Governor Greg Abbott today praised law enforcement for the arrest of a 17-year-old from McKinney accused of a radical Islamic plot to assassinate U.S. Representative Keith Self and commit a terrorist attack on behalf of ISIS. The juvenile remains in federal custody after his arrest on October 5. The Texas Department of Public Safety will continue working with federal law enforcement to disrupt these threats and protect Texans.

Friday, President Donald J. Trump announced the launch of the America First Seafood Strategy (PDF, 8.5 MB) and several actions the Trump Administration is taking to support the American seafood industry. Among these actions is the announcement that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is making at least $5 billion available in loans through the Strengthening Processing for U.S. Ranchers (SPUR) Guaranteed Loan Program to expand, improve, and diversify the processing capacity of American meat, poultry, and seafood.

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, issued the following statement after President Trump signed the bipartisan Mystic Alerts Act into law. Sen. Cruz advanced the legislation through the Senate Commerce Committee in September, and it passed the Senate that same month. This legislation allows wireless emergency alerts (WEAs) to be delivered via satellite communications technologies when traditional cellular networks are unavailable during emergencies.

This November, the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) is hosting the 15th Annual Hiring Red, White & You! event series. The series includes nearly 30 hiring events across the state from Nov. 2-20 to connect veterans, transitioning service members, and military spouses to Texas employers. Since 2012, these free hiring events have connected more than 28,000 employers with 167,000 job seekers, including 56,157 active-duty military, transitioning service members, veterans, and their spouses.

Governor Greg Abbott celebrated Texas as America’s jobs leader with today’s U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics employment release showing Texas led all states with a gain of 154,300 jobs over the last 12 months. With an annual growth rate of 1.1 percent, Texas outpaced the national rate by 0.8 percentage points. Today, Texas is the top state for attracting new, job-creating business investment and the top state for small business job creation.

RRC Commissioner Wayne Christian praised remarks by U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright during his Tuesday visit to Houston, where Wright highlighted the economic opportunities presented by responsible data center expansion, the importance of investing in energy infrastructure and the U.S. Department of Energy’s $50 million investment in Texas grid resilience. Christian emphasized that lawmakers must respect each Texas community's decision on data center development. 

Texas FIRST goes on offense against crimes including government corruption, government fraud, sales tax fraud, and unclaimed property fraud. The team identifies, investigates, and dismantles schemes that steal taxpayer money, exploit state programs, and corrupt government — and recovers what was taken. Texas FIRST works alongside the division’s regional investigators across Texas and partners with local, state, and federal law enforcement.

Seven Harmony Public Schools-Central Texas campuses have been named to the U.S. News & World Report Best Elementary Schools and Best Middle Schools rankings. All eligible campuses in the region earned a place on the list. The rankings cover about 47,000 public elementary schools and more than 23,000 public middle schools nationwide. Schools are ranked at the state and district levels, and charter schools are ranked in their own category within each state.

“If you can't provide policies, or support policies that protect the most innocent among us – the unborn child – how can we trust that you’re going to provide policies to protect the rest of Texans?” asked Jodi Hunt, a professor of Applied Ministry at the University of Dallas Wednesday evening during a CNN "Town Hall" Event. She was challenging the Democrat's U.S. Senate candidate, James Talarico, about many of his long-established stances from a Catholic Voter's point of view. “The Bible is not silent on abortion,” said Hunt. "There is the 10 Commandments, Thou Shalt Not Kill."

Governor Greg Abbott announced 84 Jobs and Education for Texans (JET) grants totaling over $20 million have been awarded to Texas public junior, state, and technical colleges; school districts; and open-enrollment charter schools. The JET grants, awarded through the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC), will help schools buy equipment to start or improve career and technical education (CTE) training programs that lead to high-demand careers.

Texas Comptroller Don Huffines said many cities and counties can reduce property taxes due to increased sales tax revenue as local governments will receive $1.3 billion in allocations of net local sales tax collected in September, 11.6% more than a year ago. Net revenue reflects sales tax collections after refunds, overpayment credits and prepayment adjustments. Local amounts are also net of the state’s 2% administrative fee, which is deposited to the General Revenue Fund.

We've been skeptical it would ever happen, but New York Governor Kathy Hochul has stood up to the teachers' unions and brought her state into the new federal tax credit scholarship program created by the Big Beautiful Bill.Starting in tax year 2027 every U.S. taxpayer can donate up to $1700 single/$3400 married to a Scholarship Granting Organization and get the money back dollar-for-dollar on their federal taxes.

I am proud to have delivered a $750,000 investment to Concho County Hospital, Ballinger Memorial Hospital, and North Runnels Hospital through the Rural Health Transformation Program, a $50 billion national initiative to strengthen rural healthcare. For families in Concho County and the surrounding area, this funding is a lifeline. It means care closer to home, so they don’t have to drive over an hour to the nearest city when they or a loved one need medical attention.

Governor Abbott emphasized that schools are for education, not indoctrination, and that parents deserve transparency in curriculum. The Governor also celebrated the historic education victories achieved in Texas, including signing the strongest parental right laws in the country, delivering the largest day-one school choice program in America, and signing the largest teacher pay raise in state history and record funding for public schools.

Members of my Washington, D.C. staff were honored to greet veterans from the Permian Basin Honor Flight this week and present each veteran with a flag that had flown over the U.S. Capitol. For many of these heroes, this trip was their first chance to see the monuments dedicated in their honor. It was also a long-overdue moment of recognition for the veterans who never received the heroes' welcome they deserved when they came home.

The energy produced and shipped along the Texas Gulf Coast should power America and our allies, not prop up a communist dictatorship just 90 miles from our shores. Last week, federal officials announced the seizure of 19 shipments carrying approximately 119,000 gallons of biodiesel at the Port of Houston before they could reach ENETEC, a sanctioned, state-owned fuel company in Havana.

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins sent a letter to all livestock ranchers holding grazing permits on U.S. Forest Service allotments, outlining the Department’s June 12, 2026 Grazing Directive. The U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management administer approximately 240 million acres of rangelands across 28 states, supporting more than 23,000 permittees and lessees. Secretary Rollins noted that restoring the nation’s beef and sheep herds will, by necessity, include both Forest Service and BLM lands.

Governor Greg Abbott reminded Texans that Free College Application Week is Oct. 12-18, 2026. Next week, Texas residents can apply to undergraduate programs at any public college or university in the state at no cost. Free College Application Week is a key part of Governor Abbott’s college affordability efforts. Since 2023, the Governor has directed all public colleges and universities to freeze undergraduate tuition rates. That freeze remains in place through the 2026-27 academic year for two-year and four-year institutions.

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) joined President Donald Trump at the White House yesterday to discuss the automatic enrollment of millions of American children in Trump Accounts. Sen. Cruz authored and passed into law the legislation establishing Trump Accounts last year. On October 1, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced the completion of automatic enrollment for Trump Accounts. The Treasury established accounts for more than 60 million additional eligible children.

Of the $12.4 million in grants approved, about $10.8 million is to be allocated to 47 local entities for the Rural Law Enforcement Salary Assistance Grant Program, which the Texas Legislature created in 2023 to supplement salary assistance to the sheriff’s departments, constable’s offices, and district and county attorney’s offices in rural areas of the state. In 2024 and 2025, this agency awarded $254.4 million to more than 1,000 Rural Law Enforcement Salary Assistance grant recipients.