Gov. Greg Abbott filed an emergency petition Tuesday with the Texas Supreme Court to remove state Rep. Gene Wu from office after Wu and other Democrats left the state to delay Republican efforts to redraw congressional district lines.
The lawsuit from Abbott, a Republican, argues that Wu, the Texas House Democratic Caucus chair, violated the state Constitution and that his absence amounted to abandoning office.
With their absence, Democratic lawmakers have denied Republicans the legislative quorum needed to move forward with plans to redraw congressional boundaries and give the GOP five more House seats in Congress.
The suit argues that quorum provisions make attendance in the state House “an affirmative constitutional obligation.”
“Representative Wu has openly renounced these constitutional mandates by fleeing the State of Texas to break quorum, obstruct legislative proceedings, and paralyze the Texas House of Representatives,” the lawsuit says.
“Absconding from the State during a constitutionally mandated session, not for lawful cause, but for the very purpose of subverting the Legislature’s ability to function, constitutes a flagrant violation of Wu’s oath and is an intentional abandonment of his constitutional duty,” it adds.
Wu did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday evening.
Wu said on social media Sunday from Illinois that he was “On the ground in Chicago… Fighting for the rights of Texans and all Americans.”
Abbott said in a statement that Wu and more than 50 other Democrats who left the state had failed to meet quorum requirements in refusing to return.
“Texas House Democrats abandoned their duty to Texans, and there must be consequences,” Abbott said.
He had warned in a statement Sunday that he would seek Democrats’ removal if they weren’t present when the House convened the next day. During the Democratic lawmakers’ absence Monday, he ordered the state Department of Public Safety to arrest them after a vote by the House to compel the sergeant-at-arms to “send for” the return of the lawmakers “under warrant of arrest, if necessary.”
Asked whether the FBI and the federal government should get involved in locating and arresting the lawmakers, President Donald Trump told reporters earlier Tuesday that they “may have to.”
“A lot of people have demanded they come back. You can’t just sit it out. You have to go back. You have to fight it out. That’s what elections are all about,” he said.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.