Law enforcement officers in Texas were deputized on Thursday to go find House Democrats who are refusing to go to Austin, preventing the state’s lower chamber from reaching a quorum.
The House Sergeant-at-Arms “deputized members of Texas law enforcement to assist in the House’s efforts to compel a quorum,” Enrique Marquez, a spokesman for Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan, told news outlets in a statement.
“That process will begin in earnest immediately,” he added.
Texas law allows for the arrest of lawmakers who aren’t doing their duty. It wasn’t clear whether the deputized officers will arrest the missing legislators. The Texas Department of Public Safety told The Epoch Times in an email that it “does not comment on operational specifics” and referred requests for comment to Phelan’s office, which did not return a query.
A judge in Harris County had granted writ Habeas Corpus, or orders that appeared to protect at least some of the Democrats.
“The Dems have filed some of the most embarrassing lawsuits ever seen. Time for them to get to the Capitol and do the job they were elected to do,” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, said in a statement.
State Rep. Gene Wu, a Democrat, told news outlets after the ruling that Texas House Democrats “remain committed to fighting back with everything we have to protect Texans from Republicans’ repeated attacks on our freedom to vote.”
Democrats last month flew to Washington, preventing the Texas House from taking up election reform legislation. Some remain in the nation’s capital.
Two-thirds of lawmakers must be present to constitute a quorum in the lower chamber. Republicans hold 82 seats in the 150-seat lower chamber.
