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WASHINGTON — In 2022, Abraham George was coming after John Cornyn.

Texas’ senior senator had just played a central role in passing the first gun safety bill in a generation — a move that the party’s right wing denounced as capitulating to Democrats. Members of the state party viciously booed him during their summer meeting that year. George, then leading the Collin County Republican Party in a censure motion against Cornyn, said the senator had crossed over with the Democrats too much and needed to be ousted from office.

“The censure calls for his immediate resignation, and also calls for the state party to take actions on it,” George said of Cornyn at the time, echoing a sentiment across the right wing within the party that George represented.

When George was elected to lead the state party last year on a hard-right platform, he had the support of some of the most vocal Cornyn nay-sayers in the state, including Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

But as chair of the Republican Party of Texas and an influential spokesperson for the ultra-conservative faction of the party loyal to Donald Trump and skeptical of any wavering, George is not joining the anti-Cornyn chorus. Quite the opposite.

“Ever since I was elected, Senator Cornyn has been an ally to the party,” George said in a statement for this story, in which he praised the senator for showing up before the State Republican Executive Committee. Cornyn “promised to support President Trump’s agenda and confirm his nominees. He has followed through on that promise. We will continue to work with all Republicans to advance a conservative agenda for our state and nation.”

The pair met in Cornyn’s Capitol Hill office last September to discuss election strategy — a meeting where George lauded Cornyn for “all your efforts in what is such a pivotal election in our nation’s history.” Cornyn hosted the Republican Party’s December Christmas party, where in a stark contrast to the boos of the 2022 state party meeting, he got a standing ovation. They met again when Cornyn invited George to be his guest to President Donald Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress and discussed ways to get the federal government to reimburse Texas for its border security efforts.

That could neutralize a potential threat as Cornyn faces a challenging primary terrain. The right wing of the party has continued to blast him for his role in the gun safety bill, his doubts about Trump’s electability in last year’s elections and his support for the Ukrainian effort in its war against Russia. Paxton is openly considering a run against Cornyn, and George continues to organize and collaborate with the attorney general, including a statewide tour campaigning for state Rep. David Cook to be House speaker.

Officially, the party is staying neutral in the primary. But its leadership has previously weighed in and gone after Republicans they did not perceive as sufficiently conservative. The party censured U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales in 2022 and then-state House Speaker Dade Phelan in 2024. Gonzales was censured for his votes for the same gun safety bill that sparked the backlash against Cornyn, and Phelan was censured for the impeachment of Attorney General Paxton and the appointment of Democratic committee chairs.

Even before the censure against Phelan, the state party launched radio ads blasting him for continuing the tradition of allowing Democrats to serve as committee chairs. The move prompted criticism against then-party Chair Matt Rinaldi from other Republicans who did not think it productive to go after one of their own. Rinaldi did not seek reelection for the position during the state party convention last year.

George has also expressed a willingness to call out members of his party in the past. He said at a news conference last November that there would be a “bloody” Republican primary in 2026 if state House members continue to support Democratic committee chairs in the lower chamber.

If they support a speaker who appoints Democrats to committee chairs, “it’s time for them to go,” George said at the time. “We will definitely try our best to work with them, but we have primaries coming in a few months after this, after the session, and I can promise you, if I’m the chair, the party will be involved in those.”

Cornyn and George both declined requests for interviews. They both declined to comment when asked about how their relationship has evolved from the 2022 censure motion to now.

Rinaldi said George appeared to be taking the position he had taken as party chair — support Cornyn as part of the party’s team, even if there are some policy disagreements along the way.

“Our goal in the Republican Party of Texas is to have a team that’s striving to enact conservative policy, and Sen. Cornyn, as our senior senator right now, is a member of that team,” Rinaldi said. “We had a relationship when I was chair, and Abraham George is continuing that relationship. There will be agreements and disagreements over policy but we have an open channel of communication.”

Rinaldi didn’t say whom he would support in next year’s Senate primary, saying when he sees who will run, he will support “the most conservative candidate that I think will serve Texas and the country best.” He has cast doubt that Cornyn would win in a primary, writing on social media last November that “Cornyn needs to go.”

Cornyn leads a formidable organizing and fundraising operation that benefits Texas Republicans down ballot. During the 2020 cycle when Cornyn was at the top of the ticket, he and the Republican Party of Texas worked together to send 40 million letters, texts and other messages to voters and register almost 320,000 new Republican voters. Voter contacts that year were important for the party as it was the first election after the state removed straight-ticket voting. He also raised $3.8 million for the Republican Party of Texas that year.

“Democrats should be running scared with my friend Abraham George at the helm of the Republican Party of Texas,” Cornyn said in a statement for this story. “I’ve worked hand-in-glove with RPT every time I’ve been on the ballot, and raised money for RPT when I’m not on the ballot, to provide record-setting support for conservatives and turn out millions of Republican voters across Texas, and I’m looking forward to reprising our successful partnership this cycle.”

There is still tension with Cornyn in some corners of the state party that feel his brand of conservatism is at odds with the MAGA movement. Many Republicans in Texas can’t shake off his 2023 prediction that Trump’s “time has passed him by” and that Trump potentially would not be able to win in the 2024 general election (Cornyn later endorsed Trump after the New Hampshire primary). Kelly Perry, a member of the SREC, said Cornyn “could do better at times and that leaves many of us questioning his intent when he votes on occasion.”

“He is a great politician but there seems to be times where he gets lost and loses sight of who puts him in office,” Perry said. “I’d like to know that the Republicans’ best interest is his first priority. We are all very clear where we stand, it’s just we question at times where he stands. “

Perry said that SREC members gave Cornyn a standing ovation at last year’s Christmas party only because he vowed to support Trump’s nomination of Pete Hegseth to be Defense Secretary. Perry stressed she was giving her personal opinion and not speaking on behalf of the SREC or the Republican Party of Texas.

Cornyn has been heavily emphasizing his support for Trump since the election. He vowed to support all of Trump’s nominations this year. In his official campaign launch video, Cornyn leaned into his time as Republican whip, securing the votes for Trump’s legislative agenda. He supported all of Trump’s judicial and executive nominees during Trump’s first term and voted with the president over 92% of the time.

Paxton is the most vocal advocate for a primary challenge against Cornyn from the right and said an announcement on his own run could come in the next few months.

“I think it’s just time,” Paxton told Punchbowl of a Cornyn challenge. “He’s had his chance. He hasn’t performed well, and the voters know it. You can go a long time without people paying attention. And they’re paying attention now.”

Other potential candidates include U.S. Reps. Ronny Jackson, R-Amarillo, and Wesley Hunt, R-Houston, who have both made moves to increase their name-ID outside of their home districts. Neither has announced plans to run.

Article originally published by The Texas Tribune. To read the originally published article, click here.

DALLAS – Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton wants to question Dallas Independent School District officials under oath as part of his investigation into the district’s policy on transgender athletes.

Paxton on Monday announced his office has filed a legal petition to do so. Earlier this year, Paxton’s office launched an investigation of the district’s “unwritten policy” that allegedly encouraged parents of transgender students to alter their child’s birth certificates in other states.

Paxton initially requested several records regarding the district’s compliance with a 2021 state law that bans transgender students from competing in sports matching their identifying gender. The request came after the district’s LGBT Youth Program Coordinator, Mahoganie Gaston, suggested in a video published by Accuracy in Media, a Washington-based nonprofit that students could play in sports matching updated birth certificates.

In a statement, Dallas ISD said it was following state law and is cooperating with Paxton’s information requests.

“We are cooperating with the Attorney General’s office to provide information that confirms Dallas ISD’s ongoing compliance with federal and state laws,” the district said. “The district is committed to continue following both the spirit and intent of the law.”

Changes to a person’s gender on birth certificates is illegal in Texas, but can still be done in other states. In the January video, Gaston suggests changing a child’s certificate in another state is a “loophole” to the Texas law. Paxton’s petition requests several Dallas ISD officials to appear for depositions, including Gaston, district superintendent Stephanie Elizalde and members of the school board.

“ISD officials who have participated in this madness will be held accountable,” Paxton said in a news release Monday. “The systematic effort by Dallas ISD officials to circumvent Texas law will be exposed and stopped.”

Dallas ISD is not the only school district affected by the undercover videos and subsequent inquiries from the attorney general. Paxton also sent a letter in February to Irving Independent School District after Accuracy in Media filmed a separate video similarly sending an undercover representative to ask about the district’s policy on student athletes.

Gov. Greg Abbott posted about the video on X, calling for Irving ISD to be investigated, and the district administrator featured in the video resigned shortly after.

Article originally published by The Texas Tribune. To read the originally published article, click here.

TEXARKANA – According to our news partner, KETK, the Texarkana Police Department has arrested a 32-year-old man for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in connection to a Sunday night hit-and-run.

Texarkana PD said detectives used video from nearby cameras to determine that a man was walking through a church parking lot in the 300 block of W. 25th Street at around 6 p.m. on Sunday when a silver Kia left the road and accelerated before hitting him.

According to a report from the Texarkana Police Department, the man hit was found across the street from where the incident occurred, outside of Highland Park Elementary. He had severe injuries and was taken to a local ICU where he’s currently in critical condition.

A Texarkana PD detective was canvassing a neighborhood four blocks away from the crash scene when officials said they found a heavily-damaged Kia at the residence of Patrick Cridell, Jr., 32.

Texarkana PD said their investigation progressed enough to arrest Cridell for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Cridell was then booked into the Bi-State Jail.

DALLAS (ABC) — “Numerous” homemade explosive devices were discovered by a citizen who was walking near a park outside of Dallas, according to authorities. The person was in a wooded area near Wynne Park in Garland, when, around 11:30 a.m. Sunday, they saw an open suitcase and items scattered near it — including what looked like explosives, the Garland Police Department said.

Garland is about 20 miles northeast of Dallas. The Garland Police Bomb Unit and FBI bomb technicians rushed to the scene and determined “there were numerous live homemade explosive devices,” police said.

“Bomb technicians worked through the day and into the night to safely render each device inoperative,” police said in a statement Monday.

No injuries were reported. Police said authorities are still working to establish where the devices came from and the suspect’s intent.

Anyone with information is urged to call the Garland Police Department at 972-485-4840 or Garland Crime Stoppers at 972-272-TIPS (8477). Garland Crime Stoppers is offering a reward up to $5,000, police said.

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DALLAS (AP) — Scientists who want to learn more about a tiny flower recently discovered in West Texas are hoping it will bloom again in a couple of weeks after rain finally fell in the area.

Dubbed the wooly devil, the flower with furry leaves, purplish-striped petals and pops of yellow is a new genus and species in the same family as sunflowers and daisies: Asteraceae. It was discovered last year in Big Bend National Park, known for its rugged terrain of desert, canyons and mountains, on the border with Mexico.

“There’s a lot to learn with this species so they’re really just getting started,” said Carolyn Whiting, a Big Bend botanist.

Scientists are hopeful the flowers will bloom again after rain fell on the drought-stricken park last week, giving them the opportunity to learn more including when the plants germinate, Whiting said.

The flower was discovered in March 2024. Park volunteer Deb Manley and a park ranger were hiking in a remote area when they saw a patch of flowers that were smaller than a quarter and close to the ground.

“We stopped and took some photos and neither one of us had any idea,” Manley said. “I could get it to family but I couldn’t figure out any more than that. So we took photos and moved on, not realizing we had found a new genus.”

When Manley got back from the hike, she started researching what the flower could be. She soon found that not only was she stumped, but others were too. Her post about the flower on iNaturalist, an online platform for nature enthusiasts “caused a stir,” said Isaac Lichter Marck, a researcher at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco.

A. Michael Powell, curator and director of the herbarium at Sul Ross State University in Alpine, said when Manley contacted him about the flower, he immediately thought it was something new.

“It wasn’t anything I’d seen before,” said Powell, who has extensively studied the region.

By the time a team went to collect samples of the flower over a month after the discovery, they had already begun to wither away.

“We really got out there just in the nick of time before the specimens would have been completely dried up,” Whiting said.

The discovery of the flower was announced last month.

Lichter Marck said they were able to extract DNA from the flower but that there’s still a lot to learn. He said they don’t know yet how it reproduces, or what potential uses it might have. They also need to determine if it’s endangered.

The wooly devil’s official name — Ovicula biradiata — takes inspiration from its appearance: Ovicula, which means tiny sheep, is a nod to the hairs that cover its leaves; while biradiata, or bi-radial, refers to its two striped petals.

Kelsey Wogan, environmental lab manager at Sul Ross State University, said she’s excited to see if the wooly devil can be found in other places as well and what its range is.

Whiting said the park is so well-studied that finding a new species was a surprise.

“The fact that there’s still species out there that had slipped under the radar is pretty remarkable,” she said.

Wogan said part of the excitement about the flower’s discovery is that it shows “there’s still new and undescribed things out there.”

“It’s the great reminder to keep your eyes open,” she said, “and if you don’t know what something is, it might be completely new.”

MIAMI (AP) — A federal judge in Florida has blocked the imports of a high-priced fish from protected waters near Antarctica, siding with U.S. regulators who argued they were required to block imports amid a diplomatic feud triggered by Russia’s obstruction of longstanding conservation efforts at the bottom of the world.

Judge David Leibowitz, in a ruling Monday, dismissed a lawsuit filed in 2022 by Texas-based Southern Cross Seafoods that alleged it had suffered undue economic harm by what it argued was the U.S. government’s arbitrary decision to bar imports of Chilean sea bass.

The case, closely watched by conservation groups and the fishing industry, stems from Russia’s rejection of catch limits for marine life near the South Pole.

Every year for four decades, 26 governments banded together in the Commission on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources, or CCAMLR, to set catch limits for Patagonia toothfish, as Chilean sea bass is also known, based on the recommendations of a committee of international scientists.

But in 2021, and ever since, Russian representatives to the treaty organization have refused to sign off on the catch limits in what many see as a part of a broader push by President Vladimir Putin’s government to stymie international cooperation on a range of issues. Russia’s refusal was an effective veto because the commission works by consensus, meaning any single government can hold up action.

The U.K.’s response to Russia’s gambit was to unilaterally set its own catch limit for Chilean sea bass — lower than the never-adopted recommendation of the scientific commission — and issue its own licenses to fish off the coast of South Georgia, an uninhabited island it controls in the South Atlantic. That drew fire from environmentalists as well as U.S. officials, who fear it could encourage even worse abuse, undermining international fisheries management.

Leibowitz in his ruling sided with the U.S. government’s interpretation of its treaty obligations, warning that the U.K.’s eschewing of the procedures established by CCAMLR risked overfishing in a sensitive part of the South Atlantic and undermining the very essence of the treaty.

“Unlimited fishing would by no means further the goals of CCAMLR to protect the Antarctic ecosystem,” he wrote. “Allowing one nation to refuse to agree on a catch limit for a particular fish only to then be able to harvest that fish in unlimited quantities would contravene the expressed purposes of CCAMLR.”

The ruling effectively extends an existing ban on imports from all U.K.-licensed fishing vessels operating near South Georgia, which is also claimed by Argentina. However, the fish is still available in the U.S. from suppliers authorized by Australia, France and other countries in areas where Russia did not object to the proposed catch limits.

Chilean sea bass from South Georgia was for years some of the highest-priced seafood at U.S. supermarkets and for decades the fishery was a poster child for international cooperation, bringing together global powers like Russia, China and the U.S. to protect the chilly, crystal blue southern ocean from the sort of fishing free-for-all seen elsewhere on the high seas.

Southern Cross originally filed it lawsuit in the U.S. Court of International Trade but it was moved last year to federal court in Ft. Lauderdale, where the company received two shipments of seabass from a British-Norwegian fishing company in 2022.

An attorney for Southern Cross, which doesn’t have a website and lists as its address a waterfront home in a Houston suburb, declined to comment.

Environmental groups praised the ruling.

“Allowing any country to sidestep agreed limits and fish freely undermines decades of hard-won international cooperation and threatens one of the last intact marine ecosystems on the planet,” said Andrea Kavanagh, who directs Antarctic and Southern Ocean work for Pew Bertarelli Ocean Legacy.

But some fishing industry executives said caving to Russia’s geopolitical posturing unnecessarily hurts American consumers and businesses.

“Blocking access to the resource will not improve the fishery’s sustainability but could very well cost U.S. jobs and exacerbate food inflation,” said Gavin Gibbons, the chief strategy officer for The National Fisheries Institute, America’s largest seafood trade association.

— This story was supported by funding from the Walton Family Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. __ Contact AP’s global investigative team at Investigative@ap.org or https://www.ap.org/tips/

TOKYO (AP) — TG Natural Resources, owned by Tokyo Gas Co. and Castleton Commodities International, is acquiring a 70% stake in the East Texas gas assets of Chevron U.S.A. Inc., a subsidiary of Chevron Corp., for $525 million.

The move, announced Tuesday, marks Tokyo Gas’ expansion of its U.S. business at a time when President Donald Trump is seeking to boost U.S. gas exports.

Tokyo Gas denies the move is in response to Trump’s policies — the investment was being studied long before he came to office — but an investment of this scale in the U.S. is expected to be seen favorably by the Trump administration.

TGNR is a major gas producer in East Texas, jointly owned by TG East Texas Resources LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Tokyo Gas America, and CCI U.S. Asset Holdings.

Of the purchase amount, $75 million will be paid in cash and $450 million used as capital to fund the Haynesville development in Texas.

The shale gas produced on the site is for the U.S. market for now, but exporting it in the form of liquefied natural gas to Japan is an option for the future, according to Tokyo Gas.

Tokyo Gas is Japan’s largest provider of city-area gas, primarily serving the Tokyo area. Besides Texas, it also has operations in the U.S. in the Louisiana area.

“We are excited to partner with a world-class company like Chevron on this transaction. There is considerable operational overlap between the Chevron acreage and the legacy TGNR acreage, which will allow TGNR to realize synergies of over $170 million during the development of the asset,” TGNR Chief Executive Craig Jarchow said in a statement.

Resource-poor Japan imports almost all its energy, and its main sources for gas are now Australia and the U.S.

SEADRIFT (AP) – Dow, a major producer of chemicals and plastics, wants to use next-generation nuclear reactors for clean power and steam at a Texas manufacturing complex instead of natural gas.

Dow’s subsidiary, Long Mott Energy, applied Monday to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a construction permit. It said the project with X-energy, an advanced nuclear reactor and fuel company, would nearly eliminate the emissions associated with power and steam generation at its plant in Seadrift, Texas, avoiding roughly 500,000 metric tons of planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions annually.

If built and operated as planned, it would be the first U.S. commercial advanced nuclear power plant for an industrial site, according to the NRC.

For many, nuclear power is emerging as an answer to meet a soaring demand for electricity nationwide, driven by the expansion of data centers and artificial intelligence, manufacturing and electrification, and to stave off the worst effects of a warming planet. However, there are safety and security concerns, the Union of Concerned Scientists cautions. The question of how to store hazardous nuclear waste in the U.S. is unresolved, too.

Dow wants four of X-energy’s advanced small modular reactors, the Xe-100. Combined, those could supply up to 320 megawatts of electricity or 800 megawatts of thermal power. X-energy CEO J. Clay Sell said the project would demonstrate how new nuclear technology can meet the massive growth in electricity demand.

The Seadrift manufacturing complex, at about 4,700 acres, has eight production plants owned by Dow and one owned by Braskem. There, Dow makes plastics for a variety of uses including food and beverage packaging and wire and cable insulation, as well as glycols for antifreeze, polyester fabrics and bottles, and oxide derivatives for health and beauty products.

Edward Stones, the business vice president of energy and climate at Dow, said submitting the permit application is an important next step in expanding access to safe, clean, reliable, cost-competitive nuclear energy in the United States. The project is supported by the Department of Energy’s Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program.

The NRC expects the review to take three years or less. If a permit is issued, construction could begin at the end of this decade so the reactors would be ready early in the 2030s, as the natural gas-fired equipment is retired.

A total of four applicants have asked the NRC for construction permits for advanced nuclear reactors. The NRC issued a permit to Abilene Christian University for a research reactor and to Kairos Power for one reactor and two reactor test versions of that company’s design. It’s reviewing an application by Bill Gates and his energy company, TerraPower, to build an advanced reactor in Wyoming.

X-energy is also collaborating with Amazon to bring more than 5 gigawatts of new nuclear power projects online across the United States by 2039, beginning in Washington state. Amazon and other tech giants have committed to using renewable energy to meet the surging demand from data centers and artificial intelligence and address climate change.