Overview

• At President Trump’s urging, Texas Republicans proposed a mid-decade redistricting plan to seize five Democratic U.S. House seats in 2026
• More than 50 Democratic lawmakers fled to Illinois, New York and Massachusetts to deny the legislature a quorum and block the vote, prompting Speaker Dustin Burrows to issue civil arrest warrants
• Governor Greg Abbott filed an emergency petition asking the Texas Supreme Court to vacate state Rep. Gene Wu’s seat for dereliction of duty and Attorney General Ken Paxton said he will seek removal of any lawmaker who misses the Friday deadline
• Civil arrest warrants remain unenforceable beyond Texas borders and courts have yet to rule on the lawsuits aimed at expelling the absent lawmakers
• Governors in Illinois, California and New York have threatened retaliatory redistricting, fueling a nationwide mid-decade map-drawing contest