Matthew Choi

Blue Dog promoted controversial buoys to prevent migrants from crossing the Rio Grande years ago

WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar is claiming some credit for Texas’ controversial buoys to prevent migrants from crossing the Rio Grande, saying he pitched the idea to Border Patrol years ago.

The conservative Democrat said in a recent interview with Newsweek that he made the pitch to Border Patrol to prevent migrants from claiming asylum by setting foot on U.S. territory.

“I said, if you put a wall in Texas in the river, you're about a quarter mile away. So when somebody crosses and touches the riverbanks, they can claim asylum,” Cuellar told the news magazine.

In a brief interview with The Texas Tribune, Cuellar added that the idea didn’t go anywhere at the time because the International Boundary and Water Commission didn’t give the necessary permits. But he was enthusiastic about an alternative to a land-based border wall in his district.

Gov. Greg Abbott deployed buoys and razor wire on the border last year to deter migrants from crossing the Rio Grande. Dozens of people have died trying to cross the river in recent years. Then-Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador criticized the tactics last year after a body was reported on one of the buoys.

Texas Democrats in Congress, including Cuellar, sent a letter to President Joe Biden urging his administration to investigate Abbott’s actions under Operation Lone Star, including the use of razor wire and buoys on the Rio Grande. The letter asserts the buoys and razor wire are “potentially illegal and may violate multiple bilateral treaties” designating water rights between the United States and Mexico. Every Democrat in Texas’ congressional delegation at the time signed onto the letter.

Cuellar, who has represented the 28th Congressional District since 2005, expressed similar concerns during a press conference in 2023 about Operation Lone Star, where he said the buoys could change the border if there is flooding and that Border Patrol agents have expressed concerns that the razor wire can impede them.

“We need to have border security, but at the same time, we have to respect the rights and the dignity of the migrants who are trying to come into the U.S.,” Cuellar said at the news conference. “One of the things that we’ve asked the state and that I’ve asked the federal government is, are we coordinating with the state, and it looks like the state is going solo on this.”

Speaking with The Texas Tribune, Cuellar said he was not opposed to the use of buoys, but he signed onto the 2023 letter in opposition to the state’s unilateral use of the barriers without working with the federal government. He said he was optimistic the state will work with the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump on hardening the border.

Cuellar also said he didn’t want to take credit away from Abbott for deploying the buoys.

“I’m not taking anything from Governor Abbott,” Cuellar said. “I congratulate him.”

Cuellar is among the most conservative Democrats in Congress and has occasionally crossed over to support Republican efforts on border security. He helped launch a Democratic task force on border security earlier this year.

He has recently shown openness to working with Trump’s administration, saying he saw opportunities for “common ground” with Tom Homan, Trump’s border czar. Homan served as director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement during Trump’s first term. The pair plans to meet sometime next week. Cuellar said he could see an agreement with the Trump administration on working with Mexico to keep migrants from reaching the U.S. border.

Cuellar remains politically battered, reeling from a federal indictment charging him with bribery, money laundering and working on behalf of the Azerbaijani government and a Mexican bank. He has denied the allegations and won reelection in November by 5.6 percentage points. He won reelection in 2022 by more than 10 points.

Republicans declined to heavily fund a challenge against Cuellar this year despite the indictment, which came out after the first round of the district’s Republican primary. But South Texas remains a major target for the party, and national Republicans have telegraphed they are keeping their sights on the district in the future.

Cuellar’s trial is set to begin next spring in Houston, in which more details of his alleged criminal activity are expected to be aired out. He is charged with accepting nearly $600,000 in bribes to advance the interests of Azerbaijan’s oil and gas sector and the business interests of Banco Azteca. He is accused of setting up money-laundering schemes to conceal the bribes with the help of his wife, Imelda. Cuellar said his behavior was in line with other members of Congress.

This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2024/12/04/henry-cuellar-texas-rio-grande-border-buoys-immigration/.

The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org.

'Somebody needs to get fired': Texas Dem blasts party's 'lazy' abortion strategy

WASHINGTON — After outperforming Kamala Harris in South Texas on Election Day despite being vastly outspent by Republicans, U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-McAllen, has a message to his fellow Democrats in Congress. Actually, he has a few of them.

No. 1: Don’t tell him how to handle his business, he’s going to represent his district the way he knows is best. And No. 2: Clean up your own act.

In a recent interview with The Texas Tribune, the four-term Democratic congressman, with a penchant for going rogue, took a shiv to the Democratic playbook. He said the party’s fixation on abortion this cycle was “lazy” and out of touch with his majority-Catholic district. He urged the party to, in some cases, soften its defenses of transgender rights, even if that means voting against the Democratic base. He said Democrats had insufficiently attacked Republicans on economic issues. And he said the Democrats were plagued with “incompetence” in gauging the driving issues for voters in districts like his.

“Their messaging is off. I also believe their polling is off. Democratic polling has been consistently off beyond the margin of error for the last two or three cycles,” Gonzalez said in his Capitol Hill office. It’s “incompetence, at the end of the day. I think they need to get rid of people.”

Gonzalez won his competitive South Texas district — which runs from the Mexican border in Brownsville to Corpus Christi along the Gulf Coast — by less than 3 percentage points this year, fending off Republicans’ biggest offensive effort in the state. He outperformed Vice President Kamala Harris, who lost to President Donald Trump in every county in his district.

Gonzalez is one of the most conservative Democrats in Congress, at times voting with Republicans on issues related to energy and the border. He caused House Democratic leadership headaches as he pushed back on President Joe Biden’s climate and infrastructure agenda before eventually supporting the legislation, citing concerns it would negatively impact his district’s energy interests.

Gonzalez said his ability to see the social conservatism of his district and knowing when to break from the national party helped preserve his place in Congress.

“I told the entire caucus, don’t ever try to whip me again because I know my district better than anybody in this room,” Gonzalez said. “Having me 97% of the time is better than having my opponent 100% of the time. We need to give that leeway, especially to frontline members. Nobody knows our districts better than us.”

Republicans poured millions of dollars into supporting their candidate, former U.S. Rep. Mayra Flores, this cycle, viewing Gonzalez’s proclivity for off-color comments — including comparing Latino Trump supporters to “Jews for Hitler” in March — as a major vulnerability.

The race was among the most expensive U.S. House races in Texas this year. Flores, who previously represented the district for a few months in 2022 after winning a special election, spent over $5.7 million in the race as of mid-October.

Vicente Gonzalez supporters watch the televised debate live between him and Republican challenger Mayra Flores in Rancho Viejo on Oct. 17, 2024.

Vicente Gonzalez's supporters watch the televised debate live between him and Republican challenger Mayra Flores in Rancho Viejo on Oct. 17, 2024. Credit: Michael Gonzalez for The Texas Tribune

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and the House Majority PAC, the party’s two biggest outside spending groups for House races, spent over $1 million with ads supporting Gonzalez.

But Gonzalez has serious issue with the way both groups operated in his district. Neither group responded to requests for comment.

Gonzalez said it was an error to focus so heavily on abortion in a region that is overwhelmingly Catholic. He said the strategy showed congressional Democrats “don’t know the region and they get lazy about it,” leaning on the issue because it was salient in the 2022 midterms. Abortion was a central issue in TV ads aired in his district to help him by national Democrats, which Gonzalez said was out of touch with voters more concerned about the rising cost of living.

The ad “was hitting my opponent on abortion in an 80% Catholic community. Somebody needs to get fired for that,” Gonzalez said. “Whoever was the decision maker to do that in South Texas should be gone, because they clearly don't know the district.”

A photograph of U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-McAllen, his wife Lorena Saenz, U.S. President Joe Biden, and First Lady Jill Biden is displayed in his office at the Cannon House Office Building in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024. Gonzalez defeated former Republican Representative Mayra Flores to secure the seat for Texas' 34th District in the U.S. House.

A photograph of Gonzalez, his wife Lorena Saenz, President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden is displayed with other memorabilia in his office at the Cannon House Office Building in Washington, D.C. Credit: Shuran Huang for The Texas Tribune

Gonzalez saw some room for abortion to be an effective element to a winning strategy, but he said the messaging should be targeted on digital platforms to young women rather than blasted on television ads. Gonzalez still went after Flores on abortion when the two shared a debate stage in October.

Gonzalez said Democrats focused too much on TV ads generally in Texas and should have spent more time door knocking and talking to voters.

Gonzalez also lamented that Democrats don’t have a winning strategy to counter anti-trans attacks that Republicans used through the latter part of the cycle. The National Republican Congressional Committee and Sen. Ted Cruz’s reelection campaign both poured money into ads attacking Democrats as wanting to use taxpayer money to fund gender transitions for children and to allow boys to play in girls sports. Democrats and LGBTQ+ rights activists denounced the ads as spreading dangerous misinformation about trans youth.

Gonzalez was among the few Democrats to tackle the ads head on, issuing his own counter ad rebuffing the Republicans’ claims, saying he never supported tax-funded sex changes. He said more Democrats should feel comfortable following his lead, even if it leads to pushback from the progressive base.

“I think we need to protect every community in America,” Gonzalez said. “But there are issues that I don't agree with, like boys and girls bathrooms, or boys competing in girls sports, and I think we should be outspoken about it. I don't think Democrats should have to hide from a message like that.”

Gonzalez has supported pro-trans legislation in the past, voting in 2021 for the Equality Act, which would protect trans people from discrimination.

Republicans are poised to continue their attacks on transgender rights, emboldened by voter response to their ads nationwide. And Democrats are already being confronted with the issue as the first transgender member of Congress, Rep.-elect Sarah McBride of Delaware, is set to be sworn in in January. Republican Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina introduced a bill that would ban McBride from using the women’s bathrooms or locker rooms in the Capitol complex.

When asked if he would vote for Mace’s bill, Gonzalez said: “That's a very, very tough conversation that needs to be had by Democrats. And I think at the end of the day, we got to vote our district and vote what we really believe. And I don't believe that boys should be in girls' bathrooms.” He did not specify how he would vote on the bill.

McBride has agreed not to use women’s restrooms and stressed she does not want her gender to become a distraction. All members of Congress have private bathrooms. She did not respond to a request for comment on Gonzalez’s remarks.

Gonzalez said Democrats should have invested in attack ads targeting Republican candidates who want to cut Social Security, Medicare, and Title I funding for schools in low-income communities, as Republicans have cast Democrats as supporting measures to defund the police. South Texas Republicans deny they want to cut funding for the programs.

Gonzalez also suggested he was not impressed with Democrat Michelle Vallejo, who challenged U.S. Rep. Monica De La Cruz in the 15th Congressional District. She lost both in 2022 and 2024, by double digits despite support from the DCCC and investment from the House Majority PAC. She ran in 2022 on a progressive platform, focusing on reproductive rights and expanding access to health care. She moderated her tune this cycle, but was unable to close or even shrink the gap.

Gonzalez said the district needs a moderate Democrat to win. “It's a tough district, especially for somebody who initially campaigned as a progressive. It's kind of hard to turn the clock back,” Gonzalez said.

Still, Vallejo made positive strides. She outperformed Harris in her district by seven percentage points. Vallejo declined to comment.

Gonzalez formerly represented the 15th Congressional District for six years before switching to the 34th district in 2022 following redistricting. Then-DCCC Chair Sean Patrick Maloney preferred Gonzalez, a well-funded incumbent, stay in the more competitive 15th District to give Democrats a better shot at holding onto all of their South Texas seats, Gonzalez said. But Gonzalez defended the move, saying his home was drawn into the new 34th district and he had to prioritize his own race.

Gonzalez is optimistic that Democrats can continue holding on to South Texas despite the heavy investment from Republicans, saying Republicans have a “low quality of candidate,” including Flores and De La Cruz.

De La Cruz, who outperformed Trump in her district, shot back at Gonzalez’s comments in a statement. “It’s funny he’d say that, considering I chased him out of this district and he’s underperformed in the last three elections,” De La Cruz said. “He can focus on pettiness — I’ll keep picking up his slack and delivering results for South Texas.”

Gonzalez called Flores’ victory in a 2022 special election a “fluke,” saying she got elected solely because Republicans poured millions of dollars into a special election that national Democrats did not pay much attention to.

“We welcome Vicente Gonzalez’s self-delusion as the ground shifts underneath him. Donald Trump romped across South Texas, ” said Delanie Bomar, a spokesperson for the National Republican Congressional Committee, House Republicans’ campaign arm. “It’s only a matter of time before those same voters toss Gonzalez from office, too.”

The Texas Tribune answering reader questions about 2024 elections. To share your question or feedback with us, you can fill out this form.

This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2024/11/26/texas-vicente-gonzalez-congress-democrats-abortion-transgender/.

The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org.

From Your Site Articles

US Sen. Ted Cruz declares victory over Democrat Colin Allred

"U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz declares victory over Democrat Colin Allred" was first published by The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them — about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.

Sign up for The Brief, The Texas Tribune’s daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news.

Keep reading... Show less

Walz tells Texas Democrats a US Senate race win is within reach

Democratic vice presidential candidate and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz encouraged Texas Democrats to elect U.S. Rep. Colin Allred to the Senate, telling a group of Dallas donors Monday that the race against Sen. Ted Cruz is within reach.

“You’ve got a senate race you can win in Texas,” Walz said. “My God, just do it for all of America. Replace Ted.”

Walz made the remarks during a brief visit to the state for a fundraiser organized by Vice President Kamala Harris’ victory fund. Texas is one of Democrats’ top flip targets in the U.S. Senate along with Florida. An Aug. 31 poll by The University of Texas’ Texas Politics Project put Cruz ahead of Allred by 8 percentage points.

Walz also touched on a number of issues impacting Texas, including the state’s abortion restrictions, which he said “creates a nightmare, and a dangerous situation,” and ballot access laws, which he said were intentionally designed to keep Democratic voters away from the polls.

“For them, it’s much easier to do voter suppression than voter outreach,” Walz quipped of Republicans.

Walz also touched on Tuesday’s presidential debate — the first between Harris and former President Donald Trump — saying that Harris will likely focus on economic issues.

“We get an opportunity tomorrow for Vice President Harris to be on that debate stage to make the case for an economy that’s for everyone,” Walz said.

Macarena Martinez, Cruz's campaign spokesperson, took aim at Walz's comments Monday afternoon.

"Tim Walz has a knack for watching things burn to the ground, so it’s natural that he’s supporting Colin Allred and his campaign," Martinez said in a statement.

The fundraiser, held at the HALL Arts Hotel Dallas, was sold out. It featured several major Democratic fundraisers in Texas, including Regina Montoya, a former Clinton administration official who co-chairs the Lawyers for Harris committee. Attorneys Jill Louis and Paul Coggins and former congressional candidate Sima Ladjevardian also helped host. Several of the same hosts also threw a Dallas fundraiser for President Joe Biden in March when he was still at the top of the party’s ticket.

Despite the presidential campaign’s swings through Texas to raise money, it is not targeting the state as a flip opportunity. The lack of attention irks some down-ballot Texas Democrats, who feel greater attention from the top would give the final needed push to turn the state blue in other races.

Allred so far has kept his race independent of the presidential race, focusing on collaborating with down ballot candidates in the state.

Walz visited Dallas with his daughter, Hope. San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg, LULAC President Roman Palomares, Texas Democratic Party Chair Gilbero Hinojosa and Texas Democratic Party Executive Director Monique Alcala greeted him on his arrival.

Nirenberg, who is term-limited out of his office next year, has traveled the country as a surrogate for the Harris Campaign. He hasn’t made clear his future plans but said during this year’s Texas Tribune Festival that “it would be an honor to serve in a Harris administration” if asked.

Keep reading... Show less

Texas Dem compares Latino Trump supporters to 'Jews for Hitler'

WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, a Democrat from McAllen, compared Hispanic Trump supporters to “Jews for Hitler,” prompting fierce backlash from Republicans as he runs for reelection in a mostly Hispanic South Texas district.

In an interview with The New Republic published Monday, Gonzalez warned that Democrats could soon lose support among socially conservative Hispanic voters in South Texas as Republicans increasingly invest in the area. He said Hispanic voters are largely turned off by the anti-immigrant rhetoric coming from the top of the Republican ticket, including former President Donald Trump casting Mexican immigrants as “rapists.”

“If they didn’t have that racist, divisive element within their party, they would have a lot of Latinos, but they can’t seem to shake that off,” Gonzalez told the magazine. “The rhetoric you hear from the Republican Party is shameful and disgraceful for Latinos. And you know, when you see ‘Latinos for Trump,’ to me it is like seeing ‘Jews for Hitler,’ almost, you know?”

Republicans are pouring money into unseating Gonzalez in the 34th congressional district, which is based in the lower Rio Grande Valley and includes Brownsville and Harlingen. Former U.S. Rep. Mayra Flores is running for the seat after losing to Gonzalez in the 2022 general election. She had won the seat in a special election only a few months earlier, breaking a multi-generational streak of Democratic control in South Texas.

Flores is a vocal Trump supporter and blasted Gonzalez for comparing Latino Trump supporters to Jewish Nazis.

“Shame on Vicente Gonzalez for referring to conservative Latinos in this manner. He forgets they are his constituents, too,” Flores said on social media. “We need to elect new leadership in November, and that's exactly what the Rio Grande Valley will do.”

Other Republicans echoed Flores’ criticism. The Congressional Leadership PAC, a fundraising operation tied to House Republican leadership, issued a statement calling the remark “absolutely disgusting” and pressuring voters “into voting a certain way based on their ethnicity.” The National Republican Congressional Committee also called on Gonzalez to apologize.

When asked to clarify his comments via text message, Gonzalez doubled down: “I don’t understand how Mexican Americans can vote for” Trump.

“It’s clearly a vote against self interest. And yes it would be like the Jewish community voting for Hitler before the atrocities he caused. That would never happen. And Latinos need [to] wake up and see a tyrant on the horizon,” Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez added that Flores “should be calling out Trump” for his remarks about migrants.

Trump said in December that migrants were “poisoning the blood of our country.” Fellow Republicans said Trump’s comments were xenophobic and racist. His remarks reflected Adolf Hitler, who said Jews were “poisoning” Aryan blood. Trump denied knowing that Hitler made similar remarks.

The comments and reactions highlight the amplified attention on the 34th district, which was once comfortably Democratic but is now one of the few competitive districts in the state. National Republicans identified the district as one of its targets to flip in the general election and have thrown their support behind Flores.

Republicans have made progress in South Texas and are eager to capture Gonzalez’s seat. In the neighboring 15th congressional district, Republican U.S. Rep. Monica De La Cruz won her seat in 2022. Gonzalez previously represented the 15th district, and De La Cruz unsuccessfully challenged him in 2020. But her better-than-expected results led Republicans to seriously consider pickup opportunities in the region. De La Cruz won her 2022 race after the district was redrawn to be more favorable to Republicans.

Flores still faces challenges in her bid to unseat Gonzalez. District 34 is comfortably Democratic, and President Joe Biden would have won the area by 15.5 percentage points. The 15th district was drawn in 2021 to be more favorable for Republicans, and Trump would have won the district by 2.8 percentage points.

But even in the Hispanic-majority population centers in South Texas, Democrats' hold is weakening. De La Cruz lost Hidalgo County, the largest county in the 15th district, in 2022 by a considerably smaller margin than in 2020. In Cameron County, the largest in the 34th district, Gonzalez won by only 3.55 points. Four years before, former Democratic Rep. Filemon Vela won the county by roughly 30 points.

It’s a trend Gonzalez takes seriously. He told House Democratic leadership in the months before the 2022 election they should not take South Texas for granted. A growing community of conservative, evangelical Hispanic voters could be convinced by Republican messaging, he warned at the time.

Democrats invested heavily in protecting Gonzalez that year, which Gonzalez admitted was the hardest race since his first run for Congress in 2016.

Gonzalez committed a number of gaffes in the 2022 cycle that Republicans were quick to capitalize on. He contrasted himself with Flores, the first Mexican-born congresswoman, by saying he was a native of the area and “wasn’t born in Mexico.”

“I didn’t come here through chain migration, I didn’t come through asylum or amnesty or whatever,” he said in an interview with Newsweek that year.

Gonzalez’s campaign also photoshopped a picture of Flores to make her look more menacing and paid a blogger that used racist slurs to describe Flores. Gonzalez cut ties with the blogger after the racist language became public.

Keep reading... Show less

Democrats cringed when Biden referred to migrant who killed student as 'an illegal'

WASHINGTON — Texas Democrats were not thrilled with President Joe Biden using the term “an illegal” to describe an undocumented immigrant during his State of the Union address Thursday.

During the speech, Georgia Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene heckled Biden to acknowledge Laken Riley, a Georgia student who was allegedly killed by an undocumented immigrant, as he was discussing the border. Biden repeated Greene saying Riley was “killed by an illegal. That’s right.”

Democrats were not impressed, even if it was parroting Greene.

“It's dangerous rhetoric. And I think that the president is getting bad advice from his advisers and speech writers. That kind of rhetoric is what inspired the people who killed Aaron Martinez,” U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro said, referring to a North Texas man who was killed by his neighbor who repeatedly harassed Martinez’s family over their Latino ethnicity. Castro brought Martinez’s wife, Priscilla Martinez, as his guest Thursday.

“I just don't get why the president will go down that road,” Castro added. “I don't think it's helpful to him or to the Democratic Party.”

U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, an El Paso Democrat who is also a co-chair of Biden’s reelection campaign, said “that is the statutory language,” though “it’s not the language I use.”

U.S. Rep. Greg Casar, D-Austin, found Greene’s heckling inappropriate and thought it did not reflect Biden’s views. He predicted Biden’s team would clarify his remarks later.

Republicans heckled Biden as he made a case for a bipartisan border security deal introduced in the Senate late last year. The bill, negotiated by Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Arizona; Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Connecticut; and Sen. James Lankford, R-Oklahoma. Republicans turned on the bill after former President Donald Trump denounced it, essentially stopping it in its tracks. House Republicans oppose the bill.

“In November, my team began serious negotiations with a bipartisan group of senators. The result was a bipartisan bill with the toughest set of border security reforms we’ve ever seen in this country,” Biden said. “It’d be a winner for America. My Republican friends, you owe it to the American people to get this bill done.”

The border was one of the most contentious issues discussed during the speech. After the speech, Sen. Ted Cruz said Biden’s comments were “profoundly dishonest and out of touch.” U.S. Rep. Jake Ellzey, R-Midlothian, said Biden was “gaslighting Republicans” by “blaming us when he invited the border to be open.”

U.S. Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Sherman, tried to give Biden a pin that said “STOP THE BIDEN BORDER CRISIS” as he entered the chamber. Biden refused.

Escobar also does not support the Senate border deal, but she praised Biden’s speech otherwise as demonstrating “why the difference between him and the other guy is so stark,” referring to Trump. Escobar has long been a voice on bipartisan border reform, introducing her own bipartisan plan last year.

Earlier in his speech, Biden also vowed to overturn Texas’ restrictive abortion laws if he gets reelected and Democrats retake control of Congress.

“My predecessor came to office determined to see Roe v. Wade overturned. He’s the reason it was overturned. In fact, he brags about it,” Biden said. “Look at the chaos that has resulted.”

Biden highlighted the plight of Kate Cox, a Texas woman who filed a lawsuit to end her pregnancy in Texas after her doctor uncovered a lethal birth defect. Cox’s doctor said terminating the pregnancy was necessary to save her health and future ability to have children but would not carry out the procedure due to the state’s strict abortion ban.

First Lady Jill Biden invited Cox as her guest to the address Thursday.

Cox’s lawsuit said the state’s abortion ban discouraged doctors from risking their medical licenses to perform the procedure. The Supreme Court of Texas blocked a lower state court order that would have allowed her an abortion. She ultimately sought medical care outside the state.

“Because Texas law banned abortion, Kate and her husband had to leave the state to get the care she needed. What her family has gone through should never have happened as well. But it is happening to so many others,” Biden said. “Many of you in this chamber and my predecessor are promising to pass a national ban on reproductive freedom. My God, what freedoms will you take away next?”

Multiple Texas Democrats used the annual address to highlight abortion access. U.S. Rep. Lizzie Fletcher, a Houston Democrat who spearheaded legislation to protect abortion access nationwide, invited Dr. Damla Karsan, an OB/GYN who sought court approval to terminate Cox’s pregnancy. U.S. Rep. Colin Allred invited Dr. Austin Dennard, an OB/GYN who had to leave Texas to terminate her pregnancy after detecting a lethal birth defect.

U.S. Rep. Nanette Barragan, D-California, chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, invited last year Olivia Julianna, a Gen Z activist who has been outspoken about abortion rights in Texas.

The White House has previously used the State of the Union to highlight Texas’ restrictions on abortion. At last year’s address, Jill Biden invited Amanda Zurawski, an Austin woman who nearly died after being denied an abortion for a nonviable pregnancy.

National Democrats are making reproductive rights a key issue in competitive races in Texas, crediting the overturning of national abortion access for staving off a larger Republican majority in the U.S. House. Allred has highlighted Sen. Ted Cruz’s opposition to legislation expanding access to abortion in his campaign to unseat him.

Jill Biden also invited Jazmin Cazares, a gun violence prevention advocate whose sister Jackie was killed in the Robb Elementary School shooting in Uvalde, to the speech.

President Biden evoked his visit to Uvalde after the shooting, after which he established a White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention. He urged Congress to pass further legislation on gun safety to prevent future shootings.

“We heard their message, and so everyone in this chamber should do something,” Biden said. “Meanwhile, my predecessor told the NRA he’s proud he did nothing on guns when he was president. After another school shooting in Iowa he said we should just ‘get over it.’ I say we must stop it.”

Keep reading... Show less

'Prayer' prompts Republican not to run for House speaker

WASHINGTON — U.S. Reps. Jodey Arrington and Roger Williams announced Sunday they will not run for speaker of the U.S. House, leaving only one Texan in the mix to lead Congress’ lower chamber.

“After careful consideration and much prayer, I have decided not to run for Speaker at this time. There are several capable candidates who have stepped forward to run, and I plan to support whomever our Conference elects on Tuesday,” Arrington, R-Lubbock, said in a statement.

Williams, R-Willow Park, released his own statement explaining his decision: “After spending some time with my family in prayer, I have decided that now is not the right time for me to seek this important position. With my responsibilities as Chairman of the House Small Business Committee, serving Texas’ 25th Congressional District, running a business back home, and most importantly, to my family in these challenging times, it is important I give all I have to the jobs at hand.”

Arrington and Williams had expressed interest in the job Friday after U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan, a deeply conservative Ohioan who co-founded the House Freedom Caucus, dropped out of the race. The two Texans said they would consult with their families before deciding whether to launch a formal bid for the job.

U.S. Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Waco, formally announced he was running for the job Friday afternoon and is still in the race. All three Texans had previously backed Jordan’s bid for speaker.

Arrington chairs the House Budget Committee and was an important lieutenant for former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy — who was removed as speaker more than two weeks ago after eight far-right Republicans voted with Democrats for his ouster — and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, whose own candidacy for speaker quickly ended when he determined he didn’t have enough support from fellow Republicans to win a majority of the vote.

Williams has been in the House for more than 10 years and was previously Texas secretary of State.

Sessions was chair of the House Rules Committee, which works closely with the speaker to decide how legislation gets treated on the floor, from 2013 to 2019 and led the National Republican Congressional Committee from 2009 to 2013. The NRCC is the party’s House campaign arm.

Without a speaker, legislation cannot move and the clock is ticking with the government set to shut down in less than a month unless appropriations bills pass.

Jordan’s withdrawal from the race on Friday, after he fell short of the necessary 217 votes in three tries, left the party without an immediately obvious alternative. House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, who also once led the NRCC, is the highest ranking Republican running and has McCarthy’s endorsement.

Members had until noon Eastern time on Sunday to formally declare their candidacies. Nine candidates are currently in the running, Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik announced Sunday.

Candidates will make their pitches to their party in a closed-door meeting Monday evening. The House Republican conference will vote on their nominee for speaker Tuesday morning. A full House vote for speaker has not yet been scheduled.

This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2023/10/22/texas-congress-house-speaker-arrington-williams-withdraw/.

The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org.

From Your Site Articles
Related Articles Around the Web

Trump claims credit for saving Ken Paxton

WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump is claiming credit for Attorney General Ken Paxton’s acquittal.

Posting on his Truth Social platform Monday, Trump claimed that his sporadic defenses on social media for his long-time ally helped sway the course of Paxton’s impeachment trial.

“Yes, it is true that my intervention through TRUTH SOCIAL saved Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton from going down at the hands of Democrats and some Republicans, headed by PAUL RINO (Ryan), Karl Rove, and others, almost all of whom came back to reason when confronted with the facts,” Trump said, naming checking former U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan and former White House Chief of Staff Karl Rove.

Neither Republican had a formal role in the impeachment process, though Rove penned a Wall Street Journal op-ed prophesying Paxton’s demise.

Paxton was impeached over allegations that he abused his office to help Austin real estate investor Nate Paul in exchange for personal favors. The Texas House voted on a bipartisan basis to impeach Paxton in May.

But Paxton’s impeachment trial ended Saturday with acquittal on all 16 charges. Trump celebrated the verdict shortly after, praising Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who presided over the Senate trial, and calling for the removal of Republican House Speaker Dade Phelan. Trump, who is the only twice-impeached president in U.S. history, dismissed the charges against Paxton as “political persecution.”

That was the former president’s only public statement about the impeachment during the Senate trial. When the House voted to impeach Paxton in May, Trump posted on his social media site denouncing the proceedings and promising to target Republicans who turned against Paxton.

Paxton and Trump have long been closely aligned on policy, with the attorney general leading a lawsuit in 2020 to challenge the results of that year’s election in Trump’s favor. The Supreme Court swiftly threw out the lawsuit.

Paxton has also led a host of lawsuits against the Biden administration, ranging from attempting to toss the Affordable Care Act to challenging the constitutionality of a federal funding package. Trump also endorsed Paxton in his 2022 reelection primary, even as other Republicans including former U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Tyler, and former Land Commissioner George P. Bush courted the former president’s support.

“Ken has been a great A.G., and now he can go back to work for the wonderful people of Texas. It was my honor to have helped correct this injustice!” Trump’s Monday post continued.

Keep reading... Show less

Texas border Republican accuses GOP of using immigration crisis for political gain

WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-San Antonio, accused his fellow Republicans of politicizing the border for their own benefit, further escalating his standoff with more conservative members of his party who he said stood to gain from a sustained migration conflict.

“Anyone who thinks a 3 page anti-immigration bill with 0% chance of getting signed into law is going to solve the border crisis should be buying beach front property in AZ,” Gonzales tweeted Thursday night in an apparent reference to border legislation introduced by U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Austin.

Roy and Gonzales have been going head-to-head on border security for weeks. In January, Roy introduced legislation, dubbed the Border Safety and Security Act, to give the secretary of Homeland Security the ability to shut down border crossings and detain asylum-seekers while their cases are processed in court. Gonzales was one of the most vocal Republican opponents to that plan, saying it would in essence create a mechanism to end asylum — a characterization Roy denies.

The bill was slated to get a floor vote early this Congress but was instead sent to the House Homeland Security Committee for further debate after it became clear there would not be enough votes for it to pass the House. Gonzales sits on the committee.

The bill faces little chance of passage with a Democratic-controlled Senate and President Joe Biden’s veto power. Many Republicans in the Senate are striking a more moderate tone on border issues relative to the House, hoping to pass a bipartisan package due to the political realities of working in the minority.

“There’s a reason why we haven’t gotten significant border security done and why we haven’t seen significant immigration reform done,” Gonzales said in an interview with the Washington Examiner published Thursday, referring to members on both sides of the aisle. “It is in the interest of many politicians to have this crisis continue to flare up.”

“Others can posture, and others can drop bills that are messaging and blame the other side,” Gonzales added. “I don’t have that luxury.”

In a statement to The Texas Tribune, Roy responded that the way to depoliticize the border is to “end the crisis.”

“You end it by stopping the releases that are contrary to existing law and are fueling the flood at the border — endangering Americans and migrants while also hampering the legitimate asylum claims,” the statement said.

Republicans have made the southern border one of their principal attack points against the Biden administration, accusing the president and his top aides of neglecting the issue amid record apprehensions. Texas Republicans in the U.S. House took a lead in outlining a strict border security plan late last year that has since become the conference’s main strategy for curbing migrant crossings.

Gonzales is a close ally of a bipartisan group of senators urging the House to get a package coupling border security legislation with immigration reform. U.S. Sens. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Arizona, and Thom Tillis, R-North Carolina, created an outline to do so late last year, consulting with border members including Gonzales and Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, helped Sinema lead the Senate group to the Texas and Arizona borders last month.

Democrats took solace in Gonzales’ opposition to Roy’s legislation. During a House Judiciary Committee hearing, ranking member Jerry Nadler, D-New York, quoted Gonzales in calling legislation to ban asylum “not Christian” and “anti-American.”

Gonzales and Cuellar have also worked together in the past on legislation to combat suicide among U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents and to build more migrant processing capacity at the border. They presented a centrist State of the Union response this year after Biden’s annual address.

The two South Texans were also close on the campaign trail, appearing together on media hits — a dynamic that irked many Republicans eager to flip the longstanding Democratic district. Roy stumped for Cuellar’s challenger, Cassy Garcia, traveling to the district for an October rally last year.

Roy has defended his bill as enforcing asylum law but ending policy allowing asylum-seekers to wait for months or years in the country while their cases are heard.

“It absolutely allows for asylum claims, but it puts the responsibility on the Homeland Security secretary to do his job,” Roy said in an interview with the Tribune last month. “You can’t come here and claim asylum when you don’t have an actual asylum claim.”

“Tony ought to read the bill and read current law,” Roy told “PBS NewsHour” earlier this month.

This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2023/02/17/tony-gonzales-chip-roy-border/.

The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org.

From Your Site Articles
Related Articles Around the Web

Congressional candidate disparaged COVID-19 aid despite taking thousands of dollars for her businesses

"Congressional candidate Monica De La Cruz disparaged COVID-19 aid despite taking thousands of dollars for her businesses" was first published by The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them — about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.

Sign up for The Brief, our daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news.

Monica De La Cruz, a firebrand Republican running in a fiercely competitive South Texas race, received thousands of dollars for personal business interests from federal COVID relief programs despite disparaging federal assistance programs as harmful to the U.S. economy.

She’s the latest to join the growing list of Republican candidates and members of Congress who have recently come under fire for touting the benefits of Democratic or bipartisan legislation that they had disparaged and voted against. De La Cruz told The Texas Tribune she has always supported the kinds of assistance programs her businesses benefited from, but she vocally opposed major legislation that would have expanded them, saying they included wasteful spending items.

De La Cruz reported herself in disclosure forms as president of JSM De La Cruz Holdings, which generated for her rental income in the $100,001 to $1 million bracket in 2020. The firm received a $1,000 Economic Injury Disaster grant in May 2020 as well as a $39,000 loan,

De La Cruz also co-owned Navi Business Group with her then-husband, reporting $36,000 in spousal income in 2020. The firm received $4,000 in an Economic Injury Disaster Grant in April 2020 and a $98,000 Economic Injury Disaster Loan in May of that year. De La Cruz and her husband have since separated in a bitter divorce involving allegations against her of abusive behavior toward his daughter. De La Cruz rejected the allegations.

Two years later during a January candidate forum, De La Cruz blasted President Joe Biden’s pandemic relief package, the American Rescue Plan, as causing “higher prices” and the “destruction of small businesses.” The American Rescue Plan Act appropriated $15 billion toward the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program.

Another of De La Cruz’s businesses, DLC Insurance, was approved for a $38,552 Paycheck Protection Program loan back on April 29, 2020, intended to support five jobs at the firm. But the firm was ultimately shuttered during the pandemic, according to a March report from NBC News. De La Cruz, who listed her title as president of the company on disclosure forms, reported making $44,600 in income from DLC Insurance that year. The PPP loan was forgiven, including interest.

Calls by The Texas Tribune to a number listed with her insurance agency went unanswered.

On her campaign website, De La Cruz runs on a platform of stopping “incentivizing able-bodied adults not to work,” implementing “universal and enforceable work requirements for welfare” and working “with companies to transition people from welfare to work to address our labor shortage.” She also opposes Democratic social spending legislation, citing concerns it drives up inflation.

The PPP was one of the key relief elements of the CARES Act, a behemoth pandemic response package signed by former President Donald Trump in March 2020 as millions of Americans stopped going to work in person. Trump signed another COVID-19 relief package in December of that year, which De La Cruz criticized in a Facebook post and comments as surprising and “very sad.”

“I’m surprised Trump signed this,” she wrote on social media posts, criticizing the aspects of the bill that allocated funding for other countries.

“Monica De La Cruz raged against relief funding for Texas small businesses, but what she didn’t mention was that she and her family happily took nearly $200,000 of that same aid for themselves. Her hypocritical agenda of ‘Help for me, but not for thee’ is politics at its worst and South Texans deserve better,” said Monica Robinson, a spokesperson for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

De La Cruz retorted to the Tribune that such claims are "nothing more than another desperate attempt by the far Left to smear me."

"Like many others, my small business received PPP loans to help us stay open and afloat during the pandemic. I’ve always supported programs like that to help small businesses, while also pointing out that the Democrat’s so-called American Rescue spending bill wasted far too much taxpayer money on unnecessary items and caused higher inflation,” she said.

In the early days of the pandemic, De La Cruz was running against U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez in Congressional District 15, ultimately losing in a close race to the moderate member. This year, she faces progressive newcomer and fellow small businesswoman Michelle Vallejo, who runs on a progressive populist platform and has also encountered her own financial scrutiny after neglecting to declare more than $200,000 in assets on her financial disclosure report, CQ Roll Call reported last month. Vallejo’s campaign submitted an amended disclosure accounting for information “inadvertently left off the original filing,” her campaign spokesperson told CQ Roll Call.

The CD-15 race is the most competitive in Texas, with no incumbent after Gonzalez opted to run in the newly reshaped 34th congressional district, previously held by Rep. Filemon Vela. National Republicans have also been pouring money into South Texas to flip the historically Democratic region, touching on the area’s border proximity and its religious and social conservatism.

Disclosure: The Texas Tribune, as a nonprofit local newsroom and a small business, applied for and received a loan through the Paycheck Protection Program in the amount of $1,116,626.

The full program is now LIVE for the 2022 The Texas Tribune Festival, happening Sept. 22-24 in Austin. Explore the schedule of 100+ mind-expanding conversations coming to TribFest, including the inside track on the 2022 elections and the 2023 legislative session, the state of public and higher ed at this stage in the pandemic, why Texas suburbs are booming, why broadband access matters, the legacy of slavery, what really happened in Uvalde and so much more. See the program.

This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2022/08/22/monica-de-la-cruz-ppp-pandemic-loans/.

The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org.

From Your Site Articles
BRAND NEW STORIES

'Somebody needs to get fired': Texas Dem blasts party's 'lazy' abortion strategy

US Sen. Ted Cruz declares victory over Democrat Colin Allred

Walz tells Texas Democrats a US Senate race win is within reach

Texas Dem compares Latino Trump supporters to 'Jews for Hitler'

@2024 - AlterNet Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. - "Poynter" fonts provided by fontsempire.com.