Texas Sen. John Cornyn sent a letter to the FBI Tuesday asking for the bureau’s help in tracking down Democratic lawmakers who fled the state Sunday as part of a last-ditch attempt to deny Republicans in the state Legislature a quorum to carry out a partisan, mid-decade redistricting plan.
The letter also lays out the stakes for Texas Republicans: Nothing can get done in those chambers in Democrats’ absence, meaning they can’t rubber-stamp a congressional map redrawn to placate the White House’s wishes to pad Republican margins in the U.S. House in the next Congress.
“This is a time-sensitive matter,” Cornyn wrote to Director Kash Patel, adding the state’s special session only has two weeks remaining. “The absence of a quorum prevents key votes on important areas of concern for Texans,” pointing to the state’s deadly Kerr County floods as an example.