Today is
Friday November 22, 2024
HOUSTON – The Houston Chronicle reports that SpaceX has reportedly backed out of a controversial land swap that would have given the rocket company 43 acres of state parkland in South Texas. The company told the state in a September letter that it was “no longer interested in pursuing the specific arrangement,” according to an article Bloomberg published Thursday. The letter did not offer an explanation but noted the company apparently first notified Texas Parks and Wildlife of its decision in July.
The deal, approved by the state department earlier this year, would have given SpaceX room to expand in Boca Chica State Park, which surrounds the facility where it’s building and launching the world’s most powerful rocket. In exchange, SpaceX agreed to buy 477 acres near the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge and give the land to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department to create a new state park. The Cameron County Appraisal District shows that SpaceX did buy the 477 acres. SpaceX and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. This land swap elicited thousands of public comments when it was announced in January. Environmental organizations raised concerns about giving a rocket company sensitive state parkland. Officials with SpaceX and the state argued the 43 acres were unconnected parcels, and many of them were inaccessible to the public.
AUSTIN – The Austin American-Statesman reports theTexas Higher Education Coordinating Board has picked Wynn Rosser to serve as the agency’s next commissioner, members announced at a special meeting Thursday. Rosser most recently served as president of the Temple Foundation, an organization that works with rural communities in East Texas to create more access to education and opportunities to help address poverty. Before that, he was a senior administrator at Texas A&M University. He has also worked in the Rio Grande Valley to help boost access to secondary education, and he served as president and CEO of the Greater Texas Foundation, which works to connect underserved populations to educational opportunities. The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board is the highest authority on higher education matters in the state. It distributes the state’s financial aid to schools and sets its vision for meeting workforce needs. The commissioner, who is also the acting CEO of the agency, is appointed by the board, whose members are appointed by the governor.
DALLAS — The Texas Employment Forecast released by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas indicates jobs will increase 2.1 percent in 2024, with an 80 percent confidence band of 1.9 to 2.3 percent.
This is a decrease from the previous month’s forecast of 2.5 percent for 2024.????????
The forecast is based on an average of four models that include projected national GDP, oil futures prices,?and the Texas and U.S. leading indexes.
“Texas employment contracted as 6,600 jobs were lost in October,” said Jesus Cañas, Dallas Fed senior business economist. “Losses were concentrated in the private sector services, particularly professional and business services, although some sectors expanded such as information and financial activities. Government and goods producing sectors also expanded. In the major metropolitan areas, employment grew in San Antonio, Austin and Fort Worth, while it fell in Houston and Dallas.”
Additional key takeaways from the latest Dallas Fed report:???????
The forecast suggests 288,000 jobs will be added in the state this year, and employment in December 2024 will be 14.3 million.????
Texas employment decreased by an annualized 0.6 percent month over month in October, while the September growth was revised upward to 3.7 percent.??
The unemployment rate, which takes into account changes in the total labor force along with other factors, increased in each of Texas’ major metros in October. This includes Austin–Round Rock, Brownsville–Harlingen, Dallas–Plano–Irving, El Paso, Fort Worth–Arlington, Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land, Laredo and San Antonio–New Braunfels, according to?seasonally adjusted numbers?from the Dallas Fed.???? ????
The Texas statewide unemployment rate remained unchanged at 4.1 percent in October.?????
Additional information about the Texas Employment Forecast, plus seasonally adjusted and benchmarked Texas jobs data and metro unemployment rates, may be found on?DallasFed.org.????
HOUSTON (AP) – A surprise pitch from a Chicago company with no experience building offshore wind farms has reignited enthusiasm for wind energy development in the Gulf of Mexico.
Hecate Energy, a company best known for land-based solar projects, presented its plan to build a 133-turbine wind farm in the Gulf shortly after the Biden administration canceled the region’s second lease auction in July due to insufficient interest from bidders. The failed auction came on the heels of the Gulf’s disappointing first-ever auction in 2023, which drew just one successful bid, submitted by German wind energy giant RWE, for a tract south of Lake Charles, Louisiana, and no bids for two areas near Galveston, Texas.
The Gulf’s offshore wind industry “could use a positive headline,” Hecate wrote in its application to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, the agency in charge of offshore wind development in federal waters. By proceeding with Hecate’s application, BOEM could “generate momentum” in a region overlooked by offshore wind developers, the application said.
Hecate’s gambit appears to be paying off. Invenergy, another Chicago energy company, recently threw down a proposal for roughly the same two areas of the western Gulf, about 25 miles from Galveston. In an “Indication of Interest” letter sent to the BOEM in September, Invenergy proposed up to 140 turbines with a total capacity of about 2,500 megawatts, enough to power about a half-million homes. Hecate’s more modest plan would likely produce approximately 2,000 megawatts.
Suddenly, the Gulf is back in play, said Cameron Poole, energy and innovation manager for the economic development organization Greater New Orleans, Inc. While the Gulf has stronger storms and fewer potential energy customers than the East Coast, which has been the focus of U.S. offshore wind development, “these new proposals show that developers aren’t scared away by that,” Poole said. “It shows that interest is still growing in the Gulf.”
BOEM is waiting to see if more companies propose projects for the two areas, which total about 142,000 acres. The areas differ from the ones BOEM planned to auction in July, but the agency had identified them as suitable for offshore wind development in 2021. BOEM will likely initiate a competitive lease sale but no timeline has been set, a BOEM spokesperson said this week.
“The interest from industry leaders such as Hecate and RWE demonstrates the commercial potential in the region,” said James Kendall, BOEM’s Gulf region director.
Founded in 2012, Hecate has developed more than 47 solar and energy storage projects in the U.S. and Canada and a wind farm in Jordan. Its minority investor, Repsol, is an oil and gas company with offshore extraction rights in the Gulf and off the Alaska coast.
Invenergy has 74 solar and energy storage projects and 118 land-based wind projects in North America, Europe and Japan. The 23-year-old company is developing offshore wind projects off the New Jersey and California coasts.
Betting on the Gulf
While lagging behind the East Coast, the Gulf has the potential to be a wind energy powerhouse. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory determined the Gulf could generate more than 500,000 megawatts of offshore wind energy per year. That’s twice the energy needs of all five Gulf Coast states, and larger than the potential offshore wind capacity of the Great Lakes and Pacific Coast combined.
An initial flurry of interest in the Gulf from some of the world’s biggest offshore wind developers has waned as the industry’s overall growth in the U.S. cooled in recent years. The reasons are varied: supply chain delays, high interest rates, rising inflation and a lack of trained workers.
Louisiana and Texas have already capitalized on the offshore wind industry even if no turbine blades are spinning over the Gulf.
Louisiana firms with close ties to the offshore oil and gas industry have played key roles in the wind industry for nearly a decade. Six Bayou State companies supplied designers, engineers, ship operators, and other workers to build the U.S.’s first offshore wind farm, a five-turbine project off Rhode Island, in 2016.
About a quarter of all offshore wind industry contracts in the U.S. have gone to Gulf-based firms, with about $1 billion in investments flowing to the region’s ship and metal fabrication yards in recent years, according to the Oceantic Network, an industry trade group.
Louisiana has approved agreements with two companies to build small-scale wind farms in state-managed waters near Cameron Parish, in the southwest corner of the state, and Port Fourchon, the Gulf’s largest oil and gas port.
Texas political winds
RWE, the Gulf’s only lease-holder in federal waters, had lobbied regulators to boost leasing opportunities near Louisiana because it was the only state in the Gulf “that has signaled its interest in pursuing offshore wind policy,” the company said in a letter to BOEM.
Texas has stronger wind speeds, but its leaders have expressed strong opposition to offshore wind development. The Texas Legislature threatened to block wind farms from linking to the state’s power grid and hit companies with fines if they failed to meet energy generation goals. Just before last year’s auction, the Texas land commissioner pledged to do “everything in my power … to thwart this proposed boondoggle,” calling wind farms an impediment to shipping and fishing.
While the state of Texas may appear hostile to offshore wind, its cities are offering a warm welcome. Hecate’s application notes that Texas’ four largest cities – Houston, San Antonio, Dallas and Austin – have adopted climate action plans that commit to a goal of net zero emissions by 2050. The four cities offer a combined customer base of about 6 million people.
The market for offshore wind power isn’t limited to cities. Hecate indicated it could steer its wind energy to oil and gas companies keen on making their extraction and refining processes a touch greener. The company would also likely tap into the growing market for “green” hydrogen, a fuel made by using wind or solar energy to split water’s molecules. Unlike coal or gas, hydrogen doesn’t produce greenhouse gases when it’s burned.
Federal and state grants are pouring into green hydrogen projects. The Biden administration and Louisiana have awarded about $75 million to develop interrelated green hydrogen initiatives in south Louisiana. A $426 million green hydrogen plant planned in Ascension Parish, about 50 miles west of New Orleans, is also tapping into government grants. Hecate cited the two projects as evidence of a robust developing market for its proposed project and other offshore wind farms.
“It’s a thin landscape right now with three wind developments in the Gulf,” said Poole, referring to the large RWE lease and the two smaller projects envisioned in Louisiana waters. “But we remain optimistic about offshore wind. It’s not a question of ‘if’ but ‘when.’”
TYLER – 
A Longview woman has been sentenced to federal prison for distributing fentanyl resulting in death in the Eastern District of Texas, announced U.S. Attorney Damien M. Diggs. Rebecca Diane Merkel, 43, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute fentanyl and was sentenced to 240 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Jeremy D. Kernodle. According to information presented in Court, Merkel operated what was known to drug users as the “Walmart of drugs” out of her residence located on Williams Street in Longview. There, she and her co-defendants sold various illegal narcotics, including methamphetamine and pills laced with fentanyl, in exchange for money, stolen goods, and firearms. Merkel’s customers included street-level dealers in Gregg, Rusk, and Panola counties. Read the rest of this entry »
AUSTIN – The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports private employers across the state are calling on lawmakers to mend existing gaps in the child care sector that are preventing businesses and the state economy from reaching their full potential at an annual price tag of about $9.4 billion. A task force of almost 70 businesses and organizations announced the specific actions they want to be taken in the upcoming Texas legislative session, which focus on creating partnership models, harnessing relevant data and simplifying the existing array of regulations. The Employers for Childcare Task Force — founded by the Texas Restaurant Association, Early Matters Texas, Texas Association of Business and Texas 2036 — revealed its legislative agenda on Wednesday, Nov. 13, in a virtual press conference about a year after its formation in late 2023.
The task force was created in response to the lack of affordable, accessible and quality child care that limits — or fully prevents — some parents’ ability to participate in the workforce. The resulting turnover and understaffing seen by employers has prompted them to take action toward building a better economic foundation for the state. A recent U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation study showed Texas is estimated to be losing out on roughly $9.4 billion annually because of child care woes. State lawmakers in both chambers have been assigned to study the issues impacting the child care sector, and proposed solutions, ahead of the legislative session that begins Jan. 14. House Speaker Dade Phelan last month announced eight work groups for House members to voluntarily join, one of which is focused on child care accessibility and affordability. The group laid out the following six policy recommendations: Pass legislation to help employers, no matter their size, help their employees find affordable, quality child care through partnerships. Require Texas Workforce Commission and Texas Health and Human Services Commission to collaboratively streamline child care regulations. Improve data sharing across agencies to better inform state officials on child care opportunities and outcomes. Maintain existing sunset scheduling dates for the Texas Workforce Commission and Texas Health and Human Services Commission so the legislature can evaluate the proper regulatory structure for child care in a timely manner. Strengthen child care workforce by helping eligible workers obtain child care subsidies for themselves. Remove costly local regulation barriers (such as zoning) for home-based child care operations, which are already regulated extensively by the state.
HOUSTON (AP) — The Houston Astrodome has been in limbo, waiting for its chance at a second life since being shuttered more than 15 years ago.
It was a technological marvel when it opened in 1965. But its heyday has long passed and it hasn’t been home to a sports team since the Astros left in 1999 and it was closed to all events a decade later.
Over the years, ideas for its redevelopment and rebirth have been plentiful, everything from turning it into an indoor water park to flooding its sunken floor in order to reenact naval battle scenes. But none of these plans garnered enough public support or financing.
The latest proposal to refurbish the Astrodome was unveiled on Wednesday by a nonprofit focused on saving the beloved domed stadium. The group, the Astrodome Conservancy, proposes redeveloping the inside of the structure to create new areas for restaurants, retail, office and cultural spaces. But like the others before it, this plan could face a similar fate, with a $1 billion price tag and an initial lack of support from local entities that would need to give their OK for the project to go forward.
Beth Wiedower Jackson, the conservancy’s executive director, said that unlike previous proposals, her organization believes theirs is backed by data and would be economically viable in part because there would be enough private investment to support it.
“This is a big, big, bold vision. And those previous plans, even admitted by Harris County officials, were a first step towards a future Astrodome. And this is the full swing of the bat. And this gives people something to be excited about,” Jackson said.
The plan, Vision: Astrodome, proposes the construction of four state-of-the-art buildings inside the stadium that would offer spaces for restaurants, stores and offices. Similar spaces for shopping and eating would also be located around the Astrodome and connected to other facilities around the stadium. The Astrodome is at NRG Park, a 350-acre complex that includes NRG Stadium, located right next to the Astrodome and home to the NFL’s Houston Texans, as well as an arena and exhibition halls.
“The Astrodome is ready now for its next chapter, redevelopment,” said Phoebe Tudor, the conservancy’s chairman. “It is time for all of us in Houston to come together and do something hard, working together to repurpose the Astrodome.”
Nicknamed “the Eighth Wonder of the World,” the Astrodome ushered in a change in how people attended sporting events. It also hosted various cultural events, including concerts by Elvis and Tejano music star Selena as well as the “Battle of the Sexes” tennis match between Bobby Riggs and Billie Jean King in 1973.
Some people have called for its demolition. But a 2017 designation by the Texas Historical Commission as a state antiquities landmark essentially protects it from wholesale destruction. The stadium also maintains a strong foothold in the memories of many people both in and outside of Houston.
Rafi Kohan, whose 2017 book “The Arena” explores the place sports stadiums hold in American culture, said the Astrodome’s construction came at a time of incredible technological innovation in the United States, and it helped transform Houston from what some saw as a “backwoods cow town” into a leader in technology. Houston became the home of the space program with the opening of Johnson Space Center in 1964.
“There was and continues to be a lot of civic pride around the Astrodome, what it represented, the sort of space age feat, you know, in stadium form,” Kohan said.
Douglas Brinkley, a historian and professor at Houston’s Rice University, said the Astrodome has tremendous historical relevance and is worth saving.
“It’s been our fault that we’ve neglected it or not invested in it. But a turnaround is upon us right now. We’re going to get this done,” Brinkley said.
But whether there continues to be enough support in Houston to refurbish and save the Astrodome remains to be seen. It costs between $100,000 and $200,000 a year to maintain the stadium.
The Astrodome is owned by Harris County and managed by the Harris County Sports & Convention Corporation.
The office of Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, the county’s top elected official, declined to comment on the conservancy’s proposal.
James Dixon, the sports and convention corporation’s chairman, said in a statement that he respects the conservancy’s efforts but “over the last few years, we have seen several concepts that, while thought-provoking, haven’t resulted in viable funding and maintenance solutions.”
Dixon said his organization and the county are working with other stakeholders on a plan for the future of NRG Park and “the solution for the Astrodome must be decided within that context.”
One of those stakeholders, the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, which holds its annual event at NRG Park and would have a say on what to do with the Astrodome, was not on board with the conservancy’s proposal.
“The proposed plan by the Astrodome Conservancy does not align with the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo’s strategic vision and operational requirements,” Chris Boleman, the group’s president and CEO, said in a statement.
SAN ANTONIO (AP) – Basketball Hall of Famer Gregg Popovich has been away from the team because he suffered a mild stroke earlier this month, the San Antonio Spurs announced Wednesday.
Popovich is in his 29th season as coach of the Spurs and there is no timetable for his return to the sideline, the team said. The stroke happened on Nov. 2 at the team’s arena, and Popovich is expected to make a full recovery.
The 75-year-old Popovich, the NBA’s all-time win leader who has led the Spurs to five championships and USA Basketball to a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, has already started a rehabilitation program, the team said.
“During this time, the organization is grateful to the extended community for providing privacy and space to the Popovich family,†the Spurs said in a release.
Assistant coach Mitch Johnson has been the acting head coach in Popovich’s absence. The Spurs play at home Wednesday against Washington, and that will be the seventh straight game where Johnson will be filling in for Popovich.
“Mitch has been great,†Spurs rookie Stephon Castle said Wednesday, before the team announced the details about Popovich’s health. “Even when Pop was here, he’s always had a voice in our huddles and in our locker room. Our philosophies haven’t been changed.â€
A stroke happens when blood flow to part of the brain is blocked or if a blood vessel in the brain bursts. That deprives the brain of oxygen which can cause brain damage that can lead to difficulty thinking, talking and walking, or even death. Strokes may lead to difficulty speaking, paralysis or loss of movement in certain muscles, memory loss and more.
It is unknown if Popovich is dealing with any aftereffects of the stroke.
Stroke was the fourth leading cause of death in the U.S. in 2023, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and more than half a million Americans have a stroke every year.
The Spurs were playing the Minnesota Timberwolves at home on Nov. 2, and Popovich’s medical episode occurred there in the hours before that game. Johnson took over for that night’s contest, which the Spurs won, after the team said Popovich was not feeling well.
Johnson and Popovich spoke the following day. The Spurs had not released much in the way of details since, prior to Wednesday’s announcement about the stroke.
“Right now, his health is the No. 1 priority,†Johnson said on Nov. 4, adding, “He’s in good spirits. He’ll be OK. He is OK. And we can’t wait to have him back.â€
Popovich is one of only three coaches to win the NBA coach of the year award three times, Don Nelson and Pat Riley being the others. He’s one of five coaches with at least five NBA titles; Phil Jackson (11), Red Auerbach (9), John Kundla (5) and Riley (5) are the others.
Popovich has been part of the Spurs for nearly 35 years. He was an assistant coach from 1988 through 1992, then returned to the club on May 31, 1994, as its executive vice president for basketball operations and general manager. He made the decision to fire coach Bob Hill and appoint himself coach on Dec. 10, 1996.
He’s been the Spurs’ sideline boss ever since.
Popovich’s 29-year run with the Spurs is a span the likes of which has been nearly unmatched in U.S. major pro sports history.
Connie Mack managed the Philadelphia Athletics for 50 years, George Halas coached the Chicago Bears for 40 years and John McGraw managed the New York Giants for 31 years. Those three tenures — all wrapping up well over a half-century ago — are the only ones exceeding Popovich’s run with the Spurs; his 29-year era in San Antonio to this point matches the tenures that Dallas Cowboys’ Tom Landry and the Green Bay Packers’ Curly Lambeau had in those jobs.
TEXAS – The Religion News Service says that gathering in Baltimore on Tuesday (Nov. 12), just a week after former President Donald Trump won reelection, leaders of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops promised to defend immigrants and poor people in the coming years. “As the successors of the Apostles and vicars of Christ in our dioceses, we never backpedal or renounce the clear teaching of the Gospel. We proclaim it in and out of season,†said Archbishop Timothy Broglio, president of the conference, who also leads the Archdiocese for the Military Services. Broglio’s comments expanded on an appearance last week on the Catholic media network EWTN, where the archbishop said the majority of Catholics had supported Trump due to concern for the “dignity of the human person.†In Baltimore Broglio made clear that human dignity should be protected “from womb to tomb,†saying the bishops were committed “to see Christ in those who are most in need, to defend and lift up the poor, and to encourage immigration reform, while we continue to care for those in need who cross our borders.â€
Cautioning that the bishops “certainly do not encourage illegal immigration,†he said, to applause from his fellow bishops, “we will all have to stand before the throne of grace and hear the Lord ask us if we saw him in the hungry, thirsty, naked, homeless, stranger, or sick and responded to his needs.†At a press conference, El Paso Bishop Mark Seitz, current chair of the migration committee, said that while the conference was waiting to see how Trump’s campaign rhetoric will materialize as policy, the conference would speak out for migrants in the event of mass deportations. “We will raise our voice loudly if those basic protections for people that have been a part of our country from its very beginning are not being respected,†Seitz said, referring to both legal and human rights. “This is going to be a test for our nation. Are we in fact a nation based on law, on the most fundamental laws about the rights of the human person?†When asked how he would respond if Trump followed through on suggestions about involving the military in mass deportations, Broglio said he had a responsibility to “ensure pastoral care†for the military. “Unfortunately, the way the military is set up, you cannot conscientiously object to a policy or to a certain war, you have to conscientiously object to war in general, and so that doesn’t really provide an avenue out of the service,†Broglio said.
HOUSTON – The Houston Chronicle reports the fate of the booming renewable energy industry in Texas during President-elect Donald Trump’s second term depends largely on how his administration treats President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act. Roughly $154 billion in clean energy investments have been announced since passage of the IRA in 2022, with about 80% targeted for Republican districts. That includes $4.5 billion of announced investment and more than 22,000 announced jobs in Texas, according to data from Utah State University and research firm Atlas Public Policy. As a result, most experts don’t expect a complete repeal of the monumental climate bill. Still, modifications are possible, and Texas could be among the most impacted, given that it not only has the most renewable resources in the country but also a huge pipeline of pending clean energy projects.
Passage of the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022 supercharged the buildout of clean energy across the country, providing tax credits and other incentives as part of the Biden administration’s effort to fight climate change. Trump has vowed to “rescind all unspent funds†under the bill. Project 2025, a conservative policy playbook Trump has repeatedly disavowed but was created by some of his allies, has called for legislation fully repealing Inflation Reduction Act tax credits. Yet because so much money has flowed into conservative states, if Republicans modify the law they would likely to take a scalpel rather than a sledgehammer to it, said Maheep Mandloi, director of clean energy equity research at the investment firm Mizuho Securities. He cited 18 House Republicans who wrote a letter to Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., in August urging him to maintain some of the IRA. Joseph Osha, an analyst at the investment bank Guggenheim Securities focused on renewables, said he’ll be watching how Republicans do the math to extend Trump’s 2017 tax law, much of which is due to expire next year. If Republicans want to claim victory on tax cuts more than they want to take credit for the IRA’s investments and jobs, the Biden administration’s bonus tax credits for clean energy development could be on the chopping block, including those tied to sourcing materials from domestic manufacturers and investing in communities whose economics depended on fossil fuels.
TYLER – 
The City of Tyler is taking action to tackle erosion problems caused by two tributaries of West Mud Creek near the Glenwood Church of Christ. On November 13, the City Council approved a contract for erosion remediation work for $3,388,043 with Baker & Company Construction, LLC. This project aims to stabilize and protect the channel bottom and banks of Tributary A and Tributary A-1, ensuring the safety of public and private properties in the area. Read the rest of this entry »
AUSTIN – The Texas Tribune reports themembership of the Texas House is finally set after Tuesday’s general election — but the future of the chamber’s leadership remains a mystery.
On Thursday, the jostling to hold the speaker’s gavel resumed with insurgent candidate Rep. David Cook, R-Mansfield, saying incumbent Speaker Dade Phelan does not have enough support from House Republicans to win.
“We cannot continue to govern effectively without the Republican majority selecting our Speaker,†Cook wrote in the letter. “It is clear with my list of supporters that the current speaker cannot win an endorsement of the Republican Caucus.â€
The House GOP Caucus will meet in a month to endorse its nominee for speaker. The speaker presides over the processes in the House and appoints members to leadership positions. Bills often live or die on whether the speaker supports them, or the lawmaker who has authored them.
In September, Cook became the consensus candidate of House Republicans who want to oust Phelan because they believe he is too liberal. Cook published a list of 48 supporters who had pledged to vote for him in January.
It takes only 76 votes – a simple majority of the 150-member chamber – to become speaker. But the House Republican Caucus rules require that all members vote for the caucus’ endorsed candidate. To garner that endorsement, a candidate must receive three-fifths of the group’s support. Neither Cook nor Phelan have shown they have that level of public support yet.
Since initially publishing his pledge list, Cook has dropped one supporter, Steve Kinard, who lost his bid for a Collin County seat to Democratic incumbent Mihaela Plesa. That puts his pledge list at 47. But the caucus has grown to 88 members after Republican victories on election day, putting the new threshold for a group endorsement at 53.
Phelan, a Beaumont Republican, has said that he continues to have the necessary votes to win the speaker’s gavel at the beginning of the legislative session.
“Rep. Cook does not have the necessary support to become the caucus nominee, let alone the Speaker of the House,” Phelan said in a statement. “I have the votes to become Speaker of the House and look forward to leading another banner session that reflects the will of our state and its lawmakers.â€
Given Cook’s pledges, however, Phelan’s presumed path to the speakership runs through a coalition of loyal Republicans and Democrats, a move that would likely bypass the GOP caucus rules. Phelan has not published a list of his supporters.
That was the situation that brought about the speakership of Joe Straus, a Republican who took the gavel in 2009 and held the position for a record five terms. Straus was considered a moderate by the GOP’s increasingly conservative base and hardline lawmakers frequently bashed him for working with Democrats, saying he was killing conservative legislation.
Cook alluded to Straus’ tenure over the House in his letter on Thursday and described his rise to power like a usurpation which “fractured the unity of the Republican Caucus and set the stage for the division that persists to this day.â€
Cook said caucus members had three choices: unify behind him, speculate about a new speaker candidate and reconvene the group to hash out an endorsement or re-elect Phelan – which he said was “the worst option.â€
Cook has pledged to do away with the appointment of Democrats as committee chairs – a long-standing bipartisan tradition that Phelan supports. Many of Cook’s supporters also want to replace Phelan because they believe he held up school voucher legislation last session and because he oversaw the impeachment of Attorney General Ken Paxton, a right-wing darling who is a polarizing figure in the party.
Paxton was acquitted by the Senate and school voucher legislation is a priority for Gov. Greg Abbott, who believes he now has enough votes to pass a bill.
WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. John Cornyn has never lost an election.
On Wednesday, he’ll see if he can continue his streak, cashing in decades of political capital as he runs to become the next Senate majority leader to replace Mitch McConnell, who’s held the position for 17 years, according to the Texas Tribune.
It’ll be the highest office Cornyn has ever run for, but no Texans will cast a ballot — save for himself and Texas’ junior senator, Ted Cruz. Leadership is decided by the 53 Republican members of the next Senate in a secret ballot vote. The stakes were raised last week when Republicans won a majority in the Senate, making the party leader the agenda setter for the whole chamber and a core legislative partner for the incoming Trump administration.
Cornyn, a McConnell protégé who previously served as Republican whip and chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, is up against the current Minority Whip John Thune of South Dakota and former NRSC Chair Rick Scott of Florida. Like Cornyn, Thune is a decorous lawmaker who spent years close to McConnell and is well regarded throughout the conference. Scott represents a newer, more right-wing generation of the Republican conference who has openly butt heads with McConnell and appeals to the MAGA wing of the party.
Cornyn has for years signaled his desire to succeed McConnell, the longest serving party leader in Senate history. As whip, Cornyn was McConnell’s No. 2 and kept the conference on board with the leadership’s agenda by addressing each senator’s individual needs and interests. He helped elect several current senators while leading the NRSC, the party’s Senate campaign arm. He has actively campaigned and fundraised on behalf of Republicans this election cycle, raising nearly $33 million and traveling the country to help incumbents and new candidates alike. Those ties have formed a key component in his bid for leader.
“One of the things that people do expect of the leadership is to raise money for the team. You see that with Speaker [Mike] Johnson in the House. You see that with Sen. McConnell in the Senate,†Cornyn said in September. “Demonstrating my experience and my contribution to this effort, my ability, along with my team, to do it is something people are going to want to consider when it comes to the leadership election.â€
Cornyn is also running on his legislative record. He’s a member of three of the most coveted Senate committees: Judiciary, Finance and Intelligence. He has advised and advanced judicial confirmations under Republican and Democratic presidents. He often works across the aisle to get major legislation passed, including the CHIPS and Science Act to bolster the nation’s semiconductor industry and counter competition from Asia.
But Cornyn’s long tenure in the Senate has opened him to criticism from the right at home — some of it so rabid they’re actively rooting against Cornyn to win the leadership role. He was censured by the Collin County Republican Party and booed at the 2022 Texas Republican Party Convention after he drove the passage of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the first gun safety bill to pass into law in decades, which he worked on after the Uvalde school shooting. In recent days, both the Tarrant County and Dallas County Republican Parties issued statements rejecting Cornyn as a suitable Senate leader.
“The U.S. Senate needs a Majority Leader who is fully committed to conservative principles and who will champion the policies of President [Donald] Trump,†Dallas County Republican Party Allen West wrote in an open letter to Senate Republicans. “Senators John Cornyn and John Thune have consistently aligned themselves with Democrats and voted for omnibus bills that fail to serve the interests of America and its citizens.â€
Both West and Tarrant County GOP Chair Bo French are two of the state’s loudest and most far-right Republican county leaders.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton ridiculed Cornyn, himself a former Texas attorney general, after McConnell announced he would be stepping down. Paxton posted on social media that Cornyn shouldn’t be Senate leader because he is “anti-Trump, anti-gun,†and will be too busy fending off challengers when he’s up for reelection in 2026.
“Republicans deserve better in their next leader and Texans deserve another conservative senator,†said Paxton, who has not ruled out running against Cornyn.
In an unusual public exchange for the senator who usually shrugs off critics, Cornyn responded: “Hard to run from prison, Ken,†in reference to Paxton’s numerous legal challenges. No Senate majority leader has lost reelection since Sen. Ernest McFarland in 1952, though Thune entered the Senate in 2005 defeating then-Democratic Minority Leader Tom Daschle in South Dakota.
Several other prominent members of the MAGA movement have also rallied around Scott in the days before the leadership election. Elon Musk, Tucker Carlson and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene all threw their support behind Scott, criticizing both Cornyn and Thune for their work with McConnell, who has become a pariah among the most conservative flanks of the party.
But none of those outside voices will have a say in the leadership vote. The anonymity of the vote also allows senators to vote more candidly based on their own relationships with the candidates.
While his approval rating has dipped in recent years among Texas Republicans, Cornyn has maintained good standing with many prominent Republicans in Texas. He and Cruz have worked together repeatedly on legislation impacting the state and on the Senate Judiciary Committee, and both supported each other’s reelection efforts, though Cruz hasn’t said how he’s voting on the leadership election.
Texas Republican Party Chair Abraham George, who chaired the Collin County party when it censured Cornyn, met with the senator in September to coordinate efforts electing Republicans in the state.
“I truly appreciate all your efforts in what is such a pivotal election in our nation’s history,†George posted on social media after their meeting. “We are going to win Texas and we are going to win big!â€
A Texan has not been a party leader in the Senate since Lyndon B. Johnson. Past leaders have used the position to benefit their home states, including Johnson, who used the perch to help secure Houston’s place as the center of the U.S. space program.
A leader in fundraising
Cornyn has been climbing the leadership ladder since his first term in Congress. He served as Republican conference vice chair from 2007 to 2009 as a first-term senator, succeeding fellow Texan Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison.
His influence took a leap when he was elected to serve as the NRSC chair in 2009, making him the chief fundraiser and recruiter for Senate Republicans aside from the party leader himself. It’s a grueling job, but Cornyn thrived. Paired with a 2010 Tea Party wave, Republicans managed to defend all 18 of their incumbents for the first time in 16 years and gained six more seats. Cornyn’s colleagues asked him to serve a second time for the 2012 cycle.
Texas is famously home to a host of ultra-rich Republican donors who have financed campaigns for years. Cornyn proved himself an effective fundraiser as Texas attorney general from 1999 to 2002. He was one of the first members of the Republican Attorneys General Association, hosting an Austin fundraiser in 2000 for his fellow state AGs that brought in hundreds of thousands of dollars. That scale of fundraising for attorneys general was novel at the time and attracted controversy as corporate donors gave to candidates who could be involved in their cases. Democrats created their own attorneys general fundraising organization in 2002.
His fundraising reach expanded during his time at the NRSC, building relationships with major donor pools in New York, Florida and California. He courted Wall Street in 2010 to give to Republican candidates as then-President Barack Obama pursued regulatory policy to avoid a repeat of the 2008 financial crisis.
“I just don’t know how long you can expect people to contribute money to a political party whose main plank of their platform is to punish you,†Cornyn said in 2010.
During the 2022 cycle, Cornyn raised more money than any other Senate Republican, including those up for election, with the exception of McConnell himself and Scott, who was then chairing the NRSC. And unlike McConnell, whose Senate Leadership Fund is choosier in which candidates it invests in — it didn’t donated to Cruz this cycle — Cornyn gives to all of his fellow Republicans.
This cycle, Cornyn raised nearly $33 million for Republican senators and candidates, including $16 million for the NRSC. That includes over $500,000 for Cruz, who came out victorious over U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, D-Dallas, one of the most expensive Senate races in Texas history.
Since joining the Senate, Cornyn’s fundraising total is over $414 million. He also traveled around the country campaigning and fundraising for fellow Republicans, including Cruz, Mike Rogers in Michigan, Sam Brown in Nevada, Jim Banks in Indiana, Bernie Moreno in Ohio and Dave McCormick in Pennsylvania. Banks, Moreno and McCormick all won their elections.
“He’s never taken his foot off the gas,†said Brian Walsh, who served as Cornyn’s communications director at the NRSC and still is in touch with his operation. “In terms of having Republican senators and candidates down to Texas, introducing them to his network, helping them raise money … I would argue there’s very few senators who are more responsible for the Republican Senate majority than he is.â€
Thune is also a prolific fundraiser and crisscrossed the country this cycle attending over 200 events for Republicans or the NRSC. He has raised over $33 million across his fundraising operation this cycle and was one of the top fundraisers for the NRSC other than the current chair, Steve Daines of Montana, NBC News reported.
The Trump factor
Cornyn has shown willingness to diverge from the current leader if the rest of the party calls for it. That includes shaking up some long standing rules.
Cornyn is vowing to move heaven and earth to get Trump’s cabinet confirmed as swiftly as possible. That includes keeping senators through the weekends to get nominees confirmed (Cornyn is a vocal critic of the short working week and frequent breaks in the Senate) and even bringing back recess appointments, which allows the president to unilaterally make appointments when the Senate is not in session.
Both Republicans and Democrats have prevented presidents from making recess appointments by sending a single senator to Washington to keep sessions going while everyone else was in their home states. But Trump called for the move to get his agenda moving — a mandate all of the candidates were willing to accept.
“No weekends, no breaks,†Cornyn posted on social media Saturday. “Democrats can cooperate in the best interest of the country, or continue the resistance, which will eventually be ground down. Take your pick.â€
Cornyn has also expressed an openness to term limits for the party leader — a move McConnell opposes. And he has vowed to open up the legislative process to take in more input from the rank and file through regular Senate order, including debating legislation in committee before they hit the floor. McConnell has been criticized for leading deals with strict control of his conference, with Cruz calling him a “one-man dictator.â€
“I believe our members and incoming colleagues have the talent, experience, and character needed to restore the Senate to its fundamental role in our constitutional republic, inducing the critical role of Senate committees in achieving results for the American people,†Cornyn wrote in a September letter to the conference.
Scott and Thune have made similar pitches to make the chamber more participatory. Thune is the only one of the three who has chaired a standing committee, leading the Senate Commerce Committee from 2015 to 2019.
McConnell’s clashing with the right wing of the party stretches back years. He has been hostile toward the more reactionary methods of some newer members to block legislation, and several right wing members blamed McConnell for failing to take control of the Senate in 2022.
McConnell faced his first real leadership challenge in 2022 when Scott launched a bid and secured 10 votes. Cruz, who has beefed with McConnell throughout his time in the Senate, voted for Scott.
Scott has still managed to capture the support of several members of the MAGA wing of the party. He received public endorsements from senators including Tennessee’s Bill Hagerty, Kentucky’s Rand Paul and Alabama’s Tommy Tuberville.
Cruz has not endorsed in the race. He said in February: “I suspect a number of my colleagues are interested in the job, and I look forward to seeing whom the conference selects as the next leader as we hopefully enter the majority this November.” His office did not have a further update, but he recently said on Fox News: “I want to see a majority leader who changes how the Senate operates, who democratizes it more.â€
Trump has also not endorsed in the race, though Scott and his allies have requested Trump do so. Trump and McConnell shared an epicly bitter relationship, particularly after Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election escalated into an attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Both Thune and Cornyn broke from Trump after his time in office, with Cornyn saying as recently as last year that Trump could not win in a general election and that his “time has passed him by.â€
But Cornyn endorsed Trump in January after Trump won in the New Hampshire primary. He later campaigned with Trump in Texas and Nevada and attended fundraisers for the Trump campaign in Laredo, San Antonio and Houston, according to a source familiar with Cornyn’s political operation.
Cornyn has also highlighted his work advancing Trump’s policy agenda when he was whip, telling Trump “I’m interested in getting the band back together again,†Cornyn said Monday on Fox News. He advanced the conference through its ultimately unsuccessful repeal attempt of the Affordable Care Act and the Trump tax cuts that have become one of Trump’s defining pieces of legislation.
Cornyn’s and Thune’s supporters are opting to be more private, with only Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri openly backing Cornyn and Sens. Mike Rounds of South Dakota and Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma backing Thune. Hawley is a deeply conservative member who joined Cruz in objecting to the certification of the 2020 election.
Repeating a refrain he has said throughout the year, Cornyn said in September: “I don’t think these races are run in the press, so I’m not going to talk any length about it.â€
AUSTIN – The Austin American-Statesman reports that Republicans netted only two new seats in the Texas House in Tuesday’s election, but of the influx of new members who either ousted incumbents in the GOP primary or won open contests means the lower chamber’s center of gravity shifted more to the right. The incoming freshmen vastly enhance Gov. Greg Abbott’s chances of getting his long-denied school voucher bill through the Legislature in 2025 while Republicans continue apace on such conservative priorities as beefing up border security and placing further restrictions on transgender Texans. And it adds a new layer of drama to the ongoing race for House speaker.
“There are a lot of things that can happen along the way. But right now, starting out, Republicans command, and they’re going to pretty much hit what they want,” said Bill Miller, a longtime lobbyist and political consultant. “The question is, how much, how much fighting will go on between leadership about various things. And that’s really the key.” House Speaker Dade Phelan, a Beaumont Republican who was first elected to the Legislature 10 years ago and took charge of the chamber in 2021, has been in the crosshairs for much of his second term. And the flak he’s been taking has come from some corners of his own party — particularly from his counterpart in the Texas Senate, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. The election results that showed former President Donald Trump winning back the White House and Texas Republicans winning 88 state House seats were barely tabulated when Patrick sent his latest cannon volley across the Capitol Rotunda to the speaker’s office. “(T)here’s one Republican left who still supports the Democrats’ agenda and wants to empower them. Not Liz Cheney — she’s old news,” Patrick said on social media, with a reference to the former Wyoming congresswoman who has emerged as Trump’s loudest GOP critic. “This one is right here in Texas.
AUSTIN – As Texas prepares to consider a school voucher program, ProPublica reports that in 2018, Arizona voters overwhelmingly rejected school vouchers. On the ballot that year was a measure that would have allowed all parents — even the wealthiest ones — to receive taxpayer money to send their kids to private, typically religious schools. Arizonans voted no, and it wasn’t close. Even in a right-leaning state, with powerful Republican leaders supporting the initiative, the vote against it was 65% to 35%. Coming into this week’s election, Donald Trump and Republicans had hoped to reverse that sort of popular opposition to “school choice†with new voucher ballot measures in several states. But despite Trump’s big win in the presidential race, vouchers were again soundly rejected by significant majorities of Americans. In Kentucky, a ballot initiative that would have allowed public money to go toward private schooling was defeated roughly 65% to 35% — the same margin as in Arizona in 2018 and the inverse of the margin by which Trump won Kentucky.
In Nebraska, nearly all 93 counties voted to repeal an existing voucher program; even its reddest county, where 95% of voters supported Trump, said no to vouchers. And in Colorado, voters defeated an effort to add a “right to school choice†to the state constitution, language that might have allowed parents to send their kids to private schools on the public dime. Expansions of school vouchers, despite backing from wealthy conservatives, have never won when put to voters. Instead, they lose by margins not often seen in such a polarized country. Candidates of both parties would be wise “to make strong public education a big part of their political platforms, because vouchers just aren’t popular,†said Tim Royers, president of the Nebraska State Education Association, a teachers union. Royers pointed to an emerging coalition in his state and others, including both progressive Democrats and rural Republicans, that opposes these sweeping “school choice†efforts. (Small-town Trump voters oppose such measures because their local public school is often an important community institution, and also because there aren’t that many or any private schools around.)