Texas governor Greg Abbott on Monday ordered the department of public safety to arrest and return any House member who had left the state and “abandoned their duty to Texans”, as Democrats thwarted plans to redistrict the state along lines that would favour Republicans.
“There are consequences for dereliction of duty,” Abbott said in a statement on Monday, after the Republican-dominated House issued civil arrest warrants in an attempt to compel the return of the members who fled the state in order to deny the legislature a quorom.
