Texas Republicans fail again to advance redistricting effort amid Democrat absences
The Texas House of Representatives failed again on Tuesday afternoon to move forward on their redistricting effort as several Democratic members have fled the state over the proposed congressional maps.
Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, on Monday ordered the Texas Department of Public Safety to find and arrest those Democrats, an order Abbott said will remain in effect until they are "accounted for and brought back" to Austin.
The Texas House reconvened at 1 p.m. CT on Tuesday, but still did not have enough for a quorum.
House Speaker Rep. Dustin Burrows, a Republican, said he met with leadership at Texas DPS to get a briefing on the efforts to locate and return the Texas House Democrats who left in protest.
"It is evident to the chair that DPS will need some time to work, and we will try again to make quorum on Friday," Burrows said.
President Donald Trump, who pushed Texas Republicans to draw the new map, weighed in on the standoff on Tuesday morning.
"We have an opportunity in Texas to pick up five seats. We have a really good governor, and we have good people in Texas. And I won Texas. I got the highest vote in the history of Texas, as you probably know, and we are entitled to five more seats," Trump claimed in a phone interview with CNBC.
The proposed map could create up to five new Republican seats and help the party keep control of the U.S.House in the 2026 midterm elections.
Many Texas Democrats left the state on Sunday in protest and received support from blue state governors on Monday, including New York's Kathy Hochul and California's Gavin Newsom. Both Hochul and Newsom said they would effort partisan redistricting in their own states as a response to Texas.
Abbott's order to arrest the Democrats came after the Texas House voted to issue civil arrest warrants, though they have no power outside state lines and it's unclear to what extent Texas law enforcement could coordinate with their counterparts in the relevant states.
On Tuesday afternoon, Abbott filed an emergency petition with the state Supreme Court to remove Rep. Gene Wu, chair of the Texas House Democratic Caucus, from his office, arguing that he has "forfeited" his office by leaving the state to prevent quorum. Abbott asked for a ruling by 5 p.m. CT Thursday.
In response, Wu said issued a statement, reading in part: "Denying the governor a quorum was not an abandonment of my office; it was a fulfillment of my oath. Unable to defend his corrupt agenda on its merits, Greg Abbott now desperately seeks to silence my dissent by removing a duly-elected official from office."
Later Tuesday, Texas Attorney Gen. Ken Paxton, also a Republican, asserted that the governor did not have the authority to file the emergency petition but that he would take action Friday if Democrats refuse to return to the special session.
"Texas is taking every available avenue to force runaway Democrats to return to Texas and hold them accountable for breaking quorum," said Attorney General Paxton said in a statement released Tuesday evening. "Under the Texas Constitution and Texas law, the Office of the Attorney General has the legal authority to bring these cases against the renegade House members. I have alerted the Texas Supreme Court that I will be making additional filings on Friday if the Democrats continue to abandon their legislative duties."
In a letter to the state Supreme Court, the Solicitor General William Peterson wrote that while Paxton “appreciates the Governor’s passion,” the “court’s precedent is clear that a “quo warranto” proceeding “can only be brought by the attorney general, a county attorney, or a district attorney.” Even so, Paxton urged the Texas Supreme Court not to dismiss Abbott’s petition and to await the Speaker of the Houses’ latest Friday deadline for the missing members to return to Austin.
Earlier, Sen. John Cornyn, a Texas Republican, sent a letter to FBI Director Kash Patel on Tuesday urging federal cooperation with Abbott and state law enforcement to investigate any "potential criminal acts" committed by state Democrats.
"I request the FBI's assistance, as federal resources are necessary to locate the out-of-state Texas legislators who are potentially acting in violation of the law. The FBI has tools to aid state law enforcement when parties cross state lines, including to avoid testifying or fleeing a scene of a crime. Specifically, I am concerned that legislators who solicited or accepted funds to aid in their efforts to avoid their legislative duties may be guilty of bribery or other public corruption offenses," Cornyn wrote.
On Tuesday morning, Democratic National Committee chairman Ken Martin joined Texas House Democrats and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker for a press conference, where he pushed back on Trump's comments.
"Just this morning, he said that the Republicans are entitled to these five seats, right? Let me just be really, really clear about this. No party is entitled to any district. We have to go out and earn the votes, and that's what a democracy is about," Martin said.
Martin accused Texas Republicans, and Abbott in particular, of "doing his bidding."
"It's very clear what they're up to here, because they know they're going to lose in 2026," Martin said.
Pritzker accused Abbott and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton of "thwarting the will of the American people" and Illinois' Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton said the state is willing to keep all options on the table, which includes redrawing their maps in kind. Though Illinois has been accused of unfairly skewing its own maps in favor of Democrats.
Trump on Tuesday, in his interview with CNBC, criticized Democratic governors for working on plans to potentially draw new congressional maps in their favor and used it as an argument for the efforts in Texas to continue.
"That's all gerrymandered. California is gerrymandered. We should have many more seats in Congress. In California, it's all gerrymandered," the president said.
ABC News' Isabella Murray contributed to this report.
