The latest politics news from The Texas Tribune.
Sandra Bland's 2015 arrest, and death three days later in the Waller County Jail, remain catalysts for lawmakers, activists and policy experts seeking reforms in various facets of Texas criminal justice. Full Story
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Texas must continue drafting court-ordered plans to fix its broken foster care system, according to a new order from the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. Full Story
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U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz met with presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump Thursday and agreed to speak at the Republican National Convention later this month. Full Story
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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." Full Story
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U.S. Sen. John Cornyn thinks it would be a great idea to open the FBI’s investigative files on Hillary Clinton. But there's a reason for separating police and prosecutors and courts — and for separating all of them from politics. Full Story
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U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz shook up his Senate office Wednesday in moves that were widely viewed as aimed at positioning the Texas Republican for a future run for president. Full Story
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The state’s environmental regulatory agency on Wednesday rebuffed a coalition of border residents and environmental activists who hoped to halt a coal mine from expanding its operations near the Rio Grande. Full Story
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In a wide-ranging interview, Hank Whitman, the new commissioner overseeing Child Protective Services, explains how he thinks he can turn around a child welfare agency crippled by low morale, high turnover and a spate of high-profile child deaths. Full Story
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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton accepted more than $329,000 earmarked for his legal defense from wealthy donors and “family friends,” according to a newly released financial disclosure statement. Full Story
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In the span of a month, a Texas Senate seat will have been vacated and effectively filled, an unconventional turn of events that has Houston Democrats scrambling to replace one of their most venerated members. Full Story
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As Donald Trump moves to professionalize his presidential campaign, the presumptive Republican nominee is turning to a stable of top-flight operatives with ties to Texas and its junior U.S. senator. Full Story
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In the Roundup: The High Court overturns the state’s abortion regulations, the Texas Attorney General weighs in on the Fort Worth superintendent’s transgender policy and a new poll shows a little promise for the Clinton campaign in Texas. Full Story
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With two weeks to go before Texas is set to slash a program's funding that pays for therapy services for children with disabilities, therapy providers are announcing new support from state lawmakers to postpone the cuts. Full Story
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By the end of August, the Texas Department of Public Safety will be close to its goal of permanently placing 250 additional state troopers on the southern border. Full Story
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Recent polls show Hillary Clinton within single digits of Donald Trump in Texas. And Clinton herself said last month that she believed the state was flippable. Yet all signs point to Clinton ceding the state to Trump. Full Story
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It has been almost two months since Ted Cruz dropped out of the presidential race, and — at least publicly — his attitude toward the man who beat him has not changed. Full Story
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This week on The Ticket: Ben Philpott and Jay Root try to figure out whether or not the national GOP hand-wringing over Donald Trump has made its way to Texas Republicans. Full Story
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After questions about his own medical practice came to public attention, a member of one of Texas’ medical licensing boards has resigned from the position Gov. Greg Abbott appointed him to last month. Full Story
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Reprising a familiar theme from his abandoned presidential campaign, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz convened a hearing Tuesday and repeatedly charged that the Obama administration is "willfully blind" to the root of terrorism in the United States. Full Story
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In an advisory opinion, Attorney General Ken Paxton says the Fort Worth school superintendent exceeded his authority — and may have run afoul of state law — by issuing a policy to accommodate transgender students. Full Story
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