Texas House issues arrest warrants for Democrats who left state to block congressional redistricting

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The Texas House voted Monday afternoon to track down and arrest more than 50 Democratic lawmakers who were not present when the chamber gaveled in. After the 85-6 vote, House Speaker Dustin Burrows said he would immediately sign civil warrants for each of the legislators, empowering the chamber’s sergeant-at-arms and state troopers to arrest and bring them to the Capitol.

They will not face civil or criminal charges from the arrests. The warrants apply only within state lines, making them largely symbolic as most of the legislators in question decamped to Illinois, New York and Massachusetts to forestall passage of the GOP’s proposed redraw of Texas’ congressional map.

The House used the same tactic to try to force Democrats back to work in 2021, when a majority of them left for Washington, D.C., to protest GOP voting restrictions. Some of the lawmakers challenged the warrants in court, obtaining an injunction against arrests that was later struck down by the Texas Supreme Court.

While the Texas Constitution “enables ‘quorum-breaking’ by a minority faction of the legislature, it likewise authorizes ‘quorum-forcing’ by the remaining members,” the court ruled.

Rep. Charlie Geren, a Republican from Fort Worth, laid the groundwork for the warrants by motioning for a “call of the House,” which requires all members to stay within the chamber unless excused. Any members not present can be “sent for and arrested, wherever they may be found,” by the sergeant-at-arms, according to House rules.

Gov. Greg Abbott said in a statement he had mobilized the Texas Department of Public Safety to assist in the effort to bring the missing members back to the chamber.

Democrats left the state Sunday afternoon to deny the House a quorum — the number of people necessary for the chamber to advance legislation — and delay passage of a new congressional map.

The current congressional map, drawn by a Republican-dominated Legislature in 2021, has netted 25 GOP seats in the last two elections. But after pressure from President Donald Trump’s team, Gov. Greg Abbott directed lawmakers to redraw the map during the special legislative session, which started July 21. Last week, the House proposed new congressional lines dividing up existing districts in Austin, Houston and Dallas with the aim of netting five more Republican seats.

“This is not a decision we make lightly, but it is one we make with absolute moral clarity,” state Rep. Gene Wu, chair of the House Democratic Caucus, said in a statement Sunday, accusing Abbott of “using an intentionally racist map to steal the voices of millions of Black and Latino Texans, all to execute a corrupt political deal.”

On the House floor Monday, Burrows condemned the members who had left, saying they had “shirked their responsibilities,” and thanked the 90 members who were present.

“You understand that the issues before us, disaster recovery, fighting for the families who lost loved ones in the floods, human trafficking and more, are not abstract policy debates,” Burrows said. “Instead of confronting those challenges, some of our colleagues have fled the state and their duty.”

The departed House members will face fines of $500 for each day that they miss, as well as the threat of reprimand, censure and expulsion, although that would require a two-thirds vote among members.

Abbott said Sunday evening that if the Democrats did not return to Austin by 3 p.m. Monday, he would begin the legal process to have their seats declared vacant. This would be an unprecedented and, legal experts say, likely futile effort requiring individual lawsuits against each member and new elections to fill their seats.

At a press conference after the House adjourned, Burrows declined to comment on whether he agreed that removal was a viable option.

“As a lawyer, I try not to give legal answers without actually studying and knowing all of the facts and the law,” he said.

Some Republicans demanded Burrows strip Democrats of their roles as vice-chairs of House committees, remove them from chamber seniority and kick them out of their offices, or even consider redrawing state House maps to disadvantage Democratic districts.

The House adjourned without taking any further action against the Democrats, who have vowed to stay out-of-state long enough for the 30-day special session to expire in two weeks.

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