Houstonian Mark Swidan to be released from Chinese imprisonment
The Texan has been imprisoned in China for 12 years on charges of drug trafficking. Full Story
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![Mark Swidan.]()
Credit: Courtesy of Swidan Family Free Mark Campaign -
John Cornyn loses longtime bid to be next Senate majority leader to John Thune
Cornyn has for years signaled he wanted to succeed his close ally GOP leader Mitch McConnell. He lost in a vote decided by the Republican members of the Senate. Full Story
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![U.S. Sen. John Cornyn speaks to reporters after a briefing on Ukraine and additional funding requests at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2023.]()
Credit: Graeme Sloan/Sipa USA via REUTERS -
John Cornyn spent years preparing to run for Senate majority leader. Will it be enough?
John Cornyn is running to succeed Mitch McConnell after years waiting in his shadow. But the far-right, in Texas and Washington, are putting up a fight. Full Story
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![U.S. Sen. John Cornyn speaks to reporters at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2023.]()
Credit: Graeme Sloan/Sipa USA via Reuter -
The Odd Couple: How Ted Cruz and John Cornyn went from fractured to friendly
The two Texas senators have come together to serve Texas — and themselves — as both head into career-defining elections later this year. Full Story
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![From left, Senators Ted Cruz and John Cornyn speak as Judge Brett Kavanaugh testifies in front of the Senate Judiciary committee at the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 27, 2018.]()
Credit: Erin Schaff/Pool via REUTERS -
Russian captive’s father blasts Ted Cruz in ad endorsing Colin Allred
Joey Reed said the Texas senator did not do enough to free his son Trevor who was held in Russia for three years until he was released in 2022. Full Story
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![Former U.S. Marine Trevor Reed during a 2020 court hearing in Moscow on March 11, 2020.]()
Credit: REUTERS/Tatyana Makeyeva -
In Austin, Biden slams “extreme” U.S. Supreme Court
Biden asked Congress to pass a constitutional amendment to end to presidential immunity during a speech to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act at the Lyndon B. Johnson Library. Full Story
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![President Joe Biden delivers the keynote address during an event commemorating the 60th Anniversary of the Civil Rights Act at the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library Monday, July 29, 2024, in Austin. Biden’s visit to Austin, originally planned for July 15, was postponed for two weeks after the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump during a campaign rally on July 13 in Butler, PA and comes only a week after he dropped out of the 2024 presidential election.]()
Credit: Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribune -
Before he was Donald Trump's running mate, J.D. Vance was U.S. Sen. John Cornyn’s staffer
Cornyn said Vance was “smart” and “well spoken,” praising former President Donald Trump for selecting him as a running mate. Full Story
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![U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) is seen during a press conference with U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance, (R-Ohio) calling on U.S. President Joe Biden to negotiate with Republicans in order to make a deal on raising the debt ceiling on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. on May 3, 2023.]()
Credit: REUTERS/Craig Hudson -
With new legislation, Ted Cruz and John Cornyn aim to pressure Mexico to send water to Texas
Mexico owes Texas 900,000 acre-feet of water. But a regional drought is complicating the binational agreement. Full Story
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![Large amounts of dry lakebed surround the shoreline of the Falcon International Reservoir in Starr County on May 15, 2024. Water levels at the reservoir are at historic lows. On the 15th of May the water level was at 8.8% full. The Falcon Reservoir straddles the border between Mexico and the USA in deep south Texas and is the primary source of water for the Rio Grande Valley which has an estimated population of 2.67 million. 1.3 million people south of the Rio Grande and 1.29 million north of the international border.]()
Credit: Carlos Kosienski/Sipa USA via Reuters -
Texas delegation urges Congress to withhold aid to Mexico over water treaty dispute
A bipartisan group of Texas lawmakers are demanding appropriators withhold funds for the country until Mexico lives up to its end of a 1944 water treaty that requires it to send 1.75 million acre-feet to the U.S. every five years. Full Story
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![The Rio Grande at Los Ebanos in Hidalgo Co. on Jan. 14, 2022. The United States is on the right, Mexico on the left.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune -
UT-Austin’s Jay Hartzell praised by GOP leaders as university presidents nationwide take heat over protest response
Hartzell’s protest response has also resulted in condemnations from students and faculty. Full Story
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![The University of Texas at Austin President Jay Hartzell on April 18, 2022.]()
Credit: Lauren Witte/The Texas Tribune -
Texas Republicans rue Democrats for dismissing Mayorkas impeachment without trial
Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called the trial the “least legitimate, least substantive, and most politicized impeachment trial in the history of the United States.” Full Story
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![U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, center, gives remarks during a visit to Brownsville while President Joe Biden, San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg and U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-McAllen listen on Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024.]()
Credit: Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribune -
With an eye on Amarillo courthouse, U.S. senators push to stop federal judge shopping
Judge shopping has made a federal courthouse in Amarillo with a Trump-appointed judge a destination for conservative litigants challenging Biden administration policies. Full Story
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![In a still image from a video, Matthew Kacsmaryk, deputy counsel for the First Liberty Institute, answers questions during his nomination hearing by the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 13, 2017.]()
Credit: Pool via REUTERS -
Feds arrest five men accused of smuggling illegally purchased guns to cartels in Mexico
The men were charged with two criminal offenses, including straw purchasing of firearms, created by the 2022 bipartisan gun safety bill authored by Sen. John Cornyn. Full Story
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![A Springfield Saint Victor AR-15 rifle is displayed during the National Rifle Association annual convention in Houston on May 27, 2022.]()
Credit: REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton -
John Cornyn announces he’s running for Senate GOP leader
Cornyn said in a statement that the upper chamber is broken but he intends to help fix it. Full Story
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![U.S. Sen. John Cornyn speaks to reporters after Republican Senate Leader McConnell announced his intentions to retire as Republican Leader after the November elections, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Feb. 28, 2024.]()
Credit: Graeme Sloan/Sipa USA via REUTERS -
“I’ve made no secret of my intentions”: Cornyn poised to launch bid to succeed McConnell as Senate GOP leader
Sen. Ted Cruz held back when asked if he would back Cornyn. “Oh, there’ll be plenty of time to assess those questions,” he told reporters. Full Story
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![Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY), the Senate Minority Leader, speaks with Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) at the U.S. Capitol, in Washington, D.C., on Monday, January 23, 2023.]()
Credit: Graeme Sloan/Sipa USA via REUTERS -
Texas Democrats and Republicans split on border proposal — not necessarily on party lines
The deal would also provide money to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, another priority for many Texas lawmakers. Full Story
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![Migrants seeking refuge in the U.S. cross the Rio Grande, bags and children in tow, back into Ciudad Acuña, Tamaulipas, Mexico from their camp in Del Rio on Sept. 21, 2021.]()
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Texas GOP increasingly considers push to close its primaries
Presidential candidate Nikki Haley has talked openly about targeting states like Texas that have open primaries to get a boost over Trump. Full Story
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![Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley speaks during a campaign event ahead of the South Carolina Republican presidential primary election, in Conway, South Carolina on Jan. 28, 2024.]()
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John Cornyn endorses Donald Trump for president
Cornyn’s endorsement comes one week after his colleague, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, also backed the former president. Full Story
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![U.S. Sen. John Cornyn speaks to the media at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, July 25, 2023.]()
Credit: Graeme Sloan/Sipa USA via REUTERS -
Ted Cruz backs defense of Trump’s eligibility in 2024 election
Cruz led an amicus brief defending Donald Trump’s eligibility to run for president. Cruz endorsed Trump this week. Full Story
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![U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz speaks during a television interview at the U.S. Capitol, in Washington on Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2023.]()
Credit: Graeme Sloan/Sipa USA via REUTERS -
Latino Texas Democrats in U.S. House push back as White House entertains GOP border policy
To secure more aid for Ukraine, the White House is negotiating with Senate Republicans on a deal to revive Trump-era border policies. But some Democratic Texans in Congress say their party is giving up too much. Full Story
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![U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, speaks about a new federal report on the underrepresentation of Latinos in the media industry at the National Press Club in Washington on Oct. 05, 2022.]()
Credit: Lenin Nolly/Sipa USA via REUTERS