DALLAS — The Texas Supreme Court on Tuesday issued a stay on an order blocking the arrest of absent House members who have returned to Texas. It’s unclear if that stay will allow state GOP leaders to demand the arrest of those members.
Early Tuesday morning, Gov. Greg Abbott and Speaker of the House Dade Phelan asked the Texas Supreme Court to overturn a temporary order protecting House Democrats from arrest in order to secure a quorum.
That followed action Monday by Travis County District Judge Brad Urrutia, who signed an order that would have prevented arrests for 14 days.
The temporary restraining order was ordered by Urrutia in response to a lawsuit filed on behalf of 19 House Democrats who broke quorum only days after this summer’s first special session began. Their out-of-state exodus was planned to allow them to lobby federal legislators to pass voting rights bills, but the move also prevented members from being subject to a call of the House, under which Republican state leadership claimed they could use state law enforcement to arrest and retrieve lawmakers from within the state.
It was unclear how these actions will affect the Texas Democrats in Washington, D.C., and how long they will stay away.
Tuesday’s state Supreme Court action could be key to attaining a quorum, which Democrats have successfully blocked since mid-July. Monday, the House was five members shy of a quorum with 95 members in attendance. If the appeal is successful, Speaker of the House Dade Phelan could send the House Sergeant at Arms to retrieve House members from within state borders.
