The Texas House of Representatives is scheduled to reconvene Tuesday afternoon, although it’s unclear whether the body will be able to as several Democratic members have fled the state over a Republican redistricting plan.
Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, on Monday ordered the Texas Department of Public Safety to find and arrest the Democrats who fled the state, an order Abbott said will remain in effect until they are “accounted for and brought back” to Austin.
The Texas House is scheduled to be in session at 1 p.m. CT, according to the official website.
Many Texas Democrats left the state on Sunday in protest of a Republican-led effort, backed by President Donald Trump, to create a new congressional map that could create up to five new Republican seats and help the party keep control of the U.S.House in the 2026 midterm elections.
They received support from blue state governors on Monday, including New York’s Kathy Hochul and California’s Gavin Newsom. Both Hochul and Newsom said they would effort partisan redistricting in their own states as a response to Texas.
On Tuesday morning, Democratic National Committee chairman Ken Martin will join Texas House Democrats and Illinois Gov JB Pritzker for a press conference.
President Trump also weighed in on Tuesday morning amid the heightened tensions in a phone interview on CNBC, arguing Republicans are “entitled” to more seats in Congress.
“We have an opportunity in Texas to pick up five seats. We have a really good governor, and we have good people in Texas. And I won Texas. I got the highest vote in the history of Texas, as you probably know, and we are entitled to five more seats,” Trump claimed.
At the same time, he criticized Democratic governors are working on plans to potentially draw new congressional maps in their favor and used it as an argument for the efforts in Texas to continue.
“That’s all gerrymandered. California is gerrymandered. We should have many more seats in Congress. In California, it’s all gerrymandered,” the president said.
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