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

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Nearly two dozen GOP state lawmakers and candidates are pushing to overhaul the Texas House’s rules in a bid to further diminish the influence of Democrats and weaken key levers of power used by the speaker to control the chamber.

In an open letter, titled “Contract with Texas,” the Republican signatories called on the next House leader to commit to their list of conservative demands that served as a repudiation of Speaker Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont, who they’ve accused of handing too much power to the Democratic minority. It marks the first move by the House’s growing rightmost faction to formally define how they want the chamber to function, a typically arcane debate that emerged as a central theme in this year’s primary contests.

The proposed changes included ending the practice of appointing Democrats to chair House committees. Phelan last year appointed Democrats to oversee eight of the chamber’s 34 standing committees, while reserving most of the high-profile assignments for Republicans.

Phelan has defended the tradition, arguing it prevents the House from devolving into a state of gridlock without actually thwarting GOP priorities. But the speaker’s critics framed it as a sign of his insufficiently conservative record, an argument they used to help unseat a record nine House GOP incumbents in the March 5 primary. Eight others, including Phelan, were forced into runoffs.

All but one of the runoff challengers had signed onto the letter by Tuesday, including Phelan’s opponent, GOP activist and energy consultant David Covey. Also among the signatories were five Republican incumbents and eight GOP nominees who won their primaries last month, mostly by ousting Phelan allies. A total of 23 Republicans had signed onto the “contract” — a small share of the 150-member House, but also a sign of the growing bloc of current and likely GOP members willing to defy Phelan.

The letter proposes a dozen changes that, taken together, would fundamentally transform how the Texas House operates. The demands include ensuring that “all GOP legislative priorities receive a floor vote before any Democrat bills,” limiting the speaker to two terms and barring the speaker from distributing “political funds.”

Phelan has spent millions of dollars from his campaign account over the last two cycles to defend GOP allies against primary challenges from the right.

Also included in the list of demands are a handful of changes aimed at preventing Democrats from using procedural tactics to kill or delay conservative bills, including replacing the current House parliamentarians.

“The House’s most recent session was marked by obstruction, dysfunction, and a lack of fundamental fairness in application of the House’s Rules, and this cannot continue,” the contract reads. “The message of last month’s primaries was self-evident and sent a clear message that business as usual is not acceptable.”

Phelan did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Beaumont Republican became the first speaker in more than 50 years to be forced into a runoff, after he finished second to Covey in the March 5 primary. With Phelan fighting for political survival, one of his House GOP colleagues, state Rep. Tom Oliverson of Cypress, recently announced that he was challenging Phelan for the speakership — regardless of whether Phelan survives his May overtime round against Covey.

The new “contract with Texas” broadly aligns with Oliverson’s pitch to realign the lower chamber with the priorities of the Republican party, which includes a pledge to end the tradition of allowing Democrats to chair House committees.

Phelan has said he plans to seek — and win — another term as speaker if he emerges from his primary battle. The speaker is elected by the 150-member House at the start of each regular legislative session, which falls in January of odd years.

Recent speakers, including Phelan, have initially won control of the gavel by gathering pledges of support from a mix of Republicans and Democrats. The Texas GOP’s most conservative faction has long pushed for House Republicans to select the speaker in a closed-door, informal vote ahead of the official floor vote — effectively removing Democrats from the process.

The “contract” calls on the next House speaker to “only solicit support” from Republican members.

Democrats currently hold 64 seats in the Texas House, enough to prevent Republicans from passing items that require two-thirds support, such as the state budget and constitutional amendments.

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