By Jack Phillips
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has ordered the arrest of Democratic lawmakers who left the state amid a vote on congressional districts.
“Texas House Democrats abandoned their duty and are holding flood relief and property tax cuts hostage,” Abbott said in a post to social media on Aug. 4.
In a separate post, Abbott said he directed the Texas Rangers to investigate the Democrats for potential violations of Texas law, including bribery. “Any Democrat who solicited or accepted funds to break quorum may have violated bribery laws,” he said.
His comments came after the Texas House of Representatives voted 85–6 to arrest the dozens of Democratic state lawmakers who weren’t present when the House went into session on Monday afternoon.
Republican House Speaker Dustin Burrows said on the floor he would immediately sign civil arrest warrants for the Democratic legislators who weren’t there.
Burrows said on the Texas House floor on Monday that “in response to this dereliction of duty, and 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 arrest of the members who have said they will not be here,” he said.
In words directed at the Democrats, he said: “Come back and fulfill your duty, because this House will not sit quietly, while you obstruct the work of the people. 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.”
Minutes after his speech, a motion passed in the Texas House to send out arrest warrants to Democrats who left the state.
A number of Democrats left Texas for Illinois and were welcomed by Gov. JB Pritzker, also a Democrat, while some are in Massachusetts or New York state, said officials. Meanwhile, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, warned that he could remove the Democrats who left the state from office.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a statement: “I am prepared to do everything in my power to hold them accountable because these liberal lawmakers are not above the law. It’s imperative that they be swiftly arrested, punished, and face the full force of the law for turning their backs on the people of Texas.”
The 150-member Texas House requires a quorum of two-thirds of its members, or 100 legislators, to conduct business. The absence of at least 51 Democratic lawmakers means the Republican-dominated House was unable to move forward with legislation.
More than 1,800 miles away from Austin, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, appeared with Texas Democrats and said that their cause should be national.
“We’re not going to tolerate our democracy being stolen in a modern-day stagecoach heist,” Hochul said on Monday, flanked by several of the lawmakers who left Texas.
“If Republicans are willing to rewrite rules to give themselves an advantage, then they’re leaving us with no choice: We must do the same. You have to fight fire with fire,” she added.
But Abbott said ahead of the scheduled session that lawmakers have “absconded” in violation of their sworn duties to the state.
“I believe they have forfeited their seats in the state Legislature because they are not doing the job they were elected to do,” he said in a Sunday Fox News interview, invoking his state’s hallmark machismo to call the lawmakers “un-Texan.”
Texas Democrats said they had no plans to heed the governor’s demands to return.
“He has no legal mechanism,” said Texas Rep. Jolanda Jones, one of the Democrat lawmakers who was in New York on Monday. “Subpoenas from Texas don’t work in New York, so he can’t come and get us. Subpoenas in Texas don’t work in Chicago. … He’s putting up smoke and mirrors.”
Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives held a press conference on Aug. 4 defending their counterparts in Texas.
“These are people that understand what it is to be a representative. They understand their constituencies, and instead of trying to stomp on them, they want to do everything that they can to stomp for them,” Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) said.
Sam Dorman and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
