Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has escalated his stance against a group of Democrat legislators who have left the state, by filing a lawsuit in the Texas Supreme Court aiming to declare their seats vacant. According to a recent statement on the Texas Attorney General's website, Paxton maintains that these legislators have "abandoned their duties" through their continued absence, which he characterizes as "unlawful." The lawsuit seeks formal acknowledgment that 13 seats in the Texas House are now empty due to this ongoing situation.
Framing their departure as politically motivated, Paxton accused the absent Democrats of engaging in grandstanding from locations outside of Texas. "These cowards deliberately sabotaged the constitutional process and violated the oath they swore to uphold," he charged, as reported by the Texas Attorney General's website. Running away from the state, the House Democrats remain willfully absent, thus betraying the voters who trusted them to serve in the legislature.
The focus of the legal action zeroes in on 13 Democrats who made "incriminating public statements regarding their refusal to return," effectively acknowledging the absence that underlies the suit. Texas law allows the Attorney General to launch quo warranto actions and appear before the state's high court when the state has a direct interest. "When members of the Legislature disregard arrest warrants, refuse to perform their duties, and announce that they intend to prevent the Legislature from exercising its constitutional responsibilities, they have, through words and conduct, demonstrated an intent to relinquish and abandon their offices," reads the petition quoted on the Texas Attorney General's website.
Beyond the lawsuit, both Attorney General Paxton and Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows have moved to enforce arrest warrants in other states against the absent Democrats. Investigating potential illegal activities, Paxton has also scrutinized organizations like Powered by People and Texas Majority PAC, suspecting an illegal financial scheme at play designed to bribe the Democrats into breaking quorum.
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