Republican U.S. Senator John Cornyn of Texas says the FBI has agreed to help locate Democratic lawmakers breaking quorum. As The Texas Newsroom reports, the lawmakers left the state to block a Republican-backed redistricting plan. The FBI declined to comment on specifics, but Cornyn says federal agents will now help apprehend the absent Democrats. More than 50 House Democrats say they’re staying out of Texas to prevent a vote on a redistricting plan championed by President Donald Trump. Right now, Republicans hold 25 of the 38 U.S. House seats in Texas.
Sen. Cornyn released a statement on Thursday, thanking FBI Director Kash Patel for granting the senator his request to assist in finding Texas Democrats and describing the Democrats’ actions as “a shameful attempt to thwart the legislative process.”
U.S. House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, in an interview with ABC News Live on Thursday stated, “There would be no authority for the FBI to target Democrats from the Texas legislature in connection with an act that Democrats have taken that is authorized by the Texas Constitution.”
The proposal could add up to five new Republican-held congressional seats in Texas. The decision to leave the state has, so far, kept the lawmakers out of reach of Texas law enforcement. But that hasn’t stopped Republicans like Gov. Greg Abbott from calling for their arrest. Abbott filed an emergency petition in the Supreme Court of Texas to remove the House Democratic leader, Rep. Gene Wu, from office. In a statement on Tuesday, the governor characterized Wu as “the ringleader of the derelict Democrats who fled the state to break quorum.”
In the emergency petition itself, Abbott claims, “There is an especially good reason why bribery may form the basis for removal from office,” citing Democrats’ fundraising efforts, and contributions made by supporters to fund their travel out of state.
But Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton wrote a separate letter to the state’s High Court, asking justices not to rule on Abbott’s request, and instead wait for his office to submit its own filings after the Friday deadline passes for Democrats to return, set by House Speaker Dustin Burrows.
