Texas politicians celebrate and condemn Abbott’s order to open for business, end mask mandate

The Lone Star State returned to national headlines Tuesday after Gov. Greg Abbott announced that Texas will soon be open for business at 100% capacity, igniting a wide range of reactions from across the political spectrum.

Abbott also ended the mask mandate in addition to allowing businesses to open at 100% capacity starting next week, he announced in the press conference Tuesday. His announcement comes amidst an almost year-long push by some Republicans to end lockdown measures and caution from Democrats and health experts that now is not the time to relax.

“Happy Independence Day Texas,” tweeted Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Houston, in response to Abbott’s order. Crenshaw is one of many Texas Republicans who claim lockdown measures are ineffective in stopping the virus.

But Rep. Colin Allred, D-Dallas, was quick to condemn the governor’s order, saying it was a “dangerous distraction from our Governor’s series of failures that led to our energy crisis,” in a tweet.

“We are just months away from full vaccine access, but we are also facing more contagious variants of COVID,” Allred said. “Opening now will risk lives unnecessarily.”

One-time presidential candidate and former El Paso Rep. Beto O’Rourke called Abbott’s move a “death warrant for Texans.”

“Add them to the 44,000+ killed as he failed to confront the pandemic & botched the vaccine rollout,” O’Rourke said in a Tweet. “And those who froze to death because he cares more about energy companies’ profits than keeping Texans alive. Abbott is killing the people of Texas.”

O’Rourke was hardly the only voice in El Paso raising concern about the governor’s action. County Judge Ricardo Samaniego, a Democrat, noted the city’s 2,086 COVID deaths and said the governor’s “directive to no longer make masks mandatory would be equivalent to him stating that we don’t have to wear our seatbelts ... but it would be a good idea if we did.”

Other Democrats blasted the governor’s order. Rep. Marc Veasey, D-Fort Worth, urged Abbott to follow guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control, which recommends people continue to wear a mask and socially distance, even if they are fully vaccinated. CDC Director Rochelle Walensky urged states not to roll back mask mandates in a White House press briefing Monday.

“The Governor’s announcement ignores the science and puts countless more lives at risk amid a global pandemic that has already killed thousands of Texans across our state,” Veasey said in a tweet.

Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, D-Dallas, called Abbott’s announcement “irresponsible, short-sighted and directed opposed to the recommendations of medical professionals,” in a tweet.

“Our best chance to get through the pandemic is to listen to the science – and the science supports wearing masks,” she said.

Texas Republicans maintained that the long-awaited order would help the economy, as many local businesses have been forced to shut down due to full and partial lockdown orders.

“Finally!” tweeted Rep. Beth Van Duyne, R-Irving.

Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Waco, said Abbott’s announcement was “Great news for the economy and small businesses! Happy to see Texas taking the lead in getting back to a sense of normalcy,” in a tweet.

Rep. August Pfluger, R-San Angelo said the governor’s lauded the announcement as great for “Texas families and the thousands of small businesses who have had struggled this past year,’ in a tweet.

“Texas is officially OPEN for business,” tweeted Rep. Lance Gooden, R-Terrell.

Staff writer Alfredo Corchado contributed to this report.