Don’t confuse the uniparty’s death rattle for a war cry. ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

Good morning,

It has been a wild week, but don’t confuse the uniparty’s death rattle for a war cry. More on that thought below.

This is the Texas Minute for Friday, January 17, 2025.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan

UPFRONT: The system that inserts your specific lawmakers at the bottom of the Texas Minute has been glitching for the last couple of days. Until we get that bug resolved, we'll provide links to our up-to-date website directory.

Texas Sues Biden Administration Over ‘Unlawful’ Methane Tax

Along with 22 other states, Texas is seeking to block a new rule put forward by the outgoing Biden administration before it can take effect today. Luca Cacciatore has the background.
The rule issued by the Environmental Protection Agency would force energy producers to pay a “waste emissions charge.” The multi-state coalition argued in its petition before the federal court of appeals in Washington, D.C., that the regulations are arbitrary and exceed the EPA’s statutory authority.
“The EPA is once again trying to seize regulatory authority that Congress has not granted,” stated Attorney General Ken Paxton. “I am challenging this blatant overreach by the Biden Administration and will continue to defend vital sectors of the Texas economy.”
Joining Texas in the lawsuit are North Dakota, West Virginia, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, and Wyoming.

Senator Proposes State Homeland Security Division

Under legislation filed by State Sen. Tan Parker (R-Flower Mound), a Homeland Security Division would be established within the Texas Department of Public Safety to coordinate multiagency and multijurisdictional efforts protecting Texans against security threats. Emily Medeiros has the details.
The proposed HSD would be in charge of Texas’ border security operations, coordinating intelligence, and protecting the state’s critical infrastructure, such as energy, communications, and transportation systems.
“By creating a dedicated Homeland Security Division, we are enhancing Texas’ ability to respond to evolving threats and ensuring a unified, strategic approach to safeguarding our state,” explained Parker.

Richardson ISD Allows Boys to Room With Girls on Field Trips

A newly released investigation has uncovered that a Dallas-area school district may be allowing biological boys to room with girls on school field trips.
The investigation by Accuracy in Media shows Richardson ISD’s executive director of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion advising an undercover journalist on the district’s policy on biological boys staying with girls.
In the video, the district bureaucrat—Angie Lee—says that the school district has seen it all, and “at the end of the day, we haven’t ended up on the news.” The district has denied violating any laws, but a spokesperson did confirm there is a process by which a biological boy could room with a biological girl, but only with the knowledge and consent of all parents and students impacted.
AIM President Adam Guillette told Texas Scorecard that he’s done more than 100 investigations into school districts in Texas. He said it is clear to him that “these radicals will not let any law stand in the way of them pushing their extremist ideas onto your children.”

McKinney P&Z Approves Airport Expansion ‘Soundly Rejected’ by Voters

Despite voters having overwhelmingly objected to an airport expansion, city officials are moving forward. Erin Anderson reports McKinney's Planning and Zoning Commission has unanimously approved a site plan for constructing a 45,000 square-foot commercial passenger terminal at the city airport.
The city-owned airport currently serves general aviation customers, but city officials claim to be in discussions with two airlines for passenger service.
In 2015, voters opposed a $50 million airport bond. And then, in 2023, 59 percent of city voters rejected a $200 million airport expansion bond. After the latest bond failed, the city requested and received $5.4 million in grants for the airport project from McKinney’s Economic Development and Community Development Corporations.
A city-sponsored impact study projected a commercial terminal could generate millions in tax revenue, but an aviation forecaster has reportedly called commercial aviation in McKinney “a consultant-fed pipe dream.”
The McKinney airport is about 38 miles from Love Field (the home of Southwest Airlines) and 35 miles from DFW International (the headquarters for American Airlines).

East Texas Teacher, Coach Arrested for Sexual Assault of a Child

An East Texas physical education teacher and coach was arrested this week and charged with sexual assault of a child. D’Marjai Dearion worked for Longview Independent School District but resigned following his arrest.
A statement from the Longview Independent School District indicated that Dearion taught at Judson Middle School during the 2023–24 school year and at East Texas Montessori Prep Academy and Forest Park Middle School during the 2024–25 school year.
Longview ISD has reported the incident to the Texas Education Agency.

Chip Roy Wants to Block Taxpayer Funding of UN Human Rights Council

Debra McClure reports that Republican U.S. Rep. Chip Roy has reintroduced a measure to stop taxpayer funding of the United Nations Human Rights Council.
Roy has described the U.N.’s Human Rights Council as “a long-running joke,” noting the organization “has the audacity to lecture the world about human rights while giving seats to some of the worst abusers in the world — like China, Cuba and Sudan.”
The United States is the top donor to the U.N.

Friday Reflection
NUTS!

by Michael Quinn Sullivan

You have a choice: surrender or keep fighting. Your opponents want your advances to look like losses and your setbacks to be magnified. What will you do?

The name of Anthony McAuliffe isn’t as well-known in the 21st century as it perhaps should be. He was acting commander of the 101st Airborne Division in Belgium during the Battle of the Bulge. He and his soldiers were defending Bastogne in December 1944. They had been cut off, were cold, and running out of everything. The situation was more than unpleasant; it was war.

The German commander sent a message, offering the Americans a chance to surrender. McAuliffe was known to be a man of great restraint, but even he lost his cool at the suggestion. He tossed the message to the ground and used what was, apparently for him, the strongest possible reaction. It was a simple, one-word answer: “Nuts!”

McAuliffe didn’t have an unrealistic view of the situation, but he had an overriding sense of obligation to his mission. His soldiers had created a solid perimeter, and they were committed to the cause.

The result, of course, was that the Allies emerged victorious in the battle and the war.

Texas conservatives are being told to surrender. The uniparty forces of establishmentarians have once again given the speakership of the Texas House to someone selected by the Democrats. All hope is gone, we’re told. You’ve lost. Give up. Go home. Stop fighting.

That’s definitely the message being pushed. And some doom-and-gloomers will want to buy into it. It is, after all, easier to lose. Waving a white flag ahead of your own victory does save you time and trouble. Someone has to win, so why not let it be the other guys, right? It absolves one of governing responsibility.

On the other hand, you’re winning. The conservative movement in Texas has made it further than it ever has before. Why waste that effort? Why waste that momentum?

For 30 years, I’ve been watching the Texas Legislature as a journalist, a political observer, a policy nerd, an activist, and now again as a citizen-journalist. What happened in the Texas House on January 14, 2025, was nothing short of historic.

Not in my memory has there been an actual contested vote with such clear sides. When they could have given up, a majority of the Texas House GOP said, “Nuts!” They voted with their constituents. They voted for Texas.

Many newbies—to Texas or just to Texas politics— probably don’t realize how rare that is. In context, the highwater “opposition” to the uniparty crony candidate for speaker was previously 19.

In 2024, Texas voters forced two dozen crony Republicans from office and, in doing so, expanded the majority in the state’s House and Senate.

What happened on January 14 was the death rattle of a dying way of life, in which vested interests in Austin profiting off their “service” in the legislature work in opposition to their constituents without accountability or notice. They are losing, and they know it.

Giving up now would be foolish. Victory is in sight. Press forward and tell the opposition that they are nuts. The fight for Texas goes on.