Here’s a quick recap of what happened over the last week:
Hurricane Beryl
Hurricane Beryl made landfall around 4AM Monday morning near Matagorda packing sustained winds of 80 MPH. Gusts as high as 97 MPH were recorded on Surfside Beach, just up the coast from Matagorda. The storm then moved on a north/northeast track up through Houston and north through east Texas. During the initial impact of the storm, 2 deaths were recorded in separate instances when trees fell on homes and killed occupants. The death toll is now up to 9 who have died either during or in the aftermath due to circumstances caused by the storm.
The storm was downgraded to a tropical depression by late morning as rain and wind continued throughout most of the day in the Houston metro area. The storm also knocked out power to 2.1 million customers and flooded many Houston area streets. Rainfall totals reached as high as 12 inches in areas in and around Houston.
As of yesterday, close to 1 million homes and businesses were still without power. Most of whom are customers of CenterPoint, the main retail service provider for Harris, Galveston, and Brazoria Counties. On Wednesday night, CenterPoint said that power had been restored to more than 1 million of their 2.6 million customers who had lost power. Entergy – who serves Montgomery County and east Texas — said they have restored power to 50% of those affected and are trying to get power restored to 75% of their affected customers by Friday afternoon. CenterPoint has said that at least 500,000 will remain without power through the weekend.
Gov. Abbott has called on the Public Utility Commission to look at why the Houston region has been subjected to so many power failures that result in days of no power for residents. Houston experienced a similar situation in late May when massive storms swept through the region and left 1 million customers without power for several days.
Biden/Patrick Feud Over Response
You know the old saying in politics, “never let a crisis go to waste.” Well, that’s what has happened in the aftermath of Beryl. Within 24 hours of the storm making landfall, President Biden criticized both Gov. Abbott and Lt. Governor Patrick for not responding quickly enough to his outreach to provide federal aid dollars to assist in the state’s recovery efforts. On Tuesday, Biden said he had to “track down” state leaders to get their formal request for a disaster declaration.
With Gov. Abbott traveling in the far east, Lt. Governor Dan Patrick is acting Governor and is leading the state’s recovery efforts. At a press conference on Tuesday, Patrick said that there was “no delay from the White House and no delay from us.” Patrick went on to voice his disappointment that President Biden was turning the hurricane recovery into a political issue and said he and Biden had a cordial telephone call that ended with the federal government granting the state’s request for a major disaster declaration. Then Patrick took issue with the President’s claim that there was a delay from Texas officials in responding. Patrick stated that he had been with federal FEMA employees for the past 2 days assessing the damage from the storm to fully determine what the needs were from the state. Patrick concluded by saying “to quote President Biden, this is a load of malarkey, and he’s shoveling it.”
And speaking of damages and the response, AccuWeather predicts that the damage and economic losses from Beryl nationwide will be at least $28 billion. This includes loss of property, loss of economic activity due to power outages, and supply chain disruptions.
Abbott Post Draws Criticism
As Beryl pounded the gulf coast on Monday morning, Gov. Abbott posted on social media that he was having “productive meetings in Seoul” regarding economic opportunities in Texas. The timing of the post drew a great deal of backlash from those in the path of the storm. Hundreds of responses were posted, all with the theme of criticizing Abbott’s timing of the post and calling into question the appropriateness of the post while so many were experiencing the direct impact of the hurricane. Abbott left the state on Friday on a planned trip to Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan leading a delegation of elected officials and economic development personnel to discuss the economic relationship between those countries and the state of Texas. Lt. Governor Dan Patrick is acting Governor in Abbott’s absence. After the original post, Abbott posted that he is in daily contact with the Lt. Governor and the Division Emergency Management to “ensure the state swiftly deploys all resources needed to help with the recovery.”
Shark Attacks on South Padre Island
4th of July celebrations were interrupted at South Padre Island when two people were attacked and bitten by sharks in the surf. The attacks occurred late morning when paramedics were called to treat a young woman that had been bitten, who was taken to a hospital in Brownsville. Another victim was more seriously bitten and was flown out of the area for further treatment. In addition, two more swimmers reported encountering sharks, but were not attacked. All encounters occurred in shallow water, no more than knee deep.
The last reported shark attack in the area was 5 years ago. Texas Parks and Wildlife Department officials will continue to investigate the attacks and have initially concluded that all four encounters involve the same shark, which later swam off to deeper waters. Department of Public Safety officials also responded to the incidents. A DPS helicopter began to fly near the shoreline using shark deterrent measures to keep the shark away from the shallow waters. Both Parks and Wildlife and DPS officials remained on the beaches of South Padre Island for the remainder of the weekend to patrol the shoreline using drones to watch for a potential return of the shark.
AG Ken Paxton Rumors
The House General Investigating Committee is scheduled to meet on Wednesday in Austin. This committee posting did not specify a subject matter on the posted agenda, only saying the committee will “meet to consider committee business.” Even though the agenda is vague, AG Ken Paxton thinks he knows what the committee will be discussing. Paxton issued a statement saying he believes the meeting is the first step in another attempt to impeach him. Last summer the Texas House impeached the incumbent Attorney General on charges of bribery and abuse of office connected to Paxton’s relationship with a campaign donor who is an Austin real estate developer. The Texas Senate eventually acquitted Paxton.
After the impeachment process ended, Paxton focused his anger on House Speaker Dade Phelan and actively campaigned against Phelan and other House Republicans that voted for his impeachment. This issue was one of many that pitted the more moderate wing of the party against Paxton and the more conservative faction of the party. Eventually there were 15 incumbent Republican House members who were defeated in their primary races this year, most of whom were allies of Speaker Phelan.
Add to this scenario that Current Revolt is reporting that a top Paxton aide has been subpoenaed by a federal grand jury to provide testimony related to the same allegations mentioned above regarding Paxton’s relationship with a campaign donor.
In the end, after all of the speculation, committee chairman Rep. Andy Murr (R, Junction) issued a statement yesterday saying there is no truth to the rumors that the committee is meeting to discuss another Paxton impeachment. Murr did not reveal what the committee was meeting to discuss, only saying that the committee is meeting on “an unrelated matter.” To further demonstrate how deep the hatred remains between AG Ken Paxton and House Speaker Dade Phelan and his leadership team, Murr went on to say, “no one should assume Ken Paxton is ever telling the truth.”
Biden to Visit Austin
President Biden will visit Austin on Monday and deliver a speech at the LBJ Presidential Library to commemorate the 60th anniversary of President Johnson signing the Civil Rights Act. This will be Biden’s first trip to Austin in four years, before he was elected in 2020. This trip comes 10 years after President Obama joined former Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Jimmy Carter to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act in 2014. The welcoming committee may be sparse for the President, as both US Senators and all statewide officials in Texas are Republicans. The ranking Democratic official in Congress from the Austin area – Lloyd Doggett – was the first Democratic member of Congress to call on Biden to withdraw from the race after his abysmal debate performance.
In announcing the event, the White House said this is an official Presidential visit, and not a campaign event. Following the speech, Biden will leave for Las Vegas to speak to the NAACP National Convention and then also speak to the UnidosUS conference, also being held in Las Vegas. Biden will also have to compete for media time as the Republican National Convention also begins on Monday in Milwaukee.
Speaker’s Race Update
A Texas House Republican committee chairman has predicted incumbent Speaker Dade Phelan will not return to lead the House next year. In an interview on Dallas TV station WFAA Inside Texas Politics, state Rep. Briscoe Cain (R, Deer Park) predicted Phelan will not be back to lead the lower chamber in 2025. Cain said that it is time for reform in the House, and that includes a change in leadership. This is significant because Cain was a very early supporter of Phelan in the Speaker’s race leading up to the 2021 session. He was rewarded with his first chairmanship in 2021, being appointed chair of the House Elections Committee. He was appointed chair of the House Agriculture Committee for the 2023 session. Cain did not endorse another candidate during the interview.
Political Notes
Incumbent Republican US Senator Ted Cruz will report having $22.1 million cash on hand after raising $12.6 million from April to June of this year. Cruz is seeking reelection to a third term this year and is being challenged by third term Democratic Congressman Colin Allred of Dallas. According to The Hill, when averaging the numbers from 16 different polls recently conducted on the race, Cruz maintains a 7-point lead over Allred with 47.6% compared to 40.6% for Allred. Cruz is not just ahead in the polls, but he is also pulling away in the money race. Allred will report having less than half the amount of cash on hand than Cruz has. His campaign now has $10 million cash on hand, which is the amount he raised during the 2nd quarter. Allred has raised and spent $38 million so far in the campaign.
As Democrats continue to grapple with the question of President Biden’s ability to continue in the race, Austin Congressman Lloyd Doggett doubled down on his comments that the party must replace Biden with a new nominee. Doggett was the first House Democrat to suggest that Biden drop out of the race last week. And on Tuesday in a meeting with all House Democrats in Washington, Doggett again said that there is a tremendous outpouring of support in his district for a new candidate, and that he will continue to voice his concerns over Biden’s ability to win in November.
Vice-President Kamala visited Dallas on Wednesday to speak at the annual convention of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, of which she was a member during her days as an undergraduate student at Howard University in Washington, DC. She did not address the ongoing calls for President Biden to withdraw from the race, nor did she answer questions from the media on the subject after her speech. Her remarks were focused on the administration providing help for those in the state affected by Hurricane Beryl and then announced new federal guidelines on postpartum care attempting to reduce the rate of maternal mortality.
If you live in Houston, San Antonio, or the Rio Grande Valley, you may have seen TV ads this week for the US Senate race. Democrat Colin Allred has begun airing ads in those markets touting the border and immigration legislation that was defeated in Congress earlier this year. The ads criticize Cruz for not supporting the package of bills that were presented by President Biden that increased border spending by $20 billion but also sped up the asylum process for migrants. The bill failed in the Senate on a procedural vote with 43 of the 49 Republicans opposing the measure.
What’s Next??
Due to Hurricane Beryl’s landfall in Houston on Monday morning, most scheduled committee hearings for this week were canceled.
Next week, the House General Investigating Committee will convene on Wednesday for – as of now – a yet to be posted subject matter.
Here is a link to the full list of hearings later this summer and fall, and the agenda for each hearing https://www.legis.state.tx.us