GOP Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows has rolled out a new measure aimed at penalizing Democrats who left the state to block a redistricting vote in a bid to force the chamber back to quorum and push the measure through.
Texas Democrats have raised serious concerns over plans for redistricting in the Lone Star State that would create five new Republican-leaning seats in time for the 2026 midterms.
Under Texas’ Constitution, the 150-member House cannot conduct business or pass legislation without a quorum of at least two-thirds of its members present. Democrats hold 62 seats in the Republican‑controlled chamber, and at least 51 left the state, Josh Rush Nisenson, spokesperson for the House Democratic Caucus, previously said.
The Democrats move to leave the state has sparked national leaders to get involved, including the FBI and other state’s governors.
Burrows, in an address to the chamber on Friday afternoon, said that he, along with Comptroller Kelly Hancock, “have enacted a new policy stating that any member absent for the purposes of breaking quorum will no longer have their paycheck or per diem deposited electronically.”
The speaker noted that “while the Constitution forbids us from withholding pay, it does not dictate how we issue the pay. Those checks must now be picked up in person, on Capitol grounds, effective immediately,” he said.
In addition to the new payment method, Burrows also said that 30 percent of each “quorum-breaking member’s monthly operating budget will be reserved and made unavailable for expenditure.”
Seats in the state’s House of Representative were empty again on Friday, the third time this week that legislators have not reached quorum. There were 95 members present on Friday, five shy of quorum, according to the Associated Press.
On Tuesday, Texas Governor Greg Abbott asked the all-Republican Texas Supreme Court to remove the state House Democratic Caucus chair, Representative Gene Wu, from office. Wu is one of dozens of Texas House Democrats staying in Illinois.
Texas Redistricting Map: Proposed Boundaries
Under the proposed map, Democratic-leaning urban centers such as Austin, Dallas–Fort Worth and Houston would be split among multiple congressional districts to benefit Republican candidates. Among other changes, the map would place residents from the Austin metropolitan area in the same district as those in rural Texas nearly 300 miles to the west.
What People Are Saying
Senator John Cornyn, a Texas Republican, said in Thursday statement: “I am proud to announce that Director Kash Patel has approved my request for the FBI to assist state and local law enforcement in locating runaway Texas House Democrats. I thank President Trump and Director Patel for supporting and swiftly acting on my call for the federal government to hold these supposed lawmakers accountable for fleeing Texas. We cannot allow these rogue legislators to avoid their constitutional responsibilities.”
Democratic state Representative Claudia Ordaz said in an X post Friday: “It is with a troubled heart that I write this, literally from a hospital waiting room. From the very beginning, I have made it clear: I will not be in the chamber due to a personal health matter. Yet today, DPS officers showed up to a member of my family’s house looking for me. On top of that, I am now being falsely accused of being in the chamber to make quorum.”
Texas Governor Greg Abbott said in an X post on Friday: “We have an agenda to pass priorities critical to Texans, and we will get it done. I’ll call special session after special session—no matter how long it takes—until the job is finished.”
Democratic state Representative Ramon Romero Jr. said in a CNN interview Friday: “We’re going to continue to fight. And as Congressman Al Green said, we will continue to march on, just as those in the past have done, we will as well.”
What Happens Next?
The House is scheduled to meet again on Monday, with the hopes that enough Democrats will return.
The redistricted map at the center of the dispute is for next year’s midterm elections, which will serve as a bellwether for the Trump administration and the Republican Party.
