In this week’s episode, Matthew and Eleanor speak with state Rep. Gina Hinojosa, D-Austin, about her and her colleagues’ decision to flee the state, the potential financial and criminal penalties and her opposition to the state’s proposed new congressional map.

Polarizing.

The fourth and final night of the Democratic National Convention is underway, culminating with Vice President Kamala Harris accepting her party’s nomination for president.

Appearing in Arizona, Donald Trump has used a stretch of wall and a pile of steel beams to draw a visual contrast between his approach to securing the border and that of his Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris.

U.S. Reps. Jasmine Crockett and Veronica Escobar are expected to speak on the mainstage in Chicago.

After President Joe Biden’s surprise withdrawal from the presidential race Sunday, several of Texas’ Democratic delegates were rallying behind Vice President Kamala Harris to secure the party’s nomination ahead of what will likely be the first contested political convention in decades.

“The president has been running behind,” the Texas Democrat said. “We needed a surge, we got a setback.”

The party faces internal tension over the Israel-Hamas war and Biden’s new immigration policy heading into November.

The new task force is advocating for the bipartisan legislation that died after Donald Trump turned on the package.

Even as the president says the barriers don’t work, his administration says it will waive environmental laws to build them quickly.

With help from two other ultraconservatives, the Texas Republican’s seat on the Rules Committee has let him press for red-meat priorities, even in traditionally bipartisan legislation.

U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar’s legislation, dubbed the Dignity Act in partnership with a Florida Republican, also seeks to change asylum processes.

The Secure the Border Act would resume construction of the border wall, limit asylum eligibility and require asylum-seekers to wait in Mexico. It faces tough going in the Senate.

The Dallas native, former NFL linebacker and civil rights lawyer has not traveled a typical path to Congress.

The two-term Republican, criticized by his own party for breaking with the GOP on key votes, is not inclined to change his ways.

Texas Democrats are hopeful Biden can run a competitive race in the historically red state — especially if the GOP nominee is Donald Trump again.

The Austin Republican’s tacit approval only adds fuel to the fire for Texas Democrats recoiling at the report that the Biden administration could detain asylum-seekers.

Police in El Paso, Texas, say a one person has been killed and three others have been wounded in a shooting at a shopping mall.

Roland Gutierrez made the remarks during a hearing of the U.S. House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security that was focused on bipartisan legislative solutions to gun violence.

House Democrats are combining several gun policy bills into one large package known as the Protecting our Kids Act. Among the measures in the bill: raising the age to purchase semi-automatic weapons to 21; outlawing the sale, manufacture, transfer or possession of a large-capacity magazine; and creating tax breaks for purchasing proper gun storage equipment.

Texas Republicans spent much of Monday demanding nearly unfettered drilling and pipeline usage across North America — policies Biden officials refused to endorse.

U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-El Paso, joined nine other congressional Democrats on Wednesday in adding their names to a lawsuit against former President Donald Trump and his attorney, Rudy Giuliani, for conspiring with right-wing extremists to incite a riot at the U.S. Capitol to prevent Congress from certifying the 2020 election results.

Greg Abbott to reverse a yearslong effort to boot Planned Parenthood from the state’s Medicaid program, saying it jeopardizes thousands of low-income Texans’ ability to access nonabortion health services. Their plea comes just days after a state district judge temporarily stopped the state from excluding Planned Parenthood from Medicaid, a government health insurance program for the poor. Planned Parenthood has donated fetal tissue for research, which is legal. State health officials granted a 30-day grace period that was slated to end Feb. 3. Escobar and the other congress members have asked Abbott to allow Planned Parenthood to remain as a provider.

The announcement came after a terrifying episode on Wednesday in which Trump supporting rioters invaded the U.S. Capitol. "This insurrection was incited, encouraged, and praised by the President of the United States — an assault on the United States that would once have been unthinkable.“"It is now clear that the President of the United States represents a grave threat to our Constitution and to our country," she added. "He has willfully incited violence against the Government of the United States. The Senate will soon be narrowly controlled by the Democrats and any movement to remove Trump from office with just days left in his presidency would need Republican support. But Democrats fell well short of removing Trump in the Republican-controlled Senate and he was easily acquitted.

This cycle, the Latino Victory Fund has raised more than $9 million so far and spent most of that money — nearly $8 million — in support of Biden. Longoria and the Latino Victory Fund led an effort to draft her into what would be a competitive primary. “She’s demanding, even with me,” said Muñoz, her Latino Victory Fund co-founder. The Longorias are one of the oldest Texas families, and she often cites that family story in her political appearances. The Democratic Party deployed her presentation skills this August, when party leaders selected her as the emcee of the night’s programming.

Members of El Paso Firme and Border Network for Human Rights on Monday marched down Sunmount Drive toward the Walmart where a gunman killed 23 people and injured several others Aug. 3, 2019. Briana Sanchez/El Paso Times via REUTERSEL PASO Its been about a year since the lyrics to the Spanish-language ballad rang out in the parking lot of a shopping complex in East-Central El Paso. I hate the dude, I wish death upon him.Basco last year said he had no immediate family in El Paso so he invited the city to mourn his wifes loss with him. Bishop Mark Seitz, of the El Paso Catholic Diocese, said he understood the anger and said forgiveness needs to be earned. People have a right to be angry, I am angry at what happened and I am angry at him, he said.

Matt McClain/Pool via REUTERSU.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-El Paso, on Monday called Gov. Greg Abbott's leadership during the coronavirus pandemic a "total failure," saying he rushed to allow Texas businesses to reopen before properly dealing with the health crisis. "You have to deal with the health crisis before you can build the confidence necessary to address the economic crisis," she said. "You've got to create the confidence that you will be safe and secure, and that confidence will help drive an economic recovery," Escobar said. "Not everyone is going to feel comfortable going out and helping rebuild the economy until we address the health crisis on the front end."

“That doesn't help me today,” the man, identified only as William, told Rep. Andy Biggs on a telephone town hall on Thursday night, his voice rising. Across the country, anxious Americans are finding an audience for their questions -- if few answers -- in telephone town halls with their senators and representatives. But these are not the town halls of the past — there's little ideological warfare or finger-pointing. The tough-but-strong advice of the two doctors who joined New York Rep. Anthony Brindisi's town hall: Quit your job. In New York, Brindisi participated in his town hall from his home, where he was in self-quarantine after being in contact with another member of Congress who tested positive for COVID-19.