Politics

President Donald Trump is speaking at the American Farm Bureau Federation’s convention in Austin on Sunday. That means people driving downtown will likely experience delays. 

Updated at 3:10 p.m. ET

Amid much pomp and circumstance, the Senate took some of its first steps on Thursday to prepare for next week's impeachment trial of President Trump, just the third such trial in Senate history.

Chief Justice John Roberts, having crossed First Street from the Supreme Court building over to the Capitol, joined senators in the chamber and then was sworn in by Senate President pro tempore Chuck Grassley of Iowa. Roberts will preside over the trial.

Updated at 6:20 p.m. ET

A federal watchdog concluded that President Trump broke the law when he froze assistance funds for Ukraine last year, according to a report unveiled on Thursday.

The White House has said that it believed Trump was acting within his legal authority.

Feb. 3 is the last day to register to vote before the March 3 primary elections in Texas. Here’s what you need to know to register.

Updated at 6:30 p.m. ET

The House of Representatives has delivered articles of impeachment against President Trump to the Senate, which is expected to begin a trial next week.

Earlier in the day, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi named seven Democratic members of Congress as the managers who will argue the case for impeachment.

Those managers brought the articles to the Senate on Wednesday evening.

A sleeping giant looms over the Democratic presidential campaign, even as excitement continues to build toward the first-in-the-nation contests in Iowa and New Hampshire.

That behemoth is Texas.

Texas will not be resettling refugees in the new fiscal year, Gov. Greg Abbott told federal officials Friday.

State officials had until the end of the month to let federal officials know whether they would resettle refugees, many of whom are fleeing violence in their home countries. The federal government reimburses states for each person they resettle.

Just days after ending his campaign for president, former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro is endorsing Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

The two will hold a rally together Tuesday evening in Brooklyn.

Julián Castro, the former U.S. secretary of Housing and Urban Development under President Obama and mayor of San Antonio, announced Thursday morning he is dropping out of the race for the presidency.

HOUSTON — An audible groan erupted in the lounge area of Houston’s Gulf Coast Distillers in late October when high-profile Trump campaign operative Mica Mosbacher invoked the idea of a Democratic presidency.

Weeks after dropping out of the presidential race, Beto O'Rourke has launched a new political group to boost Texas Democrats in the 2020 election.

Listen to The NPR Politics Podcast here.

The impeachment of President Trump has dominated the news this week. But the political focus shifted to the Democratic presidential candidates Thursday night for their sixth debate, this one in Los Angeles and hosted by the PBS NewsHour and Politico.

Seven Democratic presidential candidates debated Thursday night, the smallest group yet. The December debate, hosted by Politico and PBS NewsHour, took place at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. NPR reporters provided live analysis of the candidates' remarks.

A month ago, agriculture commissioner Sid Miller faced online backlash after tweeting the phrase “get a rope” – a statement critics said harkens back to lynching African Americans in the South in the 19th and early 20th century.

On Saturday, Gov. Greg Abbott did the same thing.

Almost 80 percent of county election websites in Texas are not secure ahead of the 2020 presidential primary, according to a report from the League of Women Voters of Texas.

Beto O’Rourke is reiterating that he is not running for U.S. Senate next year as speculation swirls ahead of the Monday filing deadline.

State Rep. Rick Miller, R-Sugar Land, is no longer running for reelection after he sparked a firestorm for saying he was facing primary challengers because they are “Asian.”

WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Kay Granger, R-Fort Worth, was in Congress for over a decade before she narrowly won a bid to become the top Republican on the powerful House Appropriations Committee last year.

The Texas Secretary of State is being sued over a new law banning local governments from setting up temporary polling locations – or any polling location that isn’t open throughout all of early voting.

Ten candidates are taking the stage for the November Democratic Debate in Atlanta, amid public hearings in the impeachment inquiry into President Trump. NPR reporters will be providing fact checks and analysis throughout the debate. Follow along.

House Democrats have resumed public impeachment hearings with testimony from a central figure who could be their most important witness yet.

House Democrats are set to kick off week two of their open impeachment hearings on Tuesday with witnesses who listened firsthand when President Trump spoke with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on July 25 — a key moment in the Ukraine affair.

State Rep. Poncho Nevárez, an Eagle Pass Democrat and House chairman, turned himself in to authorities to be booked on felony drug possession charges Thursday evening and was released after posting his bond of $10,000, according to both the lawmaker and the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Retiring U.S. Rep. Will Hurd, R-Helotes, is spearheading a new group to elect a more diverse slate of Republicans across the country, the latest sign that he plans to remain politically involved as he leaves office.

Texans voted on 10 constitutional amendments this Election Day. The propositions ranged from prohibiting an income tax from ever being collected in the state to allowing law enforcement animals to stay with their handlers when they retire.

Texans are voting  on 10 amendments to the state constitution. Closer to home, Austinites are deciding the fate of two city propositions.

Here’s what you need to know before you head to the polls.

You can go to VoteTravis.com to check if you are indeed registered properly in Travis County. Check out this site to verify your registration anywhere in the state.

Former El Paso Congressman Beto O’Rourke has dropped out of the crowded 2020 Democratic presidential race.

If counted accurately, the 2020 U.S. census is expected to show a boom in Texas’ Latino population. That’s why groups in the state say they plan to focus their efforts on making sure Latinos here fill out the form and get counted.