... The Texas Minute ...

Read this in a browser. [link removed]

Good morning,

This is the Texas Minute for Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan

Texas & Florida Challenge FDA Approval of Abortion Drugs The attorneys general of Texas and Florida have launched a sweeping new challenge to the Food and Drug Administration’s approval and deregulation of abortion pills, accusing federal health officials of putting politics over women’s safety and violating multiple federal laws to push chemical abortion nationwide.​ Sydnie Henry has the details [[link removed]].

The lawsuit, filed in Texas, targets the agency’s original approval in 2000 of the abortion drug mifepristone and the later generic approvals in 2019 and 2025. It also goes after a series of major rule changes that loosened safeguards and enabled mail-order chemical abortions.​

The states argue that the FDA’s actions have “placed women and girls in harm’s way” by authorizing a two-drug regimen that intentionally ends the life of an unborn child and carries serious risks to mothers. The complaint traces what it calls the political origins of mifepristone’s approval back to President Bill Clinton.

If Texas and Florida succeed, access to abortion pills nationwide—including via mail-order distribution—could be dramatically curtailed or halted entirely. Abbott: Lawmakers Must 'Move the Needle' So Taxpayers See Relief In an interview with Luke Macias, Gov. Greg Abbott explains [[link removed]] that state lawmakers must pass property tax relief that Texans will see and feel. "I've talked to literally tens of thousands of Texans, and they all tell me that what we've done hasn't moved the needle for them, their property taxes are still going up, and they demanded more changes," said Abbott [[link removed]] in the latest edition of the Luke Macias Show. GOP Candidate Amy Fennell Wanted to Keep ‘Treasonous Felon’ Trump Out of White House Before launching her Republican primary bid for the Texas House, former Willow Park City Councilmember Amy Fennell repeatedly posted about keeping President Donald Trump out of the White House and shared favorable messages about former Vice President Kamala Harris. As Brandon Waltens reports [[link removed]], she is challenging incumbent State Rep. Mike Olcott of Aledo in the March primary.

Fennell, of course, describes [[link removed]] herself as a “proven conservative.” She has taken positions, though, which are causing some to question that assertion. For example, Fennell has argued in favor of taxpayer-funded lobbying and gun control measures.

In a post just two months before the 2024 General Election, Fennell called Trump a "treasonous felon" after previously downplaying two assassination attempts. "Poor Trump. Everybody’s out to get him… Boohoo… Suck it up man!!"

Fennell's campaign did not respond to inquiries about her posts. REPORT: Texas Faces Higher Winter Storm Power Outage Risk Than in 2021 Despite new state laws and spending after the 2021 winter storm, a report from the Texas Public Policy Foundation warns that the risk of winter outages is rising. Paige Feild has the story [[link removed]].

TPPF attributes the problem to increased demand but a roughly stagnant number of dispatchable power generation sources. TPPF explains that dispatchable generation—on-demand power generation sources like natural gas, coal, and nuclear—is roughly the same as it was during 2021.

The state's power grid operator says that more than 31 GW of solar and 18 GW of wind have been added to the grid in the past five years. This is not as helpful as it seems; TPPF notes that “unless the wind happens to blow at the right time, a half day or more of outages is likely.” Texarkana Coach Accused of Soliciting Student for Sex Via Snapchat Erin Anderson reports [[link removed]] that a former NFL hopeful is accused of soliciting sex from a 16-year-old female student while he was coaching at his old high school in Texarkana.

Te’Vailance Ramone Lashawn Hunt has been arrested and charged with online solicitation of a minor, a third-degree felony punishable by 2 to 10 years in prison. He worked as a coach at Texas High School in the Texarkana Independent School District from August until November, when the allegations arose.

The girl told authorities she received multiple Snapchat messages from Hunt between November 10 and 12 in which the coach requested nude pictures of the teen and suggested they meet at night.

After playing college football for Texas Christian University and Arkansas State, he declared for the 2023 NFL Draft but was not selected. Property Rights Group Raises Concerns Over Federal Endangered Species Act Reform Addie Hovland reports [[link removed]] that legislation amending the Endangered Species Act to incentivize wildlife conservation on private lands and provide greater encouragement to recover listed species will be considered by the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources later today.

Although the legislation seeks to reduce regulatory measures on personal property by making it difficult for the federal government to impose new rules on private property owners, American Stewards of Liberty warns that the measure—as it is currently written—will sacrifice small landowners for “political expediency and false hopes of bipartisanship.”

ASL has recommended seven amendments to the legislation that would reduce the burden of the ESA on small landowners. U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-Houston) is the only Texan serving on the committee. His office did not respond to requests for comment. Today in History

On Dec. 17, 1903, the first successful flight of a self-propelled, heavier-than-air aircraft took place on the beaches near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Designed by the Wright brothers, the craft stayed aloft for 12 seconds and covered 120 feet on the first flight.

Number of the Day

65.5

The number of years from the Wright brothers' first flight to the Apollo moon landing in 1969.

[Source: calendar]

Quote-Unquote

"My mother was born ... in 1903, the year that the Wright Brothers first flew."

– Buzz Aldrin​

The Directory of State and Federal Officials

Contact information, biographies, and campaign finances.

Statewide [[link removed]]

Texas Senate [[link removed]]

Texas House [[link removed]]

US House [[link removed]] *

SBOE [[link removed]]

* The new congressional boundaries for representational purposes will not take effect until January 2027.

📧 [[link removed]] If someone forwarded the Texas Minute to you, and you like what you see, it is easy to get on the list yourself [[link removed]]!

Update Your Subscription & Information [[link removed]]

John xxxxxx



[email protected]

A product of Texas Scorecard

www.TexasScorecard.com

(888) 410-1836

PO Box 248, Leander, TX 78646

Presented by Texas Scorecard, the Texas Minute is a quick look at the first news of the Lone Star State so citizens can be well informed and effectively engaged. It is available weekday mornings in your inbox!

This message was originally sent to:

John xxxxxx |

Be sure to put “ [[link removed]]” on your safe-senders whitelist.

If you ever stop receiving our emails, it might be because someone to whom you forwarded the email unintentionally removed you from the list. No worries; it is easy enough to reactivate your subscription immediately by visiting:

[link removed]

Before you click the link below... If someone forwarded this email to you, please don’t! Clicking the link will end the subscription of [email protected].
Unsubscribe [link removed]