The mayor’s five-day travel itinerary is expected to cost approximately $8,000, which will cover the cost of travel, lodging and meals for the mayor and his staff. | AP Photo De Blasio, on a national mission, heads to Texas

Mayor Bill de Blasio is Texas bound this weekend on a three-stop politicking tour.

De Blasio, ever eager to expand his national profile, is expected to attend the South by Southwest conference in Austin to meet with the U.S. Conference of Mayors, host a panel discussion and attend a strategy session to discuss the 2020 census and immigration reform, aides told POLITICO on Thursday. Before his trip to Texas, the mayor will make a pit stop in Baltimore on Friday to address the Congressional Progressive Caucus Center Strategy Summit.


The summit is being hosted by the Progressive Congress — a nonprofit organization working to connect activists and progressive members of Congress, according to the group’s website.

"The Mayor is working hard to organize mayors and progressive leaders against Trump Administration efforts to decrease health care access, divest from public housing, and make our tax policy even less fair for working people," mayoral spokeswoman Freddi Goldstein said.

The mayor’s five-day travel itinerary is expected to cost approximately $8,000, which will cover the cost of travel, lodging and meals for the mayor and his staff. The cost will be covered by city taxpayers as the trip is considered government-related work, City Hall said. He will travel with three of his aides and his security detail. De Blasio was not required to get Conflict of Interest Board approval, staffers said.

Since his second-term reelection win, de Blasio has said he plans to spend a significant amount of time traveling around the country.

Specifically, the mayor has said taking back the U.S. House of Representatives is his top national priority — a change that could have significant implications for the city and state in terms of the resources they receive from the federal government.

The mayor’s forays into the national spotlight have won mixed receptions in the past.

His effort to get involved in the 2016 presidential election was focused on pushing Hillary Clinton’s campaign to the left in a bid for her to embrace more of the liberal policies outlined by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), though his role was somewhat limited in that capacity. Since the presidential election, de Blasio has fully embraced the Sanders doctrine and held a handful of events with the Vermont senator, who administered de Blasio’s oath of office in January.

The mayor’s upcoming jaunt will offer him a chance to meet with like-minded counterparts.

While in Baltimore, he will meet with members of Congress, local and state officials and national advocates including a meeting with San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz, and Mary Kay Henry, president of the Service Employees International Union.

On Saturday, de Blasio will head to Austin for the South by Southwest Convention where he’ll be hosting a panel with Austin Mayor Steve Adler and Portland, Oregon mayor Ted Wheeler. He is also scheduled to meet with London Mayor Sadiq Khan.

While in attendance at the South by Southwest Convention, de Blasio will also participate in a strategy session with the U.S. Conference of Mayors to discuss the 2020 census, immigration reform and infrastructure, his aides said.

De Blasio will then head back north to the nation's capital to attend the League of Cities spring conference and deliver the keynote address at the Democratic Municipal Officials national breakfast.