Arrest warrants issued for Texas Dems who fled state
Why it matters: It's the latest attempt by Abbott to compel Democrats back to the Capitol, escalating a standoff that began when over 50 Democrats fled the state to delay votes on a redistricting map that will give Republicans five more congressional seats.
The latest:"By fleeing the state, Texas House Democrats are holding hostage critical legislation to aid flood victims and advance property tax relief. There are consequences for dereliction of duty," Abbott said in a news release.
Abbott added that he ordered the state Department of Public Safety to find, arrest and return "any member who has abandoned their duty to Texans."
This order will remain in effect until all missing Democrat House members are accounted for and brought to the Texas Capitol."
Yes, but: DPS officers are state law enforcement agents, meaning their authority ends at the Texas state border.
If lawmakers are found within Texas, DPS can detain them and escort them to the Capitol.
Catch up quick: Democrats left the state Sunday to try to stall a vote on a President Trump -led proposal to redraw the districts ahead of the 2026 midterm elections that could net Republicans up to five seats. The Democrats face a $500 fine for every day they break quorum.
The other side: Democrats say the redistricting map is "illegal voter suppression of Black and Latino Central Texans" and a "threat to American democracy."
Lawmakers who left the state appear unfazed by the governor's threats earlier to remove them from office.
"He's trying to get sound bites and he has no legal mechanism," Houston Rep. Jolanda Jones said in a press conference in New York on Monday.
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Axios
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Democrats go nuclear in redistricting arms race
Top Democrats are speaking — and acting — in increasingly existential terms over the audacious Trump-backed push to redraw Texas' congressional map ahead of the 2026 midterms. Why it matters: The proposed Texas map is designed to net the GOP up to five House seats — potentially enough to decide the majority for President Trump's Republicans in his final two years in office. For many Democrats, this moment is an inflection point in the party's Trump-era identity crisis — one that could determine whether "fighters" or "folders" carry the torch into 2028. "This is a war. We are at war. And that's why the gloves are off, and I say bring it on," New York Gov. Kathy Hochul declared at a press conference Monday, accusing Texas Republicans of a "legal insurrection." Zoom in: More than 50 Democratic lawmakers fled Texas on Sunday — fanning out to deep-blue Illinois, New York and Massachusetts — to prevent the GOP-controlled legislature from voting on the new map. Texas' Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has threatened them with daily $500 fines, felony bribery charges if the fines are paid for by donations, and the possibility of removal from office. The Texas state House issued civil arrest warrants for the Democrats who fled the state, though the warrants are only enforceable inside Texas. Zoom out: Outside Texas, key Democratic governors have launched an aggressive counteroffensive to try to neutralize the GOP's redistricting push. In California, Gov. Gavin Newsom is eyeing a November special election that would sideline the state's independent redistricting commission and ask voters to approve a new, legislature-drawn map favoring Democrats. In New York, Hochul said Democrats have "no choice" but to pursue a constitutional amendment to authorize new maps — though it wouldn't appear on the ballot until 2027 at the earliest. In Illinois, where the congressional map is already heavily gerrymandered, Gov. J.B. Pritzker has vowed to protect fleeing Texas Democrats and left the door open to further revisions of the state's map. Between the lines: Newsom, who's made no secret of his presidential ambitions, has openly accused Trump of "rigging" the midterms and suggested California could redraw its map to eliminate all nine GOP-held seats. His push for a referendum in just three months will be a legal and political high-wire act that — if successful — could become the defining achievement of his career. "If this works and Dems win the House in 2026 by <5 seats, 'I saved us from a second MAGA Republican trifecta' is a hell of a platform for Newsom to run [for president] on in 2028," tweeted Democratic pollster Adam Carlson. The intrigue: Hochul, who is running for re-election in 2026, has emerged as an unlikely face of the Democratic resistance. She called Monday for disbanding New York's independent redistricting commission and embracing partisan hardball, telling reporters that she's "tired of fighting this fight with my hand tied behind my back." "I cannot ignore that the playing field has changed dramatically, and shame on us if we ignore that fact and cling tight to the vestiges of the past," Hochul said. The bottom line: Both sides are keenly aware that a Democratic victory in 2026 would grind Trump's agenda to a halt and potentially lead to his third impeachment.
CNN
27 minutes ago
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What happens next in Texas redistricting and for Democrats facing civil arrest warrants
Texas Republicans are scheduled to reconvene Tuesday after they voted to issue civil arrest warrants for Democrats who fled the state to stop a GOP-led redistricting effort. The Texas House on Monday authorized the warrants for dozens of Democratic lawmakers who didn't appear and denied the Texas House a quorum necessary to move forward with redistricting. The warrants empowered state troopers to arrest the absent Democrats and bring them to the Capitol. But the Democrats who left the state fled to Illinois, New York and Massachusetts, three Democratic-led states outside Texas law enforcement's authority without local officials' cooperation. 'That's why in this case and in previous recent quorum breaks, they have left the state to escape the jurisdiction of the marshals and other arresting officers in the state,' Sarah Chen, a voting rights attorney with the Texas Civil Rights Project, told CNN. And since the Democrats aren't breaking any criminal or state laws, Chen said, it wouldn't be possible for officials to seek the lawmakers' extradition from the states they're holed up in. 'Any sort of work with other states or federal law enforcement would be more of like calling in a favor rather than any sort of legal obligation,' she said. One of the Texas lawmakers who fled to New York, state Rep. Jolanda Jones, said Monday that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott was 'trying to get soundbites' by threatening arrests of the absent legislators. 'Subpoenas from Texas don't work in New York, so he's going come and get us how?' Monday's action 'is just the procedure of what you do when people walk out,' said Andrew Cates, a lawyer in Texas who specializes in legislative and political law. 'No one is scared of it' if they've left the state. 'They haven't broken any laws that anyone knows of, so extradition is not going to work,' he added. The state House is currently scheduled to meet at 2 p.m. EDT (1 p.m. CDT). It doesn't appear that the House will have enough lawmakers present to reach the two-thirds attendance needed for quorum. Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows said he had signed civil warrants for the Democratic lawmakers who fled the state. The speaker told reporters that House Republicans will work with the Texas Department of Public Safety 'to locate members.' He said one Democrat had announced a fundraiser Tuesday in Austin. 'I've sent that fundraising letter to DPS and said they should be invited to attend, as well. We'll see how that goes forward,' he said. Abbott said in a statement he had ordered DPS 'to locate, arrest, and return to the House chamber any member who has abandoned their duty to Texans.' 'This order will remain in effect until all missing Democrat House members are accounted for and brought to the Texas Capitol,' he said. The House Democrats' decision to flee the state and deny majority Republicans a quorum comes as the state's legislature seeks to redraw the Texas congressional districts to make five seats more favorable for the GOP. Doing so would improve the party's chances of holding onto control of the US House, where they now have a three-seat majority, next November. As he presided in the House on Monday, Burrows said he would do 'everything in my power to establish quorum and move this body forward by any and all means available to this office.' 'To those who are absent: Return now,' he said. 'Show the courage to face the issues you were elected to solve. Come back and fulfill your duty, because this House will not sit quietly while you obstruct the work of the people. The people of Texas are watching, and so is the nation, and if you choose to continue down this road, you should know, there will be consequences.' Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said he would do 'everything in my power' to force Democrats back to Austin. 'It's imperative that they be swiftly arrested, punished, and face the full force of the law for turning their backs on the people of Texas,' Paxton said in a statement. Republicans tried a similar tactic to force an end to Democrats' 2021 quorum break — that one a failed attempt to block restrictive new voting laws. The House sergeant-at-arms sent the warrants to those Democrats, deputized law enforcement to find them and even dropped paperwork off at some members' homes, though no arrests were made. The Texas Supreme Court ruled in 2021 that the House does have the authority physically compel the attendance of absent members. In the wake of that 2021 quorum break, the Texas House also adopted new rules that allow for $500-per-day fines for those who are absent. Lawmakers cannot use their campaign or official funds to cover their own fines. Those new rules have not yet been tested in state court, Chen said. Cates noted the fine for absenteeism has not been enshrined in state law. If a lawmaker refused to pay, he said: 'How do you enforce it?' Abbott issued warnings about potential bribery charges – and suggested he will seek to remove the absent Democrats from office and replace them – in a Fox News interview Monday. 'I believe they have forfeited their seats in the state legislature because they're not doing the job they were elected to do,' he said. The GOP's threats, and civil warrants, were not a surprise to Democrats who said they knew the consequences when they left the state. 'If law enforcement arrests me, I will go peacefully. But I am doing this because I'm fighting for my constituents,' state Rep. James Talarico told CNN. CNN's David Wright, Devan Cole and Fredreka Schouten contributed to this report.
Newsweek
28 minutes ago
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MAGA Calls for Democratic Rep To Be Deported Over Guatemala Comments
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. MAGA Republicans are calling for Democratic Representative Delia Ramirez to be deported after she said, "I'm a proud Guatemalan before I'm an American." Newsweek contacted the White House and a representative for Ramirez for comment on Tuesday via email outside regular working hours. Why It Matters President Donald Trump has made cracking down on immigration a central priority, overseeing an unprecedented surge in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrests, mass deportation efforts targeting major cities and a move to end birthright citizenship. The controversy surrounding Ramirez's comments cuts to the heart of ongoing tensions in the U.S. over immigration and questions of national identity, which have been intensified by the Trump administration's "America First" agenda. Representative Delia Ramirez, a Democrat from Illinois, speaks during a news conference on reintroducing the Neighbors Not Enemies Act on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on January 22. Representative Delia Ramirez, a Democrat from Illinois, speaks during a news conference on reintroducing the Neighbors Not Enemies Act on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on January To Know Ramirez made the comment about being a proud Guatemalan while speaking in Spanish at a summit in Mexico City over the weekend. A clip of her speaking went viral on social media, sparking backlash from Republicans and conservative commentators, some of whom called for her to be deported or removed from Congress. Republican Representative Andy Ogles of Tennessee wrote on X: "Denaturalize, deport, and kick her off Homeland Committee. We know where her allegiances lie." The official X account for the Department of Homeland Security also weighed in, responding to the video with a quote from former President Theodore Roosevelt about Americans needing allegiance to the United States and calling for the condemnation of any other loyalties. "There is no room in this country for hyphenated is a matter of the spirit and of the soul. Our allegiance must be purely to the United States. We must unsparingly condemn any man who holds any other allegiance," the post said. Ramirez, who has represented Illinois in Congress since 2023, is the daughter of Guatemalan immigrants. Democrat Rep. Delia Ramirez at a summit in Mexico City this weekend tells the audience while speaking in Spanish: "I'm a proud Guatemalan before I'm an American." — TheBlaze (@theblaze) August 4, 2025 The congresswoman has responded to the criticism, writing on X, "Honoring my Guatemalan ancestry only strengthens my commitment to America." Ramirez described the backlash to her comments as attempts to silence her criticisms of the Trump administration, and she questioned why colleagues who celebrate their Irish or Italian heritage were not subject to the same criticism. "Only those who believe America should not include the children of immigrants or be diverse would attack me—and Americans like me—for honoring my roots," she said in a statement. Ramirez has been a vocal critic of the Trump administration's anti-immigration actions, calling for ICE to be defunded and the resignation of Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem. She has also described the Trump administration as a "fascist government." What People Are Saying Conservative commentator Jesse Kelly wrote on X: "Denaturalize and deport. I'm not even close to kidding." Conservative activist Charlie Kirk wrote on X: "Any person who values any other country over America does not belong in Congress. Period." Conservative pundit Megyn Kelly wrote on X: "Awesome. Go home." Conservative activist Robby Starbuck wrote on X: "She should be immediately stripped of her elected office and it shouldn't be controversial in the slightest. If you put a foreign nation first, you can't be trusted to represent the United States. Period." What Happens Next The tensions surrounding immigration and concepts of national identity are likely to continue amid the Trump administration's hard-line immigration policies.
