A Texas Republican Exits the House

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The New Yorker

President, Barack, News, Politics, Wnyc, Obama, Lizza, Washington, Wickenden

4.3 • 3.9K Ratings

🗓️ 16 September 2019

⏱️ 16 minutes

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Summary

An exodus is under way in the House of Representatives: not even halfway into the congressional term, fifteen Republicans have announced that they will not run in 2020. One of the exiting members is Will Hurd, a former C.I.A. officer who was elected in 2014. His district in Texas includes nearly a third of the state’s border with Mexico. Although he is reluctant to criticize the G.O.P. directly, Hurd tells the Washington correspondent Susan B. Glasser that he thinks the President’s border policy is ineffective: a wall isn’t the answer, Border Patrol is underfunded relative to the area it covers, and the technology in use for border security is both out of date and overly complicated, “requiring a Ph.D. in computer science to operate,” he says. “I wish I could pass a piece of legislation,” Hurd tells Glasser, “that says you can’t talk about the border unless you’ve been down to the border a few times.” Hurd’s departure is particularly significant because he is—for the sixteen months he has left to serve—the only African-American in the House Republican caucus, and he worries that the President’s negative rhetoric toward people of color is contributing to a demographic shift that’s turning Texas from deep red to purple. “When you have statements the equivalent of, ‘go back to Africa,’ ” Hurd notes, “that is not helpful.”

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0:50.2	On today's politics and more podcast, the New Yorker Susan Glasser speaks with Representative
0:55.5	Will Hurd of Texas. A moderate Republican, Hurd has announced that he will not seek
1:00.8	re-election in 2020.
1:05.7	An exodus seems to be underway in the House of Representatives. We're not even halfway into the
1:11.4	congressional term, and 15 Republicans have already announced their retirements ahead of the 2020
1:17.2	elections. One member making for the exits is Will Hurd, a former CIA officer who once managed
1:23.7	undercover operations in Afghanistan. Hurd was elected from a district in Texas in 2014,
1:29.9	and he's seen as a moderate. His announcement is significant because Hurd is, for the 16 months he
1:36.3	has left to serve, the only African American in the House Republican Caucus.
1:41.6	Our Washington correspondent, Susan Glasser, caught up with Will Hurd last week
1:45.8	at his office on Capitol Hill. So, Congressman, national security is one of your abiding
	...

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