Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan has been under fire from conservatives for some time now. Phelan was the driving force behind this summer's failed impeachment of Attorney General Ken Paxton.
Now he's doubling down on placing Democrats in leadership positions as committee chairs.
During a recent television interview Phelan said he has no plans to stop appointing Democrats to key committee chairmanship positions as long as he believes they are “the most qualified.”
During the 88th Legislative session, Phelan selected eight Democrats to chair important committees:
- Business & Industry – Oscar Longoria (D–Mission)
- Corrections – Abel Herrero (D–Robstown)
- County Affairs – Victoria Neave (D–Dallas)
- Criminal Jurisprudence – Joe Moody (D–El Paso)
- Juvenile Justice & Family Issues – Harold Dutton (D–Houston)
- Natural Resources – Tracy King (D–Uvalde)
- Resolutions Calendar – R.D. “Bobby” Guerra (D–Mission)
- Transportation – Terry Canales (D–Edinburg)
You can watch part of the interview below.