Brian Harrison Wants a Special Session to Limit Governor Emergency Powers Before Hinojosa Takes Office
The Midlothian Republican asked Abbott to call lawmakers back and pass limits like his failed 2023 bill. Nathan Johnson called the push irresponsible. Abbott has not answered.
Less than a day after Democrat Gina Hinojosa beat Gov. Greg Abbott, state Rep. Brian Harrison of Midlothian asked Abbott to call a special session and cut the emergency powers any Texas governor can use. Harrison says the next governor should not inherit authority he has long called too broad. Attorney General-elect Nathan Johnson called the push irresponsible. Abbott had not answered publicly as of early Friday.
The dispute is about who writes the rules when a disaster is declared. Under the Texas Disaster Act of 1975, a governor can issue executive orders with the force of law and suspend certain statutes and agency rules that get in the way of emergency response. Those proclamations last 30 days and can be renewed. Abbott used that toolkit for years on the border, fuel prices and other emergencies. Hinojosa will be sworn in Jan. 19, 2027. The regular legislative session starts about a week earlier.
Power without clear limits tempts rulers of every party. Scripture warns kings not to multiply horses and silver for themselves. Texans who cheered Abbott's emergency orders should ask the same question Harrison asks now: should any one officeholder suspend statutes for months without a vote of the people's House and Senate?
What Harrison wants changed
According to USA TODAY, Harrison sent Abbott a letter dated Nov. 4 and launched a petition. He wants legislation like House Bill 911, which he filed for the 2023 session. That bill would have limited a governor's power to suspend laws, put time limits on emergency orders and given the Legislature a clearer oversight role. It did not pass when a Republican held the office.
FOX 4 quoted language from Harrison's earlier bill: never-ending emergency powers are antithetical to representative government. In a Zoom interview with the station, Harrison said that if Abbott wants to do one final good thing for Texas, he should convene the Legislature so Hinojosa does not inherit what Harrison called the powers of a dictator. He also wants to bar governors from suspending or modifying statutes.
Only Abbott can call a special session. The Texas Constitution requires the governor to state the purpose in the proclamation. Lawmakers then may act only on that call. Republicans still hold the Senate, 19-12, after Tuesday's election, as Dock Line reported in its look at divided government in Austin. The House flipped to Democrats. A special session called before January would meet a different House membership than the one seated for the regular session.
Pushback and the consistency test
Johnson told FOX 4 the idea is the wrong approach. He said Harrison treats the election as a calamity that justifies anything to keep power, and that an overwhelming public vote would not welcome a last-minute rewrite of the office. TCU political scientist Keith Gaddie told the station that other states have seen similar moves, but that with split control it can make sense to leave institutions alone because each side may want those tools later.
Harrison's own record matters here. He says he warned for years that no governor, Republican or Democrat, should hold these powers. That is the right principle if it is sincere. The hard part is that HB 911 did not move when Abbott was the beneficiary. Conservatives who suddenly discover the Disaster Act only after a Democrat wins look opportunistic. Conservatives who meant it all along should keep saying so when their own side holds the pen.
Hinojosa has already promised aggressive use of executive power, including a high-cost emergency order on gas taxes and electricity rates and a pause on new data centers until lawmakers write new rules. Dock Line covered her transition team and early staffing moves. If Republicans truly want narrower emergency authority, the cleanest path is a statute that binds every future governor, not a revenge session that lasts only until the next flip.
What to watch next
Watch whether Abbott answers Harrison at all. Watch whether Senate Republicans treat emergency-power limits as a priority alongside any push to rewrite rules that now empower Lt. Gov.-elect Vikki Goodwin. Watch whether House Democrats, once seated, take up the same limits they might have preferred during COVID and the border declarations.
Limited government is not a slogan for one party. If Texas is going to live under divided control, clear statutes beat improvisation. Ten weeks remain before the oath. Use them to write laws that outlast whoever sits in the mansion, or admit the current Disaster Act is the system both sides are willing to keep when it suits them.
Hero photo: The Texas State Capitol in Austin. Only the governor can call a special session. File photo. Photo: LoneStarMike / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0.
