The Supreme Court of Texas on Tuesday halted a ruling that protected absent Democratic lawmakers from arrest, raising the possibility that lawmakers who recently returned from Washington could be detained and brought to the House so Republicans can pass new voting restrictions.
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The order was a victory for Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R), who called for arrests to reestablish a quorum after nearly 60 Democrats fled the state last month. A group of House Democrats filed a lawsuit over the weekend to preempt possible arrests, arguing that the state’s power to detain “cannot be used for political purposes.”
The immediate ramifications of the ruling were unclear. After advocating for federal voter protections for nearly a month, a number of House Democrats have returned to Texas — including some who came back to the House floor Monday. Still, as of Tuesday, the House remained eight members short of the 100 needed to do business.
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The chamber is once again under a “call,” meaning that its doors are locked and lawmakers are required to show up and obtain permission slips daily to leave. On Tuesday, House members voted 80-12 to approve a motion to send for absent members, enabling House Speaker Dade Phelan (R) to issue arrest warrants for missing Democrats.
The stay from the state Supreme Court was issued late Tuesday morning without analysis or comment.
State District Judge Brad Urrutia, a Democrat, had agreed Monday that Democrats would suffer “imminent and irreparable harm” if Republicans were not barred from ordering arrests.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) quickly asked the state Supreme Court to stay the ruling, calling it an abuse of judicial power.
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“The Supreme Court of Texas swiftly rejected this dangerous attempt by Texas Democrats to undermine our Constitution and avoid doing the job they were elected to do,” Renae Eze, Abbott’s spokeswoman, said in a statement Monday. “We look forward to the Supreme Court upholding the rule of law and stopping another stall tactic by the Texas Democrats.”
Democratic Texas legislators spent most of July in D.C. trying to persuade Congress to pass federal voting rights legislation. (Rhonda Colvin, Mahlia Posey/The Washington Post)
Texas House Democrats broke quorum for the third time over the weekend, as Phelan launched a second special legislative session aimed at approving new voting restrictions, among other agenda items.
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While the only arrest warrant issued for a quorum-breaking Democrat has expired, House lawmakers approved the new “call of the House” late Monday by a vote of 80-8. The chamber remained five members short of a quorum when it recessed, reflecting the return of several Democrats.
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“When you get close, and you want to not go backward, you want to make people who leave promise to return,” Rep. Jim Murphy, chair of the Texas House Republican Caucus, said in an interview. “That’s what everybody had to do today — you promise to return. And so then, our numbers only go up.”
In jointly issued statements, a trio of El Paso Democrats who returned to the floor emphasized their desire to focus on issues related to covid-19.
One of them, state Rep. Art Fierro (D), said Democrats had successfully “elevated the conversation about voter suppression” and predicted “concrete protections coming” for voters at the federal level.
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“Our chief goal in going to Washington was to sound the alarm on voting rights nationwide, and now there’s a new federal bill designed to protect voters and voting access that we expect will be filed soon because of our advocacy,” he said in a statement, referring to a narrower elections-and-ethics bill Democrats hope will receive a U.S. Senate vote before the chamber’s August recess.
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Another Democrat, state Rep. Eddie Lucio III, was present for roll call for the first day of the special session Saturday. He said he’d returned to Austin on Friday from an undisclosed location.
Lucio said he wanted to work on issues such as the state’s electric grid, restoring funding to the legislative branch and paying retired teachers.
“The chapter of the first special session closed,” Lucio told reporters. “It doesn’t mean that the fight closed. … My decision hinged on some of the demands back home, professionally, personally and politically.”
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Lucio said that he was encouraged by the progress House Democrats had made by bringing attention to the issue, and knew that “the baton would be carried by my Washington colleagues at the federal level, to have sweeping reform nationwide.”
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In anticipation of possible action by the U.S. Senate, Texas House Democrats announced Saturday that 26 of them would maintain an “active presence in Washington … for as long as Congress is working and making progress” on the issue of voting rights.
“Because of our advocacy, and that of the hundreds of legislators and allies around the country who rallied to our cause, we are that much closer today to the enactment of the most sweeping voting rights legislation since the signing of the Voting Rights Act 56 years ago,” a large group of Democrats said in a statement, adding: “Texas House Democrats will continue to resist, and hold the line, by any legal means necessary.”