The latest Lamar Smith news from The Texas Tribune.
As Republican campaign operatives raise concerns that the party could lose U.S. House seats with Donald Trump as its standard-bearer, Texas Republicans are funding efforts to shore up vulnerable incumbents around the country. Full Story
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Texas Republicans currently hold seven chairmanships in the U.S. House, giving the state an outsized role in moving forward key legislation. But almost all of those members are due to to hand over their gavels in the next five years. Full Story
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With signs pointing toward record high turnout in the Republican primary, some close watchers of the congressional delegation are warning that the re-election bids of four U.S. House members may be in trouble. Full Story
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During an upcoming U.S. House recess this month, House Speaker Paul Ryan will make several stops in some of the richest pockets of the state: Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, Midland and San Antonio. Full Story
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At the stroke of 6 p.m. Monday, candidate filing with state parties will close and Texans will finally know who is — and isn’t — running for office in 2016. Full Story
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Christmas elves, pirates and scientists gathered Monday to present climate change skeptic U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith, R-San Antonio, with a fake award from the “Flat Earth Foundation of Texas.” Full Story
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Members of Texas' congressional delegation are making their support for presidential candidates known — in thousand-dollar increments from their own campaign accounts. Full Story
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The Environment track at The 2015 Texas Tribune Festival featured discussions on the water supply, the climate debate, related legislative issues and lessons from the May floods. There was also a conversation with Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller. Full Story
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As evidenced Thursday during a U.S. House committee hearing, Texas officials and lawmakers are continuing to fight against tougher federal ground-level ozone standards implemented recently by the Environmental Protection Agency. Full Story
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Newly filed federal campaign finance reports telegraph which federal House members are worried about re-election, which are eager to ingratiate themselves to colleagues in Washington and who might be in legal trouble. Full Story
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Six months out from the filing deadline, Texas political operatives on the right and the even farther right are analyzing the state's congressional map in an attempt to identify vulnerable members of the delegation. Full Story
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At a White House ceremony, the president on Monday offered the reigning NBA champions advice on winning back-to-back, one of the few milestones the Spurs have yet to reach. Full Story
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Before he was even sworn in, freshman U.S. Rep. Will Hurd had to pick sides in a leadership fight and decide whether to knife a colleague. There were also breakfast tacos. Full Story
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Criticism by state leaders of the Obama administration for failures in the response to the Ebola virus omits mention of the tools at the state's disposal that were not used. Full Story
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Ted Cruz calls deferred action for undocumented immigrants "amnesty" and blames it for fueling the surge of Central Americans breaching Texas’ southern border. Repeal is unlikely — but here's a look at how it would affect Texas. Full Story
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Wichita Falls is catching more than a little flak for its plan to take treated sewer water and use it for drinking water, a plan that got put on the fast track with the current drought. But the wisecracks hide an important fact — wastewater reuse is already common across the state. Full Story
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We're liveblogging this weekend from The Texas Tribune Festival's Environment track, which features panel discussions on the West fertilizer plant explosion, water, the future of parks and the fight over climate change. Full Story
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As stakeholders focus on the U.S. Senate during the debate on comprehensive immigration reform, the lower chamber has begun marking up a measure that would expand immigration enforcement powers to local law enforcement. Full Story
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The chief executive of the web hosting company Rackspace on why the tech industry is against the bills that federal lawmakers have filed to stop online piracy and other cyber crimes. Full Story
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U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith said in a press release on Friday that he plans to remove controversial provisions in the Stop Online Piracy Act. As Andy Uhler of KUT News reports, some online-business leaders say the legislation, introduced by Smith, R-San Antonio, could cause economic damage. Full Story
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