Still a crook any way you look
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and House Speaker Dustin Burrows are asking an Illinois court to enforce arrest warrants against Democratic lawmakers who have left the state to delay passage of a GOP-backed congressional map.
Burrows issued civil arrest warrants on Monday, ordering the sergeant-at-arms and state troopers to track down and arrest the dozens of House members who absconded Sunday to deny quorum, or the minimum number of members required for the lower chamber to pass legislation.
These warrants are only enforceable within state lines, making them a largely symbolic threat that also ensures any members who return to the state can be apprehended and returned to the chamber.
The request to Illinois’ Eighth Judicial Circuit Court marks a significant escalation in Republicans’ efforts to restore quorum and pass the new congressional map, which aims to secure five additional seats for Republicans. The Legislature undertook the unusual mid-decade redraw under pressure from President Donald Trump, who is looking to pad his party’s narrow majority in the U.S. House ahead of next year’s potentially difficult midterm election.
When Texas Democrats left the state to break quorum in 2003 and 2021, the House speakers at the time issued warrants but did not try to enforce them outside Texas.
“The Texas Representatives named herein hope the State of Illinois will provide safe harbor for their political actions and shield them from legal process,” Paxton wrote in the filing. “The United States Constitution, federal statute, and the doctrine of comity between states demand otherwise.”
Paxton is calling on the “full faith and credit” clause of the U.S. Constitution, which says states should honor each other’s judicial proceedings. States typically do enforce each others’ judgments and comply with extraditions, but there are limits to when they are required to do so, legal experts previously told The Texas Tribune.
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Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker previously said his state is “going to do everything we can to protect every single one of them,” referring to the Texas legislators in his state. Some other members went to Massachusetts and New York.
In the filing, Paxton calls on the goodwill of Illinois’ leadership, saying both states share the same fundamental interest in preventing “factionists and disorganizers” from blocking the progress of government.
“This is a far more fundamental common policy of the two sister states than any political differences about any legislation the Texas House of Representatives may consider or act on when a quorum is restored,” Paxton said.
I’m not sure which is funnier/more pathetic, that Paxton venue-shopped this in a way that would make the usual Kacsmaryk-humping sycophants in the wingnut legal factory chuckle, or his absolutely cringeworthy “help us help fulfill the authoritarian dreams of a President who just wants to avoid any and all accountability and also hates your state’s guts” language. If you’d been wondering how Paxton’s bad-boss tendencies might affect the quality of the work product there, wonder no more. If somehow this court buys into his bullshit, I feel confident it will get swiftly knocked down on appeal.
The targeted House Dems are doing what they can to get their message out.
If Gov. Greg Abbott is determined to pass a gerrymandered congressional map, Texas Democrats know he has the votes and the power to eventually get his way.
But for the dozens of Democrats who left the state this week in protest of the map, it’s not just about winning — it’s about fighting.
Away from their families and regular jobs, Texas Democrats, most of whom are hunkered down in a suburb about an hour west of Chicago, are facing $500-per-day fines, civil arrest warrants and threats from Republican state leaders to remove them from office.
Now five days into the walkout, they plan to stay away until at least the end of the special session on Aug. 19. When they return, they face the possibility of being stripped of their leadership positions and even further marginalized in a chamber where they are already outnumbered. And no matter how long they stay away, Abbott can just call another special session to pass the map.
But it will all be worth it, they say, if they can lay the groundwork for a national fight over redistricting and ensure enough voters across the country understand what they frame as an attempt by President Donald Trump to stack the deck in the midterm election next year.
“It takes an act of defiance like this to wake up the country and let them know that our democracy is being stolen right in front of our eyes,” said Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer of San Antonio in an interview. “If we’re going to be the spark that lights that fire, then we’re doing our jobs.”
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With Republicans moving to approve the map at a quick clip, the determination to deny quorum solidified among Democrats in the 48 hours before they got on a chartered plane headed for Chicago. Others made their way to Albany to meet with New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, and to Boston for a state legislative conference.
Democrats say they’re buying valuable time by walking out, drawing attention to the issue among voters and getting other blue states involved — even while recognizing that Texas’ map is likely to get passed and will need to be fought in court.
“The spotlight has been turned on,” Rep. James Talarico of Austin said in an interview. “I’m hoping this courage that my colleagues and I have shown will be contagious, and it’ll inspire other legislators in blue states to respond with their own redistricting attempts.”
Using their hotel complex as a base camp, Democrats have done scores of media interviews out of their cramped rooms and a small park off the Fox River in Illinois; hosted news conferences with federal, state and party leaders at local union halls and blue state capitols; and met with Democratic governors and elected officials from across the country.
Talarico, who is mulling a run for U.S. Senate, said he did 25 interviews in the first 24 hours of the quorum break, ranging from TV and traditional platforms to podcasts with ranging ideological bents. His TV hits alone reached 9.8 million viewers across the country, he said, not including thousands of others on social media.
One of those interviews Rep. Talarico did is here, with Mother Jones. Dude’s a talent for sure. I’m still rooting for him to run for Governor, as I think he’s the best shot we’ll have at that office, he can do what he wants when he’s ready to do it.
I like how the story notes the way that Republicans hid the map, which was very much not the big risk for existing GOP incumbents we thought it might be, and then moved with all due speed to get to a floor vote once it passed out of committee. I wondered at the time if they feared/expected a quorum break and were rushing to either make it too difficult for Dems to pull it off, or if maybe they thought it would be better for them politically if they forced the Dems to flee. I don’t have any particular insight on that, but I do believe the short timeline was a factor.
The story also notes that red states would have the overall advantage in an all-out redistricting war. Whatever may come of that, Florida is getting on board to be next in line.
Oh, and now Greg Abbott is threatening to go bigger on redistricting when the Dems come back. That would seem to me to have a much greater likelihood of becoming a dummymander, but what do I know?
As much fun as this all is, there are real things at risk in the short term.
With Texas legislators locked in a standoff over Republicans’ push to redraw the state’s congressional districts mid-decade, time is running out for election officials to prepare for next year’s primary without major disruption.
Planning for the March primary election is already underway, but election officials say they can’t move forward without finalized maps — and the first key deadline, mandated by the state, is coming Sept. 9.
Democratic lawmakers have pledged to remain out of the state in protest of the Republicans’ proposed congressional map, making an agreement unlikely by the end of the special session Aug. 19. The proposed map could still change, and if Gov. Greg Abbott calls another special session, the debate could extend well into the fall.
Without knowing where the boundaries will be drawn, election officials won’t be able to finalize decisions about polling locations or the number of election workers needed. Voters whose polling location changes will also need to be informed, and candidates who want a spot on the primary ballot also need the new boundary lines well in advance in order to familiarize themselves with the district and campaign. Candidates have to be residents of the district they seek to represent.
In a typical redistricting cycle year, the process of adapting to new maps is labor-intensive for election officials and takes months.
“Who knows if we’ll have enough time?” said Chris Davis, the voter registration director in Travis County. He said the Sept. 9 deadline is when county precinct chairs — who represent their political party in a precinct within their neighborhood — can begin filing to run in the primary. A new map could shift precinct boundaries entirely.
Candidates “need to know now which precinct they’re filing for,” Davis said. “If we have to split a precinct into two, they may end up being the chair of a new precinct.”
All other primary candidates can begin filing for a spot on the ballot Nov. 8. The filing deadline is one month later.
Election officials across the state have for months been updating precinct boundary lines to account for population growth, as required by state law in odd-numbered years. But that work is now on hold due to the redistricting battle, multiple election officials told Votebeat. If and when new maps get approved, they’ll have to start over.
I doubt that’s giving anyone in the state leadership even a moment’s pause. The lower levels of government are there to do their will, after all. While Dems could stay out long enough to go past that September deadline, I doubt the November-December filing period is in any danger at this time. The main complication there is likely to be if the courts hold things up. Even with that, when a quorum is re-established the Lege can also move the primaries back to May or whenever, as they did for 2012. There absolutely will be a mess and a scramble at the end of all this, but we’re way too far away from actually preventing new maps from being ready in time for next year.
Later on Friday afternoon, Ken Paxton did the thing he said he was going to do.
Attorney General Ken Paxton asked the Texas Supreme Court on Friday to vacate the seats of 13 state House members who have fled to block GOP redistricting, carrying out a threat from earlier in the week.
House Speaker Dustin Burrows had set a deadline of 1 p.m. Friday for dozens of absent Democrats to return voluntarily, but the body did not reach a quorum.
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The members named in the suit are: state Reps. Ron Reynolds; Vikki Goodwin; Gina Hinojosa; James Talarico; Lulu Flores; Mihaela Plesa; Suleman Lalani; Chris Turner; Ana-Maria Ramos; Jessica Gonzalez; John Bucy III; Christina Morales. Wu is also included in Paxton’s suit.
The House Democratic Caucus could not immediately be reached for comment, but Bucy said in a statement Friday that he was not deterred.
“I broke quorum to protect the voice of millions of Texans,” Bucy said. “This seat belongs to the people of Texas House District 136 — not Ken Paxton. I’m not backing down.”
Paxton said he was focusing on those members because they “made incriminating public statements regarding their refusal to return.” He pointed to a statement by Wu, for example, in which he declared that “this corrupt special session is over,’ referring to the 30-day session that Abbott called to pass legislation on redistricting, flooding recovery and hemp regulation.
I’m sure there’s a legal argument in there somewhere, but as with Abbott and Cornyn’s actions it’s hard to see one. I’m just going to leave these here:
Texas Attorney General @KenPaxtonTX argues Texas House Democrats abandoned their offices, but he sent his lawsuit about it to…their offices to make sure they see it #TxLege
— Scott Braddock (@scottbraddock) 3:17 PM – 8 August 2025
Two pages of Paxton’s suit seem to contradict each other on which Democrats are being sued: Page ii lists Christina Morales of HD145, while page vii lists respondent of the rep of District 124, which is Josey Garcia. #txlege
— Isaac Yu (@isaacyu_) 2:34 PM – 8 August 2025
The Trib has more. Once again, a master class on lawyering from Paxton. This too is a “quo warranto” filing, to the Supreme Court, who all things being equal I’m sure would have preferred to have a nice, quiet weekend. Hey, if we can’t have nice things then neither can you.
Paxton also filed a lawsuit against Beto O’Rourke, claiming he doing illegal fundraising for the quorum busters. On this one, Paxton succeeded.
Former U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke cannot financially support Texas Democrats who left the state to delay passage of a new congressional map, a Tarrant County judge ruled Friday evening.
O’Rourke and his political group, Powered by People, were sued by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton Friday afternoon. Paxton argued that the group was deceptively fundraising for and illegally helping support Texas Democrats as they fanned out to Illinois, Massachusetts and New York to deny the House the headcount needed to pass legislation.
Tarrant County District Judge Megan Fahey granted Paxton’s request for a temporary injunction, barring O’Rourke and Powered by People from fundraising for the Democrats or spending money to cover their expenses. The order came less than four hours after Paxton’s office filed the petition.
Fahey, a Republican, was appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott in 2019 and has twice been reelected to the bench.
In her ruling, Fahey agreed with Paxton’s contention that Powered by People engaged in false, misleading or deceptive fundraising practices, and by distributing funds to Texas Democrats, writing in the ruling that the group either “directly violates or causes Texas Democratic Legislators” to violate state law and House procedures.
The group cannot use political funds to pay for travel or accommodations for “unexcused Texas legislators during any special legislative session called by the Texas Governor as consideration for a violation of such legislators’ Constitutional duties.”
O’Rourke filed his own lawsuit against Paxton Friday in El Paso district court. He alleged that the attorney general was engaging in a “fishing expedition, constitutional rights be damned,” and asked the judge to block Paxton’s investigation into the organization’s practices.
In a statement responding to the injunction, O’Rourke said Paxton was trying to “make examples out of those who fight so that others won’t.”
I dunno, man. How would this even be enforced? If it goes through the Texas Ethics Commission, I doubt anyone has all that much to fear. And what happens if O’Rourke succeeds in his lawsuit? I’m so confused. May there be less news over the weekend, that’s all I’m asking for.
What is the basis of Beto’s suit against Paxton that he mentioned on X? I can’t find a link to it anywhere. I was told filed in El Paso county district court, but not finding.