Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday ordered the civil arrest of Democratic lawmakers who fled the state to block a vote on a Republican-backed congressional redistricting plan, escalating a standoff that has stalled the legislative session.
The absence of the Democratic lawmakers broke quorum, which meant the House did not have enough members present to hold a debate on a bill to redraw the state's congressional districts to add five seats favoring Republicans. That prompted a Republican-backed motion for their civil arrests.
"In response to this dereliction of duty," House Speaker Dustin Burrows said Monday, "in pursuant to the rules of the House, I am prepared to recognize a motion to place a call on the House and any other motions necessary to compel the return of absent members. Should such a motion prevail, I will immediately sign the warrants for the civil arrests of the members who have said they will not be here."
Minutes after the session adjourned, Abbott made a post on his X account with a "Breaking News" banner saying he had ordered the arrest of Democrats who fled the state.
Abbott ordered the Texas Department of Public Safety to "locate, arrest and return any House member who abandoned their duty to Texans;" however, Texas DPS has no jurisdiction out of state. A civil arrest would force the lawmakers back to the Capitol.
Abbott threatens removal from office as Texas Democrats block redistricting vote by breaking quorumGov. Greg Abbott said he'll begin to remove Democratic lawmakers from office if they don't return after dozens of them fled the state in a last-resort attempt to block the redrawing of U.S. House maps that President Trump wants before the 2026 midterm elections, although the legal justification for that is shaky.
"To those who are absent: return now," Burrows said. "Show the courage to face the issues you were elected to solve, come back and fulfill your duty. Because this House will not sit quietly while you obstruct the work of the people."
Rep. Charlie Geren, R-Fort Worth, motioned for the "Sergeant of Arms, or officers appointed by her, send for all absentees who attendance is not excused for the purpose of securing and maintaining their attendance under warrant of arrest if necessary, and this order to be continued beyond the adjournment of today's session and until the further order of the House."
The motion passed with a vote of 85 to 6.
"The people of Texas are watching and so is the nation, and if you choose to continue down this road, you should know there will be consequences," Burrows said.
"This is not normal," Democratic Rep. Ann Johnson said in an interview with CBS News. "Do not think that we can turn into a nation where you arrest and jail your political opposition for not only rendering their voice for the people, but doing something that is protected by the Texas Constitution. A quorum break is written into the Texas Constitution. It is a tool our founding fathers gave us. The threat of arrest is something that should be a red alarm for a lot of folks."
Texas Democratic legislators flee state to protest GOP's redistricting planState House Democrats went to Illinois or New York on Sunday, and Abbott gave them a 24-hour ultimatum to come home, ratcheting up a widening fight over congressional maps that began in Texas but has drawn in Democratic governors who have floated the possibility of rushing to redraw their own state's maps in retaliation. Their options, however, are limited.
At the center of the escalating impasse is Mr. Trump's pursuit of adding five more GOP-leaning congressional seats in Texas before next year that would bolster his party's chances of preserving its slim U.S. House majority.
"Greg Abbott is trying to silence the voices of Texans and prevent them from picking the elected officials of their choice, and now he's literally saying he's going to remove the representatives that the people have put into office," said Democratic State Rep. James Talarico. "So he's taken a page of Donald Trump's authoritarian playbook, and it's something we should all protect."
The new congressional maps drawn by Texas Republicans would create five new Republican-leaning seats. Republicans currently hold 25 of the state's 38 seats.
A vote on the proposed maps had been set for Monday in the Texas House of Representatives, but it cannot proceed if the majority of Democratic members deny a quorum by not showing up. After one group of Democrats landed in Chicago on Sunday, they were welcomed by Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, but declined to say how long they were prepared to stay out of Texas.
"We will do whatever it takes. What that looks like, we don't know," said state Rep. Gene Wu, the Texas House Democratic Caucus leader.
But legislative walkouts often only delay passage of a bill, including in 2021 when many of the same Texas House Democrats left the state for 38 days in protest of new voting restrictions. Once they returned, Republicans still wound up passing that measure.
Four years later, Abbott is taking a far more aggressive stance and swiftly warning Democrats that he will seek to remove them from office if they are not back when the House reconvenes Monday afternoon. He cited a non-binding 2021 legal opinion issued by Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton, which suggested a court could determine that a legislator had forfeited their office.
He also suggested the lawmakers may have committed felonies by raising money to help pay for fines they'd face.
"This truancy ends now," Abbott said.
In response, House Democrats issued a four-word statement: "Come and take it."
The state of the voteLawmakers can't pass bills in the 150-member Texas House without at least two-thirds of them present. Democrats hold 62 of the seats in the majority-Republican chamber and at least 51 left the state, said Josh Rush Nisenson, spokesperson for the House Democratic Caucus.
Republican House Speaker Dustin Burrows said the chamber would still meet as planned on Monday afternoon.
"If a quorum is not present then, to borrow the recent talking points from some of my Democrat colleagues, all options will be on the table. . .," he posted on X.
Paxton, who is running for U.S. Senate, said on X that Democrats who "try and run away like cowards should be found, arrested, and brought back to the Capitol immediately."
Fines for not showing upA refusal by Texas lawmakers to show up is a civil violation of legislative rules. The Texas Supreme Court held in 2021 that House leaders had the authority to "physically compel the attendance" of missing members, but no Democrats were forcibly brought back to the state after warrants were served that year. Two years later, Republicans pushed through new rules that allow daily fines of $500 for lawmakers who don't show up for work as punishment.
The quorum break will also delay votes on flood relief and new warning systems in the wake of last month's catastrophic floods in Texas that killed at least 136 people. Democrats had called for votes on the flooding response before taking up redistricting and have criticized Republicans for not doing so.
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