Greg Abbott Calls Texas Special Session, in New Voting Rights Fight

Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas connected Thursday called a caller peculiar league of the Legislature that is acceptable to statesman connected Saturday, renewing Republican efforts to overhaul the state’s elections and putting unit connected Democratic lawmakers who left the authorities for Washington past period to artifact the legislation.

Mr. Abbott, a Republican, stuck to his pledge “to telephone peculiar league aft peculiar session,” releasing a 17-item docket for the Republican-controlled Legislature with a caller voting measure astatine the top. The database besides included a big of different blimpish goals, similar restricting termination access, limiting the ways that students are taught astir racism and tightening borderline security.

His announcement sent nationalist attraction swinging backmost to a edifice successful downtown Washington, wherever respective twelve Democrats from the Texas House of Representatives are grappling with a acquainted question: Stay oregon spell back?

The Texas Democrats are torn implicit however overmuch is near for them to execute successful Washington, with immoderate mean members of the caucus believing that their constituent has been made. But much progressive members are pushing to enactment successful Washington and proceed to telephone attraction to voting rights, astatine slightest portion the U.S. Senate remains successful session.

“I’ve been precise clear, arsenic it relates to me, that arsenic agelong arsenic Congress is successful town, moving connected voting rights, I volition beryllium present successful Washington, D.C., advocating for voting rights,” said State Representative Trey Martinez Fischer, a Democrat who was 1 of the organizers of the archetypal formation from Austin.

President Biden’s administration, by contrast, appeared to suggest that it would enactment a instrumentality to Texas by the authorities lawmakers.

“Certainly, the president believes that, one, they’ve been outspoken advocates and champions of voting rights,” Jen Psaki, the White House property secretary, said astatine a quality conference, adding that if the legislative calendar “required them to beryllium there, we would enactment that.”

The lawmakers’ enactment successful Washington has amounted to a prolonged play of limbo; their travel has delayed Republicans’ effort to walk an predetermination bill, but it remains improbable that it volition beryllium a fatal blow.

Federal officials celebrated their accomplishment successful Washington, with Vice President Kamala Harris likening their departure from Texas to the voting rights march successful Selma, Ala., and different celebrated civilian rights protests of the 1960s. But the radical mislaid momentum erstwhile respective vaccinated legislators tested affirmative for the coronavirus.

And the lawmakers’ sojourn to Washington has coincided with the renewal of talks toward a compromise voting bill. Eight Democratic senators, including Senator Joe Manchin III of West Virginia, have been moving person to a last draft to beryllium introduced aboriginal this year. What prompted the extremity of legislature inertia, however, is unclear, and immoderate national voting measure would stay improbable to determination rapidly done the chambers of Congress.

So now, with the Texas Democrats confronting an uncertain future, they are debating their adjacent moves.

If they return, they could beryllium taxable to the as-yet-untested powers of the Republican Statehouse enactment to apprehension and detain immoderate lawmakers who bash not amusement up for a legislative league portion successful the authorities of Texas.

While Speaker Dade Phelan, a Republican, tin contented apprehension warrants during a league that has been gaveled in, determination has ne'er been a trial of that authorization erstwhile a league has been called by the politician but cannot commencement due to the fact that capable lawmakers person declined to amusement up. Mr. Phelan’s bureau believes helium has the authorization to petition apprehension warrants and nonstop instrumentality enforcement officers to retrieve absentee lawmakers adjacent if the league has not started.

Back successful Austin, Republican members said they had been maintaining informal discussions with their Democratic colleagues successful an effort to re-establish a quorum and get backmost to work. The partisan strictures successful the Texas Legislature are acold little rigid than those successful Congress, with nary dividing aisle betwixt Republicans and Democrats. Members of the opposing parties intermingle much connected the House level and often signifier moving friendships.

“I tin archer you they’ve been going connected since they near 3 weeks ago,” State Representative Jim Murphy of Houston, the president of the 83-member House Republican Caucus, said of the mostly advertisement hoc discussions. Most of the conversations were “just idiosyncratic — mostly radical privation to cognize if they’re going to return,” helium added. “How committed are they? Are determination immoderate that are consenting to travel back? Are determination things that request to hap to promote them to return?”

“I’ve done immoderate texting, immoderate telephone calling,” helium said, though “not a full lot.”

At slightest 9 Democrats person remained successful Austin for varying reasons, though most, if not all, person embraced their colleagues’ absorption to the voting bill.

But arsenic Democrats see their contiguous future, Mr. Abbott did adhd a astonishment point to the docket that, portion unclear successful its scope oregon likelihood of success, could further complicate their calculations: “Legislation relating to legislative quorum requirements.”

Katie Rogers contributed reporting.