With an ambitious agenda before them, Texas lawmakers kicked off the first of what could be several special sessions.

The Texas Capitol is buzzing as the legislative special session officially begins. Lawmakers were called back to Austin on orders from Governor Greg Abbott to address pressing state issues.

Podcast host Joe Rogan encouraged Texas State Rep. James Talarico to run for president for on his show on Friday for being “actually a good person."

House Democrats are actively preparing for political trench warfare against the GOP in next year’s midterm battle, with talks taking shape behind the scenes to mount a counterattack against President Donald Trump’s aggressive play in Texas that aims to cement GOP control of Washington for the rest of his second term.

The prospect of Eric Flores’ candidacy has excited Republicans in Texas and Washington, due in part to his military and law enforcement credentials.

Some Texas Democrats are pressing for the release of records from the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking investigation as the Trump administration scrambles

The Texas GOP knows the risk. In the 2010s, the Republican-controlled Legislature drew political lines that helped pad the GOP’s House majority. That lasted until 2018, when a backlash against Trump in his first term led Democrats to flip two seats in Texas that Republicans had thought safe.