Republican Texas Governor Governor Greg Abbott He says he will try to evacuate Democrats on Monday if dozens of them leave the nation who tried to block the map of the US home at the last resort they are trying to redraw I hope for it before the midterm elections in 2026.
The rebellion by Democrats at the Capitol building has bolstered an expanded fight over the map of Congress, many of which went to Illinois or New York on Sunday, with Abbott returning less than 24 hours to re-elevate the expanding fight over the map of Congress that began in Texas but was drawn to the Democratic governor who raised the possibility that he was rushing to redraw his own state’s map. However, options are limited.
At the heart of the escalating impasse is Trump’s pursuit of adding five more GOPLEANING Congressional seats to Texas before next year, strengthening his party’s potential to retain the slim US majority.
A new Congress map drawn by Texas Republicans will create five new Republican-leaning seats. Republicans currently hold 25 of the state’s 38 seats.
The vote on the proposed map was set Monday in the Texas House of Representatives, but rejecting the quorum would not proceed as the majority of Democrats did not appear. After one Democrat landed in Chicago on Sunday, they were welcomed by Illinois Gov. J.B. Pretzker, but refused to say they were ready to leave Texas.
“We do whatever it takes, we don’t know how it looks,” said Rep. Jean Wu, leader of the House Democrat Caucus in Texas.
But legislative strikes In many cases, it just delays the passage of your bill.including when many of the same Texas House Democrats left the state in 2021 38 days We are protesting new voting restrictions. Once they returned, Republicans still passed the measure.
Four years later, Abbott has taken a much more aggressive stance, prompting Democrats to try and take him out of his office if he hasn’t returned when the House is reconvened Monday afternoon. He cited a non-binding 2021 legal opinion issued by Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton.
He also suggested that lawmakers may have committed a felony by raising funds to help them pay the fines they face.
“This truancy is over now,” Abbott said.
In response, House Democrats issued a four-word statement: “Come and take it.”
Voting status
Lawmakers cannot pass bills in Texas homes from 150 members without at least two-thirds of them present. Democrats hold 62 seats in the majority Republican office, with at least 51 leaving the state, said House Democrat spokesman Josh Rush Nisenson.
Republican House Speaker Dustin Burrows said the Chamber of Commerce will meet as planned on Monday afternoon.
“If quorum doesn’t exist, all options are on the table to borrow recent talk points from my Democrat colleagues,” he posted on X.
Paxton, Who is running for our Senate?In X, he said, “Democrats who try to escape like cowards should be arrested, arrested and brought back to the Capitol.”
Fines to not appear
The denial by a Texas legislator is a civil violation of legislative rules. The Texas Supreme Court ruled in 2021 that House leaders had the authority to “physically force attendees” for missing members, but Democrats were unable to force them to return to the state. After the warrant was provided that year. Two years later, Republicans pushed for a new rule that allowed $500 a day fines for lawmakers who didn’t show up for work as punishment.
Quarum Break will delay votes for flood relief and new warning systems in the wake of catastrophic floods in Texas last month It killed at least 136 people. Democrats have called for votes for flood response before picking up their districts, and criticised Republicans for not doing so.
Illinois hosts Texas legislators
Pretzker, the 2028 presidential candidate who was one of Trump’s most outspoken critics in the second term, spent weeks quietly talking with Texas Democrats about providing support if they chose to leave the nation to break the quorum.
Last week, the governor hosted several Texas Democrats in Illinois to publicly oppose the constituency efforts, and California Gov. Gavin Newsom held a similar event in his own state.
Pretzker also meets Texas Democratic Chairman Kendall Scudder personally in June, and will begin plans for the possibility that lawmakers will leave for Illinois if they decide to break the quorum to block the map.
“This is not just rigging the Texas system, but rigging the system for all American rights for years to come,” Pretzker said Sunday night.
Trump is trying to avoid him repeating it First termDemocrats turn the House of Representatives just two years into his presidency, hopeful that a new Texas map will support that effort. Trump officials have also seen it. Redraw lines in other states.
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Associated Press writer Nadia Lathan in Austin contributed to this report.
