DALLAS — This week on Inside Texas Politics, host Jason Whitely spoke with a Texas congressman about the U.S. House's impeachment process and with Ross Ramsey of the Texas Tribune on the "boyfriend loophole" that has Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo fired up, along with other top headlines from the past week.
NEWSMAKER
The U.S. House will vote on impeachment this week. Congress is a contentious place right now with a lot of Republicans and Democrats avoiding the media at this time. However, U.S. Rep. Van Taylor, R-Plano, appeared on this week’s Inside Texas Politics. The Republican from Collin County joined host Jason Whitely and Bud Kennedy from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram to discuss how the congressman will vote on impeaching President Trump.
STATEWIDE
On Thursday, Dec. 12, Houston buried one of its police officers. Sgt. Chris Brewster was shot to death while responding to a domestic violence call. His death prompted Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo to lash out at U.S. Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Ted Cruz, R-Texas.
"Who killed our sergeant? A boyfriend abusing his girlfriend," Acevedo said. "So, you're either here for women and children or our daughters and our sisters and our aunts, or you're here for the NRA. So, I don't want to see their little smug faces about how much they care for law enforcement when I'm burying a sergeant because they don't want to piss off the NRA."
The chief was upset about something called "the boyfriend loophole." Ross Ramsey, the co-founder and executive editor of the Texas Tribune, joined host Jason Whitely to explain what that means. Jason and Ross also discussed a federal judge's ruling in El Paso that the Trump administration can't move money from the military to the border wall.
RELATED: Even when his bond was set at $150K, here's why Tavores Henderson wasn't getting out of jail
MY VOICE, MY OPINION
It is usually difficult to get either side of an issue away from their talking points -- especially in Washington, D.C. With this week’s My Voice, My Opinion, author and producer Katie Sherrod said separating the spin from facts is even harder during impeachment.
NEWSMAKER 2
Trustees at Dallas ISD did something they've never done before – developed a bold plan. They told superintendent Michael Hinojosa that if he can eliminate failing schools, improve the performance of African American students, and increase the number of students earning college degrees, then they'll pay him a big bonus. Forget the money -- if Hinojosa can accomplish these goals, it would dramatically change Dallas ISD. He joined host Jason Whitely to explain how he’s going to do it.
FLASHPOINT
A central question in the D.C. debate over impeachment is whether a president can be impeached without breaking an actual law. Wade Emmert, former chairman of the Dallas County Republican Party and Rich Hancock from VirtualNewsCenter.com joined Inside Texas Politics to discuss.
ROUNDTABLE
U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, D-Dallas, was wavering on whether to impeach President Trump. Last week, he said he wasn't so sure. He later came out and said he would vote for impeachment.
On the Roundtable, Ross Ramsey, Bud Kennedy and Berna Dean Steptoe, WFAA's political producer, joined host Jason Whitely to discuss whether Allred’s district is so evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats that he could lose votes if he supports impeachment.
More on WFAA:
- Inside Texas Politics: With a near-record murder rate, why isn't there a plan to fight crime in Dallas?
- Inside Texas Politics: Why Texas could go purple in 2020
- Inside Texas Politics: The effect of the House's impeachment inquiry
- Inside Texas Politics: Texas lawmakers try to stop execution of Rodney Reed