The chair of the Texas House Democratic caucus remained defiant Thursday in the face of one US senator’s bid to enlist the FBI’s help in returning him and his state House colleagues to the state.
“Sure, if they don’t follow the law,” state Rep. Gene Wu told CNN’s Pamela Brown on “The Situation Room,” when asked whether he was concerned the FBI would arrest him and his fellow Texas state House members.
“We know that the governor has no power outside of the state, and we know that the federal government cannot get involved in this unless there is a legal reason why they are allowed to get involved.”
Wu and dozens of Democratic state lawmakers remain outside of Texas as they continue their standoff with the Texas GOP over proposed changes to the state’s congressional maps that would favor Republicans. Earlier this week, state House Speaker Dustin Burrows signed civil arrest warrants for the absent Democrats and said law enforcement would “need some time to work.”
The warrants empowered state troopers to arrest the absent Democrats and bring them to the Texas Capitol, but the Democrats fled to Illinois, New York and Massachusetts – three Democratic-led states outside Texas law enforcement’s authority without local officials’ cooperation. Legal experts consulted by CNN have said it’s highly unlikely the Democratic lawmakers can be arrested outside state lines based on the warrants.
Texas US Sen. John Cornyn, who is up for reelection next year, said Thursday the FBI had granted his request of federal assistance for state law enforcement, as they work with Texas Republicans to bring back the lawmakers and reestablish quorum.
“I am proud to announce that Director Kash Patel has approved my request for the FBI to assist state and local law enforcement in locating runaway Texas House Democrats,” Cornyn said in a statement, but he did not elaborate on what such assistance would entail.
He later told conservative talk show host Mark Davis that Patel had assigned agents from the bureau’s Austin and San Antonio offices to fulfill his request – though did not detail what role they would have.
It’s unclear to what extent agents are assisting Texas Republicans in the matter and under what authority they would be allowed to do so. The FBI has declined multiple requests for comments from CNN on the matter.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is challenging Cornyn in the Republican primary for US Senate, have sought to ramp up the pressure on Democrats.
Abbott told Fox News that he believes enough Democratic House members are currently in Texas for state law enforcement to find them and deliver them to the state Capitol.
“We have a dragnet taking place as we speak right now across the entire state to locate and to bring to the Capitol at least a dozen Democrats here in the state of Texas, as well as efforts we are undertaking in other states to bring these runaway Democrats back to our state,” Abbott, a Republican, said.
The state lawmakers who have left the state have held multiple public press conferences and made a number of media appearances. One location in Illinois where lawmakers were staying received a bomb threat earlier this week.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker told reporters that Republicans threatening law enforcement action were making “an attempt again to thwart democracy.”
“So as far as I’m concerned, we’re doing the right thing, and I’m proud of it, and I’m not going to back down,” Pritzker, a Democrat, said at a press conference. “We’re going to do everything we can to protect these Texas House Democrats and to help them do what they’re doing.”
Past DOJ refused to intervene
A similar instance occurred in 2003, when more than 50 members of the Texas Legislature left the state to prevent a vote on a redistricting plan, and state officials reached out to federal agencies to find and bring back the lawmakers.
But back then, President George W. Bush’s Justice Department refused to assist, telling one congressman that they were “not aware of any information pertinent to the Texas State legislators that would warrant action by federal law enforcement authorities, including those of the FBI.”
“Accordingly, we have not deployed and have no plans to deploy our law enforcement resources in connection with this matter,” the letter from then-Assistant Attorney General William Moschella stated.
In his initial request for FBI assistance, Cornyn suggested that the Democratic lawmakers could be violating the law if they are accepting funds “to aid in their efforts to avoid their legislative duties” and could “be guilty of bribery or other public corruption offenses.” No such charges have been filed related to their absence.
Paxton on Thursday announced an investigation into the Texas Majority PAC, founded by past campaign aides to former US Rep. Beto O’Rourke, who has raised money for the absent Democrats’ travel expenses and legal defense.
Cornyn and Paxton are each trying to stake out an aggressive stand on the controversy and attempt to woo conservative voters in their state.
Cornyn on Tuesday sent a letter to the FBI today urging the federal agency to assist state law enforcement “to locate or arrest potential lawbreakers who have fled the state.”
“I request the FBI’s assistance, as federal resources are necessary to locate the out-of-state Texas legislators who are potentially acting in violation of the law. The FBI has tools to aid state law enforcement when parties cross state lines, including to avoid testifying or fleeing a scene of a crime,” Cornyn wrote.
Paxton acknowledged on Fox News Tuesday night that it would be difficult to arrest absent Democrats. He and Abbott have threatened to go to court to vacate the offices of people who are currently outside the state.
“The challenge here is they go to liberal jurisdictions where we can’t get help from law enforcement. So we have really very limited options,” he said.
“One is to wait, which several governors have done, and just waited them out because eventually they have to come home. Or two, this … motion or filing that has been done by Abbott, we’re going to file something very similar for more of the legislators to take them out of their office, remove them from office, since they are not showing up to do their job. This is a new thing, it’s never been tried before, but we think it has a very good possibility of being successful.”
Abbott, for his part, warned that “in Texas, there are consequences for your actions.”
“Texas DPS and the FBI are tracking down the derelict Democrats. They will be taken directly to the Texas Capitol,” he said on X. “Those who received benefits for skipping a vote face removal from office and potential bribery charges.”
This story has been updated with additional developments.
CNN’s Arlette Saenz, Ed Lavandera, Ashley Killough and Eric Bradner contributed to this report.
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