The Texas Report 6/23

What’s Happening:

• Senate rules for Paxton impeachment (More here)

• Former San Antonio Congressman Will Hurd has thrown his hat into the 2024 presidential race. (More here)

• Texas Department of Public Safety to resume partnership with Austin Police Department (More here)

Senate rules for the impeachment of Attorney General Ken Paxton

The Texas Senate adopted rules to govern Attorney General Ken Paxton’s impeachment trial late Wednesday evening.

The rules aligned with most recommendations the House impeachment managers had sent to the Senate, with only one suggestion being rejected. Representative Andrew Murr (R-Junction), who chairs the board of managers and led the investigation of Paxton, said the rule-making process in the Senate “respects the seriousness of this matter and the importance of a fair impeachment trial.”

Paxton’s lawyer responded to the news and said, “Now that the senate has adopted the rules, we look forward to proving every count of this sham impeachment is baseless.”

Some context

• Late in the most recent legislative session, the Texas House voted to impeach Attorney General Ken Paxton on 20 articles of impeachment, alleging fraud, abuse of office, and more.

• Following the House impeachment, the Senate will conduct a trial to decide on fully impeaching Paxton early this fall. Impeachment requires a 2/3s vote of the Senate.

Among the House victories were ruled for the recusal of Ken Paxton’s wife, Senator Angela Paxton (R-McKinney); Angela Paxton’s potential role had been a closely watched aspect of the rules debate, and now she will be required to attend the trial, but not able to vote or participate in the deliberations.

The one rule the House wanted but did not get required that senators deliberate in open session; the rules say deliberations will be private, though all votes will be held in public. The public proceedings will still be transcribed and live-streamed, and media organizations will be allowed to have two cameras in the chamber — all in line with what the House sought.

Four of the 20 articles of impeachment were set aside, related to Paxton’s long-running securities fraud case. However, after the first trial, the Senate can decide whether to proceed on those issues.

The Senate pushed back the start date of the trial back to September 5th, and the rules were adopted on a 25-3 vote.

Impeachment managers will also be able to bring additional articles of impeachment up to 30 days before the trial, which Paxton’s lawyers took significant issue with.

To summarize:

• Senator Angela Paxton will not be allowed to vote in the impeachment trial for her husband.

• The trial will start September 5th, and each side will be given 24 hours for evidence presentation.

• The ramifications for impeachment are significant, and Paxton is the first Texas Attorney General ever to be impeached.

Former San Antonio Congressman Will Hurd jumps into the Presidential Race

Former Congressman Will Hurd is the latest to announce he is running for president, becoming the first Texan with experience in elected office to enter the 2024 Republican primary.

Hurd represented Texas from 2015-21 and served for nine years as an officer for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). During his first term, he ranked third among freshman House members who had the most bills passed, and much of his work was focused on bipartisan cybersecurity and technology bills.

At one point, he was the chair of the Information Technology Subcommittee and was well known for his bipartisan streak.

Hurd is a major underdog in the race as he is moderate and has long been a critic of Republican front-runner former President Donald Trump.

Hurd campaign announcement video:

Some of his major priorities include illegal immigration, inflation, and he addressed the track record of the current and former president.

"President Biden can't solve these problems — or won't," Hurd said. "And if we nominate a lawless, selfish, failed politician like Donald Trump — who lost the House, the Senate, and the White House — we all know Joe Biden will win again."

In the CBS interview, Hurd said he was running because he was "pissed" that elected officials are focusing on issues of the past rather than the future, like the rise of China and artificial intelligence. Hurd acknowledged he is a "dark-horse candidate" but sought to distinguish himself with his electoral record and willingness to criticize Trump.

The Democratic National Committee swiftly responded to Hurd's announcement Thursday, saying issuing a statement that said he "spent his career in Congress in lockstep with Donald Trump's extreme MAGA agenda."

Despite the amount of Republicans already in the primary, Hurd still sees an opportunity. "Too many of these candidates in this race are afraid of Donald Trump," Hurd told CBS.

Here are the majority of candidates so far vying for the Republican nomination:

• Doug Burgum (R), the governor of North Dakota, announced his candidacy on June 7, 2023.^[2]

• Chris Christie (R), former governor of New Jersey, announced his candidacy on June 6, 2023.^[3]

• Ron DeSantis (R), the governor of Florida, announced his candidacy on May 24, 2023.^[4]

• Larry Elder (R), a talk radio host and 2021 California gubernatorial candidate, announced his candidacy on April 20, 2023.^[5]

• Nikki Haley (R), former U.N. Ambassador and South Carolina Governor, announced she would run on February 14, 2023.^[6]

• Will Hurd (R), former U.S. Representative from Texas, announced his candidacy on June 22, 2023.^[7]

• Asa Hutchinson (R), former Arkansas Governor, announced he would run on April 2, 2023.^[8]

• Mike Pence (R), former vice president of the United States, announced his candidacy on June 7, 2023.^[9]

• Vivek Ramaswamy (R), entrepreneur and political commentator, announced his campaign on February 21, 2023.^[10]

• Tim Scott (R), a United States senator from South Carolina, announced his candidacy.^[11]

• Corey Stapleton (R), former Montana Secretary of State, announced he would run on November 11, 2022.^[12]

• Francis Suarez (R), the Mayor of Miami, announced his candidacy on June 15, 2023.^[13]

• Donald Trump (R), former U.S. President, announced he would run on November 15, 2022.^[14]

Texas Department of Public Safety to resume partnership with Austin Police Department

The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) is resuming its partnership to support the Austin Police Department on July 2nd, after stepping away in May following the expiration of Title 42.

Chief Joseph Chacon said the partnership with DPS proved valuable in reducing crime and shortening response times.

"This new iteration will ensure we continue that while taking Council direction into account and pivoting the deployment strategy," Chacon said.

The Austin Police Department has faced record staffing issues due to growing vacancies and attrition rates that have caused significantly slower response times. Officers are also leaving the department due to it being out of contract with the city, not wanting to potentially lose out on certain retirement benefits. These problems are compounded due to the department being out of contract with the city. In March, Austin and DPS announced a partnership allowing DPS officers to patrol and respond to calls for service in the highest crime areas in the city.

Some advocacy groups criticized the program and said it resulted in over-policing certain minority communities. This was prompted by data released from the county attorney's office showing that most arrests were people of color. However, the chief data officer for the department and the Police Chief regularly pointed out that most calls DPS responded to were in areas with the highest crime and, subsequently, highest calls for service. Additionally, many of the arrests by DPS were for existing warrants.

In speaking on the program, Chacon added, "This partnership has proven to be a practical way to begin addressing Austin's call volume and crime," Chacon said. "We welcome DPS back to the city utilizing a different development approach. I will continue assessing the data and deploying DPS alongside APD to protect and serve."

When DPS was in Austin, the partnership was shown to reduce crime rates. To address criticism, they will attempt to implement recommendations from Austin's Mayor and City Council.

APD will now direct the DPS officers' deployment based on need in three priority areas: high-injury/fatal crash roadways, areas with high reports of violent crime, and APD patrol sectors with lower staffing levels. DPS criminal investigators and crime analysts will support APD in violent crime investigations and gun crime reduction efforts.

"This new iteration will ensure we continue that while taking Council direction into account and pivoting the deployment strategy," Chacon said.