Texas Dems end weekslong quorum standoff in redistricting fight

[mystery-ak]

Texas Dems end weekslong quorum standoff in redistricting fight
Texas Democratic leaders said they would return for the 2nd special session on Monday
By Paul Steinhauser , Alex Miller Fox News
Published August 18, 2025 9:06am EDT | Updated August 18, 2025 1:09pm EDT

The high-stakes battle between Republicans and Democrats over congressional redistricting ahead of next year's midterm elections resumed on Monday in California and Texas, with Texas Democrats ending their weeks long standoff, paving the way for Republicans to pass their new congressional map.

In Austin, Texas, state lawmakers gathered for a second straight special session called by conservative Republican Gov. Greg Abbott.

At the top of their to-do list is passing a GOP-crafted redistricting map that would create up to five Republican-leaning congressional districts at the expense of currently Democrat-controlled seats.

The Republican push in Texas, which comes at President Donald Trump's urging, is part of a broader effort by the GOP across the country to pad their razor-thin House majority to keep control of the chamber in the 2026 midterms, when the party in power traditionally faces political headwinds and loses seats.

more
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/texas-dems-end-weekslong-quorum-standoff-redistricting-fight

[Free Vulcan]

Boot kick it down their throat, and follow it with a billy club chaser!

[Weird Tolkienish Figure]

Just change the damn quorum to a simple majority... problem solved!

[Bigun]

And Speaker Burrows promptly recesses until Wednesday! 

[mountaineer]

Sissies.

[Elderberry]

The return of quorum has reignited debate about how to handle the Democrats who fled.

Texas Scorecard By Brandon Waltens   | August 18, 2025

House Speaker Dustin Burrows announced that Democrats who had participated in the walkout would remain under close watch. According to Burrows, they will be escorted by Department of Public Safety officers to ensure their attendance. The House is slated to return on Wednesday at 10 a.m., with committees slated to meet this week.

The House’s rules already impose a $500 daily penalty on those breaking quorum, a provision that some Republicans want to see enforced to its fullest extent.

While Monday’s floor proceedings were brief, the return of a quorum has reignited debate about how to handle the Democrats who fled.

Some Republican lawmakers have suggested stripping them of vice chairmanships and the added office budgets those positions provide, arguing that members who abandoned their duties should not continue to hold leadership posts.

Others are calling on Gov. Abbott to expand the agenda of the special session to include redistricting for the state legislature, in addition to the congressional map that sparked the walkout.

More: https://texasscorecard.com/state/texas-house-regains-quorum-as-democrats-return-from-walkout/