The Blast - August 25, 2025

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The Blast | Texas Tribune
August 25, 2025

By Renzo Downey and The Texas Tribune Politics Team

19 days until sine die
75 days until the candidate filing period begins
105 days until the candidate filing deadline

IN TODAY’S BLAST

  • GOP unity at risk

  • Quorum break roadblocks

  • Former bosses issue letters of rec over AG race

GOP UNITY AT RISK

Following a productive session and his response to Democrats’ quorum break, Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows had ushered in a level of unity the Republican caucus hasn’t seen since before Attorney General Ken Paxton’s impeachment. That goodwill evaporated over the course of the weekend.

Tensions began over the weekend, as Rep. Jeff Leach, R-Plano, was working on a committee substitute to the abortion pill ban, House Bill 7. A version of the bill died during the regular session after the House State Affairs Committee failed to move the bill in time for it to be scheduled for the floor.

“I’m hearing some of my ‘Republican’ colleagues are trying to kill HB 7, the pro-life bill [Gov. Greg Abbott] is pushing for this session,” posted Rep. Tony Tinderholt, a retiring Arlington Republican who has been the de facto leader of the right flank. “Conservatives will fight tooth and nail to protect unborn children. Next week will be war if they try to kill this bill.”

Then this morning, the Texas House Republican Caucus met and considered whether to support punishments for Democrats who broke quorum. The outcome drove a wedge between hardline Republicans and leadership-aligned Republicans.

The caucus voted to support a series of rule changes, including increasing fines and stripping seniority and chairmanships and vice chairmanships from absent members. The caucus held off on supporting the elimination of the requirement that vice chairs be Democrats and the requirement that committee chairs consult their vice chairs when planning a hearing. Instead, the caucus voted to endorse that the House make those changes when lawmakers return for the 90th legislative session in 2027.

However, the biggest flashpoint erupted when only half of the caucus supported a censure penalizing the quorum breakers by stripping them of committee titles, seniority and office funding. Conservatives needed a two-thirds vote for the caucus to officially support a censure resolution.

Several members expressed their disappointment. But Rep. Brent Money, R-Greenville, went the farthest, accusing Burrows of whipping against the punishment.

“The tenuous Republican Caucus unity that has been developing since the Dems broke quorum is over, and it’s the fault of Speaker Burrows,” Money posted. “Only 44 Republican members were willing to punish the Derelict Dems after Burrows’ whipping votes against it. Very disappointing.”

The case from Burrows’ supporters was that the House shouldn’t impose an ex post facto penalty on their members. Democrats shouldn’t be subjected to penalties they didn’t know were on the table.

The caucus votes were conducted by secret ballot to let members vote their conscience.

As for what rules will be changed when, Burrows and Republicans have to perform a balancing act. Changing the vice chairmanship rules now would anger Democrats — Burrows’ blue wall for 76 speaker votes — and open up a can of amendment worms on the floor. Additionally, vice chairmanships have already been assigned. But if Republicans don’t change some of the rules now, grassroots activists will see them as letting Democrats off the hook.

“Not punishing the quorum cutting Democrats will destroy all the unity we’ve been building,” posted Texas GOP Chair Abraham George.

Rules guru Rep. Cody Vasut, R-Angleton, has been named as a potential author to present the resolution to make the limited rules changes later this special session, shortly before the House adjourns sine die. However, Vasut told The Blast he doesn’t know when the resolution will come or who will carry it.

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QUORUM BREAK ROADBLOCKS

Although the GOP caucus voted against supporting censures and took a step back against some potential rule changes, the caucus did vote to support a couple pieces of legislation and a proposed constitutional amendment to codify some roadblocks to breaking quorum.

The two bills are measures The Blast identified on Friday, House Bill 18 and House Bill 64. HB 18 by Rep. Matt Shaheen of Plano, which would limit campaign donations and expenditures while breaking quorum, was considered in the House Elections Committee this morning. HB 64 by Rep. Briscoe Cain of Deer Park, which would declare a lawmaker’s office vacant after seven consecutive unexcused absences, already has 76 listed authors, enough to pass the House.

The constitutional amendment would be House Joint Resolution 10 by Rep. Richard Hayes of Hickory Creek, which would lower the threshold for quorum from two-thirds to a simple majority. Of course, that change would require two-thirds support in the current House and Senate, making it unlikely.

Over in the Senate, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, are supporting legislation to extend the moratorium on political contributions to special sessions. Bettencourt said he’ll file that bill tomorrow in response to Sen. Carol Alvarado, D-Houston, fundraising off her planned redistricting filibuster. Republicans scuttled her filibuster in the early morning hours of Saturday, with Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock, calling her fundraising disrespectful.

“I asked Sen. Bettencourt to file the bill, and I’m in full support,” Patrick posted, saying the bill would keep lawmakers on task.

He argued such a ban would be consistent with the regular session moratorium, prevent lawmakers from fundraising during a quorum break and cut down the number of special sessions in general.

“We’ve had nine special sessions in just the last 5 years,” Patrick said. “That’s just too many.”

For some old reading, here’s what Rice University Professor Mark Jones told The Blast back in 2023 about the nature of fundraising during a regular session versus a special session.

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FORMER BOSSES ISSUE LETTERS OF REC OVER AG RACE

After U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz stiffed his old chief of staff Aaron Reitz on Saturday in favor of fellow former chief of staff and U.S. Rep. Chip Roy for attorney general, Reitz countered today with an endorsement from another shared past employer, outgoing Attorney General Ken Paxton.

“We need someone who will stand strong no matter the threat,” Paxton said in a statement. “Whether that’s big government, big pharma, or big tech. The only person I trust to do that is Aaron Reitz.”

Cruz and Paxton had stayed out of the primary, which also includes state Sens. Joan Huffman of Houston and Mayes Middleton of Galveston, both of whom have a name recognition problem but a trove of cash to campaign with.

A potential sticking point in the primary — and maybe part of the reason why Paxton weighed in — is that Roy called for Paxton to resign in 2020 and publicly supported Paxton’s whistleblowers through the impeachment process.

  • Gov. Greg Abbott expanded the special session call a second time, asking the Legislature to end same day voter registration and address the transfer of law enforcement contracts. The same day voter registration call would revert a contentious amendment by Rep. Matt Shaheen, R-Plano, that allowed for voters to change their address the day of the election.

  • SB 15, the bill to make it so that unsubstantiated accusations against police officers would not be released to the public, died on a point of order from Rep. Joe Moody, D-El Paso, because it goes outside Abbott’s special session call. That bill was sent back to committee and the call can be expanded at a later date.

  • The House introduced a bit of a flub today on SB 10, the bill to prevent local jurisdictions from raising property taxes in response to property tax relief, after the amendment floodgates opened up. Republican Reps. Brent Money of Greenville and Jared Patterson of Frisco introduced conflicting amendments, and when Patterson tried to fix it on the third reading vote, the perfecting amendment died by a single vote. The amendment would have required a two-thirds vote to pass on the third reading. Now that bill is off to the Senate, where we can expect a conference.

  • The House State Affairs Committee voted to favorably report the abortion pill bill, HB 7, with a committee substitute and the bathroom bill, SB 8.

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

The House will convene at 10 a.m. tomorrow.
The Senate will convene at 3 p.m. tomorrow.

View the House and Senate floor calendars here and here.

View the HB 7 substitute here:

CSHB 7.pdf99.11 KB • PDF File

Public radio and television have informed, educated and entertained Texans for decades. But recent cuts in federal funding could endanger some of that work.

Tomorrow morning, Texas Tribune Editor-in-Chief Matthew Watkins will talk with three public media leaders about the services they provide, the impact of the cuts and where their stations will go from here.

Speakers include: 

  • Julie Grimes, general manager of Panhandle PBS

  • Corrie MacLaggan, executive editor of KUT News and The Texas Newsroom

  • Luis Patiño, president and CEO of Austin PBS

Doors open at Studio 919 at 8:30 a.m. and the one-hour conversation begins at 9 a.m.

  • TX-21: U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz endorsed recent Texas Medical Association President Ray Callas to succeed U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Austin.

  • TX-34: Former U.S. Rep. Mayra Flores, R-Los Indios, is reportedly switching back for yet another rematch against U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-McAllen. She had previously switched districts to challenge U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo.

  • TX-35: State Rep. John Lujan, R-San Antonio, told The Blast he is looking at the data and considering a run for the new GOP-leaning seat in the area. Lujan has discussed the possibility with his parents and family.

  • Gov. Greg Abbott will hold a bill-signing ceremony for the foreign land bill, Senate Bill 17, at the Capitol tomorrow afternoon. That law will take effect next Monday.

  • Texas A&M is looking to host a presidential debate in 2028, according to a report from the university president, Mark Welsh. h/t Tribune fellow Nicholas Gutteridge.

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Regarding that new special session item: “Texas House committee approves bill shifting control of Harris County contract policing” by Holly Hansen of The Texan

“Hispanic voters in Texas are starting to turn on Trump” by Elizabeth Findell of The Wall Street Journal

Do you or someone in your office have a birthday you’d like mentioned? Email us.

(Aug. 25) State Rep. Ana Hernandez, D-Houston
(Aug. 26) State Rep. Todd Hunter, R-Corpus Christi

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Disclosure: Rice University and Texas Medical Association have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.