Eleven Billion Dollars. Open the Books.

Eleven billion dollars. Five and a half years. Now a new governor wants a review. Good. Make it public, line by line.

The plain English summary

Operation Lone Star is the border mission Gov. Greg Abbott launched in March 2021. The Texas Tribune reports it has cost Texas $11 billion so far. (DOCUMENTED INFERENCE, Texas Tribune, Nov. 6, 2026.)

Abbott lost on Election Day. Gov.-elect Gina Hinojosa, a Democrat, takes office in January. The Tribune reports Democrats will control the Texas House when the Legislature reconvenes. (DOCUMENTED INFERENCE.)

Hinojosa has said, in a KRGV interview, "We need a review of Operation Lone Star." She has also said, "I will spend the money it takes to keep our community safe." (DOCUMENTED INFERENCE, quotes as reported by the Texas Tribune.)

So the question is not whether the money gets looked at. It will. The question is whether you get to see what they find.

Why it matters

Border money does not renew itself.

The Texas Constitution says no money comes out of the Treasury without a specific appropriation, and no appropriation can run longer than two years. (FACT: Texas Constitution, Article 8, Section 6.)

That means every dollar for Operation Lone Star in the next two-year budget has to be voted on again in the session that starts in January. The Tribune reports the current budget carries nearly $3.4 billion for border security. (DOCUMENTED INFERENCE.)

The disaster declaration behind the mission works the same way. Under the Texas disaster law, a state of disaster ends after 30 days unless the governor renews it. (FACT: Government Code Chapter 418, Section 418.014.) The Tribune reports Abbott has renewed the border declaration 69 times since 2021. (DOCUMENTED INFERENCE.)

A new governor can simply stop signing it. A new House can simply stop funding it. Neither one needs a new law to do either.

The receipt

Here is what the reporting says, and where it comes from.

• $11 billion total cost of Operation Lone Star so far. (DOCUMENTED INFERENCE, Texas Tribune.)
• About 82 miles of state border barrier installed, with $3.1 billion set aside for that project. (DOCUMENTED INFERENCE, Texas Tribune.)
• Nearly $3.4 billion for border security in the current state budget. (DOCUMENTED INFERENCE, Texas Tribune.)
• 69 renewals of the border disaster declaration. (DOCUMENTED INFERENCE, Texas Tribune.)
• A public defender group says it has represented about 20,000 people arrested under the mission, with about 1,000 cases still pending in state courts. (DOCUMENTED INFERENCE, Texas Tribune.)
• Attorney General-elect Nathan Johnson, in campaign statements, said, "We should not divert vital resources away from public safety to score political points." (DOCUMENTED INFERENCE, as quoted by the Texas Tribune.)
• Reported results show Republicans kept the Texas Senate. (DOCUMENTED INFERENCE, FOX 7 Austin.) The budget has to pass both chambers.

None of these numbers have been checked line by line against the state's own budget documents in this article. Every one of them NEEDS AUTHENTICATION against the Legislative Budget Board and the comptroller's records before anyone treats it as the final word.

What Ryan says

I want a secure border. I have not changed on that.

I also want receipts. Eleven billion dollars is not a feeling. It is a ledger.

For years, a lot of people on my side said do not question it. If you questioned it, you were soft on the border. That was never the right answer. You can want the wall and still want to know what the wall cost per mile.

Now the shoe is on the other foot.

A Democratic governor says she wants a review. A Democratic House holds the purse. If that review happens behind closed doors, and the people of Texas only get a press release, that is the same problem with a new name on the door.

Same money. Same state. Same rule.

So here is my ask, and it goes to both parties.

Publish the line items. Every contract. Every vendor. Every mile of barrier and what it cost. Every arrest and how it ended in court. Put it online where a man in Longview can read it on his phone.

If the program worked, the numbers will show it. If it was waste, the numbers will show that too. The record does not lie. People do.

And to my fellow Republicans in the Senate: if you believe in this mission, you should want the audit more than anybody. Defend it with the books open.

What this does not prove

This does not prove Operation Lone Star was waste. It does not prove it worked. It does not prove Hinojosa will cut it, keep it, or rename it. She has said she will review it. That is all she has said. It does not prove any contract was improper. I have no evidence of that, and I am not claiming it.

What this does prove

It proves the money is real and it is big. It proves the next budget has to vote on it again, by the Texas Constitution. It proves the declaration behind it lives or dies by a governor's signature every 30 days. It proves the incoming governor has said the word "review," and the incoming House majority holds the purse.

The bottom line

Do not let anybody tell you this is a left or right question. It is a receipts question.

Eleven billion dollars of your money went somewhere. Show me the evidence. Open the books before you cut it, and open the books before you renew it.

Do not threaten anyone. Do not harass anyone. Do not contact anyone in my name. Read it. Share it. Send receipts, evidence, witnesses. Put eyes on the record.