Texas Democrats fight back in court against Abbott's bid to remove them

Source: msn/Politico

12h


Texas House Democrats unveiled their legal counterattack Friday against Gov. Greg Abbott’s bid to oust them from office, saying the governor’s emergency bid is riddled with fatal flaws.

Rep. Gene Wu, the leader of the Texas House Democratic caucus, argued in court papers filed with the state Supreme Court that Abbott’s plan would violate the Texas Constitution, which leaves it to the legislature to discipline its own members.

The Democrats fled the state to try to derail Abbott’s ultra-partisan redistricting proposal. Abbott has asked the state Supreme Court to eject them from office, saying their decision to leave the state amounted to a legal “abandonment” of their posts. Wu argued that the effort by Democrats to “break quorum” and deprive Republicans of the ability to conduct legislative business is not an abdication of their duty but an affirmation of it.

“When in the course of legislative proceedings, the act of the majority is so shocking of the conscience, it is the duty of the legislator to not, with ease, render his body a means to the end,” Wu’s attorneys wrote. The lawyers emphasized that there is a “long history” of quorum breaking in Texas and that it is contemplated in the state’s constitution.

Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/texas-democrats-fight-back-in-court-against-abbott-s-bid-to-remove-them/ar-AA1Kb11P