Greg Abbott

Rule Changes

Leading aggressive TPUSA expansion effort

Nebraska became the sixth state to announce an official partnership with Turning Point USA to bring the conservative organization's Club America chapters to every public high school. The pattern is now clear: since founder Charlie Kirk's assassination in September 2025, Republican governors have lined up to formalize state support for the organization's high school expansion—with some threatening disciplinary action against schools that resist.

Updated Feb 10

Force in Play

Managing state response to winter storm

Winter Storm Fern ranks among the deadliest recent U.S. winter events with over 150 confirmed fatalities across multiple states as of early February 2026, following 106 deaths reported on January 28. The storm brought crippling ice and heavy snow across a 2,000-mile path from Texas to Maine, leading President Trump to approve federal emergency declarations for at least 10 states amid over 1 million peak power outages, 14,000+ flight cancellations—the worst aviation disruption since COVID-19—and wind chills to minus 50°F. Fatalities included hypothermia, traffic accidents, and ice-related incidents, with Tennessee reporting 29 deaths, Mississippi 28, and others in states like Louisiana (8), New York City (8 frozen outdoors), Kentucky, and Texas (3 boys drowning after falling through pond ice).

Updated Feb 5

Rule Changes

Signed Texas Responsible AI Governance Act

The DOJ's AI Litigation Task Force began operations on January 10, 2026, with one mission: kill state AI laws in federal court. California, Texas, and Colorado passed comprehensive AI regulations throughout 2025—transparency requirements, discrimination protections, governance mandates. President Trump's December executive order called them unconstitutional burdens on interstate commerce. Now Attorney General Pam Bondi's team will challenge them, consulting with AI czar David Sacks on which laws to target first.

Updated Jan 12

Rule Changes

Authorized Texas National Guard deployment to Illinois and Oregon

The Supreme Court told President Trump he can't send National Guard troops to Illinois. The 6-3 decision on December 23 marks the first time the modern court has blocked a president from federalizing state Guard units over a governor's objections. Trump claimed protests at an ICE facility in suburban Chicago constituted a rebellion. The court wasn't buying it. In a significant concurrence, Justice Kavanaugh warned the ruling could force Trump to use regular military forces instead of the Guard, potentially escalating future deployments.

Updated Dec 26, 2025

Rule Changes

Facing federal lawsuit over CAIR terrorist designation and land-ownership ban

In less than a month, Texas and Florida governors have branded CAIR, the country’s largest Muslim civil rights group, a “foreign terrorist organization” and ordered their states to cut off contracts, jobs, and funds. CAIR calls it a smear campaign; the governors say they’re targeting Hamas-linked extremists.

Updated Dec 11, 2025