Texas has been awarded $7.5 billion in federal money to reimburse part of the state’s spending on Operation Lone Star, a major influx that could reshape the budget lawmakers write when they return to Austin in January.
The Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Administration approved the grant Thursday, and Gov. Greg Abbott announced it Friday, according to The Texas Tribune. The award represents three-quarters of a $10 billion federal reimbursement pool for border-security costs incurred by states and local governments.
The award is not the same as a complete repayment of Texas spending. Abbott’s office said in January 2025 that the state had spent more than $11.1 billion and was seeking full reimbursement, a figure documented in the governor’s formal request to Congress. Texas also has applied for roughly $3 billion from a separate Justice Department fund, but that application is distinct from the newly approved DHS grant.
What the award covers
Texas launched Operation Lone Star in March 2021 and has used the initiative for state police and National Guard deployments, border barriers, arrests and related criminal-justice operations. The Texas Indigent Defense Commission says the governor’s border disaster declaration has been repeatedly renewed and that the Legislature has funded defense services for people prosecuted through the operation.
The state’s federal application sought about $10 billion for activities dating to 2021, including personnel, barriers, arrests and transportation, the Tribune reported after reviewing Texas’s investment justification. A Texas delegation letter sent to federal officials in November 2025 said the state had spent approximately $11.1 billion through January 2025 and urged both DHS and the Justice Department to prioritize repayment.
The federal money was authorized in 2025, but the application process did not open until this year. The $7.5 billion award therefore resolves the largest part of the reimbursement question while leaving a gap between approved money and Texas’s total claimed costs.
Budget consequences come next
The practical issue now is timing and treatment of the money. Abbott’s office said the award could reach the state comptroller within days, according to the Houston Chronicle. State lawmakers will then decide how the reimbursement affects the two-year budget that begins taking shape when the Legislature convenes in January.
That decision is consequential because lawmakers authorized another $3.4 billion for Operation Lone Star last year even as border crossings fell sharply. The grant can be incorporated into the comptroller’s next revenue estimate, but neither the award nor the previous spending automatically dictates whether legislators must replace, reduce or redirect future state appropriations.
The reimbursement also does not end Operation Lone Star. The state initiative remains active, and the newly approved federal grant repays eligible past expenses rather than transferring command of the program. For Texas taxpayers, the immediate change is financial: Washington has agreed to absorb $7.5 billion of costs that had been carried on the state’s books, while the balance and future funding remain unresolved.
