Winners and losers: Who came out on top — and who didn’t

  

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House Speaker Dustin Burrows announced his highly anticipated committee appointments on Thursday, laying the groundwork for legislation to start moving through the lower chamber.

The committee assignments relied heavily on the leadership team of Burrows’ predecessor and close ally, Rep. Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont. Yet Burrows also gave nine lawmakers their first opportunity to lead a committee. As always, there were only so many chair positions to go around, with 30 standing committees for 88 Republicans, making it inevitable that some members would miss out on plum appointments.

Adding an additional wrinkle this year, a new House rule banned members of the minority party from helming committees, which meant Burrows had to consider how to divide the spoils among Republicans — many of whom did not support him for the speakership — while still making sure the Democratic coalition that won him the gavel received enough crumbs to be satisfied.

Here is a breakdown of some of the winners and losers of Burrows’ first-ever committee appointments.

Winners

Burrows

The Lubbock Republican had fielded criticism from the far-right of his party since the moment he announced he would run to replace Phelan as speaker. But on Thursday, Burrows, who hardline conservatives accuse of being too cozy with Democrats, seemed to have pulled off a tough balancing act, rewarding his closest allies and elevating new ones while neutralizing many critics.

He appointed four Republicans who voted against him to chairmanships, including one of Phelan’s GOP rivals for the speaker’s dais, fellow Panhandle Rep. John Smithee of Amarillo, who was appointed to lead the Criminal Jurisprudence Committee. Burrows also tapped two former speaker hopefuls, Rep. David Cook of Mansfield and Rep. James Frank of Wichita Falls, to lead new subcommittees.

Democrats, who suffered a blow by losing their ability to lead committees, still seemed pleased with their committee assignments. Burrows appointed Democrats to lead six of the 12 standing subcommittees, and El Paso Democratic Rep. Joe Moody was named speaker pro tempore, a largely ceremonial position that nonetheless gave the minority party another win.

Keeping the Democrats happy is crucial for Burrows because they make up the majority of his tenuous coalition. He was elected speaker with the support of 49 Democrats and 36 Republicans. But he also made enough Republicans happy to avoid sparking an uproar within his own party.

Republicans who switched their support to Burrows

Burrows followed an unsteady path to the speaker’s dais after he announced his candidacy in December. When the House Republican Caucus soon after endorsed Cook, his main GOP opponent, Burrows said in a news conference he had the necessary 76 votes to win the speaker’s gavel. But only hours later, lawmakers started taking their names off his list, dropping him below the majority threshold.

The battle for uncommitted and flippable lawmakers continued into the first day of the session, with neither Cook nor Burrows having a clear lock on 76 votes heading into the speaker election that day. Lawmakers who eventually flipped from Cook to Burrows were handsomely rewarded in their committee assignments.

Rep. Caroline Fairly, a Republican from Amarillo who announced the morning of the speaker’s election that she was flipping her vote to Burrows, was appointed to the budget-writing Appropriations Committee, a major assignment for a first-time lawmaker.

Magnolia Republican Rep. Cecil Bell Jr. also benefited from backing the right horse at the last minute. Bell initially went along with the GOP caucus and pledged to support Cook, but he switched his vote to Burrows on the first day of the session expressing frustration about the rhetoric from Cook’s supporters, which he compared to “having neighbors who constantly blare noise all day and all night in mind-numbing disregard of time and civility.” Now, the seven-term lawmaker and long-time budget writer will helm his first committee after being appointed to lead the newly created Intergovernmental Affairs Committee.

Burrows also rewarded Republican lawmakers who voted against him in the first round of the speaker’s vote but switched in the second round to help get him over the top. That group includes Rep. Sam Harless of Spring, who will lead the Corrections Committee, and Rep. Tom Craddick of Midland, a former speaker and the chamber’s longest-serving member, who will head the Transportation Committee.

Veteran Democrats who backed Burrows

Democrats knew they were likely to lose their ability to lead committees after a wave of establishment Republicans were swept out of the chamber by insurgent primary challengers who ran, in part, on upending the system of power-sharing. Republicans then picked up two more seats in the November general election, further limiting Democrats’ leverage in shaping how the House would operate.

They bet on Burrows to somehow continue the bipartisan tradition that had prevailed in the House since the 1970s. Burrows did not disappoint those lawmakers, rewarding them with leadership positions.

Veteran Democrats like Reps. Rafael Anchía, Terry Canales and Chris Turner were tapped to lead standing subcommittees on telecommunications, transportation and property tax appraisals, respectively. Houston Rep. Gene Wu, the House Democratic Caucus chair, landed a spot on the influential Appropriations Committee. He was also appointed vice chair of the Criminal Jurisprudence Committee and he will serve on the subcommittee on juvenile justice, both areas of focus over his prior six terms.

A few Democrats also received multiple leadership slots, including Rep. Oscar Longoria of Mission, who was appointed chair of the subcommittee on workforce and vice chair of the subcommittee on international relations. Austin Reps. John Bucy, Sheryl Cole and James Talarico were each appointed vice chairs of a standing committee and a subcommittee.

Several less-experienced Democrats who were in Burrows’ corner early scored leadership roles, too. A pair of second-term Democrats, Rep. Christian Manuel of Beaumont and Rep. Venton Jones of Dallas, won coveted appointments to the Appropriations Committee while also being appointed vice chairs of the Human Services and Corrections committees, respectively. And two Democratic freshmen, Reps. Cassandra Garcia Hernandez of Farmers Branch and Lauren Ashley Simmons of Houston, were appointed to the Appropriations Committee. Garcia Hernandez was additionally tapped to be vice chair of the subcommittee on state-federal relations.

First-time chairs who stuck with Burrows despite pressure to defect

Lawmakers who backed Burrows faced a barrage of text blasts and other attacks from hardline conservatives who were determined to defeat him in the speaker’s race. But those who hung tough with Burrows saw their loyalty pay off.

Among them was Rep. Lacey Hull of Houston, who received sustained backlash on social media as the only Republican from Harris County to not line up behind Cook. She went on to give a fiery nomination speech for Burrows on the House floor, and she was rewarded with an appointment to chair the Human Services Committee, her first leadership position since she joined the House in 2021. Hull is also on the influential State Affairs Committee this session.

Reps. Cole Hefner of Mt. Pleasant, Keith Bell of Forney and Jay Dean of Longview also were tapped to lead their first standing committees after being some of Burrows’ most loyal supporters. The three stood with Burrows at a news conference in December as he announced he had enough votes to win. Dean in particular went on local TV stations in East Texas to voice his support for Burrows even amid threats of censure by his local Republican county parties.

Non-committee-eligible Republicans who stuck with Burrows

Though committee chairmanships are traditionally reserved for members who have served at least two terms, some freshman and sophomore Republicans still landed plum assignments after they sided with Burrows despite pressure to defect.

Rep. Carl Tepper, one of Burrows’ earliest and loudest supporters and a fellow Lubbock resident, was placed on the budget-writing Appropriations Committee, along with the Calendars Committee, which controls the flow of legislation, and Intergovernmental Affairs Committee, which was created with broad jurisdiction to consider a sweeping range of bills.

Another Burrows supporter, sophomore Rep. Janie Lopez of San Benito, scored appointments to the Appropriations and Calendars committees. And two Republican freshmen, Reps. Jeffrey Barry of Pearland and Denise Villalobos of Corpus Christi, were placed on Appropriations.

First-term GOP Rep. John McQueeney of Fort Worth also won a spot on the key State Affairs Committee, a rarity for a freshman. McQueeney backed Burrows even after Attorney General Ken Paxton held a rally in his district as part of a tour to pressure House lawmakers to back Burrows’ rival for the gavel.

Losers

Democrats

There’s no way around it: Compared to where they stood in the 2023 session, Democrats emerged as losers. After last year’s elections, House Republicans had not only increased their ranks by two members, to a total of 88 of the chamber’s 150 seats, but they also were bringing back more socially conservative politicians who were bent on ending the tradition of power-sharing with the minority party.

That meant that after 22 years as the minority party in the House, Democrats finally lost their ability to run standing committees this year, under a rules package adopted by lawmakers last month that dictates how the lower chamber will operate. Democrats are also outnumbered by Republicans on every committee and subcommittee, unlike before.

Wu, the House Democratic leader, highlighted the positives in his statement, pointing to the minority party’s 30 vice chair positions and the 10 members who will serve as subcommittee chairs or vice chairs.

Aside from barring Democratic chairs, the new House rules also expand the power of vice chairs by allowing them to request witnesses and hearings on bills or topics. Additionally, the speaker can refer bills to subcommittees, some of which are chaired by Democrats. But any way you slice it, Democrats chaired eight of the 34 standing House committees last session, and that number has been reduced to zero.

Republicans looking for a fight

Republicans who were hoping for more fodder to condemn Burrows’ leadership — or anyone hoping to watch Republicans tear each other apart over committee appointments — largely came away disappointed.

There were some scattered complaints by hardline conservative activists and a handful of House Republicans who charged that Burrows had “kept Democrats in power.”

Rep. Brian Harrison of Midlothian posted on social media his displeasure that Burrows had named a Democrat as speaker pro tem, and Rep. David Lowe of North Richland Hills shared an infographic implying that giving Democrats vice chair positions amounted to keeping them in power.

But for the most part, Burrows avoided much public criticism, even among the new socially conservative batch of freshmen who made up much of the self-proclaimed “reform caucus” that opposed Burrows’ speaker bid. Usually vocal critics like Reps. Mitch Little of Lewisville, Shelley Luther of Tom Bean and Katrina Pierson of Rockwall either celebrated their committee assignments or kept their powder dry.

Republican chairs who opposed Burrows

A few Republicans took a big risk last year when they decamped from Phelan’s team to advocate for a change in House leadership. Many of those lawmakers found themselves in the doghouse under Burrows’ appointments.

Reps. Briscoe Cain of Deer Park, J.M. Lozano of Kingsville and Tom Oliverson of Cypress were among Phelan – and then Burrows’ – biggest critics and they all respectively lost their committee chairmanships on Thursday.

Not all chairs who went against Burrows were completely left out in the cold, however. Burrows tried to bring Smithee and Frank, both former contenders for the gavel, back into the fold, and Rep. Ryan Guillen of Rio Grande City — who defected to Cook on the day of the speaker election — was tapped to replace Cain as chair of the Agriculture and Livestock Committee.

Lozano previously chaired the Urban Affairs Committee, which was abolished and folded into the new Intergovernmental Affairs Committee chaired by Keith Bell, the late defector to Burrows. Oliverson was replaced as Insurance Committee chair by Dean, the Longview Republican.