{"id":6635,"date":"2026-05-15T15:32:07","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T15:32:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=6635"},"modified":"2026-05-15T15:32:07","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T15:32:07","slug":"texas-high-court-rejects-removal-of-democratic-lawmakers-who-led-quorum-break-over-redistricting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=6635","title":{"rendered":"Texas high court rejects removal of Democratic lawmakers who led quorum break over redistricting"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) \u2014 The Texas Supreme Court on Friday refused to declare that Democratic lawmakers\u00a0who briefly fled the state\u00a0in 2025 to block a vote on new congressional voting maps pushed by President Donald Trump had vacated their office.<\/p>\n

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The all-Republican court dealt a blow to Gov. Greg Abbott and state Republicans in their efforts to severely punish the more than 50 Democrats who bolted for New York,\u00a0Illinois\u00a0and Massachusetts\u00a0in a bid to stop\u00a0a vote on the maps during a special session. State Republicans had sought their arrest and threatened fines to bring them back to the state Capitol.<\/p>\n

Abbott had argued\u00a0in a lawsuit\u00a0filed directly to the state\u2019s highest civil court that state Rep.\u00a0Gene Wu, the leader of the House Democratic caucus, and others had effectively abandoned their office.<\/p>\n

Wu had argued that he was not abandoning his office in the quorum break, but was exercising a right to dissent.<\/p>\n

In denying Abbott\u2019s request, the court opinion written by Justice James Blacklock noted that the Republican-majority Legislature had adequately resolved the problem itself through measures such as fines against the missing lawmakers, and that they eventually returned on their own within a few weeks.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the end, a quorum was restored in two weeks\u2019 time, without judicial intervention, by the interplay of political and practical forces,\u201d Blacklock wrote.<\/p>\n

\u201cCourts have uniformly recognized that it is not their role to resolve disputes between the other two branches that those branches can resolve for themselves,\u201d the opinion said.<\/p>\n

If the issue rises again and the Legislature cannot effectively compel lawmakers to return, the court may someday consider whether the courts should step in, the opinion said.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

\u201cWhen Greg Abbott threatened to arrest and expel us for denying him a quorum, we told him he should \u2018come and take it.\u2019 He tried!\u201d Wu said in a statement Friday. \u201cAbbott was wrong, weak, and after all his bluster, he couldn\u2019t come and take a damn thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Wu and the other lawmakers\u00a0eventually returned to Texas, and the new map was passed and\u00a0signed into law by Abbott.<\/p>\n

Wu had argued that because he had returned to the Capitol and the map was eventually signed into law, there was no longer any reason for the court to weigh in.<\/p>\n

\u201cTheir return is robust proof that they never intended to abandon their offices,\u201d Wu argued in legal briefs. \u201cDespite the overheated rhetoric, this quorum break was always understood to be temporary.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

The Texas walkout intensified into a high-stakes national drama as Trump urged Texas and other GOP-controlled states to\u00a0redraw their congressional districts\u00a0to help Republicans maintain control of the U.S. House. The Texas map effort set off a wave of similar efforts across several states as governors from both parties pledged to redraw maps with the goal of giving their political candidates a leg up in the 2026 midterm elections.<\/p>\n

The state constitution requires that at least 100 of the 150 House members be present to conduct business, and the quorum break effectively shut down a special legislative session Abbott had called to address redistricting and other issues, including aid to communities hit by the devastating\u00a0July Fourth floods\u00a0that killed more than 100 people.<\/p>\n

In 2021, the court ruled that the Texas Constitution enables the possibility of a quorum break but also allows for consequences to bring members back.<\/p>\n

Last year\u2019s Democratic walkout was the third since 2003, when lawmakers bolted to stop a vote on a redistricting bill. They did it again\u00a0in 2021\u00a0over an elections bill. In both cases, they were temporary victories as Democrats eventually returned and the Republican majority in the Legislature ultimately passed both measures into law.<\/p>\n

Read more As Trump looks to punish foes, Democratic states find ways to push back<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Texas Supreme Court has refused to declare that Democratic state lawmakers who briefly left the state last year in a quorum break to stop a vote on new congressional voting maps pushed by President Donald Trump vacated their offices.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6634,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6635","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-facts","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nTexas high court rejects removal of Democratic lawmakers who led quorum break over redistricting - Silicon Valley Moving Post<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=6635\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Texas high court rejects removal of Democratic lawmakers who led quorum break over redistricting - 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