WASHINGTON — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott returned to Washington, D.C., on Wednesday to lobby for federal reimbursement of Texas’s border security spending. This time, he met with Texas Republicans in Congress, as well as the House speaker. 

What You Need To Know

  • Gov. Greg Abbott, R-Texas, returned to the nation’s capitol Wednesday to push the federal government to repay the state the $11 billion he says Texas has spent on border security since 2021, emphasizing the border security assets the state has built up 

  • Abbott met behind closed doors with House Speaker Mike Johnson, as well as Texas Republicans in Congress, who seemed to side with the governor’s request and said the discussions were productive

  • Texas Democrats in Congress have largely objected to the governor’s request, with many calling his border security efforts a political stunt that intruded on a federal responsibility

  • Abbott argues that the state's border security initiative has been successful because state law enforcement has interdicted fentanyl 

As Republican leaders in Congress scramble to accommodate President Donald Trump’s tax and spending priorities, there is a Texas-sized question hanging over their deliberations. 

When asked if Abbott was going to get his $11 billion reimbursement request, House Speaker Mike Johnson said on the way to his office, “I’m visiting with the governor right now. I’m not sure about any of that.” 

 

Abbott was back in Washington to push the federal government to repay the state the $11 billion he says Texas has spent on border security since 2021. Leaders on the Homeland Security Committee were also a part of the meeting with the speaker and governor.  

“It was very productive,” said Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Austin, who is a former chair of the Homeland Security Committee. “We just talked about the burden that the state of Texas had to bear for border security for the nation.” 

Earlier in the day, Abbott met with the Texas Republican delegation, the largest group of GOP members in Congress. Spectrum News caught up with Abbott ahead of that closed-door meeting. 

“General counsels, the people who have been working on this behind the scenes, whether it be in the Department of Homeland Security, in the White House, in the speaker’s leadership, they’ve all been working to work towards getting this mission accomplished, and so I’m feeling pretty good about it,” Abbott said. 

Abbott has likened his request to a “real estate transaction,” and points to how the state has constructed border wall, added buoy barriers in the Rio Grande, built military bases to house law enforcement authorities and has 4,000 jail cells that the federal government can use. 

“This isn’t so much reimbursing the state of Texas. This is paying for the purchase and the price for real estate and real estate improvements that Texas provided, that would be permanent structures that will exist for the future of the United States,” Abbott said. 

After the meeting, it appeared that many Texas Republicans seemed to side with the governor’s request. 

“Right now, I’m confident we’re going to get it. We’ll see what form or fashion comes in,” said Rep. Roger Williams, R-Austin, who reintroduced a bill that would require Texas to get the reimbursement.

“I haven’t heard anyone being opposed. Texas has been carrying the weight for the federal government,” said Rep. John Carter, R-Round Rock.  

It is possible that such a reimbursement for the Lone Star State could be a part of the massive tax and spending cuts bill that Republicans are considering. While lawmakers like Rep. Chip Roy, R-Austin, are seeking deficit reductions, he believes that Abbott’s request could be a part of the broader $200 billion in funding the GOP is setting aside for border security in the proposed budget.  

“$11 billion came out of the pockets of Texans. That’s money that could be used for roads, for schools, for DPS, who should have been in Austin and Dallas and San Antonio and Houston and not down on the border,” said Rep. Chip Roy, R-Austin. 

One Texan who was not at the meeting was Rep. Jodey Arrington, R-Lubbock, chairman of the House Budget Committee, who has been in the middle of the fiscal discussions on Capitol Hill. 

“It would be the right and responsible thing to reimburse them, but that’s going to be a decision for Homeland Security Committee,” Arrington said.

Texas Democrats in Congress have largely objected to the governor’s request, many calling his border security efforts a political stunt that intruded on a federal responsibility. 

“That $11 billion was a total waste of Texas taxpayer money as a political stunt by a governor who had no authority to be involved on our immigration laws,” Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, said last week. “There’s plenty of money that I’d like to see come to Texas to help the as many as 2 million uninsured people that are there.” 

“It has been nothing but political grandstanding at the cost of taxpayers’ dollars,” said Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-McAllen, of Texas’ Operation Lone Star initiative. “We could have used that money to help veterans in Texas or our public school system.”

Rep. Sylvia Garcia, D-Houston, said Abbott’s request was “ludicrous,” adding, “The idea that he had spent money when nobody asked him to, that now he wants to be reimbursed for, is just laughable.” 

When asked to respond to Democrats’ characterization, Abbott said, “What nobody knows is which Americans in which states are alive today because of what DPS did to get that fentanyl off the streets of Texas. The other thing is that there’s another reason why the Democrats don’t want to support because the Democrats would have to concede that Joe Biden was an abject failure in securing the border.”

Gov. Abbott’s visit to Capitol Hill comes a week after he met with President Donald Trump at the White House. Abbott said he would be back to the White House on Thursday, where he is set to meet with administration officials.