As the Texas House races toward its Thursday night deadline to pass House bills, lawmakers are now confronted with a predictably massive backlog—one largely of their own making.
Under House rules, any House bills not voted out by midnight on Thursday are officially dead. With a calendar now packed with over 400 bills, the odds are high that many measures, including key conservative priorities, will not make it across the finish line.
The logjam follows months of slow movement. Despite convening on January 14, the House did not pass its first bills until April 1. Even then, the calendar consisted of just four bills and two resolutions, none of which were considered major legislation.
In contrast, the Senate passed its first bill, a school choice measure later signed by Gov. Greg Abbott, back on February 5.
Early in the session, the House took frequent long weekends and delayed committee activity, a pace that has now come back to haunt the chamber as the deadline looms.
On Monday night, tensions boiled over as lawmakers debated whether to keep working. When a motion to adjourn was made around 10:45 p.m., State Rep. David Lowe called for a record vote. The motion passed 102-37, over the objections of several conservatives who argued that the House should have stayed late to tackle the mountain of remaining bills.
“I voted NOT to adjourn last night,” State Rep. Alan Schoolcraft posted on X. “Expect to hear, ‘We just ran out of time!’ as the excuse for conservative bills being killed.”
“Operation ‘run out the clock’ is in full swing,” commented State Rep. Tony Tinderholt.
“As tired as I am, I voted to stay and get more business of the House completed,” added State Rep. Janis Holt. “I hear the cries of our conservative bills as they languish and die.”
Meanwhile, Democrats have begun using a delaying tactic known as chubbing—a process whereby lawmakers intentionally prolong debate or discussion on bills to slow the legislative process and prevent other bills from being considered before the deadline.
With only hours left, the House faces a choice: speed up, or let the clock kill off dozens of conservative priorities.
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