(Texas Scorecard) – In a bold but ultimately unsuccessful effort, State Rep. Brian Harrison (R–Midlothian) forced a vote Wednesday on a resolution to remove Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows, accusing him of betraying Republican voters and handing power to Democrats.
The House quickly voted to table the resolution, with only Harrison and freshman State Rep. David Lowe (R–North Richland Hills) opposing the motion. The final vote was 141-2, with five members present but not voting, and two absent.
House Resolution 823, authored by Harrison, accused Burrows of “committ[ing] the greatest form of voter fraud by cutting a deal with Democrats to become Speaker” and “empowering them by appointing pro-abortion, DEI-supporting, open borders Democrats to key positions in House leadership.”
It also criticized Burrows for hiring a former Obama White House attorney as Parliamentary Counsel and for allowing Democrats to control the state budget process “in secret,” in violation of House rules.
“We were elected to serve the voters of the state of Texas,” Harrison said during his speech on the House floor. “We were not elected to serve the special interests and the donors that control this building.”
He continued, “The speaker’s conduct over this chamber has been not just lawless, corrupt—it has been unethical.”
Harrison accused Burrows of silencing conservatives and failing to advance any of the Republican Party’s legislative priorities and slammed the chamber for what he viewed as misplaced priorities.
“Are we proud of spending time suspending the rules on Beyoncé resolutions, and Pakistan Day, and Zoroastrianism? Are you proud of that? My voters aren’t. Let me tell you the honest truth—your voters aren’t either.”
He also accused Burrows of standing “in front of a barren chamber and declaring dishonestly that a quorum is present,” in what he described as an unconstitutional attempt to conduct business without enough members.
He argued that under Burrows’ leadership, the House had moved in “a hard left direction,” growing government and increasing spending at a time when “more Texans than ever are being taxed out of their homes.”
Despite some lawmakers laughing and scoffing at his remarks, Harrison pressed on. “Let the voters of Texas hear the vulgarity and the lack of professionalism being demonstrated on this floor right now,” he said. “Texas deserves better than this.”
In closing, he told lawmakers, “When we gavel out, 30 million Texans will be less free than when we gavelled in. That’s objectively true.” He asked his colleagues to reject what he called the “Austin swamp” and instead “vote to put the desires and the needs of the Texans that we serve and the voters who send us here” ahead of politics.
State Rep. Cody Harris (R–Palestine), speaking briefly in opposition, dismissed the resolution as a waste of time.
“Exactly what we’re doing with this resolution is wasting the time of the people of the state of Texas,” he said before moving to table it.
The motion to table passed with near-unanimous support, ending the effort.
State Rep. Tony Tinderholt (R–Arlington), who ran for Speaker in 2023, put out a statement saying the time to litigate the speakership of Dustin Burrows was over.
“While last session Brian Harrison voted for Dade Phelan and supported 5 day long weekends this session he has joined us in opposing much of the broken systems in the House. However, today’s effort was not about reforming the Texas House. There was no path to improving our chamber today. A coalition of conservative legislators stood together. Representative Harrison stood for himself,” said Tinderholt.