{"id":23401,"date":"2025-08-06T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-08-06T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/?p=23401"},"modified":"2025-08-06T15:00:00","modified_gmt":"2025-08-06T15:00:00","slug":"abbott-threatens-to-remove-house-dems-from-office-following-dramatic-departure-to-avoid-vote","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/?p=23401","title":{"rendered":"Abbott Threatens To Remove House Dems From Office Following Dramatic Departure To Avoid Vote"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Republican Governor Greg Abbott has issued a threat to imprison and expel Texas House Democrats who have left the state to evade a redistricting vote unless they return by Monday afternoon.<\/p><div class=\"hkadu69fec4aa6ca80\" ><div style=\"width:100%; max-width:1200px; margin:0 auto;\">\n  <a href=\"https:\/\/bolt-casino.com?r=0BFDBF1283\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\n    <img \n      src=\"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/f8693ebb-2018-480f-a2f7-0096810c07f0.jpg\" \n      alt=\"200% Deposit Bonus + 10% Cashback\" \n      style=\"width:100%; height:auto; display:block; border-radius:8px; cursor:pointer;\"\n    \/>\n  <\/a>\n<\/div><\/div><style type=\"text\/css\">\r\n@media screen and (min-width: 1201px) {\r\n.hkadu69fec4aa6ca80 {\r\ndisplay: block;\r\n}\r\n}\r\n@media screen and (min-width: 993px) and (max-width: 1200px) {\r\n.hkadu69fec4aa6ca80 {\r\ndisplay: block;\r\n}\r\n}\r\n@media screen and (min-width: 769px) and (max-width: 992px) {\r\n.hkadu69fec4aa6ca80 {\r\ndisplay: block;\r\n}\r\n}\r\n@media screen and (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 768px) {\r\n.hkadu69fec4aa6ca80 {\r\ndisplay: block;\r\n}\r\n}\r\n@media screen and (max-width: 767px) {\r\n.hkadu69fec4aa6ca80 {\r\ndisplay: block;\r\n}\r\n}\r\n<\/style>\r\n\n<p>Numerous Texas Democratic state representatives arrived in Chicago on Sunday night to obstruct the vote. In response to Abbott\u2019s declaration, the Texas House Democratic Caucus simply stated: \u201cCome and take it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The correspondence also mentioned the Republicans\u2019 proposed districts, which could lead to an additional five GOP House seats in the upcoming midterm elections, labeling it a \u201cracist mid-decade redistricting scheme.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Abbott strongly condemned the sudden exit of the Democrats, beginning his demand for their return with the remark, \u201cReal Texans don\u2019t flee from a battle.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Instead of fulfilling their responsibilities and voting on critical legislation that impacts the lives of all Texans, they have abandoned Texas to deny the House the quorum required to convene and conduct business,\u201d he asserted.<\/p>\n<p>To conduct business, a minimum of 100 members of the 150-member Texas House must be present, and approximately 50 Democrats have departed. Abbott emphasized that their obligation to vote as elected officials is compulsory and \u201cnot optional.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Texas House is set to reconvene at 3 p.m. on Monday, and Abbott has declared that \u201cderelict Democrat House members must return\u201d by that time or risk removal from their positions by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.<\/p>\n<p>The Republican Attorney General has already indicated that the lawmakers \u201cshould be located and arrested regardless of their whereabouts.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\ud83d\udea8 JUST IN: Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton ENDORSES Speaker DUSTIN BURROWS potentially having the Democrat lawmakers who fled the state to obstruct a vote on redistricting \u201cIMMEDIATELY arrested.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese radical Democrats are disrespecting every Texan they pledged to represent. This is\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/MwSNUHkNjr<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) August 3, 2025<\/p>\n<p>Abbott further stated that a legislator found to have \u201cforfeited his or her office due to abandonment\u201d may be removed from office in accordance with the Texas Constitution.<\/p>\n<p>Removal from office is not the sole danger confronting the lawmakers on the run, as Abbott cautioned that \u201csoliciting funds to evade the fines they will incur under House rules\u201d could potentially constitute a felony.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAny Democrat who \u2018solicits, accepts, or agrees to accept\u2019 such funds to aid in the breach of legislative responsibilities or to avoid a vote may have breached bribery statutes,\u201d he noted, referencing the Texas Penal Code. He further stated that anyone who \u201coffers, confers, or agrees to confer\u201d money to the fleeing lawmakers might also face legal repercussions.<\/p>\n<p>Abbott concluded his remarks by asserting that he will \u201cexercise [his] full extradition authority to demand the return to Texas of any potential out-of-state felons.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The current design of the proposal would advantage Republicans in historically blue cities like Dallas and Houston, while also displacing Democratic Rep. Jasmine Crockett from her district.<\/p>\n<p>During a press conference in Chicago on Sunday, House Democratic Caucus Chair Rep. Gene Wu remarked that lawmakers are \u201cnot here to engage in political games. We have come to put an end to this corrupt system.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>At the same press conference, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker voiced his support for the Texas Democrats, characterizing their exodus as a \u201crighteous act of courage\u201d and claiming that Republicans aim to silence \u201cmillions of voices, particularly Black and Latino voters.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTexas Democrats had no alternative but to leave their home state, prevent a vote from occurring, and safeguard their constituents,\u201d Pritzker stated.<\/p>\n<p>The lawmakers have not provided any indication of a timeline for their return to Texas.<\/p>\n<p>Tensions escalated at the Texas Capitol last week as lawmakers conducted their first public hearing on a contentious proposal to redraw the state\u2019s congressional map merely four years after the previous one was finalized.<\/p>\n<p>The five-hour hearing, organized by the Texas House Redistricting Committee, attracted numerous speakers from across the state. Not a single individual voiced support for the redistricting initiative.<\/p>\n<p>The most intense moment occurred at the conclusion, when Isaiah Martin, a candidate for Congress in District 18, was forcibly ejected by Capitol security after he declined to cease speaking once his two-minute time limit expired.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe sergeants are instructed to escort the gentleman out of the room,\u201d stated Chairman Cody Vasut, as Martin grappled with security and exclaimed, \u201cHistory will not remember you for your actions!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Republican Governor Greg Abbott has issued a threat to imprison and expel Texas House Democrats who have left the state to evade a redistricting vote unless they return by Monday afternoon. Numerous Texas Democratic state representatives arrived in Chicago on Sunday night to obstruct the vote. In response to Abbott\u2019s declaration, the Texas House Democratic&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23402,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"default","_kad_post_title":"default","_kad_post_layout":"default","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"default","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"default","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23401","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Abbott Threatens To Remove House Dems From Office Following Dramatic Departure To Avoid Vote - VM News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news-vm.com\/?p=23401\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Abbott Threatens To Remove House Dems From Office Following Dramatic Departure To Avoid Vote - VM News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Republican Governor Greg Abbott has issued a threat to imprison and expel Texas House Democrats who have left the state to evade a redistricting vote unless they return by Monday afternoon. 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