Dade Phelan

Voting rights

On August 12, 2021, Phelan signed arrest warrants for the 52 Democratic lawmakers who had left the state to deny a quorum. The lawmakers were attempting to block the passage of legislation considered by certain civil rights groups to restrict voting access to voters of color.^[6] During the House debate on the bill, Phelan banned Texas representatives from using the word "racism".^[7]

Call for resignation and Paxton impeachment

On May 19, 2023, a Republican-led House committee came public with an investigation into Ken Paxton that had been ongoing since March of that year.^[8] Paxton then called upon Phelan to resign due to "apparent debilitating intoxication" based on a video clip of Phelan struggling to speak during a House session.^[9][10] Phelan's office characterized Paxton's statement as "a last-ditch effort to save face" given the timing on the investigation into Paxton going public that same day. That investigation led to the House formally impeaching Paxton on May 27 by a vote of 121–23.^[11]

On September 16, 2023, Ken Paxton was acquitted of all sixteen corruption charges brought at the impeachment trial.^[12]

2024 election

On February 10, 2024, Phelan was censured by the Texas Republican Party for the impeachment of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.^[13] During the 2024 Republican primary, Phelan was endorsed by former Texas governor Rick Perry.^[14] He faced a primary challenge by David Covey, the former Republican Chairman of Orange County. Covey was endorsed by attorney general Paxton,^[15] lieutenant governor Dan Patrick, and former U.S. President Donald Trump.^[16] As no candidate received a majority of the vote in the first round, a runoff election was held. Phelan won the primary by 50.7% to Covey's 49.3%.^[17]

Phelan ran unopposed in the 2024 general election.^[18] After the election, he announced he would not seek a third term as Speaker of the House.^[19]

Artificial intelligence

During the 2025 Texas state legislative session, Phelan emphasized the urgency of Texas Senate Bill 20 to deal with A.I. and child pornography, adding that they need to "put some guardrails on it to where the public is being taken care of."^[20] The law creates new criminal offenses for those who possess, promote, or view visual material deemed obscene, which is said to depict a child, whether it is an actual person, animated or cartoon depiction, or an image of someone created through computer software or artificial intelligence.^[21]