Federal Policy

Texas to Seek Federal Reimbursement for Biden-Era Border Spending

The request opens a significant intergovernmental fiscal question: how much did Texas spend on border measures the federal government did not authorize, and under what legal authority can it now...

The Congressional Times · June 23, 2026

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) announced Monday that the state intends to seek federal reimbursement for border security expenditures incurred during the Biden administration, according to a report by The Hill published June 23, 2026. Abbott stated that the Trump administration has opened a reimbursement window for those costs, though he did not specify a total dollar figure in the reported remarks.

Texas launched its own border security initiative, Operation Lone Star, in March 2021 under Abbott's direction. The Texas Department of Public Safety and the Texas Military Department reported cumulative appropriations for the operation exceeding $11 billion between fiscal year 2022 and fiscal year 2025, according to figures cited in Texas Legislative Budget Board documents. The specific portion Abbott intends to submit for federal reimbursement has not been publicly itemized as of publication.

The legal mechanism for such reimbursement is not fully established in public disclosures. Federal reimbursement for state law enforcement costs typically flows through mechanisms such as the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP), administered by the Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance, or through direct congressional appropriations. Which program or authority the Abbott administration intends to invoke has not been specified in publicly available filings or statements as of June 23, 2026.

The Trump administration has not released a formal policy document, executive order, or Federal Register notice publicly confirming the reimbursement window Abbott referenced, as of the time of publication. The White House Office of Management and Budget budget documents and any relevant Department of Homeland Security grant guidance would be the primary records that would confirm the scope and terms of any such reimbursement framework.

What remains unknown is the total dollar amount Texas plans to claim, the specific legal authority under which the claim will be filed, and whether Congress has appropriated funds sufficient to cover state requests of this scale. A formal reimbursement request filed with DHS or DOJ, once submitted, would become a public record subject to disclosure. The Texas Governor's office had not released a written reimbursement application as of publication.

We Follow the Data, Not the Narrative

The Congressional Times exists because public records are public — and the analysis built from them should not be exclusive to those who can afford $60,000-a-year intelligence subscriptions.

Every story published in The Congressional Times is sourced to a verifiable public record: a court filing, a Senate lobbying disclosure, an FEC contribution record, a USASpending contract, or a verified news report. We state our sources inline. We show our math. When we are wrong, we say so publicly.

We do not editorialize in news coverage. We do not use loaded language. Both political parties are held to identical standards.

The Follow the Money investigations are the heart of this publication. Each begins with Gab-E Political Intelligence running against 10+ million government records before a single word of editorial is written.

How We Source, Verify, and Correct Our Work

Every factual claim in a Congressional Times story is checked against a primary source: a government filing, a court record, a direct quote, before publication. When a claim can't be verified or doesn't hold up as originally reported, we drop it or reframe it. We do not publish disputed claims as settled fact.

When we get it wrong: we correct the story directly, note the correction and date at the bottom of the piece, and update the record. We do not quietly edit and move on.

Bylines: stories with a named byline are written and fact-checked by that person. Stories without a byline are sourced from Gab-E Political Intelligence, our automated research platform, and are labeled as such.

Ownership: The Congressional Times is published by Gab-E Holdings LLC. Gab-E, our intelligence platform, powers our sourcing and research pipeline.

Corrections or concerns: support@gab-e.com