Abbott threatens to remove Texas Democrats over walkout
'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. 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,' Abbott wrote in a statement issued Sunday.
The Texas Democrats said they were denying Republicans a quorum, or the minimum number of lawmakers needed present in order to conduct legislative business, following a similar tactic they employed the last time the GOP pursued midcycle redistricting in 2003.
Most of them traveled to Illinois, New York and Massachusetts, all of which are Democratic-led states, and the Democratic National Committee is supporting their effort.
Abbott also said in his statement that any Democrat who receives funds 'to evade the fines they will incur under House rules' may be in violation of felony bribery charges. He made the same threat against those who offer or give funds to Democrats.
Abbott pledged to use his 'full extradition authority to demand the return to Texas of any potential out-of-state felons.'
'Real Texans do not run from a fight. But that's exactly what most of the Texas House Democrats just did,' Abbott wrote in his statement. '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.'
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) issued a similar threat to 'Democrats in the Texas House who try and run away like cowards,' saying they '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,' Paxton added in a post on the social platform X.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Solve the daily Crossword
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
a minute ago
- Yahoo
California Republican moves to ban middecade redistricting wars
A California Republican is pushing a bill in Congress that would ban virtually all redistricting before 2030, a move that would kill President Donald Trump's effort to flip up to five Democratic seats in Texas and also efforts to retaliate by blue states like New York and California. Rep. Kevin Kiley, R-Calif., says he plans to introduce legislation on Tuesday that would bar middecade nationwide and nullify any new maps approved before the next census is carried out in 2030. 'This will also stop a damaging redistricting war from breaking out across the country,' Kiley said in a statement. Rep. Mike Lawler, R-New York, who represents a swingy Westchester County-based district, has said he will introduce a similar bill to ban all gerrymandering in all states. The seats represented by both Lawler and Kiley could be on the chopping block if Democrats to the Texas effort by gerrymandering their own congressional maps. 'Newsom is trying to subvert the will of voters and do lasting damage to democracy in California,' Kiley said. 'Fortunately, Congress has the ability to protect California voters.' Trump, who has pushed the Texas effort to flip Democratic seats in the 2026 midterms, showed no interest in any redistricting compromise Tuesday. 'I got the highest vote in the history of Texas, as you probably know, and we are entitled to five more seats,' Trump told CNBC. GOP leaders in Congress, who would need to give the green light, haven't commented on the proposals by Kiley and Lawler. Although Kiley slammed Newsom, the most immediate impact of his legislation would be to nix the controversial Republican effort to rejigger Texas congressional map with the goal of changing the current 25-13 GOP edge to a 30-8 margin. The Lone Star State GOP has launched the effort after Trump demanded they find a way to give Republicans more seats in an effort to hold onto the House of Representatives in what is shaping up as a tricky political environment in 2026. Democratic state lawmakers fled the state Monday and for now have succeeded in denying a quorum for Republicans to move ahead. But most analysts believe the GOP can eventually muscle through its move in Texas. Republicans in other red states like Missouri, Florida, Ohio and Indiana are also considering similar efforts to nuke Democratic seats before 2026. But Democrats are considering responding with changes of their own. If Texas goes ahead with its redistricting plan, Newsom says he will push to redraw California's map to benefit Democrats. The Golden State's delegation is now split 43-9 in favor of Democrats but political insiders say it could easily be redrawn to give Democrats up to a 49-3 edge. Gov. Hochul is also vowing to fight fire with fire by redrawing New York's map to extend Democratic edge from the current 19-7 margin, although any such effort is unlikely to take effect in time for the 2026 vote.
USA Today
3 minutes ago
- USA Today
Byron Black executed for triple murder despite concerns of disabilities, heart device
The execution came after Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee declined requests, including from some Republicans, to intervene because of the inmate's intellectual disabilities and heart device. Tennessee has executed a man for the 1988 murder of his girlfriend and her two young daughters despite arguments he suffered from intellectual disabilities and concerns his heart device would shock him back to life during the lethal injection. The state executed Byron Black on Tuesday, Aug. 5, after Gov. Bill Lee declined requests from attorneys, advocacy groups and even some Republicans to intervene. He was pronounced dead at 10:43 a.m. CT. "This is hurting so bad," Black said during the execution, according to news media witnesses who saw him die. On March 28, 1988, Angela Clay and her eldest daughter, 9-year-old Latoya, were found shot dead in bed. Clay's other daughter, 6-year-old Lakeisha, was found dead on the floor in another bedroom with multiple gunshot wounds. Black became the 28th inmate executed in the U.S. this year, a 10-year high, with at least nine more executions scheduled. He's the second inmate to be put to death in Tennessee this year after a five-year break in executions in the state. Black's case stands out for two reasons. What his legal team said was an "undisputed intellectual disability" had many calling for a reprieve, including some Republicans. And his attorneys raised serious questions about whether Black's implanted heart device would cause "a prolonged and torturous execution" in violation of the U.S. Constitution. Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti told USA TODAY in a statement that expert testimony "refutes the suggestion that Black would suffer severe pain if executed" and that the state was seeking "to hold Black accountable for his horrific crimes." Here's what you need to know about the execution, the crime and the issues surrounding the case. What was Byron Black convicted of? Black was convicted of fatally shooting his girlfriend, Angela Clay, and her two daughters: 9-year-old Latoya and 6-year-old Lakeisha. They were murdered on March 27, 1988. At the time, Black had been on work release from prison for shooting Clay's estranged husband and her daughters' father, Bennie Clay, in 1986. Prosecutors told jurors at trial that Black killed Angela Clay because he was jealous of her ongoing relationship with her ex. Investigators believe that Angela Clay and Latoya were shot as they slept, while Lakeisha appeared to have tried to escape after being wounded in the chest and pelvis. Bennie Clay previously told The Tennessean, part of the USA TODAY Network, he believes Black killed the girls to spite him. "My kids, they were babies," he told the newspaper. "They were smart, they were gonna be something. They never got the chance." More recently, he told The Tennessean he planned to attend the execution, though he said he has forgiven Black. 'God has a plan for everything,' he told the newspaper. 'He had a plan when he took my girls. He needed them more than I did, I guess.' Judge ordered Byron Black's heart device removed before execution On July 22, a judge ordered that a heart device implanted in Black needed to be removed at a hospital the morning of his execution, a development that appeared to complicate matters as a Nashville hospital declined to participate. But the Tennessee Supreme Court overturned the judge's order, and the U.S. Supreme Court backed that up, clearing the way for Black to be executed despite the heart device. His attorneys argued that the device, designed to revive the heart, could lead to "a prolonged and torturous execution." "It's horrifying to think about this frail old man being shocked over and over as the device attempts to restore his heart's rhythm even as the State works to kill him," Henry said in a statement. The state argued that Black's heart device would not cause him pain. Robin, Maher, executive director of the nonprofit Death Penalty Information Center, told USA TODAY that an inmate being executed with a defibrillator implant was "a completely unprecedented issue." But, she added, "one I fear we will see again as states move toward executing aging prisoners on death row." A reporter for The Tennessean was among the witnesses to the execution and USA TODAY will update this story with her observations. Tennessee governor declined to intervene With their arguments over Black's heart device at the end of the legal road, his attorneys re-focused their attention on his intellectual disabilities during his final days and hours, calling on Republican Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee to stop the execution and prevent "a grotesque spectacle." Citing Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and exposure to toxic lead, Black's attorneys said mental impairments meant that he always had to live with and rely on family. More recently on death row, his attorneys said that other inmates had to "do his everyday tasks for him, including cleaning his cell, doing his laundry, and microwaving his food." "If ever a case called for the Governor to grant clemency or, at the very least, a reprieve, it is this one," Henry said in a statement. The director of Tennessee Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty said that she supports accountability for people who commit heinous crimes, but "the law is clear that we do not execute people with intellectual disability." "Governor Lee can insist on accountability while ensuring that the law is also followed. A situation such as this is exactly why governors have clemency power," Jasmine Woodson said in a statement. "Mr. Black has spent over three decades in prison for this crime and will never be released. As a conservative, I believe that he should remain behind bars, but he should not be executed." Lee's office did not respond to repeated requests for comment from USA TODAY. In his statement to USA TODAY, Attorney General Skrmetti pushed back at findings that Black was intellectually disabled and said that "over the decades, courts have uniformly denied Black's eleven distinct attempts to overturn his murder convictions and death sentence." Angela Clay's family long sought justice Earlier this year, Angela Clay's sister, Linette Bell, told The Tennessean she and her family were frustrated with years of delays, court hearings, and uncertainty: "He needs to pay for what he did." Angela Clay's mother, Marie Bell, told The Tennessean she had been waiting far too long. "I'm 88 years old and I just want to see it before I leave this Earth," she said. Outside the prison ahead of the execution on Tuesday, Angela Clay's niece, Nicoule Davis, told The Tennessean "it's time for a celebration." "It's time for a celebration," Davis said. "We've been waiting for years and years." Family members, some of whom witnessed the execution, were expected to address reporters afterward, and this story will be updated with their comments. What was Byron Black's last meal? Black's last meal was pizza with mushrooms and sausage, donuts, and butter pecan ice cream. Byron Black's execution is second in the state this year Black is the second inmate to be executed in Tennessee this year following a five-year break in the death penalty in the state. The break followed an independent review that found the Tennessee Department of Corrections was not consistently testing execution drugs for potency and purity. Nationwide, nine more executions are scheduled for this year, with more expected to be carried out as governors sign more death warrants. The next execution is Kayle Barrington Bates in Florida on Aug. 19 for the 1982 stabbing death of a 24-year-old woman named Janet White, who was kidnapped from her office and taken to the woods before Bates beat her, tried to rape her and ultimately killed her. Contributing: Kelly Puente, The Tennessean Amanda Lee Myers is a senior crime reporter for USA TODAY. Follow her on X at @amandaleeusat.
The Hill
3 minutes ago
- The Hill
'Trump, Abbott, Texas GOP Heading Towards A LOSS:' Gov. Pritzker On Redistricting Fight
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) and Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin will give remarks to reporters Tuesday morning, as the redistricting fight in Texas shines light on Democrats' efforts to expand the Voting Rights Act (VRA).
