Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Wednesday called for the removal of Acting Texas Comptroller Kelly Hancock following a sharp exchange over a school choice case tied to alleged terrorism concerns.
“Kelly Hancock is a Never Trumper and an incompetent loser who’s an embarrassment to the position of Chief Clerk that he holds,” Paxton wrote in a public post. “To protect Texans’ tax dollars, I am officially calling for Governor Abbott to immediately replace him with the person Texans actually voted for to be Comptroller, Don Huffines.”
Kelly Hancock is a Never Trumper and an incompetent loser who's an embarrassment to the position of Chief Clerk that he holds.
To protect Texans' tax dollars, I am officially calling for Governor Abbott to immediately replace him with the person Texans actually voted for to be… https://t.co/P5JXJZZy4P
— Attorney General Ken Paxton (@KenPaxtonTX) March 25, 2026
The dispute escalated after a letter from Hancock to Paxton was made public. The document was first shared by Brad Johnson, who reported that the comptroller’s office urged legal action against Houston Quran Academy and criticized Paxton’s handling of the case.
In the March 24 letter, Hancock called on Paxton to take “immediate steps to strip the corporate charter” of the school and present additional evidence in federal court regarding alleged ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.
The letter follows a recent federal court ruling involving Texas’ Education Freedom Accounts (TEFA) program.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, a federal judge ordered the state to extend the application deadline and allow certain Islamic schools — including Houston Quran Academy — to participate temporarily while litigation continues.
That ruling stems from multiple lawsuits alleging Islamic schools were improperly excluded from the $1 billion program. Plaintiffs argue the exclusions violate constitutional protections, while state officials have defended the policy on national security grounds.
Federal officials earlier this year designated multiple branches of the Muslim Brotherhood as terrorist organizations for providing material support to Hamas, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott has also defended the exclusion, writing, “We don’t want school choice funds going to radical Islamic indoctrination with historic connections to terrorism.”
Hancock argued the court may not have been given sufficient information about the school’s alleged connections, writing, “The court cannot protect against threats it does not know exist.”
He also pressed Paxton’s office to take broader action, including dissolving entities with alleged ties to terrorism and enforcing state laws aimed at restricting foreign adversaries from operating in Texas.
“As far as I am aware, you have not done so. Instead, the Fifth Circuit recently concluded there was not a single step that the Attorney General has taken to enforce SB 17, and pointed to the threshold step of ‘setting procedures for potential prosecution.’”
Paxton responded forcefully, accusing Hancock of political motives and referencing his impeachment fight.
“Kelly Hancock was rejected by Texans because he failed to do his job. He failed to take me down during impeachment, and his career is over,” Paxton wrote.
The exchange highlights growing tensions between two top Texas officials over school choice funding, national security concerns, and the scope of state authority.
Neither Abbott nor Hancock’s office has publicly responded to Paxton’s call for removal.
The Dallas Express will continue to follow this developing story and provide updates as it unfolds.