In a dramatic eleventh-hour maneuver following a historic GOP defeat in Texas, Republican State Rep. Brian Harrison is urging outgoing Governor Greg Abbott to convene a special legislative session aimed at stripping the incoming Democratic Governor-elect Gina Hinojosa of significant executive emergency powers. Harrison argues that with Republicans still holding control for the remaining ten weeks before Hinojosa takes office, they must act decisively to “rein in” these powers, which he claims would allow Hinojosa to “destroy liberty in Texas by executive fiat.” He contends that Texas governors should not wield “unchecked” emergency authority, citing his own previous attempts in 2022 to introduce legislation like HB911 to restrict these gubernatorial powers. Harrison specifically warned that Hinojosa, who has pledged to use emergency declarations to suspend gas and diesel taxes and freeze electricity rates, would effectively inherit “nearly all the powers of a dictator” if these measures are not curtailed, asserting that governors can currently “write, edit, or change any statute on a whim if they just declare an ‘emergency.’” This power play comes in the wake of Democrats flipping Texas blue, including Hinojosa’s groundbreaking victory as the state’s first Latina governor and the ousting of Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton, a seismic shift not seen in Texas gubernatorial races since 1994, prompting dire warnings from figures like Senator Ted Cruz about a “blue tsunami” and President Trump criticizing Abbott’s perceived shift to a “RINO” status as the cause of the GOP’s downfall.
Adapted from: Latest Political News on Fox News
