The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - October 2, 2025

Starting point is 00:00:00 Howdy, folks. Today is Thursday, October 2nd, 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, State Representative R.D. Bobby Guerra is foregoing re-election in the Texas House of Representatives and retiring at the end of his current term, totaling 14 years. in office representing House District 41. He is expected to complete his current seventh term through the end of the 89th legislature. First elected in 2012 and sworn into office in 2013, Gera served on multiple committees, including as vice chair of the House Agriculture and Livestock Committee during the 89th legislative session. He was also on the House Select Committee on Congressional

Starting point is 00:00:54 redistricting, which progressed the highly contentious GOP-favored redistricting map during the second special session this year. Before being elected to the Texas House, Gera served two terms as chairman of the Hidalgo County Democratic Party in the early 2000s. Next, Governor Greg Abbott announced the launch of a new task force involving multiple law enforcement agencies to target repeat violent offenders in the Harris County region. Abbott said the task force, which is beginning immediately, will involve swarming high-crime neighborhoods with DPS troopers and special agents, Texas Rangers, and Houston area officers with support from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and DPS aircraft. The collaborative efforts will focus on locating repeat offenders using

Starting point is 00:01:42 available intelligence regarding gang activity and suspects with warrants. While acknowledging that crime is down this year in Houston by about 22 percent, Abbott said that residents were still worried about public safety and said there are still, quote, far too many victims of crime in Harris County. In other news, President Donald Trump's administration has issued a prospective compact to nine major universities, including the University of Texas at Austin, in exchange for obtaining federal research funding. The compact for academic excellence in higher education was obtained by the Associated Press, who reported that the document asks universities to accept a wide range of provisions, including the federal government's definition of gender,

Starting point is 00:02:28 single-sex spaces like locker rooms and sports teams, removing race and gender from the admissions process, and requiring undergraduate applicants to take the SAT or ACT. An anonymous White House official told the AP that if a university signs on to the 10-page compact, it would give them priority access to some federal grant funds. Also, as the threat of the New World Screw Worm gets closer to the U.S. Mexico border, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has conditionally approved a new medication for prevention as well as treating cattle. FDA Commissioner Marty McCarrie said this is the first approved medication for New World Screwworm and that the agency is currently, quote, accelerating review of other potential treatments. U.S. Secretary of Agriculture

Starting point is 00:03:17 Brooke Rawlins hinted more information would be forthcoming, but said the conditional approval is a victory for cattle producers. In addition, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is committed to conducting a review on the safety of chemical abortion pills for women, which was reiterated in response to a written request from Texas and 21 other states. FDA Commissioner Marty McCarrie addressed Kansas Attorney General Chris Kobach and 21 other Republican attorneys general, including Texas's Ken Paxton, responding to their multi-state request to review the safety of Mifah Pristone, one of two key drugs used in chemical abortions. The prior correspondence, signed by Paxton and sent on July 31st, commended McCary and U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F.

Starting point is 00:04:06 Kennedy Jr.'s commitment to a top-to-bottom review. Of the products used, for chemical abortions, as promised by Kennedy in May. Last but not least, in the early morning hours of October 2, 1835, Texas militiamen fired upon Mexican troops at Gonzalez in what became the opening shots of the Texas Revolution. Though a skirmish by scale, the clash marked a decisive turning point, transforming local unrest into open rebellion and setting the course towards independence. Visit the Texan. News for a look back at the Battle of Gonzales, 190 years later. Thanks for listening. To support the Texan, please be sure to visit the Texan. News

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The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - October 2, 2025

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