The Texas House passed a motion Monday calling for the arrests of over 50 state Democrats who left the state and denied Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) a quorum for the day’s legislative session addressing mid-decade redistricting.
The chamber passed the motion, 85 to 6. The sergeant-at-arms is now “directed to send for all absentees whose attendance is not excused for the purpose of securing and maintaining their attendance, under warrant of arrest, if necessary, until further order of the House.”
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Members are expected to return to the state House on Tuesday at 1 p.m. The warrants, which Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows promised to sign, are largely symbolic as of now, as they only apply within state lines.
Texas Democrats, many of whom are temporarily staying in Chicago, Illinois, issued a one-sentence statement in lieu of threats of arrests and fines from Abbott and state Republicans: “Come and take it.”
Democrats fled Texas on Sunday ahead of Monday’s legislative session, during which Abbott called on Republicans to redraw the state’s congressional maps to add as many as five new congressional seats to assist in bolstering the GOP delegation in Congress.
Abbott has pledged to remove the lawmakers who left office, a move that is likely to be heavily scrutinized for legality.
“Texas House Democrats abandoned their duty to Texans,” Abbott said in a statement. “By fleeing the state, Texas House Democrats are holding hostage critical legislation to aid flood victims and advance property tax relief. There are consequences for dereliction of duty.”
“To ensure compliance, I ordered the Texas Department of Public Safety to locate, arrest, and return to the House chamber any member who has abandoned their duty to Texans,” the governor added. “This order will remain in effect until all missing Democrat House members are accounted for and brought to the Texas Capitol.”
At a press conference in Texas, Burrows responded to questions from the Texas Newsroom on whether he agreed with Abbott that, by leaving the state, Democrats have forfeited their offices.
“You have asked me a legal question,” he told the outlet. “As a lawyer, I try not to give legal answers without actually studying and knowing all of the facts in the law. What I can tell you is this, I appreciate the governor offering his full cooperation assistance in that of the DPS to help us do what we can do to establish quorum and basically fulfill our constitutional obligation of showing up and addressing the issues on the call.”
Burrows said the Texas Constitution says members “shall” show up, and the House “will complete its required duties,” whether tomorrow or next week.
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Several Democrats traveled to Illinois, while the remainder traveled to Boston and New York. Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) gave a press conference on Monday with the absentee state Democrats, praising them as “brave soldiers” of democracy and saying the redistricting plan on behalf of Republicans has started a “war.”
Democrats have not indicated that they plan on returning to the state anytime soon, though Hochul said the lawmakers in New York were leaving Monday. Leaders of the state Democratic caucus have said they are meeting with several Democratic governors across the country.