by As Governor Gavin Newsom and other Democrats encouraged Republicans to step aside and refrain from an apartisan spat that spans several statehouses, Texas Republicans once again failed to adopt new congressional districts to satisfy President Donald Trump’s demands on Monday.
In order to deny their GOP colleagues the quorum required to vote on Trump’s aggressive redistricting strategy and prolong the impasse into its second week, Texas Democratic lawmakers left the state and stayed outside of it. Democratic governors, including Newsom, were also prompted by the president’s agenda to promise retaliatory redistricting initiatives in their states, raising the prospect of a protracted impasse that would upset the 2026 midterm elections.
In a letter on Monday, Newsom pleaded with Trump to drop his plan, telling him that he is tampering with fire and endangering our democracy.
House Speaker Dustin Burrows adjourned another scheduled session at the Texas Capitol just minutes after it began in the early afternoon. During the brief meeting, he reprimanded scores of Democrats who are the subject of civil arrest warrants. State officials cannot reach those lawmakers because they are out of state.
Donald Trump: Greg Abbott has to be told to get off the phone. Five congressional seats are not yours.CA will take swift action if you don’t call off your lapdogs. We’ll cast our ballots. Any gains you make will be offset by us. We won’t standpic.Twitter: https://hUyQ3Amep5
According to Burrows, in an attempt to get the absent lawmakers to come to the statehouse, Texas law enforcement agencies have visited their homes, conducted surveillance, knocked on doors, and called their telephones.
According to the speaker, the hunt is still ongoing and won’t end. “You’ll be here eventually,” he added later.
In order to elect five more Republicans, the GOP majority in the House intends to redraw the boundaries. In an attempt to prevent a rerun of the 2018 midterm elections, Trump, who has stated that the GOP is entitled to the seats, is pressuring other legislatures that are controlled by Republicans to do the same. Trump was twice impeached and his agenda stymied by the new Democratic majority in the U.S. House that resulted from both elections during his first year in office. At a time when there are only a few dozen contested districts out of 435, Democrats are within three seats of a House majority according to the current national maps.
Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer of Texas, one of the lawmakers who departed the state, stated on Monday that it is unethical to steal congressional districts in the middle of a decade. Simply enough, it’s just traditional cheating.
Democrats in Texas want to make the most of their current special session, which ends on August 19. However, Governor Greg Abbott stated that he would repeatedly summon lawmakers back to the Statehouse until enough Democrats were there to meet the number of people needed to vote on the bill.
In response to Texas, Newsom and other Democrats in California are thinking of drawing new lines that would give Democrats five seats and negate any change in Texas. However, that would necessitate persuading California voters to reject the current maps created by an impartial commission. In their Democratic-controlled statehouses, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and New York Governor Kathy Hochul have pledged comparable initiatives.
In his letter to Trump, Newsom stated that, like in Texas and the majority of states controlled by the Republican Party, he would rather have independent organizations create political districts than partisan legislatures. However, California cannot watch helplessly as this power grab takes place, Newsom stated.
The governor went on to say that we would be happy to stop redistricting if Texas and the other states did the same. And it will benefit American democracy.
The lawmakers from Texas who are not present are remaining in places like Illinois and New York. They have made multiple appearances alongside Hochul, Pritzker, and Newsom, and they have stated that they have no plans to return as long as Republicans are determined to appease Trump.
Abbott and U.S. Senate candidate Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton claim that Democratic lawmakers have resigned from their positions and want state courts to remove them from office. In order to allow for their arrest outside of Texas, Paxton has requested that an Illinois judge uphold the Texas warrants issued for the lawmakers who are not present.
During the Civil Rights Movement, state representative Rhetta Bowers, who is also remaining in Illinois, referred to certain white politicians’ strategies. She expressed worries about Abbott and Paxton’s exploitation of the legal system and law enforcement against their political rivals, pointing out that districts represented by Black and Latino Democrats will be disproportionately impacted by the planned Texas maps.
She claimed that the same strategies were employed against the Black and Brown Americans who worked to have the Voting Rights Act of 1965 passed.
According to Bowers, their battle is our battle, and like the Civil Rights heroes of the past, we are willing to fight until the very end, no matter the cost.
Under legislative regulations, the Democrats could be fined at least $500 for every day they miss work.
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One of the Democrats remaining outside of Chicago, Ram Romero, Jr., acknowledged on Monday that he and his colleagues have sought legal advice. Romero claimed that they were aware of our location. Here in the state of Illinois, we feel really secure.
Only nine Democratic members were in the House chamber Monday in Austin, including Rep. Joe Moody. He noted his colleagues are doing something that is well within their rights as members, and he expressed sympathy with them.
The Texas Constitution enshrines the notion that quorum can be dissolved. According to Moody, so are the attempts to force them to go back.
Burrows, speaking from the speaker’s chair, never brought up the redistricting legislation, emphasizing instead that the special session also includes a number of disaster relief measures following the state’s devastating floods in July that killed at least 135 people. “Those bills are scheduled for floor action on Tuesday morning,” he stated.
According to Burrows, the only thing preventing Texas from receiving actual catastrophe assistance is whether or not our absent colleagues choose to arrive tomorrow.
Abbott sent lawmakers back to the Texas Capitol for the special session last month, adding the redistricting idea to his long list of agenda items. Democrats in Texas objected, pleading with the governor and lawmakers to put the flood response ahead of Trump’s agenda.
