Now that the Texas Supreme Court ruled against the last ditch efforts of Democrats to shield their AWOL lawmakers, the House Speaker’s office confirmed civil arrest warrants have been signed against 52 truant House Democrats and will “be delivered to the sergeant-at-arms” Wednesday, August 11, for service bright and early in the morning.
AWOL Democrats to be arrested
Anarchist legislators in Texas think they found a loophole that allows them to thumb their nose at the state Constitution. Republicans closed it up and are scrambling to arrest as many of the AWOL Democrats as they can get their hands on Wednesday. The rest of them have been locked inside the legislature chambers and won’t be going anywhere until the state has the quorum they need to do business.
The election integrity laws will pass despite the Democrat “no” votes because they don’t have enough of them. Proving they have no integrity themselves, the rats scurried off to Washington for protection and support. What they did is still illegal and at least some of the criminals are about to face the consequences.
Up until now the AWOL Democrats have been calling their criminal actions a success, having blocked an “election overhaul bill that would add new restrictions and criminal penalties” for election fraud. When they escaped in July, they claimed it was to “lobby congressional lawmakers for federal voting protections, but also to avoid being arrested and forced back to the Texas state Capitol.”
Some of them were stupid enough to return home. While more “than two dozen Texas Democrats vowed to remain in Washington through August,” others “have left the nation’s capital but haven’t returned to the Texas House for the new special session.”
Democrats are furious that they can’t use their votes to stop the Republicans from passing things like “election integrity, bail reform, tightening enforcement at the US border, and legislation preventing students from playing on sports teams of a different sex than they were assigned at birth.”
They think that going AWOL is justified because they’re liberals so they don’t have obey laws they don’t like.
SCOTUS to the rescue
The scandal intensified on Sunday, when Travis County State District Judge Brad Urrutia signed an order protecting the AWOL legislators, barring Governor Greg Abbott and House Speaker Dade Phelan from “issuing any warrant or other instrument” which would result in “detaining, confining, or otherwise restricting a Texas House Democrat’s movement without his or her consent.”
On Monday, the conservatives ran to the Texas Supreme Court asking them to overturn the order because “Compelling the attendance of its members is a prerogative given to the House by the Texas Constitution.” Even before they got an answer, members “voted to institute a ‘call of the House,’ locking the chamber doors and requiring members to get written permission from the Speaker to leave.”
The court issued a “stay” of Urrutia’s order on Tuesday and by evening, House Republicans voted 80-12 to direct the sergeant-at-arms to compel attendance ‘under warrant of arrest if necessary.'” The AWOL Democrats aren’t happy with that. They have until Thursday evening to file a response but might have to do it from behind bars.
“It is no surprise that Republican Governor Greg Abbott and House Speaker Dade Phelan want to arrest their political opponents,” whine three of the cranky liberals. Trey Martinez Fischer, Gina Hinojosa, and Jasmine Crockett issued a joint statement while they still can. They each have warrants out for them today.
These three Democrats are part of the 19 who filed the original petition for relief. Which means they’re in town and subject to arrest if they don’t show up for work voluntarily.
They were also in with the group of more than 50 who went AWOL to D.C. “to prevent their Republican counterparts from having a quorum needed to carry on legislative business.” Conservatives from coast-to-coast wish law enforcement “happy hunting” today and hope they bag them all.