Leftism was on full display in the Texas Capitol earlier this week during the first legislative session since 2023.
Perhaps the most notable moment came when a Democrat-friendly Republican became the Texas speaker, even though Republicans in the state House enjoy a sizeable majority.
'I had the honor of taking my oath of office to represent House District 92 for the second time on a historic Qur’an.'
After just two rounds of voting, state Rep. Dustin Burrows (R-Lubbock) soundly defeated Rep. David Cook (R-Mansfield), 85-55. Most of Burrows' votes came from Democrats, 46 to 39, even though the Texas House is made up of 88 Republicans and 62 Democrats.
"Every member. Every member will have a voice," Burrows said after his victory. "Every district. Every district will have a seat at the table."
Burrows replaces Rep. Dade Phelan, a controversial Republican who not only was seen as favoring Democrats and Democrat causes but who was even censured by his own party after doggedly seeking the impeachment of Republican state Attorney General Ken Paxton.
Paxton, who lobbied on behalf of Cook in the 2025 speaker race, issued a statement after Burrows was declared the winner.
The removal of the disgraced and corrupt Dade Phelan as Speaker of the House is a positive step for Texas. His close ally, Dustin Burrows, was elected with the support of most Democrats after he refused to honor the rules of the Republican Caucus.
Texas Republican voters made it clear they want conservative legislation to pass this session. It is now important that Speaker Burrows and his leadership team pass every conservative legislative priority in a timely manner to make [our] state more secure and more prosperous. That is what Texas Republicans expect.
The election of Burrows was not the only demonstration of leftism on Tuesday. Shortly after he was sworn in to office, Rep. Venton Jones (D-Dallas) proposed to his same-sex partner, Gregory Scott Jr., on the floor of the chamber. According to NBC News, Jones got down on one knee, and Scott shed tears as he accepted the engagement ring.
Jones, the first openly gay black member of the state House, also shared the news in a public statement. "Today, I took a renewed oath to serve my community with courage, conviction, and love. I made a promise to the person who has stood beside me through every step of this journey," Jones said.
"In a time when our love and our very existence are challenged, often in the halls of this very building, this moment is a reminder that love conquers all."
One of Jones' Democrat colleagues, Salman Bhojani — a Muslim native of Pakistan — celebrated the new legislative session for a different reason: Once again, he took the oath of office on the Quran rather than the Bible.
"I had the honor of taking my oath of office to represent House District 92 for the second time on a historic Qur’an. This sacred text inspires me to work across the aisle to make Texas better. As the 89th Legislative Session starts, I am committed to advocating for all," Bhojani posted to X, adding a picture captured of the moment.
Tuesday marked the second time that Bhojani has sworn in on a Quran, having first done so two years ago. "It is 217 years old. I am the first person that swore on the Quran. This was the first English-printed copy of the Quran in the Americas in ... history," he previously boasted during an online interview with Progress Texas.
H/T: Jason Whitely
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A federal judge on Friday blocked President Joe Biden from selling off any more border wall materials in the final days of his administration.
Texas Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton's office announced the "victory," noting that its motion last week requested the court to determine whether the Biden administration had violated the court's permanent injunction. The injunction prohibited the federal government from using taxpayer dollars designated for constructing the border wall for any other purposes.
'Expose just how corrupt and anti-American Radical Democrats are.'
Missouri and President-elect Donald Trump joined Texas' request.
Paxton's office accused the current administration of selling the unused material "for pennies on the dollar," undermining Trump's pledge to restart border wall construction.
Biden halted the ongoing build in January 2021 and began quietly selling the materials in 2023.
On Friday, Paxton's office reported that a federal judge's ruling halted the sale for the next 30 days, effectively preventing the Biden administration from selling more material before Trump's Inauguration Day.
It noted that the judge's decision will be adopted as a court order and, therefore, "enforceable if any violations occur."
Additionally, the judge ruled that the Biden administration must turn over documentation to Texas proving that it did not violate the court's injunction. If it is found that the administration breached the order, it "would constitute unethical and sanctionable conduct, and the responsible parties could be held in contempt of court," Paxton's office explained.
Paxton stated, "We have successfully blocked the Biden administration from disposing of any further border wall materials before President Trump takes office."
"This follows our major victory forcing Biden to build the wall, and we will hold his administration accountable for illegally subverting our nation's border security until their very last day in power, especially where their actions are clearly motivated by a desire to thwart President-elect Trump's immigration agenda," he added.
A defense official previously told Fox News that the unused materials being auctioned off on GovPlanet no longer belonged to the federal government and that it had "no legal authority to recall the material or stop further resale of material it no longer owns."
The Biden administration did not respond to a request for comment from Axios.
Trump replied to the judge's ruling in a post on Truth Social, calling it a "crucial WIN for America, and our National Security."
He stated that "Biden and his cronies" have "wrecked" the border wall, and he pledged to restart its construction.
"The Judge has also ordered an investigation into the illegal selling of the materials, which will expose just how corrupt and anti-American Radical Democrats are," Trump wrote.
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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) filed a lawsuit Wednesday against corporate giants 3M, DuPont, and Corteva — the corporate remnant of a 2015 DuPont spin-off — for allegedly misleading consumers over the course of multiple decades about the safety of certain products containing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or "forever chemicals."
The suit claims that while profiting from the sale of materials under well-known brand names such as Scotchgard and Teflon, the companies knew that PFAS posed risks both to people's health and the environment.
"These companies knew for decades that PFAS chemicals could cause serious harm to human health yet continued to advertise them as safe for household use around families and children," Paxton said in a statement. "Texas is taking action to penalize these companies and hold them accountable for deceiving Texans into buying consumer products without vital information."
PFAS, a group of roughly 15,000 synthetic chemicals, have been used globally in clothing, food packaging, lubricants, cookware, firefighting foam, upholstery, and other consumer products since the 1950s.
A 2015 report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found PFAS in the blood of approximately 97% of Americans.
According to the National Institute of Environmental Health Science, studies have found possible links between forever chemicals and various adverse health outcomes including increased risk of certain cancers; diminished immune systems; increased risk of childhood obesity; decreased bone mineral density following exposure in adolescence; increased risk of Type 2 diabetes in women; and altered metabolism.
Citing the current peer-reviewed scientific literature, the Environmental Protection Agency indicated that exposure to PFAS could lead to decreased fertility; increased high blood pressure in pregnant women; developmental delays in children, "including low birth weight, accelerated puberty, bone variations, or behavioral changes"; increased risk of cancers such as prostate, kidney, and testicular cancers; hormonal destabilization; and increased cholesterol levels.
The lawsuit alleges that 3M and DuPont engaged in false, misleading, or deceptive acts in violation of the Deceptive Trade Practices Act by misrepresenting the nature of certain products and failing to disclose information about those products that would otherwise have scared consumers away.
'Defendants marketed products containing harmful PFAS chemicals for over 70 years and were aware of the harmful effects of PFAS chemicals for over 50 years.'
"PFAS are 'persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic,' and exposure in humans may be associated with diseases such as cancer and decreased vaccine response," the lawsuit states. "Defendants knew of these risks, knew they could not contain PFAS in their consumer products, and — as early as the 1970s — knew that their PFAS chemistry was already building up in the blood of most Americans."
The lawsuit is replete with examples of the companies encountering shocking facts about forever chemicals, then sweeping the damning information under the chemically treated proverbial rug.
According to the lawsuit, "Old DuPont," or E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company — which apparently knew PFAS were toxic to animals and humans as early as the 1960s — conducted a blood sampling study of pregnant or recently pregnant employees in 1981, discovering that two of the eight women who worked with Teflon had children with birth defects in their eyes or face. The company allegedly told its employees that "there is no known evidence that our employees have been exposed to [certain PFAS] levels that pose adverse health effects."
3M conducted studies on PFAS on monkeys and rats in the 1970s that yielded disturbing results. Despite finding that certain PFAS affected the liver and gastrointestinal tracts of test subjects, the company apparently chose not to reveal these harms to consumers.
The filing noted, "Defendants marketed products containing harmful PFAS chemicals for over 70 years and were aware of the harmful effects of PFAS chemicals for over 50 years. Despite this knowledge, Defendants continued to market PFAS products and chemicals in Texas and elsewhere as safe for consumer use, misrepresent their environmental and biological risks, and conceal risks of harm from the public."
The Dallas Morning News highlighted that this lawsuit follows both Connecticut's January lawsuit against 3M, DuPont, and dozens of other companies for allegedly contaminating its natural resources and a class-action lawsuit filed in August in Minnesota accusing 3M, DuPont, Corteva, and Chemours of covering up the health hazards of the forever chemicals used in their products.
Last year, 3M reached a $10.3 billion settlement with numerous cities and towns over claims that its PFAS contaminated drinking water.
3M and Corteva reportedly did not immediately respond to the Dallas Morning News' requests for comment.
Daniel Turner, a spokesman for DuPont, told The Hill that the company has never manufactured PFOA and PFOS, two types of PFAS chemicals. The Hill noted that in 2015 DuPont spun off its division that makes forever chemical-containing products.
"While we don't comment on litigation matters, we believe this complaint is without merit, and we look forward to vigorously defending our record of safety, health, and environmental stewardship," said Turner.
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Republican Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio and Chip Roy of Texas co-authored a letter exclusively obtained by Blaze News slamming the Biden Department of Justice for prosecuting a medical whistleblower who shed light on transgender medical interventions used on children.
The DOJ is prosecuting Dr. Eithan Haim, a whistleblower who exposed the Texas Children's Hospital for performing transgender surgeries and treatments on minors, for allegedly committing HIPAA violations despite withholding sensitive medical or personal information about the patients. Haim's advocacy alerted Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, prompting him to issue a formal opinion in 2022, categorizing the procedures as child abuse.
'The DOJ's prosecution of Dr. Haim for blowing the whistle on criminal child abuse is wrong.'
"The hospital's actions raise concerns that this is continuing to intentionally harm young children for the purpose of a left-wing policy agenda," the letter reads.
Although Texas Children's Hospital announced that it would cease the transgender medical interventions on minors just a month after Paxton's statement, Haim revealed the hospital had continued the surgeries. As a result, the DOJ decided to prosecute Haim.
"The DOJ's prosecution of Dr. Haim for blowing the whistle on criminal child abuse is wrong," the letter reads. "As the Subcommittee examines this matter to inform potential legislative reforms that would enhance civil liberties and protect minors, we believe that the Texas Children's Hospital possesses relevant documents and information."
Jordan, who chairs the Judiciary Committee, and Roy, who chairs the Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government, called on Texas Children's Hospital to turn over all relevant communications and documents surrounding Haim and the transgender treatments on minors.
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A coalition of 11 Republican-led states filed a lawsuit on Wednesday against BlackRock, Vanguard Group, and State Street Corporation, accusing the three asset managers of violating antitrust laws.
According to the complaint, the companies' promotion of environmental, social, and governance standards resulted in less coal production and higher energy prices.
Companies 'formed a cartel to rig the coal market.'
The lawsuit stated that the financial institutions "artificially constrained the supply of coal, significantly diminished competition in the markets for coal, increased energy prices for American consumers, and produced cartel-level profits" for themselves by leveraging their power.
Reuters reported that the three financial institutions have more than $26 trillion in assets under their management.
The companies have pressured coal companies to reduce their carbon emission by more than 50% by 2030, the complaint noted.
"Competitive markets — not the dictates of far-flung asset managers — should determine the price Americans pay for electricity," it read.
The coalition of states — including Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, West Virginia, and Wyoming — was led by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R).
Paxton accused the asset managers of "illegally conspiring to manipulate energy markets."
"These firms also deceived thousands of investors who elected to invest in non-ESG funds to maximize their profits. Yet these funds pursued ESG strategies notwithstanding the defendants' representations to the contrary," he claimed.
The lawsuit accused BlackRock of "actively deceiving investors about the nature of its funds" by using all of its holdings, even those in non-ESG funds, to advance its climate goals.
Paxton told Turning Point USA founder and CEO Charlie Kirk that the reduced coal production forces the U.S. to purchase more energy overseas.
"It's affecting consumers in all kinds of ways," he said.
Paxton wrote in a post on X, "Texas will not tolerate the illegal weaponization of the financial industry in service of a destructive, politicized 'environmental' agenda. BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street formed a cartel to rig the coal market, artificially reduce the energy supply, and raise prices. Their conspiracy has harmed American energy production and hurt consumers. This is a stunning violation of State and federal law."
BlackRock said in a statement to Bloomberg that the lawsuit "undermines Texas' pro-business reputation."
"The suggestion that BlackRock invested money in companies with the goal of harming those companies is baseless and defies common sense," the company said.
Vanguard Group and State Street Corporation did not respond to a request for comment from Reuters or Bloomberg.
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On Thursday, a federal judge dealt a significant blow to the Biden-Harris administration’s plan to provide mass amnesty to at least 550,000 illegal aliens currently residing in the United States.
Earlier this year, a coalition of 16 Republican-led states, spearheaded by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and America First Legal, filed a lawsuit against the administration for its “Keeping Families Together” program. The program would have granted amnesty to illegal immigrant spouses and stepchildren of American citizens, Blaze News previously reported.
'Once again, we have stopped the Biden-Harris Administration’s radical attempts to destroy America’s borders and undermine the rule of law.'
Additionally, the program would have permitted beneficiaries to parole in place, allowing them to remain in the country while their status is adjusted.
The lawsuit, filed by the 16 state attorneys general, argued that the administration’s claim that it would apply to roughly 550,000 illegal aliens was “likely a significant underestimate,” projecting that it could be closer to 1.3 million.
The complaint contended that the process was unconstitutional because it circumvented Congress and would “irreparably harm” the states’ communities.
U.S. District Judge J. Campbell Barker, a Trump-appointed judge, sided with the states’ lawsuit, striking down the program.
In his 74-page ruling, Barker stated that the administration’s program “focuses on the wrong thing in identifying ‘significant public benefits’ — the benefits of aliens’ new legal status, rather than their presence in this country.”
“The Rule exceeds statutory authority and is not in accordance with law for this reason as well,” he concluded, adding that the “defendants’ view stretches legal interpretation past its breaking point.”
“The court declares that defendants lack statutory authority … to grant parole ‘in place’ to aliens,” Barker wrote.
America First Legal Executive Director Gene Hamilton stated, “Since day one, the Biden-Harris administration has dedicated itself to the decimation of our immigration system and the erasure of our borders.”
“Time and again, the states stood up. And today, the great state of Texas and the courageous Ken Paxton, alongside a coalition of other brave attorneys general, succeeded in stopping an illegal program that would have provided amnesty to hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens and paved the path for the largest administrative amnesty in American history,” Hamilton added.
Paxton wrote in a post on X, “Once again, we have stopped the Biden-Harris Administration’s radical attempts to destroy America’s borders and undermine the rule of law. This unlawful parole scheme would have rewarded more than 1 million illegal aliens with citizenship and incentivized millions more to break into our country. I look forward to the day when the federal government starts following the law again.”
The administration’s Department of Justice can decide to appeal Barker’s ruling.
Neither the White House nor the Department of Homeland Security responded to CBS News’ requests for comment.
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The next step in the fight to shield women and babies from abortion comes with enforcing the pro-life laws that outlaw it.
In Texas, cases are mounting against physicians who broke state law by prescribing puberty blockers and hormones to minors.
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