Texas House Votes 76-4 to Send the Sergeant-at-Arms to Detain or Arrest Fleeing Members

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Texas House Republicans vote to track down absent Democrats and arrest them if necessary

The procedural move carries little apparent weight since the Democrats who fled the state to break quorum are beyond the jurisdiction of Texas law enforcement.

By Patrick Svitek, Texas Tribune, July 13, 2021:

The Texas House voted Tuesday to send law enforcement to track down Democrats who left the state a day earlier in protest of Republicans’ priority elections bill “under warrant of arrest if necessary.”

More than 50 House Democrat’s left Monday for Washington, D.C., to deny the chamber a quorum as it takes up voting restrictions and other GOP priorities in special session.

The impact of the House move is unclear since the Texas law enforcement lacks jurisdiction in the nation’s capital.

Meeting shortly after 10 a.m., the House quickly established that it lacked the two-thirds quorum required to do business, with only 80 of 150 members participating in a test vote.

Then Rep. Will Metcalf, R-Conroe, chairman of the House Administration Committee, moved to issue what is known as a “call of the House” to try to regain quorum. That motion passed 76-4. Metcalf offered another motion, asking that “the sergeant at arms, or officers appointed by him, send for all absentees … under warrant of arrest if necessary.” That motion also passed 76-4.

After Metcalf’s motions passed, Rep. Tony Tinderholt, R-Arlington, sought to move to strip absent Democrats of their committee leadership posts if they do not return by noon Wednesday. The motion did not immediately get a vote, and in a subsequent exchange with Rep. Morgan Meyer, R-Dallas, House Speaker Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont, said committee chairs and vice chairs cannot be removed from their positions under the current chamber rules.

Earlier Tuesday morning, Gov. Greg Abbott said in a radio interview that any Democrat who fled the state should lose their committee leadership posts.

Article posted with permission from Pamela Geller