Governor Greg Abbott today directed the Texas Military Department to deploy the Texas Tactical Border Force to the Rio Grande Valley to coordinate with U.S. Border Patrol under the Trump Administration to secure the border. Departing from military bases in Fort Worth and Houston this morning, the Texas Tactical Border Force will surge over 400 additional soldiers, as well as C-130s and Chinook helicopters, to join thousands of Texas National Guard soldiers already deployed on the border to collaborate with U.S. Border Patrol agents on the border. 

The Protecting Military Installations and Rangers Act would expand the jurisdiction of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) to include real estate investments in the U.S. by entities linked to China, Russia, Iran, or North Korea, if the investments are located within 100 miles of a military installation or 50 miles of a military training route, special use airspace, controlled firing area, or military operations area.

"Jobs are growing here, businesses are growing here, the future is growing here," said Gov. Greg Abbott, celebrating Texas as America’s job creator and announcing yet another record-breaking high for total jobs in the Lone Star State, a new record high for the number of Texans working, as well as for the size of the Texas labor force based on December 2024 Employment Data. Texas has now added more than 2.5 million jobs under Gov. Abbott’s leadership. 

The Texas labor market achieved a new record-high level for jobs and the civilian labor force in December. The state added 37,500 positions over the month, reaching a total of 14,318,700 nonfarm jobs. Texas added 284,200 jobs from December 2023 to December 2024, bringing the annual nonfarm growth rate to 2.0 percent, which outpaced the U.S. growth rate by 0.6 percentage points.

Sen. Ted Cruz and Rep. Mike Carey introduced a joint resolution of disapproval to overturn the Internal Revenue Service’s "Gross Proceeds Reporting by Brokers That Regularly Provide Services Effectuating Digital Asset Sales" rule. That rule defined decentralized financial (DeFi) participants as “brokers," and would undermine America’s digital asset industry by forcing DeFi participants to comply with burdensome information reporting requirements.

​​​​​​​“While nothing can restore the damage done, this settlement helps provide Texans with valuable resources to prevent more opioid abuse, and it was an honor to help lead these negotiations. I will never stop ensuring that justice is secured for those affected,” said Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, announcing that a bipartisan coalition has reached a $7.4 billion settlement in principle with members of the pharmaceutical industry — the nation’s largest settlement to date.

In one of his most significant orders and actions, President Trump immediately announced he is ready to designate drug gangs and cartels for what they are: Terrorists! I’ve been fighting for this since my first day in Congress by introducing the "Security First Act," which would require the Sect. of State to consider designating Mexican Drug Cartels and TdA as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs).

TAB President & CEO Glenn Hamer earlier today, announcing that its board of the Texas Association of Business (TAB, the Texas State Chamber,) had formally approved the organization’s 89th Legislative Session Policy Priorities. These priorities will serve as a guide for policymakers in Austin to invest in initiatives that encourage economic growth and protect the pro-Texas, pro-jobs philosophy that has built the best business environment in the nation and the 8th largest economy in the world.

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Rep. Kevin Hern (R-Okla.-01) introduced the Student Empowerment Act today to enhance 529 College Savings Plans to help public, private, religious, and homeschool students and families. Sen. Cruz was joined by Sens. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), John Curtis (R-Utah), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.), Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), and Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) in introducing the legislation. Rep. Hern introduced the companion legislation in the House of Representatives.

Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar announced today awards totaling $701.9 million for the second round of the Bringing Online Opportunities to Texas Program (BOOT II), aimed at bridging the digital divide and enhancing broadband access for unserved and underserved communities across the state. This initiative was established to connect more than 95,000 unserved locations to high-speed, reliable internet.

“Today, Senate Finance Chair Joan Huffman filed SB 1, the Texas Senate’s introduced state budget for the 2026-2027 biennium. My budget team and I have worked alongside Chair Huffman and the Senate Finance Committee to ensure the Senate’s state budget reflects the conservative priorities of Texans. I thank Chair Huffman for her tireless work over the interim to produce this budget. She has been a great partner throughout this process, which began in late August."

“On day one, President Trump prioritized actions to undo some of the harmful, radical policies from the last administration and set America on a course toward energy independence. His executive orders will grow U.S. fossil fuel production by incentivizing new investments and unleashing new areas of production, which will lead to more energy, cheaper costs and a more secure nation."

Rep. Brian Harrison sent the attached letter to the Governor asking that he designates a list of items as “emergency items” so the Legislature can get to work immediately on them. While there are many items that deserve the Legislature’s attention this session, I am respectfully asking that you include the following in your “emergency items” list so that we can immediately get to work to make Texas the limited government, low tax, low regulation, bastion of liberty Texans deserve.

"The criminals who exploit our open borders are not going to go quietly into the night; we have to get ahead of them and strike while the iron is hot," said South Texas Cong. Tony Gonzales, announcing the introduction of his first bill of the 119th Congress – "The Security First Act" intended to specifically address and go after the root causes of the Biden Border Crisis. “It’s plain and simple – bad policies embolden cartels and put innocent Americans in harm’s way," said Gonzales.

“I’m proud to serve as President of the Texas Senate and work with such talented and hard-working leaders, each in their own right. Throughout the interim, your senators have worked tirelessly to study the issues and prepare for this legislative session. With these committee appointments, the Texas Senate is hitting the ground running, ready to do the work the voters sent us to do.”

"In the final hours of his presidency, President Biden finished off four years of self-inflicted disasters by continuing his all-out assault on U.S. Energy Production," said Cong. Jodey Arrington, as he and Sen. Ted Cruz introduced legislation to repeal a last minute Executive Order by Joe Biden that banned American energy exploration on over 625 million acres of federal territories. A coalition of energy organizations says Biden's ban undermines domestic energy, job creation, and national security.

Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar today released the Tax Exemptions and Tax Incidence Report, which estimates the value of each exemption, exclusion, discount, deduction, special accounting method, credit, refund and special appraisal available to payers of Texas’ sales, franchise, motor vehicle sales and oil production taxes, as well as property taxes levied by school districts.

Sen. Cruz’s legislation has been endorsed by: US Oil & Gas Association (USOGA), American Exploration and Production Council (AXPC), Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA), American Petroleum Institute (API), National Ocean Industries Association (NOIA), Permian Basin Petroleum Association (PBPA), Texas Alliance of Energy Producers, Texas Independent & Royalty Owners Association (TIPRO), and Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF).

Human trafficking is not a distant, overseas issue—it’s happening right here in our communities, across rural towns and major cities in America. According to the National Human Trafficking Hotline, there were over 9,000 cases of human trafficking reported in 2023. However, experts estimate this number is just the tip of the iceberg, as many cases go unreported.

This state rule implementation is required by federal law under the Biden administration and imposes undue burdens on U.S. oil and gas operators, especially small producers who lack the resources of multinational corporations. These rules are part of a larger agenda that threatens not only the state’s energy independence but also the livelihood of numerous Texans who rely on this industry.