We're happy to hear this act of contrition from Senator Manchin now. We just wish he had had the courage of his convictions back in 2022, when he provided the crucial vote to pass Biden's Inflation Reduction Act that increased corporate taxes and raided Medicare to pay for massive green energy giveaways. We're still digging ourselves out from under that multi-trillion dollar mess.
In July, Pope Leo XIV announced the appointment of Bishop Daniel E. Garcia as the sixth Bishop of the Diocese of Austin. We are happy to welcome you to his Installation on September 18, 2025. Prior to this appointment, Bishop Garcia, a native Texan, was ordained a priest and served in various leadership roles here in Central Texas before being installed at as Bishop of Monterey, California in 2019. Today we celebrate his return!
For those of us of a certain age, the assassination of Charlie Kirk brought back memories of other momentous assassinations . On a sunny Friday afternoon in November 1963 when I heard, and for a few seconds did not believe, that President John Kennedy had been shot and killed in Dallas. I had been intending to attend a Saturday football game, which, of course, was canceled, and somehow made it back home, dazed, on a bus.
A sweeping housing reform bill signed into law earlier this year is now facing a major legal challenge, with housing developers warning the reforms will displace thousands of working-class Texans and accelerate an intensifying affordable housing crisis in the Lone Star State. According to the lawsuit, some of the so-called reforms will rewrite the terms of already existing affordable housing development agreements by retroactively changing the rules – a violation of the Texas Constitution.
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Speaker Dustin Burrows today announced the formation of Senate and House Select Committees on Civil Discourse & Freedom of Speech in Higher Education. These select committees will meet jointly to study and issue reports on bias, discourse, and freedom of speech across Texas college campuses. The State of Texas has a responsibility to ensure its publicly funded institutions foster open dialogue and do not discriminate against students, faculty, or staff based on their beliefs.
I was horrified and deeply saddened to learn about Charlie Kirk's assassination. This kind of sickening political violence has no place in our nation and must be fully condemned by leaders across the political spectrum. I'm extremely grateful the Trump administration worked around the clock to bring the suspect into custody, and I look forward to justice being served in his case. Charlie's death is a horrific loss.
Last week, we were confronted with images almost too horrific to bear. First came the haunting video of a young, defenseless woman’s murder at the hands of a savage career criminal. Then came the shocking murder of Charlie Kirk, gunned down in cold blood, execution style, on an American college campus, targeted for his sincerely held conservative, Christian beliefs.
This week has been one of profound sorrow for our nation. We remember the attacks of September 11, 2001, and we also mourn the tragic murder of Charlie Kirk. Politically motivated violence has no place in America, and terrorism has no place in our world. Such actions can never be justified. I am deeply shocked and horrified by the violence in Utah as well as Colorado this week.
Governor Greg Abbott today announced that Funds for Veterans’ Assistance (FVA) grants totaling more than $7.9 million were awarded to 38 organizations in the Southeast Texas Gulf Coast and Houston area as part of the Texas Veterans Commission (TVC) Grants Across Texas Tour. Administered by TVC, the funding will provide services to over 5,200 area veterans and their families across 13 counties.
While I can’t say I was good friends with Charlie Kirk, there was very little daylight on policies between him, me and millions upon millions of Americans who mostly want to be lef alone by the vacuous left. But the nature of “progressivism” is to not leave anyone alone – it demands obedience, not only of actions but of thought. We refuse to obey, we refuse to conform, and they killed Charlie for it.
On January 17th, 2025, Joe Biden issued 2,490 commutations – more in a single day than any President had in an entire presidency. The controversial move is being investigated by Members of Congress and the U.S. Dept. of Justice, and in his role as Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Federal Courts, Oversight & Agency Actions Subcommittee, Sen. Ted Cruz vowed to provide Attorney General Pam Bondi all the resources necessary.
Congressman Byron Donalds (R-FL) has introduced legislation to codify and enforce President Trump's Executive Order requiring commonsense rules of the road for American truck drivers. H.R. 5177 – Requires that all weigh stations along interstate highways review the Commercial Driver's Licenses (CDLs) of truckers for irregularities and verify the English language proficiency of truckers.
Charlie Kirk was a man of faith – with a deep love for Family & Country. For now, we mourn, we cry, we support his family and friends, and we take care of the country he loved. Some will call for us all to come together, to be more united – but I don't think that matches the man. He would want us to strongly express our opinions, defend them, and risk sharing our thoughts with conviction and clarity in dialogue.
Gov. Abbott directed all State Government Buildings to lower the United States & Texas flags to half-staff, in accordance with President Trump's proclamation honoring the memory of Charlie Kirk. "Charlie was a close friend. We first met when he was just 18," said Sen. Ted Cruz. Texas is standing with the rest of the nation in mourning & honoring his enduring legacy, and flags can be returned to full-staff at sunset Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025.
Twenty-four years later, the images of brave first responders rushing toward danger, the strength of families who endured unimaginable loss, and the unity of a nation that stood tall in the face of evil remain etched in our minds. In Texas, we honor those who perished and pay tribute to the men and women who have served and sacrificed to keep our country safe in the years since. Their courage and devotion remind us that freedom is never free.
The ripples from Charlie Kirk will go on in our politics and culture for decades. His work helped bring Donald Trump back into the White House. Countless young people got into the movement through Turning Point USA, just like countless folks got their start in this movement through Andrew Breitbart. There’s going to be a Turning Point USA president somewhere down the road, someone who got his start at one of Charlie’s conventions, listening to a podcast, or attending a campus visit.
We should thank God that so many survived that awful September morning terrorist attack. But we must never forget those who perished, including the brave passengers of United 93, who fought their hardest to subdue the terrorists who hijacked their plane to destroy the White House. They died, but America survived. Bush was the right man for the job that day. Many of them conceded that they were glad Bush had won in 2000.
The City of Charlotte's Mayor – Vi Lyles, a Democrat – initially urged “media partners” and others not to repost the shocking video of 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska's brutal murder. A Ukrainian-born pizza store worker who was innocently riding a light rail train in Charlotte, North Carolina when she was attacked and murdered from behind, "Sadly... couldn’t survive the Democrats’ criminal justice system,” said one critic.
