In the News

Congress gave final approval on Thursday to legislation to keep the government funded into January, averting a government shutdown this weekend but kicking fights over issues like immigration, surveillance and health care into the new year. The stopgap spending bill extends government funding until Jan. 19 while also providing a short-term funding fix for the Children’s Health Insurance Program, or CHIP, whose financing lapsed at the end of September.

The House passed an $81 billion disaster aid package Thursday, the largest single infusion of federal relief dollars yet for areas ravaged by hurricanes and wildfires this year. The measure was approved 251-169, drawing opposition from some conservative Republicans and Democrats alike. The vote came moments after the chamber acted to avert a government shutdown, approving by 231-188 a stripped-down measure to fund the government through Jan. 19.

The House, forced to vote a second time on the $1.5 trillion tax bill, moved swiftly to pass the final version on Wednesday, clearing the way for President Trump to sign into law the most sweeping tax overhaul in decades.

Today, Congressman Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), Ranking Member of the House Ways and Means Tax Policy Subcommittee and a conferee to the House and Senate Conference Committee, spoke shortly before the vote on the House Floor on the Republican Tax Bill.

Today, Congressman Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), Ranking Member of the House Ways and Means Tax Policy Subcommittee and a conferee to the House and Senate Conference Committee, spoke on the House Floor after mistakes were identified in the original bill that required a second House vote.

Former state Rep. Ruth McClendon, D-San Antonio, died Tuesday after an extended battle with cancer. She was 74.

Three people were killed in a field outside of Austin in 1894.

WASHINGTON — Democrats in Congress are growing increasingly pessimistic that an agreement to protect young undocumented immigrants from deportation can be reached this year.