Texas House votes 80-12 to order arrests of absent Democrats

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Updated at 6 p.m.

AUSTIN – Texas House on Tuesday voted to issue arrest warrants for absent Democrats who avoided the Capitol to prevent a GOP electoral law they say would harm minorities.

The vote was 80-12 and came hours after the Texas Supreme Court cleared the way for the House of Representatives to order volatile lawmakers back into the chamber to get a quorum.

A raid won’t begin unless spokesman Dade Phelan signs arrest warrants and his leanings seem clear. He joined Governor Greg Abbott in asking the Supreme Court to approve the tactic and in fact signed one such warrant during the first special session.

One Republican has voted against the approval of arrest warrants: San Antonio MP Lyle Larson, who openly criticizes Abbott’s electoral law.

“Have we got to the point where we believe our own cop shit so much that we arrest our own coworkers,” Larson tweeted. “The civil discourse has taken a nasty turn today.”

Refugee Democrats remain defiant, and an untold number remain out of the reach of the House NCO and State Police.

“Just wondering if DPS or anyone can break open my door to shackle me and drag me there,” Rep. Vikki Goodwin, D-Austin, told The Dallas Morning News. “I’m sure I can stay in my house and stay off the house floor.”

At least two dozen House Democrats remained in Washington, DC, where 57 of them camped for all or nearly a month to pass the clock at Abbott’s first special session.

“We broke the quorum because anti-voter laws are a shameful attempt to remove Texans from voting, and these authoritarian Republican motions only substantiate that we are on the right side of history,” wrote Rep Eddie Rodriguez, D. -Austin, on Twitter. “We must hold the line against these desperate attempts to destroy our democracy.”

We broke the quorum because anti-voter laws are a shameful attempt to remove Texans from voting, and these authoritarian Republican motions only confirm that we are on the right side of history.

We must withstand these desperate attempts to destroy our democracy. #txlege https://t.co/PcYW2Gom6K

– Rep Eddie Rodriguez (@EddieforTexas) August 10, 2021

The governor called the legislature for a special session last month to reconsider a measure that House Democrats blocked with an 11-hour strike in May at the end of the regular biennial session.

The Democrats used the same tactic to prevent the action in the special session and claimed victory when that session came to an end.

But Republicans are determined to wear them down, and Abbott immediately ordered a second special session that began Saturday.

Nineteen of the Democrats who broke the quorum last month sought protection in a Travis County court. District Judge Brad Urrutia signed an order on Monday to prevent arrests for 14 days.

Early Tuesday, Abbott and Phelan urged the Texas Supreme Court to overturn that order, and the judges were quick to agree.

It wouldn’t take many arrests before the house was back in business. A quorum requires 2/3 of the 150 local members. Since Monday, 96 house members have checked in as present – only four shy.

During their self-imposed exile in Washington, the Texas Democrats installed the White House and potential alternate votes in the US Senate for federal voting laws that would replace anything Republicans can achieve through the legislature.

And they got a glimmer of good news soon after they learned they were about to be arrested as the US House of Representatives Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md. 23 to adopt a draft budget and one of the voting rights measures.

Named for late Georgia civil rights activist and Congressman John Lewis, this bill would reinstate a screening process that requires Texas and other states with a history of discrimination to obtain permission from the Department of Justice before changing voting procedures or moving polling stations Redraw congressional district.

Such “pre-screening” was required for nearly half a century under the Voting Rights Act of 1965 before it was abolished by the US Supreme Court in 2013. The pace of legislation, which Democrats say aims to obstruct non-white voters, has picked up increased since Donald Trump’s defeat amid false and unfounded allegations of fraud.

The Texas Republicans insist that their proposals are designed solely to strengthen the integrity of the elections and deter fraud.

And they have used a range of tactics to embarrass, persuade and pressure the Democrats, including debating or even passing proposals on maternity and apple pie, like a Senate bill passed Tuesday that was approved by the public Schools required to offer instructions on the dangers of rape.

If House Democrats don’t give in, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, “this law will die.”

Judge Urrutia’s order prevented members of the House of Representatives from being subjected to a “House Call”. GOP leaders claimed they could use such a call to order the House NCO to haul wayward lawmakers back to the Capitol from all over Texas.

According to the house rules, voting on laws requires a quorum. However, votes that force or postpone the presence of absent members do not do so.

“All you have to do is handcuff them, pull them in, throw them in the middle of the chambers, bolt the doors, and remove the handcuffs … some of them would go insane,” Magnolia GOP Rep. Cecil Bell said in an interview with the webshow The Undercurrent.

Attorney General Ken Paxton was delighted with the GOP’s victory in the state Supreme Court.

“Another day, another Democratic defeat,” he wrote on Twitter. “Now let’s get the Democrats back right now so Texas business can continue!”

Even if Phelan issues the warrants, it is unclear whether there are enough members in Texas to form a quorum.

House Democrats said Saturday that at least 26 of their members would stay in Washington.

Some are relatively easy to find, but the optics of dragging them away and locking them around the house would be risky for GOP leaders – Houston Rep. Garnet Coleman, for example, recovering from a foot amputation.

State Representative Garnet Coleman, D-Houston, spoke at the Dallas Morning News Charities launch event at Winspear Opera House on Friday. In its 31st year, DMN Charities is collecting donations for 20 local organizations that help the homeless and needy in the region. (David Woo / employee photographer)

It only takes 16 members to request a convocation of the house, and if the majority of those present agree, the doors to the hall can be locked so that no member can leave the house without the speaker’s permission.

“Any absentee for whom no adequate apology has been made can, by order of the majority of those present, be fetched and arrested by the sergeant or an officer appointed by the sergeant, wherever they are. Weapons for this purpose, and their presence should be secured and maintained, ”the rules say.

Rep. @Chrispaddie said a unity prayer today asking for understanding, better communication and a serving heart … Then the body immediately moved to arrest any absent members. It was a wonderful moment for the five seconds it lasted. #txlege @ pastors4txkids

– Monty Exter (@ATPE_MontyE) August 10, 2021

Tuesday’s brief session opened with a prayer from Rep. Chris Paddy, R-Marshall, which included a call for unity, better communication, and a serving heart.

“Then the body immediately moved to arrest all the absent members. It was a beautiful moment for the five seconds it lasted, ”tweeted Monty Exter, lobbyist for the Association of Texas Professional Educators.

Within a few moments, Rep. Will Metcalf, a Republican from Conroe, offered a motion to arrest absent colleagues.

House Republicans also voted to arrest their absentee colleagues during the first special session, but Phelan only signed an arrest warrant for MP Philip Cortez, D-San Antonio, and he was never arrested.

Cortez had returned to Austin from Washington and said he hoped to negotiate changes to the GOP electoral law. He spent some time in the chamber of the house and Phelan granted him permission to go temporarily on condition that he return.

Cortez agreed, but did not come back, instead rejoining the refugees in the country’s capital.

With COVID-19 cases skyrocketing in Austin and much of Texas, some lawmakers have raised concerns about entering the Capitol.

Paxton’s office argued in its filing on behalf of the governor and spokesman before the Supreme Court that Abbott and Phelan have the authority to use law enforcement to retrieve members.

“Enforcing absent members through the House of Representatives is a fundamental legislative act,” the petition reads.

Washington bureau chief Todd J. Gillman contributed to this report.

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