Daily Briefing: Friday, November 6, 2026

Justice James Sullivan, who lost his seat to Chari Kelly on Tuesday, is in line for a life-tenured federal judgeship in Austin, Reuters reported Thursday. The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee has received his questionnaire for a seat on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, though the White House has not announced the nomination. Senate Republicans are pushing to confirm pending judges in the lame-duck session, before control of the chamber changes hands in January.

Rep. Eddie Morales Jr. of Eagle Pass announced a bid for speaker Thursday, giving Rep. Senfronia Thompson of Houston her first declared rival for the gavel, The Texas Tribune reported. Rep. Joe Moody of El Paso endorsed Thompson the same evening. A speaker needs 76 votes, and the 90th Legislature convenes January 12.

Republican senators, who will hold 19 of the chamber’s 31 seats in January, have discussed rewriting the Senate’s rules to pare back the powers of Lt. Gov.-elect Vikki Goodwin, Quorum Report editor Scott Braddock told KPRC 2. Much of the office’s control over committees and the floor comes from those rules rather than from state law, and senators have adopted no change. Separately, Rep. Brian Harrison has asked Gov. Greg Abbott to call a special session to limit the governor’s emergency powers before the new governor takes office. Abbott has not announced one.

Gov.-elect Gina Hinojosa named her first transition team members Thursday: former Republican state Rep. Ernest Bailes, who opposed Abbott’s 2023 school voucher push, former Austin school trustee Tamala Barksdale, Ryan Pollock of the Texas State Building and Construction Trades Council, and Houston consultant Joe Madden as executive director, KUT reported. Hinojosa said her team and Abbott’s are already in contact.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit heard argument Wednesday over Senate Bill 261, the Texas law barring sales of cell-cultured meat until September 1, 2027, Courthouse News reported. Two California companies, Wildtype and UPSIDE Foods, argue the ban shields Texas ranchers from out-of-state competition. The state says the ban treats every seller alike, and it stays in force while the panel decides.

Elections Alberta put the cost of October’s provincewide referendum at about $84 million (Canadian) and asked for more than $59 million in extra funding, which a legislative committee approved Thursday evening, CTV News reported. Chief Electoral Officer Gordon McClure said hand counting 10 ballots per voter left the agency in a “funding shortfall.” The next provincial general election is set for October 18, 2027.

Volunteers with the Texas Nationalist Movement (TNM) in Caldwell County hold a clipboarding event at Lockhart City Hall at 5 PM Friday, the event listing shows. The Llano County team staffs an information table on the Llano Courthouse Square Saturday morning, November 7, according to its TNM listing.