Texas GOP House speaker issues arrest warrant for Democrat who fled state after return

Texas state House Speaker Dade Phelan issued an arrest warrant on Sunday for a Democrat who fled to Washington, D.C., to stonewall a pair of GOP-backed voting bills.

Phelan commanded the sergeant-at-arms or “any officer appointed by him” to take Rep. Philip Cortez into custody as he cited his constitutional authority to do so. Cortez made headlines last week after he vowed to return to Austin to engage in “good faith dialogue” with his colleagues regarding the legislation, though he quickly returned to Washington to rendezvous with nearly 60 Democratic lawmakers in resumption of an effort to strip the state House of its necessary quorum to do business.