The latest politics news from The Texas Tribune.
The bill is largely symbolic, as the Legislature is currently at a standstill, unable to move any legislation because House Democrats broke quorum two weeks ago when they fled to Washington, D.C., to block GOP voting bills. Full Story
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In a letter to the major general of the Texas National Guard, Abbott said “more manpower is needed” at the border. Full Story
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Paxton is facing a primary challenge from Bush, the land commissioner, as well as Eva Guzman, the former state Supreme Court justice. Full Story
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The warrant to apprehend state Rep. Philip Cortez is the first one signed by the speaker since more than 50 House Democrats left the state to block Republicans from having the quorum needed to pass legislation during the special legislative session. Full Story
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Three of the Democratic legislators who went to Washington, D.C., to deny the Texas House a quorum have been invited to detail their concerns at a specially called hearing on the contentious legislation that includes new restrictions on voting. Full Story
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The move is largely symbolic as the legislative session has been ground to a halt by the quorum-busting Democrats who fled Texas 11 days ago. Even if the Democrats returned, Abbott would have to add the item to his special session agenda for it to have a chance at passing. Full Story
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Despite promises from Abbott that transparency in the crowdfunding process for the border wall would be paramount, donor information released to The Texas Tribune for the first week of collections was bereft of any way to verify the identities of the majority of the donors. Full Story
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Four prominent lawmakers — one each with ties to Baylor University, Texas Christian University, Texas Tech University and Texas A&M University — met with Gov. Greg Abbott’s staff Thursday, one day after news broke that the University of Texas and the University of Oklahoma had reached out to the Southeastern Conference about joining. Full Story
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Over the past few days, the Texas delegation has met with nearly all of the most powerful Democrats in Washington, save for President Joe Biden. But there is not yet clear movement to revive the congressional Democrats’ federal voting legislation. Full Story
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Members left Texas about 10 days ago and have said they plan to stay out of state until after the special session ends Aug. 6. Full Story
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Border-crossing immigrants are being arrested by Texas troopers on state charges like trespassing, and they’re starting to trickle into a prison emptied to house them. Full Story
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Ellzey and Wright are vying to succeed her late husband, U.S. Rep. Ron Wright, R-Arlington, in the 6th District in North Texas. Early voting for the runoff started Monday and ends Friday. Full Story
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Abbott reiterated Tuesday that Texas schoolchildren will not face mask requirements as they return to school later this summer. Full Story
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The Texas House Democratic Caucus, which has said it plans to not identify lawmakers who test positive, has started additional precautionary measures, such as providing daily rapid tests. Full Story
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Beckley unveiled her plans in a video filmed inside a hotel room in the nation’s capital, where state House Democrats fled earlier this month to break quorum in protest of Republicans’ priority elections bill. Full Story
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Nearly 150 speakers (including 20 more biggies revealed today) across more than 50 sessions. Four days of virtual programs. Two jampacked days of in-person programs. Everything streamed. Everything on demand. Are you as excited as we are? Full Story
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Houston state Rep. Garnet Coleman has been at the forefront of voting and social justice battles for decades and helped lead the 2003 flight of Democratic legislators to Oklahoma. Not being with his colleagues who went to Washington, D.C., has been agonizing, he says. Full Story
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The move comes after bills to do so were unsuccessful during the regular legislative session — and after Abbott did not include them on his agenda for the ongoing special session. Full Story
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Increased oversight and lack of funding mean hundreds of children spend their nights in hotels and churches and on office floors. Full Story
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The legislative Democrats who decamped from Texas to Washington, D.C., to block a voting bill need public attention to pull the argument their way — and that's going to be harder to get after last week’s first news of their quorum-busting. Full Story
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