Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced Tuesday he will call the Texas Legislature back for a second special session next week if the dozens of absentee Democratic state lawmakers protesting GOP-led mid decade redistricting do not return in time to achieve quorum on Friday.
Quorum requires 100 of the 150 state House members to be present to advance legislative business, prompting 51 Texas Democrats to flee the state to hold off the vote that will approve the redrawn congressional districts. Abbott’s vow to call more sessions makes Democrats’ apparently futile efforts to halt redistricting more expensive — as the fleeing lawmakers continue to face $500 fines each day they skip their session, and Abbott has no limit on how many sessions he is allowed to call.
Abbott said the second special session will have the same redistricting agenda as their current session, and more issues related to his “Texas first agenda” could be added as well.
“The Special Session #2 agenda will have the exact same agenda, with the potential to add more items critical to Texans. There will be no reprieve for the derelict Democrats who fled the state and abandoned their duty to the people who elected them,” Abbott said in a statement posted to X. “I will continue to call special session after special session until we get this Texas first agenda passed.”
Abbott previously stated he would pursue countless special sessions to get the new district map approved Sunday on Fox News, claiming the redistricting battle could hypothetically continue “for literally years.”
“I’m authorized to call a special session every 30 days. As soon as this one is over, I’m gonna call another one, then another one, then another one, then another one,” Abbott said. “If they show back up in the state of Texas, they will be arrested and taken to the Capitol. If they want to evade that arrest, they’re gonna have to stay outside of the state of Texas for literally years.”
“If they want to evade that arrest, they’re gonna have to stay outside of the state of Texas for literally years, and they might as well just start voting in California or voting in Illinois, wherever they may be,” the governor added.
Republican Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick also posted a statement to social media Tuesday, claiming the Texas Senate will pass the remaining bills on Abbott’s special session agenda, including the newly drawn congressional map likely gaining Republicans five new seats in the House of Representatives.
“House Democrats have made their point and now face a choice. They should return from their ‘vacation’ before Friday and pass the bills on the governor’s special session call. If not, the Texas Senate will adjourn Sine Die on Friday so Gov. Abbott can immediately call us back for another special session. This will continue in perpetuity,” Patrick wrote. “Let me be clear: the Texas Senate will pass the bills on Gov. Abbott’s special session call over, and over, and over again until the House Democrats return from their ‘vacation’ to do the people’s business. The decision is theirs.”
Most Texas state House Democrats fled the state on Aug. 2, and have since stayed in hotels in blue states such as Illinois, Massachusetts and New York — all of which have lopsided House delegations favoring Democrats. Since then, Abbott has threatened to arrest the lawmakers upon their return, and Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit in the Texas Supreme Court to have 13 of the fleeing Democrats removed from their seats.
The Lone Star State Democrats also traveled to Sacramento, California for a press conference with Golden State Democrats such as Gov. Gavin Newsom, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Rep. Zoe Lofgren, Senate President pro Tempore Mike McGuire, and California Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas on Aug. 8 — during which Newsom reaffirmed his earlier statement claiming “everything is at stake” if Democrats do not regain control of the House of Representatives in the midterms. The governor also had claimed a continued Republican trifecta in Washington could mean “there may not be an election in 2028.”
Newsom, while leading the charge to retaliate against Texas Republicans’ new map by gerrymandering his own state, sent a letter to the White House on Monday calling for President Donald Trump to “call off” the Texas redistricting effort — in return for him standing down from redrawing California’s House map. It is unclear if the White House has responded to Newsom’s request.
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