Convenience Big Store: Texas Republicans turn on each other

6 MONTHS FOR 99¢!
Get Our Best Offer of the Year.
Subscribe Today.

More Paxton fallout

The impeachment trial of Attorney General Ken Paxton may be over, but it's clear the political fallout (and hurt feelings?) has a long way to go.

Over the last 24 hours or so, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick was officially requesting an audit of all the money the Texas House spent on the whole matter, the Harris County Republican Party was voting to support a censure of House Speaker Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont, because of it all and members of the Senate were either defending their actions or denying they were flipping their votes at the last minute.

Meanwhile, Paxton, who accused President Joe Biden of coordinating the impeachment, was set to do an interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson.

It was just Saturday that the Texas Senate voted to acquit Paxton of all the impeachment charges related to alleged corruption of his office.

Patrick, the Houston Republican who was acting as the judge in the proceedings, went on The Chad Hasty Show in Lubbock where he continued to blast House Republicans for not doing more work to back up their charges. He told Hasty everything in the case was hearsay upon hearsay.

"They couldn't prove anything," Patrick said.

Jeremy Wallace, Texas politics reporter

jeremy.wallace@houstonchronicle.com

Who's up, who's down

Up: School Voucher Advocates.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said on Tuesday he'll call a special session next month on school vouchers. If they don't pass then, he'll call another special session.

Down: Texas Senate.

After two solid weeks of sitting as the jury in the Ken Paxton impeachment trial, they now know Abbott will call them back to Austin for another special session in October. It will be the third special session, not including the impeachment hearing.

What do you think? Hit reply and let me know.

What else is going on in Texas

Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., briefs reporters following a closed-door Republican Conference meeting on how to agree on a path to funding the government, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2023.

Photo by: J. Scott Applewhite, AP

Speaker McCarthy faces an almost impossible task

The Republican speaker is working furiously to convince his colleagues to come together to pass a conservative bill to keep the federal government open.

Matthew McConaughey watches player warmups in September 2019 in Austin, Texas. McConaughey was cited as a lucky charm on Sunday, before the Longhorns' loss.

Photo by: Tim Warner/TNS/Getty Images

McConaughey asked about political future. Here's what he said.

On the new episode of "Smartless," McConaughey promoted his new children's book, "Just Because."

Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg works in her office on Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2019, in Houston. That month, she asked Commissioners Court for 100 new prosecutors to help clear a felony case backlog that was exacerbated by Hurricane Harvey.

Photo by: Brett Coomer/Staff Photographer

How DA Kim Ogg has repeatedly aimed her power at Harris County officials

A Chronicle investigation uncovered at least half of dozen instances of Ogg launching criminal investigations or threatening to use her office's powers against county officials.

Pick of the day

Migrants walk the Rio Grande by Shelby Park in Eagle Pass, Texas, Monday, Aug. 21, 2023. The rail cars and concertina wire are part of Gov. Greg Abbott's Operation Lone Star.

Photo by: San Antonio Express-News

Arrests of migrants under Gov. Greg Abbott's Operation Lone Star have plummeted in Eagle Pass after the city emerged this summer as the epicenter of the state's most aggressive border security measures, including the separation of dozens of families, some of whom have yet to be reunited.

What else I'm reading

Despite recent rains, Texas farmers and ranchers are still being hit hard by ongoing drought conditions. The Austin American-Statesman reports the cotton crop has been drastically reduced and hay is in short supply to feed livestock.