Pressure mounts on House Speaker Dade Phelan to resign as third special session looms

Table Of Content

• To debate or not debate? Dade Phelan, David Covey trade blame over lack of political forum
• NFL draft grades: Our experts evaluate Cowboys’ Day 3 choices, new rookie class
• Texas House GOP hardliners issue list of demands for a next speaker
• Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan says he has a path to victory in primary runoff battle
• New on the Tribune
• Once the Texas GOP’s “weak link,” Attorney General Ken Paxton is growing more popular and powerful

Torres said the dynamic between Republican political leaders could prove critical in the special session, where lawmakers are expected to take up the issue of education savings accounts, or a school voucher plan. Often called school choice by supporters, these bills passed the Senate but not the House during the regular session. After the previous speaker imploded in scandal, Phelan ascended to the House’s top post in 2021 propelled by a reputation among Republicans and Democrats alike that he was an honest broker. In the first session he presided over, he and his leadership team shepherded the passage of conservative priorities that had previously been viewed as a bridge too far for many Republicans, including a near-total ban on abortion and permitless carry of handguns. Abbott touted it as the most conservative legislative session in recent memory. The contract has so far not attained anything close to majority support in the Republican caucus—particularly as only two signees are locks to be elected, having cleared primaries and facing no Democratic or third-party opponents in November.

To debate or not debate? Dade Phelan, David Covey trade blame over lack of political forum

Midlothian Republican Brian Harrison also has received more than $10,000, according to the Texas Ethics Commission database. While the last two speakers - Rep. Joe Straus and Rep. Dennis Bonnen - either tried to sideline or negotiate with the House insurgents, Speaker Phelan went on offense against what he calls "political rot... festering" within the GOP. Defend Texas Liberty is largely financed by West Texas energy billionaires Tim Dunn and brothers Dan and Farris Wilks, who want the House leadership to share their ultra-conservative Christian worldview. In a rare, lengthy sit-down interview, NBC 5 found Speaker of the House Dade Phelan willing to go on offense against what he sees as creeping corruption within the GOP and ready to defend his Republican-led but bipartisan coalition in the Texas House. Twenty-five prospective legislators have signed a pledge to block Democrats—who now hold 43 percent of the seats—from all influence in the lower chamber and neuter the next Speaker. “You can see a situation here, where if the lieutenant governor has tremendous influence in the House, he doesn’t have to worry about negotiation and cooperation,” he said.

Primary involving House Speaker Dade Phelan called "Battle for the Soul of Texas" - CBS News

Primary involving House Speaker Dade Phelan called "Battle for the Soul of Texas".

Posted: Wed, 06 Mar 2024 08:00:00 GMT [source]

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Ever-increasing property taxes have led many to feel - year-in and year-out - that they are renting their property from the government. "It is a privilege to serve as a member of this distinguished body, and I am once again humbled by the opportunity to serve as Speaker of the Texas House," Phelan said in his opening day remarks. "As I look out upon this distinguished gathering, I see 149 people - ordinary Texans - who are eager to get to work on extraordinary things. I am grateful to the majority of you who have honored me with your vote, but I am proud to represent all of you as Speaker of the 88th Legislature." Besides drawing support for his endorsed candidates from Trump, Paxton’s intensive and broad campaign of political revenge also prompted third-party groups to pour in millions of dollars of donations into the campaign. After Paxton narrowly survived allegations of corruption and abuse of office, the attorney general quickly pivoted to fierce, bare-knuckle campaign attacks on dozens of Republican lawmakers. Paxton’s campaign to defeat rivals in his own party was a test of his own clout and that of his biggest backer, Trump.

Texas House GOP hardliners issue list of demands for a next speaker

Plus, they’ll face the grueling and cutthroat process of redrawing the state’s political maps. And in 2019, he sponsored a bill popular among hardline conservatives that would have banned governments from using taxpayer dollars to lobby the Legislature. That measure ultimately failed, but is among the Texas GOP’s top priorities for 2021.

Covey positioned himself as the true conservative in the race who would remain in touch with the party’s grassroots rather than gallivant around Austin as a glad-handing politician. The race had become a measure on the influence of the far-right wing of the GOP, which has cast Phelan as a traitor to the party. Paxton, seeking revenge on Phelan for supporting the House’s impeachment of him last year, campaigned for Covey in Beaumont. Thirteen Republican Texas Representatives pledge to “reform the House of Representatives and select a real Republican Speaker” when the new legislative session opens Jan. 2025, according to a new “Contract with Texas” first obtained by the Daily Caller. Representatives Brian Harrison, J.M. Lozano, Nate Schatzline, Tony Tinderholt, Steve Toth and nominees Janis Holt, Mitch Little, Shelley Luther, Don McLaughlin, Brent Money, Matt Morgan and Mike Olcott signed on to the pledge. Republicans in the Texas House of Representatives are devising a plan to ensure the next state House Speaker represents a conservative Republican agenda overwhelmingly supported by Texas Republican voters.

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Paxton accused them of being “activist” judges after the court majority ruled the law had been a violation of the state Constitution’s separation of powers. Paxton wasn’t the only Republican attacking fellow Republicans in Tuesday’s primaries. Abbott targeted nearly two dozen incumbents who helped defeat his plan to spend tax money on private schools, putting some lawmakers in the crosshairs of both men as targets for removal. And half of the campaign contributions Covey has reported to date, by way of a single $50,000 check, have come from Defend Texas Liberty. The political group, mainly funded by Midland oilman Tim Dunn, often targets Republicans it deems insufficiently conservative and is a frequent foe of Phelan.

New on the Tribune

But his tenuous balancing act between the left and right wings of the chamber was disrupted last year when he oversaw impeachment proceedings against Paxton on corruption charges. The impeachment, and the subsequent trial, triggered widespread infighting within the Texas GOP. Phelan and Covey were neck and neck in the results early Wednesday, while a third GOP candidate, hairdresser Alicia Davis, won far fewer votes but helped deny both candidates a majority of their party's votes.

To show the Texas House is committed to the maternal health of our own staff this session, I am proud to announce we are now offering additional resources to guarantee twelve full weeks of paid maternal and paternal leave for those working in this chamber this session. My constituents also talked about the need for quality healthcare at a reasonable price for families and businesses. They appreciate the progress we made last session, tackling the cost of prescription drugs and health plans, pricing transparency, and improving outcomes for women and children - and they need us to do more. So, let us continue our momentum by giving patients greater control over their health care as well as better access. The House elected Phelan with a vote of 143-3, with three votes going to State Rep. Tony Tinderholt (R-Arlington). “Today’s election results have revealed that the battle for the soul of Texas is far from over,” Paxton said.

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During a bruising 2023 legislative session, followed by a series of special sessions, Phelan often caught intraparty fire from Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who leads the Senate, as the two legislative chambers struggled to hammer out deals to address property taxes, border security and school choice. The Texas House has established itself in recent sessions as one of the furthest-right legislative bodies in the nation. But Phelan’s brand of conservatism hasn’t insulated him from charges of betrayal from the far right, or from schoolyard petulance by the hands of Harrison and his allies. Phelan gave Democrats, who comprise 43 percent of the body, chairmanships of just 8 of the 34 standing committees in 2023, or 24 percent, down from 13 chairs in 2021.

That "other line in the sand" came last Friday when the Texas Tribune reported Nick Fuentes, a well-known white supremacist who's called for a "holy war" against Jews, had a six-hour meeting in the office of Jonathan Stickland, president of Defend Texas Liberty PAC. The demands of the contract signees worry several longtime Republican lawmakers. “They know that we can clear the table on conservative policy, so they’re having to go to procedure to find reasons to be upset,” said one Republican committee chair, who requested anonymity, fearing he’d be targeted by the right wing.

In an interview at the company’s office in downtown Beaumont near Phelan Boulevard — a testament to the family’s legacy here — Phelan said he has spent his decade in office on issues that matter deeply to the district. He said he is proud to have secured investments for mental health, higher education and disaster preparedness, including a $1.7 billion bill for statewide flood protection that greatly benefited his district. "This runoff is not just another race, it's the frontline of the battle for the soul of our district," Phelan said in a statement Tuesday evening. "While my opponent hides behind empty rhetoric, dishonest advertising and surrogate voices, I stand before voters with a clear record of service and conservative success." As for the Speaker, Patrick said the whole thing was an orchestrated "smear campaign" by a "failed Speaker," adding, "he is desperate to deflect attention from his failure to pass conservative legislation that the people of Texas want."

The original censure resolution was passed by the Jasper County Republican Party with at least two-thirds support and required a three-fifths vote (39 votes) to pass the 64-member State Republican Executive Committee. The final censure vote was 55 in favor and four opposed with four members absent. NBC 5 tried all week to talk to the Defend Texas Liberty PAC leaders, including going to their Tarrant County office to get their side of the story. Limiting “the Speaker to two terms to reduce their power over individual members.” The support for limiting how many sessions a Speaker can serve would mark a fairly radical departure, as many Speakers have served for a decade. Critics say it would also weaken the House relative to the Senate, whose elected leader, Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, is not term-limited. The Republican committee chairman with whom I spoke expressed concern that moves like this would give more power to wealthy far-right power brokers such as Dunn, who supports Patrick.

But Phelan and Abbott are considered to be more politically aligned, and the House leader is expected to hit some of Abbott’s other priorities, like increasing school safety and boosting funding for border security, in his other priority bills. A hairdresser with little fundraising or endorsements, Davis is unlikely to win. But securing even a fraction of votes increases the likelihood that Phelan fails to win 50 percent and is forced into a runoff. She spends her time driving her Jeep around the district meeting voters face-to-face.