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Good morning,

The Republican caucus in the Texas House has now nominated a candidate for speaker. Below, today's One Click Survey asks what, if anything, should be done about Republicans who side with Democrats during the official vote in January.

This is the Texas Minute for Monday, December 9, 2024.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

David Cook Wins GOP Speaker Nomination... Dustin Burrows Seeks Democrat Backing for Run With Rump Caucus

• Just one day after House Speaker Dade Phelan announced he was dropping out of his race for re-election to lead the House, the Republican Caucus selected David Cook of Mansfield as their nominee for the position. Brandon Waltens has the story.
       
• Yet even as the GOP caucus gave its support to Cook on Saturday, Dade Phelan's designated successor—Lubbock's Dustin Burrows—gathered two dozen Republicans to join forces with Democrats. (The names of the Republicans defying the GOP caucus can be found in Waltens' article.)
      
• Late Saturday afternoon, Burrows released a list of 38 Republicans and 38 Democrats to show he'd win the nomination. Shortly later, though, at least eight Republicans and one Democrat announced Burrows did not have their support.
       
• As the Republican caucus meeting progressed at the Capitol behind closed doors on Saturday, Cook led each round of balloting. Rather than concede the race and support Cook, Burrows and 26 Republicans left the GOP caucus meeting to gather Democrat support.
      
• Ironically, Burrows authored the GOP caucus rules requiring members to support the caucus nominee for speaker in 2017. The Republicans who stayed true to the process widely noted that Burrows broke the rules he wrote when it suited him. 
        
• "I applaud all 62 house Republicans who followed the caucus rules," wrote Attorney General Ken Paxton on 𝕏. "I hope they all stay together in future votes for Speaker."
       
• Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick also expressed that sentiment, noting that "Cook and his supporters did this the right way."
       
• The actual vote for Speaker of the Texas House will take place on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025, as the first vote of the new legislative session.
       
• Meanwhile, the State Republican Executive Committee, which was holding its quarterly meeting in Austin on Saturday, passed a resolution noting it would censure any member who did not support Cook for Speaker in January. Coupled with new party rules, any censured member of the Texas House would potentially be ineligible to be on the primary ballot in 2026.

Grassroots Activists Push GOP House to Stop Letting Democrats Run Committees

• Grassroots conservatives are planning a return trip to the Texas Capitol on the opening day of the state’s 89th Legislative Session to repeat calls for the Republican-led chamber to ban Democrat committee chairs. Erin Anderson has the details.
         
• Once House members select a speaker in January, they will vote on rules—including whether to stop awarding committee chairmanships to Democrats. The practice was previously ended in the Texas Senate.
      
• GOP activists argue that a majority of Texans did not elect Democrats, nor did they elect Republicans to give away their power to Democrats. At their convention this year, Republicans again made it a legislative priority to ban Democrat committee chairs.
       
• “Whoever gets elected speaker, we’re going to make our voice loud and clear: we don’t want Democrats chairing committees.” – Brandon Burden

Constitutional Amendment Would Let Attorney General Prosecute Election Crimes

• A constitutional amendment has been proposed for the upcoming legislative session that would empower the Texas attorney general to prosecute election crimes in the state. As Luca Cacciatore reports, the amendment is necessary because of a controversial 2021 ruling by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals that took that power from the attorney general.
      
• State Rep. Terri Leo-Wilson (R-Galveston) wants to amend the Texas Constitution to explicitly grant the attorney general the authority “to prosecute a criminal offense prescribed by the election laws of this state.”
     
• Christine Welborn, the president of Advancing Integrity, said the proposed amendment is necessary because “the vast majority of Texas district attorneys have either refused to or have neglected to prosecute violations of election law.”
      
• Before a constitutional amendment can take effect, it must pass both chambers of the legislature with two-thirds support and be adopted by voters.

Reports Suggest Migrants Encamped in Mexico Will Go Home After Trump Inauguration

• Migrants encamped in Mexico City know change is coming under President Donald Trump. But, as Addie Hovland writes, what they do between now and the inauguration is anyone's guess.
     
• Todd Bensman, senior fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies, said migrants are hearing rumors that the Biden-Harris administration will open the borders on December 18-19 to allow them into the country. That has reportedly led some to begin heading north.
            
• Others, though, said they plan on returning home after Trump is inaugurated.
     
• Bensman told BlazeTV that Mexico, fearing a trade war with the U.S., has already taken steps to comply with Trump’s border plans, even before he is in office.

RELATED NEWS

• U.S. Border Patrol agents made an initial traffic stop of a suspicious vehicle in the city of Presidio. As an agent approached the vehicle’s passenger side, the driver sped away, hitting a second Border Patrol vehicle and injuring the agent inside.
       
• The driver fled, but four individuals—later identified as three illegal aliens and one Army soldier, Emilio Mendoza Lopez—were arrested at the scene. The driver, a soldier named Angel Palma, was arrested the next day.
      
• A third soldier, Enrique Jauregui, was later identified as the "recruiter and facilitator of the human smuggling conspiracy," according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas.

Texas Builds 4,500 Feet of Border Wall in South Texas

• As illegal aliens continue to enter the country ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration next month, Texas is rapidly constructing border wall in South Texas.
      
• According to Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham, the state has constructed more than 4,500 feet of wall in Starr County in less than a month. In November, Buckingham offered the 1,402 acres of land where this section of wall is being built to the Trump administration for use in creating a detention and deportation facility.
         
• Meanwhile, border wall construction is also continuing in Zapata County.
      
• “Too many of our sons and daughters have lost their lives due to this unprecedented criminality along our southern border, it must end now!” – Dawn Buckingham

Fort Worth ISD Admits They Have a Literacy Crisis

• Emily Medeiros reports that Fort Worth Independent School District officials have admitted that the district has a literacy crisis.
      
• During a forum hosted recently by The Fort Worth Report, the FWISD board president and interim superintendent both acknowledged that many students are not meeting grade-level standards in reading and English language arts.
     
• A study by the Fort Worth Education Partnership found that students in both traditional and charter public schools in Fort Worth are not meeting grade-level standards. The group reported that only 35 percent of students in grades three through eight perform at grade level.

Conservative Leader Award 2024

Previously announced 2024 Award recipients...

• Dr. Brooks McKenzie of Clarksville
• Tammy Warren of McKinney
• Jackie Wakin of Frisco

Quote-Unquote

"Who will go with old Ben Milam into San Antonio?"

– Ben Miliam on Dec. 5, 1835​

Today In History

On Dec. 9, 1835, the Texian army, after several days of intense fighting, took possession of San Antonio de Bexar from Mexican forces.

One Click Survey

State Rep. David Cook of Mansfield has been nominated by the Texas House GOP caucus as their candidate for speaker.

Do you think that any Republican who breaks ranks to join Democrats in opposing Cook on the House floor in January should be...
 

Once you’ve clicked an answer, reply to this email with any thoughts you’d like to share!