Cogito Ergo Non Serviam
Texas Legislators Flee State over Redistricting
The State of Texas has a lot to answer for, and today, another ridiculous episode in the sorry history of the state this millennium is underway. The Texas State Legislature has been called into special session to redraw the congressional district boundaries to give the Republicans even more seats in the federal House of Representativse. The GOP has the executive and a 88-62 majority in the state house. In the state senate, the Republicans have a 19-12 majority. This is enough to pass the laws needed to steal up to 5 seats by having the politicians pick their voters. So, the Democrats have used the one weapon they have. The Democratic members of the lower house have left the state to deny a quorum, stopping the bill. The GOP is trying to figure out how to undo that.
"This is not a decision we make lightly, but it is one we make with absolute moral clarity," state Rep. Gene Wu, chair of the House Democratic Caucus, said in a statement, in which he accused Gov. Greg Abbott of "using an intentionally racist map to steal the voices of millions of Black and Latino Texans, all to execute a corrupt political deal."
The idea of a quorum goes back to ancient Rome (as the Latin word has gone unchanged for almost 3 millennia). If there are not enough voting members of a legislative body to be legitimate, the body cannot conduct business. In Texas, that means 100 members of the lower house must be present. If the Democrats are not there, 88 is insufficient. So long as they are in the state, they can be forced by the law enforcement agencies to attend. Outside the state, the authorities have no jurisdiction. This is an honorable action in Texas dating back to 1870. The Texas Tribune reported today:
In June 1870, 13 Texas senators walked out of the Capitol to block a bill giving the governor wartime powers, depriving the upper chamber of the two-thirds quorum required for voting. Though the fleeing members were arrested, and the bill eventually passed, the "Rump Senate incident" established quorum-breaking as a minority party tactic that has persisted in Texas politics ever since.
Frustrated, Governor Greg Abbott, one of the most horrible people in politics, has announced he will remove and replace those who have fled. This relies on a non-binging legal opinion by AG Ken Paxton, a corrupt son of a gun, that says a court can be asked to declare the seat vacant because of the flight from the state. If vacant, the govenror has the power to fill the vacancy.
There are a number of problems with this. First, the special session has only two more weeks to run, and there are other matters (like the recent flooding and recovery) that the legislature must address. It is unlikely that the legal machinery can be made to operate that swiftly.
Second, the opinion of the AG is not a legally binding one. That would have to come from a court. This means that the court has to hear the case and rule on it. There will certainly be an appeal, and that will take time.
Third, the court may not agree that the seat is vacant given the precedent of breaking quorum over the last 150 years. Of course, this is Texas and the judiciary is about as crooked as Italian courts were with Amanda Knox. There is a chance that this could work, but it is a long shot.
Of course, what is reall stupid is that Texas is so heavily gerrymandered already that new maps could reduce the margins of victory in marginal and safe seats. The Texas GOP runs the risk of redrawing itself out of some seats.
In the contest for most foolish state government in the US, Texas has taken the lead. All eyes now shift to Florida to see what the Sunshine State does to close the gap.
© Copyright 2025 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Ubuntu Linux.
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