Months after Sutherland Springs, Sen. John Cornyn and Texas colleagues push improved gun background checks into law
Cornyn, the most powerful Texan in Congress, attached the measure to a $1.3 trillion omnibus spending bill. Full Story
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Abby Livingston joined The Texas Tribune in 2014 as the publication's first Washington bureau chief, and departed August 2022. In this role, she covered members in the Texas congressional delegation and campaigns back in the home state. A seventh-generation Texan, Abby grew up in Fort Worth and graduated from the University of Texas at Austin. Prior to the Tribune, Abby worked for NBC, CNN, National Journal and Roll Call. At the Tribune, she won the 2017 National Press Club Award for Washington regional reporting and the Society of Professional Journalists' 2018 Sigma Delta Chi Award for Washington correspondence. Abby is a contributing writer to the Almanac of American Politics and frequently appears on MSNBC, CNN and Sirius XM radio. She also had a role on an episode of "The Bold and The Beautiful." In keeping with the Trib’s great history of hiring softball stars, Abby is a three-time MVP (the most in game history) for The Bad News Babes, the women’s press softball team that takes on female members of Congress in the annual Congressional Women’s Softball breast cancer charity game.
Cornyn, the most powerful Texan in Congress, attached the measure to a $1.3 trillion omnibus spending bill. Full Story
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee telegraphed its preferences Thursday in two primary runoffs for U.S. House seats in Texas, one month after its effort to torpedo a Houston Democrat's congressional bid appeared to backfire. Full Story
The massive spending bill Congress passed Thursday includes $1.6 billion allocated for a border wall but fell far short of the Trump administration's demands, and Democrats were able to exact significant restrictions on the wall's construction. Full Story
Leaders in the U.S. Senate, including one of the two senators from Texas, have spent the past two days issuing a warning to President Donald Trump: Do not fire special counsel Robert Mueller. Full Story
U.S. Rep. Blake Farenthold, R-Corpus Christi, previously announced his retirement in December following renewed sexual harassment accusations against his office. Full Story
The current energy secretary and former Texas governor's name is being floated as Trump mulls another major shakeup in his cabinet. Full Story
The Wichita Falls native's departure comes after a year of escalating tensions between Tillerson and President Donald Trump. Full Story
Two Democratic Hispanic women – former El Paso County Judge Veronica Escobar and state Sen. Sylvia Garcia of Houston – just declared victory in open congressional races and are widely expected to win the seats outright in November. Full Story
While state Sen. Sylvia Garcia and Veronica Escobar secured the Democratic nominations for their congressional races, state Sen. Van Taylor won the GOP nod for his North Texas race. Other Texas congressional races will head runoffs. Full Story
Activist and journalist Laura Moser secured a spot in the party's primary runoff to take on Republican U.S. Rep. John Culberson in the fall, despite national Democrats taking the rare step of releasing opposition research on her last month. Full Story