign spokesperson said the candidate had no events scheduled for the week.

A child bikes past the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Thursday.

Politics

As federal earmarks return, most Texas Republicans abstained from bringing home the bacon

By Andrew ZhangApril 15, 2022

Several Republicans abstained from requesting earmarks in the budgeting process, citing concerns about ethics and wasteful spending.

The U.S. Capitol through a tattered U.S. flag on a truck. A group of about 30 migrants arrived in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday after accepting an offer from the state of Texas to be taken there.

Immigration

First bus of migrants arrives in Washington, D.C., from Texas under Abbott’s new controversial plan

By Andrew Zhang, James Barragán and Jason BeefermanApril 13, 2022April 14, 2022

About 30 people from Colombia, Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua traveled to the U.S. capital as part of Gov. Greg Abbott’s new plan in response to the end of Title 42.

A Texas Department of Public Safety trooper inspects a commercial truck at a station in Brownsville.

Economy

Biden administration, Mexican governors urge Abbott to end inspections that have bogged down border trade

By Andrew ZhangApril 13, 2022

Gov. Greg Abbott is slated to have a meeting and press event with Samuel Alejandro García Sepúlveda — the Mexican governor of Nuevo León, the state that includes a section of the border near Laredo — later Wednesday afternoon.

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson was sworn in to testify last month at her U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing for her nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Politics

Ted Cruz and John Cornyn vote no as Senate confirms Ketanji Brown Jackson to Supreme Court

By Andrew ZhangApril 7, 2022

Texas’ U.S. senators have acknowledged the historical nature of Jackson’s nomination but said ahead of their votes that they believe her ideology could be harmful for the court and the country.

U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, speaks with attendees during the Mr. South Texas award ceremony in Laredo on Oct. 9, 2019.

Criminal Justice

Texas’ Henry Cuellar one of two Democrats to vote against landmark marijuana legalization bill

By Andrew ZhangApril 1, 2022April 1, 2022

The bill faces stiff headwinds in the Senate, where it would require 60 votes to pass. A similar measure the House passed in 2020 failed in the upper chamber.

Families are turned away from making their asylum claims at the Paso del Norte International Bridge in November. The Biden administration is reportedly planning to end a policy that turns asylum-seekers away at the border.

Congress

Texas Republicans pushed Biden administration to keep rule that turns asylum-seekers away at the border

By Andrew ZhangMarch 30, 2022April 1, 2022

The Biden administration will drop the policy that critics have called an inhumane rule.

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson testifies during the Senate Judiciary Committee's confirmation hearing on her nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court, on Capitol Hill in Washington, on March 22, 2022.

Politics

Ted Cruz and John Cornyn are poised to vote against Ketanji Brown Jackson

By Andrew ZhangMarch 24, 2022

Democrats hold narrow control of the Senate and have pledged to confirm Jackson — who would be the first Black woman on the U.S. Supreme Court — by April 8.