The Blast - April 24, 2025

22 days for the House to pass legislation that originated in the House
39 days until sine die

IN TODAY’S BLAST

• Cornyn attacks Paxton over impeachment, again

• Voucher ban for lawmakers’ kids?

• Tense moment between Dan Patrick and Sen. Cook

CORNYN ATTACKS PAXTON OVER IMPEACHMENT, AGAIN

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn has stirred up supporters of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton after Cornyn said his primary challenger invoked the Fifth Amendment during his impeachment trial.

Cornyn made the assertion this morning after already riling Paxton loyalists with his appearance on the Mark Davis Show yesterday, where the two discussed the attorney general’s impeachment.

“I have no bone to pick with the House or the Senate: both were doing their constitutionally-required job,” Cornyn posted this morning. “My disagreement is with an Attorney General who takes the 5th Amendment (right against self incrimination) at the impeachment trial and then admits at a later Whistleblower trial that everything the House Impeachment articles charged was true, costing taxpayers $6.6 million!”

Paxton never actually pleaded the Fifth — in fact, he never took the stand. Conservative activist Michael Quinn Sullivan claimed “the House specifically didn’t ALLOW Ken Paxton to testify.”

However, the reason he never took the stand is mostly because Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who presided over the trial, ruled before the proceedings that the House impeachment managers “may not call the attorney general as a witness.”

Ahead of the trial, Paxton’s defense team filed a motion requesting that Patrick issue a ruling shielding Paxton from the impeachment managers’ questions, and the impeachment managers tried to stop Paxton’s request. Although Patrick didn’t go as far as to agree with Paxton’s team that the impeachment trial is a criminal trial, he pointed out that the impeachment managers had likened the House to a grand jury, and Paxton was expected to plead guilty or not guilty, all components of criminal proceedings, paving the way for Paxton to not have to testify.

You can find Patrick’s ruling buried at the bottom of page 49 of the journal from Day 1 of the impeachment trial.

Moreover, Paxton has successfully fought every attempt to answer under oath in every investigation against him since 2020.

“I think there was more than just smoke there, to be sure,” Cornyn said on the Mark Davis Show. “I don’t have any disagreement with those 60 or 61 Republicans who voted in favor of impeachment.”

In a social media post, Paxton accused Cornyn of supporting “lawfare.”

“He supported the bogus witch hunts against President Trump and myself because guys like us shake the fabric of who he is,” Paxton said. “John Cornyn hates the people who shake the Washington establishment, the people fighting the special interests he’s trying to do favors for.”

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VOUCHER BAN FOR LAWMAKERS’ KIDS?

There may be some hope for the effort to bar children of the Lege from benefiting from the voucher bill.

During debate over Senate Bill 2 in the Senate today, progressive Sen. Roland Gutierrez of San Antonio advocated against agreeing to the House version of the bill because the Republican-led House had voted down a once-bipartisan amendment that would have blocked education savings account funds from being awarded to children of state representatives, state senators and statewide elected officials.

Although the Senate voted 19-12 to approve the Senate version and to send it to Gov. Greg Abbott, bill author Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, addressed Gutierrez’s concerns.

“I think his comments were excellent about the conflicts and the provisions that didn’t survive,” Creighton said. “We could suspend on Monday and bring that policy back in a separate bill, so stay tuned on that.”

The measure in question was filed by House Democratic Leader Gene Wu of Houston during that chamber’s consideration of SB 2 last week. However, Republicans voted it down, the 14th of 43 straight amendments killed by Republicans.

The Senate had passed the measure previously, including during last session’s voucher deliberations.

Republican political strategist Jason Vaughn voiced one reason to oppose the measure in a social media post.

“I understand the concern for this, but not all of our representatives are wealthy,” Vaughn said. “Many are sacrificing a lot to be there. We don’t pay our representatives. This isn’t Congress. They’re not making a six figure salary.”

TENSE MOMENT BETWEEN DAN PATRICK AND SEN. COOK

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick had some pointed comments for freshman Sen. Molly Cook, D-Houston, after her debate in opposition to the House’s version of Senate Bill 2.

“Democrats did not vote for this. It is a Republican Legislature that is passing vouchers,” Cook said, addressing Texans.

When she finished, Patrick reminded her of the Senate customs.

“You pretty much crossed the line on a political statement. We don’t make those statements on the floor. We’ll forgive you; you’re a freshman,” Patrick said, before adding, “And we do fully fund public education, and many of the people in your district support school choice. You need to look at the polls.”

Shortly after the exchange, Cook walked up to the dais and grabbed Patrick’s attention. They chatted for less than a minute, appearing to make up after the spat.

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• House Democrats’ joint resolution blockade survived again. Rep. Candy Noble, R-Lucas, postponed her resolution on creating a homestead exemption for the homes of adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, House Joint Resolution 72. She’ll try again on Monday.

• There’s a long House floor calendar for tomorrow, Friday. It includes the local and uncontested calendar, perhaps a chance for conservative hardliners to cause problems for leadership or Democrats.

Committee for tomorrow:

• The House State Affairs Committee will meet at 8 a.m. for a dense hearing to consider four bills:

  • House Bill 229 by Rep. Ellen Troxclair, R-Lakeway, codifying that there are only two sexes

  • House Bill 3990 by Rep. Hillary Hickland, R-Belton, limiting the flags flown at government buildings to the official U.S. flag, the Texas flag, or city or county flags

  • House Bill 5082 by Rep. Jeff Leach, R-Allen, creating a civil penalty for local governments that fail to comply with state drug laws, including by adopting non-prosecution policies for marijuana possession and distribution

  • House Bill 5510 by Leach, cracking down on online abortion pill distributors and facilitating out-of-state travel for abortions

View the full list of upcoming committee notices here and here.

The House will convene at 9 a.m. on Friday.
The Senate will convene at 11 a.m. on Monday.

View the House and Senate floor calendars here and here.

Comptroller: Former state Sen. Don Huffines, R-Dallas, announced endorsements from 44 of the 62 State Republican Executive Committee members. “That tells you everything you need to know about where the momentum is. Huffines has it,” said Huffines campaign senior strategist Allen Blakemore. The other top contender in the race is Railroad Commissioner Christi Craddick.

TX-18: The Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC has endorsed former Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee in what is shaping up to be a packed field to succeed the late U.S. Rep. Sylvester Turner, D-Houston. “As the youngest person and first African American to serve as chief civil lawyer for Texas’s largest county, Christian Menefee has a demonstrated record of standing up to Republican overreach and delivering results for working families,” said CPC PAC co-chairs Greg Casar of Austin, Pramila Jayapal of Washington and Maxwell Frost of Florida. The PAC is the campaign arm of the Casar-led CPC, the second-largest Democratic caucus in Congress.

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• U.S. Sen. John Cornyn on the Mark Davis Show, defended U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth amid calls for President Donald Trump to fire him: “The Trump haters will look for any excuse to demand a Cabinet member’s head on a platter, and I just think it’s a mistake to go there. People are not perfect … and not everything is a fireable offense.”

• Cornyn also had an op-ed in the Houston Chronicle outlining how he’s sided with Trump since he retook office.

• The federal case over the 2021 redistricting maps is set to go to trial on May 21.

“Texas may officially recognize Gulf of America change after Senate gives first OK” by Jess Huff of The Texas Tribune

“Bill banning Harris County’s universal basic income program passes Texas Senate” by John Lomax V of the Houston Chronicle

“Texas House committee hears proposals to give AG Ken Paxton’s office more power” by Nolan D. McCaskill of The Dallas Morning News

Lege observers got two concurrent points of order today: