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Originally Published in the Odessa American on January 13, 2026.

U.S. Rep. August Pfluger, R-Texas, says 2025 was a great year. He was able to bring many leaders of the Permian Basin and it was a chance to highlight the success of District 11.

When it comes to securing wins for Texas, Pfluger said he was able to complete a four-year effort to reimburse the state of Texas for almost $12 billion spent during the Biden administration to try to shut down the border.

Pfluger said that money was owed to Texas for a job the federal government should have done.

“That’s a huge win,” he said during a recent phone interview.

Pfluger also cited $281 million going to Texas for the Rural Health Transformation Fund, which will directly impact the Permian Basin and West Texas, especially the smaller clinics and hospitals.

He was also able to finish funding for a dormitory at Goodfellow Air Force Base, which is the number one training base for all intelligence personnel in the military. “These were really important wins. In addition to that, I passed more laws than any other lawmaker and they were all bipartisan,” Pfluger said.

“It was amazing. We were able to reach across the aisle and convince Democrats to vote for the bills that I advocated for. These are things that I’m very proud of. They’re things that help our district. There’s more work to be done. We’re not declaring victory. We’re just taking a pause to have a little reflection on what it means to represent the best district in the country, and it is the best district in the country. It deserves a tremendous amount of respect,” he added.

Three of the bills were signed into law and four are awaiting Senate action.

“We have multiple bills that have advanced through committee, that are awaiting a vote on the House floor. We’ve got a great track record of being able to navigate and work with with people. One of those pieces of legislation, was starting the refill of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. I’m continuing work on that in 2026, but that was my idea, and that was signed into law. We’re starting to refill what President Biden drained for political reasons,” Pfluger said.

One of the most important items in 2026 is affordability. “… Our housing is so expensive, our health care system is out of control and expensive. I’m leading so many efforts as the chairman of the Republican Study Committee.

“We’re leading a massive effort to attack that and set the conditions. The average age of the first-time homeowner is 40 or 41 years old right now. That’s just so sad, and we need to drive that down. We don’t set the price in government. We just set the conditions. I want to set the conditions so that it gives every young family and every young American the opportunity to achieve the American dream,” Pfluger said.

He added that Obamacare is a “miserable failure of a healthcare system.”

“We are leading on making healthcare transparent and competitive, getting rid of the fraud and waste, and making sure that government money doesn’t go into the coffers of big insurance companies when it should be sent directly to Americans in things like health savings accounts, where you can shop across state lines for plans and you have options and choices,” Pfluger said.

He said Republicans have many pieces of legislation that will address that.

“I’m looking forward to achieving some of these goals, because Democrats right now are offering no good policy options, and Republicans have great policy options. We want to see them succeed and move forward,” Pfluger said.