Good morning,

Here is the Texas Minute for St. Patrick's Day, March 17, 2023!

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

UPFRONT: We always put corrections at the top... Yesterday's Texas Minute included an unfortunate typo. The county mentioned in regards to rogue prosecutors should have been "BEXAR" – somehow the "x" slipped off the keyboard! I apologize for the error.

Border Chief Admits U.S. Lacks Operational Control of the Border

• At a special field meeting of the U.S. House Homeland Security Committee held in McAllen, Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz admitted the United States does not have operational control of the southwest border. Sydnie Henry has the details.
       

• Ortiz’ statement contradicts U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who previously told Congress that the U.S. does have operational control of the southwest border.

     
• “We’re under siege by illegal aliens and smugglers coming to the county trying to get to destinations within the United States,” said Kinney County Sheriff Ben Coe.

Poll: Texas GOP Voters Want to Defund DEI-friendly Universities

• When it comes to controversial "diversity, equity, and inclusion" policies being implemented in Texas taxpayer-funded universities, a new poll finds Texas Republicans believe funding should be pulled from institutions implementing woke policies. Soli Rice has the details.

    
• A CWS Research poll commissioned by Defend Texas Liberty finds 72 percent of Republican voters in Texas disapprove of their tax dollars going to those institutions.

Legislation Would Create Recall of US Senators

• A measure filed in the Texas House would amend the state election code by creating a recall provision for United States senators. Emily Wilkerson has the details.
     
• House Bill 5065 by State Rep. Brian Harrison (R-Midlothian) would subject Texas' U.S. senators to a recall if there is a majority vote in each chamber of the Texas Legislature.
    
• “Our founders intended U.S. senators to represent the interests of the sovereign states and safeguard against federal overreach,” said Harrison. “Unfortunately, since the 17th Amendment, many have become beholden to D.C. special interests and complicit in the erosion of liberty and acceleration of America’s move to a post-constitutional era, where unelected bureaucrats write and enforce law by edict. We must empower Texans to ensure our U.S. senators serve the best interest of the State of Texas.”
       

• The legislation comes at a particularly bad time for U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R–TX), who has seen his popularity drop after helping push a gun control bill funding the imposition of red-flag laws confiscating Americans' guns without due process. After the bill passed the Senate, delegates at the Texas GOP biennial convention booed Cornyn off the stage.
     

• “This legislation opens up an interesting conversation about our elected officials. Unfortunately, a court would likely find a recall mechanism for U.S. senators unconstitutional,” said attorney Tony McDonald.

Texas Prepares For Possible Exit From ERIC

• Texas election officials are developing a new program to improve the accuracy of the state’s voter rolls by comparing them with voter lists in other states, preparing for a possible exit from the controversial ERIC “crosscheck” service they currently use to identify voters who register and vote in multiple states. Erin Anderson has the details.
        

• Texas is creating its own interstate voter registration crosscheck program, as states announce they are leaving ERIC, the Electronic Registration Information Center. Republican Party officials and election integrity advocates are pressing Texas to withdraw from the program as well, citing concerns about costs, data security, and possible partisan access to voter data.

      
• Louisiana and Alabama have already exited ERIC, while Florida, Missouri, and West Virginia have announced their intention to leave over concerns about board procedures, unnecessary mailings, and the program’s failure to require member states to address voters who illegally vote in multiple states.
     
• “The problem with ERIC is the lack of transparency,” said J. Christian Adams, president of the Public Interest Legal Foundation.

House Republicans Figure It Out...

• The biggest news from yesterday's floor action in the Texas House might be what did not happen. Specifically, a resolution withdrawn from the calendar that would have honored two LGBT activists who had (unsuccessfully) sued the state in a bid to force gay marriage. Brandon Waltens has the background.
      
• After spending a week defending their decision to support a previous LGBTQ resolution, and hiding behind the House rules, Republicans loyal to House Speaker Dade Phelan and the Democrat chairman pushing these politicized resolutions realized it was a losing fight and a bad look. After citizens made their voices heard, and the Texas GOP sounded the alarm to their activists, lawmakers pulled down the resolution at the last minute.
      
• The House rules should exist to serve the legislative process on behalf of the citizens, not something for weakling legislators to cower behind.

Friday Reflection: Promise Keepers Or Con Men?

Making a promise and delivering on it is what many of us think of as a “deal.” Each of us understands the need to keep our promises and do what what we say. If only our politicians would do likewise…

Proverbs 25:14 reads, “Like clouds and wind without rain is a man who boasts of a gift he does not give.”

Since 2016, when Republicans selected Donald Trump as their nominee, every GOP politician has tried to cast himself as the ultimate deal maker. They brag about how they’re going to maneuver discussions and capture stunning victories – they just need room to operate.

Or, you know, shut up and stand back.

Frankly, I’m losing track of how many times self-proclaimed conservative legislators have told grassroots activists to “stand down” on an important point of principle because a super-special, secret backroom deal has been made for future action on bigger issues... only for that action to never materialize. Too many politicians want credit for making a deal, even if nothing of substance gets delivered. 

In the real world, a deal is only as good as the tangible results.

Everything else is a con job.

Texas’ Republican majority in the Legislature is on the verge of being thought of as either hopelessly inept deal makers or con men. I think we can agree that neither is a good look for the body politic.

Not a single Republican ever campaigned on the slogan to “raise taxes slower,” or that they “wouldn’t make government as burdensome as quickly.”

Yet that’s what we have been getting.

In the even-numbered years of political campaigns, they talk a great game about reducing tax burdens, of lowering taxes, of reducing the size of government, of putting bureaucracies on a strict diet. In the odd-numbered years of legislative sessions, we are treated to their dealmaking with the crony cartel of handout-seeking lobbyists, proclamations honoring the dishonorable, and shell-games in place of real tax relief.

Here’s the deal Texas Republicans offered on the campaign trail: "Vote for us, we’ll cut taxes and limit government." As the days slip away in this legislative session, as they have in the sessions for the last two decades of GOP control, the goods aren’t yet being delivered.

As we approach the halfway mark of Texas’ legislative session, Republican lawmakers must stop with the bluster lest voters see them as nothing more than con men. It is past time for the politicians to simply start delivering on their promises.