The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - May 6, 2025

Episode Date: May 6, 2025

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Howdy folks, today is Tuesday, May 6th, and you're listening to the Texans Daily Rundown. I'm the Texans Assistant Editor Rob Lauschus, and here is the rundown of today's news in Texas politics. First up, former Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg called for federal agents to investigate and preserve evidence on Friday after her successor announced that felony charges in another public corruption case would be dropped. Last Friday, the Harris County District Attorney's Office announced that four felony charges pending against the county's former public health director, Barbie Robinson, would be

dropped. Robinson was fired by the county last September, and in November 2024, Aug announced that Robinson would be charged with misuse of official information in relation to county contracts. In December, the District Attorney's Office charged Robinson with three additional felonies and turned the cases over to the Texas Office of the Attorney General. After taking office in January, newly elected District Attorney Sean Tier filed to return Robinson's cases to Harris County. Aug claimed that Tier, who was endorsed by Harris County Judge Lena Hidalgo and County Commissioner Rodney Ellis, participated in a quid pro quo in dismissing Robinson's and other public corruption cases. Next, approximately six so-called medically necessary abortions have been

performed in Texas per month in the 30 months following the overturn of Roe v. Wade with no known repercussions for health care providers, recent state data indicates, as the Texas legislature actively mulls over legislation clarifying exceptions to the state's abortion laws. From August 2022, the month that Texas's abortion restriction trigger law went into effect, to December 2024, no elective abortions have been performed according to induced termination of pregnancy data released monthly by the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. The report outlines 224 abortions categorized under the state's medical necessity exceptions that have occurred

from January 2022 to December 2024, an average of 6.2 abortions per month with no known repercussions for the health care providers performing the abortions or the women obtaining them. Abolish Abortion Texas and Texas Right to Life both said to the Texan that the numbers are misleading because they do not account for thousands of abortions performed through abortion-inducing pills or out-of-state abortions. In other news, President Donald Trump's announcement of new tariffs on so-called Liberation Day

sent shockwaves through the global economy, and now Texas is beginning to see some of the downstream effects. Trump's trade war with countries around the world took shape in so-called reciprocal tariff rates, typically ranging from 10 to 50% depending on the country and product. China became the primary target

of the administration's actions, being hit with import tariff rates of 145% on nearly all goods coming from the country, in response to which China announced it will impose its own retaliatory 84% coming from the country. In response to which, China announced it will impose its own retaliatory 84% tariffs on the US. There has been some moderation on many of these planned tariff hikes, with Trump placing a 90-day pause on the plan, such that the tariffs are now set

to go into effect on July 9th. A report from Investors Observer notes that Texas ranks as one of the states most exposed to the Chinese import tariffs, both in raw trade volume and in economic significance because of its ports and manufacturing sectors. Last but not least, Texas continues to support its position as a leader in the evolving landscape of autonomous vehicle technology with a self-driving semi-truck company now operating in the state, marking the next step in this burgeoning industry.

Aurora Innovation has set free its Aurora Driver Self-Driving System in Texas. The AV Truck Company says it will begin running freight between Dallas and Houston, starting its launch with Hirschbach Motor Lines and Uber Freight as the first customers. Aurora plans to expand its self-driving freight services to El Paso by the end of 2025. With this announcement, Aurora is now, quote, the first company to operate a commercial self-driving service with heavy-duty trucks on public roads. 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.