The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - January 27, 2025

Starting point is 00:00:00 Howdy folks, today is Monday, January 27th, 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, Texas has deployed over 400 soldiers from the Texas Tactical Border Force to the Rio Grande Valley in collaboration with President Donald Trump's efforts to secure the border, per a directive issued by Governor Greg Abbott on Monday morning. The troops took off from Houston and Dallas, along with C-130 aircraft and Chinook helicopters on January 27th, joining thousands of Texas National Guard soldiers already collaborating with Trump's U.S. Border Patrol agents along the southern border.

Starting point is 00:00:48 The Texas Tactical Border Force was launched in 2023 by Abbott as a response to the growing border crisis. It comes in the aftermath of former President Joe Biden ending the Title 42 public health order that prevented illegal immigrants from seeking asylum in the U.S. for 38 months due to COVID-19. Abbott said upon its launch that it would serve as an additional border force as, quote, the nation braces for an unexpected spike in illegal immigration, end quote, alongside Operation Lone Star. In other news, State Representative Jeff Leach sent a letter to the Texas Health and Human Services Commission outlining his concerns that the Thriving Texas Families program, once called the Alternatives to Abortion program, is at risk of straying from its, quote, 20-year legacy of supporting women and families, end quote, due to recent changes in its Request for Applications, or RFA. HHSC published a new

Starting point is 00:01:42 RFA, an application necessary for programs such as Thriving Texas Families, to receive allocated funds through the legislative process five days before Christmas, which Leach observed seemed to set an unnecessarily rushed timeline, as it required a submission date of February 14, 2025, a month after the kickoff of Texas' 89th legislative session. In addition to qualms with its rushed nature, Leach raised concerns in the letter that the RFA pivots thriving Texas families' focus from abortion alternatives for women and families to poverty, which he said was a commendable but secondary goal already addressed by other state programs. Leach argued that the shift in focus was due to HHSC adding, quote, reporting metrics that are not linked to clients choosing life for their pre-born child. Last but not least, Dustin Burroughs is now Speaker of the Texas House after a year-long

Starting point is 00:02:36 bruising internal fight between House members as well as the freshmen soon to join their ranks. The race for Speaker became something to a degree it never was before, a very public flagellation under a sun-bright spotlight. A near-constant barrage of slings and arrows was thrown about in an effort to browbeat one side or the other. It resulted in a mess, a power struggle between various sides inside and outside the chamber all over a three-pound gavel, and the power vested in it. When Speaker Dade Phelan informed members on December 5, 2024 that he would withdraw from the race, it came as somewhat of a surprise but not a total shock. He'd had problems for months now. More than half of the Republican caucus-to-be

Starting point is 00:03:16 was in open revolt against him, backing the reform movement in the lower chamber whose list of objectives began with his ouster. Visit thetexan.news for senior reporter Brad Johnson's full breakdown of the Texas House Speaker Race. P.S. The Texan is hosting our 89th session kickoff tomorrow, bringing together lawmakers from across Texas to give an inside look at the policy and politics at play in the 89th legislative session. Check back in on Wednesday, January 29th for the next episode of The Daily Rundown. Thanks for listening.

Starting point is 00:03:49 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.

The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - January 27, 2025

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