Texas Democratic lawmakers are trying to amp up pressure on their party counterparts in Congress to push through legislation that would override changes made by Republicans at the state level.
On Monday, the on-the-lam lawmakers, who fled a special session in Austin, Texas, to prevent Republicans from passing a bill changing state voting measures, were at the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday with House members from Texas.
With its Democratic majority, both want the Senate to scrap the filibuster, which requires 60 votes to pass the chamber. Senate Republicans recently blocked consideration of Democrats’ key voting bill, S. 1.
TEXAS DEMOCRATS LEAVE STATE IN BID TO STONEWALL VOTING BILLS
“I just want to offer that at the outset of this legislative session, the process was poisoned, and it was poisoned by a governor who defunded the legislative branch in violation of both our state constitution, which has very specific language about separation of powers,” Texas state Rep. Chris Turner, the Democratic Caucus chairman, the told reporters on Capitol Hill.
“We as Democrats, we were united. We said, ‘We are going to kill any undemocratic efforts in the state legislature.’ And if that meant leaving the state, we were going to do it. Now, we have, probably, to look long and hard at the legislation that has been offered,” he said.
Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott called a special session starting on Thursday for the state legislature to pass the voting legislation, among other issues. The session expires on Aug. 7, and Abbott promised that the state’s lawmakers would be arrested upon return. If legislation still needs to be dealt with, the governor can call another special session.
At least 51 legislators in the state’s House of Representatives left Austin in an effort to deny a quorum, which is the minimum number of members necessary in the chamber to conduct business.
The lawmakers flew into Washington, D.C., on a private plane to meet with other Texas lawmakers to plan to lobby in favor of the For the People Act, the Democratic election overhaul legislation, and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act.
The enactment of these bills would supersede measures proposed in Republican-led state legislatures, including the Texas bill that the state Democrats are presently avoiding.
Turner told the Washington Examiner that the Democrats who left the state are willing to stay away for as long as necessary throughout the current special session despite Abbott’s ability to call another legislative session.
“We know that’s exactly what he was going to do. We went into this eyes wide open. We know exactly what, what will happen,” Turner said.
The task will be an uphill battle. The Texas House of Representatives is composed of 83 Republicans and 67 Democrats, while Republicans hold 18 seats to Democrats’ 13 seats in the 31-member Senate — a far cry from the slim majority that Democrats hold in Washington.
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Turner brushed off the contrast, however.
“I think the parallel is that Republicans in Texas are intent on passing their legislation with no bipartisan input. There is no interest in a bipartisan bill that would improve voter actions,” he said. “And so, Republican arguments about bipartisanship on Capitol Hill to prevent federal action are disingenuous.”
