Meet the Temp Boss, Same as the Old Boss

It seems that the autocratic style of Speaker Craddick has worn off on his lieutenant and speaker pro tempore, Rep. Sylvester Turner

On Sunday night Turner announced, unilaterally, that the House would be continuing past midnight; House chief Dem Rep Jim Dunnam, D-Waco, wanted to stay and finish the work, but Rep. Abel Herrero, D-Corpus Christi, called for an adjournment. Turner said that, even though Herrero was on the mic when he asked for an adjournment vote, he hadn't been recognized on that motion, so Turner chose to ignore it.

Dunnam seemed shocked that Turner did the legislative equivalent of sticking his fingers in his ears. "You really believe you don't have to hear a motion to adjourn?" he countered. Then he played parliamentarian himself, laying down House rules for Turner. "'Motions allowed during a debate: When a question is under debate, the following motions, and none other, shall be in order. And such motions shall have precedence in the following order. Number one, to adjourn.' And you're saying that you don't have to hear that?"

Dunnam then asked for an appeal of his ruling, and Turner said it was not a ruling, since he never accepted the motion. "What is it, Sylvester?" Dunnam retorted, "What is it?"

By this point, Dunnam himself had become so frustrated with Turner's behavior that he actually requested his own adjournment – which again Turner refused to hear.