Tag Archives: John Cornyn

Reform Austin reports: Texas Sen. John Cornyn launched his first major ad campaign of the 2026 election cycle today with a website attacking Attorney General Ken Paxton for approving $7.1 million in “left-wing grants” and “fund[ing] woke with your tax dollars.” The two Republican candidates are headed for a heated and expensive showdown to cater to the party’s most extreme …

Punchbowl News reports: Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) trails Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton by 16 points in a new poll commissioned by the Senate Leadership Fund, the GOP-leadership backed super PAC. SLF is supporting Cornyn. Their poll has Cornyn trailing Paxton 56-40, according to two people briefed on the survey. In a three-way contest with Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-Texas), who …

Axios reports: A group backing Texas Sen. John Cornyn’s 2026 primary opponent is out with its first TV ad — but it’s not airing in Texas. Instead, it’s airing in Palm Beach, Fla., where it’s aimed at an audience of one: President Trump. The strategy behind the ad shows the battle for Trump’s coveted endorsement has already begun between Texas …

“During his first term John Cornyn voted with President Trump more than 95% of current Senators, securing the votes for his biggest accomplishments as his Whip. Democrats are trying to destroy President Trump, and he and Texas need a battle-tested conservative who knows how to protect his agenda in the Senate and won’t be outsmarted by Chuck Schumer. “Ken Paxton …

The Hill reports: Republican senators are pouring cold water on the idea that President-elect Trump could force the Senate into an extended recess next year so that he would be able to fill key positions in his Cabinet without going through the Senate confirmation process. Republican senators and aides say that Trump allies who claim that the incoming president would …

NBC News reports: Senate Republicans will meet behind closed doors Wednesday to elect a new leader, capping a battle that has divided the party and pitted a candidate backed by vocal MAGA allies of President-elect Donald Trump against two long-serving senators with institutional knowledge and deep relationships in the body. The three-way race features Sens. John Thune of South Dakota, …

Playbook reports: The race to replace Mitch McConnell as Senate GOP leader has been sleepy all summer, with the two frontrunners — John Thune and John Cornyn — keeping their pitches to colleagues mostly private. But behind the scenes, jockeying is heating up as the leadership election nears. Thune (R-S.D.) has been busy trying to shore up his previously fraught …

Politico reports: Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said in a statement Thursday he will run to succeed Mitch McConnell as Republican leader, becoming the first to officially announce his candidacy for the job. “I am asking my Republican colleagues to give me the opportunity to succeed Leader McConnell,” he said. “I believe the Senate is broken — that is not news …

The Texas Tribune reports: This could be John Cornyn’s moment. After years serving among the top of Senate Republican leadership, Texas’ senior senator has a chance at the job he has long wanted: Senate Republican leader. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell announced his plans to retire from the post Wednesday. Two other senators have emerged as potential contenders for the job. …

The Houston Chronicle reports: A $95.3 billion aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan that passed the Senate overnight has sparked a battle between two of Texas’s most prominent Republicans, with Attorney General Ken Paxton calling U.S. Sen. John Cornyn an “America Last RINO” and Cornyn raising Paxton’s ongoing legal troubles. Paxton went after Cornyn on social media early Tuesday …

The Texas Tribune reports: Around 40 volunteers with a conservative group questioning the integrity of Texas election results, as well as that of some election administrators, have begun a review of thousands of ballots from Tarrant County’s March 2020 GOP primary election. Volunteers with the group, the Tarrant County Citizens for Election Integrity, told Votebeat Friday that their goal is …

Reuters reports: U.S. Senator John Cornyn, the lead Republican negotiator in bipartisan gun legislation talks, told Reuters on Tuesday that negotiators expected to introduce a bill to address mass shootings later in the day. The Texas Republican said negotiators, including his fellow Republican Senator Thom Tillis and Democratic Senators Chris Murphy and Kyrsten Sinema, spoke early in the day by …

Roll Call reports: The framework released Sunday called for grant money to help states implement “red flag” laws, which allow law enforcement and family members to petition courts to temporarily remove firearms from people who show signs of becoming dangerous to themselves or others. But Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, began suggesting publicly this week that states that don’t have red …

Mediaite reports: Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) was roundly booed Friday by conservatives as he delivered remarks at the Republican Party of Texas Convention. Cornyn was speaking before a crowd in Houston at the biennial conference. Cornyn is under fire from Republicans in the Senate, and apparently across Texas, over his negotiations with Democrats on a bipartisan gun bill. Read the …

The Associated Press reports: Democratic and Republican senators were at odds Thursday over how to keep firearms from dangerous people as bargainers struggled to finalize details of a gun violence compromise in time for their self-imposed deadline of holding votes in Congress next week. Lawmakers said they remained divided over how to define abusive dating partners who would be legally …

The Insider reports: Despite law enforcement changing their story about what occurred during this week’s school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, at least a dozen times, GOP Sen. John Cornyn tweeted on Saturday that “second-guessing” the police response to the incident is “unfair.” Cornyn’s comments were added to an earlier post from Texas Rep. Tony Gonzalez that indicated the Uvalde police …

The Texas Tribune reports: Attorney General Ken Paxton has faced a slew of controversies in the past few years, including an FBI investigation into allegations he abused his office to help a wealthy donor, a 7-year-old felony securities fraud indictment, a lawsuit from the state bar challenging his ethics as a practicing attorney for suing to block the 2020 election …

The Hill reports: Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) on Sunday avoided answering questions from Fox News anchor Martha MacCallum about former President Trump’s past praise for Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying it was not “a conversation worth having.” MacCallum asked Cornyn if he thought Trump’s previous positive comments about Putin, who faces international revulsion over his war in Ukraine, would help …

Mother Jones reports: During the second day of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Supreme Court confirmation hearing Tuesday, Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) took the occasion to attack marriage equality. His line of questioning comes as conservatives have continued to use state legislatures and the courts to roll back rights for LGBTQ people. While a majority of Americans support marriage equality, it …

Austin’s NBC News affiliate reports: After Sen. Joe Machin effectively killed President Joe Biden’s signature legislation, the Build Back Better Act, Republicans are looking at Manchin’s decision as an opportunity to recruit him to the party. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, told Nexstar that he sent a text message to the West Virginia Democrat on Tuesday morning saying, “Joe, if they …