Texas GOP Just Shot Themselves in the Foot
An overlooked detail about last night.
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Last night, Sen. John Cornyn lost to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in the Republican primary for Cornyn’s seat.
Trump endorsed Paxton despite Cornyn attempting in recent months to move heaven and earth to prove his fealty to Trump. It did not work. He was insufficiently subservient compared to Paxton, who is deeply corrupt and openly clownish but slavishly devoted to Trump’s brand.
One thing that won’t get enough attention about Cornyn’s loss to Paxton is that—no matter what happens in November—Texas Republicans just willingly gave up seniority in the Senate, one of the most prized currencies in federal politics.
Let me explain what I mean...
When senators (and House members) get to D.C. for a new congressional session, both parties have to organize their power structure: rules, leadership posts, committee assignments, etc.
New members of the House and Senate have the least power and more senior members have the most power in the form of more privileges.
Some of these are less important: better offices, etc.
But the biggest is that they have more say in committee assignments and subsequently more power on those committees.
Committee assignments are capital. They’re budget capital. They’re media capital. They’re procedural capital. They’re institutional knowledge capital.
A new senator comes in, hopes and prays for a great committee assignment, and stays on for decades hoping to become chair of that committee.
You don’t get to be chair based solely on seniority. The other members of the committee (members of your party) elect you chair, but seniority is typically the biggest factor. By far. By a mile.
For example, take the late Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia. He entered the Senate in 1959 (age 41) and his tenure ended with his death in 2010 (age 92).
51 years. The longest-serving senator in history. Spanned from Eisenhower to Obama.
It took Byrd three decades of sticking with it, but he finally became Chair of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee in 1989.
Three decades of accumulated capital: networking and jockeying and dealmaking and favors upon favors collected from others on Capitol Hill.
So, when he finally became Chair of Appropriations, what did Robert Byrd do with his seniority and collection of IOUs?
He used the committee to steer federal funding to West Virginia. A lot of it. A ton. Over his career, Byrd personally steered billions and billions in federal funding to WV.
And he was criticized for it! People rightly slammed him as a champion of pork barrel politics.
Do you think he cared?
No, he was there to advocate for West Virginians. And he did. And that’s the biggest reason why this traditionally GOP state kept sending back this Democrat to the Senate.
But it took three decades in the Senate just to get to that position of power. The people of West Virginia had to elect him SIX times (!!!) over 30 years just to achieve that seniority.
Think about that. Think about all the shit that happens in 30 years before power finally becomes fully-formed.
Political capital is what matters most in D.C.
Trading votes, who gets to speak and when, who gets which committee assignments, etc., and all of it—in some way, shape, or form—comes back to seniority.
John Cornyn has been in the Senate for 24 years. There are only four Senate Republicans ahead of him in seniority: Chuck Grassley, Mitch McConnell, Susan Collins, and Mike Crapo.
McConnell is out next year. Collins is probably out next year, too. And Grassley is 92.
At minimum, Cornyn was most likely going to move to third on the GOP seniority list in January. If Grassley retired, he’d move to second. Hell, who knows, maybe Crapo (age 75) might call it quits in the next few years, and then, Cornyn is top of seniority.
The Texas GOP was on the cusp of having one of the most senior U.S. senators in their party. Enormous capital for the state.
Federal projects? Military base closures? No problem, the senior senator from Texas has enough leverage to move things around.
That’s now gone. Poof. Just like that.
And what did the Texas GOP get in return in the best case scenario?
If Paxton wins, he’ll be a freshman senator who is deeply unlikable, doesn’t work well with others, and has very little seniority.
If Democrats win the Senate, the hopes of Texas Republicans rest on Ted Cruz, who is 19th in seniority among Senate Republicans and not very likable among his colleagues in a party out of power.
Yikes.
No matter what happens, the Texas GOP just shot themselves in the foot and gave away a ton of power because their Cult Daddy ordered it.
Embarrassing.
Excellent point. I had not thought about this but it makes sense. Trump does not have any strategy. He makes decisions based on how much loyalty he perceives the other person is giving him, and whether he can manipulate that person. I think this is why other Congressional Republicans were upset with Trump's endorsement. But, they have no one to thank but themselves.
Fantastic! This makes my day. Thank you, Charlotte!