In an interview with Spectrum News, Democrat Rep. Gene Wu, the Chair of the House Democrat Caucus, when asked about the Democrats' role in House committees, said this:

"I think what's going to be great is having vice chairs in those positions, in those committees that can call bills, that could set witnesses, that can do lots of different things that we couldn't do before."

The Republican Party of Texas had a legislative priority "No Democrat Chairs."

Instead, Democrats were made the chair of six sub-committees and the vice-chairs of every regular committee. By Rep. Wu's own admission, Democrats "can do lots of different things that we couldn't do before."

Speaker Burrows intentionally missed the point. "No Democrat Chairs" was a way of saying "Don't give the Democrats power." Thumbing his nose at Texas Republicans, Speaker Burrows loopholed his way into giving Democrats more power than they've had before as the minority.