TX Dems, Arrest Dems

Texas Governor Greg Abbott ordered the arrest of Democratic lawmakers who left the state to block a controversial vote on new congressional maps.

“Texas House Democrats abandoned their duty to Texans,” Abbott said in a statement Monday. “I ordered the Texas Department of Public Safety to locate, arrest and return to the House chamber any member who has abandoned their duty to Texans.”

The governor’s move followed a vote by the remaining lawmakers in the Texas House of Representatives to authorize arrest warrants, which don’t carry any criminal charges and can’t be enforced across state lines. Republican lawmakers proposed a redistricting plan last week that Democrats describe as a gerrymander designed to give more seats in the US Congress to the GOP.

“This is not a decision we make lightly, but it is one we make with absolute moral clarity,” Gene Wu, the Democratic leader in the Texas House, said at a news conference in Illinois after leaving the state. “We’re not walking out on our responsibilities; we’re walking out on a rigged system that refuses to listen to the people we represent.”