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.
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opinion
DOJ Sues Texas to Enforce Law Prohibiting States From Offering Illegal Aliens In-State Tuition—and Wins
On Wednesday, Attorney General Pam Bondi’s Justice Department finally did what every prior administration (including Trump 1.0) for the past three decades refused to do—enforced the federal immigration law that bans states from providing in-state tuition to illegal aliens unless they provide the same benefit to citizen-students from any state. That same day, Texas cried… -
news
Texas Rounds Up Public Officials in Alleged Vote Harvesting Scheme
A small county allegedly has a Texas-sized voter fraud problem, as a grand jury indicted six people, including local officials. The six were charged in an alleged vote harvesting scheme in Frio County, Texas, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office announced Wednesday. Several states have cracked down on ballot harvesting, which is when political operatives distribute and collect large quantities… -
news
Texas Lawmaker Targets Medicaid Expansion
FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—Rep. Chip Roy is taking on Medicaid expansion, introducing a bill Friday that he says will prevent “able-bodied adults” from taking advantage of Obamacare expansion. The Texas lawmaker’s bill comes as his fellow Republicans are debating how they will reach an $880 billion cut over 10 years in their budget markup… -
news
Texas Democrat Beto O’Rourke Eyes Yet Another Bid for Office
DAILY CALLER NEWS FOUNDATION—A thrice-failed Democrat political candidate in Texas is considering taking on a Republican Senate seat in the consistently right-leaning state if voters want him to. Former Texas Democratic Rep. Beto O’Rourke said at a town hall in Denton, Texas, on Saturday that he would be open to launching a new Senate campaign for the… -
opinion
Texas and the Promise of ‘Universal’ School Choice
With a stroke of his pen this Saturday, Gov. Greg Abbott will make every school-aged child in Texas eligible for education choice. It’s a historic victory for education freedom, long sought after by the school choice movement. Following Idaho, Indiana, Tennessee, and Wyoming this year, Texas is now the 16th state to enact a “universal”… -
news
Texas House Considering Changes in Law Protecting Free Speech
Texas lawmakers are considering a bill that critics say would threaten freedom of speech with frivolous lawsuits, by altering the state’s so-called anti-SLAPP law. The Texas House Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence Committee heard testimony late Wednesday evening from numerous witnesses on House Bill 2988 that would make changes to the state’s anti-SLAPP law, by allowing… -
opinion
Texas Tips the Scales: School Choice Now Covers Half of US Kids
In a historic victory for educational freedom, the Texas House of Representatives finally passed a universal school choice bill—marking not just a win for families in the Lone Star State, but a watershed moment for the entire school choice movement. Once it clears the state senate and Gov. Greg Abbott signs Senate Bill 2 into… -
news
Texas Legislature Considering Change to Law That Could Increase Lawfare
A handful of laws are making their way through the Texas Legislature that could exacerbate the use of malicious lawfare to silence unwanted speech. Texas passed the so-called Texas Citizens Participation Act in 2011. This was one of many laws in states around the country designed to curtail what’s called Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation, or… -
news
Texas GOP Senate Primary Race Gets Ugly Early
The most contentious Senate contest of 2026 is shaping up to be between two Republicans. Since Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton declared his run to unseat Sen. John Cornyn, who has represented the Lone Star State since 2002, the two candidates have hammered each other with attack ads that question each other’s character and MAGA… -
news
Texas AG Paxton Announces 2026 GOP Primary Challenge Against Sen. Cornyn
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced this week his long-expected 2026 Senate primary challenge against incumbent Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas. Both politicians cast long shadows in the Lone Star State. In his announcement, Paxton characterized the run as bolstering support for President Donald Trump in the Senate. “We have another great U.S. senator in Ted… -
news
Texas Lawmaker ‘Sneaks’ into University’s Transgender Event, Exposes Programs Funded by Taxpayers
Texas state Rep. Brian Harrison sounded the alarm after he “snuck” into a state-funded transgender conference at the University of Texas at Austin on Monday, according to a string of posts on his X account. “The Texas Government is promoting a radical, liberal agenda … with your tax dollars,” the Republican wrote on X, adding,… -
news
Texas AG Paxton Sues School District for ‘Illegally Teaching’ Critical Race Theory
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing Coppell Independent School District for “illegally teaching woke and hateful critical race theory curriculum,” his office said in a Wednesday press release. The lawsuit follows an undercover video revealing Coppell school district’s Director of Curriculum and Instruction Evan Whitfield admitting to defying Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s ban on… -
news
Woman Arrested by Attorney General in Texas for Performing Illegal Abortions
A woman was arrested in Texas for allegedly providing illegal abortions, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Monday. The arrest is the first of its kind under a 2022 near-total abortion ban in the state. “In Texas, life is sacred,” Paxton said in a press release. “I will always do everything in my power to… -
news
One Texas Jail Tells the Story of America’s Illegal Immigration Crisis
Mexican cartel members are “running scared” and fearful of President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration, according to the sheriff of Tarrant County, Texas. Like many local law enforcement officials, Sheriff Bill Waybourn has witnessed the sharp spike in illegal immigration over the past four years. He welcomed the increased enforcement from the federal government. … -
news
Too Many Drugs, Not Enough Prosecution, Texas Border Sheriff Says
HUDSPETH COUNTY, Texas—The courts are “failing” in West Texas, Hudspeth County Sheriff Arvin West says. Law enforcement is apprehending drugs every day in his county, which borders Mexico, but West says his deputies are tired of repeatedly arresting the same people. “When I get on the deputies about, ‘Y'all need to stop this… -
news
West Texas Sheriffs: Oil Theft Is a Major Crime Issue
HUDSPETH COUNTY, Texas—Law enforcement in West Texas say they don’t have enough manpower to deal with the rise of oil theft. “Everybody's shorthanded,” Sheriff Art Granado of Reeves County told The Daily Signal at the March Big Bend Area Law Enforcement Officers Association meeting while explaining the oil theft issue in his community. “There is… -
news
Texas Bill Would Ban ‘Furry Culture’ in Public Schools
THE CENTER SQUARE—State Rep. Stan Gerdes, R-Smithville, introduced the FURRIES Act, known as the Forbidden Unlawful Representation of Roleplaying in Education, on Thursday to prohibit Texas public schools from allowing furry subculture behavior in classrooms and on campuses. The furry subculture involves individuals adopting anthropomorphic animal identities who often dress in costumes and attempt to mimic… -
news
‘He Needed to Be Censured,’ House Freedom Caucus Members Say of Texas Democrat
Americans witnessed an unprecedented display of incivility during President Donald Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night when Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, had to be physically removed from the House chamber after disrupting the president’s speech. Now, the Houston-area congressman has been censured by his colleagues, on a vote of 224-to-198…. -
news
Texas Lawmaker’s Bill Would Require DHS to Report to Congress Crimes Illegal Aliens Commit
New legislation would require the Department of Homeland Security to notify Congress of crimes committed by illegal aliens that the Biden administration paroled in the country. Rep. Morgan Luttrell, R-Texas, introduced the Criminal Illegal Alien Report Act on Thursday. The bill, if passed and signed into law, would require DHS to “to report to… -
news
Ethics Complaint Filed Against Texas Republican for ‘Hot Mic’ Moment
A conservative nonprofit government oversight group filed an ethics complaint against Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, on Tuesday, arguing that his recent “hot microphone” comment about wanting to “kill” journalist Tucker Carlson violates congressional decorum rules. “[We are writing] today to request that you immediately open an investigation of Representative Dan Crenshaw for violation of the…