TEXAS – Texas's new Secretary of State, David Whitley, will go before the Senate Nominations Committee for a confirmation hearing on Thursday.
- Texas Secretary of State goes before Senate for confirmation hearing
- His office connected to non-citizen voter list
- List included people who already become citizens
Historically, these hearings fly through the Senate, but that might not be the case this time. Whitely is connected to the non-citizen voter list that was released last month, naming 95,000 people whose U.S. citizenship was called into question after they voted.
The list happened to include people who already became citizens when they cast their ballot legally. When confronted about the discovery, Whitley denied that his office made the mistakes.
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Whitley is expected to publicly address the issue at his confirmation hearing. He was first questioned about the findings at Gov. Abbott's State of the State address on Tuesday, where he denied the claims and refused to provide a comment.
The list could put a wrench on Whitley's chances of being confirmed. Once cleared by the Senate Nominations Committee, the full Senate will have to vote on it.
While Republicans make up more than half of the Senate, Whitley needs two-thirds of the vote to secure his seat, which means he needs support from the Democrats.
Three groups have sued Whitley due to the list: the American Civil Liberties Union, the League of United Latin American Citizens and the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Education Fund. LULAC’s case will be first to go before the judge, scheduled for February 19.
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