Republican Gov. Greg Abbott sounded off on Monday morning on House Democrats who fled Texas to deny Republicans a quorum on redistricting efforts.
Abbott has threatened to remove Democratic state legislators from office and prosecute them with felonies after they fled the state. On Sunday, two dozen Texas Democrats flew to Chicago, Illinois, to deny the Republican-controlled legislature the quorum required.
“The derelict Democrat House members must return to Texas and be in attendance when the House reconvenes at 3:00 PM on Monday, August 4, 2025,” Abbott said. “For any member who fails to do so, I will invoke Texas Attorney General Opinion No. KP-0382 to remove the missing Democrats from membership in the Texas House.”
Abbott added the possibility of criminal charges to his own ultimatum, stating that Democrats who solicited or received gifts to assist offset fines incurred by their absence may have committed crimes and “violated bribery laws”.
“I think they face a possibility of facing bribery charges, which is a second-degree felony in Texas,” he added.
“The same could be true for any other person who ‘offers, confers, or agrees to confer’ such funds to fleeing Democrat House members. I will use my full extradition authority to demand the return to Texas of any potential out-of-state felons,” Abbott declared.
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On Sunday night, Abbott threatened to jail and expel Texas House Democrats who fled the state to avoid a redistricting vote unless they return by Monday afternoon.
Dozens of Texas Democratic state representatives came to Chicago on Sunday night to block the vote. Shortly after Abbott’s statement, the Texas House Democratic Caucus responded simply: “Come and take it.”
The letter also referred to Republicans’ proposed districts, which might result in five more GOP House seats in next year’s midterm elections, as a “racist mid-decade redistricting scheme.”
Abbott harshly criticized the abrupt departure of the Democrats, initiating his demand for their return with the statement, “Real Texans don’t flee from a battle.”
“Rather than doing their job and voting on urgent legislation affecting the lives of all Texans, they have fled Texas to deprive the House of the quorum necessary to meet and conduct business,” he wrote.
To conduct business, at least 100 of the 150-member Texas House must be present, and about 50 Democrats have left. Abbott stated that their commitment to voting as elected state officials is mandatory and “not optional.”
The Texas House is scheduled to reconvene at 3 p.m. on Monday, and Abbott has stated that “derelict Democrat House members must return” by then or face removal from their offices by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
The Republican AG has already stated that the lawmakers “should be found and arrested no matter where they go.”
Abbott also said a legislator determined to have “forfeited his or her office due to abandonment” can be removed from office under the Texas Constitution, thereby creating a vacancy, which the governor can “swiftly fill” under Article III, Section 13.
Removal from office is not the only threat facing the lawmakers on the run, as Abbott warned that “soliciting funds to evade the fines they will incur under House rules” is potentially a felony.