The Texas Panhandle is at a pivotal crossroads as new state laws and federal policy shifts begin to reshape rural life. The 2025 legislative session delivered sweeping changes — from wildfire funding and classroom mandates to broadband and clean energy — but left key issues unresolved.

Texas’ first special session of 2025 starts Monday, during which state lawmakers will consider new congressional maps approve the proposal.

U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar co-sponsored a bipartisan bill that seeks to preserve funding for colonias in South Texas like Rio Bravo and El Cenizo amid metro growth.

Vince Perez, also an El Paso Democrat, said during the Thursday house committee meeting said Texas districts do not reflect the diverse population of Texas. He is not a member of the committee, but was able to ask questions and speak with Democratic U.S. Representatives Sylvia Garcia, Joaquin Castro and Greg Casar who spoke before the committee.

Texas lawmakers returned to the Capitol Monday for the start of a special legislative session, called by Governor Greg Abbott to address several high-profile issues left unresolved during the regular session.

President Donald Trump is seeking to pick up at least four, potentially five, Texas congressional seats for Republicans in a midterm election cycle that ordinarily would favor the Democrats. Gov. Greg Abbott has obliged Trump by adding redistricting to a crowded special session that also includes disaster recovery and preparedness.

Whether President Donald Trump will renegotiate the country’s trade agreement with Mexico and Canada remains to be seen, but the threat is already affecting commerce on the border.

(The Texas Tribune) — As Texas Republicans prepare to redraw the state’s congressional districts ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, cautionary tales loom from past redistricting efforts that saw the state’s rapid demographic change collide with far ...

A South Texas Republican filed “Bracero 2.0” — a plan named after a 1940s temporary labor program — as the Trump administration intensifies deportation