House Republicans voted to issue civil arrest warrants for the absent Texas Democrats Monday, authorizing the House sergeant-at-arms and state police to apprehend and return them to the Capitol.
This happened when more than 50 Democratic lawmakers fled the state on Monday, effectively blocking a scheduled vote in the Texas House of Representatives that aimed to move forward with a controversial redrawing of the state’s congressional districts.
Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows quickly confirmed that he would sign the warrants, but the move is largely symbolic. The civil warrants carry no criminal penalties, and they cannot be enforced outside of Texas, limiting the state’s ability to actually compel the lawmakers’ return.
The Democratic exodus, reminiscent of a similar 2021 standoff, was aimed at blocking what they see as a racially gerrymandered congressional map designed to entrench Republican control for years to come.
State Rep. Gene Wu, chair of the Texas House Democratic Caucus, spoke from Illinois Sunday night, saying the decision to leave was not made lightly but was driven by moral clarity.
🚨WATCH
Democrat Texas State Rep Gene Wu is supposedly trying to save Texas from CHICAGO 🤣
Real Texans don’t run away like this. WOW
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