It’s time for the week that was in Texas politics with Emily Ramshaw, editor in chief of The Texas Tribune.
The Kavanaugh confirmation process continued on Thursday on Capitol Hill with Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Texas Sen. John Cornyn pushing for Judge Brett Kavanaugh to be confirmed. Ramshaw says while some senators are on the fence about confirming Kavanaugh, she expects a vote imminently.
“Basically the judiciary committee is taking its initial vote – again, both Cornyn and Cruz pushing aggressively to confirm him – and that looks like it’s a freight train,” Ramshaw says.
In other news, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is weighing in on a lawsuit filed last year in which a Houston student declined to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. Ramshaw says that Texas state law requires students to stand for the pledge and Paxton seeks to uphold this law. Paxton is also is running for reelection.
“He needs a lot of red meat in his corner ahead of this election, and so, I think that this is a pretty good opportunity to weigh in on the flag, particularly around this conversation about kneeling and the NFL,” Ramshaw says.
In Austin on Friday, attorney Michael Avenatti attends the Texas Tribune Festival for a one-on-one conversation with John Heilemann, producer and co-star of Showtime’s “The Circus.” Avenatti currently represents high-profile clients like Julie Swetnick who is one of Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s accusers, and Stormy Daniels who is suing President Donald Trump.
Listen to the full interview in the audio player above.
Written by Alexia Puente.
