Texas Republicans issue arrest warrants after Democrats flee state to block map vote

Texas House Republicans on Monday issued civil arrest warrants for more than 50 Democratic representatives who slipped across state lines to deny the chamber a quorum for debating new redistricting maps, thrusting the legislature into its second walk-out crisis in four years.

The warrants, signed by House Speaker Dustin Burrows and enforceable only within Texas, instruct the Department of Public Safety to detain absent members and return them to the Capitol in Austin. Governor Greg Abbott has also ordered troopers to “assist in the arrests” and said he may call successive 30-day special sessions if the stalemate drags on.

Democrats, now scattered across Illinois, New York and Massachusetts, say the Republican-drawn maps would erode the voting power of minority communities that drove most of the state’s population growth over the past decade.

“My district is majority-minority, and these political games hurt people like mine,” Representative Jessica Gonzalez told reporters in Chicago.

Under House rules adopted in 2023, each lawmaker who breaks quorum faces a fine of $500 a day. Prof Matthew Wilson of Southern Methodist University said removing elected members from office would be “unprecedented” and questioned whether law-enforcement agencies in Democratic-run states would comply with any extradition requests.

Republican leaders counter that the walk-out is delaying unrelated measures, including flood-relief funding, although no such bill has yet reached the floor. They accuse Democrats of trying to thwart efforts backed by President Donald Trump to secure at least five additional Republican seats in the U.S. House through mid-term redistricting.

The current special session expires on 19 August, but Mr Abbott has signalled he will restart the clock until the maps pass.

A previous Democratic exodus in 2021 lasted nearly five weeks before members returned and a voting-restrictions bill was approved.

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