It’s unclear how far Republican leadership plans to take the arrests, and there remains debate about the limits of law enforcement’s authority to detain lawmakers who are not accused of committing crimes.
Dade Phelan
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Texas Legislature 2021
Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan signs 52 arrest warrants for absent Democrats in bid to end chamber’s weekslong stalemate
The Texas Supreme Court earlier Tuesday ruled that Democrats who refuse to show up could be detained by law enforcement and brought back to the state Capitol.
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Texas Legislature 2021
Texas Supreme Court allows for arrest of Democrats who don’t show up to Legislature
The Texas Supreme Court voided a lower court ruling that blocked the arrests of the Democrats who don’t show up for the year’s second special legislative session.
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Texas Legislature 2021
Texas House, just shy of a quorum, issues order to lock members inside the chamber
This is the second time in recent weeks the majority Republican House has voted to issue a “call of the House,” though members on Monday did not offer or debate a motion to enable law enforcement to track down members still missing from the chamber.
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Texas Legislature 2021
Speaker Dade Phelan signs civil arrest warrant for Texas House Democrat who returned to Washington
The warrant to apprehend state Rep. Philip Cortez is the first one signed by the speaker since more than 50 House Democrats left the state to block Republicans from having the quorum needed to pass legislation during the special legislative session.
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Texas Legislature 2021
Texas House Speaker offers Democrats free plane ride home to return to state
The plane will be on standby at Dulles International Airport, and Dade Phelan’s team said his political campaign, not taxpayers, will pay for the flight.
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Texas Legislature 2021
El Paso Democrat Joe Moody stripped of leadership position in Texas House after leaving state with Democrats
Moody, one of House Speaker Dade Phelan’s closest Democratic allies, is the first Democrat to suffer political backlash after the quorum break.
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Texas Legislature 2021
Texas House rallies behind Speaker Dade Phelan, even as Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick blames him for GOP legislative failures
Phelan has touted a list of conservative wins in his first session as House leader, such as passing legislation to let Texans carry handguns without a license and approving some of the strictest restrictions on abortion in the country.
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Texas Legislature 2021
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott could be upsetting balance of powers with threat to veto Texas Legislature’s pay
A governor targeting the Legislature’s budget would be unprecedented in Texas history.
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Texas Legislature 2021
Texas’ GOP leadership already at odds over plans for special legislative session
Since House Democrats staged a walkout that killed Republicans’ priority elections bill for the regular session, the governor and the leaders of the state House and Senate have diverged notably in interviews about how they are approaching the overtime round.
