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Members press repeated parliamentary inquiries about HR 4, vice-chair powers and budget authority; Speaker declines to take up questions on the floor
Summary
Several House members used parliamentary inquiries on Jan. 28 to challenge provisions in HR 4 and related housekeeping resolutions—questioning vice-chair powers, committee scheduling and budget authority—but the Speaker repeatedly said the matters were not before the House and directed members to raise them with the parliamentarian.
Multiple members of the Texas House on Jan. 28, 2025 raised sustained parliamentary inquiries about the chamber's new rules—particularly provisions in HR 4 and the housekeeping resolution—that they said change vice-chair powers, committee scheduling and control over office and committee budgets. The Speaker repeatedly ruled the questions "not before the House" and asked members to bring the matters down front to the parliamentarian; no formal ruling or floor action on the substance occurred.
The exchanges began as members asked whether the rules adopted the prior week allowed committees to adopt personal office budgets and whether the House Research Organization continued to exist. Representative Money asked about committee authority and budgets, and Representative Harrison repeatedly asserted that HR 4 "for the first time ever" alters the power of vice chairs, including who may serve as vice chairs and what witnesses they may call.
Representative Harrison asked several times whether HR 4 "for the first time ever" bans the majority party from serving as vice chairs, whether vice chairs could compel prompt hearings and whether the vice chairs would receive increased budget appropriations. Harrison characterized the package as a "Democrat Empowerment Act" and said it was passed without debate. The Speaker replied repeatedly that "that is not before the House at this time" and directed members to take the matter "down front" to the parliamentarian rather than entertain the topic on the floor.
Other members, including Representative Lowe and Representative Hopper, asked whether the Speaker's reliance on HR 4 section 14(a)(3) provided legal authority to set and administer committee and office budgets and whether that reliance comported with Article 3, Section 44 of the Texas Constitution. Those legal questions were not addressed on the floor.
Because the Speaker declined to rule on the substantive inquiries during the session, no direction, referral, or floor action resulted from the exchanges recorded in the transcript. Members were told to pursue these questions with the parliamentarian's office or by filing the matter in writing.
Representative Harrison concluded his series of inquiries by saying he would "allow [the Speaker] to do that" but asked the record to show the Speaker "did not provide facts to dispute a single one of my contentions regarding the Democrat Empowerment Act that you ran through this body without debate in a wholly unprecedented manner." The Speaker treated that as a non-questionable remark and again declined to take up the substance on the floor.
