Good morning. Here is a look at the top headlines as we start the day.
Weather: Mostly sunny but much cooler. High: 57 degrees. Wind: N 10-15 mph.
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3 things to watch as GOP sprints to pass sweeping tax overhaul early next week
Republicans offered Wednesday what could amount to their closing arguments in favor of a $1.5 trillion tax revamp that's unlike anything Congress has produced in more than three decades.
President Donald Trump, using the White House's bully pulpit, touted the prospect of "one of the biggest pieces of legislation ever signed." The GOP-heavy conference committee hosted its only public meeting on a plan that Texas Rep. Kevin Brady, the House's top tax writer, called "historic."
And Republican leaders from the House and Senate announced that a pact had been struck to reconcile their competing bills, setting off a flurry of leaks over what deals were made.
More: What you need to know about the GOP's plan to overhaul the tax code.
Texas politics: Which side has the best players in Texas House GOP Family Feud, 2018 edition?
Texas Rep. Blake Farenthold faces more claims of abusive behavior from former aide
A third former top aide has accused Texas Rep. Blake Farenthold of crude, abusive behavior, CNN reported Wednesday.
One of the Corpus Christi congressman's former communications directors, Michael Rekola, described a work environment so hostile that he said he required counseling and medical treatment.
He described "screaming fits of rage, slamming fists on desks and castigating aides," CNN reported.
The congressman denied the comments, CNN said.
Previously: Two former Farenthold staffers have said the congressman engaged in inappropriate sexual banter with his staff.
Also: A Republican lawmaker in Kentucky facing sexual assault allegations has committed suicide.
Why don't Mexicans just apply for citizenship?
Mexicans are the largest group of immigrants living in the U.S. They've been under pressure since President Donald Trump called for construction of a wall between the U.S. and Mexico and said Mexico wasn't sending its "best people." So why don’t Mexicans and other immigrants just get in line for their green cards so they can later apply for citizenship?
Well, it’s not that easy.
Immigration reporter Dianne Solis explains six reasons why immigrants don't apply for citizenship, the first being that "you need a green card — and they're hard to get."
More: What you need to know about immigration — legal and illegal — in the Trump era.
Photo of the morning
A construction worker grabs the guidewire as workers move the cockpit and front section of an airplane into the indoor theme park KidZania at Stonebriar Centre mall in Frisco on Wednesday.
The front section of a decommissioned Boeing 737-500, a signature piece of the first U.S. location of KidZania, arrived this week. Crews with Turner Construction and VCC spent several hours Wednesday moving the eight-ton plane part into place.
The Stonebriar Centre site is slated to open in early 2019.
Around the site
Higher education: A Texas Christian University fraternity has been suspended by its national organization amid allegations of hazing.
NFL: Roger Goodell won, but here's why what took place at the NFL owners meeting qualifies as a good day for "Texas gentleman" Jerry Jones.
Opinion: Steve Bannon is cancer to the Republican Party, writes editorial writer Jay Caruso.
Celebrities: Dallas bar JR's says it was "following procedures" when it denied Tamar Braxton entry.
Business: Target has agreed to buy grocery-delivery startup Shipt for $550 million to help it with same-day deliveries.
Finally,
Lamb of God may not die after all.
Three weeks after the yellow Labrador was sentenced to be "destroyed" for biting a 13-year-old boy in the face, Dallas' city attorney is now considering a request to let the dog go free. But Larry Casto said there would be many stipulations attached to her release.
"We're open to discussions if there's an entity of good reputation and proven background that can take care of an animal, and keep her off the streets and away from people," Casto said Wednesday, shortly after a Dallas County judge signed an injunction indefinitely staying the dog's euthanization. "Our objective would be achieved if people are not exposed to the dog."
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