Latest news with #quorumbreaking
CNN
08-08-2025
- Politics
- CNN
Live updates: Texas House tries to move forward on redistricting after Democrats flee state
Update: Date: Title: Texas lawmaker says Abbott's attempt to remove him from office is "purely insanity" Content: Texas House member Rep. Gene Wu, a Democrat, called Gov. Greg Abbott's request asking the state's Supreme Court to remove him 'just purely insanity.' Wu is one of 50 quorum-breaking Democratic House members who left the state to forestall a vote on new congressional maps, and he responded to Abbott's move on 'Anderson Cooper 360.' Watch: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) asked the state Supreme Court to remove Rep. Gene Wu (D) from office. Wu is one of 50 quorum-breaking Democratic House members who fled the state to forestall a vote on new congressional maps, and he responded to Abbott's move on AC360. #CNN #News Update: Date: Title: Can Democrats be removed from office for fleeing Texas? What experts say Content: Texas Democrats, who fled the state to forestall a vote on new congressional maps, are facing escalating threats from Republicans, including from Attorney General Ken Paxton who is seeking court rulings to declare their seats vacant if they don't return. But that statement has 'no basis,' said Chad Dunn, a longtime Texas voting rights lawyer and the legal director of UCLA's Voting Rights Project Paxton would have to prove in court that absent House members did not comply with a duty and demonstrated that they intended to vacate their office. 'He has evidence of neither,' Dunn said. 'Quorum breaking is enabled in the Texas constitution.' 'Quorum breaking is more American than apple pie,' he added. 'And no member has indicated an intent to abandon office. They are serving as their people's representatives with the actions they have taken.' Quinn Yeargain, a state constitutional law expert at Michigan State University College of Law, argued that GOP threats to remove the boycotting Democrats might have more bark than bite. But even if a court concluded that it does have the authority to decide the case, judges would have to consider whether a lawmaker's decision to leave the state constitutes 'abandonment' under the law. 'What abandonment would mean in this context is that they went on a cruise around the world and had no desire to return, and therefore missed votes,' Yeargain said. 'It cannot possibly apply to a situation where they're strategically using the power … to prevent the legislature from meeting and conducting business.' Update: Date: Title: Here's how Texas Republicans want to dismantle Democratic districts Content: The congressional map Texas Republicans hope to enact targets five Democratic-held districts with precision, carefully cutting out blue areas and redistributing them to other districts which are already safe for either party and replacing them with solidly red turf. The map looks likely to perform well for Republicans if the party continues to do as well in the state as they did in 2024, when Trump won by nearly 14 points. However, if a future election looks more like 2020, when Trump's margin was less than half that, several of these districts could be much more competitive. Here's a look at the five districts and how Republicans want to redraw them. District 9: Houston would change dramatically under the new map, morphing from a Democratic district based in southern Houston to a Republican district in eastern Harris County. District 32: A big piece of Dallas area would be merged with Democratic 33rd District, while other Democratic areas would be distributed to heavily Republican seats. District 35: The Republican proposal would eliminate the Austin to San Antonio 35th District in its current form. The new 35th would include some Democratic parts of San Antonio, but would stretch out from the city into more Republican turf in Guadalupe, Karnes and Wilson counties. Much of the Austin portion of the district would be absorbed into the 37th District. District 28: The new map cuts out some Democratic areas in San Antonio while adding more Republicans, especially in Live Oak, La Salle and Maverick Counties. The district also gains a portion of Hidalgo County along the Mexican border. District 34: The new map pushes that margin to double digits by excising a portion of Hidalgo County on the Mexican border and replacing it with a portion of Nueces County near Corpus Christi.
Yahoo
04-08-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Texas House issues arrest warrants for Democrats who left state to block congressional redistricting
The Texas House voted Monday afternoon to track down and arrest more than 50 Democratic lawmakers who were not present when the chamber gaveled in. After the 85-6 vote, House Speaker Dustin Burrows said he would immediately sign civil warrants for each of the legislators, empowering the chamber's sergeant-at-arms and state troopers to arrest and bring them to the Capitol. They will not face civil or criminal charges from the arrests. The warrants apply only within state lines, making them largely symbolic as most of the legislators in question decamped to Illinois, New York and Massachusetts to forestall passage of the GOP's proposed redraw of Texas' congressional map. The House used the same tactic to try to force Democrats back to work in 2021, when a majority of them left for Washington, D.C., to protest GOP voting restrictions. Some of the lawmakers challenged the warrants in court, obtaining an injunction against arrests that was later struck down by the Texas Supreme Court. While the Texas Constitution 'enables 'quorum-breaking' by a minority faction of the legislature, it likewise authorizes 'quorum-forcing' by the remaining members,' the court ruled. Rep. Charlie Geren, a Republican from Fort Worth, laid the groundwork for the warrants by motioning for a 'call of the House,' which requires all members to stay within the chamber unless excused. Any members not present can be 'sent for and arrested, wherever they may be found,' by the sergeant-at-arms, according to House rules. Gov. Greg Abbott said in a statement he had mobilized the Texas Department of Public Safety to assist in the effort to bring the missing members back to the chamber. Democrats left the state Sunday afternoon to deny the House a quorum — the number of people necessary for the chamber to advance legislation — and delay passage of a new congressional map. The current congressional map, drawn by a Republican-dominated Legislature in 2021, has netted 25 GOP seats in the last two elections. But after pressure from President Donald Trump's team, Gov. Greg Abbott directed lawmakers to redraw the map during the special legislative session, which started July 21. Last week, the House proposed new congressional lines dividing up existing districts in Austin, Houston and Dallas with the aim of netting five more Republican seats. 'This is not a decision we make lightly, but it is one we make with absolute moral clarity,' state Rep. Gene Wu, chair of the House Democratic Caucus, said in a statement Sunday, accusing Abbott of 'using an intentionally racist map to steal the voices of millions of Black and Latino Texans, all to execute a corrupt political deal.' On the House floor Monday, Burrows condemned the members who had left, saying they had 'shirked their responsibilities,' and thanked the 90 members who were present. 'You understand that the issues before us, disaster recovery, fighting for the families who lost loved ones in the floods, human trafficking and more, are not abstract policy debates,' Burrows said. 'Instead of confronting those challenges, some of our colleagues have fled the state and their duty.' The departed House members will face fines of $500 for each day that they miss, as well as the threat of reprimand, censure and expulsion, although that would require a two-thirds vote among members. Abbott said Sunday evening that if the Democrats did not return to Austin by 3 p.m. Monday, he would begin the legal process to have their seats declared vacant. This would be an unprecedented and, legal experts say, likely futile effort requiring individual lawsuits against each member and new elections to fill their seats. At a press conference after the House adjourned, Burrows declined to comment on whether he agreed that removal was a viable option. 'As a lawyer, I try not to give legal answers without actually studying and knowing all of the facts and the law,' he said. Some Republicans demanded Burrows strip Democrats of their roles as vice-chairs of House committees, remove them from chamber seniority and kick them out of their offices, or even consider redrawing state House maps to disadvantage Democratic districts. The House adjourned without taking any further action against the Democrats, who have vowed to stay out-of-state long enough for the 30-day special session to expire in two weeks. The lineup for The Texas Tribune Festival continues to grow! Be there when all-star leaders, innovators and newsmakers take the stage in downtown Austin, Nov. 13–15. The newest additions include comedian, actor and writer John Mulaney; Dallas mayor Eric Johnson; U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minnesota; New York Media Editor-at-Large Kara Swisher; and U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-El Paso. Get your tickets today! TribFest 2025 is presented by JPMorganChase.
