Texas Politics & News
The Daily Signal highlights Texas as a leader in conservative policy and governance, covering Lone Star State legislation, elections, border enforcement, and energy dominance.
-
opinion
Texas Heartbeat Law Is Now in Effect. Here’s What You Need to Know.
Americans in many states support significant restrictions on abortion. Accordingly, policymakers are working across the country to enact policies that reflect this consensus, rooted in the understanding that life is our most basic human freedom and should be protected in public policy. A recently enacted Texas law that restricts most abortions after a fetal heartbeat… -
news
Biden Vows ‘Whole of Government’ Response to Texas Pro-Life Law
President Joe Biden condemned a ruling by the Supreme Court on Texas’ Heartbeat Act on Thursday, saying the court’s decision “insults the rule of law.” The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 late Wednesday night to deny abortion providers’ requests for injunctive relief against Texas’ new law banning abortion after six weeks. The president weighed in on the ruling Thursday morning,… -
news
Texas Targets Social Media Titans Over Viewpoint Censorship
The Texas state Senate passed a bill Tuesday that aims to curb perceived political censorship by social media companies. The bill, introduced by state Sen. Bryan Hughes, would prohibit social media platforms from “censoring” users based on their viewpoints. “Censoring” includes actions such as removing content, banning users, demonetizing users, and suppressing posts, according to the bill. Users… -
news
Supreme Court Takes No Action, Texas Abortion Ban Goes Into Effect
Texas’ highly disputed abortion ban went into effect early Wednesday morning, uninhibited by any action from the U.S. Supreme Court. Abortion providers had filed emergency requests to block the enforcement of the Heartbeat Act (SB 8), which bans abortions after the unborn baby's heartbeat can be detected. The Supreme Court did not intervene, though it still may do so. “It’s… -
opinion
A Court Victory in Texas Against Obamacare’s Transgender Mandate
The long march of gender ideology through our laws and government institutions lately seems more like a mad dash. But that advance hit a high hurdle last week in Texas. A federal district court judge blocked an Obama-era measure that forced medical professionals to participate in gender transition surgery and similar measures, even against their… -
news
Texas Supreme Court Rules That Democrats in Legislature Can Be Arrested to Compel Attendance
The Texas Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that the Texas Constitution authorizes the state’s House of Representatives to arrest members who flee in order to break the quorum required to vote. The opinion states that “just as” Texas’ Constitution enables “‘quorum-breaking’ by a minority faction of the legislature, it likewise authorizes ‘quorum-forcing’ by the remaining members,” including by… -
news
Texas House Speaker Signs Arrest Warrants for Absent Democrats
Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan has signed civil arrest warrants for 52 House Democrats who are still absent from the state Capitol to avoid voting on an election reform bill. The Republican House speaker signed the warrants Tuesday night after a majority in the chamber voted for the measure, The Dallas Morning News reported. They were delivered… -
news
Texas Democrat Compares DC Stay With Dangerous Civil Rights Struggle
A Texas state lawmaker has likened himself and fellow “fugitive” Democrat legislators with civil rights protesters of the 1960s, many of whom were brutalized by police and their fellow citizens during peaceful marches. In an op-ed for USA Today, Texas state Rep. Jarvis Johnson, D-Houston, noted that a 1965 voting rights march in Alabama included… -
opinion
Texas Democrats’ Embarrassing Lawsuit Against Gov. Abbott
Twenty-two of the Texas Democrats who fled to Washington, D.C, to prevent a quorum in the state House have filed a lawsuit in federal court against Gov. Greg Abbott. The lawsuit, which two of the twenty-two Democrats are disputing they signed onto, is embarrassingly bad. The complaint does not include the usual section for “claims” or… -
news
Biden Administration Sues Texas Over Governor’s Order Restricting Transportation of Illegal Immigrants
The Biden administration filed a lawsuit against the state of Texas challenging Gov. Greg Abbott’s executive order targeting the transportation of migrants spreading COVID-19 in the state, according to court documents filed Friday. Abbott, a Republican, announced restrictions on the ground transportation of illegal migrants in federal custody who could spread COVID-19 around Texas communities… -
news
Texas Man Gets 11 Years for Buying Homes, Cars With $25 Million in COVID-19 Relief
A man from Coppell, Texas, has been sentenced to more than 11 years in prison for running a fraudulent scheme to receive about $24.8 million in forgivable loans from the Paycheck Protection Program during the pandemic, the Justice Department announced. Dinesh Sah, 55, pleaded guilty in March to wire fraud and money-laundering offenses, the Justice… -
news
Texas Governor Enlists National Guard to Catch Illegal Immigrants at Border
The Texas National Guard will be deployed to assist law enforcement officials in arresting illegal migrants on state criminal charges at the southern border, Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, announced. Illegal migrants who are apprehended and found to have committed state offenses such as criminal trespassing, human trafficking, and narcotics smuggling are subject to arrest… -
news
What to Know About How Those ‘Fugitive’ Texas Democrats Will Pay for Stay in DC
Special interest donors are covering much of the cost for Texas Democratic lawmakers to stay in pricey Washington, D.C., hotel rooms, but Texas taxpayers are still losing close to $500,000 on expenses for a legislative session that isn’t happening. Texas lawmakers who fled the legislative session in Austin for the nation’s capital ultimately will have to… -
news
Texas Moves Detained Illegal Immigrants to Vacant State Prison
Texas law enforcement officials have received the first migrants arrested and charged with state offenses at a vacant state prison, a Department of Criminal Justice spokesperson says. Officials on Tuesday transferred the first three migrants from the Val Verde County Jail near Del Rio, Texas, to the Dolph Briscoe Unit in Dilley as part of… -
opinion
The Big Lie About Election Reforms in Texas and Other States
President Joe Biden claimed in a recent speech that state election reform efforts are “the 21st-century Jim Crow assault” and “the most dangerous threat to voting and integrity of free and fair elections in our history.” This has to one of the most foolish things he has ever said. It also displays a fundamental ignorance of the real… -
news
Governor Says Texas Democrats Who Fled Vote on Election Reform Face Arrest
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott says Democrats who fled the state to avoid voting on an election reform bill will be arrested upon their return. Democratic members of the state House of Representatives left Texas to avoid being called to vote Monday on the election legislation. Under state law, two-thirds of House members are required for… -
opinion
Leftists’ Applause for Texas Democrats’ Flight Shows Hypocrisy on Democracy
If democracy dies, does any leftist care? You’d think so: After all, we’ve had years of hand-wringing about the erosion of democracy in our nation, from The Washington Post’s “Democracy dies in darkness” motto to The New Yorker magazine fretting in a headline that “American Democracy Isn’t Dead Yet, but It’s Getting There.” No doubt,… -
news
How Zuckerberg Money Could Have Led to Biden Victory in Texas
Texas lawmakers passed a law restricting use of private money for election administration almost two months after research showed that at least $36 million in grants financed by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg had the potential to alter the state’s political landscape dramatically. Though prompted by the Zuckerberg grants, the new Texas law likely will prevent… -
news
Republicans Win Big in Texas Mayoral Races With Increased Latino Support
Republicans swept Texas’ mayoral elections over the weekend, relying on increased Hispanic support to win in large and mid-sized cities alike. In Forth Worth, a city of just over 1 million, 37-year-old Republican Mattie Parker cruised to victory against Democrat Deborah Peoples, making her the youngest mayor in the city’s history, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported. In… -
opinion
How Pro-Lifers in This Texas Town Beat Planned Parenthood
Just one month after Lubbock, Texas, became the state’s largest sanctuary city for the unborn (and the only sanctuary city for the unborn with an active abortion clinic), Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas last week agreed to stop performing abortions within the city limits. This announcement came after a federal district judge dismissed Planned Parenthood’s lawsuit, citing lack of standing….