Governor Abbott orders arrest of a fleeing Texas Democrat
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott ordered the arrest of Democrats who left the state to block votes in districts that could support Republicans in Congress.
In an escalation in the battle for Texas districts, Republican government Greg Abbott filed an emergency petition seeking to take Democratic House leaders into office after a massive run of lawmakers to block efforts to redraw the state legislative district.
More than 50 Democrats left Lone Star State on August 3, denying Republicans and denying the quorum needed to vote for President Donald Trump’s rezoning plan. By redrawing the state’s 38 Congressional districts, Republicans hope to overturn the five U.S. Congress seats currently being held by Democrats in next year’s midterm elections.
Abbott filed a lawsuit in the Texas Supreme Court, claiming that Rep. Jean Wu was removed from his duties and that other House Democrats who fled the state would “constituate abandonment of their offices and justify their removal.”
The governor further argued that Wu and Democrats “appeared to have received certain benefits in order to skip the vote. Abbott ordered the Texas Rangers to investigate whether Democrats violated the Bribery Act.
“Representative Wu and other Texan House Democrats have shown intentional refusals to return home, and the indefinite absence will take the House of Representatives of the quorum necessary to meet and do business on behalf of the Texans,” Abbott said in a statement. “Texas House Democrats have abandoned their obligations to Texans, but there must be consequences.”
In response to the lawsuit, Texas House Democrats said the governor “uses the law as a weapon to silence the people.”
“We have made a pledge to the Constitution, not to the agenda of politicians,” Texas House Democrats said in a statement on social media.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott orders arrest of lawmakers who fled the state
The lawsuit comes after Abbott threatened to arrest a Democrat. Most of them went to Illinois, New York or Massachusetts. His order was designed to force immunists to comply with a civil arrest warrant voted to be issued by state Republican lawmakers during a state Capitol session held in Austin on August 4th.
“To ensure compliance, I have ordered the Texas Department of Public Safety to position members who waived their obligations against the Texans in residential rooms, arrest them and return,” Abbott said in a statement.
However, arrest warrants apply only within the state, and breaking the quorum is not a crime that allows Texas officials to pursue extradition from other states. On the aforementioned August 5th, Trump said the FBI might help the arrest lawmakers and return them to their homeland.
“A lot of people are demanding they come back. You can’t just sit there. You have to go back,” Trump said at a press conference.
Abbott cites opinions from the Texas Attorney General.
Abbott previously argued that it could be legally removed to deliberately leave and destroy lawmakers.
On August 3, the governor cited a 2021 non-binding opinion from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
Paxton told Fox News on August 4 that he hopes the Texas Supreme Court will consider the waiver case he finally filed.
Absent Democrats have already faced consequences, with $500 a day fines for being out of state. The penalty was established in 2021 after state Democrats protested new voting restrictions and halted their 38-day operation.
Contribution: Reuters
