Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) is asking the Texas Supreme Court to strip the alleged “ringleader” leading Texas Democrats of his elected office.
Abbott filed an emergency petition Tuesday to remove Democratic Texas House Minority Leader Gene Wu from his post. Texas Democrats have been away from their home state to deny Texas Republicans the quorum they need to vote on a GOP-friendly congressional map.
The governor previously threatened to arrest or remove from office the Democrats who had left the state, which includes Wu. Texas Democrats have gone to blue states such as Illinois, New York, and Massachusetts.
“Today I took emergency action to begin the removal from office of derelict Democrat Texas House members who refuse to show up for the special session,” Abbott said in a post on X announcing the lawsuit.
Wu publicly egged Abbott on to take their offices on Monday. “Frankly, Democrats say, ‘Come and take it,’” Wu told CNN. “No, it’s all bluster,” Wu said when asked if he thinks Abbott could successfully take away Texas Democrats’ seats. “Sound and fury signifying nothing.”
Wu appeared at a press conference with Gov. JB Pritzker (D-IL) on Sunday in Illinois. Pritzker said, “We’ve all got to stand up and do the right thing. Everything is on the table.”
Texas Democrats named Wu minority leader in January after he took office in 2013, representing a portion of Houston.
The lawsuit only names Wu and accuses him of abandoning his office. Abbott’s attorneys argue that Wu indicated his absence was planned, indefinite, and that he solicited and accepted funds to support his effort.
“What is at stake here? Nothing less than the future of Texas,” the lawsuit reads.
“If a small fraction of recalcitrant lawmakers choose to run out the clock today, they can do so for any, and every, Regular or Special Session, potentially bankrupting the State in an attempt to get their way. That means every state budget could be held hostage until the whims of a small fraction of legislators is satisfied. It doesn’t have to be that way,” they added.
They asked the court to make “clear that a legislator who does not wish to perform his duties will
be stripped of them.” Abbott’s representatives asked for a ruling by Thursday at 5 p.m.
ABBOTT UPS LEGAL, POLITICAL, AND PERSONAL PRESSURE ON TEXAS DEMOCRATS DEFYING REDISTRICTING
Wu says Texas Democrats’ decision to walk out did not come easily.
“This is not a choice that we take lightly,” Wu told CNN. “To be here in Chicago, we really didn’t have a choice. We tried to negotiate [with] Republicans. We tried to talk to them. We tried to reason with them. We tried to tell them that the public is very angry at what they’re doing, and they simply wouldn’t listen.”