Texas Democrats again challenged Republican governor Greg Abbott and the State Republican Party and did not appear to vote on a controversial redistribution plan of districts proposed to Republicans.
The new Maps of Congress proposed to the Republican Party that would give Republicans more seats in Congress, which could allow the Republican Party to maintain control of the United States representatives camera in Washington.
Despite the threats of arrest, the loss of salary and the calls of the governor that they are removed from the position, the majority of the Democrats did not appear for the special session when it began at 2 pm et and quorum was not reached.
The Maps of the United States Congress are shown as the Special Committee of the Senate on the redistribution of Congress districts meets to listen to the guest testimony about Plan C2308 of Congress in the Capitol of the State of Texas on August 6, 2025 in Austin, Texas.
Brandon Bell/Getty images
Democratic State Representative Gene Wu, the leader of the Texas House of Representatives, told ABC News Thursday that he believes that his Caucus would endure on Friday and once again would deny the legislature a quorum, although he said they would be willing to return to Austin if the state Republicans promise to focus only on other problems before the special session, including mitigation of flooding and prepared For disasters.
The members who were present on Friday do not have to return in person until Monday at 2 PM ET, when the Republicans of the Texas House of Representatives will try to reach a quorum for the fourth time.
It is likely that the Democrats who have fled the State remained away until August 19, the end of the special session.
The challenge took place since Abbott also asked the Supreme Court of Texas to withdraw WU from office. The court gave Wu until 6 pm on Friday to respond to the case of the governor.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton told Fox News on Friday that he is willing to take other Democrats to court if they do not return.
“If they appear today, we are all happy, we can do our business and they are all good. If they do not appear, we will be in a room in the Illinois room … [trying] To take them to the state of Texas, keep them in contempt, and if they refuse to come, luckily puts them in jail, “he said.
He shrunk concerns that the optics of arresting the Democrats would give them a public opinion victory.
“I think in Texas, I don’t know what it is like in other states, but I know that in Texas, people expect their representatives to work,” Paxton said.
The president of the House of Representatives of Texas, Dustin Burrows, attacked the wallets of the absent Democrats in an effort to attract them.
On Thursday, he sent a memorandum to all members and their staff who demanded that any member who is absent from the special session to break the quorum must collect their monthly payment check in person. The direct deposits were suspended for those who jump until the house reaches the quorum, according to Memo.
Burrows says that he expects more demands filed in other states to come after the one presented by Abbott Thursday to try to enforce civil arrest orders outside the State, and that another legislator contacted the sergeant in the weapons of the House of Representatives of Illinois asking for his help to bring the members back.
He later added that if the Department of Public Security arrests civilly to “our absent colleagues” during the weekend, legislators are on duty and need to return to Austin with a minimum of six hours of warning.
Abbott has asked for the arrest of the Democrats, and Republican Senator John Cornyn has asked the FBI to track elected officials.
The Democrats of the Congress who sit in the Judicial of the Chamber and the Supervision Committee of the House of Representatives sent a letter to the United States Attorney General, Pam Bondi, and the director of the FBI, Kash Patel, asked them to clarify and explain if their agencies are involved in the location of Texas Democratic legislators who left the state to avoid a quorum Congress
“We wrote with great concern about the abuse of federal public security resources for completely political purposes and without a logic of application of the law that, as reported, at this time,” the members wrote.
The governor said in a podcast published on Friday that he was willing to go beyond creating more than five new seats, the Republican party could turn if the Democrats continued to block the effort of the Republican Party.
The Governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, speaks during a round table with President Donald Trump, the first to respond and local officials at the Hill Country Youth Event Center in Kerville, Texas, during a tour to observe flood damage, on July 11, 2025.
Jacquelyn Martin/AP
“We can do it six or seven or eight new seats that we are going to add on the Republican side,” he said during an interview in the “ruthless” podcast.
Meanwhile, Texas Democrats have fled to several blue states, including Illinois and California.
The Texas representative, Gene Wu, speaks in front of the Democratic members of Congress and the Democrats of the Texas House of Representatives during a press conference, on August 4, 2025 in Warrenville, Illinois.
Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP through Getty Images
California Democratic governor Gavin Newsom, is scheduled to hold a press conference with those Democrats on Friday afternoon, along with representative Nancy Pelosi and state democrats in California to show their support.
“The governor and state leaders have made a possible voting measure throughout the State that would reaffirm California’s commitment to the redistribution of national independent districts and allow voters to temporarily adjust the map of the State Congress only if Texas or other states led by the Republican Party manipulate theirs,” said Newsom’s office in a statement.
California Democrats are preparing to respond to the new Congress districts proposed by Texas Republicans by aiming five districts controlled by the Republican Party in the Golden State, the sources recently confirmed to the ABC Kgo-TV station. But the Office of California Secretary of State told ABC News that if legislators do not move quickly, it becomes almost impossible for the State to execute a state election that meets federal standards.
Monica Madden of the ABC Kgo-TV station contributed to this report.
