Texas Governor Greg Abbott is threatening to remove over 50 Texas Democratic lawmakers from office who fled a state legislative quorum in order to abstain from a vote on redistricting. This action put a halt to the quorum, which requires a two-thirds majority. The legislators will be removed unless they return to the state by 3:00 pm Monday.
According to the Daily Wire, the redistricting measure being voted on could produce a considerable loss of Democratic presence in the state House if confirmed. “Democrats could lose as many as five House seats if Republican-backed maps are implemented, prompting backlash from state and national Democrats,” the outlet reported.
In a letter written on Sunday, Abbott stated that the Democrats who fled the session are neglecting the people they serve on behalf of an “illegitimate purpose.”
“These absences are not merely unintended and unavoidable interruptions in public service, like a sudden illness or a family emergency,” Abbott wrote. “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.”
Abbott declared that if the legislators in question do not return, their seats will be vacated, and he will fill such vacancies through the power granted to his office by the Texas Constitution.
“For any member who fails to [return to their seats], I will invoke Texas Attorney General Opinion No. KP-0382 to remove the missing Democrats from membership in the Texas House,” Abbott said. He then proceeded to break down a series of actions that will ensue and their legitimacy according to state law.
“In that Opinion, the Attorney General considered ‘whether Texas law allows for a determination that a legislator has vacated office’ if they intentionally break quorum. The Attorney General concluded that ‘whether a specific legislator abandoned his or her office such that a vacancy occurred will be a fact question for a court.’ He further concluded that ‘through a quo warranto action, a district court may determine that a legislator has forfeited his or her office due to abandonment and can remove the legislator from office, thereby creating a vacancy.’ That empowers me to swiftly fill vacancies under Article III, Section 13 of the Texas Constitution,” the governor concluded.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton commented on X that the lawmakers fleeing the state deserve to be hunted down, arrested, and returned to the state capitol at once.
