Paxton scolded for $40M transfer
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton violated his budget authority when he transferred $40 million of taxpayer money to cover pay raises for some members of his staff without approval of the Legislature or the governor, triggering an angry response from lawmakers on Wednesday.
“You know that I am not pleased,” Senate Finance chair Jane Nelson told Paxton during a meeting about the state budget. “We have an appropriations process for a reason. And if every agency did what yours did, General Paxton, we wouldn’t have a budget. We wouldn’t even need a budget.”
According to state budget officials, Paxton’s office in February 2020 moved money without authority for various expense items, including $8.5 million that was supposed to go to data center services. Some of that money was moved from capital project funds that are not supposed to be used for pay raises. That was a violation of Paxton’s budget transfer authority, according to officials
with the state’s Legislative Budget Board. The money funded raises for 1,884 employees in the child support division.
Nelson, a Republican from Flower Mound, made clear to Paxton it is the Legislature’s authority to consider pay raises from the various state agencies as part of the budget process, and it is not up to agency heads to make that call.
“I wish we had done that one differently,” Paxton conceded.
State Sen. Paul Bettencourt, RHouston, also pressed Paxton on the move, seeking assurances that it won’t happen again.
“After knowing more about that situation, I would say I’ve instructed my staff to make sure that doesn’t happen again,” Paxton said.
Paxton is facing deep cuts in his annual budget and a staffing reduction under the initial draft of the proposed state budget. According to the Senate’s proposed spending plan for the next two years, Paxton’s office would get $89 million less than he requested and lose 154 positions.
In an exchange with Democratic senators, Paxton also defended his failed lawsuit seeking to overturn Joe Biden’s election, saying the U.S. Supreme Court erred in its decision not to take the case.
Paxton asked lawmakers to restore funding for his office, pointing to $43 million he needs for a major antitrust lawsuit against Google. Paxton said he needs to fund outside experts and hire seasoned antitrust attorneys in the private sector to battle Google.
“I think it will be the largest antitrust case in the history of the world,” Paxton said. “It really is significant.”
Paxton said to go up against Google, he needs the best experts he can find.
“That’s literally the key to our case right now, making sure we have the right experts hired,” he said.
Texas and other states brought a lawsuit against Google in December, accusing the search giant of “anti-competitive conduct” in the online advertising industry, including conspiring with Facebook to manipulate auctions where ads were sold.
Paxton said every state is suing Google, but he’s convinced Texas has the best case and that it could yield billions for Texas.
But that request triggered questions from state Sen. Joan Huffman, R-Houston, who pointed out that Paxton has more than 4,000 employees on his staff, including over 700 lawyers.
“Then you have talented lawyers who are capable of handling these big cases, correct?” Huffman asked. Paxton replied: “If Google is going to have the very best lawyers that know antitrust, we wanted to be able to compete on the same playing field.”
Paxton’s push for funding comes at a tumultuous time for his office. On Oct. 1, seven top aides filed a complaint with law enforcement accusing him of abuse of office and accepting bribes. The FBI is investigating those accusations, which focus on his advocacy for Nate Paul, a friend and campaign donor.
At least two of the whistleblowers have been fired, exposing the state to potential liability for illegal retaliation.
Paxton addressed the lost attorneys briefly during his presentation.
“I have replaced the lawyers that have left with, I think, even better lawyers,” he said.
Wednesday’s hearing was the first in a series of budget deliberations that have to be completed by late May.