Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday ordered the arrest of more than 50 Democrat lawmakers who fled to prevent the Legislature from redrawing the state's congressional maps.
"Texas House Democrats abandoned their duty to Texans," Abbott said in a news release. "By fleeing the state, Texas House Democrats are holding hostage critical legislation to aid flood victims and advance property tax relief. There are consequences for dereliction of duty."
Abbott also directed the elite Texas Rangers law enforcement agency to investigate any potential violations of Texas law, including bribery.
Abbott's office said in separate news release that reports allege many absentee state House Democrats have solicited or received funds to evade conducting legislative business and casting votes. Under the Texas Penal Code, anyone who solicits, accepts, or agrees to accept such funds to assist in the violation of legislative duties or for purposes of skipping a vote might have violated bribery laws. Also, it could be a bribery violation for any other person who offers, provides, or agrees to provide such funds to fleeing Democrat House members.
"Today, I ordered the Texas Rangers to immediately investigate fleeing Texas House Democrats for potential bribery and any other potential legal violations connected to their refusal to appear for a quorum, conduct business, and cast votes," Abbott said. "That investigation should extend to anyone who aided or abetted such potential crimes."
Abbott's moves came after the Texas House overwhelmingly voted 85-6 earlier Monday to track down and arrest the Democrat lawmakers. Republican House Speaker Dustin Burrows said he would immediately sign civil warrants for each of the legislators, empowering the chamber's sergeant-at-arms and state troopers to arrest and bring them to the Capitol, The Texas Tribune reported.
The Democrats will not face civil or criminal charges from the arrests. The warrants apply only within state lines, The Tribune reported, making them largely symbolic as most of the legislators fled to Illinois, New York, and Massachusetts.
"To ensure compliance, I 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. "This order will remain in effect until all missing Democrat House members are accounted for and brought to the Texas Capitol."
The House used the same tactic to force Democrats back to work in 2021, when a majority left for Washington, D.C., to protest GOP voting reforms. Some lawmakers challenged the warrants in court, obtaining an injunction against arrests that were later struck down by the Texas Supreme Court.
The Texas Constitution "enables 'quorum-breaking' by a minority faction of the Legislature; it likewise authorizes 'quorum-forcing' by the remaining members," the court ruled, according to the Tribune.
Democrats left the state Sunday afternoon to deny the House a quorum — the number of people necessary for the chamber to advance legislation — and delay passage of the new congressional map.
The current congressional map, drawn by a Republican-dominated Legislature in 2021, has netted 25 GOP seats in the past two elections. President Donald Trump reportedly has championed a move to redraw Texas' 38 districts to help protect the party's narrow House majority in next year's midterm elections.
Abbott recently called the Legislature into a special session to address the flooding disaster in Kerr County, among other issues that include redistricting.
"This is not a decision we make lightly, but it is one we make with absolute moral clarity," state Rep. Gene Wu, chair of the House Democratic Caucus, said in a statement Sunday, accusing Abbott of "using an intentionally racist map to steal the voices of millions of Black and Latino Texans, all to execute a corrupt political deal."
On the House floor Monday, Burrows condemned the members who fled, saying they had "shirked their responsibilities," and thanked the 90 members who were present, according to the Tribune.
"You understand that the issues before us — disaster recovery, fighting for the families who lost loved ones in the floods, human trafficking and more — are not abstract policy debates," Burrows said. "Instead of confronting those challenges, some of our colleagues have fled the state in their duty."
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.