patrick.net

Adam Kinzinger may no longer be present within the halls of Capitol Hill, but another Republican House member is already stepping up to take his place.

Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX) has become increasingly unhinged since a group of conservatives extracted concessions from Kevin McCarthy so the latter could become Speaker of the House. To start, he announced on Sunday evening that he will vote “no” on the new rules package, a package that even Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) has admitted is the most conservative in a generation. ...

Why is Gonzales against the rules package? According to him, the deal struck with McCarthy will decrease defense spending, and he just can’t have that.

For context, defense spending was just increased yet again during the last omnibus fight, with the wasteful, largely unaccountable Department of Defense garnering tens of billions more on top of the money that was previously appropriated. Given that, why would any Republican be willing to nuke an excellent rules package on the off chance some woke general might not be able to buy another golden toilet seat?

But to be clear, Gonzales’ excuse isn’t even true. There was no deal to “decrease” military spending. Rather, there was talk of abiding by the prior year’s baselines in the next budget battle instead of automatically shoveling 5-10 percent more into the coffers of a Pentagon that already can’t account for 60 percent of what it spends.

Republican U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas sought to fend off a primary challenge Tuesday that comes as he faces calls to resign following allegations of an affair with an aide, who later died after setting herself on fire.

Gonzales, who has said he won’t step down, entered the nation’s first big primary of 2026 under pressure from fellow House Republicans after published reports last month that alleged to show explicit text messages between him and the former staffer.

The three-term congressman was locked in a rematch against GOP challenger Brandon Herrera, a gun manufacturer and YouTube gun-rights influencer who narrowly lost to Gonzales by less than 400 votes in the 2024 primary. ...

Gonzales, a father of six, first won his seat in 2020 after retiring from a 20-year career in the U.S. Navy that included time in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The San Antonio Express-News reported that it had obtained text messages in which the former staffer, Regina Ann Santos-Aviles, wrote to a colleague that she had an affair with Gonzales.

The Associated Press has not independently obtained copies of the messages. An attorney for Adrian Aviles, Santos-Aviles’ husband, has said the husband found out about the affair before his wife’s death.

Santos-Aviles, 35, died in September 2025 after setting herself on fire in the backyard of her Uvalde home. The Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office later ruled her death a suicide.