The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - November 25, 2025

Starting point is 00:00:00 Howdy, folks. Today is Tuesday, November 25th, and you're listening to The Texans Daily Rundown. I'm the Texans assistant editor Rob Lauchess, and here is the rundown of today's news in Texas politics. First up, a bipartisan coalition of state lawmakers are requesting that Texas's U.S. senators reject a federal moratorium on state regulation of artificial intelligence, arguing that it would strip the state's protective measures. In a letter led by state Senator Angela Paxton, 16 state senators urged U.S. senators Ted Cruz and John Cornyn to adopt a position against any federal preemption of state regulations on AI for the foreseeable future, although not naming specific federal legislation at hand on the issue. The senators wrote that AI,

Starting point is 00:00:52 quote, raises serious moral, ethical, legal, and policy questions that we as state lawmakers need to be able to address. Next, two men from North Texas were indicted by a federal grand jury for their scheme involving taking over an island off the coast of Haiti, where they plan to kill all of the men and sexually enslave the women and children. Gavin Rivers Wisenberg from Allen and Tanner Christopher Thomas from Argyle, 21 years old and 20 years old, respectively, were charged by a federal grand jury on November 20th for, quote, conspiracy to murder, maim, or kidnap in a foreign country and production of child pornography. Among the measures found to have been taken by these two individuals by the grand jury was Thomas's act of enlisting in the U.S. Air Force in January 2025.

Starting point is 00:01:46 In other news, an operation conducted on November 16th in San Antonio resulted in the arrests of over 150 illegal aliens, 27 of whom are suspected members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, recognized statewide and federally as a foreign terrorist organization. Law enforcement raided an after-hours illicit nightclub on November 16th in San Antonio, which officials said is known to be a location frequented by TDA members, among other illegal aliens. Some of the individuals who were arrested are currently under investigation for human smuggling, cocaine trafficking, and other felonies. Among the 27 alleged TDA members is one Venezuelan National who's being convicted of larceny. Also, Texas A&M University fired Professor Dr. Melissa

Starting point is 00:02:35 McCool following public controversy regarding her promoting gender ideology during a children's literature class, but now a university panel found that her termination was unjustified. An eight-member panel held a hearing earlier this month and issued its findings to TAMU interim president Tommy Williams that the university did not follow its own stated policies and did not prove the allegations for the firing, according to the Texas Tribune. The report said, quote, the university did not provide any documentary evidence that it conducted an investigation, nor did it provide compelling testimony to explain the decision to forego due process. Head's up. For Black Friday, the Texan is giving you our biggest deal of the year, and this offer is available now. For a limited time,

Starting point is 00:03:24 get a full year of independent Texas-focused journalism for just $48, half off our annual regular subscription. Stay informed on the stories that matter to Texans, from politics to your pocketbook and everything in between without the spin of legacy media. You'll get full access to articles, newsletters, and more. Don't miss out. This offer is available now, but won't last long. Head to the Texan. News to claim your 50% off annual subscription. Now, back to the news. In addition, the dismissal and tenure revocation of history professor Dr. Thomas Alter were upheld by a unanimous vote of the Texas State University System Board of Regents.

Starting point is 00:04:07 The Texas State University System said in a statement, quote, after a thorough review of the facts, as well as information provided during Dr. Thomas Alter's due process hearing, The Board of Regents has voted unanimously to uphold President Dampfus' decision to summarily dismiss Dr. Alter and revoke his tenure. Back in September, Alter gave a speech during an online socialism conference where he talked about organizing to overthrow the U.S. government, describing it as, quote, the most bloodthirsty, profit-driven, mad organization in the history of the world. Last but not least, a bipartisan advocacy group that helped defeat Austin's

Starting point is 00:04:48 Proposition Q tax hike proposal now hopes to force the city to undergo periodic third-party financial audits to examine spending and efficiency and analyze policies affecting affordability for residents. The nonpartisan Save Austin Now PAC launched a petition effort last week to amend the city's charter to include an independent affordability and efficiency initiative, which would mandate the hiring of an independent and experienced entity through a competitive bid process. The auditing agency would then be tasked with analyzing the spending, performance, and outcomes of all city departments and contractors in order to identify opportunities to streamline and optimize staffing and management structure and identify fraud, waste, abuse, and conflicts of interest.

Starting point is 00:05:37 The analysis would also include examination of how city policy, such as tax rates, affects resident affordability. Thanks for listening. To support the Texan, please be sure to visit the Texan. News and subscribe to get full access to all of our articles, newsletters, and podcast.

The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - November 25, 2025

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