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Good morning,

It has been 156 days since a man in Pennsylvania attempted to assassinate Donald Trump. In the One Click Survey, we ask if you're surprised by how much we still do not know.

This is the Texas Minute for Monday, Dec. 16, 2024.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Texas Electors Prepare to Cast Votes for Trump

• At 2 p.m. tomorrow, Texas' 40 presidential electors will gather on the floor of the Texas House to officially vote for Donald Trump as the 47th President of the United States. Ian Camacho explains the process.
      
• Each state has electors in a number equivalent to its members in the U.S. House delegation plus two for the U.S. Senate. While some states apportion their electoral votes based on the candidates' percentages, Texas is winner-take-all.
        
• “This is the election of my lifetime, and to actually be a part of the Electoral College and cast that vote, to be a part of the National Archives from now until the end of time, it’s quite the honor,” said Devvie Duke, the presidential elector for Congressional District 17.

With Dustin Burrows Flailing, New Names Emerge in Speaker Battle

• Some members of the Texas 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. Brandon Waltens names the names.
         
• After incumbent House Speaker Dade Phelan dropped out of the race, Cook bested State Rep. Dustin Burrows in the GOP caucus vote. Shortly after, however, Burrows announced he was still running—with support from a large swath of Democrats and a minority of Republicans.
       
• That hasn't sat well with grassroots activists or Republican officials. Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, Attorney General Ken Paxton, Ag Commissioner Sid Miller, and even Donald Trump Jr. have all supported backing the Republican caucus speaker nominee.
      
• With Burrows' candidacy flailing, the Democrat-appeasement wing of the GOP is looking for a replacement. Sources say the three names most often mentioned as potential candidates are Ryan Guillen of Rio Grande City, Greg Bonnen of Friendswood, and Todd Hunter of Corpus Christi. 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.
      
• Guillen and Hunter were both originally elected to the Texas House as Democrats before switching parties.

Congressmen Press Children’s Hospital to Answer for Sex Change Program

• Emily Medeiros reports two Republican lawmakers are demanding answers from Texas Children’s Hospital about its gender mutilation programs for minors. 
   
• U.S. Reps. Chip Roy (R-TX) and Jim Jordan (R-OH) recently sent a letter to the hospital's CEO, asking for all documents and communications relating to TCH’s decision to revive its gender mutilation procedures. They also want to know how and when the hospital identified the whistleblower who revealed its continued practices.
       
• Texas Children’s Hospital has until December 27 to produce the documents.
     
• Back in June, Attorney General Ken Paxton opened an investigation into TCH for Medicare fraud after a second whistleblower came forward to claim that an alarming number of “transgender” teenage patients were under the care of two doctors who had allegedly been billing the state Medicaid program.

New Report Reveals ‘State Sponsored Child Abuse’

• A shocking new report reveals a pattern of what the authors call “state-sponsored child abuse” within the Texas public school system. As Erin Anderson details, the report documents thousands of complaints of sexual and violent misconduct by teachers and other school employees and finds that a majority went uninvestigated by the state.
        
• The parent advocacy group Texas Education 911 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 school employees perpetrated on students during that time period. A majority of those misconduct reports—61 percent—were not investigated by the TEA.
       
• Back in September, TEA Commissioner Mike Morath testified during a Senate Education Committee hearing that his agency does not have sufficient “administrative resources” to review all the complaints.

RELATED NEWS

• Kathryn Prior, a 35-year-old vocational agriculture education teacher at Henderson High School, reportedly confessed to police that she touched the student inappropriately while she was driving him home in her car. 
     
• Prior has been charged with indecency with a child by sexual contact and improper relationship between educator and student. She was also charged with possession of child pornography.

Paxton Sues New York Doctor for Providing Abortion Pills to Texans

• Attorney General Ken Paxton has sued a New York doctor for giving abortion pills to Texas residents despite not being a licensed Texas physician. Will Biagini has the story.
      
• Dr. Margaret Carpenter is a medical professional in New York who allegedly provided an abortion pill to a resident of Collin County. According to Paxton, the pill killed the unborn infant and resulted in “serious medical complications” for the mother—who needed medical attention after the pill was administered.
     
• Texas law prohibits doctors from mailing abortion drugs. State law also prohibits anyone from treating Texans or prescribing drugs via telehealth without a Texas medical license.

Conservative Leader Award 2024

Joey Miller of Gordon, Texas

The 2024 honorees announced so far...

The Conservative Leader Award began in 2014. On our website, you can meet the honorees from previous years.

Today In History

On Dec. 16, 1653, Oliver Cromwell was named the Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland.

Quote-Unquote

"Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men, even when they exercise influence and not authority; still more when you superadd the tendency of the certainty of corruption by authority."

– Lord Acton​

One Click Survey

Are you surprised that we already know more about the man who murdered the health insurance CEO two weeks ago than we do about the would-be assassin of Donald Trump after five months?
 

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