The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - July 3, 2024

Episode Date: July 3, 2024

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Howdy folks, today is Wednesday, July 3rd, 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, the subsequent polling proved what everyone knew following the first presidential debate of 2024. President Joe Biden is a flailing candidate in the eyes of many. CNN's latest poll, initiated the morning after the debate and released on Monday, showed Biden's approval ratings swing a net of 8 points down from the previous iteration in April, and though the poll's margin of Donald Trump's lead over the incumbent remained steady, 6 points, Trump posted a 10

point advantage among independents. An internal poll from the progressive organization Open Labs showed the president's support waning in swing states following the debate. Republicans and the Donald Trump campaign have asserted this for a while now, pointing to the president's foibles and flailings, particularly in relation to his age and cognitive ability. Following the debate, those jabs ramped up even more. Congressman Chip Roy announced he'd file a resolution to have Vice President Kamala Harris trigger the 25th Amendment and replace Biden as chief executive. Next, in August 2022, Texas won a permanent injunction against the Federal Health and Human Services

Department guidance requiring abortions to be performed under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, or EMTALA. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court's decision to issue the injunction. Now, the case has been appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. The EMTALA case involves questions about the conscience rights of physicians, the protection of the unborn, and whether the federal EMTALA requirements preempt state law. A case from Idaho involving EMTALA and a state law restricting abortion was recently dismissed by the U.S. Supreme Court, which included several opinions that may provide some indication about whether the court will take up an appeal of

the Texas case. According to HHS, there are times when an abortion is the stabilizing treatment necessary to resolve a pregnant woman's emergency medical condition, and physicians must provide that treatment. In other news, a Department of Homeland Security official has told NBC News that just over 84,000 illegal immigrants have been apprehended by U.S. Border Patrol agents along the southern border in June. Preliminary customs and border protection data obtained by CBS News details how illegal crossing along the U.S. southern border has fallen to a three-year low. According to CBP data, the southern border encounters reached nearly 118,000 in May, almost 129,000 in April, and over 137,000 in March. In June, President Joe Biden issued an executive order to prevent illegal border crossers from claiming asylum in the U.S.

The order sets a threshold for illegal immigration, triggered when there are 2,500 or more daily encounters over a seven-day period. Also, a Texas judge in El Paso has shut down the office of the Attorney General's attempt to shutter Annunciation House, a Catholic charity the office has accused of facilitating illegal border crossings. Attorney General Ken Paxton had sued the organization after it failed to turn over requested documents he believed would show it assists foreign nationals in breaking the nation's immigration laws. Judge Francisco Dominguez, who blocked Paxton's original subpoenas while the legal process was ongoing, sided with Annunciation House, a non-profit charity that, quote, accompanies the migrant, refugee, and economically vulnerable peoples of the border region, in a Tuesday order granting the defendants summary judgment request. Dominguez wrote, quote, The Texas Attorney General's disregard for the constitutional rights of Annunciation House

employees and its guests vindicates the Supreme Court's concerns over statutes that failed to provide a process for pre-compliance review. Last but not least, beleaguered Dickinson Mayor Sean Skipworth submitted his resignation letter Monday night, but will remain in office until after an election is held in November, while residents continue to petition for a recall election. Skipworth had announced plans to resign last May on his social media accounts, saying that city politics had descended into, quote, the ugly, as a vocal group of residents were organizing a second recall attempt against him. In an initial recall effort last January, organizers collected 934 validated

signatures, but the city attorney ruled the petition insufficient due to vague language and a lack of proper affidavits attached to each page. The attorney also rejected an amended petition in February, leading the recall committee to launch a new effort. Last week, Skipworth announced his plan to submit his resignation on July 1st. Thanks for listening. The Texan is off for July 4th, so please enjoy your holiday celebrating American independence and check back in with us on Friday, July 5th for the next Daily Rundown. 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.