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Texas Republican lawmakers Pat Fallon and August Pfluger said Thursday they are proposing federal legislation to reimburse tax dollars to Texans after the state was forced to step up border security through Operation Lone Star.

The House members joined "Fox & Friends First" to discuss "The Lone Star Reimbursement Act," which they say is needed as a result of the Biden administration creating a "border catastrophe."

ICE NABS 119 ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS, MOST WITH PRIOR CONVICTIONS, WHO HAD RE-ENTERED AFTER BEING DEPORTED

Fallon explained why he introduced the legislation, arguing "the federal government has abdicated their responsibility to secure the border, so Texas has stepped up."

"It costs $1.4 billion. So Texas shouldn't be disproportionately punished because Joe Biden has made every state a border state. So this bill would reimburse Texas justly for the expense of doing the federal government's work," he said.

The bill would reimburse the state for the operation announced by Gov. Greg Abbott last year which has surged law enforcement to the Texas-Mexico border to stop the flood of illegal immigration.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott tours the U.S.-Mexico border at the Rio Grande River in Eagle Pass, Texas, on May 23, 2022. (Photo by ALLISON DINNER/AFP via Getty Images) (ALLISON DINNER/AFP via Getty Images)

The bill cites estimates that the Texas Military has so far apprehended and referred over 134,000 illegal immigrants to law enforcement, and has turned back or denied crossing to over 16,000 migrants.

The bill would make $1.4 billion available to Texas for its FY 2021 and FY 2022 costs. The lawmakers supporting the bill say that because the job of securing the border is that of the federal government, states that take that responsibility should be reimbursed by the federal government.

Pfluger emphasized the bill would reimburse the state of Texas for "expenses, lodging, operations everything that it takes for them to deploy down to the southern border and do something that is not their primary duty."

Pfluger also argued that part of the reason Rep. Mayra Flores was elected is because Texans have become "sick and tired of Biden not protecting communities."

Fallon said the situation is no longer just a crisis, but a "border catastrophe."

The number of migrant encounters by month at the southern border (CBP)

"What we need to do is re-implement Trump-era policies, [Remain in Mexico]. If you claim asylum, you will wait in Mexico while your claim is adjudicated. Build the wall and deport particularly criminal elements back to their home countries."

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Rep. Pfluger concluded by applauding Border Patrol and their efforts to secure the border and do the job the Biden administration has neglected.

"President Joe Biden has led us into these crises. And I think the American public is going to speak loud and clear in November, just like they did with for his election this past week."

Fox News' Adam Shaw contributed to this report.

Elizabeth Heckman is a digital production assistant with Fox News.

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Republicans demand Biden admin pay back Texans for operation to deal with 'border catastrophe' - Fox News

Twenty House Republicans voted against a package on Wednesday that includes provisions aimed at addressing mental health and substance abuse.

The legislation, dubbed the Restoring Hope for Mental Health and Well-Being Act, cleared the House in a 402-20 vote. Six Republicans and one Democrat did not cast votes.

The lawmakers who voted against it were: Reps. Andy Biggs (Ariz.), Lauren Boebert (Colo.), Mo Brooks (Ala.), Ken Buck (Colo.), Tim Burchett (Tenn.), Michael Cloud (Texas), Matt Gaetz (Fla.), Louie Gohmert (Texas), Bob Good (Va.), Paul Gosar (Ariz.), Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.), Michael Guest (Miss.), Clay Higgins (La.), Thomas Massie (Ky.), Tom McClintock (Calif.), Mary Miller (Ill.), Ralph Norman (S.C.), Chip Roy (Texas), Greg Steube (Fla.) and Van Taylor (Texas).

The package seeks to set up a Behavior Health Crisis Coordinating Office within the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) that would strengthen access to crisis care.

Additionally, it reauthorizes grants for community mental health services supporting adults with mental illnesses and children with emotional disturbances, and calls for more research into the effects smartphone and social media use have on adolescents when it comes to health and development.

In a video posted on Twitter, Biggs said he opposed the legislation because the federal government does not have the authority to get involved in the matter.

I want to talk to you about a bill that I voted no on today, H.R. 7666, which is Restoring Hope for Mental Health and Well-Being Act of 2022. Now that sounds good, but there really is no constitutional authority for the federal government to get involved in that, he said.

He argued that the U.S. has seen greatest efficacy when these matters are overseen by state and local government for local churches, community clinics and associations.

The problem is the federal government getting involved in something it has no expertise in, and its gonna spend more money on administrative costs ultimately than actually providing services, he said.

Thats why it need to be left at the local level, he added.

In a separate video posted on Twitter, Burchett said the measure allegedly deals with mental health, and described it as woke.

He also argued that the measure is taking away what the states have the right to do and just furthers more federal programs.

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The 20 House Republicans who voted against the package to address substance abuse, mental health - The Hill

Washington Post Watergate journalist Bob Woodward said Thursday on CNN that dramatic hearings by the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection are having such a significant impact that at least 20% of Republicans would now like to figuratively push Donald Trump off the cliff.

Whether Republicans are watching the hearings or not, a lot of them know that the earth is shaking, Woodwards Watergate partner Carl Bernstein added in a panel interview with Anderson Cooper.

Why is the earth shaking? Because both the committee and the Justice Department know that before, during and after Jan. 6, there was a massive obstruction and conspiracy from the president down ... to not allow the transition of power, Bernstein said. What we do know, factually, is the Justice Department has the evidence of this massive conspiracy and cover-up, he added

John Dean, a Richard Nixon White House counsel who flipped on him, said the insurrection proceedings are working much better than the Watergate hearings, with very effective ... presentations. Theyre probably getting to Trump because they are so effective. He appreciates good media.

We forget how protracted the Watergate hearings were, Dean noted. They were seven months. I didnt testify for a few hours; I testified for five days, eight hours a day. They were grinding.

Woodward agreed that the House select committees hearings are very dramatic.

I think if you can step back, whats going on here right now in the Republican Party ... 50% roughly of the Republicans would walk off the cliff for Donald Trump, said Woodward. Now I think at least 20% want to push him off the cliff.

And 30% are fixated on simply winning, Woodward noted.

If theres one lesson from writing three books about Trump, spending hours interviewing him, there is the lexicon: Win. You have to win. And they want to win, he added.

Voters can make the calculation: Is this a winning hand with Donald Trump or not? And its eroding. Whether significant, we will see.

The hearings are uncovering meaty, dramatic information, Woodward said.

Check out the full interview here:

Original post:
Bob Woodward: 20% Of Republicans Would Now Like To 'Push Trump Off The Cliff' - HuffPost

The Republican Party in Texas made a series of far-right declarations as part of its official party platform over the weekend, claiming that President Biden was not legitimately elected, issuing a rebuke to Senator John Cornyn for his work on bipartisan gun legislation and referring to homosexuality as an abnormal lifestyle choice.

The platform was voted on in Houston at the state partys convention, which concluded on Saturday.

The resolutions about Mr. Biden and Mr. Cornyn were approved by a voice vote of the delegates, according to James Wesolek, the communications director for the Republican Party of Texas. The statements about homosexuality as well as additional stances on abortion that called for students to learn about the Humanity of the Preborn Child were among more than 270 planks that were approved by a platform committee and voted on by the larger group of convention delegates using paper ballots. The results of those votes were still pending on Sunday, but Mr. Wesolek said it was rare for a plank to be voted down by the full convention after being approved by the committee.

The resolutions adopting the false claims that former President Donald J. Trump was the victim of a stolen election in 2020 as well as the other declarations were the latest examples of Texas Republicans moving further to the right in recent months. Republicans control both chambers of the legislature, the governors mansion and every statewide office, and have used their dominance to push tough anti-abortion legislation, create supply-chain problems by temporarily adding additional state inspections at the border and renominate the Trump-backed state attorney general over a member of the Bush family in a primary runoff in May.

Mr. Wesolek disputed the notion that the declarations were tied to the state partys rightward tilt. That was the will of the body, Mr. Wesolek said on Sunday. We pride ourselves on being a grass-roots party.

State party conventions in Texas have at times been venues for publicly airing internal rifts. In 2012, Gov. Rick Perry was loudly booed at the state Republican convention when he said he was backing the powerful lieutenant governor over Ted Cruz in a contested primary for Senate. On Friday, Mr. Cornyn a key negotiator in the gun talks with Democrats was booed by convention goers during a speech in which he tried to assure Republicans that the new legislation would not infringe on the rights of gun owners.

The state partys resolution embracing the baseless 2020 stolen-election claims stated that substantial election fraud in key metropolitan areas significantly affected the results in five key states in favor of Mr. Biden. The state party, the resolution continued, rejected the certified results of the 2020 Presidential election, and we hold that acting President Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. was not legitimately elected by the people of the United States.

The resolution encouraged Republicans to show up to vote in November, and to bring your friends and family, volunteer for your local Republicans and overwhelm any possible fraud.

State Representative Steve Toth, a Republican who represents part of Montgomery County, a Houston suburb, said he left the convention before voting on the resolutions, but he expressed support for them. He said he hoped the Biden resolution would encourage Republicans and Democrats to come together and to call for a forensic audit of the 2020 election.

Jason Vaughn, 38, a Republican delegate from Houston, claimed credit for adding the show up to vote language in the Biden resolution. My fear is that if we keep telling people the election was stolen, theyre going to not go and vote, Mr. Vaughn said.

Mary Lowe, a delegate from the Fort Worth suburbs who was focused on education issues at the convention, said she was surprised the 2020 election results were a focus of attention by her Republican colleagues. But, she added, I dont know too many people that felt that Biden won.

Ms. Lowe, the chairwoman of the Tarrant County chapter of a group known as Moms for Liberty, said she was among those delegates openly critical of Mr. Cornyn. But she added that she was embarrassed by the booing and did not participate in it.

I dont believe that booing is polite, Ms. Lowe said. I feel elected officials should be treated with proper decorum.

Jamie Haynes, 47, a Republican delegate who lives in the Texas Panhandle with her husband and who says that, together, they own a lot of guns, said the boos directed at Mr. Cornyn showed there was a resounding strong opinion that Republicans do not want their gun rights shaved not just taken away but even just shaved in any form.

The resolution rebuking Mr. Cornyn that passed at the convention opposed red flag laws, which allow guns to be seized from people deemed to be dangerous. Those laws, according to the resolution, violate ones right to due process and are a pre-crime punishment of people not adjudicated guilty.

The homosexuality plank passed the platform committee by a vote of 17 to 14, according to Mr. Vaughn, an openly gay member of the committee who voted against it.

It does nothing to move us forward as a party and gain voters, he said in a video of the committee meeting. In an interview, Mr. Vaughn said the shift at the convention was the result of a small number of people who make the process miserable because they want to do all this extreme, far-right stuff.

Mr. Toth disagreed, saying that on abortion, gay rights and the 2020 election, the Republican Party has been consistent in sticking to its conservative principles. Defense of marriage? Abortion? Second Amendment? Where have we moved to the right? he asked. The Republicans have always been strong defenders of constitutional family values.

One Texas congressman and Democrat, Representative Colin Allred, called the Republican Partys actions regressive.

The Texas Republican Party is trying to take us back to a time when women couldnt make decisions about their own bodies and when Americans lived in fear that they would be punished for being themselves, Mr. Allred said in a statement.

Excerpt from:
Texas Republicans Approve Far-Right Platform Declaring Bidens Election Illegitimate - The New York Times

William Barrs testimony before the Jan. 6 committee forms part of the former attorney generals strategy for saving his reputation in the history books. Thats a heavy lift, given Barrs distinguished service to Donald Trumps presidency via distortion of the conclusions of special counsel Robert Muellers report and his politicization of the Department of Justice.

But Barrs depiction of Trump as being detached from reality after the election does have independent significance. It demonstrates that it is possible to have been a loyal Trump supporter nay, an enabler through the investigation of the possible collusion with Russia and the Ukraine-related first impeachment, yet still draw the line at Trumps efforts to overturn the results of a presidential election.

This in turn matters for what it might mean for the future of Republican politics. Maybe, just maybe, Barrs position can help signal to Republicans that election denialism shouldnt be the future of the party and that Trump can be left behind.

In this admittedly idealized scenario, it is not precisely that Republicans at all levels of government could be expected affirmatively to deny the existence of fraud in the 2020 elections. Rather, they would just gradually stop talking about it.

And because Trump himself clearly cannot and will not acknowledge his defeat, changing the subject would be a sign for Republicans, including his current supporters, to get over Trump himself. They could transfer their attention to would-be Trumps like Ron DeSantis and J.D. Vance.

Listening to Barrs testimony was a reminder of just how convincing the lawyer can be and why he demonstrates a kind of evil genius for bureaucratic self-preservation. To hear Barr tell it, before the election he found it possible to deliver hard truths to Trump. There was sometimes wrangling, but Barr said he felt able to get his message across.

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The idea that Barr could, before the election, somehow speak truth to power to Trump sounds pretty far-fetched at best. Trump badly needed his attorney general to help get through the Mueller investigation debacle. Barr joined the administration knowing full well that the president needed him. If Trump listened to Barr or appeared to, it was no doubt because Barr had leverage over his boss while his administration was at its most vulnerable juncture.

After the election defeat, Trump no longer needed the nearly unique legal and political skills that Barr deployed in saving the president from the consequences of his actions. He needed lawyers who would take affirmative steps to overturn the election. Once he understood that Barr wasnt going to do that, he was able to dismiss Barrs advice that the claims of election fraud were bull----.

The thing is, the plausibility of Barrs assertion about his relationship with Trump before the election is irrelevant to the deeper issue of whether Barr can help the Republican Party free itself of Trump now. Barr is no popular (or populist) politician, to be sure. Hes a D.C. insider, the political appointees political appointee.

Barrs testimony provides a useful, usable story Republicans might be able to accept, albeit quietly. Simply: Trump was a great president. There was no Russia collusion. The first impeachment was illegitimate. Then Trump lost the election. What followed was regrettable and should now be repudiated or at least forgotten.

So far, the would-be post-Trump Trumpists are too worried about alienating his followers to do so. But that could change if politicians like DeSantis and Vance sense that there is room for them to say, Trump is dead, long live Trumpism. To the extent Barrs testimony contributes to that possibility, thats something everyone should welcome.

The Democrats who not so secretly hope Trump runs for president again, gambling that he would be far less electable than another Republican, have to consider whats good for the country. Even if a clear majority of voters reject him, we have come too close to seeing how one man could pave the way for the eventual democratic failure in the United States.

Noah Feldman is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. A professor of law at Harvard University, he is author, most recently, of The Broken Constitution: Lincoln, Slavery and the Refounding of America.

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Opinion: William Barr is handing Republicans a Trump exit strategy - The Virginian-Pilot