The small business owner featured in the ad previously shared memes calling 9/11 and the COVID-19 pandemic inside jobs and mocking U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw.

President Joe Biden is trying to sweeten his pitch for more money for Ukraine by mixing in billions of dollars for securing the U.S.-Mexico border.

Texas has by far the largest Republican delegation in the House, and gaining their support would be a major boost for any candidate as the conference meets to pick new leaders next week.

In January, some Republican Texans led the charge to challenge McCarthy’s leadership bid. But this time, all Texas Republicans who were present voted to save McCarthy and every U.S. House Democrat voted to remove him.

The Republican from Texas introduced the legislation after meeting with Mexico’s president and calling for more cooperation between the two countries.

The Houston Republican has alarmed Mexico and Democrats with previous calls for a military response to the criminal organizations.

The Secure the Border Act would resume construction of the border wall, limit asylum eligibility and require asylum-seekers to wait in Mexico. It faces tough going in the Senate.

On the one side are dozens of lawmakers on Capitol Hill issuing dire warnings about security breaches and possible Chinese surveillance.

U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee’s office mounted pressure on several federal agencies earlier this month leading up to Abdul Wasi Safi’s release on Tuesday.

The Texans are poised to chair some of the most important committees, including the appropriations and budget panels.

What others see as dysfunction and chaos, many of Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s opponents see as democracy at work.

In November, The Texas Tribune reported that Beto O’Rourke had given back a $1 million donation that Bankman-Fried had donated to his campaign.

House Republicans are promising aggressive oversight of the Biden administration once they assume the majority next year.

Texans will chair some powerful committees in the House, but their roles in top leadership elections last week were more often as anti-establishment voices than contenders.

Members of a Republican Congressional delegation took the stage at this year’s U.N. climate talks Friday to tout the benefits of fossil fuels.

The representative from Houston said fellow Republicans admitted behind closed doors that the 2020 election wasn’t stolen, and he warned that such messaging could dangerously mislead voters.

The event came as a younger, more diverse generation of Americans increasingly flocks to the left of the Democratic Party.

In an interview at The Texas Tribune Festival, Crenshaw harshly criticized extremists at both ends of the political spectrum.

The first steps toward change at CNN have been slow and incremental — at least until the network cancelled its long-running media criticism show ‘Reliable Sources’ and cut loose its host, Brian Stelter.

Facing yet another community grieving after a mass shooting, the president replied, ‘We will.’ But Congress hasn’t managed to change gun policy for decades.

One by one, speakers took the stage at the National Rifle Association’s annual convention in Houston and denounced the massacre of 19 students and two teachers at an elementary school across the state.

The National Rifle Association begins its annual convention in Houston on Friday, and leaders of the powerful gun-rights lobbying group are gearing up to “reflect on” -- and deflect any blame for -- the deadly shooting earlier this week of 19 children and two teachers at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.

Just seven Republicans, along with most Democrats, used remote voting in the House when voting-from-somewhere-else was first allowed two years ago as the pandemic erupted.

A published report says that only 13 of the 143 Texas Republican candidates for Congress say they believe Democrat Joe Biden's election as president was legitimate.

Crenshaw, who mentioned the House Freedom Caucus while making the criticism, sought to clarify later that he largely was not referring to the group.

Republicans are blasting President Joe Biden, threatening lawsuits and going as far as to call for civil disobedience to block his new vaccination mandates.

Republicans are blasting President Joe Biden, threatening lawsuits and going as far as to call for civil disobedience to block his new vaccination mandates.

Ellzey and Wright are vying to succeed her late husband, U.S. Rep. Ron Wright, R-Arlington, in the 6th District in North Texas. Early voting for the runoff started Monday and ends Friday.

Political figures unwilling to say they believe in the results of last year's presidential election pose a quandary for some in television news.

Earmarks were banished from Congress over a decade ago, but the funding for lawmakers' pet projects is marking a sudden return.

Texas Republican Rep. Dan Crenshaw says he has undergone surgery on his eye and will be virtually sightless for a month.

Texas Republican Rep. Dan Crenshaw says he has undergone surgery on his eye and will be virtually sightless for a month.

“Texas is a gas state,” said Michael Webber, an energy resources professor at the University of Texas at Austin. AdWhile Webber said all of Texas’ energy sources share blame for the power crisis, the natural gas industry is most notably producing significantly less power than normal. We didn’t run out of natural gas, but we ran out of the ability to get natural gas. At least they show us where idiots live.”While wind power skeptics claimed the week's freeze means wind power can't be relied upon, wind turbines — like natural gas plants — can be "winterized," or modified to operate during very low temperatures. Natural gas power plants usually don’t have very much fuel storage on site, experts said.

“I like many people voted for President Trump in the 2020 election and hoped for a different result,” tweeted U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Austin. Over the ensuring hour, scenes emerged of Trump supporters storming barricades, breaching the Capitol and even reaching at least one of chambers. The Capitol building has been breached and both chambers are locked down,” wrote U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-El Paso. Texas Democrats, meanwhile, were explicit in linking the harrowing scene to Trump’s refusal to accept the election outcome and belligerent rhetoric. “This is what Trump wanted,” tweeted U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin.

A medical staff exits the COVID-19 intensive care unit (ICU) on New Year's Day at the United Memorial Medical Center on January 1, 2021 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Go Nakamura/Getty Images)AUSTIN, Texas – Coronavirus cases are exhausting the availability of intensive-care unit beds in parts of Texas as hospitalizations with COVID-19 continue to soar to record levels, state health statistics showed on Tuesday. In all, the state estimated 314,465 COVID-19 cases were active. All ICU beds at hospitals in the Abilene and Bryan-College Station areas are full, while only two are available in the Laredo area with three in the Paris-Texarkana area. For seven days in a row, COVID-19 patients have filled in 15% of the Houston region's hospital beds, according to state health statistics.

Upon Joe Biden securing 306 electoral votes during Monday's meeting of the Electoral College, The Texas Tribune polled all Texans in Congress with the question: "With a majority of the Electoral College voting for Biden today, do you accept Joe Biden as the president-elect?" Credit: REUTERS/Al DragoA growing number of Texas Republicans are moving toward the reality that in a little over a month, former Vice President Joe Biden will become president of the United States. But a large number of GOP members of the Texas delegation still have not acknowledged Biden's victory. Upon Biden securing 306 electoral votes during Monday's meeting of the Electoral College, The Texas Tribune polled all Texans in Congress with the question: "With a majority of the Electoral College voting for Biden today, do you accept Joe Biden as the president-elect?" Until the Monday ceremonial vote, many Republicans resisted the idea of a Biden victory.

No candidate cleared 50% of the vote in the respective races, and Georgia law requires a runoff in such cases. Earlier this week, Castro, the former U.S. housing secretary and San Antonio mayor, spent two days in Georgia stumping with both Ossoff and Warnock. Another high-profile Texas Republican, Crenshaw, has already visited the state and plans to return before the end of the month. The state party has been mobilizing volunteers on its Mighty Texas Strike Force to head to Georgia, with the largest deployment expected to happen after Christmas. In a sign of how the political world has gone all in on Georgia, the campaigners from Texas have not gone unnoticed by other out-of-state surrogates.

“The response of Secretary Wilkie and senior VA officials to the veteran’s complaint of sexual assault was troubling,” Missal said in a statement. “The tone set by Secretary Wilkie appears to have influenced aspects of the initial VA police investigation and the conduct of other VA employees,” the report said. On Thursday, Biden said he will nominate Denis McDonough, who served as President Barack Obama’s White House chief of staff, to be VA secretary. VA officials did not examine the information, the report said. A study released by the VA last year found 1 in 4 female veterans using VA health care reported inappropriate comments by male veterans on VA grounds.

WASHINGTON – Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy has reversed the COVID-related cancellation of an annual wreath-laying event at Arlington National Cemetery next month, following criticism on social media and pleas to the White House. President Donald Trump said later Tuesday it was he who had reversed “the ridiculous decision” to cancel the event. Each year, volunteers around the country place wreaths on the tombstones and markers of veterans as part of Wreaths Across America. The tradition began in 1992 when a Maine wreath maker donated 5,000 wreaths to Arlington. On Monday, Arlington National Cemetery announced that it was “with great regret,” cancelling the Wreaths Across America event scheduled for Dec. 19, due to COVID-19.

Texas Democrats are hoping to flip several congressional seats held by Republicans on Election Day. At least five Republican incumbents whom Democrats targeted cruised to reelection, according to races called by Decision Desk HQ. Similarly, U.S. Rep. Van Taylor, R-Plano, also held off a challenge from Democrat Lulu Seikaly in Collin County's 3rd Congressional District. Three new members-elect in safe Republican seats also won their races, according to Decision Desk HQ. In the 4th Congressional District that covers the northeastern part of the state, State Sen. Pat Fallon will replace John Ratcliffe, who is now director of National Intelligence.

Republicans and President Donald Trump have repeatedly tried to sow doubt over the reliability of voting by mail, alleging it allows for widespread fraud. During the interview with Politico’s Tim Alberta, Crenshaw raised concerns about voting practices in Pennsylvania and Nevada, falsely saying that Pennsylvania was sending unsolicited ballots to voters. Crenshaw suggested in the interview that he worried that some ballots might be mailed to the wrong addresses, inviting fraud. Just 372 possible cases of double voting or voting on behalf of dead people were identified, the Post reported. “It’s no secret that in the suburbs and especially amongst women, that they’re simply turned off by Donald Trump,” Crenshaw said, later adding, “They have a personal dislike for him.”

After a Democratic National Convention that raised questions about its limited roles for Texans, the state’s Republicans kept a light footprint at their national gathering this week — and seemed just fine with it. Dan Patrick, who chairs President Donald Trump's reelection campaign in Texas, said the lack of Texas speakers showed Republicans were not worried about the state. While every recent public survey shows a tighter race, Patrick's prediction reflected the confidence that Trump's Texas allies are voicing at least publicly ahead of November, when their challenges stretch far below the top of the ticket. Texas was clearly on Trump's mind as he delivered his first set of remarks at the convention Monday morning. Four years ago, one of the defining storylines of the national GOP convention involved Texas.

U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw will take the stage at the Republican National Convention Wednesday night as the sole GOP elected official from Texas with a prime time speaking slot. He’ll appear alongside New York Rep. Elise Stefanik before an address by Vice President Mike Pence. Crenshaw and Stefanik, both 36, are the youngest Republicans members of the House. But this November, he is facing a challenge from Houston attorney Sima Ladjevardian in a race that’s drawing attention from national Democrats. Here’s what you need to know about the Houston Republican:

Pence, whose future political aspirations could hinge on November, has campaigned aggressively for the president. Pence has helped steer the White House response to the coronavirus, leading a task force and frequently working with the nations governors. The GOP convention has mentioned the virus far less than Democrats did last week, but Pence could throw it back into focus if he speaks about the work hes led. Conway, whose husband has become an outspoken Trump critic, says she is stepping away to spend more time with her family. Clarence Henderson, a civil rights activist from the 1960s, is expected to speak on the true meaning of peaceful protest."

U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Houston, at The Texas Tribune Festival on Sept. 28, 2018. Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera for The Texas Tribune(Audio unavailable. Click here to listen on texastribune.org.) In this week's TribCast, Matthew speaks with Ross, Alex and Patrick about the incoming hurricane, the first week of college classes and the Republican National Convention.