President Donald Trump suggested that the FBI might need to become involved in returning a group of Texas Democrats to their home state.
When questioned on Tuesday at a White House executive order signing event about whether the federal law enforcement agency should assist in locating and apprehending the state lawmakers who are central to a legislative standoff over a Republican-backed redistricting effort, Trump responded, “They may have to.” He added, “A lot of people are demanding they come back.”
The contentious redistricting proposal, supported by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott and the Trump Administration, aims to redraw the congressional district map to potentially grant Republicans approximately five additional U.S. House seats. This could substantially improve the GOP’s prospects of retaining its narrow majority following the 2026 midterm elections. However, state legislative Democrats have criticized this initiative and are employing a tactic of relocating to Democratic-leaning states, such as Illinois and New York, in an attempt to delay votes on the plan. In response, Abbott has ordered the arrest of the lawmakers based on civil warrants, initiated an investigation into potential state law violations, and threatened to remove the lawmakers from their state legislative positions.
Despite these warnings, the Democratic lawmakers seem undeterred. The Democratic caucus in the state House issued a defiant statement to Abbott: “Come and take it.”
Trump is not the only one advocating for the FBI’s involvement: Texas’ senior U.S. Senator, John Cornyn, on Tuesday, formally requested the agency, in a letter to FBI Director Kash Patel, “to take any appropriate steps to aid in Texas state law enforcement efforts to locate or arrest potential lawbreakers who have fled the state.”
It remains uncertain whether the FBI will intervene, and the agency did not immediately respond to TIME’s request for comment. However, the FBI’s website clarifies that the agency does not “supervise or take over” investigations conducted by state and local law enforcement agencies, as its primary role is to investigate federal crimes and enforce federal laws. While state warrants can only be executed by state troopers, the FBI is permitted to assist local law enforcement in finding fugitives.
What legal repercussions might the Democrats face?
The act of preventing a quorum from forming is forbidden in the Texas legislature. States have their own methods for addressing legislative quorum-breaking, and the Texas House Rules Manual specifies that “all absentees for whom no sufficient excuse is made may, by order of a majority of those present, be sent for and arrested, wherever they may be found, by the sergeant-at-arms or an officer appointed by the sergeant-at-arms for that purpose, and their attendance shall be secured and retained.” The state Supreme Court upheld this rule in 2021, empowering the House to arrest absent members to establish a quorum.
On Monday, the Texas House voted to authorize the arrest of the Democratic lawmakers who left the state, enabling the state legislature’s sergeant-at-arms and the Texas Department of Public Safety to carry out these arrests. Abbott stated that the arrest order would remain active “until all missing Democrat House members are accounted for and brought to the Texas Capitol.”
Nevertheless, many have downplayed the significance of the arrest warrant, given that the lawmakers are no longer within Texas jurisdiction. “They like to talk a big game,” U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, a Democrat representing Texas’ 30th congressional district, told ABC News on Monday. “You have a lot of intelligent attorneys that actually serve in the Texas House. And so they know that there’s nothing that [Abbott] can do outside of the Texas jurisdiction to bring them in.”
Chad Dunn, a Texas election and voting rights lawyer, informed election news outlet The Election that a warrant issued by the Texas House “is not effective out of the state unless another state chooses to domesticate it and enforce it under that state’s laws.” However, the Texas Democratic lawmakers have sought refuge in supportive Democratic-led states. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker stated, “We’re very happy to host these heroes.” New York Gov. Kathy Hochul remarked on Aug. 4, “This is not breaking the law, this is a legitimate process that has been used before.”
Abbott, however, has claimed that several absent Texas House Democrats “have solicited or received funds to evade conducting legislative business and casting votes.” Abbott asserted that these lawmakers “may have violated” bribery laws under the Texas Penal Code, which defines a second-degree felony charge for “one who offers or confers a benefit on any public servant or voter to influence him, and the public servant receiving or soliciting the same.”
State representative Jolanda Jones, currently in New York, declared at the Aug. 4 press conference with Hochul: “There is no felony in the Texas Penal Code for what [Abbott] says, so respectfully he’s making up some sh-t, OK? He’s trying to get sound bites. And he has no legal mechanism… he’s putting up smoke and mirrors.”
The Texas Democrats who departed the state are likely to incur a $500 daily fine for each day they are absent without permission. The Republican-controlled state government approved this penalty, which must be paid personally rather than from office funds or political contributions, in 2021 after Democratic lawmakers absented themselves for three weeks to prevent a quorum on a state election law overhaul.
Regarding whether the lawmakers could actually be removed from their positions and replaced by Abbott, Abbott referred to a 2021 opinion by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton which states that Texas law permits a legislator’s seat to be declared vacant if a court determines they forfeited their office through abandonment.
Paxton announced on Tuesday that beginning Friday, a deadline established by Republican Speaker of the Texas House Dustin Burrows, “any rogue lawmakers refusing to return to the House will be held accountable.” Paxton indicated he would pursue a court order to declare the Democrats to have abandoned their offices. In a statement, he asserted, “If you don’t show up for work, you get fired.”