After a crushing midterm defeat, Texas Republicans are weighing how much authority their next governor should inherit after voters handed the office to a Democrat for the first time in three decades.

State Representative Brian Harrison has urged Governor Greg Abbott to call a special legislative session before Governor-elect Gina Hinojosa takes office in January. His proposed focus is emergency powers, which allow governors to exercise exceptional authority during declared crises.

Republicans have roughly ten weeks to act, Harrison wrote on X, arguing that they should use their remaining control of state government to restore the separation of powers. He warned that Hinojosa could otherwise use those powers to govern by executive decree.

The proposal revives arguments sharpened by pandemic restrictions, when conservatives challenged governors’ ability to impose sweeping rules without legislative approval. Hinojosa defeated Abbott in a historic upset and is set to become Texas’ first Hispanic governor. Republicans are expected to retain substantial legislative influence, so she is likely to face fierce opposition. Abbott has not announced a special session or publicly made a decision yet.

Conservatives have good reason to want emergency authority confined to genuine emergencies. Harrison’s proposal revives that argument, though pursuing it immediately after defeat makes the disparity between limiting government and limiting a Democratic successor harder to sustain. It is likely to face scrutiny…

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Substance matters more than the slogan. Requiring legislative approval to extend an emergency would distribute responsibility differently from restricting a governor’s ability to respond when disaster first strikes. Until Harrison specifies the proposed restrictions, their effect on the governor’s ability to respond to emergencies remains unclear.

Sweeping midterm defeats across the country for Republicans give the episode national significance, since Republicans are losing offices whose powers they may soon wish they had restrained. Democrats gaining those offices will have just as much incentive to defend the authority attached to them.

Texas could establish a useful precedent if lawmakers impose clear limits they would accept under either party. A hurried measure tailored to the incoming governor would instead encourage future majorities to expand executive authority in victory and dismantle it in defeat.

Emergency orders have the power to determine whether your business stays open, your children attend school, or public money moves without the usual legislative scrutiny. Requiring lawmakers to approve prolonged restrictions would give voters more representatives to hold accountable, while poorly drawn limits could also delay decisions when speed matters.

Any national consequence would emerge if other Republican legislatures adopted the same approach. Heavy Republican losses have created demand for safeguards against Democratic executives, but those safeguards would eventually bind Republican governors too.

Defeat has given Texas Republicans a reason to reconsider powers they left intact in office. They could use their remaining weeks to establish lasting legislative checks on emergency rule. Those checks would deserve conservative support even when they frustrate a future Republican governor. Otherwise, the principle amounts to little more than a preference for who holds the pen.