Former Attorney General Ken Paxton is now suspended without pay after impeachment
AUSTIN (KXAN) -- After former Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton was suspended last week after he was impeached from office, he will now be suspended with no pay, according to a letter from the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts.
On Saturday, the Texas House voted 121-23 to impeach Paxton.
The vote approved the 20 articles of impeachment that the House General Investigating Committee laid out Thursday. These articles were the result of a two-month investigation that began after Paxton asked to use state funds to settle a $3.3 million whistleblower lawsuit filed by four former employees who accused him of wrongdoing.
The letter from the Texas Comptroller said in part, "Per the Texas Constitution Article 15, Section 5, 'all officers against whom articles of impeachment may be preferred shall be suspended from the exercise of the duties of their office, during the pendency of such impeachment."
Furthermore, no salary payment may occur to Paxton while in suspended status, according to the Texas Comptroller.
Following the impeachment Saturday, the Attorney General’s office released a statement saying, in part, “the Texas House chose to proceed with the illegal impeachment of Attorney General Paxton.”
The impeachment results in Paxton’s suspension from his role, which gave Gov. Greg Abbott the opportunity to appoint someone as the interim attorney general.
On Wednesday, former Texas Secretary of State John Scott was appointed by Abbott as interim attorney general.
Scott is a Fort Worth attorney with over 34 years of experience, according to a release from Abbott’s office.
He most recently served as the secretary of state, but resigned from the role of Texas’ top elections official at the end of 2022.