Democrats in the Texas House will no longer be allowed to hold influential committee chair positions under new rules passed by the chamber on Thursday.
The change, which brings to an end the Texas House’s long-standing tradition of having members of the minority party hold these important leadership roles, comes after years of complaints from the Republican Party of Texas.
Specifically, the rule states that, “If, at the time the speaker announces the membership of standing committees, the members of the house of one political party constitute a majority of the membership of the house, the speaker shall designate a member of that party to serve as chair of each standing committee.” However, committee vice chairs must be members of the minority party.
In the Texas Legislature, committee chair positions are key because committees serve as the starting point for any legislation that one day hopes to land on the governor’s desk. Chairs play a pivotal role in influencing what proposals move forward each session.
By losing the ability to chair any committees, the state’s Democrats — who haven’t been in power in Texas for 30 years — have lost even more clout at the state Capitol.
Rep. Harold Dutton, D-Houston, said members who voted for the rules were “political cowards” who gave into pressure from Republican advocates who’d long been calling for the change. He also said Republican lawmakers, especially those who broke from their party to vote for Lubbock Rep. Dustin Burrows to be House speaker, were prioritizing scoring political points over acting in good faith.
“Some of the people believe that the Republican people out there might come after them because they voted for Dustin Burrows — but if they voted for this that’s less likely to happen. I don’t think that’s the case,” said Dutton.
Republican push to remove Democratic committee chairs
The push to get rid of Democratic chairs has been going for years and gained more prominence during the state’s last legislative session in 2023.
That year, former House Speaker Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont, received massive pushback from his own party after appointing Democrats to the important leadership roles. (It’s also a move that played a part in Phelan no longer holding the speaker job).
This year, on the first day of Texas’ legislative session, Republican activists filled the Capitol wearing red shirts emblazoned with “Ban Democratic Chairs!” in white block lettering.
Many left after day one upset that the House voted in Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, as the chamber’s speaker. Mary Carr of Harris County told The Texas Newsroom she believed Burrows would let the opposition party control too much of the lawmaking.
“It’s not going to be good. It’s not going to be a good outcome,” she said.
Top Texas Republicans and Democrats react to the change
The race for Texas House speaker earlier this month shined light on internal divisions in the state’s Republican party. Now, it seems lawmakers on both sides of the divide – those who supported Burrows and those who deem themselves more conservative than the new speaker – are upset about the new rules.
Republican Rep. Nate Schatzline of Fort Worth posted a video on X claiming that the new rules still empower Democrats by ensuring they hold vice chair positions on committees. Rep. Brian Harrison, R-Midlothian, joined Schatzline in the video, adding that the rules, “silence conservatives and give Democrats more power than they’ve ever had in the recent history of the state of Texas.”
The pair called the rules package the “Democrat Empowerment Act of 2025.”
Democrats, however, disagree with this assessment. House Democratic Caucus chair Gene Wu of Houston said that, “it has hurt Democrats and reduced our power.” “But (it) at least gives us some ability to interact in the process and have our constituents’ needs met,” said Wu during a press conference following the vote.
Given that Democrats lost seats in the Texas House in 2024, Wu called Thursday a “yeoman’s effort” to negotiate the rules package and get at least some wins for Democrats. For Texas voters upset about Democrats being locked out of committee chair positions, Wu pointed to the 2026 election, adding the “best revenge will be to help make sure that we flip the House, and we make Republicans live under their own rules.”
The Texas Newsroom’s Nina Banks contributed reporting to this story.
