A battle over redistricting escalated on Monday when Texas Republicans moved to arrest Democrats who fled the state in an effort to block the adoption of a new congressional map.
The Texas House voted 85-6 to arrest and bring back dozens of Democrats who traveled to Illinois and other blue states.
"The sergeant-at-arms and any officers appointed by her are directed to send for all absentees whose attendance is not excused for the purposes of securing and maintaining their attendance under warrant of arrest, if necessary, until further order of the House," said Republican Rep. Dustin Burrows, the speaker of the Texas House of Representatives.
The Democrats' absence means lawmakers do not have a quorum to conduct business. Abbott called a special legislative session, which lasts two weeks.
It is not clear how the arrest warrants will be enforced outside of Texas, but Governor Greg Abbott (R) has threatened to pursue criminal charges when the Democrats eventually return.
The governor called for state police to "locate, arrest, and return to the House chamber any member who has abandoned their duty to Texans."
Every day the Democrats are absent, they incur a $500 fine, which could place them on the hook for bribery, Abbott said.
"It would be bribery if any lawmaker took money to perform or to refuse to perform an act in the legislature," Abbott told Fox News on Monday.
"And the reports are these legislators have both sought money and offered money to skip the vote, to leave the legislature, to take a legislative act. That would be bribery."
The state's Republicans are advancing a map that would potentially add five Republican seats and help the party maintain its hold on the House in the midterm elections.
The Trump-backed push has led Democrats in blue states to declare "war," although many states controlled by Democrats are already skewed heavily in the party's favor.
Illinois, the state most of the Texas Democrats are taking refuge in, is widely considered to have one of the most partisan congressional maps in the country, with 14 out of 17 House seats being won by Democrats in the last election.
While states typically redistrict after the decennial census, some Democratic governors have threatened to jump the gun and devise new maps mid-decade.
"Whatever they are doing [in Texas] will be neutered here in the state of California, and they will pay that price," California Governor Gavin Newsom said.
