The Texas House of Representatives has eliminated minority party committee chairmanships after a new set of rules was approved by a bipartisan coalition in a 116-23 vote Jan. 23.
The new rules mandate that all committee chair positions will be held by the majority party while vice-chair positions cannot be held by the majority party. They also eliminated eight committees and established four new committees.
The rule changes mean that all 30 committees in the Texas House will be chaired by one ruling party for the first time since 1969, ending a Texas tradition of bipartisanship that has steadily become rarer in state capitols across the country.
The debate over committee chairs was a major source of contention in the heated Speaker’s race between Rep. Dustin Burrows (R-Lubbock) and Rep. David Cook (R-Mansfield). Cook had vowed to eliminate Democratic chair positions, while Burrows never publicized his stance during the race. Burrows was elected with substantial Democratic support in a 85-55 runoff vote Jan. 14.
Yet, despite eliminating Democratic chairs, Burrows has received heavy criticism from party leaders, like Attorney General Ken Paxton, for sharing any power.
“Last week, a small group of Republicans in the Texas House cut a deal to elect our new speaker with a majority of radical liberal Democrats,” Paxton said in a post on X the day after the changes were adopted. “Yesterday, many of those same politicians forced the House to adopt new rules that will give more power to Democrats and enable them to kill conservative priorities.”
While Paxton criticized what he dubbed ‘RINO’ Republicans, or ‘Republican-In-Name-Only,’ Democrats criticized the end of bipartisan committee chairs, saying the change reduced the amount of representation millions of Texans have in the House.
However, the Democrats noted that this change kept them in a degree of power, even if reduced. Rep. Gene Wu (D-Houston), the new chair of the Texas House Democratic Caucus, held a press conference immediately following the rules debate and vote, which a majority of Democrats voted in favor of.
“If there are Democrats out there who are upset about what has happened, … (that are) upset that Democratic chairs are now banned, your best revenge will be to help make sure that we flip the House and that we make Republicans live under their own rules,” Wu said.
The other notable change to House rules came in the form of what committees will exist in the House this session. Eight committees were abolished — Business & Industry; County Affairs; Defense & Veterans’ Affairs; Homeland Security & Public Safety; International Relations & Economic Development; Juvenile Justice & Family Issues; Resolutions Calendars; and Urban Affairs.
Many of those were combined into one of the four new committees — Homeland Security, Public Safety & Veterans’ Affairs; Intergovernmental Relations; Trade, Workforce & Economic Development; and Delivery of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, named similarly to the Trump Administration’s new Department of Government Efficiency, which is being spearheaded by billionaire Elon Musk.
House committee assignments, including chairs and vice-chairs, are appointed by the Speaker. Representatives can submit committee preferences, but there is no obligation for those to be adhered to — historically, seniority plays a role in the decisions. Burrows has not yet announced committee assignments, though if he follows timelines established in prior precedent, the assignments should be made public in the next few weeks.
In the Senate, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who presides over the chamber, announced committee appointments Jan. 17. Each of the 16 committee chairs are Republicans, but vice chairs are divided, with 11 committees vice-chaired by Republicans and five vice-chaired by Democrats.
“It’s a bittersweet moment,” Rep. Ramon Romero Jr. (D-Fort Worth) said in the press conference. “When I got (elected to the House), there were Democratic chairs. For 31 years, I’ve been a small business owner and, man, I’d love to chair small business and economic development, because I know I have a lot to offer. So, when we know that’s been banned, it is bittersweet.”
