U.S. Rep. Roger Williams, R-Willow Park, this week introduced a bill that would have the U.S. government reimburse Texas for Operation Lone Star, Gov. Greg Abbott’s yearslong border security initiative.
Abbott has also recently called for the feds to pay Texas back for border expenditures, and he met with President Trump last week.
“This is something that the state is always looking to do,” said James Barragán, politics reporter for The Texas Tribune. “They’re always looking to claw back money from the federal government, and they’ve tried to do this in the past. They’ve sent, you know, checks and invoices to the federal government to try to get them to pay it back.”
Williams has introduced a similar measure before without success, but it appears to have more support this time around. His 2024 bill only had two co-sponsors in the House; this one has seven.
“Things seem like it’s getting a little bit more serious. It’s not just Congressman Williams who is pushing this bill,” Barragán said. “And it’s unclear to me whether it has enough support from the entire Congress. But then it would be the state would send invoices essentially, and the money would come from the Treasury Department. Unclear whether it will pass, but it does seem to have a little bit more traction this year.”
Hear more stories from the week in Texas politics in the audio player above.
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