Abbott sues to remove Democratic "ringleader" from office amid redistricting showdown

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott filed a lawsuit on Tuesday to remove one of the state's House Democratic leaders, Rep. Gene Wu, calling him "the ringleader" of the dozens of Democratic lawmakers who left the state in an effort to block a redistricting vote.

Abbott filed the emergency petition with the Texas Supreme Court to have Wu, who represents Houston and serves as Democratic caucus chair, removed from office. On Sunday, the governor had threatened to seek Democratic lawmakers' removal from office if they did not attend a Monday afternoon House session.

"They have not returned and have not met the quorum requirements. Representative Wu and the other Texas House Democrats have shown a willful refusal to return, and their absence for an indefinite period of time deprives the House of the quorum needed to meet and conduct business on behalf of Texans," Abbott wrote in a statement. "Texas House Democrats abandoned their duty to Texans, and there must be consequences."

Abbott claims Wu has forfeited his elected position and that his actions, as well as those of other House Democrats who left the state, "constitute abandonment of their office, justifying their removal."

The governor also alleged Wu and other House Democrats "appear to have solicited and received certain benefits in exchange for skipping a vote, further supporting their removal from office and allegations of bribery."

Abbott has argued in the past that Democrats can be legally removed from office if they don't show up. He's cited a non-binding 2021 opinion by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton that said a "district court may determine that a legislator has forfeited his or her office due to abandonment and can remove the legislator from office, thereby creating a vacancy."

But Mark Jones, a Rice University political science professor, has told CBS News the only way to remove a Texas lawmaker — other than at the ballot box — is by a two-thirds vote of the legislature.

Over the weekend, dozens of Texas Democrats fled the state to block a vote on a Republican-backed congressional redistricting plan that President Trump wants before the 2026 midterm elections, escalating a standoff that has stalled the legislative session.

The Democrats' absence meant the Texas House of Representatives did not have enough members present to hold a debate on a bill to redraw the state's congressional districts to add five seats favoring Republicans. That prompted a Republican-backed motion for their civil arrest.

Abbott then ordered the Texas Department of Public Safety to "locate, arrest and return any House member who abandoned their duty to Texans." However, Texas DPS has no jurisdiction out of state. A civil arrest could force the lawmakers back to the Capitol.

A refusal by Texas lawmakers to show up is a civil violation of legislative rules. During a previous walkout by Democratic legislators, the Texas Supreme Court held in 2021 that House leaders had the authority to "physically compel the attendance" of missing members, but no Democrats were forcibly brought back to the state after warrants were served that year. Two years later, Republicans pushed through new rules that allow daily fines of $500 for lawmakers who don't show up for work as punishment.

In a statement to CBS Texas, Wu said that "denying the governor a quorum was not an abandonment" of office, rather it was "a fulfillment of my oath."

"This office does not belong to Greg Abbott, and it does not belong to me," Wu said in his statement. "It belongs to the people of House District 137, who elected me. I took an oath to the Constitution, not a politician's agenda, and I will not be the one to break that oath."

Wu also said that the governor has failed the people of Texas and is "using the courts to punish those who refused to fail" with him.

"When a governor conspires with a disgraced president to ram through a racist gerrymandered map, my constitutional duty is to not be a willing participant," Wu's statement reads. "When that governor holds disaster relief for 137 dead Texans and their families hostage, my moral duty is to sound the alarm — by any means necessary."

Abbott wants the Supreme Court to issue a ruling by 5 p.m. on Thursday.

"Greg Abbott is attempting to silence House Democratic Caucus leader Rep. Gene Wu by weaponizing the courts," Texas Democratic Party Chairman Kendall Scudder said in a statement. "It is a complete violation of the separation of powers for the governor of this state to think he has the authority to unilaterally remove duly elected officials simply because he disagrees with them using constitutionally protected procedural safeguards."

The Texas Solicitor General also said if House Democrats don't return by 1 p.m. Friday, when Speaker Dustin Burrows set the House to hold its next session, the attorney general will pursue all available judicial remedies.

• Redistricting
• Houston
• Texas Politics
• Lawsuit
• Donald Trump
• Greg Abbott
• Texas