The latest Congress news from The Texas Tribune.
Today, Gov. Rick Perry added two more issues — voter ID legislation and a call for a constitutional amendment requiring a balanced federal budget — to his list of "emergency items" that state legislators can begin deliberating on right away. Full Story
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Ted Cruz, who served as Texas Solicitor General from 2003 to 2008, is the latest to officially throw in for the race to replace GOP U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison. Full Story
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The race to replace outgoing U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison may only be days old, but at least one candidate in the crowded field is already pulling out the big guns. Full Story
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Minutes after learning of U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison's decision not to seek re-election, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst demurred when asked whether he would run for her seat. Full Story
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The Democratic congressman from El Paso on what life will be like with the Republicans in control of the U.S. House, why the information released by WikiLeaks shouldn't be public, whether we should be sending troops to Mexico and why Gov. Rick Perry talks so much about spillover violence. Full Story
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The 112th Congress will convene Wednesday with new faces at the helm of a number House committees. Jennifer Stayton of KUT News talked with U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith, who will take over as chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, about the issues on which he expects to find bipartisan support, the assertion that Americans won't work certain jobs and why he supports a repeal of the new health care law. Full Story
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Texas lawmakers have vowed to cut their way to a balanced budget, in the face of a shortfall that could be as high as $25 billion. But their task pales compared to the federal government, which ran a deficit of almost $ 1.3 trillion last fiscal year. As KUT’s Matt Largey reports, a lot's at stake for Austin when the next Congress gets down to business on the next federal budget. Full Story
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For the seventh consecutive decade, Texas will gain seats in the U.S. House of Representatives after the decennial apportionment process, which means extra clout after the 2012 elections. With Republicans in control of redrawing the state's congressional districts — and adding the four new seats — they stand to benefit the most. Full Story
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U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Tyler, speaks out against "don't ask, don't tell" with a story about his time in the military — when an “overt homosexual” soldier misread a signal, apparently, and went to the wrong “straight” soldier’s bunk. Full Story
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Texas won big Tuesday with the release of 2010 census data. Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune takes a look at the numbers, which will have legislators redrawing state maps to add four new congressional seats. Full Story
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Texas won big Tuesday with the release of 2010 census data. Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune takes a look at the numbers, which will have legislators redrawing state maps to add four congressional seats. Full Story
Texas will get four extra seats in the U.S. Congress in the decennial apportionment process, bringing the total to 36, the U.S. Census Bureau announced today. Full Story
In his first competitive House race analysis for 2012, Nostradamus-on-the-Potomac Charlie Cook only lists two Texas congressional seats as potentially in play. One of them is not CD-17. Full Story
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For lower-ranking Republicans who would like to be higher-ranking and Democrats who barely remember ever having a shot at winning a statewide office, U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison's inscrutability about her future plans is getting to be a bit much. Full Story
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It was a bad Election Night for residents of the largest city in McLennan County. After years of regional dominance, their congressional seat belongs to Bryan, halfway to Houston; their state senate seat is 86 miles away in Granbury; and one of their House seats has moved three counties east, to Centerville. Full Story
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After watching his party lose 61 seats in the recent midterm elections, did U.S. Rep. Gene Green, D-Houston, vote to stay the course or to give the boot to current Democratic House leadership? The world may never know. Full Story
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U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison says she will join U.S. Sen. John Cornyn in calling for a ban on all Congressional earmark spending. In the past, both used the controversial budget maneuver to funnel hundreds of millions of dollars back to Texas. Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports. Full Story
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Full audio and audience Q&A from our TribLive interview with U.S. Rep. Gene Green, D-Houston. Full Story
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For the 16th event in our TribLive series, I interviewed the Democratic U.S. Congressman from Houston about why his party got slaughtered on Election Day, whether Nancy Pelosi should continue in a leadership role, why the Obama administration has been forced to play defense and what health care reform should look like going forward. Full Story
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During his TribLive interview Wednesday morning, U.S. Rep. Gene Green, D-Houston, was asked if — in light of his party's Election Day disemboweling — he would support outgoing Speaker Nancy Pelosi's bid for minority leader. Full Story
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