Texas Supreme Court won’t rule for weeks on GOP requests to expel Democrats who left the state

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When House Democratic lawmakers left Texas to delay passage of a new congressional map, Gov. Greg Abbott took the unprecedented step of asking the Texas Supreme Court to expel their caucus leader from office. And he wanted it done quickly, asking the high court to rule just 48 hours after he filed.

On Monday, the court rebuked that proposed timeline, setting a three-week period of briefings from both sides. The schedule, which the court noted is expedited, anticipates final responses to be filed on Sept. 4, more than two weeks after the current special session is set to end.

Abbott touted this as a win, saying on social media that the briefing schedule brings the “ring leader of the derelict Democrats … closer to consequences.”

The high court consolidated Abbott’s suit against Houston Rep. Gene Wu, chair of the House Democratic Caucus, with a similar case from Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is asking to remove Wu and 12 other members. While Abbott and Paxton initially sparred over who had the legal standing to bring these suits, Paxton said Monday that he looked forward to fighting alongside Abbott to “hold these cowards accountable.”

A lawyer for Wu did not immediately respond to request for comment.

Dozens of House Democrats left the state Aug. 3 to shut down the Legislature and prevent the passage of the GOP’s new map. The effort to redraw Texas’ congressional districts came amid pressure from President Donald Trump, who wants five additional GOP seats to pad his party’s slim majority going into the 2026 midterms.

Democrats condemned the unusual mid-decade redo as a partisan power grab that will reduce the power of Black and Hispanic voters. But as the minority party, they have few tools to stop the map’s passage other than refusing to show up and denying the chamber the headcount needed to take up legislation, known as a quorum.

No Texas lawmaker has ever been removed from office solely for breaking quorum. Never in U.S. history has a governor gotten the courts to remove a member of a legislature for refusing to show up in protest of legislation.

Wu’s lawyers argue he is representing the will of his constituents by leaving the state to prevent legislation from passing that they oppose.

Wu “has not died and has not been expelled from the House by the constitutionally prescribed means: a 2/3 vote of the House,” his lawyers said in a brief. “His presence in another state is not a voluntary resignation — as his opposition to this petition makes evident.”

The Texas Supreme Court is made up entirely of Republicans and two-thirds of the members were initially appointed by Abbott. Two of them, including the chief justice, previously served as the governor’s general counsel.

“They have their own independent authority, of course, but it does put them in a tough political position,” Andrew Cates, an Austin-based attorney and expert on Texas ethics law, previously told The Texas Tribune. “They don’t want to be in the position of potentially biting the hand that initially fed them.”

This delayed schedule is likely to irritate some Republicans who want to see the Democrats swiftly removed from office. Abbott has said he is prepared to call as many special sessions as needed until the new congressional map passes. If the House cannot establish a quorum by Friday, Speaker Dustin Burrows said he would adjourn to allow the governor to call a new 30-day session.

But with the primary filing deadline swiftly approaching in December, and other election administrative deadlines as soon as Sept. 9, there are some limits on how long this saga can go before the maps become moot.

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