As Texas gets redder, John Cornyn could face toughest primary season of his career
Attorney General Ken Paxton, who has hinted at a possible run, has more support than the four-term senator among Republicans, polling shows. Full Story
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![U.S. Sen. John Cornyn speaks with members of the press during a visit to the Republican Party of Texas convention on May 24, 2024 in San Antonio.]()
Credit: Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribune -
Former Texas lawmaker Scott Turner confirmed to lead HUD
Turner served in the Texas House from 2013-2017. Full Story
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![Trump Nominee for Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Eric Scott Turner testifies at a Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs hearing in the Dirksen Senate office building in Washington, DC on Thursday, January 16, 2025. (Photo by Annabelle Gordon/Sipa USA)]()
Credit: Annabelle Gordon/Sipa USA via Re -
Donald Trump’s push to freeze federal funds sparks confusion in Texas
Texas cities, counties, higher education institutions and nonprofits clambered Tuesday to gauge the potential fallout from the suspension, later blocked temporarily by a federal judge. Full Story
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![U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks on AI infrastructure at the Roosevelt room at White House in Washington, U.S., January 21, 2025.]()
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Texas Republicans in Congress propose bills to codify Trump executive orders
Ending birthright citizenship, increasing oil drilling, and leaving WHO are just a few bills the state’s Republicans pushed in Congress this month. Full Story
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![A U.S. Capitol Police officer stands guard at the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 21, 2021.]()
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Senate probe finds poor medical care at CBP facilities
The Senate Judiciary Committee launched its investigation following the 2023 death of an 8-year-old girl at a facility in Harlingen. Full Story
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![Unaccompanied minor asylum seekers are apprehended by Customs and Border Protection after crossing the border in Roma on Aug. 3, 2021.]()
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Brooke Rollins says she'll shield farmers from impacts of Trump's tariffs in ag secretary nomination hearing
Rollins previously led the Texas Public Policy Foundation and served under Gov. Rick Perry. Full Story
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![Brooke Rollins, President and CEO of the America First Policy Institute, speaks at a rally for then- Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Oct. 27, 2024. Rollins is President Trump's choice to run the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture.]()
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Former Texas congressman John Ratcliffe confirmed as CIA director
Ratcliffe is a native of Heath, Texas, where he served as mayor from 2004 to 2012. Full Story
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![John Ratcliffe, Pres. Donald Trump's selection for director of the Central Intelligence Agency, testifies before a Senate (Select) Intelligence Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington on Jan. 15, 2025.]()
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Bill to detain undocumented immigrants accused of even minor crimes passes with some Texas Democratic help
The bill, named for Laken Riley, a Georgia student killed by an immigrant, adds legislative muscle to President Trump’s immigration enforcement push. Full Story
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![U.S. Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) officers stand near an aircraft on which Venezuelan migrants will be repatriated as part of an immigration enforcement process, at the Valley International Airport, in Harlingen, on Oct. 18, 2023.]()
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Trump praises Abbott at inauguration, promises to militarize border and build wall
Texas has already militarized the border under Gov. Greg Abbott’s Operation Lone Star. Full Story
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![U.S. President Donald Trump gives his inaugural address during the 60th Presidential Inauguration in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Monday, Jan. 20, 2025.]()
Credit: Julia Demaree Nikhinson/Pool via REUTERS -
Trump promised mass deportations. Here’s one way they could quietly happen.
The new administration could use the existing system of federal agents, local police and jails to funnel more people into the deportation pipeline. Full Story
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![Migrants from Central America that were apprehended crossing the Rio Grande in Brownsville were flown to El Paso for processing and then deported to Mexico across the Paso del Norte International Bridge on March 16, 2021.]()
Credit: Paul Ratje for The Texas Tribune -
Former Texas congressman vows to keep politics out of CIA as director
President-elect Donald Trump has tapped former Republican U.S. Rep. John Ratcliffe to lead the CIA. Full Story
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![John Ratcliffe, selected by President-Elect Donald Trump to be director of the CIA Director, meets with U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (not pictured) in Washington on Dec. 11, 2024.]()
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Texans only Democrats in Congress to vote for bill restricting trans athletes
Republicans accused Rep. Vicente Gonzalez of supporting gender transitions for children throughout the 2024 election cycle, which he said took a political toll. Full Story
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![Demonstrators protest SB14, a bill to eradicate gender transition healthcare for trans kids in Texas, while the bill is heard in the House at the state Capitol on May 2, 2023.]()
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Will Republican control of Congress lead to updated ag laws? Texas farmers hope so.
The historical bipartisan legislation includes a bevy of policies from crop insurance to food stamps. Full Story
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![Cotton fields near the High Plains town of Ralls, about 30 miles east of Lubbock, on Wednesday, June 22, 2022. Like much of Texas, the High Plains and Panhandle are facing drought conditions and extraordinary heat.]()
Credit: Trace Thomas for The Texas Tribune -
Ted Cruz defends Trump’s pitch to acquire Greenland
Sen. Ted Cruz, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, stressed Greenland’s strategic location in the Arctic and its natural wealth of critical minerals. Full Story
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![Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, during a Senate Judiciary and Homeland Security Committees hearing in Washington, D.C., July 30, 2024.]()
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U.S. Senate clears hurdle on bill to deport undocumented immigrants charged with minor crimes
The proposal requires immigration authorities to hold and deport immigrants charged with crimes like burglary, theft, larceny or shoplifting. Full Story
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![The U.S. Capitol looms in the background as a woman walks among flags at the Washington Monument in Washington D.C. on May 27, 2020.]()
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Keith Self changes vote, allowing Mike Johnson to stay speaker
Rep. Keith Self was initially one of three who voted against House Speaker Mike Johnson’s reelection to lead the lower chamber. Full Story
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![U.S. Rep. Keith Self, R-McKinney, speaks at a press conference at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 10, 2024.]()
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Texas congressmen cleared in ethics investigation over campaign finance spending
The ethics committee said existing law and guidance from the Federal Election Commission is “often ambiguous” and provides gray areas of spending. Full Story
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![From left: U.S. Reps. Wesley Hunt, R-Houston, and Ronny Jackson, R-Lubbock.]()
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Retiring U.S. Rep. Kay Granger discloses “health challenges” after congressional absences
The Fort Worth Republican’s last vote in Congress was in July. She did not seek reelection this year. Full Story
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![U.S. Rep. Kay Granger, R-Fort Worth, sits in the House Chamber during a second round of voting for Speaker of the House, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2023.]()
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Farm Bill gets extension as Congress passes spending package and averts shutdown
The legislation includes financial aid and money for recent natural disasters, but farmers still will be relying on outdated provisions from the 2018 bill. Full Story
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![The U.S. Capitol on Thursday, Jan. 6, 2022.]()
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U.S. House members want answers on Texas’ decision to not review maternal deaths after near-total abortion ban
U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Dallas led a letter calling for a briefing on why the state won’t review 2022 and 2023 deaths. Full Story
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![U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Dallas, speaks with Errin Haines, editor at large at The 19th*, at The Texas Tribune Festival in Austin on Sept. 7, 2024.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune