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☆ With New Voting Bills, Texas Legislature Targets Elections in Democratic Stronghold
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-28 | by ( J. David Goodman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

Why It Matters: Harris County could tilt the power balance in Texas. Harris County, the state’s most populous county, has become a reliable Democratic stronghold. Senate Bill 1750 eliminates the appointed position of elections administrator, which has been in place in Harris County only since late 2020. Yet another bill, House Bill 1243, increases the penalty for illegal voting from a misdemeanor to a felony. The bills invite new scrutiny of elections, especially in Harris County, where officials would be expected to revamp their system just months before important elections.

☆ Biden and McCarthy race to sell their debt ceiling deal to lawmakers before the government runs out of money
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-28 | by ( Kevin Liptak | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

“No one claiming to be a conservative could justify a YES vote,” wrote Rep. Bob Good, Republican of Virginia, on Twitter. Biden spoke Saturday with the top Democrat in the House, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, who will be responsible for marshaling his members. He said he hopes the House will vote as soon as Wednesday, allowing precious little time for each party’s leaders to secure sufficient support. As part of the deal, the White House has also appeared to have made concessions to House Republican negotiators on work requirements for people receiving food stamps. The current work requirement for the program, formally called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP, only applies to certain adults between the ages 18-49.

LUBBOCK, Texas, May 27 (Reuters) - The Texas House on Saturday voted to impeach Attorney General Ken Paxton, a conservative firebrand and ally of former President Donald Trump who has been accused by his fellow Republicans of abuse of office. The Texas Senate is in recess until 1 p.m. CDT (1800 GMT) on Sunday, according to its website. "I look forward to a quick resolution in the Texas Senate, where I have full confidence the process will be fair and just," he said. "Attorney General Paxton continuously and blatantly violated laws, rules, policies and procedures," Representative David Spiller said ahead of the vote. The five-member Texas House General Investigating Committee voted unanimously on Thursday to recommend that Paxton be impeached and removed from office.

☆ A Texas House committee accused Ken Paxton of some serious misconduct. Now it wants the Trump-backed attorney general impeached.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-27 | by ( Hannah Getahun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton could soon be out of a job after being accused of several crimes. The Texas House will vote on an impeachment resolution on Saturday. Olivia Julianna, a Texas-based activist and political strategist who Paxton once blocked on Twitter, told Insider that in Texas "Ken Paxton and crooked are synonymous." Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan was vocally opposed, calling it an improper use of taxpayer dollars. Phelan then helped lead a House Investigation into the allegations against Paxton due to the funding request, a spokesperson told The New York Times.

Ambassador and South Carolina Republican Gov. Nikki Haley has walked a long and windy road when it comes to her one-time boss, former President Donald Trump. DeSantis’ announcement nears: NBC News’ Dasha Burns reports that Florida Republican Gov. And the New York Times reports DeSantis has been telling donors that out of the three “credible” candidates for president (Trump, himself and President Biden), only he and Biden can win. Raising eyebrows: Virginia GOP Gov.

☆ McCarthy blocks Tlaib event marking Palestinian displacement, known as Nakba
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Haley Talbot | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Many Arabs, especially Palestinians, commemorate the displacement every year as Nakba Day. McCarthy intervened late Tuesday to reserve the Capitol Visitor Center space where Tlaib – the first Palestinian-American US congresswoman – was going to host a Wednesday event, according to a spokesperson for McCarthy. Tlaib responded in a statement, saying, “Speaker McCarthy wants to rewrite history and erase the existence and truth of the Palestinian people, but he has failed to do so. “We fully plan on moving forward with this event and we will continue to ensure that Palestinian voices are heard. McCarthy will instead lead a bipartisan briefing celebrating the 75th anniversary of the US-Israel relationship instead, his office says.

☆ Texas Republicans Push New Voting Restrictions Aimed at Houston
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( J. David Goodman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

HOUSTON — Across Harris County, an emerging Democratic stronghold in reliably red Texas, roadside signs posted last November urged harried drivers to vote Republican. A celebrity furniture salesman, beloved by many Houstonians, cut ads with the Republican candidate for the top county administrator’s post. Now, the county is in the cross hairs of the Republican-dominated state Legislature, which is trying to exert more control over voting there. Lawmakers are pushing dozens of new election bills, including limits on polling places, felony penalties for illegal voting and a mechanism for the state to order new elections when voting problems occur in Texas counties with more than 2.7 million people, a category that includes only Harris County. While local leaders acknowledge issues, evidence has not been presented that they affected the results.

☆ Members of George Santos' own party are done with him, saying he's 'an embarrassment' and they're 'surprised he's still here'
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Grace Eliza Goodwin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Members of George Santos' own party have called on him to step aside. Santos turned himself in to federal authorities on Wednesday and has been charged with 13 criminal counts. The nation's focusing on solutions that matter, not George Santos." "I'm surprised he's still here," Montana Rep. Ryan Zinke, a Republican, told CNN. George Santos turned himself in to federal authorities on Wednesday and has been charged with 13 crimes, including money laundering, theft of public funds, and wire fraud.

☆ In Shift, Texas House Advances Bill to Raise Age to Buy Assault Weapons
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( J. David Goodman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

AUSTIN, Texas — What had for years been a solid wall of opposition among Texas Republicans to gun control showed small signs of cracking on Monday as a bipartisan committee of the State Legislature voted to advance a bill raising the minimum age to purchase AR-15-style rifles. The preliminary vote was remarkable in a State Capitol dominated by Republicans, all the more so because it had been entirely unexpected: When the day began, the 13-member committee had not been scheduled to meet at all. But the killing of eight people, including several children, at a shopping center in Allen, Texas, on Saturday has exerted an unexpectedly raw and emotional force on the Legislature. “It was the most emotional vote I’ve ever taken, and I started crying after I made it,” said State Representative Sam Harless, a Republican from the Houston area who voted to keep the bill moving toward the House floor. “That means my heart told me I made the right vote.”

☆ Greg Abbott's gun law avoidance strategy in the aftermath of the Texas mall shooting
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Zachary B. Wolf | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

“I hear our governor talking about mental health issues,” Spainhouer said of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott during a Monday appearance on “CNN This Morning.”“We’re always going to have mental health issues. “Until we take some definite actions, we’re changing the narrative about it being just a mental health issue and start doing something about the guns,” he added. Texas ranks last on mental health accessIt was a major understatement for Abbott to say that Texas merely lags on mental health. A report from the nonprofit Mental Health America places the state at or near the bottom of multiple metrics for mental health care.

☆ Republicans dismiss fears that their debt ceiling bill would make the housing crisis worse for 1 million families as 'scaremongering'
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-07 | by ( Eliza Relman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

House Republicans' debt ceiling bill would cut significant funding from federal housing services. HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge said the agency would suffer "the most devastating impacts in HUD's history" if the funding cuts in the bill are made law. He went on, "It's being positioned as congressional Republicans are heartless because they want to pass these spending cuts. "The House bill reduces spending to the levels we had in 2022. The last I checked, 2022 was not a horrid apocalypse sweeping across our country," Cruz told Insider on Wednesday.

☆ Ted Cruz defends three-times-a-week podcasting side-hustle, says it's a 'critical part of the job'
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Ted Cruz's highest-profile 2024 Democratic challenger says the Texas senator is podcasting too much. But Cruz argues that hosting a thrice-weekly podcast is "critical" to being effective as a senator. "That is not somehow peripheral to doing the job," said Cruz. The Texas senator began the project over three years ago, during former President Donald Trump's first impeachment trial. Though some other lawmakers also host podcasts, Cruz is well ahead of the pack in terms of the sheer volume of podcasting he does.

☆ Opinion | Religion Has Friends Among Judges in High Places
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-22 | by ( Linda Greenhouse | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

Emergency room doctors have to help patients who have been in lots of different life situations, including life situations that the doctors might not approve of. If treating a patient makes you feel “complicit” in whatever the patient did to come to the emergency room, being an emergency room doctor is not the job for you. And, I’ll add, it’s remarkable that three federal appellate judges gave these plaintiffs a green light. But another portion of the opinion is a specific and special gift to employers who claim that their opposition to Obamacare’s mandatory coverage provision is motivated by religion. The Affordable Care Act “forces these plaintiffs to choose between purchasing health insurance that violates their religious beliefs and foregoing conventional health insurance altogether,” he wrote.

☆ Russian soldiers 'forced me to dig my own grave': US lawmakers hear accounts of Russian war crimes
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Jennifer Hansler | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —A 57-year-old Ukrainian woman from Kherson testified to US lawmakers that Russian forces beat her, threatened to rape her and forced her to dig her own grave. Lyubov’s story was one of two powerful and horrific testimonies shared with House Foreign Affairs Committee members at a hearing about Russian war crimes Wednesday. Ukrainian Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin, who also testified at the hearing, said his office registered around 80,000 incidents of potential war crimes, and to date has convicted 31 Russians for war crimes in Ukrainian courts. “These are more than war crimes. Roman was able to make his way back to Ukraine with the help of volunteers from the country, the representative said.

☆ Ted Cruz is fundraising off his bill limiting senators to two terms in office while running for his third term
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Nicole Gaudiano | Kimberly Leonard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Ted Cruz is fundraising off two-term limits for senators while he's running for his third. The contributions benefit Ted Cruz for Senate and the National Republican Senatorial Committee. "I want to know what YOU think about my Constitutional Amendment to impose TERM LIMITS on Senators and House Members." "Term limits will bring ACCOUNTABILITY that is LONG overdue in Washington, and I'm fighting for the American people to get this done," he wrote. "I've long said that I don't support unilateral term limits – just one person or one side unilaterally restricting themselves when the rules don't apply across the board," he said.

LLANO, Texas, April 13 (Reuters) - A rural Texas county's public libraries will remain open while a court battle continues over whether local officials can remove books deemed inappropriate, commissioners decided on Thursday. "Does Llano, Texas, want to be known as the town that closed the public library?" No state bans more books than Texas, according to PEN America. "Public libraries are not meant to serve particular ideological factions," said Kasey Meehan, who directs the "Freedom to Read" project of PEN America. Reporting by Evan Garcia in Llano, Texas, and Brad Brooks in Lubbock, Texas; editing by Donna Bryson and Sonali PaulOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Clarence Thomas' billionaire benefactor Harlan Crow has also spent thousands boosting Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, and an anti-Trump super PAC
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

They include Marco Rubio's 2016 presidential campaign, major Senate campaigns, and an anti-Trump PAC. The Texas billionaire also gave $50,000 in 2015 to "Right to Rise," a super PAC associated with Jeb Bush. Senate super PAC spendingIn addition to being a major super PAC spender at the presidential level, Crow has given thousands to outside spending groups supporting the party's Senate candidates over the years. He also gave $50,000 to "Show Me Values PAC," a super PAC set up to prevent the scandal-plagued former Gov. And in 2016, he gave $55,000 to "Let America Work," a super PAC boosting Sen. Ron Johnson against former Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold.

☆ Opinion: Is Tucker Carlson the reason Texas Gov. Abbott says he’ll pardon a convicted killer?
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( Dean Obeidallah | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Abbott’s pardon announcement came after he was goaded to do so by figures on the right – from Fox News host Tucker Carlson to the chairman of the Texas Republican Party to Kyle Rittenhouse. There are conflicting accounts as to whether Foster pointed his weapon at Perry or Perry made the first move. They are rioting outside my apartment complex.” Defense attorneys said that Foster had threatened Perry by pointing his gun at Perry. Then Carlson and others on the right began to pressure Abbott to issue a pardon, because they didn’t agree with the verdict. On his Fox News show on Friday night, Carlson called on Abbott to pardon Perry, arguing that the defendant had acted in self-defense – despite the jury rejecting that argument.

☆ House Republicans vow to avenge Trump indictment by going after 'spineless weasel' Alvin Bragg and President Joe Biden
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Warren Rojas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Former President Donald Trump was charged with 34 felony counts Tuesday in Manhattan. House Republicans incensed by the arraignment began spitballing ways to fight back. "This day cannot be forgotten," Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona wrote online in a post bemoaning the "unequivocal persecution of Donald Trump." Meanwhile, House GOP Conference chair Rep. Elise Stefanik predicted that all those seeking to politically harm Trump with this trial had actually sealed their own fates. "President Trump will defeat this latest witch-hunt, defeat Joe Biden, and will be sworn in as President of the United States of America in January 2025," she said in a press release.

☆ Texas will play an outsized role in selecting the next GOP presidential nominee. So Trump isn't leaving anything to chance.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-01 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Trump has previously indicated that he wouldn't leave the 2024 presidential race if he was indicted. Among the bold-named Texas figures who have signed on to Trump's 2024 campaign are Lt. Gov. Greg Abbott, who has been floated as a potential 2024 presidential candidate, was also not on the list. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas won his home state in the 2016 Republican presidential primary. Cruz took home the lion's share of Texas' GOP delegates in what is a winner-takes-most system.

☆ Asian Americans are anxious about hate crimes. TikTok ban rhetoric isn’t helping
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-26 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +15 min

And the Chinese government’s authoritarian approach to numerous other issues clashes with important American values, said many Asian Americans interviewed for this article. Concerns about China have gone mainstream as US national security officials and lawmakers have publicly grappled with state-backed ransomware attacks and other hacking attempts. People rallied during a "Stop Asian Hate" march to protest against anti-Asian hate crimes on Foley Square in New York, on April 4, 2021. But to Chu, the incident was an example of the way politics surrounding China, technology and national security have fueled anti-Asian sentiment. “Asian American issues are American issues, and all Americans deserve to be treated with respect.

☆ Texas' GOP leaders are skipping Trump's Waco rally because of 'prior commitments' as possible indictments dog his 2024 campaign
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Warren Rojas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Former President Donald Trump is holding a 2024 campaign rally in Waco, Texas on Saturday. None of the 30 Texas Republicans Insider contacted about the event said they were going. Cheung was also non-committal about whether former Trump rally companions like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia or failed Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake would pop up in Texas. Other Texas Republicans who said they'd be unable to huddle with Trump for unspecified reasons include Rep. Michael McCaul, and state GOP chairman Matt Rinaldi. The bigger concern, Meek told Insider, was that the high-profile visit might in any way backfire after the decades the community has spent building back from the Branch Davidian tragedy.

☆ Ted Cruz's publisher shaved off his mullet on the cover of his new book about 'cultural Marxism'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Ted Cruz's infamous mullet was edited out of a photo on the cover of his new book by the publisher. The Texas Republican announced last week that he's writing his third book, titled "Unwoke: How to Defeat Cultural Marxism in America." A person familiar with the matter told Insider that the decision to edit Cruz's mullet out of the picture was made by his publisher, the conservative outfit Regnery Publishing, and not the senator himself. "Is the routine touching up of a photo for a book cover considered newsworthy?" Cruz later began sporting a mullet fade as the Senate began debating impeachment charges against former President Donald Trump for incitement of an insurrection, prompting the Houston Chronicle to ask "What the hell is going on with Ted Cruz's hair?"

☆ Mexico's top diplomat stresses cooperation with U.S. versus intervention
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MEXICO CITY, March 10 (Reuters) - Mexico's top diplomat on Friday criticized comments by former U.S. Attorney General William Barr, who had called for increased U.S. involvement in Mexico to tackle drug cartels, saying Mexico "will never allow its sovereignty to be violated." Barr's opinion piece compared Mexico's "narco-terrorist" cartels to the jihadist Islamic State and backed a Republican proposal to give the U.S. president the power to send the military to fight against the cartels. Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador rejected the calls for U.S. intervention Thursday, calling them "irresponsible." "We need an effective drug policy, and the illegal flow of weapons into Mexico must stop," Ebrard added. Reporting by Kylie Madry Editing by Chris Reese and Grant McCoolOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Mexico president rejects 'irresponsible' calls for US military action against cartels
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( Brendan O'Boyle | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MEXICO CITY, March 9 (Reuters) - Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Thursday rebuked calls from some U.S. lawmakers advocating military action in Mexico against drug cartels, describing the proposals as threats to Mexican sovereignty. "We are not going to permit any foreign government to intervene in our territory, much less that a government's armed forces intervene," Lopez Obrador said during a regular news conference. The kidnapping of four Americans - two of whom were killed - in a northern border state intensified calls from Republican lawmakers in Washington to take a tougher line on organized crime. "In addition to being irresponsible, it is an offense to the people of Mexico," Lopez Obrador said during the news conference, adding that Mexico "does not take orders from anyone." Lopez Obrador said he would begin a public information campaign aimed at Mexicans in the United States about the Republican-led proposal.

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