U.S. Rep. August Pfluger benefits from fund drive promoting third Trump term
A Trump official says the president did not approve the fundraising message connected to the Republican Study Committee. Full Story
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![Representative August Pfluger, R-San Angelo, arrives for a meeting with Texas Republicans at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2023.]()
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FEC clears Ted Cruz of wrongdoing over podcast syndicator’s donations to super PAC
The agency dismissed a campaign finance watchdog complaint after finding no evidence Cruz “solicited, directed, received, transferred, or spent the funds.” Full Story
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![U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz speaks during a bus tour campaign stop at Tia Juanita's Fish Camp in Longview on Saturday Oct. 5, 2024.]()
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Texas could sell 100 miles of border to feds, Abbott says
Abbott is in Washington this week to lobby Congress for $11 billion to compensate Texas for money spent on his Operation Lone Star, to secure the border during the Biden Administration. Full Story
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![Gov. Greg Abbott answers questions regarding Operation Lone Star, congressional leadership and his plans for Texas to work with the Trump administration among other things on Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025, at The Royal Sonesta Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.]()
Credit: Luke Johnson for The Texas Tribune -
Former TPPF leader Brooke Rollins confirmed by Senate for agriculture secretary
The Senate voted 72-28 to confirm her nomination. She easily sailed through the Senate Agriculture Committee earlier this month on a unanimous vote. Full Story
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![AFPI President & CEO and Former Director of the White House Domestic Policy Council Brooke Rollins, speaks during the America First Agenda Summit organized by America First Policy Institute AFPI, on July 25, 2022 in Washington, D.C.]()
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Rep. Roger Williams introduces bill to reimburse Texas for Operation Lone Star
The new bill reinforces Gov. Greg Abbott’s push for the federal government to repay the $11 billion Texas has paid for the border security operation. Full Story
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![Shelby Park, occupied by the Texas National Guard and other state agencies, is seen along the U.S.-Mexico border on Friday, Feb. 7, 2025, in Eagle Pass.]()
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As Texas gets redder, John Cornyn could face toughest primary season of his career
Attorney General Ken Paxton, who has hinted at a possible run, has more support than the four-term senator among Republicans, polling shows. Full Story
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![U.S. Sen. John Cornyn speaks with members of the press during a visit to the Republican Party of Texas convention on May 24, 2024 in San Antonio.]()
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Former Texas lawmaker Scott Turner confirmed to lead HUD
Turner served in the Texas House from 2013-2017. Full Story
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![Trump Nominee for Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Eric Scott Turner testifies at a Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs hearing in the Dirksen Senate office building in Washington, DC on Thursday, January 16, 2025. (Photo by Annabelle Gordon/Sipa USA)]()
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Donald Trump’s push to freeze federal funds sparks confusion in Texas
Texas cities, counties, higher education institutions and nonprofits clambered Tuesday to gauge the potential fallout from the suspension, later blocked temporarily by a federal judge. Full Story
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![U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks on AI infrastructure at the Roosevelt room at White House in Washington, U.S., January 21, 2025.]()
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Texas Republicans in Congress propose bills to codify Trump executive orders
Ending birthright citizenship, increasing oil drilling, and leaving WHO are just a few bills the state’s Republicans pushed in Congress this month. Full Story
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![A U.S. Capitol Police officer stands guard at the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 21, 2021.]()
Credit: Eric Lee for The Texas Tribune -
Senate probe finds poor medical care at CBP facilities
The Senate Judiciary Committee launched its investigation following the 2023 death of an 8-year-old girl at a facility in Harlingen. Full Story
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![Unaccompanied minor asylum seekers are apprehended by Customs and Border Protection after crossing the border in Roma on Aug. 3, 2021.]()
Credit: Sophie Park/The Texas Tribune -
Brooke Rollins says she'll shield farmers from impacts of Trump's tariffs in ag secretary nomination hearing
Rollins previously led the Texas Public Policy Foundation and served under Gov. Rick Perry. Full Story
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![Brooke Rollins, President and CEO of the America First Policy Institute, speaks at a rally for then- Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Oct. 27, 2024. Rollins is President Trump's choice to run the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture.]()
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Former Texas congressman John Ratcliffe confirmed as CIA director
Ratcliffe is a native of Heath, Texas, where he served as mayor from 2004 to 2012. Full Story
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![John Ratcliffe, Pres. Donald Trump's selection for director of the Central Intelligence Agency, testifies before a Senate (Select) Intelligence Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington on Jan. 15, 2025.]()
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Bill to detain undocumented immigrants accused of even minor crimes passes with some Texas Democratic help
The bill, named for Laken Riley, a Georgia student killed by an immigrant, adds legislative muscle to President Trump’s immigration enforcement push. Full Story
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![U.S. Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) officers stand near an aircraft on which Venezuelan migrants will be repatriated as part of an immigration enforcement process, at the Valley International Airport, in Harlingen, on Oct. 18, 2023.]()
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Trump praises Abbott at inauguration, promises to militarize border and build wall
Texas has already militarized the border under Gov. Greg Abbott’s Operation Lone Star. Full Story
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![U.S. President Donald Trump gives his inaugural address during the 60th Presidential Inauguration in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Monday, Jan. 20, 2025.]()
Credit: Julia Demaree Nikhinson/Pool via REUTERS -
Trump promised mass deportations. Here’s one way they could quietly happen.
The new administration could use the existing system of federal agents, local police and jails to funnel more people into the deportation pipeline. Full Story
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![Migrants from Central America that were apprehended crossing the Rio Grande in Brownsville were flown to El Paso for processing and then deported to Mexico across the Paso del Norte International Bridge on March 16, 2021.]()
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Former Texas congressman vows to keep politics out of CIA as director
President-elect Donald Trump has tapped former Republican U.S. Rep. John Ratcliffe to lead the CIA. Full Story
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![John Ratcliffe, selected by President-Elect Donald Trump to be director of the CIA Director, meets with U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (not pictured) in Washington on Dec. 11, 2024.]()
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Texans only Democrats in Congress to vote for bill restricting trans athletes
Republicans accused Rep. Vicente Gonzalez of supporting gender transitions for children throughout the 2024 election cycle, which he said took a political toll. Full Story
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![Demonstrators protest SB14, a bill to eradicate gender transition healthcare for trans kids in Texas, while the bill is heard in the House at the state Capitol on May 2, 2023.]()
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Will Republican control of Congress lead to updated ag laws? Texas farmers hope so.
The historical bipartisan legislation includes a bevy of policies from crop insurance to food stamps. Full Story
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![Cotton fields near the High Plains town of Ralls, about 30 miles east of Lubbock, on Wednesday, June 22, 2022. Like much of Texas, the High Plains and Panhandle are facing drought conditions and extraordinary heat.]()
Credit: Trace Thomas for The Texas Tribune -
Ted Cruz defends Trump’s pitch to acquire Greenland
Sen. Ted Cruz, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, stressed Greenland’s strategic location in the Arctic and its natural wealth of critical minerals. Full Story
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![Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) berates U.S. Secret Service Acting Director Ronald Rowe, during a hearing about the attempted assassination of ex-President Donald Trump at a campaign rally, convened by the Senate Judiciary and Homeland Security Committees, Washington, DC, July 30, 2024. One person was killed and two critically injured, but the former President sustained only a minor flesh wound. (Photo by Allison Bailey/NurPhoto)NO USE FRANCE]()
Credit: Allison Bailey via Reuters Conne -
U.S. Senate clears hurdle on bill to deport undocumented immigrants charged with minor crimes
The proposal requires immigration authorities to hold and deport immigrants charged with crimes like burglary, theft, larceny or shoplifting. Full Story
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![The U.S. Capitol looms in the background as a woman walks among flags at the Washington Monument in Washington D.C. on May 27, 2020.]()
Credit: REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque