Texas Democrat locked inside Capitol after refusing to sign slip for mandatory escort

4 days ago 10

Democratic authorities Rep. Nicole Collier from Fort Worth returned to the Texas Capitol connected Monday but says she remains locked wrong the Capitol due to the fact that she wouldn't motion a support gaffe to beryllium nether escort by the Texas Department of Public Safety.

The escorts for each House Democrats who near the authorities of Texas past period — preventing a ballot connected a GOP-led redistricting effort — are meant arsenic a warrant that they volition instrumentality to the House by 10 a.m. Wednesday for the adjacent peculiar session.

CBS News Texas spoke with Collier via Zoom connected Monday, and she said the concern is incorrect — conscionable similar the caller Congressional maps she and different Democrats person tried to artifact from being passed. She besides said that, according to DPS, she indispensable enactment successful the House chambers oregon wrong her bureau astatine the Capitol.

CBS News Texas has reached retired to DPS for comment.

Collier and dozens of different House Democrats who returned to the Capitol connected Monday received a Texas-sized invited from their supporters arsenic they walked from the rotunda into the House enclosure minutes earlier the House league began astir noon.

The Democrats had fled to bluish states earlier this period aft President Trump suggested the authorities should redraw its U.S. House territory maps to unafraid much Republican seats. The Democrats had remained retired of the authorities to contradict Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott a quorum, temporarily derailing a peculiar legislative league that the politician called to reshape the state's legislature maps.

The GOP-led redistricting effort would make 5 much Republican-leaning House seats up of the 2026 midterms. Republicans presently person a constrictive bulk successful the House.

Because the Democrats broke quorum for 2 weeks, determination weren't capable House members to clasp the peculiar session. On Monday, determination were 120 members contiguous connected the floor, but 30 were inactive absent.

Rep. Gene Wu, the House Democratic Caucus chair, said their efforts to artifact the imaginable 5 Republican-leaning seats person present moved into their 2nd phase, the ineligible phase.

Now that a quorum is again contiguous successful the House, the House redistricting committee volition conscionable to see the caller maps. They are expected to o.k. them on enactment lines and nonstop them to the afloat House arsenic aboriginal arsenic Wednesday.

The Texas Senate redistricting committee approved the maps connected Sunday, and the afloat Senate volition instrumentality them up sometime this week.

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