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Starting January 20th, Republicans will have the trifecta in the nation’s capital. Senator Ted Cruz, who won re-election for a third term, discusses the main priorities lawmakers will tackle first. Congressman-elect Brandon Gill, who will represent the 26th Congressional District in North Texas, talks about how he will help pass President-elect Donald Trump’s agenda. Plus, for the first time since some controversial charter amendments passed in the City of Dallas, Mayor Eric Johnson is speaking out about the results. He also answers the question about whether he’s had conversations about serving in the Trump administration. Jack Fink covers these stories in the latest episode of Eye On Politics. (Original air date: December 8, 2024.) 

Looking Ahead 

On Tuesday, Senator Ted Cruz spoke with political reporter Jack Fink about the most urgent priorities voters expect Republicans to work on in the new session of Congress starting next month. They include border security, deporting violent criminals in the U.S. illegally, reducing prices and boosting the economy.  

“We have a real obligation to deliver on our campaign promises,” said Cruz. “And if you lok at the election, there are a number of things that came out of the election that, I think are a real mandate and a mandate for change.” 

Watch Jack’s full interview with Senator Ted Cruz: 

One on One with the youngest Republican in the next Congress

At the age of 30, the youngest Republican to serve in the next Congress will be Brandon Gill. He will represent the 26th Congressional District in North Texas. He was also elected Freshman Class President. 

Gill said he and his fellow Republican freshmen ran on the Trump agenda: securing the border, unleashing American energy and cutting wasteful federal spending to bring inflation down. He told Jack what he hopes to accomplish as the president of the incoming class in the House. 

“I said I want to do everything I possibly can to make sure we are all in the best position to execute on the Trump agenda,” said Gill. 

Watch Jack’s full interview with Congressman-elect Brandon Gill: 

Dallas Mayor discusses controversial charter amendments

Jack also spoke with Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson in an exclusive interview Tuesday. 

He discussed the controversial charter election and his recommendation to residents to vote down all the propositions. He called two measures that were part of the Dallas HERO Initiative that passed “workable.” 

“The reality is, I’m not very worried about it,” said Johnson. 

He played down concerns by opponents, including former Mayors, that prop U will negatively impact the city finances and services by requiring the city to hire and maintain 4,000 police officers. It’s a move that city leaders and advocates for the measure estimate will cost between $175 and $185 million dollars. 

“It’s not going to destroy the city of Dallas,” said Johnson. “It’s not going to bring us to our knees financially. It does force us to put our money where our mouth is on public safety and I don’t think that’s a bad thing.” 

He said Prop S, which allows residents to file suit against the city if it doesn’t comply with the charter, city ordinances, and state law. He did express concern about what he called “enforcement through litigation.”

“We don’t want to be tied up in court constantly of paying lawyers’ legal fees to bring lawsuits against us to do what we’re trying to do anyway. So that’s my concern about prop s – it’s a litigation bonanza potentially.” 

The Mayor said his recommendation to Dallas residents was to vote down all of the charter amendments, not just certain propositions. “If none of them passed, I had a legal opinion from our city attorney that said we’ve got to have an immediate do-over, an immediate do-over. That’s what I wanted. I wanted to be able to come right back and come up with some well-thought out charter amendments that actually would have accomplished what props S, T, U wanted to do but more effectively.”

One of the Mayor’s friends from serving in the Texas Legislature, former Republican Representative Scott Turner, has been nominated by President-elect Donald Trump to serve as HUD Secretary. Jack asked the Mayor if he’s had any conversations about joining the Trump administration. 

“I love my city, I’ve had no greater honor in my life being elected Mayor of this city,” said Johnson. “Whether or not I’d be willing to serve our country, I think that would depend on a lot, but my focus is on being Mayor of Dallas.”  

The Dallas Mayor said that he told Turner that he would like Dallas to be at the front of the line for anything HUD will be doing to help cities. Johnson delivered his State of the City address Thursday. He said he wants the city’s progress reducing violent crime and reducing property taxes to continue. 

Watch Jack’s full interview with Dallas Mayor Eric Johson: