Trump picks Texan Brooke Rollins to lead Agriculture Department
Rollins, who grew up in Glen Rose and once led the Texas Public Policy Foundation, will need Senate confirmation before becoming agriculture secretary. Full Story
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![AFPI President & CEO and Former Director of the White House Domestic Policy Council Brooke Rollins, speaks during the America First Agenda Summit organized by America First Policy Institute AFPI, on July 25, 2022 in Washington, D.C.]()
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As Trump administration takes shape, Texas takes a back seat
So far Trump has looked elsewhere for his earliest cabinet and high-level staff appointments, in some cases passing over Texans who were in the mix. Full Story
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![Former President Trump speaks during a tour of an unfinished section of border wall in Pharr, Texas, on June 30, 2021.]()
Credit: Michael Gonzalez for The Texas Tribune -
These Texans could join or influence a second Trump administration
Donald Trump has built close ties to many Texas Republicans, from judges to elected officials to policy experts. Full Story
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![Former President Donald Trump speaks at a rally at Million Air in Austin, Texas on Oct. 25, 2024.]()
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Mexico is offering water to South Texas. But there’s a catch farmers aren’t happy about.
Farmers say they want the water, but not if it goes against the allotment they need for the spring planting season. Full Story
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![The Rio Grande River divides the United States, right, and Mexico. Los Ebanos on Jan. 14, 2022.]()
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Ag Commissioner Sid Miller’s former political consultant pleads guilty to bribery
Todd Smith’s plea comes days before he was set to go to trial, where Miller was subpoenaed to testify. Full Story
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![Todd M Smith.]()
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Texas Ag Commissioner Sid Miller subpoenaed to testify in his former political consultant’s criminal trial
Todd Smith was indicted in 2022 on felony charges of theft and commercial bribery related to taking money in exchange for hemp licenses that are issued by Miller’s office. Full Story
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![Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller speaks during a "Make America Great Again" rally on Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024, in Caldwell. The rally was one of Miller's stops on his "Gas and Groceries Truth Tour,” during which he visited various swing states to denounce President Joe Biden’s management of the economy.]()
Credit: Olivia Anderson/The Texas Tribune -
Cows at two Texas dairy farms have bird flu, another blow to Cattle Country following wildfires
Federal officials said the nation’s milk supply should be not at risk after a bird flu outbreak hits dairies in Texas, New Mexico and Kansas. Full Story
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![Livestock at a dairy farm on Feb. 19, 2013.]()
Credit: Ivan Pierre Aguirre for The Texas Tribune -
Texas passes on $450 million summer lunch program for low-income families
The USDA estimates the families of 3.8 million children could have received $120 per child to cover summer lunches if the state participated in the new $2.5 billion program launching this summer. Texas is one of 15 states opting out. Full Story
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![Siblings Stacy Hurd, 11, Angelica Hurd, 5, and Sheniya Hurd, 8, eat a free meal together at Jarvis Christian College in Hawkins, one of more than 70 sites the East Texas Food Bank sponsors in the summer.]()
Credit: Laura Skelding for The Texas Tribune -
Frustration boils as Abbott, Paxton target GOP incumbents
Big spending and anger surround reelection bids for state House members like Glenn Rogers, who’s facing heat for votes on vouchers and Ken Paxton’s impeachment. Full Story
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![State Rep. Glenn Rogers, R-Graford, walks to his desk on the House floor prior the gaveling in of the second special session of 2021 on Saturday, August 7.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
Once hesitant, Texas Republicans have united behind Donald Trump again
While polls once showed Trump and DeSantis tied in Texas, they now suggest the primary is all but over here. Trump leads Nikki Haley by a landslide. Full Story
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![Former president Donald Trump holds his first 2024 campaign rally in Waco, Texas on Mar. 25, 2023.]()
Credit: Leila Saidane/The Texas Tribune -
Email sheds new light on Texas House candidate Jared Woodfill’s role in Southern Baptist leader’s sex abuse scandal
Woodfill has been endorsed by Attorney General Ken Paxton despite his connection to Paul Pressler, a prominent religious figure accused of rape. Full Story
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![Attorney and former Harris County Republican Party Chair Jared Woodfill holds a press conference in Houston to discuss his election fraud claims and answer questions about the arrest of an ex-cop who he hired to investigate the claims, on Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2020.]()
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A generation of Texas farmers are retiring. It’s not clear who will replace them.
After 70 years on the farm, Jimmy Drake retired from the cotton business. With no family stepping up to take over the farm, he turned to a young neighbor. Full Story
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![From left, Tanner Heffington talks to Jimmy Drake next to Drake’s truck outside of their shop. Drake passed on his farm and equipment to long time neighbor Heffington last year making this the first time in 71 years that a member of the Drake family didn’t harvest the land.]()
Credit: Mark Rogers for The Texas Tribune -
Texas agency renounces workplace training that mentioned gender identity definitions
The Texas Department of Agriculture’s elected leader, Sid Miller, has fought protections for trans workers. Full Story
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![Texas Agricultural Commissioner Sid Miller speaks to a crowd gathered in front of the Governor’s Mansion to protest statewide business closures and mask mandates, on Oct. 10, 2020.]()
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Texas Senate passes bill limiting farmland sales to China, other countries
The amended bill is a dramatically watered-down version of an earlier proposal that sought to ban land and home purchases by citizens of China and three other countries. Full Story
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![Attendees in opposition to SB 147 hold signs during a press conference in opposition to Senate Bill 147 outside of City Hall on Jan. 23, 2023, in downtown Houston.]()
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Texas agriculture commissioner orders employees to wear clothes “consistent with their biological gender”
The policy comes as LGBTQ advocates are fighting a wave of hostile legislation at the Capitol, including proposals to restrict gender-affirming care for transgender children. Full Story
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![Agricultural Commissioner Sid Miller speaks to reporters at the 2022 Conservative Political Action Conference in Dallas on Saturday, Aug. 6, 2022.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
Bill to ban Chinese citizens and government from buying Texas land gains steam among Republicans
Sen. Lois Kolkhorst filed a bill that would ban citizens, governments and entities from China, Iran, North Korea and Russia from purchasing land in the state, part of what she and other Republicans have said will help stem foreign influence in Texas. Full Story
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![State Sen. Kolkhorst, R-Brenham, speaks from her desk on the Senate floor on May 30, 2021.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
Texas Republicans show mix of enthusiasm and reticence toward Trump’s run for president
Gov. Greg Abbott, who Trump endorsed for his reelection, has not commented about the former president’s announcement to run for the White House a third time. Full Story
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![Former President Donald Trump speaks at a rally in Conroe on January 29, 2022.]()
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Sid Miller declares victory in Texas agriculture commissioner race
Securing a third term with strong support across rural Texas, the Republican pledged to expand medical use of cannabis and funding for rural health care. Full Story
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![Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller onstage on the final day of the Texas Republican Convention in San Antonio on June 16, 2018.]()
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Both have deep Texas roots, but Sid Miller and Susan Hays offer stark contrast in fight for ag commissioner
The state’s agriculture commissioner oversees a vast portfolio including farming and ranching, rural health care and the scales you use at grocery store checkout. Full Story
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![Susan Hays campaign website/Juan Figueroa for The Texas Tribune]()
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How the debunked conspiracy film “2000 Mules” became Texas Republican orthodoxy
Watchdog groups fear the film will fuel chaos in the upcoming midterm elections and could be a pretext for more restrictive voting laws in the future. Full Story
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![From left: Attorney General Ken Paxton, Lt. Governor Dan Patrick, and Texas Commissioner of Agriculture Sid Miller.]()
Credit: The Texas Tribune