Lawmakers and grassroots activists are calling for House Speaker Dade Phelan to resign or be forced from office over his role in the impeachment proceedings against Attorney General Ken Paxton. The Senate exonerated Paxton over the weekend, and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said the flawed process employed by Phelan should never have taken place.
Yesterday, we asked readers: if Phelan does not resign, should Republican House members expel him from office when the planned special session on school choice convenes next month?
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Here is a sampling of the comments we received from our readers after they voted in the survey.
“If he’s not stopped now, what’s Dade Phelan going to do next?” – Michelle Lantz
“The ‘tit-for-tat’ needs to stop. One foolish impeachment attempt was enough. The governor and the legislature need to focus on real problems like stopping “health” tyranny and dealing with the invasion at the border.” – Stan Martin
“A Phelan resignation is not very likely, but his ousting is long overdue.” – Michele Ward
“Yes, Phelan should be removed as Speaker of the House. He is in no way a Republican, but a swamp-dwelling Democrat. Boot him out.” – Rick Wisdom
“I don’t understand why the Republicans are always so spineless to do what needs to be done.” – June Moore
“With so many Republicans in the House accepting significant campaign contributions from Phelan, there may not be enough representatives with the courage to remove him.” – Richard Steenson
“Phelan should be removed or forced to resign for certain. The Paxton impeachment debacle is just one of many reasons why. Texas needs a true, Republican speaker of the house.” – Cathy Blake
“Does the game warden require a license for RINO hunting?…..asking for a friend and all conservatives in Texas.” – Cecil Mardis
“When ultra-conservative Republicans run everyone out of the party they consider RINOs they will be unable to win an election and will become irrelevant.” – James Smith
“Dade Phelan should resign, but clearly, by their statements, he and his cohorts are just doubling down.” – Carol Spencer
“Dade Phelan has proven to be absolutely worthless to the conservative cause. He does not support the Texas Republican effort. Get rid of him.” – Charles Busbey
“Phelan is a disgrace! He should be removed from office and never allowed to hold public office.” – Meg Comstock
“Not only does Phelan need to go, but also his enablers. The House managers might be a start, and the Dirty Dozen featured in The Heist. Who will step in and primary these people out of office?” –Adam Sanford
“If I wanted communists to run the state, I’d vote Dhimmicrat.” – Corey Mayo
“Absolutely, Dade Phelan needs to be removed from office! He has been ineffective as Speaker at best. He is lazy, concerned about his own position rather than the citizens of the state of Texas, he really shouldn’t even run under a Republican platform as he loves to be in bed with the Democrats.” – Rhonda Rice
“Yes! Dan Phelan needs to go along with many Texas House members who are failing to do their jobs.” – Patty Carter
“Dade Phelan must be removed from office. However, great care should be taken in selecting a new speaker. With all the RINOS in the House, we could easily end up with a worse speaker, as was the case with Phelan.” – Reed Vestal
“Dade Phelan believes he rules the legislators in the Texas House. In reality, most of our GOP reps allow him to because of fear and not getting committee assignments.” – Cyndie Lasher
“Expelling Phelan would be a start. Murr needs to go, too. If they want to stay in politics, then run for reelection as the Democrats they are.” – Karole Fedrick
“Dade Phelan absolutely has to go. Kerr County has joined other Texas counties in passing a resolution of censure against the Speaker for his opposition to the core principles of the RPT Platform and Legislative Priorities adopted at the most recent State Convention.” – Helen Herd
“The House Speakership should be wrested from Dade Phelan for many reasons, not just for the secret investigation of Attorney General Paxton and ramming the impeachment of the AG through the House without following precedent.” – Linda Simcox
“Not only should Phelan resign, there should be steps taken to break up the whole cabal of Republican reps who are really Democrats or rhinos at best.” – Sam Sorrell
“This was such a waste of taxpayer money and time that could have been spent taking care of real business in Texas.” – Sherry Ayres
“Yes, Phelan should be removed. He needs to be the example of the consequences of failing to legislate the direction Texans desire.” – Steve Crevier
“Dade Phelan should have been removed way before this sham impeachment. He has never represented the Republican Party. I want him gone.” – Corrine Jung
“Drunk Dade Phelan should absolutely be removed from office should he choose not to retain what little dignity he has left intact and resign. His reckless, inept, and corrupt ‘leadership’ has subverted conservative legislative priorities at every turn, and he has been a complete embarrassment to the great state of Texas.” – Shilo Platts
“What do you expect when you put a RINO in charge. He needs to go and take his cronies with him.” – Curtis Simpson
“Dade Phelan has worked very hard against Republican and Conservative platforms. At last year’s GOP convention, we clearly laid out our priorities – all of which he ignored. Also, I know I would have been FIRED for drinking on the job. Phelan is a boil on Texas’s butt” – Diana Allen
“Phelan should go because he consistently ignores the Republican Party priorities and led a failed impeachment process! Also, I hope we also remember the current House members who voted for the impeachment of Paxton at the poll!” – George McClure
