Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is asking an Illinois court to force the arrest and return of Texas House Democrats who left the state to block Republicans from redrawing congressional districts in their favor — a move that Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker says is illegal.
"The reality is that all that he has said — [U.S. Senator from Texas John] Cornyn — is that the FBI has been authorized to locate the Texas House Democrats. Nothing more. And you know why? Because there is no federal law that allows them to arrest Texas Democrats who are here visiting the state of Illinois," Pritzker said.
Legal experts tell Scripps News if the FBI gets involved in trying to bring lawmakers from other states back into Texas, that could be problematic because there is no real federal issue at play.
Meanwhile, Texas law enforcement has no jurisdiction outside of their state lines. They would not be able to leave the state of Texas and go try to force lawmakers to return.
Attorney General Paxton is also pursuing more steps to allow lawmaking in Texas to continue. In a new lawsuit filed Friday, Paxton sought to have the Supreme Court of Texas declare the seats of the missing Democratic members vacant.
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The escalation follows a Tuesday lawsuit filed by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott against Gene Wu, the leader of the Texas House Democratic Caucus who has headed up the contingent of lawmakers who left the state.
The emergency petition, filed in state Supreme Court, alleges that Wu and other Democrats' leaving Texas to prevent a quorum in the statehouse constituted "abandonment" of office. It seeks to have Wu removed from his position.
