The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - November 12, 2024

Starting point is 00:00:00 Howdy folks, today is Tuesday, November 12th, 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, a second Democratic candidate for Texas House Speaker emerged Tuesday as State Representative John Bryant filed paperwork with the Texas Ethics Commission. Bryant is the most tenured freshman in the building as he returned to the legislature in 2023 after a 40-year hiatus. He served five terms previously from 1974 to 1983. Bryant left the Texas House in 1983 to take a seat in the U.S. House for Texas' 5th Congressional District. He served there for six terms before making an unsuccessful bid for U.S. Senate in 1996. Bryant returned to the Texas House after winning the 2022 midterm election for House District 114.

Starting point is 00:00:59 Since his comeback, Bryant has frequently been at the back microphone stirring up trouble for House leadership. He was ranked the 10th most liberal House member out of 149 by Rice University's Mark P. Jones last year. He also joined other Democratic representatives in November 2023 to call on President Joe Biden to request a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas shortly after the October 7th terrorist attack and Israeli response. Bryant is the second Democrat to enter the race after State Representative Ana Maria Ramos joined in September. Stay tuned for more news updates after this short message. Are you tired of missing critical updates in legislative hearings? Frustrated by the overwhelming flood of new bills and the challenge of staying informed as they change? Introducing Thank you. That's right, live, anytime, anywhere. USLedge uses cutting-edge AI technology to monitor and analyze thousands of bills in real time,

Starting point is 00:02:08 providing you with personalized summaries and instant notifications. Check us out at USLedge.ai. That's U-S-L-E-G-E dot A-I. Now returning to your daily Texas news. Next, Tom Homan has been tapped as the Donald Trump administration's future border czar after a post announcing the appointment was published Sunday night. Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, quote,

Starting point is 00:02:31 I've known Tom for a long time, and there is nobody better at policing and controlling our borders. Congressmanship Roy congratulated Homan on the selection, saying the appointment is, quote, one step closer, of many, towards restoring security and sanity at the border and in our communities. A former assistant district director for investigations in both San Antonio and Dallas, Homan has also held a variety of law enforcement positions in the federal government. After working as a border patrol agent, in 2013, former President Barack Obama appointed him to be the Executive Associate Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. He also received the

Starting point is 00:03:10 Presidential Rank Award in 2015. In 2017, Trump appointed Hohman as the Acting Director of ICE. He then stepped down from the position in 2018. Hohman was then given the role of Border Czar by Trump in 2019. In other news, Texas sued the U.S. Department of Justice on Monday attempting to preserve all records pertaining to special counsel Jack Smith's investigation into President-elect Donald Trump. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a Freedom of Information Act complaint on November 8th requesting specific records from Smith's investigation, including, quote, all communications from any current or former member of the Office of Special Counsel Jack Smith to any New York state governmental office since November 18th, 2022, end quote, as well as, quote, documents memorializing the final reasoning to request that a trial against President-elect Trump to start in January of 2024. Texas expressed concerns in court documents

Starting point is 00:04:11 that the DOJ's history with special counsels is, quote, regrettably riddled with attempts to avoid transparency, end quote, specifically referencing special counsel Robert Mueller's infamous crossfire hurricane incident in 2020. Mueller's team allegedly repeatedly wiped their phones after an investigation into the DOJ's handling of a Federal Bureau of Investigation probe into Trump's purportedly unlawful links to Russia. Last but not least, the Fort Worth City Council will consider a measure next week to allocate $15 million from its Culture and Tourism Fund as an advance to finance design and pre-construction expenses related to Phase 2

Starting point is 00:04:52 of the Fort Worth Convention Center renovation. The Council was briefed by Fort Worth City Public Events Department Director Michael Crum on the renovations to the Convention Center during a City Council workshop held on November 5th. Renovations are currently underway on phase one, which include construction of new food and beverage facilities, demolition of the annex, creating a site pad for an attached hotel, rebuilding the center's loading docks, a new entrance for the Texas A&M Fort Worth campus side of the convention center center and the straightening of Commerce Street. Phase one is expected to finish construction during the first quarter of 2026

Starting point is 00:05:31 and will cost a total of roughly $95 million. $52 million of that was funded by federal American Rescue Plan Act funds, while the other $43 million was funded by debt. 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.

The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - November 12, 2024

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