{"id":487777,"date":"2026-11-06T05:00:39","date_gmt":"2026-11-06T05:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/487777\/"},"modified":"2026-11-06T05:00:39","modified_gmt":"2026-11-06T05:00:39","slug":"hinojosa-responds-to-republican-calls-to-limit-governors-powers-before-she-takes-office","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/487777\/","title":{"rendered":"Hinojosa responds to Republican calls to limit governor\u2019s powers before she takes office"},"content":{"rendered":"

AUSTIN, Texas \u2013 Texas Gov.-elect Gina Hinojosa is urging lawmakers to respect the results of Tuesday\u2019s election amid calls from at least one Republican legislator to restrict the governor\u2019s emergency powers before she takes office.<\/p>\n

During her first post-election news conference Thursday<\/a>, Hinojosa was asked whether she was concerned about Republican efforts to limit her authority ahead of the transition.<\/p>\n

Republican state Rep. Brian Harrison of Midlothian has called for a special legislative session to reconsider the governor\u2019s emergency powers.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udea8 I call on Gov. Abbott to IMMEDIATELY convene a special session to REIN IN EXECUTIVE EMERGENCY POWERS\u2026 before Gina Hinojosa is sworn in!<\/p>\n

Republicans lost last night, but Democrats were not sworn in.<\/p>\n

We still have total power in Texas, and we must act like it by using the remaining ten weeks to restore separation of powers and limit the emergency powers that Governor-Elect Hinojosa is set to inherit, which would allow her to destroy liberty in Texas by executive fiat.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve warned since I was first elected that NO governor, Republican or Democrat, should have unchecked emergency powers!<\/p>\n

Now that Texas has elected a Democrat Governor, the urgency is undeniable\u2026 and inaction is intolerable.<\/p>\n

Without action, Governor Hinojosa will inherit the powers of a DICTATOR.<\/p>\n

Due to the absurd (and almost certainly unconstitutional) Texas emergency powers laws, Gov. Hinojosa will literally have the power to modify laws, ignore laws, or create and enforce laws \u2013 including criminal laws \u2013 on a whim!<\/p>\n

Today is a day for ACTION, and bold leadership.<\/p>\n

The Texas Legislature must immediately pass, and Governor Abbott must sign, legislation like HB911, which I filed in 2022 and warned at the time, that \u201cNever ending emergency powers are antithetical to representative government and render people powerless. Legislative bodies allowing a single executive branch official to both write and enforce laws is the biggest threat to our constitutional system of divided government and should be opposed irrespective of which political party runs the executive branch.\u201d<\/p>\n

My legislation would protect liberty from executive fiat by, among other things, taking the following actions:<\/p>\n

1. Prohibit the Governor from suspending or modifying statutes<\/p>\n

2. Sunset emergency orders in 30 days if the legislature does not ratify the order<\/p>\n

3. Prohibit the governor from reissuing emergency orders that expired or the legislature rejected<\/p>\n

4. Require emergency orders to be narrowly tailored<\/p>\n

5. Subject emergency orders to expedited judicial review<\/p>\n

We have TEN WEEKS LEFT to protect Texas from near total Democrat rule.<\/p>\n

I encourage every elected Republican in Texas to join my demand for Gov. Abbott to call a special session.<\/p>\n

The future of liberty in America is literally on the line in Texas, and Texans deserve leadership that acts accordingly.<\/p>\n

@GregAbbott_TX<\/p>\n

\u2014 Brian Harrison (@brianeharrison) November 4, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Harrison has argued that Texas law gives governors too much authority during declared emergencies and has advocated restrictions on those powers.<\/p>\n

The proposal comes after Hinojosa defeated Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, although Harrison has maintained that limits on executive authority should apply regardless of who occupies the governor\u2019s office.<\/p>\n

Asked about the possibility of lawmakers attempting to restrict her authority, Hinojosa did not directly address Harrison or his proposal.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe people of Texas have spoken, and I think it\u2019s important that as elected leaders we respect what the people of Texas have said,\u201d Hinojosa said.<\/p>\n

She said Texans had voted for change and urged elected officials from both parties not to stand in the way of progress.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would hope that elected leaders from both parties don\u2019t get in the way of the progress we can make together to deliver for working people,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Any effort to change state law before Hinojosa takes office would require legislative action. Abbott would have to call a special session for lawmakers to consider such legislation before the next regular session.<\/p>\n

Hinojosa said she looks forward to working with Republican leaders in the Legislature after taking office in January.<\/p>\n

Start Here, Houston\"\"<\/p>\n

More Stories Like This In Our Email Newsletter<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"AUSTIN, Texas \u2013 Texas Gov.-elect Gina Hinojosa is urging lawmakers to respect the results of Tuesday\u2019s election amid…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":487778,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133,3099,6288,288,3496,27,5130,163644],"class_list":["post-487777","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-austin","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-news","tag-brian-harrison","tag-decision-2026","tag-elections","tag-gina-hinojosa","tag-texas","tag-texas-governor","tag-texas-governor-elect"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/487777","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=487777"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/487777\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/487778"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=487777"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=487777"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=487777"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}