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Trump calls on Abbott
As President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take office in two weeks he is summoning Republican governors from around the nation (including Gov. Greg Abbott) to a meeting with him at Mar-a-Lago on Thursday.
It's just the latest in a string of Republican officials who have been asked to what is becoming known as the "Winter White House" in advance of Trump taking office. Trump and his allies have frequently pledged to start their term fast with an ambitious agenda for 2025 and want to have as many Republicans on board as possible.
That undoubtedly is going to mean needing governors in Republican states to help him with programs like the mass deportation program he promised on the campaign trail. Abbott and other governors have already signed on to letters pledging their support for the program through the Republican Governors Association.
"We stand ready to utilize every tool at our disposal—whether through state law enforcement or the National Guard—to support President Trump in this vital mission," the letter released last month said.
While Abbott has been invited to the meeting in Florida, winter storms in North Texas could keep him from getting to the Mar-a-Lago meeting. During a press conference at the state's emergency operations center in Austin, Abbott said the state is bracing for potentially dangerous rain, sleet, freezing rain and snow, primarily in North Texas, over the next few days.
While Abbott expects the college football playoff game between the University of Texas and Ohio State to go on as planned on Friday in Arlington despite the weather, he said he could not commit to attending the game or anything else at the moment.
"I'll be working 24/7 on this," Abbott said of the potential weather emergency.
 | Jeremy Wallace, Texas politics reporter |
Who's up, who's down
Up: ERCOT.
With winter weather blasting across Texas over the next three days, the state's energy grid monitor has more than enough power to get through this week. "We do expect to have more than adequate supply of power through this winter event," said ERCOT CEO Pablo Vegas.
Down: Robert Bredt.
The Texas Medical Board medical director is out after taking heat from Republican state lawmakers over the last week who objected to his history working with a Planned Parenthood laboratory. Reporter Taylor Goldenstein writes that Bredt filed for retirement on Tuesday. State Reps. Brian Harrison, R-Midlothian, and Briscoe Cain, R-Deer Park, brought attention to Bredt's work history on social media. "How is this insanity happening in Texas?" Harrison wrote on X. "There must be consequences."
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What else is going on in Texas
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Pick of the day
Photo by: Staff Photographer
Gov. Greg Abbott is said to be exploring a plan to buy water from Houston and send it to West Texas — a potentially contentious idea that comes as he has teased "totally transformative" measures in the upcoming legislative session aimed at keeping the state from going dry. Mayor John Whitmire told the Houston Chronicle that the governor called him to discuss the state purchasing "excess" water from the city — an idea Whitmire said he is open to if it means Houston can get much-needed infrastructure funding.
What else I'm reading
President Joe Biden has rarely granted full sitdown interviews with print reporters during his tenure in the White House. But did just that with Susan Page at USA Today where he spent an hour talking about a wide range of issues including whether he could have won re-election if he stayed in the race and if he had the vigor to complete another full term in the White House. He had this to say about his legacy: "I hope that history says that I came in and I had a plan [for] how to restore the economy and reestablish America's leadership in the world."
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