Politics of impeachmentHouston Chronicle by Jeremy Wallace 9/19/2023
Within minutes of the Texas Senate voting to acquit Attorney General Ken Paxton of all impeachment charges, the politics came into much clearer view.
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who oversees the Texas Senate, broke his months of silence and declared the Texas House “rammed through” the impeachment and wasted taxpayer money and time.
“An impeachment should never happen again in the House like it happened this year,” said the Houston Republican who was acting as the judge in the impeachment case.
His comments immediately triggered an angry rebuke from House Speaker Dade Phelan, a Beaumont Republican, who said Patrick was attacking the House for “standing up against corruption.” Phelan said Patrick’s comments show the trial outcome was “orchestrated from the start, cheating the people of Texas of justice.”
It all highlights an inescapable political reality: leaders of the House and Senate don’t like each other much these days. Phelan and Patrick have been at odds for months, barely communicating most of the last year and with plenty of name-calling, as I reported earlier this year. They fought over property tax reforms and when the first special session was called in the summer, Phelan had his members meet for just one day before bailing on Austin. That made certain no further negotiations would happen resulting in the 31 members of the Texas Senate having to return for yet another 30-day special session later, further ruining their summer.
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