Just seven months into office, U.S. Rep. Sam Liccardo is focusing on what he can get done in Washington, D.C., with a Republican-controlled Congress and identifying legislative actions that can be used as an effective tool for Democrats still reeling from the November election.

Several Texas state House Democrats ripped up the written agreements that allowed them to leave the chamber with a police escort and returned to the House floor Tuesday night, the caucus announced.

Rep. Nicole Collier’s overnight stay stemmed from Republicans in the Texas House requiring returning Democrats to sign what the Democrats called “permission slips,” agreeing to around-the-clock surveillance by state Department of Public Safety officers to leave the floor. Collier, of Fort Worth, refused and remained on the House floor Monday night.

A pair of top House Democrats are launching an investigation into Paramount’s $7 billion merger with fellow media conglomerate Skydance and the circumstances that led to the deal’s approval by the

Reps. Jamie Raskin and Frank Pallone Jr. are demanding a large array of documentation surrounding the terms of the merger.

Democrats say these new recruits are uniquely suited to break through in districts where President Donald Trump’s popularity remains dominant.

Democrats claim House Minority Leader Rose Pugliese withheld information about who took a surreptitious photo of a female lawmaker. On Thursday, Pugliese said that’s not true.

Rep. Lloyd Doggett, a longtime House Democrat and senior member of the Ways and Means Committee with a progressive track record, will no longer run for reelection to his current seat if Texas Republicans’ redrawn legislative maps aren’t shot down in court.