Good morning!

Yesterday, readers were asked what the results of the legislative session told them about the leadership of the Texas House. You'll find their answers below.

Here is the Texas Minute for Tuesday, July 25, 2023.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Abbott to Biden: 'See You In Court'

• With the U.S. Department of Justice now suing the State of Texas over the installation of a marine border barrier in the Rio Grande River, Gov. Greg Abbott says he welcomes the fight. Sydnie Henry has the details.

      
• Abbott announced in June that the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Texas National Guard would install a “marine barrier” consisting of a string of buoys to discourage illegal aliens from crossing the Rio Grande River. Since the installation, an Eagle Pass business filed a lawsuit against the barriers and Mexico has issued a diplomatic complaint.
      
• Late last week, the Biden DOJ announced its intention to sue Texas over the installation. The DOJ followed through on Monday afternoon, filing suit in federal court over the border buoys.
      
• “[Y]ou must fully enforce the laws of the United States that prohibit illegal immigration between ports of entry,” wrote Abbott in a letter to Biden before the lawsuit was filed. “In the meantime, Texas will fully utilize its constitutional authority to deal with the crisis you have caused. Texas will see you in court, Mr. President.”

Pro-casino Lobby Moves PAC Money in Support of Republican Incumbents

• A group leading the effort to expand casinos to Texas is sending mail supporting the campaign efforts of some Texas Republicans through the use of a Massachusetts-based political action committee. But as Brandon Waltens reports, none of the mailers mention gambling.
      
• The Las Vegas Sands corporation runs a multibillion-dollar casino empire. In recent years, they have turned their focus to the Lone Star State—starting the Texas Sands PAC. The PAC doled out $2 million to Texas candidates during the 2022 election cycle, including $300,000 to House Speaker Dade Phelan (R–Beaumont), $225,000 to Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, $200,000 to Gov. Greg Abbott, and $50,000 to Comptroller Glenn Hegar.
     
• Despite Las Vegas Sands’ efforts, legislation to expand casino gambling failed to pass in the most recent session. Now, with the campaign season beginning, the group appears to have taken a different approach.
      
• Las Vegas Sands donated $250,000 to a PAC called Texans for Opportunity & Prosperity. The PAC is based in Beverly, Massachusetts. 
     
• “It’s not unusual to see a ‘lightning rod’ organization route money through an innocuous-sounding PAC to avoid drawing attention to the transaction,” said Tracy Marshall, the executive director of Transparency USA, a nonpartisan organization that provides information on political spending.

Paxton Lawyers Say 3 Democrats Should Be Disqualified From Impeachment Trial

• With the Senate trial in the impeachment of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton just weeks away, his lawyers argue three Democrat senators should be disqualified from participating after showing bias in the case.

       
• The Senate already removed Sen. Angela Paxton (R-McKinney) from voting in the proceedings because she is married to Mr. Paxton. Paxton’s legal team argues that State Sens. José Menendez (D–San Antonio), Roland Gutierrez (D–San Antonio), and Nathan Johnson (D–Dallas) should not take part in the trial because of prejudicial statements they have made about Paxton.
      
• The Senate’s impeachment trial is scheduled to begin on September 5 in the Texas Senate to determine whether Paxton will be removed from office.

Congressman Jackson Calls Paxton Impeachment a ‘Witch Hunt’

• In a post to social media yesterday, U.S. Rep. Ronny Jackson described the impeachment proceedings against Attorney General Ken Paxton as a “witch hunt” and a “disgrace.”
     
• He joins U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, former president Donald Trump, and the Texas GOP in condemning the impeachment. After conducting an investigation kept secret even from members of the Texas House, Speaker Dade Phelan and his leadership team pushed the impeachment in the final days of the regular legislative session.
      
• Jackson said Paxton’s only offense was “standing up to the weak-kneed establishment, and putting Texans FIRST!”

Texas Universities Hold Special Ceremonies for LGBTQ Graduates

• Emily Medeiros reports that Texas taxpayers are picking up the tab for special graduation ceremonies honoring “queer” and “trans” students.
       
• “These events diminish the hard work of the students and reduce them to ideological mascots. Lavender graduations are an affront to the hardworking Texans who are forced to fund these indoctrination camps with their tax dollars." – Brady Gray, Texas Family Project
      
• Those state-funded universities include: University of North Texas, University of Texas, Texas Tech University, University of Texas at Dallas, University of Texas at San Antonio, University of Houston, Texas State University, Texas A&M University, University of Texas at Arlington, and Sam Houston State University.

Two Teachers Arrested for Sex Trafficking Children

• Two Texas teachers accused of separate crimes were arrested on the same day – both charged with sexually assaulting and trafficking children for sex. Erin Anderson has the details.
       
• Red Oak ISD teacher and coach Gershon Caston, 38, was arrested last Thursday and charged with three first-degree felonies: aggravated sexual assault of a child, trafficking a child to engage in sexual conduct, and compelling prostitution by a minor.
      
• Former Nacogdoches ISD teacher Annaleigh Andrews, 24, was also arrested Thursday and charged with a dozen felonies, including trafficking a child to engage in sexual conduct and improper relationship between student and educator.

MACIAS: Texans for Lawsuit Reform Joins Forces With Casinos

• In the latest edition of his show, Luke Macias explains the curious alliance between Texans for Lawsuit Reform and an out-of-state casino PAC working to protect incumbent lawmakers loyal to House Speaker Dade Phelan.
       
• Find the Luke Macias Show at Texas Scorecard, watch it on YouTube, or listen to it as a podcast.

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Y'All Answered

Yesterday, we asked readers to consider the results of the legislative session – as it relates to conservative priorities and the impeachment of Attorney General Ken Paxton – and tell us who it seemed was running the Texas House: Democrats or Republicans.

Only 4.5 percent said "Republicans," while 95.5 percent selected "Democrats" as the party that seemed to be running the House.

Here is a sampling of the responses I received in my inbox after folks "clicked" their answer...

• “Phelan says he’s a Republican, but it is obvious that he is not. So, I have to say Democrats are in charge since Phelan appointed Democrats to committee chairmanships even though Republicans are in the majority.” – Debra Davis
         

• “Dade Phelan runs the House, and he owes his position to Democrats and a handful of Republicans. So, he is going to give Democrats plum assignments and he isn't going to cross them very often. ‘Who will you support for speaker?’ should be the prime question Republicans ask their candidates in the primary this year.” – Jerry Harben
      

• “The fact that Governor Abbott had to call a special session to pass Republican priorities says it all.” – Glenda Piacenti
      

• “In regards to who ran the Texas House this session, I'd include not only Democrats, but lobbyists, special interests, left-wing activists, and corporate extortionists to the list of enemies Little Drunken Dade and his band of Flying Monkey RINOs surrendered to. With ‘Republicans’ like Phelan, who needs Democrats?” – Mike Phillips
      

• “Definitely Democrats, because a large number of the folks with an R behind their names are Democrats in Republican clothing.” – Fran Rhodes
     

• “How is it that our supposedly red majority can't seem to fight their way out of a decidedly purple paper bag?” – T.R. "Randy" Dyer
      

• “One of the hardest buttons to push for me, but I had to push the Democrat button on this one. Sadly, Phelan has the Republicans hogtied…embarrassing.” – William Wallace
      

• “What we have in the House are a lot of wolves in sheeps' clothing! That might explain why we can never elect (select) a conservative speaker!” – Jim Mcbeth
      

• “Communist goal #15: Capture one or both of the political parties in the United States.” – Sheila Domstead
      

• “There are no Democrats that are really Republicans. Sadly, there are a bunch of Republicans who are really Democrats.” – Kermit Heaton
      

• “It certainly appears Democrats are running the show in the Texas House ‘Why,’ is the question. Republicans have--for far, far too long--allowed Democrats, the far left, to dictate the arguments and therefore the overall narrative. The only reason seems to be fear. Fear of looking mean or heartless. Reacting to that fear makes them do foolish things that are genuinely mean and heartless. The thing they feared the most comes upon them.” – Roger Taylor
      

• “Honestly, I don't feel like we have Democrats and Republicans any longer. It's a uniparty. No one seems to actually care about we the people!” – Dawn Martin
      

• “The Democrats are definitely in control of the house. Maybe the House will wake up next session and put a true conservative in as speaker of the House, like Tony Tinderholt. Things might get done for the Republican agenda.” – Danny Thompson 
      

• “A RINO is just an undercover Democrat.” – Bob Davis
      

• “The Texas House with the help of Dade Phelan and his RINO followers are using the Democrats to control the House and prevent legislation desired by conservative Republicans from being addressed and passed. We must elect conservative leaders. Too many Republicans are asleep.” – Sam Bridges
     

• “Frankly, Democrats seem to be in control of everything, not just the Texas House. And then we have all these RINOs who actually seem to be Democrats in Republican clothing.” – Nancy Wood
      

• “I said Democrats because I believe that many of our Republican reps don't care about Republican priorities and would be comfortable being Democrats. The only reason it seems for them to cling to the Republican brand is that they couldn't get elected in their districts otherwise.” – Mike Masterson
      

• “Every representative for my district has an R behind their name, but looking at how they vote, a D fits them better.” – Barbara Campbell
      

• “Even though Reps are the majority, they don’t act like it.” – Jeffrey Mayer
      

• “Democrats are running the House through their proxy, Phelan. Follow the money and it will lead you to Phelan's pockets and his buddies that vote with him.” – Jim Hughes
      

• “Failing to pass a majority of the Texas Republican Senate’s legislation is all the proof needed to show the Texas House, under Dade Phelan’s leadership, is controlled by the progressive Democrat Party!” – Michael Edinburgh
      

• “The House is definitely run by the Democrats, led by the best Democrat of them all: Dade Phelan. He, along with the other 63 or so RINOs, have done nothing but derail conservative legislation and promote leftist agendas. I wish we could do more than just vote them out. They need jail time for running under false pretenses and thereby lying to their constituents.” – Garry Ludwig
      

• “If Republicans would quit letting Dems run the show, then we would have an effective House of Representatives. Can't imagine it could get worse than the current speaker of the house but then I did not think it could get worse than his predecessor, either.” – Virginia Platt
      

• “The GOP platform largely failed this past session because people we elected to represent us refuse to represent us. The people of Texas need the power to recall those who fail us.” – Mark R. Juelg
     

• “It is shameful that our supposed House representatives are busy avoiding or attempting to nullify the priorities of those who elected them. I think the voters should get a full refund.” – Dave Anthony
      

• “Although Texans continue to elect Republican majorities in the Texas House, the body is effectively controlled by a coalition of RINOs and Democrats. This coalition has joined together to continually elect RINO speakers of the Texas House since 2008. In turn, the speakers appoint mostly RINOs and Democrats to head committees, effectively preventing Republican priorities from being enacted.” – Wayne Hill
      

• "If the Republicans were in charge, as they should be, don't you think we'd have had more success getting our priorities passed?" – Pat Hoffman

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