Both the Texas House and Senate have passed a mid-decade redistricting bill that positions the GOP to pick up five additional congressional seats next year. Passage came after House Democrats ended their quorum-breaking walkout while still vowing to pursue legal challenges.
The bill dismantles Democratic strongholds around Houston, Austin and Dallas and increases Republican challenges of also picking up seats in South Texas, The Texas Tribune reported.
In response, California lawmakers seeking to counter Texas’ redistricting move have approved a special election for their voters to consider a new congressional map that would likely add five Democratic seats in California.
“This fight is far from over,” Rep. Gene Wu of Houston, chair of the House Democratic Caucus, said after the map’s passage in that chamber. “Our best shot is in the courts. This part of the fight is over, but it is merely the first chapter.”
Roy joins crowded race to replace Paxton
U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, a fiscal conservative often critical of President Trump and his fellow Republicans, has entered the race to replace Ken Paxton as Texas attorney general, The Dallas Morning News reported.
“Texas is under assault – from open-border, radical leftists, and faceless foreign corporations that threaten our sovereignty, safety, and our way of life,” Roy wrote. “It’s time to draw a line in the sand.”
Roy, R-Austin, is in his fourth term in Congress. He joins several other Republican candidates, including state Sens. Joan Huffman of Houston and Mayes Middleton of Galveston, as well as Aaron Reitz, a former deputy attorney general under Paxton. Democrats who have announced plans to run include state Sen. Nathan Johnson of Dallas and former Galveston mayor Joe Jaworski, who ran unsuccessfully for the post in 2022.
Paxton has announced plans to challenge incumbent U.S. Sen. John Cornyn in the March 2026 GOP primary.
House passes six bills providing flood disaster relief
The Texas House passed six bills last week aimed at addressing disaster relief, emergency communications systems and preparedness. The bills are in response to the catastrophic Hill Country floods over the July 4th weekend. At least 137 people were killed, primarily in Kerr County, including 27 children and staffers from Camp Mystic on the banks of the Guadalupe River.
The News reported the measures include a requirement that youth camps develop emergency management plans and submit them to the state. Legislation also calls for establishing the Texas Interoperability Council, which would create structure and grant programs for multiple agencies to communicate and coordinate on single disasters. That would include hurricanes and mass shootings.
One of the bill’s sponsors, state Rep. Drew Darby, R-San Angelo, spoke surrounded by a bipartisan group of lawmakers.
“When I speak on this bill, for this bill, I hope I’m not just speaking for myself, but for the lost children, the grieving families who have called us, met with us and shared their heartbreak and grief with us,” Darby said.
Former speaker Dade Phelan won’t seek reelection
Former Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont, announced he would not seek reelection following a failed intra-party attempt to defeat him in the 2024 election and his subsequent stepping down as speaker. The Houston Chronicle reported Phelan served his district since 2015 and assumed the speakership in 2021.
In a statement, Phelan wrote on Facebook that “leading the House required tough choices, but I sought to chart a course inspired by the values we share in Southeast Texas. Looking ahead I will seek God’s path in mapping out my next chapter.”
Both Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Paxton backed Phelan’s primary opponent in 2024, following Paxton’s impeachment in the House while Phelan was speaker. Paxton was acquitted in the Senate. His successor as speaker, state Rep. Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, praised him.
“Dade is more than a colleague — He is a treasure to Southeast Texas, to the Texas House, and to the great Lone Star State,” Burrows said on social media.
Judge blocks law requiring Ten Commandments in classrooms
A San Antonio federal judge has temporarily blocked a Texas law that would require public schools to post the Ten Commandments in every classroom, the Chronicle reported. The suit was filed by a group of families who claimed the posting would potentially harm their children’s religious development.
“Ultimately, in matters of conscience, faith, beliefs and the soul, most people are Garbo-esque,” U.S. District Judge Fred Biery wrote, referencing a line from actress Greta Garbo in a 1932 movie. “They just want to be left alone, neither proselytized nor ostracized, including what occurs to their children in government-run schools.”
Paxton, whose office represented most of the school districts named in the suit, said he planned to appeal the ruling.
“The Ten Commandments are a cornerstone of our moral and legal heritage, and their presence in classrooms serves as a reminder of the values that guide responsible citizenship,” Paxton said in a statement.
Audit finds problems with winterizing energy grid
A new report from the State Auditor’s Office concludes that state oil and gas inspectors are not doing their job to adequately verify that Texas natural gas producers and their delivery systems can hold up under severe winter storms, according to the Texas Standard.
Since Winter Storm Uri in 2021 left much of the state’s power grid paralyzed, the Railroad Commission has been tasked by law with ensuring all parts of the gas supply chain to power plants can operate adequately in severe winter weather. However, the audit concluded that current rules allow gas companies to decide for themselves what is considered adequate winterization. Of 8,732 inspections conducted by the RRC in 2024 and 2025 winter seasons, only two violations were issued.
“The Commission stated that it relies on facility operators to determine which weatherization measures are needed and whether those measures are sufficient for that facility,” auditors found. “It did not compare facilities’ actual weatherization methods to the Commission’s best practices.”
The commission contends the low number of violations reflects the “successful implementation” of the legislation passed after Uri.
Gary Borders is a veteran award-winning Texas journalist. He published a number of community newspapers in Texas during a 30-year span, including in Longview, Fort Stockton, Nacogdoches, Lufkin and Cedar Park. Email: gborders@texaspress.com.
