A 38-day standoff by Texas Democrats who walked out of the state legislature to prevent Republicans from getting a quorum ended Thursday evening – after a Trio of Democrats showed up in Austin, infuriating members of the party.
The resolution came when some of the Democrats who had ditched Texas to camp out in Washington abandoned their effort, allowing Republicans to advance their stalled and controversial election legislation.
It abruptly and messily drew to a close one of the few - and lengthiest - quorum breaks in modern Texas history.
State Rep. Armando Walle, D-Houston, left to right, Rep. Garnet F. Coleman, D-Houston, and Rep. Ana Hernandez, D-Houston, enter the House Chamber at the Capitol in Austin, Texas, on Thursday Aug. 19, 2021. They ended a 38-day standoff that began when some of their colleagues fled to Washington. The trio dropped their holdout, paving the way for Republicans to resume pushing an elections overhaul
Only three new Democrats showed up Thursday, meaning the vast majority of the more than 50 Democrats who bolted for the nation's capital in July continue to stay away from the Texas Capitol.
Still, Republican House Speaker Dade Phelan said enough were there to achieve a quorum, which in the House is normally 100 present legislators. Growing impatience among Republicans had led to escalating threats that missing lawmakers could face arrest, but officers never appeared to do more than leaving warrants at Democrats´ homes.
Fellow Democrats caught unawares were left fuming.
Texas Democrats fled their state on private jets in order to prevent a series of new, restrictive voting laws from becoming law. At least 58 Democratic members of the state House of Representatives left Austin to fly to Washington D.C. on two private jets
On August 6, Texas Rep Vikki Goodwin (2nd from the right) shared in her Facebook account this photo of her and other Texas democrats in Capitol Hill. She wrote: In full disclosure, I have been in DC with my fellow Democrats for most of the last 25 days, including today when we held our press conference on the last day of this Special Session
Texas State Sen. Carol Alvarado, D-Houston, wears running shoes as she filibusters Senate Bill 1, a voting bill, at the Texas Capitol Wednesday, Aug. 11, 2021, in Austin, Texas
Rep. Ana Maria Ramos (D) fumed that they 'threw us under the bus'
House Speaker Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont, gavels in with a quorum present at the Capitol in Austin, Texas, on Thursday Aug. 19, 2021
'We were literally on caucus calls for 2 hours this morning and none of the defecting Democrats mentioned they were planning on helping the Republicans pass voter suppression bills. Guess what the other defecting Democrats have accomplished by going back-NOTHING!' Democratic state Rep. Ana-Maria Ramos wrote in an angry tweet.
The three Democrats who returned to the Texas House defended their decision, saying they had successfully pushed Congress on voting rights legislation and pointing to the growing urgency of surging COVID-19 caseloads in Texas.
One of them, Democrat Garnet Coleman of Houston, did not got to Washington because he was recovering from having a leg amputation brought on by an infection.
'One of the things in life is that we have to know what our responsibilities are and we have to work to move something in the direction we want it to be,' Coleman said from a wheelchair while delivering the prayer on the House floor.
'I pray that we, all of us look inside about where we want this world to go, this state, this House, and look at it from the perspective of trying to find as much common ground as can be found,' he told the chamber.
The other two Democrats to break quorum were state Reps. Ana Hernandez and Armando Walle. All are from the Houston area.
Many of the proposed changes to Texas voting that Democrats have railed against for months remain in a bill already passed the state Senate, and Republican Gov. Greg Abbott could now sign the legislation in a matter of weeks, if not sooner.
The trio said in a joint statement they were 'proud of the heroic work.'
'Now, we continue the fight on the House floor.' Their statement also noted the coronavirus surge hitting their state hard. Gov. Greg Abbott announced this week he tested positive for the virus, and his office said he is getting a special monoclonal antibody treatment.
'It's been a very long summer. Been through a lot. I appreciate you all being here,' Phelan said. 'It's time to get back to the business of the people of Texas.'
Abbott now has an opening to divert attention back to the Capitol and away from criticism and defiance by Texas´ largest cities and school districts over his handling of worsening COVID-19 numbers.
Abbott this week tested positive for COVID-19, although his office had said the 63-year-old governor did not have symptoms.
It leaves Democrats much in the same position as when the holdout started: unable to permanently stop the GOP-controlled Legislature from putting new limits and rules over how more that 16 million registered voters can cast a ballot. And federal voting rights protections that Texas Democrats lobbied for while in Washington still face long odds of getting around GOP opposition in Congress.
Months of protests had put Texas Democrats at the center of a new national battle over voting. Republicans around the U.S. have rushed to enact new voting restrictions in response to former President Donald Trump´s false claims that the 2020 election was stolen.
Republicans are now back on a path to pass new elections laws in Texas before the current special session ends on Sept. 5.
Post a Comment