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Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives Dade PhelanR-Beaumont announced House committees on Wednesday, cutting the number of Democratic chairmen and choosing new leadership on some key committees.

Phelan chose Democrats to chair eight of 34 standing committees, up from 13 he appointed at the start of the last legislative session. He faced pressure from his right to reduce Democratic influence in the GOP-led House.

Phelan also brought in new faces to chair at least two closely watched committees. He appointed Mr. Brad BuckleyR-Killin, to head the Board of Education, replacing a Democrat member of the House of Representatives. Harold Dutton Houston. Phelan also nominated a member of the House of Representatives. Todd Hunter, R-Corpus Christi, to head the State Affairs Committee, a powerful board with broad jurisdiction. The previous chairman, Rep. Chris PaddyR-Marshall did not seek re-election last year.

Phelan also increased the Republican Party’s influence in the House of Representatives by electing a powerful veteran of the House, a member of the House of Representatives. Charlie Guerin, R-Fort Worth, to serve as speaker temporarily. This is a largely ceremonial position that nonetheless shows confidence in the leadership. The previous Speaker provisionally was a Democrat, a member of the House of Representatives. Joe Moody El Paso, whom Phelan removed from post amid the 2021 Democratic Party quorum break in Washington, D.C.

On paper, these appointments represent a victory for the Conservatives, who want the majority party to have more influence in the House of Representatives. But it could be more of a mixed bag, given that Buckley was opposed to school vouchers – a top priority for the right this session – and Phelan appointed a Democrat to head a select committee that could consider controversial proposals about what kids learn, for example.

The partisan balance of committee chairs was one of the most anticipated aspects of Phelan’s announcement on Wednesday. For more than a year, conservative activists — and several allies in the House of Representatives — have been campaigning to outlaw Democratic Committee Chairs, which Phelan defends as a healthy tradition. When the session opened last month, he rejected a proposal to amend the House rules to ban Democratic committee chairs, but the drama didn’t end there. The state Republican Party, whose legislative priorities include banning Democratic committee chairs, ran a radio ad in Phelana County, pressuring him not to appoint them, and the speaker responded with his own radio ad promoting his conservative views.

Phelan’s inner-party critics gave mixed reviews of the committee appointments.

“The Texas Grassroots scored several wins today,” Rep. Brian Slaton of R-Royse City said in a statement. “Our push took the Democrats from 13 presidencies to 8.”

However, Slayton and others disagreed with the remaining Democratic presidencies, such as Moody’s appointment as chairman of the Criminal Jurisprudence Committee, which deals with criminal law. The group was also previously led by a Democrat.

In announcing committee tasks from the podium on Wednesday morning, Phelan did not directly address the debate over Democratic committee chairs. His office said in a press release that he made the appointments “based on a number of factors such as length of service, personal preferences, house demographics and regional composition of the body.”

Phelan said he planned to nominate about the same number of Democratic committee chairs last year as he did in 2021. His office declined to comment on the recently reduced ranks of Democratic committee chairs.

The Republicans have slightly increased their majority since the last session. When Phelan then announced the committee chairs, the Republican Party controlled 82 seats in the 150-member House – one seat was vacant at the time – while they now hold 86 seats.

Phelan’s decision to replace Dutton with Buckley as chairman of the Public Education Committee came as some Republican leaders were pushing hard for a program that would allow parents to use taxpayer dollars to take their children out of public school and send them to another place, including private schools. However, it remains to be seen whether Buckley would be less opposed to the proposal than Dutton. Buckley voted for the anti-voucher amendment in the budget of the House of Representatives at the last session.

Buckley did not address the issue directly in his appointment statement, but only said that he “looks forward to working with committee members and my colleagues at Texas House to develop policies to provide the best opportunities for Texas teachers, students, and families.” “

Nevertheless, one of the largest school choice advocacy groups praised Buckley’s appointment.

“Rep. Buckley will make an excellent chairman of the House Public Education Committee, and we look forward to working with him in this legislative session,” Mandy Drogin, campaign director for the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s education initiative, said in a statement. “This is an important first step for Texans to have a system that respects parents and ensures transparency and high-quality education on school campuses.”

Dutton, for his part, still chaired the Juvenile and Family Committee.

In addition to the 34 standing committees, Phelan also appointed the heads of two special committees. He knocked on the rep. Sam HarlessR-Houston to chair the new select committee on health care reform and a member of the House of Representatives. Senfronia ThompsonD-Houston to chair a select committee on youth health and safety.

Nominating a Democrat to chair the youth safety committee could be important given that Phelan offered in this session, it will become a clearing house for a number of social conservative priorities, such as proposals to ban medical care for gender-transition children. The committee’s previous chairman was a Republican member of the House of Representatives. J. M. Lozano from Kingsville.

Although Phelan appointed new chairmen of important committees such as public education and state affairs, he largely left his deputies elsewhere. Rep. Morgan Meyer, R-Dallas, will continue to chair the tax ways and means committee. Rep. Dustin Burroughs, R-Lubbock, will continue to lead the Calendar Committee, which controls what legislation falls into the field. And Rep. Greg BonnenR-Friendswood, remains chairman of the appropriations committee for writing the budget.

Meanwhile, another committee with high jurisdiction, the Committee on Homeland and Public Security, has a new chairman, a member of the House of Representatives. Ryan Gillen Rio Grande City, who switched parties and became a Republican in 2021. The previous chairman of the commission that oversees border security was Rep. James White, R-Hillster, who did not seek re-election because he ran unsuccessfully for agriculture commissioner.

And there will be a new leader of the Electoral Commission, which was an area of ​​tension in the last session as both parties fought over a measure that would introduce new voting rules. Rep. Reggie SmithR-Sherman, will replace the member of the House of Representatives. Brisco Kanea hard-line Republican from Deer Park who will now head the Agriculture and Livestock Committee.