A few dozen members of the 2025 Republican House caucus said they oppose Democratic committee chairs which puts a dent into potentially another term for Speaker Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont.
A majority of Republican nominees signed their names to a letter released Friday.
“In a collective effort to respond to Republican voters and reform the Texas House, we will only vote for a candidate for speaker pursuant to the Platform and the Caucus By-Laws who will only appoint Republicans as committee chairs,” the letter stated.
A total of 46 current or presumptive members signed the letter. 23 of those members voted for Phelan’s speakership in 2023. Of the signatures, 21 of them come from “Contract with Texas” signatories, a group who campaigned against Phelan being Speaker and a ban on Democratic committee chairs.
The letter went on to state, “The absence of a member’s or nominee’s name from this statement does not necessarily mean the individual is opposed to this statement. All members and nominees are invited to sign on to this statement.”
Bylaws of the GOP caucus require members to vote for the body’s nominee.
Per the rules, the intra-caucus vote will happen in early December.