Texas Officials Signal Potential Cut in Border Spending with Trump’s Return to Office

Following the election of President-elect Donald Trump, Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick have indicated a potential shift in the state’s financial strategy regarding border security. As reported by

KSAT

, Abbott mentioned that Texas might consider reallocation of funds previously earmarked for Operation Lone Star (OLS), a costly border security endeavor established in 2021, to other areas such as property tax reduction or education once Trump’s immigration policies take effect.

Operation Lone Star, to this point, has soaked up $11 billion in state funds, with an additional $2.9 billion requested for the upcoming legislative session. Abbott’s recent comments suggest he is looking to pivot resources to address other state needs once the promised federal measures are in place. “President Trump will provide a more secure border than any president in the history of the United States of America,” Abbott said, in a statement obtained by

KSAT

. “I’ve had private talks with the president, and he’s going to be stronger and better at securing the border than he was in his first term, which was very strong and effective.”

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick also suggested that the Trump administration’s stance on border security could enable Texas to redirect state funds towards domestic priorities. “We’re going to be able to take a lot of that money now and put it back to our taxpayers, for roads, for water, for education, for health care, for all the things that we need that Joe Biden forced us to spend because he was letting millions of people cross the border,” Patrick explained, according to a

News from the States

interview.

The potential for repurposing border security funds was echoed by state Rep. Gary VanDeaver, a Republican from New Boston, who hinted at the need to critically reassess the financial efficacy of the state’s current security measures. VanDeaver added, “I don’t know that we’ve gotten a great bang for our buck on some of it,” in remarks made during a Texas Tribune event, as covered by

News from the States

. These discussions imply that border security funding may be pivoted away from its current priority status, relocating these financial resources to support infrastructure and other state needs.

Despite these intentions, Tony Payan, director of the Center for the United States and Mexico at the Baker Institute, highlighted that the “bigger ‘losers'” of any spending reductions would be the Department of Public Safety, the National Guard, and local agencies that have come to rely on additional funding for border operations. “It’s an opportune moment, I think, for the Abbott administration because obviously the Republican trifecta in Washington means that now Washington will invest additional resources,” Payan told

KSAT

. “So if it goes away, it’s a penny saved for all of us in Texas who pay taxes and saw it more as political grandstanding.”

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