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Texas Gov. Greg Abbott released a statement threatening House Democrat members with “potential loss of their seats and felony violations” for breaking quorum.
Texas House Democrats fled the state to block the passage of the proposed congressional district redraw that would likely give the GOP five additional seats in the U.S. House of Representatives.
“Real Texans do not run from a fight. But that’s exactly what most of the Texas House Democrats just did. Rather than doing their job and voting on urgent legislation affecting the lives of all Texans, they have fled Texas to deprive the House of the quorum necessary to meet and conduct business,” Abbott said in the statement.
“These absences are not merely unintended and unavoidable interruptions in public service, like a sudden illness or a family emergency. Instead, these absences were premeditated for an illegitimate purpose—what one representative called ‘breaking quorum.’ Another previously signaled that Democrats ‘would have to go by an extreme measure’ of a quorum break ‘to stop these bills from happening.’ In other words, Democrats hatched a deliberate plan not to show up for work, for the specific purpose of abdicating the duties of their office and thwarting the chamber’s business,” the statement continued.
“This truancy ends now. The derelict Democrat House members must return to Texas and be in attendance when the House reconvenes at 3:00 PM on Monday, August 4, 2025,” Abbott said.
“For any member who fails to do so, I will invoke Texas Attorney General Opinion No. KP-0382 to remove the missing Democrats from membership in the Texas House,” he added.
🚨Just in: Texas Governor Greg Abbott has announced that he will he will remove from office any Democrat who refuses to show up tomorrow to vote on the proposed 2026 redistricting map. pic.twitter.com/v98iy5c25Y
— The Calvin Coolidge Project (@TheCalvinCooli1) August 4, 2025
“It seems to me that the only way some of the fleeing Democrats can avoid bribery charges is to not break quorum,” Abbott said.
“It seems that would eliminate any potential quid pro quo connected to any payment they received to deny a quorum and skip a vote,” he added.
It seems to me that the only way some of the fleeing Democrats can avoid bribery charges is to not break quorum.
It seems that would eliminate any potential quid pro quo connected to any payment they received to deny a quorum and skip a vote. https://t.co/eyTbgybLvW
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) August 4, 2025
Newsweek has more:
More than 51 Democratic members of the Texas House left the state on Sunday, aiming to deny the chamber a quorum and prevent passage of the proposed Republican map before a scheduled floor vote. The Texas House requires the presence of at least 100 of its 150 members to conduct business.
With 62 Democratic members in the chamber, their collective absence can halt legislative proceedings.
Abbott had called a special session to address the flooding that killed 135 people last month in Texas Hill Country and the redistricting plan.
Democrats have argued that if Republicans succeed in redrawing the Texas districts, Trump will push other states to do the same.
Speaking in Chicago on Sunday, Texas House Democratic Caucus chair Gene Wu said: “We’re not here to play political games. We’re here to demand an end to this corrupt process. Today is the day this corruption ends.
“If Donald Trump is allowed to do this, once again cheat and get away with it, there’s no stopping this, it will spread across the country…and rip it apart.”
Illinois Democratic Governor JB Pritzker said that the Texas Democrats had no choice but to leave their state to block the vote “and protect their constituents.”
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said House Democrats fleeing the state should be “arrested” and brought back to the Capitol.
“Democrats in the Texas House who try and run away like cowards should be found, arrested, and brought back to the Capitol immediately,” Paxton said.
“We should use every tool at our disposal to hunt down those who think they are above the law,” he added.
Democrats in the Texas House who try and run away like cowards should be found, arrested, and brought back to the Capitol immediately.
We should use every tool at our disposal to hunt down those who think they are above the law.
— Attorney General Ken Paxton (@KenPaxtonTX) August 3, 2025
“I support the immediate arrest of these rogue lawmakers who’ve fled their duties. These radical Democrats are spitting in the face of every Texan they swore to represent. This is cowardice and dereliction of duty, and they should face the full force of the law without apology,” Paxton said in another post.
I support the immediate arrest of these rogue lawmakers who’ve fled their duties. These radical Democrats are spitting in the face of every Texan they swore to represent. This is cowardice and dereliction of duty, and they should face the full force of the law without apology. https://t.co/cE6fZowNmR
— Attorney General Ken Paxton (@KenPaxtonTX) August 3, 2025
The Hill provided further details:
The Democratic legislators left Texas on Sunday — heading to Chicago, New York City and Boston — in order to deny Republicans a necessary quorum to advance their redrawn political maps.
The redrawn congressional maps would give Republicans five additional pickup opportunities in 2026 as the party works to defend its slim majority in the midterms.
Legislative walkouts are rare but have been employed before in Texas, including in 2021 and in 2003, the last time the GOP pursued midcycle redistricting.
“This is not a choice that we take lightly,” Wu told CNN. “To be here in Chicago, we really didn’t have a choice. We tried to negotiate [with] Republicans. We tried to talk to them. We tried to reason with them. We tried to tell them that the public is very angry at what they’re doing, and they simply wouldn’t listen.”
“This was the only way we could protect our constituents and protect the state. What they’re doing is not just politics. It’s not just affecting lives — this is going to destroy lives,” he added.
Asked how long he planned to stay out of state, Wu said, “Our commitment to this is one day at a time,” adding he’s focused on the current special session.