GOP governor orders police to arrest AWOL Democrat lawmakers

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has ordered the arrest of Democrat lawmakers who have refused to return to the state legislature to block a vote on a Republican-proposed redistricting plan, which would redraw congressional boundaries and potentially secure five additional US House seats for Republicans in the 2026 midterm elections.

“Texas House Democrats abandoned their duty to Texans,” Gov. Abbott wrote in a statement. “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.

"Speaker Dustin Burrows just issued a call of the Texas House and issued warrants to compel members to return to the chamber. To ensure compliance, I ordered the Texas Department of Public Safety 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.”

Abbott’s call for the Democrats’ arrests comes after the governor issued a stern warning on Sunday, stating he would pursue legal action against the absent lawmakers if they failed to return to Austin for the vote. 

The Democrats’ walkout was a strategic move to deny the Texas House a quorum, the minimum number of legislators required to conduct business, effectively halting all legislative activity during a special session set to end later this month. Their primary goal was to block the GOP’s redistricting map.

Texas Attor­ney Gen­er­al Ken Pax­ton also released a state­ment regard­ing the rogue Demo­c­rat law­mak­ers.

“Instead of showing up to work and doing the jobs they were elected to do, House Democrat members have fled the state in a cowardly desertion of their responsibilities as elected officials. These jet-setting runaways abandoned Texas, abdicated their duties in the House, and sacrificed their constituents for a publicity stunt,” Paxton said. “I am prepared to do everything in my power to hold them accountable because these liberal lawmakers are not above the law. 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.”