Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is ratcheting up his feud with fellow Republican and acting Texas Comptroller Kelly Hancock, calling for Gov. Greg Abbott to remove him from office.
“It’s time for him to be fired,” Paxton wrote of Hancock.
Hancock, who administers that $1 billion program, initially blocked Islamic private schools from participating. But a federal judge stepped in, issuing a temporary ruling that allows them to participate. Families and schools sued the state earlier this month, saying the months-long exclusion amounted to religious discrimination.
“The question is not whether these schools should be able to participate… it is why they were able to operate in Texas in the first place,” Hancock wrote in the letter to Paxton that was first reported by the online news outlet Texas Bullpen.
Paxton responded on social media on Tuesday, reminding his followers that Hancock was in the Texas Senate in 2023 and was one of 14 members who voted to convict him during his impeachment trial.
“Kelly Hancock is a Never Trumper and an incompetent loser who’s an embarrassment to the position of Chief Clerk that he holds,” Paxton wrote on X.
While other elected officials might have issues with their fellow Republicans, Paxton has no fear getting very public about his disagreements when he thinks a Republican is being too moderate.
It all bears watching if Paxton wins a seat in the U.S. Senate. Republicans, if they retain the majority in the midterms, would likely have the thinnest of margins to pass legislation, requiring the GOP to stick together or find bipartisan agreements. In that regard, Paxton would lineup more with Republican senators like Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and Tom Cotton of Arkansas who traditionally have among the least bipartisan records in Congress, according to The Lugar Center in Washington, D.C., which tracks how often members work with the opposite party on legislation.