Hurd will find fewer allies in House return
Congressman barely won term, vows to be bipartisan
WASHINGTON —Texas GOP Rep. Will Hurd, who barely avoided re-election defeat, succeeded Thursday in advancing another of his technology bills— perhaps his last lawmaking victory for a while with Democrats set to take over the House next year and make life difficult for Republicans.
But Hurd, of San Antonio, insists that he can continue to have an impact in Congress by working in bipartisan fashion on issues ranging from cybersecurity to immigration.
“There are many ways to move legislation and to show leadership here in Washington, D.C. My working relationship with Democrats is good,” he said, noting that he is involved in the lame-duck session negotiations aimed at averting a government shutdown next week.
“The ability to help craft and influence legislation is still going to be important. You’re still going to need coalitions. The concept has not changed; the only way to get big things done is do it in a bipartisan way,” he said.
Hurd, 41, a former undercover CIA officer, is the only Republican House candidate in Texas who won on Nov. 6 in a district captured by Hillary Clinton in 2016, and one of just three in the country.
Diminished core
He will find himself in a diminished core of GOP moderates in Congress. Last spring, he was among 15 Republicans who signed a rarely used discharge petition aimed at forcing party leaders to vote on measures to protect young immigrants left in limbo when Trump rescinded the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program. They failed.
Of the 15, six lost Nov. 6 and three retired, leaving Hurd with fewer allies who depart from hard-edged GOP stances on immigration.
“You’re not going to see much change in my behavior (on immigration) from the 115th Congress to the 116th Congress,” Hurd said. “The one thing that can stall a positive and growing economy is not having a workforce to take advantage of those opportunities. And one of the best ways to ensure that we have a proper work force, whether it’s in agriculture or artificial intelligence, is through legal immigration.”
Lone African-American
Hurd has been a leader in Congress on cybersecurity and technology. He engineered passage into law of several significant measures, among them a bill that changes purchasing methods for the government’s $90 billion annual IT budget with the aim of saving money and modernizing old, hack-prone systems.
But Hurd will have fewer opportunities with Democrats taking over. He loses the power of the majority to move his legislation and relinquishes chairmanship of a high-profile subcommittee able to hold hearings and summon witnesses on a wide range of technology matters.
Hurd’s latest bill to pass the House gives new authority to a federal chief information officer with power over the government’s vast computer systems. The bill moved to the Senate on Thursday with no debate.
“You’ll have one person, one office, that is ensuring that all the agencies are utilizing all the tools to make sure systems are the latest and the greatest. It’s a real success because the way it is structured now, if you do not enforce good behavior, you will not see good behavior,” he said.
Hurd won a third term by defeating Democrat Gina Ortiz Jones by a scant 926 votes. Jones didn’t concede until 13 days after the election.
Come January, Hurd will be the sole African-American in the House GOP caucus after the defeat of Utah Rep. Mia Love.
In her concession speech, Love took aim at the party she represents, asserting that Republicans “don’t take minorities into their hearts. … The problem is not the policy.”
“I would agree with Mia that it’s not the policies. If people don’t like the party, they will not listen to people who represent the party,” Hurd said. “The Republican Party in Texas needs to look like Texas. And if it doesn’t start looking like Texas, there won’t be a Republican Party in Texas.”
Hurd criticized the decision leading to border agents firing tear gas into a group of migrants who stormed the San Ysidro Port of Entry in California on Sunday.
“You don’t tear gas children. Period. End of story,” he said. “The problem that we’re seeing in San Diego is a manifestation of a broader problem. And that problem is addressing the root causes of migration from Central America.”
Hurd, whose district ranges from San Antonio to El Paso and includes 820 miles of border with Mexico, plans to travel to Mexico City this weekend for the inauguration of incoming Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. Texas GOP Sen. John Cornyn and Reps. Henry Cuellar, DLaredo, and Michael McCaul, R-Austin, also plan to attend.