A showdown is unfolding in Texas as GOP Gov. Greg Abbott threatens to remove Democrats who have fled the state in protest of a Republican-led effort to create a new congressional map with control of the U.S. House potentially at stake.
Abbott gave Texas House Democrats a deadline of 3 p.m. local time on Monday to return to the statehouse for the special session or risk losing their jobs. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton suggested Democrats who left should be arrested and forcibly brought back, though he later admitted that would be a “challenge.”
The response from the Texas House Democratic Caucus to Abbott’s threat was, “Come and take it.”
Texas House members who left the state are slated to hold various events throughout the day Monday in Democrat-led states.
The proposed congressional map, backed by President Donald Trump, could create up to five new Republican seats and help Republicans keep control of the House in the 2026 midterm elections. Consideration of the bill had been set for Monday, but cannot proceed if Democrats deny a quorum.
The State Capitol is seen on July 21, 2025 in Austin, Texas.
Brandon Bell/Getty Images
Democrats hold events in New York, Massachusetts and Illinois
The first news conference with Texas Democrats on Monday was with New York Gov. Kathy Hochul in Albany. Hochul’s message for Texas House Democrats was, “You are on the right side of history. And you’re not alone.”
“As I said, history will judge us and how we respond to this moment. But here in New York, we will not stand on the sidelines with the timid souls on the sidelines who don’t care and will not invest their heart and soul into this battle. This is a war,” Hochul continued. “We are at war and that’s why the gloves are off. And I say, bring it on.”
Hochul said that she would seek to disband or change New York’s independent redistricting commission through a constitutional amendment in response to Texas — but admitted that doing so would not be possible before the 2028 election. Under former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, New Yorkers passed a constitutional amendment in 2014 prohibiting partisan redistricting.
Texas House Democrats who have gone to Massachusetts for the National Conference of State Legislators summit will hold a press conference in Boston on Monday afternoon. Then, Texas House Democrats who have gathered in Illinois will hold a press conference with Democratic members of Congress in Chicago on Monday night.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul holds a press conference with members of the The Texas House Democratic Caucus in Albany, Aug. 4, 2025.
ABC News
Texas State Rep. James Talarico, a. Democrat, spoke with ABC News from Illinois. He confirmed he plans to stay out-of-state for the remaining two weeks of the special session.
“To be gone from my family, from my state, is not a happy thing for me. But why I am doing this is because the Republicans are trying to change the rules of the game midway through the decade,” Talarico told ABC News Correspondent Jay O’Brien.
Talarico also characterized the Republican redistricting effort as a ploy by Trump to rig the election.
“It is rock bottom for people like Greg Abbott and Donald Trump. Sadly, I’ve come to expect nothing less from them, but it is still immoral and disgusting and outrageous, and we should all reject it regardless of our political party,” Talarico added.
Abbott, Paxton threaten action against Democrats
Abbott, in his warning to Texas House Democrats, said leaving the state in protest amounted to “abandonment or forfeiture of an elected state office.”
The governor said if they didn’t return by 3 p.m. local time on Monday, he would invoke Texas Attorney General Opinion No. KP-0382 to remove the missing Democrats from membership in the Texas House. He further went on to claim the lawmakers who left “may also have committed felonies” by fundraising in order to pay the $500 fine they risk accruing each day they are absent.
“Our fellow Texans are being let down and not getting the flood relief they need, because these Democrats have absconded from the responsibility, and I believe they have forfeited their seats in the state legislature because they’re not doing the job they were elected to do,” Abbott said during an interview with Fox News on Monday.
Paxton, in a social media post, wrote that “Democrats in the Texas House who try and run away like cowards should be found, arrested, and brought back to the Capitol immediately. We should use every tool at our disposal to hunt down those who think they are above the law.”
What’s at stake
The new congressional map was proposed by Texas Republicans following a push by Trump for maps more favorable to Republicans to help the party keep the majority in the House in 2026. Currently, House Republicans are operating with a narrow majority.
Trump has said he wants Republicans to pick up five new seats in Texas and others around the country. Democrats have slammed the move and said it risks hurting minority voters.
Asked by Fox News why he is pushing for new districts, Abbott said it is partly to dismantle “coalition districts” (where racial minority groups together make up most of the population) and to redraw districts based on political considerations.
“Gerrymandering can be done or drawing lines can be done on the basis of political makeup, as in Republican versus Democrat, and there’s nothing illegal about that,” Abbott said. “And then when you look at the outcome of the most recent presidential election, all these districts that are being added are districts that were won by Trump.”
As the redistricting battle heats up, a House Republican will introduce legislation to ban mid-decade redrawing of congressional maps nationwide.
California GOP Rep. Kevin Kiley will formally introduce the bill on Tuesday which will “nullify new maps adopted by states before the 2030 census, including any that are adopted this year.” The bill’s future remains uncertain, however, as it’s unlikely to be backed by House Republican leadership.
ABC News’ Rachael Dziaba and Lauren Peller contributed to this report.
