The divisions within the GOP are so strong that even the Speaker of the Texas House is now facing pressure for not being conservative enough because he had the temerity to follow the evidence and impeach the state’s Attorney General, Ken Paxton. This shows how far to the right the party has moved when purity tests like this one (where the suspect appears overwhelmingly to be actually guilty of the crime accused) are enough to knock party leaders from their perch.
Phelan is where he is because a majority of the Texas House voted him in. The Texas House is not nearly as balls-to-the-wall MAGA conservative as the Senate, and all of these critics said the same thing last legislative session too, yet Phelan persists. There are too many rural Republican legislators in Texas who have an interest in the success of public education for school vouchers to pass. My bet is this special session ends with nothing accomplished