Texas Senate Republicans scheduled a meeting Wednesday afternoon to discuss reorganizing the chamber, according to Quorum Report editor Scott Braddock.
The question now percolating among political observers is how far Republican lawmakers might go to block Democrats from enjoying the same powers the GOP has wielded for decades.
State Rep. Brian Harrison, R-Waxahachie, fired off a Wednesday morning tweet calling on Gov. Greg Abbott to “convene a special session to REIN IN EXECUTIVE EMERGENCY POWERS … before Gina Hinojosa is sworn in!”
“We still have total power in Texas, and we must act like it by using the remaining ten weeks to restore separation of powers and limit the emergency powers that Governor-Elect Hinojosa is set to inherit, which would allow her to destroy liberty in Texas by executive fiat,” Harrison wrote in his tweet, which included a letter he addressed to Abbott.
In the letter, the state rep. said that he had long been an opponent of the position’s “unchecked emergency powers” — regardless of party.
“Now that Texas has elected a Democrat Governor, the urgency is undeniable… and inaction is intolerable,” Harrison added in the letter. “Without action, Governor Hinojosa will inherit the powers of a DICTATOR.”
An earlier proposal, HB 911, would have required emergency orders that infringe on constitutionally protected rights to be limited in scope and duration.
The lieutenant governor wields enormous influence over the Texas Senate’s legislative agenda, making the office one of the state’s most powerful elected positions. This is what gave Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick the authority to repeatedly block bills focused on cannabis reform and the state’s THC industry.
Not surprisingly, there are rumblings that Republican senators also want to rein in the powers of Lt. Gov.-elect Vikki Goodwin, according to Quorum Report. However, there has been no update since details of Wednesday’s closed-door meeting emerged, including what the outcome was.
Abbott could, theoretically, call a special session to rein in the emergency powers of his own office and that of the lieutenant governor, but will he?
After all, anti-data center Democrats — including Hinojosa — have been calling on him to hold a special session for months if he truly wishes to put a pause on data centers, all to no avail.
Experts also question whether it would be a good look for Republicans to rein in powers they’ve enjoyed for decades just weeks before the opposition party takes office.
Southern Methodist University political scientist Cal Jillson said the Texas Senate could come together without a special session to rewrite the rules governing how much control the lieutenant governor has over the chamber. However, he questioned whether such a move would further damage the Republican brand.
“I think they could do it. It would be [a] Senate rules change, and that can be done within just the Senate [and no special session], as far as I understand it,” Jillson said. “But I think that they should give some thought to what they’re about to do, because if I was Gina Hinojosa or the incoming lieutenant governor, I would immediately be making the argument that the people’s decision in this recent election to transfer leadership to the Democratic Party was being obstructed by these Republican incumbents.”
Jillson argues that Republicans might further reinforce the narrative of government corruption if they choose to act on this impulse.
“One of the things that cost Republicans a lot in this election cycle was when Talarico broadened out the definition of corruption to include Elon Musk and the West Texas oil billionaires pouring in hundreds of millions of dollars to try to beat the Democrats,” Jillson continued. “I think people responded to that. And I think you could effectively critique the Republicans in the Senate for trying to disempower the new Democrat leadership before they even arrive as another kind of corruption.”
According to Jillson and many online political commentators, voters have already spoken at the ballot box, and stripping powers from the officials they elected would effectively undermine their decision.
“Texas Republicans’ response to a historic ass whooping is to subvert the will of Texas voters to protect the status quo,” Democratic strategist Sawyer Hackett wrote on X. “Texans shouldn’t stand for this bullshit.”
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