Rep. Larry Phillips to step down from the Texas House on Monday
The Sherman Republican will step down April 30. Full Story
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![Rep. Larry Phillips R-Sherman at the back microphone of Texas House floor during the 2017 legislative session.]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera -
Texas Supreme Court decision could help uninsured patients negotiate excessive hospital bills
The state's highest civil court said uninsured patients suing hospitals can access records detailing how much insurance companies paid for similar procedures. Full Story
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Texas is holding a special election to fill Blake Farenthold’s seat. Here’s how that works.
A special election doesn't play out like normal elections. For starters, there are no primaries. Every candidate who files for the seat – regardless of party affiliation – will appear on one ballot. Full Story
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![Gov. Greg Abbott (left) and former U.S. Rep. Blake Farenthold, R-Corpus Christi.]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera: Abbott/Bob Daemmrich: Farenthold -
Is the top vote-getter in a Texas primary election most likely to win their runoff? Usually, but not always.
If history is any guide, candidates that earned first place in their primary race are likely to win their runoff — especially if they finished with a lead of more than 10 percentage points. But there are instances when second-place primary finishers come out on top. Full Story
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![Top row, left to right: Gina Ortiz Jones and Rick Treviño, candidates in the Democratic runoff for Texas' 23rd Congressional District; bottom row, left to right, MJ Hegar and Christine Eady Mann, Democrats contending for Texas Congressional District 31.]()
Credit: Facebook campaign pages -
Ronny Jackson, a Texan, withdraws from consideration to head Veterans Affairs
Jackson's nomination went into free fall as reports emerged that alleged Jackson led a hostile work environment, over-prescribed drugs and possibly drank on the job. Full Story
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![Ronny Jackson is a rear admiral in the Navy and a longtime White House physician.]()
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Justice Department decides not to halt legal assistance program for detained immigrants
Citing a congressional request, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Wednesday said the department won't end a program that helps federally detained immigrants obtain legal advice and other resources. Full Story
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At confirmation hearing, federal judicial nominee defends impartiality
Andrew Oldham, a nominee for an influential federal appeals court, asserted during a U.S. Senate committee hearing Wednesday that the positions he took on behalf of Texas would not influence his work as a judge. Full Story
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![Andrew Oldham testifies at a confirmation hearing before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on April 25, 2018.]()
Credit: Allison Shelley for The Texas Tribune -
Abbott wants Farenthold to "cover all costs" of special election
In a letter Wednesday, Gov. Greg Abbott told former U.S. Rep. Blake Farenthold he should return $84,000 that he used to settle a sexual harassment claim to taxpayers by funding a June 30 special election to finish his term. Full Story
![Gov. Greg Abbott (left) and former U.S. Rep. Blake Farenthold, R-Corpus Christi.]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera: Abbott/Bob Daemmrich: Farenthold -
Cannabis oil, special elections and redistricting (podcast)
On this week's TribCast, Ross talked to Evan, Patrick, Alex and Democratic congressional candidate Dr. Christine Eady Mann about the upcoming runoffs, a hurried special election coming up, Texas redistricting litigation in the U.S. Supreme Court, and epilepsy patients' struggles to get medical cannabis oil. Full Story
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Credit: Emily Albracht / Todd Wiseman -
Federal judge says Trump administration must allow new DACA applications
U.S. District Judge John D. Bates ruled Tuesday that the administration's decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program was never fully explained and could not be justified. However, Bates did allow for a 90-day hold on his ruling “to afford [the Department of Homeland Security] an opportunity to better explain its view that DACA is unlawful.” Full Story
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![Sister Janet Gildea of the Catholic Diocese of El Paso shows her support for DACA recipients during a rally in El Paso on March 5, 2018. Several rallies were held across the country to urge lawmakers to act on DACA, including a gathering in Washington, D.C.]()
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Beto O'Rourke to major Democratic super PAC donor: "Thanks, but no thanks"
Tom Steyer, one of the biggest Democratic donors in the country, openly mulled spending on O'Rourke's behalf via his environmental super PAC, NextGen America. Full Story
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![U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke, D-El Paso, a Democratic candidate for U.S. Senator, talks to supporters at a rally and town hall meeting at the Old Texas Brewing Company in Burleson on Saturday Feb. 24, 2018.]()
Credit: Robert Hart for The Texas Tribune -
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott schedules June 30 special election to fill U.S. Rep. Blake Farenthold's seat
Gov. Greg Abbott has called a June 30 special election to replace former U.S. Rep. Blake Farenthold, R-Corpus Christi. The candidate filing deadline is Friday. Farenthold abruptly resigned in April. Full Story
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![Then-U.S. Rep. Blake Farenthold arrives to a House Judiciary Committee hearing in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 13, 2017.]()
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Puzzling shapes: Travel across this gerrymandered Texas district
The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments Tuesday in a Texas redistricting case that has flagged two congressional districts and nine Texas House districts. Here's a closer look at one of the districts in question: U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett's curiously shaped 35th Congressional District. Full Story
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How a fluke win diminished the political clout of Hispanic voters in this congressional district
Two congressional districts are part of a Texas redistricting case the U.S. Supreme Court will take up Tuesday. Here's a detailed look at what's at issue in one of them: the 27th Congressional District. Full Story
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![The Mirador del la Flor, or Overlook of the Flower, unveiled in 1997, honors musician Selena Quintanilla-Perez. The monument is located in downtown Corpus Christi overlooking the marina.]()
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Attorney General Ken Paxton sides with restaurants, retailers on enforcement of "Barbecue Bill"
A nonbinding opinion issued Monday by Attorney General Ken Paxton continues a battle between lawmakers, restaurants and the Texas Department of Agriculture over the regulation of scales used to measure food. Full Story
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Credit: Callie Richmond for The Texas Tribune -
Migrant caravan prompts Trump administration to send more attorneys, judges to border
The caravan of Central Americans through Mexico to the U.S. border happens annually, but this year’s drew the attention of President Donald Trump and resulted in his call to send the National Guard to the border. Full Story
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![A Border Patrol agent closes a gate at the Eagle Point development in Eagle Pass.]()
Credit: Robin Jerstad for The Texas Tribune -
Judge dismisses Dallas Republicans' lawsuit to kick Democrats off the November ballot
Republicans said the Democratic county chair never signed the candidates' ballot applications. Democrats called the suit a frivolous partisan attack. Full Story
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![Primary election day at a polling place in South Austin on March 6, 2018.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
Shutdown of Texas schools probe shows Trump administration pullback on civil rights
The U.S. Department of Education was investigating why black students in Bryan, Texas, are almost four times as likely as white students to be suspended. Then Betsy DeVos took over. Full Story
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![U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos testifies to the House Appropriations Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Subcommittee on the FY2019 budget request for the Department of Education on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on March 20, 2018.]()
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Medical cannabis oil is legal in Texas, but epilepsy patients still struggle
For Texans with severe epilepsy, a new treatment recently became legal: medical cannabis oil. As the state’s first dispensaries open, we followed two families trying the medication to reduce seizures. Watch our video documentary, “Out of Options.” Full Story
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Fifth Texas health commission official out amid contracting woes
Ron Pigott, the Texas Health and Human Services Commission's deputy executive commissioner for procurement and contracting services, is the latest person to leave the agency amid a shake-up over contract mismanagement. Full Story
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![Deputy Commissioner Ron Pigott of the Texas Dept. of Health & Human Services, right, and Executive Commissioner Charles Smith appear before the interim House State Affairs Committee on Aug. 15, 2016, at the Texas Capitol.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich