On August 27, I talked with U.S. Rep. Michael Burgess, R-Lewisville, state Rep. Donna Howard, D-Austin, and Kyle Janek, executive commissioner of Texas Health and Human Services, about where the state goes next on health care. Full Story
At last Friday's quarterly meeting of the Texas Lyceum, I interviewed U.S. Rep. Michael Burgess, R-Lewisville, about the future of Medicaid and Medicare, Texans without insurance and the likely fate of the Affordable Care Act. Full Story
Gov. Rick Perry will hit the city he vows to shake up this week for a presidential candidate forum and meetings with the lawmakers on Capitol Hill whose salaries and work he plans to slash. Full Story
The breakdown raised new questions about the way forward for Congress and the trickle-down effects for politics and federal spending in Texas. Full Story
Rep. Jerry Madden, R-Plano, won't seek an 11th term in the Texas House, and other news from the campaigns. Madden is the 22nd House member to give up his seat this season. Full Story
Some of the Republican U.S. Senate candidates fight to appeal to the right, and a domestic partner becomes the centerpiece in a race for the State Board of Education. Full Story
Texans have elected Rick Perry governor three times. But not all of the state's prominent Republicans are supporting his presidential campaign, which could be politically risky, whether he makes it to the White House or comes home. Full Story
Congress — including much of the Texas delegation — is poised to approve three trade agreements as soon as today that could boost the state’s exports. Full Story
In the latest round of the political feud over $830 million in federal funding, House Republicans, led by U.S. Rep. Michael Burgess, R-Lewisville, passed a bill Saturday that attempts to block the enforcement of the Texas-specific Education Jobs amendment. Full Story
That "certain Texas congressman" whom Gov. Rick Perry called out in his address today for blocking federal education money responds. U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett says Perry's jibe "says less about the state of the state and more about his own state of denial." Full Story
From day one, the Tribune has put a premium on events as a very vibrant, dynamically interactive form of journalism: always before an audience, always open to the public, always on the record, usually free and whenever possible resulting in recorded content that could be posted on our web site for everyone to see, not just those lucky ducks who happened to be in the room. Usually these so-called TribLive events have been conversations with high elected officials or other newsmakers, and, indeed, they've occasionally made news. But more often than not they've simply been a way to engage with people in power, to hold them accountable, to ask them questions, to get to know them better. Today we present videos of 21 of those conversations — our way of saying thanks to the men and women who've done their time in the hot seat. Full Story
At stake in next Tuesday's elections are powerful committee chairmanships in the U.S. House of Representatives, a few of which will likely go to members of the Texas delegation if the GOP does as predicted and wins back the majority. We've built an interactive chart that takes a closer look at which of our Republican congressmen are poised to wield the gavel — Smith? Hall? Hensarling? Burgess? Barton? — and how public policy could be impacted here and elsewhere. Full Story
For the 14th event in our TribLive series, I interviewed the Republican congressman from Lewisville on the problems with federal health care reform, what's wrong with the way Barack Obama and the Democrats got it passed and how he'll lead the charge to repeal it — if his party takes back control of the U.S. House. Full Story