Texas state Rep. Brian Harrison, R-Waxahachie, told Newsmax on Monday that Republican leaders in the Lone Star State erred by not keeping the House in session before Democrats could flee the state in protest over a GOP congressional redistricting plan.
"Quite frankly, this is a catastrophic failure for the elected Republican leadership in the state of Texas," Harrison told "Rob Schmitt Tonight." "We could have done a call of the House.
"These arrest warrants could have been signed, and these Democrats could have and should have been arrested before they left state lines. When first word got out of this yesterday, we immediately should have done a call of the House."
A "call of the House" requires all members to stay in the chamber unless excused. Any members not present can be "sent for and arrested, wherever they may be found" by the sergeant-at-arms, according to House rules.
Earlier Monday, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, called for the delinquent Democrats to be tracked down and arrested, and the state House overwhelmingly voted to do the same.
House Speaker Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, said he would immediately sign civil warrants for each of the legislators, empowering the sergeant-at-arms and state troopers to arrest and bring them to the Capitol. The lawmakers fled to Democrat-friendly states such as Illinois, Massachusetts, and New York.
"But even more to the point, the Democrats were on the [House] floor," Harrison said. "We had a quorum just four days ago on Wednesday, when we had the maps, we had the Democrats. We had a quorum. The quorum should have been maintained. So, just an absolute failure of leadership by elected Republicans here in Texas."
Harrison said there are several good reasons for redrawing the state's congressional maps middecade — states typically redistrict every 10 years after the U.S. census, although doing so middecade is not unprecedented.
"Let's not forget what the stakes we're talking about here [are]," Harrison said. "There may only be one or two or three seats that decide the fate of the United States Congress. And every elected Republican in Texas should be doing everything they can to make sure that the United States Congress does not go fall into the hands of the radical liberal Democrat extremists.
"But there [are] multiple reasons to do this. I mean, the Census Bureau has admitted they undercounted voters in the state of Texas. The laws have changed. The demographics of the state have changed, the voting patterns have changed.
"And why is that? Well, Democrats and their policies are circling the toilet with voters who understand it's bad for them, bad for the economy, bad for their freedom, bad for the national security of the United States, and especially in Texas."
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Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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