Here’s a quick recap of what happened over the last week:
Second Special Session Called
The absence of the Texas House Democrats over the last two weeks have left the House incapable of conducting business and therefore killing all of the items that Gov. Abbott listed for consideration in the first called special session. The House will meet at 10AM today. If a quorum is not achieved, House Speaker Dustin Burrows has said he will adjourn the House Sine Die (final adjournment of any session) and Gov. Abbott has committed to call a second special session to begin either today or tomorrow.
Abbott issued a statement earlier this week that the second special session will include the same items that were listed for consideration for the first special session – Congressional redistricting, property tax reform, stricter abortion regulations, flood mitigation and recovery measures, prohibiting taxpayer funded lobbying, bail reform, requirements for the use of public bathrooms by transgender individuals, giving power to the AG to prosecute election laws in local jurisdictions, and revision of human trafficking laws.
It was initially anticipated that the House Democrats would return to Austin at some point over the weekend – or early next week – thus allowing the House to achieve a quorum. If so, then expect Congressional redistricting to be considered almost immediately. There have already been numerous hearings on the proposed maps, and this is the main priority for Republican leadership. But on Wednesday, House Democratic Caucus chair Rep. Gene Wu said that the caucus had come to a consensus to not return to Austin. And then yesterday, Wu issued a statement saying that the Democrats would only return to Austin under two conditions. First, the House must Sine Die later today – which they appear ready to do. And secondly, when the state of California releases a new Congressional redistricting plan that neutralizes the number of seats Texas would gain under their proposal.
California Governor Gavin Newsom has said he will call a special election in November to ask California voters to approve new Congressional maps. A vote is necessary to bypass the state’s independent redistricting commission. The California legislature will now have to pass legislation creating the new maps for the California congressional districts that will be put on the November ballot for voter approval. Newsom said the proposed maps will be released “in a few days”.
Finally, with the commitment from California to move forward with new maps, House Democratic Caucus Chair Rep. Gene Wu said late Thursday that the members of the caucus will “wait and see” if both the House and Senate adjourn Sine Die later today. If so, then they will announce a timeline for their return.
Stay tuned later today!!
Paxton Sues to Remove 13 Democrats from Office
As the first week of the quorum break concluded, AG Ken Paxton filed a request with the Texas Supreme Court to expel 13 Democrats from the Texas House, claiming they have effectively abandoned their office by leaving the state to ensure the House lacks a quorum and therefore cannot consider the proposed Congressional redistricting maps.
The members are Gene Wu of Houston, who is also the subject of a request by Gov. Abbott made to the Court for expulsion. The others are Reps. John Bucy of Cedar Park; Gina Hinojosa, James Talarico, Vicki Goodwin, and Lulu Flores, all of Austin; Ana Maria Ramos of Richardson; Chris Turner of Grand Prairie; Ron Reynolds of Missouri City; Suleman Lalani of Sugar Land; Christina Morales of Houston; and Miheala Pleas and Jessica Gonzalez of Dallas.
Paxton identified these 13 members as having made incriminating public statements regarding their refusal to return for the legislative session.
Legal experts have weighed in and do not believe the state Attorney General has standing to request a legislative member be removed from office. Furthermore, lawmakers have engaged in quorum breaks since 1870 and there is no precedent set to expel any member for participating in a quorum break.
The Texas Supreme Court (Court) has consolidated the cases filed by Abbott and Paxton regarding expulsion of the House members. There will be no ruling anytime soon. The Court has set a schedule for all sides to submit briefs in support of their cases, with the final responses to all briefs to be filed by September 4th.
Paxton Demands Jail Time for O’Rourke
AG Ken Paxton this week filed a motion to hold Beto O’Rourke in contempt for violating a restraining order against fundraising for the absent Texas House Democrats. Last week – shortly after the Democrats left the state – Paxton filed suit to block O’Rourke and his political PAC – Powered by People – from raising money or spending any money to aid the Democrats in any way. It was alleged that the PAC was footing the bill for transportation and lodging for the Democrats in what Paxton claimed amounted to a bribe, since the Democrats were accepting the money in exchange for the specific purpose of creating a lack of quorum, so the House was unable to conduct business.
Tarrant County Presiding Judge Megan Fahey sided with Paxton and the state and placed a temporary injunction that blocked the PAC from raising or spending money until she could hold a hearing on the lawsuit filed by Paxton. That hearing is set for August 19th. In the most recent filing, Paxton is claiming that O’Rourke made comments at a rally in Fort Worth over the weekend that were dismissive of the injunction and continued to encourage the crowd to “do whatever it takes” to aid the absent Democrats. Paxton claims these comments are in direct violation of the restraining order and that O’Rourke should be jailed until the formal hearing takes place.
O’Rourke and his PAC have filed a counter suit claiming the investigation and lawsuits filed by Paxton are a violation of free speech and equal protection.
SREC Sets Parameters for Censure of Republican Members
In addition to all of the fighting and chaos in Austin, the State Republican Executive Committee (SREC) moved forward at their meeting last weekend with a list of “grievances” and transgressions committed by certain Republican lawmakers that would subject those members to censure by their home county Republican parties. This would be the basis for the local parties to bar the members from placement of the primary election ballot in 2026.
The SREC’s list will be forwarded to all local county Republican parties to assist the local parties in initiating their censures of incumbent House members. In other words, if a certain member did not vote for all the priorities on the list, then the local county can censure the members and prohibit him/her from being placed on the primary ballot, thus blocking their reelection bid.
The list includes but is not limited to several of the items listed on the call of the special session including the use of bathrooms by transgender individuals, stricter abortion laws, the enforcement of election laws by the AG, and further cutting property taxes. Several House committee chairmen will also be subject to censure for not allowing Republican Party priorities to be considered in public hearing. The SREC will hold a meeting later today to finalize the list of offenses subject to censure.
Political Notes
If the new Congressional redistricting maps pass – which is highly likely – the two Austin area Democrats currently in Congress will have a choice to make. Congressmen Greg Casar and Llyod Doggett have been paired to run in one Democratic district. Both have said they will run for reelection. But this week, Doggett publicly encouraged Casar to run in the newly created district 37 based in San Antonio. Most of Doggett’s current district 35 remains intact and is based in Austin, therefore remaining a solidly Democratic district. Casar’s current district runs from South Austin to San Antonio. The newly created district 37 is now based in San Antonio and is 57% Hispanic. The problem for Casar is that it voted for Trump by a 10% margin and is now considered likely to elect a Hispanic Republican.
Doggett’s call for Casar to run in another district is not surprising. He is the dean of the Texas Congressional delegation and has survived many challenges before from both Republicans and Democrats. Doggett says a challenge from Casar would further divide the Democratic party and easily hand the newly created district 37 to the Republicans, which Doggett claims can still be won by a Democrat.
Republican Congressman Chip Roy of Dripping Springs is considering a run for Texas Attorney General. Roy was first elected to Congress in 2018. He would join a crowded Republican primary field including state Senators Mayes Middleton and Joan Huffman, as well as former Trump administration DOJ lawyer Aaron Reitz. Current incumbent Ken Paxton will not seek reelection as AG to challenge incumbent US Senator John Cornyn in 2026.
First term Republican state Rep. Andy Hopper of Decatur has drawn a primary challenger, Lisa McEntire of Krum. McEntire is a realtor in the Denton area and touts her experience working with her statewide trade association on legislative issues. Hopper defeated incumbent Rep. Lynn Stucky in the 2024 Republican primary and currently serves on the Agriculture and Insurance Committees. The district is comprised of all of Wise County and areas of north and west Denton County.
What’s Next??
The news this week was once again dominated by the absence of the House Democrats and the inability of the House to conduct business due to a lack of a quorum.
The House is scheduled to convene at 10AM today, when the Speaker will once again try to establish a quorum to conduct business. If and when the Democratic House members return to Austin will dictate the work schedule for the weekend and next week.
I’ll keep you all updated throughout the weekend on any and all developments.