AUSTIN — Former President Donald Trump is threatening political consequences for House Speaker Dade Phelan if he doesn’t quickly advance a bill allowing for more audits of the 2020 election.
In a statement on Saturday, Trump accused Phelan of not “fighting for the people of Texas.”
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“If this doesn’t pass soon, we look forward to seeing him in the Texas primary. It will get done one way or the other!” Trump said, hours before he headed to Iowa for a political rally.
A spokesman for Phelan, R-Beaumont, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Last month, Trump began pressuring Texas leaders, including Gov. Greg Abbott, for an audit of the state’s 2020 election, which he carried by some 6 percentage points.
He dismissed a plan by the Secretary of State’s office to audit four urban counties, calling it “weak.” Instead, Trump has thrown his weight behind legislation that would let party leaders request audits in more counties and set up a process for future reviews.
The bill cleared the Senate last week in a largely party line vote. One Republican, Amarillo Sen. Kel Seliger, voted against it. Trump has since endorsed one of his primary challengers.
While the bill is now in the House, its outcome is uncertain. Abbott, who controls the special session agenda, has not added an election audit to the list of bills up for debate.
After losing the presidency almost a year ago, Trump has continued to say the election was stolen, even after dozens of judges and his own Justice Department have dismissed the allegation as baseless. In Texas, the Secretary of State’s office has called the 2020 election “smooth and secure.”
Trump also urged Phelan to increase the penalties for illegal voting back to what they were before Abbott last month signed a GOP-backed elections bill into law. Some Republicans said it was a mistake to drop them. Abbott added the issue to the special session agenda last week.
The elections bill created new criminal offenses and enhanced penalties for some that already exist. But it lowered the penalty for illegal voting from a second-degree felony to a Class A misdemeanor.
Last week, Phelan said “now is not the time to re-litigate” the election bill, which took months to pass because House Democrats fled the Capitol twice in a bid to block it.
The current special session, the year’s third, must end by midnight Oct. 19.
Trump has already endorsed Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who presides over the Senate.
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