Texas Republicans are moving closer to approving new congressional maps amid a Democratic show of protest over the GOP House speaker’s order that members who fled the state weeks earlier be placed under law enforcement watch.
The state House is set to reconvene Wednesday as Republicans push ahead with their Trump-backed redistricting plan, which would create five more GOP-leaning House districts in time for next year’s midterm elections. The House could vote Wednesday and the Senate as early as Thursday. It’s not yet clear exactly when the House will vote, however, and a lengthy floor debate could delay the process.
Relegated to the minority, Democrats have no viable way to stop passage of the maps, but have continued to protest GOP tactics to prevent them from leaving the state again.
House Speaker Dustin Burrows required that the quorum-breaking Democrats be placed under the around-the-clock supervision of the Department of Public Safety to be allowed to leave the House floor. However, state Rep. Nicole Collier has refused to do so and has been confined to the House chamber. Other Democrats on Tuesday evening ripped up the written agreements that allowed them to leave the chamber and vowed to spend Tuesday night on the House floor.
“This is a civil discussion and disagreement, and in order to win, the other side is willing to use force — to use the arms of a state to get what they want. Good guys don’t do that,” Rep. Gene Wu, the Texas House Democratic leader, told CNN’s Pamela Brown on “The Lead.”
