Originally posted August 21, 2026
For over a generation, Texas Republicans have owned the politics of the southern border. Now the Trump administration’s latest border project has them cornered, stuck between constituents outraged over federal plans to carve roads and barriers through Big Bend and a president none of them want to cross.
Even Ken Paxton is choosing his words carefully. The Republican Senate nominee, a reliable ally of President Donald Trump, said in a statement that the administration’s plan “is not smart border security,” representing a rare break from the White House.
As bipartisan outrage has exploded in West Texas, numerous top Republicans have hedged on the matter, welcoming this week’s construction pause without entirely breaking from the Trump administration. U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, echoing other GOP leaders, said he was glad federal officials were taking a beat “to hear the concerns of local landowners and law enforcement.” And he acknowledged that “the tools needed to secure the border in Big Bend are likewise different than those needed in a dense urban environment,” without explicitly condemning the project.
Read the full story at The Texas Tribune.
Photo credit Kaylee Greenlee
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