Good morning, 

This is the Texas Minute for Wednesday, August 20, 2025.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Trump Urges Swift Passage of 'One Big, Beautiful Congressional Map'

• President Donald Trump is backing Texas Republicans’ effort to redraw the state’s congressional lines, praising the legislature for advancing maps designed to give the GOP a stronger hand in Washington. Brandon Waltens has the details.
    
• The proposed congressional map—not the other conservative items on the special session agenda—drove Democrats to obstruct legislative business for two weeks. Now that House Democrats have returned from their out-of-state quorum break, both chambers are moving quickly to adopt the maps and other legislation.
     
• The proposed new lines, which give the GOP an edge in five additional congressional districts, have cleared committees in both chambers. The House’s version has been placed on today's calendar.
     
• In a post on Truth Social, Trump described the new lines as "ONE BIG, BEAUTIFUL CONGRESSIONAL MAP." He reminded supporters that he “WON BIG three times” in Texas, including with 6.4 million votes in 2024.

Activist Teachers Plot To Defy Texas’ New Ten Commandments Law

• Some teachers are vowing to ignore a new law requiring public school classrooms to display the Ten Commandments. The new law is also the subject of a federal lawsuit from the ACLU and several families claiming it violates the U.S. Constitution.
     
• On the Reddit community Texas Teachers, with more than 17,000 members, dozens of educators are boasting that they will not follow the law signed by Gov. Greg Abbott earlier this summer. The new law requires every classroom in public elementary and secondary schools to display a framed copy or durable poster of the Ten Commandments in a “conspicuous place.”
       
• Schools are not required to purchase the posters, though they may do so with district funds. Instead, the law requires that schools accept and display any donated copy that meets certain requirements. Yet some teachers say they plan to trash the Ten Commandments rather than display them.
     
• Teachers also linked their refusal to broader ideological agendas. Several said they would defend LGBT “Pride,” while others shared frustrations about losing DEI materials.
        
• Supporters of the legislation say the Ten Commandments reflect the nation’s heritage and moral foundation.

Texas A&M Seeks to Hide Records on Abortion Research Project

• Texas A&M University is attempting to conceal records related to an abortion research project led by one of its professors. Robert Montoya reports on an ongoing investigation.
      
• Earlier this month, Texas Scorecard sent Texas A&M a request for records related to a research project that examines the relationship between abortion facility access and various economic and educational outcomes. Rather than making the documents available, Texas A&M is asking the Texas attorney general’s office to keep them hidden.
      
• Dr. Daniel Marthey of Texas A&M's School of Public Health is leading the research project. This summer, he presented the project to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board’s Education Research Advisory Board. In that presentation, Marthey said his objective is to help develop policies that mitigate the impact of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. That is the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade.
       
• Both A&M and the Higher Education Coordinating Board are refusing to turn over records related to Marthey's presentation.

OTHER HIGHER ED NEWS

• The case was filed by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education on behalf of a student group, Spectrum WT, which had planned to host a series of drag performances as part of a fundraiser for the Trevor Project. The Trevor Project has been accused of grooming minors into gender confusion.
      
• "Drag shows are derisive, divisive and demoralizing misogyny, no matter the stated intent." – West Texas A&M President Walter Wendler

Houston Man Caught Smuggling Dozens of Illegals Across Texas Border

• As Michael Wilson reports, a Houston man has been arrested for allegedly attempting to smuggle more than three dozen illegal aliens into the United States.
     
• Kenneth Gamboa has been charged with human smuggling after allegedly attempting to transport the individuals in a concealed compartment of a box truck. The discovery was made during a stop earlier this month at a Border Patrol checkpoint in Jim Hogg County.
     
• Among the 40 people found inside the vehicle, 26 had previously been removed from the United States.
      
• If convicted, Gamboa faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

FDA Granted Emergency Powers To Combat New World Screwworm Threat

• After continual warnings regarding the threat of the re-emerging New World screwworm near Texas’ southern border, Addie Hovland reports that federal officials have taken additional steps to combat the flesh-eating pest.
     
• The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has been given authority to issue “Emergency Use Authorizations” for animal drugs that will help treat and prevent infestations of the New World screwworm. Because there are currently no FDA-approved drugs to combat the invasive parasite, HHS considers this step a crucial action in combating the threat posed to U.S. food security and the country’s animal population.
      
• Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller praised the move, describing it as a "swift response" that will "combat this harmful pest and save animals’ lives."

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