Rep. Seth Moulton: "This is insane. What the hell are we doing? ... this is illegal."

#BestOf2025, from @josephinelee.bsky.social: Per student, Texas ranks among the bottom 10 states for average public education spending: around $12,000 in 2023-2024, roughly $5,000 less than the national average.

Happy Holidays from all of us at the Texas Observer! Thank you for supporting our work in 2025, and we'll see you in the New Year!

In case you find yourself this holiday season with a little extra reading time, or maybe time to return to a story you left open in a tab some many months ago, here are 10 of the best Observer longform stories from 2025.

“He saw a different future ... where all of us can be welcomed, and all of us can be part of the labor movement.” Earlier, from @josephinelee.bsky.social: Texas was long dismissed as a forlorn place, but a new union movement is blooming in the Lone Star State ...

#BestOf2025, from @josephinelee.bsky.social: Healthcare workers, who are themselves veterans, say the healthcare system is about to collapse under budget cuts and an impossible workload.

The Trump administration “has implemented roughly half of the goals laid out in the document’s 920 pages” of Project 2025. @amandabecker.bsky.social @oriion.bsky.social 19thnews.org/2025/12/proj...

Another kind of school voucher is coming to Texas in 2027 www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/tex...

“In a year defined by escalating repression, 2025 delivered something unexpected: cracks in the censorship machine.” truthout.org/articles/in-...

#BestOf2025, from @josephinelee.bsky.social: Seven years into the costly experiment that is Texas Partnerships, the Observer has carried out a wide-ranging investigation into whether these state-backed charter arrangements have actually benefited Lone Star State kids in struggling schools.

From @josephinelee.bsky.social: Total membership in Texas unions has been growing. According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 603,000 Texans belonged to unions in 2024, up from closer to half a million a decade ago.

“No one has done more than Rick Levy for the modern-day labor movement in Texas.” After decades of leadership, retired Texas AFL-CIO President @ricktxaflco.bsky.social leaves behind a stronger, more inclusive Texas labor movement built to win the fights ahead. (via @texasobserver.org)

Rick Levy, who steered the growth of the Texas labor movement as the president of the Texas AFL-CIO concluded his thirty year career as a labor leader this month. @texasaflcio.org www.texasobserver.org/texas-afl-ci...

As total membership in Texas unions grows, the state's labor federation is moving into a new era of leadership, with Latin@s in both of the top roles for the first time: www.texasobserver.org/texas-afl-ci... from @josephinelee.bsky.social

I spoke with @jamestalarico.bsky.social about his run for the U.S. Senate seat in Texas, policies he believes can unite working people, his faith, and why he thinks he can beat John Cornyn or Ken Paxton. Read here. 👇https://www.texasobserver.org/james-talarico-big-tent-revival-primary/

Our top story, by @candicebernd.bsky.social: A Texas Observer analysis found since 2021, at least 60 cryptomines have been developed or are under construction in at least 33 counties statewide. Experts worry our grid, and water supply, can't handle the load.

In our magazine: Weeks after a transphobic attack, dozens of trans, nonbinary, and gender-nonconforming folks gathered on the “free side” of Austin’s Barton Springs to swim, celebrate, and fearlessly take up space. @kitoconnell.com was there to witness this moment of queer joy and resilience...

In books: “There were so many Black booksellers and historians who were and who are counting on me to tell the story right. It truly is the first full-length book to chronicle the history of Black-owned bookstores in this country.”

New from @byjustinmiller.bsky.social: Even as the lege debated school vouchers, corporate vendors were already competing behind the scenes for the lucrative contract. A closer look at how Odyssey became the big winner... and whose influence helped make the decision.

By @michellepitcher.bsky.social in our magazine: "There’s a very strong pro-life argument. As a society, we are capable of keeping people safe, & we can do that while honoring that every life has inherent dignity and worth, and that includes people on death row who have committed unspeakable acts."

New from @francescadnunz.bsky.social: Texas Department of Public Safety and ICE signed a pair of agreements that will authorize state police within DPS’s Criminal Investigations and Highway Patrol divisions to effectively operate as ICE agents, on a statewide basis.

In winning the bid to administer Texas’ school vouchers, the venture-capitalist- backed firm, Odyssey, cultivated close ties to the political world of Gov Abbott, by @byjustinmiller.bsky.social. @texasaft.org @democracymoms.bsky.social @hft2415.bsky.social www.texasobserver.org/texas-vouche...

Houston ISD’s top schools may no longer be accessible to all its students through its open-enrollment lottery system under a proposal to turn these schools into private partnerships: www.texasobserver.org/houston-magn...

“An appointed board of managers is beholden not to local citizens. They’re beholden to Mike Morath and ultimately, Greg Abbott.” New from @josephinelee.bsky.social: Despite months of protest, TEA announced that the takeover is coming.

Fort Worth ISD fear the same chaos that state takeover has brought to Houston ISD: www.texasobserver.org/fort-worth-i... @texasaft.org @hft2415.bsky.social

The $50 billion rural health fund was set up to help rural hospitals shoulder cuts from Trump’s OBBBA. It’s looking unlikely that will happen… www.cbsnews.com/news/states-...

“The Trump administration is preparing sweeping changes at the Internal Revenue Service that would allow the agency to pursue criminal inquiries of left-leaning groups more easily, according to people familiar with the matter.” www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

“We Found That More Than 170 U.S. Citizens Have Been Held by Immigration Agents. They’ve Been Kicked, Dragged and Detained for Days.” @nicolefoy.bsky.social www.propublica.org/article/immi...

From @byjustinmiller.bsky.social: Two days after Kirk’s murder, the Texas House speaker and lieutenant governor announced a select committee on Civil Discourse & Freedom of Speech in Higher Education, an Orwellian title for a body to ostensibly oversee two recently enacted laws policing speech.

“We can prove that Robert is innocent, and no reasonable jury would find otherwise if presented with all relevant medical evidence.” New from @michellepitcher.bsky.social: Despite the evidence, and overwhelming support, Robeson's execution date is set for October 16.

Important Medicaid programs are being cut right now. The Medicaid Estate Recovery Program is the sort of program the government SHOULD get rid of, instead it’s going after the health care benefits that people actually need. MERP is wasteful spending at its absolute worst.

“Are the complainants going to be chasing people down in bathrooms? That sounds hostile to me, and it’s not really clear.”

From @juliepoole.bsky.social: When callers pose even basic questions about how to get claims on their family homes dismissed, they are often left without answers. When families are hit with enormous six-figure claims, no one advocates on their behalf.

Out today from @michellepitcher.bsky.social: At Alienated Majesty Books, the "screamo bookstore," volumes from small and indie publishers, plus works in translation, comics, and poetry stand side-by-side with shoegaze, noise and hardcore punk bands. www.texasobserver.org/night-at-the...

Our top story: “If you go, like, to a shopping center, just to the store or a market, you will find a lot of military trucks full of soldiers. I work with people who are homeless, and the stories that they told us are very awful.”

Greg Abbott is "running for an unprecedented fourth term on a record of schools in crisis, housing more expensive, groceries more expensive, electricity utility rates are up. This is a record of failure, and he owns it."

“Trump is simultaneously wrecking American agriculture while also subsidizing its foreign competition, where several friends of Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent coincidentally have large business interests. America first!” @naomibethune.bsky.social prospect.org/politics/202...

This is staggering. “The staff of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, the journal that reports on health trends and emerging infectious threats, was also laid off.” Trump Administration Lays Off Dozens of C.D.C. Officials

BREAKING: Our client Mario Guevara, an Emmy-winning journalist detained by ICE in retaliation for livestreaming law enforcement activity, will be deported tomorrow to El Salvador. Mario and his family are being punished for his reporting. This cruelty is meant to stifle our free press.

The forests that once sheltered the small town of Roseland are turning brown. Now, many residents are left wondering: Is what was left behind after the Aug. 22 blast safe? If it’s making the trees ill, what about them?

War-ravaged Portland

Public Citizen identified eight companies that received nearly $1B in non-competitive state contracts between 2014—2024. During those same years, these companies, their PACs, their officers, and their employees donated nearly $3M to Texans for Greg Abbott PAC. www.citizen.org/article/awar...

Trump hastens plan to deny domestic workers the minimum wage. www.texasobserver.org/texas-domest...

“It’s anti-regulation, it’s anti-Black and anti-immigrant, and it’s anti-social safety net. So these cuts that are coming together really exacerbate the crisis of care.” New from @josephineklee.bsky.social: New Department of Labor regulations could push already struggling caregivers over the edge.

“Republicans advanced 16 bills to strip Washington, D.C., of home rule” … and additionally, “an amendment to one of those bills that would repeal D.C.’s ban on right turns on red lights.” prospect.org/politics/202...

“As the South becomes the new epicenter of data center growth, it is becoming increasingly clear that Big Tech is following Big Oil’s footsteps, compounding the harms of decades of environmental racism.” truthout.org/articles/big...

State takeovers left some Texas school districts with MORE failing schools. www.texasobserver.org/state-school...

New from @josephinelee.bsky.social: Recently released state school ratings reveal that five Texas school districts are at risk of a takeover by the Texas Education Agency (TEA)—the most since a 2017 state law expanded the state’s takeover powers.

Washington Post fires their last remaining Black opinion writer @karenattiah.bsky.social over the most benign comments in the aftermath of Charlie Kirk's murder... Meanwhile Fox still has Brian Kilmeade who casually said all homeless people should be killed. Its all unfair & unbalanced. Wake up.

Charlie Kirk espoused the same violence he is a victim of. These are buttons his group distributed to students. I had collected these for a story on how he and others were weaponizing young people to attack progressives and LGBTQ+ people. www.texasobserver.org/christian-yo...