U.S. Rep. Filemon Vela will resign early from Congress
The South Texas Democrat announced last year that he wouldn’t seek reelection. He’s leaving early to take a job at a law firm. Full Story
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![U.S. Rep. Filemon Vela, D-Brownsville, attends a roundtable discussion on unaccompanied minor shelters in Brownsville on June 18, 2018.]()
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Abortion funds bring new legal challenges to overturn Texas ban
The Texas law has proven largely impervious to judicial review. But lawyers representing abortion advocacy groups believe opponents may have given them an opening to challenge the law in a more friendly federal court. Full Story
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![Abortion rights supporters hold signs that read, “Bans off our bodies” outside the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 1.]()
Credit: Eric Lee for The Texas Tribune -
Ted Cruz clashes with Democrats during heated confirmation hearing for Ketanji Brown Jackson
Cruz argued with the committee’s chair over procedure, leading to an accusation that he was performing for the television cameras. Full Story
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![Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin looks on as U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, R-TX, speaks during the third day of U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearings on Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson's nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court, on Capitol Hill in Washington on March 23, 2022.]()
Credit: REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz -
Nancy Pelosi affirms support for U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar after FBI raid, primary runoff berth
The U.S. House speaker said during a stop Wednesday in Austin that she always supports her incumbents — “from right to left.” Full Story
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![Speaker of the U.S. House Nancy Pelosi campaigns with Congressman Henry Cuellar at Cuellar's campaign headquarters in Laredo on Feb 02, 2020.]()
Credit: Robin Jerstad for The Texas Tribune -
Beto O’Rourke touts his oft-overlooked background — small-business owner — as Greg Abbott attacks him as job-killer
Abbott’s campaign has argued O’Rourke would “destroy the Texas miracle.” O’Rourke argues he’s the one who has run a business. Full Story
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![Gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke answers questions from journalists following a town hall as part of his ‘Keeping the Lights On’ road trip on Feb. 4, 2022 in Odessa.]()
Credit: Eli Hartman for The Texas Tribune -
Former U.S. Senate candidate Amanda Edwards announces run for Houston mayor
Edwards joins a field that already includes two well-known names: veteran state Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, and Chris Hollins, the former Harris County clerk who oversaw election changes in 2020 that became a lightning rod for Republicans. Full Story
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![Houston City Councilwoman and U.S. Senate candidate Amanda Edwards outside of 919 Congress Avenue in Austin on Feb. 7, 2020.]()
Credit: Angela Piazza for The Texas Tribune -
Analysis: Texas government’s favorite local tax
State lawmakers will tell you they hate property taxes as much as anyone. But the state itself doesn’t levy the tax — local governments do. And lowering it in a meaningful way would require state officials to raise taxes or cut programs. For them, talking about it is easier than doing something. Full Story
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![An Aerial image of a suburban neighborhood in San Marcos on October 18, 2021.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
Ted Cruz and John Cornyn question Ketanji Brown Jackson about anti-racism books, Supreme Court’s gay marriage ruling
U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, the other Republican senator from Texas, asked the nominee about the court case legalizing gay marriage and questioned her defense of Guantánamo Bay detainees who allegedly faced mistreatment. Full Story
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![U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-TX, holds up the book "How To Be an Antiracist" as he questions Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson during her testimony before a Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing on her nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court, at Capitol Hill in Washington, on March 22, 2022.]()
Credit: REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz -
T-Squared: María Méndez is joining The Texas Tribune as service and engagement reporter
She will connect readers with resources, demystify politics and public policy and look for ways to reach Texans whose questions often go unheard. Full Story
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![María Méndez has reported from Austin, Dallas and Laredo.]()
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What is harm reduction, the drug-treatment program that Sen. Ted Cruz has criticized?
A $30 million grant program aims to mitigate the fallout from drug addiction and overdoses. Officials say Cruz’s comments about it are misleading. Full Story
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![U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, speaks during a Senate Judiciary Subcommittee hearing on "Big Data, Big Questions: Implications for Competition and Consumers" in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 21, 2021.]()
Credit: Ting Shen/Pool via REUTERS -
Attorney General Ken Paxton asks Texas Supreme Court to let investigations into transgender families continue
The temporary injunction was issued as part of a lawsuit brought on behalf of parents being investigated by child welfare workers for letting their transgender teenager access gender-affirming health care. Full Story
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![Transgender, pride progress and nonbinary flags are passed out during the Trans Kids Cry for HELP! rally in front of the Governor's Mansion in Austin on March 13, 2022.]()
Credit: Lauren Witte/The Texas Tribune -
Help us investigate Texas border security initiatives
We’re looking into Texas’ border security initiatives, including what has worked, what hasn’t and how they affect residents. If you have experience on the border, we’d like to hear from you. Full Story
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![A member of the Texas Army National Guard holds a flashlight as migrants crawl over rocks after wading across the Rio Grande into the United States from Mexico, in Roma, on March 4, 2022.]()
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Analysis: A health care problem too big for the Texas Legislature
Texas, unlike all but 11 other states, hasn’t expanded its Medicaid program. And it also hasn’t addressed the problem that’s supposed to help solve: The state’s worst-in-the-nation ranking for people without health insurance. Full Story
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![Nurse Practitioner Barber Anika with a patient at the Legacy Community Health Center in Houston on Aug. 2, 2013.]()
Credit: Michael Stravato for The Texas Tribune -
TribCast: Operation Lone Star and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad week
Gov. Greg Abbott’s controversial border mission was subject to a slew of bad news this week, including a major shakeup at the Texas Military Department, whose top leader Abbott replaced. Full Story
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![A National Guard vehicle is stationed near the U.S. and Mexico border in Del Rio on July 22, 2021.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Analysis: When 1 in 8 Texas mail ballots gets trashed, that’s vote suppression
Nearly 23,000 Texans voted in this month’s party primaries and saw their mail ballots rejected by election officials, evidently an aftershock from new state laws that were supposed to make voting easier and more secure. Full Story
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![Harris County Elections Staff members carry in and sort ballot bags at the Elections Technology Center in northwest Houston on Tuesday, March 1, 2022.]()
Credit: Annie Mulligan for The Texas Tribune -
After accepting her trans son’s hard-fought identity, a Texas mother is being investigated for child abuse
It took him three years to come out to his mother as trans. Now, under a new directive from the governor, the state is investigating whether she pressured him to transition. Full Story
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![People gather for the Trans Kids Call for HELP! rally in front of the Governor's Mansion in Austin on March 13, 2022.]()
Credit: Lauren Witte/The Texas Tribune -
Texas CPS department’s culture kept worries about now-shuttered foster care facility from being addressed, official says
It was also revealed at a special Texas Senate committee meeting that the Texas foster care worker who allegedly sold nude pictures of girls is also accused of dating a child trafficker. Full Story
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![Buildings located at Refuge Ranch in Bastrop. The Texas-contracted facility is meant to provide residential treatment for child sex trafficking survivors, but was discovered to be trafficking the same children, according to a federal judge.]()
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Shakeup of Texas border mission leadership continues as pair of two-star generals departs
The departure of three top officials in a week signals that officials may be looking to make changes to the heavily criticized mission. A soldier leading a unionization effort welcomed the moves. Full Story
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![A sign with the Texas Military Department Seal outside Camp Mabry in Austin on Jan. 24, 2022.]()
Credit: Lauren Witte/The Texas Tribune -
Russia extends detention for WNBA star Brittney Griner as Texans in Congress call for her release
Griner will be under arrest until at least May 19, according to Russian state media. Full Story
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![Brittney Griner of the United States in action at Saitama Super Arena during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic women's basketball Group B game in Saitama, Japan, on Aug. 2, 2021.]()
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Texas warns firms they could lose state contracts for divesting from fossil fuels
A new law prohibits the state from contracting with or investing in companies that divest from oil, natural gas and coal companies. Full Story
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![The Texas Capitol in Austin on Aug. 12, 2021.]()
Credit: Sophie Park/The Texas Tribune