The latest Congress news from The Texas Tribune.
Here's full video of our "Homeland Security Begins at Home" panel discussion Saturday at The Texas Tribune Festival. The panel featured U.S. Reps. Joaquin Castro, Henry Cuellar, Blake Farenthold, Beto O'Rourke and John Ratcliffe. Full Story
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Here's full video of our "Can the Center Hold?" panel discussion Saturday at The Texas Tribune Festival. The panel featured former U.S. Sens. Evan Bayh and Kay Bailey Hutchison, former U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Henry Cisneros and former New Hampshire Gov. John Sununu. Full Story
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If U.S. Rep. Pete Sessions is to succeed in his bid to serve as the third-ranking Republican in Congress, the 10-term Dallas congressman will need the support of his fellow Texans. Full Story
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Anti-establishment Republicans have tried three times to knock House Speaker Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, out of the top job. Now they're entering an election season nearly five dozen votes short of what they need. Full Story
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Splitting the majority party in the House of Representatives leaves a potential speaker with two routes to the top. Lawmakers did it one way in Texas and another way in Washington, D.C. Full Story
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U.S. House Speaker John A. Boehner’s retirement could create an opportunity for at least two Texas Republicans — U.S. Reps. Pete Sessions and Jeb Hensarling, both of Dallas — to become national party leaders. Full Story
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U.S. Rep. Randy Neugebauer, R-Lubbock, announced Thursday that he would not seek re-election in 2016. Neugebauer has represented his West Texas district in Congress for seven terms. Full Story
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U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz will join real estate developer Donald Trump on Wednesday for a rally decrying President Obama's Iran deal. The pair will speak on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol at noon Central time. Full Story
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Presidential candidate Ted Cruz will head back to the U.S. Senate next week. With his return comes anxiety that he could instigate yet another government shutdown, this time over federal funding for Planned Parenthood. Full Story
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When Congress reconvenes next week after its August recess, there are a couple of things you can count on: impassioned debate on domestic and foreign policy, and Texans having major parts in those debates. Full Story
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When Texas Democratic House members return to the nation's capital next week, they will be hit with a firestorm of a debate: the Iran deal. Full Story
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The nation’s capital is bracing for a frenetic fall. At best, Congress can expect a four-month legislative slog through everything from Iran to abortion; at worst, the government could shut down. It's anyone’s guess what that will mean for a renewed push to end the country's crude oil export ban. Full Story
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In the span of 10 minutes on Sunday afternoon, Texas' two senators engaged in what was — by Senate standards — a tough exchange on the chamber’s floor. Full Story
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There are few places in modern life where strict decorum remains like the halls and the floor of the United States Senate. And on Friday morning, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz shattered one of the surest unwritten rules of the upper chamber. Full Story
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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Two weeks after it was supposedly killed, the federal Export-Import Bank may soon be resuscitated by tagging its future to a massive highway funding bill. The congressional gamesmanship has conservatives vowing to kill the bank for good. Full Story
Texas Congressmen Gene Green and Joe Barton went head-to-head Thursday on a bill that would lift a 40-year-old ban on crude oil exports. Full Story
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U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz is opening a new front in his war of words against Washington, D.C., decrying a "Washington cartel" replete with corruption and cronyism. Full Story
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Texas has just three women in its 38-member congressional delegation, and hasn't sent a new long-term congresswoman to Washington in almost 20 years. Many in both parties wonder why the state's once-promising fount of woman candidates is running dry. Full Story
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The U.S. House on Friday shot down President Obama's bid to negotiate the largest trade deal in American history. The people taking knives to his agenda were in his own party, including most of Texas' Democratic delegation. Full Story
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