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Good morning,

Our question yesterday about the shenanigans in the Texas House resulted in y'all flooding my inbox. Below, you'll find a sampling of the replies and the results of the One Click Survey.

This is the Texas Minute for Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Trump Jr. Rips GOP Defectors in Speaker Showdown

• Donald Trump Jr. has weighed in on the ongoing battle over the next speaker of the Texas House, slamming a small group of Republicans for seeking a “bipartisan” deal with Democrats instead of supporting the Republican caucus’ nominee, State Rep. David Cook (R–Mansfield). Brandon Waltens has the details.
       
• On Saturday, House Republicans overwhelmingly voted for Cook as their nominee for speaker. However, State Rep. Dustin Burrows (R–Lubbock) has sought Democrat support in a last-minute bid to claim the gavel in January.
        
• In a post on 𝕏, Trump Jr. called out the effort, accusing Burrows and his allies of betraying the Republican Party.
       
• Trump Jr.’s intervention underscores the growing national attention on the Texas House speaker race, as grassroots conservatives call for unity behind Cook and push back against any coalition with Democrats.

Burrows Loses Two More Republicans

• After claiming to have the support of 38 Republicans and 38 Democrats, nine legislators (eight Republicans and one Democrat) have dropped their support of Dustin Burrows. Now, after a vote by the Republican Party of Harris County, Burrows has lost two more Republicans.
      
• The Harris County GOP adopted a resolution last night threatening to censure any member of their delegation who voted against the House Republican Caucus nominee. Shortly after, Republican State Reps. Mano DeAyala and Charles Cunningham announced they would be voting for David Cook.
      
• Both DeAyala and Cunningham had been listed among Burrows' of supporters.
      
• Only two Republicans from the state's most populous county are supporting Burrows: Lacey Hull and Sam Harless. The rest of the Harris County GOP delegation—including Tom Oliverson, Briscoe Cain, Dennis Paul, Valoree Swanson, and Mike Schofield—were already backing Cook.

RELATED NEWS

• Metcalf declared he would "stand by whoever is chosen at our caucus meeting" in an email to a constituent on December 4. Yet three days later, he joined Democrats in backing Lubbock Republican Dustin Burrows.
      
• The Republican Party of Texas has warned that any legislator failing to support the caucus nominee will face censure—a move that could disqualify them from running under the GOP banner in future elections.

Incoming Border Czar Plans Crackdown on Gangs

• Incoming Border Czar Tom Homan revealed that ridding the United States of violent criminal organizations like Tren de Aragua and MS-13 is going to be a “major priority” of the incoming Trump administration. Will Biagini has the story.
      
• Homan told Fox News that he is already working with Texas officials, like Gov. Greg Abbott, so that he can get immediately to work in January. Homan said that he has discussed plans with New York Mayor Eric Adams as well as hundreds of sheriffs across the country.
       
• He has argued that sanctuary cities should allow immigration officials to enter jails and conduct removals of violent criminals already in captivity rather than waiting until the criminal is released back onto the streets. “It’s safer for everybody and it’s the right thing to do.”

Republicans Call to Rein in Texas Ethics Commission’s Policing of Free Speech

• A new resolution from the Republican Party of Texas is calling for an end to the Texas Ethics Commission’s jurisdiction over private citizens. Luca Cacciatore reports the party is also opposing efforts to expand the agency's power.
      
• Members of the State Republican Executive Committee passed a resolution over the weekend condemning the TEC for “overreach and abuse of authority.”
          
• The agency was formed in the early 1990s to set the per diem reimbursement rates for state employees and consider recommending salary changes for members of the legislature. Since then, it has been tasked with investigating campaign finance law violations.
       
• Rather than focus on politicians, the agency has targeted citizens. One recent example involves an elderly woman in the Houston area who was fined $17,500 because she could not physically appear before a hearing. Her case arose because she had attempted to report $3,500 in political expenses but completed the form incorrectly.
         
• According to the Republican Party, the TEC's “process violates the right to due process.”

Teacher Arrested for Displaying Harmful Materials to Minors

• A West Texas teacher has been arrested after several students alerted their school principal after seeing nude photos and videos on the man's personal computer during school hours. Emily Medeiros reports the man has been charged with displaying harmful materials to minors.
        
• Lyndell Ray Lee, 68, has resigned his position as a 6th grade social studies teacher in the Crane Independent School District.

Lawmakers Will Be Asked to Reform Public Education

• A grassroots group that advocates for parental rights, transparency, and accountability in government education says that the current system is not working for Texans, and it is time to debate reforms. Valerie Muñoz reports on the plans of Texas Education 911 ahead of the 2025 legislative session.
      
• Aileen Blachowski, one of the parents leading the group, pointed to a suggestion in Oklahoma to have superintendents stand for election. District-appointed superintendents are often criticized for being granted inflated salaries even when their students perform poorly.
      
• Since 2023, a primary goal for Texas Education 911 has been establishing an Office of Inspector General to investigate waste, fraud, and abuse in schools. Another priority is to end discrepancies in law that grant school employees immunity from criminal consequences in cases of sexual misconduct.
       
• “We’re going to see a lot of new and novel ideas come forward about how to hold schools accountable, because the last five years has exposed a tremendous amount of bad acting on the part of school districts and the school system.” – Aileen Blachowski

Conservative Leader Award 2024

Jim 'Mattress Mack' McIngvale of Houston

Previously announced 2024 Awardees...

Quote-Unquote

"Three groups spend other people's money: children, thieves, politicians. All three need supervision."

– Dick Armey​

Y'All Answered

State Rep. David Cook of Mansfield has been nominated by the Texas House GOP caucus as their candidate for speaker. Yesterday, we asked readers what should happen to Republicans who break ranks and join Democrats in electing someone else.

Slightly fewer than 5 percent think there should be no consequence. Meanwhile, 9.5 percent believe those lawmakers should be kicked from the caucus, and 11.8 percent want them to be forbidden from seeking re-election as a Republican. And then you have 74.2 percent who believe those Republicans should be both kicked out of the caucus and forbidden to run in the GOP primary.

Here is a sampling of the deluge of emails I received from folks after they voted in the survey...

• “Looking for button ‘Public Caning.’” – Thomas Bazan
      

• “When I first read the question, my first thought was, ‘kick them to the curb.’ Since that wasn't an option, they should certainly be expelled.” — Cathy Blake
      

• “Republicans must learn to do Republican stuff, or be expelled from the GOP caucus, barred from the ballot as a Republican, and draw a primary opponent to cost them piles of campaign cash and run them out of office.  We tried the carrot, now it's time for the stick.” – Chris Breaux
      

• “There must be consequences for ignoring the will of the people.” – Joel Vanderhouten
      

• “What part of ‘representing your constituents’ do these people not understand?” – Linda Edmondson
      

• “They should vote with the GOP or acknowledge that they aren't Republicans; resign from the ‘House’ and allow someone else to take their places.” – Joe Zimmer
      

• “If they can't follow their own party rules, what else won't they follow? The will of the people?” – Renee Walker
      

• “Expelling disloyal members and barring them from reelection as Republicans sends a clear message: those who betray the party's unity and values are unfit to serve.” – Sharla Miles
       

• “And find a way to keep Democrats from voting in Republican primaries so that we have conservatives that would never entertain diluting the mission by electing Democrat~approved speakers or Democrat committee chairs.” – Windi Grimes
      

• “Uni-parties are NOT good for us from either side.” – Brian Willoughby
      

• “Republicans should support their party! While the two parties must work together, if we wanted the Democrats to be in leadership roles, we would have voted Democrat.” – Suzette Valentine
       

• “They should be challenged in the next primary and, from this day forward, roasted continually in their local market media, exposing every bad vote and betrayal, beginning with the illicit speaker vote.  I’ll start with Burrows in Lubbock.” – Robert Bruce
      

• “A ‘Republican’ elected to be Speaker of the House by Democrats is not a Republican.” – Michael Moon
   

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