Texas Republicans Turn on One Another

Texas Governor Greg Abbott has become the latest state Republican to lash out at a fellow party member in another example of red-on-red attacks over the last year.

Abbott said that he does not “trust” state Representative DeWayne Burns on immigration issues, a key topic for Republicans who blame the border crisis on Democrats and President Joe Biden. The governor also said he did not support Burns on “any issue” and supported his party primary opponent Helen Kerwin for Texas’ House District 58 seat.

Burns said he has shown “consistent and unwavering support for securing our border” throughout his voting history.

But Republicans like Burns have been targeted because of their opposition to a gubernatorial initiative to use taxpayers’ money to allow some students to attend private schools.

The policy was stripped out of an education bill by 21 Texas Republicans who voted with Democrats.

Abbott previously said that he would now be targeting these Republicans by supporting their primary challengers in a bid to oust them from office.

Newsweek has approached Abbott and Burns via an email out of hours for further comment.

Several issues have plagued the party in recent weeks and months.

Former Texas House Speaker Dennis Bonnen told Spectrum News on February 15 that tensions in the party have been going on for “probably a decade,” explicitly calling it a “civil war.”

However, Republican Party of Texas (RPT) spokesperson James Wesolek told Newsweek, “Texas Republicans are more united than ever before.”

He added: “The Governor, Lt Governor, and Senate are all working hard for Texans, it’s just House leadership who is kicking against the goads.”

Wesolek was referring to Texas House of Representatives Speaker Dade Phelan, who was censured for supporting impeachment articles against state Attorney General Ken Paxton.

Newsweek has approached Phelan’s office for comment via an email out of hours and Wesolek for further comment.

Paxton and Cornyn

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who has denied the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) access to a key area of the border to cut razor wire, took aim at Texas Senator John Cornyn after he backed a foreign aid package.

Cornyn was among the 22 GOP senators who voted for a $95 billion package of aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan in a 70-29 vote.

“Unbelievable that @JohnCornyn would stay up all night to defend other countries borders, but not America,” Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton posted on X on February 13.

In response, Cornyn took aim at some of Paxton’s legal issues. The latter has faced accusations of retaliation against former aides who said they were fired after reporting Paxton to the FBI for allegedly accepting bribes and other misconduct.

Paxton has denied any wrongdoing and no charges have been filed. He said he no longer wishes to contest the claims.

He has called the proceedings against him “an unjustifiable waste of taxpayer resources and an intolerable distraction.”

Separately, the attorney general was indicted in 2015 on felony securities fraud charges. He is scheduled to go on trial on April 15 and has pleaded not guilty.

“Ken, your criminal defense lawyers are calling to suggest you spend less time pushing Russian propaganda and more time defending longstanding felony charges against you in Houston, as well as ongoing federal grand jury proceedings in San Antonio that will probably result in further criminal charges,” Cornyn wrote.

Newsweek has approached Paxton’s office via an email out of hours for further comment.

Paxton and Phelan

Paxton was impeached by the Republican-led Texas House of Representatives in May last year over articles alleging corruption and bribery.

Exactly 60 Republicans voted to impeach Paxton, but he was acquitted in the Texas Senate.

It was, however, the starting gun for a number of Texas GOP disputes.

Phelan was censured by the state party this on February 10 after he voted to impeach Attorney General Ken Paxton.

The speaker was also censured for appointing Democrats to chair House committees and allowing education and border protection bills to “die.”

The state GOP’s executive committee (SEC) censured Phelan over the vote, saying he “unjustifiably and irresponsibly wasted Texas taxpayer money in referring and promoting” Democrats, according to the RPT resolution.

“The Republican Party of Texas officially censured Representative Dade Phelan today, imposing the full set of penalties allowed by the rules, for lack of fidelity to Republican principles and priorities,” a release by the RPT said. “Rule 44 of the Republican Party of Texas allows the party to censure elected officials who violate Republican Party of Texas principles and priorities three times or more in a given biennium.”

Spokesperson for Phelan, Cait Wittman, said on X that the SEC had “lost its moral authority and is no longer representative of the views of the Party as a whole.”

Donald Trump weighs in

Phelan is running for reelection but is up against two other Republicans in his primary elections. One of those candidates, David Covey, has been endorsed by Trump, who cited the impeachment of Paxton as an issue.

“David Covey is running against Dade Phelan, the Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives, who led the Fraudulent Impeachment of the recently re-elected, in a landslide, Attorney General of Texas, Ken Paxton,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social media platform on January 30.

There has been support for Phelan from prominent Texas Republicans, however.

Former Governor Rick Perry endorsed him at a campaign event last week and said it was wrong for Phelan to have been censured, in part, because he appointed Democrats to chair House committees.

“So did I when I was a lieutenant governor,” Perry told a crowd at Jack Brooks Airport on February 15. Perry was the Texas lieutenant governor under George W. Bush before the latter launched his successful presidential bid.

“So has the current lieutenant governor,” Perry added, referring to the role’s incumbent Dan Patrick.