The Texas House of Representatives voted 85–6 to arrest dozens of Democratic state lawmakers who weren’t present when the House went into session on Monday afternoon. The vote comes in the midst of a fight over congressional districts.
Republican House Speaker Dustin Burrows said on the floor he would immediately sign civil arrest warrants for the Democratic legislators who weren’t there.
VIDEO AT THE END OF THIS ARTICLE!
Burrows said on the Texas House floor on Monday that “in response to this dereliction of duty, and pursuant to the rules of the House, I am prepared to recognize a motion to place a call on the House and any other motions necessary to compel the return of absent members.”
“Should such a motion prevail, I will immediately sign the warrants for the civil arrest of the members who have said they will not be here,” he said.
In words directed at the Democrats, he said: “Come back and fulfill your duty, because this House will not sit quietly, while you obstruct the work of the people. The people of Texas are watching. And so is the nation. And if you choose to continue down this road, you should know there will be consequences.”
Minutes after his speech, a motion passed in the Texas House to send out arrest warrants to Democrats who left the state.
A number of Democrats left Texas for Illinois and were welcomed by Gov. JB Pritzker, also a Democrat, while some are in Massachusetts or New York state, said officials. Meanwhile, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, warned that he could remove the Democrats who left the state from office.
The Texas House requires a quorum—the number of lawmakers necessary for the chamber to move forward with legislation. As at least 51 Democrats left the state, the Republican-dominated House was unable to establish the quorum of lawmakers required to do business.
More than 1,800 miles away from Austin, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, appeared with Texas Democrats and said that their cause should be national.
“We’re not going to tolerate our democracy being stolen in a modern-day stagecoach heist,” Hochul said on Monday, flanked by several of the lawmakers who left Texas. “If Republicans are willing to rewrite rules to give themselves an advantage, then they’re leaving us with no choice: We must do the same. You have to fight fire with fire.”
But Abbott said ahead of the scheduled session that lawmakers have “absconded” in violation of their sworn duties to the state.
“I believe they have forfeited their seats in the state Legislature because they are not doing the job they were elected to do,” he said in a Sunday Fox News interview, invoking his state’s hallmark machismo to call the lawmakers “un-Texan.”
Texas Democrats said they had no plans to heed the governor’s demands to return.
WATCH:
Texas House passes a CALL OF THE HOUSE.
— CPT C (@CPTforSC) August 4, 2025
Doors are locked.
Democrats who ran off to Illinois can now be tracked down, arrested, and dragged back to do their job… vote on the congressional map. pic.twitter.com/FloNcAj7Qe
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