The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - January 24, 2025

Episode Date: January 24, 2025

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Howdy folks, today is Friday, January 24th, and you're listening to the Texans Daily Rundown. I'm the Texans Assistant Editor Rob Lausches, and here is the rundown of today's news in Texas politics. First up, Texans have taken center stage in the recent U.S. Senate confirmation hearings, with three Lone Star cabinet picks facing questions from the lawmakers. As of January 24th, only two of President Donald Trump's cabinet picks have been confirmed, one of whom is now director

of the Central Intelligence Agency, John Ratcliffe. Ratcliffe was approved by a bipartisan vote of 74 to 25. He previously served as director of national intelligence during the first Trump administration from May 2020 to its end in January 2021. The CIA released a statement from Ratcliffe following the swearing-in, saying, quote, it is the privilege of a lifetime. Next, all eyes are on school choice as the Texas legislature has convened for the 89th session and the Senate has filed its school choice proposal.

Senator Brandon Creighton, chairman of the K-16 Senate Committee, is the primary author of Senate Bill 2. The legislation is also sponsored by a number of other members. Senators Paul Bettencourt, Donna Campbell, Brent Hagenbue, Adam Hinojosa, Phil King, Maize Middleton, Tan Parker, and Angela Paxton. The bill has already been referred to committee. In a one-page explanation of SB2, Creighton notes that the legislation would create a fully universal program. The method of school choice comes in the form of education savings accounts, which have

historically been Texas' preferred method in previous school choice proposals. In other news, Texas Children's Hospital whistleblower Etan Haim had been indicted on four felony counts of violating the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, but his case has now been dismissed with prejudice. The case was dismissed from the U.S. District Court in Houston after a number of elected officials and conservative activists rallied behind Heim and advocated on his behalf. Heim's allegation of Texas Children's providing, quote, gender-affirming care, end quote, to minors were first published by Christopher Ruffo in May last year. After the reporting became public, Heim was indicted by the U.S. Department of Justice and visited by U.S. Marshals at his home. The Houston-based hospital was ultimately compelled to cease its child gender modification medical practices

after a new state law took effect in September 2023 prohibiting pharmaceutical and surgical gender-affirming interventions for minors. Texas has enacted Senate Bill 14, which bans gender modification treatments and procedures for Texans under 18 years of age. Last but not least, Texas General Land Office Commissioner Don Buckingham lambasted outgoing U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development officials Thursday for reigniting claims that the state agency had discriminated against minorities in awarding flood mitigation funds related to Hurricane Harvey. Just days before President Trump was sworn into office, HUD officials resubmitted a recommendation to the Department of Justice to pursue an enforcement action against GLO for violations of the Fair Housing Act and engaging in, quote,

a pattern or practice of discriminatory actions based on race and national origin, end quote. The DOJ had rejected a previous recommendation from HUD in 2023. HUD's allegations surround federal funding provided to Texas after Hurricane Harvey devastated the state in 2017. While Congress approved billions for repair and recovery, they allocated another $4.3 billion for resiliency projects to mitigate against future disasters and tasked the GLO with distributing the money through a competitive process. According to GLO, HUD specified that the Community Development Block Grant mitigation funds should not be awarded simply based on damage from Hurricane Harvey. Instead, HUD-approved criteria prioritized communities with a higher percentage of low-to-moderate income residents as well as those unable to provide local funding. Applications were meant

to be evaluated based on cost per resident. Thanks for listening. To support The Texan, please be sure to visit thetexan.news and subscribe to get full access to all of our articles, newsletters, and podcasts.