Live updates: Now impeached, Ken Paxton blasts House vote

State Rep. Andrew S. Murr, R-Junction, chair of the General Investigating Committee, lays out articles of impeachment against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Saturday. (Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune)

Texas House votes to impeach Attorney General Ken Paxton

May 27, 2023 at 4:38 p.m.

In a history-making late-afternoon vote, a divided Texas House chose Saturday to impeach Attorney General Ken Paxton, temporarily removing him from office over allegations of misconduct that included bribery and abuse of office.

The vote to adopt the 20 articles of impeachment was 121-23, with three members absent.

Attention next shifts to the Texas Senate, which will conduct a trial with senators acting as jurors and designated House members presenting their case as impeachment managers.

Permanently removing Paxton from office and barring him from holding future elected office in Texas would require the support of two-thirds of senators.

Speaker Phelan, most Republicans and all Collin County lawmakers supported impeachment

May 27, 2023 at 6:10 p.m.

The vote to impeach Attorney General Ken Paxton included some particularly notable officials — all five of the representatives from Collin County — where Paxton and his wife have lived for decades — voted in favor, as did House Speaker Dade Phelan and another two-thirds of the House’s GOP majority.

In a statement after the vote, the Collin County cohort explained their decision, which they said they “wish we didn’t have to make."

“This was an incredibly difficult vote, as, for most of us, Ken has been a longtime friend,” the representatives said. But “after hours of review and deliberation — and upon a thorough analysis of the relevant law — it became clear to us that sufficient evidence indeed exists to vote to commend articles of impeachment to the Texas Senate for a full-trial.” —Robert Downen