As Texas Republican Gov.

Greg Abbott formulated a plan this week to

reopen the world's 10th largest economy, he had to strike a delicate
balance between two opposing forces: a push from the state's powerful
business community eager to get back to work and health professionals
and economists warning that a premature restart could be deadly.

In the end, Abbott took a measured approach. Instead of kicking off a full
restart, the Texas governor announced that a group of medical and economic
experts will guide him through a series of incremental steps aimed at

, with a total of 17,371, cases reported and 428 coronavirus-related

fatalities.

That's put Abbott in a difficult position of having to protect the Texas

economy while heeding the warnings of epidemiologists. As he's
discussed plans to get Texas back to work, Abbott has toggled between
making it sound as if Texas will be among the first states ready to throw
open its doors and striking a more prudent tone.

Through the week, as Abbott's public messaging made it sound less likely
that he would announce a grand reopening, he began taking fire from
members of his own party who say he's moved too slowly to reinvigorate
the economy and has been overly deferential to public