Texas Governor Orders Arrest of Democrats Who Were Not Present for Vote on Redistricting

(Patria) - Texas Governor Greg Abbott has ordered Democratic lawmakers to return to the state capital after they left Texas in an attempt to block a vote on the Republican plan for redistricting congressional districts in the state, Reuters reported.

The exodus of Democratic members of the Texas legislature aimed to deny Republicans the quorum needed to vote on the redistricting plan, which President Donald Trump advocated.

By redrawing district boundaries in hopes of flipping some seats currently held by Democrats, Republicans want to protect the party's narrow majority in the United States House of Representatives in next year's midterm elections.

At a session on Monday, the Republican speaker of the state House issued civil arrest warrants for the return of Democrats, most of whom went to Illinois, New York, or Massachusetts, to Austin. But the orders apply only within the state, and breaking a quorum is not a crime.

"To ensure compliance, I have ordered the Texas Department of Public Safety to locate, arrest, and return to the House chamber any member who has abandoned their duty to Texans," Abbott said in a statement.

On Sunday, Abbott cited an opinion from the state attorney general that district courts can determine whether lawmakers have forfeited their offices "due to abandonment," saying it would empower him to "quickly fill vacancies." But even if Abbott succeeds in removing the absent Democrats, it would take time to hold new elections.

State Attorney General Ken Paxton told Fox News' Will Cain on Monday that he expects the Texas Supreme Court to ultimately decide any forfeiture cases filed against Democratic lawmakers.

"And they are obviously a Republican court," he added.

In another possible tactic, Abbott said any lawmaker seeking funds to pay the $500 daily fine that Texas House rules impose on absent lawmakers could violate bribery laws. He vowed to attempt to extradite any "potential criminals out of state" among that group.

Republicans hold a 219-to-212 majority in the U.S. House, with three seats held by Democrats vacant after deaths and one Republican seat vacant after a member resigned. A stronger Republican majority in the U.S. House would allow Trump to further advance his agenda.

The session, also convened to address flood prevention and relief issues, is scheduled to resume on Tuesday at 1 p.m. Central time. Democrats have threatened to remain out of state until the end of the 30-day special session, which began on July 21.

Democratic U.S. Representatives Greg Casar and Lloyd Doggett led several dozen protesters in a march in front of the governor's residence yesterday afternoon.

"Governor Greg Abbott is a coward for saying that our law enforcement should go out and arrest our local elected officials," Casar told Reuters.

"This is America. This is a place where you should not send law enforcement to go and handcuff elected officials you disagree with."

Public warning

Gene Wu, chair of the Texas House Democratic Caucus, told Reuters that calls for the arrest of members of his caucus are "a public warning about what they are doing. They are threatening us with arrest because we are defending you."

Wu said that current congressional districts in Texas already diminish the voting power of racial minorities in the state, and the new redistricting plan represents "turbocharged racism."

"To achieve what Donald Trump wants, you would have to take that racial gerrymandering and crank it up ten notches," he added.

Abbott on Monday morning on "America's Newsroom" called Wu's allegations "false." He said redistricting would expand the number of majority-Hispanic districts and that it is necessary to give Trump voters in majority-Democratic districts the opportunity to elect Republican representatives to the U.S. House.

A White House official told Reuters that Trump supports Abbott's threat to remove absent Democratic lawmakers and wants "whatever it takes" to get the new map adopted. Trump told reporters he expects the effort to yield as many as five additional Republicans in the House.

States are required to conduct redistricting every ten years based on the U.S. Census, but the current Texas map was adopted just four years ago by a Republican-dominated legislature. Although mid-cycle redistricting occasionally occurs, it is usually caused by a change in control of the legislature.

Leaders of Democrat-run states, such as California and Illinois, have recently floated the idea of redistricting their U.S. congressional maps to increase the number of Democratic seats in response to Abbott's push in Texas.