Patrick Svitek, The Texas Tribune The last time there was an open seat in Texas Senate District 15, it was 1982. The last time there was an open seat in Texas’ 18th Congressional District, it was 1989. Now, the heavily Democratic districts in Houston could be vacant again. It all …
Read More »U.S. Sues Texas After Gov. Greg Abbott Declines To Remove Floating Border Barrier
Noah Alcala Bach, The Texas Tribune The U.S. Justice Department announced Monday it is suing Texas and Gov. Greg Abbott after the state declined to remove the floating barrier deployed earlier this month on the Rio Grande near Eagle Pass. The lawsuit, filed in an Austin federal court, alleges the …
Read More »Texas Investigating Claim That DPS Troopers Were Told To Push Migrants Back Into The Rio Grande And Deny Them Water
Uriel J. García, The Texas Tribune A state trooper’s claims that superiors ordered officers at the border in Eagle Pass to push migrants back into the Rio Grande and deny them water has sparked a state investigation, the Texas Department of Public Safety said Tuesday. The trooper also reported that …
Read More »Supreme Court Rejects Texas Effort To Force Biden Administration To Change Deportation Policy
Uriel J. García, The Texas Tribune The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday ruled that Texas and Louisiana lacked legal standing to challenge the Biden administration’s priorities on who should be deported. In a 8-1 decision, the court found that even though the states lacked legal standing to sue in this …
Read More »Texas Gov. Greg Abbott Vetoes Bill That Would Give People With Disabilities New Option To Vote By Mail
Natalia Contreras, Votebeat and The Texas Tribune Gov. Greg Abbott on Saturday vetoed a bipartisan bill that would have expanded vote-by-mail access for people with disabilities — specifically people who are blind or paralyzed and need assistance marking their ballot. Advocates say Abbott’s veto of House Bill 3159 is a …
Read More »Here Are The Top Allegations That Led To Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s Impeachment
James Barragán, The Texas Tribune On a late-September Wednesday in 2020, several of Attorney General Ken Paxton’s highest-ranking deputies walked into the FBI’s Austin office to make an explosive accusation: Their boss, one of the state’s most influential Republicans, appeared to be dirty. Paxton, they said, had personally directed his …
Read More »Texas AG Ken Paxton Impeached, Suspended From Duties; Will Face Senate Trial
Zach Despart and James Barragán, The Texas Tribune Defying a last-minute appeal by former President Donald Trump, the Texas House voted overwhelmingly Saturday to impeach Attorney General Ken Paxton, temporarily removing him from office over allegations of misconduct that included bribery and abuse of office. The vote to adopt the …
Read More »Effort To Impeach Ken Paxton, Led By Fellow Republicans, Sets Off Political Earthquake In Texas
Patrick Svitek, The Texas Tribune For nearly a decade, Texas Republicans largely looked the other way as Attorney General Ken Paxton’s legal problems piled up. That abruptly changed this week. In revealing it had been secretly investigating Paxton since March — and then recommending his impeachment on Thursday — a …
Read More »Texas House Committee Recommends Impeachment Of Attorney General Ken Paxton
James Barragán, Robert Downen and Zach Despart, The Texas Tribune In an unprecedented move, a Texas House committee voted Thursday to recommend that Attorney General Ken Paxton be impeached and removed from office, citing a yearslong pattern of alleged misconduct and lawbreaking that investigators detailed one day earlier. During a …
Read More »Bill To Protect Against Hairstyle Discrimination Sent To Texas Governor
Alejandro Serrano, The Texas Tribune A bill that would ban race-based hair discrimination in Texas workplaces, schools and housing policies is headed to the governor after the Senate approved the bill Friday. Texas would become the latest state to enact the law in a movement that was inspired by the …
Read More »Texas State Rep. Bryan Slaton Resigns Ahead Of Expulsion Vote
James Barragán, The Texas Tribune Rep. Bryan Slaton resigned from the Texas House on Monday after an investigation determined that he had an inappropriate sexual relationship with a 19-year-old woman on his staff, providing her with enough alcohol before their encounter that she felt dizzy and had double vision. …
Read More »After Allen Shooting, Texas Republican Leaders Downplay Guns, Focus On Mental Health
Sneha Dey and Joshua Fechter, The Texas Tribune After a mass shooting on Saturday at an Allen outlet mall ended with eight people dead, Texas Republicans are doubling down on their resistance to gun control legislation. A gunman used an AR-15-style weapon to open fire on shoppers on Saturday …
Read More »Gunman Kills 8 People At A North Texas Outlet Mall
By Matthew Choi, The Texas Tribune A gunman killed eight people Saturday afternoon and wounded at least seven more after he opened fire at an outlet mall in Allen, creating a scene of panic and bloodshed in the latest mass shooting in Texas. The massacre ended when a police officer …
Read More »Dallas Democrat Colin Allred Announces 2024 Challenge To GOP Sen. Ted Cruz
Patrick Svitek and Matthew Choi, The Texas Tribune U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, D-Dallas, announced Wednesday he is challenging U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, for reelection. The third-term congressman made the announcement in a three-minute video posted on social media. The video touted Allred’s life story and congressional record — and …
Read More »FBI, Texas Authorities Search For Gunman Who Killed 5 Neighbors
Sneha Dey, The Texas Tribune Over 250 law enforcement officers are on a manhunt for the gunman who killed five of his neighbors late Friday night. The gunman went on a rampage with his AR-15-style rifle when his neighbors asked him to stop firing shots in his yard so their …
Read More »
Poli Alert Politics & Civics