House Dems Outnumber GOP Reps 61-60
in Potential Salvation Stat for Impeached AG
Capitol Inside
May 27, 2023
Donald Trump vowed on Saturday to go after five dozen Texas House Republicans who he branded as RINOs for voting with "Radical left Democrats" to impeach Attorney General Ken Paxton for a bribery and an array of other corruption charges.
But it's conceivable that the House impeachment resolution might have been doomed in the state Capitol's east wing the moment that Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick counted names and determined that it received more support than Democrats than Republicans in the House. That has been the Patrick litmus test for legislation in the 2023 regular session when he's refused to let the Senate pass measures that didn't have more support from Republicans than their colleagues in the Legislature's minority party.
The impeachment proposition in House Resolution 2377 cleared the lower chamber on a 121-23 vote with one member from each party recorded as present but not voting. Sixty-one House Democrats voted for Paxton's impeachment along with 60 colleagues from the GOP. That alone would have been the kiss of death for a bill or constitutional amendment in the Senate where nothing passes without Patrick's blessings.
Paxton said he'd been railroaded by GOP Speaker Dade Phelan and the "Murr-Johnson panel" that he accused of conducting a "poltically motivated sham" that refused to consider evidence that would change a preconceived outcome.
“The ugly spectacle in the Texas House today confirmed the outrageous impeachment plot against me was never meant to be fair or just,” Paxton said.
"They disregarded the law, ignored the facts, and demonstrated contempt for Texas voters," Paxton added.
Trump called out Phelan by name when he issued the blanket threat on the alternative site Truth Social before the House vote.
“I love Texas, won it twice in landslides, and watched as many other friends, including Ken Paxton, came along with me,” Trump wrote. “Hopefully Republicans in the Texas House will agree that this is a very unfair process that should not be allowed to happen or proceed—I will fight you if it does.”
But Trump's attempt to portray the impeachment vote as a referendum on liberal versus conservative doesn't hold water when the initial count on HR 2377 is broken down. House Republicans who are generally viewed as moderates in the eyes of the right outnumbered staunch conservatives by a margin of two to one for the most part in the opposition to Paxton's impeachment.
A long list of House Republicans who have reputations as solid conservatives such as State Reps. Briscoe Cain of Deer Park, Cole Hefner of Mount Pleasant, Candy Noble of Lucas, Jared Patterson of Frisco, Ellen Troxclair of Lakeway and Cody Vasut of Arlington sided with the leadership team with votes to impeach the controversial AG.
Cain is a Texas Freedom Caucus charter member who's been a darling on the far right. Patterson guided a major conservative priority to fruition this year as the chief author of legislation that's designed to keep sexually-explicit books off the shelves in public school libraries. Lawmakers sent the measure to Governor Greg Abbott on Friday. Noble served as the House author on a measure that would have forced public schools to post the Ten Commandments on every classroom wall. The commandments proposal died in the House without a vote on the floor.
The prospects for viable candidates running to the right of lawmakers like Cain or Patterson and other conservatives who voted to impeach might be difficult to imagine in spite of the ex-president's retaliation pledge.
GOP State Rep. Charlie Geren of Fort Worth said during the impeachment debate that Paxton had threatened House Republicans in private conversations in the past few days since a General Investigating Committee probe became public. The effort failed to pay off - however - as it became apparent during the marathon discussion today that House leaders had more than enough Republicans on board to advance HR 2377 with a two-thirds vote.
The Senate still appears to be a wild card in the Paxton impeachment case despite Patrick's partisan scorekeeping rules and his close association with Trump and longtime affiliation with the attorney general as the two most popular leaders with hard-line conservatives in the GOP base. Patrick has been Trump's campaign chairman in Texas. Paxton has been a high-level Trump ally as well after an unsuccessful attempt to overturn the 2020 election on his behalf. The AG is married to State Senator Angela Paxton - a McKinney Republican who will have a vote on his fate barring a decision to abtain to avoid a possible conflict.
Paxton expressed optimism after the House vote that he will be vindicated by the Senate and allowed to keep his job as a result. The attorney general has temporarily suspended in the meantime pending the outcome of the Senate trial over which Patrick will preside.
"I am beyond grateful to have the support of millions of Texans who recognize that what we just witnessed is illegal, unethical, and profoundly unjust," Paxton tweeted after the vote. "I look forward to a quick resolution in the Texas Senate, where I have full confidence the process will be fair and just."
Patrick might not be a foregone conclusion in the Paxton saga if he believes that the AG deserves to go.
But the second-term speaker showed no signs of being intimiated when Trump threatened retaliation for Phelan's defiance in 2021 on an election audit bill. Trump's promise to field a primary opponent in Phelan's district in the Beaumont area failed to materialize in 2022 when he ran unopposed in the primary and general elections back home.
more to come ...
Articles of Impeachment
Disregard of Official Duty- Protection of Charitable Organization
Disregard of Official Duty- Abuse of Opinion Process
Disregard of Official Duty- Abuse of Open Records Process
Disregard of Official Duty- Misuse of Official Information
Disregard of Official Duty- Engagement of Cammack
Disregard of Official Duty- Termination of Whistleblowers
Misapplication of Public Resources - Whistleblower Investigation and Report
Disregard of Official Duty- Settlement Agreement
Constitutional Bribery - Paul's Employment of Mistress
Constitutional Bribery - Paul Providing Renovations to Home
Obstruction of Justice - Abuse of Judicial Process
Obstruction of Justice - Abuse of Judicial Process
False Statements in Official Records - State Securities Board
False Statements in Official Records - Personal Financial Statement
False Statements in Official Records - Whistleblower Response Report
Conspiracy and Attempted Conspiracy
Misappropriation of Public Resources
Derelection of Duty
Unfit for Office
Abuse of Public Trust
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