Congress

Texas exodus underscores the state’s fading relevance in the House GOP

Published

3 months ago

December 4, 2025

The Lone Star State is used to having a Texas-sized impact on the House Republican Conference. And, by the numbers, its influence should be larger than ever.

If a bold redistricting plan pushed by President Donald Trump goes forward, Texas could have a massive 30-member GOP delegation come 2027. And yet by the measures of clout and seniority — the real markers of power inside the House — the state is clearly on the wane.

Six members are retiring — some to pursue other political ambitions, others quitting cold turkey. Assuming the redistricting plan is approved — a Supreme Court ruling on the matter could come as soon as Thursday — another five Republicans would be freshman back-benchers from a state that once racked up committee gavels.

The turnover has left many in the already huge delegation unsettled and wondering how the state’s clout declined so precipitously. Rep. Pete Sessions, Texas’ longest-serving Republican, said in an interview that it’s “the biggest change of any redistricting period” he has been through in a nearly 30-year career.

“The timing of this across the board has been difficult to get your hands around,” Sessions said. He noted the redistricting and other retirements will “add youth and opportunity to the Texas delegation but a lot of the inexperience and a lot of things that come at a time when my party needs a lot of teamwork and collegiality.”

A younger colleague, Rep. Jake Ellzey, also said the delegation is facing a “drastic change” over the coming years: “There’s going to be a lot of introductory lunches, that’s for sure.”

Already there has been a remarkable shift since the beginning of Trump’s first term, when Texans held sway over seven House committees — including the powerful Armed Services, Financial Services and Ways and Means panels — as well as three coveted Appropriations subcommittee chairs.

The GOP delegation was known for zealously guarding its influence, holding weekly lunches to strategize, amassing seats on the influential steering committee that doles out committee assignments and often voting as a bloc on key matters.

Today Texans hold only three committee gavels, all on relatively backwater panels, and just one Appropriations subcommittee chair. One of those chairs, Budget’s Jodey Arrington, is retiring. No Texans serve in the House GOP’s elected leadership.

“We were powerful,” said Rep. Roger Williams, who chairs the House Small Business Committee, recounting what the delegation was like when he first arrived in 2013. “But that all cycles.”

No single member approaches the influence of the most formidable Texan in recent House Republican history — former Majority Leader Tom DeLay, who was often said to be more powerful than the speaker he served with, Dennis Hastert.

Rep. Michael McCaul, who announced his retirement plans in September, was the top Republican on two key committees for 12 years. In an interview, he remembered DeLay brokering power when he was first elected. “And there was a time when I was one of seven committee chairs from Texas, and we had the majority of the chairmanships,” McCaul added.

There are still some pockets of ambition in the delegation’s ranks, including Rep. August Pfluger, who heads the 180-plus-member Republican Study Committee. Many Republicans expect Pfluger to vie for an elected leadership role in the next Congress.

But the fact that the redistricting push proceeded at all reflects the state’s relative impotence in Trump’s Washington. The president used Texas as the tip of the spear in his aggressive campaign to rewrite congressional districts midway through the usual Census-driven cycle, and wary Republicans folded in the face of an unrelenting pressure campaign from Trump’s top political advisers.

One Texas Republican relayed his surprise and frustration to a group of fellow House Republicans on the floor as the push unfolded.

“What the hell did we do to deserve this?” he said, according to one of the Republicans present.

Since then, a fifth of the delegation has announced plans to leave. McCaul announced his plans to retire in September, as did Rep. Morgan Luttrell, a highly recruited former Navy SEAL. Arrington followed, and Rep. Chip Roy launched a campaign for state attorney general, while Rep. Wesley Hunt decided to take on incumbent GOP Sen. John Cornyn.

Last week, Rep. Troy Nehls made a surprise announcement that he would be retiring, and some Texas Republicans believe there could be at least one more in their ranks who could call it quits before the state’s Dec. 8 ballot qualifying deadline.

Rep. Ronny Jackson, Trump’s former White House doctor, has spoken privately to other Republicans in the past about leaving for a possible administration job, but he has filed for reelection. A spokesperson said Jackson is “committed to strengthening the House Republican majority and supporting President Trump’s agenda in Congress.”

Even the Texas Republicans who are sticking around are showing signs of frustration in the House rank-and-file. Some conservatives in the ranks are privately expressing unease about the millions of Texans set to get hammered with higher health care costs before next year’s midterms and are concerned about Republicans’ lack of a counterattack as they get hammered by Democrats.

Rep. Nathaniel Moran, who represents a deep-red east Texas district, stood up during a recent closed-door GOP conference meeting to confront party leaders on why they haven’t been working on a plan to address expiring Obamacare tax credits until just weeks before the year-end deadline.

Moran said in an interview this week that Democrats were making headway against the GOP with what he called a “sound bite policy” on health care. “So I would like to see … Republicans come to the forefront” with more substantial plans, he said.

Other senior Republicans note that the cohesion of the big delegations including Texas’ has withered under speakers Kevin McCarthy and now Mike Johnson, who have continued a trend of centralizing decisionmaking in the leadership suites. Younger members are not given enough senior mentorship, according to another senior Republican, and White House officials “run wild” across the Capitol forcing members to march in lockstep with Trump.

For more than four decades, the Texas delegation has scheduled regular Thursday lunches in the Capitol during session weeks to build camaraderie and discuss strategy. But because Johnson often aims to wrap up House business by 10:30 a.m. Thursdays, Republicans note, members are often scattered to catch flights by lunchtime — including younger members who are most eager to get home.

“Certainly that change of schedule has thrown into play the integrity of the ability of a delegation to meet and speak and gather their balance and equilibrium,” Sessions said.

Members are generally shrugging off the retirements. Moran said “it’s a natural cycle” to life in Congress while Arrington said in an interview that “Texans are more inclined to see it as a temporary calling to serve temporarily and go home.”

“For some people, that’s six years. For some, it’s eight years, and for others, it’s 10,” said Arrington, who is leaving after eight years even though he has the chance to continue at least one additional term as Budget chair if Republicans keep the majority.

Those who choose to leave have different perspectives on the experience. Nehls and Luttrell have identical twins. Nehls is behind his brother Trever’s bid to replace him in the House, but Luttrell said he didn’t expect his twin brother Marcus, also a retired SEAL, to do the same.

Asked if he would encourage him to consider it, Luttrell laughed: “No, I would never do that.”

Congress

House rejects Nancy Mace’s push for sexual harassment disclosure

Published

26 minutes ago

March 4, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

The House effectively bottled up an attempt to force the release of sexual harassment claims against lawmakers after bipartisan leaders of the House Ethics Committee publicly condemned the effort led by Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.).

Ethics Committee Chair Michael Guest (R-Miss.) and ranking member Mark DeSaulnier (D-Calif.) said in a joint statement that the effort would “chill” victims’ and witnesses’ cooperation.

Her resolution would also have forced the Ethics panel to share its records on cases where a lawmaker had a relationship with a subordinate — as Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) faces a probe over allegations that he had a romantic relationship with one of his staffers.

“Victims may be retraumatized by public disclosures of interim work product, excerpts of interview transcripts, and certain exhibits,” the two Ethics leaders said. “And witnesses, who often only speak to the Committee confidentially or on condition of future anonymity, could fear retaliation if their cooperation is made public.”

The House voted 357-65 to refer the resolution to the Ethics Committee, where it is almost certain to die given the top leaders’ opposition. House GOP leaders had also privately urged members to oppose Mace’s campaign.

“It’s shameful,” Mace said in an interview after the vote. She separately posted to X, “Both parties colluded today to protect predators. … The establishment always protects itself, never the victims.”

Separately, Mace is forcing a vote in a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing Wednesday to subpoena settlements between lawmakers and those who accused them of sexual misconduct.

Meredith Lee Hill contributed to this report.

Congress

‘Substantial reason to believe’ Tony Gonzales had sex with his staffer, House probe finds

Published

57 minutes ago

March 4, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Congressional investigators have found “a substantial reason to believe” that Rep. Tony Gonzales had a sexual relationship with a subordinate — an apparent violation of House rules.

Blue Light News exclusively reviewed the report made by the nonpartisan Office of Congressional Conduct and delivered Wednesday to the House Ethics Committee, which has separately announced it is investigating the matter. The board of the OCC— an independent investigative body of the House — recommended in a 6-0 decision that the Ethics panel, which handles member disciplinary matters, further examine the allegations against Gonzales, a Texas Republican.

The OCC report and announcement from the Ethics Committee comes as Gonzales faces a 12-week runoff campaign to keep the Republican nomination for the south Texas seat he has held for three terms. He narrowly trails challenger Brandon Herrera in the latest returns from Tuesday’s election but neither candidate is on track to win an outright majority, setting up a May 23 runoff.

Gonzales has denied wrongdoing and resisted calls from within his own party to resign as details of his relationship with the former staffer, Regina Santos-Aviles, continue to emerge. She died by suicide after setting herself on fire in 2025.

Responding to the Ethics Committee announcement Wednesday, Gonzales said, “I welcome the opportunity to present all the facts to the committee. His office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the OCC finding.

Tom Rust, staff director for the House Ethics Committee, declined comment, as did William Beaman, a spokesperson for OCC.

The OCC investigation found “a substantial reason to believe that Rep. Gonzales engaged in a sexual relationship with an employee of the House of Representatives who was working under his supervision,” according to the report viewed by Blue Light News.

In one exchange with a fellow staffer, known as Witness 1, Santos-Aviles texted: “I had an affair with our boss and I’m fine. You will be fine.” The staffer, in an interview with the OCC, described personal conversations with Santos-Aviles wherein she described text messages with Gonzales that “were sexual in nature, that were romantic in nature.”

In another part of the report, a screenshot of a message that was originally sent by Santos-Aviles’ husband to another Gonzales staffer said, “Just a heads up this is [Santos-Aviles’] soon to be ex husband I just wanted to inform all of you that we will be getting divorced after my discovery of text messages and pictures, that she’s been having an affair with your boss Tony Gonzales for some time now. Feel free to reach out if you want more of an explanation.”

While the OCC can’t issue disciplinary actions, its investigative reports have served as roadmaps for the Ethics Committee, which conducts its own probes. In opening its own inquiry Wednesday, the panel said it would examine allegations that Gonzales “engaged in sexual misconduct towards an individual employed in his congressional office” and “discriminated unfairly by dispensing special favors or privileges.”

Speaker Mike Johnson, navigating a tight GOP majority, said last week that he wanted to see how the election played out and that Gonzales was entitled to due process. While the findings from the OCC are significant, it could take months or years for the Ethics Committee to finish its own report and recommend any discipline.

Johnson told reporters after the Ethics Committee announcement that he would let the process “play out.” A spokesperson, Taylor Haulsee, did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the OCC finding.

Gonzales, who is married with children, is alleged to have pursued a sexual relationship with Santos-Aviles and tried to coerce her into sending explicit photos, according to text messages published by the San Antonio Express-News and other publications, some of which are referenced in the OCC report. Blue Light News has not independently reviewed the messages.

House rules prohibit members, such as Gonzales, from having “a sexual relationship” or engaging in “unwelcome sexual advances” with their staffers.

The Ethics Committee’s deliberations are usually shrouded in secrecy, and it sometimes takes years to deliver any sort of conclusion. Allegations that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) accepted improper gifts relating to the 2021 Met Gala, for instance, were not ruled upon until 2025, when she was instructed to repay the fair market value of the ticket of her guest, her designer gown and other gifts associated with the event.

Similarly, the Ethics panel took several years to issue a report on a 2020 stock trade made by the wife of Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.) that was alleged to have been done using nonpublic information. Kelly was scolded in 2025 by the committee for not fully cooperating with the investigation with a strongly worded letter of disapproval and Kelly and his wife were advised by the committee to divest of any stock holdings in Cleveland-Cliffs, the company at issue.

In the Gonzales investigation, three witnesses, identified only as Witness 1, 2, and 3, were interviewed by OCC for the inquiry. Blue Light News was unable to identify and independently interview the witnesses.

Gonzales, his Chief of Staff Cesar Prieto, and two other staffers, Brittney Smith and Alfredo Arellano III, all refused to cooperate with OCC, according to the report. The office recommended that the House Ethics Committee subpoena them.

Prieto and Smith did not immediately respond to a request for comment. An attempt to reach Arellano on LinkedIn was unsucessful.

Meredith Lee Hill contributed to this report.

Congress

Al Green, Menefee head to runoff in member-on-member Democratic primary

Published

4 hours ago

March 4, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Texas Democratic Reps. Al Green and Christian Menefee are headed to a runoff, extending a member-on-member matchup defined by the latest fight over generational change.

Neither Green, 78, or Menefee, 37, earned a majority of votes in the newly drawn Houston 18th District resulting from Texas Republicans’ recent gerrymander of the state’s congressional map.

Green, a civil rights icon, jumped into the race after his former district was scrambled by the GOP’s redistricting. The matchup comes as the Democratic Party is engaged in an intense debate about whether the old guard should step aside and make room for a younger generation of leaders.

Green, who was first elected to Congress in 2004, has long represented the Houston area. He was the first Democrat to introduce articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump — long before most other House Democrats were on board — and famously protested his addresses to Congress.

Just weeks ago, Menefee had won a special election in an overlapping district to serve out the remainder of the late, former Rep. Sylvester Turner’s term.