Austin, TX
Texas House speaker who faced blowback over Paxton impeachment drops bid to keep post
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The Republican speaker of the Texas House abandoned efforts Friday to keep his powerful post in the face of unrelenting pressure from the party’s hard right and anger over the historic impeachment last year of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
Dade Phelan’s decision, a victory for the GOP’s ascendant right flank, sets off a fight over who will become his successor at a time when Texas Republicans are eager to be a policy model for President-elect Donald Trump’s agenda.
The Texas House has long acted as a more moderate guardrail even as lawmakers under Phelan passed some of the nation’s toughest restrictions over abortion, immigration and voting.
But Paxton’s impeachment last year in the House over corruption accusations angered conservatives and drew a rebuke from Trump, plunging Phelan into an expensive battle just to win reelection and a vanishing path to keep one of the most powerful positions in Texas.
“By stepping aside, I believe we create the best opportunity for our members to rally around a new candidate who will uphold the principles that make our House one of the most exceptional, deliberative legislative bodies in the country,” Phelan said in a statement.
Phelan’s campaign to hang onto the job reflected a broader power struggle within the GOP, which expanded its already commanding majorities in the Texas Legislature in November’s elections.
Paxton was ultimately acquitted in the Senate. Soon after, Paxton’s allies launched an aggressive campaign to oust Phelan during Texas’ primary elections but fell short in a runoff.
Tensions over the speaker race has shown a growing influence of emboldened hard-right conservatism in the Statehouse. Pushback against Phelan that beagn after his involvement in Paxton’s impeachment intensified after the House failed to pass a school voucher bill last year.
Pressure mounted after the election when several Republicans who campaigned on their opposition to Phelan and support for school vouchers won their races, ousting many of the speaker’s allies.
Phelan will continue to serve out his term as a representative for Beaumont, Texas, a city northeast of Houston.
Texas has become a leader in conservative legislation for other GOP-controlled states across the country and its border security tactics will likely be a model for the incoming Trump administration.
Texas banned nearly all abortions after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and has outlawed gender affirming care for transgender youth. More than 30 anti-LGBTQ bills have been filed ahead of next year’s session that restrict teachings on sexuality, bathroom use, and medical care for transgender people.
The Texas House will formally elect a speaker once session begins in January.
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Lathan is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Texas’ highway system dropped two spots since 2025, and now ranks at No. 27 in the country for its cost-effectiveness and overall conditions, according to the Reason Foundation’s 2026 Highway Report.
The report assessed pavement conditions, fatalities, deficient bridges, infrastructure costs and congestion levels across the United States. Texas earned the following rankings:
- 33rd in urban interstate pavement conditions
- 21st in rural interstate pavement conditions
- 39th in urban arterial pavement conditions
- 12th in rural arterial pavement conditions
- 3rd in structurally deficient bridges
- 26th in urban fatality rate
- 42nd in rural fatality rate
- 41st in traffic congestion
“More than 42,000 of the nation’s 618,923 highway bridges, nearly 7%, are still structurally deficient. Arizona, Nevada, and Texas reported the lowest percentages of deficient bridges,” the report said.
The full report can be found online.
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Small hail peppered the Austin area as strong thunderstorms moved through Saturday.
A few of the storms dropped rain and up to pea-sized hail in San Marcos, Dripping Springs and the Austin metro area.
A Severe Thunderstorm Warning was issued for Williamson County around 8:15 p.m., and then canceled shortly after. However, it was enough for the Two Step Inn music festival in Georgetown to cancel shows for the rest of the evening. Event organizers say the festival will run as planned Sunday.
KXAN’s First Warning Weather team is monitoring the storms. We will update this post as the evening continues.
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Governor Greg Abbott and the Texas Society Sons of the American Revolution unveiled a new monument at the Texas State Cemetery on Saturday, dedicated to Texas Revolutionary War soldiers.
“We must educate every generation about why it is that America grew from a tenuous 13 colonies into the most powerful country in the history of the world,” said Governor Abbott. “This monument here is an enduring testament to the heroes who fought for the freedom that is unique to America.”
The monument was dedicated to 69 soldiers who fought in the American Revolutionary War and later settled in Texas, according to a press release.
Among those that were honored, Abbott recognized:
- José Santiago Seguín, grandfather of Texas Revolutionary hero Juan Seguín.
- Peter Sides, who fought in the 2nd Battalion of the North Carolina Regiment of the Colonial Army, and was later killed in the 1813 Battle of Medina, fighting for Mexican independence against Spain.
- Antonio Gil Y’Barbo, the founder of Nacogdoches.
- William Sparks, who fought as a mounted rifleman in the American Revolution and later settled in Texas. He had two sons and two grandsons who fought in the Texas Revolution.
“This year marks the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution, which not only gave freedom to the British colonies of North America, but inspired movements for freedom and liberty all over the world,” said TSSAR President Mel Oller. “Texans played a role in the war too, and it’s important to recognize them, and the sacrifices they made for our freedom.”
At the monument unveiling, Abbott was also inducted into the Sons of the American Revolution and received its Silver Good Citizenship Medal.
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