Convenience Big Store: Greg Abbott gets his showdown with Joe Biden

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Abbott readies for battle

While most people might feel a little uneasy about being sued by the Justice Department, it sounded almost like Gov. Greg Abbott was relishing the moment earlier today.

Shortly after we first reported that the Justice Department was going to sue Abbott and demand Texas remove barriers it deployed into the Rio Grande to stop migrants from crossing, the Republican was on social media making clear he's itching to fight the Biden administration in the courts.

"We will continue to deploy every strategy to protect Texas and Americans — and the migrants risking their lives," Abbott said. "We will see you in court, Mr. President."

But while Abbott wants the case to be about immigration, the Justice Department is telegraphing that they are going to focus narrowly on Texas violating the federal Rivers and Harbors Act that requires the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to sign off on any obstruction to any navigable water in the U.S.

"Texas does not have authorization from the Corps to install the floating barrier and did not seek such authorization before doing so," DOJ officials said in a letter to Abbott.

But Abbott's administration is going to try to make the case that he has the right to supersede that law because Texas has "sovereign authority to defend our border, under the U.S. Constitution and the Texas Constitution."

Jeremy Wallace, Texas politics reporter

jeremy.wallace@houstonchronicle.com

Who's up, who's down

Up: Texas Democrats.

For most of President Joe Biden's term in office, Democrats have been so splintered on immigration issues that they've mostly avoided talking about it. But stories from a state trooper about a pregnant teenager having a miscarriage while stuck in Abbott's razor wire this week had Democrats all on the same page.

Down: Dan Patrick.

Houston conservative activist Steve Hotze, normally an ally of Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, is suing him. Hotze filed a lawsuit challenging the gag order issued by Patrick, who oversees the Texas Senate, in Attorney General Ken Paxton's impeachment trial, arguing the policy violates free speech protections under the Texas Constitution.

What do you think? Hit reply and let me know.

What else is going on in Texas

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Pick of the day

Jeremy Wallace and Scott Braddock talk all things Texas politics on the Texas Take podcast, released every Friday.

Photo by: Nadya Hassan

We're back with a new episode of the Texas Take Podcast with me and Scott Braddock, editor of The Quorum Report. We'll get into all the breaking news at the Texas border, plus dig into some Texas twists related to the GOP presidential race.

What else I'm reading

A nice tribute on Texas Public Radio to the great Tony Bennett who passed away Friday at the age of 96. Obviously, he played a ton of shows in Texas, but I'm still partial to his Willie Nelson duet of "On the Sunny Side of the Street."