Ken Paxton's Senate run, state budget, and Texas DOGE: TWITP

AUSTIN, Texas - Texas House members worked into the early morning hours to finalize their version of a new state budget. 

The marathon debate capped off an intense week.

FOX 7 Austin's chief political reporter Rudy Koski and our panel of analysts discuss the big stories from This Week in Texas Politics.

Local perspective:

RUDY KOSKI: Big votes and some big decisions dominating This Week in Texas Politics. Let's get the headlines from our panel, and we'll start with Philip Jankowski with the Dallas Morning News. Philip, what's your headline for the week?

PHILIP JANKOWSKI: Yeah, Paxton's Senate run sets off party battles.

RUDY KOSKI: Political analyst Karina Kling, what's your headline for the week?

KARINA KLING: I'll stick to that same theme. Get ready for a nasty Senate primary between John Cornyn and Ken Paxton.

RUDY KOSKI: Brian Smith with St. Edward's University. Give me a headline.

BRIAN SMITH: Not going to change much. Attorney General Ken Paxton wants to be your next senator.

Ken Paxton runs for Senate

RUDY KOSKI: Early Friday morning, Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick announced that he doesn't plan on changing jobs he's running for reelection. But another high-profile Republican is trying to change jobs, Attorney General Ken Paxton, as expected, announcing that he will challenge Senator John Cornyn for the GOP nomination for chair. Philip, no surprise, this one, as everyone's mentioned, has gotten ugly fast.

PHILIP JANKOWSKI: Obviously, no love lost between these two. I can remember a tweet, I think we all can remember this one that John Cornyn put out when Ken Paxton was needling him and Cornyn said, essentially, hard to run for Senate from prison, Ken.

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BRIAN SMITH: I think the key to the race though is, who does Donald Trump support?

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KARINA KLING: I think that it's interesting because Trump needs him. Cornyn's trying to get his agenda over the finish line there in the Senate and moving that agenda. He's got the support of national Republicans coming out in support of him early on for Cornyn. And I think when Trump does endorse, it's not going to be until late in this primary.

Latest details of the Texas legislative session

RUDY KOSKI: The Texas House worked into the early morning of Friday, plowing through its big budget bill. There were a lot of amendments, more than 400, and a lot ended up in a trash can called Article 11. There was talk about defunding the lottery, taking money away from the economic development and tourism office in the governor's office. Brian, was there anything in the debate that surprised you?

BRIAN SMITH: I think the commitment to fund border security is something that I was surprised survived because I thought Texas was going to try to move that to the federal level and get reimbursed for the money.

RUDY KOSKI: Ah, but we did have a little political drama before that budget debate began and a little political nose tweaking. It involved Representative Brian Harrison. He put up a motion to unseat Speaker Burrows and he only got two votes. Philip, certainly an embarrassment for Harrison, but does this solidify the position for Burrows?

PHILIP JANKOWSKI: Yeah, I think it does solidify his position, or at the least shows that everybody's moved on past this. An embarrassment. Maybe in the Chamber, people think Brian Harrison is an embarrassment. But Brian Harrison pretty much got what he wanted.

RUDY KOSKI: Well, it looks like legislation to create a new Texas Regulation Oversight Agency will be the first major bill that's going to be sent to the governor's desk for his signature in this session. But, Karina, the Republicans have been in control of state government for a very long time. Is this just an indictment against them that they've blown management?

KARINA KLING: I noticed, you know, we were talking about Brian Harrison and speaking of him, he was the only Republican to vote with Democrats against this. And he was saying just what you're mentioning there, that it's a power grab and expands government. So it's going to be an interesting kind of the give and take on this moving forward.

Who is running for Texas attorney general?

RUDY KOSKI: Let's circle back now to Ken Paxton's bid for the Senate. His decision means that he's not going to seek reelection as Attorney General. Republican John Bash is the first Republican to jump in. Karina, this creates an open seat, open opportunity for the Democrats.

KARINA KLING: Yeah, I mean, this is going to be a competitive primary in Texas for sure. It could really reset Republican politics here in Texas.

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PHILIP JANKOWSKI: They are teeing up, what could be a pretty, you know a pretty contested election with a Trump, you know Mid-Term election coming up.

BRIAN SMITH: There's going to be a lot of pressure for the Democrats to put their best top candidates at the top of the ticket. But I think if they really focus on the AG position, this is how they could get their foot in the door.

This Week in Texas Politics wrap-up

RUDY KOSKI: You can see the full discussion on the FOX 7 YouTube page and also on FOX Local, but let's wrap things up with one word for the week, and we'll start with Karina. What's your word for the week?

KARINA KLING: Sleep.

RUDY KOSKI: Brian, what's your word for the week?

BRIAN SMITH: Budget.

RUDY KOSKI: Philip, give me your word for the week.

PHILIP JANKOWSKI: Oh man, I think I said Tariffs last week, so this week I'll say Terrified.

RUDY KOSKI: And that is This Week in Texas Politics.