Vol 33, Issue 26 Print Issue

Left to right, Thomas Saenz, President and General Counsel of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, and U.S. Reps. Joaquin Castro (D-TX) and Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) participate in a press conference held by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus in front of the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., December 8, 2015.  This morning the Supreme Court hears oral arguments on the Evenwel v. Abbott case, on whether voting districts should continue to be drawn by using census population data or whether the system should be changed to count only citizens eligible to vote. (photo by Allison Shelley for The Texas Tribune)
Left to right, Thomas Saenz, President and General Counsel of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, and U.S. Reps. Joaquin Castro (D-TX) and Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) participate in a press conference held by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus in front of the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., December 8, 2015. This morning the Supreme Court hears oral arguments on the Evenwel v. Abbott case, on whether voting districts should continue to be drawn by using census population data or whether the system should be changed to count only citizens eligible to vote. (photo by Allison Shelley for The Texas Tribune)

Joaquin Castro Receives Spot on House Intelligence Panel

Also, Ted Cruz announces an office shuffle widely seen as a setup to advance his future presidential aspirations.

The Week in the Rearview Mirror

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz met with presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump and Republican National Chairman Reince Priebus in Washington on Thursday, according to multiple reports.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is calling a lawsuit filed by three University of Texas at Austin professors in an effort to block the state's new campus carry law "baseless" and said he plans to "vigorously defend it."

In a little-noticed effort to regulate abortion providers, Texas health officials have quietly proposed rules that would require abortion providers to cremate or bury all fetal remains.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Wednesday asked a federal judge in Wichita Falls to put a nationwide halt on the Obama Administration’s directive instructing school districts across the country not to discriminate against transgender students.

Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has thrown out their greatest legislative victory — the House Bill 2 abortion restrictions — Texas abortion opponents are trying to decide what comes next.

Disclosure: The University of Texas at Austin has been a financial sponsor of The Texas Tribune. A complete list of Tribune donors and sponsors can be viewed here.

Political People and their Moves

Gov. Greg Abbott named Wesley Lloyd of Waco, an attorney at Freeman Mills PC, to serve on the Brazos River Authority Board of Directors until Feb. 1, 2017.

Abbott appointed Anthony “Tony” Jaso of San Antonio to serve as presiding officer of the Texas Board of Medical Radiologic Technology, which regulates the practice. Jaso, senior vice president of Estrada Hinojosa & Company, was selected to serve on the board until Feb. 1, 2021. Abbott also named eight others to terms on the body: Nicholas Beckmann of Houston and Scott Morren of Anton to serve until Feb. 1, 2021; Faraz Khan of Houston, Regan Landreth of Georgetown and Carol Waddell of West until Feb. 1, 2019; and Joe Chow of Dallas, Jennifer Flanagan of Fort Worth and Shannon Lutz of Cypress until Feb. 1, 2017.

State Rep. Senfronia Thompson, D-Houston, rolled out this week a list of endorsements from a couple of Houston congressmen and eight Houston-area state legislators who are backing her candidacy for the state Senate seat being vacated by Rodney Ellis. The endorsers are: U.S. Reps. Al Green and Gene Green; and state Reps. Alma Allen, Garnet ColemanHarold Dutton Jr.Jessica FarrarAna HernandezRon Reynolds, Hubert VoArmando Walle and Gene Wu.