WHEREAS, the Texas House Republican Caucus will meet on December 7, 2024, to select a candidate for Speaker of the Texas House, and
WHEREAS, Plank 213 of the 2024 Republican Party of Texas Platform states:
Texas Speaker of the House, House Committees, and Legislative Quorum:
In the Texas Legislature:
- a) We oppose the use of pledge cards and call for Republican members to caucus after each November General Election to determine, by secure secret ballot, their candidate for Speaker and Speaker Pro Tempore. We also call for Republican members to vote as a unified body for their selected Speaker and Speaker Pro Tempore candidate when the Legislature convenes in regular session, provided that the individual selected in caucus for speaker publicly pledges to comply with the entirety of this plank.
- b) Texas House standing committees shall advance the conservative grassroots agenda, not those of special interests and lobbyists. The chairman and a majority of members of key committees shall support the conservative agenda. All committees shall be chaired by Republicans when in the majority.
- c) Any legislator who purposely refuses to attend a legally scheduled session for the purpose of denying a quorum shall lose any chairmanship, vice-chairmanship, and committee membership to which he/she may have been appointed. The individual shall lose any salary for that absence period. Additionally, the individual shall pay back any earnings and cost of living allowances earned during that period; and
WHEREAS, the “No Democrat Chairs” priority adopted at the 2024 Republican Party of Texas Convention states, “The Republican-controlled Texas Legislature shall end the practice of awarding committee chairmanships to Democrats and require all committees to be majority Republican,” and
WHEREAS, Republicans from President Donald J. Trump, to statewide officials, to legislators and local officials, were elected and reelected across the state of Texas by large margins, even in historically Democratic counties, due to new voters brought to the Republican Party on the strength of our shared commitment to our Platform and Legislative Priorities, including border security, election security, America First economic and foreign policy, and educational reform including school choice, and
WHEREAS, our Texas Republican legislators have the opportunity to build unity and confidence in the Texas House for their constituents, for the Party, and for their own legacies by uniting behind a leader who will act on the voters’ mandate to bring about the strongest and most conservative legislative session Texas has ever seen, now
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Republican Party of Texas calls on the members of the Texas House Republican Caucus to comply with the Platform by selecting a strong, conservative Republican who is committed to these reforms and is also committed to the Legislative Priorities adopted by the Republican Party of Texas delegates, and for whom they will vote as a unified body when the Legislature convenes, and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Republican Party of Texas recognizes that some members may attempt to short-circuit this process through various means, including by denying a quorum to the Caucus, by voting with Democrats for a Speaker who was not selected by the Caucus, or through rule changes to allow for secret ballots in the leadership election – the voters of Texas who demand conservative reform will not be fooled by these subversive tactics, and efforts to elect a Speaker who will appoint Democratic committee chairmen, or to initiate or obscure an effort to elect a Speaker with Democratic votes will be considered, and seen and addressed by voters and by the Republican Party of Texas, as violations of the Platform and of the Legislative Priorities.
