Democrats, in the wake of the 2026 election, have been mustering up some serious hubris. Some are bragging over turning Texas blue, which, granted, seemed unlikely only a few days ago. But they haven't turned it completely blue; the Texas state Senate is still held by the Republicans, and that's a key point, given a new proposal by Republican Texas Rep. Brian Harrison (TX-10).
His proposed last-minute move? The state legislature hasn't been handed off yet. Governor Abbott is still Governor, and Rep. Harrison is proposing to strip the governor's authority for emergency proclamations that would enable the incoming Democrat governor, Gina Hinojosa, to sidestep Texas laws.
Republican Texas state Rep. Brian Harrison on Wednesday publicly urged outgoing Gov. Greg Abbott to convene a special session to "rein in" the governor's executive emergency powers before Democratic Gov.-elect Gina Hinojosa takes office.
"Republicans lost last night, but Democrats were not sworn in," Harrison wrote in a lengthy statement posted on X. "We still have total power in Texas, and we must act like it by using the remaining ten weeks to restore separation of powers and limit the emergency powers that Governor-Elect Hinojosa is set to inherit, that would allow her to destroy liberty in Texas by executive fiat."
Harrison also emphasized in the post that he believes Texas governors should not have "unchecked" emergency powers, regardless of their party affiliation.
That last statement, that this is too much power for any governor, regardless of party, is the key one.
Now, Democrats will cry foul on this, claiming it's a Republican tactic to prevent Hinojosa from crying "emergency" to usher in all manner of progressive horse squeeze by diktat. And they'd be right. As we've seen many times in the past, when one of these people tells you what they intend to do, we should believe them — and the abuse of emergency proclamations is precisely what Governor-elect Hinojosa has said she'd do.
Under Section 433.002 of the Texas Government Code, the governor may issue emergency directives and "amend, modify, or rescind" those directives during a declared state of emergency, subject to the requirements outlined in the law.
"These powers have been abused in the past, and Governor-Elect Hinojosa has pledged to use them on day one," the Texas Republican added. "Republicans are still in control for ten weeks, we need to start acting like it."
Harrison also said in the X post that the Texas Legislature should "immediately pass" legislation such as HB911, which he filed in December 2022 to restrict the governor’s "never ending emergency powers."
Now, there is a caveat; while the Texas Disaster Act of 1975 does give the governor broad powers in the event of an emergency, those proclamations do have to be renewed every 30 days, and that authority can be withdrawn by the state legislature — which will be split between Democrats and Republicans, for the time being.
A policy of convenience today can be a dangerous pitfall the next, and this seems a case of that. Rep. Harrison is right; the Texas Legislature, in whatever rump session they have before January, should probably change the rules to rein in this power of the governors, because the incoming administration will only put it to bad use.