Texas House again fails to reach quorum amid Democrats' protest

Source: ABC News

August 8, 2025, 2:08 PM


Texas Democrats again defied Republican Gov. Greg Abbott and the state GOP and did not show up Friday for a vote on the controversial redistricting plan proposed by Republicans.

The GOP-proposed new congressional maps that would give Republicans more seats in Congress -- potentially allowing the GOP to keep control of the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington.

Despite threats of arrest, losing their pay and other threats, calls from the governor, the majority of the Democrats did not appear for the special session when it started at 2 p.m. ET and no quorum was reached.

Democratic state Rep. Gene Wu, the Texas House minority leader, earlier told ABC News Thursday that he believes his caucus would hold out on Friday and once again deny the legislature a quorum, though he said they would be willing to come back to Austin if state Republicans promise to focus solely on other issues before the special session, including flood mitigation and disaster preparedness. Democrats who have fled the state appear likely to stay away until Aug. 19, the end of the special session.

Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/texas-democrats-face-republican-deadline-stop-standoff-face/story?id=124480936