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December 15, 2024
NEWS DIGEST
by Brandon Waltens
Good morning,
Some members of the House seeking to keep the Democrat power-sharing structure in place are pushing for a redo of the House Republican Caucus speaker nomination after losing the vote to State Rep. David Cook last weekend.
After current House Speaker Dade Phelan dropped out of the race, Cook bested State Rep. Dustin Burrows during the caucus meeting on Saturday. Following the vote, all Republican members were expected to pledge their support to the nominee ahead of the official vote in January.
Minutes later, however, Burrows announced he was still running—with support from a large swath of Democrats and a minority of Republicans.
The Republican Party of Texas has stated it will seek to censure and potentially remove from the primary ballot any Republican lawmaker who does not support the Republican candidate for speaker, David Cook. Cook has pledged to end Democrat chairmanships and prioritize Republican initiatives.
Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, Attorney General Ken Paxton, and Donald Trump Jr. have all voiced their support for backing the Republican speaker nominee.
With Burrows’ supporter count dwindling over the past week, some Republicans opposed to reform and eager to maintain Democrat influence are attempting a do-over of the caucus vote with yet another candidate.
Sources say the three names most often mentioned as potential replacement candidates for Burrows are State Reps. Ryan Guillen, Greg Bonnen, and Todd Hunter. According to Capitol sources, all three members are refusing to support the Republican nominee for speaker and are seeking Democrat backing for their potential bids.
While opponents of reform in the House are floating the idea of another caucus vote, the chairman of the caucus, State Rep. Tom Oliverson, says there is no provision in the rules for such a move.
“Any Republican who wishes to follow our party platform, our caucus bylaws, and the will of seemingly the entire Republican electorate needs to stop the coup and help David be the Speaker we all need him to be,” Oliverson wrote on X.
The official speaker vote will take place on January 14, the first day of the session.
Featured
A shocking new report reveals a pattern of what the researchers call “state-sponsored child abuse” within the Texas public school system. The report documents thousands of complaints of sexual and violent misconduct by teachers and other school employees and shows a majority went uninvestigated by the state.
Parent advocacy group Texas Education 911 released “State-Sponsored Child Abuse: School Employee Misconduct in Texas” this week following two years of research.
The group analyzed school employee misconduct reports submitted to the Texas Education Agency between September 2021 and July 2024.
The researchers found 6,888 reports of physical and sexual offenses by taxpayer-funded school employees perpetrated on students in Texas schools in just 34 months.
Alarming evidence also showed that a majority of those misconduct reports—61 percent—were not investigated by the TEA.
State
Over 100 GOP County Chairs Back David Cook for Texas House Speaker
Statewide leaders, including Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, and Attorney General Ken Paxton, have all endorsed the Republican caucus nomination process that selected Cook.
Texas Ethics Commission Overreach Criticized at Sunset Advisory Commission Hearing
The True Texas Project, attorney Tony McDonald, and former Round Rock ISD Trustee Danielle Weston shared testimony critical of the state agency.
UT Enforces DEI Ban: Mandates Staff Training
Internal review found roughly 13,000 uses of “DEI-related terms” on university websites.
Local
AG Paxton Wins Second Stay Against Harris County’s ‘Uplift 2.0’ Income Scheme
Democrat Commissioners revived and rebranded the “guaranteed income” program to spend an unused $20 million in federal aid.
Illegal Alien Smuggler Arrested, Owned Four Colony Ridge Properties
A Guatemalan national was arrested for his connection to a mass casualty smuggling event.
Denton County Jury Sentences Mail-ballot Fraudster to Four Years in Prison
Zul Mohamed pleaded guilty to 109 voter fraud felonies committed during his 2020 run for Carrollton mayor.
Federal
Federal Judge Blocks Biden Rule Providing Health Insurance to Illegal Aliens
Texas and 18 other Republican-led states challenged the rule that required legal citizens to fund health insurance for DACA recipients.
Incoming Border Czar and Texas Officials Discuss Gang Crackdown Plans
Tom Homan said he has been working with both the Texas border czar and Gov. Greg Abbott to target criminal aliens already inside the country.
Congressmen Press Texas Children’s Hospital to Answer for Child Sex Change Program
The letter asks for all documents and communications relating to the hospital’s resumption of gender mutilation procedures and whistleblower Dr. Eithan Haim.
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