Federal orders, rules, rulings and funding conditions aimed at Texas, each logged with what it requires, who issued it, what it costs Texas and where any challenge stands.
How We Log It
Each entry is a federal action that binds Texas or blocks a Texas law. Every fact comes from the order, rule or ruling itself, the Federal Register, the court docket or an official Texas release, linked on the entry. A cost appears only when a named official source has published one, and the entry says whose figure it is. Newest first. Updated October 14, 2026.
The Docket
Federal court orders air conditioning in every Texas prison by 2029
U.S. District Court, Western District of Texas. Court order, .
What It Requires
The judgment requires the TDCJ director to carry out a plan to install air conditioning in every Texas prison by December 31, 2029, with status reports every six months starting by March 22, 2027, and states that financial considerations will not be accepted as a reason for failing to comply.
Cost to Texas
About $1.5 billion for permanent air conditioning across the system, TDCJ's own estimate as cited in the court's September 22, 2026 findings.
Status
The final judgment is in effect; Texas's appeal and its motion to stay the judgment pending appeal are both pending. As of October 13, 2026.
Texas’s Response
On October 8, 2026, the Attorney General's office, for TDCJ Executive Director Bobby Lumpkin, filed a notice of appeal to the Fifth Circuit and a motion to stay pending appeal.
Federal court cuts off the citizenship checks Texas runs on its voter rolls
U.S. District Court, District of Columbia. Court order, .
What It Requires
The order vacated the expanded federal SAVE system and a related Social Security Administration records notice, ending the bulk citizenship checks Texas ran on its voter rolls, and denied Texas's motion to dismiss.
Cost to Texas
No official figure published.
Status
On September 25, 2026 the Supreme Court stayed the order while the appeal in the D.C. Circuit (No. 26-5243) and any petition for certiorari are decided, so the checks may resume. As of October 13, 2026.
Texas’s Response
Texas defended the case in the district court and on September 15, 2026 filed a response at the Supreme Court supporting the stay application.
Homeland Security waives federal and state laws for border barriers in the Big Bend Sector
U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Agency rule, .
What It Requires
The determination (91 FR 34831) waives the National Environmental Policy Act, the Endangered Species Act, the Clean Water Act, the National Park Service Organic Act, the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act and other statutes, together with all federal, state or other laws deriving from or related to them, for barrier and road construction along a stretch of the Rio Grande in the Big Bend Sector.
Cost to Texas
No official figure published.
Status
No later Federal Register notice rescinds the June 9 determination, and DHS has published further Texas waivers on July 2 and July 27, 2026, including one covering the Big Bend and Del Rio sectors. As of October 13, 2026.
Texas’s Response
On July 31, 2026 the Texas General Land Office sent cease-and-desist letters to Customs and Border Protection and its contractor over the clearing of state land in Presidio County; the record does not show whether that tract lies inside this waiver's project area.
Federal court bars enforcement of Texas law on firms that boycott energy companies
U.S. District Court, Western District of Texas. Court order, .
What It Requires
The order barred Texas officials from enforcing SB 13 (2021), the state law that bars state entities from contracting with or investing in financial firms that boycott energy companies.
Cost to Texas
No official figure published.
Status
On May 29, 2026 the Fifth Circuit stayed the injunction pending appeal, so Texas may enforce SB 13 while the appeal (No. 26-50111) is decided. As of October 13, 2026.
Texas’s Response
The Comptroller and the Attorney General appealed on February 6, 2026, were refused a stay by the district court on April 14, 2026, and won a stay from the Fifth Circuit on May 29, 2026.
Federal court blocks Texas App Store Accountability Act
U.S. District Court, Western District of Texas. Court order, .
What It Requires
The preliminary injunction barred the Texas Attorney General from implementing or enforcing SB 2420 (2025), the App Store Accountability Act.
Cost to Texas
No official figure published.
Status
The Fifth Circuit stayed the injunction pending appeal on June 4, 2026, so Texas may enforce the law; the Supreme Court declined to lift that stay on July 6, 2026, and the Fifth Circuit heard argument on August 4, 2026 with no merits ruling found. As of October 13, 2026.
Texas’s Response
Texas appealed (Nos. 25-51073 and 26-50001), won a stay pending appeal on June 4, 2026, and opposed the industry's Supreme Court application.
Federal court blocks Texas's 2025 congressional map
U.S. District Court, Western District of Texas (three-judge court). Court order, .
What It Requires
The order barred Texas from using the congressional map the Legislature passed in 2025 and kept the state on its earlier map.
Cost to Texas
No official figure published.
Status
The Supreme Court stayed the order on December 4, 2025, reversed the district court's judgment on April 27, 2026 (No. 25-845), and issued its judgment on May 29, 2026. As of October 13, 2026.
Texas’s Response
Texas applied to the Supreme Court for a stay on November 21, 2025, won an administrative stay that day and a stay from the full Court on December 4, 2025, then filed a direct appeal on January 13, 2026.
Federal court blocks parts of Texas campus speech law at University of Texas campuses
U.S. District Court, Western District of Texas. Court order, .
What It Requires
The preliminary injunction bars University of Texas officials from enforcing SB 2972's overnight expression ban and end-of-term limits on invited speakers, amplified sound and drums at UT Austin and UT Dallas and, for the regents, at every UT System institution.
Cost to Texas
No official figure published.
Status
The injunction remains in effect, and the Fifth Circuit (No. 25-50914) heard argument on October 6, 2026 and has not ruled. As of October 13, 2026.
Texas’s Response
The UT System regents and university officials appealed to the Fifth Circuit (No. 25-50914).
Federal court blocks Texas Ten Commandments classroom law
U.S. District Court, Western District of Texas. Court order, .
What It Requires
The preliminary injunction barred the defendant school districts from displaying the Ten Commandments in classrooms under SB 10 (2025).
Cost to Texas
No official figure published.
Status
On April 21, 2026 the full Fifth Circuit reversed and vacated the injunction; the families' petition for certiorari (No. 26-257) is pending at the Supreme Court, with the response due October 28, 2026. As of October 13, 2026.
Texas’s Response
The Attorney General's office appealed on August 21, 2025, won reversal before the en banc court on April 21, 2026, and is counsel for the respondents at the Supreme Court.
Justice Department sends election monitors to eight Texas counties
U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division. Enforcement action, .
What It Requires
The Justice Department announced that it would monitor the November 5, 2024 general election in 86 jurisdictions in 27 states, including Atascosa, Bexar, Dallas, Frio, Harris, Hays, Palo Pinto and Waller counties, using department staff and federal observers from the Office of Personnel Management. The Texas Secretary of State told DOJ that Texas law does not allow federal monitors inside polling places or central counting stations.
Cost to Texas
No official figure published.
Status
Resolved. Under an agreement filed November 4, 2024, DOJ monitors stayed outside polling and central count locations and were subject to Texas law within 100 feet of them; on November 5 the parties confirmed that no federal observers would be inside Texas polling places or tabulation centers, and Texas voluntarily dismissed the suit on November 22, 2024. As of October 14, 2026.
Texas’s Response
The Attorney General sued in the Northern District of Texas (No. 2:24-cv-00237) on November 4, 2024 and sought a temporary restraining order, which Texas withdrew after DOJ agreed to the terms above.
Homeland Security does not answer Texas’s request to verify the citizenship of 450,000 registered voters
U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Agency rule, .
What It Requires
After the Secretary of State asked USCIS on September 18, 2024 how Texas should verify voters' citizenship, USCIS directed the state to the SAVE system, which then handled one request at a time, charged a fee and needed a DHS-issued immigration number. The Attorney General's October 7, 2024 request to verify about 450,000 registrants who had not registered with a Texas driver's license or ID card received no response, according to the court's July 21, 2026 order.
Cost to Texas
No official figure published.
Status
The case is pending. On July 21, 2026 the court dismissed Texas's claims for injunctive and mandamus relief as moot, because Texas has since checked its full roll of about 18 million voters through the revised SAVE system, but kept Texas's claims against the 2024 SAVE limits because a D.C. court vacated the revisions on June 22, 2026 (see the separate SAVE row). DHS moved on September 25, 2026 to stay the case until that appeal ends; an opposition was filed October 9, 2026, and the motion is undecided. As of October 14, 2026.
Texas’s Response
The Attorney General and the Secretary of State sued DHS and USCIS in the Western District of Texas (No. 4:24-cv-00049) on October 22, 2024.
Fish and Wildlife Service lists the dunes sagebrush lizard as endangered
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Agency rule, .
What It Requires
The rule (89 FR 43748), effective June 20, 2024, listed the dunes sagebrush lizard as endangered under the Endangered Species Act, applying the Act's protections across its range in the Permian Basin of West Texas and southeastern New Mexico.
Cost to Texas
No official figure published.
Status
On July 21, 2026 the court entered a stipulated settlement that vacates the listing and sends it back to the Service for a new 12-month finding, which the Service anticipates completing within 24 months; the Center for Biological Diversity filed a notice of appeal to the Fifth Circuit on August 14, 2026. No Federal Register notice of the vacatur was found, and the eCFR still lists the species as endangered as of the status date. As of October 14, 2026.
Texas’s Response
The Attorney General sued the Interior Department and the Service in the Western District of Texas (No. 7:24-cv-00233) on September 23, 2024 and reached the settlement the court entered on July 21, 2026.
USDA requires electronic ear tags for cattle and bison moving across state lines
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. Agency rule, .
What It Requires
The rule (89 FR 39540), effective November 5, 2024, requires official ear tags applied on or after that date to be readable both visually and electronically for the interstate movement of sexually intact cattle and bison 18 months or older, covered dairy cattle, and cattle and bison used for rodeos, shows or exhibitions, including animals shipped from Texas.
Cost to Texas
No official figure published.
Status
The rule is in effect, and no Federal Register action to withdraw or change it was found. A ranchers' challenge in the District of South Dakota (R-CALF USA v. USDA, No. 5:24-cv-05085) partly survived a motion to dismiss on September 30, 2025, was stayed from June 2 to August 31, 2026, and remains pending, with a status report filed September 14, 2026 and deadlines reset September 16, 2026. As of October 14, 2026.
Texas’s Response
No lawsuit by Texas was found. The Texas Animal Health Commission said on July 17, 2024 that it would distribute the free electronic tags USDA supplies and was not proposing changes to its own rules.
ATF rule widens who needs a federal license to sell firearms
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Agency rule, .
What It Requires
The rule (89 FR 28968) broadened the definition of 'engaged in the business' so that more private sellers of firearms, in Texas and elsewhere, would need a federal dealer license.
Cost to Texas
No official figure published.
Status
The rule stands vacated under the June 12, 2026 final judgment, which the court refused to alter on August 13, 2026; ATF filed a notice of appeal on October 9, 2026, and an ATF proposal to remove the rule's changes (91 FR 24424) remains pending. As of October 13, 2026.
Texas’s Response
Texas, with Louisiana, Mississippi, Utah and gun-rights groups, sued on May 1, 2024 and won a preliminary injunction on June 11, 2024 and a final judgment vacating the rule on June 12, 2026.
U.S. District Court, Western District of Texas. Court order, .
What It Requires
The order barred Texas from enforcing SB 4, the 2023 law creating state illegal-entry and reentry offenses and state-court return orders.
Cost to Texas
No official figure published.
Status
The full Fifth Circuit vacated the 2024 injunction on April 24, 2026; a second injunction, issued May 14, 2026 in a new class action, was stayed by a Fifth Circuit panel on May 29, 2026, and that appeal is pending with Texas's opening brief due October 15, 2026. As of October 13, 2026.
Texas’s Response
Texas appealed on the day of the injunction, won en banc rehearing and a 10-7 en banc ruling on April 24, 2026, then appealed the May 14, 2026 injunction and won a stay pending appeal.
Supreme Court of the United States. Court order, .
What It Requires
The order vacated the Fifth Circuit's December 19, 2023 injunction, leaving Border Patrol free to cut or remove Texas's concertina wire at Eagle Pass while the appeal proceeded.
Cost to Texas
No official figure published.
Status
The Fifth Circuit granted Texas a preliminary injunction on November 27, 2024 barring Border Patrol from damaging the wire where agents have access to both sides; the case remains open in Del Rio, with settlement terms reported 'agreed to in principle' and a dispute in the record between the Governor's counsel and the Attorney General's office over who may settle for Texas. As of October 13, 2026.
Texas’s Response
Texas sued DHS on October 24, 2023 under state trespass law, won a preliminary injunction from the Fifth Circuit, and in August 2026 the Governor filed a brief saying he alone may bind Texas to a settlement.
Federal court orders Texas to move its Rio Grande buoy barrier
U.S. District Court, Western District of Texas. Court order, .
What It Requires
The order directed Texas to stop work on its 1,000-foot floating barrier near Eagle Pass and move it to the Texas riverbank, in a federal suit under the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899.
Cost to Texas
No official figure published.
Status
The full Fifth Circuit reversed the injunction on July 30, 2024, and the district court case has been in abeyance since February 7, 2025, with the parties reporting on September 21, 2026 that settlement discussions were ongoing. As of October 13, 2026.
Texas’s Response
Texas appealed the same day, won en banc rehearing and a July 30, 2024 en banc reversal, and has agreed to keep the case in abeyance while it negotiates with the United States.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Agency rule, .
What It Requires
The rule (88 FR 9336) disapproved the plan Texas submitted on August 17, 2018 to meet the Clean Air Act good neighbor requirement for the 2015 ozone standard, which opened Texas to a federal plan in its place.
Cost to Texas
No official figure published.
Status
On March 13, 2026 the Fifth Circuit withdrew its 2025 opinion upholding the disapproval, vacated the disapproval as to Texas, and sent the matter back to EPA; no EPA action on the remand appears in the Federal Register as of the status date. As of October 13, 2026.
Texas’s Response
Texas and TCEQ petitioned the Fifth Circuit (No. 23-60069), won a stay on May 1, 2023, sought rehearing en banc, and won vacatur on March 13, 2026.
Federal court dismisses Texas suit to have its 2017 anti-sanctuary law declared constitutional
U.S. District Court, Western District of Texas. Court order, .
What It Requires
The order dismissed without prejudice the suit Texas filed on May 7, 2017, the day SB 4 (2017) was signed, asking for a declaration that the law is constitutional, holding that Texas lacked standing because it faced no imminent injury before the law took effect.
Cost to Texas
No official figure published.
Status
Final. The Fifth Circuit affirmed on December 12, 2018, holding that federal courts lack federal-question jurisdiction over a state's suit to declare its own law valid. SB 4's validity was decided in the separate City of El Cenizo v. Texas challenge, where the Fifth Circuit on May 8, 2018 left in place only the injunction against the “endorse” provision as applied to elected officials; that case remains open in the district court. As of October 14, 2026.
Texas’s Response
Texas appealed to the Fifth Circuit (No. 17-50763), which affirmed the dismissal on other grounds on December 12, 2018.
Federal court finds Texas’s 2011 voter ID law was passed with discriminatory intent
U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas. Court order, .
What It Requires
The order held that SB 14 (2011), the Texas photo voter ID law, was passed with a discriminatory purpose in violation of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. A remedy order on August 23, 2017 permanently enjoined SB 14 and SB 5 (2017), the Legislature's replacement law.
Cost to Texas
No official figure published.
Status
Final. The Fifth Circuit stayed the injunction on September 5, 2017 and reversed it on April 27, 2018, and the district court dismissed the case on September 17, 2018. On September 3, 2021 the Fifth Circuit affirmed an award of $6,790,333.31 in attorney's fees to the plaintiffs based on their success at an earlier stage of the case. As of October 14, 2026.
Texas’s Response
Texas appealed, won a stay pending appeal on September 5, 2017 and reversal on April 27, 2018; the Legislature had passed SB 5 in 2017 to change the ID requirement.
Bureau of Land Management claims federal ownership of land on the Texas side of the Red River
Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Department of the Interior. Enforcement action, .
What It Requires
BLM told Congress on July 29, 2014 that land between the medial line and the south bank of the Red River had retained its status as federal public land. The Texas Attorney General said the claim, based on surveys BLM began in 2008 for its resource management plan, reached up to 90,000 acres of Texas property along about 116 miles of the river.
Cost to Texas
No official figure published.
Status
Resolved. In April 2017 the Interior Department suspended three BLM surveys after BLM conceded it had used incorrect methodology; the court approved the landowners' settlement on November 8, 2017 and the case was terminated on December 19, 2017. Congress then required an independent gradient boundary survey in Pub. L. 116-9, sec. 1120 (March 12, 2019); completion of that survey was not confirmed. As of October 14, 2026.
Texas’s Response
The Attorney General intervened in Aderholt v. Bureau of Land Management (N.D. Tex. No. 7:15-cv-00162) on November 18, 2015, and the General Land Office intervened separately.
Gun Control Act of 1968 bars direct interstate handgun sales
U.S. Congress. Legislation, .
What It Requires
18 U.S.C. 922(a)(3), (a)(5) and (b)(3) forbid Texas dealers to sell handguns directly to residents of other states and forbid Texans to buy handguns directly in other states.
Cost to Texas
No official figure published.
Status
On September 18, 2026 a divided Fifth Circuit panel held the provisions violate the Second Amendment and rendered judgment for the plaintiffs; no rehearing petition, mandate or Supreme Court filing was confirmed as of the status date. As of October 13, 2026.
