BY IVAN PENTCHOUKOV | The Epoch Times
Texas
Speaker of the House Dade Phelan gavels in the 87th Legislature's special
session in the House chamber at the State Capitol in Austin, Texas, on July 8,
2021. (Tamir Kalifa/Getty Images)
House Speaker Dade Phelan on Tuesday signed arrest
warrants for the 52 state House Democrats who
absented themselves from legislative business in order to block Republican-led
election reforms, according to The Dallas Morning News.
Earlier in the day, the Texas House
of Representatives voted 80-12 to bring back the wayward Democrats. Hours prior
to the vote, the Texas Supreme Court ruled that the Republicans were within
their rights to force their colleagues to return.
Phelan did not immediately return a request for comment
by The Epoch Times.
The lone Republican who voted against approving the
warrants, Rep. Lyle Larson, criticized the move on Twitter.
“Arresting members to come to the house floor. Have we
got to the point where we believe our own [expletive] so much that we arrest
our own colleagues. Civil discourse took a nasty turn today,” Larson wrote.
In a statement on Tuesday, after the Supreme Court
ruling, the office of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) claimed victory, saying “the
Supreme Court of Texas swiftly rejected this dangerous attempt by Texas
Democrats to undermine our Constitution and avoid doing the job they were
elected to do.”
Democrats, in response, said they would attempt to fight
for a temporary injunction at the district court level.
“It is no surprise that Republican Governor Greg Abbott
and House Speaker Dade Phelan want to arrest their political opponents.
Thankfully, this is still the United States of America. We will defend the
freedom to vote, and we look forward to our temporary injunction hearing on
August 20th,” Reps. Trey Martinez Fischer, Gina Hinojosa, and Jasmine
Crockett said in a statement.
At least two dozen Democrats fled to Washington in an
attempt to block the Republican-led election reform bill by running out the
clock on a special session called by Abbott.
Last week, Abbott announced that he ordered another
special legislative session for the month of August that’s intended to pass the
voting overhaul bill, among other measures.
Unlike other states, which have rules that require a
majority for a quorum to start a legislative session, Texas’ legislature
requires a two-thirds super-majority.
Jack Phillips contributed to this report.
