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Yahoo
6 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Texas governor threatens to remove Democrats who left state over Trump-backed redistricting
Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott says he will begin trying to remove Democratic lawmakers from office Monday if they don't return after dozens of them left the state in a last-resort attempt to block redrawn U.S. House maps that President Donald Trump wants before the 2026 midterm elections. The revolt by the state House Democrats, many of whom went to Illinois or New York on Sunday, and Abbott giving them less than 24 hours to come home ratcheted up a widening fight over congressional maps that began in Texas but has drawn in Democratic governors who have floated the possibility of rushing to redraw their own state's maps in retaliation. Their options, however, are limited. At the center of the escalating impasse is Trump's pursuit of adding five more GOP-leaning congressional seats in Texas before next year that would bolster his party's chances of preserving its slim U.S. House majority. The new congressional maps drawn by Texas Republicans would create five new Republican-leaning seats. Republicans currently hold 25 of the state's 38 seats. A vote on the proposed maps had been set for Monday in the Texas House of Representatives, but it cannot proceed if the majority of Democratic members deny a quorum by not showing up. After one group of Democrats landed in Chicago on Sunday, they were welcomed by Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, but declined to say how long they were prepared to stay out of Texas. 'We will do whatever it takes. What that looks like, we don't know,' said state Rep. Gene Wu, the Texas House Democratic Caucus leader. But legislative walkouts often only delay passage of a bill, including in 2021 when many of the same Texas House Democrats left the state for 38 days in protest of new voting restrictions. Once they returned, Republicans still wound up passing that measure. Four years later, Abbott is taking a far more aggressive stance and swiftly warning Democrats that he will seek to remove them from office if they are not back when the House reconvenes Monday afternoon. He cited a non-binding 2021 legal opinion issued by Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton, which suggested a court could determine that a legislator had forfeited their office. He also suggested the lawmakers may have committed felonies by raising money to help pay for fines they'd face. 'This truancy ends now,' Abbott said. In response, House Democrats issued a four-word statement: 'Come and take it.' The state of the vote Lawmakers can't pass bills in the 150-member Texas House without at least two-thirds of them present. Democrats hold 62 of the seats in the majority-Republican chamber and at least 51 left the state, said Josh Rush Nisenson, spokesperson for the House Democratic Caucus. Republican House Speaker Dustin Burrows said the chamber would still meet as planned on Monday afternoon. 'If a quorum is not present then, to borrow the recent talking points from some of my Democrat colleagues, all options will be on the table. . .,' he posted on X. Paxton, who is running for U.S. Senate, said on X that Democrats who 'try and run away like cowards should be found, arrested, and brought back to the Capitol immediately.' Fines for not showing up A refusal by Texas lawmakers to show up is a civil violation of legislative rules. The Texas Supreme Court held in 2021 that House leaders had the authority to 'physically compel the attendance' of missing members, but no Democrats were forcibly brought back to the state after warrants were served that year. Two years later, Republicans pushed through new rules that allow daily fines of $500 for lawmakers who don't show up for work as punishment. The quorum break will also delay votes on flood relief and new warning systems in the wake of last month's catastrophic floods in Texas that killed at least 136 people. Democrats had called for votes on the flooding response before taking up redistricting and have criticized Republicans for not doing so. Illinois hosts Texas lawmakers Pritzker, a potential 2028 presidential contender who has been one of Trump's most outspoken critics during his second term, had been in quiet talks with Texas Democrats for weeks about offering support if they chose to leave the state to break quorum. Last week, the governor hosted several Texas Democrats in Illinois to publicly oppose the redistricting effort, and California Gov. Gavin Newsom held a similar event in his own state. Pritzker also met privately with Texas Democratic Chair Kendall Scudder in June to begin planning for the possibility that lawmakers would depart for Illinois if they did decide to break quorum to block the map, according to a source with direct knowledge who requested anonymity to discuss private conversations. 'This is not just rigging the system in Texas, it's about rigging the system against the rights of all Americans for years to come,' Pritzker said Sunday night. Trump is looking to avoid a repeat of his first term, when Democrats flipped the House just two years into his presidency, and hopes the new Texas map will aid that effort. Trump officials have also looked at redrawing lines in other states. ___ Associated Press writer Nadia Lathan in Austin contributed to this report. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
6 minutes ago
- Yahoo
German finance minister to push for steel quotas on Washington trip
BERLIN (Reuters) -German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil will advocate for a quota system on steel exports to be included in the EU's trade deal with the United States at a meeting with his U.S. counterpart, Scott Bessent, later on Monday, he told a radio broadcaster. "There is talk of a quota system for steel, and it would be good if there were one," Klingbeil told Deutschlandfunk radio on Monday before his planned meeting in Washington. There are a number of chapters that have not yet been finalised in the trade deal struck, said Klingbeil, and steel is a particularly important issue for the German economy and jobs. "I will test out what steps the American government is prepared to take and what the solution might look like," said Klingbeil, even though the EU is responsible for negotiations. The EU's trade deal with Trump in July was greeted with a mix of relief and anger, with tariffs set at 15% for most products but negotiations continuing for certain sectors, including steel and aluminium, which carry tariffs of 50%. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz had said on Friday the EU will negotiate with the United States on steel, with a focus on quotas that can be exported without too high tariffs. Klingbeil also urged quick clarification of other outstanding details in the trade dispute, including the investments promised by the EU and in the energy sector. "It should happen in the next few days," he said. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
31 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Texas Democrats leave the state to prevent vote on GOP-drawn congressional map
Texas House Democrats left the state Sunday in a desperate bid to block an aggressively partisan redrawing of the state's congressional map orchestrated by Republicans with the support of President Donald Trump. The last-ditch attempt adds kerosene to an already smoldering political battle in the Lone Star State that has significant repercussions in Washington, where House Republicans enter a challenging midterm landscape with a razor-thin majority. In a hostile response, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott threatened late Sunday to remove lawmakers who don't show up when the state House convenes Monday afternoon, equating the absence to an 'abandonment or forfeiture of an elected state office.' The latest escalation in Texas could preview more bitter fights ahead as GOP states face intensifying pressure from Trump to redraw more maps to their advantage where possible. Democrats have vowed retribution in states where they control district boundaries. The proposal put forward last week by Texas Republicans could potentially eliminate five Democratic US House seats ahead of the 2026 midterms. With solid majorities in both state legislative chambers, Republicans have a glide path to delivering on Trump's wishes. States typically redraw congressional district boundaries once every 10 years following the release of updated population data from the United States census. A mid-decade revision of the map would be an extraordinary move — one that Democrats contend is a nakedly partisan effort aimed at bolstering Republicans' prospects of retaining control of the House. Texas Democrats played one of their few remaining cards: leaving the state to block a quorum. The Texas Constitution requires two-thirds of the state House present to conduct legislative business. With 62 Democrats in the House, the minority party can block action as long as 51 remain out of state. 'We will not be complicit in the destruction of our own communities,' Texas House Democratic Caucus Chair Gene Wu said shortly after landing in Chicago. Dozens of Democrats joined Wu on Sunday night in Chicago, where they were greeted by Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker. Others flew to Boston and some to Albany, New York, where they will hold an event Monday with Gov. Kathy Hochul. A handful with family and medical issues stayed in Texas but will not appear in Austin on Monday, Wu said. He declined to share details on how many lawmakers are in each location and where they intend to go from here. In a statement from Chicago, the Texas House Democratic Caucus responded to Abbott's threat to remove lawmakers from office: 'Come and take it.' 'It is the right of legislators to deny quorum, ' said Democratic State Rep. Chris Turner, whose district includes Arlington, around 30 miles west of Dallas. 'As Governor Abbott should know, we also have separation of powers in this country. The executive doesn't get to remove lawmakers just because he doesn't like how we choose to represent those who elected us.' It remains to be seen whether the gambit will successfully block Republicans from eventually passing their map. Lawmakers are meeting under a special session that can last for only 30 days, and the current session will end August 19. But there's little stopping Abbott from calling them back to the state Capitol as many times as it takes. It's also unclear whether Texas Democrats will stick together. A similar play by Democrats there in 2021 fizzled out after 38 days when a handful secretly broke ranks and returned to Texas, allowing Republicans to move ahead on a bill imposing new voting restrictions. After that unsuccessful effort, new rules were put in place to fine lawmakers $500 a day if a member is absent, including 'for the purpose of impeding the action of the House.' Lu would not say how long Democrats were prepared to stay outside the state, only that they would do 'whatever it takes.' 'What that looks like we don't know,' he said. Already, Texas Democrats are facing threats from back home. In his statement late Sunday warning Democrats they could lose House membership, Abbott also accused them of raising money to cover their fines, which he suggested may be a felony. Ken Paxton, Texas' attorney general and a candidate for US Senate, said Sunday evening that 'Democrats in the Texas House who try and run away like cowards should be found, arrested, and brought back to the Capitol immediately.' 'We should use every tool at our disposal to hunt down those who think they are above the law,' he continued in a post on X, though he did not specify which tools could be used. Texas Republicans argue the redistricting is necessary over concerns that the current maps are unconstitutional and racially gerrymandered. Democrats have said it would suppress the votes of people of color. Democrats nationwide have threatened to respond to the GOP's efforts at redistricting in Texas with the same tactics in Democratic-controlled states like California and New York. National Democratic Redistricting Committee Chairman Eric Holder, a longtime critic of partisan gerrymandering, says it may be time for Democrats to change their approach. 'We have to understand that the nature of the threat that has been put upon the country through what they're trying to do in Texas has really increased the danger to our democracy. And as a result of that, we've got to do things that perhaps in the past, I would not have supported,' he said on ABC's 'This Week' on Sunday. The political climate sets the stage for a year of chaos leading up to the midterm elections, with the congressional maps in flux and lawsuits likely. But Trump and national Republicans have made clear they will take exceptional measures to retain Congress for the final two years of his presidency. And Democrats have promised their supporters they intend to fight. Republicans have argued that blue states have already tilted congressional maps in Democrats' favor. They point to states like Illinois, where Democrats have 14 legislative seats to Republicans' three. Pritzker, who CNN reported Sunday first began planning this move with Texas Democrats in June, rejected that argument, arguing his map passed constitutional muster and was approved on a traditional timetable. He urged Democrats to fight back if Texas Republicans move ahead with their mid-decade power grab. 'All bets are off when the cult leader and would-be dictator of the United States tells Texas to midstream change the game when they know that they're going to lose in 2026,' Pritzker said. 'All bets are off. Everything's got to be on the table.' This story has been updated with additional developments. Solve the daily Crossword
